In the tradition of Schoolhouse Rock comes this short on the evidence for God!  Move over Conjunction Junction, it’s time for Evidence!  This video is the best apologetic video for kids that I have ever come across.

It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).  Accordingly, faith seemed like the next logical topic for the I believe series.  So, without further ado, here is what I believe about faith:

What Is Faith?

• Faith is the substance of things asked for [Hebrews 11:1]
• Faith is the conviction of things unseen [Hebrews 11:1]
• Faith involves waiting for things to come [Hebrews 11:13]
• Faith is a shield [Ephesians 6:6]
• Faith is a breastplate [1 Thesalonians 5:8]
• Faith is most holy [Jude 1:20]

Where Does Faith Come From?

• Christ is the author of our faith [Hebrews 12:2]
• Christ is the perfecter of our faith [Hebrews 12:2]
• Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirt [1 Corinthians 12:9]
• Our faith is through Christ and equal to all saints [2 Peter 1:1]

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When I started the “Questions Kids Ask” series a couple of weeks ago with the question, Who made God?, I didn’t realize how popular that post would become.  Indeed, in less than two weeks, it has become the most popular post ever on my blog.  It has also sparked some interesting discussion including one commenter who asked, “So what made him up and decide to create the planets and life?”  I don’t know how old this person is, but the question seems like a logical follow-up question in the “Questions Kids Ask” series, so I thought I would deal with it in a separate post.  In short, I suppose the question is:

Why Did God Make Us?

This question has been asked over and over throughout history.  In fact, King David asked essentially the same question in Psalm 8:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”  [Psalms 8:3-4]

The fact of the matter is that the Bible does not give us explicit details about why God chose to make us as opposed to not making us.  Genesis 1:1 clearly tells us that God created the world, and Genesis 1:27 tells us that he created man (and woman) in his own image.  Beyond that, it does not talk much about the why of creation.  Accordingly, this question rightly falls under the umbrella of the “secret things” discussed in Deuteronomy 29:29:

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” [Deuteronomy 29:29]

Fortunately, the Bible does give some insight even if it doesn’t come right out and directly answer the question.  Let’s start with some of the mistaken theories that are often offered for why God created us.  Let’s look at some of those notions and see why they are not true.

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Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church recetly preached a sermon from 1 Peter 5:5 called Humble Christians.  In that sermon he offers an 8 point “test” to determine how humble you are.  He is quick to point out that you are likely not the best judge of yourself for all of these questions and it is best to ask people close to you to get a more accurate view of your humility level.  The 8 questions are:

1. Are you teachable?
2. How do you respond to correction and rebuke?
3. Do you repent quickly and thoroughly?
4. Are you considerate of other people?
5. Do you serve and receive service well?
6. Are you consistently aware of God’s grace in your life?
7. Do you disagree in an agreeable way?
8. How much attention and affirmation and affirmation do you require?

The whole sermon is definitely worth your time to check out.

You can find it right here! Also included at the site is a link to the sermon notes.

The Day of the Lord

I am currently reading through the minor prophets in my daily Bible reading.  I noticed that the phrase “Day of the Lord” is a common theme in much of their writing, and I thought I would do a little study on the phrase to see if I could figure out what The Day of the Lord was really all about.  After each passage, I offer some conclusions about what the passage says about the Day of the Lord.

According to my ESV Study Bible, the earliest known usage of the phrase is in Amos 5:18-20:

“Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” [Amos 5:18-20]

Amos invokes the term in describing the judgment against the Northern Kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians.  Amos rebukes those who desire the coming day of the Lord and asks “Why would you want that?”  The ESV study Bible postulates that perhaps the term had come into popular use at that time to symbolize that time when God would return and make Israel the head of all nations.  Amos warns that the coming day of the Lord is not a time of safety (as having escaped from a lion) but terror (as being consumed by a bear). 

Conclusion: The Day of the Lord is nothing to look forward to because it brings with it the darkness of judgment.

So, let’s see what the other prophets had to say about it.  Isaiah employs the term in prophecying the coming destruction of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians in Isaiah 13:6-9: (more…)

I’m working on a new series for this blog called “American Idols.”  I’m hoping to roll it out either later this week, or more likely next week some time.  The series will look at some of the common idols in our American society today.  I’ve also recently discovered the treasury that is the sermons and writings of Charles Spurgeon.  I’m not sure how it has taken me this long to find them, but I’m glad that I finally did.  His vivid writing bring theological concepts to life and light.

Anyhow, in doing some research on what idolatry, I came across the following a Spurgeon sermon entitled “Idols Abolished.”  In the following excerpt, Spurgeon looks at the idol of self-righteousness.  If you can read what he has to say and not feel at all convicted, you might what to examine whether your heart has been hardened to your own self-righteousness and pray that God would search your heart and reveal any such idol to you.  There is an even more powerful portion of the sermon on idolatry and the cross of Christ, but I am saving that for the introduction to the “American Idols” series.  Here is what Spurgeon has to say about self-righteousness: (more…)

Throughout the history of the Christian church, men have endeavored to record the core fundamental beliefs of their faith.  Through creeds, catechisms, and other writings, they have sought to summarize and memorialize their beliefs and convictions.  I am not a theologian…just a simple sinner saved by the grace of Almighty God.  That said, as Christians we are all members of a royal priesthood, and I believe that it is important to know what we believe and to be able to state it clearly for others.  As a father and a worker in Children’s Ministry, I have found that this is especially important in order to be able to answer questions raised by kids with clear, concise, and generally brief answers.

So, I decided a useful exercise would be to begin to record my Christian beliefs in short concise statements (I hope).  I do not intend for these to represent my own personal systematic theology or to cover all aspects of the Christian faith.  It is not my intent to expand on the why of my beliefs, but simply to list what my beliefs are.  I also don’t have a plan for how frequently I might put one of these entries together.  Instead they will represent my feeble attempt to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit think a little more deeply about what I believe about selected doctrines and issues.  That said, I want these entries to represent what I believe and not just what “I feel.”  The heart is, after all, “deceitful above all things.”  So, I will endeavor to include scripture references wherever possible.  I think of it as a cheat sheet for what I believe.

So, that is WHAT I am doing.  The next logical question is, WHY am I recording them here on my blog.  There are actually three reasons,

1. Why not?  I’ll already have them written down.
2. I hope in some small way that they may help someone to clarify their own beliefs.
3. I am hoping that the readers of this blog can help me out.  I am not a trained theologian.  I’ve never been to seminary.  The closest I’ve ever come to a class on Systematic Theology is that I own Wayne Grudem’s book.  I read my Bible, but I don’t consider myself a scholar.  If I miss something or misstate something, I hope that someone will point it out!

I’ve decided to start with my beliefs on the issue of sin.  There have been a lot in the news stories recently where people have been ridiculed, lambasted or otherwise ridiculed for their beliefs on particular sins (be that abortion, homosexuality, marriage, divorce, or anything else).  Rather than addressing each sin individually, it seemed like a good time to step back and examine my beliefs on sin in general.

Here’s what I believe: (more…)