Revival in the air

Yesterday, a cousin from California sent us the link to an article in time.com dated 17 April 2009. It was called The New Calvinism by David Van Biema.

The article speaks of Calvinism becoming popular again and describes it thus:

“Calvinism . . . offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don’t have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by “glorifying” him.”

As committed Christians, the Lord Jesus has been our Master and Saviour and a faithful Guide for many many years. About five years ago this same cousin from California introduced us to Calvinism. At first we did not think much of it, but it grew on us and delighted us more and more. Today we love the reformed doctrines as well as the rich background and history. I am sure that many non Calvanists would also love this teaching if given the kind of gracious opportunity that we were given.

We have since had the privilege of helping many others from our old church, Evangelical Bible Assembly (EBA) in India, including their pastor, my father, who now lives with us in New Zealand, to understand this doctrine. So we have been feeling that we are experiencing a revival of sorts as far as the EBA family is concerned.

But this article seems to describe a much bigger revival, although it does not use the word ‘revival’. It must be big if the secular press comments on it. Revivals are good for us and bad for us.

They are good because the right preachers are not fighting hard to be heard. It is always the easy to do the popular thing. For a change it suddenly becomes easy to do what God wants us to do.

But there is another side that we have to watch out for. From what I have experienced of revivals, with revivals, come conversions on a much larger scale, and with this larger scale come many conversions that are not genuine. It is easy to acquire jargons, prayers, songs, and postures when revival is in the air without any accompanying change of heart. Associations of light with darkness are not that easy to prevent anymore.

Sadly, this article makes subtle mention of the lack of unity among Calvinists. Just this morning Philip was telling me about the polarisation of people over a particular issue that is evident in the comments made in Tim Challies’ post Missing the Forest for all the Trees. When men of God disagree, we need patient and godly people who wait on the Lord for help, without making evocative remarks.

The article ends with a thought-provoking comment:

“Calvin’s 500th birthday will be this July. It will be interesting to see whether Calvin’s latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country’s infancy.”

That they may be one

I have a recently-found sister in the Lord. Her name is Laurie and she has a blog called Beauty from Ashes.

I can relate to the longing and prayer behind her recent post ‘Do you love God,‘ where she talks about the duty of loving one’s brother and sister in the church, and about how this is not easy. She conludes her post with the following committments.

“First, I will strive not to disrupt the unity of the individual church of which I am a member. This means that I will endeavor never to grumble to my leaders nor join with other members who might disparage them behind their backs (Heb. 13:17). I will submit to the elders in every decision until the day they deny the Gospel itself, which, Lord willing, shall never happen. In other words, I will not make my opinions the standard by which I evaluate my church.”

“Second, I will maintain contact with my Christian friends who do not attend my church….May I never be unconcerned with how God is moving in other parts of the body of Christ.”

“Third, I will seek to understand the nonessential doctrines found in other traditions in order that I might respect them and not dismiss them outright. If all believers did this, our thoughts and discussions would be more civil. We might even learn from each other and find a new consensus on issues that might promote visible unity.”

“My fourth commitment is to pray for peace and purity of the church. My heart is not yet as broken as it should be over the disunity of the church, and only the Holy Spirit can make me long truly and deeply for Christians to be one again. Without such longing, I will not be motivated to work for unity of the church.”

I would like to commit my heart to these things as well. May my heart and yours long for the love and unity in the church which will display the gospel of Christ to the world.

I would like to add some more to the list:

I will endevour to recognise the practices of my church that fall under the nonessentials category. So that we may not ever bind on others or teach as divine doctrine what is but the mere precept of man. I will try to distinguish between application/practice (that came from the minds of godly, albeit fallible, men) and the underlying Biblical doctrine (that came from the immutable word of God).

I will endevour to impress upon my forgetful and ungrateful heart the fact that I have been forgiven much (and continue to be forgiven much) and must therefore be gracious and patient with those who appear to me to lack in their understanding in some areas.

I will endevour to use terms like Calvinist, Arminian, Antinomian, Sabbatarian, Anti-sabbatarian, Hyper-calvinist, Dispensationalist, and Covenantalist only for purposes of understanding theological concepts but not to label or look down on any group consisting also of persons for whom the Lord Jesus shed His blood.

How does one get into a relationship with Jesus?

Very few tapes have we enjoyed together as a family as much as this one. It’s called Irreconcilable Differences, that features host John Ankerberg and a panel comprising John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Kennedy.

The issue discussed is a document that sets out with the noble aim of bringing Roman Catholics and Evangelicals together, but falls short because it overlooks and glosses over vital differences in the doctrines of salvation of both communions, resulting in implicitly compromising the five solas, so precious to us.

• Sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)
• Sola fide (“by faith alone”)
• Sola gratia (“by grace alone”)
• Solus Christus (“Christ alone”)
• Soli Deo gloria (“glory to God alone”)

I have many close Roman Catholic friends; how wonderful it would be to fellowship together. But I now know that it is not as simple as saying: Let’s forget our differences and get together. Coming together is going to have to involve much study of the Bible, church history and other material, much prayer, courage, and brutal honesty.

Enoch pleased God

[Zac Poonen pastors the Christian Fellowship Church in Bangalore, which is non-cessasionist, although they do not call themselves Pentecostals or Charismatics. To my “Reformed” friends, I might describe him as being a preacher like Tozer. He is highly talented and had he desired the recognition of the world, he would have had it offered to him on a platter; instead he chose another life—of speaking forth what he believed to be the truth. Uncle Zac, as I call him, and his wife Aunty Annie, will always have a special place in my heart because, although I cannot be sure of when the Spirit of God began His work in my life, I knew I was a child of God during the two years we spent in this church, and as a child of 9, I listened very carefully.]

Let Your Ambition be to “Please God”

Zac Poonen

In just three words the Holy Spirit records the testimony of Enoch’s life: “He pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). There is no mention of wealth amassed or of earthly honours obtained. There is no record of sermons preached or of good deeds done, nor even of the souls led to God through his witness. Neither are we told how popular or famous he became. No, instead of all this his life is summed up in that one tense sentence, “He pleased God.” That is all, and that is enough. It is indeed the only thing that will have value in eternity. The Bible tells us that God created all things “for his pleasure” (Rev. 4:11). It follows therefore that the measure in which we please God is the true measure of the effectiveness of our lives. In no other way is the cost of our redemption justified. Our very existence on earth is meaningless if God is not thereby glorified.

Christmas–to celebrate or not

A young brother from EBA, the independent church that my father GB pastors, was taken aback when he realised that John Piper celebrates Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas. I wish to answer him in such a way that he is encouraged and God is glorified.

I have so much to say on this matter, and my mind is jammed up like a typewriter when you press several keys all at once. Let me start by stating the bad news and the good news.

The bad news is that:

• the devil, let’s give him his due, has succeeded in bringing in the most convolutely interwoven confusions into the kingdom of God on earth, and
• over the ages, we Christians have messed up every single doctrine that was ours to preach or practice, every single one.

The good news is that

• God has done everything right to save those whom He has set apart for Himself, and
• Satan cannot thwart the purposes of God; the gates of Hades will not prevail over the true church of God.

So we can approach any subject of difficulty with boldness and joy.

The world celebrates Christmas as a holiday to spend with family. It is a time of much commercial activity. Christmas balls, alcohol, gifts, family, Santa clause, Christmas trees, decorations, snow, carols, music, laughter, feasts, mistletoe, heartache, nostalgia, excitement, and Christmas cards; some of these things are good. In south India, the list must include late-night carol singing, achu-muruku, Kanchipuram silk, kal-kals, plum cake, lighted cardboard stars hanging outside houses and on trees, and biriyani. From what I remember of Christmas in Delhi, Chrysanthemums play a big part. In Auckland, Christmas in The Park is a big event, and Christmas parades on the streets are not uncommon. Somewhere in all this commotion, some remember that Jesus, the God of the Christians, was born in Bethlehem in a stable and laid in a manger.

Christians deal with Christmas in one of the following ways:

a. Participating in worldly x-mas celebrations in every way like their non Christian counterparts, attending balls and enjoying drinks with their mates and so on.

b. Very devoutly, for the most part, remembering the nativity part of the redemption story– how God came to live among us and died to redeem us.

c. Celebrating it as a cultural occasion to spend with family. Christmas brings with it many family traditions, memories, feelings of nostalgia, etc.

d. Lamenting the terrible affront the celebration of Christmas has become to the name of Christ. Sometimes using this as an occasion to shake traditional people to take a look at their commitment to the Lord.

e. Realising the great potential this season affords for evangelisation and sharing the gospel with non Christian friends.

Godly people have taken positions b, c, d, or e or a combination of these.

Below are the views of my father GB, John MacArthur, and John Piper. All these men think differently and they all want to do what brings glory to the Lord.

Welcome

Hi,
Welcome to my blog. My name is Nahomi.

I am Philip’s wife and mother of three children. I work outside the home as well, writing user manuals and online Help for software applications.

Studying the Bible is our number 1 passion.

Today we worship with a Reformed Baptist Church in Auckland. But over the years, we have been a part of many denominations.

We had a yearning to be part of a church where the Bible was preached faithfully. We were not uncommitted nomads but determined settlers. But for reasons beyond our control (usually a job transfer), we have had to pack our bags and move. Now looking back, we cannot find even one stop as having been useless. Everywhere we went, we immersed ourselves in the study of the word of God from the perspective of the church in which we found ourselves.

Being introduced to Reformed theology is one of the best things that has happened to us. It has allowed the word to throw light into many a dark crevice in our understanding. But because of our background, I suspect that we are able to delight in it more than some who have grown up in its shade. We are also able to enjoy and understand God’s people from non-reformed circles as well.

We do not expect to find a church under the sun that is perfect in theology and practice in every way. It is true that in choosing a local church, one must exercise utmost care with much prayer, looking for a church where the Spirit of God is at work, where the teaching is sound. As far as our experience goes, every such church has blind spots too. God knows, we ourselves are far from perfect in our understanding.

We yearn for the day when all of God’s people will stand together, without these labels, before the Lamb who purchased us at Calvary.

He (Jesus). . . says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
(Rev 22:20-21)