Haiti Hangover: Introduction

Some of the people on the mission teams returning from Haiti experience difficulties returning to "normal" life. This blog is an attempt to clarify the problem and suggest some ways to adjust. I see three primary reasons for the doldrums for the team members.

1. In Haiti, we are very mission focused. We have people to cook for us and wash the dishes. All the discipleship team does is fellowship, pray, have devotions, disciple, and witness. When we come back home, we come back to our jobs and our household chores. All this seems to detract from building God's kingdom. Doing dishes or raking leaves seem to be a waste of time.
2. In Haiti, we only have a week. With our limited time and resources, we just can not help most of the people we meet. Even when people accept the gospel, we do not have good ways to plug them into a church and see that they are discipled. At times, it feels like we don't accomplish anything down there. Who knows if we are doing any good?
3. We live in so much affluence and they are so poor. In Haiti, we see families of five or six living together in huts with only one room. We come back home to our big screen TVs, which are in living rooms bigger than the huts in which we see the villagers live. The excess food we throw away after dinner may be more than some villagers may have for a family of four for a day. How can a just God allow such inequality? Or more personally, am I doing the right things with the resources God gives me?

My goal is to address these issues from a theological approach over the next week. Please pray for insight. Any feedback would be appreciated.

God's Knowledge and Our Will

I have read several books that have tried to reconcile God's foreknowledge and our free will: The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther, Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer, and others. I am reading the puritan, Stephen Charnock, right now. I do not know if I agree with his approach, but his conclusion seems sound. In the end, we must affirm God's wisdom and sovereignty along with our responsibility for our sin. It is matter of trust in God's promises and faith in His character as exhibited in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Stephen Charnock
But what if the foreknowledge of God and the liberty of the will cannot be fully reconciled by man? Shall we therefore deny a perfection in God to support a liberty in ourselves? Shall we rather fasten ignorance upon God and accuse him of blindness to maintain our liberty? God doth foreknow everything, and yet that there is liberty in the creature are both certain; but how fully to reconcile them, may the understanding of man. Some truths the disciples were not of bearing in the days of Christ; and several truths our understandings cannot reach as long as the world doth last; yet in the mean time we on the one hand take heed of conceiving God ignorant, and on the hand of imagining the creature necessitated: the one will render God imperfectm and the other will seem to render him unjust, in punishing man that sin which he could not avoid, but was brought into by a fatal necessity. God is sufficient to render a reason of his own proceedings and clear all at the day of judgment; it is a part of man's curiosity, since the fall, to be prying into God's secrets, things too high for him, whereby he singes his own wings, and confounds his own understanding. It is a cursed affectation that runs in the blood of Adam's posterity, to know as God, though our first father smarted, and ruined his posterity in that attempt; the ways and knowledge of God are as much 'above our thoughts and conceptions, as the heavens are above the earth,' Isa lv. 9, and so sublime, that we cannot comprehend them in their true and just greatness; his designs are so mysterious, and the ways of his conduct so profound, that it is not possible to dive into them. The force of our understandings is below his infinite wisdom, and therefore we should adore him with an humble astonishment, and cry out with the apostle; Rom. xi 33, 'Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!' Whenever we meet with depths that we cannot fathom, let us remember that he is God, and we his creatures; and not be guilty of so great extravagance, as to think that a subject can pierce into all the secrets of a prince, or a work understand all the operations of the artificer. Let us only resolve not to fasten any thing on God that is unworthy of the perfection of his nature, and dishonourable to the glory of his majesty; nor imagine that we can ever step out of the rank of creatures to the glory of the Deity, to understand fully everything in his nature.
(pp. 219-220, The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1)

What Will Happen to the World?

Timothy George in his book, Theology of the Reformers, quoted "Christus, Die Hoffnung für die Welt." He thought it expressed the heart of the Reformation faith, our hope and our calling.

To those who ask, "What will happen to the world?" we answer, "His kindom is coming." To those who ask, "What is before us?" we answer, "He, the King, stands before us." To those who ask, "What may we expect?" we answer, "We are not standing before a pathless wilderness of unfulfilled time, with a goal which no one would dare to predict; we are gazing upon our living Lord, our Judge and Savior, who was dead and lives forevermore; upon the one who has come and is coming, and who will reign for ever. It may be that we shall encounter affliction; yes, that must be if we want to participate in him. But we know his word, his royal word: 'Be comforted, I have overcome the world.'"

William Tyndale, Sir Thomas More, and C. S. Lewis

One of my favorite movies is A Man for All Seasons with the late, great Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. The plot revolves around More's opposition to King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn. The film is a story about a man who uses all his wits to avoid martyrdom, but in the end loses his life because he remained true to his faith. The movie paints More as the greatest saint whoever lived; however, More's hands have blood on them. He is not as pure a saint as the movie portrays. He is guilty of subverting justice, kidnapping Tyndale and having him murdered. William Tyndale is the translator who translated most of the Bible from the original languages, Hebrew and Greek, into English. From comparing the Tyndale version and the King James Version, it is easy to see how the translators of the King James Version borrowed liberally from Tyndale's translation. He is the first major English Reformer.

Before his death at age forty-two, Tyndale translated most of the Bible into English (he had to learn Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German), combated More's theology through an extensive correspondence, and he wrote several pastoral letters to encourage his fellow English believers. He did all this while he was on the run in a foreign country trying to escape More's agents. The following are a few key quotes on Tyndales' doctrine. The first quote is from Timothy George who quotes Tyndale on predestination.

Predestination is not an easy doctrine, and it can never be grasped by those who try to reduce God to a formula or by those "feel good" Christians who have never struggled for their footing in the awful swellings of the Jordan. Here is how Tyndale put it:

Except thou hast borne the cross of adversity and temptation, and hast felt thyself brought in the the very brim of desperation, yea, and unto hell-gates, thou canst never meddle with the sentence of predestination without thine own harm, and without secret wrath and grudging inwardly against God; for otherwise it shall not be possible for thee to think that God is righteous and just.

(p. 355, Theology of the Reformers )

According to Tyndale, here is what happens when a preacher preaches the Gospel and the seed of the Word lands in good soil.

When a true preacher preacheth, the Spirit entereth the hearts of the elect, and maketh them feel the righteousness of the law of God, and by the law, the poison of their corrupt nature; and thence leadeth them through repentance, under the mercy that is in Christ's blood; and as an anointment healeth the body, even so the Spirit, through confidence and trust in Christ's blood, healeth the soul, and maketh her love the law of God. (p. 357, ibid)

Tyndales comments on how works and faith are related.

The man doth good deeds, and profitable unto his neighbor, he must therefore love God: he loveth God; he must therefore have a true faith and see mercy. Any yet my works make not my love, nor my love my faith, nor my faith God's mercy: but contrary, God's mercy maketh my faith; and my faith, my love, and my love, my works. (p.361, Ibid)

Tyndale is saying my works without faith does not save me because they are done without love. God's mercy gives me faith. Faith produces my love for God and thus my works result from my love of God.

All this is set up for me to quote C. S. Lewis. Lewis, who not only wrote fiction and apologetics, but is considered one of the foremost literary scholars of the 20th century. His book, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century is considered a classic. This quote is about More's and Tyndale's contrasting literary styles.

The sentences that stick to the mind from Tyndale's works are halfway to poetry--"Who taught the eagles to spy out their prey? Even so the children of God spy out their Father"--"that they may see love and love again"--"where the Spirit is, there is always summer"... In More, we feel all the smoke and stir of London; the very plotting of his sentences is like horse traffic in the streets. In Tyndale we breathe mountain air. Amid all More's jokes I feel a melancholy in the background; amid all Tyndale's severities there is something like laughter, that laughter which he speaks of as coming "from the low bottom of the heart." (pp. 357-358, ibid).

The main reason for this blog post is that I enjoy good writing. Tyndale and Lewis provide me with much enjoyment and I want to share that joy. These writers not only provide food for my soul, but music to my ears as I read them aloud to myself.

2014 Fall Haiti Mission Trip Story 1

My favorite experience on this last trip only involved me tangentially. Kevin and his high school senior son, Cameron, were more involved, but ultimately the story was about how God glorified Himself through us. On our last day of clinic in Luly, things were winding down. New patients were not showing up. Team members were either standing around or playing with the children. I was hanging out with Aland, a 17-year-old kid I met from my last trip in March. I was trying to read the Creole Bible to Aland and Aland was trying to read the English Bible to me. Aland was good at sounding out English words, but only knew a few words of English. Pastor Dan and I talked about seeing Pastor Layans up at the school, but Dan did not have time. I knew that Kevin and Cameron were leading a high school boy conference at the school. Kim and Abby were spending time with a girl's class. So I knew if I could get up there, I would have a ride back. I also knew that the school was not far away from where we set up the clinic. I asked Aland through a translator if he could lead me up the hill to the school. I also asked the translator if he thought it was safe and he said yes. Aland and I took off walking.

Aland and I followed the street for a while, but after a 1/4 of mile we jumped a small ditch and walked in a small gully masquerading as a path. People from their front door saw me, laughed, good-naturedly mocked me and yelled, "Bon Jou," which was "Good Morning!" in Creole. It was well past 3:00 p.m. Aland took me to his mother's house. He handed the "Gospel of John" in Creole to his mother, which I gave to him earlier. She smiled and waved. Aland introduced me to her and we continued on. Aland's cousins joined us on the trip to the school. It was hot and it was very bright. I started to wonder how wise it was to make this trip without a hat, but we arrived at the school in a few minutes.

When we entered the school compound, I asked a random adult, "Pastor Layans?" The man responded in English that Layans was not there that day. Aland just kept walking, while I followed him I tried to decide what to do next. Aland led me to a door to a classroom and opened it. To my surprise, Kevin and Cameron were there with Patrick, their interpreter. There was about 50 boys ranging from the ages of 13 to 18. Kevin was coming to the end of his talk. Some of the students were getting restless, but on the whole they responded very well to Kevin's talk. Kevin summarized what he and Cameron talked about, thanked them, and prayed. Kevin dismissed the boys, but about 1/3 of the class stayed in the classroom. Patrick repeated that they were dismissed and they were free to go. One lone boy raised his hand and asked Patrick if he could accept Christ. Patrick responded that he knew him and said he thought the boy was a Christian. The boy timidly insisted that he wanted to accept Christ. Kevin looked surprised, but said we could pray with him. 13 other boys raised their hands and said that they would like to pray too. Kevin and Cameron looked even more surprised and Kevin said yes. Kevin led them in the sinner's prayer; Patrick translated and the boys repeated. He confessed their sins, he repented of their ways, and confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Patrick was from Luly and he knew these boys. After he was done translating, he shook his head, smiled, and took their names down.

I talked to Kevin afterward. He said he all he did was teach some scripture and told the story of his conversion. Cameron taught about the "Parable of the Soils" and told his testimony. There was no altar call and no explicit gospel message like the Roman Road. Kevin said it was just God showing up and displaying His power. For some reason, God led me that classroom so I could witness that display of His power. I had a rough, but fruitful day on Monday, but that Tuesday, God just blessed me with displays of His love and power. As a further blessing, God gave me a ride on a motorcycle with my buddy Patrick. After the prayers, Pat, the World Wide Village coordinater, strolled by, saw me and asked me, how did I get up there? I told her and she said the Durango was packed and asked how I was going to get back down to the clinic? I was about ready to say I could walk, but Patrick said I could ride with him on his "moto," which were ubiquitous in Haiti. I looked at Pat and she said it was safe so that's how I got back to the clinic.

What did I learn from this experience?

• First, having our youth going with us was very important. Cameron was almost monosyllabic in his conversations with me, but God used him and Anderson's daughter, Abby in mighty ways down there.
• Second, John 3:8 is:

  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”

  The Holy Spirit brings people into the Kingdom of God through Christ's work on the cross. God uses our preparations, but the Holy Spirit can choose bring people into His family at anytime. Kevin and Cameron may have viewed their talks as a time of encouragement to young believers, but Holy Spirit chooses times like these to awaken the people's hearts to the Gospel.
• Third, as for me, God sometimes chooses just to display His power and love to His people. I am wrapping my head around why God wanted me there to witness Kevin and Cameron's evangelism, but I plan to follow the Psalmist's example

  Psalm 66:1-6
  Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
  sing the glory of his name;
  give to him glorious praise!
  Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
  So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
  All the earth worships you
  and sings praises to you;
  they sing praises to your name.” Selah
  
  Come and see what God has done:
  he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
  He turned the sea into dry land;
  they passed through the river on foot.
  There did we rejoice in him,

Take-Aways From the Fall 2014 Haiti Trip

It was repeated so often on our trip that I started to tune it out, but it was important. We kept asking each other throughout devotional times and conversations, what were we taking away from this trip to use back home.

My brain works slow, but here are a few ideas.

• Be more intentional about making my wife more of a prayer partner. We don't pray enough together about being missional together.
• I'm going down to Haiti again. You should have seen Pastor J's face when he saw me. Pastor Layans's was very pleased to see me as well. It was time of mutual encouragement. I pray and hope that my consistency in coming down there every 6 months will reflect God's steadfast love to the Haitians in Luly and Williamson. My prayers were answered about this trip. 
• Be more bold with the gospel in my neighborhood and at work.
• Keep the mission in Haiti in front of us. Grace has made a committment to the villages of Luly and Williamson. They have opened their hearts to us as we serve God together. We need to be prayerful, intentional and missional in serving them. As we have done in the past, we need to continue to bring our "A-game" to Haiti.

Does God Exist for Haiti Sermon Notes

Here are my sermon notes for the talk I'm going to give in Haiti. Pastor Dan gave me three criteria. First, preached the Gospel. Second, make it personal. Third, make it 20 minutes. Here is my best attempt to preach on suffering and meet those three critiera. By the way, it is totally ludricous to talk about the theology of suffering in 20 minutes, but I volunteered to do this. Please pray for me. One more thing, this is a very rough draft. They are just notes and I'm not publishing it anywhere so it is not polished. Furthermore, these notes are a work in progress. I posting it here so I can get feedback.

Haiti Sermon Notes

Thank you,
Jeff

Menno Simmons and Haiti

I am reading a short biography of Anabaptist reformer, Menno Simmons. The following quote is taken from Theology of the Reformers . Not only do I like the stress of how Menno preached both Law and Gospel, but I can see how this applies to our Haiti ministry.

Timothy George
The primary importance of the Bible in Menno's theology is its crucial role in the process of conversion. Drawing on the analogy of the Word to the seed in Jesus' parable of the Sower (Luke 8:11), Menno likened the Scriptures to a spiritual seed from which the new life springs forth. The Holy Spirit germinates the seed and brings forth its fruit in faith and repentance. Menno someties used the distinction between law and gospel to show the various ways the seed of the Word brings about regeneration. The function of the law is to produce the knowledge and conviction of sin, while that of the gospel is to present the remedy of salvation through Jesus Christ. In the early days of the Anabaptist movement, the preaching more often than the reading of the Word yielded this result. "So also where the gospel is preached in true zeal, so that it penetrates the hearts of the listeners, there one finds a converted, changed and new mind." Many of those who heard and responded to the Anabaptist message were poor farmers, unskilled workers, and displaced persons. Often they were completely or almost illiterate. Yet, once converted, they began to "hide the Word in their hearts." When hailed before the civil authorities, these unlearned believers would frequently confound their judges by their ability to quote and reason from the Scriptures.(p. 287)

If there is an apt description of the Haitian people, it has to be "poor farmers, unskilled workers, and displaced persons." We have given the Haitian people bibles, but what is a couple of hundred bibles compared to the tens of thousands of Haitians living in Luly, Williamson and surrounding areas? Some of these people can read and some can not. I am giving a talk this time to some of the Haitian men who are being discipled by their Pastors to be future leaders. I feel inadequate as a speaker here in Iowa, let alone in a cross cultural context. I have no idea how to tailor my message to the audience. However, my responsibility in Haiti at this time is spelled out in 2 Timothy 4:2

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

I will do my best to explain the Gospel clearly to my audience. It is up the Holy Spirit to clarify the message and convict them. It is up to my audience to "hide the Word in their hearts." Please pray for my time down there that God will help me prepare my heart and my message. Please pray that God will open my audience's hearts for His Word.

We are 1 Flock/1 Body

I was reading John 10 about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. What struck me this time was the emphasis on Jesus's global mission on earth and the authority God the Father had given Him.

John 10:14-18
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

Leon Morris wrote a very good commentary on the Gospel of John. He stressed that Christ felt compelled to reach all peoples, because that was the mission the Father gave him.

Leon Morris
He goes on to speak of "other sheep" not of the "fold" of Judaism (v. 16). In all four Gospels there is mostly a concentration on the people who were with Jesus at the time, as we might expect. But now and then there are glimpses of the wisder application of the gospel and we have one here. The death of Jesus would be for people everywhere, not only for those in Palestine who had so far heard his voice and followed him.

Notice that he says "I must bring them too." There is the thought of a compelling necessity. He had come on a mission of salvation, which meant dying for sinners. It also meant that those sinners must be informed of what had happened and invited to put their trust in the crucified Savior: In other words, he must bring them. That was in the divine plan and in due course it would inevitably come about. (p. 380, Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John)

In John's Gospel, Christ is saying that He has sheep that are not in this fold (people who are not of the Nation of Israel), but some day the people of the gentile nations will listen to His voice. He is bringing and will bring all the sheep into one flock. The whole book of Ephesians is about how God the Father is uniting all things in Jesus Christ. In particular, Paul specifies that the Jew and Gentile will become one body. We are being built together into the dwelling place of God.

Ephesians 1:7-10
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 1:20-23
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2:11-22
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

I met a person years ago at a Desiring God conference. He told me he loved the gospels, but disliked the Pauline epistles. I have heard this from other believers. However, we can see the book of Ephesians is almost an expanded commentary of this passage in the Gospel of John. We read in 2 Timothy that all scripture is breathed-out by God. As we read the Bible, we see that there is a wonderful unity in Scripture that we ignore at our peril.

Calvin on the Office of Deacon

I'm still reading about John Calvin in Theology of the Reformers. This quote is about the office of deacon in the local church. It agrees with the book by Timothy Keller that was assigned to the deacon board or diaconate, Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road.

Calvin did in fact hold the office of deacon in high esteem. Deacons were public officers in the church in the church entrusted with the care of the poor. He urged that they be skilled in the Christian faith because, in the course of their ministry, "they will often have to give advice and comfort." Indeed, the deacons in Calvin's Geneva should have been experts in what we call today social work as well as pastoral care. Calvin admitted that the diaconate could sometimes serve as a "nursery" [again the maternal motif] from which presbyters are chosen," yet be opposed the Roman custom of making the deacon the first step toward the priesthood. This practice was an invidious undermining of "a highly honorable office." (p. 249, Timothy George)

Calvin has a high view of the office of deacon, but many evangelical churches today do not. GCC does a much better job than most churches I have seen in utilizing deacons. But in the Protestant tradition there is a motto, "Semper Reformanda," which means "Always Reforming." We need to improve every ministry of the church all the time. Maybe, some day we will align the diaconate's ministry with the vision of Calvin and Keller.

GCLI Notes on Book III -- Original Sin

GCLI Book 3 has a lesson on The Doctrine of Sin and Man: Shattered Humanity. Pastor Doug Brown, who wrote the lesson, quotes another pastor, J. Sidlow Baxter, a few times concerning original sin. Brown uses Baxter's comments on Romans 5:12-14. Here's the passage from Romans.

Romans 5:12-14
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Here is Baxter's commentary on the passage.

J. Sidlow Baxter
Guilt is a legal term. There is guilt only where there is actual transgression. Human babes inherit hereditary moral and physical consequences of Adam's fall, but they are not born guilty! There simply cannot be guilt unless there is trangression. Ronmans 5:13 settles that once for all: 'Sin is not imputed when there is no law (i.e. where there is no trangression). The point made in Romans 5:13-14, is that sin and death continued between Adam and Moses, yet because the Law was not yet given, men were not transgressors after the similitude of Adam, who transgressed a specific command. Mark well that clear distinction which Paul makes: Sin and death naturally inherited, but guilt not imputed!" (p. 36, GCLI Book III, Pastor Doug Brown quoting J. Sidlow Baxter)

This interpretation of the passage seems to go against the larger context of the passage. The passage may tangentially apply to human babies, but the passage is referring to people who died after Adam and before Moses. Baxter's view of sin in his commentary seems to contradict Romans 6:23, which teaches, "For the wages of sin is death." The pre-Mosaic people can be defined as sinners (e.g. Cain, Lamech, mankind before the flood). Is J. Sidlow Baxter asserting all these people who died physically in the pre-Mosaic era escaped judgement and are now in heaven? I asked Brooks about this quote and he pointed me to his sermon in the Roman series. It is a difficult passage, but I think Brooks would agree with the following theologians: Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Hodge, Charles Ryrie, John Stott, and John Piper. The following quote is a little difficult to read, but Hodge's commentary on the passage is the most concise summary of the position that I could find.

Charles Hodge
1. That the words evidently admit of this interpretation as naturally as of the other. Paul simply says, the persons referred to did not sin as Adam did. Whether he means that they did not sin at all; that they were not sinners in the ordinary sense of that term; or that they had not sinned against the same kind of law, depends on the context, and is not determined by the mere form of expression.

2. If ver. 12 teaches that men are subject to death on account of the sin of Adam, if this is the doctrine of the whole passage, and if, as is admitted, vers. 13, 14 are designed to prove the assertion of ver. 12, then is it necessary that the apostle should show that death comes on those who have no personal or actual sins to answer for. This he does: 'Death reigns not only over those who have never broken any positive law, but even over those who have never sinned as Adam did; that is, who have never in their own persons violated any law, by which their exposure to death can be accounted for.' All the arguments, therefore, which go to establish the interpretation given above of ver. 12, or the correctness of the exhibition of the course of the apostle's argument, and the design of the whole passage, bear with all their force in support of the view here given of this clause. The opposite interpretation, as was attempted to be proved above, rests on a false exegesis of ver 12, and a false view of the context. Almost all the objections to this interpretation, being founded on misapprehension, are answered by the mere statement of the case. The simple doctrine and argument of the apostle is, that

THERE ARE PENAL EVILS WHICH COME UPON MEN ANTECEDENT TO ANY TRANSGRESSIONS OF THEIR OWN; AND AS THE INFLICTION OF THESE EVILS IMPLIES A VIOLATION OF LAW, IT FOLLOWS THAT THEY ARE REGARDED AND TREATED AS SINNERS, ON THE GROUND OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ANOTHER.

In other words, it was "by the offense of one man that judgment came on all men to condemnation." It is of course not implied in this statement or argument, that men are not now, or were not from Adam to Moses, punishable for their own sins, but simply that they are subject to penal evils, which cannot be accounted for on the ground of their personal transgressions, or their hereditary depravity. This statement, which contains the whole doctrine of imputation, is so obviously contained in the argument of the apostle, and stands out so conspicuously in the Bible, and is so fully established by the history of the world, that it is frequently and freely admitted by the great majority of commentators.(pp. 155-156, Charles Hodge's Commentary on Romans)

After Pastor Brown treats the topic of "Original Sin" in the lesson, He moves on to the topic of "Total Depravity."

Doug Brown
"...although man is spiritually dead and needs regeneration to a new spiritual life, he is not morally dead, even though sadly perverted. He is not only alive to moral good, but constitutionally bound to appreciate it when it is truly perceived, however much he may resist it. Being spiritually dead, man is utterly unable to regenerate himself; but being morally alive he can at least respond to the truth which regenerates. (p. 37, GCLI Book III)

I would agree that man is "constitutionally bound to appreciate" moral good. I don't understand how a man can a person be spiritually dead, but morally alive? What part of man makes moral decisions? According to Ephesians 2:1, we are dead in our trepasses and sins. If that is not a moral death, I'm not sure what is.

Brown quotes J. Sidlow Baxter again to define the doctrine.

J. Sidlow Baxter
"The phrase "total depravity" means all parts of man's mental and moral nature is infected with sin. Sin extends to the whole person-spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "It means all the parts' of man are affected, it does not mean that all the parts are all bad... There is no human body on earth which absolutely free from disease. From birth, evary part is affected in greater or lesser degree by that hereditary infection which eventually issues in death. Yet though all parts are affected, it is utterly untrue to say that all parts are all disease. Degrees of disease, latent, dormant, chronic, may co-exist with degrees of health in the same body." (p. 37 Brown quoting J. Sidlow Baxter).

This analogy to me is confusing to me. What point is he trying to make? Man is not totally depraved in every part? If so, how can it be called "Total Depravity?" This may not be Sidlow's fault. The format of the GCLI materials lends itself to short quotes and he may have been taken out of context. For a clearer definition of the doctrine, I turn to Ryrie's Basic Theology.

Charles Ryrie
Every facet of man's being is affected by this sin nature. (1) His intellect is blinded (2 Cor. 4:4). His mind is reprobate or disapproved (Rom. 1:28). His understanding is darkened, separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18). (2) His emotions are degraded and defiled (Rom. 1:21, 24, 26; Titus 1:15). (3) His will is enslaved to sin and therefore stands in opposition to God (Rom. 6:20; 7:20).

The scriptural evidence provides the basis for what has been commonly called total depravity. The English word "depravity" means perverted or crooked. It is not used in the translation of the King James Version, but some modern translations do use it to translate adokimos in Romans 1:28. This word means "not standing the test" and gives us a clue as to how to define the concept of depravity. Depravity means that man fails the test of pleasing God. He denotes his unmeritoriousness in God's sight. This failure is total in that (a) it affects all aspects of man's being and (b) it affects all people.

Negatively, the concept of total depravity does not mean (a) that every person has exhibited his depravity as thoroughly as he or she could; (b) that sinners do not have a conscience or a "native induction" concerning God; (c) that sinners will indulge in every form of sin; or (d) that depraved people do not perform actions that are good in the sight of others and even in the sight of God.

Positively, total depravity means (a) that corruption extends to every facet of man's nature and faculties; and (b) that there is nothing in anyone that can commend him to a righteous God.


Total depravity must always be measured against God's holiness. Relative goodness exists in people. They can do good works, which are appreciated by others. But nothing that anyone can do will gain salvational merit or favor in the sight of a holy God. (pp. 252-253, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth)

The Problem of Evil and Suffering

I'm researching a talk I'm giving in Haiti. William Lane Craig wrote a short book called, Hard Questions, Real Answers. I have not read the whole book, but the two chapters on Evil and Suffering are good. The following quotes summarize rather unfairly the argument of the first chapter. I hope the quotes will encourage the reader to read the whole book.

William Lane Craig on Hume's Theodicy
The eighteenth-century Scottish skeptic David Hume summarized the logical problem of evil nicely when he asked concerning God, "Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?" (p. 82, Hard Questions, Real Answers)

William Lane Craig
We can go even further than this. Not only has the objector failed to prove that God and evil are inconsistent, but we can, on the contrary, prove that they are consistent. In order to do that, all we have to do is provide some possible explanation of the evil in the world that is compatible with God's existence. And the following is such an explanation:

God could not have created a world that had so much good as the actual world but had less evil, both in terms of quantity and quality; and, moreover, God has morally sufficient reasons for the evil that exists.

So long as this explanation is even possible, it proves that God and the evil in the world are logically compatible.

So, to sum up our discussion of the logical problem of evil, we have seen that there is no necessary incompatibility between the presence of an all-good, all-powerful God and the presence of evil in the world. And I'm extremely pleased to report to you that after centuries of discussion, contemporary philosophy has come to recognize this fact. It is now widely admitted that the logical problem of evil has been solved. (Praise the Lord for Christian philosophers like Alvin Planting to whom this result is due!)

But before we breathe too easily, we have to confront the probablistic problem of evil. This we shall do in the next chapter. (pp. 86-87, Hard Questions, Real Answers )

According to Craig, Plantinga laid out his argument in the following book: The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic & Philosophy)

Some thoughts on Prayer

Pastor Brooks on his sermon on Colossians 4:2 gave some good advice on prayer.

Colossians 4:2
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

His comments on the phrase "continue steadfastly on prayer" reminded me of the passage in 1 Thessalonians on prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The phrase for "pray without ceasing" differs a little in emphasis than "Continue steadfastly in prayer." The greek word for "without ceasing" is "ἀδιαλείπτως." Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines it as "without intermission, incessantly, assiduously." Rienecker's Linguistic Key gives some good examples of how the word was used in the 1st Century:

without interruption, unceasingly, constantly. The word was used of that which was continually and repeatedly done; e.g., the uninterrupted necessary payment of hard taxes; the continual service or minstry of an official; a continual uninterrupted cough (Preisigke; MM); repeated military attacks... (p. 257-258, Rienecker, "Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament)

To focus on one example, the word ἀδιαλείπτως was used for a "continual, persistent cough." I had asthmatic bronchitus when I was a child. I was always catching colds and the flu. It seemed to me that at times that I had a persistent, hacking, cough for most of the winter nights of my childhood. Coughing was always present with me. It was almost as natural to me as breathing. Prayer should not be annoying, but it should be that natural and constant.

Leon Morris, in his commentary on 1 Thess. 5:5-18, explains how we are to live in a prayerful manner.

Leon Morris
Prayer is fellowship with God. Prayer is the realization of the presence of our Father. Though it is quite impossible for us always to be uttering the words of prayer, it is possible and necessary that we should always be living in the spirit of prayer.

But believers who live in this way, conscious continually of their dependence on God, conscious of his presence with them always, find that their general spirit of prayerfulness in the most natural way overflows into uttered prayer. Again and again in Paul's letters (and especially in the two letters to the Thessalonians) the apostle interjects little prayers into his argument. Prayer was as natural to Paul as breathing. At any time he was likely to break off his argument or to sum it up by a prayer. In the same way he looks for the Thessalonians to live lives with such an attitude of dependence on God that they will easily and naturally move into the words of prayer on all sorts of occasions, great and small, grave and festive. Prayer is to be constant. This does not, of course, mean that they are to spend all their time in uttering words of prayer; throughout these letters there are too many exhortations to be active in daily affairs for that to be accepted. Paul is arguing for lives lived constantly in a prayerful spirit. (pp. 173-176, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament))

I will finish this blog post by quoting Richard Phillips about Donald Barnhouse, a great evangelical preacher, who exemplified a life of prayer. This snippet from Barnhouse's life both illustrates the teaching of both Colossians and 1st Thessalonians about prayer.

Richard Phillips
Donald Grey Barnhouse was one who set an example of combining gospel preaching with humble prayer. He often could be found in the sanctuary on Saturdays, kneeling beside each pew, thinking about the people who often sat there, and asking God to bless them with the following day's sermon.” (Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John)

The Essence of Calvin's Theology

I'm reading Timothy George's book, Theology of the Reformers, the author quotes Calvin's commentary on Colossians 1:17 as the "orienting focus of his [Calvin's] entire theological program". I thought this was a nice bridge from the last sermon series on Colossians to the new series on "Hard Questions." The centrality of Christianity is the person of Christ. To win people to Christ we must introduce to the person of Jesus Christ. We must present not only our personal relationship Christ, but doctrinal truths about His person. Or as Calvin puts it, we must present the "excellencies of His person." Here's the verse and the paragraph about the verse from Calvin's commentary.

Colossians 1:12
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

John Calvin
Giving thanks. Again he returns to thanksgiving, that he may take this opportunity of enumerating the blessings which had been conferred upon them through Christ, and thus he enters upon a full delineation of Christ. For this was the only remedy for fortifying the Colossians against all the snares, by which the false Apostles endeavored to entrap them — to understand accurately what Christ was. For how comes it that we are carried about with so many strange doctrines, (Hebrews 13:9) but because the excellence of Christ is not perceived by us? For Christ alone makes all other things suddenly vanish. Hence there is nothing that Satan so much endeavors to accomplish as to bring on mists with the view of obscuring Christ, because he knows, that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood. This, therefore, is the only means of retaining, as well as restoring pure doctrine — to place Christ before the view such as he is with all his blessings, that his excellence may be truly perceived.

God Dwells In Us.

This blog resulted from a bunny trail. I was looking up something in my The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bibleand I saw a reference to Deuteronmy 33:12:

Deuteronomy 33:12
Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.
The High God surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”

The phrase "dwells between his shoulders" struck me as a curious phrase. Does "his shoulders" mean "God's shoulders" or "Benjamin shoulders?" What does "dwell between his shoulders mean?" Here are some interesting observations from a couple of commentaries.

Pulpit Commentary
And he shall dwell between his shoulders. "To be between the shoulders" is to be carried on the back (cf. 1 Samuel 17:6); and as a father might thus bear his child, so should Benjamin be borne of the Lord. There can be no doubt that Benjamin is the subject of this clause; to understand it of Jehovah dwelling on the shoulders of Benjamin, in the sense of having the temple, the place of his rest, within the territory of Benjamin, is too violent and far-fetched an interpretation to be admitted. In the change of subject in the three clauses of this verse, there is nothing strange, since such a change repeatedly occurs, and is found even in prose, as e.g., 2 Samuel 11:13. "To dwell upon God, and between his shoulders, means as much as to lean upon him; the similitude being taken from fathers who carry their sons while yet small and tender" (Calvin).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
and he shall dwell between his shoulders; either the Lord shall dwell between the shoulders of Benjamin; the temple in which the Lord dwelt was built on Mount Moriah, in the tribe of Benjamin, in the highest part of his land, as Jarchi notes; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,"in his border the Shechinah (or the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord) shall dwell,''for if the temple was not within the tribe of Benjamin, yet it was certainly on the borders of it: or Benjamin shall dwell between the shoulders of the Lord, being bore up and supported by him: Christ dwells in the hearts of his people, and over them as an head, and they dwell upon his shoulders, on which the care and government of them lies, Isaiah 9:6; in the Talmud (n) this passage is applied to the days of the Messiah.

Cool, I thought, so I decided to continue looking up "God dwells within us" verses.

In Genesis 3, we have God walking in the garden wanting to fellowship with His people. However, Adam and Eve could not abide with God because of their sin.

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

The following passage is Noah cursing Canaan. However, like most of the curses in Genesis, there is a promise of future blessing at the end of the curse.

Genesis 9:25-27
he [Noah] said,

“Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”

The phrase "and let him dwell in the tents of Shem" is once again ambiguous. Is it "Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem" or is it "God dwelling in the tents of Shem"? I blogged before about how I think it is God dwelling in the tents of the future Semites: the nation of Israel (http://cslewisandcoalbiters.blogspot.com/2013/05/god-will-dwell-in-tents-of-shem-genesis.html). God intends to dwell within His chosen people.

I listed the rest of these verses because I like meditating on them. God dwells within us both corporately as a church and individually in our hearts. God's plan from the beginning in Genesis was to dwell with his people. Christ, through His sacrifice, enables God to dwell in our hearts, and eventually, abide with us in the New Jerusalem.

Exodus 29:44-46
I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

Ezekiel 43:7-9
and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

Zechariah 2:10-11
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

Zechariah 8:1-9
And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We know we will one day dwell with Christ in glory. We will see Him face to face and be like Him in love, purity and holiness. Even now, we are becoming more like Him as He he strengthens us and encourages us. (1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 John 3:2)

Does God Exist for Haiti? Part 2.

The first blog about this topic focused on poverty. This article focuses on suffering and how to interpret suffering in light of God's word. The following passage from Luke shows how Jesus responded to the news of two horrible circumstances.

Luke 13:1-5
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Leon Morris on the disaster of the Tower of Siloam
Jesus goes on to speak of another disaster in Jerusalem, also unknown to us apart from this reference. His hearers are not to suppose that the eighteen people who had been killed when the tower in Siloam fell were worse offenders (really 'debtors'; people owe God obedience) than others. But their fate is a warning to his audience of the urgency of repenting. Luke uses a present imperative (with continuous force) in verse 3 and an aorist (of a single decisive action here. Repentance is both a once-for-all event that shapes the whole subsequent course of the life and a day-by-day affair that keeps putting sin away. (pp. 239 - 240, Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)

Jesus refuses to answer their question directly. Everyone, except for Jesus, sins and deserves death. Jesus's point is that the degree of sin is unimportant in these disasters. They are all sinners. Jesus is urging them to reflect upon the suddenness of death. The people who were killed by Pilate and who died from the tower did not have time to repent. Repent now and keep repenting. Use every opportunity now to ask for forgiveness and turn back to God, because you never know when your death may come.

There is a very similar passage in the gospel of John. Read the entire encounter of Jesus and the blind man, but what concerns the topic at hand is the beginning.

John 9:1-7
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Leon Morris made some good observations about the passage.

Leon Morris
So the disciples were not manufacturing an imaginary problem. It is clear that among the religious teachers of the Jews there were some who thought a person might well be punished for sins he had comitted before birth, and there were some who held that even very serious afflications might be the punishment of parental sins. So this blind man presented them with a problem. It was not easy to see how he could have sinned before birth a sin serious enough to merit such a heavy punishment. Nor could they see why the heavenly Father of whom Jesus had taught them so much would punish a man in this terrible fashion for the sins of someone else. But in their culture these seemed the only possibilities. So they ask Jesus. Whose sin was it? (p. 348, Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John)

Leon Morris
This blindness, Jesus said, was "so that the works of God might be made manifest in him." I do not think that Jesus means that the man was made to go through all his life up to this point without ever having been able to see, simply in order that Jesus might effect a cure and thus manifest "the works of God." Rather he is saying that the blindness something in and through which God's "works" are manifest.(ibid, p. 348)

Leon Morris
That the works of God are made manifest has its consequences for the people of God: "We must," said Jesus, "work the works of him who sent me" (v. 4). God chooses to do his mighty works through those on earth, at least as a general rule. He can do mighty miracles without human participation, but normally he chooses to let his people have a part in the great works he is doing. (ibid, p. 348)

I have just a side thought, Morris doesn't think God made the man blind his entire life just "to effect a cure." I am sure he is right. However, what would you say if you were the blind man? What if you were told that you have to be blind for decades, but at the end of this time: Jesus will come, Jesus will touch you, Jesus will heal you, you will meet Jesus, you will talk to Jesus, and you will spend eternity with Him? Is that not worth the cost of the blindness? God uses suffering to draw people to Himself.

It is impossible for us, unless we have divine revelation, to tie a particular life circumstance or disaster to sin. Job's wife and friends tried to do that with Job and they were wrong. The apostles, using the bad doctrine of their day, were wrong about the blind man. We are all under the curse of Adam. All death and suffering is tied to sin, but to say one person is a bigger sinner on this earth because he is suffering more is faulty logic. We do not know how God is using suffering in a person's life, or in a town, or in a nation. A Christian sees the suffering around and should feel sorrow and anger. This is not the way the world is intended to be. However, the Christian's response is not bitterness or depression or hopelessness. A Christian sees hope because God is in control. A Christian knows that suffering is not pointless. God gives suffering a meaning and will use it in our lives (Romans 8:32). A Christian is assured that God will eventually bring suffering to an end to those who love Him.

How then shall we actively respond to suffering? If we are an unbeliever and if we do not have Jesus Christ as our Lord, we should repent and confess Jesus as Lord. If we are believers, we are in the body of Christ. As His Body, we should emulate Christ. Christ's response to suffering was "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work." We, as Christ's Body, are to do the work of the God the Father. We should do as Jesus did on the earth: Preach the Gospel and perform good works.

Books of the Bible in Creole and English

I created a document that lists all the books of the Bible in both English and Creole. Not all the translators know the Bible very well, so being able to find the books in a Creole Bible makes finding passages easier for everyone.

Here's the MS Word document.
Books of the Bible in Creole and English

Here's the Web Page in HTML:
Web Page for the Books of the Bible in Creole and English

Here's a Link to an Online Version of the Creole Bible:
Online Translations of the Bible Including Creole

The Panoply of God.

My faith family is finishing up on Ephesians. Here are some great quotes by Charles Hodge from his commentary, Ephesians (Crossway Classic Commentaries), on the Ephesians passage on the Panoply of God (Whole Armour of God). The following passage is from the ESV version.

Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Hodge, in the introduction to the section, emphasizes that the spiritual conflict is real and not just a moral conflict.

Though the redemption purchased by Christ, as described in this epistle, is so complete and so free, yet between the beginning and the consummation of the work there is a protracted conflict. This is not a figure of speech. It is something real and arduous. Salvation, however gratuitous, is not to be obtained without great effort. The Christian conflict is not only real, it is difficult and dangerous. It is one in which true believers are often grievously wounded; and multitudes of reputed believers entirely succumb. It is one also in which great mistakes are often committed and serious loss incurred from ignorance of its nature, and of the appropriate means for carrying it on. Men are apt to regard it as a mere moral conflict between reason and conscience on the one side, and evil passions on the other. They therefore rely on their own strength, and upon the resources of nature for success. Against these mistakes the apostle warns his readers. He teaches that every thing pertaining to it is supernatural. The source of strength is not in nature. The conflict is not between the good and bad principles of our nature. He shows that we belong to a spiritual, as well as to a natural world, and are engaged in a combat in which the higher powers of the universe are involved; and that this conflict, on the issue of which our salvation depends, is not to be carried on with straws picked up by the wayside. As we have superhuman enemies to contend with, we need not only superhuman strength, but divine armour and arms.

Hodge, commenting on the "Belt of Truth," argues that only Biblical truth can stand up against the onslaught of the Evil One.

“Reason, tradition, speculative conviction, dead orthodoxy, are a girdle of spider-webs. They give way at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the mind in the form of divine knowledge, can give strength or confidence even in the ordinary conflicts of the Christian life, much more in any really "evil day.”

Hodge emphasizes that the Church as a whole needs to depend on the "Sword of the Spirit" alone. If the Church depends on anything else, it will fail.

All her[The Church] triumphs over sin and error have been effected by the word of God. So long as she uses this and relies on it alone, she goes on conquering; but when any thing else, be it reason, science, tradition, or the commandments of men, is allowed to take its place or to share its office, then the church, or the Christian, is at the mercy of the adversary. Hoc signo vinces—the apostle may be understood to say to every believer and to the whole church.”

Encounters in the Gospel in John: Jesus and Andrew

Pastor Dan has encouraged the Haiti team to read the Gospel of John several times. He wanted us to pay attention to the interactions he had with people. Around the same time, Amazon offered a free e-book, Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John by Richard D. Phillips. I downloaded it and started reading it. The book pointed out one interaction that I probably would have missed: Jesus and Andrew.

Here are the three main interactions between Jesus and Andrew in the gospel.

John 1:40-42
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

John 6:1-9
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

John 12:20-22
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

In looking at the above passages, Andrew's ministry consisted of bringing people to Jesus. He did not write a gospel or epistle. In Acts, he never preached. In his book, Phillips quoted John MacArthur's summation of Andrew's ministry.

Richard D. Phillips
John MacArthur writes: "[Andrew] did not seek to be the center of attention. He did not seem to resent those who labored in the limelight. He was evidently pleased to do what he could with the gifts and calling God had bestowed on him, and he allowed the others to do likewise." Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John

MacArthur is using the life of Andrew to make a very important point. God has spiritually gifted all believers for the ministry. The apostle Paul explains this doctrine to the church at Corinth.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Paul taught that each spiritual gifting is unique to the individual believer. The problems the Corinthians were having was using their spiritual gifts to bring glory to themselves, Their selfishness and pride were causing divisions within the church. Spiritual gifts were meant to bring unity and mutual dependency to the body of Christ and thereby, glorify God.

1 Corinthians 12:21-27
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

The key for God using both our natural and spiritual gifts to bring unity to the Church and glory to Himself is humility. Andrew is a good example of humility and we can learn from his example; however, Christ is our standard and he exhibited perfect humility.

Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 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.

We may not be able to preach like Paul or Peter, but we can all serve Christ like Andrew. According to the Gospel of John, Andrew simply brought people to Christ. We can invite people to Church or to house church. We can invite people to coffee so we can talk about Jesus. We can help people meet Jesus.

God With Us

I am still reading about God's omnipresence in The Existence and Attributes of God. In the paragraph I am quoting below, Charnock does a great job explaining how the fact of God being present everywhere should be a great comfort to us in our worship. He uses some Old Testament imagery that I want to explain first.

Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

The Holy Spirit dwells both within the Christian community (His Church) and within the individual believer. God is present everywhere, but God is present within the Christian in a special way. God is present within us in some of the same ways as He was present within Israel at first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Charnock points out this truth, but he then extends the imagery by quoting the prophet Haggai.

Haggai 2:3-5
‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

After Israel came back from the exile, they rebuilt the temple (see Ezra). This second temple must not have been as beautiful and as glorious as Solomon's temple. They were exiles, they were underfunded, under attack, and undermanned while they rebuilt the temple. They did not have the resources to build a great temple. The eldest members of the group remembered the former glory of the temple and were discouraged. However God through Haggai reminded them that His glory did not depend on the house where He chose to dwell. He told them be strong and remember His covenant with them: He will dwell among them. With this backdrop, here's the quote.

Stephen Charnock
It is not the meanness of the place of worship can exclude him; the second temple was not so magnificent as the first, of Solomon's erecting; and the Jews seem to despond of so glorious a presence of God in the second, as they had in the first, because they thought it not so good for the entertainment of him that inhabits eternity; but God comforts them against this conceit again and again: Hag. ii. 8,4, 'Be strong, be strong, be strong, I am with you ;' the meanness of the place shall not hinder the grandeur of my presence. No matter what the room is, so it be the presence chamber of the King, wherein he will favour our suits, he can everywhere slide into our souls with a perpetual sweetness, since he is everywhere, and so intimate with every one that fears him. If we should see God on earth in his amiableness, as Moses did, should we not be encouraged by his presence, to present our requests to him, to echo out our praises of him? And have we not as great a ground now to do it, since he is as really present with us, as if he were visible to us? He is in the same room with us, as near to us as our souls to our bodies; not a word but he hears, not a motion but he sees, not a breath but he perceives; he is through all, he is in all. (The Existence and Attributes of God.)

Most of us understand the doctrine of "Union with Christ." God through Christ abides within us. However, we struggle at times and we don't feel God is listening to our prayers. At those times, we should take heart in the teachings of Haggai. God told the returning exiles that it does not matter if you feel the temple is not good enough for Me. Be strong and do not fear because I will keep my covenant and remain in you. God reminds the returning exiles that His glory does not depend on them. In a like manner, according to First Corinthians, we are God's temple (1 Cor. 3:16). No matter how bad you think you are, if you have repented and have put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You may think you are a just a scrap heap of a temple, but God chooses to abide in you. God does not depend on you for His glory. God alone chooses how he manifests His glory to the world. Be strong and fear not for God is with you. Take comfort in the fact that his distance from you does not depend on your feelings. If you are a Christian, God is closer to you than your body is to your soul.