Such is His love to me

Today's sermon brought to my mind an old hymn.

The sermon was on Colossians 1:12-22; 2:9-15.  It was about how complete our salvation is:  how perfect the redeemer and act of redemption.

Christ so triumphed when he died on the cross and rose from the grave, that we can rest in the truth:

That even though we had by our own decisions and actions joined ourselves to the kingdom of darkness as Satan's rightful property, in the transaction and conquest of the cross, we have been made holy, and transferred into the kingdom of light, where we are sons and heirs of God with Christ.

Even though we were once guilty, and judgements against us that kept us from the presence of God, instead of being cashed in at the price of our soul in hell forever, those judgements were taken and nailed to the cross, and are no longer valid.  Their legal status is null and void, and we are deemed to be as holy as Jesus Christ.

Even though we were hostile to God, and had broken our relationship with him, Christ has made peace, and restored that relationship, so that there is no longer any offense that God can hold against us, and we can freely enjoy his unobstructed love and friendship.

Though we were once dominated by a powerful enemy, Christ has rendered our enemies powerless against us.  He has disarmed, completely defeated, and triumphed over them.  His victory is so complete that there is no way that we can fall back into their hands.  We are 100% secure from spiritual loss.

Because we know these things, we don't need to believe the lies that say otherwise.  We are free to live the life of Christ!

The part of it that was most precious to me this morning is that I am completely reconciled to God in my relationship with him: that I am dear to him, and nothing can stand in the way of how precious I am to him as his child.  He longs for me to enjoy him.

Here is the hymn that I was singing in my mind when I reflected on this:

A mind at "perfect peace" with God:
Oh, what a word is this!
A sinner reconciled through blood:
This, this indeed is peace!

By nature and by practice far,
How very far from God!
Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him,
Through faith in Jesus' blood.

So nigh, so very nigh to God,
I cannot nearer be;
For in the person of His Son,
I am as near as He.

So dear, so very dear to God,
More dear I cannot be;
The love wherewith He loves the Son,
Such is His love to me.

Why should I ever careful be,
Since such a God is mine?
He watches o'er me night and day,
And tells me, "Thou art mine".

~ C. Paget, 19th century

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

~ A. Ka­ther­ine Hank­ey, 1866. 

Two Sermons

A while ago, I gave a talk on the Passover as a God's love letter to sinners. You can find my notes here (or here to download in a zip file). The JPEG images are scans of each page. I include them because my notes were more than what I typed up: they include some pictures that I looked up on the Internet to illustrate some concepts, and pages from an online concordance. I also underlined a few things and made other miscellaneous notes and scribbles. More recently, I gave another talk about Christians and government. You can find my notes here. I would appreciate your comments.

Pictures From Colorado and the Pirate Party

Thanks, Stephanator for reminding me to post pictures from the 2008 ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado. I've also uploaded pictures from the recent pirate party.

Super Tuesday for the Christian

What (if anything) is the Christian's proper role in government and politics? The following is taken from a recent spontanious e-mail discussion about the proper role of Christians and the Church in government. I have arranged the bodies of e-mails in chronological order and smoothed some of the edges, so that the reader will be able to follow the discussion in the same or similar manner to the original participants. The first e-mail was sent to a list composed of about 20 Christians distributed across several states, mostly of my parents' generation or older. The e-mail list has typically been used for news, prayer requests, and occasional sharing of spiritual thoughts. I have edited out last names and other irrelevant details. (The main discussion seems to be between Ross and I, and our discussion can be followed without referencing others' messages in case you're wanting to extract the main debate but are short on time.)

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From Don:

I would like to ask you to prayerfully consider voting for __________ on Super Tuesday. Here is his website: www.__________.com . ><////(^> Donald

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From Ross:

Don, I know you don't agree but I am convinced that believers have no business seeking elected office or seeking to promote others to it. Paul says that we are to judge things within the church not outside in the world where God judges things. This is part of Christ's dealing in grace with the world in the present dispensation where unrighteousness rules under Satan's power. In the epistle to Pergamos (thoroughly married) in Revelation 2:13 which speaks of Constantine we have the seat of government referred to as Satan's seat. Paul tells us that Satan is the god of "this present evil world (or age)". God then, allows Satan to pretty much have his way within limitations. We are taught only in scripture to submit to the powers that be inasmuch as we can do so and obey God. I only add these thoughts to your request for prayerful consideration. An investigation into the Masonic foundations of the United States Government will make this clearer. Your brother in Christ's love (1 John 5:2), Ross

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My response:

I hesitate to write because I know how sensitive a topic this is, and I don't wish to needlessly flood everyone's inbox, especially with an uncomfortable topic such as this. I believe that [Ross] is correct in that the Holy Spirit would not have us use the Church as a political forum. For the Church to participate in the inevitable political give-and-take of politics is looked at by scripture as fornication, and this practice, both over the ages and in recent history, has given the name of Christ a foul taste in the mouth of the world. For this reason, an endorsement similar to Don's would be completely out of place in a church bulletin, an assembly prayer meeting, a statement from the eldership of an assembly, or message from the pulpit, etc. I disagree strongly, however, with the statement that a Christian (as an individual) should not participate in government or in an election. The tasks, purpose, and means of government are separate and different from those of the Church, but they are not in conflict. God's covenant with Noah still stands: government has been delegated with the authority to protect men from each other: as can be seen in Romans 13, to be a terror to evil and a praiser of good. I agree that "we" that is, the assembly of God, are not called upon to corporately judge among the world. However, "we" as individuals, as we find ourself in the world, and as the Lord calls us to be before great men, are to faithfully execute the responsibilities which are entrusted to us: among these are the right to vote, the duty to serve on a jury and defend the safety of our country when called upon. Rejecting these duties is the equivalent of a crown prince refusing to dispense justice, righteousness, and protection to his kingdom upon ascension to the throne. It is my right and duty as a citizen of the United States to participate in its government. I am not to do so on behalf of the Church, but directly on behalf of He from whom all power is given. This does not in any way diminish my Heavenly citizenship. Rather, it allows it to be expressed within the civic arena. Did Christ instruct soldiers to change careers? Were centurions ever asked to resign? Did Paul reject or assert his Roman citizenship? I cannot but take up the duties and privileges of participation in government, as they have been entrusted to me by the Lord. For me to do so would be to bury my talent. I recognize that some of my brothers and sisters in Christ will see this and be tempted to judge me, just as I recognize that I will be tempted to regard with contempt those who see it their way. Hopefully, neither of these will prevent us from having a respectful interchange on the topic in the spirit of love. In Christ, -Tim

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After sending the above e-mail, I received several responses from different individuals. Some were CC'd to the group and some were not. I will here post my general response, in which I quote most of the e-mails sent to me as I address them.

Lois requested of me (and I felt that pesky feeling of being sharpened by iron) that I provide a reference for a couple of my statements: 1. "...the Holy Spirit would not have us use the Church as a political forum." Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (John 18:36 NASB) In this passage, Jesus has been falsely accused of fomenting a political rebellion and setting himself up as king. Jesus is explaining that His kingdom, as it is, does not have political ends and therefore does not fight with military force to achieve its ends. The Church stands in exactly the same position of the kingdom that Jesus describes. Seeking political power is not within the scope of what He has established (and by His Spirit leads) the Church to be doing. The Church's concerns lie in another "realm": along a completely different axis, and so politics and government are to be kept out of the Church and its affairs entirely. 2. "For the Church to participate in the inevitable political give-and-take of politics is looked at by scripture as fornication" And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:2-4 NASB) In Revelation 17 and 18 the image of the great harlot is used to represent religious corruption, which, with the departure of the Holy Spirit from the Church (at the rapture), is all that is left to animate the political and social institutions that have grown up around her in a hollow and perverse shell of corruption. The source of this corruption is that she is in bed with the kings of the earth. She has corrupted them with her wine, thinking to achieve her own ends and gain power over them: the woman (religious corruption) reigns over the beast (political corruption) upon which she rides, until the beast turns on her, throwing her off its back and destroys her. Once the false harlot bride is judged, then and only then is the true Bride presented (chapter 19). From Ross:

Did Christ instruct soldiers to change careers? Were centurions ever asked to resign? Did Paul reject or assert his Roman citizenship?

Paul also never told anyone to give up polygamy. Does this mean we should encourage it? Your brother in Christ's love, Ross

Ross, The difference between polygamy and government is that God never established polygamy. Satan established polygamy as a perversion of marriage, which God did establish. A more accurate analogy would be the case of a despotic government: God did not establish despotism, it is a corruption of His model of government in the same way that polygamy is a corruption of marriage as instituted by God. I would agree with you that a Christian should never seek to participate in or project others into a position of despotism. Human government was established by God in Genesis 9. In it, God delegates the responsibility for the protection of human life, which bears His image, from both man and beast. The purpose of government therefore is to protect the rights of the innocent from harm by others. In Romans 13, we find this principle repeated. In godly government, then, the rulers are to consider the needs of those under their authority, knowing that they are accountable to a higher Authority. The same image of God is stamped on His other social institutions. Each of these institutions has a unique and non-contradictory relationship to each of the others. The government, with rulers in headship over the people The family, with husbands in headship over wives, and parents in authority over children The Church, with elders in headship over the flock, and Christ as head over all The workplace: with masters (bosses) in headship over servants (employees) In each case, the headship is for the good of those under the authority. Any deviation from this pattern is contrary to the nature of God. That which conforms to this pattern is an expression of the nature of God. From Floyd:

Hi Tim, Your assessment of the subject at hand seems to me a very balanced one. As an elder in a local assembly I would agree that a church bulletin or pronouncement by a group of leaders in favor of a candidate would be out of order. However, in an internet forum or private discussion such as this, I see no harm in such an endorsement, seeing it is not an assembly. That being said, I also believe that if the opportunity affords, one should not hesitate to point out to a congregation the wickedness of such things as abortion, homosexuality, dishonesty, etc., so prevalent in society today. In this way some may be led to a wiser choice in their voting as candidates and their positions on these and other vital issues are made apparent.

Floyd, I completely agree, and was not intending to imply otherwise. From John:

Tim, Thank you for writing what you did and distinguishing between the church and the government, both being institutions established by God. Thank you for also distinguishing between church corporate endorsement of political issues and individual participation in government. Here are two interesting Scriptures: (1) "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord", Psalm 32:12 and (2) "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God", Psalm 9:17. The first verse shows that it is possible for a nation to reverence the God of the Bible and incorporate the moral principles of the Bible in its government. This can only occur if the leadership of a nation consists of individuals who are either Christians or if that leadership at least uses as its guiding beacon the moral laws of the Bible. Anyone who has studied American history is quickly made aware that America was colonized by people who had these characteristics and in fact came to this continent for the purpose of religious freedom. Early colonial governments were very religious in nature.The papers which were written by the political thinkers in the 18th century and eventually led up to the Declaration of Independence, quoted the Bible more that any other book. The quotes shown below reinforce this fact. The second verse shows that nations can forget God and that there is a consequence for doing so. This is the result of a leadership that once recognized God as being the source of government and its laws and has now decided to exclude Him and them. So in order for the dire consequence predicted by this verse to be avoided there must be in government those who resist this decline based on the principles of Scripture. Does this sound familiar for our day? So the question might be, "Would you rather live in a Muslim nation where Sharia law is practiced and Christianity is forbidden or in a nation such as America where Christianity is protected? God established this nation based on Biblical principles so that Christianity could flourish and we could be mission outpost sending the gospel out to the whole world. Please notice that the quotes below show how a nation should function when the government endorses Biblical principles. It has nothing to do with how people get saved although when such a government exists there is a tremendous opportunity for the gospel to be preached so that people can get saved. I thought about this last night when I went to the jail to preach the gospel to 100 men. They would not let me do this in Saudi Arabia. From President John Adams' Dairy on February 22, 1756 (he was Vice President under President Washington from 1789-1797 and President from 1797-1801): "Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law-book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance and frugality and industry; to justice and kindness and charity towards his fellow men. And to piety, love and reverence towards Almighty God. In this Commonwealth no man would impair his health by gluttony, drunkenness or lust; no man would sacrifice his most precious time to cards or any other trifling and mean amusement; no man would steal or lie, or in any way defraud his neighbor, but would live in peace and good will with all men; no man would blaspheme his maker or profane his worship; but a rational and manly, a sincere and unaffected piety and devotion would reign in all hearts. What a utopia, what a paradise would this region be!" (I agree with President Adams and call for all laws to be based on the Holy Bible). President John Adams' letter to Benjamin Rush, August 28, 1811: "I agree with you in sentiment that religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society." John Adams, Dairy, July 26, 1796: "The Christian religion is above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity, let the blackguard Paine say what he will; it is resignation to God, it is goodness itself to man." John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813: "The General Principles on which the fathers achieved independence were...the general principles of Christianity in which all the sects were united. And the General Principles of English and American liberty...those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God...." Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852) (footnote to letter to Edward Sprague Rand, May 15, 1850: "The religion of the New Testament, that religion which is founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles, is as sure a guide to duty in politics as in any other concern of life." President Abraham Lincoln in his "Proclamation of a National Fast Day," August 12, 1861: "And whereas, when our beloved country, once, by the blessings of God, united, prosperous and happy, is now afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for this mercy--to pray that we may be spared further punishment...." President Woodrow Wilson: May 7, 1911 (when he was Governor of New Jersey): "America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture." John

I think that Adams had in mind a lofty ideal, one which, however, will only be realized when Christ personally reigns over a nation with the law written in the hearts of each and every citizen. Until Christ returns, that will not be the case, and in His wisdom, He has not given to governments the reign over mind, heart, and conscience, but only of behavior, and particularly, that behavior which harms another or deprives him of his rights. Rulers are, just as all "under authority", given the privilege of encouraging those in their charge in all good things. I must say that I would not like to live among a nation whose only law was the Bible, if that law were enforced by men. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We are inventors of evil, and such a theocracy as John Calvin constructed in Geneva inevitably turned to arbitrary persecution, both of unbelievers and of fellow Christians. Laws ought to be based on biblical principles, yes, but they must not step beyond the bounds of what God has delegated to man in the realm of political government. That, too, is a biblical principle. From Ross:

Dear Tim, Please feel free to call me Ross as I feel free to call you by your first name as well. I appreciate the thought out response. The scriptures are worthy of our most careful and thought out considerations. While it is true that the Lord never instructed anyone who was currently in a government position to give it up, it is equally true that He never encouraged anyone who was not to seek such a position. Furthermore, He who was the most qualified of all men to do so, never did. Likewise, the apostles whose leadership is without question never did as well. It might also shed some light to consider that Theophilus, to whom Luke refers in the official "most excellent" in his gospel lost this distinction by the time Acts was written. In Philippians, Paul tells us that to mind earthly things is bad. What is more earthly and worldly than politics? Looking at it from a practical standpoint, since born again believers are in the vast minority, they will always be called upon to compromise the truth in order to "get things done." Does Paul address the Corinthians as a church or as believers when He says, "those who are without, God judges?" Since He addresses them in both capacities throughout the epistle, we can only rely on context to determine what He means. He told them not to go to court brother against brother before "the unjust". Now to me this is not only individualistic but it clearly states that those who lead the civil courts are "the unjust". This seems a little strange if believers are to seek such offices. I can agree wholeheartedly that government is upheld as an institution under the current economy but must disagree with the idea that we are held as responsible by God to take an active role. We are instructed merely to SUBMIT to the powers that be not to seek to influence them much less to join them. Your brother in Christ's love, Ross

Ross, I submit to you, that as a citizen eligible to vote, I am in a governmental position of authority, and that I am responsible before God to discharge the privileges and duties thereof in righteousness as salt and light in the world. Christ will be given all power and authority, and he will reign over the earth. These things are not evil, but they must be received from God's hands, according to God's plan and on His timing, not from Satan. All of us, rulers or not, are constantly under pressure to make compromises at the expense of what is right. Jesus prayed, "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15 NASB) I believe that the Father is answering that prayer in the case of every believer. "and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB) Thank you all for your responses and participation. "...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead." (Philippians 3:10 NASB) In Christ, Tim

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From John:

Tim, The ideals that the early founders of this country, of course, were not achieved in totality but were achieved to a degree in our founding documents and laws. We should never criticize a person or institution for having a right ideal. The ideals we are talking about are the Biblical principles upon which a good government should be established. Many of these come from the Old Testament where God's principles of law and jurisprudence were written down. The governmental authority in Romans 13, which is established by God presumes right moral principles for protecting its citizens. Otherwise this statement would not be true, "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong", verse 3. You could not say that Hitler's Third Reich was in this category. The only God established theocracy was the nation of Israel. God does not intend this for Gentile nations and so Calvin who attempted it failed. The founders of our country recognized this and also recognized that a state sponsored church; i. e., the Church of England was not right. But they also recognized the importance of Biblical principles in a good government. They tried to strike this fine balance in the Bill of Rights and in particular what is called the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The following is taken from the Wikipedia encyclopedia:

'The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment refers to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...." Together with the Free Exercise Clause, ("...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), these two clauses make up what are commonly known as the "religion clauses" of the First Amendment.

The establishment clause has generally been interpreted to prohibit 1) the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or 2) the preference of one religion over another or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose. The first approach is called the "separationist" or "no aid" interpretation, while the second approach is called the "non-preferentialist" or "accommodationist" interpretation. In separationist interpretation, the clause prohibits Congress from aiding religion in any way even if such aid is made without regard to denomination. The accommodationist interpretation prohibits Congress from preferring one religion over another, but does not prohibit the government's entry into religious domain to make accommodations in order to achieve the purposes of the Free Exercise Clause.'

The purpose of this amendment was to prohibit a theocracy or a state sponsored church but it was not intended to prohibit individuals with Biblical ideals from participating in this government and influencing its laws. In fact in the beginning of our country this was encouraged.

Here is an interesting irony. You can ask a person who has a hardline view that Christians should not participate in government or in its decision making processes: Are you thankful for having a Christian President like Ronald Reagan or would you be just as thankful for a dictator like Caesar Chavez? If they say, "Of course, Reagan", you can say then that you are approving of a Christian in government. If they say, "Chavez", then I don't know what to say.

The founders of our country often referred to "Nature's God" as another way of referring to their creator God. But they were also inferring that built into our world are spiritual principles which affect the destiny of individuals and nations. One of these is the principle of "sowing and reaping". It applies to nations as well as individuals. Nations which violate God's moral laws, often committing violence and genocide against its citizens, do not survive. This is part of God's providence in the affairs of men. ",,,the living God, who is the Savior (preserver) of all men, specially of those that believe." 1 Timothy 4:10

John

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From Don:

Tim, I would also echo John's remarks to you and say I am very impressed with your response to Ross. It is so true that "iron sharpens iron" and we need our brothers and sisters to help us as we study God's Word. While I agree with you that in a church setting it would be wrong to put forth a particular candidate, I think it behooves us to promote practicing our Christian duties. One of which is voting for good candidates. Reminding everyone to vote without saying who...would fit into this category. And accompany it with much of what you have expounded on, quite eloquently I might add! Through the Lord's grace we have been delivered from a the clutches of legality that strongly restricted us from voting so it is important to let everyone know about the liberty we have always had but weren't allowed to think about before. In my initial email I was trying to be as circumspect as possible and that is why I used the phrase, 'prayerfully consider." Again, thanks for your input. Your brother in Christ, Don

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Don wrote to Ross:

The key phrase in my original email was this, "prayerfully consider." As for defending my position "for" voting, I'm going to have to defer to what Tim has said as he is far more eloquent than I. This has been a good learning experience for me and I even more convinced that it is the Christian's duty to vote for good candidates. My experiences have been that it is a lost cause but to be quite honest there are many times when practising our Christian faith to the world around us it appears to be a lost cause, but it is observed by our Father in Heaven and recorded. Not to mention that while we may not see any fruit while down here, we may when we get up there. Actually I fail to understand why voting for the best candidate from a Christian perspective translates into NOT submitting to the eventual winner as being God's choice at that time. btw, are you familiar with the difference between God wanting something to happen and allowing something to happen? We know according to prophecy that it is very likely that, by its very absence of any mention in prophecy, the U.S. is headed for oblivion. Probably will soon be a 3rd World Nation. These freedoms we enjoy now may soon be gone. I know it is very easy for Christians to adopt a "there's nothing I can do to stop it" attitude. But I don't find in scripture any examples of Men of God operating this way. Except for Jonah initially! You might say there aren't any examples of getting involved in politics, like we are able to here in American, in scripture. But, lets be honest, were they living in a Democracy? But, I won't demand that you conform to my way of looking at this subject. I have siblings and many friends that look at this like you and I would never force my opinion on them either. There are far more important things to "fight/disagree" over.

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From Ross:

Don, To me it is not just that it is a lost cause as is seeking to evangelize the world as well but one we are called to do and one we are not. Paul called gospel preaching foolishness but instructed us to do it since it is God's chosen instrument of salvation. For me, abstention from politics is in keeping with Christ's dealing in grace where He doesn't assert His rights in the world but rather pleads with lost sinners to come to Him. There will be a time as you know when this will be appropriate for men of faith. Paul told the Corinthians "ye are ruling without us." I believe that when we get involved politically we are seeking to rule without Paul and more importantly, Christ. The Lord tells the church at Philadelphia "you have kept MY patience." What is that? He is sitting at the Father's right hand waiting until His enemies are made the footstool of His feet. By abstaining from politics we can have fellowship with Him in that. Since the doctrine of abstention from politics was first taught by those to whom we attribute Philadelphian light, it would follow that this is what is meant in the epistle to Philadelphia. For me it is mostly a dispensational thing. Does that make sense? Your brother in Christ's love, Ross

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Ross in response to my earlier reply about his polygamy analogy:

My point on polygamy is that like governmental involvement persons are not called to immediately give it up as they would fornication or idolatry. As I have pointed out, there is no question that God has ordained government in authority over us. What I question is whether or not we as Christians are called to fill that role. Again, I see this differentiated in Paul's statement to the Corinthians that we as Christians are called to judge things within the church not without in the world where God judges. Carnal Christendom has reversed this order ignoring all sorts of evil in the church while seeking to impose Christian morality upon the lost.

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Ross continues:

I submit to you, that as a citizen eligible to vote, I am in a governmental position of authority, and that I am responsible before God to discharge the privileges and duties thereof in righteousness as salt and light in the world.

I believe voting is a right rather than an appointed duty. No one is required by law to vote. I can discharge my responsibility to be salt and light without being active in politics just as the New Testament church did.

Christ will be given all power and authority, and he will reign over the earth. These things are not evil, but they must be received from God's hands, according to God's plan and on His timing, not from Satan.

Exactly. The key word here is WILL. We WILL rule with Christ when He rules. For now we are to keep His patience in submission to governmental authority under the sway of Satan who is the god of this present evil age. Paul told the Corinthians that they ruled "without us." This is what Christians are doing when they choose to assert Christ's rights in the world through the political process.

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My response:

Dear Ross, That particular nuance about polygamy did not escape my notice. In fact, that was part of my point. Properly practiced (that is, with the goal of protecting men from violations of their rights), human government is a suitable environment for a Christian to enter. As I said before, a Christian should not enter into a despotic government, just as he should not enter into a polygamous marriage. If you are arguing that since governments are not 100% righteous, that a Christian should not participate in government at all, then applying the same logic to marriage, you would be arguing that since polygamy exists (or is possible, or is prevalent), a Christian should not enter marriage at all. No one is asking me to participate in governmental wickedness or corruption. If given the choice in the ballot between Hitler and Stalin, I would not vote for either (though it might motivate me to run for office myself if I could.) Regarding the fact that voting is a right rather than an appointed duty, I would again refer you to the parable of the talents. The right to vote has been granted to me, not merely by the society in which I live, but providentially by the Lord Himself. Looked at from a human perspective, I have the option to do as I please with my right to vote, because it is mine. Looked at from a heavenly perspective, I have been given the opportunity and I am responsible for using it, not burying it in the ground and pretending that it does not exist. If I looked at my money as my own, or my skills and abilities in this way, and did not use them in righteousness and faithfulness, I would rob my Lord of the return that is due Him for the blessings and resources that He has put at my disposal. Regarding your last comment... [I actually misspoke: all power and authority has already been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). But that is a tangential point.] The point I was making was that you seemed to be portraying power and authority as inherently evil things, and this is simply not so. Authority received from the hands of God is perfectly appropriate. God does place righteous men in positions of authority in His current dispensation (as a blessing to the people), and I regard the right to vote as just that. It would of course be foolish to think that we could reform the world, or the hearts of men, or somehow bring about the kingdom of heaven on earth by rule of power. But to exercise power in order to bend others to the will of the ruler is not what God has designed a human government to do. Governments were designed to bless men with safety and justice. Blessing others, despite the fact that it will not reform the world, nor will it tend to endear us to them, is exactly what the Christian ought to be doing. In Christ, Tim

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I would encourage Christians to prayerfully search the scriptures concerning this topic, and I welcome further discussion and questions in the comments to this post. Washington State's presidential primary occurs on February 19th.

California Pictures

Sarah, Elizabeth, and I went out to eat in Long Beach, and then, because we were in a touristy mood, we went on a hike near the Hollywood sign. It was yummy. I also have Sarah's photos. After Christmas, a bunch of us went trap and target shooting. After the YP events at Buena Park, we had a photo scavenger hunt. My team won Spider-man backpacks full of Reece's peanut butter cups. After the conference, we went bowling, and on New Year's Eve, we went to the beach, and then hung out at the meeting room. Lauren also shot some photos of the aforementioned. New Year's Day we slept in, and ate at The Block.

Shallowbrook 2007

Things have finally settled down enough for me to have time to post about Shallowbrook. There are tons of pictures by me and others.

This year, Tom spoke on Romans 9-11, Sid covered Matthew 1-9, and Al presented a secular defense of the New Testament writings and the testimony of a risen Christ.

Andrew Macy and I were also asked to speak. Andrew spoke on living for Christ from the heart, and I gave three talks on biblical headship, much like the two that I gave earlier in Tacoma.

Many of us also attended the Des Moines conference put on by the Altoona assembly. The recorded meetings can be found here.

I also recorded most of the Shallowbrook talks. Unfortunately, Al's last talk turned out a bit mangled by my MP3 player, and my second talk was lost due to operator error. (Not all the talks are up at publication time, but when they are up, they will be found at the above link.)

I also have made the notes from my talks available in PDF format.

This year air fare was more expensive than I remember it ever being, no doubt due to the high price of oil. That, combined with my shortage of vacation time meant that I took a red-eye flight to Illinois. I should have gone straight to bed, but I was at Shallowbrook! Never mind that no one else was there yet, because they had all been water skiing for three days. I did end up laying down for about an hour, but when the water ski crowd arrived, I was inexorably drawn back upstairs.

I blame Michael. He had a cold, and he was one of the four of us to claim the mattresses in the closet (it's a big closet). Mattresses sure beat cots. Anyway, when I woke up on Sunday morning, my throat was raw, and my nose was stuffed up. The air conditioning makes the basement a bit chilly, especially at night, and my immune system was under the stress of not having slept except in the very back row of a plane from Minneapolis to Moline.

For the first half of the week, I was constantly blowing my nose, and tired. Very tired. But I didn't let myself sleep, because for some reason, the best conversations happen after midnight (and often last several hours), and during the day I was spending my time with friends I only see once or twice a year, or preparing for my next talk. Basically, I was a zombie, but I was a happy zombie. My energy hit a low toward the middle of the week, which kept me from playing sports, but at the beginning and end of the week, I was healthy enough to play sports swim.

It's a bit odd looking around and realizing that, not only are you one of the "older" young people, you're pretty much it. I was saved from being the geezer by Todd. I decided that since I was speaking this year, that I would recuse myself of the "roasting" event in the talent show at the end of the week. Every year since I've been there, someone has gotten up and impersonated the speakers, making fun of their mannerisms, foibles, mistakes, and slips of tongue. Since each speaker gives two 45-minute talks a day for five days, we've never been short on material. For the past few years, I have been centrally involved in this event, often recruiting the speakers and writing their scripts, as well as doing Sid myself. This year, I informed Matthew that I wasn't going to be involved, and I must say, he, Sean, Andrew, and Davy did an admirable job. My one criticism was that they didn't do enough of the, as it were, mannerisms of the speakers, but that could just be me wishing I was still in the game. It brings a tear to my eye to see the traditions passed on (not really).

At the last minute on Friday, I decided to go to the Macy's farm in stead of taking the bus to Des Moines. I piled into a car with four other guys, and we headed off to the Maurer's, where we then all loaded into a (french fry oil-powered) pick-up truck--but that's another story, I believe they were running on deisel at the time. We drove that to the Macy's, where we shot some skeet, ate, hung out, let off some fireworks, and then left for Des Moines.

We arrived around midnight, and some of us were hungry, so we found a diner and had breakfast, which was good, because I slept through breakfast the following morning (I probably would have stayed up either way).

Despite my perpetual state of tiredness, I enjoyed both Shallowbrook and Des Moines. I like being a part of a group of friends who know each other well enough to break through the barriers and talk about things that matter. It was also good to sit down and talk to some of the middle-aged (and older) folks that I don't see too often.

I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep. As a co-worker once told me, "You know it was a good vacation if you have to come back to work to recover."

The Ayoub's 50th Anniversary

Also that weekend, I went to my church in California. In the afternoon, there was a surprise party for a the Christo and Laura Ayoub's 50th anniversary.

The Exodus Continues

It seems to be the time for good-byes. The Kerrs, who have been in Washington for three years (just a bit longer than I) are heading back to Texas (by way of Canada) in July.



Dave & Melody, Evalyn, Mary, Benjamin

On Saturday, there was a going-away party at the Froese house.




We're going to miss them.

Headship

This Sunday and last Sunday I was giving a two-part series at my church in Tacoma on the topic of headship. The first week I went over the broad concept as it is seen in scripture, and on the second week I focused on 1 Corinthians 11, where it is applied. My notes can be found on my server, in the text directory:

• Part 1 (PDF)
• Part 2 (PDF)

Lakeview and Evening

First off, here are photos from last weekend's conference at the Lakeview Christian Conference Center in Auburn, WA:
Lakeview Conference Photos

I really enjoyed the conference. My dad and sister Sarah flew up, and it was good to see them, as well as others from around the country.

Before I proceed further, an introduction is in order:

For a bit over a month it has been my privilege and joy to be courting a captivating young woman. She has impressed me as one who loves what is right, and yearns to please the Lord in what she does: to know Christ; to walk before Him and so be a blessing to others.

Her name is Elizabeth:


She is a nursing student (almost done!) at Northwest University. We have been acquainted with each other since last summer through her sister and our dear friend Amanda. It wasn't until last December that we really got a chance to spend quality time with one another, though she had already piqued my interest. She was off in India during the month of February (where she got the sari she's wearing in the above photo), and when she returned, I got to know her a bit better, asked her out, and then had a talk with her parents.

She has driven me to my knees before the Lord and his Word (we have both been driven there). I have been so blessed; so refreshed and excited!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
~Matthew 5:6-8

The following photos are from a formal evening put on by Northwest. It used to be called "Spring Banquet", but they don't serve much food, so now it's just "Evening".

Northwest University 'Evening' Formal Photos

The other couples pictured are her our friends George & Cara (who got engaged that evening!) and Rick & Martha.

Maybe I Just Needed a Drive

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" ~ Mr. Bennet I left the Winter Park at 2:35, only 5 minutes later than I had planned, and in plenty of time to get to the airport in Denver, even with the possibility of traffic or other unexpected delays. There was a little bit of traffic on I-70, but it only slowed down to 35mph, and instantly disappeared once the freeway expanded to three lanes. I was driving a Ford Taurus that I had rented online and picked up at the airport. When I scheduled my flight, I was counting on taking a shuttle to the ski resort, but the last one left at 10:00 PM, and my flight was scheduled to land at about 9:30. Korey, unbeknownst to me was on the same flight, but was counting on making the shuttle, and had therefore sent his checked bags ahead with TJ. The flight was delayed an hour, though, so it was good that I was there to give him a ride. I hate closed-ended time constraints. The morning that I had left, my skiing was dictated by the fact that I needed to be back at the lodge at 2:00 at the latest. I had also agreed to meet Matthew at the top of Mary Jane at noon, so my first runs of the day, I had to be sure that I was within striking range of the lifts that would take me there. Once we finally met up, we both had to keep an eye on the clock, as we both needed to leave at about the same time. We therefore again had to choose our routes carefully. It wouldn't have been so bad had we been on the left side of the mountain where all roads lead to Zephyr, but we had decided to go to the far right in order to accommodate Andrew, who was a new skier. There weren't many good blue runs on the left side of the mountain, and we had worn him out enough the previous day on the blacks. We had a later start skiing Sunday than Saturday, and the fact that all of Denver decided to come up for the weekend didn't help get us started any sooner. The lift line was pretty long, so most of us decided to ride as singles. It was at least 11:00 by the time I got to the top. I wanted to go up to the top of Timberline like I had the previous day, but I also wanted to hang out with the people I was with, so TJ and I did a mogul run (I'm not very good at moguls), and afterward I hit a terrain park twice: one with a double jump. The first one was small, so I hit it slow, and got some decent air on the second one. The second time I went, though, I hit the first one without slowing down at all. I got tons of air, and then hit the second jump at full speed. It was a blast! I only wish I had gotten someone to film it like last time. I went shooting into the air, and landed about halfway down the ramp. I wound down the mountain road, which was much clearer than the 100mph gust snowstorm that I had driven up in. The road took me to the interstate, which went through Denver on to the airport. Denver airport is isolated from the city by a 10-mile long road out into the middle of nowhere. There's nothing there but the airport; I suppose they planned it that way so that no one would have to deal with the noise and pollution. I guess if they have the space, they might as well, and they definitely have the space. I drove the car to the Avis lot, returned the car, and took the shuttle to the airport. Avis has two check-in places where you go before you get your car: the normal one and the "Avis Preferred" one. I have no idea what the Preferred place has different than the normal one; maybe the line is just shorter, maybe they put mints on your dashboard, speak with British accents, and have a duvet in the W.C.. When you get on the shuttle at the airport, they ask you if you're a member, and if you are, you get to feel special and get out at the special stop. Mostly I think it's to take more of their money, or at least their company's money, since it seems like the sort of thing corporations might buy into for their employees on business travel. Anyway, I was returning a car, not renting one, so I spoke to the attendant, got my receipt, took my luggage, and headed for the shuttle. They charged me for a full tank of gas: for some reason I was thinking that they would only charge me for what it would take to fill it up, but I guess that's why the rate wasn't exhorbant. The shuttle arrived at the terminal, and I took the escalator to the ticket counter level. There was a line, and so I waited about 15 minutes with my backpack, laptop case, skis, and bag. I had packed my boots in the top portion of my bag. I usually over-pack for trips like this, and so there was no room in my bag for the Wii that I had brought. The Wii, along with my Bible, camera, and books was in my backpack. All in all, quite a lot of baggage for a three-day trip. I hadn't really used my laptop except once to unsuccessfully check for WiFi upstairs. There was an Ethernet jack, but Tim was using it, so I just checked my e-mail on his laptop. Normally I would have watched a movie or TV episodes on the flight, but this time I was reading. Josh had lent me Thr3e. I finally advanced to the front of the line. There isn't really a comfortable way to hold that much luggage, particularly because my bag wasn't completely full, and so it wouldn't stand up on its own, so by this time I was sort of dragging my ski bag. I went up to the e-ticket counter, hit start, and selected English, and stuck my credit card in the slot. No dice. The display indicated that it had failed to read my card, so I swiped it again. Again, nothing happened. Annoyed, I exited the identification screen and started over. This time, after it had rejected my American Express, I tried my MasterCard. Still nothing. I pressed the "I need assistance" button, and was instructed to pick up the telephone receiver, which I did. While the line was ringing, an attendant came up to me and asked if I needed help. I told her it wasn't reading my credit cards. I had my itinerary printed out from an e-mail, but it wasn't the confirmation e-mail (which presumably would have had the confirmation number prominently displayed), because the flight time had been updated after the reservation, and this was the e-mail with the updated times. I handed her the printouts, hoping she would be able to find it, and looked at the screen to see what other forms of reservation confirmation were acceptable, and that's when she noticed that my flight was for Monday. This was Sunday. I had showed up 24 hours too early for my flight. Instantly I knew what had gone wrong. When I had scheduled my flight, I was planning on taking the shuttle. It was weeks later, after I had bothered to find out about the shuttle schedule that I had made my rental car reservation. It had bothered me then that I had thought before that I wasn't going to be in town for the first class in a series of Sunday night dance classes. My flight landed at 7:06, which technically was enough time to make it to at least part of the lesson, but definitely to be there for the dance afterward. I remembered that I had considered the ski trip as a possible reason to forgo signing up for this particular class. The reason I had thought I wasn't going to be able to dance on Sunday night was because I wasn't supposed to arrive until the following evening. Dance lessons aside, I had more pressing matters to attend to: I was stuck at an airport, with no car, and 25 hours to kill. I had two options: I considered trying to reschedule my flight a day early for about five seconds, but it simply wasn't what I wanted to do. I hadn't wanted to leave when I did: I wanted to spend time with my friends and my sister. The only reason I was heading back was that I thought that I hadn't taken Monday off. Had I? Yes, I was sure that I had, because I had scheduled my days off at the same time as I had booked the flight. There wasn't much I was working on at work anyway, so if worst came to worse I could call in and take the day off. Coming back was admitting that I had made a rather silly mistake, but it was the truth, and I wasn't going to give up my lost-and-found extra day of the trip to try to hide it. Yes, it made me look foolish, but it was pretty funny. It's just the sort of absent-minded thing that I would do. I headed over to the Avis counter, and explained my situation. The man told me in a matter-of-fact way that if I had returned the car, then the contract was over. I asked him how much it would cost to rent another one for 24 hours, and he said $50 plus tax. That was lower than I expected, so I said "Okay then, I'll do that." and he handed me a slip of paper. I took the Avis shuttle back to the Avis lot, "No, I'm not a Preferred member," got to the counter, "No, I don't want to buy extra insurance," and "I'll bring it back full." I was assigned another Ford Taurus, this one with only 302 miles on it. The radio in this car worked better than the last one. I programmed the presets as I made my way to the freeway, and zoomed across the plain and up the mountain. I stopped before SR-40 to get a chicken sandwich at Burger King, and made it to the Lodge just after dinner at 6:00 PM. I didn't get any skiing in the next day. Hardly anyone did, as most people were leaving early in the morning, and we had to be checked out by 10:00 AM. I did have some great conversations, though, and I hung out with the Boyds and their friends from Denver on the way down. It certainly made me appreciate being there. It was like finding $20 in your pants: you're not any richer, but you're richer than you thought you were five minutes ago; or like the woman in the parable who found her lost coin: she called her friends and celebrated. I think God knew I just needed a drive.

Winter Park Photos

Get them here.

Conference 2006 Pictures and Audio

Here you go:

• Pictures
• Audio

I particularly liked the Bible studies in Philippians 2. That's all for now.

Photo Update

I went through and updated my online photos. I switched to using a different Picasa layout, which is easier to navigate. I also increased the size to 1024x768 (many of them were previously smaller). Added albums:

• Boyd Miller Wedding
• Silver Peak Hike
• Seattle
• Seaside 2005
• Hicks Lake 2005

Here's the whole shebang. Enjoy.

The Law Fulfilled in Christ: Commandments 1-5

About a month ago, I gave a talk on a Sunday morning in Tacoma. I was asked to type up my notes and share them, and I promised that I would post them here on my blog.

My subject is the relationship between the Ten Commandments and the Christian: The Christian is not under the Law, and therefore does not set out to follow the ten commandments as the "constraint" on his behavior: however, in Christ there are new and higher motives for living with a righteousness that fulfills the Law and in fact goes beyond it.

My hope is that it will be an encouragement to Christians to live in the freedom for which Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1).

On a similar vein, I would also recommend a talk my dad gave at Altoona conference this year, which you can get in mp3 format here (track 03: if you're in a hurry, you can listen to the last 10 minutes starting at time index 36:00).

Here are my notes (PDF).

I would appreciate your feedback.

Hicks Lake Photos

Hicks Lake Conference photos here.

Coming to a Blog Near You

Maybe if I post this here I'll actually do it.

As sort of a preview of coming attractions, this last Sunday I gave a sermon on how the Christian fulfills the Law in Christ (or more precisely, has the power to do so), taking up the first five commandments. I've been asked to organize my notes on the subject, and also do a sequel (on the other five) so I hope to get that together at some point in the near future, and when I do I will post it.

There. You have my word.

Shallowbrook Pictures - Highlights

Here are some pictures from Shallowbrook and Altoona. They're all still available on my server from the previous post, but this gives me a chance to pick some out and comment.

One of the most articulate almost-four-year-olds that I have ever known. I really enjoy children who can carry on a conversation and you don't have to talk down to them, but they're still a kid, and therefore fascinated by everything in the universe.

Troy and Michael. Troy decided to pick up a stick and hit things... including Michael. Fun was had by all.

Jen and Paige

Katie and Caitlin

Drew and Bethany

Caleb. OOC.

Seth, visually disavowing responsibility for whatever mayhem happens to be going on at the moment.

Liz and her pearly-whites

Jeffrey getting his due comeuppence. They who have cloggable ears should not hit with water noodles. Ye be warned.

Tim floating

Max. Smiling. With teeth. Contain your enthusiasm, ladies.

Lisa, Amy, and Bonnie. Our eternal thanks for spoiling us rotten with home-cooked meals all week.

Stephainie. I haven't ever read Les-Mis. Apparently it's good, but is it good enough to justify the thickness? Good books can be thick (see LOTR trilogy) if they're good enough.

A frog that Seth caught. Ah, memories...

Sid and Tom.

Troy scarfing a banana.

Mateo and Gerald

Sleep deprivation: Colleen, Bethany, Jenny

Those eyes: they're so... PIERCING!!!! They can see into my soul!
(My apologies, Abby. Blue is definitely one of your colors.)

Davy. Thanks for the shirt.

Tim and Kim

Seth and Tim looking pleasant

Steve and Vernon

Me Sid lecturing on the book of Hebrews.

Seth Al trying to fit boxes into the boxes that they contain, or something.

Tom's idea of a joke. You had to be there.

The ladies...

...being dignified and lady-like, as always

Caleb. Ait't he cute?

Jeremy and Ally

Al. This shot just seems to typify him somehow. It's as if he's continually amused by his circumstances (in this case, the fact that he's standing on a chair), even though he knows very well how he got there.

Bonnie and Abby

Hannah and Elyse. High five!

Jeremy and Caleb

Liz and Seth

Jeremy and Michelle Caleb

Paige *shudder*

Tim. He is so cool.

Gordie! Props to him for driving 12 hours each way for Altoona

Gerald. He was supposed to pick me up in Des Moines. Too bad I never landed there and had no way to contact him. He's a trooper.

Erica

Abby

Me

Caleb

Abby, Paige, Bethany, Joanna

The old people: Dave, Bryce (obscured), Clifford, April, Pat, Sarah, Rodger, Darrell, Marg, Rob

Caleb and Me