Baptism BEFORE the Eucharist… Says Who?

The Bread and the Cup

We live in a period of time in which individualism is huge and the centrality of the church is almost non-existent. One casualty of this unfortunate arrangement is that coming to the Eucharistic Meal is seen almost solely as an individual’s personal choice, not as a matter of the official ministry of the church. As a campus pastor of mine put it to unbelievers at our Friday night para-church meeting: “When the bread is passed, if you feel God tuggin’ on your heart, go ahead and partake.” In the first place, a para-church organization (of which there are about 14 billion) has NO BUSINESS administering the Sacraments given to the church by Christ.  That aside, what does an unbeliever (even if he “feels God tuggin’ on his heart”) have to do with the Lord’s Table?! This is all quite misguided. It is wrapped up in the unseen errors of our own day, and it is a practice is not only largely missing from the history of the church, but is roundly condemned throughout the whole of that history. Finally, offering the holy Meal to people before they are baptized is not just contrary to church history, but is contrary to a sound reading of Scripture.

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Jesus the Controversialist… and Twitter

I just read a fun and insightful little post from Pastor Toby Sumpter. He touches on various issues surrounding finitude, sound bites, Jesus, and Twitter. I recommend you give it a read.

As I’ve been preaching through Mark in our services in Scappoose, OR, I’ve been taken aback by how controversial Jesus’ early ministry was. From the stuff that’s fairly obvious to the casual reader (say, casting our screaming demons who know him by name) to a handful of things that don’t quite jump off the page at us. For example, Jesus touched a woman what wasn’t family (Peter’s mother-in-law), who might well have been unclean, he healed on the Sabbath, and he even made physical contact with a leper to heal him. These actions (all of them recorded before we even hit the second chapter!) really are quite scandalous by the standards of Jesus’ day.

While Jesus (like John before him) was anything but a stuffed-shirt preacher, he wasn’t controversial just for the sake of being so. He wasn’t edgy just to be cool. The scandal in Jesus’ ministry was tied in with the fact that he opposed the traditions of men. Not just any traditions, but the ones that needed to be KO’d. Many of these traditions were chewing up and spitting out God’s people, and Jesus came out swingin’. That sort of bold truth-telling will always be controversial. Humans are apt to build traditions; these aren’t necessarily bad. In fact, they can be quite good. But when they run counter to God’s law, but especially when they’re used to strangle God’s people, they need to be exposed and destroyed. That is and always will be controversial work, which work will always be violently opposed by those sons of hell who prefer the traditions of men to the Word of God.

 

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Jesus – The Suffering Savior

Heidelberg Catechism #44

Q. 44 – Why does the Creed add, “He descended into Hell”?

A. To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.

Theological: It is interesting to note that the Catechism basically bypasses all the discussion of the harrowing of hell in its answer. The wisdom in this policy is the controversy is not very edifying.

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Why Do Christians Still Have to Die?

Heidelberg Catechism #42

Q: Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die?

A: Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life.

Theological: Christians still die… why? First thing is that Christ has transformed EVERYTHING for Christians. Death is something. Ergo, Christ has transformed death for Christians. Death, for the Christian, might be unknown, and, to that degree, might be scary. Death is not, however, a punishment for the Christian. Death IS a punishment for those outside of Christ. One gets the impression that death for the Christian (that is, when it actually happens) is actually a pleasure. Without doubt, it’s certainly a portal to eternal pleasure. After all, at Yahweh’s right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11).  Death is an entrance into those pleasures. The saint will live in those pleasures until the resurrection, when those pleasures will be perfected. Similarly (or maybe conversely), for those outside of Christ, death is punishment and an entrance into eternal punishment, which will be perfected at the resurrection. Christ has removed the sting of death (1 Cor 15), but not its use as a major point of transition.

Practical: You know, everyone’s gotta die… at least for the most part. There will be one generation that doesn’t have to, but, aside from them, we all face death. Steve Job’s comments about death are interesting, but seem flat when compared with eternal joys or punishment. You can see Steve’s full speech here. People outside of Christ should be horrified by death. Typically they are. Sometimes, however, they are act as if they don’t care, or that it doesn’t bother them. These folks are either simply lying (to themselves and/or to others) or are deluded. Death, therefore, is an evangelistic tool… use it. Preach it. Speak about it. If folks accuse you of being morbid, tell them you only speak of death in order to draw attention to the eternal life found only in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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12 Angry Men – A Review

Maile and I watched a wonderful movie last night. The reason I chose 12 Angry Men was that IMDb has it ranked as #6 on the top 250. Since this movie is surrounded (on the list) by quite a few movies I love, I thought it was well past time that I gave her a watch. I was not disappointed. This review will be full of spoilers, so if you have not seen this movie, watch it afore you read this little ditty.

The first thing that struck me was how justice was pictured. The movie begins with shots of a huge courthouse, replete with classical architecture, the Corinthian columns, the steps, and all the rest. The idea, I think, is that this glorious, solid, enormous courthouse embodies JUSTICE. Eventually, we see little people milling about down below. These peons are people, alright, but they are decidedly under JUSTICE. What the movie comes to show, however, is that JUSTICE (at least on a human level), far from being high and lifted up, embodied in grand structures, is actually found in these twelve sweaty men in a room.

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The Benefits of Christ’s Resurrection

Heidelberg Catechism #45

Q. How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?

A. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death.

Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life.

Third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection

Theological: I think that the human mind too often works in false dichotomies.

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“He Descended into Hell”

Heidelberg Catechism #44

Q. Why does the Creed add, “He descended to Hell”?

A.  To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.

Theological: Our theological instructors (Ursinus & Olevianus), in their pastoral wisdom, skipped over the controversy surrounding this passage; so will I.

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A Brief Testimony to Christ the Savior

The Kids on Me

I was adopted (as a baby) into a Reformed Christian family. I was baptized in the Christian Reformed Church (where we faithfully worshiped until transferring to the Presbyterian Church in America ca. 1990), and was educated through my freshman year of high school at Bellevue Christian School. My parents were faithful followers of Christ and diligently trained my brother and me in obedience to the vows they took when we were baptized. They were firmly committed to Christian education (Deut. 6:4-9), as am I.

Above is merely my Christian background. When I was little (6 – 10 years old), I recall believing in Jesus and wanting him to save me from sin (Acts 16:31; Jn. 3:16). However, once I got into late elementary school, I lost all interest in following Christ and began to serve myself and my own desires. Through middle and high school I spiraled downward in my sinful lifestyle. Starting at the end of my senior year of high school, Christ got a hold of by degrees. Most significantly, when I was a freshman at Western Washington University, I ended up joining a Bible study in my dorm. The Christian brothers in this Bible study were used mightily by God in my life. God captured me, and I surrendered myself to the Master, Jesus. I found that I loved Jesus, and I knew that it was because he had first loved and chosen me (1 Jn. 4:19; Eph. 1:3-14). I was deeply compelled to know more about God and so began making a diligent study of the Bible, which is God’s own word (2 Pet. 1:20-1; 2 Tim 3:16). I grew rapidly in knowledge (partially because of being so well equipped by my Reformed upbringing) and have been captivated by God and his people since. I believe that God saves sinners unto righteousness (1 Thess. 4:7; Matt. 5:17-20), but I know that my own righteousness is in no way sufficient to stand before the searching judgment of God (Heb. 10:31; Is. 64:6). With intense gratitude I recognize that the righteousness in which I stand before the thrice-holy God is not my own, but it is that of Jesus Christ. His righteousness has been imputed to me (Rom. 4:5), which I’ve received by the alone instrument of faith (Gal. 2:15-6). I trust completely and only in Jesus Christ for my salvation. He who is my gracious Savior is also my Master and my Lord. Since I love him, I’m compelled in gratitude to keep his commandments and walk in his ways (Jn. 14:15).

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Our People – First Century

Our People in the first century of the dominion of the kingdom of Jesus Christ:

A. Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 6 BC – AD 30) – Jesus is an early first century figure. One thing to remember is that he is a real man who really walked the earth, drank wine, got exhausted, was tortured and murdered, but rose from the dead. The Bible calls him the Cornerstone of the great Kingdom edifice. Everything hangs on him. All history turns on this man. We date events before his birth with BC (= Before Christ) and after his birth with AD (= anno domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord”), a dating system in use since AD 525 (but made common under Charlemagne). Everything that follows in church history (and, increasingly, in all of history) is a response to this man.

B. The Foundation – the Apostles and Prophets (ca. AD 45 – 96) – the next building stage in the “household of God” is the foundation (Eph 2:20). Via revelation from God, these people set up the church government and worship (for what they actually set up, see here & here). They interpreted and applied the meaning of the great “fact” of the Cornerstone. They, themselves, were not the Cornerstone, but bore witness to him. God blessed the church greatly with growth, even despite heavy Jewish persecution and two major bouts of Roman persecution. The first was under Nero (ca. AD 64-68) and the second under Domitian (ca. AD 89-96).

C. The Great Early Victory of Christianity: The Destruction of the Temple (AD 70) – This destruction was foretold by Jesus (24:1-35; Mk 13:1-31; Lk 21:5-33 [esp. vs 20]) and, I think, it is the major point the book of Revelation, which we think was written under Nero’s reign. (See Ken Gentry’s book for detailed evidence for this [try it for free, here!]) Flavius Josephus (d. ca. AD 100) is the main primary source for the so-called Jewish Wars of AD 63 – 70, wherein Rome laid siege to Jerusalem. In the end, the city was completely overrun and the Temple was razed. Thus, from 17 July AD 70, Judaism functionally ceased.

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