California Same-Sex marriage rises again....

Today in California a Federal judge overturned the Prop 8 vote regarding Same-Sex marriage deeming it to be unconstitutional.

It is not a surprise to many of us that the issue is raising its ugly head again. Our land languishes in the mire of moral darkness and the USA is not a true republic or democracy. It is governed in the end by a liberal elite who are intentionally anti-Christian.

The Same-Sex issue will no doubt gain front page news again as the Gay-Lesbian lobby seek to have their way. As a Christian I am not disheartened by the fact sinners are pursuing their sin. It only serves to affirm the truthfulness of the Scriptures. It serves to stir me to greater evangelistic activity. Our hope is not in Federal courts, or political campaigns, our hope is the power of the gospel.

We must strive to love the homosexuals of our generation and offer them the deliverance they so badly need. Deliverance from the enslavement to sinful lusts and practices that are extremely powerful and extremely blinding. Only Jesus Christ by the power of His Spirit can bring any of us out of the darkness of sin and the bondage of our own depravity. We must preach Him, we must live according to His ways and seek to see those lost in their sins rescued before it is too late.

The hostility to our message is intense, it is mighty, but the God of our message is Almighty. Let us commit ourselves to prayer and let us not fight a spiritual war with carnal weapons. The Lord is our strength and the gospel is our confidence. Let us show it by preaching it and living it in the days ahead ! Let us love our enemies and let us tell them of our Savior and let us suffer their vitriol refusing to give in to their carnal demands to recognise that homosexuality is acceptable before God and that same-sex marriage is a civil right, when in reality it is a redefining of a God-given institution.

Upholding the Sanctity of Marriage

Over these past weeks since the close of the 2009 and into 2010 I have been absorbed in studying the subject of divorce and remarriage. My normal expositions of Mark brought me to Mark 10 where our Lord is confronted again by the Pharisees. Their questions regarding divorce faced me with the task of looking again at a subject I had long since thought I settled.

In my deliberations, which I am still in as I write, certain things became clearer to me and some things gave me new perspectives. Perhaps the clearest issues came in terms of what Scripture really says in terms of divorce and what it does not say. The new perspectives came in the realm of emphasis and focus when it comes to this subject.

It was good to see afresh that divorce is not something that is commanded or required of us. In fact God hates it and sin causes it. Those who experience divorce experience something tragic and painful and something that no doubt cuts deep.

When we raise the subject of divorce the issue needs to be done in the context of the biblical emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and not how many reasons does someone have to get out of their marriage. Mark 10 and Matt 19 indicate that when our Lord was asked about lawful divorce He responded by speaking about the sanctity of marriage.

The exception of Matt 19;9 has caused much disagreement in the church, but I am persuaded that DA Carson is spot on when he says it should simply be allowed to have its normative force in the text. The sin of porneia does give concessionary right to divorce and therefore remarriage, if you understand the inseparable connection between the two. The Lord does not command divorce on such terms, nor recommend it, He simply concedes it.

No doubt marriages that can exercise gospel grace and forgiveness when porneia arises are to be encouraged, but the hardness of heart that can exist does mean that divorce will occur. We must work with those whose marriages are tarnished by such sin, but realise that we still must deal with some harsh realities in the realm of broken marriages.

The True Christian by John Calvin

I had the great privilege this past Saturday, Oct 24 2009 to participate in a Reformation Conference at Covenant Reformed Church in Sacramento. As part of the commeration of the great Genevan Reformer John Calvin I was asked to present a paper on Calvin's view of the Christian life.

The past couple of months have been both encouraging and heart searching as I delved into both Calvin's Institutes, Book 2:6-11 and the 'Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life'. What a rich treasure of succinct biblical teaching Calvin gives us on the true nature of the Christian life.

I set out my paper around Calvin's main points as the actual five points of Calvin regarding what it means to be a true Christian. The five points Calvin believed that mark a true Christian's life are...

1. The Pursuit of Holiness

2.The Exercising of Self-Denial

3.The Cultivation of Patient Endurance

4.The Possesion of an Eternal Hope

5.The Wise Maintaining of an Orderly Life

A few weeks before he entered glory in 1564 Calvin wrote to Farel 'It is enough that I live and die for Christ who is to all His followers a gain both in life and death...'

His motto was as ours should be to 'I offer my heart to you Lord, promptly and sincerely...', Christian are you living as Christ calls you to?

A Church departed from the Faith....a Nation perishing in sin....

Pray for Scotland ! The Church of Scotland have allowed the installation of an openly practicing homosexual to the ministry. Scott Rennie (pictured right) is in need of repentance and true faith in Christ and to forsake his sin. Sadly he has been recognized as a minister of Christ !

I have long believed my homeland's national church to be apostate and this does nothing to change my view. There are good solid Christian brothers and sisters within her ranks but alas is it not time to separate as those in 1843 ?

The testimony of a church that is muddied and unclean is no testimony at all. A willingness to suffer for the gospel materially and socially will surely bring greater honor to God than the fudging engagement in a discussion about whether or not same sex relationships are viable. A Christian surely has no business sitting down to even pretend to discuss such sin as if it were an open question before a holy God!

Where are the voices of truth and righteousness in the land ? The nation languishes in darkness and evil continues to abound and we think signing a petitition is all we can do to promote the gospel, little wonder the darkness is so great !

The Glory of Marriage

Elaine and I just recently celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary. As I reflected on the blessing that is mine in my beloved wife I am reminded of the mercies of God to me in giving me such a precious gift in life.

Seventeen years have gone in so quickly in many ways, yet much has happened and many experiences have marked our lives together. We had the blessing of taking a couple of days away at San Simeon on the Central California Coast. In visiting Hearst Castle the tragic monument to William Randolph Hearst, the Rupert Murdoch of the 1920's and 1930's we enjoyed watching the amazing sunset over the Pacific, and enjoyed the quaint shops of Cambria. It was good to have time to discuss important family matters and just relax and rest.

The companionship, friendship and love that I share with my wife is more and more precious as the years go by. God has given us a glorious thing in marriage, God will bring it to an end one day, but until then we desire it to be all that God intended. How blessed I am. I love you Elaine and rejoice in what we have by God's grace.....soli deo gloria...

Enjoying Essential Christian Doctrine

We are approaching week four of our Thursday morning class and the commitment level continues to remain high. We have around 40 regularly committed. This week we will be looking at the Incommunicable Attributes of God as we move from looking at what the Scriptures teach about themselves to what the Scriptures teach about God.

One aspect of the whole subject I have been wrestling with is the concept of time as it relates to the eternality of God. Grudem's treatment is interesting but falls short in my judgment. Is it really accurate to say there is no time with God in eternity past? Does communication between the three persons of the Trinity in eternity past demand no concept of time at all or time in a manner we cannot fully grasp? Surely it is the latter? However I do freely confess understanding past, present and future in an eternity before the world began is a difficult concept. Certainly in terms of time as we understand it, God created it. Yet surely for the eternal God-head to communicate there must be some realm of past, present and future involved?

I am left to follow Calvin and Paul's example and bow in wonder, awe and amazement at the great anf glorious God who is and was and is to come and who in the fulness of time sent His own Son to save us from our sins.....

Essential Christian Doctrine Class Gets Going !!!

It was a great encouragement to have 30 of our folks turn up at 6:00AM in the morning to study the Word of God.

We began a class on 'Essential Christian Doctrine' yesterday morning, Thursday 4th June at 6:00AM. We will be using Wayne Grudem's edited text 'Bible Doctrine'. I was so encouraged to see the hunger amongst our younger people for this instruction, may the Lord meet with us week by week through the summer and build us up in Him to impact our city for His glory and the triumph of the gospel !!!!