The Advent...Digitalized

I might just add the message from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul and Jesus:  "Repent and believe the Gospel...it is the Power of God unto Salvation."

The ACLU Grinch

See story HERE.

How Can This Be.....?

Along with countless others, I have often said there is nothing superfluous in the Word of God. In fact, I have found it to be just the opposite. Give me more is my constant cry. What do you mean by that, Lord?.... is my questioning. Such was the case with Mary. When told by the Angel..you shall conceive and bear a Son, He will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give Him the throne of his father David, she also questions, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Then comes the “non-superfluous” answer: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

Just how much doctrine is wrapped up in that single phrase, “the Most High will overshadow you”? Enough to have convened The Council of Chalcedon in the year 451AD and that Council lasted from October 8th to November 1st. (btw, a free download of the Chalcedon Confession and many other Reformed Confessions is available HERE.) The Chalcedonian Creed attempts to state as simply as possible what resulted from that profound event that occurred that night in Bethlehem. In one brief creedal confession they attempted to sum up such doctrines as the incarnation, the diety of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the unipersonality of Christ, the sinlessness of Christ and the nature of Christ. And we also, some 2000+ years later, still must attempt to understand individually that basic question Mary asked: “How can this be....?” We know that this “holy child”, this “Son of God” must be protected from the contamination of sin that every child born of man knows. And we know from the narrative Joseph had not known his betrothed at this point. But what about the contamination of Mary? Job asked the question many years prior, “how can he be clean that is born of a woman”? The Psalmist declares, “there is no one who does good, not even one”. I don’t think we will ever be privy to the detailed procedure involved in this “overshadowing”. Perhaps some hints may be found in some OT passages such as the 91st Psalm...”He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall tent under the shadow of the Almighty, He shall cover thee with His feathers”. All we can surmise is that above all else it is the direct supernatural act of the power of the Most High to keep this child free from all sinful contamination; simply stated,“overshadowed” and for that reason a “Holy Child”...The Son of God.

Whatever and however the conception of our Saviour occurred the result was a “holy child” called the Son of God. A sinless One was conceived, uncontaminated by Mary’s sin through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect, the holy, the sinless man. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son...; a body hast thou prepared me; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us; he shall save his people from their sins; Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever; And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (various prophetic verses)

This is no ordinary birth that we celebrate during this season. “Like us in all respects, sin apart”..as the Chalcedon Confession states it. Holy Child, Son of God, Immanuel..no not an ordinary birth at all. It certainly appeared ordinary..but behind the scenes something truly supernatural was occurring. The Sovereign God of all the universe, the second person of the Godhead took upon Himself human flesh. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given...” This Christmas carol sums it up most aptly: “O holy Child of Bethelem, descend to us we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell, O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel”. Nothing is impossible with God. (1:37) Hallelujah, What a Saviour!

Dueling Cartoons III

Link to Lee Judge

Ways and Means

Drawing cartoons is really hard work..for me. I’m sure it must come easy for some, but not me. However, sometimes our government officials make it too easy for me. Just recycle old cartoons. Change the caption or the faces and hit the save button and a whole new current cartoon is created. Thanks "gov’t officials"! Such is the case with this one. For the old one see HERE.

Emotional Engineering

What is “emotional engineering”...that is, when it comes to the Church..or to worship? My last two blogs have been critical of the current music scene as it is found in many contemporary worship services. I have literally found myself wanting to walk out of the service because of the bad theology and vain repetition in some of our current worship songs. How did all this come about? Who started this steady decline of dumbing down our brothers and sisters in Christ through such vacuous, empty, shallow, repetitive singing?

I had not encountered this word..”emotional engineering” until just recently, but when I read it I knew exactly what was being referenced. I have witnessed this process many, many times in many, many church services. Mostly found in Arminian based churches but certainly not exclusively and mostly occurring during what is known as “the altar call”..but not exclusively here either. Charles Finney (1792-1875) ministered in the wake of the 'Second Awakening,' as it has been called. A Presbyterian lawyer, Finney one day experienced 'a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost' which 'like a wave of electricity going through and through me...seemed to come in waves of liquid love.'(1) He is known as the father of modern revivalism.(2) Charles Finney is credited with this quote regarding revival and conversion: “there is nothing in religion beyond the ordinary powers of nature. It consists entirely in the right exercise of the powers of nature. It is just that and nothing else. It is not a miracle or dependent on a miracle in any sense. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means as much so as any other effect produced by the application of means”(3) (my emphases) And that, I believe, is the basis of “emotional engineering”. This is exactly how products in the business world are marketed...an emphasis on emotion...so why not in worship?

I have heard of an evangelist who has claimed that he could be introduced to someone, have a fifteen-minute conversation and “get him saved”. Hallelujah, Finney lives! Who needs the Holy Spirit? I’ll just "betcha" he could also, just as efficiently, get him to buy life insurance policies or automobiles. Utilize the right formula, say the right words, make the right sales pitch and “voila”, revival. Now if you can’t get the job done in fifteen minutes there’s always the extended “altar” call. I have heard of a pastor in the Southwest whose altar calls are longer than his sermons.and his sermons are long. Twenty-five verses of “Just as I Am” and a pleading pastor ought to get some folk to make a decision to walk the aisle. Emotional Engineering at it’s finest via decisional regeneration.

In addition, there is the “ musical manipulation” that I mentioned in my blog in April 2008 entitled “Pickin’Nits”.  How much emotion should an emotional song emote? After all, we are emotional creatures. How can one help but be moved by certain musical masterpieces such as Handel’s Messiah Hallelujah Chorus? If one is not moved by that one, one is not breathing. So my question is really..”should the worship leaders purposefully manipulate the music or the message to obtain a desired emotional result? And that is exactly what I mean when I use the term “emotional engineering”. Whether there is a musical crescendo obtained by turning the electronic sound volume control to the right or whether a portion of the song is sung softly and a capella during an altar call thereby eliciting an emotional response...or whether the “sub-woofer” effect with deep-vibrating sub-sonic sounds pounding through the body moves one..is this manipulation of the worshiper proper? And...do worship leaders actually do that sort of thing, really? Does Pastor Paul love the mountains? (click link for an explanation of this truism)

On a positive note, in our worship services we need to “learn how to avoid the amatory, the sentimental, and the melancholy; or as the wag said “the erotic, the exotic, and the tommyrotic”.(4) Worship should appeal to both "head and heart", intellect and emotion without purposeful manipulation. We need to encourage our ministers to provide for the congregation music and messages that would cause the word of Christ to dwell in us richly;  that would help us to teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; that would cause us to sing and live with gratitude in our hearts to God for Christ’s finished work on the cross for us.(Paraphrase of Col 3:16)

1 The Legacy of Charles Finney by Michael S. Horton
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grandison_Finney

3 Lectures on Revivals of Religion, Lecture I, page 12, Finney

4 The Fine Art of Public Worship, pg 96, A.W. Blackwood (1939)

Update Wed Nov 10, 2010
Speaking of being "moved" by Handel's Messiah..can you believe worshipers at Macy's?  Watch this:

New Direction