“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.” (George Orwell)

by Stephen Rodgers

There is a longstanding tradition of using language to manipulate the ideological field of battle. Whether done to make bad ideas seem palpable or good ideas seem villainous, there is no shortage of linguistic maneuvers and shortcuts that undercut clear communication and obfuscate truth. If you’ve been around LBC long, you’ve probably heard me poke fun at what I often refer to either as “Christianese” or “Lighthouse Language.” I’ve seen veterans of my Bible studies take newcomers aside and sincerely warn them that I’m prone to asking them what they mean when they use theological terms. There’s a question on the Flocks Worksheet that even asks “How would you explain the sermon to a child?” and those who’ve been in my flock know that this question is not to be trifled with or glossed over, rather this particular question is serious business to be ignored at your peril.

Given that it’s an election year, I could springboard from that introduction into a very different sort of article, but for today, I’d rather focus on something of much more permanent value: cliches in Christian language that often either confuse clear theology, or even worse, introduce heterodox or even heretical ideas that take on orthodox trappings simply by dint of being oft-repeated.

While examples could be multiplied, GTY recently did a series of articles on some of these cliches, exploring what they proclaim vs. what the Bible actually declares. I commend them to you.

• The Danger of Christian Cliches
• “Ask Jesus Into Your Heart”
• “The Lord Told Me”
• “Traveling Mercies”
• “Backsliding”
• “The Hedge of Protection”
• “When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Window”
• “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”
• “Christianity Is Not a Religion, It’s a Relationship”

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

by Ji-Sub Chung

One of the more popular pieces of jewelry is a cross. We can see just how pervasive it is through its appearance on the necks of rappers, singers, waiters, actors, strangers, friends, family, and maybe even you. Each of these people may wear a cross for different reasons. Some may choose to wear it to show a spiritual side; others may wear it as a fashion statement or simple keepsake. In biblical times the cross represented something offensive – something the average person avoided talking about. So what implications does this have for us?

The 19th century poet and hymn writer Henry Francis Lyte had convictions about the cross. His conviction enabled him to have the confidence to say to Jesus that he had taken up His cross. To Henry Lyte the cross would have been much more than just a chic piece of jewelry. The hymn that Lyte wrote, “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” was not written on the basis of hollow beliefs. Throughout the hymn there are theological and practical implications bursting from the seams. Due to his weak health (many report him suffering from tuberculosis), several common themes shine through: a prominent focus on the brevity of life, the joy in trials, the comfort of God, the dependence on Christ, and the bliss of heaven.

So what kind of convictions come from the cross? The cross is a reminder of what the Savior saved us from. Christ did not sacrifice Himself for any merit that we had. We were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2), we were the ungodly (Romans 5:6), and we were bearers of a deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9). The cross reminds us that, like Paul, the only response we could have to the condition of our soul is “wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24). Then grace upon grace, we are reminded that it was Christ that washed, that sanctified, and that justified us out of our lives of sin (1 Corinthians 6:11). The cross also reminds us of the Savior Himself. Consider that Christ, the same glorious King that Isaiah saw in his vision of Heaven (Isaiah 6), submitted Himself to the will of the Father and did so to the point that “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The Son of God willingly chose to be the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53). He chose to be mocked, derided, and insulted. He submitted Himself to the will of the Father. He lowered Himself to serve humans. He humbled Himself to die for us.

There is no end to the myriads of volumes that could be written about what the cross of Christ signifies to the believer. If we truly understand just how amazing the work on the cross was, then how could we ever run out of reasons to direct all glory and majesty and praise to Him? Our response should be to seek to praise Him, and praise Him not only through one or two things, but in all things. For Henry Lyte, hymn writing was one way to bring God glory. Is this not a natural characteristic of the Spirit-filled life that Paul describes (Ephesians 5:15-18; Colossians 3:16-17)?

Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own.

Let the world despise and leave me, They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, Show Thy face and all is bright.

The hymn begins by heeding the call of Christ in Luke 9:23 by declaring “I my cross have taken.” What are the implications of this statement? This implies that to lose everything, to have nothing, and even to perish every fond ambition that this world has to offer in order to follow Christ are the richest of conditions. What else could we need or want (Psalm 73:25)? Therefore, what matters to us is not the world and its opinions. The world responds to our confession like they have with Christ: rejection. Though the world may darken our days, the Lord is ever brighter still. Let us then challenge the onslaught of trials and troubles for our response is joy (James 1:2).

Man may trouble and distress me, ’Twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure, Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure, With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father, I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather; All must work for good to me.

The second half of Lyte’s verse may be a bit confusing. So to make more sense of the 19th century wording, a 21st century translation could be along the lines of “harm will not bring me grief while God loves; it would be no joy at all if that joy were mixed with anything other than You Lord.” Our confidence is not in our earthly position but in our spiritual placement. Our comfort is not from having our best life now, but earnestly seeking the return on the Lord (1 Thess. 4:18). We have confidence and comfort knowing that our Father has divinely appointed trials that would aid in our sanctification, what else is there to fear (1 Corinthians 10:13)? In light of this, we are each called to challenge our own soul to remember the work of the cross.

Soul, then know thy full salvation Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station, Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee, Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee, Child of heaven, canst thou repine.

Haste thee on from grace to glory, Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven’s eternal days before thee, God’s own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Think about the Spirit that dwells within you, think about the love that the Father has for you, think about the Savior that died for you. In light of this how sweet do the delights of eternal paradise seem? Let us actively look forward to His return with full faith and propelled by prayer. Furthermore, the Lord will return soon and unexpectedly (1 Thess. 5:2); so let us keep firm in our earthly mission while “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:36-38). Let us await with joy the culmination of the work of the cross in the eternal presence of our King.

The proper question then is not if you wear a cross or not. Rather, the question is: have you taken up your cross and left all to follow Him? If you have, then you need to live like it for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). The Christian cross is the symbol of the gospel. It shows the sinful heart, the holy God, the righteous punishment, the perfect Sacrifice, the infinite grace, and the eternal home. The cross needs to sink into our everyday thoughts and practices and if a piece of jewelry or hymn lyrics help you remember the cross so be it. May the glory of the cross permeate through your thoughts and actions for as long as you live.

by Richard Shin

I have no idea who came up with the term “functional atheism.” It’s a catchy phrase: those who claim to be theistic—Christian—function like an atheist, one who does not believe in the existence of God. Atheism can take on many forms, but at the center of it, it’s a rejection of the God of creation. Even with the insurmountable evidence around him, the atheist chooses to ignore such evidence and live his life without acknowledging his Creator. And the one who claims to be Christian functions like an atheist when he lives his life saying he believes in his Lord and Savior, yet his life does not show for it. He’s the type that Jesus will reject at the end of days, like it says in Matthew 7:21-23.

The idea itself is certainly not new: Paul himself addresses Timothy’s church in Ephesus that “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). He categorically dismisses the idea that the head of a household who does not provide the physical means for his family to live, can call himself a Christian. That “Christian” is a functional atheist. There are, of course, rare exceptions that would preclude one from falling in this category, but the guideline generally applies to every Christian man. Another example can be derived from 1 Thess. 4:3-5. Paul here exhorts the Thessalonians to keep their bodies pure from sexual immorality. In doing so, he likens people who do not control their own bodies to the Gentiles who don’t know God, thereby giving in to the passion of lust. The “Christian” who does not learn to control his own body is a functional atheist.

Now let’s switch gears and talk about time for a bit. Without getting too philosophical about it, time is a creation of God. Genesis 1:1 says that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” which means that God is transcendent, outside the bounds of this physical universe including the passage of time. Second Peter 3:8 also shares that God sees time differently than we do; whereas for us, one day is one day, not a thousand years. Psalm 90:4 is another example. I don’t understand how it all works, but I’m not one to question what seems absolutely clear in the Bible: God is the creator of time, and He is not bound by it like we are.

So, how do we as Christians understand time? In all things, our perspective changes as we grow in our understanding of God’s Word. How we view time is the same. First of all, we begin with the fact that we are God’s creation. He created us in His image. But due to our sinful nature, we became a dead people, both physical and spiritual. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for us—the elect—and give us life. And because God purchased our life through His blood, we no longer live for ourselves, but for God (which is what we should have been doing in the first place). So the time we now spend isn’t solely for ourselves, but primarily for God. First Corinthians 10:31 is clear in that we must glorify God even in the mundane, everyday things, such as eating (although if you ask me, eating is oftentimes quite exhilarating). The glorification of God is to be our primary focus. The Paul who wrote Ephesians 2:8-9 also wrote verse 10: “by grace [we] have been saved through faith… are his workmanship… created for good works.”

And this is where the gap between time and functional atheism is bridged. Simply put: if we don’t spend our time to glorify God, we are functional atheists. This means that the way in which we spend our time says a lot about our position before God. Needless to say, many Christians live like functional atheists; we don’t spend our time with an understanding that our time is not our own. Every waking moment of our lives—from birth to death—is an expression of God’s holy mercy because of His holding back wrath from us the sinners (We are still alive, yes? We know unbelievers still alive, yes?). And to some, He grants pardon and a growing desire to glorify His good name. And yet we who are called to be his ambassadors muck it up by spending that time for ourselves alone. We, in effect, become functional atheists.

I don’t mean to say that how we spend our time has a one-to-one correlation with how much we are glorifying God. Despite our best efforts, many of us sleep and work for a half to two-thirds of our time. Sleep is a necessary component to our daily living, and, well, we read what Paul said above about work. However, there is a point in which either of these activities can become idols. The time spent doing certain activities can be an indicator of where our hearts are. For instance, for me, I can function a full day with around seven hours of sleep. The day I start sleeping ten hours regularly is the day I should be called a sluggard (Prov. 6:9; 13:4) and find myself needing a good kick in the behind.

Nor am I saying that the activity in itself is always clear-cut as well. However, there are certainly some that are more profitable for us than others (1 Cor. 6:12). At the end of the day, we are accountable to God for how we spend our time. We will account for the works in which we performed for (or against) God before the Judgment Seat of Christ. And my concern in this article is for those whom God will not see any evidence of saving faith because they do not consider time to be a gift from God to be used for Him. It will show at the end of days whether their time was spent only for themselves or for God.

Our understanding of who we are as Christians should motivate us to spend our time wisely. We were created for the purpose of glorifying Him, and even though we are sinful and have fleshly desires, that mandate has not changed: we as redeemed people are to still glorify God. In fact, our entire bodies are to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). Yet, too many of us live functionally atheistic lives by spending time doing activities that have no redeeming value or omitting those that do.

How do you spend your time? When you look at what you do, can you confidently say to yourself and to God that you spent it seeking to glorify Him? If not, this is a good opportunity to take a step back and reassess your priorities.

by Abe Kim

I grew up going to church my entire life. In high school, I started getting involved with the praise team and learned how to play guitar. Through the years, I have been involved with music ministry in the church in various capacities. There are many titles used to describe the guy leading the music and singing time during the church service. The title most often used, in my experience, was worship leader. But this title never sat well with me because my understanding of worship from the Bible refers to much more than the music time during a church service or the weekly Sunday gatherings. Certainly there seemed to be a special feeling to the music time, especially at some of my previous church experiences. But God graciously gave me an understanding early on in my faith that worship was more than music or church time.

After becoming a member at LBC, one of the first ministries I joined was the music ministry. Playing music was something I was decently good at, and I enjoyed playing and being part of a team that might produce excellent and beautiful music for the benefit of the church. What I appreciated about the music ministry at LBC was its emphasis on truth. You hear emphasis on truth preached and taught a lot because John 4:24 is a verse many turn to define worship biblically. But in my previous church experiences, truth was often taken for granted and took a back seat to spirit. But at LBC, reading through several books together really helped me cement basic and fundamental truths pertaining to the concept of worship that was biblical and comprehensive. The first, and most impactful, book the Sunday praise team read was John MacArthur’s Ultimate Priority. The re-release of this book in 2012 (titled, Worship: The Ultimate Priority) combined with my desire to address this issue prompted this article. I pray it will correct your understanding of worship where needed, and above all, deepen your worship of the one true God.

My goal with this article is not to be comprehensive. This is not a graduate level thesis on worship. This won’t be a summary of John MacArthur’s book, though all the quotes below are from the 2012 release of Worship: The Ultimate Priority, unless otherwise noted. My ultimate goal is to broaden the view that worship is relegated only to music or Sunday mornings. I intend to show from Scripture a deeper, broader, and fuller definition of worship. But I say this knowing that I can’t address every question or argument. I am just skimming the surface here, but I pray it will be helpful. So let’s ask the basic questions about worship.

WHAT

Worship is the most fundamental purpose of all Christians. The Old Testament often associates worship with bowing down in humility and reverence (Genesis 24:26, Exodus 12:27, Joshua 5:14, Nehemiah 8:6, Job 1:20, Psalm 95:6), ascribing to the Lord His due praise (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 29:2, ), and sacrificing animals at the altar (Genesis 22:5, 1 Samuel 1:3, Isaiah 19:21). The Magi who came to visit the baby Jesus also bowed down to worship the incarnate Son of God (Matthew 2:11). The twenty-four elders sitting around God’s throne worshiped by bowing down (Revelations 11:16).

The general sense in the Bible is that worship testifies to the character of God, particularly His perfect holiness. The only proper response to this testimony in light of our sinful state, and the most common display of worship, is to bow in humility and reverence. MacArthur’s basic definition is stated like this: worship is honor and adoration directed to God (p. 43). Simply put, worship is to give worth and honor to the one deserving of it, to God alone. Other ways it is often phrased in Scripture (and therefore, in church) is to glorify God, to love God, and to treasure God.

WHO

Since worship is defined so broadly, all who love and believe in God must worship God. Jesus, when he talked with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, said Jews and Samaritans worship God, though Jews worship out of their knowledge and Samaritans worship out of their ignorance (John 4:22).

From King David in the palace of Jerusalem to the lowly shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, from Jews to Gentiles, from male to female, from slave to free, from the high life of New York City to the remote jungles of the Amazon to the villages in China to the plains of Africa, all types and walks of life must worship God. Worship is not reserved for the elite Christians. It is not a task for the music leader. It is the lifestyle that all Christians are called to live.

WHEN

Elkanah and his family, including Hannah, worshiped God early in the morning before leaving the temple (1 Samuel 1:19a). The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) built altars to God after key encounters with God and worshiped. Much of the call to worship from the Psalms appear to be a continual, present-tense idea. So the bottom line is that worship can be done at any time, but it is particularly done as a natural response to an encounter with the living God. So if you are thinking much of God all the time (as Christians ought to be doing), then you are to worship God all the time.

In John 4, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that a new age or worship is starting. With Jesus’ arrival and His finished work on the cross, no longer did the redeemed need to approach God after a sacrifice at the altar. The people of God no longer had to wait for an atonement act to take place. The tearing of the veil in the Holiest of Holies signified a new era that allowed full access to God at any time. Because of Jesus, we can truly worship God at any time.

WHERE

The Samaritan woman’s original question to Jesus was regarding where the appropriate location of worship is, at Gerizim or Jerusalem. Her people, the Samaritans, said Gerizim was where God must be worshiped, but she also knew that the Jews said Jerusalem was the location where God must be worshiped. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that neither Jerusalem nor Gerizim are the necessary places for worship. The location doesn’t matter, whether you are a Jew or not, whether you are familiar with the Scriptures or not. That means any and all locations are acceptable places to worship God. The how of worship is the significant issue. As long as that is right, the where is irrelevant.

Having said that, there was a clear pattern set from Israel’s inception as a nation to rest and worship God corporately on the Sabbath. That pattern was turned on its head after Jesus, and Christians met weekly on the first day of the week (Sunday) to remember Jesus’ resurrection. Christians still gather on Sunday to worship God corporately. One day, the Bride of Christ (i.e., all the people of God) will be gathered once and for all to worship God for the rest of eternity.

WHY

John Piper writes in the opening pages of Let the Nations Be Glad that the purpose of missions is worship, that missions exists because worship does not. In other words, the purpose of evangelizing is so that unbelievers would become true worshipers who, having been cleansed by Christ’s redeeming work, are able to approach and worship the one true God.

So why worship God? What is the purpose of worship? Simply put, we should worship God because He is worth the worship. His worthiness is rooted in His being. Jesus assumes that Jews and Samaritans alike ought to worship God. The real question Jesus needed to answer in John 4 was how.

HOW

Jesus’ answer in John 4:23-24 is succinct and complete. Worshipers must worship God in spirit and truth. There are no other ways. Both are necessary components to true worship. No other methods are acceptable. Worship is not limited to intellectual assent to the truths of God in Scripture, though it is not void of accurate doctrine. Worship can’t be defined by a Spirit-led life or zeal for God’s glory, though the emotions and passion are necessary. Worship to the true God is characterized by a Holy Spirit led life completely devoted to a passionate pursuit for God’s glory, undergirded by a biblical worldview and correct theology. The Spirit and the Word are the necessary tools for a truly God-glorifying life. This necessitates a Christ-like humility, a dying to self daily kind of attitude, that God would receive all the glory of all the good in our lives and that we are not living for our own glory or kingdom.

I pray this short article, though not comprehensive, helped in providing a more biblical understanding of worship. May our worship continue to mature and increase because God alone deserves any and all worship in the universe.

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

by Abe Kim

Here is a short, yet well-known encounter by Jesus. Many paintings have depicted this Jesus that welcomes little children, even infants. This is the Jesus many people like. People are not so fond of the one who rebuked the religious leaders of the day or the one that overturned merchants’ tables at the Temple out of zeal for the Father or the one that said, “Follow me” and then willingly went to the cross. Is the Jesus who did and said these radical things the same Jesus in this Luke 18 passage that seems so loving and gentle? And what can we learn about God’s view of children from this passage?

Let’s start this brief study by considering the context of all three versions of this story and then observing the three accounts together (Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, and Luke 18:15-17). All three accounts confirm that Jesus came from Galilee and was somewhere in Judea, en route to Jerusalem (Matthew 19:1, Mark 10:1, Luke 17:11). This was the final approach into Jerusalem before the cross. In the Matthew and Mark accounts, Jesus taught the crowd about divorce just before the children were brought to Him. Jesus clarified that God’s intent for marriage never included divorce but the Mosaic law included it because of the hardness of men’s hearts (Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-12). Luke includes Jesus’ teaching on divorce several passages earlier in Luke 16:18. Luke precedes Jesus’ welcoming of the children with His parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). Both characters went up to the temple to pray, but only the tax collector left justified because of his humility and repentance.

The events after Jesus greeting the children are the same in all three accounts. The rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30). He appears to be genuine in his religious pursuits, and is more than just knowledgeable of the law and its requirements. He has kept all the commandments in God’s Word from his youth, yet he did not understand the requirements for eternal life. And as it turns out, he did not want eternal life on Jesus’ terms. Jesus promised the young man treasures in heaven, but this also meant forsaking his riches in this world. The young man was sorrowful and did not follow Jesus. Jesus teaches that it is impossible for the rich to be saved, yet with God all things are possible, and confirms that Peter and the disciples who have forsaken this world to follow Him will indeed gain riches, not only in the life to come but in this life as well. Soon after, Jesus foretells His death to His disciples for the third and final time before the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Keep this particular story in mind as we now explore the text.

Let’s first compare all three accounts and consider the sequence of events, with differences noted in parentheses:

• Those in the crowd brought children to Jesus so that He might touch them (and Matthew adds to pray for them).
• The disciples saw this happening and rebuked them and the crowd.
• Jesus responds by telling the crowd to let the children come to Him (Luke adds that Jesus was indignant).
• Jesus further instructs to not hinder the children because to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.
• (Mark and Luke add Jesus saying, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”)
• (Matthew and Mark state that Jesus then laid His hands on the children.)
• (Mark also adds that Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them.)

Jesus’ ministry attracted huge crowds. He miraculously fed over 5,000 and over 4,000 on two different occasions. This account makes it clear that children were in the crowds that followed Jesus all over the Near East. As Jesus approached Jerusalem, some adults, presumably the parents, brought children and infants to Jesus to ask for his blessing.

Jesus had two main teaching points in this account. He rebuked his disciples and instructed them to not hinder children to come to Him. He further taught that if you do not receive the kingdom of God like a child, you will not enter it at all. Jesus provides an amazing object lesson that provides a contrast to the rich young ruler who sought eternal life but was unwilling to relinquish his treasures on earth for treasures in heaven. There is a lot to be said about these two points, but for the sake of this article, I would like to focus our attention briefly on not hindering children to come to Him.

Children, by nature, have no faculties or abilities to come to Jesus on their own. But those that love the little ones brought them to the foot of Jesus and asked for His blessings and acceptance. Christian parents understand this concept well, and ought to do this continually. And those that have discipled anyone also understands this well. As sinners, we have no faculties or abilities to seek after God, for our sinful state drives us in the opposite direction at all times. But God, in His mercy, calls sinners to Himself through the means of faithful men and women proclaiming the gospel.

The children that were brought to Jesus had one obstacle before reaching their goal. This hurdle was well-meaning disciples, men who left house and family and job to follow Jesus the Rabbi for nearly 3 years. There were many needs surrounding Jesus and the disciples. The sick, lame, deaf, demon-possessed, and many more demanded Jesus’ attention. And in other instances, He gave them their due attention and healed them. But this time, the children took front stage amongst the crowd. It is not that the other needs deserved less attention this time, or that Jesus no longer cared. But Jesus wanted to make it clear to everyone, especially His disciples, that children were warranted His attention just as much as any other need. Children can be brought to Jesus, even as babes. In so doing, we discover a grave warning for those that might impede anyone from coming to Jesus.

It is not clear the exact reasons the disciples rebuked the crowd for bringing children to Jesus. Perhaps it was all the crying. Maybe it was their dirty diapers. Or more probable is that the disciples didn’t deem children to receive Jesus’ attention, especially when there are male adults who are also seeking the wisdom of the Rabbi. Children cannot fully communicate yet, so there is no way they could understand the deep truths of God or religion Jesus was trying to teach them. But Jesus didn’t care about those things. He wanted the little children to come, with no such impedances. Jesus’ rebuke was clear: don’t be the ones to hinder child-like souls from approaching the throne of grace.

There are many souls around us that have a childlike approach to Jesus, whether they are actual children or adults. For those more mature in faith, let’s remember Jesus’ teaching here and not cast doubt or fear or other hindrances upon those simply seeking Christ with a childlike faith. There is no place for troubling them in coming to Jesus. Let’s simply encourage them to continue to pursue Jesus, to forsake the riches of this world and to pursue a treasure that is heavenly and wonderful and eternal. For to such belong the kingdom of God.

by Stephen Rodgers

If this sort of thing is deadly poison, then all I can say is that it’s a very slow-acting poison, for I’ve been reading this stuff for years, and it hasn’t killed my faith or precipitated a crisis of faith or even raised a flicker of doubt. Like small, incremental doses of venom, administered over time, the effect of this stuff is not to kill the patient, but to build up an immunity. If it’s had any impact, the effect is rather the reverse. I’ve read books like this before. I always come away thinking to myself, “Gee, if this is the best they do, then they must be pretty hard up for excuses!” So, no, the encounter with his book did not precipitate any Exorcist-inspired head-twirling. (Steve Hays, “Satan’s School for Girlie-Men”)

For those of you who have wondered, but largely been too kind to comment, we’ve been scrambling a bit this week on the Beacon. Pastor Patrick is traveling, I’m battling a flu, and it seems that an unfortunate confluence of events have conspired to wreck our normal weekly schedule. Fortunately, I’ve got a few backup articles in various states of readiness, and this seemed like a good opportunity to both extend a little grace to our content-providers, while still supplying something our readers could really sink their teeth into.

I’ve mentioned in other contexts that atheism has a history of attempting to subvert traditionally Christian forms of argument, and a rather prolific example of this is the so-called “free-thought argument.” The form of that objection varies, but the gist of it generally goes something like this: “Religion in general (and Christianity in particular) are faith-based, dogma-driven, irrational belief systems. If only the Christian would take a step back, examine competing claims from a neutral perspective, and apply universal standards of logic and reason to what they believe, they would quickly realize the error of their ways.” They then go on to typically pepper the believer with a wide range of challenges and counter-claims for why Christianity must be false.

Now, anyone who knows me understands that I take umbrage with a rather large number of those propositions, from the claim of irrationality to the smuggled assumption that there is such a thing as a “neutral” perspective. But what I’d like to explore (briefly!) today is that this line of argument is actually derived from Christian principles. And as invariably happens when we compare and contrast Divine wisdom with human wisdom, we discover that God did it first, and God did it better.

You see, Proverbs 18:17 warns of the dangers of naive acceptance in the face of human persuasiveness, and admonishes us to to be discerning and (appropriately!) skeptical of such claims. Luke records that diligent examination of questions in the light of Scripture is not a blow to dogma, but rather something “noble” (Acts 17:11).

That is why I am incredibly grateful for the hard work that many apologist have done and continue to do in refuting the many, varied, and (seemingly increasingly) odd and desperate challenges that are raised against Christianity.  And I want to take a moment to highlight one of those men, and perhaps turn you on to some of his work in the hope that you will not only be educated, but edified.

Steve Hays blogs prolifically at the famous Triablogue which as been referenced here on the Beacon a number of times. Today I just want to raise awareness of a few of his more substantial efforts to review and refute some of the more popular offerings contra-Christianity. For anyone interested in familiarizing themselves with these objections (and their subsequent refutations), this would be a good place to start:

• First and foremost, you might enjoy his answers to Common Objections to Christianity from Skeptics
• If you’re enjoying the BOB series, I would also highly recommend his stand-alone e-book God’s Canon
• His extended response to John Loftus’ Why I Rejected Christianity.
• His extended response to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion

He has also written or co-written a number of book-length responses to other published anti-Christian books.  The more notable of these are:

• This Joyful Eastertide, a response to The Empty Tomb
• The Infidel Delusion, a response to The Christian Delusion
• The End of Infidelity, a response to The End of Christianity (something of a precis can be found here)

Last but not least, I expect you would benefit from a few of his other works as well:

• Love the Lord with Heart and Mind, a survey he conducted with a number of theologians and apologists regarding their reasons for embracing Christianity
• Why I Believe, (part 1 and part 2), his positive case for the Christian faith

For what it’s worth, a number of these resources (and others!) are available in various ebook formats as well.

For those of you who are going to be reading these for the first time, I envy you: you’re in for a treat.