A FreakEng Show ep. 10 - What We Become

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Idols of the Heart

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A FreakEng Show ep. 9 - Like Jesus Did

How did Jesus disciple? With special guest, Pastor Paul Bauman.

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The Cure - Book Review

The Cure, should be read by believers young and old, by those who grew up in the church and those who did not, and by immature believers as well as mature.

I've read this book probably four times, and taught it twice. I have not read a book that has made more of an impact then this book. Through this study I learned, as Eugene Peterson calls it, "the unforced rhythms of grace." I learned what it means to be authentic, and not to hide behind guilt and shame in fear of not being accepted. The love of God, the grace of God, and the forgiveness of God is much deeper then we realize... and this book begins to show you how deep.

Purchase The Cure

Fake Love Fake War - A Response

Pornography promises release without heartbreak, and videogames promise adventure with no risk.

The problem is that neither of these are real. We are losing men because they are putting their fight into what is imaginary, and their passion into what is fake.

Click below for the full article...

***Warning, this article is a bit graphic in it's descriptions***
Fake Love Fake War Article

FreakEng Show ep. 8 - A Random Conversation

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A FreakEng Show ep. 7 - Not Enough Faith?

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Check out the links below to do your own research!

Justin Peter's "A Call for Discernment"

Biblical Response to Victoria Olsteen

Word of Faith Doctrine

Bill Johnson False Teacher

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Refined- How to Go Through Trials Well According to James 1

We all have a story that is riddled with various kinds of trials. We all could most likely point to something we are currently going through that is difficult. But why is it difficult to go through trials? Here are the few that I identified:

·      

    It is difficult because we wish we did not have to go through the trial.

·      It is difficult because we do not have the wisdom to navigate the trial.

·      It is difficult because under the surface we doubt God’s power to help us.

·      It is difficult because we feel as though we cannot continue on, therefore we give up.

·      It is difficult because we feel trapped in a pattern, and we blame God for making us this way.

·      It is difficult because we experience the death dealing consequences of sin.

·      It is difficult because we forget the truth, and miss the opportunity for God to deliver us from the consequences of sin.

Click on the link below for the full sermon.
Sermon Link

Update and News

Hello person sitting on the other side of the internet.

I have been so encouraged and challenged by the feedback of A FreakEng Show. I have loved every second of it, and am excited to move forward into the future. I have big plans :D

Since I have started my new job at Trinity church, I haven't been able to focus as much energy into it as I would have liked while I was adjusting. Fortunately, I am a quick adjuster, and I am gearing up to put out more podcasts and articles. 

This may not happen for a few weeks, but in the mean time I will put up the sermon video next week from the sermon I am preaching this Sunday at Trinity. 

I am also working on two big things right now! And trust me... they actually are big. I'm always dreaming forward, and I figure why not try some things? It's about the experience! 

Thank you to anyone who reads/listens/comments on/shares this. Seriously, I do this for you. 

Let's make this something special :)

A FreakEng Show ep. 6 - The New Racism

Intergenerational Ministry Book

Resource - How Millennials Think

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A FreakEng Show ep. 5 - A Forgetful God

NEW PODCAST!

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There's Always Hope - Johnny Franck

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A FreakEng Show ep. 4 - Transitions are the Key

A FreakEng Show ep. 4 - Transitions are the Key

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A FreakEng Show ep. 3 - Reflecting on a Song

A FreakEng Show ep. 3 - Reflecting on a Song Link

Here's the sermon I referenced

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A FreakEng Show ep 2 - A Touchy Cultural Issue

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Part 1

Part 2

How I Met Your Morality- A Further Discussion

Last week I podcasted on a curious quote from the tv show How I Met Your Mother. Marshall, one of the main characters, had said, “I broke my own personal moral code once, so I’m not going to do it again.” He was referring to an immoral decision he had made earlier in the episode.

Now I pointed out that if he had such an issue with the action that he had made, but he only had broken his “personal moral code,” then why not change the code? His current version of the code said that his previous action was wrong, so why not change the code so the action was actually virtuous?

If morality was based on something so arbitrary and unstable as our own personal preference, then we would have no foundation or justification for right and wrong.

Even further, why couldn’t everyone in the episode just “decide” that his actions were virtuous? (I guess because the episode would have been shorter?) My problem with that statement was that it proved that he knew what he did was objectively wrong, but could only bring himself to be constant with his relativistic worldview and simply say it was his preference.

Now I want to clarify something. An objection to my podcast was about when I said that morality is either this or that, right and wrong, and not about preferences. “I like vanilla ice cream” and “I like killing” are two completely different claims, and it is plain to all who read it. Morality transcends personal opinion; we discover morality, we do not decide it.

But the objection was to grey areas within morality. Examples: is it objectively wrong to have a drink of alcohol? Is it objectively morally wrong to participate in a videogame in which the objective is to kill? Is it objectively morally wrong to listen to music with profane language?

To this I say almost exactly the opposite or my previous statement: morality within gray areas is not as cut and dry as we would like. For example: when my family goes on vacation, we leave the kitchen light on to make people think we are still home. This is to ward off potential robberies from happening. Now I ask you, is that lying? If not, it is deceiving at best… which is in fact lying! But I would never say that it is not virtuous to protect your home. No, in this case it is good to deceive in order to protect your property.

Much of life is lived within the realm of wisdom, or skilled living. Or even another way to say it, wisdom is the right application of knowledge. And knowledge is a belief that both corresponds to reality, and has reasons to back up the claim. Therefore, wisdom is the application of a belief that is true. If I valued personal health, and held the belief that working out would achieve that value, then wisdom would lead me to a regular schedule of various exercise (which… by the way, is actually what I’m getting myself into. Boom. Wisdomed!)

Within morality, there are differences of opinion about gray areas, but many of the freedoms that come even from being a believer in Christ must be tempered with wisdom. “All things are permissible,” Paul claims in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “but not all things are beneficial.”

Pursue wisdom, be skilled at living, and wrestle with moral and grey issues.

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A FreakEng Show ep. 1 - How I Met Your Morality

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Counting Sheep

One of the (if not the most) beautiful truths in all of existence is that God loves us. His love is what draws us to the cross of Christ, yet as believers one of the hardest truths to accept... is that God loves us. We feel unworthy to be called beloved by Him, so we try to preform to earn what He has already lavished upon us. Then we subtly believe that His love for us is insufficient for us. 

Perhaps we can find love that is more satisfying elsewhere, the deceiver says.

From the arms of the shepherd the sheep looks beyond the care of the other 99, and sees water running in the streams, he sees animals running and grazing, and he sees promising shelter. Then, as the sheep gazes over the hedges of the fold, he wonders off to what he thinks is grassier lands. Upon arriving in where he thought would be green grass, flowing waters, and ripe vegetation, he finds the river dried up, the trees unable to bear fruit, and the grass brown and tasteless. Oh, the shame that comes at the realization of leaving such a wonderful place like the arms of the shepherd. How could he ever return? The shepherd could never welcome him back... he has gone too far. But no, amidst these self-inflicting thoughts of despair and self-hatred, he looks up to see the shepherd having never left his side; having left the 99 to restore the one that wondered off to the safety of His protection. With love and grace in His eyes, the Good Shepherd takes up the sheep, and begins the journey back to the pasture; where life and joy abide. Oh, the comfort and peace of being held in the caring arms of the Shepherd, may we rest there and believe it is enough for us.

All of us are somewhere in this story. 

We may be enjoying the life and protection of the shepherd. 

We may be tempted beyond the hedges of the pasture. 

We may be wondering off into what we were deceived into thinking was more abundantly full of life.

We may be finding ourselves shamefully far from Him.

We may be held by the Shepherd as he carries us back to the fold.

The point of the story is the magnify the immense love the Shepherd has for His sheep. No matter where they are, He is there. 

But we learn another lesson here.

Imagine being one of the 99 who sees the one wonder off. What are their thoughts as he goes? What are their thoughts as he is lost for days/weeks/months? How do they react as they see the shepherd returning with the lost sheep? Is it out of love? Do the other sheep rejoice at the return of the lost sheep? 

Or do they look down on the sheep who so foolishly left the fold? "How could he?" They might ask. "We would never have expected that from him. He was doing so well..." 

So often in the church these are the subtle thoughts among the 99, when we ought to have the posture of the loving Shepherd. 

"We love because He first loved" is a love that believes in, walks alongside, and reveals hope for a future full of life. It is a love that tenderly engages the darkness with light. It is a love that seeks to understand and empathize. It is a love that will continue through the entire process of wrestling.

Will you believe that with me?

Announcement

Please click on the link below to be redirected to the announcement I am making!

Announcement

Works and Righteousness and Stuff

           In the book of Romans, Paul lays out a very interesting discussion on the role of works in the life of a person. Whether a person is a believer or an unbeliever, works are important; they do something, there are ultimately consequences either good or bad for works. In Chapter 1, Paul makes it very clear that all people are without excuse in regards to being under wrath, because God has made it plain to them that He exists and is active in the world. They are responsible for their knowledge of God through nature and thus responsible for their rebellion against Him by doing all kinds of sinful and wicked things. By the time chapter two rolls around, the audience would have been tracking with Paul perfectly. Of course those people are without excuse, they would say. But then Paul turns it on them, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, everyone of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same thing.” (Romans 2:1) Here, the audience would have been taken back, even the one who considers themselves to be righteous is under the same kind of judgment. Paul blows out of the water the notion that the self-righteous are not under wrath themselves, but in fact they are “storing up wrath on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:5)

            Now Paul turns to the consequences of works, “He will render to each one according to his works.” (Romans 2:6) At this point every self-righteous person would agree with this. But the self-righteous would be thinking that at least they are ok because they have attained salvation by works of the law. This was a misconception about the law when it came to the Jews, they believed that the law was meant to lead them to eternal life. This is not correct, as Paul shows later in 3:20. But Paul then shows the implications of God rendering each according to their works, “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” (Romans 2:7-8) Now here many commentaries attempt to do hermeneutical gymnastics to make sure that Paul does not “contradict himself.” Clearly we know “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9) But sometimes we take the reformation principle of “interpret scripture with scripture” too far. When a problem verse surfaces, we try to jam another verse into it in order to make sure that the Bible fits together. But I would like to suggest that we can know that scripture is already inerrant, we just have to do some hard digging to find how. All that to say, Romans 2:7 says that by works we can gain eternal life, so how do we deal with this? The simple answer is, yes. We can. Remember the context that Paul has developed thus far. He has not let on to any sort of doctrine of total depravity or original death. In fact, he will not introduce that concept until 2:12, and then finish the concept completely in 3:10-20.

By this point in his argument, however, it is completely reasonable to say that by works someone could attain eternal life. The Jews held this belief, but yet they knew their inability to achieve it. Thus they had the sacrificial system to atone for their failures. However, it is possible to achieve eternal life by works if it were not for the corruptness of sin. But this is not merely a hypothetical, after all, one could say that Jesus was righteous by works because he kept the letter and spirit of the law without one single failure. Paul then turns to the one who obeys unrighteousness, “there will be tribulation and distress.” (Romans 2:9) This also the belief of the self-righteous, but Paul is going to show that all people are actually deserving of this end. “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” (Romans 2:12) This is Paul’s introduction to showing our total, utter, and complete inability to be righteous by our works. Firstly, wholes of even pagan society show that there is a general morality that all men abide by. (Romans 2:14) Secondly, the conscience of all people reveals that the law is written on all person’s hearts. (Romans 2:15) Thirdly, Paul points out that the Jews do the very thing they teach others not to do, (Romans 2:21-23) and “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:24)

Paul then shows that even circumcision, perhaps one of the most important aspects of the law to the Jews, is not sufficient in attaining eternal life because of sin. For if a person who is circumcised breaks the law, “Your circumcision becomes circumcision”; meaning that their work of the law becomes worthless because of their sin. (Romans 2:25) And to level the playing field, Paul shows that the implication of a person who is not a Jew keeps the law it is as if they are in fact circumcised. (Romans 2:26) A Jew is not only one outwardly, but inwardly, and so is circumcision. It is an outward expression of being a Jew on the inside. But Jews have no advantage over the gentile, “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.” (Romans 3:9) Paul then shows the exhaustive, extensive, and depth of sin in each person and their total inability to be righteous by works. (Romans 3:10-18) “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20)

 After developing that righteousness cannot be attained under the law comes the turning point in Paul’s argument; righteousness apart from the law. (Romans 3:21) This is the only way for a person to be justified, for if the purpose of the law is to reveal sin, then it is powerless to produce righteousness. The law is like the MRI, it only can evaluate and bring to surface the problem, but it cannot be the cure. But now Paul shows that even the law and the prophets all pointed to a righteousness that came apart from the law. This righteousness comes through justification by faith in Christ Jesus, who made the final and sufficient sacrifice to atone for our sins. Works, because of the sinful nature of man, cannot produce righteousness. Thankfully we have a God who became man who was righteous and able to be the propitiation between God and us. Even more to declare us what we could never be without Christ, namely, righteous before Him!