To End all Wars

The other night some good friends of ours brought over the 2001 movie, To End all Wars, which Courtney and I watched together with my friend and his wife. Now, before I go a step further and endorse the watching of a Rated ‘R’ movie, let me first say that there was a good bit of foul language and graphic violence contained within, to which you might want to stay away from. I was saddened that such a great movie contained these things, I did not enjoy these portions, and I am currently searching the internet trying to find a clean version of the film. That being said, the movie has a clearly implicit Christian message and it brought great conviction and encouragement to my heart. If by reason you find a copy of the clean version, or if you have a way with the mute button during the first hour or so of the film, I strongly recommend it. It will shock you, but it will most certainly encourage you as well.

Essentially, the story is about a group of POW soldiers during WWII and their persecution under the Imperial Japanese army. The band of Scottish and American soldiers are forced to build the Burma Railroad, or the Death Railway as it is commonly called, under some of the most horrific conditions imaginable. These soldiers, one of whom is clearly identified as a Christian, get their hands on some bibles and their lives are transformed before our eyes. The ‘love your enemies’ that Jesus taught takes on an unprecedented reality in this story. Like I said above, it greatly encouraged and convicted my heart on the extreme love to which our Lord has called us to.

Have you seen the movie? I’d like to hear from those who have.

UPDATE 2/27: I just wanted to make it clear that I would endorse this movie far above The Passion, The End of Spear, or Facing the Giants. No question about it, this movie, which doesn't even explicitly teach a Christian message, did FAR BETTER to communicate a biblical worldview than any of the movies above, including The Passion.

Why does it matter?

There have been a number of people who have recently asked me, 'why does it matter'? That is, why does it matter if someone is a Calvinist or an Arminian, a Cessationist or a Non-Cessationist, an adherent to Covenant theology or Dispensational theology, a Pre-millennialist or an Amillennialist, etc., and the list certainly goes on from there.

If we're all Christians, then why does it matter? Who cares what you believe if you are saved? Will we ever all agree anyway? Do you just like to argue? Haven’t people argued about these things for hundreds of years? Do you just like to think you are right? Don’t you believe in ‘secondary’ doctrines, so why don’t you leave it alone? Do you just like to lift yourself up as knowing the terminology better than others? Do you just like to be divisive? Do you just like to take ease in the superficial reading of books and the ‘splitting hairs’ method of studying scripture?

Undoubtedly, my answer to all the questions above is simply one thing: Worship.


We must know God to truly worship Him. To know Him in a shallow way will produce shallow worship. To know Him in an incorrect way will produce erroneous worship. To know Him in but a common way (as is common with most professing Christians) will produce common, bland, and boring worship. To know Him in a fickle way will produce empty worship. Truth be known, the less we understand about God the less we will worship period!

The only way to transcend the cultural substitutes for 'worship' is with a deep knowledge of God and His word.

It's not all about evangelism, as some would have you believe, though evangelism is a form of worship.


It's not about feeling good, though good feelings can be a benefit of true worship.

It's not about having fun, though having fun isn't an evil in itself.

It's not about dotting our theological 'i's and crossing our theological 't's, though true, sound, pure, and precise doctrine is the foundation of all true worship.

It's not all about winning the argument, though defending truth even when accused of being divisive and prideful is also an element of worship.

Do you want to know someone's real character? Look at their worship. Do you want to know a church's level of commitment to the scriptures? Examine their worship. Do you wonder if someone you are close to is saved or lost? Pay attention to their worship. Without fail, the lack of worship or questionable methods of worship will always accompany empty and defeated lives.

Let us just get one thing straight: pure and holy communion with Christ in this life should be our highest goal. Everything else flows down from this fountain. Thus, to pursue this above all else should be the most important endeavor of our daily lives. Let us strive and pray that all of our theological musings do nothing less than point people back to the scriptures so that they may run to and cling to a sound, pure, and radically deep knowledge of Jesus Christ.

A Need has Presented Itself

My good friend and brother in the Lord, Tim Brown, needs help. He needs prayer, he needs support, he needs encouragement, and he needs financial provision.

Tim is an Elder at a Reformed Baptist Church in North Carolina, and it has pleased the Lord to grant Tim and his family a time of trial and testing. It is most definitely a serious matter. The issue is too long to explain here, but essentially, he is being unjustly pursued by Child Services (or social services) in North Carolina for a variety of fuzzy reasons. He is a godly man, husband of one wife, father of seven children...yes, I said seven, as the Lord has surely blessed him. However, he homeschools his children, and his youngest child was born at home. Thus, as you can imagine, he is an easy target for 'big brother'. The legal fees and the medical fees have begun to pile up, and now child services is threatening all kinds of aweful things. Please contact him for the details surrounding the trial that he is currently facing.

Please, this dear brother means a lot to me. Consider bringing him before the Lord today, and maybe more, whether you know him or not. It may be that the Lord has brought this trial to Tim so that you may have a chance to demonstrate the love that God has planted in your heart. Maybe he has brought you to this blog post for the same.

But you know what is troubling? The most common, over-used cliché of the church has got to be ‘I will pray for you’. I mean, do we ever really do that? Do we just put them on a list and forget about them? Do we ever actually wrestle with the Lord in prayer for that person? In my experience, and this is because I am guilty, ‘I will pray for you’ usually ends up being a one-time, 15 second uttering, which is equally equivalent to telling a naked and starving man ‘be warm and be filled!’. I say this to our shame, and to try and stir us up to good works.

Please, make a point to pray for this brother, or even more. He and his family need it. Better yet, please consider contacting his church to see what you can do to help:

Heritage Community Church

1627 Laurel Lane

Gastonia, N. C. 28054

704-866-4288

Reformed Baptist Fellowship

Team Pyro, meet Reformed Baptist Fellowship.

A new blog has been formed in which Richard C. Barcellos, Mark Chanski, Bob Gonzales, James Renihan, Jim Savastio, Geoffrey Thomas, Dr. Sam Waldron, and Dr. James White have teamed up as contributors (bio's here).

What is a Reformed Baptist? The terms 'reformed' and 'baptist' do have their way of being thrown around these days, but a 'Reformed Baptist' is a church that holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Personally, I find this statement of faith to be the best confession to describe my personal beliefs.

I am excited to see what comes of this group. I am already big fans of White, Barcellos, and Waldron, having read material from each. So make a point to check it out.

Sinful Judging: The damage it causes

Recently, I have been reading a little portion of Thomas Kempis’ Imitation of Christ each day. Although Kempis had some odd views on a few things, and was a little over the top in the ‘monk’ department, this is one of the greatest little books the Christian can own. His focus on ‘sold out’ Christianity and a passion for Christ is second to none. I am finding that one little portion each day –just enough to meditate on, has proved to be most edifying in my life.

The other day I was reading in Matthew chapter 7 and the ‘judge not lest you be judged’ passage, and I was thoroughly convicted in how easily I judge others with a stricter standard than I judge myself. It reminded me of an excerpt from Kempis:

Keep your eyes on yourself and avoid judging the actions of others. In judging others we accomplish nothing, and are often in error, and readily fall into sin; but we always gain by self-examination and self-criticism.

Our judgments frequently depend on our likes and dislikes, and thus are far from true because we make them conform to our personal prejudices. If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.

It often happens that there is some hidden motive within us, or some outside influence acting upon us, that leads us to make such judgments. Countless are the individuals who seek themselves in all they put their hand to, but are quite unaware of the fact. They appear to be satisfied and tranquil as long as everything goes according to their wishes and desires, but as soon as something goes wrong they quickly become disturbed and depressed. Such divergence in ideas and opinions is frequently the cause of quarrels among friends and acquaintances, and likewise among the religious and devout.

What about you? How easily do you judge others? Do you judge others without ever getting to know them well enough to make an accurate judgment? Do you judge others based upon what you have heard from ‘trusted’ or ‘popular’ sources? Do you judge others because of ‘third degree separation’ (you know, they associate with so-and-so, who associates with so-and-so, who is best friends with that heretic, thus they can’t be on the right path). Do you judge others based upon your own person inclinations, without taking time to get the opinions of others as well? When you do make a judgment, do you deal with your own sin first? Do you confirm the facts by 'two or three witnesses'? Do you go to that person immediately and lay it before them? Do you give them a chance to plead their cause, with the full intention of being corrected on your judgment? Do you direct them to the proper path once a judgment proves to be accurate?

I’ve had to consider lately, just exactly what sinful judging is, how much damage it can do, and how easily I fall prey to it. I pray that you yourself would check your own life as well -especially in this blog-driven world where judgments can be broadcast to the world in a matter of minutes.

The role of the law in church discipline

What role does the law play in the practice of church discipline? Leaving the specific issue of church discipline aside, in that scripture is clear that there is a process in which we cast professing Christians out of our midst if they continue in sin without repentance, I want to specifically focus on what sins are ‘worthy’ of church discipline.

To briefly address the different positions here:

A) Some believe that Christians are under no law whatsoever (under, as in, there is no obligation whatsoever for us to obey anything in scripture). With that position, I’m not sure how they would practice church discipline. This would be the ‘no lordship’, ‘free grace’ position.

B) Some believe that the 'law' for new testament believers is only a sin as defined by the new testament, and that nothing outside of the new testament can be defined as a 'law' and thus a 'sin'. This would be New Covenant Theology, I believe, and consistent Dispensationalism.

C) Some believe that both the old and new testaments teach principles for all believers of all time, no matter if they lived in the old or new testament period.

One other clarification: for there even to be such a thing as ‘sin’ and ‘discipline’, -discipline from either the church or divine chastening from the Lord, there must be a clear definition of the concept of ‘sin’. That much should be plain.

Now, to ask some questions here:

1) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who consistently breaks the Sabbath?

2) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who consistently takes bribes?

3) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who visits palm-readers and sorcerers?

4) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who bows down to pray to an image of Jesus, claiming, as the Catholics and Greek Orthodoxs, that these ‘images’, ‘idols’, or ‘icons’ are not in themselves being worshiped, but that they are simply being used as a reference point to direct their minds to God?

5) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who claims to have a word of prophecy, even proclaiming ‘thus says the Lord’, when their ‘prophecy’ is full of inaccurate predictions of the future and/or wrong doctrine?

6) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on a man who continually dresses up like a woman in public? That is, in makeup, a dress, maybe even a bra, kind of like a drag queen?

7) Is it biblical to practice church discipline on someone who covers themselves in tattoos, so that even while they are claiming to follow Christ, they continue to cover themselves from head to toe?

Notice one thing: all of these issues above are completely absent from the New Testament, as far as I know. At least they are absent in specificity. However, they are all over the Old Testament. For example, the sin of taking bribes is all over the Old Testament, but found nowhere in the new (that I have seen). As is the issue of idols, of sorcerers, etc. So, what shall we do with these?

Now, I am NOT saying that church discipline is proper in every one of the points above, but I only give these so as to stir up your minds. We must have firm, clear, objective views on sin if we are to be honoring to our Lord.

What is the law of God? Is it the New Testament only? Is the New Testament and the 10 commandments? Is it only in some kind of ‘law of Christ’? How should we properly go about defining what sin is?

As for my position, and this can get fleshed out in future posts or the comments, I stand with David in Psalm 119:160,

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

Do you claim to profess Christ?

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." - Martin Luther

Where are you headed?

[This is a post I put on SBF last week]

Tom Ascol recently wrote on the Founders blog:

“Have we lost the gospel?” “Why even raise this question, knowing that it will inevitably provoke the angst of some brothers and sisters whom I respect and tempt them to dismiss me as a crank or some kind of helpless malcontent? I do so because it is simply too important to leave unaddressed. Too much is at stake. The glory of God in the salvation of sinners is at stake. So is the eternal destiny of many who may think that they are right with God but who are merely religious (Matthew 7:21-23).”

Amen to that, Tom. We are in a battle here. We cannot stand aside with our theological ‘i’s dotted and ‘t’s crossed while the gospel goes down the tubes. We must be active, not passive, in recovering and proclaiming the true gospel if we are to have any sort of chance in this war on truth.

For example…

When are we going to challenge those people who claim to believe the bible, claim to love sound theology, and yet attend churches where these convictions are not taught or emphasized?

When are we going to visit the pastors of the churches in our own neighborhood (SBC particularly) to specifically exhort them to recover the truth of the gospel? Even having the boldness to call the pastor, the pastor, to repentance or even salvation, if necessary.

When are we going to pull over, bible in hand, and plead with the pastor to recover the truth of the gospel when we drive by the churches with signs such as, ‘give Jesus a chance’?

When are we going to stop waffling with our clearly-lost-but-think-their-saved buddies just because they attend some form of a church down the road which does not hold fast to the truth of the gospel?

When are we going to call those to account who clearly have political ambitions, or who talk themselves up as having firm convictions until they are challenged by someone popular or someone whom they admire?

When are we going to press people to stop talking about reforming their clearly backslidden church instead of standing up and doing something about it until the church either recovers or asks them to leave?

Simply put, folks, if we don’t get out of our comfort zone with the firm understanding that that this society (church-society) is going to reject us as ‘unloving’ when we attempt to hold others accountable to sound doctrinal beliefs; if we don’t realize that and place it aside for the cause of Christ, we’re going to lose the gospel, if we haven’t already…

Thanks, Tom, for this reminder. I pray that we will head your warning, myself included.

I’ve been tagged

Well, Jeremy over at the Doxoblogy has tagged me. Since I’ve been tagged before and enjoyed it, plus it's about books again, I’m happy to join the fun. The ‘tag’ rules are as follows:

1. Grab the book closest to you.

2. Open to page 123; go down to the fourth sentence.

3. Post the text of the following three sentences.

4. Name the author and book title.

5. Tag three people to do the same.

Now, I’m going to cheat a little here. The closest book to me when I first read this was Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson. But, that is not a book I’m currently reading, but one I’ve finished and that is waiting to be put back on the shelf. The closest book to me that I am actually reading is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis.

Thus, you get a double-dosage. Both are great books, so they both deserve mention. I don't do these tags halfway. Here is Robertson, and I will add Kempis as well:

“Creation’s witness of grace toward sinful man still provides the platform from which the universal proclamation of the gospel should be launched…the seal of the covenant with Noah emphasizes the gracious character of this covenant. In a context of threatening judgment symbolized by the bloated rain clouds, God designates the overarching beauty of the rainbow to depict his grace-in-judgment.” - Christ of the Covenants, by O. Palmer Robertson

And Kempis:

“I have told my beloved disciples: “as the Father loved Me, so I love you.” When I sent them out, I sent them not in search of temporal joys but to fight mighty struggles; not to look for honors but to be happy in being victims of contempt; not to seek leisure but to spend their time in laboring for others; not to desire rest but to bear fruit with patience. My son, take these words of Mine to heart!” - The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis

I’m currently reading and studying a lot of different stuff right now, and so my desk is a complete mess. Just look at the pictures. The other books that are currently filling up my desk right now are:

Redemption Accomplished and Applied, by John Murray; A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, by Robert Reymond; Systematic Theology Vol. 3, by Charles Hodge; The Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, by John Calvin; The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers; John Calvin Commentary Vol. XII, Daniel 7 – 12 and Hosea; Saved From What?, by R.C. Sproul; The Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol. 1, by John Calvin; Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof; The Intimate Marriage, by R.C. Sproul; Husband-Coached Childbirth, by Robert Bradley; The Power of Integrity, by John MacArthur; The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan; The Regulative Principle of the Church, by Sam Waldron; and Reformed Worship, by Terry Johnson.





Now I have to tag three people. OK, how about Tim Brown, Gordan Runyan, and someone who frequents this blog but who doesn’t have a personal blog, my good friend Davide Palmer. He can post in the comment section if he wants to participate (no obligation guys). See the rules above, and have a great weekend and Lord's Day!

SDG