Archive for the 'Church' Category

An Update on the Arbuckle Baptist Association

Published on November 16, 2007 in Church, SBC and theology. 1 Comment

aliI wanted to follow up on the issue over anti-Calvinism in the Arbuckle Baptist Association. After digging a bit, I discovered that Terry Mott was not, as far as I can tell, the author of this motion. Being the DOM in the association, Terry was just doing his job. I realize that says nothing positive or negative concerning his position on the matter. I appears that Pastor Joe Elam of FBC, Pauls Valley brought the motion to the floor of the associations annual meeting last month. I know nothing about this brother. I found this out at 2 Worlds Collide, which went on to say that there were no questions from the floor, and the motion passed. I can’t help think that there is more to this than appears at first glance. Wes Kenney has also shed recent light on the subject. Some of my initial frustrations at where this “story” was headed have subsided, for now. If you will look at the comments on Founder’s Blog, you will see that Tom Ascol is doing an adequate job of keeping rampant assumptions at bay. This was one of the blogs that gave me that here-we-go-again feeling and first caused me to write on this issue. I should have had more faith in Pastor Ascol, remembering his adept way of keeping the Calvinistas under control in the comments section during the Caner-debate posts some time back.

I may have left the impression in my previous post on this subject that I am against conferences seeking unity. I am not. I believe that they can bring about great good, if they are seen as a place to begin, a tool to get the ball rolling. I was delighted to see that Nathan Finn was going to be there to deliver an address. Posessing a calm, sweet Christian spirit, among the new SBC historians, there is no brighter rising star than he. I have never met him nor heard him speak, but if he speaks like he writes, Finn is singularly worth the price of admission.

What often disturbs me about these conferences, however, is that they turn out to be one more reflection of a program-driven mentality that is so unalterably woven into the fabric of SBC life. First you start with a Ridgecrest, Glorieta, or Falls Creek setting. After one, three, or five days of creating a glowing mountain-top experience, everybody gathers around in a circle, holding hands to sing “Cum Ba Ya.” You look around and everybody is just like you, with a few four-pointers sprinkled in to lend the feeling of diversity. There are no one-pointers to be found, because they would not come if you put a gun to their head. Honestly, can you blame them. Everybody goes home and everything remains pretty much the same.

My question to all of you - those of you who go, and those who stay at home - is this: What are you going to do? Shrug your shoulders like a Frenchman and say something like “Oh, that’s really sad.”? Or maybe you might cross your arms resolutely and say something like “We just need to realize that they’re different and move on.”? What are you going to do? I am reminded of the simple chorus to an old bluegrass song:

I didn’t hear nobody pray dear brother.
I didn’t hear nobody pray.
I heard the crash on the highway,
But I didn’t hear nobody pray.

Where are the tears? How many of you grieve and pray over these situations? Sometimes I think, like James and John, we do not know what spirit we are of. Do any of us sincerely pray for peace when these situations arise? So many are ready and willing to die for a cause, to climb into the ring at the next ding of the bell, but who’s praying earnestly for peace?

brothersThis picture is from the movie Gods and Generals. Blue and Gray meet in mid stream to exchange a tin cup of hot coffee for a pipe full of tobacco; two men stepping out into the stream to regain their humanity, to reclaim their imago Dei. How many of you are willing to risk ambush by laying down your weapons and going across town to that brother who doesn’t see it your way? How many of you are willing to say “Brother, I have been a pompous fool. Will you forgive me? Can we get together and talk about what we both agree on in order to advance the kingdom of God in this town?”

So, which do you think takes more courage; climbing into the ring, or stepping out into the stream? Meanwhile, millions are dying and going to hell. Do you think it matters very much to them whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian? We bemoan what harm to the gospel the tele-evangelists are causing, but do we ever stop and consider what kind of harm we cause, and that without the aid of radio or tv?

“When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Chistianity

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
2 Timothy 2:23-26 (ESV)

 

My Best Man

Published on November 12, 2007 in Church, SBC and blogging. 2 Comments

It was after church last night at Arby’s when my pastor tossed the papers across the table at me. “You’ll find this interesting reading.” he said. With a wry grin he continued: “The first page is a letter sent to me last week, and behind that is the response I fired back the very next day.” The front sheet was a photocopy of a form letter sent to Dear Board of Directors Member, and was from the Arbuckle Baptist Association. What took my breath away was the signature at the bottom: Terry Mott, DOM. Thirty-two years ago he was best man at my wedding. The whole thing suddenly became strangely surreal by the fact that my pastor was not aware of our relationship, and that the letter had been sent to him by mistake, as he had rotated off the board just last year. “No mistake.” He said, “Providence.” What else could a Calvinist say?

The Arbuckle Baptist Association is a sleepy little band of thirty-one SBC churches located in two rural counties in south-central Oklahoma. The counties of Garvin and Murray contain about 40,000 souls between them, and the largest towns in them have populations of about 6,500 and 5,000 respectively. This last month, in their associational meeting, those present and voting at the ABA decided to draft a motion, and send it on to the upcoming (this week) BGCO state convention. The intention of that motion was to “take a public stand against reformed theology.”

As I was gleaning information, Brother Google made it plain to me that there was the beginnings of a feeding frenzy in Bloggsylvania. To be sure, it looks like a juicy story, on the surface. The quick facts I dug up, as you can see, however, clearly show that this isn’t some metro-mega association. And I can assure you Brother Mott does not have horns, one eye in the middle of his head, or even pointed ears. It saddens me to see people imply that someone is not a Christian because he does not hold to the doctrines of Grace, and yet nothing more is known about him, save what is contained in a brief bit of associational business.

I know the man, however. We came to Christ in the same church, in the same way: by means of an altar call. God saves those who are his. It doesn’t really matter whether or not they realize the correct order that regeneration took place in their lives. Although I have not seen or spoken Terry in over two decades, I can confidently say that today he is trusting in the same Blood and Righteousness as I. Never forget that God can draw a straight line in the dirt with a mighty crooked stick.

Shortly after my marriage, Terry and I took very different paths. Terry finished his bachelor’s at Oklahoma Baptist University, and became a cog in the SBC machine. My wife and I, frustrated with the shallow SBC-church life in a state-college town, joined a small, rural, independent, reformed-baptist church, some fifty miles away. For the next quarter-century we quietly raised a family, and grew in grace. The children are all grown and married now, and we have found ourselves, strangely for the last seven years, back in a SBC church. Don’t ask. It’s a long story.

The previous paragraph was so that I could say that I have been to both sides now. My pendulum has done busted out both sides of the clock, so to speak. Right now I am somewhere in the middle. I don’t care how many points you hold to. I just want to know if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you yearn to live like it makes a difference. Yes, the SBC drives me nuts; makes me want to bite nails and spit. Grandchildren and their parents struggling to find God-honoring, Christ-centered churches will make you that way. But I have found enough “Calvinists” who are more interested in expositing the petals of a TULIP than leading men to Christ, that I can partially understand why some men might want to draft an anti-Calvinism motion and send it on up the line.

Let me ask you brothers of the Reformation, when do you cross over and become so much a Calvinist that you cease to be Christian? Though you be a strident five pointer, and have not love, what have ye? Brother Mott is certainly mistaken in his intent, but he is still a brother in Christ. Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to blog about these things. Maybe we should be much quicker to pray to God seeking grace and charity, and strive to find real ways to build bridges, instead of going to another of our party’s confabs with snappy titles like “Building Bridges.” Someone took the time to build a real one to me.

So what about the letter stapled to this mis-sent letter? What did Pastor say? I didn’t get permission to tell. I can tell you that after my pastor made his position plain, he concluded with, not a clenched fist, but an open hand extended out.

ht: Tom Ascoll, Tony Kummer

A New 95: Numbers 1-8

Published on October 31, 2007 in Church, Defining Terms, SBC and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Luther Nailing His 95 ThesesOn this day in 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, an Augustinian monk nailed a piece of paper to the front door of the church. That paper contained ninety-five statements intended for disputation among his colleagues. Martin Luther’s students, however, swiftly copied the arguments written in Latin and translated them into the vernacular German. Thanks to the newly-invented printing press, within a very short time, Luther’s ninety-five theses were all the buzz in every hamlet in Germany. And thus the fuse was lit that eventually exploded into the Protestant reformation.

Many have cried for a new reformation in our day. Many have stated that the need is greater today than it was five centuries ago. In light of the 490th anniversary of the nailing of Luther’s 95 theses, I propose A New 95, aimed at reformation from within and not without, if at all possible possible. It proved impossible in the sixteenth century. Let us pray God’s mercy upon us, that by his spirit it may be possible. I am going to post only a few a week, as I think of them, and how to articulate them. I welcome your suggestions in the comments section. Any serious thesis submitted by you will be considered for future postings. In a few days I will create a static page called A New 95 in which I will add subsequent theses in the future as they are posted.

  1. Let us not merely raise hands of praise during the singing on Sunday. Let us faithfully and lovingly raise the hands of our hearts in praise daily to our God, by how we live among a lost, perishing, and longing people. 1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7
  2. In worship let us learn to sing with our minds as well as our hearts so that the one may inform the other. 1 Corinthians 14:15; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:5
  3. As we sing a wide variety of music in our worship services, let us refrain from referring to one style of music as “praise and worship,” as this implies that all other music styles employed in church somehow do not involve praise and worship.
  4. Protracted church meetings employing a special preacher and music minister do not a revival make. We should be careful not to presume that God’s spirit will blow among us just because we post it on the sign out front. John 3:8; Daniel 4:35
  5. Numbers can be a mighty tool in the hand of the devil. Which is better, a whole barrel of half-rotten apples, or a half barrel of whole apples? Revelation 3:17
  6. Your church’s youth minister is not responsible for the souls of your children; you are. Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 6:7
  7. Is there any reason to believe that a man is a Christian when he never drives like one? Matthew 7:16
  8. When a woman, whether she claims to be a Christian or not, dresses like prostitute she should be considered as such. Proverbs 7:10

Every Verse

Published on July 10, 2007 in Church, Music and SBC. 2 Comments

musicblue.jpg
Even if you aren’t a country-music fan, and I am not particularly, surely you have heard the popular country song by Craig Morgan, “That’s What I Love About Sunday.” Written by Mark Narmore and Adam Dorsey, this song that connects Sunday with faith, hit the top of the country charts back in early 2005. The big story back in 2005 was that this five-week number-one hit was the product of an independent record label, something virtually unheard of. More recently it turns out there is an interesting Southern Baptist connection to this country song as well. One of the co-authors of the lyrics, Adam Dorsey, is currently a seminary student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Louisville, Kentucky. Last week Baptist Press published an article on this songwriter turned seminary student. It is an interesting piece. You should read it.

One devilish little detail keeps nagging at me, though. Nope, it’s not the song, per se. Being a secular song and not a church hymn, I can’t really criticize its watered-down theology. It happens to be a fine, warm-fuzzy song about God-fearin’ living; better than most by Nashville standards. It’s a great song if you don’t expect too much out of it.

I can’t really criticize the Baptist Press piece either. BP did a fine job delivering a wonderful human-interest story, full of patient waiting on God, enormous struggles, with eventual resolution and praise to God for His ultimate goodness.

What has kept me up nights is Adam Dorsey himself. I feel like Hercule Poirot in one of those Agatha Christie mysteries, in which the plot hangs on one little, seemingly insignificant detail that won’t cooperate with the other pieces of evidence in the case.

See if you see what I mean. Look at the words in the second half of the first verse of the song to see what I’m driving at:

That’s what I love about Sunday:
Sing along as the choir sways;
 Every verse of Amazin’ Grace,
An’ then we shake the Preacher’s hand.

Do you see what I mean? I think this Adam Dorsey character is an impostor, maybe trying to hide something. I think the folks at Southern should investigate him. Dr. Moore is a country-music buff. Maybe he should look into the matter. What I mean by all of this is this Dorsey guy can’t be a Southern Baptist. Why do I say this, you ask? Well by the simple deduction that I’ve never been in a Southern Baptist church that ever sang every verse of anything, at least anything that had more than two verses and was written before 1950.

Well, now that I have had my bit of fun, it’s application time.

  1. I am grateful for the Baptist Press article. It’s time we saw more of the same. That kind of article, among other things, informs and makes us acquainted with and better able to pray for those in or preparing to go into the mission field or pastorates. What we don’t need more of from BP are articles on pornography and addiction.
  2. Is there any logical reason why we can’t seem to find a way to sing more than the first, third, and last verses of anything in church? I have a theory, and maybe I will share it with you sometime.

Screwtape #13

Published on March 31, 2007 in Sunday School. 0 Comments

(Editor’s note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our goal is to use this classic fiction by C. S. Lewis is to excite the imaginations of our students to help them see the reality of the spiritual warfare that exists in the Christian walk described in Ephesians 6:12: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)." If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.)

Vocabulary:
asphyxiating: to kill by depriving someone of air.
touchstone: a standard by which something is judged.
palming: to conceal in the hand, usually in order to steal.
irony: to make a point by using the opposite of what you mean.
tedium: boring or lacking any interest.
trumpery: showy but worthless
vermin: wild animals, usually rodents, which are harmful to man.
tripe: literally animal intestines prepared for food, figuratively to signify nonsense or worthless talk.
twopence: a British copper coin of very small value, similiar to a penny.

Lesson:
For quite a number of the previous letters, things have not looked very promising for the new Christian, or the "patient", as Screwtape calls him. It appeares, by Screwtape’s telling, at least, that the demons are making gradual, steady progress, and are very likely to win in the end. Screwtape appears very content to let the situation grind on at a snail’s pace. The best way, in fact, is not to get in a rush and "let sleeping worms lie.", as he says in letter twelve.

Here in letter thirteen, things take a dramatic turn, and Screwtape is not at all happy with his nephew. let’s look at a bit of his opening statement.

The long and the short of it is that you have let the man slip through your fingers. . . .A repentance and renewal of what the other side call "grace" on the scale which you describe is a defeat of the first order. It amounts to a second conversion - and probably on a deeper level than the first.

Obviously this does not square with God’s word. A time of repentance and rewewal, no matter how dramatic, cannot be considered a second conversion, because the God who saves initially also keeps His children from falling away (Romans 8:31-39). I don’t think this is an instance of bad theology on the part of the author; simply a depicting of the bad theology of our tormentor Screwtape.

As a preliminary to detaching him from the Enemy, you wanted to detach him from himself, and had made some progress in doing so. Now, all that is undone.
Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember, always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He means only abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.

Our God is not an impersonal force in the universe. He cares for what he has created. The Bible tells us that He causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on all mankind, even though none of us deserve anything (Matthew 5:45). More than just a general care for His creation, God cares for us individually: Isaiah 40:26, Matthew 6:26, Matthew 10:29-31. God, as He saves us, weans us away from ourselves, giving us the command to be like our Savior (Philippians 2:5-7).

You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favour of the "best" people, the "right" food, the "important" books.

These lines can best be understood in light of peer pressure. Our surroundings, friends, neighbors dictate what is "best" or "right" or "important. We most often get inot trouble when we begin to worry about what others think about our taste in things. Enjoy being who God made you to be, and enjoy the God’s gifts to you and be thankful.

It remains to consider how we can retrieve this disaster. The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance.
The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.

Inactivity is just as useful to the devil as thoughtlessness. Repentance is more than just feeling sorry, it involves a turning away from sin and turning to obedience in God. We are commanded in James to take action with our faith after we hear (James 1:22).

Screwtape Letter #12

Published on March 4, 2007 in Sunday School. 0 Comments

(Editor’s note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our goal is to use this classic fiction by C. S. Lewis is to excite the imaginations of our students to help them see the reality of the spiritual warfare that exists in the Christian walk described in Ephesians 6:12:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).

If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.)

Vocabulary:

  • revocable: Something capable of being canceled.
  • communicant: A person who receives Holy Communion. In the context of Lewis’ book this is in the Anglican church.
  • roistering: The act of enjoying one’s self in a noisy or boisterous way.
  • labyrinth: A complicated irregular network of pathways and passages in which it is difficult to find one’s way.
  • cumulative: increasing or increased in quantity, degree, or force by successive additions

Lesson:

We know that we have introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his obit around the Enemy . . . He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Nothing ever is, and such is the case with a growing coldness to God. This week’s lesson looks at the gradual nature of growing cold towards God.

This dim uneasiness, . . .increases the patient’s reluctance to think about the Enemy.

The more distant one travels from God the harder it is to make the turn and start heading back. It is simply the nature of mankind, kind of like intertia. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:4-10, ESV)

As this condition becomes more fully established, you will be gradually freed from the tiresome business of providing Pleasures as temptations.

Here we see the principle that is so obvious in life. The more we strive to grow in grace, the more we struggle with sin and temptation. When we are not striving, often times we are not so tempted. Dead fish float down stream with no difficulty at all. Those that would swim up stream to the source must press constantly against the flow.

The Christians describe the Enemy as one “without whom Nothing is strong.” And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, . . .

Look at the things that capture your attention, your life. It is not that so much of what we do is evil, but that just about everything we do does not have God as its center.

Murder is no better than cards if cards will do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft under foot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

What a tragic ending to this letter, much like is found in previous letters. There are people all around us in this condition, strolling calmly down the lane toward eternal death and darkness. It reminds one of Jesus warnings about Heaven and Hell, that the way to life is narrow and hard with few finding it, and the way to death and darkness is broad and easy, with many finding it.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13,14, ESV)

I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
(Proverbs 24:30-34, ESV)

Screwtape Letter #11

Published on February 21, 2007 in Sunday School. 0 Comments

(Editor’s note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our goal is to use this classic fiction by C. S. Lewis is to excite the imaginations of our students to help them see the reality of the spiritual warfare that exists in the Christian walk described in Ephesians 6:12. If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.)

Vocabulary:

Flippancy: not showing a serious or respectful attitude.
pretext: a reason given to justify a course of action that is not the real reason.
witticisms: a witty remark, sometimes involving a play on words or some type of humor.
opaque: not able to be seen through, not transparent, but not without some light coming through.
austerity: extreme plainness and simplicity of style or appearance.
incongruity: not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.
lasciviousness: a feeling or revealing of an overt and offensive sexual desire.
tedium: a dry, dreary routine, or a state of dull uniformity.
twits: silly or foolish persons.

Lesson:

All these, as I find from the record office, are thoroughly reliable people; steady, consistent scoffers and worldlings who without any spectacular crimes are progressing quietly and comfortably towards Our Father’s house.

This is how Screwtape describes “the patient’s” new-found friends in the opening lines to letter eleven. Consider how very much this description describes the people in your neighborhood, those you work with, go to school with, and perhaps this describes your friends. In this letter, as in a number of the others previously studied, we see this same allusion to people progressing quietly and comfortably towards hell. As Christians we need to wake up and be aware of what is going on around us. We need to realize that decent though they be, with out the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, there are multitudes around us on this same quiet, comfortable journey to hell. We need to have the attitude of our Lord:

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:4, ESV)

“I divide the causes of human laughter into Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy.” Beginning in the second paragraph Screwtape analyzes laughter, declaring the first two pretty much harmless, for his purposes, that is. The last two he delves into with more interest finding usefulness in the cause of keeping people at a safe distance from knowing and serving the true and living God. In the second paragraph, Screwtape confesses an ignorance as to the source of true joy.

What that real cause is we do not know. Something like it is expressed in much of that detestable art which the humans call Music, and something like it occurs in Heaven - a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us. Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged. Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.

In discussing the Joke Proper - which he explains works as it “turns on sudden perception of incongruity” - Screwtape differentiates between two uses of Jokes or Humour. There is that use which is indecent or bawdy, and then there is that use which is operates as “the all-consoling and (mark this) the all-excusing, grace of life. Hence it is invaluable as a means of destroying shame.” What Screwtape is saying is that one of the ways we excuse our sin is to make light of it. We try to laugh it away, by not treating it and viewing it as God views it. The word of God is full of references to the seriousness of sin, the fact that sin earns death for us all (Romans 6:23), but none should fill the lost with dread like passages that refer to God’s anger with the unrighteous:

God is a righteous judge,and a God who feels indignation every day. (Psalm 7:11, ESV) In the King James: “…angry with the wicked every day.”

Flippancy is regarded by Screwtape as the most useful of all causes of human laughter. Look at how Lewis concludes this letter:

Among flippant people the Joke is always assumed to have been made. No one actually makes it; but every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it. If prolonged the habit of Flippancy builds up around a man the finest armour plating against the Enemy that I know, and it is quite free from the dangers inherent in the other sources of laughter. It is a thousand miles away from joy; it deadens, instead of sharpening, the intellect; and it excites no affection between those who practice it.

The Bible speaks often and harshly in regards to the flippant, which God calls scoffers or the scornful, and is closely associated in scripture with the simple, or uneducated:

“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride (Proverbs 21:24, ESV). See also Prverbs 1:22, Proverbs 3:34, Proverbs 21:24, and Psalm 1.

Silent Lord’s Supper

Published on February 19, 2007 in Worship. 1 Comment

No, Marcel Marceau was not our special guest speaker. Last Sunday nights Lord’s Supper service was totally absent of the human voice. In prior services we were given a brief outline as to how this service would be conducted, so this was all planned in advance and there were really no surprises for anyone. We were guided through the service by a worship folder, listing specific items to pray for and about , as well as the reading of God’s word. There was an ample amount of time allowing for this as well as a number of listed questions for reflection in each section. The pastor and deacons came in at the beginning of the service and sat down on the front row of seats, and toward the end of the service they all stood up and served the congregation the elements of the table, first the bread and then the “wine”.

The service was not totally silent, however. We had a couple of guest musicians who played a huge black marimba at the front of the sanctuary. Some of their offerings were familiar - Amazing Grace and A Mighty Fortress - while many others were not. The natural style of the instrument combined with the selections played aided in the quiet, reflective atmosphere of the service. The musicians played continually throughout the service, even after Pastor Harris and the deacons filed out, until every member had left the sanctuary. Members had been encouraged to stay as long as they liked after the service in order to pray.

This is the first time I have participated in a Lord’s Supper service like this, and I would have to say that, for me anyway, it worked the way it was intended. I found myself thinking more about the work of Christ on the cross, and the great love of God in giving His Son in this manner, which prompted me to worship by giving thanks to God. Other unexpected thoughts also flooded my mind: the needs of the lost around me, where I work and live; and the state of my students in Sunday school. They are all good kids, and I believe that virtually all of them are believers (only God knows), but I long to see a passion in more of them for God’s word and God’s kingdom.

If you would like to know more about a silent Lord’s Supper service, drop me a comment and I will post the entire worship folder that we used. Have a great week.

Screwtape Letter #10

Published on February 9, 2007 in Sunday School. 1 Comment
<i>My Dear Wormwood,</i>
My Dear Wormwood,

(Editor’s note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. These posts are comprised of study and preparation on my part before class, with discussion that occurred during the class being added afterwords. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.)

Vocabulary:
belittling: the act of making someone seem unimportant
vanity: pride in one’s own achievements
exploiting: to make full use of something
urbane: of a person being well refined, well mannered and courteous
mammon: riches, in the sense that it is regarded as an object of worship
bawdy: dealing with sexual matters in a comical way
blasphemy: speaking irreverently or without proper respect in matters relating to God.
priggish: self-righteous, moralistic, holier-than-thou

Lesson:

I was delighted to hear from Triptweeze that your patient has made some very desirable new acquaintances and that you seem to have used this event in a really promising manner.

Very desirable, indeed! Obviously Screwtape doesn’t have the patient’s best interest at heart in this opening statement to letter 10. In this letter we find some of the pitfalls of having non-Christian friends. How is a Christian suppose to navigate in this fallen world? We are told by our Lord to be salt and light (Matthew 5:14-16), and to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). We are also commanded to keep ourselves unstained by the world (James 1:27), and not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). How can we have contact without contamination? After all, we are told that bad company corrupts good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33).

What we have here is a tight-rope act, a walking on the razor’s edge. If we truly love our neighbor as ourselves, then we should long to tell our fellow man about our God and Savior. So how do you befriend those lost whom you work with, go to school with, live next door to? In the course of class discussion, we looked at the following passages:

  • Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV). First of all, we need to be concerned primarily with what God thinks, not man.
  • Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16, ESV). In this passage we learn that we must both study the Bible, so that it will dwell richly; and we must share it freely with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
  • But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14,15, ESV). We must persevere in the faith, using God’s word to remind us of what we believe, the truth of the Gospel.
  • Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2, ESV). The battle is ever and always in the head and the heart. We must, by constant vigilance, strive to take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
  • “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16, ESV). Our purpose while here on earth is to reflect the glory of God in our lives. This means living a careful life for Him, not because it saves us, but because we have been saved and redeemed from every lawless deed (Titus 2:14).

Other passages: 1 Timothy 4, 1 Corinthians 15, the Proverbs.

<i>Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape</i>
Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape

Screwtape Letter #9

Published on February 2, 2007 in Sunday School. 0 Comments
<i>My Dear Wormwood,</i>
My Dear Wormwood,

(Editor’s note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.)

Vocabulary
exploited: to take full advantage of, but in an unfair, selfish way
innocuous: not harmful; perfectly harmless
drab: dull; lacking any quality to invoke interest
perversions: to alter something from its original meaning or use
concomitants: a phenomenon that naturally accompanies or follows something
anodyne: a pain-killing drug or medicine
expansive: free of speech, very willing to talk openly
redolent: strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something
ardours: enthusiasm or passion; (British spelling)
desponding: to become dejected and lose confidence
acquiesce: to accept something reluctantly but without protest
proposition: a statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or opinion
patronising: to treat someone with kindness, but with an obvious air of superiority
antithesis: a contrast or opposition between two things
adolescent: that age or development between a child and an adult

Lesson
Last week in letter eight, Screwtape explains and defines the law of undulation. As we look at letter nine today, Screwtape instructs his nephew on techniques to exploit the “Trough” periods that take place in this undulation of the human soul. He begins letter nine by declaring that these low times “provide excellent opportunity for all sensual temptations, particularly those of sex.“; the reasoning being that, first, his powers of resistance are low, and, secondly because his “whole inner world is drab and cold and empty.” This last reasoning implies that man feels that he has a right constantly to be entertained, constantly to be on an adventure. The problem runs much deeper, as we discover later in this letter.

Screwtape makes an interesting observation about human pleasures: “Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we, are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground.” Paul tells Timothy that God richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and so we must realize that this world is not inherently evil. What makes it evil is what sinful mankind does with it, which is usually make the good things in the world to be our gods, which amounts to idolatry.

In addition to a lowered resistance during these low times, Screwtape points out several other avenues of exploitation. They all have their root in the reoccurring theme of keeping the patient from thinking too much: As always, the first step is to keep knowledge out of his mind. So it doesn’t matter, in the final sense if the low times lead you to despair, or to think that Christianity was just a phase you were going through, or to cause you to accept mediocrity as the norm for living the Christian life. The devil has won the battle from the very start if you fail to use your mind, and the means to grace that involve the mind, such as prayer and meditation and study on the word of God. As is the case in so many of these letters, their aim is to make us use our minds. That is what God’s word is for; to remind us of the promises of God (Acts 2:21, Hebrews 7:25), that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20); of the commands of God, to love Him with all our hearts (Matthew 22:37); to see the story of redemption, especially the price that was paid for our great salvation (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:5-11).

<i>Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape</i>
Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape
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