“If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all? In this age lone discussion and man's grasping for understanding, I personally found J.I. Packer’s “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God” to be not only insightful and relevant, but incredibly helpful when dealing the difficult harmonization of this antinomy; the sovereignty of God in salvation and man’s efforts in evangelism (free-will of man and sovereignty of God). While the bible clearly teaches both the responsibility of man as followers of Christ to reach out to others for the sake of God’s glory and His will to save men, as well as the fact that God has clearly opened and called some to His kingdom, something which only he can do, and something that we cannot know, it is difficult for us to understand how they can both be true simulataneously for they seem a contradiction of one another, a paradox. Packer attempts to tackle what he calls and antimony (which I think he does a marvelous job of), distinguishing this from a paradox. While most modern English dictionaries would have paradox and antimony as synonymous, Packer makes his case that they are different in this case of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility by because he says that a paradox is a play on words (24) while an antimony is a genuine “contradiction between conclusions seemed equally logical, reasonable or necessary” (23) which he also amends to mean and “appearance of contradiction” (24). He gives an example of antinomy by showing that our understanding of light has cogent evidence to show that it consists of waves, and equally cogent evidence to show that it consists of particles, well we do not understand how they can be both waves and particles. I personally think this distinction is not that necessary, but I found his example of light to be insightful and illuminating because it shows other areas where we as mankind are comfortable with excepting our limits of knowledge and understanding without throwing away one side of an antinomy and holding them both in the balance of truth. He does make a point however that there are several antinomies in the Bible that are a mystery which we cannot expect to solve in this world, and that “our minds dislike antinomies for we like to tie up everything into meet intellectual parcels, with all appearance of mystery dispelled and no loose ends hanging out. Hence we are tempted to get rid of antinomies from our minds by a legitimate means: to suppress, or jettison, one truth in the suppose it interests of the other, and for the sake of a tidier theology.” (29-30) I can appreciate his acknowledgments of this human condition as this leads me to think of Paul's words that we live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) and that there are things too marvelous for us to understand (Ps 139:6). #spirituality #philosophy #theology

In this five-minute video, Don Carson explains that we read the Bible to know God better, as he says, "to think God's thoughts after him, to love what he loves, to cherish what he cherishes, to hate what he hates. It is to shape the whole mind and heart." (taken from Desring God) #biblestudy

Here are a few ways to better motivate your bible study as you constantly refine your strategy to your bible reading. Try Listening to the Bible: You can listen to the bible on audio instead of reading it to engage your brain differently and learn audibly instead of just visually. This also offers the advantage of being able to consume the bible in environments you might not otherwise be able to read it, like while driving or working out at the gym or going for a jog. It can be fun to listen to dramatized version with the like of Samuel L. Jackson and L.L. Cool J, but I have liked listening to the NIV Listener's Bible with Max McLean. You can also find free audio versions from Faith Comes From Hearing. Try Reading Books of the Bible In One Sitting: The writer's of each book contained in the Bible meant for their writings to be read (or listened to) in one sitting. Many times as modern readers we tend to not read the Bible in this way but instead consume it in fragments, reading one or two chapters at a time for example. The disadvantage with this is that we miss out on the larger themes and general motif of the writer's intentions when we only read it small bits at a time. I liken this to trying to figure out what a puzzle picture looks like when we only have a few pieces put together on the table. Below is a graph showing the approximate times that it would take to read each book of the bible in one sitting. Read Without Chapter and Verse References: The chapter and verse numbers in our modern Bibles were added to the text to try to add reader reference conveniences in order to find passages more easily around the 12th and 15th century (respectfully). And while this does add some convenience, unfortunately it tends to add unnecessary breaks to the writing and can cause the flow and intent of the writing to be disrupted. This can cause people to tend to look at the Bible as "bullet-pointed verse-nuggets" -- rather than the literature that it really is. This type of interpretation of the bible can have dire consequences. You can get useful printed arrangement of the bible for this purpose from Zondervan's "The Books of The Bible". #biblestudy #discipline

So as we all enter a new year, it is likely that you have spent at least a few moments of your brain power looking back on the past year, perhaps even further than that. And as everyone is scurrying off to the gym to buy those promised 6 pack abs (which are made in the kitchen, not the gym btw) often when we look back, we tend to see clearer. I'm sure there is some reason for the saying "hindsight is 20/20". As I am looking back, certainly I can see things just a bit clearer, make sense of things just a bit more, and wish to do some things just a bit differently, but I also remember that it is by faith and not by sight that I move forward (2 Cor 5:7). And although hindsight may be 20/20, foresight is often 400/20 ... or worse. And although things tend to look clearer in the rearview, looking through the front windshield is often difficult because of the massive ammounst of mud, haze, torrentual downpouring rain and the hail of life cracking it making it quite difficult to navigate. But Jesus has endured such things as well and has championed and pioneered a way forward. "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20 #spirituality

Over the past few weeks I have been able to see first hand the meaning of Isaiah's statement about God's care and concern for his people and how he relates it to a mother caring for her child. And how refreshing it is. As I have seen my own wife take care of her first child, the instinctual care, love and concern (not to mention the sleep deprivation) is truly remarkable. As I think of the fact that this is how God cares for me it does two things: it reminds me that I, like a newborn, am incredibly needy and unable to provide for myself in even the most basic of ways, like providing life and breath for myself (Acts 17:25), and it casues me to feel incredibly loved and secure knowing that God is watching over me with an intent and attention that cannot be paralleled. #spirituality #family

For many people the holiday season (whatever holiday that is for the individual) is not a time of joy, family, fun, and fond memories but instead one of sadness, a reminder of loss, and a general sense of gloom and depression. And no, not all of this is due to the drab weather outside. Some of it is due to a real and genuine senes of loss and despair, from memories of hurt and pain inflicted from others and from ones self. But what are we to do about these holiday blues, this Holiday.Death.Spiral? We all know that New Year's Resolution's are hard to follow through on and that 25% of people abandon their resolutions after one week—60% do so within six months. The average person makes the same New Year’s resolution 10 separate times without success. And you can try to mitigate these dismal percentages with things like Micheal Hyatt's Best Year Ever. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The average person makes the same New Year’s resolution 10 separate times without success. [tweet this] #ChangeIsHard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christian's throughout the centuries have called this season advent ... and for good reason. Advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event and as Christians await the promised second coming of their Lord and King Jesus Christ, there is a sense of expectation, wonder, but also of weariness. Weariness of waiting. Weariness of injustices. Weariness of failure. This is why the scriptures are full of reminders and admonitions to struggle agains weariness (c.f. Gal 6:9; Heb 12:3; Rev 2:3; etc.). During this season dear Christian, especially if it tends to be more of a Holiday.Death.Spiral for you than a time of joy and celebration, we must fight our weariness, and fight to remember that God's slowness is not as we think (2 Pet 3:9), and that our present troubles are in fact outweighed by our future glory (Rom 8:18). #spirituality

Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Psalm 71:17 On December 8th, 2015 I became a father. 14 years to the day that I made the declaration of Jesus being my Lord and being baptized in His name (Acts 2:42), God has truly done marvelous deeds in and through my life. Surreal and overwhelming seem inadequate to describe what it is like watching your child be born. The feelings that are immediately conjured from some unknown, untapped place from deep within when you see the first movement and hear the first cry. I have been told all my life that 'you will understand when you have children of your own' and I always believed that and never wrote it off, but it is something that you simply cannot prepare for. The sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, and the anxiety at the weight of the unknown make for an experience that I imagine comes close to what the battle field must feel like. I am so grateful to God for all of the marvelous deeds He has done, continues to do, and has promised to do in the future. He is truly great! #spirituality #family

It seems that Jesus' words that he would have no place to lay his head (Mat 8:20), feels real in our lives. And although we certainly have a place to lay our head (and all things considering a very nice place to lay our heads when viewed through a global perspecitve), the fact that it is 6th place that we have laid our heads in the less than 5 years we have been married, has caused a feeling of wandering, probably similar to that of what Jesus was meaning in Mat 8 ... being a wanderer, a forienger in a strange land (c.f. Heb 11:13-16). But inspite of this feeling, I remember that my Lord Jesus actually had no place to lay His head, and it is to this end that I am called to follow. It is also by remembering this that I am caused a great sense of gratitiude for all that I have been given, both spiriutally and physically. This also causes me to pray for greater sincerity and boldness when it comes to sharing these blessings (c.f. Col 4:3-4). #spirituality

Here is an audio file of a message I did at a recent conference about Christian's engaging the LGBT community. Listen here (Break Out Lesson #21: The Message of Reconciliation) #culture #homosexuality #LGBT

Question: This question comes from Bri: "I've been going through Acts and the New Testament putting together a rough timeline of events in the early church, studying individual apostles back stories, mapping out locations and understanding how the early churches were established and maintained. I was in Acts 5:12 and had a quick question. Solomon's Colonnade is mentioned a few times in the New Testament as being a place where Jesus taught the disciples, and a regular meeting place for the apostles and early disciples in Acts. Following the story of Ananias and Sapphira, it says that all the believers used to meet there but no one else dared join them even though they were highly regarded by the people. Would the people's hesitancy come from their fear that followed Ananias and Sapphira, or from the great power the apostles exhibited through preaching and miracles? I'm asking because I was reading about Solomon's Colonnade and it was theorized that the apostles continued to use it after Jesus died in keeping with the way he taught them, and because it was a sort of sanctuary for the Jews to worship so it was a great place to find people who were seeking God and were therefore possibly more open to becoming disciples. So if this is true, what is the significance of noting that no one dared join them if "nevertheless more and more were added to their number". I don't know if my question makes sense, but basically, if the Colonnade was a great place to find "converts" and people were continually added to their number, what's he significance of verse 13?" ANSWER: It is most likely that "them" (αὐτός) in v. 13 is referring to the apostles that are performing miracles and inspiring wonder amongst the people, and not the Christians at large.  This would explain why people were not wanting to "join" the apostles (be their equal or associate with them) and why they were revered and magnified (they were doing some pretty powerful things!).  And although people sort of "kept their distance" from the apostles, this did not stop the gospel from spreading and people being converted and "added to their number" (v. 14). Actually, a more difficult and strange verse to me is just after where even Peter's shadow is healing people (v. 15), which is a bit odd to me and is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture (but seems to be akin to Jesus' and Paul's garments healing people - Mat 5:27-29; Acts 19:12).  The greater emphasis on these things I believe are not the specific details of each miracle, but the greater message of a new kingdom and era being ushered in, in which God is moving to bring about his creative restoration.  All of it is part of the mystery of living at the overlap between the present age, with it's griefs and sorrows and decay and death, and the age to come, with its new life and energy and restorative power.