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Making Christ Known in the Dominican Republic

 

Who is Jesus - Essential Tenet

The prebyterty of San Diego publishes a document outlining the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. Here's what they say about JESUS CHRIST:

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the

eternal Son of God uniquely entered human history and became a real human

being. He is truly the Word of God (John 1:1-3)—that is, the perfect and

culminating expression of God’s mind and heart, of God’s will and character—

present in the intimate fellowship of the Holy Trinity from eternity and fully

engaged with the Father in the work of creation and redemption.

Becoming human, Jesus was “all of God in a human body” (Colossians 1:19) and

“God with us” (Matthew 1:23)—a living tabernacle of God’s holy presence, “full of

grace and truth” (John 1:14-18). His divine-human identity is corroborated by the

true witness of scripture—in his divine conception and virgin birth, in God’s own

testimony concerning Jesus, in Jesus’ supernatural works of healing and

deliverance, in his obedience to the point of sacrificial death, and in his bodily

resurrection from the dead, ascension, and exaltation. He is now Lord over

everything in creation.

The early church in the creeds of Nicea and Chalcedon accurately interpreted and

expressed the apostolic testimony concerning Jesus—fully God and fully human.

The significance of this is: in Christ we are dealing with God himself; in Christ we

have a human being who truly represents us.

Jesus Christ is God’s only Mediator between God and humankind and God’s

unique agent for the salvation of the world. He is also the perfect expression of what

humanity was designed to be. In his complete obedience, he became the

representative Human Being, a second Adam, modeling for us human life and

offering to God on our behalf human life that is rightly in God’s image—reflecting

God’s glory in a wholly submitted life of steadfast love and righteousness.

This same Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as attested in scripture, is to

be the center of the Christian Church’s proclamation, worship, discipleship, and

mission. As we eagerly and prayerfully anticipate that “he will come again to judge

the living and the dead” and to establish God’s righteous kingdom in fullness and

perfection, we say, “Come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

Scripture

Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:1-3, 14-18; Romans 5:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:19;

Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 4:2-4

Confessions

Nicene Creed 1.1-1.2

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.044

Confession of 1967 9.07-9.08

Brief Statement of Faith 10.2

What Is Not Affirmed

Any doctrine—

• that affirms the deity but not the full humanity of Christ, or the humanity but not

Christ’s full deity (as, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses do);

• that asserts that Jesus was an inspired or extraordinary or holy man, but was

merely human in nature and not the incarnation in history of the eternal Son of

God;

• that attempts to supplement the authoritative revelation of the Old and New

Testament scriptures concerning Jesus Christ and proposes a corrected or revised

revelation of Jesus (as, for example, the Book of Mormon and Mormon teaching

do);

• that discounts or discredits as untrue or as myth all or portions of the New

Testament record concerning Jesus

• that does not affirm as biblical and true the death of Christ as the central saving

act of our Christian faith, or

• that asserts that Jesus is merely one example, however noteworthy, of a divinely

approved or divinely enlightened life;

• that asserts that Jesus is one Mediator between God and humankind among other

religious options or among other spiritual or enlightened teachers or mediators;

• that contends that the Jesus Christ attested by scripture is essentially and

significantly different from the historic Jesus of Nazareth;

• that misrepresents Jesus’ mission in terms compatible with pantheism or as a

message of human self-fulfillment and divine self-realization, that God is one

being with the world or that human beings are essentially divine, and that all

religious truth is harmonious and convergent.

• that detracts from Jesus’ supreme authority over every human authority, over the

church, and over our individual moral lives.

 

An engaging love story

I just heard a heartwarming love story on NPR.  I don't like schmaltziness, but this was real and very touching.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/02/14/146717078/a-brother-and-sister-get-married-and-later-their-son-tweets-it?sc=emaf

Understanding Bullying from my friend Ian in Manasquan

Here are very thoughtful reflections on Bullying from my friend Ian.

On Being Human -Essential Tenets

The prebyterty of San Diego publishes a document outlining the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. Here's what they say about humanity:

HUMANITY—ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FALL INTO SIN

Human beings were created by God in God’s own image—in true righteousness and

holiness—to know, love, and obey God and be righteous stewards of the creation.

Our earliest forebears, instead of acknowledging, worshiping, and obeying God,

became disobedient sinners and brought sin and death upon themselves and all

creation.

There is now a radical brokenness and corruption in human nature that is the result

of and results in sin. Sin is rebellion against God. No human effort can fully resolve

or redeem this defect. Sin is destructive, contagious, parasitical, polluting, disabling.

Human beings are sinners by nature, by influence, by choice, by action.

While there is an inalienable glory and nobility to human beings because they are

God’s image bearers, this image is now broken and distorted, and even our best and

noblest actions are contaminated by sin. Every part of our human being—our

personality, intellect, emotions, will, motives, virtues, and actions—is corrupted by

sin. The human will, originally free and righteous, is now crippled and defective.

As a result, human beings are in bondage to sin and subject to God’s holy judgment.

Without God’s intervening grace and salvation, they are lost and condemned.

Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27; Psalms 51:5, 143:2; Jeremiah 17:9

Matthew 15:19-20; Romans 3:10-23; 5:18-19; 7:18-23; 8:7; Ephesians 2:1-3

Confessions

Scots Confession 3.03

Heidelberg Catechism 4.005, 4.006, 4.010

Larger Catechism 7.135, 7.137

Confession of 1967 9.12-13

Brief Statement of Faith 10.3

What Is Not Affirmed

• The notion that human nature is basically good and self-redeemable through good

effort, discipline, improved environment, etc.

• The notion that man’s defective nature is the result of heredity or environment to

such a degree that human beings are not morally responsible for their nature or

behavior.

• The notion that God is the author of sin or that sin is part of his original plan to

educate and improve humankind.

 

Waiting for Water

 

Words about God - Essential Tenets

The prebyterty of San Diego publishes a document outlining the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. Here's what they say about God:

GOD

We worship the one only living and true God who is revealed in the Bible and who is

the source of all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness.

Trinity. With the holy catholic church in all ages, we confess the mystery of the holy

Trinity—that there is one God alone, infinite and eternal, Creator of all things, the

greatest good, who is one in essence or nature, yet who exists in a plurality of three

distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Creation/Providence/Sovereignty. God in the beginning created the universe and

everything in it for the manifestation of God’s glory, eternal power, wisdom, and

goodness. He is the sovereign ruler of creation, working all things according to the

counsel of his omnipotent and righteous will. In gracious providence God

continually upholds, directs, oversees, and governs creation—all creatures, actions,

and things.

In sovereignty God has seen fit to accommodate free will among moral creatures,

resulting in great cultural and cosmic good and terrible evil, disorder, and

disobedience. Nevertheless, God is in no way the author of evil or sin, but continues

to govern creation in such a way as to cause all things to work together for good for

those who love God and are called according to his purpose. God opposes all evil

and will certainly triumph over it and bring creation to a glorious consummation.

Grace. God is a God of love. In grace God chooses to show love and mercy. When we

were dead in trespasses and sin, God made us alive with Christ, saving us by grace

through faith, as a sheer gift of sovereign love.

Worship. God—and God alone—is worthy of worship. We respond to God by

consciously and intentionally seeking to declare, explore, celebrate, and submit to

God’s righteous and gracious kingship over all of creation and over every aspect of

our individual and corporate life, and thereby “to glorify him and enjoy him

forever.” (Westminster, 7.01) This is true worship.

Scripture

Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 47:2; Isaiah 45:5

Matthew 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 14:26; Romans 1:23; 8:28; 2 Corinthians 13:14;

Ephesians 1:7-11; Jude 1:25; Revelation 4:11

Confessions

Nicene Creed 1.1, 1.3

Scots Confession 3.01

Heidelberg Catechism 4.027

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.011-6.014

Larger Catechism 7.01

Brief Statement of Faith 10.1

What Is Not Affirmed

Any doctrine—

• that denies this doctrine of God’s triune nature, or refuses to confess the Trinity as

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

• that minimizes this doctrine as an unessential or secondary Christian tenet;

• that asserts that all religions are essentially true, that all religious beliefs are

essentially in accord; or that the views of God held by the world’s major religions

are equally valid;

• that confesses or celebrates belief in multiple gods or goddesses, or that identifies

God as a goddess, or that worships God’s uncreated glory through idols or images

representing creatures or creation.

The biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty excludes:

• the notion that, if God is sovereign, our human efforts are in vain;

• the deistic notion that God created the cosmos like a watchmaker but is no longer

personally involved in its operation or unfolding;

• any theology that denies or downplays the reality of evil or the enmity between

evil and a holy God or the moral responsibility of humankind for sin.

 

A Word for Presbyterians from John Ortberg

 

The essential tenets- The Authority of Scripture

The prebyterty of San Diego publishes a document outlining the essential tenets of the Reformed faith. Here's what they say about the authroity of Scripture:

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s uniquely revealed and written Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are the church’s first and final authority in all areas of faith and life including, but not limited to, theological doctrine, mission, church order, character, and ethical behavior.The Bible speaks to us with the authority of God himself. We seek to understand love, follow, obey, surrender, and submit to God’s Word—both Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God, which bear true and faithful witness to Jesus Christ.

Scripture

Matthew 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Confessions

Second Helvetic Confession 5.001, 5.003, 5.010

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.006, 6.009

Larger Catechism 7.113-114

 

What is Not Affirmed

Any doctrine—

• that seeks to invalidate or subvert scriptural teaching concerning what is to be believed or how we are to live;

• that attempts to subordinate biblical authority to any human authority, cultural norm, or ideology— whether religious, ecclesiastical, governmental, political, economic, psychological, sociological, scientific, historical, philosophical, or other—as though the church should listen primarily to another voice than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ as expressed in scripture;

• that seeks or asserts a revelation from the Spirit of God which contradicts the Bible as Word of God, or that attempts to separate the Spirit from the Spiritinspired words of Scripture, or that elevates the authority or modernity of the Spirit’s revelation above the revelation of Scripture;

• that rejects as historical fact the witness of Scripture to the incarnation, birth, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ (as, for example, summarized in 1Corinthians 15:3-7 and Acts 10:38);

• that seeks to follow a “Jesus Christ” apart from the Person, Work, and Will of Jesus Christ revealed in scripture.

• that regards Scripture as subjectively, but not objectively, God’s written Word, or that maintains the Scriptures contain the Word of God, but are not in themselves the Word of God.

Orthodox reformed faith does not include any notion of a Church “reformed and reforming” that moves outside the boundaries of the authority of Christ and confession of his Lordship which are clearly revealed in Scripture. Or any ecclesiology or morality that attempts to subvert the headship of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture in the interests of an “inclusive” and overbroad institutional concern for “unity, peace, and purity.” Jesus Christ is Lord of the church, and he rules the church through the written word of scripture, illumined by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible’s Repeated Calls to Care for the Poor

I have made a commitment to read through the texts of scripture in my devotional life, taking careful note of the Bible’s repeated calls to care for the poor.  I will also want to read several books each year by authors who help inform me on the needs of the poor and prepare me to be more responsive to them.