Serving or being served?

We Christians are told regularly that we need to serve God, whether it is our vocation or "volunteer."

Allow me to challenge the accepted view of this. We should serve God, but in the way that God demands. The thing missing from this, however, is that we need to let God serve us. The Son of Man came not to be served (Mark 10:45). The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything (Acts 17:24-25).

How do we let God get the glory of serving us even in activities in which we are serving God? We pray and acknowledge the fact that we can do nothing without Christ. We ask for God's help when we need it (always). We ask God to use us to further His kingdom and to give us the competance to successfully accomplish the task at hand. This brings glory to God and keeps us from thinking that we have something to offer to God.

To God be the glory in heaven and earth forever.

If you are interested in pursuing this concept further, read chapter 6 of Desiring God by John Piper.

Our God Is In Control

M

y father is co-authoring a book on evanglism. He has honored me by asking that I edit his portion of the manuscript. What I've read so far is excellent. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

What really jumps out at the contemporary reader from this manual is the solid theology needed for a true evangelistic outreach. Postmodern man vilifies those he disagrees with. In the arena of evangelism, this has mainly been done by those who reject God's total sovereignty over his creation. The line goes that Calvinists don’t believe in evangelism because they think God is going to handle everything and man doesn't have a choice. Not only is this wrong, but it is a complete misrepresentation of Calvinistic belief.

We Calvinists believe that man has a choice—he has always had a choice. The problem is that man will choose the wrong thing every time. Only when God has removed man's “heart of stone” and replaced it with a “heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19) will man seek fellowship with God through repentance of his sins and trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. (Notice I didn't say the potential saving work—Jesus’ death on the cross did not create a potential for salvation; it completely paid the penalty for the sins of those who would believe.)

I am very proud of my father and of his strong stand on the truth of God’s Word. My father is the most evangelistic man I know and he is a 5-point Calvinist. In fact, by John Piper’s definition, my father is a 7-point Calvinist. The straw man is exposed and has been burned up by the pragmatic proof. If we believe that God is in complete control of his creation, not only will we share the gospel to all, but we can rest in the assurance that he will draw to him those for whom Christ has shed his blood. Our part: evangelize the world. God’s part: save the elect. We don’t need to do God’s part, nor can we. But we must do ours.

Words mean things!

Watching the UK-based coverage of the suicide (read "homicide") bombings has been frustrating and frightening. On the day the attacks were perpetrated, the reporters freely used the word "terrorists" to describe the attackers. Since then the word has been pointedly absent from their reporting. Is this some sort of bizarro political correctness run rampant?

If our world doesn't wake up to what sort of enemy we face, we are in for serious trouble. This is a fight for our lives and we're busy trying to give our attacker a positive self-image.

J. Vernon M^cGee pointed out more than a decade ago that most theologians don't see the United States anywhere in End Times prophecy. That means that either the US will cease to exist or, at the very least, will no longer be a superpower. I'm hoping for the latter, because I love this country and want to see it perpetuated. But I fear the former if we go the route of the BBC reporters, which we are doing to a great degree. Our enemy is radical Islam. I think we should be very clear on the fact that this is not a faction of the normally peaceful religion—it is the orthodox (if that word can be used in this setting) version of Islam. Those who follow Muslim teachings strictly are the ones we consider "radical." And this religion is spreading like wildfire. And, like wildfire, it is destroying everything in its path.

It's time to recognize the wildfire and put it out. As Smokey the Bear says: Only you can prevent wildfires.

God of wonders!

Natural Bridge, Virginia

My family spent this past weekend at Natural Bridge, Virginia. What a wonderful place. We were there for a family retreat and seminar, but the local sights were what wowed us.

Creation

The park makes an awe-inspiring presentation each day during the warmer months. It's called simply "Creation." The audience is seated under the Natural Bridge and listens to an orator read the biblical account of the six days of creation from Genesis. Each day of creation is depicted by a classical music piece and a light show. The lights are directed at and around the bridge and the effect is stunning.

The immense size of the bridge contributes to the effectiveness of this amazing presentation. In the photo above, you can see two small white dots at the bottom left of the bridge. Those are the shirts of two people walking the path under the bridge. It is gargantuan.

The show is introduced not by a vague reference to the "theory" of creation or by saying that this is something written in the Bible and some folks believe it, but by the statement, "The world was created in six days. This presentation is a musical and visual depiction of the biblical account of that creation."

Natural Bridge during a presentation of "Creation"

If you're able to see this show, make a point not to miss it. It is wonderful.

One year down - and still losing

Today is my 1-year checkup ... 1 year since my weight loss surgery. I have lost 271 pounds and feel great. Some people have even said I look great, although I think they're just buttering me up. God has been gracious and brought me through this in an amazing way. Now I need to stay on top of things so I don't regain any weight. In fact, I'd like to lose another 30 pounds or so. We'll see what the doctor says today.

I'd like to thank God for:

• Dr. Halmi, the best surgeon in history
• Dr. Halmi's amazingly wonderful staff
• Occoquan Bible Church
• My wife Kim (pictured with me at the top right side of this page)
• My son David (who took the above mentioned profile picture)
• My extended family and friends who have provided great support

Without these people this would have been a very difficult process, but with these people it has been an exciting and mostly enjoyable road. Thanks to all of you.

12/26 - A day that will live in infamy

The quake centered in Indonesia that unleashed a devastating tsunami occurred exactly 1 hour and 58 minutes after the quake in Bam, Iran, which killed 26,000 people.

Read the World Net Daily report.

PETA asks Al Jazeera for help

People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has offered Al-Jazeera $10,000 to broadcast pictures of animals being slaughtered because of the war in Iraq.

The aptly named Morons.org tells the story.

Miracle? on 34th Street

Macy's has abandoned the spirit of Christmas that prompted the wonderful movie, "Miracle on 34th Street." The 2004 Ebenezer Awards were recently announced by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. This award is given to those who most aggregiously violate the spirit of Christmas each year. For 2004, Macy's department stores qualified for this award by banning the phrase, "Merry Christmas" from their banners and from verbal usage by their employees. Macy's employees were instructed to say, "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings."

One can only hope that during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday the Macy's employees will not be forbidden to speak his name. I'd hate to go into a Macy's during that holiday only to be greeted with, "Happy Minority Leader Day, sir."

Read the article about this year's Ebenezer Awards.

Eathquake, tsunami ... Acts of God

The news of the earthquake and ensuing tsunamis has hit the world hard. The pictures of children lying dead on the ground with their parents crying over them is almost too hard to imagine. Such pain, such devastation, such grief.

None of us knows why this happened, but our ancestors knew who was in control of such things. Our parents called these things "acts of God." This acknowledges that God is sovereign over all things—including "natural disasters." It does not blame God for evil; it does not imply that God is punishing those who died or lost family members or businesses as a result of the quake. It simply says, "God is in control."

That's a good thing to remember as the impact of this fierce event sinks in—God is in control. He has a grip on everything. Nothing takes him by surprise. And the Bible tells us that he works everything out according to his will to bring glory to himself. However this human tragedy has affected your life, you can rest assured that it will ultimately bring glory to God. If the glory of God is your supreme desire, you can rejoice in this event—even if you lost a loved one. Because this too will bring glory to God.

What a great God we serve.

"Fetus" or "baby"?

The following article was written and published by Newsmax. I re-publish the article in its entirety here, but check out Newsmax for more excellent journalism.

Kidnapped Baby Wasn't a 'Fetus'
The pro-abortion media establishment had a hard time accurately reporting one of the Christmas season's saddest stories, the infant who was kidnapped from her mother's butchered womb.

As we expected, initial news stories referred to the abducted "fetus." Yet four days later, even when tiny Victoria Jo Stinnett was in good physical health after her ordeal, one wire story again called her a "fetus."

Does that mean the "journalist" thought it was still OK to kill Victoria?

No wonder Big Media refuses to understand why most American voters oppose the horrors of partial-birth abortion, and why newspapers keep losing circulation.

Of course, many newspapers and other media have editorialized that they consider disabled 41-year-old Terri Schiavo deserving of death.