Question of the Day (Week?, Month?, however long it takes for me to come up with another post)

Is speeding a sin?


Dr. Gregg Frazer of TMC says "yes."

I can't really think of any reason why it wouldn't be.

Impossible Task

So I have to do a six to eight minute informative speech in my Spoken Communication class. I have to choose a topic, so naturally I pick something that I'm interested in and fairly confident in talking about--The Doctrines of Grace.

Here's my problem: how in a million years do you fit all the Doctrines of Grace into an eight minute time span and do anything besides define a few terms? I'm pretty sure it's not possible. Already I've had to cut an argument by Jonathan Edwards and a quote by Desiring God Ministries. I've changed the title from "The Doctrines of Grace, Explained and Defended" to "The Doctrines of Grace, A Brief Overview." Worst of all, I've dropped several of my scripture references, and I don't even have time to read out the ones that are still left!

Guess it just goes to show how impossible it is to put God's truth in a little box. The gospel is beautifully simple, but the deeper doctrines of Christianity take some serious time and thought.

How do you fit the Doctrines of Grace into eight minutes? If there's one thing this project has taught me, it's that you don't.

Jesus, Thank You

One of my favorite songs that we sang in church back home, and that I now have the privlidge of singing in chapel at Master's from time to time, is Jesus Thank You. This morning was one of those great mornings of chapel where we sung this great song, and as I was meditating on the chorus, something really jumped out at me for some reason.

The chorus of the song goes like this:

Your blood has washed away my sins, Jesus thank You
The Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus thank You
Once your enemy now seated at Your table, Jesus thank You

Don't ask me how I got the point I'm about to make from this song. For some strange reason I thought about it so here we go. Isn't it such an amazing privilege and gift to serve God? I mean, not only are we forgiven of our sins, justified through the cross, and assured a place in heaven (not to understate those things at all), but we actually get to do something for God. It's far too easy to fall into that dutiful mindset, where we feel we have to do things for God because of what He's done for us. No, it is actually a remarkable privilege to study God's word, it is a privilege to share the gospel, it is a privilege to worship him through song, studying, eating, drinking, and so on. They're not something that we have to do just because we're Christians. They are unique gifts from God that are reserved only for His people. Isn't that awesome!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm as (probably more) guilty of spiritual apathy than anyone, which is why I brought this up. We Christians need to have a mindset that is not duty-driven, but joy-driven and love-driven. If God suddenly gave us the ability to fly, or be really strong, we would use those gifts all the time. Likewise, he has given us the ability to evangelize, to study and obey His word, and to worship Him, so why don't we do those things with all eagerness and enthusiasm?

Something that keeps popping up into my head.

There's something strange about suddenly living 24/7 in a place where almost everyone is smarter and more mature than you are.

I mean, in one sense it's pretty awesome because there are so many things to learn and so many things to challenge me. There's no doubt that from an academic and spiritual standpoint, this is the best place in the world to be.

On the other hand, though, I think it's ended up making me somewhat timid and reserved. Suddenly, I feel like the least important, least interesting, and most unwise guy around. As if I have nothing noteworthy to bring to the table, nothing to offer to others.


Not too much more than a thought...maybe I'm just feeling sorry for myself.

Labor Day Grab Bag

Wow, so many things have happened recently that I could develop several different things into full posts, but these tidbits will have to suffice for now.

1. WOW (week of welcome) at The Master's College. As an incoming student, I had the privilege of attending WOW at TMC and oh man, it was great. Awesome people, awesome teaching, and awesome events all marked the week, and it was in general just a great time of fellowship and fun. Indeed, I think one of the main reasons that I will grow to love Master's so much is the constant spiritual emphasis of the college. Sure it is fun, there's no question that TMC has plenty of fun stuff to do, but there's also so much more than that. The bond in Christ that I have with (Lord-willing) everyone at the college is so deep and profound. With a ton of people more mature and smarter than me, I'll definitely be challenged to grow in my faith. Put simply, Master's is da' domb. Enough said.

2. Wake up! Wake up! I went to an Everyday Sunday concert Friday night, and I must honestly say that Trey and guys put on a good show. They rocked out pretty hard and I recognized most of their songs, so that was nice. Granted, they definitely weren't as awesome as Kutless. They played fewer songs, the sound was just too loud (even for a rock concert), and they simply aren't as good as Kutless musically. However, the hosting church's gospel presentation, while still a bit watery and vaguely explained, was significantly better than the one with Kutless. Note that the same church was hosting both concerts, so this was somewhat encouraging.

3. I finally saw I Am Legend for the first time. Slight dissapointment from what I was expecting, but ignore my expectations. Legend was a really entertaining and engrossing film with a great message. I recomment it. Of course, there was the inevitable bit of language and violence, it's definitely for more mature audiences, but for a PG-13 rated film, I'm not really complaining.

4. I discovered the next great party game during WOW week at Master's, and it's called Quelf! If you're looking for a truly random, yet amazing, group game that features loads of laughs and truckloads of fun, buy Quelf as soon as possible. I just invested in a game myself and upon playing it for the second time, it most definitely did not dissapoint.

Times They are'a Changin'

Looking back over the summer, it's been pretty good. Enjoyable, long, some new memories. Growing stronger in several friendships, watching the Olympics (more thoughts on those later). Yeah it's been great, but finally, at long, the day that has been shadowing my whole summer has come....

I'm leaving for college.

Now not leaving leaving mind you. I'll still be within 100 miles from home at The Master's College, I'll still come home many, if not most, weekends to keep up with old friends and family and to fellowship with my decade-old church body. It's not really that that's so scary, exciting, and amazing. It's the total change in life that I'm about to experience. It's the fact that I'll never be able to go back to the "old days" again. Nope, life is really here, I'm an adult now. The place I've called home ever since I was born won't quite have the same comfort and significance it has for the past 18 years. My parents have assured me that when I graduate, they still be here with open arms waiting to welcome me back. That's encouraging, yes, but that's not what I want. When I graduate, I want a well-paying job (or a job in the ministry, we'll see); I've sapped enough resources from my family the past 18 years, and by the time I graduate, I better be able to take care of myself (especially if I'm married or engaged, but again, we'll see).

I've been reading the widely popular book, Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris over the past couple weeks, and it's been nothing short of amazing. One of the things the pair stressed was this myth of adolescence. They talked long and often about "doing hard things", growing up, and taking responsibility, because as teens there's really nothing stopping us from impacting the world except ourselves. I've always thought of myself as more on the mature side, but experiences like preparing for college and reading Do Hard Things are starting to change that. Heck, I'm 18 already and I would be in hot water if my parents (like some) chose to turn me loose and kick me out of the house as soon as I reached adulthood. I may be smart, I may adequately take care of my few responsibilities, and I may be self-motivated enough to write on this blog even when nobody reads it. One thing I am not, though, is a self-sustaining, fully functional, adult human being. If I was on my own, I wouldn't know where to start! That's a little bit why college is so scary (yet exciting). I get new freedoms living on my own, freedoms that don't seem nearly as awesome and glorious as they did ten years ago, but I also am living on my own. I have most the supplies and bills paid, but now I'm the one who has to start footing a little bit of the bill.

That's more or less what I've been thinking about the past week. No question, I'm looking forward to college, but that's only the first step into life, into the real world. So here I go! It's time to start learning, and time to start doing truly hard and manly (in the biblical sense) things for the glory of God.

Speaking of which, that is the true comfort in all of this. No matter what happens during my entire lifetime, God will still loves me, He'll still cares for me, and His perfect plan will always be what is best for me. Better yet, I have the highest calling of all: to serve Jesus Christ. Whether I end up writing the script for next summer blockbuster or working at Costco, I'll have the chance to share the Gospel and glorify God with my life. And that, after all, is what really matters!

Christian Music These Days

Last night I had the privilege of attending my second real contemporary Christian concert ever. The band was Kutless, the place was Valley Bible Fellowship; and I must say that I had a great time. For better or for worse, Kutless is one of my favorite bands, and it was fun to see them live. They put on a pretty good show; rocking out for several songs, calming down for a more "serious" time, and then ending the concert with several more crazy songs. Musically, they were great and Jon Micah was acceptable with vocals. Yes, he could've been a bit better on some songs, but he was good. Better yet, the opening group, lead by Eric Mizelle, was decent as well.

Now I like Kutless a lot. I have all of their albums, and all are really solid, each one bringing a slightly new feel lyrically and musically, but all retaining just a bit of that signature Kutless sound that fans like me know and love. I think that their lyrics are more biblically sound and God-centered than most "Christian" bands these days, and their music, quite frankly, rocks. Despite how awesome they are, though, it's hard for me to wholeheartedly recommend them to someone. For instance, two of their songs (which isn't too bad over five albums) revolve around such bad/weak theology that I've completely deleted them from my itunes.

You see, the tough thing about music, especially CCM, is that contemporary songs are by nature somewhat subjective. Even if you don't understand exactly what the artist was originally trying to say, it's fairly easy to read or interpret the lyrics in a way that you agree with. Consider Wavorly, another one of my favorite bands. It's pretty clear from reading their "behind the song" blurb online that they operate from an Arminian viewpoint (Kutless does too, btw), and as such speak of human choice in several of their songs. A line from one song goes "when choice spans such a great divorce (between heaven and hell)." Now they're obviously speaking of human choice, but when I listen to the song, I interpret the song to mean God's choice spanning a great divorce. It's possible to find much truth in Kutless' songs, but when the band actually talks explicitly about important spiritual stuff in their concerts, it's pretty weak. Nothing about sin, hell, or repentance, just stuff about how the Christian life is so much better, there's a "God shaped hole in our heart" and how only God can satisfy all our wants and desires.

Now don't get me wrong, that's all true, and fantastic, and good (besides the "God shaped hole" thing). It's great to hear someone in a band talk about how their music does not bring satisfaction or happiness. It's great to hear the lead singer pray that God would be glorified tonight. That's fine and that's beautiful, but there's something missing. Jon Micah mentions Christ, but little about who He is or what He did. He talks about living with God forever, but nothing about the judgment that awaits us if we leave this life without Christ.

After the concert, one of the pastor's of Valley Bible Fellowship got up and spoke for a few moments. Now given that this concert was free and that there were probably quite a few unbelievers in the crowd, he gave a little talk about becoming a Christian. Again, it was a good idea to use this as an outreach event. Here was a great opportunity to preach the gospel to hundreds, if not thousands, of unsaved people. Did this guy do that?

Yeah...well...maybe not. He started off great, using Paul's Gentile strategy of starting with general revelation. He talked about creation, and how there simply must be a creator God, and how this God revealed Himself to us by taking the form of a man named Jesus and dying on the cross for us. After that, though, he started to peter off, going into how having a relationship with Jesus will make you happy and give you a great life. Sin was mentioned at most two or three times, and hell was completely absent. I don't recall any mention of repentance either. The peak of watered-down theology came when this pastor said something to the effect of "not only do you get to live with Christ forever, you get a great life, you get hope, you get satisfaction, you get joy." It was almost as if eternal life was an afterthought. Sure, you get to live forever and escape the burning wrath of God, but now, here, today, you'll be complete and you'll be satisfied and you'll be happy! Just come up and make a decision to follow Christ today, and you're good to go.

Being a semi-frequent reader of blogs like TeamPyro, Oldtruth.com, and Pros Apologian, and frequently listening to podcasts like Way of the Master and Grace to You, I hear things all the time about the gospel getting watered down or perverted. I read about critiques of the seeker sensitive movement, decisional regeneration, and all that jazz. Hearing this stuff, though, live and in person at an event that I looked forward to attending was really tough and shocking for some reason. It was like I saw right through all the emotions and Christian lingo to the core of the issue: a weak gospel. Evangelicalism and Contemporary Christian Music, especially in churches like this, really is in a sad state these days.

Again, I really don't want to come across as being judgmental or legalistic, but as zealous for clear teaching of the Word of God. I think it's fine to listen to CCM as long as you listen with a discerning ear and avoid being swept away with the clever lyrics and emotional message. No question, we can enjoy bands like Kutless as long as the word of God is consistently being applied in our hearts and lives and we are able to avoid being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14).