Rejoicing in God's Sovereignty

~ fundyreformed

Last night, John Piper presented the vision and educational philosophy for our church’s new college and seminary. Bethlehem College and Seminary wll remain tethered to the original ideals which have grown strong and proved frutiful over 10 years as The Bethlehem Institute (of Bethlehem Baptist Church).

Piper had some interesting things to say contrasting education/persuasion and indoctrination. I hope to post on that when the audio of his message becomes available. Right now, however, I want to focus on God’s sovereignty.

Piper reiterated somewhat his recent blog post regarding being thankful for whatever government God sends our way. And later he quoted from our church’s elder affirmation of faith when he was declaring that this college and seminary holds unwaveringly to God’s sovereignty. That quote, which I’ve shared before, really captures the heart of a Biblical and God-honoring view of sovereignty. In light of the recent election, and the continuing economic woes, it would do good for us to ponder and rejoice over these words.

We believe that God, from all eternity, in order to display the full extent of His glory for the eternal and ever-increasing enjoyment of all who love Him, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His will, freely and unchangeably ordain and foreknow whatever comes to pass.

We believe that God upholds and governs all things — from galaxies to subatomic particles, from the forces of nature to the movements of nations, and from the public plans of politicians to the secret acts of solitary persons — all in accord with His eternal, all-wise purposes to glorify Himself, yet in such a way that He never sins, nor ever condemns a person unjustly; but that His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with the moral accountability of all persons created in His image.

This section is taken from Article 3 sections 1 and 2 of The Bethlehem Elder Affirmation of Faith. The section goes on to assert God’s sovereignty in salvation. I’d encourage you to read the entire affirmation of Faith. I blog through the entire document in a series of blog posts, which you’re welcome to peruse as well.

Voting — A Privilege

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

We’re all excited about voting today. But only 1 party will win, and there is bound to be disappointments for everyone.

This year’s election is touted as the most important one in a generation. But it seems to me that last time round, and the time before, and before…. They’re all”the most important”!

As Christians who care passionately about many important issues, we invest alot into the election. We follow the race, we support conservative candidates. We defend our guy against the other one. We pray. But as we do all this, far too often we are swept into the secular mindset that everything depends on our vote and this election. When the wrong guy gets in office we detach ourselves from the public arena and fret about how soon and sure God’s judgment will fall. When the right guy gets in, we defend his every policy, with Biblical zeal. Too often our hope lies in the direction our country is going in, and we forget we aren’t the only nation with a large population of Christians in it. God is interested in his church, more than he is in the direction of the various secular nations, America and Israel included.

What am I saying? I’m arguing that if we step back from today’s election and think about the bigger picture, we will be thankful for the privelege we have of voting, but we’ll put that vote in the proper context of God’s sovereignty and our identity as citizens of Heaven.

So the bigger picture is this: the vast majority of people in the world today, do not get to have any meaningful say in their government. The vast majority of people in the history of the world had no say. They just floated along trying to survive this king and that. In Bible times, Nero was the quintessential maniacal despot. And Paul said God was behind his rule and Christians should pray for him and obey governors and leaders like him.

Given this perspective, voting is a privilege.     But free societies, and having government be in the reins of the guy we want, is not some all-or-nothing, extremely important thing. Christians survived the first 1500 years after Christ without voting privileges. They survived the persecution that came even under Christian governments against other Christians. And they thrive today in some of the most totalitarian states. The kingdom of God depends not on the ballot, or the bullet, but on the power and majesty of God. He is our king. Let’s remember that no matter how today falls out.

Music Mondays: “Jesus Paid It All” (arranged by Alex Nifong)

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

Jesus Paid it All is on the Everything Glorious CD by the Passion bandMusic Monday posts highlight the music which touched my heart on Sunday. I pray the message of these songs will help us all to live in the spirit of Worship all week long.

For a while now, I’ve really enjoyed a new arrangement of Jesus Paid It All. This hymn has always been one of my favorites. The only change the new arrangement makes (besides the contemporary orchestration) is adding a line on the final chorus. The ending words bring the song to a climax as we give praise to Jesus for paying our debt. This makes the song more personal and encourages a worshipful response to the wonderful theology that is being sung. I hope you are blessed by this song as much as I am.

Jesus Paid It All
by Elvina Hall and John Grape
additional words / arrangement by Alex Nifong

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Chorus:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Ending Chorus:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Oh Praise the One who paid my debt
and raised this life up from the dead (continued repeat)
 ©2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing).

Free guitar chord sheets can be found here [pdf] and here [html]. You can listen to the song for free at Rhapsody.com (from the Passion band’s Everything Glorious CD), or you can watch a Youtube video clip of the song. If you like the song, consider purchasing the Everything Glorious CD through Amazon.

The story behind the song (explained in this post), basically consists of Alex Nifong using the song in prayer to God, and spontaneously praising God with those words. Eventually he shared the line with all of us through his arrangement. Check out Alex’s website for more info on him and his songs.

Other great songs we sang Sunday were:

  • Rejoice the Lord Is King (hymn)
  • You are God Alone (Billy & Cindy Foote)
  • The Lord Is (Pat Sczebel & Bob Kauflin)
  • Lord, I Remember (Jason French)
  • O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus (hymn)

John Piper on the Most Important Issues In the 2008 Election

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

As the election approaches, John Piper shares some gospel-centered thoughts on how a Christian should think about politics and this vote. Please watch this video! A related clip with additional perspective from Pastor Piper is available here.

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more about “The Most Important Issues In the 2008…“, posted with vodpod

Reformation Day Reading

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

Happy Reformation Day!

This is the 491st anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church. Because of the printing press, this step by Luther was soon the spark that kindled the Reformation fires across much of Europe. And as Dan Phillips points out, if we enjoy the privilege of freely worshipping in a non-Catholic, Christian church of almost any Protestant denomination (or even no denomination), we have Martin Luther to thank. We don’t need to idolize Luther, however. Instead we can be thankful for God’s mercy in providing us with the Reformation and the blessings we still enjoy because of it.

Here is some reading for you this Reformation Day.