The Dawkins Letters- my take

I’m usually skeptical when I go to the bookstore and see what some might call ‘parasitic’ books countering some wack, left field thought. Don’t get me wrong- wack, left field thought needs to be countered with truth. It’s just that most times, the responses are weak and don’t cut through the noise enough for me. I like facts, not feelings. Also, the titles drive me crazy. Chosen most times by the publisher and not the writer, some of the book titles I’ve seen are just plain corny. For instance, I was looking for a book that intelligently, biblically and practically rebutted Richard Dawkins’, The God Delusion, which, for some reason, is becoming the atheist bible. Sifting through a myriad of books online, at Kroger, Barnes & Noble I half expected to see titles like, “God’s No Delusion, Mister!” or “Your Mom’s a Delusion” or “The God Delusion Diluted”. Come on, people!!!!!!! Stop writing these na-nanny-boo-boo books that barely address the real facts of the situation. I digress.

Anyway, my search led me to a book by David Robertson called The Dawkins Letters. I’m halfway through it. Literally, chapter six in an eleven chapter book! I’m finding it very informative, down to earth and factual.

Apparently, Robertson, a journalist, debater, letter writer, pastor and author, didn’t set out to write a book, but basically wrote a letter to Dawkins in response to his book upon first reading it. This letter was then unexpectedly published by Dawkins on his site, to which the response was a mix of scorn, cursing, derision and apathy, a common response that has to this point typified the younger, modern atheist movement. So, Robertson decided to write Dawkins a letter corresponding to each chapter of his anti-God diatribe. Each chapter thus far in my reading has adequately given intelligent, factual and sometimes witty responses to the claims Dawkins makes in his book. The myths of higher consciousness, godless beauty, the science/religion conflict, the uncreated universe, the immoral Bible and the inherent evil of religion and more are covered here. So here you have a systematic, blow by blow argument against some of the absurd claims of Richard Dawkins’ book. Facts. I like ‘em!

I’m enjoying the book and it’s a fairly easy read. I can highly recommend it, only 6 chapters into it! Here’s a review of The Dawkins Letters, among others, that I found today: http://www.atheistdelusion.net/books.php. If you come across any other well written, thought-provoking books on this subject, I’d love to know about them.

Sola scriptura!

~David

 

American Pelagianism, Finney’s Legacy

I am an avid listener to the White Horse Inn. I stumbled upon Michael Horton as a result of a Google search I performed about a year ago regarding something theological, I’m sure. Anyway, I signed up to get the newsletter, lived with that for a while, then decided to subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, which I’ve found to be an invaluable resource. Then I began downloading the weekly White Horse Inn podcast and have gleaned so much from it.

Dr. Michael Horton (Westminster Seminary California) heads up both WHI and MR magazine. This year’s theme has been on “Christless Christianity.” I have to tell you- this has been a very educational year for me.

If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I’m reformed in my theology. This simply means that I adhere to the doctrines of grace (TULIP) taught in scripture regarding man’s salvation and God’s monergistic work of regeneration and subsequent salvation, apart from any human involvement. Dr. Horton definitely falls into the category of Reformed and I’ve learned a great deal from the magazine and from the podcasts. And, sadly, I’ve realized just how Pelagian America has become. Last week’s podcast from the White Horse Inn was incredible and laid it out; bare-bones. I’m sickened at how the church as has allowed the Pelagian heresy to creep back in! (Thanks in part to Charles G. Finney) Anyway, if you can, download the podcast at the WHI website via OnePlace.com.  If you can’t, I’ve pasted Dr. Horton’s commentary for last week’s podcast below. Are you American? Do you claim to be a Christian? Then take heed!

_____________________________________________

July 13, 2008 Commentary:
American Pelagianism

Hello and welcome to another edition of the White Horse Inn, we are continuing our series “Christless Christianity.” As we look around today we listen to a lot of sermons in mainline churches, in conservative Evangelical churches, in Reformed churches, in Lutheran Churches, in Baptist churches, really across the board regardless of what people believe on paper, this message of self-help–which really is Pelagianism at its heart-is what we find really quite pervasive and it has its roots in our own desire to be self-saviors. It is the natural heresy of the human heart. Whenever we are sort of lax in explicitly teaching the Gospel and the doctrines of the faith we will always go back to our default setting which is Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism.

We did that in American religious history as well and in a lot of ways today’s Protestantism, whether it is Liberal or Fundamentalist, came from the legacy of Charles Granderson Finney. Of course he wasn’t the only one, but he was a very important figure in the history of American Evangelicalism; ever since the Second Great Awakening, especially evident in the message and methods of evangelist Charles Finney, American Protestantism has been more Pelagian than Arminian, in fact Arminian theologian Roger Olson made just that point in one of his books and on this program. Denying original sin, Finney asserted that we are only guilty and corrupt when we choose to sin, Christ’s work on the cross couldn’t have paid our debt but could only serve as a moral example and influence to persuade us to repent and be obedient. “If he had obeyed the Law as our substitute then why should our own return to personal obedience be insisted upon as a sine qua non of our salvation?” So Finney goes on to write, “the atonement is simply an incentive to virtue,” rejecting the view that “the atonement is a literal payment of a debt” Finney can only concede it is “true that the atonement of itself does not secure the salvation of anyone.” Justification by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness Finney says, “is not only absurd, but undermines all motivation for personal holiness. The new birth is not a divine gift, but the result of a rational choice to turn from sin to obedience.” In fact, his most famous sermon was “Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts.” Christians can perfectly obey God in this life if they choose and only in this way are they justified. In fact, he adds, “Full present obedience is a condition of justification. No one can be justified while sin, any degree of sin, remains in him.”

Finney declared concerning the Reformation formula “simultaneously justified and sinful,” “this error has slain more souls I fear than all the Universalism that ever cursed the world. For whenever a Christian sins he comes under condemnation and must repent and do his first works or be lost. As I have already said,” he writes “there can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to Law. The doctrine of an imputed righteousness or that Christ’s obedience to the Law was credited as our obedience is founded on a most false and nonsensical assumption. For Christ’s righteousness could do more than justify himself, it could never be imputed to us. It was naturally impossible, then, for him then to obey in our behalf. Representing the atonement as the ground of the sinner’s justification has been a sad occasion of stumbling for many.” Referring to the framers of the Westminster Confession of Faith and their view of an imputed righteousness Finney writes, “If this is not antinomianism then I don’t know what is.”

Folks, this is exactly the heresy that we have identified from the church councils of the fifth and sixth centuries. It is remarkable that the catholic church in fifth and sixth centuries recognized these very positions as outside the bounds of the Christian faith, while Billy Graham can say of Charles Finney that he was the greatest evangelist since the Apostle Paul. And this is a concern that is hardly limited to a few grumpy Calvinists and Lutherans. “Self salvation is the goal of much of our preaching,” complains United Methodist Bishop William Willimon and he says in this respect, “we are heirs of Charles G. Finney who thought that conversion was not a miracle, but a purely philosophical result of the right use of constituted means. We have forgotten,” says Willimon, “that there was once a time when evangelists were forced to defend their new measures for revivals; that there was once a time when preachers had to defend their preoccupation with the listener response to their Calvinist detractors who thought the Gospel was more important to listeners. I am here arguing that revivals are miraculous, that the Gospel is so odd, so against the grain of our natural inclinations, and the infatuations of our culture that nothing less than a miracle is required in order for there to be a true hearing. My position is therefore, closer to that of Calvinist Jonathan Edwards than to the position of Charles Finney. Nevertheless,” Willimon continues, “the homiletical future, alas, lay with Finney rather than Edwards. Leading to the Evangelical Church marketing guru George Barna who writes, ‘Jesus was a communication specialist. He communicated his message in diverse ways and with results that would be a credit to modern advertising and marketing agencies. He promoted his product in the most efficient way possible by communicating with the hot prospects. He understood his product thoroughly, developed an unparalleled distribution system, advanced a method of promotion that has penetrated every continent and offered his product at a price that is within the grasp of every consumer.’ Alas,” adds Willimon, “most evangelistic preaching I know about is an effort to drag people even deeper into their subjectivity rather than an attempt to rescue them from it. Our real need whether we feel it or not,” he says, “is that we systematically distort and ignore the truth. That’s why we need an external word. So in a sense we don’t discover the Gospel, it discovers us. You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Willimon concludes, “the story is euangelion ‘good news’ because it is not about me it’s about grace. Yet it’s also ‘news’ because it is not common knowledge, not what nine out of ten average Americans already know. Gospel doesn’t come naturally, it comes as Jesus.”

 

Happy Birthday, America!!

God Bless America

Words and music by Irving Berlin
© Copyright Assigned to the Trustees of the God Bless America Fund

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

_________________________________________________

Taking time today to thank God for allowing us to live in a free country.  May we never forget our Christian heritage.

~DJ

 

Hatred Beyond My Expectations- The Fallen Nature of Man

My post last week on funny-man and outspoken atheist George Carlin’s death and subsequent conversion to the ranks of ‘those who now believe in God’ has been the most read of any of my posts this year. I’ve come to a few conclusions based on who I’ve um…. ‘chatted’ with and some comments I’ve moderated that have been so foul-mouthed and anti-God that I didn’t even allow the people the pleasure of airing their satanic comments on my blog.

It seems to me that once again, scripture is true when it says:

Matthew 10:22
…and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:9
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.

Mark 13:13
And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Luke 21:17
You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.

John 15:18
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

John 15:24
If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

John 15:25
But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Now, if you don’t agree with someone, that’s fine. I probably disagree with quite a few people even among my Christian brothers about theology, politics, how they raise their kids or whatever. It seems to me, however, that the root of this particular disagreement with my assessment of an atheist’s ultimate future is not based solely on the beliefs of those posting. No. There is something deeper here; something more spiritual in nature. There is an underlying hatred of God himself. There is an underlying hatred of even the mention of the NAME of JESUS CHRIST! Why is this? There isn’t even this much hatred when someone mentions the names Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Buddha, Vishnu, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Benny Hinn, Muhammad or even Hitler. Why is this? I believe it’s because man’s totally depraved nature (how we are before regeneration) is being allowed to run its course according to God’s ultimate plan. God hasn’t lost control of anything and isn’t hurt by name-calling, spitting and verbal abuse. As Philippians 2: 10, 11 state, “…so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” One day, every human will bow down and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I just wish I could get it through the thick skulls of some of my new ‘friends’.

However, the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans, chapter 3: 10-18:

“…as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

You see, THIS is how the Bible describes the nature of man. This is why I argue in my writings that according to scripture, man on his own WILL NEVER SEEK GOD. We are, by nature, CHILDREN OF WRATH. It takes a regeneration of the Holy Spirit before one is even CAPABLE of seeking God.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2:

2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

There exists a hatred within the very human nature toward the Creator God. As time draws to a close, this hatred gets stronger. This is what has shown itself to me this week as I duked it out with people that are probably very intelligent, but have absolutely no interest in the things of God because in their minds, He doesn’t exist. Human nature tells you He doesn’t exist. Satan tells you He doesn’t exist. We don’t WANT him to exist prior to regeneration because that would mean we’re accountable to someone, wouldn’t it? With no God in the picture, we’re golden, right?! No God, no worries!! Woo hoo!

This exercise has been very educational and has done nothing but reinforce my gratefulness to a God who, though I was dead in my sin, sought me out, gave me new life and secured my destiny via the cross of Christ!!!! I did nothing; I can’t boast. He did everything!!

Now, TO MY NEW ATHEIST ‘FRIENDS’: a verse from the “5000 year old mythical fairytale old testament book of Job”:

Job 32:8
But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

You’ll never get it until you get IT. Get it? I’ll pray you do one day.

Sola scriptura, Sola fide, Sola gratia, Solus Christus and Soli Deo Gloria!!!

~David

 

The Righteous Will Never Be Moved!

I read this today and thought it would be a great ending to the week. So instead of my (semi) regular 30 Seconds of Hope Friday post, please read this short Psalm. What truth!!

Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!

2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.

4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.

6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.

7 He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.

10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!

Great way to end the week!! Have a great weekend!

~David

 

Awesome Video- God Changes Lives!!!

Just came across this video on YouTube called Cardboard Testimonies. Wow! I’m in tears! Contrast this with my last post.

Testimonies aren’t the gospel, but they sure are the result of the gospel!! I love testimonies because they are real life evidence of a loving God who relentlessly pursues His own until they CANNOT resist Him any longer. Without God’s intervention in our lives, we would run as fast and as furiously as we could away from Him, deluding ourselves into believing He doesn’t exist; hating Him for His holiness; cursing His name. Thank God He pursues His own!!!

What are some of your stories? How has God changed your life? What evidence have you seen in your own life story that would give glory to God? Has He freed you? Feel free to post here!

” God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:9

Soli Deo Gloria,

David

 

:::NEWSFLASH::: George Carlin, Atheist No More!!!

Today’s news of George Carlin’s death saddens me.

Was I a fan? No. I believe George’s beligerence against God overshadowed his crude humor. However, I did find myself praying for George’s salvation from time to time; not everyday, but as the Lord brought him to mind via TV, radio, the internet, etc. I was always dismayed that a man of such talent found it necessary to shake his fist in the face of the One who gave it to him. This is a case study in man’s total depravity- unwilling and unable to choose God, rejecting Him at every turn in life.

I did some poking around the web and found this list of other celebrities that claim to be atheist. “Agnostic” and “ambiguous” listings are also found there, but the atheist list is longer. Here, you can click on your celeb of choice to verify something they’ve said, interview they’ve given, etc. that indicated they have fallen victim to atheism. (Not completely sure about the validity of the list, but I’m taking it at face value for now.) If you’re so inclined, why not take some time today to pray for a few of these misguided people? Some on the list would surprise you, others will not. Will God show these people grace before it’s too late? Will God choose to save some of them? Perhaps! We can pray that way! Their salvation is not up to any one person; it’s up to God. It’s not up to me save them, only to pray for their salvation and share the Gospel when possible.

Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.”

Also, read Romans 1:18-32. Paul has quite a bit to say about those that have foolishly placed themselves against God. (…Claiming to be wise, they became fools…)

One thing I know is that you can be an atheist in life, but not in death! As of June 22, 2008, George Carlin is still very much alive, and you can bet the farm he’s no atheist!! I’ll post more on atheism in general in a later post. Today, my thoughts and yes, my prayers, are with his family and friends. I’m sure he will be missed by those who loved him.

Sola Fide,

David

 

Because he’s black??

I heard some ‘on-the-street’ interviews last week by a reporter who was asking random folks who they were voting for (or leaning toward) and why. Here’s the deal… I can’t remember who or where I heard this, so I can’t verify… HOWEVER… I did hear it on Sirius radio… nevertheless… Some were leaning toward McCain for various reasons, some toward Obama for reasons that made no sense to me. The one reason that I heard that really disgusted me was, “I guess ‘cuz he’s black, y’know?” WHAT!!??!?

I also came across this article on Yahoo! about black conservatives “having a hard time voting against him in November” mainly because of his color. As an American, this scares me. Nevermind Obama’s anti-American socialist ideology. Nevermind the fact he’s only logged 143 days as a US Senator and expects us to give him a pass to fill the shoes of Ronald Reagan, FDR, Lincoln and JFK. By gosh, people want him because he’s black! Does this make any sense? If this were the case, why didn’t you people vote for Alan Keyes in the last two elections??? He’s more black than Obama!! Why? Because Keyes is conservative. (If Keyes were running this year, I’d be in his corner, for the record!)

Though it would be easy, I’m not going to waste my blog space about this because I believe the future of this country is in God’s hands, but how can you base your vote on something as superficial as skin color? What happened to issues? What happened to looking at someone’s voting record? What about researching each candidate to see where he is on immigration, abortion, the war, spending, fiscal issues, governmental expansionism, the free market entrepreneurial spirit of this nation, energy and taxes. Can he lead our armed forces? Has he served in the military? All this rushes through my mind before I even see a man’s (or a woman’s, for that matter) color.

Folks, race should not be an issue in this election! The wellbeing of our once-great nation is at stake. That’s not to say some will not make it about race this election season. If anything is said derogatorily of Barry Obama, you can bet the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world will be out in force crying foul. This will inevitably happen, but the core of this election is going to be the issues: mainly energy, the War on Terror and the economy. Mark my words. In the end, experience and leadership will prevail, not color!

Enjoy the weekend! (and think about your future, America!)

David

 

Talking to the Carpet

If you will, allow me to share something that I hold dear to this day. It is a copy of an article written by my dad in 1996. One of his many hats is Director for a Christian counseling center that he began in the early 1980’s. Each month, there is a newsletter. Normally, his portion of the newsletter deals with current issues facing families, stats, etc. However, in June of 1996, he wrote the following article. I hope you enjoy it.

Dear Friend:

My monthly contribution to this newsletter usually deals with issues which are critical to the Christian community and the family. But as Father’s Day approaches, I trust you will allow me liberty to share some personal, fatherly thoughts.

I was talking to my carpet the other day. I know that may sound strange, but we were finally replacing our very old carpet with new, and rolls of our old carpet were laying in the yard ready to be discarded. That carpet had long outlived its normal usefulness, but it had served us well. it should have been replaced several years ago, but other family needs took priority. [We] chose many years ago to do our best to meet the needs of our children as they developed, so we had accepted only modest raises in our standard of living through those demanding years. Many parents today seem to lose sight of the importance of investing in their marriage and their children, choosing instead to take a materialistic approach to child rearing. But we realized we would have our children for only a brief moment, so some needs, such as carpet, could wait.

As I looked at the carpet that had covered the living and dining areas, I remembered the fun we had around the Christmas trees, and the building of long, plastic race tracks for racing small cars. I recalled how many times we would sit with our small children in a circle listening to fun songs about the fruit of the Spirit, have devotionals and hold hands praying. I also remember how many times that carpet burned my knees as I rode both of our children on my back to cheerful “giddy-ups.” The dozens of family birthdays and other celebrations were also embedded in that carpet. I patted the old den carpet and thought of our babies crawling, and of our playing games and wrestling with them as they became older. Both our our children knelt on that old den carpet to receive Christ. I remember the times, when in the midst of a mutual crisis in our ministries, we knelt there with friends seeking God’s leadership. I stroked the children’s thick bedroom carpet, worn thin from many days of play and laughter. I recalled the many times we stood or knelt beside our children to listen to their prayers and to pray for them. That carpet experienced the normal “thrills of victory” as well as the “agonies of defeat” that accompany the turmoil of teenage years.

Yes, that carpet served a family. It played an important role in our commitment to build our marriage and raise our children. Our “family project” took work and sacrifice over an extended period of time…but isn’t that what love does? Yes, that old carpet had been an important part of our family life for many years. To toss it out as so much as garbage just didn’t seem right. So I talked to it briefly and expressed thanks to our Father for seeing us through a really great family life.

Incidentally, our children are grown now. Our son lives in Nashville [...] Our daughter [...] Both are seeking to serve the Lord, and assure their mother and me that they plan to have the type of committed family in which they were raised. It they choose to follow our footsteps, they will need some fine, long-lasting carpet.

Pray for your family and the thousands of families in our city and county. There is tremendous turmoil in families, and it simply isn’t necessary…nor is it the way God planned it. [...]

————————————————

That was written 12 years ago this month and I’ve kept a copy of this with me ever since. There’s got to be a song in there somewhere, right?! But this Father’s Day week, I wanted to share this small window into my life growing up. In our home, time was cherished, God was central and everyone was loved. I pray that my kids can look back and say the same.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Happy Father’s Day, all you faithful, Christian dads out there!

Soli deo Gloria!

David

 

Six Ways to Hinder Your Prayers (My take)

I came across a post today by Tim Challies concerning prayer. He presents six ways that Christians can hinder our prayers:

1. Selfish motives (James 4:3)

2. Turning away from scripture (Proverbs 28:9)

3. Unforgiving heart (Mark 11:25)

4. Family discord (1 Peter 3:7)

5. Unconfessed sin (Psalm 66:18 )

6. Doubt (James 1:5-7)

You can read the full post <<<HERE>>>. I thought this post was especially appropriate considering the upcoming “ONE PRAYER” campaign sponsored by LifeChurch.tv, in which over 1,000 participating churches will come together for four weeks to, among other things, (according to the website), “Teach our people to fast, pray, and seek God in concert with thousands of other believers.”

God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Many times we Christians skip the humbleness, we harbor sin, we don’t truly seek God’s face, and we pray out of selfish motives. Yet we expect great things from God?

My bottom line is this. I’m glad the One Prayer campaign is being launched in June. I’d hope and pray that some of the more ’shallow’ churches involved can be taken into deeper spiritual and biblical waters because of it. If the six points Tim Challies makes are heeded during this campaign, we could see some amazing things!

Soli Deo Gloria!

~David