tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63574914123472347832024-03-18T03:09:47.971-07:00Northwest AnglicanBut our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ -Philippians 3:20Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.comBlogger403125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-53047328670415303722013-05-25T14:01:00.000-07:002013-05-25T14:18:06.975-07:00Codeword: GraceI spent the last three weeks on a palliative care rotation working at an inpatient hospice facility. It's been an eye-opening experience. I've learned a lot about drugs that provide comfort at the end of life. Patients end up in hospice care when they've decided to pursue comfort measures only. Interventions done in hospice, whether pharmacologic or otherwise, are meant neither to artificially prolong life nor hasten death but only to provide comfort. I was very thankful to be working in a facility run by Roman Catholics where something like assisted suicide is completely off the table, especially in a state where it is unfortunately legal. More important than learning about pharmacology, I've seen the interactions between the providers, who are experts in this area of palliative care, and patients who have a terminal diagnosis and often have days to weeks to live.<br />
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At times I've questioned whether going into medicine was the correct choice. I've thought back longingly at times to the days of doing construction before I went to seminary back in the early 2000s. But the privilege of being with my patients and their families at their most difficult moments is something I'm very thankful for. The only other profession which probably has that same privilege is being a pastor or a priest. <br />
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Out of all of the patients I cared for in the past three weeks, one especially stands out to me. He was an elderly gentleman, close to the age of 90. Before he arrived I read through the hospital paperwork that had been faxed to our facility. I saw that while he had significant Alzheimer's dementia, he had still been walking up and down stairs and sitting at the dinner table and eating with his family until a week ago. A week ago he had fallen and after the fall his mental status never returned to its prior baseline. He was taken to the hospital where multiple problems were discovered including a broken pelvis, a heart attack and a blocked bile duct resulting in a severe and deadly infection called ascending cholangitis. The gastroenterologists, experts in the GI tract, were consulted but because of all of his severe medical problems were unwilling to risk an invasive procedure to try to unblock the bile duct. As the patient's clinical picture continued to worsen in spite of powerful antibiotics, IV fluids and other interventions, palliative care was consulted and the decision was made by the patient's wife and children to transition to comfort measures. <br />
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As I read through all the paperwork we had received I was interested to read that this man had been a Baptist pastor. I made a mental note of this, thinking that this might be a good opportunity to pray with the family, something I'm always on the look-out for. The patient arrived and was started on a morphine drip for his severe pain from his pelvic fracture and biliary obstruction. In my (very inexperienced) medical opinion the patient looked to be actively dying. I thought he probably had hours to live. After getting him situated I went to meet with his family along with one of the staff doctors at the hospice facility. We had a long discussion regarding the patient's prognosis, what to expect very near the end and the details of comfort care. One of the patient's seven children warned us that they were a "singing family" and that there would probably be some loud hymn-singing emanating from the patient's room. Now they really had my attention as I'm one of those strange folk whose favorite music genre are hymns, especially those written more than a century or two ago. The meeting ended and I went back to my duties, caring for other patients. <br />
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The next morning I was surprised to see that my patient had made it through the night. When I entered the room it was crowded with his many children and a gaggle of grand-children. I examined the patient and answered many questions regarding his care. As I was about to leave I mentioned that I would have liked to have heard a hymn at some point. I didn't assume that this grieving family would invite a doctor, a stranger to them, into this fellowship and worship of the Lord. I was surprised when a hymn, "How Great Thou Art," was rapidly begun. So I belted out this hymn with the rest of the family, around their dying father's and grandfather's bed. <br />
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I should have known that my experience with this patient and his family would be a blessed one from the beginning though. During our first meeting, after his arrival, the family was asked to come up with a codeword so that if one of them called our facility asking for information the information could be supplied without breaking privacy rules - if the codeword were supplied. After a brief moment of silence one of the patient's sons said the word "grace." The patient's elderly wife who was hard of hearing and had said very little during the meeting asked for the codeword to be repeated. "Grace!" said her son. She smiled. "That's a good one! I'm saved by grace!" she replied. <br />
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I was greatly blessed by this patient and his family. They preached the gospel to me. It's good to be a doctor.<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /> And when I think, that God, His Son not
sparing;<br /> Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;<br /> That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,<br /> He bled and died to take away my sin.</span><br />
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Amen.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-41552613441181629532012-10-27T01:51:00.003-07:002012-10-27T08:09:54.242-07:00I believe in the prosperity gospel<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had a sickening epiphany today. I realized that I believe in the Prosperity Gospel. In spite of the fact that I think it’s one of the most widespread and destructive lies of Satan in the church today I realized that, to a degree, I’ve come to believe in that which I hate. Residency has been tough spiritually. The struggle with temptation and sin has often been a losing battle. Compared to the past year, my life in medical school and in seminary before that looked like “victorious living.” I’ve also become more cynical in the past year. This morning I realized why. It’s because I’ve developed a sense of entitlement that God should just take it all away. In spite of praying for decades that various sinful desires would leave me they are still here and as strong as ever. Sometimes, by God’s grace, I feel strong and those temptations seem to have little power over me. But other times I’m weak, like in the past year, and those temptations have much power over me. But the temptation to sin has never completely left me even at my best times. <br /><br />And somehow I came to the place where subconsciously, at least until this morning, I felt that God was not holding up His end of the bargain. The belief that God will make our lives easy has a name. It’s called prosperity theology. Instead of Christ alone being our portion, instead of Christ alone being enough, we must add on financial prosperity, good health, success in business and victory over sin. If these “blessings” are not seen in the life of the Christian it is attributed to not praying the right<span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Prayer-Jabez-Breaking-Breakthrough/dp/1590524756/ref=pd_sim_b_1"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">magic words</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, or not having enough faith, or perhaps not “</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Declare-Promises-Speak-Over-Your/dp/1455516783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351327412&sr=1-1&keywords=i+declare"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">declaring</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">” correctly, whatever that means. And while I find Word of Faith style Christianity to be ridiculous I realized this morning that because of my frequent prayers and Bible-reading and participation in the Sacrament I had somehow come to expect that God was going to make things easy.<br /><br />I realize that there are Bible verses which seem to indicate that God sometimes blesses with financial prosperity or with healing and with other tangible material goods. But I’m perfectly willing to get into a proof-texting battle with anyone and remind them that we’re also promised the hatred of the world (John 15:8), tribulations (John 16:33), family strife (Matt. 10:34), suffering (1 Peter 3:17), persecution (Matt. 5:11), the painful-feeling discipline of God (Hebrews 12:11), thorns in the flesh which remain in spite of prayer (2 Cor. 12:7), and captivity to the law of sin which dwells in our flesh (Romans 7:23). Prosperity and good health may be blessings from God although in our sinful state, needful of constant humbling (2 Cor. 12:7), I think the Psalmist’s words “It is good for me that I was afflicted (Ps. 119:71)” are more likely to reflect what truly is a blessing. <br /><br />Ultimately</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">,</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> true blessedness has nothing to do either with prosperity or affliction. True blessedness is that which can say, “</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12-13).” True blessedness is that which is based on the objective reality of Christ and His work outside of ourselves, outside of our poverty or prosperity, outside of our sickness or health, outside of our victory or failure. The Psalmist speaks of the true blessedness when he writes, “Blessed is the man whose sin the <span class="nivsmallcaps1">Lord</span> does not count against him (Psalm 32:2).” Christ Himself speaks of this blessedness when he corrects his own disciples who were mistaken about the locus of true blessedness. When the seventy-two returned to Christ they were rejoicing over the fact that the demons were subject to them. They were rejoicing in the miraculous, in that which is tangible in the here and now. But Christ offers them a word of correction – He commands them not to rejoice in these things but instead to rejoice that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). Instead of being filled with sorrow because the false expectations of a damnable and false “gospel” are not fulfilled in me I should rejoice in the fact that my name is written in heaven and has been since I was baptized as a little baby in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is only this assurance, this looking to Christ, who sympathizes with us in our temptations, and Christ's perfect work on the cross, where He became sin who knew no sin, which will ever give me the strength to resist sin and to seek after God. Instead of believing that God is going to make things easy I must know that His grace is enough even in the midst of the worst strife. I pray that God will cleanse me from the delusion of “prosperity,” and that He will rid His holy Church of this evil leaven.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-61150803846339934182012-08-26T21:27:00.001-07:002012-08-26T21:33:51.729-07:00The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life<br />
This morning I finished a two-week block that I'd been dreading ever since I got my schedule for my second year of residency a few months ago. I spent the last two weeks on MOD night-float. MOD is an acronym for "Medical Officer of the Day," a term which originated in military medicine but which is widely used in both civilian and military settings. Basically when you are the MOD you are the go-to person for all of the internal medicine patients in the hospital and also for all of the patients in the ER or in clinics who need to be admitted to the internal medicine service. So I spent the past two weeks working from 6:30PM to 8:00AM admitting patients to the hospital overnight. It's been two weeks of the most independence and responsibility I've ever had as a doctor. And it was quite stressful at times but by God's grace I made it through. On average I took about 4 patients per night, evaluating them in the ER, making a diagnosis or diagnoses and starting the work-up and course of treatment I thought was appropriate. Everyone survived and for the most part I think I was correct in my diagnoses and initial work up and treatment. On my busiest night I was paged on and evaluated 8 patients, admitting 7 to the medicine service. The majority of the complaints were pulmonary - COPD exacerbations and pneumonias. I admitted a few patients with heart failure exacerbations, a couple of syncopes and GI bleeds, and one each of ascending cholangitis, diverticulitis, cellulitis and pyelonephritis. I also admitted a man whom the ER had just diagnosed with likely metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. I think I must have admitted about 50 patients to the hospital over the past two weeks. It seems I should have some deep philosophical reflection on the automatic intimacy you have with people in their darkest and most frightening hours in the middle of the night but disappointingly I don't. The greatest hope and fear I had over the past few weeks was the hope that I had done the best for my patients and the fear I had missed something important. Unfortunately I didn't get to pray with anyone but I did get to encourage an elderly lady I admitted for a heart-failure exacerbation who had recently lost her husband. Somehow we got to talking about Scripture while I was admitting her and we ended up talking about our favorite Psalms.<br />
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As with all of residency the past two weeks have been a challenge spiritually. I've been praying through the 119th Psalm every evening before work and reading from 2 Corinthians every morning before passing out. I think the Psalms are prayers for God's people so I like to pray them out loud but sometimes I come across one that I feel like I can't pray. This happened to me a couple of times in the 119th. Verse 97 reads "Oh how I love your law!" and verse 121 reads "I have done what is just and right." But as I try to pray verses like these I have this constant nagging thought which goes something like, "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out (Rom 7:14-15, 18)." I know the law of God is perfect but often times I don't love it and it is that very law which shows me that I have not done what is "just and right."<br />
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This morning after leaving the hospital I headed to St. James Anglican Church for the first time in a good number of weeks. I was exhausted but thankful to be in the fellowship of believers and the presence of God. As the liturgy, the Creed and the Lord's prayer were said I was thankful to be uttering things infinitely more true and important than anything I had said or written with so much angst in the hospital over the preceding two weeks. Our priest is an excellent preacher and a very wise man and he preached from 2 Corinthians chapter 3 focusing on the verses "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:5-6)." After praying through the 119th Psalm and also reading 2 Corinthians in the past couple of weeks I was thankful for a sermon which touched on many of the thoughts I've been struggling with. I don't have some great synthesis or epiphany to share but I was reminded that my hope, my sufficiency, is in the One who did keep the law perfectly and died because I haven't and never will in this life. My hope is in Christ who promised the Spirit who gives life after we've been slain by the law (John 14:15, Romans 7:10). Ultimately I am reminded of one of my favorite verses, also in 2 Corinthians, and a promise I will cling to forever, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."<br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-24571900400402933312012-07-04T12:31:00.002-07:002012-08-05T20:52:43.354-07:00The Heav'n rescued land<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An artist's rendering of the bombardment of Ft. McHenry in 1814 which inspired Key's poem "<i>Defense of Ft. McHenry</i>," which became known as "<i>The Star Spangled Banner.</i>" </td></tr>
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<span class="s1">O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Between their loved home and the war's desolation.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,</span></div>
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<span class="s1">And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."</span></div>
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<span class="s1">And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave</span></div>
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<span class="s1">O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />-<b>Francis Scott Key</b>, from <i>The Star-Spangled Banner</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-58950395204897567732012-06-30T21:27:00.002-07:002012-07-05T17:25:54.933-07:00The Longest Year<br />
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<div class="p1">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--NZPSS7WUMs/T-_VUXIb86I/AAAAAAAAAOE/BBXEogfCOhs/s1600/Image72.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--NZPSS7WUMs/T-_VUXIb86I/AAAAAAAAAOE/BBXEogfCOhs/s200/Image72.gif" width="200" /></a><span class="s1">This morning I walked into the hospital as an intern and this evening walked out a resident. I guess I didn't think I'd feel anything but the usual exhaustion after a long call day on the wards but I was surprised by the sense of a monumental task having been completed. This year has been perhaps the hardest year of my life. Feelings of frustration and anxiety about notes, assessments, procedures or presentations which could have gone better have frequently been my chief emotions. I remember calling one of my best friends in the first few months of this year and telling him I didn't think I could do it. Many things have been neglected, including this blog, in the past year. In spite of all this the one reality undimmed is the reality of Christ and His gospel.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />God has provided for me abundantly this year. During some of the hardest times of internship it was only meditating on Christ and His Death and Resurrection which gave perseverance. I know that this meditation on Christ comes only by the grace of God and not from some innate good within myself. I've been reminded of this by seeing temptation and sin rear its ugly head to a disappointing degree this year. I could look at my life and become discouraged and despair but in the words of John Newton I remember two things, "That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." Seeing that God has given me the grace to know this, to believe the Gospel and to know the Person of Christ, is the only wellspring of joy which can be taken away by no disappointments or failures in life.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />God has provided for me in His holy catholic Church. Two churches in particular have kept me fed with the Word of the Gospel preached and the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ broken. These are Hockinson Apostolic Lutheran Church and St. James Anglican Church. If most people, whether Christian or not, were to observe these two churches in their respective worship services they might see little in common. But one thing is held in common by the two, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, is preached. I am directed toward the objective reality of Christ, and what was done by Him, outside of me, on the cross. All of heaven is mine because of Jesus and his shed blood in atonement for my sins and the sins of the whole world. This year has often brought me to my knees - literally, but one of the many things I am thankful for is that I've been reminded again and again that I have nothing to offer God. And yet amazingly, in spite of this, in spite of my sin and frequent failings, I am convinced by the Word of God that I should have an unshakable hope and joy in Christ and His shed blood, and nothing else.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />Things aren't going to get any easier. Many say that the second year of residency is actually more challenging. But I do believe that God will continue to provide, encourage and discipline as He has thus far.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />Still the small inward voice I hear,</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That whispers all my sins forgiven;</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Still the atoning blood is near,</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I feel the life His wounds impart;</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I feel the Savior in my heart.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />-C. Wesley</span></div>
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-9389512317560808142012-05-27T08:53:00.000-07:002012-05-27T08:53:45.075-07:00Pentecost: And I believe in the Holy Ghost<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Holy Ghost, then, always existed, and exists, and always will exist. He neither had a beginning, nor will He have an end; but He was everlastingly ranged with and numbered with the Father and the Son. For it was not ever fitting that either the Son should be wanting to the Father, or the Spirit to the Son. For then Deity would be shorn of Its Glory in its greatest respect, for It would seem to have arrived at the consummation of perfection as if by an afterthought. Therefore He was ever being partaken, but not partaking; perfecting, not being perfected; sanctifying, not being sanctified; deifying, not being deified; Himself ever the same with Himself, and with Those with Whom He is ranged; invisible, eternal, incomprehensible, unchangeable, without quality, without quantity, without form, impalpable, self-moving, eternally moving, with free-will, self-powerful, All-powerful (even though all that is of the Spirit is referable to the First Cause, just as is all that is of the Only-begotten); Life and Lifegiver; Light and Lightgiver; absolute Good, and Spring of Goodness; the Right, the Princely Spirit; the Lord, the Sender, the Separator; Builder of His own Temple; leading, working as He wills; distributing His own Gifts; the Spirit of Adoption, of Truth, of Wisdom, of Understanding, of Knowledge, of Godliness, of Counsel, of Fear (which are ascribed to Him) by Whom the Father is known and the Son is glorified; and by Whom alone He is known; one class, one service, worship, power, perfection, sanctification. Why make a long discourse of it? All that the Father hath the Son hath also, except the being Unbegotten; and all that the Son hath the Spirit hath also, except the Generation. And these two matters do not divide the Substance, as I understand it, but rather are divisions within the Substance.<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">-Gregory of Nazianzus</span></b>, <i>On Pentecost (Oration XLI)</i></blockquote>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-62134476883556732022012-05-18T18:53:00.001-07:002012-05-19T20:27:02.747-07:00And I believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church<br />
For anyone who checks this blog still, you've probably noticed that there hasn't been much activity here. I've not felt much inspiration to write lately and, to be honest, have been struggling spiritually. And while I do struggle I trust in God's grace and power in Christ to keep me.<br />
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I recently had a few encouraging experiences in the past week though so figured I'd blog about them. <br />
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The first happened on an extremely stressful and busy day when I was admitting patients from the ER to the hospital. I went down to evaluate a guy with new-onset atrial flutter, an abnormal heart rhythm. When I got to the bedside I noticed that his elderly Korean wife seemed excited to see me. She called me by my name and talked to me as if I should recognize her. I didn't recognize her at first but she successfully jogged my memory by saying "you prayed for me in clinic." I then remembered that I had prayed for her during a clinic visit about 6 months earlier. She told me she had prayed for me every day since that visit! I was amazed. I love Kingdom economics. Before the visit was over she took me aside and told me she was awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. Just hearing His name was so encouraging in the midst of a day when everything seemed out of control and I didn't feel I had the strength to make it through.<br />
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A few days later I headed home to Battle Ground to have dinner at my girlfriend's house with some of her family and with a Christian doctor from India who is also a pastor and missionary there. Over dinner we discussed the persecution that Christians face there. He told of how fellow pastors have been poisoned to death by Hindu extremists because of their faith. This man of God faced the same persecution but you could see his joy in Christ. It was encouraging to see how all that he did in terms of the medicine he practices in India is motivated by a desire to spread the gospel.<br />
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Lastly, I was paged to talk with the family of a patient I'm taking care of who has terminal metastatic colon cancer. The nurse told me that this man's pastor was in the room and wished to speak with the doctor. I went to the room and the patient gave me permission to talk about his case with his pastor. This patient is a Japanese man with a Korean wife and their pastor is an African American. We went to another room and I had a somewhat difficult conversation with the pastor and the patient's wife. At the end of the conversation I asked if we could pray for the patient. Both of their eyes lit up and they clasped my hands. We prayed for my patient. It was pretty powerful.<br />
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So in the midst of much struggle the Lord has encouraged me and reminded my of His goodness and faithfulness in spite of all my sin. Thanks be to God!<br />
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-79761393191217978072012-04-08T09:38:00.000-07:002012-04-08T09:39:40.748-07:00Dawn of the New Creation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realised the new wonder; but even they hardly realised that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of the new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in the semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">-G.K. Chesterton</span></b>,</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The Everlasting Man</span></i></span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-66737673824443686882012-04-06T11:02:00.000-07:002012-04-06T11:03:00.782-07:00Good Friday: What we have merited<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>St. Bernard</b> was so terror-stricken by Christ’s sufferings that he said: I imagined I was secure and I knew nothing of the eternal judgment passed upon me in heaven, until I saw the eternal Son of God took mercy upon me, stepped forward and offered himself on my behalf in the same judgment. Ah, it does not become me still to play and remain secure when such earnestness is behind those sufferings. Hence he commanded the women: “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Lk 23:28; and gives in the 31st verse the reason: “For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” As if to say: Learn from my martyrdom what you have merited and how you should be rewarded. For here it is true that a little dog was slain in order to terrorize a big one. Likewise the prophet also said: “All generations shall lament and bewail themselves more than him”; it is not said they shall lament him, but themselves rather than him. Likewise were also the apostles terror-stricken in Acts 2:37, as mentioned before, so that they said to the apostles: “O, brethren, what shall we do?” So the church also sings: I will diligently meditate thereon, and thus my soul in me will exhaust itself.</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">–</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Martin Luther</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span><br />
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</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-48777704734999287132012-04-01T06:07:00.000-07:002012-05-08T01:08:21.118-07:00Calvin: Christ's design on Palm Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the first place, we ought to remember Christ’s design, which was, that he came to Jerusalem of his own accord, to offer himself to die; for it was necessary that his death should be voluntary, because the wrath of God could be appeased only by a sacrifice of obedience. And, indeed, he well knew what would be the result; but before he is dragged to the cross, he wishes to be solemnly acknowledged by the people as their King; nay, he openly declares that he commences his reign by advancing to death, but though his approach was celebrated by a vast crowd of people, still he remained unknown to his enemies until, by the fulfillment of prophecies, which we shall afterwards see in their own place, he proved that he was the true Messiah; for he wished to omit nothing that would contribute to the full confirmation of our faith.</span></div>
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-</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">John Calvin</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, <i>Commentaries</i> - John 12:12</span></span><br />
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- Formula of Concord, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">from Article V</span></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07JJDfkGUyc/T2UcNaB3HkI/AAAAAAAAANc/IfA3eBPhG2U/s1600/st-martins-cross-cc-dmcneil-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07JJDfkGUyc/T2UcNaB3HkI/AAAAAAAAANc/IfA3eBPhG2U/s320/st-martins-cross-cc-dmcneil-p.jpg" width="238" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"It was not any grace in me, but God who conquereth in me, and He resisted them all, so that I came to the heathen of Ireland to preach the Gospel and to bear insults from unbelievers, to hear the reproach of my going abroad and to endure many persecutions even unto bonds, the while that I was surrendering my liberty as a man of free condition for the profit of others. And if I should be found worthy, I am ready to give even my life for His name's sake unfalteringly and gladly, and there (in Ireland) I desire to spend it until I die, if our Lord should grant it to me."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">-</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">St. Patrick</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(A.D. 387-461), </span></span></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">from his </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Confession</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-85945726699608223092012-03-11T13:24:00.000-07:002012-03-11T19:23:54.037-07:00Chronological Snobbery: A rant<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Man can only find life among the dead.</span></i></div>
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<i>-Chesterton</i></div>
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When I walk into a Christian bookstore I often feel a mixture of disgust and anger. Whether it's the visual insult of garish "Christian" "art" which usually involves an out-of-context Bible verse or some cheesy statement with no relationship whatsoever to Scripture slapped onto a tacky painting or the mind-numbing vacuity of most of the "literature" present, Christian bookstores are a place I generally try to avoid. The thing that bothers me the most, though, is that in the great majority of Christian bookstores 99% of the books present were written by authors who are still living. Sure, they'll throw in some C.S. Lewis among the prosperity theologians and the writers of contentless sweet-nothings to tickle the ears but actual theological profundity is something very hard to come by.<br />
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The problem, in my opinion, is what has been called "chronological snobbery." C.S. Lewis likely coined the term and it is mentioned in his excellent autobiography, <i>Surprised by Joy</i>. The basic idea of "chronological snobbery" is that ideas and books and art that is made in our own time is somehow better or maybe more applicable than ideas and books and art from ages past. I think that this assumption, that the new is somehow better, is one of the worst and most damaging beliefs commonly held in Evangelical Christianity today - and it is held by nearly everyone.<br />
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Some of the best writing on this idea of chronological snobbery comes from G.K. Chesterton, before Lewis had ever coined the term. In his book, <i>What's Wrong with the World</i>, Chesterton wrote of "the modern mind," being "forced towards the future by a certain sense of fatigue, not unmixed with terror, with which it regards the past." He writes profoundly that "the future is a refuge from the fierce competition of our forefathers," and "I can make the future as narrow as myself; the past is obliged to be as broad and turbulent as humanity." Another idea I've seen expressed somewhere and with which I fully agree is that when we listen to the voices of ages past we live in a much more democratic world. This idea would also apply to the Church. Why do we accept the undemocratic idea that only those Christians currently living should have a vote when it comes to the interpretation of Scripture or the order of worship or the Christian life? Perhaps it is because the Church is not a democracy. But this fact does not save the modernist or post-modernist from scrutiny. Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth (John 16:13) and I've often heard this verse used as a rationalization for some novel theology or practice among Christians. But if this promise is true, that the Holy Spirit has been guiding His people into all truth, then He has been doing it for the past 2000 years and not for the past 50 or 100 as most Evangelicals seem to understand it. Therefore when Christians have understood Scripture to say something about a theological issue for many centuries, their understanding should have more weight than whatever fads are currently affecting the Church.<br />
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If Christ has not returned in 500 years I am certain that nearly all modern writers will have passed out of the memory of the populace and of the Church. Perhaps C.S. Lewis will still be remembered and read. But I am certain that Athanasius and Augustine and Luther and Calvin will still be read and will still have a profound influence on God's people. So my question is, why do we waste our time on writers who will not stand the test of time when great riches of thought and theology and devotion by saints unquestionably inspired (not as Scripture is inspired) by God are readily available? I think the clear answer is arrogance. We audaciously think we have discovered a better Christianity or a clearer understanding of Scripture than they had. We should spurn that "refuge" of the future and instead keep company with that great communion of saints which has gone before us. We should commune with them in their understandings of Scripture, in the liturgy and in the sacraments which we share.<br />
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-2563643917664824622012-03-01T20:07:00.000-08:002012-03-01T20:08:25.059-08:00The waves and winds still know<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="301" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V0cBPV9PiPg" width="400"></iframe><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;<br />
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;<br />
Leave to thy God to order and provide;<br />
In every change He faithful will remain.<br />
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend<br />
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake<br />
To guide the future as He has the past.<br />
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;<br />
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.<br />
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know<br />
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart<br />
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;<br />
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,<br />
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.<br />
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay<br />
From His own fulness all He takes away.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on<br />
When we shall be forever with the Lord,<br />
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,<br />
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.<br />
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,<br />
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">-Catharina von Schlegel, 1697-?</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-72753959400161236042012-02-23T19:43:00.000-08:002012-02-23T19:46:39.229-08:00John Bunyan for LentLent has begun and I normally like to write an Ash Wednesday-post but did not have access to my blog yesterday. I wasn’t able to make it to an Ash Wednesday service but spent yesterday evening with a Christian friend and ended up reading out-loud one of my favorite sections from one of the most influential books in my life, John Bunyan’s <i>The Pilgrim’s Progress</i>. I think this section also made a good Ash Wednesday and Lenten reading:<br />
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But now, in this valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put to it; for he had gone but a little way before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him: his name is Apollyon. Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back, or to stand his ground. But he considered again, that he had no armor for his back, and therefore thought that to turn the back to him might give him greater advantage with ease to pierce him with his darts; therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground: for, thought he, had I no more in mine eye than the saving of my life, it would be the best way to stand.</blockquote>
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So he went on, and Apollyon met him. Now the monster was hideous to behold: he was clothed with scales like a fish, and they are his pride; he had wings like a dragon, and feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke; and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion. When he was come up to Christian, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and thus began to question him.</blockquote>
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<b>Apollyon:</b> Whence came you, and whither are you bound?</blockquote>
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<b>Christian:</b> I am come from the city of Destruction, which is the place of all evil, and I am going to the city of Zion.</blockquote>
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<b>Apollyon: </b>By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is it, then, that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now at one blow to the ground.</blockquote>
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<b>Christian: </b>I was, indeed, born in your dominions, but your service was hard, and your wages such as a man could not live on; for the wages of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23); therefore, when I was come to years, I did, as other considerate persons do, look out if perhaps I might mend myself.</blockquote>
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<b>Apollyon:</b> There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet lose thee; but since thou complainest of thy service and wages, be content to go back, and what our country will afford I do here promise to give thee.</blockquote>
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<b>Christian: </b>But I have let myself to another, even to the King of princes; and how can I with fairness go back with thee?</blockquote>
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<b>Apollyon: </b>Thou hast done in this according to the proverb, “changed a bad for a worse;” but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants, after a while to give him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou so to, and all shall be well.</blockquote>
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<b>Christian:</b> I have given him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to him; how then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor.</blockquote>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">- John Bunyan </span></span></b>(1628-1688), <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-66025513757093284652012-02-10T22:41:00.000-08:002012-02-11T11:31:07.170-08:00Random Update #8: Neurology → NephrologyWell, my blog has reached a low ebb in the last few weeks. For one reason or another I've lacked all inspiration to write. But there have been a few things happening...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ap0hIidWu8A/TzYDS0aHf3I/AAAAAAAAANE/OU3hqMScHHM/s1600/IMG_0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ap0hIidWu8A/TzYDS0aHf3I/AAAAAAAAANE/OU3hqMScHHM/s320/IMG_0796.JPG" width="113" /></a>1. I just spent a month working on the inpatient neurology service at the hospital, taking care of mostly stroke patients, seizure patients and a random assortment of other neurological disorders. Even with some very long hours at times it was an enjoyable month which makes me realize I'm finally settling into this doctor thing a little bit. I got to do another <a href="http://northwestanglican.blogspot.com/2011/10/lord-provides-icu.html">lumbar puncture</a> which ended up going very well - I got a "champagne tap" which means there were no red blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples I collected. Frequently you will nick a small blood vessel as you insert the needle deep into the patient's back, thus contaminating your sample with a small amount of blood. I was able to avoid this complication and received the traditional gift of a bottle of white wine - CSF (without blood in it) is clear - from my attending. Technically the traditional gift is a bottle of champagne but the colonel reasoned that no one really drinks champagne. Unfortunately I'm not much of a wine drinker either.<br />
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2. Today I started working in the Nephrology clinic and that's where I'll be for the next month except for a week of leave I'm taking starting on the 18th.<br />
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3. I've occasionally been able to read a few pages of the Bede's <i><a href="http://northwestanglican.blogspot.com/2011/12/treasure-at-powells.html">Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation</a></i>. It's an amazing work of history and of literature. Two men about whom I knew little were St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. AD 604) (not to be confused with "<i>of Hippo"</i>) and Pope Gregory the Great (AD 540 - 604). Both of these men played a great role in the evangelization of my ancestors and the formation of the English Church. For that I am grateful to them and more so to God who chooses such sinners for tasks so great.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qz0wd821IXA/TzYC6emGnRI/AAAAAAAAAM8/UI-D3up1MDA/s1600/IMG_0755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qz0wd821IXA/TzYC6emGnRI/AAAAAAAAAM8/UI-D3up1MDA/s320/IMG_0755.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A snowy drive to work</td></tr>
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4. I passed my final board exam (USMLE Step 3) to be a licensed physician. I took it in Puyallup, Washington just before most people in the Puget Sound area got socked-in by a huge snow and ice-storm or "snowpocalypse 2012" as us residents who had to drive to the hospital each morning at 4:30AM in spite of the weather referred to it (and yes I grew up on the West-side of the Cascade Mountains so I am a snow-wimp like the majority of Portlanders and Seattleites).<br />
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5. While I haven't been writing on my blog I have gotten myself involved in a facebook debate about baptism with a bunch of Lutherans (with whom I mostly agree) and Baptists (with whom I mostly disagree). And by Baptist I mean "Non-denominational," "Charismatic," "Pentecostal," and also all those with the honesty just to call themselves "Baptist." With that said I know a lot of great Christians who are Baptists (heck, just look at my favorite Christians blogs on the right-hand of your screen - 4 out of the 7 are Baptists). But the debate I've been in has made me examine my own thoughts on baptism, and to be honest it's something I've probably tried not to think too much about in order to avoid debates with a good percentage of my Christian friends. A friend challenged me on a statement I made denying the intrinsic efficacy of baptism as a means of grace. He confronted me not with some systematic theology and not with some sappy platitude but with a fairly clear and plain-sounding statement from God's word: "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience." Hmm... Doesn't really seem to fit with what I had written.<br />
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6. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">St. Augustine</span></b> wrote: "For whatever unbaptized persons die confessing Christ, this confession is of the same efficacy for the remission of sins as if they were washed in the sacred font of baptism." (City of God, Book XIII, chapter 7.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uhSCfY9WsAg/TzYMo7RPnKI/AAAAAAAAANM/_fCvPSNztaI/s1600/674px-Bapte%CC%82me_Cathe%CC%81drale_de_Troyes_290308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uhSCfY9WsAg/TzYMo7RPnKI/AAAAAAAAANM/_fCvPSNztaI/s200/674px-Bapte%CC%82me_Cathe%CC%81drale_de_Troyes_290308.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Baptism of St. Augustine" (of Hippo) - Troyes </td></tr>
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7. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>John Calvin</b> </span>wrote: "We must at the same time beware of another evil, such as prevails among the Papists; for as they distinguish not as they ought between the thing and the sign, they stop at the outward element, and on that fix their hope of salvation. Therefore the sight of the water takes away their thoughts from the blood of Christ and the power of the Spirit. They do not regard Christ as the only author of all the blessings therein offered to us; they transfer the glory of his death to the water, they tie the secret power of the Spirit to the visible sign." (Commentary on 1st Peter 3:21)<br />
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8. On the subject of Baptists and scriptural fidelity, I recently visited a nearby "Non-denominational" (read Baptist) church because they had a Saturday night service and it was my only chance to go to church that week. It was a pretty hip place, lots of 20-somethings with cool-looking clothes and the very latest in praise music. But I was thoroughly unimpressed by the preaching, which was topical and during which a very few Bible verses were used (likely misused) in making the preacher's somewhat questionable points. And then I started thinking about how the Lutheran church I sometimes attend when I'm in the Portland area and the Anglican church I like to worship at in Olympia have sermons that are absolutely saturated with Scripture. I can also think of quite a few other Non-denominational churches I've been to where very little Scripture is read during the service. The thing that gets me is that it's often these same people who will accuse Lutherans and Anglicans of being too beholden to "tradition" while they supposedly simply follow the Word of God.<br />
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9. Much of the best, most Scripture-saturated and Christ-centered preaching I've ever heard was at Cornerstone Bible Church (Baptistic in theology) in Riverside, California during medical school. It's a complicated world we live in.<br />
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-86262879684387956082012-01-23T19:28:00.000-08:002012-01-23T19:50:31.482-08:00What of it?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of my favorite movies is the 2003 "Luther," starring Joseph Fiennes. One of my favorite lines from the movie comes from Luther preaching in the Wittenburg church. I had assumed that the makers of the film may have taken some artisitic license in creating this sermon. But it turns out that some of the words come directly from a letter written by Martin Luther to his friend, Jerome Weller, in 1530. Here is the excellent quote for your edification:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BCWgzUXFrb4/Tx4lX-5qVyI/AAAAAAAAAM0/T1YnJMae3KU/s1600/Luther+Preaching+in+Wittenberg_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BCWgzUXFrb4/Tx4lX-5qVyI/AAAAAAAAAM0/T1YnJMae3KU/s320/Luther+Preaching+in+Wittenberg_jpg.jpg" width="166" /></a>When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: </blockquote>
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“I admit that I deserve death and hell. </blockquote>
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What of it? </blockquote>
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Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? </blockquote>
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By no means. </blockquote>
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For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf. </blockquote>
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His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. </blockquote>
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Where he is, there I shall be also.”</blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">-</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Martin Luther</span></span></b>, h/t <a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/01/13/a-letter-from-martin-luther-on-spiritual-warfare/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Justin Taylor</span></a></blockquote>
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-90606281318979128542012-01-15T15:58:00.000-08:002012-01-15T16:05:36.290-08:00Impressive<br />
Kevin DeYoung: <a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/14/following-up-on-the-jesusreligion-video/">Following up on the Jesus/Religion Video</a><br />
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Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">-Psalm 133:1</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-52106570020590493622012-01-06T10:45:00.000-08:002012-01-06T10:54:39.091-08:00Chrysostom on Epiphany: Magi Saved by Grace through Faith<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfPFrGY9ccc/Tv6Z4PES1lI/AAAAAAAAAMc/8g4kj_CiDKY/s1600/800px-Adoration_of_the_Magi_Tapestry.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfPFrGY9ccc/Tv6Z4PES1lI/AAAAAAAAAMc/8g4kj_CiDKY/s400/800px-Adoration_of_the_Magi_Tapestry.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Magi, teachers of a false faith, could never have come to know Christ Our Lord, had they not been illumined by the grace of this divine condescension. Indeed the grace of God overflowed at the Birth of Christ, so that each single soul might be enlightened by His Truth. The Magi are enlightened so that the goodness of God may be made manifest: so that no one need despair, doubting that salvation through faith will be given to him, seeing He bestowed it on the Magi. The Magi therefore were the first from the Gentiles chosen for salvation, so that through them a door might be opened to all the Gentiles.</blockquote>
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-<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">St. John Chrysostom </span></span></b>(347-407) from an <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://catholicism.org/chrysostom-epiphany.html">Epiphany sermon</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-2428410095412367022011-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:002011-12-27T01:05:43.303-08:00Christmas: Condescension of Infinite Majesty!<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKQi6xTppA4/TvOZM1Df6EI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/IR3eDEL8xMQ/s1600/1_Our_Life_St_Bernard_Abbey_Mosaic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKQi6xTppA4/TvOZM1Df6EI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/IR3eDEL8xMQ/s200/1_Our_Life_St_Bernard_Abbey_Mosaic.jpg" width="131" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">O Nativity of spotless sanctity! O birth honorable for the world, birth pleasing and welcome to men, because of the magnificence of the benefit it bestows; birth incomprehensible to the angels, by reason of the depth and sacredness of the mystery! In all its circumstances it is wonderful because of its singular excellence and novelty. Its precedent has not been known, nor has its like ever followed. Birth alone without sorrow, alone without shame, free from corruption, not unlocking, but consecrating the temple of the Virgins womb! Nativity above nature, yet for the sake of nature! Surpassing it by the excellence of the miracle, repairing it by the virtue of the mystery! Who shall declare this generation? The angel announces it. Almighty Power overshadows it. The Spirit of the Most High comes upon it. The Virgin believes. By faith she conceives. The Virgin brings forth. The Virgin remains a virgin. Who is not filled with astonishment? The Son of the Most High is born. The Son, begotten of God before all ages, is Incarnate! The Word is become an Infant! Who can sufficiently admire? </span> </blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And it is not a needless Nativity, a superfluous condescension of Infinite Majesty.</span> </blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judah. </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Awake, you who lie in the dust awake and give praise. Behold, the Lord cometh with salvation. He comes with salvation, He comes with unction, He comes with glory. Jesus cannot come without salvation, Christ cannot come without unction, nor the Son of God without glory. For He Himself is salvation, He is unction, He is glory.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">-<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">St. Bernard of Clairvaux </span></span></b>(1090-1153), <i>On the Vigil of our Lord’s Nativity</i></span></div>
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<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-55058538011102777652011-12-21T17:48:00.000-08:002011-12-21T18:48:24.929-08:00Can't Hardly Wait<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="259" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G0k3kHtyoqc" width="450"></iframe>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-28305868080509065032011-12-17T05:00:00.000-08:002012-02-11T11:35:32.135-08:00Five Years<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My blog reaches a milestone today. I posted my </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://northwestanglican.blogspot.com/2006/12/loving-jesus-above-all-else.html">first blog post</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> five years ago, a quote from Thomas </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">à Kempis from <i>The Imitation of Christ</i>. While there have been a great many changes in my life over the past five years, including many changes in my theological opinions, I still assent whole-heartedly to the words written by this German monk who was born in 1380. If I were to start a new blog today and desired a good quote to begin things I would make the same choice I did five years ago and quote </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thomas </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">à Kempis' exhortation to love Jesus "above all else."</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uVTJnEXb9kg/TuwQnV4VhVI/AAAAAAAAAME/TuLkXS1r5T4/s1600/220px-Thomas-von-Kempen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uVTJnEXb9kg/TuwQnV4VhVI/AAAAAAAAAME/TuLkXS1r5T4/s200/220px-Thomas-von-Kempen.jpg" width="150" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Blessed is he who understands what it is to love Jesus and despise himself for Jesus' sake. Jesus wants to be your only love and to be loved above all else; therefore, you must abandon all other beloveds for your one Beloved. The love of a creature is fickle and deceitful, while the love of Jesus is faithful and enduring. He who clings to a creature will fall when that creature fades away, but he who embraces Jesus shall stand firm forever.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Love Jesus and keep Him as your friend. When all others forsake you He will not leave you nor will He allow you to perish on the last day. Whether you like it or not the day will come when you find yourself separated from everyone and from everything.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Hold fast to Jesus both in life and in death and commit yourself to His steadfast love, for He alone can help you when all others fail. Your Beloved is such that he admits no rival; He wants your heart all to Himself and desires to reign there as a king on his own throne.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">If you could free yourself from all creatures Jesus would gladly dwell within you. If you have placed your trust in men rather than in Jesus you will find that it was almost all wasted. Do not trust nor lean on a reed that is shaken in the wind. All flesh is grass, and all its glory shall fade like the flower in the field.</span></span> </blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">If you look upon men's outward appearance you will soon be deceived, and if you seek consolation and profit from them most often you will end up being the loser. If you seek Jesus in everything you will certainly find Him, and if you seek yourself you will surely find yourself, but to your own disaster. You do yourself greater harm by not seeking Jesus than if the whole world and all your enemies were against you.</span> </blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555544; font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">-Thomas à Kempis</span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555544;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-30228078602050014912011-12-15T20:58:00.000-08:002011-12-15T21:38:22.788-08:00Treasure at Powell's<br />
Growing up near to Portland, Oregon, there has always been one place downtown where I could spend inordinate amounts of time, Powell's Bookstore. On Wednesday I headed down with my girlfriend to enjoy my last night at home before a two-month stretch of very busy rotations which start tomorrow. When I go to Powell's I often find something that I consider to be somewhat of a treasure, usually for a surprisingly low price.<br />
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I was not disappointed Wednesday as I picked up a book that had been on my list of things to acquire for a long time. One of my favorite subjects is church history and being of mostly Welsh, Scottish and English descent, the Venerable Bede's <i>Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, </i>written around AD 731, is a book I've long wanted to read. I imagine that in reading it, I will be reading a history of how my own distant ancestors were first introduced to the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ so many centuries ago by missionaries coming from Europe and how my church, the Church of England, was born.<br />
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The copy I found was printed in 1903 in London and is very good shape. The price I paid was far lower than I would have imagined. If I ever finish residency maybe I'll be able to read it but for now it will be a very important addition to the church history shelf in my bookcase.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-euduLpBLwes/TurPCanW8pI/AAAAAAAAAL8/bjedrLUqbuE/s1600/IMG_0744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-euduLpBLwes/TurPCanW8pI/AAAAAAAAAL8/bjedrLUqbuE/s400/IMG_0744.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>A lithograph of The Monastery of Jarrow on the Tyne "where Bede lived and died</i>"</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-70456271218857717192011-12-13T12:09:00.000-08:002011-12-13T21:27:16.095-08:00The Paradox Must Stand<div><br /></div><div>Questions about soteriology, the particulars of the salvation of sinners, are ones which have occasionally frustrated me for many years. I once was a vocal Arminian, ready to try to tear to shreds in a debate any Calvinist who crossed my path. I spent two years at a seminary with some of the best Arminian minds in the world. I sat under the teaching of Jerry Walls who has debated with Calvinists at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and done a decent job of it, although I seriously doubt he convinced any Calvinists to change their position. </div><div><br /></div><div>From the beginning though, even when I would defend Arminianism with all the force I could muster, I had my doubts about the position. One thing that bothered me the most at Asbury was that I noticed Arminians would use much more philosophy and reason in defending their position while the Calvinists would tend to focus much more on the plain teaching of Scripture. My doubts about Arminianism continued to grow as the "emerging church" movement took off and I saw so many Arminians enamored with men who would later be shown to be false teachers, either by denying basic Christian doctrines or by calling "blessed" what the Bible calls sin. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I started medical school at Loma Linda I was surrounded by Seventh-day Adventists, almost 100% of whom have an Arminian view of salvation. But those who would become my close friends were nearly all non-SDA Calvinists who tended to be very confident in their theological positions. I came to Loma Linda disheartened with much of what I saw going on in Arminianism and was forced to truly consider the Calvinist position in the conversations and debates which occurred on a regular basis during my years there. </div><div><br /></div><div>One thing that I realized early on was that I was a monergist and had always been one. I knew that Scripture taught monergism and when I looked subjectively at my own salvation I knew that there could be nothing but the monergistic grace of God at work in saving me. It's strange that I had not realized this before but I now understood the vague sense of unease I had always had with the Arminianism I once thought I embraced. And while many, perhaps the majority, of Arminians will say that they are monergists, when the mechanics of their system is taken into account I can't help but think it looks pretty synergistic to me. </div><div><br /></div><div>But while monergism was something I could not deny and while I came to the conclusion that a denial of monergism is a very dangerous theological position to hold, I could not go the rest of the way with my Calvinistic brothers. While they generally seemed to be much more humble in their relation to the Word of God compared to many Arminians I had known, it still seemed that the system of Calvinism didn't fit well in places with what is revealed in Scripture, especially in terms of the scope of Christ's atoning work and God's will for the salvation of all sinners. If you've read this far you probably don't need to be reminded of the many verses which would indicate that Christ did indeed die for the sins of the whole world and that God does indeed desire that all should reach repentance and not perish (2 Peter 3:9). I know that Calvinists have their verses too which would seem to refute the Arminian system of thought. </div><div><br /></div><div>I write all of that lengthy preamble to give some sense of why I felt so blessed by two sermons I recently heard preached on consecutive Sundays. On the first of those two Sundays the text was Isaiah 64:1-9. Rarely have I heard the holiness of God preached in a clearer or more forceful way. It is here in Isaiah that we see that the best "righteousness" we could ever attempt to offer to God is "as filthy rags." It is the frequent denial or underestimation of the infinite magnitude of God's holiness which allows some to think that they have something to contribute for their salvation, that they have some righteousness of their own in which they can stand before God. But this idea that we contribute something to our own salvation is also refuted here by the prophet when he says in v. 7, "there is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you..." Perhaps one could argue that this very clear proclamation of monergism applied only to some specific group of people and not to humanity as a whole. But when this verse is read in the context of the teachings of Paul and of Christ, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44)," then I think one can do nothing but accept that truly no one rouses himself to "take hold of God." No boasting is allowed because the glory of salvation, from beginning to end, goes to God and His amazing grace to helpless sinners who could do nothing to save themselves (Romans 3:27). </div><div><br /></div><div>A week after the holiness of God, the hopeless state of sinners and the saving grace of God in Christ, by His shed blood, toward those hopeless sinners, was so emphatically proclaimed, the text which was preached was 2 Peter chapter 3. Here the mercy of God was proclaimed in His "slowness" and patience in allowing sinners time for repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 reads, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." Here the preacher acknowledged the monergism which he had preached the week prior but I was so thankful that he did not then begin advocating some system of theology to make sense of the paradoxical nature of these claims of Scripture, that salvation is of God alone without admixture of some work of man and that God desires that none should perish. Yet Scripture is also clear that not all will be saved. It cannot be denied that hell is a real place which will be inhabited by many for all of eternity. Instead of assuming some "secret will of God," where He in reality only desires the salvation of some, or by giving man glory in salvation by making a "decision" into the decisive saving act, the Pastor simply stated, "the paradox must stand." I was so thankful for the freedom given in this statement, the freedom to simply believe the plain teaching of Scripture without assenting to some system of thought which may make perfect logical sense but which seems to deny some important aspect of who God is or who we are as helpless sinners. </div><div><br /></div><div>Stating that "the paradox must stand," is taking a position of humility. It feels good to think we have things figured out. It's very satisfying to have five or seven points which fit together with perfect logic in explaining the relationship of God to man. It's also satisfying to many to deny the gravity of the fall and the depravity of man and imagine that we are capable of cooperation with God in our salvation instead of simply acknowledging that we are dead in our sins, can offer nothing toward the gaining of salvation and that all of our righteousness is in Christ, in His shed blood. Being humble before the Word of God and allowing paradoxes to stand has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn as a Christian. I'm thankful to sit under the preaching of one who strives not to go beyond what is revealed in the Bible and I hope that God will allow me to do likewise when I meditate on Him and His ways. </div><div><br /></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6357491412347234783.post-33626404258415838022011-12-08T19:31:00.001-08:002011-12-09T17:13:06.921-08:00The Danger of Prosperity<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L4vZ_Ee4-aI/TuGOEM0uOYI/AAAAAAAAALs/EqKvoiicdGQ/s1600/john-wesley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L4vZ_Ee4-aI/TuGOEM0uOYI/AAAAAAAAALs/EqKvoiicdGQ/s200/john-wesley.jpg" width="150" /></a>“I fear, wherever riches have increased, (exceeding few are the exceptions,) the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore do I not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.”</blockquote>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">-John Wesley </span></span></b></blockquote>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529046356895711706noreply@blogger.com1