Essay – Page 4 – neumatikos

Christian Counseling

> When I consider your heavens and the work of your fingers,
The moon ad the stars, which you have set in place,
What is man that you are mindful of him
The son of man, that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
And crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
All flocks and herds, and beasts of the field,
The birds of the air and the fish of the sea
All that swim the paths of the sea.
*–Psalm 8:3-8*

This seemed as good a place to start an essay on the integration of theology and psychology as any.

Scripture tells us that Man was made to fill a very special role in creation. Created in the very image of God, he was intended to superintend (“have dominion” Gen. 1:28) over the earth, to reflect God’s goodness and authority over the earth and to reflect back to Him the glory of creation’s worship of the living God. Earth was to be a garden, and man the chief under-gardener.

It is fitting then, that God first placed man in a garden. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t stop there. Adam and Eve both sinned, turning away from their intended purpose, and directing their natures toward their own designs. Since then, Paul tells us, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And that’s how things got complicated. God’s ultimate purpose for man is the same as it ever was. Ephesians 1:10 tells us that ultimately everything in heaven and on earth will still be summed up in Christ. But now, everything has been distorted by sin. Where man’s purpose was merely to tend the earth, now it must be conformed. Instead of a garden, we face a wilderness. Worse still, man himself has become a wilderness, and bends away from God’s purposes for him (cf. Jer. 17:9).

It is my feeling that theology and psychology converge nicely at this point. Theology insists that there is a right way for man to be, a way called holiness. Psychology, while it doesn’t necessarily hold to a single “right way”, does recognize that a good number of people are not the way they want to be and sets about facilitating a change. Continue reading “Christian Counseling”

Millennium

This post, I think, legitimately counts as schoolwork, since my assignment (due today!) is that I produce a 5-10 page Statement of Faith. One of the topics I must cover is eschatology. Tim Challies, and others who read him, have recently been skirmishing on the beast of Revelation, and what relation that beast may or may not have to the Roman Catholic Church. I’ve avoided the question for the most part, since I feel I need to have a cohesive eschatology before I can make informed judgments about little details like the identities of beasts and whores and antichrists. Which brings me to questions on the millennium.

The millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, is probably the biggest point of contention among Christians who think about the last things described in scripture. In all the text of the Bible, it’s only mentioned in one place: Revelation 20. Nevertheless, 1000 years is an awfully long time, which is why the number is frequently symbolic of an era, an epoch, or an age. Most empires and dynasties last shorter than 1000 years. So what a person thinks about “The Millennium” can dramatically affect what they think is God’s will for man’s life on earth. Continue reading “Millennium”

How to Read Your Bible

No, this isn’t an essay on how to read your Bible through in a year, or on what parts you ought to read most, or even on how to “rightly divide the word of God.” This post is about something far more fundamental: *how to get yourself to read your Bible at all.*

I have two points under a single main heading: **Your Bible is Too Big!**

**Point the first: sheer volume.** Continue reading “How to Read Your Bible”

Preaching

There are two debates that I know of in regards to how preaching (or, perhaps “homiletics”) ought to be done. The first has to do with the content of the message; the second, with the method of delivery.

In terms of content, there are two ways to go about preparing a sermon. One way is to take the text at hand and present the listener with a discussion of the meaning of the text. Another way is to begin with a question or concern and then range over the whole context of scripture in presenting an answer. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, though the lofty minded among us seem to prefer the latter. The protest against a “topical” style of preaching is the common danger of bringing questions to the text that scripture is hardly concerned with. “How to have a healthy love life” and “Principles of financial management” are pressing and interesting questions, and the Bible has much that may touch on them, but they are hardly the primary concerns of the gospel. The objection to “exegetical” preaching is something along the lines that it is misleading to imply that this style of speaking is *not* topical. It’s inappropriate and nearly impossible to make a sermon hinge entirely on a single passage of text. Furthermore, it *is* impossible to discuss in a single sermon even all the *major* issues that a single passage may touch on. The result of exegetical preaching, then, is either a single sermon which spews out themes like machine-gun fire, or a *series* of exegetical messages covering a whole host of topics. Exegetical preaching, then, is often merely *good* topical preaching by another name.

However, these are academic concerns for me. What is most pressing at the moment is the method of delivery. Is my speaking to be totally extemporaneous? Should I carry notes? What form of notes should I carry – should it be a bare-bones outline, or should I write the entire text out beforehand? Having written out a text beforehand, is it appropriate to read it before the congregation, or should it be committed to memory in some form? Continue reading “Preaching”

The Holy Spirit as “Proof”

Anthony Hoekema, in his book *The Bible and the Future* has a chapter on “The Holy Spirit and Eschatology,” which he begins by saying, “The role played by the Holy Spirit in Eschatology has not always been fully appreciated.” That is, to put it mildly, an understatement. I don’t think I’ve heard Him mentioned in this context in mainstream theology at all. Charismatic voices, like Rick Joyner, will talk about the future pouring out of the Holy Spirit during the end times, performing such works as miracles and wonders as a *sign* of the end times, but little has been said about the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer throughout the Christian age as a guarantee of Jesus’ future return. Yet, scripturally, this is one of the Holy Spirit’s major functions in the church.

In Acts 2, Peter quotes Joel’s famous prophecy about the pouring out of God’s Spirit: Continue reading “The Holy Spirit as “Proof””

Reading… or Sleeping?

I’m rather proud of myself for the last few days. It seems I’ve managed to actually post something every single day in a row for a while now. However, I want to make sure you know, I’m cheating a little. If something comes to me to blog about, I go ahead and post it, but I’ve been future-dating the posts to space them out a bit. So, if you see me mention something a few days late, such as the death of Abu al Zarqawi, I’m afraid it isn’t due to me cautiously mulling over the event for a few days before speaking on it. Alas.

So, for instance, the thing that’s fresh on my mind right now, by the time you read this will have happened a few days ago: Tim Challies talking about his [reading habits](http://www.challies.com/archives/001901.php). It seems that he made a commitment some time back to attempt to read about one book a week. While he was at it, he decided to go ahead and write a review for each book he read. Now, one book a week is actually a pretty easy task, provided the books are moderately well-written and are of average length (around 200 pages). Tim found this to be true, and consequently he sometimes reads 2-3 books in a week.

Everyone, I think, who keeps an eye on Tim’s blog has been utterly amazed at the kind output he’s been able to produce in this manner. The sheer number of book reviews he’s published has been staggering. Which sets me to thinking. I *thought* I was a pretty great reader. I mean, I’m reading all the time. Sometimes 5-10 hours of my day are dedicated entirely to reading. I *am* a professional student. I went to undergrad for the sole purpose of being allowed to read without any other commitments to interfere. And yet, as of this moment, Tim seems to be knocking them back faster than I can fathom. What am I doing wrong?

And then the key difference occurs to me. Tim Challies doesn’t read fiction. Continue reading “Reading… or Sleeping?”

Theology and Science Fiction

Theolgians don’t read enough science fiction.
I’m serious. Really I am.

Properly though, I shouldn’t say *science* fiction, because I mean fantasy too, and both are subcategories of a larger genre called “speculative” fiction, which is the art of telling stories about things that *ain’t real*.

Ok. Now that I’ve (hopefully) offended the realists and literalists among us, let me explain. (No, explianing takes too much time; let me sum up.) Theology (presumably) is something we take seriously because it describes something real. As opposed to certain philosophers like PJ O’Rourke who have apparently gotten PHDs and gotten rich and famous by propounding things they don’t take seriously because they aren’t real (“Truth is whatever my colleagues let me get away with”?). But if we take it seriously ad we think it’s real, why am I suggesting that a good preparation for proper theology is a background in speculative fiction? I mean, it sould lose on two counts – first, it’s speculative, and second, it’s fiction. So why…?

Well, for starters, a little review of speculation might teach certain people to know the difference. Then, on the other hand, the “speculative” and the “fiction” might just cancel each other out and prove an antidote.

But in all earnestness, my reason is that theologians are entirely too esoteric. Continue reading “Theology and Science Fiction”

A Means to an End?

Nick, a member of Chesapeake Church, a Sovereign Grace church near Baltimore has made some very pointed comments regarding my “roadmap” post from about a month ago. He dearly loves the Sovereign Grace movement, particularly the King of Grace church in Methuen, which has received a lot of support from his home church. My post seems to have struck him as taking a lot for granted from an organization I barely even know, and so he suggests maybe I’m going about it the wrong way. The biggest concern is the impression that I’m looking to Sovereign Grace Ministries as merely a means to an end. I felt his thoughts were significant enough for me to make a new post by way of reply.

Reading back through what I wrote, I can see how it might strike a passing visitor that I was being flippant, even arrogantly presumptive, especially from the perspective of a member of the community upon which I am declaring intentions to inflict myself. And to a certain extent I was being flippant, but my intent was for it to be self-directed. Continue reading “A Means to an End?”

Christ’s Humanity

Honestly, in today’s environment, convincing somebody of Jesus’ humanity is hardly difficult. If they believe he existed at all, people believe that Jesus is human. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that Jesus was a man for the sake of saving us. Hebrews 2 says that “he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin… since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself took of the same things…. He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” If any part of him is less than human, it is precisely in that area that his salvation is less than effective. With that in mind, it’s worthwhile still to examine him as he was examined in Jerusalem, to see if there is any “flaw” in him, that is, any inhumanness. Continue reading “Christ’s Humanity”

Study and the Holy Spirit

It is a very foolish thing to attempt to study theology without the help of the Holy Spirit. Theologically, this makes sense because it is only through the Spirit that you may know the Son, even as it is only through the Son that you may know the Father. For how is it that we know that the scriptures are true? Not from facts and figures and undeniable proofs. Such things may be encouraging, but they aren’t enough to really convince. No, it is by the Holy Spirit’s witness to each individual that causes them to be able to say, “I believe.” Just as it is only the Holy Spirit who can open a person’s mind and heart, so that they can witness that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God, and that his sacrifice was sufficient to accomplish all that he intended, it is only the Holy Spirit who can make us to believe, and therefore understand the scriptures. Who is it who is said to search the mind of God and reveal his secrets to us? In what real way may God be known at all, except by means of the Holy Spirit?

But more practically, it is foolish to attempt to study God without the aid of the God who wishes to be studied. Continue reading “Study and the Holy Spirit”