The Lordship of Christ Over Providence

Gary Hendrix,
Grace Reformed Baptist Church
Mebane, North Carolina. 

Reformed Baptist pastor Gary Hendrix preaches a powerful and encouraging sermon on how Jesus Christ is exercising His Lordship over His people, each and every day of their lives, namely by His government of providence. Hendrix says “Providence is everything that happens in the world and Christ rules over it all, supremely for the good of His Church. So Christ is using the elements of nature, every little circumstance in our lives and all the people in and out of our lives, to press us to come to Him. Christ’s rule over providence is powerful, continuous and universal. “

In this sermon, he begins with a brief introduction on the lordship of Christ and the definition of providence.  He then explains three ways in which Christ is exercising His Lordship through providence – elements of nature, circumstances and people. In each of these cases, Hendrix gives many valuable insights for looking at our lives in a biblical and Christ-exalting manner. Finally he mentions some implications of knowing this truth in our lives.

It is a very powerful, heart warming and faith building sermon and is therefore highly recommended to all Christians.

Christ: Lord Over Providence  Listen | Download

Remembering Roger Nicole

Renowned Reformed theologian Roger Nicole went to be with the Lord last Friday. He was 95 years old. Theoblogy pointed its readers to his study on the atonement just a week earlier his demise. The Evangelical church has truly lost one of its finest heroes. In this post, Theoblogy wants to point its readers to some of the best tributes Reformed Christians have written in memory of Dr. Nicole.

Justin Taylor has written a very good obituary, where he notes the significant works of Dr.Nicole and gives an overall picture of his life. In this eulogy, Taylor also gives a lot of details on various resources of Dr. Nicole that are available online and in print.

Roger Nicole (1915-2010) by Justin Taylor  | Read

In a short blog post, R.C Sproul reflects upon some of his personal experiences with Dr. Nicole. Sproul calls Nicole “one of the greatest titans of Christian faith” who for him was also “one of the legendary voices for the Reformed faith in the past century”.

Roger Nicole (1915–2010) — A Reflection from R.C. Sproul | Read

Colin Hansen has got the reactions of D.A Carson, Tim Keller and Mark Dever on Dr. Nicole’s death. Keller and Dever are also former students of Dr. Nicole. All three affirms his faithful service and profound scholarship.

Carson, Keller, and Dever Remember Roger Nicole by Colin Hansen | Read

A True Puritan

Quotable Quotes

"A true Puritan is one whose heart is warmed by the Lord's sweet communion, whose esteem is bent to the ground, facedown in His awesome presence, whose mind is captured by the words of the Word Incarnate, whose will succumbs to the sovereignty of God Almighty, whose bones burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit, whose desires are inflamed with the pleasures of the Great I Am, who knows that he is yet incomplete, wretched, undeserving, unworthy, still persevering, still longing, still in dire need of His tender mercies and steadfast love. A true Puritan doesn't yet know that indeed he is one. “ – A Reformed sister in India, who wishes to remain anonymous. 

Contending For Truth : The John C. Maxwell Exposé

John C. Maxwell

Author and speaker John C. Maxwell is considered to be an expert in leadership and people from all walks of life look to him for wise counsel in becoming great leaders in their field of work. Maxwell is looked upon by many pastors as an expert in church leadership too. However what most of these pastors do not take into account is the lack of any serious theological or biblical character of Maxwell’s principles of leadership.

Dr. Richard G. Howe, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics and Director of the Ph.D. program at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC has written a very excellent paper on these dangers of Maxwell’s teachings. Dr. Howe says his paper is an “attempt to alert the reader to the explicit and implicit dangers in the writing of John C. Maxwell.”[1]  Dr. Howe humbly affirms that he does not doubt whether Maxwell is a sincere Christian, “but his misuse of Scripture, his tacit endorsements of New Age writers and doctrines, and his questionable doctrines of psychology and theology should give any Christian concern in the use of his material in otherwise legitimate local church initiatives. It is with that concern that this paper is offered.”[2]

Dr. Howe’s “main concerns about the Maxwell material, broadly speaking, are:

First, the manner in which Maxwell handles the Scriptures to "teach" his principles is sometimes egregiously mistaken. It is my contention that the Bible is not necessarily teaching the principles that Maxwell thinks. His handling of the Scripture indicates that Maxwell does not know (or at least is not utilizing) the proper methods of biblical interpretation. This is not to say that I necessarily disagree with the principles themselves. I might agree with some of them and disagree with others. But I believe that it is of paramount importance that we let the Bible teach what it does and not try to justify our own ideas (even if those ideas are true) by a violation of sound principles of biblical interpretation. I regret that the use of Maxwell's materials sends the wrong signals to the church family as to how to use and interpret the Bible. This is especially of concern regarding the younger Christians in the church family.

Second, Maxwell either implicitly or explicitly endorses some New Age teachers and doctrines. Even if Maxwell himself (or the church leadership) understands the dangers of New Age doctrines, it is a dangerous thing to give such tacit endorsement in front of a church family, especially considering those who are younger in their faith.

Third, in addition to the New Age elements that are peppered throughout his material, Maxwell also employs questionable theological doctrines such as a mistaken notion of the miraculous, a conspicuous absence of the cross and questionable psychological doctrines including self-esteem psychology and temperaments psychology. It is to each of these concerns that I would now like to direct my attention.” [3]

First, Dr. Howe enlists some of the common verses used by Maxwell to “teach” his principles, shows how what Maxwell is saying from these verses cannot hold under a proper examination of the verse and its context. Some of these texts are just part of a verse and when quoted in full, has little to do with what Maxwell is teaching.  After working out on these texts, he enlists the New Age teachers and their doctrines which are endorsed by Maxwell. Dr. Howe here gets into discussing each of these New Age teachers and shows how their doctrines are unscriptural and dangerous. The paper then moves to the third section where key theological problems of Maxwell are discussed briefly.

Dr. Howe’s paper employs a language that is both gracious and perspicuous. His arguments are for preserving biblical fidelity in matters of theology, doctrine and practice. Unlike some of the cheap discernment ministries available on the internet, Dr. Howe does not appeal to any ad hominem arguments. Dr. Howe rather employs his scholarship in a wise and pastoral manner to serve the church in discerning the dangers of one of the most popular leadership gurus of our time.

Recommended for  everyone, especially pastors.

Some Concerns about John C. Maxwell  Read | Download

Footnotes

-------------------

[1] Some Concerns about John C. Maxwell,  Dr. Richard G. Howe.  Pg 20.

[2] Ibid, Pg 20.

[3] Ibid, Pg 2.

Regeneration Vs Decisionism

Paul Washer begins his sermon with a short lecture on how the biblical gospel has been and still is a scandal. Washer begins by showing how the first century world was as opposed to the gospel as our day is. Washer notes how the Apostles and first century Christians did not make any compromise in their preaching to make peace with their culture. Paul then moves onto show how the gospel is a scandal in our day of relativism, pluralism and humanism. He dissects each of these isms and shows how the gospel is a scandal to them. He thus exhorts believers to come to grips with the truth that our gospel is a message that is scandalous and unbelievable to the fallen man. Hence all evangelism which aims to please the fallen man and get religious decisions from him, which is deemed as conversion, is a fallen and spurious evangelism.

In his preaching, Washer then moves onto explaining how the modern gospel invitation is a faulty one and instead offers a more biblical alternative. He goes through each of the questions usually employed in modern gospel call, identifies the unscriptural and man centered nature of these questions and then offers the biblical alternative for it.

This sermon is highly recommended as purity of evangelism directly affects the membership of a church, which eventually affects the glory of God through Christ Jesus in the church.

Regeneration Vs The Idolatry  of Decisionism  -  Watch | Listen | Download Video | Download Audio

Faithful Men Or People? Identifying the Teachers In 2 Timothy 2:2

Perspectives in Translation is a blog that Bible Gateway and The Gospel Coalition has jointly started to host discussions on English Translations. The aim, the blog says, is to “help readers understand their Bibles more clearly and learn to love God's Word more deeply. And we pray that careful attention to Scripture will excite readers to behold God's glory as he has revealed himself to us in our own language.”

The blog has “convened a team of world-class scholars representing different versions of the English Bible who will address specific passages from the Old and New Testaments and answer questions about the translation process.” Currently, Colin Hansen, the editorial director for The Gospel Coalition, is asking the panel to identify who the teachers Paul had in mind in 2 Timothy 2:2.

Hansen asks “Though not quite the flash point that 1 Timothy 2:12 has become in the gender debate, 2 Timothy 2:2 presents a challenge for contemporary translators. Several modern Bible versions, following the KJV, identify the teachers Paul describes in this verse as men. The word Paul writes here is anthropois, which commonly refers to men. But some newer versions, including the updated NIV, identify them as people. What accounts for the difference? I asked our panel of scholars: 'How should we identify the teachers Paul has in mind in 2 Timothy 2:2?' ”

Michael Bird of Crossway College in Brisbane, Australia, Ray Van Neste of the R. C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and Craig Blomberg of  Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado answers this question as follows.

Bird’s position is that women “have a part in the didactic life of the church [that] is incontestable, and I would maintain that, with certain restrictions, it can definitely take place in the company of men”. Hence he says he has “no problem with the translation “entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (TNIV).”

Neste makes a very succinct argument for the complementarian view based on two key issues. First, he says that the Greek word, anthropos “can be used in a gender specific way or in a gender non-specific way.” Since “the word itself is not determinative, “ he argues “we must look to context.” Thus the second issue he notes is the context. He affirms that both men and women “should be taught the Scriptures and have a role in passing on the faith.” However Neste points out that ”the context in 2 Tim 2:1-7 seems to involve not general discipleship but the training of the next generation of leaders”, which he believes “has been forbidden to women in 1 Timothy 2.”  Hence he argues that “it is best to understand anthropos here as referring to men”

Blomberg believes that translating 2 Timothy 2:2 with “faithful people” does not in any way infringe on those restrictions, which complementarians believe the Bible puts forth for women. However he believes if a translation retains the expression “faithful men” in 2 Timothy 2:2, then “fewer and fewer English-speaking people will naturally assume this is the old-fashioned use of a generic ‘men.‘” Hence he concludes by saying “unless some new discovery made it possible for scholars to achieve consensus beyond any reasonable doubt that Paul had only males in view in this verse, the only legitimate translation, that leaves all options open, is “people.”

In conclusion, it can be said that the word used by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:2 is anthropois (plural) and not anthropos (singular) and almost all scholars are in agreement that when used in plural anthropos is gender inclusive. Therefore it would be right to translate it as ”faithful people” in 2 Timothy 2:2. However this does not suggest in any shape or form that Paul is an egalitarian. For elsewhere when he is dealing specifically on leadership in the church, he explicitly forbids women from teaching (1 Timothy 2). Hence 'teaching' in 2 Timothy 2:2 seems to be dealing with teaching in general and not specifically teaching as an elder. Thus lexical argument is in favor of “faithful people” while doctrinal argument is in favor of “faithful men” and translators seem to be caught in between. 

The Origin of 'Amazing Grace'

Amazing Grace  by John Newton is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most beloved Christian hymn. It is known for its simple yet sweet words of reflecting upon the astonishing mercy and gospel promise of the Lord. In Jonathan Aitken’s biography of Newton entitled  John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace (Crossway, 2007),  he dedicates two entire chapters on this hymn. He deals with the background, its composition and then its subsequent history. Pastor Andy Dunkerton of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Mebane, North Carolina, has shared some of these details from Aitkens in his short article Newton's "Amazing Grace". Dunkerton shares on the practice followed by Newton which lead to the writing of this hymn, the text Newton was working on, the sermon outline of Newton, the original composition and a final reflection.

May the details of the origin of this beautiful hymn encourage and enrich one’s own gratitude to God for His amazing grace.

Newton’s “Amazing Grace”    Read

The Pastor As Theologian

“The health of the church depends upon its pastors functioning as faithful theologians — teaching, preaching, defending and applying the great doctrines of the faith.” says Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in his booklet The Pastor As Theologian.  The booklet aims to encourage pastors to consider their “calling as inherently theological” and to believe that “the pastor who is no theologian is no pastor”.

In the introduction, Mohler laments over the fact that in the last several centuries, theology as an academic discipline has been more associated with the university rather than the church. He shows how this was not the case in history. Whether it is the patristic era or during the Reformation, the great theologians were all pastors. Mohler reasons that this disjunction between the church and serious theology has affected both the church and theological studies. The severing of church and theology, Mohler says lead to “the redefinition of theology as “religious studies” separated from ecclesiastical control or concern.” Whereas for the church, it lead to “separating ministries from theology, preaching from doctrine and Christian care from conviction.” Thus today “the pastor’s ministry has been evacuated of serious doctrinal content and many pastors seem to have little connection to any sense of theological vocation.”  Mohler therefore concludes his introduction by suggesting a reversal “if the church is to remain true to God’s Word and the Gospel.”  He calls attention specifically to the role of the pastor for “Unless the pastor functions as a theologian, theology is left in the hands of those who, in many cases, have little or no connection or commitment to the local church.”

Mohler then sets his attention on four aspects of the pastor as a theologian – the pastor’s calling “as inherently theological”, the pastor and the theological triage as developing “the ability to isolate what is most important in terms of theological gravity from that which is less important.”, the pastor as teacher, where he infuses the “congregations with deep biblical and theological conviction. The means of this transfer of conviction is the preaching of the Word of God.” and the pastor’s confession or of being “a man who is possessed by deep theological passion, specific theological convictions and an eagerness to see these convictions shared by his congregation.”

May pastors take heed to the words of Dr. Mohler and may the Lord bless His church with theologian pastors for His Name’s sake.

The Pastor As Theologian Read | Download