Young, Restless, Reformed

I am sorry I haven't been able to finish my posts on Calvinism yet. The more I study, the more I realize I don't know. I am still wrestling hard with some of these issuses, and when I feel like I about have it figured out, something else pops up and I am back to square one again. I hope to start finishing the posts now that I have began to draw conclusions. So be on the lookout, it should be good, we are now at the meat and bones of the debate, the three most controversial segments of TULIP, Irresistible Grace, Limited Atonement, and Unconditional Election (predestination).

In the mean time, check out this article on Calvinism.

Why Satan is Left on Earth

Why Satan Is Left on Earth: Incentives in the Battle for Joy in Jesus
By John Piper

Part of the problem of evil is the problem of why Satan is given so much freedom to harm the world, when God has the right and power to throw him in the pit. God will one day do away with Satan altogether (Revelation 20:3, 10). That will be no injustice to Satan. Nor would it be unjust for God to do it today. So why doesn't He, in view of how much misery Satan causes?
Satan roams like a devouring lion to destroy faith (1 Peter 5:8); he makes people sick and diseased (Acts 10:38); he tempts to sin (Luke 22:3-4); he blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4); he takes people captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26); he kills (Revelation 2:10). One day God will stop him from doing this. Why doesn't He stop him now?
Could it be that there is a chance the devil and his angels will repent? Is God is giving them time? No. The Bible teaches they are irredeemable. Jesus said that "the eternal fire . . . has been prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Jude confirms this when he says that the fallen angels are being "kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day" (Jude 1:6).Why then does God tolerate Satan? The key is that God aims to defeat Satan in a way that glorifies not only his power, but also the superior beauty and worth and desirability of his Son over Satan. God could simply exert raw power and snuff Satan out. That would glorify God's power. But it would not display so clearly the superior worth of Jesus over Satan. That will be displayed as Christ defeats Satan by his death and then by winning superior allegiance from the saints over the lies of Satan.

Central to this plan is that God defeats Satan in stages through the work of Christ. Paul says that when we were forgiven all our trespasses by Christ's death on the cross, God thus "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 2:15).

This was the first stage of Satan's defeat. How was he defeated by the cross? The lethal weapon of soul-destroying sin and guilt is taken out of Satan's hand. He is disarmed of the single weapon that can condemn us - unforgiven sin. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Without sin and law to condemn us, Satan is a defeated foe. He is disarmed. Christ has triumphed over him, not yet by casting him into hell and nullifying his influence on earth, but by letting him live and watch while millions of saints find forgiveness for their sins and turn their back on Satan because of the greater glory of Christ.

That is a second stage of defeat: the conversion of people by the power of the gospel of the cross. Jesus says to Paul that his mission to the Gentiles is "to open their eyes, so that they may turn . . . from the power of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18). This is what happens when God removes the blindness caused by the devil and gives us the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). This enables people to see the ugliness of Satan and the beauty of Christ so that their choosing Christ glorifies not only God's power, but Christ's superior beauty and worth over Satan.

This way of defeating Satan is a costly triumph. Christ suffered and the world suffers. But God's values are not so easily reckoned. If Christ obliterated all demons now (which he could do), His sheer power would be seen as glorious, but His superior beauty and worth would not shine so brightly as when God's people renounce the promises of Satan, trust in Christ's blood and righteousness, and take pleasure in the greater glory of Jesus over Satan.
This means that our treasuring Christ above all the promises of sin and Satan is part of the triumph of that God designs for this age. Take up arms! Be glad in the Son of God!

Feature Blog:Simply or Merely? Comparing Mere Christianity and Simply Christian

Seeing how Mere Christianity is one of my all time favorite books, I found this InternetMonk Blog to be a great fit for this "featured blog." Make sure you go read the entire blog here.



Mere Christianity and Simply Christian are far more different than they are similar, and comparisons of one to the other are probably not necessary. Both have a role to play. Here’s my assessment of which is the better book when I look at both in various ways.

Best Conversation Starter With A Non-Christian: Lewis. Hands down. His logic, voice, illustrations, humor and unforgettable conclusions are as provocative as ever.

Best Apologetic: The answer here depends on how we define apologetics. Both Ravi Zacharias and James White are apologists. In the sense of making an appealing and convincing case, I give the nod to Wright. If I were voting on the strength of individual arguments that might “score points,” then Lewis.

Readability: Lewis’s prose is accessible, but less and less as time goes by. Still, if I had to give one of the two books to the average literate adult in my home of Clay County, I’d go with Lewis. Much of Mere Christianity is still accessible to even a high school audience. Wright goes deeper, and even when he is writing a non-scholarly book, he sounds more like an Oxford professor than a blue-collar pastor. (That’s not a bad thing. I just think Lewis was able to talk with ordinary people in an unusual way for such a scholarly giant.)

Best Presentation of Jesus: Wright has a lot more to say about Jesus. His sections on Jesus are outstanding summaries of the current state of Jesus scholarship. Lewis keeps his discussion of Jesus almost entirely on the incarnation and the atonement. Wright does the better job here.

Best Overview of the Faith: Wright. No contest. This would be an excellent book for a “Christian Theology 101” weekend or short class. Lewis never intends to overview the whole Christian story.

Most Successful at What Was Attempted: I think Lewis wrote a great book somewhat by accident. Wright, on the other hand, set out to produce a simple, accessible overview of the faith, and I think he succeeded completely. Wright gets the nod.

Most Theologically Conservative: Lewis simply doesn’t show his hand at many issues. Wright is orthodox, but certainly doesn’t buy into fundamentalism, or even some of the common assumptions of conservative evangelicalism. Lewis wins here, but on presumption. Wright is no liberal on the essentials, that’s for sure, and much of his contribution is to get beyond these labels to something more useful.

Best Organization: Lewis’s chapters build on one another at key points. Wright’s book is elegantly harmonious and exceptionally crafted. Wright wins.

Can Only Buy One: Go to Amazon and buy both used. No way you need to make that choice.

Amazing Bowling Extravaganza

So...I have no idea if that's how you spell extravaganza but in any case, thats what this is. Tomorrow, Thrusday, we're going bowling. It's gonna be amazing. It's gonna be an extravaganza, hence the title. If you come you will be rewarded, with kangaroos. Its a proven fact that kangaroos are excellent bowlers, and entertainers. Be at the Renfroe at 7:00pm.

P.S. There wont actually be any kangaroos. I'm not sure why I lied. I guess i just wanted to impress you. Did it work?

Worship Gathering Pictures

Here's some sweet pics taken by our good buddy Derek from this past Sunday's worship service. Great shots bud!

Technical Difficulties

Apologies for the technical difficulties. If the foundation banner at the top of the site has been disappearing in your browser then you're probably as confused as I am. I can't figure out why it keeps happening. Now that we switched to our www.thecorefoundation.org domain name, everything has been quirky. But we're workin on it...

Reflections: 1st Worship Service of the New Year

Well I've been thinking a bunch about how slack I've been when it comes to contributing some worthwhile reading to this thing we call the Foundation blog and decided I would write some reflections on yesterday's Worship Gathering...the first of '07.

1. It's been way too long from our last service until this one...good gracious I didn't realize how much I missed having a worship service to go to that I actually enjoyed. I know, I know...that sounds bad but really, why should a worship service be boring? Who said you shouldn't enjoy praising God. In fact, it's probably a sin when a service is boring, because God is not boring, and if our half-hearted efforts to create a routine, run-of-the-mill service cause something that ends up boring...then my friend, we have misrepresented the God we claim to worship.

2. New People. I'm always thrilled to see new folks coming to The Foundation events and its a great feeling every time to see people come back for a second time. I really hope we are doing a good job at providing authentic community. We are working really hard at that and I hope we'll see some improvement in that area due to our new leadership structure.

3.We have the best band ever. So OK, maybe that's a slight overstatement but, I think the music this service was the best it's ever been (must be the sound guy, haha), but again maybe that's because it's been 2 months since the last service. Props to the new girl in town, Amy, who sang with the team for the first time. I'm so ready for the new PA. Great song selection this time Aaron.

4. Webb had a great message on what Church really is. He had it tough this time, since topical preaching isn't his cup of tea, he's more of an exegetical man, but he did a terrific job communicating what God's family really is. I'm really excited about the next message on what our role is within the Church. That'll be happening on Feb. 4th, 2pm-Aldersgate Gym.

5. We had a first time ever happening at a Foundation Service, we actually asked for money, haha. We just bought a new PA to help us in our efforts of getting over to the CCC campus to do ministry and we took up an offering after the service in some buckets at the back. Mad props to some generous broke college kids who gave almost 600 bucks towards the new PA. Thanks to all the "older" folks who pitched in as well, we love yall too!



That's all for this week....feel free to leave some comments or reflections on how you thought the service went...

No HangOUT this Week

There will be NO HangOUT this week as we are transitioning into having HangOUT's every other week. The next HangOUT will be on January 25th and we will be going bowling up in Forest City once again. However, there is a Worship Gathering this Sunday @ 2pm in the Aldersgate Gym. For directions or a map click here.

The TV Evangelist Who Sent ME Money: Featured Blog

Ran across this blog over on Frank Lockwood's Bible Belt Blogger. It was interesting enough that it deserves to be our featured blog this week...so read it below. Who knows...maybe a TV evangelist will send you money!
...........
I gave my first donation to a TV evangelist when I was nine years old. The preacher was Rex Humbard of Akron. My tax-deductible contribution totalled 27 cents. I received urgent fund raising appeals for the next three years.

Since then, I’ve seen requests for money from Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts and Franklin Graham. But this week, for the first time ever, a TV preacher SENT MONEY TO ME.

Pastor Bob Tilton of Tulsa, Oklahoma mailed me a crisp new $1 bill from the federal reserve bank in Minneapolis along with an upbeat, computer-generated letter.

“I TELL YOU, FRANK, THIS IS YOUR TIME!...Frank, hold this “seed dollar” in your hand as you continue to read the words: “IN GOD WE TRUST.” I sent you this dollar bill as a seed to help you Prime the Pump for the wellspring of blessings that will flow like a river out of you.”

To get those blessings flowing like an Oklahoma oil well, Pastor Bob said I need to take that dollar and mail it back to Tulsa—along with my best gift of $29, $49, $199 or $499.

“Frank, when I receive your answer back, I am going to send you some anointing oil to help you believe God for a continuous miracle. When you receive this anointing oil, anoint your wallet and all your bills as our Point of Contact...for your CONTINUOUS MIRACLE.”

Pastor Bob used to air on television stations across America. But after Prime Time Live aired damning allegations of ministerial misconduct, he faded from the screen. He’s back however (with his third wife and four french poodles) preaching his get-rich-quick spiritual schemes on BET. I caught his show on a recent trip to Arkansas and called the toll-free number. Now, he says, I too can reap financial blessings.

Many TV evangelists seek donations. But Tilton goes after those who are poor and struggling. His letter asks “How much do you need to pay all your debts? Write your answer here: $ _______”

Then it asks, “What is your biggest debt?_______________”

For those scraping by, he writes: “If it’s just impossible for you to give $29 along with this dollar bill, then give the closest thing you have to that and send it...”

It’s a spiritual pyramid scheme. But when Pastor Bob sowed money in my life, I’m afraid it fell among thorns.

Pastor Bob urged me to leave this new seed faith dollar in my Bible overnight and then mail it back to him. But I sowed it in a Herald-Leader soda machine instead (after inspecting it carefully to make sure it wasn’t counterfeit.) Just as Esau threw away his inheritance for a bowl of pottage, I traded my shot at “unlimited blessings, unlimited miracles, unlimited prosperity” for a cold, 65-cent can of Diet Coke. With the remaining 35 cents, I made a down-payment on a Mounds bar.

Pastor Bob, if you’re reading my blog, please SEND MORE MONEY. Don’t be stingy—mail me “YOUR BEST GIFT”—and a copy of your free book Learn How to Pay Your Bills—Supernaturally!

(Yes, he’s really written a book by that title. And yes, he’s offering it for free on his website.)

(Link to original post)

Focus Teams

One part of our new leadership structure is the Focus Teams component. The idea is to separate the Foundation ministry into different ministy areas that can be focused on by a team of individuals. These teams of individuals make up the Focus Teams. The goal is to have more people actively engaged in ministry so that they are able to use their unique gifts to serve God in a meaningful way. Below you'll find some information about each focus team. If you are interested in joining one of these teams, please send an email to thecorefoundation@gmail.com and someone will contact you ASAP.


The Focus teams are Spiritual Growth, Outreach, and Creative Team . Outlined below is what each Focus team will be responsible for accomplishing:

SPIRITUAL GROWTH:
*Small groups- recognize leaders for each group, review and select material, make sure each group has a place to meet, place people in groups
*Discipleship- prepare for a leadership study during the summer while small groups are on hold
*Prayer team
*HangOUT- decide meeting place, plan ahead, scripture discussion, fun outing

OUTREACH:
*Missions- service projects (2-3 per semester) for small groups and the Foundation as a whole, put together a contact sheet of names and phone numbers of the options (local and in NC) for projects
*Recruting- give ideas to HangOUT team for recruiting and fun outings, call people to invite to events
*Outreach- research needs in the community and at CCC, get volunteers to be greeters and for hospitality at events
*Publicity- CCC commercial, club fairs, flyers, giveaways, email people and update website about events, newspaper ads/publicity, contact churches to let them know ways the Foundation can serve them, create contact cards/bookmarks with information about the Foundation to pass out to people

CREATIVE TEAM:
*Worship Services- plan services, songs, preaching, sound, location, setup, breakdown, video presentation, creative ways to make the service different (message planning), tech team (sound, power point, lights, film, etc…)
*Website- update, schedule bloggers, creative media (media, songs, sermons, videos), message board, prayer wall, feedback wall or board, calendar, post the service and get feedback (media,video, and audio)
*Touring Group- organize events, song and message if needed, scheduling places to go (churches or other)

Monday Muchies Relational Theology

Well, its been a while…its been a long while. Sorry. But at last, me and my somewhat thought provoking ideas are back. I miss the good times, people telling me I’m stupid (they might be right), and others (who I’m fairly sure don’t have the authority to make such decisions) telling me I’m going to hell. Seems to me a good place to start my new topics of thought begin with my own theology.

I feel like I always have to include a disclaimer on these things, nevertheless, here it goes again. These are simply my thoughts, I’m not smart enough to be qualified for even half of these thoughts I have. If it helps, good; if not, forget it. This is not gospel, just what I think about certain things. Smarter people are encouraged to correct, demoralize, and even pity me. Please respond though as intellectual activity is encouraged by conversation.

Relational Theology. In Genesis, the bible tells us that God created man in his image. That leaves us with a somewhat interesting question; what is God’s image. The Christian faith establishes that God is in fact a Trinity…three in one. Does this mean man is created with 3 parts in one? I think I’ll get a little more into that next week, for now lets think about the 3 people of God. The Trinity is really confusing, the idea of combining three people into one kinda makes my head hurt. The bible tells us that the parts are different enough to where Jesus doesn’t know everything God knows, like when the Day of Judgment is (Matt 24:36).

If this is the case there must be some kind of relationship between the 3 entities. (Did I mention I got a degree in sociology) To help to picture this, imagine if you can The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit at three points of a triangle. This is important for an illustration later. The distance between the points would represent how close they are in a relationship. For The Trinity, I can only imagine that the distance would be so small that it would be approaching zero. (I’ll try to lay off of my calc terms)

The reason I bring this up, is because perhaps part of the image God created us in is in our relationships. Perhaps our relationships follow a similar pattern. Imagine if you will a relationship you have with a friend. To picture it, it should be you with a line connecting to your friend. However, both you and your friend have a relationship with God. You might say, but Aaron, my friend is an Atheist. Even if that is so, a relationship exists, its just not a good one. But for illustrative purposes, lets say you and your friend are about at the same relationship with God. With our triangle, if you get closer to your friend, the line or the distance between you and God decreases. Also, if you get closer to God, either your friend must as well, or the distance between you and said friend increases.

This could be important in that if you have a friend that does not have a very good relationship with God, take the atheist from earlier. In order for you to get closer to that friend, either the distance between you and God will increase, or the distance between God and the atheist will decrease. If you have several friends like that you are getting closer to, who do you think is easier to move? Conversely, if the atheist has several friends who are closer to God, who do you think is easier to move?

I believe that relationships are an essential part of life and humanity. God wants us to have good relationships, but sometimes it changes things to think that God is a part of every relationship, that every relationship is triune.

I really hope this makes sense, I wish I had the know how to draw pictures and put them up with it, but I’m not that smart...Chance and Justin told me how to do the one at the top. Anyway, let me know what you think...

Making God Understandable

It is important to learn about people and find ways to make the gospel of salvation through Christ understandable. This is a way to make Christ relevant to our culture. Be aware of what is part of a person’s life that may be used to aid or hinder a comparison explaining the love of God. That way Christians can choose the most effective way to tell about God’s relationships with people.

One example of how important this is comes from what some of the first missionaries to an African village learned. These missionaries went into a village explaining that God stands at the door and knocks, waiting for people to answer the door. This comes from Revelation 3:20 which says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

After some time had passed the missionaries wondered why no one had accepted Christ. Then the missionaries learned that in this village, because there were no doors on the homes, friends who visit each other would call out in the doorway to let each other know they were there to visit. However, thieves would stand outside and knock to see if anyone was at home. Knocking in this village signified a thief, therefore, these missionaries accidentally made Christ out as a thief and someone who the village would fear.

Another situation that Christians should be sensitive to may involve people who have grown up without a good father-figure but may have a mother who has been a good caregiver. God is often referred to as being “Father,” but for people who have broken relationships with their fathers this terminology may not adequately represent God. People may think of God being a father based on their skewed experience instead of what a Christian would intend for the term “father” to portray God as. In this situation the people may be able to relate more to a comparison of God being like their mother who has worked hard to provide and love her children instead of the absent father-figure.

One last example is for an orphan. A person who has never known his or her biological parents may better understand the love of God if it is compared to adoptive caregivers instead of a natural father or mother. Explaining how God loves people who are not his own as if they are his own son or daughter would be understood by someone living in that situation.

These are just a few examples of how to make Christ understood while being sensitive to peoples’ culture and life experiences. It is important that Christians take the time to learn about people and know what will be the best way to portray Christ in an understandable and meaningful way.

In short, this blog is just discussing ways for Christians to make connections between peoples’ lives and the Gospel message in a way that explains it to them in a very effective way. Feel free to comment about other connections Christians can make between peoples’ lives and God in order to explain God’s love effectively!