Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Faith, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

Carson, Keller, and Piper: “The Gospel and Churchianity”

In every generation of  Christendom it seems that certain thinking Christians earn large platforms of influence among their peers. Some for good reasons – some for bad reasons. In my opinion D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and John Piper are three of those men. Three men who have good things to say.

For most evangelical Christian’s, these names are not new. Nor is what they have to say new. But, I think it is good to be reminded of how the Gospel changes us, often- in different ways.

In every culture and generation there is always the danger of distorting the core message of the Gospel with cultural slants. I think its important to be students who think through the implications of cultural influence, especially in “the American church culture.”

Listen to these three conversations…

Preaching the Gospel against “Churchianity”

The Gospel and Sanctification

The Gospel and Conquering Sin

Any thoughts?…

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Religion, Thoughts

Helping People Think Through “Suffering and Evil”

I was talking with a Bible teacher recently who brought up the difficulty of walking people through horrible instances of suffering. A few years ago I did some reading for a Seminary class on “Evil and Suffering”, and I found the following helpful.

When it comes to human suffering and evil there will always be questions. How should we, as Christians, respond to the questions that grow out of the deepest pains of human existence? Honestly, there are some questions, like “why”, that have no clear explanation- when it comes to the particulars.

For what its worth, here are some thoughts on suffering and evil, and some things to keep in mind when thinking through these issues.

Types of Evil

It is often helpful to identify the ‘type’ of evil that someone has experienced, or has questions about, when walking alongside them through dark times.

  • Natural Evil is that which does not involve human willing and acting, but is merely an aspect of nature that seems to work against human welfare.
  • Moral Evil is that which is the direct result of human volition.
  • Physical Evil is suffering caused by corruption in the body.

These “types”  will allow for a little more clarity when approaching a specific subject within the umbrella of “suffering and evil.”

Biblical Themes Concerning Suffering and Evil

When walking alongside someone who has experienced suffering and evil it is important to keep the following themes in mind.

1. The Theme of ‘Order in Creation’

God created the world in a purposeful and orderly way. One of the aspects of this particular world is that God’s creatures have the power of volition, which can be used to bring about good or evil. Within this particular good world, it must be stated that the possibility for evil and suffering became present at the fall. It must also be stated that God created this particular world with comprehensive foreknowledge of the actions each creature will could and would make.

2. The Element of Satan

Satan is first and foremost, a personal being. Beyond that Satan was once an angel who deceived himself into believing that he could oppose God successfully. Satan is seen as an adversary or accuser. Often Satan will tempt people in order that they do wrong; in doing so Satan attempts to builds his case of accusation.

In the NT Satan resists the children of God. Satan uses deceit in order to fulfill this function. Satan not only accuses people before God, but provokes humans against one another. On a personal level, Satan torments individuals with ‘self-accusation’ arising from sin.

It is important to remember that Satan may influence creation, but Satan cannot force people to sin. Satan tempts and influences people to do wrong, but human beings are held responsible for their own actions and sin.

3. The Element of Creaturely Rebellion

It was not God’s desire that man have the burden of the knowledge of good and evil. But, the first man and woman exercised their freedom and rebelled against what God desired for them. God must judge mankind for disobedience against His revealed will.

Furthermore, ‘The entrance of sin into the good creation affected not only the relationship of these beings to God, but also brought deleterious effects upon all of creation’.

4. The Element of Divine Justice and Discipline

God is holy and just, and will judge all sin. Evil is present in the world due to human rebellion which demands Divine punishment. Within the Bible we also find instances where evil occurs within the context of divine discipline. Evil is never ascribed to God, but occurs due to the lack of goodness in people.

This is often viewed as the ‘basic solution’ to all other themes of suffering and evil. In its most basic sense, ‘God must judge people for their sins’. As one author argues, this view ‘imposes suffering with the expectation that its punishment will lead to repentance or at least to a cessation of evil acts’.

Again he explains, this view ‘considers affliction as a visitation from God…God disciplines his people, collectively and individually, that they may be brought closer to him. The purpose of God’s discipline is often to teach a lesson, to train and to mature his children through suffering’.

5. The Element of Spiritual Maturity

In some instances evil and human suffering result in the maturity of a believer. It is not that evil and suffering are brought on persons in order to advance them, but rather, through these instances one grows in their faith as they trust in God, the one who creates and sustains. Times of intense suffering often cause the believer to cast all their pain upon God, which results in finding God’s grace as sufficient.

This view argues that through some instances of suffering, one gains entry into a fuller knowledge of God. This is obviously dependant on the attitude of the sufferer.

“Three major ideas are included in this approach, (1) since the world is evil and often in the control of wickedness, the godly must wait for the disposition of wickedness and righteousness which is sure to come. (2) In this probational period, the depth of a persons faith is submitted to a rigid test, the result of which reveals the true character of his or her faith. (3) In the New Testament, especially, this struggle is seen as inevitable for the Christian life, and hence is evidence in itself that one is a Christian.”

6. The Themes of Redemption and Eschatology

The term ‘redemptive’ can refer to many closely related theories. Some evil may be redemptive that it is suffered for others, or instead of others. Some evil may be redemptive for the sufferer in the sense that God sometimes brings about good, in spite of, and even through, suffering.

There are instances where God uses evil for His redemptive purposes. The ultimate conclusion of God’s redemptive purposes involves God’s final triumph over evil through the deliverance of the saints, the defeat of Satan and those who have rejected Christ, and the unveiling of the new heaven and earth in which God’s people enjoy Him forever.

Again, there will be complete victory over evil in the end times. This solution to suffering sees the answer to the problem of evil and suffering as existing beyond the present conflict.

7. The Element of Mystery

There do remain some things that we do not understand completely. Such as, the way God orders the worlds affairs. One author notes, “all of the solutions found in the Bible are legitimate approaches to the problem of evil. Each principle has a specific application, but none of them claims to be the total or final answer. There is always an element of mystery”.

Christ; Suffering and Evil: Our Only Hope

Ultimately, the Gospel of Jesus Christ- the good news- is the only comfort we can provide someone who has faced the horrible tragedies of life.

I think Tim Keller puts it well;

“The death of Jesus was qualitatively different from any other death. The physical pain was nothing compared to the spiritual experience of cosmic abandonment. Christianity alone among the worlds religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours. In His death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.

If we were to ask the question: “why does God allow evil and suffering to continue” and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. However, we now know what the answer isn’t. It cant be that He doesn’t love us. It cant be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.

So, if we embrace the Christian teaching that Jesus is God and that he went to the cross, then we have deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life on earth. We can know that God is truly Immanuel- God with us- even in our worst sufferings” (Tim Keller)

For further reading on the subject of ‘Evil and Suffering’ I recommend the following books;

1. D.A. Carson, How Long O Lord’: Reflections on Suffering and Evil, Baker Academic, 2006.

2. John Piper and Justin Taylor, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Crossway, 2006.

3. John S. Feinberg, The Many Faces of Evil: Theological Systems and the Problems of Evil, Crossway, 2004.

Works Used In Writing this Post

[1] Millard Erikson in ‘Christian Theology’ (1998).
[2] David P. Nelson’s chapter on ‘The Work of God’  in ‘A Theology for the Church’ (Edited by Daniel Akin, 2007).
[3] Bruce A. Little’s class notes on ‘The Problem of Evil’.
[4] The “themes” are a combination of ideas presented in three different books. John P. Newport’s ‘Life’s Ultimate Questions’ (1989); L. Russ Bush’s ‘Handbook for Christian Philosophy’ (1991), and David P. Nelson’s chapter on ‘The Work of God’  in ‘A Theology for the Church’ (Edited by Daniel Akin, 2007).
[5] The section quoted from Timothy Keller’s ‘The Reason for God’ (2008).

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Personal, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

Salvation among the Unevangelized? A Theological Reflection.

Andreas J. Köstenberger, a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary just published a blog post on the possibility of salvation among those who are unevangelised.

Drawing from Daniel Strange’s work, he puts these people in four different categories;

1.) Children who died in infancy and those mentally unable to respond to the gospel.
2.) Those who lived prior to the time of Christ and thus before the formulation known as “the gospel.”
3.) Those who have been presented with a less-than-adequate version of the gospel.
4.) Those who have not received a presentation of the gospel, such as because they lived in a geographically remote area.

Köstenberger does not deal with the first question, he argues that it “is not directly addressed in Scripture.” He continues, “regarding individuals in the other three categories, we may draw…conclusions from our study of the gospel in the Old Testament, the Gospels, the book of Acts, Paul, and the rest of the New Testament.”

1) The gospel is God’s saving message to a world living in darkness and a humanity lost in its sin. The gospel is not a human message, nor was its conception a function of human initiative, but its origin and its impetus derive solely from God.

(2) Acceptance of the gospel is not optional for salvation but rather required, owing to pervasive human sinfulness.

3) The gospel is not vaguely theological, as if it were amenable to various ways of salvation depending on a person’s belief in a particular kind of god, or depending on the degree to which people were able to hear the gospel presented in a clear way; it is decidedly and concretely Christological, that is, centered on the salvation provided through the vicarious cross-death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(4) The messianic motif pervading all of Scripture and centering in the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with the risen Jesus’ “Great Commission” for his followers to go and disciple the nations inextricably link an understanding of the gospel as the exclusive message of salvation in Jesus Christ with the Church’s mandate to engage in missionary outreach.

5) In light of the clear biblical passages examined above, and in light of the strong and pervasive trajectory of references to the gospel throughout Scripture, there seems no proper biblical foundation on which to argue for the salvation of anyone on a basis other than explicit faith in Jesus Christ.

Click here to read the whole thing!

Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Faith, Life, Media and Technology, Personal, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

The Freedom of Choice Act

The issue of abortion, and the issues surrounding abortion have been at the heart of many pro-life advocates for the past few months. I thought I would pass on this blog post from Justin Taylor,

“Consider signing the Fight FOCA [Freedom of Choice Act] Petition.

No matter your political persuasion or feeling on the role of politics, it’s a simple thing you can do to help fight against this legislation, which would:

eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

  • Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
  • Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
  • Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
  • Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter’s abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.”

For more background information on the Freedom of Choice Act, please see his post here.

To sign the petition, CLICK HERE

Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Faith, Life, Personal, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

God Has Lost Weight

I am not talking about physical weight,

In David Wells book “God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams”, he makes the following observation about modern society,

“It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life.

Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned him after having nudged him out to the periphery of our secularized life. . . . Weightlessness tells us nothing about God but everything about ourselves, about our condition, about our psychological disposition to exclude God from our reality.”

Something to chew on…

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Life, Personal, Religion, Thoughts

C.J. Mahaney on being ‘Busy’

This is an excellent post from C.J. Mahaney! He provides a sobering look at ‘being busy’. We live in a world where we have endless options, and what seems to be, millions of things to do. So take a few minutes, a break, and read this pastor’s heart…here is an excerpt;

“I forget now who first brought these points to my attention. But the realization that I could be simultaneously busy and lazy, that I could be a hectic sluggard, that my busyness was no immunity from laziness, became a life-altering and work-altering insight. What I learned is that:

  • Busyness does not mean I am diligent
  • Busyness does not mean I am faithful
  • Busyness does not mean I am fruitful

Recognizing the sin of procrastination, and broadening the definition to include busyness, has made a significant alteration in my life. The sluggard can be busy—busy neglecting the most important work, and busy knocking out a to-do list filled with tasks of secondary importance.”

To read the whole thing click here!

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Religion, Thoughts

Mark Dever on the ‘Marks of a Christian Leader’

Last night I traveled to the North Carolina Baptist State Convention to hear Mark Dever. Dr. Dever is the pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. A Duke graduate, Dr. Dever holds a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University. Dr. Dever is also the president of 9Marks Ministries.

Dr. Dever made some observations on Christian leadership out of the book of Jude.

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

Here is an outline of his message,

1. Christian leaders should not be self seeking, but self giving.

2. Christian leaders should not self confident to the point of arrogance, but humble.

3. Christian leaders should not be troublemakers, but peacemakers, actively seeking to build and not blame.

4. Christian leaders should not be anti-Christian (non-believing), but solid/sound in teaching from God’s word with a strong commitment to Christ and the Gospel.

5. Christian leaders should not be immoral but disciplined, and self-controlled.

These were good observations/meditations on Jude. But there was one statement that Dever made, one statement that stuck with me;

He said that “all pastors must live in the tension between 1 Timothy 3:1 and James 3:1“.

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

Church History Teasers (Part 4): Gregory’s ‘Pastoral Rule’

Brief Outline of ‘The Pastoral Rule’ by Gregory the Great

Purpose for Writing: To argue “what rashness it is for the unskillful to assume pastoral authority, since the government of souls is the art of arts!” (134).

Part 1: No Title Given
1. The unskillful should not venture in approaching the office of authority.
2. None should enter a place of government when not practicing in life what they have learnt by study.
3. On the weight of government; and that all manner of adversity is to be despised, and prosperity feared.
4. For the most part the occupation of government dissipates solidarity of mind.
5. Of those are able to profit others by virtuous example, but fly from it in pursuit of their own ease.
6. Those who fly from the burden of rule through humility are truly humble when they resist not the divine decrees.
7. While some laudably desire the office of preaching, others, just as laudably, are drawn to it by compulsion.
8. Of those who covet pre-eminence, and seize on the language of the Apostle to serve the purpose of their own greed.
9. That the mind of those who wish for pre-eminence for the most part flatter themselves with a feigned promise of good works.
10. What manner of man ought to come to rule!
11. What manner of man ought not to come to rule!

Part 2: ‘Of the Life of the Pastor’
1. How one who has, in due order, arrived at a place of rule ought to demean himself in it.
2. That the ruler should be pure in thought.
3. The ruler should always lead in action.
4. The ruler should be discreet in keeping silence and profitable in speech.
5. The ruler should be a near neighbor to everyone in compassion, and exalted above all in compassion.
6. The ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, but through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evildoers.
7. Rulers should not relax his care for the things that are within his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within.
8. The ruler should not set his heart on pleasing men, and yet ought give heed to what to phase them.
9. The ruler ought to be careful to understand how commonly vices pass themselves off as virtues.
10. The ruler’s discrimination should be balanced between correction and connivance, between fervor and gentleness.
11. How intent the ruler ought to be on mediations in the sacred law.

Gregory argues that “no one presumes to teach an art till he has first, with intent meditation, learnt it”. The Pastoral Rule is Gregory’s own estimate on the heaviness of pastoral care, with a contemplation of the expectations and implications of taking such an office. “For certainly no one does more harm in the Church than one who has the name and rank of sanctity, while he acts perversely”.

While Gregory’s Rule was composed in the 6th century, the overall principles considered reach across cultural constraints and still have much value for evangelical pastors today. The overall thread in Gregory’s argument seeks to prove humility as the key to unity in the church and effectiveness in the pastoral office. To accomplish this Gregory makes known how “vices assail us” and “how well-guarded virtues strengthen us”.

Gregory warns pastor’s of being ‘mastered’ by too many things. When occupied in many affairs the heart becomes distracted in “divers directions”. Gregory likens this condition to one on a journey who forgets where he is going. Yet the other extreme is considered with the same circumspect eye. There is equal danger in dwelling solely within the “contemplative life”. The pastor who ‘neglects his neighbor’ is equally misguided, “whoever abounds in virtues” and “refuses to feed the flock of God” is convicted. Gregory made much of the tension in the pastoral office, being both active in ministry to others and active in the personal contemplative life. The balanced fusion of public and private life illustrates the ideal pattern for spiritual devotion. This is a principle well heard in an age of perpetual distraction.

Gregory also attacks the vice of pride. He writes, “he that seeks, not the ministry of good works, but the glory of distinction, is himself a witness against himself”. The vice of pride is exposed in that “while he [the pastor] delights himself in his place of honor, he becomes the curse of ruin to his subordinates”. Therefore, “let everyone measure himself wisely” lest he reign unto condemnation. This word is useful today, seeing that the CEO/celebrity pastor model, which is often desired, lends to the bred pride in place.

Gregory calls for men aspiring the office of authority to “be pure, in action chief; discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech; a near neighbor to everyone in sympathy, exalted above all in contemplation; a familiar friend of good livers through humility, [and] unbending against the vices of evil-doers through zeal for righteousness”. While desiring to be an example, those desiring pastoral office ought to show these qualities in the very gravity of life. Knowing that actions speak louder than words Gregory argues that virtue is shown in walking “better through example than through words”. Yet, whoever “enters the priesthood undertakes the office of herald”, therefore he must also be wise with words. How much more pertinent is this today when secular culture and skeptical seekers wait and bait for pastoral failure? “Let rulers, then, maintain outwardly what they undertake for the benefit of others: let them retain inwardly what makes them fearful in their estimate of themselves”.

Lastly, Gregory warns that coveting “being loved by the church instead of” God may lead to smoothing “down with flatteries the offence of his subordinates which he ought to have rebuked”. The fear of His eternal judgment should outweigh any temporal human judgment that might come in offending ones brother. This truth rages against the self esteem protective sentimentalism of today’s church, and speaks to the need of the renewed place of church discipline. Gregory prescribes that one must “meditate daily on the precepts of Sacred Writ, that the words of Divine admonition may restore in him the power” of God to undertake the office of pastor. This rightly places the word of God at the center! While Gregory’s Pastoral Rule was written in the 6th century it is very relevant for the church of today.

Part 1: Tertullian’s Apology

Part 2: Athanasius ‘On the Incarnation’

Part 3: Saint Benedict ‘The Rule’

Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Faith, Life, Personal, Philosophy, Religion, Thoughts

President Obama, and a Proper Christian Response to his Election.

First off, it’s not the end of the world! It’s not the best of all possible outcomes (in my opinion), but all is not lost. This could be a wonderful opportunity for the Church to shine brighter than ever before.

The outcome of the 2008 election, to some Christians, will be a time of grief. President Obama’s stance on some moral issues are in direct opposition to the Christian worldview. With that said, we as Christian’s must not let the outcome of this election distract us from living in light of the Gospel.

“Remember that God is, and has always been Sovereign”

First, we need to be reminded of Paul’s words to the Romans, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

In this passage the Apostle Paul is speaking on the proper response to secular authorities. We must be reminded that President Obama has been placed in a ‘governing’ position over us. It is important to notice that Paul uses the word ‘submit’ here in reference to a proper posture to secular government. As Doug Moo puts it,

“To submit is to recognize one’s subordinate place in a hierarchy, to acknowledge as a general rule that certain people or institutions have ‘authority’ over us.” (Romans, 797)

The reason, these governing authorities have been ‘appointed’ by God. The Greek word here is literally ‘to order, to put someone over.’ Ultimately behind the affairs of this world is the hand of God. God’s sovereign providence is often a mysterious thing.

Thomas Oden rightly observes that anyone who reflects deeply on the issues of sovereignty and providence “stands at the confluence of many layers of mystery”.  The particulars of God’s providence within our world have only been partially revealed. The dynamics of these various layers are certainly complex. Udo Middelmann argues that “mystery refers to details not yet known, things which will be revealed later in order to complete what is now known in part.” One day we may be able look back and see how our current situation became a great catalyst for the Gospel. God is working, in spite of everything wrong in our world.

All this to say, ‘we can grieve and complain all we want’, this is a right emotion in light of the possible outcome of President Obama’s moral stances, but we cannot loose this opportunity to respond correctly as Christians.

This is an opportunity for us, as Christians, to live in such a way that America would take notice. Like the early church we should exhibit through our community life, through far from perfect”…that we are “sufficiently different and impressive to attract notice, to invite curiosity, and to inspire discipleship.”

We should make the “grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonishes” those around us so that they recognize us as something entirely different. (Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church)

“How Then Shall We live?”

1. We must still stand against abortion. But at the same time we must stand up for adoption. We need to let the world know that we, Christians, will raise the unwanted children. This is a radical response. The early Church was known for rescuing babies from death when they were left at doorsteps and in garbage dumps.

In the same way, we must support the efforts of our community organizations to provide care, counsel, and provision to pregnant women considering abortion so that they would choose life. We must also be involved in the process of caring for and restoring those who are dealing with the regret of past abortions.

2. We must outdo government programs that seek to provide for provision and necessities for the poor, oppressed, and outcast. We must walk beside the widows and orphans. It has been said many times that the Government had to step in because the Church was not doing it’s job.

Just as Dr. Martin Luther King once charged the church for not standing up for racial issues in the 60’s, “if today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will loose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning.” (Letter from Birmingham Jail)

I pray that we have not forever lost our voice! I pray that we do not step back in grief and become a community of escapists, and irrelevant social club. We need to impact our communities for the Gospel.

3. We must seek to use our finances in a way that wages war against the culture of greed, and the corruption and turmoil it brings. Greed is the reason our economy is unstable, its that simple. No top down financial plan will deliver America from the effects of greed.

The responsible actions of Christians who understand that money is gift from God will speak volumes to an America being drowned in greed.

4. We also must seek to uphold the family unit as designed by God. Some stats show that the divorce rate in the church is higher than the secular world. How can we have a voice on this issue if we are silent with our actions? Sure, we are not all perfect, and we have made mistakes, but we need to exhibit how the family unit should properly function in light of the Biblical pattern as an example to the world around us.

God provided a pattern of sacrificial love in the cross of Christ to show how marriage properly works. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”, and “Wives, submit to your husbands.”

The scope of this post cannot cover all the issues pertaining to this election. Nor do I fully understand the implications of every issue, nor have I greatly expounded on each of the issues above, but I feel that we need to respond out of love not anger.

5. Lastly,

1. Pray for our new President Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

2. Respect Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7).

3. Honor Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17).

“Things We Must Rejoice In”

1. The implications of electing an African American president are huge. The horrible reality of our countries past illustrates the injustice of racism. We have made huge strides in recognizing all men as equal.

I am encouraged that we have an African American president. While I would rather it be someone else, I can rejoice in the fact that racial wounds can begin to heal in ways they never have.

2. Finally, and most importantly we must rejoice in the fact that our hope, as the Church, is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing else. Our faith is not placed in politics, or the governing systems of this world.

Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. We are exiles in a strange land. But I pray that we are responsible citizens or in this world who recognize that our God is ultimately in control.

This is, more than anything else, a chance for the Church to shine the light of the Gospel in a dark secular America.

Note

Albert Mohler, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, C.J. Mahaney, Justin Taylor

Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Life, Personal, Religion, Thoughts

Prayers for Election Day

First, Dr. Albert Mohler published an election day prayer this morning on his blog and I wanted to share it with you below;

“First, we should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve.  Democratic systems inevitably reflect the electorate’s decisions, and these decisions reveal underlying worldviews.  And, truth be told, all we can expect from democracy is the government we deserve.  We must pray for a government and for leaders better than we deserve.  May God grant us mercy as he reigns and rules over all things, including this election.

Second, we should pray that Americans will be motivated to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship, yet also that we will be stripped of an unhealthy and idolatrous confidence in the power of government to save us.  God has given us the gift of rulers and governments in order to restrain evil, uphold righteousness, and provide for civil order.  No human ruler can save.  No government official or office holder can heal the human heart, solve the sin problem, or accomplish final justice.  These powers belong to God and God alone.

Third, we must pray that Americans will vote by conscience, not merely on the basis of celebrity or emotion.  Christian citizens must vote to uphold righteousness and contend for righteous and just laws.  But, at the same time, we must repent of moralism and the tacit assumption that better laws would produce better people.

Fourth, we must pray that Americans will vote to defend the least among us — and especially those who have no vote.  This starts, but does not end, with concern for the unborn and for the recovery of respect for the dignity and sanctity of every single human life at every stage of development, from conception until natural death.

Fifth, we should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization.  So much ground appears to have been lost on these issues.  We need to pray that much ground can be regained.

Sixth, we should pray that God will protect these candidates and their families.  They have been through an arduous ordeal and now face the deadline of the vote.  They are physically exhausted and now face the judgment of the people.  They are public figures, but they are also flesh and blood human beings, who are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters.  Their families have withstood much.  We should pray for their marriages and their children.  May God protect them.

Seventh, we should pray that the election is conducted with honor, civility, respect, and justice.  We must pray that we do not face another round of litigation after an election.  This brings democracy into disrepute.  May there be a clear winner, not a contested result.

Eighth, we must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness.  This will be no time for rancor, condemnations, and conspiracy theories.  Instead, we must pray that God will settle the hearts of the people.  May Christians be ready to respond with prayer, respect for office, and a gentle spirit.  Others will be watching.

Ninth, we should pray that this election would lead to even greater opportunities to preach the Gospel, and that the freedom of the church will be respected, honored, and protected.

Tenth, we must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry.  May the church, the sign of the coming kingdom, be faithful to declare the Gospel — knowing that this is the only message that will save.”

John Piper also published a prayer on Desiring God’s web page;

Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Tuesday, I pray

1) that your people will vote,

2) and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to one group or person too easily;

3) that we would know and live the meaning of

  1. being in the world, but not of it,
  2. doing politics as though not doing them,
  3. being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God,
  4. rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s;

4) that we would discern what truths and values should advance by being made law and which should advance only by the leavening of honest influence;

5) that your people would see what love and justice and far-seeing wisdom demand in regard to the issues of education, business and industry, health care, marriage and family, abortion, welfare, energy, government and taxes, military, terrorism, international relations, and every challenge that we will face in the years to come;

6) and above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of his sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after America is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with his people from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

This is a historic election in many aspects, just as every election is. But this election has the potential to either open or heal wounds that remind us of our sinful nature and our shameful past.

America is divided. Our hearts are divided. But as Christians we cannot place our ultimate hope in the next president. No man is upright or pure. Our world has felt the disastrous effects of sin and its implications. In the end we must realize that Christ is our only hope, in this life and the life to come.

We as Christians must be responsible citizens and vote. Vote realizing that whatever happens today does not change our mission to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us might be upset about the outcome, and that is expected. Let me remind you of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Roman Christians;

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

The world is watching. How we as Christians respond to this election will have a massive impact on our influence in american society. Live, talk, and act with wisdom.