If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.
John Piper
Time Magazine recently did a feature story on the “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now“. Among the list which includes recycling, amorality and bio-banks is the almost 500 year old belief system called Calvinism.
It is interesting to see this belief system on the rise (at least according to Time), because the teaching of the most prominent churches today is not usually of a sovereign, all powerful, all knowing God. Most churches choose to teach a weaker faith where the individual is in control of all aspects of the relationship with the god of his/her choosing.
From my perspective, the God of the bible, when taught the way the Bible teaches Him is not as popular as the god who looks and acts like Santa Claus. The God I know is in charge, no matter how bad the situation seems. He is powerful enough to do anything, knows everything, and is everywhere. That God is deserving of worship. That is one of the main ideas behind Calvinism…
Calvinism (sometimes called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things.[1] It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French reformer John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates throughout the 16th century.
from Wikipedia
But don’t misunderstand me, I would not say I’m a Calvinist anymore than I would say I’m a Baptist. I follow Christ and His word, the Bible. When a belief system teaches something that is Biblical, it is correct, but when it teaches something that is contrary (or extrabiblical) to the teaching of scripture, that belief system has gotten it wrong. In other words, when men control a belief system, it can often become a religion void of truth and love for Christ, but when men merely interpret the Bible and allow it to be the standard, people meet and grow in love for Jesus.
I think Calvin got it right, becasue I think Calvin understood what the Bible said. Therefore, I am a Bible believing Christ follower who happens to agree with Calvin’s understanding of some of the biggest theological concepts from the Bible.
Mark Driscoll, of the “new calvinists” mentioned in the Time article has written a couple of blog posts about this topic, I encourage you to check them out, and especially give me your thoughts on His first post.
Most of the pastors that I am influenced by are for the most part non-political in their messages, including John Piper. In the following excerpt, from last Sunday’s sermon, he addresses the issue of abortion. I’m sure that people on the other side of this debate will see this as politically driven, but I see it more along the lines a man that values all human life and wants to see as many as possible meet Jesus.
I’ve also got to say, that I don’t see how you can have a heart for people either in a general compassionate human way or in a soul loving Christian way and be pro-abortion. I don’t see how you could reconcile being for the death of those that God wills to save. And don’t hear me being one of those hard edged conservatives who hates everyone who has had an abortion, I am not. There is forgiveness in the cross. So there will be no judgment in me. But I feel that it is irresponsible and murderous for a society to support the deaths of so many little Rachael’s and Isaiah’s.
What do you think?
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Piper. That crazy guy. Or wait, maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe it is the popular view of the church at large, when it comes to missions, that is crazy, and maybe seeing Christ supreme in all things is the correct way to see everything we do, including missions.
Anyway you see it, this is a great perspective about how we should see missions. And remember I didn’t write it, so don’t get mad at me, although, I guess, it is totally legit to be mad at me for agreeing with it. So agree, or disagree, it will not make it any less true.
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Man, John Piper has just been on a roll lately. This video is a promotional video for a conference that is being held soon, that I wish I had had the money to go to, but didn’t (maybe next time). Matt Chandler also has a video that is pretty closely related to this current one.
I am becoming more and more convinced of the importance of good Bible teaching in the lives of Christians. I think without good Bible teaching Christians can never fully understand who Jesus is and why they should live for Him.
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“God blesses those He loves.” We’ve all heard it before. “Jesus died so that you could have financial success and be healthy.” We’ve heard that too. And I tell you what, nothing gets me more fired up than the idea, or teaching, that people deserve things from God and that God wants to make us successful in this world.
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I was reading from a book by John Piper entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Life”, and I was struck by the idea that so many people who call themselves Christians, and so many “Christian” organizations and institutions totally miss the point.
Life is not about moralism or religion. Life is about Jesus. A Christian isn’t someone who is good, he is someone who glorifies Christ. I believe that if Christ is not central in your life, and that He is only the means to the end of Heaven, that you don’t really understand the gospel. The gospel is not about creation, it is about the creator. The gospel isn’t even about Heaven (which Jesus created), but about Jesus Himself. The gospel begins and ends with Christ. And if our lives don’t reflect that, we show a great ignorance of the greatness of Christ.
Jesus is everything. He is our sustainer and our life, and without Him all of life is a waste. And when we live like the rest of the world and act like being good is good enough we belittle the glory of Christ.
If Christ is not made much of in our lives, they are wasted. We exist to make Him appear in the world as what He really is – magnificent. If our life and death do not show the worth and wonder of Jesus, they are wasted.
John Piper
from “Don’t Waste Your Life” p. 64
Jesus didn’t come to earth to make us good Christian people, He came to change our lives so that we might bring Him glory. The gospel is more than living morally and believing the facts about Jesus. It is more than being good and doing good, it is about the glory of Christ.
We exist to show His glory to everyone we can. We exist to be Christ to others because of Christ in us. But more than anything, we exist to make His name famous, to proclaim His excellence, and to live for His glory, and not our own.
