Archives For Faith

Blogging the Psalms: Rejoicing in Foreknowledge

Aaron Armstrong —  June 10, 2010 — 1 Comment

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. . . .

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. . . .

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-16, 23-24

I love Psalm 139. As David moves through the psalm, we see him confronted with a keen awareness of God’s sovereignty—that God fully knows David. He knows every deed.

And he knows every thought.

“Even before a word is on my tongue . . . you know it altogether,” he writes. Every thought. Every word. Every action.

Every ugly sin that David would try to hide from anyone else, God knows it.

How does he react? Guilt? Shame?

Awe. Continue Reading…

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Book Review: Journey to Truth by George F. Garlick

Aaron Armstrong —  June 1, 2010

journeytruth_500

Title: Journey to Truth: How Scientific Discovery Provides Insights into Spiritual Truths
Author: George F. Garlick, Ph.D
Publisher: VMI Publishers (2009)

For years there’s been much hoopla over the apparent conflict between science and Biblical truth.

One extreme says that science is absolute, that all we can know is what we can see and measure empirically. Miracles aren’t possible. We are, essentially, cosmic accidents. The other extreme completely ignores the reality that science has anything to legitimately offer in terms of understanding how the world and humanity were created and designed to function.

However, neither position is intellectually honest. Neither leads to a complete understanding of truth. But is there really as great a divide as some make it seem?

In The Journey to Truth, author George Garlick seeks to show how science offers insight into Biblical truth. Garlick, a physicist who pioneered holographic ultrasound technology, blends science, theology and a dash of biography in this short book. To be honest, I found the results to be somewhat mixed.

A Compassionate Man

His personal stories provided a great deal of insight into his character, which I greatly appreciated. The last chapter—where he speaks of being compelled to stop and pick up two young men on the Interstate and trying to restore the vitality of his hometown—reveals a man who is deeply compassionate and wants to use the gifts he’s been given for the good of others and the glory of God.

The Curse of Knowledge

It’s very obvious reading this book that Garlick is a scientist. He provides in-depth descriptions of various scientific theories related to the creation of the universe, time/space and more. And he describes them in such a way that makes it clear that he obviously knows what he’s talking about.

Which is good, because I don’t. This is what is known as “the curse of knowledge.”[1] Those with knowledge describe what they’re talking about in such a way that either

  1. only those who share this knowledge will understand; or
  2. the illustration becomes bogged in over-communication as the writer seeks to bring the reader up to the same level of knowledge

More often than not, I found myself scratching my head and wondering if there might be another way of communicating this same point. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a big science-guy. I did well in it in school, but it was never my passion.

I’m guessing that someone who really loves quantum mechanics and quirks & quarks would completely understand what Garlick is talking about in roughly half the book, but I was left a bit in the dark. This, unfortunately, made for some hard slogging in the middle chapters of The Journey to Truth.

Truth & the God of the Bible

So how does scientific discovery point us to Biblical truth? Throughout the book, Garlick provides some intriguing insights that point to the truth that this universe didn’t accidentally happen. Scientific discovery, when honestly looked at, reveals to us what God has plainly made known. We know that He is a God of order, given how intricately detailed our bodies and this world are. We know that He is infinitely powerful because only a being of infinite power could cause everything to come from nothing.

What Garlick is describing is the truth of Romans 1:18-20:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

On page 40, Garlick illustrates this in a very interesting way. Imagine a mountain where one side is perfectly smooth and the other is jagged. The smooth side is what the Bible reveals. The other is science. Both, Garlick says, eventually come to the same conclusion. Eventually scientists will reach the top of the mountain of truth and find a bunch of theologians already waiting there.

As glad as I am that he makes this point, there’s so much more that can be said because this is really only dealing with general revelation, rather than special revelation.

If the mountain is God’s general revelation (natural theology as some describe it), then this is a very apt metaphor. However, it can only really tell us that there is a God who created the world and everything in it, but it can’t tell us all that much about Him.

Science can tell us a great deal about the “how” of God’s creative act, but not the “why.”

But it doesn’t speak to our condition as sinners. And it doesn’t speak to our need of a Savior.

These are things that there are no scientific categories for.

The Journey to Truth provides some helpful insights, but ultimately it left me feeling a bit cold. While some, particularly those who really enjoy science, will undoubtedly enjoy it, it’s not a book that resonated well with me.

[1] This concept is described in-depth in Chip & Dan Heath’s excellent book, Made to Stick

A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review by Bring it On Communications

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Who Influences You?

Aaron Armstrong —  May 28, 2010 — Leave a comment

Matt Chandler shares some of the story of his conversion and discusses some of the men who have shaped him:

There are certain people who have been a powerful influence on us, particularly in how we live out our faith.

I’ve spoken of some of them here before. My friends Adam & John have been major influences, particularly as we’ve been wrestling with theology together. Chris, a godly man who took me and a few other guys under his wing at a moment in my life when I desperately needed guidance and counsel. My Friday morning men’s group is increasingly becoming influential in my life as we try to work out .  

But what about you?

Who influences you?

Who has been an influence in the past and who continues to be to this day?

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Faith Produces a Far-Seeing Obedience

Aaron Armstrong —  May 1, 2010 — Leave a comment

How great a company would obey God if they were paid for it on the spot! They have “respect unto the recompense of the reward;” but they must have it in the palm of their hand.

With them—”A bird in hand is better far, than two which in the bushes are.” They are told that there is heaven to be had, and they answer that, if heaven were to be had here, as an immediate freehold, they might look after it, but they cannot afford to wait. To inherit a country after this life is over is too like a fairy tale for their practical minds.

Many there are who enquire, “Will religion pay? Is there anything to be made out of it? Shall I have to shut up my shop on Sundays? Must I alter my mode of dealing, and curtail my profits?” When they have totalled up the cost, and have taken all things into consideration, they come to the conclusion that obedience to God is a luxury which they can dispense with, at least until near the end of life.

Those who practice the obedience of faith look for the reward hereafter, and set the greatest store by it. To their faith alone the profit is exceeding great.

To take up the cross will be to carry a burden, but it will also be to find rest. They know the words, “No cross, no crown;” and they recognise the truth that, if there is no obedience here, there will be no reward hereafter. This needs a faith that has eyes which can see afar off, across the black torrent of death, and within the veil which parts us from the unseen.

A man will not obey God unless he has learned to endure “as seeing him who is invisible.”

Yet, remember that the obedience which comes of true faith is often bound to be altogether unreasoning and implicit; for it is written, “He went out, not knowing whither he went.” God bade Abraham journey, and he moved his camp at once. Into the unknown land he made his way; through fertile regions, or across a wilderness; among friends or through the midst of foes, he pursued his journey. He did not know where his way would take him, but he knew that the Lord had bidden him go.

Even bad men will obey God when they think fit; but good men will obey when they know not what to think of it. It is not ours to judge the Lord’s command, but to follow it. . . . Prudent consideration of consequences is superabundant; but the spirit which obeys, and dares all things for Christ’s sake—where is it? The Abrahams of today will not go out from their kindred; they will put up with anything sooner than risk their livelihoods. If they do go out, they must know where they are going, and how much is to be picked up in the new country.

The modern believer must have no mysteries, but must have everything planned down to a scientific standard. Abraham “went out, not knowing whither he went,” but the moderns must have every information with regard to the way, and then they will not go. If they obey at all, it is because their own superior judgements incline that way; but to go forth, not knowing whither they go, and to go at all hazards, is not to their minds at all. They are so highly “cultured” that they prefer to be original, and map out their own way.

Brethren, having once discerned the voice of God, obey without question. If you have to stand alone and nobody will befriend you, stand alone and God will befriend you.

If you should get the ill word of those you value most, bear it. What, after all, are ill words, or good words, as compared with the keeping of a clear conscience by walking in the way of the Lord?

The line of truth is narrow as a razor’s edge; and he needs to wear the golden sandals of the peace of God who shall keep to such a line. Through divine grace may we, like Abraham, walk with our hand in the hand of the Lord, even where we cannot see our way!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from the sermon The Obedience of Faith, delivered on August 21st, 1890, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

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Christian Faithfulness in the Last Days – Lessons from The Gospel Coalition 2010 Conference

Aaron Armstrong —  April 26, 2010 — 1 Comment

On Saturday, April 24, 2010, I had the privilege of attending The Gospel Coalition’s first ever Canadian conference featuring D.A. Carson and Mike Bullmore as the keynote speakers.

Dr. Carson kicked off the conference with the message Christian Faithfulness in the Last Days – The Need for the Gospel Coalition.

He began with by giving us a bit of background on how the Gospel Coalition came together as he and Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian came together and realized they’d been reflecting on something similar: The centrality of the gospel was being lost in evangelicalism. “Today, people do what is right in their own eyes—with the gospel becom[ing] something assumed rather than central,” lamented Carson. The Gospel Coalition came together out of a desire “to be robust about Scripture [and] to hold up the centrality of the gospel.” And this is of the greatest import for those of us living in “the last days.”

While some have indulged in “a feeding frenzy of speculation over the end times,” Carson reminded us that, “The last days refer to the entire period between Christ’s ascension and second coming. Whether it’s three weeks or three thousand years is irrelevant. . . . All authority has been given to Jesus, and while it’s contested, the kingdom has still come. The old is passing away.”

This led to a study of 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8, first asking, “What does Paul see in the last days?” Continue Reading…

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Faith Creates a Prompt Obedience

Aaron Armstrong —  April 24, 2010

Genuine faith in God creates a prompt obedience.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed.”There was an immediate response to the command. Delayed obedience is disobedience.

I wish some Christians, who put off duty, would remember this. Continued delay of duty is a continuous sin. If I do not obey the divine command, I sin; and every moment that I continue in that condition, I repeat the sin.

This is a serious matter. If a certain act is my duty at this hour, an I leave it undone, I have sinned; but it will be equally incumbent upon me during the next hour; and if I still refuse, I disobey again and so on till I do obey. Neglect of a standing command must grow very grievous if it be persisted in for years.

In proportion as the conscience becomes callous upon the subject, the guilt becomes the more provoking to the Lord. To refuse to do right is a great evil; but to continue in that refusal till conscience grows numb upon the matter is far worse. . . .

Obedience is for the present tense: it must be prompt, or it is nothing. Obedience respects the time of the command as much as any other part of it.

To hesitate is to be disloyal.

To halt and consider whether you will obey or not, is rebellion in the germ.

If thou believest in the living God unto eternal life, thou wilt be quick to do thy Lord’s bidding, even as a maid hearkens to her mistress. Thou wilt not be as the horse, which needs whip and spur; thy love will do more for thee than compulsion could do for slaves. Thou wilt have wings to thy heels to hasten thee along the way of obedience. “Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from the sermon The Obedience of Faith, delivered on August 21st, 1890, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The Kind of Faith Which Produces Obedience

Aaron Armstrong —  April 17, 2010 — Leave a comment

It is, manifestly, faith in God as having the right to command our obedience.

He has a greater claim upon our ardent service than he has upon the services of angels; for, while they were created as we have been, yet they have never been redeemed by precious blood.

Our glorious Incarnate God has an unquestioned right to every breath we breathe, to every thought we think, to every moment of our lives, and to every capacity of our being.

This loyalty of our mind is based on faith, and is a chief prompter to obedience.

[W]e must have faith in the rightness of all that God says or does.

If the Lord be God, he must be infallible; and if he can be described as in error in the little respects of human history and science, he cannot be trusted in the greater matters.

The words of the Lord are like fine gold, pure, precious, and weighty—not one of them may be neglected. We hear people talk about “minor points,” and so on; but we must not consider any word of our God as a minor thing, if by that expression is implied that it is of small importance.

We must accept every single word of precept, or prohibition, or instruction, as being what it ought to be, and neither to be diminished nor increased. We should not reason about the command of God as though it might be set aside or amended. He bids: we obey. Continue Reading…

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Faith is the Fountain, Foundation and Fosterer of Obedience

Aaron Armstrong —  April 10, 2010

Faith is the fountain, the foundation, and the fosterer of obedience.

Men obey not God till they believe him. We preach faith in order that men may be brought to obedience. To disbelieve is to disobey.

One of the first signs of practical obedience is found in the obedience of the mind, the understanding, and the heart; and this is expressed in believing the teaching of Christ, trusting to his work, and resting in his salvation.

Faith is the morning star of obedience. If we would work the work of God, we must believe on Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Brethren, we do not give a secondary place to obedience, as some suppose. We look upon the obedience of the heart to the will of God as salvation. The attainment of perfect obedience would mean perfect salvation. We regard sanctification, or obedience, as the great design for which the Saviour died. He shed his blood that he might cleanse us from dead works, and purify unto himself a people zealous for good works. It is for this that we were chosen: we are “elect unto holiness.” We know nothing of election to continue in sin. It is for this that we have been called: we are “called to be saints.”

Obedience is the grand object of the work of grace in the hearts of those who are chosen and called: they are to become obedient children, conformed to the image of the Elder Brother, with whom the Father is well pleased.

The obedience that comes of faith is of a noble sort.

The obedience of a slave ranks very little higher than the obedience of a well-trained horse or dog, for it is tuned to the crack of the whip. Obedience which is not cheerfully rendered is not the obedience of the heart, and consequently is of little worth before God. If the man obeys because he has no opportunity of doing otherwise, and if, were he free, he would at once become a rebel—there is nothing in his obedience.

The obedience of faith springs from a principle within, and not from compulsion without.

It is sustained by the mind’s soberest reasoning and the heart’s warmest passion. The man reasons with himself that he ought to obey his Redeemer, his Father, his God; and, at the same time, the love of Christ constrains him so to do, and thus what argument suggests affection performs. A sense of great obligation, an apprehension of the fitness of obedience, and spiritual renewal of heart, work an obedience which becomes essential to the sanctified soul. Hence, it is not relaxed in the time of temptation, nor destroyed in the hour of losses and sufferings.

Life has no trial which can turn the gracious soul from its passion for obedience; and death itself doth but enable it to render an obedience which shall be as blissful as it will be complete. Yes, this is a chief ingredient of heaven—that we shall see the face of our Lord, and serve him day and night in his temple. Meanwhile, the more fully we obey at this present, the nearer we shall be to his temple-gate. May the Holy Spirit work in us, so that, by faith—like Abraham—we may obey!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from the sermon The Obedience of Faith, delivered on August 21st, 1890, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

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Zac Smith: "If God Chooses Not to Heal Me, God is still God and God is Still Good"

Aaron Armstrong —  March 24, 2010

 

Update: Zac died recently and now stands with Jesus in glory. He didn’t waste his life, and he didn’t waste his cancer. Please keep his family in your prayers.

The powerful testimony of Zac Smith of Newspring Church:

In May of 2009, I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer; immediately I had surgery to remove a foot and a half of my large intestine and a lemon size tumor… The cancer had spread to my spleen and my liver. Chemotherapy was on the horizon.

I found myself very confused – why did I have cancer? Had I something wrong to cause it? Was this the result of sinful living in my past?

But quickly the confusion turned to hope… I didn’t understand why I had cancer, but I knew that God was in charge.

For three months I underwent a horrible chemo regimen. Afterwards, I had a scan done and the results were great. There was no cancer found in my body. We celebrated God’s healing and God’s failing.. but another scan a month later showed that the cancer reappeared a month later… Continue Reading…

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Around the Interweb (03/14)

Aaron Armstrong —  March 14, 2010 — Leave a comment

How I found God and peace with my atheist brother

Peter Hitchens with his brother Christopher, on the left, during their 2008 debate in Grand Rapids

Meet Peter Hitchens, the brother of atheist Christopher Hitchens:

I set fire to my Bible on the playing fields of my Cambridge boarding school one bright, windy spring afternoon in 1967. I was 15 years old. The book did not, as I had hoped, blaze fiercely and swiftly. . . . [T]his was my Year Zero. I was engaged in a full, perfect and complete rebellion against everything I had been brought up to believe. [. . .] No doubt I should be ashamed to confess that fear played a part in my return to religion, specifically a painting: Rogier van der Weyden’s 15th Century Last Judgement, which I saw in Burgundy while on holiday.

I had scoffed at its mention in the guidebook, but now I gaped, my mouth actually hanging open, at the naked figures fleeing towards the pit of Hell.

These people did not appear remote or from the ancient past; they were my own generation. Because they were naked, they were not imprisoned in their own age by time-bound fashions.

On the contrary, their hair and the set of their faces were entirely in the style of my own time. They were me, and people I knew.

Read more.

HT: Jim Skaggs & Trevin Wax

In other news

Kevin DeYoung: “If you are retooling your church to fit the Starbucks model, try reading Ephesians instead.”

Mark Clement: If you want to influence culture, stop imitating it.

The Gospel Coalition 2010 Canada Conference: Join D.A. Carson & Mike Bullmore for the Gospel Coalition Ontario Chapter’s first ever conference. The theme of this event is the centrality of the gospel in authentic Christian ministry. This conference will be held at West Highland Baptist Church, 1605 Garth Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Click here for more details or to register.

In case you missed it

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

A review of Adrian Warnock’s excellent book Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything

Jude: Contending Against False Teachers

BB. Warfield: The Exultant Joy of Being a Miserable Sinner

D.A. Carson on the Drifting of Evangelicalism

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