Around The Web-June 22, 2018

Have You Become What You Worship?: An interview with G.K. Beale

Differences Between the Qur’an and the Bible: An Introduction by Eric Davis

8 Habits of the Excellent Bible Teacher by Andrew Hess

If same-sex attraction is sinful, then what? by Denny Burk

6 Attitudes We Need When Studying the Bible by Erik Thoennes

Nate Pickowicz– Directions for a Candidate of the Ministry (The American Puritans Series) (Volume 2) from Equipping You In Grace

Does God Suffer? from Credo

H.B. Charles, Jr explains the importance of the Lord's Supper and Baptism

God Satisfies, Idols Are Stupid

You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

The first commandment does away with atheism on one hand and pantheism or polytheism on the other. It assumes that there is one true God and no other. It also addresses the deep problem of the human heart: idolatry.

Everyone is a worshiper of someone or something. Idolatry is putting someone or something else in the place of God. Idolatry is exchanging the glory of the Creator for the creation, leading to a life of ignorance and moral corruption (Rom 1:18-25). Idols are not just on pagan altars but in the hearts of people (Ezek 14; Gal 5:19-20).

We must see our idols for what they are: they are stupid! After seeing this, we must crush them in repentance and turn to the living God instead. Idols will not satisfy. Only God will satisfy the human heart. We need to properly assess created things. Enjoy creation, steward creation, but worship the Creator!

What attribute of God comes to mind in the first command? Consider the command stated positively: “I shall be your only God.” What does this teach? It teaches that our God is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with another.

Adapted from Exalting Jesus in Exodus by Tony Merida

God Must Be The Priority

You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

To have a god, according to the sixteenth-century reformer Martin Luther, is “to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. . . . You lay hold of God when your heart grasps him and clings to him.” And so, this first command tells us that, because God is our redeemer and because we are in relationship with him, we should grasp and cling to no one else besides the Lord. No other love should take priority over him; no other love should be placed alongside or substituted for him. No other love should be set in confrontation with the Lord in a test or trial. Because we are in relationship with God through his redeeming work, we are called to an exclusive devotion to and a thorough delight in him.

Adapted from the Gospel Transformation Bible

Book Review: Idols of the Heart by Elyse M Fitzpatrick

John Calvin once said that the human heart is an idol factory and he is correct. We can make an idol out of anything and anyone. In fact, idolatry was the sin that started the Fall. When Adam and Eve looked at the fruit, they found it more appealing than God Himself.

Throughout the Bible, we see what idolatry has done to the people of God. It has caused political chaos and even turmoil in the church. We also see idolatry in our day and time especially this year when we are in a presidential election.

Elyse Fitzpatrick has written a book to help our fight the idols we have created called, Idols of the Heart. Fitzpatrick takes Biblical examples of people committing idolatry and the effect it has on them. She looks at the root of the problem. Where does idolatry come from? Yes, it does come from the heart, but it also comes from our lack of love for God. The only way for us to combat idolatry is to seek assistance from the Holy Spirit.

Fitzpatrick continues on to show her readers that God should be the One we long for. God is the One who our hearts adore, not something or someone who can do absolutely nothing for us. She also teaches how we can crush our idols and delight in God alone.

Fitzpatrick is a well-known Christian counselor that many pastors recommend her books to people. I am delighted to recommend this book to all Christians as well.

Thanks PRP Books for letting me review this book.

Who or What Is Your Functional Savior?

Athletes and politicians have served in the mind's people as functional saviors. What is sad is that people will be disappointed in them one way or the other. For example, a fan in Houston, TX bought a Matt Schaub (Houston Texans' quarterback) jersey, which is about $200.00, then proceeds to set it fire. Reason is due to Schaub's performance this past Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Two days later, our government officially shut down due to republicans and democrats not coming to an agreement on funding itself.

Quarterbacks and politicians serves as a reminder that people who put their faith in will fail us. As fun as football is to watch, when you give all of your devotion to a single player or team you are due for disappointment. Just ask any die hard Texas Ranger or Dallas Cowboy fan. When players or teams do bad we tend to forsake them because they are not doing what we think they should do. Team does great stadium is filled. When they are not doing great, attendance drops.

Politicians serve as functional saviors because we long for someone to come and save us from whatever the other guy is for. Every four years, people are awaiting a person to take over the White House and make this country great. I remember being in a conversation about the possibility of Rick Perry running for president when the next election takes place. Someone said that he might be the answer to our prayers of America turning back to God. So people are putting their faith in a man that is only in office for four years that will turn this country around. Have we not learned that our people are not perfect and they will let you down.

Athletes and Politicians are not the only functional saviors people might have. So how can you identify your functional savior? Here are 12 fill in the blank statements for you to answer:

1. I am preoccupied with ________.

2. If only ________, then I would be happy.

3. I get my sense of significance from ________.

4. I would protect and preserve ________ at any cost.

5. I fear losing ________.

6. The thing that gives me greatest pleasure is ________.

7. When I lose ________, I get angry, resentful, frustrated, anxious, or depressed.

8. For me, life depends on ________.

9. The thing I value more than anything in the world is ________.

10. When I daydream, my mind goes to________.

11. The best thing I can think of is ________.

12. The thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning is ________.
Source: 12 Steps to Identifying Your Functional Saviors

Book Review: Gods At War by Kyle Idleman

Idolatry has been defined as anything or anyone who has taken the place of God. There have not been that many books dealing with the issue of idolatry outside the Bible. Kyle Idleman's latest book, Gods At War is exactly what it deals with. However many people today think idolatry is not an issue dealt with in today's times. Idleman wrote:

Idolatry seems so primitive. So irrelevant. Is a book on idolatry even necessary? Why not a book about rain dancing and witch doctors?

And yet idolatry is the number one issue in the Bible, and that should raise caution signals for us. Idolatry comes into every book. More than fifty of the laws in the first five books are aimed at this issue. In all of Judaism, it was one of only four sins to which the death penalty was attached (pg 11).

This book is divided into four parts. The first part is more of an introductory to the sin of idolatry. The next three parts are interconnected because they deal with an idol that all of us have either dealt with or are dealing with now, which are symbolized as temples we give sacrifices to. The second part is about the temple of pleasure with the gods of food, sex, and entertainment. The third part is the temple of power dealing with the gods of success, money, and achievement. Finally, we have the temple of love with the gods of romance, family, and me.

While, I am grateful for a book on idolatry, one of the things about this book is negative is that is seems to be repetitive in talking about these gods and showing what negative effects they can have on us. I did find this book more appealing and better written than his last one.

Thanks Booksneeze for letting me review this book.

Do I Have Another King?

Yesterday, I asked the question if there was another king other than Jesus that was stirring your heart toward the worship of a created thing or person. As I woke up this morning, I began to think about the question, but instead of asking people if they have another king, I need to ask myself if I have another king. Jesus said,

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

I cannot confront someone else's idolatry without confronting my own. Our world is full of things to get our attention off God. Most of them are things that the Bible has told us are sinful, but there are also good things that can cause to worship it or set our minds on that as an object of worship. Those idols are to my liking. They are not something I just pick up and say, "I think I will make this my idol." They could be something I surround myself with everyday and not knowing I was making them an object of worship.

How do I know what idols hold on to me? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. We need to ask Him what idols do we have. The psalmist wrote:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)

Only the Spirit of God can lead us to find out what or who are idols are. He will be the One who will lead us "in the way everlasting." He will be the One who will turn our hearts and minds towards Jesus.

My idols will always be around and I need Jesus to be the One I truly worship so I may enjoy the things in life He has given me without making them an object of worship.

Do You Have Another King?

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel wanted a king to be their ruler. Samuel was advancing in age and his sons "did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice" (1 Samuel 8:3). The people reminded him that he was old and his sons were not devoted as he is. So they wanted a king so they will be like the other nations.

God told Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them" (1 Samuel 8:7). Israel was not only rejecting Samuel's leadership, but, ultmately, they were rejecting God as their True King. Samuel does what the people tell him and throughout the Old Testament we see godly kings and wicked kings. We see kings that follow God but walked in darkness.

As Christians we believe that Jesus is the True King. He is the King who reigns in our hearts and desires. He is the King who is faithful who will never turn His back on us or cast us out. Here is a question that we need to ask ourselves: Do we have another king?

Is there another king who occupies our thoughts and desires. Is there another king who we seek the approval of? Is there another king that makes our affections for Christ seem like yesterday's news? We call this idolatry, when something or someone becomes our ultmate desire to worship more than God. It could be anything and anyone.

Today, do you have another king? If you do, confess that to God and repent. Jesus is a gracious King who allows those who have committed treason against His Father come for forgiveness of sin and a new life in Him.

Spoken Word: Counterfeit Gods

We Are Half-Hearted Creatures

The New Testament has a lot to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire...We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Matt Carter talks with Colt McCoy

Do You Have An Idol Inside The Church?

When we think of the word "idol," what comes to mind? The Buddha statue. An Egyptian god. The immunity idol from "Survivor." Idols come in all shapes and forms. They are all around us trying to get our attention off God and on to them. You idol(s) can be money, food, sex, or success. They are scream I can give you satisfaction.

Tullian Tchividjian once said, there are idols inside the church as they are outside the church. Derek Thomas said that our greatest sins occur in church. Here is a scary thought: you could be committing idolatry as you gather in corporate worship before a holy God. Here is the question: What is your church idol? What or who do you hold in greater value than God?

Here are some typical idols in the church:

1. Traditions. "We have always done it that way" are the famous last words of a church as well as a clue to what idols people hold in the church.

2. Bible translation. This is normally for those in the KJV only churches. People are gone so far to love the KJV that they said to hell with all those who use another translation. I am not bashing the KJV. I respect it, but I do not worship it.

3. Worship style. If you cannot worship God because the music is not your style or they sing a song that was written in the 1950's, it is not God you are worshiping, you are worshiping yourself. You are also glorifying a style because it is based on your preference.

4. Some one's talent. Whether it is the lead worship leader or someone singing a solo in church, people have this tendency to worship that person instead of God. My wife is a talent singer. I love to her sing, but I do not adore it to the point that I shut the world out to hear her during worship. Every time she sings, I pray that people worship God and not her.

5. The biggest idol of all: The Pastor. Every church's pastor is human yet they are revered as God. They take in the pastor's words are if they are God's word. A pastor teaches from the Bible and God wrote the Bible using 40 different writers. A pastor is to teach the Bible and equip the saints for ministry. Have you ever notice how the attendance drops when the pastor is absent or if he leaves that church. Darrin Patrick once said, if you leave a church because the pastor leaves, it means you were never on mission with the church. I love my pastor, but I do not worship him. Last time I checked Jesus who is the head of the church is also the chief shepherd which makes him the Senior Pastor of every church.

Whatever idols you hold in the church, confess them to God and repent. Idols are everywhere and they are calling for our attention. God is greater than all idols and he is the one who can truly satisfy our souls.