Boys Read Too!

I just wanted to give everyone an update on one thing I've been working on. After a conversation with a neighbor in which she was asking me about books boys would like (she has a son who is the same age as my third), I decided to begin a new blog. The title is "Boys Read Too." These will consist of books I have read in the Juvenile and Young Adult category, many of them ones I have presented at local junior and high schools. If you have a chance, please check it out, and be sure to refer to it if you know of any boys in need of a good book.

I only have about three books posted but I will be posting all of the reviews I've already done in the coming days.

God bless!

"Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare" by David Powlison

The issue of spiritual warfare has always seemed pretty straightforward to me; the enemies of God wage a continuous war against Him, turning His creatures against Him and challenging His power. We see one very vivid of the struggle relayed in Jude 9 where we read that the archangel Michael contended with Satan over the body of Moses! As far as we mortals are concerned, we sometimes witness a manifestation of this warfare in the form of demonic possession and influence.

Throughout my Christian walk, however, I have occasionally come across people who had an unhealthy (and very un-biblical) interest in what I can only term as the occult. Thinking that spiritual warfare consisted primarily of battling demonic possessions and manifestations, they go about seeking demons to rebuke, and every hardship, every coincidence, becomes a demonic attack. I hear of these people walking around their neighborhoods "claiming" a particular block for God and chastising the demonic forces they perceive as being all around them causing havoc...apparently forgetting that God is always in control and that this idea of claiming territory for God is foreign to Scripture.

Unfortunately, this foolish preoccupation detracts from the only true strategy we Christians are to employ; the proclaiming of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, calling people to repent and submit to the only true hope! This book, Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare is about abandoning false notions we may harbor about spiritual warfare and embrace the biblical understanding of it. The book is not a denial of the reality of spiritual warfare, but a call to examine our practices and align them with the teachings of Scripture. I found the premise of his book clearly defined by these words found on pages 71-71:

"...the gospels narrate one long 'truth encounter' between Jesus and the moral evil that contends for or fills the human heart. The titanic moral combat occurs in the classic spiritual-warfare mode- Jesus' temptations in the desert and in the garden of Gethsemane- as the Son learned obedience through what He suffered. Throughout His ministry, Jesus rescued those in moral bondage to Satan by words of truth that claimed authority over temptation, sin, and unbelief. Inhabiting spirits are never in view. The real spiritual warfare engages moral, not situational, evil. The great physician may give medicine to bring down blood pressure- [demon possession] temporarily alleviating situational evil. But he challenges the patient to quit smoking, drinking, and gorging on junk food- moral evil. The latter is the decisive battlefield." (emphasis of last sentence, mine)

What Powlison is saying is that too many Christians are overly obsessed with this idea of casting out demons when we should be totally focused on spreading the Truth! But if you talk too some Christians, every issue involves demonic activity and we need to combat these demons. Is someone an alcoholic? Well then let's rebuke the demon of alcohol! Is someone addicted to pornography? The demon of lust is present! Can't focus on studying the Word? Obviously a demon is distracting you! What silliness! Listen, in the first two examples, the cause is our sin nature and the way to combat this is to be in the Word and to discipline ourselves to live holy lives; in the last example, hey maybe you should rest up or learn to focus! But this morbid preoccupation with demons "grafts Christian elements onto an underlying demonic and superstitious worldview, creating a hybrid perhaps acceptable to premodern minds. But the biblical Christian faith needs to stand alone; it should not be grafted onto any other worldview." (pg. 25)

Among the places where this mis-emphasis on spiritual warfare was popularized, Powlison lists Dallas Theological Seminary, which is sadly not surprising at all to me. Author Frank Peretti is, of course, one who's fiction writing has influenced many as well. In chapter 3 of the book, Powlison examines the writings of Peretti and compares them to that of Tolkien and Lewis, a chapter I found particularly enlightening not only because of this interesting discussion but because the main focus is on interacting with the scriptural text so that we reach the correct conclusion. How fiction writing and this concept relate to one another is something you'll have to read the book to find out! ;-)

Another fascinating chapter was the fourth one, where the author examines the OT, Job particularly, in order to help us understand the concept of spiritual warfare. On page 59 we find the following words: "We learn in the Old Testament that the way to deal with idolatry, astrology, mediumship, sexual immorality, anger- the besetting sins of the demonological jungle- is to repent or die. People need repentance, faith, truth, prayer and fidelity." We go on to read that "Scripture does not ignore evil, Satan, or demons. God fiercely warns against them all, commanding us to flee the abominations...[but] when the prophets speak to idolaters and those involved in the occult, they preach repentance and faith, not EMM. Naaman the Aramean was an idol worshipper who came to faith through a little girl and Elisha. Hosea simply called idolatrous Israel to turn back to God. The Ninevites- members of an occult culture- believed God and repented at the preaching of Jonah. In no case, even with gross and occult sins, was the problem defined as inhabiting spirits needing ekballistic ministry." (page 60)

I should briefly mention that EMM stands for "ekballistic form of ministry," a term Powlison has come up with to describe the practice of those who subscribe to spiritual warfare as consisting of casting out demons, praying over houses and possession for protection against demonic influence, etc... He came up with the term using the Greek word "ekballo" which means to "cast out."

Chapter 5 deals with sin and suffering and in it Powlison examines the ministry of Christ, especially as it relates to casting out demons. In it, he also takes a careful look at the difference between moral versus situational evil. In chapters 6 and 7 we read about the difference between the ministry of Jesus and what we are called to do; we also are confronted with a number of questions which Powlison answers. One very compelling argument found in chapter 7 is that nowhere are we commanded to practice EMM. Examining Mark 16:17-18, we are told how those who advocate EMM rely on this passage as one of their proof texts...but as the author points out, a more contextual explanation is that this refers specifically to the work of the apostles. He spends a number of paragraphs defending his position, and makes a very good case!

The book is a short and fascinating read (only 10 chapters); I encourage everyone to read it and contemplate what the author has written. More importantly, I exhort all readers to examine it critically and test it against the Scriptures. As the author says, everyone has a story to tell. Proponents of EMM always have their experiences to back up what they say!

"'But I experienced...' These are three of the hardest words to argue with in America today, for experience presents itself as indubitable authority...many of the 'demonic manifestations today' are produced by highly charged expectations. An atmosphere of intense expectation can produce almost anything...EMM could actually invoke demonic activity. 'Voices' in the mind are not uncommon..." (from pages 133-135)

The above quotes are a number of combined quotes in which the author discusses a variety of explanations for the perceived experiences of EMM advocates. As he maintains throughout the book, spiritual warfare must be reclaimed by Believers and correctly understood as it is taught in Scripture. Otherwise we dishonor the Truth by subscribing to superstitious nonsense. You may or may not disagree, but read the book to fully understand the message Powlison is communicating.

Link for Today

I read this post over on Dr. Mohler's blog and had to link to it here. In it, Dr. Mohler addresses an interesting case over an abortionist having his medical license revoked because he aborted the "wrong" baby. The woman was pregnant with twins, one of whom was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome. The abortionist was asked to kill the "damaged fetus" but instead killed the healthy one. Immediately, of course, he was sued for killing the healthy baby!

Read the full post here

Genesis 1:1-3

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” – ESV

What a magnificent beginning!

One of the first things to notice when reading this passage, a beautiful picture of the Truth to come, is that we see in these verses the TriUnity of God revealed!

1) We have God (Elohiym), the Father, creating the heavens and the earth

2) We have the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters

3) In what I admit is reading into the text, we have the light of the world, who is the Son!

Another thing to notice is the straightforward manner by which creation is presented. It was done by God, not some random force of nature. God alone could have created since God alone is outside of creation…He is eternal by nature and dependent on nothing else to exist. The Bible allows for no other beginning. God created. That’s all there is to it. If you doubt this, reexamine why you say you believe the Bible in any other area!

Not only is creation presented as fact, so is the existence of God. It is our enlightened age that has convinced itself there is no God, Friedrich Nietzche declaring that “God is dead.” He said it, so it must be true. I once saw a bumper sticker showing this quote…right below it was another quote stating “Nietzche is dead.” According to the bumper sticker, this quote was from God! Humorous, yet very true. God does not need our belief to exist, nor is He troubled much by our unbelief…it does not change Him in any way. So God is real. And these first few verses of Scripture declare this truth and set the stage for the rest of the Word…God is Sovereign.

So much more could be said, and has been said by great men of God throughout the ages. I wish to address another thought I have whenever I read through the book of Genesis, and that is the issue of what authority shapes our beliefs, our faith. I first thought of these things when I was a teenager and read commentary by John Morris called “The Genesis Record” (ISBN 9780801060045), a book I highly recommend to everyone.

Morris, as many of you may know, is an unapologetic Creationist and his approach to the book of Genesis is to take it at face value, as it should be taken. I realize that nowadays many Christians are afraid of what others may think of them and so they refuse to admit that they hold to what the Bible actually says about the beginning of all things. Others hide their fear behind a veil of intellectual vanity, raising themselves up as true children of the Enlightenment and scientific reason; thereby setting aside the book of Genesis as a mythical allegory and attempting to reconcile it with the current ideology of the scientific establishment. Unfortunately for these brethren, Genesis says what it does and the only thing accomplished by compromising on the Bible as God’s Word is that Christianity gains further scorn from its enemies. The most dogmatic evolutionists (like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins) will not embrace a faith that accepts evolution…quite the contrary, they reject it as what it is; a foolish attempt to be accepted by mainstream secular thought.

Ultimately, for those among the brethren who embrace anything other than Biblical creationism, the issue comes down to authority. Which source will you trust? What I mean by this is that if you truly believe the Bible is the Word of God, His revealed Truth to us, then it is no problem to accept the doctrine of creationism, to believe in the concept of God bringing about all of the univers ex nihilio. This is not difficult to accept if we believe God and if we believe in God. If, however, you are willing to believe that some of the Bible might not be true, and your source of authority is the modern scientific establishment, then of course you will reject creationism! How could you not when your authority figures consistently prove it wrong (according to their worldview that is)!

I maintain, unapologetically, that you cannot reject any portion of Scripture as untrue and then turn around and defend any of it as true with the argumeent that you believe it is the Word of God. In other words, once you compromise on one part, you have no basis on which to defend any of it. Try it. Jesus is the Son of God? Says who? The Bible? Well then how can you know the part that teaches this is true and not mythology like the book of Genesis? Again and again, your rejection of Genesis will come back to haunt you at every turn. We come back, as mentioned above, to authority. The Bible is God’s Word. It is true in all that it teaches, whether in Genesis, John, Romans or Revelation. I believe this, but it matters little whether I believe it or not because this truth does not depend on my believing it to make it true. However, because I believe it, and it is my authority in all things, then I believe and trust those scholars and scientists who defend a true biblical worldview; including creationism. These men are highly intelligent men with scientific credentials who work for secular organizations as well as Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research. When they speak on the issue of creationism I listen to them and I believe them…how could I not when I believe in the Bible?

I am, therefore, not surprised when an unbeliever embraces evolutionary faith. Their choice is logical because their source of authority is not God and the Word He has given us! When a professing Christian, however, rejects creation and embraces evolution…I am shocked. I am saddened. And I view them as my weaker brethren in the faith.

Still Alive!

I have read a number of books since I last posted and am in the process of writing up book reviews for them, which I will soon post. Since, however, my last post of any substance was back in February, I wanted to let whatever readers I might have that I am still here and still planning on blogging!

As with most of you, I have been busy with work and family; in addition I must confess that I have been trying to keep up on my Google reader subscriptions and I now have enough of them that it takes me at least 1/2 an hour just to scroll through them even if I don't actually read each article! I think it's time I edited down my list! On top of all this, I have a Facebook account which I am trying to stay active with...I'm thinking I will just have to post on both at the same time! Honestly, the things that should be most important (next to God and my family) are this blog and the work I do for my church library...but both, obviously, have suffered!

So there you have my confession and my apology! Later today I will post a brief study I'm doing on Genesis 1:1-3 and then in the next couple of days I hope to begin posting book reviews too. The study on Genesis is not deep by any means, just some brief thoughts I have. In case some of you did not know, I received an ESV Bible from a Crossway representative I met at the Public Library Association (PLA) conference in Portland last month! I've never owned an ESV and so I decided to begin reading it from the beginning, and of course I was moved by the opening verses of the Word of God! So, of course, my readers get to put up with my ramblings!

God bless!

Al Mohler on Christians Paying Taxes

I read a really good post from Dr. Al Mohler of Southern Seminary in which he discusses the Christian response to paying taxes in light of Obamacare and what it might mean for abortion funding. Very profound thoughts, as usual.

Please read the article here.