Obedience and Rest

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him"...Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me (John 14:21, 23-24).

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

In these passages, we see two things. First, we see that Jesus told His disciples those who obey Him are the ones who love Him. Second, Jesus invites us to come and rest in Him. 

Many Christians know obedience is essential in the Christian life not as the means for us to get saved. That would be salvation by works. Our obedience is the evidence of our salvation. As James 2:26 says, "faith without works is dead." 

There are some Christians that try to downplay obedience because they do not want others to base their salvation on their obedience to Christ but rather come and rest in Christ knowing He has secured our salvation. While there is nothing wrong with resting in Christ because He has secured our salvation for us, it does not mean obedience goes out the window.

The Bible, especially in the New Testament, is full of commands to obey. Will we obey them perfectly? Absolutely not. Although we have washed by the blood of the lamb, we are still wrestling with sin in this body of flesh. We will still face temptation and there might even be time where our motivation to be obedience may not be from a pure intent. 

Yet, as Christians we can rejoice knowing that Christ is sufficient where we can rest in Him as we obey Him. Our obedience is a response to what God has done in our lives through Jesus Christ. Our obedience will never be perfect which is why on the days we fall short we can rest in Him knowing that "no one will snatch (us) out of (His) hand" (John 10:28). 

As we live the Christian life, let us honor God while resting in the finish work of Christ. 

Book Review: Mediator by Vern S. Poythress

The question that Vern Poythress presents before us in his latest book, Mediator: A Biblical Theology, is how immoral people approach a holy God? How can people who are morally corrupt come up to a God who is beyond corruption? As Christians, we know we cannot come to God on our own because we are sinners that deserve the wrath of God.

God provided a mediator for us in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5, LSB). Christ is the reason those who put their faith and trust in Him can approach a holy God. 

We know Christ is our absolute mediator, but the way Poythress was communicating in his book, there were other mediators especially in the Old Testament. Now those mediators did not take away sin like Christ does, but they were means of approaching God. 

Some of the examples of the Old Testament Poythress showed was the Tree of Life, the Covenant, and even the Prophets. To be honest, I understand where he was coming from, but I thought they were a bit of a stretch and going beyond what was written in that aspect. Not accusing Poythress of being a false teacher, but I think he was executing bad exegesis.

When it came to the New Testament, the book took a needed 180 because Poythress showed the entire ministry of Jesus pointed to Him as our Mediator.  He is fulfilled the law of God which is why He is our absolute mediator. 

To be honest, I was expecting more for Poythress on this subject. Granted, when it came to teaching about Christ being our mediator, it was pretty solid. The first half of the book felt like they were just page fillers. It was a good attempt on this topic, but I think it was poorly executed.

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: One: Twenty-Five Selected Sermons on Unity

Over the years, there have been many sermons from Charles Spurgeon that been printed in books for all in the church to read. There are also podcasts that read Spurgeon's sermons as well. Recently, the G3 Conference took place on the subject of unity, which is the topic of these collections of sermons from Spurgeon printed by G3 Press, titled, One: Twenty-Five Selected Sermons on Unity.

Each sermon in the book contains Biblical teaching on what unity should be in the church. This also contains how and what Christians should do to maintain that unity. There are also sermons to serve as warning to what can disrupt the unity of the church. As an added bonus, there is a written exposition from Spurgeon on Psalm 133 which says:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the good oil upon the head,

Coming down upon the beard,

Aaron’s beard,

Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon

Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;

For there, Yahweh commanded the blessing—life forever (Psalm 133:1-3, LSB).

This is another excellent collection of sermons from the Prince of Preachers for any Pastor and/or theologian to add to his library especially on the much-needed subject of unity,

I received this book from G3 Press in exchange for an honest review.

A Discussion on Christians Expressing Patriotism

There has been debate over whether or not Christians can express patriotism especially here in the United States. This video from the Straight Truth Podcast addresses that very topic.

Nate Pickowicz: Are Christians Still Under the Law?

This video, courtesy of Exposit The Word, is audio only.

Jeremiah Dennis Preaching on Battling Lust

Costi Hinn: Your Mind is a Warzone

Phil Johnson: Why Do People Abandon the Faith

John MacArthur: The Scandal of the Catholic Priesthood

This message is audio only: 

Book Review: The Way of Repentance by Chris Brauns

Many Christians have an idea of what repentance, but very few know what it really means. Some say that repentance is simply stop sinning. That is partly true but there is more to repentance then simply stop sinning. 

Why Should Christians repent? What is our motivation to repent? These and other questions are answered in the latest book from Chris Brauns titled The Way of Repentance.

In the book, Brauns communicates that repentance has to do with gladness. To repent is to be for joy. Brauns writes, "Repentance brings joy, peace, and purpose for our lives, our families, our churches, and the world." Most Christians know that we repent because sin is offense to a holy God, so we repent because we are grieved that we have offended God. Brauns says that Christians should repent so that we may have joy.

Brauns mentions that repentance is a way of life which is what the Puritans also believed. Many think that repentance is a one-time deal where confess our sins to God one time and we just repent never worrying about it again. We fight sin every day. We face temptation every day. There will be times we will fail. We must go to God in prayer to confess our sins, which is He is faithful and just to forgive (see 1 John 1:9), and we repent of that sin for the rest of our lives or till Christ returns. 

Brauns goes on to say that God has given us the ordinary means of grace, which are Word, Worship, Fellowship, and Prayer, to engage us to repent. The Lord's Supper is a good reminder of repentance because of what Jesus did on our behalf on the cross. We got to God in prayer to ask Him to meet our needs, so that would be the best place to confess our sins and repent of those sins. Worship reminds of the goodness and faithfulness of God. Fellowship is a time to confess our sins to one another and hold each other accountable to repent. 

As the book draws to a close, Brauns helps his readers to evaluate genuine repentance because there are many out there who will fake it till, they make it. Finally, Brauns reminds his readers about receiving those who are repentant. It is easy to not trust people, but we are called to accept another as Christ has accepted us (see Romans 15:7). Those who repent receive fellow Christians who have repented from their sins.

Brauns does a good job communicating the importance of repentance in this book. My main thing that I was not really on board with the book was when Brauns said we repent so that we may have joy.  I get what he is saying, but it was almost saying we repent so we can be happy as if repentance was all about us rather than repenting of something that offends a holy God. Other than that, the book is pretty solid.

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review. 

High School Graduation: 30 Years Later

It is hard to believe that this year marks my 30th anniversary of being a high school graduate. I know many would love not to think about their high school years because their college years is what defined them. High school felt like a prison sentence to some while others it felt like on being frat party before going off to college to party some more.

As I was thinking about the last 30 years, I was thinking about how some things have changed. From electronics to sports to reading to banking, things have changed over the years. As a Christian, I am thankful that God's Word has not changed. Yes, there have been some new Bible translations, but the good ones will never make God's Word say something it does not say.

I still love God's Word today as much as I did when I was in High School. During my last couple of years, I carried my old NIV Student Bible (the cools kids always had this one) in my backpack which I was able to bring it out and read it during certain classes that allowed free time after classwork. 

I can tell you one thing that has changed which I am so grateful is me. As I look back at my life 30 years ago, I have only been a Christian for nearly 4 years. Very new to the faith. Still growing and needed to grow up as well. God worked everything for me good which is conforming to the likeness of Christ as Romans 8:28-30 tells us. Little did I know what God had in store for me the next 3 decades after graduating High School. I have to admit; it was not the path that I thought I would have walked in. 

God has been kind to me over the year since I left High School. I graduated college with a ministry degree, got married, had two children, and entered the ministry which that road had a lot bumps. God brought me through cancer and other situations that I never thought I would personally go through. 

I am not writing to remember the go-old days. I am not that old...yet. 

I am grateful to God for allowing me to grow in the grace of Christ in the last 30 decades and even moving forward. 

Costi Hinn on the Difference Between Biblical and Worldy Counseling

Gabriel Hughes on UFO Disclosures

Scott Ardavanis: A Sermon from Hell

Book Review: Saved to Sin No More by Brad Wetherell

The Christian life is one of joy. We are set free from our sins, and our joyful response is to obey the Lord in everything we do. Yet there are days where we feel defeated or we are not doing enough. This is a constant battle for Christians especially in the area of holiness.

We are dead to sin, the book of Romans tells us, yet we are still prone to it. We fight the indwelling sin still in us and the temptations that come with it. It is an ongoing battle day and day out. 

We have joy in Christ knowing that we are saved by Him even as we battle the flesh. This is what Brad Wetherell communicates in his book, Saved to Sin No More: How Union with Christ Empowers a Life of Holiness.

This book is mostly based on Romans 5:12-6:23 with the exception of the last chapter and conclusion. This is book is about our union with Christ and how that union leads us to holiness. We are reminded that we are dead to sin and it is not our master because we are under grace. We are reminded that we are slaves to righteousness and that we should give our members (parts of our body) as instruments of wickedness.

We are called to remember what God has done for us in Christ and why we obey Christ which is not get saved but because we are saved. Christ has saved us from sin and the wrath of God; therefore, we must fight our sin. We also must remember why we are saved. We are saved because God sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins on the cross. 

The final chapter address our need for the body of Christ. Based on Ephesians 4:4-6 which Wetherell has titled the chapter, "Saved Together." The Christian life is not meant to be a solo ride. We need each other. We need one another to serve the Lord and each other as well growing in our Christian walk. Yes, we have been saved by God individually, but those who have been saved are brothers and sisters in the Lord. They are the family of God, the body of Christ, the Church of the Living God. They are fellow believer who struggle in their fight against sin just as you are.

A couple of things in this book that I want to mention that did not set well with me. Wetherell stated that when we are united with Christ, His story becomes our story. How is that possible? Is my story of one where I become the perfect Son of God because of my union with Christ? Do I perform miracles like Jesus did (Can anyone say New Apostolic Reformation)? 

The other place I had a problem with was when Wetherell mentioned when we have peace, we have access to him, which led him to say, "We don't need to fear that God is greater than us." Yes, we do. God is greater than us. We do come to Him in Holy reverent fear. He is greater than us because He is the one by whom "we live and move and exist" (Acts 17:28). 

Overall, this was a decent book on sanctification and holiness with the exception of the two area mentioned above. 

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.

AI and Systematic Theology

The following is from the article: AI is Coming for Your Systematic Theology by Tim Challies:

A recent article at The American Scholar asks Who Is Blake Whiting? Whiting appears to be the most prolific scholar of our age, sometimes publishing up to 13 books a week “on a host of complex archaeological and historical subjects, ranging from the collapse of Near Eastern civilizations in 1177 BCE to the recent discovery of a huge Silk Road–era city in Central Asia.” He must be quite the individual!

But as you no doubt guessed, he is not an individual at all. Rather, Blake Whiting is fabricated, and the books under his name have been generated using AI. Andrew Lawler, who wrote the article for The American Scholar, warns that, “His fake persona is harbinger of an alarming trend threatening disaster to academics and journalists alike.” And theologians, I would add, as well as those who read books by them. 

When I read Lawler’s article, I was already working on one of my own that addresses the same phenomenon, but from the perspective of a Christian reader. If you were to visit Amazon today and search for “systematic theology,” it would not take you long to find a host of similar works. Many of them have scads of enthusiastic reviews and feature realistic-sounding author bios that say things like, he “is a Christian author and teacher of systematic theology with a passion for making biblical doctrine clear, accessible, and meaningful for today’s readers.” Yet in reality, he does not exist at all, and the books under his name have been generated through nothing more than clever prompting of a Large Language Model.

I want you to know about these books because I want you to be aware that this is happening. I want you to know it’s happening because it’s likely that things will get far worse before they get any better. I’ll first introduce you to this slop theology, then discuss the threat these books represent, and then tell you how you can identify them.

Read the entire post here.

Jeffrey Johnson: The Cause and Cure of Divisions in the Church

Manny Pereira: Recovering the Righteousness of Hell

David de Bruyn: Christian Fellowship: The Tribal and the True

God Does Not Worship Us

There are some Christians who think that worship with a transactional event where we worship God and He worships us. I would like to know what Bible they are reading from because it is clear it's not God's Word.

The idea that God worships us sound like some form of self-esteem philosophy. God does not sing about us nor are we worthy of worship. God is worthy of worship for He created us, gave us life, gave us His provisions for us to live on this earth and gave us eternal life through His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

What makes us worthy of any kind of worship? To be honest, nothing. We are not good and fall short of the glory of God according to Romans 3. In fact, if you read that whole chapter, you will see why we are not worthy of any kind of praise but deserve condemnation from a holy God.

The fact that I have to make a post like this is really disturbing, but given the current church climate today, we really should not be surprised. Christians have become undiscerning and elders are not protecting their flock as they should which speaks volumes to their spiritual maturity. 

Church, if you hear your pastor that God worships you, get up and leave. Pastor, if you are preaching that nonsense, repent and/or resign. 

God is worthy of our worship. We are not worthy. We are undeserving of nothing from God except Hell.