Sanam Doctrinam

As our main teaching Pastor has been taking us through the qualification of being an Elder in Sunday morning worship, I have been evaluating my own life as an Elder and as a Christian. One of the things that I have noticed is how much time I waste. I even did it this morning, fidgeting with computer stuff, not getting down to what it was I actually needed to be doing, which was studying and praying. I always begin with the thought that what I need to fix will only take a few minutes and then in frustration, an hour passes.

It is because of this realization of time wasted, that I have begun to think of where I need to make adjustments. I definitely spend to much time tinkering with computers (read: this blog, understand, not posting, but tinkering with the actual structure of the thing.) Solution, stop being a perfectionist! I spend too much time vegging in front of the tube. Solution, turn it off and read with my wife.

I have been thinking a lot about the puritans and how they lived life. Certainly they had distractions, but they lived fully for God. Puritan pastors would go and catechize families in their church every day of the week besides preaching to each other (that is pastors preaching to pastors) almost every day, plus their own families, plus sermons on Sundays. What am I doing with my time!?

I am not big on “New Year’s Resolutions”, but if I have one, it is to spend my time more in pursuit of holiness, and less on empty things!

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.
Proverbs 12:25

I don’t have empirical data to support my assertion, but it surely seems to me that anxiety is a common affliction in our society.

I don’t really understand the prevalence of anxiety. It may have something to do with our fast-paced society. Things happen so quickly, it seems, we can be swept away by an uncontrollable fear of what’s going to happen to us next.

I can’t say why anxiety is such a reality in our day. All I can say is that it seems, at least in my world, that anxiety has gripped the hearts of many people. And to be honest, it has gripped mine.

I find myself in a constant battle to keep anxiety at bay. I live on edge, it seems, just waiting for something to push me off.

Solomon could hardly have used a more apt description of the effect of anxiety in a person’s heart when he said that it weighs a person down.

If you struggle with anxiety, you know this well. You feel, perhaps, as if you are carrying a burden. Just as if you were carrying a pack full of bricks, you feel drained, burdened, exhausted, unable to go on.

If you struggle with anxiety, like me, there is hope to be found in Proverbs 12:25.

The ancient king of Israel tells us that this hope is found in something very simple—good words. I’d like to dwell on this thought briefly, and perhaps provide two applications of this proverb.

The first application of this proverb, as I see it, comes in the form of a mandate for us to be people of good words. I can testify that in those moments in my life in which my heart has been heaviest have been precisely when I needed good words. I have had people say something uplifting to me in those moments of anxiety, and found that I am helped, genuinely helped, by them. Normally, these are not words of personal affirmation, but rather reminders. I’m reminded of the bigger picture. I’m reminded that there is a God who is faithfully engaged in my experience. I’m reminded of His purposes for me. People who remind me of these things in the midst of my anxiety truly offer me a “good word.” My burden is lightened.

The application for us, then, is to be people of good words. We need to hone our sensitivity to recognize anxiety in the heart of another, and then to offer good words. Clearly, the best words we can offer are of God and His eternal purposes. We do not need to quote a chapter of Scripture, but perhaps a few timely words about our Savior would lift an anxious person from the pit of anxiety.

A second application is this: Focus on God’s good words. It’s possible that in the midst of our anxiety, we can find no human comforter who carries good words. While this may be the case, we always have God’s good Word on which to rely. Our Lord has spoken of Himself and His purposes for us in His Word. By means of it, He raises us above the dark realities of life in an anxious world, and points us to who He is and what He is doing. In the words of Romans 8:29, our Lord has predestined each of us who know His Son to be conformed to His Son’s likeness. This process is present even in the midst of life’s anxieties.

Life is full of anxieties. It takes little, it seems, for these anxieties to collect at the bottom of our hearts and weigh heavily upon us. Good words are a remedy. Be ready with good words for those burdened by anxiety. Focus on God’s good Word for yourself.

Around the same time Jeff wrote his post on origins I was handed an article from one of our elders regarding Bruno Maddox of Discover Magazine’s trip to the Creation Museum. I thought it would be interesting to synthesize the two, the Christianity Today article looking from a “Theistic Evolution” and the Discover looking from the Atheistic/ Darwinist (If you want to read the discover article you’ll have to wait until they release the online version of Feb. 07, I’ve read the hard copy).

One of the points Jeff made in his article is that the claim of evidence is a ludicrous one, that is hard to be substantiated by either the Creationist, Theistic, or Darwinist view. The simple fact of the matter is no one was there. I do know what I believe and I am ready to divulge it at any time (sorry to be so dogmatic Jeff) and probably will do so in the course of this post(s). At best the “scientific” conclusions of any group are idiomatic and ultimately inconclusive. All are forced to abandon science at some point and simply believe based on something. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are wondering about why there is a new look to the blog, it is because we were already having issues with the old theme in the previous version of Wordpress, but once we upgraded to 2.1 it really got buggy. The new theme works very well and is similar in layout to the old one. And as a bonus, the ESV popup feature actually works in IE7!

Sorry to get all techy on you, but I thought some would like to know.

Ours might be called the era of falsehood and deception. It seems our society is as far removed as possible from the notion that "a person’s word is his bond." Seldom, if ever, do we take a statement at face value. Because of the rarity of people doing what they say, we require a contract for even the smallest transactions. We must add our signature to a sales slip to buy chewing gum with a credit card.

Why all these contracts and binding agreements? Our lives are filled with such measures because people are, by and large, not honest.

Solomon’s words in Proverbs 12:19 are a refreshing alternative to the falsehood with which we’re so often confronted. They are words of truth—God’s unalterable truth—that are fully trustworthy.

Notice what Solomon says. His first statement is an affirmation of the endurance of truthful lips. He uses lips as a figure of speech for what proceeds from the lips, namely, our words. He says that words that are characterized by truth last.

Why is this? One commentator sums it up well: "Truth, supported by facts, and having the approval of men and God, is permanent." And so it is. A person who speaks according to reality, not perverting the facts for his own ends, will find that what he says is established and lasts. People will learn that they can trust such a person. And if a person is trustworthy in some things, people will begin to recognize that she can be trusted in all things.

In contrast to the person whose lips speak truth, Solomon speaks of the one whose tongue lasts only for a moment. Again, Solomon uses a symbol to refer to the speech that comes by means of the tongue. The lying tongue doesn’t endure. We can almost see Solomon shaking his head as he considers the transitory tongue of a liar. This person’s words don’t last. Why does Solomon say this? Can’t a person maintain a facade for years? Surely this can happen. Solomon, however, puts his finger on the fact that as soon as the truth comes out, the lying tongue is no longer trusted. The web of falsehood quickly disintegrates in the flame of truth.

What does all this mean for you and me?

It may be that many of us would never tell a bald-faced lie, when put on the witness stand, or when questioned directly. Perhaps, however, falsehood has seeped into our lives far more insidiously. Let’s go to meddling, as is sometimes heard in church . . .

When you say, "I will call," do you? When you say, "I’ll be there," do you mean it? When you say, "I’ll do it," is it as good as done?

This may be painful for some of us to consider, or perhaps we pass such questions with a quick brush-off, thinking our off the cuff remarks don’t make any difference. Indeed, in our world, we’re inclined to expect such promises will not be kept. The reality, however, is that truthful speech begins in the little things. Jesus said, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much" (Luke 16:10).

Of all the people in the world, the Christian must be known as a person of truth. If the world’s people cannot trust a Christian’s word in the small things, how will they trust a Christian in matters of eternity?

As followers of the One who said He was the Truth, let’s make all our words trustworthy in honor of Him.