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On March 21, 2023 By In Theology

A Response to Gary DeMar and Full Preterism

The letter sent to Gary DeMar a few weeks ago carries immense repercussions for the life of the Church. Anyone who cherishes the ecclesia for whom Christ died must find refuge in the hope of the resurrection. To deviate from such hope is to lose hope.

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

In this episode, I offer a brief sketch of Satan’s progressive defeat in history, showing that such a final defeat could not have happened in the first century but is dependent on a longer historical model that accentuates the defeat of the devil and progressively builds on his humiliation.

Resources:

Letter to Gary DeMar

Ecclesiastical Dogma and Practice

Douglas Wilson on Preterism

What is Preterism?

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On March 16, 2023 By In Theology, Wisdom

Generosity

There is one who scatters and increases and one who withholds more than is right only to be in need.

~Proverbs 11.24

God is generous. God gives. That is who he is and what he does. Generosity is his character and the culture of the divine family. In the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Spirit, there is a constant giving, receiving, and giving back. Jesus, revealing his eternal relationship with the Father, tells the Jews that the Father has life in himself and has given to the Son to have life in himself (Jn 5.26). The Son, glorified by the Father, gives glory back to the Father (Jn 17.1). The Spirit is giving to the Father and the Son as the bond of love between them. Creation itself is a gift of each member of the Godhead to one another, and they continue to give generously.

All creation, with man as its apex, receives life from the Trinity, not only initially but continually, moment by moment. When creation fell under the curse of sin, God revealed the depth of his generosity by the Father giving the Son, the Son giving his life, and the Spirit being given to grant us life from the dead.

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On March 9, 2023 By In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Unlocking Potential

“An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.”

~Proverbs 13.23

If I gave you a treasure map and told you, “X marks the spot. There is a 100% guarantee that the treasure is there. Go, find it, and it is yours.” You might ask what tools you will need to retrieve the treasure, but it is doubtful that you would turn down such an opportunity. The potential to be wealthy is a good motivator.

The truth is you are promised riches and a way to retrieve them. Not only that but you have also been told what tools you need. The only question is, How badly do you want to be wealthy?

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On March 6, 2023 By In Scribblings, Theology

Podcast: Gary Demar, the Second Coming, and the Gravity of the Matter

Andrew Sandlin and many others (myself included) sent an open letter to Gary Demar concerning his theological transitions. We posed a few straightforward questions for him to consider. Gary offered an initial podcast response today. 

In this episode, I address the gravity of the matter and whether this is simply a topic for dialogue or whether this trespasses historical boundaries. While Gary Demar has done much good in his public ministry, we hope that these exchanges with several of his friends and this season will draw him back to the biblical and historical position of the Church and happily seal his many years of good labor.

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Resources:

An Open Letter to Gary Demar

A Statement on Unorthodox Eschatology

Five Ways the Second Coming Motivates our Obedience

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On February 23, 2023 By In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Sowing & Reaping

“The crown of the wise ones is wealth; the folly of fools is folly.”

~ Proverbs 14.24

Wealth is not always measured on a balance sheet. There are many forms of wealth, something that George Bailey learned in his odyssey in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. Wisdom, righteousness, peace, integrity, children, grandchildren, and many other riches make a man wealthy. Wealth can be measured in possessions, but that is not the only form wealth takes. Whatever form wealth takes, one principle is consistent concerning the true wealth to which Solomon’s son must aspire: wealth is the crown of wisdom.

Crowns are conspicuous in Proverbs. Gray hair (16.31), a man’s excellent wife (12.4), and grandchildren (17.6) are all crowns. Crowns are mentioned many times throughout Scripture. We, with Paul, are striving for an imperishable crown (1Cor 9.25), the crown of life (Jms 1.12; Rev 2.10), which is a crown of righteousness that will be given to all who love the appearing of Christ Jesus (2Tm 4.8). Faithful elders in the church will be rewarded with an unfading crown of glory (1Pt 5.4).

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On February 22, 2023 By In Theology, Worship

Dust & Ashes: A Lenten Exhortation

On the sixth day of creation, God made man from the dust of the ground. The dust that was taken from the earth was formed, fashioned, and enlivened by God’s own breath, glorifying the dust through its transformation into the man. This glorification was intended to continue. Glory was man’s beginning. Glory was man’s destiny. In between, he was moving from glory to glory.

We are given a hint as to how man would be glorified on the same day of creation. When God declared that it was not good for man to be alone and brought the man to that recognition, God put the man to sleep, ripped open his side, and from his side made the woman. The woman is the glory of the man (1Cor 11.7). Man would become more than he was in the beginning. More humans would fill the earth and man would assume control over and shape more of the world. Creation would continue to multiply, blossom, and become ever more beautiful.

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On February 16, 2023 By In Church, Culture, Theology, Worship

Transfiguration & Asbury

Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him to the top of a mountain to pray (Lk 9.28). Mountain praying would not be something unusual to the disciples. Throughout history, God met with his people on mountaintops. History begins on a mountain in the land of Eden with a sanctuary at its heart. Abraham meets God on a mountaintop when he sacrifices Isaac. After being delivered from Egypt, the children of Israel worship at Mt Sinai, the same mountain where Moses met with God earlier in the burning bush. The temple is built on a mountain, and, according to Hebrews 12, we still ascend a mountain in our weekly worship. The three disciples had ascended mountains to worship throughout their lives, many times singing the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120—134) as they went to worship festivals. But on this particular day, God pulled back the veil to reveal to them what happens on the top of the mountain every time they pray … even when they don’t see it.

God spectacularly revealed his glory. Though rare, this was not unique. The children of Israel experienced this at Sinai. Just as Jesus was transfigured before the eyes of the disciples, Moses was transfigured on the mountain. The children of Israel couldn’t look upon his face because of the brightness of glory (Ex 34.29-33). Some believe that this epiphany of Jesus was his divine nature bursting through the veil of his humanity. There is truth to that, but that is not the emphasis. Jesus speaks of himself in this context as the Son of Man. This reference gains layers of meaning throughout history, but its fundamental meaning is “Son of Adam,” the one to whom God gave the blessing and command to be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion. God’s intention for Adam, in the beginning, was that he grow to share his glory. Adam fell short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23). Jesus is the second Adam, the Son of Man, who will obtain this kingly glory. God reveals Jesus’ destiny in his resurrection and ascension and, with that, the destiny of man united with him.

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On February 11, 2023 By In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom, Women

Letters To Young Women: What is a Woman?

Dear Young Woman,

Once upon a time, there was an infant king. This man was created fully grown physically, but he was immature. His father, the Great King, gave him a realm to rule. It would take time for him to mature to the place where he could do all that his father wanted him to do. His father would be patient, giving him everything needed at each stage of maturity to accomplish his mission. When the infant king recognized he didn’t have all that he needed to move to the next stage of the mission, he would patiently wait for the father to give him the gifts he needed.

The first need was recognized within several hours of his creation. The infant king was alone. With the vastness of his domain and what was required of him to accomplish his father’s mission, the infant king couldn’t do this alone. The father knew that it was not good for his son to be alone, but he also wanted his son to recognize that it was not good. So, in one of his first tasks as an infant king—naming animals—he noticed how God made them in pairs, males and females. The fact that his father made the animals in these complementary pairs was his revelation that he always intended for his son to have another creature like him but different. His father hid it from him at first but made it easy for him to figure it out. And he did. Without any scientific studies, the man recognized that he was male and there was no corresponding female.

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On February 9, 2023 By In Culture, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Collateral Damage

Debt makes the world go ‘round. At least it does now. Somewhere along the way in American and global history, our economic systems have moved from debt being a part of the system to debt being their foundation. If all the debt was paid off tomorrow, our system would collapse. (For a simple explanation of this, read this article.) In the spirit of keeping things moving, our government is accumulating debt at a record pace. As of February 2023, we are $31.5 trillion in debt, most held by the American government along with Japan and China holding significant amounts of our debt to prop up their currency. American citizens have joined the spending spree. Credit card debt has soared to almost $1 trillion. With citizens unwillingly (for the most part) being guarantors for the government and credit card companies encouraging borrowing while only paying the interest, borrowers feel free to spend prodigally. This is not sustainable forever, and those who back these loans willingly or unwillingly will feel the effects eventually.

On several occasions in Proverbs, Solomon warns his son, the king-in-waiting, about the foolishness of becoming surety for someone else’s debts (Pr 6.1-5; 11.15; 17.18; 20.16; 22.26-27; 27.13). Becoming surety is not loaning, borrowing, or investing money. In each of those cases, there is a possibility of a return on investment. Surety is securing someone else’s debt in a way that you take all the risk with no possibility of financial reward. Your friend wants to borrow money, doesn’t have the collateral to back up the loan, and you and your assets become collateral for the loan, the guarantee to the creditor that he will receive his money. If the friend falls on hard times or bails on his responsibility, you are left holding the bag … an empty bag.

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On February 8, 2023 By In Church, Theology

Theology as Application to All of Life

One of my most cherished moments in seminary was being exposed to John Frame’s definition of theology. For Frame, theology was defined as “the application of the Word of God by persons to all areas of life.”a

There were always academic dimensions to theology, but theology was something immensely practical. It brought people to a “state of spiritual health.” This definition is helpful because,

“Theology is thus freed from any false intellectualism or academicism. It is able to use scientific methods and academic knowledge where they are helpful, but it can also speak in nonacademic ways, as Scripture itself does – exhorting, questioning, telling parables, fashioning allegories and poems and proverbs and songs, expressing love, joy, patience . . . the list is without limit.”b

I have since used this definition repeatedly and have learned to appreciate it even more as a pastor. The Spirit does not implant in us an application ex nihilo. Instead, theology is applicable and needs to be made applicable by pastors to parishioners and from parishioners to parishioners.

It is also freeing to consider this definition in light of the theological illiteracy in our day. Certainly, we wish to see the church grow in biblical knowledge, but this definition means that a pastor can instruct even the newest convert on how he ought to live. He can take the measuring of the temple in Revelation 11 and find clear applications for God’s people.

Frame’s definition accentuates the pastoral task in that it calls pastors to ask consistently “How Now Shall We Then Live?” In this sense, as Frame has argued elsewhere, unless theology is practically applied, it has not become true theology.

On the other hand, the one doing theology must first understand it before applying it. We have seen our share of faulty applications in the realm of the home and the church. Therefore, to properly grasp this definition of theology, one needs to be familiar with theology.

David’s battle with Goliath was more than a remarkable example of how we can overcome difficulties in our lives, but also how God can use the weak to defeat the strong and how a nation needs to put its trust in God rather than chariots and how the Church needs smooth stones of faithfulness to destroy the wicked. There are individual and corporate obligations involved in that straightforward narrative.

Theology prepares us to ascend with our Lord; in that reign, we can learn to apply this rulership in all areas of life. In applying our theology, we become ambassadors for our theology. Theology is life, and life is theological.

  1. Systematic Theology, pgs. 8-9  (back)
  2. The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, p. 81.  (back)

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