“And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him.  And He appointed twelve (whom He also named apostles) so that they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” – Mark 3:13-15

It seems that when passages such as Christ’s commissioning of the disciples are examined, what is emphasized is the power and divinity of Christ in that He has authority to give to others.  Even more by the charismatic branch of the Church, the emphasis is placed on the miraculous nature of the authority given to the apostles – power to cast out demons and heal the sick (Matthew 10:1).  The evangelicals point out that the original aspect of authority given was to preach.  However, all of these miss the real miracle.

“And He appointed twelve…so that they might be with Him,”

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I’ve been singing this song over and over in my head lately. It’s something that we used to sing every week as part of the liturgy growing up in the Episcopalian Church. I love how doxological this Trinitarian hymn is. I guess all that meaningless song and dance of lifeless “going through the motions” turned out to be something very different from all that for me. Instead, the more I reflect on the use of hymns like this and recitations of the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed during worship services, the more I see that the most important kinds of theological education (who God is and what He is like) was being accomplished in parts of the service other than the sermon. Maybe the reason that I think the Trinity is so important today is because the idea was reinforced IN WORSHIP (not just in words) throughout my childhood. So, I leave you all with the hymn. I wish I could give the music, too.

Glory to God in the highest,

and peace to His people on earth.

Lord God, Heavenly King,

Almighty God and Father,

We worship You, we give You thanks;

We praise You for Your glory.

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Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God,

You take away the sin of the world,

Have mercy on us!

You are seated at the right hand of the Father;

Receive our prayer!

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For You alone are the Holy One,

You alone are the Lord.

You alone are the Most High,

Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit!

To the glory of God the Father!

Amen.

Anyone else sick of the hype over the supposed tomb of Jesus that is, of course, another hoax? Didn’t we just do this whole merry-go-round with the DaVinci Code? Well, I’ve got the real story. This is the real tomb of Jesus.

You can read the whole story of how Fred Sanders came across this amazing, world-changing archaeological discovery here.

But, I should warn you - if you’re not secure in your faith, this might shake you up a bit… Parents, make sure your little ones don’t get too discouraged.

(HT: Pontifications)

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Last night I listened to a lecture/discussion between Mark Dever (9marks), John Piper (Desiring God), and Bruce Ware (SBTS) concerning quite a few topics ranging from particular redemption to N.T. Wright’s view of justification with regard to Dunn’s New Perspectivism to mega-churches and the emergent movement, and on and on.  One topic struck me, though, and I want to share some thoughts in a journal like entry about abortion.

Piper cares about this topic.  He has been arrested on multiple occasions for chaining himself to gates clinics in order to prevent the murder of unborn children.  Ironically, since the U.S. government has never ruled as to whether a fetus is a human or not (obviously it is), Piper has gotten off every time by pleading the Good Samaritan Act, which obligates him to protect humans from harm if it is in his power to do so.  For once, a good loophole!

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On Free Choice of the Will - Augustine

I doubt many of you will care to read the lengthy book review that I wrote on Augustine’s On Free Choice of the Will, so I’ll make some quick observations before I include a link to a page where those of you who care to can read the extended version.

Most fascinating thing I learned: Augustine (the early theologian traditionally credited with articulating Calvinism 1200 years before Calvin did) believed in free will! And it wasn’t that kind of compatiblistic freewill linked to theistic determinism (the idea that God controls everything, so we can decide for ourselves). No, Augustine articulates quite clearly that he upholds at best a soft deterministic worldview, ad he would probably subscribe to Reformed Molinism like Alvin Plantinga (Notre Dame) or Douglas Blount (SWBTS). That seems to be one more example of where many uneducated Calvinists continue to assert their ignorance. What a relief! I was glad to learn that.

He also believed that a moral, virtuous life (via our freewill) leads to happiness given by God’s grace. Hence, if people aren’t happy, they probably aren’t following God the way they ought. Of course, here he means something more like an inner peace, and less like a “Woo Hoo! Let’s party!” kind of happiness. I agree. He takes it further and begins to develop what Jonathan Edwards discussed and John Piper has articulated in Desiring God.

Gotta love the fathers. Reading this has put one more notch of importance in my brain of the incredible theological and missional (practical) contributions of the Patristic Era. If you want, you can read the whole paper by following this link: “A Review and Analysis of Saint Augustine’s On Free Choice of the Will.”