Habits of the Heart

Posted on November 9, 2023 by RC

Is it possible that our besetting sins beset us because we prefer to lop their tops off to getting to the root of the problem? I have been wondering of late why we are so prone, in the midst of complicated circumstances, to hand out white hats to our side and black hats to the other. With respect to Israel and Gaza we have both sides insisting that they are innocent of wrongdoing, and everything is the fault of the other. Now I’m not one to assume that any time there is disagreement that both sides must be equally at fault. That said, there’s only been one time in all history where there was conflict between sinners and the One without sin. In that conflict the One without sin redeemed we sinners who rest in Him.

It is not my intent to settle the relative guilt of the warring parties in the middle east. Rather I want to suggest that when it comes to our response to the conflict the problem is less who is wrong, more that we are so quick to respond emotionally without knowing all the facts. If I respond to this conflict out of emotion, chances are good that I have done the same with respect to Russia and Ukraine, with the grumbling congregants and the pastor, between my political party and the opposing political party, between the one gossiping to you and the one being gossiped about. The problem may be violence in the middle east, but my problem is being led by my emotions.

There is something profoundly satisfying about moral umbrage. We put on our prophet’s mantle and thunder against those other evil people. Add to that the postmodern victim hunger, that as we identify with those whom we’ve given the white hates we position ourselves as fellow victims of those to whom we’ve given the black hats. We get to wallow in our own self-perceived innocence, thinking ourselves morally clean because we’ve never crammed two million people into an open air prison, or we’ve never parasailed into a neighboring country to kill old women and take children hostage.

This is not moral equivalence however. I’m quite confident that on the day of judgment Hamas and Israel will not get equal scores. That said, He is the only one we should trust to give the right score. Neither am I arguing that in the face of evil we do nothing. I am instead suggesting that what we do a. is in submission to God’s Word and b. is done while undergirded with a sure confidence that in the end the Judge of all the earth will do rightly. I can be sad for all victims of the violence, disappointed in all those who cause the violence without letting my emotions get away from me and without arrogantly assuming that I know the precise measure of everyone else’s guilt.

May God give us the wisdom to know how to act, and the humility to know that in the middle east, in eastern Europe, in our troubled local church, in our circle of friends, the problem is we’re all sinners. May He likewise give us the faith to know He is washing us, bringing all things under subjection and reigns absolutely and unchangeably.

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Sacred Marriage, Beauty; Inerrancy of Nature & More

Posted on November 8, 2023 by RC

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

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The Axis of Evil

Posted on November 7, 2023 by RC

It is my habit to challenge my brothers and sisters who spend time and energy denouncing this form of abortion, that reason for abortion, or the other context for abortion. The problem with late term or partial birth abortions isn’t late term or partial birth, but abortions. The problem with sex selection, multiple reduction or Down Syndrome abortions isn’t sex selection, multiples or Down Syndrome, but abortions. The problem with unsafe, unsanitary abortions in run down, unregulated buildings is not unsafe, unsanitary, run down or unregulated. The problem is abortions. The problem isn’t when, why or how they are murdering babies. The problem is they are murdering babies.

That said, I fear one reason we refuse to come to grips with the horror of abortion is because of its horror. That is, if we live in a country that every ten years kills more babies than the Nazis killed Jews, well, we live in a country worse than Nazi Germany. That would mean shame. That would mean darkness. That would mean revulsion. That would mean we have to do something.

That would mean having to completely restructure our meta-narrative. That is, we would have to recognize that our simple view of the world, where Nazi Germany, North Korea, China are on one side, while the white hats are places like Canada, Australia and these United States is not only self-serving, but wrong. Given the scope and power of sin in general we ought to be suspicious of putting white hats on just about any institution, especially our own institutions. Given the desperate wickedness and deception in our own hearts, however, we tend to do so.

Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Iraq all have far greater restrictions on abortion than most western countries. There are, of course, all manner of great evils in those countries. But abortion mills on every other corner is not among those evils. When it comes to the murder of the unborn, however, there is an axis of evil. Four nations stand apart from the rest of the world. Four nations, not Muslim, not isolated, not under-educated, four nations alone freely protect the “rights” of moms even beyond twenty weeks pregnant to murder their babies. The four most radically pro-abortion nations on the entire planet are China, North Korea, Canada and these United States. That is our axis of evil.

I know it is a painful truth. I do not delight to speak it. We are not merely off track, losing ground, beginning to stray. I know it sticks in the craw, that it is hard to swallow. But the truth is we are an evil nation. We are a nation that since 1973 has elected seven presidents who promised at least to protect the legal “right” of some moms to murder some babies. We are a nation where tens of millions of moms have murdered their own children, with the help of tens of millions of fathers, boyfriends, husbands. We are a nation where Christians, real Christians just like me, spend more time and energy worrying about our favorite sports team than murdered babies.

When we find blood on our hands we are fools to close our eyes. Instead we must wash them in the blood from His hands. We must repent, confess ourselves to be guilty before God. Guilty of blasphemy in thinking we are God’s favored ones. Guilty of taking His name in vain by vainly asking that He would bless this nation. Guilty of rebellion against the wisdom of our fathers. Guilty of adultery in chasing after our nation more than our Husband. We are guilty of stealing the future of God’s children, guilty of lying to ourselves. We are guilty of coveting a reputation we haven’t earned. We are guilty of being the axis of evil because we are guilty of murder. Lord grant us the wisdom to see us for what we are, and the faith to see what You are making of us.

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Romans Study Tonight- Romans 8 and the Great Chain

Posted on November 6, 2023 by RC

Tonight we continue our look at the monumental, towering book of Romans. All are welcome to our home at 7 est, or you may join us for dinner at 6:15. We will also stream the study at Facebook, RC-Lisa Sproul. We hope you’ll join us.

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What’s our biggest weakness in understanding the Bible?

Posted on November 6, 2023 by RC

Logic, or a lack thereof. There are plenty of other weaknesses we have. We not only don’t come to the Bible as first century Jews but we do come as twenty-first century Americans. We are largely ignorant of the geography, culture, economy of the cultures into which the Bible was written. We are largely ignorant of the Old Testament background that is so vital to understanding the New Testament. We are likewise given to a relativist understanding of the Bible, believing we can assign our own meaning as we wish. We also tend to come to the text carrying this foundational principle, “Whatever the text is saying it isn’t saying I need to change.”

Despite all those lesser troubles I still affirm that our weakness in practicing basic logic is our foundational problem. We often fail to understand God’s written Word because we fail to understand written words. The heart of logic is the law of identity, A is A. Next is the law of non-contradiction, A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship. We try get around it, to make words not mean what they mean. We demonstrate in so doing that we are fools.

In turn, logic can help us cool our jets. While we try to make the Bible not mean what it says we also are prone to trying to make the Bible mean what it doesn’t say. We jump to conclusions. How many times have you heard, for instance, that Jesus, in His resurrected body, could walk through walls? The Bible doesn’t say this. It does say that the disciples were afraid and hiding, with the door locked, when Jesus appeared amongst them. How many different ways could that have happened? Maybe Jesus asked the disciples to open the door. Perhaps Jesus had a key. Perhaps His glorified body can’t walk through walls, but can pick locks. Perhaps Jesus teleported into the room. The Bible simply doesn’t say. So we shouldn’t either.

The Westminster Confession of Faith rightly says of believers that we are to believe every word that the Bible explicitly teaches, and more- every good and necessary consequence of what it explicitly teaches. We often fail to follow all that the Bible says to its logical conclusion. We often get lost on the way to the logical conclusion. Our failures in logic, more often than not, stem from our failure to fear God. Wisdom begins with fear because fear leads us to submission to every word that proceeds from His mouth. Yes, given our fallen minds we can simply make mistakes. Given our fallen wills, we often willfully make mistakes.

A study of basic logic would prove to be helpful in understanding God’s Word. It’s not as scary as it sounds because what we study is simply how our minds are supposed to think. Logic, as my father used to say, is the truth cop. When we fail in it, it lets us know we’re doing it wrong. So we try again. If you aren’t committed to logic, dcjgkeslhd, *^ salbj.

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Alone with My Thoughts

Posted on November 3, 2023 by RC

It is, of course, a sound and biblical truth that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is in our hearts. And, in turn, it is true that what is in our hearts is desperate wickedness. To be sure we are regenerate, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but the old man is still kicking and screaming. Because of the deceit that remains in our hearts, however, we are wont to miss what actually comes out of our mouths. We end up thinking our hearts are rather sunny places because we find rather sunny things coming out of our mouths, at least when people are listening.

I know this because I live this. It’s not uncommon for me to find myself alone in my car, and thus alone with my thoughts. That, sadly, doesn’t mean I have been driving in silence. If my windows could talk, well, parental guidance is suggested.

When we assess our hearts via assessing our minds, I suspect we tend to pick those memories which are the safest, the tamest recordings we can remember. We think that how we spoke to that sweet old woman at the library with the big cross around her neck reflects what is actually in our hearts. In truth, it may be what we say when no one is listening that reveals us most fully.

This is because of common grace. It, along with the spread of the gospel in Western culture, has created notions of manners, chivalry, and discretion. We understand that some things are just not said in polite company. Or at least most of us do.

There are both psychological and physical ailments that can restrain whatever mechanisms we have that restrain our speech. Some folks are missing that filter that greases social discourse. They are the ones who are quick to point out that you’ve put on some weight. Children, in turn, can be slow to develop these nuances. They aren’t afraid to ask why two of our sons have skin that is so much darker than my own.

Most of us also are missing the nuances when we are engaged in internal conversation, when we are just talking to ourselves. We think it is safe to be honest in the quiet of our own minds. There we admit our dislike of our neighbor. There we confess to our own assurance that we are quite gifted with this skill, that we are the ones deserving of this honor or that. We seem to think that these things can’t hurt us as long as we don’t speak them, as long as we keep them inside.

Oh, the lies we tell ourselves. What comes out of our hearts reveals what we are. What goes into our hearts, that creates what we are. Our internal dialogue is not meaningless background noise. It becomes instead the soundtrack of our lives.

We are blessed to live in an age and a culture which has easy access to the Word of God. And we are cursed to live in an age and culture which has easy access to the Word of God. Our fathers had to internalize the Word of God. They sang the Psalms so they would learn them. They learned them so they could sing them, even if it was only in the quiet of their own minds. We, on the other hand, are more apt to have the wisdom of last night’s big winner on American Idol reverberating in our minds. We have Bibles in every room in our homes and apps on our smart phones, but we don’t hide it in our hearts.

When I was driving down the highway yelling and sputtering, I did so reflecting the wisdom of the world. What I was saying was: “I am important. I have important things to do. I have to hurry. You all are failing to understand how to treat me properly.” What I should have been thinking was more like this: “If the Lord wills, I will get there on time.”

The song I should have had playing in my mind was “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” What I should have been rejoicing over is the glorious gospel truth that when I am stuck in traffic, I am already where I need to be, that no matter how many more miles I have to drive, the kingdom I am called to pursue first is already with me.

What I and we all need to remember is that whether we are alone in the car or alone with our thoughts, there is no thought in the woods that no one hears. The Word Himself hears every word, and every word of ours that is not an Amen to every word of His will burn up as wood, hay, and stubble. What I should have thought about in that traffic was not a resigned but a joyful reminder: “Where else can I go Lord? You alone have the words of eternal life.”

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Buckle Up

Posted on November 2, 2023 by RC

In little more than a year, unless things heat up more than even I can imagine, these United States will have an election. Every four years we’re told that this election is the one that really counts, that the future of the nation depends on the outcome. Such is never true, as the future of the nation is not dependent on who sits in the White House but Who sits at the right hand of the Father.

I will suggest, however, that this election is rather unlike what we are used to, because the world we’re living in isn’t what we’re used to. One of the reasons genuine conservatives are skeptical of giving the federal government more power is that they realize that either there are no genuine conservatives in Washington or, if they are, they won’t be there long. Law and order conservatives, after 9/11 were eager to set NSA free to snoop for our protection. Soon enough they were spying not for us but on us. There is supposed to be restraint on each side of the aisle because each side realizes eventually the other side will be in power.

Over the course of the last few election cycles we have witnessed hanging chads and an election determined by the Supreme Court. We have seen the left screeching that that 2016 election was stolen only to see the right screeching the same four years later. We have frontrunners being dragged into court and gagged. In short, we are seeing the trappings of civility and the orderly transfer of power disintegrating before our very eyes. These trappings, more than a well armed citizenry or a well educated electorate are the very bulwark of civilization.

A country where disappointment over a legal verdict leads to mass looting and riots is not a stable country, even if it’s the most powerful nation in the world, even if it has been around for more than two hundred years. That instability, by its very nature, does not stay hermetically sealed from those who had nothing to do with it. Which means that it is likely we are going to have a bumpy year. Maybe not an “Everyone is on house arrest for two weeks to flatten the curve” bumpy, but plenty bumpy.

What do we do? A prudent man sees trouble coming and prepares. While that preparation might include stocking up on a few things, more important still is that we get our hearts in the right place. Preparation means nestling in deep in our peace in God’s sovereignty. It means peeling away the sticky affections we have for the pax Americana and embracing the glorious truth that we are being faithfully led by our Lord to a city whose builder and maker is God. It means stiffening our spines that we might be found faithful by the King when we are found to be scapegoats by the empire.

Eternity remains in birth pangs. The future, however, is secure in the scarred hands of our Redeemer. Be at peace as war looms on the horizon.

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All Things Work Together- Romans Study from 10/30/23

Posted on November 1, 2023 by RC

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Sacred Marriage, Truth; Gov’t Temples; The Good Fight & More

Posted on November 1, 2023 by RC

This Week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

Posted in Economics in This Lesson, Jesus Changes Everything, Lisa Sproul, Month of Sundays, Nostalgia, politics, RC Sproul JR, Sacred Marriage, That 70s Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Seeking Christ

Posted on October 31, 2023 by RC

Neil Postman, in his compelling book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, argues that we have moved as a culture from one wherein the printed word drives us, to one wherein the image drives us. With the advent of the printing press, we became better able to think in abstract terms, to follow arguments, and to reach conclusions. Now, in a world driven by images on screens, we think less and feel more. Now we emote on the basis of images, rather than think on the basis of arguments. We are more likely to be moved, than we are to be persuaded.

As is so often the case, however, what we are called to here is balance. We do not want to be carried away with our emotions, nor by what we see. Neither, on the other hand, do we want to suppress our emotions and live like robots. Our goal is that we would think rightly, that our minds would be renewed, and having had this happen, that we would be changed in our hearts, that we would be transformed.

That same balance is reflected in how the Word reaches us. Far too often in the history of the church theologians have pitted the sacraments against preaching, failing to see their organic connection. The Bible is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the bread and the wine. The bread and the wine is the Word of God. To put it better perhaps, in the worship service we are blessed by the Word preached, as we are blessed by the Word touched, and tasted, at the table.

To push our analogy a step further, we must also remember that the church is the body of Christ, and the bread is the body of Christ. God has not given us just words on a page. He has given us the Word visible in the sacrament, and in the church. Our calling is to seek to see Him in both. We need to see Him in our brothers and sisters in the pew, and when we come to His table.

In both instances we are changed. In both instances we draw near to Him. In both instances we are changed, in our whole being. Jesus told us that the world would know we were His by our love one for another (John 13:35). Given that we are still sinners, how can we rightly love one another? Because we grow in our capacity to see Jesus in one another. He indwells each of us, and He is altogether lovely. We in ourselves are merely dust and rebellion. But Christ in us, that is glory and beauty and all that is lovely.

Our calling is to keep our eyes on the prize. Jesus not only secures our reward, but is our reward. As we look to Him, whether we find Him in the Bible, at the table, or in the pews, we move toward our eternal home. Jesus promised that lo, He is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We ought then always to see Him with us.

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