Think Wink.

On March 14, 2008, a couple–Jeremiah and Kenan Bradford–that used to go to my church and now pastors a Baptist church north of KC, became the proud parents of Miriam Bradford. This little girl was born at around 4:30 am on 3/14/08 via emergency C-section. Both mother and baby had an infection and the doctors didn’t know what it was initially. The bacteria was identified and treatment began. That following Monday (March 17, 2008), Kenan was released from the hospital and was finally able to see her baby for the first time as the baby was transferred to a children’s hospital. Miriam began to make progress towards a recovery but late Saturday morning on March 22, 2008, baby Miriam died in her parents arms. My pastor and music pastor performed the funeral for baby Miriam. The following sermon is based loosely around the message given at the funeral and deals with suffering and how to minister to those who suffer as well as what should our response be when God does not answer our prayers and in fact the exact opposite happens. It was very good.

Ben Witherington and Denominational Humor

Dr. Jerry Falwell

Paul and Original Sin

My friend Jamie Lundy, who is getting married this weekend and I am extremely happy for him and pray that God will bless this marriage, has always wanted me to read Spurgeon’s “Arminian Prayer.” Well, today I was looking for it and I hope what I found is what he was talking about. I find this prayer quite funny. Spurgeon writes in his sermon, “Free Will–A Slave,”

…You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say; but you never heard an Arminian prayer—for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free-will: there is no room for it. Fancy him praying, “Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free-will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not—that is the difference between me and them.” That is a prayer for the devil, for nobody else would offer such a prayer as that. Ah! when they are preaching and talking very slowly, there may be wrong doctrine; but when they come to pray, the true thing slips out; they cannot help it…

Spurgeon is right, no one would dare pray like that. It sounds too much like the Pharisee who prayed in Luke 18:11-12,

God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.

Rather all Christians who have experienced the mercy of God prays like the tax collector in Luke 18:13,

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

For when we pray like the tax collector, Jesus says this of us in Luke 18:14,

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Timothy and Esther’s Prayer

Calvinism and Prayer

A Prayer Request

This is probably not going to be the last post in this series, because I want to address the idea of “divine rape” in God’s effectual call and irresistible grace. This fifth post is going to be on Predestination and Prayer. In Part 4, I argued that Calvinism does not hinder prayer, but that God ordained that his saving, effectual call of his election comes through our preaching of the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 and 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; and this calling of his elect is the joy of the entire Triune God in Luke 10:21-22–Father, Son, Spirit. In Part 3 I argued that Calvinism does not give license to live however but that it gives the foundation and confidence to live the life of holiness we are called to live for (Hebrews 12:12-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; Ephesians 1:4; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:8-10). In Part 2, I argued that election is unconditional from Romans 9:11 and from 1 Corinthians 1:20-31 that Calvinism’s unconditional election and effectual call is designed to cut human pride out from under itself and give all glory and honor for salvation to God. In Part 1, I argued that many objections against Five-point Calvinism (TULIP) comes from people assuming it is the same as Hyper-Calvinism, it would be the same thing as assuming Arminianism is either Open Theism or Pelagianism; if this confusion would stop, many objections would cease, and so I tried to demonstrate the difference between the biblical Five-point and Hyper-Calvinism. So let us turn to Predestination and Prayer.

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Objections to Calvinism Part 1 of 5

Objections to Calvinism Part 7 of 5

My Comfort in Romans 9

Last year, in December, I wrote two posts on my encounters with two Mormon missionaries that I really enjoyed trying to explain the Gospel of the Glory of Christ Who Is the Image of God. You can read the posts by clicking here and here.

Well, yesterday after church–a very good sermon on John 14:6 and intolerance–I came to home and had some ribs (thank you uncle Jamie!). I was really tired so I laid down and took a nap while listening to James White; it wasn’t that he was that boring, it’s that I was that tired. All of a sudden, I heard my aunt call my name. I looked at the clock on the computer and saw that it was 4:30 pm. I went down stair and she said I had some visitors. Guess who? It was three totally different missionaries wanting to share their gospel with me again. Now I was excited but I was totally out of it, incoherent. I was so zonked out that I was drooling on my shirt sleeve. As I walked down the stairs I was wiping off my mouth while rubbing my eyes. The right side of my face was all red from me sleeping on it.

Well, my Despote has seen fit to bring new missionaries into my life to share the gospel. So I lift up these men in prayer as they are going to call me next week so we can have a little talk. I ask that you pray for God’s grace to open their eyes to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. I also ask that you pray for me that I might adequately prepared to give a defense of the hope that lies within and to do so with gentleness and respect. Pray also that this will be done with respect and with intentionality. Pray also that God’s name will be honored in the exchange.

No related posts

Growing up as a kid, I watched professional wrestling. My favorite growing up was Sting with his blond hair and face paint that transformed into the Crow image from the movies. He was so fun to watch. After my sophomore year of high school, I kind of stopped watching the show. The story lines just weren’t entertaining any more, if I did watch it was to see if the Rock would say something funny. Then I picked up wrestling again during my tenure at SBU when most of my friends in the dorm watched the show. It was a male-bonding experience like no other. To this day, my wrestling buddies are the ones I speak with most.
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My Millennial Views Pt. 4: Revelation20:4-6

When Jonathan Edwards was growing up, his parents prayed for three things for little Jonathan:

1.) That he be filled with the Holy Spirit;

2.) That he know the Holy Scriptures;

3.) That he be great in the sight of the Lord.

It is very evident looking at what he recorded during his life that he knew the Scriptures very well. Reading of the ministry of Edwards and the life that he lived, it is very evident that he was filled the Holy Spirit. By human eyes, Edwards was and is great. He was used by God in a great manner and greatly during the (First?) Great Awakening. As a fellow believer in Christ, he was great before God in that he was chosen by God before the foundations of the world for salvation in Christ Jesus and through grace he was given a heart to believe and through that faith he obtained the righteousness freely offered by Christ’s death. Thus in the eyes of God, Edwards is as great as Jesus who has so made him by virtue of His righteousness.

Moral of this snippet: God honors the prayers of praying parents. Parents pray for your children, God will hear and listen to you. You never know, your child might become the next Edwards or Calvin or Luther or Augustine or Spurgeon or Whitefield or Graham or Lewis.

Another Tangent

Calvinism and Prayer

A Prayer Request

This past weekend, my sister had some bad allergies. We gave her some medicine but it didn’t seem to work. To make it worse, she had some strep before this happened. She had a really bad asthma attack yesterday and she had to go to the ER. The doctors discovered a major infection in one ear and a minor one in the other. She also had an infection in her eye. To combat this she has been given antibiotics. Her strep that she had before was gone, although she is going to have to have her tonsils taken out. The doctors are worried about the asthma though. She doesn’t have pneumonia, which is a blessing. However, they are nervous that her lungs aren’t giving her enough oxygen. So we have to take my sister to a lung specialist. Please pray that Olivia is okay that God will heal her asthma and her infections. She is my princess and is very dear to my heart.

A second request is on the heels of a recent conversation I had with Gideon, a coworker who I have been sharing the gospel with. Last week, he asked me about sin; namely if I was a sinner or he was a sinner. I answered yes and showed him 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” He was shocked by this revelation to know that everyone is a sinner. He asked me how then anyone can be saved. I had already shown him that being a sinner means you go to hell. So I took him to Ephesians 2:1-10. Pray that the love of God will save this man’s soul, through the word of God, from the wrath of God that vindicates the righteousness of God.

A Prayer Request

Calvinism and Prayer

Spurgeon and Arminian Prayer

I have two more Sunday’s at my church in Bunceton. Then I am permanently relocating to Kansas City to finish and focus on my education. After prayer and much discussion with some trusted people, I concluded that my education is top priority right now and that God is really wanting me in KC in giving me a job that completely pays for my education.

There is also another reason why I believe that God has called me to KC and away from Bunceton. And it is in this that I am seeking your prayers. My friend Jimmy has asked me to come on board with him at Faith Community Church in the youth group. The kids at this church are really growing at this church. They are begging Jimmy to teach them how to evangelize and share their faith. I feel that there is much I can do to contribute to this church and its youth program. Jimmy has asked me specifically to help out with the high schoolers. Recently, God has been leading me to develop people with a solidified biblical world view. To develop people who can become teachers, doctors, business execs. secretaries, janitors, theme park operators who engage the world and the culture with a Christian world view. That no matter what they do, they are driven by the Gospel. They are Christian doctors or lawyers. These people have the fortitude to step into their college scene or work environment and view it through the lens “of the Gospel of the Glory of Jesus Christ who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). This is a chance to do this. (The third reason is that it is getting too expensive to drive the five to six hours every weekend from KC to Ashland and Bunceton)

Today, Jimmy meets with the elder of preaching at Faith Community to propose his ideas for the youth group, including bringing me on to teach the high schoolers. I ask that you pray for God’s will to be done. If that means I am to come on board than I come on board, if not then I do not. But whatever happens, may the decision that they reach be one that most reflects the manifold glories of Yahweh in his son, Jesus the Messiah.

Calvinism and Prayer

A Prayer Request

Three Requests

I have three prayer requests that I would like to lay before my readers.

1.) One of my co-workers has been asking me about Christ and has been showing some interest in discussing it with me. So I have been seeking some time to be just one-on-one with him to find out more about what he truly believes. He says he went to church during his childhood and teen years but doesn’t any more and feels that we are okay as long as we “celebrate God.” I want to ask him more about that phrase and why he doesn’t think it is important to go to church. Hopefully this will lead to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him.

2.) My supervisor, Jimmy, was approached last week by another co-woker, Faira, and started asking about her eternal destiny if she didn’t go to church. Jimmy was very honest with her and called her out on her being a sinner. She admitted that she knew she was and even felt guilty. Jimmy simply told her that she didn’t trust and treasure God and his Son Jesus and therefore is going to hell. She appreciated the honesty. Pray that he will be able to share the Gospel of the Glory of Jesus Christ with her as well and that God will open her eyes to see the good news of his glory as revealed in Jesus Christ.

3.) Also, last Friday Jimmy asked me to partner with him as youth pastor at Faith Community Church here in KC. I have been thinking about leaving Bunceton for some time because a.) the church and I aren’t really seeing eye-to-eye on certain issues and b.) it is too expensive to be driving six hours every weekend for what they can afford to pay me. Please pray that God will direct me in the direction he wants me to go.

The “euaggelion” of Peace

January 26, 2007, 4:30 PM will always be a day I will never be able to forget. For the past 20+ years, my one and only grandfather has been slowly declining in health. It seems like as long as I can remember he has had a bad heart, bad lungs…his body was never good. His right leg was amputated just below the knee. This past September, my grandfather noticed that he could never get through a sentence, his voice would just fail him. He went to the doctor and found out that a tumor had grown in his vocal cords and was destroying them. The doctors ran some tests and found that his lungs were almost overtaken by tumors. They could have treated them, but that most likely would have killed him. If they didn’t treat him, he would die sometime later, in a very painful way. The family opted not to treat him.

Over the next four months, his health more rapidly declined. Last Saturday, January 20, he was admitted into the hospital because he could not breathe. The doctors stabilized him and then released him on Sunday. While there, the doctors took him off his meds and put him on morphine. That wasn’t a good sign. Wednesday, I got a phone call from my brother saying that Grandpa’s kidneys were failing, and he was going to pass soon. I rushed home to see Grandpa one last time.

Grandpa was Grandpa that night, still goofing around and being himself. He saw everyone all sad and was like “What’s wrong with you? I ain’t dying yet.” Thursday, he was worse. I took his hand and prayed with him. I sat there all that afternoon with my family and my Grandpa. He was so tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. Yet everyone wanted to talk and move around, which woke him up. Grandpa was ready to toss everyone out and lock the door. I went home to take care of Q and Olivia while my dad stayed at Grandpa’s. That night about 8:15 PM, it looked like Grandpa was gone, but he made it through another night.

Friday, January 26th between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM, my Grandpa slipped into a comma. Q, who only has to go to school half days, and I rushed to pick up Olivia at 12:30, and raced to Fortuna. I prayed over him one last time and Quintin said goodbye as only he could. Others came over and said their goodbyes. It was hard. At 4:00, the hospice nurse came by and said it was almost time. For the next half-an-hour, I constantly watched his chest to see if he was still alive. At 4:30 PM, I saw that his chest stopped and all attempts to get him to respond to any kind of stimuli failed. The nurse pronounced him dead at 4:30.

At 4:30 PM, the gates of heaven opened and Jesus descended down into Fortuna, MO. He entered into a small house where the Dorsey family had gathered. He took Grandpa by the hand and stood him up. Jesus led my Grandpa out of this world and into the realms of glory above, to be with Jesus every day for eternity. In the blink of an eye, John 14:1-3 occurred right before my eyes. Jesus said in that passage,

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

I miss him already, and I can say, I am absolutely jealous of my grandfather. He is in that house where God is. He is in the presence of absolute perfection. Perfect goodness, perfect, love, perfect joy, perfect beauty, all wrapped up within the Trinity.

Father, Yahweh, take care of my grandpa. Hold him in your arms and never let go. Open his eyes to see your manifold beauties. Father love him in your perfect love. Hold him tightly. Father, give my family and I the grace to endure and to survive this loss and to move on in joy. Father help us to morn him like those who have the hope of the resurrection. It is in Christ name, and for the sake of the name of Christ, I pray. Amen.

I have to wait until 2009…

MK vs DC???

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye