Ask RC – What is your favorite book of the Bible?

Posted on December 9, 2019 by RC


This is, of course, somewhat slippery ground. I would never want to suggest that one book of the Bible is better, sounder, truer, more inspired than any other book of the Bible. It is all God breathed, without error and powerful for reproof, correction, for reshaping us into the image of Christ. But, Hebrews. It’s Hebrews without a doubt.

The first reason is the most potent and is well illustrated by the name given to the sermon series we sheep were blessed with at Pine Hills Church over the summer. It was simply titled, “Greater Than.” Our pastors led us through chapters 9-11 and faithfully preached the glorious truth that Jesus is greater than everything that came before Him and everything that has come since. Hebrews is a book that exalts Christ.

The second reason is how it exalts Christ. That is, the author of Hebrews doesn’t just affirm the truth of the transcendence of Jesus, doesn’t just exalt Him in terms of His glorious being. No, the author demonstrates that the perfections of Christ are put to work in our salvation. It’s not just, “He is great” but “The One who is great has won great things for you.” He is both the priest offering up the sacrifice for our sins, and the sacrifice offered up for our sins. He intercedes for us, bringing our petitions before the Father as His own.

The third reason is the context of the exaltation of Christ. First, Hebrews is written to those who are facing the temptation to toss aside the Christian faith because of the hardships it has brought into their lives. The Hebrews are not the nice, happy people leading nice, happy lives. They are those who need to be told that Christ is holding on to them and will never let them go. Second, Hebrews is written to Hebrews. That is, this is an audience that is well familiar with the Old Testament. It is as if Hebrews is an unpacking of what might have been Jesus’ sermon on the road to Emmaus. Old and New come together in this book in a way that illumines them both.

When the author of Hebrews contrasts the worship at Mount Sinai with our worship it reminds us of the most glorious truth that we are lifted up into the heavenly places. It highlights the edenic nature of worship, that we are with Him, that we are unashamed, that we are His children seated at His table. Suddenly we remember that the Lord’s Table isn’t just an exercise in introspective guilt but is also an exercise of joyful assurance of our Father’s love for and adoption of us.

Hebrews is that book which in my judgment is the pinnacle of pastoral theology. All the high concepts of Romans married with all the tenderness of I John. Our minds are fed with the heartiest meat. Our spirits are fed with a tender touch.

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13: 20, 21).

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Last night’s Advent Celebration

Posted on December 9, 2019 by RC

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Lisa on Being Still, Saul as Type of Christ and HAPPY 100th to JCE!

Posted on December 9, 2019 by RC

Today’s Jesus Changes Everything

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What Are You Worried About?

Posted on December 7, 2019 by RC

We are inveterate plea-bargainers. We are adepts at the art of the deal. Romans 1 tells us that in our fallen condition we all deny the God we know exists. We know we stand guilty before Him, but we suppress that truth in unrighteousness. But, we do not want to be utterly and completely selfish, absolutely unrestrained. So we submit to sundry creatures, gods of our own making. We are willing to have, for instance, “god-to-me” in our lives, if it will keep the living God at bay. We are willing to admit some level of guilt- “nobody’s perfect”- in order to avoid entering into the fullness of our wretchedness. And we are willing to fear some minor inconveniences, if it will keep terror away.

When Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount He treated His audience as believers. He told those that had gathered that they were the light of the world, and that salt which preserves the world. Unbelievers, however, do not go unaddressed. In calling on believers to set aside their petty fears, and to embrace a single minded passion for the kingdom of God, in chastening those assembled for worrying about what they will eat and what they will wear He says, “For the Gentiles seek after all these things” (Matthew 6:32).

This too is plea-bargaining. It is an attempt to squelch one dreadful fear by replacing it with a merely annoying fear. It is a great win to be able to sigh in relief after honestly assessing, “What’s the worst that could happen?” If I don’t have enough to eat, that could be bad, from a certain perspective. If I have nothing to wear, that too could be bad, from a certain perspective. Either of these, via starvation or exposure, could, at worst, lead to my death. That, it seems in our day, is at the root of our fears. We live in a culture where death is looked upon as an option to be delayed. Exercise, diets, surgeries, cosmetics, photo-shop are the tools of our trade by which we avert our eyes from the truth that we are dying.

We have not, however, reached the end of our bargaining. We prefer to worry about what we will eat or wear to worrying about dying. But we prefer to worry about dying to worrying about hell. Dying, after all, happens only once, and then it is over. Hell, on the other hand, is forever. I would argue that far more terrifying than the pain of hell is its duration. A great deal of pain for even a relatively brief time is less than a pain that lasts forever. What unbelievers ought to be worrying about is not he who can kill the body, but He who can kill both body and soul (Matthew 10:28).

This in turn ought to tell us what we should be most grateful for. This great fear is no longer on the table for us who trust in the finished work of Christ alone. What are we doing spending our time worrying about the plea-bargained fears of the Gentiles when we are free of their ultimate fear? Why should we worry about what we will eat, when we feast on the body and blood of our Lord? Why should we worry about what we will wear when we are clothed in His righteousness?

Hell should not, however, because we need no longer fear it, fall off our radar. First, we are called to constant thanks and gratitude that we will never experience it. We must remember that on the cross Christ descended into hell for us, that He received the full wrath and fury of the Father due to us for our sins. But second, hell did not disappear. Why are we worrying about what we will eat, what we will wear, while there are those out there worrying about what they will eat, what they will wear, who will end up in hell, unless they repent? It is bad enough that they who want to deny that hell exists worry about petty things. How much worse is it that we who affirm the reality of hell worry about petty things?

When we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness we are not merely seeking to get in before the gates close. It is not merely our own entrance that we seek as we seek the kingdom. Rather we are about the business of seeing the glory of the reign of Christ over all things made known all across the globe. Which means we seek the kingdom as we seek to be used of the King to bring in the elect from the four corners of the world. We seek the kingdom when we proclaim the good news to a lost and dying world. We seek the kingdom when the Spirit uses us to snatch brands not just from the fire, but from the fire that never dies.

We are none of us conscious enough of hell. Were we so we would be marked by both gratitude and urgency, gratitude for our own rescue, urgently laboring for the rescue of others. Hell is real, and hell is forever.

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Ask RC- Is acting a sin?

Posted on December 6, 2019 by RC

In its exposition of the meaning of the 7th commandment the Westminster Larger Catechism says, “The sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are, adultery, fornication, rape, inces3, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; … lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays; and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.” Does this mean that it is sinful to act in a play?

Well, it certainly means that the Westminster Divines who gave us this catechism thought it was a sin. Were they right? It is a scary thing for me to disagree with the Westminster Standards, something I want to do only with great caution and care. But yeah, they were wrong. Understandably wrong. Less wrong than we tend to be on the same issue, but wrong nonetheless.

Note that this condemnation is given in the context of unpacking the sins of adultery. As Jesus did on the Sermon on the Mount our fathers here are rightly seeking to explore the fullness of the command. It goes well beyond a married person sleeping with someone other than his or her spouse. It certainly would include participating in pornography, whether producing it or partaking of it. And that may be where they made their mistake.

It is not just possible but likely that stage plays of that era were given to the bawdy, the suggestive. But such is not of the essence of stage plays. Stage plays can be none of those things. When my church put on a production of It’s Cool in the Furnace, a retelling of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, it wasn’t presenting anything in the least bit bawdy. It was, however, a stage play.

Perhaps though the issue our forefathers had with stage plays was the dishonesty inherent in them. Actors pretend, and one could argue, pretending is a species of lying. If, however, such were their concern, surely this prohibition would have appeared under the heading of the 9th Commandment rather than the 7th. More important still, no one watching a stage play is under the impression that what they are witnessing was “true.” Before you declare “Gotcha” keep in mind that in the same way the stage play is untrue, so is the parable. If one is a sinful lie, so is the other.

Should Christians be more thoughtful about what they take in, and in what they put forth? Of course. Are we likely benumbed by the low standards of the broader culture? Almost certainly so. But there are options. I thought it a wonderful thing indeed when I learned that the closing kiss between Kirk Cameron’s character and his wife in Fireproof was actually a kiss between Kirk Cameron and Kirk Cameron’s wife. Good on my friends at Sherwood Productions I say. It is true also that we are given to study ways to slip out from under God’s law. On the other hand, this prohibition is, in the end, clumsy and actually deleterious to a true love of God’s law.

Right is right and wrong wrong. It is right to expose that which the Bible condemns that the world affirms. It is wrong, however, to condemn what the Bible does not condemn. Our fathers to their credit pushed back against cultural norms. Sadly, here they gave us counter-cultural norms rather than Biblical norms.

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The Blessing of Benedictions, a Letter to an Unbelieving Friend and More…

Posted on December 6, 2019 by RC

Today’s Jesus Changes Everything

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The Devil’s Advocates

Posted on December 5, 2019 by RC

There are many blessings that come with being de-platformed. One of those blessings is being freed from various internet press-gangs. Time was whenever there was a hubbub on the internet that agitators on both sides would seek to win my allegiance, to commit my sword to their cause. I get that. Everyone wants allies. And no one wants to be known for having their backside overrun with splinters from inveterate fence sitting. There are times when the call to battle requires that we take up arms. Then there are times to ignore rabble-rousers.

The internet creates some perverse incentives toward war. Success on the web is measured by likes, page views, retweets. One sure way to get these precious commodities is to go after someone with a bigger reach and lay siege. Lest you reveal your pettiness, it is always wise to dress up your attack as a valiant, thankless effort to protect the less discerning sheep from the big, bad wolf. Of course, this is what accusers of the brethren have always done. There is a black thread that runs through those who hate those whom Christ’s work has saved. From Satan’s accusations against Joshua the High Priest to the crowd’s accusations against Stephen to the Pope’s accusations against Luther, to the diabolical work of the Dominicans during the Inquisition to Discernment Ministries in our day, the animus is all the same.

The accusations of the devil will always stick, if we look at the accused alone. Should people be warned about Rosaria Butterfield? Of course. Should they be tipped off about Tom Ascol? By all means. Has Marcus Pittman brought harm to the body of Christ? You bet. Is JD Hall a danger? We had all better beware. Is R. Scott Clark infected with error? No question. Is Andrew Sandlin off base on important issues? Who could doubt it? Does CJ Mahaney have skeletons in his closet? Probably an army of them. Does John MacArthur struggle with pride? I’m sure he does. All of these warnings apply to me as well. And you. Which is why Jesus came. Those discerners who hate me see right through me. My heavenly Father, who loves me, sees me through Jesus.

Our Corinthian fathers rightly received Paul’s rebuke for their partisan ways. They, at least, had the courtesy to be identified by whom they were for, “I am of Paul;” “I am of Cephas.” We are worse, more often identifying ourselves by whom we are against. And we think ourselves faithful servants of our King as we figuratively murder the ones He literally died for.

What do we do? We recognize ourselves in the mirror and with the aid of God’s Spirit, go to war against our own sins, our old man, our flesh. We repent for our tribal ways and ask for the grace to show the grace to others that we depend on ourselves. If we feel the need to warn the brethren, let’s warn them about ourselves.

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Samuel as a Type of Christ, the Scourge of Cowardly Anonymity and John Barros, Hero

Posted on December 5, 2019 by RC

Today’s Jesus Changes Everything

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Ask RC-Jesus told the rich young fool that he must sell all that he had, give it to the poor, and follow him. Is this true for all who would follow Jesus?

Posted on December 4, 2019 by RC

Yes. This, of course, is not what we typically hear about this text. We are told, for instance, that Jesus was tapping into the first use of the law rather than the third here, that rather than telling the young man what he must do to inherit eternal life He was demonstrating that despite the man’s claims, he had not in fact kept the Ten Commandments. Jesus here is saying, “Well, let’s look at commandment one. Do you have any gods before me? Money perhaps?” This is all true and good exegesis of the text.

Trouble is that we then go on to comfort ourselves by thinking, “Since I am not like this rich young fool, since I would be willing to sell all that I have and give it to the poor if Jesus asked, I pass this test.” We think that he failed an actual test because he was no good, while we can pass a hypothetical test because we are good. It is, however, a very different thing to give up all your actual wealth than to merely hypothetically give it all up.

Now it may be that money is not actually an idol in your life. It may be that were Jesus to give you this command you would get right to work selling off assets. All of us, however, have idols, things we hold back from giving to the Lord. I discovered an idol in my own life several years ago when God in His providence didn’t ask me to give it away, but simply took it from me. I had at that time something of a reputation as a rather bold and prophetic fellow, someone who bravely didn’t much give a thought to his reputation. That reputation quickly morphed into a reputation as a bully and a cheat. And I learned rather quickly that I did indeed give a thought to my reputation, that I craved, longed for a reputation as one who didn’t care about his reputation. My deceitful heart had deceived me again.

When we sign on with Jesus we give up our wealth. We give up our reputations. We give up every gift that He had already given us, and every gift He will give us from that moment forward. When we become a part of the bride of Christ our pre-nuptial agreement reads, “All that I am and all that I have is yours O Lord, from this day forth and evermore.” When, therefore, He asks for anything, whether our wealth, our reputation, or whatever we may cherish we confess, “Yes, Lord.” The rich fool went away from Jesus sad for he had great wealth. We, however, walk toward Jesus, joyful, for we already had nothing.

Do you have to give up your wealth? Of course. Even if the Master allows you to continue to steward it for Him. Do you have to give up your reputation? Of course, even if He allows you live in peace and quietness with all men. You have to give up everything, just like He did. And, like Him all you will receive in return, is everything.

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The Holy Spirit, The Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas Dust Up and the Top 5 Christmas Movies Ever

Posted on December 4, 2019 by RC

Today’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

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