In the News: Sex Scandal From The Pulpit AGAIN

The facts still flow in about the recent scandal surrounding Bishop Eddie Long, and this should serve as a reminder as to how devastating a scandal is. When a pastor launches himself into immorality, a plight upon the gospel of Christ always occurs when it is exposed. God is dishonored first and foremost, and then the nations immediately find it a convenient means to blaspheme, and this is especially true when it comes from the pulpit.

The impenitent are always seeking a way to justify their rebellion, but they will not be able to defend themselves before a Holy God. Nonetheless, in God's Providential means, a holy lifestyle before Him is powerfully used to change the hearts of sinful men to His glory.

Therefore, let us strive for holiness and repent from our wickedness, lest we bring dishonor upon our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory! Amen!

The Biblical Triune God Alone Meets The Preconditions For Human Intelligibility

What do we mean by 'preconditions for human intelligibility'?

Preconditions would be the conditions needed beforehand to make something work. For example, the preconditions for a tornado would be certain weather factors. Otherwise, the tornado would never form.

Human intelligiblity is the making sense of the human experience. For example, explaining why we observe what we do would be an element of that.

When the two above definitions are put together, it comes out to be something like the following question. What previously existing conditions are neccessary to make sense of the human experience? Furthermore, what worldview/philosophy does not reduce the human experience to nonsense or what we typically call abusrdity?

Believe it or not, this has been the age old question. How do we ground knowledge, being (that we really exist), and ethics ? There are two fundamental approaches to this. Man can either start from himself and rely on his best speculation, or he can turn to Divine Revelation.

The former always ends in absurdity because man must be omniscient to know that he really exists first and foremost. However, because he is not omniscient, he cannot break through the wall that separates himself from the world as it really is (noumenal) and what he thinks he observes (phenomenal). This is known as Kant's Wall after the philosopher Immanual Kant. It is not as though what he observes is inherently wrong, it is just that starting from himself, he cannot ultimately justify any piece of knowledge as reliable.

Man finds himself in a dilemma, and this is espeically evident in the realm of ethics and law. For example, one man believes that murder is evil, while another states that he gains pleasure from inflicting harm upon another human being. Starting from man, neither person is able to justify his own position nor refute the other person's ethical stance. Moral relativism is then the fruit of this philosophic worldview, and this creates immediate disaster. 'Do what is right in your own eyes according to your own reason' becomes a real problem when you are the victim of rape, murder, etc. Starting from himself to establish a foundation for being, knowledge, and ethics always results in a worldview that self-destructs.

The latter position from Divine Revelation gives man the needed basis for being, knowledge, and ethics because it comes from a Divine Omniscient Source that is the fountainhead for all of the above Who then tramits this information to man via an intelligible means of communication (ie it is not in some incomprehensible code). However, there are a number of texts that are reported as being Divine Revelation, and they tend to stand in contradistinction from one another. Which one is correct, if any?

The two central competitors tend to be The Bible (Old and New Testaments as understood in traditional orthodoxy--excluding cults) and the Koran. This is extremely important because if neither are correct, then man is hopeless without any ability to even know that he exists and that this is not all just one big illusion at best. Even moreso, man has no purpose, no basis for knowledge, and certainly no basis for law or hope of a conscious afterlife.

In order to evaluate any worldview, it is best to look at its presuppositions and see how it espouses not to make nonsense of human intelligibility (See Greg Bahnsen). Besides textual errancy issues with the Koran (like its misrepresenation of how Christians have framed the Trinity--see Dr. James White for further on this at alpha omega ministries), the Koran denies justice because it allows for sinful humanity to enter heaven without an infinite eternal substitionary atonement. When justice is denied in this arena, then God is no longer just and anarchy immediately erupts leading the worldview to absurdity. On the contrary, within the Biblical Worldiview, just is not denied and anarchy does not erupt because of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ Who is God the Son the Second Person of the Trinity.

The ultimate presupposition that sets Christianity apart from everything else is that one must presuppose a world where the Biblical Triune God exists to then argue against it. For example, in order to argue against the Biblical God, one must presuppose a universe that He has created in which human intelligibility exists. Otherwise, knowledge is only an illusion at best, and even that statment is but an illusion, ad infinitum. In that, Christianity is proven because one could not prove anything otherwise. This is called the Transcendental Arugument.

Therefore, apart from Divine Revelation as transmitted in the Bible, man would have no basis for being, knowledge, and ethics. However, God in Christ as revealed in the Bible not only gives us the preconditions for human intelligibility, but the Scripture also explains why we observe what we observe in the world around us. In our sin, we rebel against God as revealed in the Bible because in it we see that God requires repentance and submission. Our rejection of the Bible does not negate its truthfulness, inspiration, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency, but it does magnify our rebellion. Man would rather indulge in moral relativism or chase after a false representation of the One True God therby accepting all of the devastating consequences it produces than submit to Him who is Holy, Holy, Holy! Sin therefore is truly shown to be utterly sinful! Amen!

Ministry Update

It appears that NAMB will not be an option due to budget constraints, and several vocational ministry opportunities that we have been looking into (like the Air Force Chaplain Reserves) have not materialized.

I had been contributing a significant amount of time with the Nepali people, but I knew I could not sustain the intensity of that long-term unless something else opened up. For this reason, I have decided to reduce my work with them substantially. I love the people, but my family must come first at this time, espeically with three children under three years old.

Therefore, I will be focusing primarly on family in order to cultivate my first ministry at this time. The Lord is Sovereign, and it is His Kingdom that He must build. We must be patient in how and when He wants to use according to His will and good pleasure.

With that being said, any outside mininstry will mostly consist of blog writing, blog audios, and continued Hebrew and Greek translation work until something changes.

May God Bless His Church! Amen!

Perseverance: When Life Is A Fog

At times we find ourselves in a fog of unknown trajectories. We don't know which way to go as clearly as we once thought. For this reason, God is truly a light unto our path and lamp unto our feet. Often times, all we know is the very next step as we faithfully trust the Lord with our lives.

When I'm in fog, I think of Joseph. God gave him great visions of the future, yet things seemed to go from bad to worse. What was once clear becamed muddled. However, in God's time, His glory shone forth in grandeur as Joseph was made viceroy of Egypt and later saved his family from starvation! To God be the glory!

Ordination Today

By the Lord's grace, Zach Watson and I were ordained in CCMA. I am most appreciative of this great honor amongst a congregation by which my wife and I have obtained healing and stability in the past two years. God has used CCMA immensely, and I am thankful to be ordained in an SBC Church where we are like-minded.

Though I was recently considered medically disqualified for the Air Force Reserve Chaplain program, I have begun to look into what is available through NAMB. I do ask for your prayers as we seek direction within this organization and how we might be used should an opportunity open up with them.

To Him be the glory! Amen!

Three Under Three: The Sacrifice of Parenting

As many of you have already found out, we had our third daughter on August 17th. We named her Shiphrah as a testimony to life against the backdrop of our culture of death where abortion, infanticide, and euthansia are exalted.

As I reflect upon our increased parental responsibilites, I have chewed upon something my wife said yesterday. She stated that you really don't know what it means to be totally selfless until you've had children. I would include in that picture anyone who has ever had to sacrifice to the extent that it cost them an enormous amount of their own free time. Taking care of someone who is sick or who is incapacitated falls into that category.

In no way do the above statments negate the incredible sacrifice made by those without children who are still single or who are barren. Rather, what she was getting at is how aware we become of our selfishness by having children. They consume every ounce of energy and every moment of time. Small children must be watched constantly, and they have little or no capacity to take care of themselves.

The parent is left exhausted, yet, when done for the glory of God, patience is developed and selfishness is exposed and sanctified out. Ultimately, it makes one quick to serve and slow to self-absorption. It is hard to see the positive end of such difficulties when you're in the situation and feel entrapped, yet God is working all the while. In the same way, God put Joseph in prison to train him for Viceroy of Egypt! What seems mundane to us is God's was of molding His people for greatness in His kingdom to His eternal glory! Amen!