Tag: sovereignty

God, Why a Recession Now?

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

Many wouldn’t think of God as being behind the current economic slump. Some will use this recession as one more reason not to believe in Him. Or they’ll have one more reason to curse Him.

Our pastor, John Piper, however, believes God has a purpose for the recession. He went so far in Sunday’s sermon “What Is the Recession for?“, as to say something like: “This is God’s moment!” He is really pumped about the possibilities the recession brings.

I encourage you to listen to his sermon and start thinking biblically about our recession. To help encourage this, let me post the 5 points of the sermon here, compliments of the Desiring God Blog.

1. To expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. To wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. To relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods””in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. To advance his saving mission in the world””the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church””precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. To bring his church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

Check out Desiring God’s blog for a more detailed post. Or read/watch/listen/download the sermon for free at DesiringGod.org.

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.

Jesus, The Devil and Suffering

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Christians, like everyone else suffer pain and sorrow in this world. Many blame such suffering on the devil, from a praiseworthy desire not to blame God. Other Christians do blame God and doubt his provision and love for them. How could God let this happen to me? She was such a good person, it just doesn’t seem fair!

Worldly-wise secularists take a more intelligent position, they think. God isn’t there; or if He is, He isn’t concerned enough or able to interact in such a way to help prevent us from suffering. They grin and bear suffering, and encourage those friends and family who are suffering. And really, most Christians do this as well. But they won’t say God can’t intervene, rather they will credit God for helping them through the suffering.

With the recent tragedy of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, my pastor John Piper gave an explanation of the Reformed view of suffering. God controls all things and has a purpose in everything that happens. He wasn’t surprised by the bridge collapse, and He is at work helping the grieving and suffering, as well as working out many other hidden designs in and through this single tragic event. Most Christians generally agree, although they might hesitate to affirm that God plans and causes such tragedies to happen.

On the opposite spectrum, Greg Boyd, also a Minneapolis area pastor, spoke out against Piper’s view. Boyd, representing the open theist position, claimed that God was surprised by the event as well, and in no way planned or caused it to happen. As I said above, in some respects Boyd’s position is noble. He doesn’t want anyone to blame God for the evil suffering caused by the bridge collapse. But as Denny Burk has shown, in his response to Boyd’s post, Boyd’s position doesn’t stack up with Scripture. Most of evangelicalism would also agree that God certainly knew of the event before it happened (the traditional view of God’s omniscience). [For several Reformed responses to open theism click here.]

But even for those of us who affirm God’s exhaustive foreknowledge and omniscience, we still struggle with how God can let evil happen to Christians. Isn’t the devil to blame too?

I bring up all of this as background to an excellent new article by John Piper which is available online. He discussed the roles of Jesus and the Devil in suffering with his daughter, and shared his conversation with us. The verse in question is Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

I encourage you to check out the article and ponder this issue now, before suffering comes your way. “When Satan Hurts Christ’s People: Reflections on Why Christians Suffer Losses” by John Piper.

And if you would like, you can subscribe to these weekly devotional articles [feed here] by John Piper or sign up for a free email subscription.