Know Your Enemy.

Lord, My every sense, member, faculty, affection, is a snare to me,
I can hardly open my eyes and when I do, I envy those above me, and despise those below me.
I covet the honor and riches of the mighty, and I am proud and unmerciful to the rags of others;
If I see beauty it is a bait to lust, or see deformity, it stirs up loathing and disdain;
How soon do slanders, vain jests, and cruel speeches creep into my heart!
Do I think of myself as beautiful and glorious? what fuel for pride!
Am I deformed? what an occasion for repining!
Am I gifted? I lust after applause!
Am I unlearned? how I despise what I have not!
Am I in authority? how often do I abuse the trust others give me, make will my law, exclude others' enjoyments, serve my own interests and policy!
Am I inferior? how much I grudge others' pre-eminence!
Am I rich? how exalted I become!
You know that all these are snares by my corruptions, and that my greatest snare is myself.
I deeply sorrowful that my apprehensions are dull, my thoughts mean, my affections stupid, my expressions low, my life unbecoming;
Yet what can you expect from dust but levity, of corruption but defilement?
Keep me ever mindful of my natural state, but let me not forget my heavenly title, or the grace that can deal with every sin.

South Atlanta Vernacular

For your enjoyment (HA!) I traveled back in time to some of my earlier work at LRU and decided to put it up here!

Question- is Romans 7:15-25 talking about someone who is saved.

Answer- (partial, my answer was pretty lengthy) The question is evident. Its not, if I sin, will God kill me? Will the sky collapse? Will I lose my salvation?
The question is WHEN I sin, what is my response to that sin. Because I WILL sin.

The new creations we are in Christ Jesus, and the atoning work He did for us, was incredible and unthinkable. I relate to Paul when he said, "What kind of love is this?" It should always make us run back to the Cross because of our weaknesses. Even more incredible, was that he LIVED perfect and sinless aswell. The righteousness of Christ is credited to me. I am not righteous, but because of the work of Christ on the Cross, with His perfect life. I am seen as spotless before the Father. I am adopted in, reconciled to God through Christ, and its all a gift of God. That is a glorious Gospel. This Text describes a saved person. Point me to the man who has kept the Law, I would expect to see Jesus. If its any other than Him, 1st John 1:10 makes it abundantly clear that His word is not in you. Again, thank God for imputed righteousness.

Question- something about Romans 12:1, I don't have the original Q. It is a Q about Dwight D. Pentecosts book on Spiritual Formation, I do know that much.

Answer- Everett Harrison (from The Expositor's Bible Commentary) asserts that "Therefore" establishes a connection with the entirety of Paul’s presentation, rather than just chapters 9-10. I only put that here to say that Paul is writing here in 12:1 in light of Gods case against humanity and His plan of redemption, 1-11 is the total picture. He goes on to speak of the mercy of God in 12:1 and says "... the heathen are prone to sacrifice in order to obtain mercy; biblical faith teaches that the divine mercy provides the basis for sacrifice as the fitting response." The response to God's mercy is a once and for all surrender, out of gratitude. Matthew Dietl pointed out a John Macarthur quote that got my attention. “A transformed mind produces a transformed will, by which we become eager and able, with the Spirit’s help, to lay aside our own plans and to trustingly accept God’s". I strongly believe that regeneration naturally produces self-denial. Dr. Macarthur rightly uses words like "eager" and "able". Pentecost also affirmed all of this, but I do believe that the importance of self-denial was not stressed enough. Although, throughout the book so far, he has made it plain, and being about spiritual disciplines, it’s not lacking in its presentation of self denial.

So let me begin to finally establish my thoughts. I totally agree with Pentecost's affirmation of these things. His "continual" reaffirmation of the one time action is where he is unclear. And again, I find myself agreeing with him, I just wish he were more specific. Is the continual reaffirmation the mortifying of sin, making your body your slave and carrying your cross daily? I wouldn't go so far as to say, Pentecost is suggesting sinless perfectionism. In his section about the new heart, he stressed the constant "warfare every moment of every day." (p.67) I do, however, hate the idea that within the once and for all sacrifice, was the death of my sin as well. In the total context, you could safely agree with Pentecost. Taking page 129-130 alone though could be a dangerous or, in the least, an unclear thing without the rest of what Pentecost has said thus far. Luke 9:23 is clear; we have to deny ourselves and live out this beautiful daily funeral.

Question - Carnal Christianity- True or false?

Answer - ( Part of a lengthy one yet again, this is the meat of my at times, sarcastic argument.)
Is the carnal Christian a real Christian? Can we be saved and be worldly minded? This idea of carnal Christianity raises many questions for me. Are there three groups of people? Apparently so. There is the spiritual Christian, the carnal Christian, and the man who is completely lost. Where is this distinction in the scriptures? No where. Sorry but Gal 5:24 (And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.) makes it plain. It raises this as well, are there 2 experiences in salvation? Where we initially "get saved" and then when we become a "spiritual Christian"? What if someone becomes a "super Spiritual Christian" or even more than that "an incredibly Spiritual Christian". I mean the spiritual Christian is no longer carnal is he? Evidently, unless a spiritual Christian can fall back into being a carnal Christian? Can he? If so, why make the distinction. Regardless of that, I suppose we should add all of these categories to the salvation experience. The Problem is, we don’t find this in the Scriptures anywhere. Actually the opposite, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 'Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new'. Do we see a 2nd experience there? No

Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
Rom 8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Is the distinction between the various states of the "spirituality" of the Christian? No. It is between the Christian and the non-Christian. There aren't any other categories. Why? because there aren’t any other categories that exist. Aside from all of this, where is repentance in the picture? Repentance and Faith? Where is this belief in historic Christianity? Nowhere. The "carnal Christian" doctrine is the effect of a low view of God, Salvation, Sin, the work of Christ, and a man centered view of evangelism.

The END! until Next time!

Where is the Kingdom of God manifested on earth?

Another installation of the Luther Rice responses. I didn't feel the need to go too deep this time. Just a basic answer with no strings attached I guess. With all the struggles I have had in dealing with the content I have been covering; It is just good to hear the Gospel preached rightly. I am so encouraged by the elders at my church and I thank God for them. With all that has been going on this past week, I have remained thoroughly busy. From work to school to bailing my sister our of jail. God has been merciful in letting me enjoy good fellowship this weekend with many brothers. A church where the Kingdom is manifested..... here goes.

_________________________________

A church in which God reigns? I think the main characteristic is the spirit filled preaching of the Word of God. In most cases, the assumption is that music for an hour or so depending on what kind of "church" your in, is the ”worship" time. When believers come together to worship, yes, we sing songs of praise to God, but that is by no means where worship ends. Meaningful worship takes upon many different facets, preaching, sacraments, ect, but I think it comes down to whether or not you know who God is. Greater than having your sins forgiven, which is a miracle, is knowing Christ. The people in the congregation of a church in which God reigns will outwardly show their faith in Christ in the form of personal evangelism amongst their own family, which is the main ministry of parents, and amongst strangers, friends, and co-workers alike. All people when it comes down to it. "But I don't have the gift of evangelism!", well neither do I honestly, but we must be faithful to this great commission, and put aside all of these great suggestions that we have received from the world. In season and out.

A church in which the kingdom of God is manifested is shown by the fruit of the Elders and the flock. Are people genuinely being converted by the Spirit? Is the preaching anointed of God? Are we absolutely saturated with the word of God and not just standing on top of it? Do we love Jesus? Do we plead with sinners to repent and trust the savior in our own personal lives? Is God in our church, or standing at the door knocking? Do we love the brethren? There is a laundry list of questions when it comes down to the qualifications of a church in which the kingdom of God is manifested. When I was looking for the church I am currently at, I asked brothers and sisters, and read a lot about what a true church looks like. I searched for a church where the kingdom of God is manifested if you will, and I was helped greatly by Mark Dever and his list of 9Marks.

1. Expositional Preaching
This is preaching which expounds what Scripture says in a particular passage, carefully explaining its meaning and applying it to the congregation. It is a commitment to hearing God’s Word and to recovering the centrality of it in our worship.

2. Biblical Theology
Paul charges Titus to "teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Our concern should be not only with how we are taught, but with what we are taught. Biblical theology is a commitment to know the God of the Bible as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

3. Biblical Understanding of the Good News
The gospel is the heart of Christianity. But the good news is not that God wants to meet people's felt needs or help them develop a healthier self-image. We have sinfully rebelled against our Creator and Judge. Yet He has graciously sent His Son to die the death we deserved for our sin, and He has credited Christ's acquittal to those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus' death and resurrection. That is the good news.

4. Biblical Understanding of Conversion
The spiritual change each person needs is so radical, so near the root of us, that only God can do it. We need God to convert us. Conversion need not be an emotionally heated experience, but it must evidence itself in godly fruit if it is to be what the Bible regards as a true conversion.

5. Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
How someone shares the gospel is closely related to how he understands the gospel. To present it as an additive that gives non-Christians something they naturally want (i.e. joy or peace) is to present a half-truth, which elicits false conversions. The whole truth is that our deepest need is spiritual life, and that new life only comes by repenting of our sins and believing in Jesus. We present the gospel openly, and leave the converting to God.

6. Biblical Understanding of Membership
Membership should reflect a living commitment to a local church in attendance, giving, prayer and service; otherwise it is meaningless, worthless, and even dangerous. We should not allow people to keep their membership in our churches for sentimental reasons or lack of attention. To be a member is knowingly to be traveling together as aliens and strangers in this world as we head to our heavenly home.

7. Biblical Church Discipline
Church discipline gives parameters to church membership. The idea seems negative to people today – “didn’t our Lord forbid judging?” But if we cannot say how a Christian should not live, how can we say how he or she should live? Each local church actually has a biblical responsibility to judge the life and teaching of its leaders, and even of its members, particularly insofar as either could compromise the church’s witness to the gospel.

8. Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth
A pervasive concern with church growth exists today – not simply with growing numbers, but with growing members. Though many Christians measure other things, the only certain observable sign of growth is a life of increasing holiness, rooted in Christian self-denial. These concepts are nearly extinct in the modern church. Recovering true discipleship for today would build the church and promote a clearer witness to the world.

9. Biblical Understanding of Leadership
What eighteenth-century Baptists and Presbyterians often agreed upon was that there should be a plurality of elders in each local church. This plurality of elders is not only biblical, but practical — it has the immense benefit of rounding out the pastor’s gifts to ensure the proper shepherding of God’s church.

This is what I believe a church where the Kingdom of God is manifested looks like.

Annotated Bibliography?

Long process of figuring out what an annotated bibliography was. I was waiting on a research paper to write to then produce a bibliography, I guess thats the annotated part? Well this is it, I just submitted it to my professor at Luther Rice, hopefully its to his satisfaction. I found out how to check my grades as well, and apparently even in my outright refutation of some of the material I have been receiving excellent marks. I really like Dr. Cocar even more. His Suggested reading list for the bibliography was excellent, which more and more leads me on to think that he didn't choose the text books for this course. Or maybe he did in hopes that we would disagree? Who knows. Anyhow.

EV 203-ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bennett, Arthur. The Valley of Vision. London: The Banner of Truth, 1975.

This small but indispensible book is a “go to” for me. It is a compilation of puritan prayers used mainly for devotional purposes. The puritans saw the importance of using the great doctrine on which they stood for prayer and that made these works, some of the most amazing I’ve come across. One would be hard pressed to find a better and more convicting book of, and on praying than this.

Packer, James I., Knowing God. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1973.

Widely considered the greatest of all the modern books on God, Knowing God has been a very influential book on my Christian walk. Packer was one of the first authors I read who unashamedly spoke of the doctrines of Grace. This quite robust book about knowing who God truly is, is packed full of scripture references and stories as he defines, defends and documents his points. A weighty and worthwhile read for all who want to know how God has been viewed in history, and according to scripture.

Piper, John. Future Grace. Portland, OR: Multnomah Books, 1995.

In this work, Piper gives the right prescription for an all out war on the flesh. This volume is by far the most influential on my life that he has written. Piper challenges readers to make war on sin, to kill sin as the great puritan John Owen once said. He does this by bringing out the superior pleasure of knowing Christ as the supreme and sovereign Lord of all. To defeat sin, we must become “Christian Hedonists” as he stated in his earlier work Desiring God, and only then do we treasure Christ over the things of this world. This weighty book will challenge all who endeavor to read it, to look to God for all satisfaction.

Stott, John R. W., The Cross of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1986.

This book is thought to be the greatest work of John Stott, and there is a reason for that. In this volume, he explains and magnifies the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to a level I’ve never seen. He explains the history of crucifixion, the cause of the crucifixion, the purpose of the crucifixion, and what all of that accomplished on behalf of the elect. The centrality of the cross as it should be in the Christians life is uplifted for all to see. He concludes this work with a section entitled “The Pervasive Influence of the Cross”. There he shows the cause for the believer’s sanctification in the worship of God for all He has done for us in the death of Christ. “We now worship God in continuous celebration, understand ourselves and give ourselves in the service of others, love our enemies, seeking to overcome evil with good, and face the perplexing problem of suffering in the light of the cross”. This book radically altered my walk after reading it.

Smith, Warren. “Oprah and Friends” to teach course on New Age Christ. November 2007.

Warren Smith brings out the importance of spiritual discernment in the believers life with this article. He exposes the lies of the new age movement and how it is creeping into mainstream Christianity through the likes of popular television personalities. The cause for concern is magnified when he brings out some of the quotes by these heretics and their total opposition to the cause and cross of Jesus Christ. This article has encouraged me to continue to be on the look-out for false teachers, even in the most unsuspected places.

Reisinger, Ernest C., The Carnal Christian: What Should We Think of the Carnal Christian. Banner of Truth, 1991.

Reisinger takes the doctrine of carnal Christianity to task with this little article. He examines the claims of those who reject Lordship salvation with scripture and we find they come up short. With scripture and logic, Reisinger plows head on into an argument and defense of a right view of regeneration. Confronting this cotton candy Christianity, he exposed the demand for God’s blessings and the hatred for God’s afflictions by those who love the savior but hate the Lord.

Keller, Timothy. The Gospel in All its Forms. Leadership Journal, Spring 2008.

“Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.” Keller shows the importance of knowing what the gospel is and rejects the idea that the Gospel is many things. He shows the Gospel can take on many forms but that it has not and will never change. “God fully accomplishes salvation for us,” says Keller, which is a magnificent point in light of new “emerging theology” and the idea that we must initiate the Kingdom of God here on earth ourselves. Keller challenges believers to open up their mouths and preach the gospel as the apostles did.

Ortberg, John. Ministry and FTT. Leadership Journal, June 2008.

Before reading this article, I didn’t know what FTT meant. As I read I was impressed upon by the points that Ortberg made, in reference to the word thrive. It’s not a word that is used often, but in the context of this article and within spiritual formation, I cannot think of a more fitting word for the topic. Ortberg shows the necessity of thriving in your Christian walk, although I disagree with some of his points about the purpose of life being to thrive instead of the Glorifying of God. That could be mixed up semantics though, as he didn’t stay on the topic for very long. I did find this a beneficial and enjoyable read, his assessment of FTT to the American church is largely spot on.

Stephen A. Faith.

New Years Resolutions. Yes, Plural.

I'm a huge fan of John Piper, I listen, read and learn from him daily. This morning I opened his website, DesiringGod.Org ( if you sleepin', wake up! ), and found these suggested resolutions for the new year. Amazing is the thought that in my regeneration I received new eyes, as well as a new heart. Psalm 19:1! all day, every day. Bless the Lord with amazement at his creation, it surely glorifies God when we are astonished in Him. How impressed by Him are you? I encourage you to read.

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

-Clyde Kilby.

In Christ we are no longer blind to these things.

-Alex

More Work Recently

More work here in the past week, had fun with most of it.


Another bit of work for the Tunnel Rats camp. Check it out, entire page design, fully functional and in place... all that good stuff.

Ive gotta get to bed, week has been long, great aunt died, ma's new work schedule.
Anyways, gotta hit the road at 8 am tomorrow and its already 1 am.

alex

More WORK!

Yes, its kinda crazy how 2007 has been a total drought of work when it comes too any kind of graphics work.... but! all of the sudden I'm flooded from every direction and I love it. Given when I have gotten work, as small as it may be, I've been incredibly lazy with it, for one reason or another, I was bummin' on some jobs for people. So this is a cool way to get back into it.

The dude who most of the work was for is JurnyBIG. Check it out, on the phone, we discussed a lot of future work, expansion of my work within his crew, the infamous Tunnel Rats, some under wraps things, but Jurny is back in the studio with peace, who has some ill beats for the man to spit on, don't check his myspace for heaters lol, the bangers are hiding out. Ive said too much already.

Alex.