Handel's "Messiah"

Go here to listen to Handel's Messiah on NPR.org. Everyone should listen to this around Christmastime.

Holiness - Part 3 (Merry Christmas Eve!)

I am still plugging away through Holiness, and the book is definitely becoming one of my all-time-favorites.  It's a book that you don't want to read through too quickly because you want to savor the journey and saturate your mind with as much of it as possible; I know there will be still more to be gained from this book once I finish, so at some point in time a second reading will definitely be in order.

Again, the main premise of the book is this: modern Christianity is very weak and tepid (at least in more Westernized cultures), and a great reason behind this lukewarming of Christendom is the lack of fervor in the fight for holiness.  

Two nights ago I finished the chapter dealing with assurance.  Ryle makes the claim that assurance of faith in the life of the Christian is very much to be desired, and cannot occur as it should if one is not fighting to leave behind every sin.

Now assurance goes far to set a child of God free from this painful kind of bondage (doubt and the resulting pains), and thus ministers mightily to his comfort.  It enables him to feel that the great business of life is a settled business, the great debt a paid debt, the great disease a healed disease, and the great work a finished work; and all other business, diseases, debts and works are then by comparison small.  In this way assurance makes him patient in tribulation, calm under bereavements, unmoved in sorrow, not afraid of evil tidings, in every condition content, for it gives him a fixedness of heart.  It sweetens his bitter cups; it lessens the burden of his crosses; it smooths the rough places over which he travels; it lightens the valley of the shadow of death.  It makes him always feel that he has something solid beneath his feet and something firm under his hands - a sure friend by the way, and a sure home at the end.

From chapter 7.

Advent - part 2.

My wife and I kept our Advent observances tonight - the theme was the birth of the Messiah.  This is a good year for Christmas - there's lots to think about and lots to do, but God is gracious in granting us a good deal of focus and perspective about the Christmas season.  I feel like our mindset is truly on Christ, and that's when the season becomes really great.  Nothing can give you an empty feeling like Christmas lights and Christmas trees when your sentiments are all misplaced.  

Tonight's Advent Scripture readings:

Isaiah 49:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-2:7

Advent.

Hi friends,

my wife and I began our second year of celebrating Advent tonight.  My wife did this with her family when she was younger, and we are carrying the tradition into our own family.  I love Christmas, but I often get frustrated (sometimes overly so) with the materialism and commercialism of the holiday.  Compare me to Charlie Brown all you want, but I will stand firm on my beliefs about Christmas; I will most-likely blog some thoughts about this in the near future.

When my wife and I have kids, I really do want them to grow up with a love for tradition, even though traditions can become a stumbling block when viewed incorrectly.  Warm, robust, rich-with-meaning, biblically grounded traditions should be a joy to celebrate and follow.  Forgive me for using Wikipedia, but here is a brief definition of Advent in case you were wondering about it.

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, in other words, the period immediately before Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western Christian year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches begin the liturgical year on 1 September. The Eastern Christian equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast but it differs both in length and observances.
The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. At least in the Roman Catholic calendar, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25; in other words, the Sunday between November 27 and December 3 inclusive.
Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by theHebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

First Sunday of Advent - Scripture readings:

Isaiah 1:1-20; Isaiah 9: 1-7

The New Atheism

I've been watching some of the debates from the past year-or-so between the prominent figures of the New Atheism, and various people who are trying to defend theism; I have to say that I am equally encouraged and discouraged.  It causes me a great deal of pain to see a certain Fox News political commentator (Bill O'Reilly),  trying to debate the verity of religion and the Christian faith with a man like Christopher Hitchens, without even truly believing it himself.  Sean Hannity did fine I suppose; although he really addressed the same questions about atheism that a great deal of other Christians probably would, while missing the real issues at the core of Hitchens' beliefs.  Douglas Wilson from New Saint Andrews University does a great job contending for the Christian faith, and I am very encouraged that Hitchens and Wilson and touring together in light of their book Is Christianity Good for the World.  

I enjoy the debates with Hitchens, mainly because he is both eloquent, and openly hostile to Christianity, and any other religious belief system (but Christianity especially - he states that the Protestant Christian faith is the least possible of all of the faith systems).  He makes me think, which is very good for me, or for anyone I suppose.  Biblical answers to the statements of the New Atheism are there, though, for anyone who would truly work to know the Scriptures.  I have said it before and I will say it again and again, that the problem with too many individuals today is this: everyone wants to have an opinion, but no one has studied; no one has done their research.

Again, I am discouraged on a certain level; however, I amend what I said above.  I am not equally discouraged and encouraged, because God is sovereign and good; He is gracious and merciful; He does not change; he is faithful to accomplish His good purposes, and will be glorified.  God would be glorified if everyone came to Christ, and He would be equally glorified if every person embraced a position of atheism.  God defines all things, and He simply 'is" in all the fullness of His character.  Amen.

Go here to watch the Douglas Wilson/Christopher Hitchens debate at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Reading Defoe.

~ From Robinson Crusoe, "The Journal."

JULY 4. - In the morning I took the Bible; and beginning at the New  Testament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to  read a while every morning and every night; not tying myself to the  number of chapters, but long as my thoughts should engage me.  It  was not long after I set seriously to this work till I found my  heart more deeply and sincerely affected with the wickedness of my  past life.  The impression of my dream revived; and the words, "All  these things have not brought thee to repentance," ran seriously  through my thoughts.  I was earnestly begging of God to give me  repentance, when it happened providentially, the very day, that,  reading the Scripture, I came to these words: "He is exalted a  Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and to give remission."  I  threw down the book; and with my heart as well as my hands lifted  up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud,  "Jesus, thou son of David!  Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour!  give me repentance!"  This was the first time I could say, in the  true sense of the words, that I prayed in all my life; for now I  prayed with a sense of my condition, and a true Scripture view of  hope, founded on the encouragement of the Word of God; and from  this time, I may say, I began to hope that God would hear me.  

Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, "Call on Me, and  I will deliver thee," in a different sense from what I had ever  done before; for then I had no notion of anything being called  DELIVERANCE, but my being delivered from the captivity I was in;  for though I was indeed at large in the place, yet the island was  certainly a prison to me, and that in the worse sense in the world.   But now I learned to take it in another sense: now I looked back  upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so  dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from  the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort.  As for my  solitary life, it was nothing.  I did not so much as pray to be  delivered from it or think of it; it was all of no consideration in  comparison to this.  And I add this part here, to hint to whoever  shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of things,  they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than  deliverance from affliction.

I've been reading Robinson Crusoe by Defoe just for the fun of it, and I have to say I am more impressed the further I read.  I started out not enjoying the novel as much as I would have liked, although it did have its good parts.  However, a short way in there is an unfolding story of redemption for Crusoe that opens great avenues for thought.  This is definitely an intriguing read - there are quite a few "hidden gems" in this book that I'm really enjoying.  Again, I am only halfway through, so I will most likely post more thoughts a little farther along on the journey.

I'm not finished with Holiness yet either, so check back for some more thoughts about that as well (for there are many).  

Adios for now.

The logical fallacy.

Please read the following letter to the editor, written by a reader of our local newspaper here in Simi Valley.  This letter appeared in the Ventura County Star last week, in response to the recent passing of Proposition 8 - Prop 8 reinstated the definition of marriage in the state of California as only between a man and a woman.  

Bittersweet election

Thank God we've made the gays realize that their relationships are not worthy of the word "marriage." We had to take away their ability to have their love blessed by their God, whatever that is. It certainly can't be the same as my God. My God tells me that only a man and a woman who believe in him are worthy enough to get married.

We still have more work to do. Atheists and agnostics have no God. My God says that is wrong and we must take away their rights to marry as well.

Hold on, now. Here's an idea! Let's take away marriage rights of Muslims and Jews, too! Eventually, they will all disappear, and we won't have to be concerned with any of them!

While we're waiting for that to happen, let's give them separate bathrooms and water fountains. I certainly don't want to drink after any of those people. This way, we can teach our children that we truly are the superior human beings in this world.

Hmm, maybe we should tattoo numbers on their forearms to identify them. What would Jesus do?

How can we take such a huge step forward to elect Barack Obama and stumble so far backward with Proposition 8? An election has never been so bittersweet.

— Author's name omitted.

There seems to be a glaring tendency for people in our Postmodern American culture to have very strong opinions without doing very much research, or without having worked out the logical problems within their opinion.  

If you notice in the letter above, the author states that Christians who oppose gay marriage do so because homosexuals desiring a marriage union do not worship the same God that Christians do.  He argues that since Christians oppose marriage between gays because they believe not in the God of the Bible, then the logical next step would be to oppose marriage between agnostics and atheists.  Then, says this writer, after successfully eliminating marriage between agnostics and atheists, conservative Christians could seek to eliminate marriage rights for Muslims, Jews, and members of any other non-Christian religion.

All this to say without bringing into the discussion this particular writer's distasteful association of the Christians' opposition of gay marriage with Jim Crow racism and the holocaust.  

Somehow, this writer has been misled as to why exactly fundamentalist Christians oppose legalization of gay marriage.  I would recommend that he do some research to find out why, before writing his next strongly-worded letter to the editor.

Again, those who know me should know that I believe there are even greater issues in life to worry about than the debate over Proposition 8.  Let's not put the cart before the horse, and ignore the problems that run even deeper.  I am not minimalizing the importance of this debate over Proposition 8; but, the issue will always be about the politics of the heart before the politics of anything else.

Only by grace,

Josh.

Excerpts from "Holiness," chapter 1:

"I say, then, in the first place, that a scriptural view of sin is one of the best antidotes to that vague, dim, misty, hazy kind of theology which is so current in the present age. It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that there is a vast quantity of so-called Christianity nowadays which you cannot declare positively unsound, but which, nevertheless, is not full measure, good weight and sixteen ounces to the pound."

"[...] a scriptural view of sin is one of the best antidotes to the extravagantly broad and liberal theology that is so much in vogue at the present time. The tendency of modern thought is to reject dogma, creeds and every kind of bounds in religion. It is thought grand and wise to condemn no opinion whatsoever, and to pronounce all ernest and clever teachers to be trustworthy, however heterogenous and mutually destructive their opinions may be."

~ From chapter 1 of Holiness, by J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle

Well, I am finally embarking on a first-time read of Holiness, by J.C. Ryle.  I'm excited - I have heard from a few friends over the years about what a great influence this book has been on them, and I have meant to read it for a while.  

To begin with, Ryle's whole premise is that modern "Christendom" has gone and lost a great deal of what it means for a person who has been born-again to fight for holiness and for his/her sanctification. 

Ryle also states that he has purposefully left out names of contemporary preachers, and contemporary works of literature that have influenced his skeptical opinions of much of modern Christianity.  By doing this, his voice seems all the more contemporary as he speaks to common problems going on within the Church.  I am surprised how current the work seems, considering the second edition was published in 1879.  

I am going to go read - I'll be posting some thoughts here and there as I go.

Adios. 

"But God..."

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I tremble before the truths in this passage. I so often become complacent in my salvation and numb to so much that God has worked in my life; however, in His abounding grace God has purposed to make this passage cut to my core almost every time I come to it. 

“Life! Eternal life!” screamed Christian as he plugged his ears with his fingers and ran from the City of Destruction. God made us alive, together with Christ; being rich in mercy, and with great love, He has made us alive who once were dead. 

He made us alive.

First Blog

This is the first blog on Blogger.com.  I'm giving this site a test-run, but I'll probably end up switching my blog over.  Again, I'll be posting some interesting things - some thoughts, observations, ramblings, lyrics, poetry, quotes that I find, etc.  All my words are ultimately borrowed and unoriginal, but I'll do my best to spark some thought.  This is really an attempt at being genuine and serious about life, as well as finding out where my own inadequacies reside.

If you'd like to check out my old blog, go to www.xanga.com/ellsworth5.

"I am like a mockingbird."

~Derek Webb