Temptation To Push Law!

"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."

So when they were sent off, they went down to, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter." (Acts 15:28-30, ESV)

An online friend posted an interesting link about dating (Click Here to Read). The article is very interesting. It is almost the same argument that I have encountered with the book titled, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I don’t agree with 50% of the premises of the article or the book. It would take hours for me to refute every pros and cons of this article, but I would like to make two points.

The first point I would like to make is that we as created creature have a natural tendency toward law, not gospel. We should be very careful that we do not become like the Jews of the early church who insisted that the early Christian males be circumcised and bound themselves to the laws of Moses. The Jews of the early church didn’t approve of the way the gentle believers were living, so they resorted to pushing law to modify their behavior. Paul, on the other hand, pushed gospel instead of law. The Gospel is unnatural to fallen humanity. I think we Christian tend to lean toward law over gospel just as the early Jews did. Let me suggest that when you see a non-believer or a believer living the way you think they shouldn’t refrain from preaching law. Instead, proclaimed the gospel with even more passion.

I am not saying that sexuality of the early Christian church was not an issue. In fact, the early works of the apostles show that they didn’t burden the gentles with lot of Old Testament Laws (Acts 15:28-30), but the apostles did command the gentle believers (who have been in bondage to paganism) to “abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality” (emphasizes mine). And they added if they keep themselves from these they “will do well.” I don’t think all sexual issues of our culture will be solved by applying this text but it does gives and understanding how the apostle dealt with growing Christian culture that came from a very pagan culture.

The second point I would like to make is that we need to be very careful on how we apply Old Testament scripture to our modern day American culture. One can go nuts trying to decode the scriptures to determine how it should be applied to us today. Dispensationalist tends to ignore Old Testament in the Christian life almost all-together. On the other extreme, the Reconstructionist demands that every Old Testament law to be binding on every citizen of our civil government. Both extremes are, I believe, false!

We all have short comings in our sexual behavior no matter how much we push law over gospel. The solution to the ills of our culture is not to demand that our culture (or Christian brothers and sister) stop sinning. The solution is to embrace the Christ that lived His life on our behalf. By faith His righteous will be transferred to our account. We then as true believers would live more moral live out of a sense of gratitude instead of moralism.

Let me also add that this post may be an unclear because I am trying to post my thoughts on an issue with the commitment of using only an average of 500 words. I do welcome your comments.

Timotheus
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Covenant Theology 101

"And he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away." (Genesis 15:7-11, ESV)

God of Promise - Introducing Covenant Theology by Michael Horton is another book that you will never find in a Christian Bookstore. As some of the readers of After Skubalon, Light blog will know that many years ago I worked in a “Christian” Bookstore, and I have mix feelings about the experience.

Many things have change in the “Christian” market place since working at the bookstore 15 to 20 years ago. The inventory on the shelves of the bookstore then was shallow but today it is a hundred times worst! Of course this is before mega churches and the Promise Driven Life. Fifteen to 20 years ago you may have seen a book like God of Promise sitting on our shelves, not selling. Today most of the more shallow Christian readers buy their books at Wal-Mart, and the deeper thinking Christian readers will buy books like God of Promise on the Internet.

About a year ago I decided that I was going to read the whole Bible. I been studying the Bible for years in part but never read the whole Bible. I read it once in the New International Version (which is the most popular version in the United States) and then I read it again in the English Standard Version (which is the newest of the “essentially literal” translations). What stood out the most as I was reading the Bible was that I was able to see the whole of scripture as systematic. I was able to detect the overall structure of “law and gospel” and the concept of covenantal relationships with God and His people. Being a reader of “Reformed” Theology gave me the background needed to read the scripture through the lenses of covenant.

The more I see the theology of scripture as systematic the more I am firmly convinced that it is God’s word! Covenant Theology seems to be best theology that systematically fit the whole of scripture. Dispensationalism sees the Bible not as one systematic message but a message divided up into different economies. I think Dispensational Theology is not systematic like Covenant Theology. And the most important thing we can learn from Covenant Theology is that we Christian are NOT “purpose driven” but “promise driven.”

Mike Horton has written a rigorous introduction to Covenant Theology. I am fascinated on how the ancient middle-eastern treaties shed light on the covenantal arrangement between God and his people of the Old Testament and how Christ became the fulfillment of those promises. Mike Horton excellent book is a great read on how these ancient treaties can help us get a better understanding how God related to His people then, now, and future promises. By stating that his book is rigorous is NOT a criticism but in fact praise to him. Because of this I may have to read it again.

Timotheus
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FilmChat: Scott Derrickson to direct Paradise Lost!

I am looking forward to seeing more movies by Scott Derrickson. The link below is of a blog by film critic Peter T. Chattaway, which he reports that Derrickson will be directing the film adaptation of Paradise Lost.

FilmChat: Scott Derrickson to direct Paradise Lost!

B T W - My advice to Derrickson comes from a line from the movie The Fugitive which I will paraphrase (in italics) just in case there are Baptist reading the blog:

"And don't let them give you any skubalon about your pony tail." - Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), The Fugitive (1993)

Your Reformed Brother,

Timotheus
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Jesus as Happy Husband?

“but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

“I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Romans 10:2, ESV)

"Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:12-14, ESV)

Since I am Reformed Christian many of my non-believing friends often associates me with the current American Christianity culture. I do make it plain to them that Reformed Christians reject most of what they see in modern Christianity and I stress that we find it as distastefully as much as they do (maybe more so). They see the lunacies that are being portrayed by mega church movement, religion television, and other religious fads. They see that modern American Christianity is focus on the Christian not Christ. This is bad because the good news is not in the Christian but in the Christ of the good news.

The problem with self-center approach to Christianity is that we have a church culture that is no way prepared for the attacks of Gnosticism like the Da Vinchi Code. How can the 40 days of purpose Christianity (which is about the Christian and not about Christ) possibly be able to defend the faith against a book (or a movie) like the Da Vinchi Code? Most of the members of these churches can’t articulate the very basic doctrinal understanding of the faith. A survey of professing Christians shows that most can’t give correct answers to basic doctrinal questions like: Are human beings basically good? What does justification mean? What is imputation? What is the concept of propitiation?

Why? I think it is mostly laziness. It is so much easier to tell our non-believing friends on how Jesus makes us feel all goose-bumping inside. Giving a solid “defense” of “the hope that is in” us require work to be educated in doctrine and apologetics. I think that most of the professing Christian in modern American churches has NO interest in a deeper understanding of the things of God (or the Bible). In fact many in the survey were annoyed with the doctrinal questions!

And along comes Dan Brown! He writes a novel called the Da Vinchi Code. In that novel Dan Brown makes outrageous historical claims. He stated very clearly that the historical claims in his novel are based on historical facts. Some of his claims in the novel are that: Jesus never really died on the cross, Jesus had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene and later they had children, Constantine alone decided what books are to be included in the canon of scripture, and what books were to be excluded. All of these claim (and other that he makes) should be EASY for Christians refute if they know their apologetics. But most “Christians” can’t even explain core doctrines how can they be expected to give a sound apologetic?

I am afraid that many members of our churches have “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” This is very sad. We should be the best source of information about true Christ in history and of the Bible. The way it is now if the non-believer goes to Dan Brown they will get false information about Christ. If they go to a Purpose Driven Church they will get information of the Christian. The challenge I put forward to all professing Christians is if a non-believer brings up a conversation about claims of Da Vinchi Code will you be able to give that person a good objective defense of the truth claims of Christianity? We need to be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”

Timotheus

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Faith and Thought: The Gospel of Judas

Another blog I was reading that helps to explain Gnosticism (think DaVinci Code).

Tim

Faith and Thought: The Gospel of Judas

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Son Of A Beast!

May 20th will be a big day for me. I will be heading to Kings Island to ride one of the most awesome wooden roller coasters in the United State. The Son of a Beast! This roller coaster highest height is 218’ with a drop of 214’ on a track of 7032’ up to speeds of 78.4 mph. AWSOME!

A Survival Kit for the Graveyard Shift

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:12-14 ESV)

This week will be the start of a new week and the start of a new monthly work schedule. It is my turn to be on the graveyard shift starting Thursday evening. I will be working Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10pm to 8am in the morning. It a shift that I dread, but it is my turn!

I work for a telecommunication company that has 24 hour staffing. The company provides dial-up services and Internet phones on broadband Internet for residential customers. CLEC phone services, web hosting, web management, web authoring, and data delivery services on high capacity fiber optic lines for our commercial customers. From Midnight to 8am I will be alone in the building to monitor the phones in case granny calls in because she can’t send her email at 3am and to monitor our network to ensure that our commercial clients doesn’t have any outages during the night.

For the most part, the hours from Midnight to 8am are slow. We do have a few customers that will call in for support during the night, but not many. The real challenge for me is to stay awake! To help me stay awake I put together the Graveyard Shift Survival Kit. The kit includes food in case I get hungry during the night. Bringing food is a good idea if you are a diabetic and will be locked in a building for 10 hours. The other things in the Graveyard Shift Survival Kit are pet projects to work on like this blog. I am hoping that I will be able to write down some of my thoughts as it relates to Reformed Theology and to make improvements to the page while I am working.

I also ordered Mike Horton’s new book on Covenant Theology (God of Promise) to read during the night, but reading during the night can sometimes cause me to get sleepier. The most important item in the Graveyard Shift Survival Kit would be my ESV Reformation Study Bible. I do try to get in some Bible reading done while I am on this shift. I often read it while listening to MP3 audio version of it on my work computer. If I get tired I will try to keep a wake by listen to the White Horse Inn and Renewing Your Mind on the Internet. If I get too tired I have Stay Awake pills from Wal-Mart, LOL.

To make my Graveyard Shift Survival Kit complete there are my Christian friends on Sovereign Grace Singles. Many of my friends on this site have keep me company while I am working this shift by writing email, responding to my blogs, and chatting with me in the chat room. Some of them even called me on my personal Internet phone that is on my desk here at work (or I called them because free for me to call). I am very grateful for all of them that have keep me company during this difficult shift. If anyone would like to chat with me on the phone can with the understanding I may have to cut it short if I get a phone call and/or if the skubalon hits the fan as it relates to the network.

I thank all of you my Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Timotheus

So, Why Did It Flop?

“It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’” (2 Samuel 11:2-5 ESV)

Reuters reported that Paul Verhoeven, director of the first Basic Instinct movie blames the “people at the top” (Bush administration) for the box office failures of erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct 2 in the United States. He also stated that administrations like Bush Administration are “constantly hammering out Christian values,” and also stated that “Christianity and sex have never been good friends.” Therefore, Christian values (read the Christian right, which I am NOT!) caused the movie Basic Instinct 2 to fail at the box office last week.

One of the biggest problems with liberal filmmakers in Hollywood is their arrogant. They think that we the movie viewing public is obligated to spend our money on their bad movies. I will grant that most of the moralistic, therapeutic, deism of so-called Christianity in American most likely will not be watching Basic Instinct 2 (or the hypocrites will most likely wait to rent it out on video where they can’t be seen at the theater). What Hollywood is missing the most with all their passion on "politics-correctness" and their mocking of the “religion” community is that in order to get people to see your movie you must number one tell a good story!

It is not the sex, the nudity, or the violence that is keeping people away from movies like Basic Instinct 2. It is the fact that this movie is just bad. I will guarantee you if this movie was an action, comedy, drama, or romantic movie that was telling a bad story (or a good story not executed well) it would fail at the box office. Many sexual thrillers like Fatal Attraction have been very successful at the box office because they have a very compelling story tell.

This film was very disappointing from a director like Michael Caton-Jones, who is much better than what he has demonstrated with this movie. The problem with this movie is that the thriller aspect of the story was not working with the audience and the drama was not compelling. The intended tension of the story was not executed very well and it would have been much better it was.

What should have been the really big pay-off of this thriller was the ending. It was the ending where the tension was the biggest disappointment. Why? Because the failed execution of the ending failed to deliver the big ending we have been waiting for two hours. I just can’t believe that Catherine Tramell’s (Sharon Stone) sexual manipulation was strong enough to drive Michael Glass (David Morrissey) that insane. Maybe if she was younger, who knows? One good point about the movie is that I do believe that David Morrissey performance was the strongest member of the cast but not enough to save it.

As a Reformed Christian I will tell you that I have no hesitation to recommend a sexual thriller if the story is good and the movie is well made. This does not mean that I endorse sexual sins. As fallen creatures it all goes back to why we humans commit sexual sins? Is it because “I am what I am because I do what I do OR I do what I do because I am what I am?” If sexual thriller honestly explores that issue, and it is well made, it is a worthy film to see.

Timotheus

Welcome to After Skubalon Light new home

Hello Bloggers,

This is new home of After Skubalon Light blog. I haven't published any new entries recently but I have been working on making improvements to the blog. I have learned a little more about html. Now if I can only get the live feed to work at my site, UGH!!

Timotheus

I Am What I Am!

What would you affirm, "I am what I am because I do what I do or I do what I do because I am what I am?"

How you answer this question will determine if you have a clear Christian worldview or you have a pagan worldview.

Timotheus

Consider this scripture text!

Faith and Thought: The English Standard Version

Faith and Thought: The English Standard Version

This a great blog entry of comparing the English Standard Version of the Bible with the New American Standard Bible.

Timotheus