This Entertaining Truth, Part 4: The Sufficiency of "Christian".

There is something else I wanted to discuss now: the sufficiency of "Christian". I could identify myself as a "Reformed Baptist" or "Christian Hedonist" or an "I'm of John Piper". The guys at TeamPyro describe themselves as "Calvidispiebaptogelical". And of what use is that in describing what saves me? It's a cute label and something that people in my school of thought would chuckle at and possibly unite under. There are two problems with that.

First, it is not good for the unity of the church. If a Christian labels themselves as anything other than Christian, it can divide them from other legitimate believers. I am not talking about "Christians" that prayed a prayer and went back to sinning so that grace would abound. I mean others that have turned from their sins, believed in Christ alone for salvation, and have been given a persevering faith in Christ that stands up to trials so that God will find them faithful when they stand before Him at the end of their lives.

Second, you are not saved by a theological framework! Jesus did not die on the cross and say, "The limited atonement is finished! I didn't die for you, Caesar! Haha... gotcha!!" Everyone who is saved, regardless of their background, becomes a Christian when they repent of their sins and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). Those are the only essentials, though they carry a much higher cost than most people think.

Strangely enough, most of my close friends are Christians who do not agree with me theologically. Some of them are from my old church, a church that calls itself Baptist but does not preach a gospel of repentance. Yet some people there (including the aforementioned friends) have truly repented from their sins and believed in Christ and remained in that church, more or less, as missionaries to it - teaching what they know is right even though the pastors don't always agree with them. And one of my best friends is a member of a Pentecostal church. He does not personally subscribe to the health-and-wealth gospel, but he goes to that church because that is what he has always done.

See, in most contexts, enjoying fellowship with another believer until I find a disagreement with them, then spending all subsequent time disagreeing with them until we both just say "hmph!" and part ways does not help. It is important to fellowship with those who are like-minded. But if someone really is a believer and is not like-minded, and it really is that important to win them over to my side, I need to win them over with love. And if "love doesn't work", I need to repent of my pragmatism and continue giving them the truth in love anyway.

Here is another thought just in case I have made it seem that theology is not important. Many of the differences across Christian theologies boil down to one question: Does God exist to make me look great, or do I exist to make God look great? Phrased another way, who is at the center - man or Christ? Our answers do a lot to shape our views of Him and of the world around us.

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Tim Conway from Grace Community Church and I'll Be Honest said the following in one of his Q&A sessions. My apologies for not remembering which one:

"There are Calvinists in hell. ... Whatever Bible you have, it ought to be teaching you how to love other Christians more. Whatever doctrine you have - whatever theology you have - it ought to be revealing Christ to you more and more, that you will want to love Him more and more."

"If your doctrine makes it harder for you to get along with - if it makes you more difficult - if it makes you unbearable - if it makes you ungracious - if it makes you unloving, then ... you're making an idol out of that. And I'll say the same thing about Bible translations, about denominations. If your denomination, or being a Baptist, or clinging to a certain Bible translation makes you ugly towards other people, makes you bitter towards other people, you've made an idol out of it."

"Many times, discipline is right in the area of the sin. You know what sin a lot of times He comes after us for? Idolatry. A lot of times, we tend to treasure something in our lives more than Christ. ... He will come to us right at that idol. ... If you are in sin and you can just keep on going at it, beware."

This Entertaining Truth, Part 3: A Soundtrack for Life

In my music collection, I have at least 38 days' worth of songs, sermons, and podcast episodes, accrued through about 13 years of buying music and 4 years of listening to sermons. I definitely appreciate good music and preaching. Most of my days at work are spent, at least partially, listening to various songs in order to block out noise in the office and help me to focus on my tasks. And then I usually listen to music on the way home and sometimes after I get home as well.

As Joshua Harris said well in Dug Down Deep, everyone is a theologian; but is what you believe about God true?

Now I will expand this to musicians and entertainers in general. Every song that contains lyrics expresses theology, whether it says, "How great is our God" or "Shake that [rear end], girl". I say that of the latter example because it still expresses a worldview that says, "The chief end of a man is to pursue pleasure for himself, and women exist to provide him with that pleasure." This is the obviously wrong example to most Christians, although the fact that such songs still express some form of theology is far less obvious. One can find another less obvious example in songs which teach, "God exists to give me what I want."

Christians can respond to this in several ways. One is to still listen to the world but try not to let it affect our worldview. That often sets us up for additional temptation. Others will listen to anything that calls itself Christian without examining its doctrine. And others will only listen to songs that are doctrinally sound.

Customized theology can creep in here as well. Few, if any, people use lyrics alone as the determining factor in what they will willfully listen to. The song must sound good too, right? We obtain some sort of pleasure from listening to music, and it also serves as a means to worship corporately. Otherwise, we would just listen to preaching all the time.

So we can have two filters: one, lyrical; the other, musical. And then our playlists become routine. I don't know anyone who sets up playlists on their music player of choice based on the theology that the songs teach. Most people use a genre, an artist, or just favorite songs. So then the favorite songs become stuck in our heads and we start meditating on the words. And we can get a skewed theology this way. I suspect this is one way how some people listen to songs that say "all things are possible" all day and then start praying outside the will of God.

There exist other dangers in considering music as a soundtrack for life. How many times have I been inclined to pray and decided to listen to my umpteenth holy hip hop song of the day instead? It is trading "best" - communion with the Father - for merely "good" - learning great doctrine. We can listen to doctrinally sound worship music or holy hip hop or read wonderful books or listen to deep expositional preaching all day and still not abide in Christ. Often I need to check myself: would I really rather listen to a full playlist of music than just read Scripture? Would I really rather listen to another sermon than just pray? In doing this, I exalt my teachers instead of my Lord.

And I have found it also sometimes becomes hard for me to sing a simple worship song after a week of listening to lots of doctrinally deep Christian music. If I go into a worship service expecting to sing a certain deep worship song with the rest of the congregation, and I'm disappointed when we sing something simpler instead, the service starts to become about me instead of about God. Even in giving myself to God-centered Christianity, I can still center my Christianity on myself.

Some of my friends have been able to go on a media fast for a week or 40 days. Honestly, I don't think I could do it right now. When I fast from food, I have not been able to also fast from Facebook or checking my email - or sometimes even checking my Blogger stats! When Jesus communed with His Father, He withdrew - away from the disciples, away from ministry and fellowship. Ah, as C.S. Lewis says, "we are far too easily pleased" - with our electronic toys.

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"The best thing some of you can do is take every television set in your house and destroy it - and learn to read, and think, and talk."

- Paul Washer, "The Sovereignty of God and World Missions".

This Entertaining Truth, Part 2: Sola "Scriptura + My Opinions"?

"In a separate report, Barna found that more than 6 in 10 born-again Christians say they are customizing their faith, not following any one church's theology. 'Americans are increasingly comfortable picking and choosing what they deem to be helpful and accurate theological views and have become comfortable discarding the rest of the teachings in the Bible,' the report notes."

- "Christian faith: Calvinism is Back".

-----

In the last few years, I have picked up on a tendency of American Christians (including myself, to some extent) going into a church service with everything they believe already made up and then filtering everything they hear through that lens instead of through Scripture. There's this notion of "Joel Osteen is saying this; Paul Washer is saying that; they are both Christians, so they must both somehow be telling the truth... so I'll believe both of them." A lot of them don't read their Bibles enough to know the difference, and a lot of them do not "search the Scriptures to see if these things are so" like the Bereans did. And a lot of them don't examine themselves well enough to see whether they or their teachers are genuinely converted. (Note: God is the final arbiter of that, as the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked - Jeremiah 17:9. But: "you shall know them by their fruit" - Matthew 7:16.)

And then as they hear all these teachers saying all these different things, they cancel each other out. So when they do hear something about how their lifestyle habitually does not fall in line with Scripture and that if they don't repent, that is evidence that they may have never been saved, they dismiss it as, "Oh, that's just what John Piper thinks. That's nice. I'll just let him believe what he believes." Just as bad: "Oooo, that's convicting! But I don't need to do anything about it." It becomes like a college lecture on something that has nothing to do with your job: just interesting, just entertainment, just more useless knowledge in a brain that is most likely already full of worldly useless knowledge.

The problem is, God, not you, determines absolute truth. He alone sets the standards that determine whether you are really saved and whether you are growing in holiness. A lot of people mask their opinions with "God told me..." to get away with anything. But the Bible alone holds final authority regarding doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

So I ask: where does your "customized faith" come from? Does it come from legitimate Biblical convictions obtained by reading and praying through Scripture? Or is it just what you want to believe?

It would be nigh upon impossible for me to pick a church that agrees with me 100% on every major and minor issue. I identify, in rapidly descending order of importance, as a Christian, a five-point Calvinist, a Baptist, and a qualified continuationist (in the vein of John Piper and Wayne Grudem). And I don't worship like a dead man. All of this, I arrived at through studying Scripture and listening to faithful preachers from Baptist, Presbyterian, nondenominational, Sovereign Grace, Acts 29, (etc.) churches.

Maybe you are from a Sovereign Grace church, read the preceding paragraph, and said, "I don't see what this guy's problem is. He should just join one of our churches. We agree with him on practically everything." The problem is the will of God.

After spending time in prayer about it and becoming convinced that God would be most glorified in my life right now if I do this, I became a member of a Reformed Baptist church in my area. (This is also the "international church" to which I referred in Godly Fellowship, Part 8.) We don't actually have "Reformed" or "Baptist" in our name. We have gone through three names and two pastors during the two-plus years that I have been there. The majority of the members who were there two years ago have left the church and been replaced by new people whom I do not know as well. And in my age group, our church is so full of young men that we all basically have to look outside our local church for prospective wives - and then make sure that they too agree with us on matters of the faith and can serve in our church - not an easy task. (In our young adult ministry recently, we had five men's small groups and only one for women.) There is really very little in it for me except that I know I am being fed with the Word here and worshiping God truthfully with other genuinely converted people here. And those two things outweigh everything else.

I do not want to make minor issues major, if I can help it in the least. To have fellowship with me as a Christian, someone must agree with me on one thing: the gospel. That is the most important thing in all of Christianity, and everything else in our faith is insignificant to this one thing: Christ died for sinners. And if someone repents of their sins (not just confessing them) and believes in Christ alone, God has given them that repentance and faith and saved them. Nothing else really matters compared to this gospel.

At this stage in life, loving the church means the following for me: "To the wind with 10- or 20-year Christian friendships that were not founded in Christ. Possibly, to the wind with getting married or even finding love, at least for now. I do not wear a cross around my neck. I carry it on my shoulder. And this is no sacrifice to me, because God killing His Son at Calvary was an unthinkable sacrifice, and He did it anyway to glorify His name by saving my soul from His eternal wrath. These are my brothers and sisters. They are with Christ. So I am with them."

When we approach doctrine or the church with apathy or we emphasize our customized theology above everything else, we ought to consider the following:

"You wonder why people choose fields away from the States when young people at home are drifting because no one wants to take time to listen to their problems. I’ll tell you why I left. Because those Stateside young people have every opportunity to study, hear, and understand the Word of God in their own language, and these Indians have no opportunity whatsoever. I have had to make a cross of two logs, and lie down on it, to show the Indians what it means to crucify a man. When there is that much ignorance over here and so much knowledge and opportunity over there, I have no question in my mind why God sent me here. Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worst fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because having a Bible, they were bored with it – while these never heard of such a thing as writing."

- Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty, p. 237, quoted on Pure Church.

This Entertaining Truth, Part 1: I'll Have My Spiritual Steak Medium-Well, Please.

As a Christian who listens to and reads from some of the most truthful Bible preachers and teachers available today - such as Paul Washer, John Piper, Voddie Baucham, Eric Mason, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, and the list goes on - sometimes I tend to sit back, taking more security than I should in the fact that much of my spiritual food comes from these teachers. Thoughts of, "This guy can really bring truth", start going through my head.

But, as Pastor Begg calls his radio show, it is "Truth for Life".

In high school or college, I memorized all of James 1. I probably cannot recite it word for word anymore, but verses 22-25 stay with me to this day:

" ²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, andcontinues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it— he will be blessed in what he does."

Listening to the truth of God can, quite wrongfully, become a form of entertainment. Perhaps that is is part of my motivation for why I tend to prefer to listen to very theoretical preaching that emphasizes the otherness of God, His holiness, His justice, His grace, and His other attributes. Often I think, "We have a song in church where we sing, 'I will worship You for who You are'; and it doesn't say much more than that. It doesn't actually tell us who God is or explain His characteristics. So how can I 'worship God for who He is' unless I study Him and find out who He is?" So it leads me into high-flown thought after high-flown thought, which leads to great worship if I am given a doctrinally sound enough song to sing. This can be a good thing. Or it can turn me into a theological elitist or someone who is merely entertained by good preaching.

Ok; that's a good thought. But why do Christians like me shy away from practical messages? Is it merely because we don't hear much more than that in most modern churches and we are looking for the real meat?

Or is it because we find the meat entertaining and because only listening to the meat can sometimes get us thinking about God's nature so much that it lets us off the hook of practical obedience?

Don't misunderstand me. We do need to listen to the meat and not live on only the milk of the Word forever. We need to listen to, and/or read, the preachers and writers who can really chop up a text of Scripture and mine it like gold. Listening to John Piper or Eric Mason preach for an hour or so on just one verse, like John 1:1, or even just "In the beginning was the Word...", gives great depth to our knowledge of God; it can greatly help our spiritual growth and enhance our worship of God. And we need to study Scripture to get as much out of it as we can and then live it out and share it in times of fellowship with each other. We need all of that.

But sometimes I get to a point where I start to say things like, "Whoa, that's convicting!" And then at the end of the message, I listen to some music or Tagalog lessons and forget what I have heard.

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"11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don't hinder.

"12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by."

- from the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.

On Wisdom

^{(I am still working on the next two series of posts. They will be pretty involved. Here is some Scripture on which I have recently meditated. Let us listen to these words of our all-knowing and -wise God. A link to a helpful article on godly wisdom from Desiring God follows the Scripture.)}

^"12 But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
¹³ No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
²² Destruction and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
²⁸ And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
- Job 28:12-28.

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Pastor Paul Tripp writes,

"Here is what all of us must face, sin really does reduce us all to fools, but happily the story doesn't end there. The One who is the ultimate source of everything that's good, true, trustworthy, right, and wise is also a God of amazing grace.

"You don't get freed from your foolishness by education or experience. You don't get wisdom by research and analysis. You get wisdom by means of a relationship with the One who is Wisdom."

- "You're Fooling Yourself".

To Chase Him Down

Died He for me,

Whose life disappears like vapor

Who once chased a stack of paper

Instead of my sovereign Maker?

He's one Holy God in three,

His ways know no limitations,

His purpose sees no frustrations,

His Spirit - Regenerator.

His will? To make me holy,

Like Him, who became lowly,

The Son, who suffered slowly

And was once not seen as Son.

Fulfilled? Each prophet's story

By Christ, who left His glory

Who made it auditory:

The redemptive work was done!

My long-gone brother said it well,

I once dangled over hell

Only mercy did sustain me - kept on this earth to tell

That until that final bell

Repentance makes a sinner well

And believing in the spotless, perfect Lamb Who never fell.

It glorified my King to throw off my every chain,

To cleanse great and minor stains,

To test my growing faith with pains.

Let my life song's each refrain

Scream that He my life maintains

And that He by grace sustains

My chase of Him and not the vain.

I read and I write to encounter the divine,

To worship with heart and mind

To speak the truth that I find.

Lord, entrance Your chosen saints

In a state of faithful praise,

Amazed by Your sovereign grace.

Transfix my gaze,

Transform my ways,

To become what befits one who lives in endless day.

Rewrite each phrase,

Ignite my praise,

Set my passion on Your glory. May I never stray.

Many days I have a faraway look in my eyes,

Thinking of my future home where the pleasure never dies.

Considering His perfections, I do well to surmise

That His grace for today makes me able to live wise.

Seek His face, and chase it down,

In your house and in your town

Cling to the gracious Savior whose love and grace abound

Your life cannot be rewound.

Let it send a worthy sound.

Not knowing you were lost, by His mercy you were found.

As a lost sheep, lost coin, lost son, now found -

you can grasp parables now - thoughts unbound.

The Spirit shed light and made your mind renewed:

The Good Shepherd left ninety-nine for you!

On Obedience to Civil Government, Part 3: "God and..."?

When sentiment and political allegiances drive the Christian's response to government, and they relegate Scripture to a secondary shaper of their beliefs or ignore it completely, God can easily leave the center of their lives and can easily stop being the focus of their meditations. Any sayings of "God and _______" are problematic, because they set God on the same level of importance as (or only symbolically higher than) the other item, usually "country". And it results in a divided loyalty, a divided heart.

Yet, at the same time, God has not called us to ignore country either. We do well to pray for everyone that we can, in any sphere of life:

"1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. ...

"8I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing."

- 1 Timothy 2:1-6, 8.

The "lift up holy hands" in verse 8 implies that these prayers for leaders are not half-hearted and passionless! It is an impassioned plea before God for Him to save our leaders, for Him to keep them following Him, and for His name to be glorified to the utmost in our countries and among His people - regardless of what that means for us. And the "holy hands" posture is not intended as a gesture to look pious, but to indicate an ultimate dependence on God, a committing of our way to the Lord. As A.W. Pink writes, "Nothing is too great and nothing is too small to commit into the hands of the Lord." Let us also fast, if we have any question of our passion for Christ or have sensed that we have made any idol that God must smash.

So, as a responsible (earthly) citizen of the United States, I exercise my right to vote, and will vote for the best candidates on the ballot based on my conscience. Yet never does God call me to yell at Him over the results of an election. Whether the people who I vote for win or not, I am still going to praise God for who He has always been, the work that He has done, the work that He is doing, and the work that He will do. I will give an account to God over how I receive the leadership of these officials. And He has said to obey them, according to His perfect will, wherever it does not cause me to disobey Him. This obedience magnifies the glory of God and increases the joy of those whom I obey.

"15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess His name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."

- Hebrews 13:15-17

On Obedience to Civil Government, Part 2: The Cost of Obeying the Lord.

Another item worth highlighting from Romans 13:1-7 is that it calls earthly rulers "God's servant to do you good." Even in today's society, we can find that hard to believe. With rampant corruption in some nations' governments and representing special interest groups instead of the people in others, it becomes difficult to think many of these rulers can possibly have the best interests of the people anywhere in their hearts.

Yet, what is "good"?

God says He will work every circumstance in our lives "for [our] good" (Romans 8:28), to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This includes "trials of many kinds" that He brings into our lives to test our faith, develop perseverance in us, and allow us to become mature and complete (James 1:2-4). Serving under a ruler who dishonors God can be somewhat of a trial in itself, at times. But people in our cultures today tend to cry wolf at even the slightest hint of a trial.

Consider the people to whom the Apostle Paul wrote. They lived and functioned during the reign of the emperor Nero, considered one of the most wicked emperors in Roman history.

What do historians and students of Christian history think of when they first think of Nero? One of the first items - mere word association with Nero's name?

He killed Christians for their faith.

The Apostle Paul was saying that even Nero's authority was God-ordained, and he ought to submit to it - even if it meant "off with his head".

How would a Christian today respond to that?

If you identify first with Christ, you are in the best position. Responding to "Tell me, 'Caesar is Lord'" (or "[insert ruler's name here] is Lord") with "No, Jesus is Lord" would be almost a natural response to that - even if it costs you everything. As Martin Luther pointed out, a faith that costs you nothing is worth nothing.

If you are most modern-day Americans, you would either deny the faith to save your own skin or call in to every talk show affiliated with your political party and mobilize people who agree with you to pray for the persecution to stop.

And if you are listening to some of the prophets of today, you may say, "Down with Nero. We need a Christian emperor." And then you would mobilize your Christian countrymen to take him out.

A better question to ask is: what gives God the most glory? If an anti-Christian ruler kills me for my faith in Jesus Christ, my death brings God glory. It is easier for me to fade into the background of the world around me and become known as just a good, moral person ("the guy who doesn't ...") than it is for me to take a stand for God and let God make an example out of me to others as, "This is what your faith can cost you. The only other alternative to turning from your sin, denying yourself, and following hard after Christ is going to hell. Count the cost, and follow Him." Luke 14:26-27 reads, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry His cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."

In Hard to Believe, John MacArthur writes,

"The manifestation of true faith is a commitment that no influence can sway. Of course you love your family... But if you're a real disciple, your commitment to the salvation found only in Christ is so deep, profound, and far-reaching that you will say no, if need be, to those you love for the cause of Christ. ...

"I pray to God I never have to make that decision, but I might. You may have had to make that choice because you confessed Jesus Christ, and it has been a burden on your family. But that's the way we prove the reality of our conversion. The one who says, 'I'm not willing to make that sacrifice', isn't genuine. ... You can't be His disciple and receive His salvation if your family means more to you than He does."

We can substitute anything other than God for "family" in that quote - including "country".

On Obedience to Civil Government, Part 1: Who, Them?

" 1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."

- Romans 13:1-7

The United States will have its off-year elections next week, so for that and some other reasons, I find it necessary here to address civil government and how the Bible says Christians ought to interact with their governing authorities.

Various sects within Christendom - Biblical and otherwise - have a wide variety of ways of viewing the Christian's involvement in politics. Some are wholly apolitical. Some submit to the government but endlessly rant about their unhappiness about the government. And some sects emphasize rebellion against the government, prophesy about the government being overthrown, and envision a state where Christians rule their country and/or the world.

Today, I would describe myself as mostly apolitical. In American parlance, I identified as a Republican until President George W. Bush's speech on the evening of September 11, 2001, announcing a "war on terrorism". I bolted from the party within weeks, saying that a war against an abstract concept rather than a specific group of people was an unwinnable war. I spent most of my college days as an unabashed "small-l libertarian", taking the time to read the entire U.S. Constitution and the entire Patriot Act in one sitting. What did it profit me? I became angry about the existing government, yet completely unable to do anything about it. So I ranted about it on campus with those who agreed with me, attended a protest against the Iraq War (where all I really did was laugh at the Bush impersonator), and let my life announce my identity. Computer science major first - I study hard; I stay up late seven days a week to write code; I never party. Libertarian second - big government is stupid and wasteful; these wars are not necessary; neither Republicans nor Democrats really let my voice be heard. Christian third - yeah, I attend a Bible study too.

I identified as a "minarchist" - one step below "anarchist". I wanted to have a government but viewed it as a necessary evil that needed to be stripped down to its most necessary functions: military, courts, prisons. And I wanted nothing to do with empires.

Then God switched my identity around and told me, "You are a Christian first."

The problem with being wholly indifferent to politics is that the Bible speaks much of government and how we ought to respond to those in authority. And here, we hear Romans 13:1-7 as a classic text on how we ought to deal with authority. First, we see that God is the One who establishes any and all kinds of civil authority. This includes any kind of ruler, Christian and otherwise.

For Americans, this means that we would not be right to say that Barack Obama should be our President, John McCain should be our President, or someone else should be our President. If we say such a thing, we go against the fact that God is sovereign over election results and He will put His chosen rulers in each position - whether they are Christians or not; whether they make society better or not; whether they are seen as capable rulers or not.

In Israel, He saw fit to allow kings to die and new kings to start reigning as mere boys, qualified by nothing other than their standing as kings' sons. And yet, God remembers King Josiah, who started reigning in Israel as a young boy, as the last king of Judah who did right in the eyes of God. Let us remember that when we want to incessantly argue from worldly wisdom that a candidate for office is unqualified based on their previous experience. God can and will use anybody to accomplish His purposes, whether it is a Daniel of great intelligence or Balaam's donkey, to whom He gave a voice.

Dillon Chase - "How He Loves Remix"

I saw some people have been looking for the words to Dillon Chase's remix of "How He Loves". I transcribed them around the same time that I did the words to his remix of "Here In Your Presence", so here they are. Again, please correct me if anything is not accurate.

"From the chosen of Israel to the present-day times,

God, we are inferior!

This blessing is mine.

I question to find myself truly acquainted with You.

I'm frustrated by what moves me to forget You.

Consumed with Your greatness; You prove to be gracious.

I view this throughout Your Scripture, read it, hear it, feel it.

Consuming my heart, produce from the thought

The depths of the sovereign grace.

God, You are great; I am not.

But You view me as bought.

You Who sought me when I kept on running,

Fingertips stripped away chains I was hugging.

I willfully spit in Your face with my lips.

You wiped it off and let Your blood drip.

"Oh, how He loves us! [Grace alone]

Oh, how He loves us, [Through faith alone]

How He loves us so! [In Christ alone, for Your glory alone]"

"In the heat of the storm, I'm seeking You, Lord.

Your lovingkindness is better than life!

I need You more than anything, You're

More than enough, my Treasure, my Prize!

Yes, You are God. Yes, I am fallen.

But You gave a calling that had to be heard.

You opened up the ears of my heart,

Came near my heart and actually turned.

I wouldn't have wanted to trust in the Gospel

And now I am brought to my knees; I surrender.

Your love overflows; it spills in my mouth.

I yell and I shout,

That Jesus is risen! Jesus is Lord! He's mighty to save!

Humbled by Your grace, I died to my ways!

I try to explain, but I run out of words!

I cry and proclaim Your wondrous works!

Oh, how You loved me first.

Oh, how I am nothing but dirt,

But You make me Your own. You cover my hurt

With Your love, not my works. Only by grace, You're taking me home.

Oh, how He loved us first.

Oh, how we're nothing but dirt,

But He makes us His own. He covers our hurt

With His love, not our works. Only by grace, He is taking us home.

"Oh, how He loves us! [By grace alone, through faith alone]

Oh, how He loves us, [In Christ alone, for Your glory alone!]

How He loves us so!"

"I pray that this world, in their sin and rebellion,

Would turn from their sin and begin to go tell them

That we who belong to the God Who has saved us.

Have hope and not hurt. He is the safe haven.

This here was the greatest. He's holy and just,

Gracious and merciful - that's not enough.

On top of that, He is sovereign 'cause

He receives all who He bought with His blood.

Nothing can keep Him from loving His people,

Not death, man, or satan can seek to

Snatch us from His hand. We're clutched by His grace

Kept by the Spirit, we're one in this race.

Safe in His hands, clutched by His grace:

what got us here was nothing but faith.

Safe in His hands, clutched by His grace:

what got us here was nothing but faith.

"Oh, how He loves us!

Oh, how He loves us!

Oh, how He loves us!

Oh, he loves!

"And we are His portion

And He is our prize

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If His grace is an ocean, we are sinking.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest

I don't have time to maintain these regrets

when I think about the way that He loves us.

Oh, how He loves us!

Oh, how He loves us!

Oh, how He loves!"

- Dillon Chase, "How He Loves Remix", available on the Pause mixtape.

Dillon Chase - Here in Your Presence Remix

"Let's bring everything into perspective. Let's see, regardless of what happens now, let's live in light of eternity whenever we're at the presence of Jesus Christ. It's good news for His people.

"We look at ourselves and see that we're passing away.

The fact is, we actually fade.

Every day that passes, we face

The fate of this world - collapsing one day, because

This world is fallen; don't think that it's perfect,

Got hurricanes, floods, fires that are burning.

But there was a time when all of it worshiped

The God who created it for His own purpose.

But now it awaits: the day when He comes

To settle things straight - the Savior, the Son

of God the Father, will make all things one

Heaven and earth will fade away, but

The City He'll build will endure forever

Now you feel burdened, but there you will never,

light as a feather. The God who you treasure,

He sits on the throne as He reigns with all splendor.

Your body is groaning from pain and sin,

But please, wait, remain content.

I promise it will be amazing when the Lamb who was slain has us raised with Him.

And this is the day that we'll gaze at Him and we'll glance at our bodies that are saved from sin.

Then we'll see the wounds that remain on Him

And we fall on our face and start praising Him! Yes,

"Heaven is trembling in awe of Your wonder.

Kings and their kingdoms are standing amazed, because

Here in Your presence, we are undone!

Here in Your presence, heaven and earth become one!

Here in Your presence, all things are new! [Maranatha, Lord; come quick!]

Here in Your presence, everything bows before You!"

"So when trials are pressing and your faith is tested,

Remember the Holy Spirit that's indwelling

No matter the weapon the enemy's flexing,

You don't need to fear; you're always in His presence.

From days, hours, minutes, to seconds,

We eagerly wait to be freed from this wreckage

Struggles and strife, we're still not neglected

We have His love because we've been predestined,

Designed to reside in the body of Christ,

Adopted from what tried to rob us of life.

This world is evil; you're probably right,

Full of sinful humans who are lost without light.

So what is the motive to shine as a lamp?

Fix your mind on the time when the Bride would dance

With Christ, the Groom, the Head of the Church

An eternal legacy destined to work!

This is our hope. This is our promise.

If you're doubting the truth, know that He's sovereign.

Shout from the roof that your God is awesome

And know He's your daddy; you can call Him "Abba"

No sword will sever; no death would it cease.

Christ is the Victor; His work is complete.

We have the victory. We have the peace.

So fight the good fight till the final defeat!

"Heaven is trembling in awe of Your wonder. [Yeah!]

Kings and their kingdoms are standing amazed [This is what we say, Lord! This is what we sing to You!], because

Here in Your presence, we are undone! [You're holy, Lord; You're holy!]

Here in Your presence, heaven and earth become one! [They become one, Lord. You're the King of it all!]

Here in Your presence, all things are new! [All things are new to You, Jesus; You make all things new!]

Here in Your presence, everything bows before You! [And now that I know this, Lord, I live for You!]"

"Take away cash! Take my career! Take all that I have!

It got us to where You can take away money and take away food

But that doesn't mean much to me, dude, it's true:

Who do I have but Jesus? That's right.

He is all I'll need in tragedies; they have disease [?]

I'll cast them at the precious feet of Jesus.

Let's sit at the face and scream, "I am free!"

And put sin in its place; it was nailed to the tree.

Turn to your Savior; don't be moved for nothing.

In Him find your joy 'cause one day He'll be coming.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!

Let's bring it back to where we are now,

With babies aborted and tossed to the ground

Enslavement to sin, addicted to drugs,

Anything for a fix while the kids need a hug

One day the Savior will come as the Judge.

The wicked will be cast away like the flood.

While they are here, don't hold a grudge.

Go preach the gospel and save whom He loves.

Children will die. Ones will be lost.

Persecution will come. We will all pay the cost.

At the end of the day, we are the conquerors,

reign with the King who redeemed every part of us.

Every tear dry, every failure destroyed:

Nothing to describe what we'll feel with that joy,

As we'll sing with the church that He bought with His blood

The chorus forever will sing up above:

"Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way

"Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, [You are] matchless in every way

"Wonderful [Sing to You!], beautiful [O Lord!], glorious [undone, right here, right now!], matchless in every way

"We are amazed... You are glorious!

"Wonderful [wonderful!], beautiful [beautiful!], glorious [glorious!]...

"Jesus, we thank You, Lord, for freeing us from this body of sin,

and on top of that, promising the reality of our resurrection with You, Lord:

wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way!"

- Dillon Chase, "Here In Your Presence Remix", available on the Pause mixtape.

(I transcribed the lyrics. Please leave a comment and let me know if there are any mistakes.)