ryan.the.calvinist

This past Monday evening my wife and I decided to go to a local park so she could exercise for a bit while I watched my eldest at at the playground. While there, I was asked (by a black mother) if a local church I'd recommended to her had black attendees. ?? I would never care whether a church had white people or not. I'd care if the gospel was proclaimed and sacraments administered. We're in Christ! That's what Colossians 3 is all about! On Facebook, I was told it was my white privilege...that is why I do not consider members of my own race attending as something to be hoped for or valued. Marxist bull. Come quickly, Lord.

Living in St. Louis, in 2017, I hear a lot about racism and racial inequality and the like. I am convinced a lot of the talk is politically motivated, but, shocker, sin still exists. Racism, that disgusting sin of pride and hate still exists. But good news... I know the solution to racism... It is the fact that Jesus Christ, second person of the Triune God, fully God and fully man, was crucified for the forgiveness of sins & buried, is risen, ruling and reigning presently at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to again dwell with man on a renewed earth forever. He chooses men and women from every tribe, tongue, and nation to show his love and give new life, completely based not on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Not based upon our efforts or works. Not based upon what I've done for God or how much better I am than "those other people". Based completely on a sovereign God who has chosen to show mercy to rebel s...

Matthew 6:27, 34 (ESV) "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life span? ... Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Realized something tonight:  Kaylee cries... A LOT. Well, I knew that already.  But that isn't what I learned.  I continue. She seems like her little self is always freaking out -- FEED ME!!! CHANGE ME!!!! etc. But almost as if she doubts Kacey's and my ability or faithfulness to take care of her. "Kaylee! I got this, girl! We got this. Chill."  Then I wondered -- Is this what I sound like to God when I am not only asking for provision but WORRYING about it? As if he won't take care of us? And God in his Word says, "Ryan and Kacey -- I'v e got this. Chill." But we keep stressing and worrying "No! No! No! No! No! You don't! I'm going to DIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!" And yet, our Triune God is ever...

[Joshua 2:18] As a son of Adam, I am very comfortable worshiping my god of comfort and myself.  My siblings of the human race, likewise, have this propensity to worship self rather than the selfless one, the man rather than the Son of Man.  My interactions with others, then, often follow this approach: "How does this person cater to me?  How can I be served by this other person?  Is he living up to my standard I have for him?"  This is especially true when I deal with other drivers on the road;  I get easily angered and frustrated by lack of "courteousness" / Ryan-respect displayed by my fellow man while behind the wheel. I am easily angered. Also, generally being a conservative American, I am frustrated by the bullying an Evangelical worldview faces in the current culture -- particularly about hot-button issues like abortion and homosexual unions.  I would assert I have a right to be frustrated with a righteous frustration that comes from this wo...

I find myself frustrated lately.  So, in honor of my hearing a lengthy quote from a Contemplative today... I'm going to just ask questions .  These are things I am struggling with lately. Presupposition: The Church corporately gathers to worship our Triune creator and redeemer God through Song, Word, and Sacrament. With this in mind... What is the purpose of the sermon?   Should the sermon be verse-by-verse exposition? or topical? If verse-by-verse, should there always be a central theme? If topical, how should the Bible be used in the course of a topical sermon? Should Jesus Christ, and him crucified, be proclaimed every time the Church gathers? Should this be the central theme of the service overall? Or should it be the theme, specifically, of the sermon also? Very frustrating questions I have.  Especially if my assumptions on any (or all) of these are incorrect, and then I am wrongly judging sermons due to my incorrect paradigm. Ugh. Maranatha.

(Originally written in early March, 2012.  The final two paragraphs were written on 6.30.12, to fittingly end the post.) My wife and I are continuing to read through the entire Bible in chronological order ... to varying degrees of success.  I have already had some milestones, reading some books I had never read completely - including Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  Though I grew up in church, I have yet to read all of God's Word.  Sad state of not only myself but education and chatechesis of Christians. In reading these books, I did not find them to be at all what I had expected. I was under the impression that these books were dry, without value for the 21st century Christian, and too difficult to "get through."  I don't recall anyone telling me this directly; I arrived at this perception from hearing how others had tried to read the Bible through and got hung up past Exodus.  I am happy to proclaim, however, this was not my experience.  I ...

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:11-14 ESV) While my wife and I are still using the Chronological Bible reading plan ... we are not very good at consistency and staying on ta...

Recently, my father-in-law asked me a rather unusual question last weekend while we were picking blueberries. "Is there such a thing as the 'spiritual prosperity gospel', and if so, what does it   look like?" "Spiritual prosperity gospel"?  It did catch me off guard.  At first, I had thought he was just asking about the prosperity gospel.  I started explaining how people will claim that if you sow a seed then God will bless you with money or physically... but he eventually stopped me and informed me that is not what he was asking about. After some clarification, though I am not sure I even fully understand what he was/is asking, I think I have a slightly better understanding as to what he was inquiring about.  Is there freedom from the power of sin, in this life, through prayer, worship, Bible-reading, or other spiritual disciplines as such?  AND Why do Christians still sin? Having never been actually asked this before, I admit I was ...

Question:  Would you join a local congregation knowing you would be excluded from holding either office of deacon or elder? I am asking this question from a complimentarian view.  That is, I am against "eldressess" or "pastrixes" and see no biblical support for women holding such roles.  While on the topic, I *do* see the capacity of women to hold the role of deaconess.  But that is not what I am referring to.  The issue is not one of gender requirements; it is one of belief or conviction. I am Reformed (NO! REALLY?!??!).  I am also a convinced credobaptist, wishing to bestow the visible sign of the New Covenant to those who are actually members of that covenant - namely those who repent of sin and place their trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  Are there false converts? Yes.  Credobaptists baptize many many many who are not truly of the the New Covenant, though they profess to be.  This is due to our inability to kn...

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself." Christ's love for his bride makes me look like the most pathetic husband ever. What??  Yes.  Recently married - about 5 1/2 months now - and already I'm learning about how selfish human beings are.  She will not want to be cuddly with me and insist on having space.  I will complain that I'm too tired to cook dinner and that I'm hesitant to do it, as I don't have a clue what I'm doing.  k Selfishness.  Two sinners living together.  Yowssah! Compared to Christ... I'm a pathetic example of Christ's love for ...

I just read the lyrics to the Lady GaGa song "Born This Way" for the first time.  I would rather not post the lyrics... but you can find them in their entirety here.  I will post the climax of the song, found in the bridge: Don't be a drag, just be a queen Whether you're broke or evergreen You're black, white, beige, chola descent You're Lebanese, you're orient Whether life's disabilities Left you outcast, bullied, or teased Rejoice and love yourself today 'cause baby you were born this way No matter gay, straight, or bi, Lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to survive. No matter black, white or beige Chola or orient made, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to be brave. Wow. All I can think about is the way I was born - in sin.  I was stillborn, dead in sin.  A rebel against God.  That's how I was born.  A child of wrath by nature.  I'm so thankful that God sovereign...

I hope I don't tick off my Presbyterian brothers... esp. since I like their churches (as a whole) generally more than Reformed Baptist ones... In light of my diving into Covenant Infant Baptism arguments, I found this defense from Dr. James White regarding Hebrews 8 and the New Covenant to be useful. He asserts that the Old Covenant was a mixed covenant - that the covenant sign was correctly administered to those whose hearts were changed (like David) and those whose hearts remained corrupt (like Ahab). The New Covenant, however, is not a mixed covenant.  ALL in the New Covenant know the Lord.  The text looks not to a future fulfillment, but is speaking as a present reality.  The New Covenant is better now; It won't be better later, it is presently better, in a similar way that Christ is a better mediator now, and the sacrifice of Christ is better now than the sacrifices under the Old Covenant. I must say, this is what I keep coming back to in my focus on ...

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.         And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? (Isaiah 5:1-4 ESV) I have read most of the Bible... but am only now tackling some of the Old Testament books I have never read front to back - Jeremiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezekiel, and Isaiah to name a few.  Presently, I am going through Isaiah. I used to try and find passages and verses that had special life application and draw wisdom...

While things have been fairly quiet on the blog here, thoughts have been racing through my head of late. Particularly, thoughts relating to the New Covenant ... what is is... what the benefits are... and especially who makes it up: Is it comprised of believers only?  Or are nonbelievers included in this New Covenant as well? The Evangelical Presbyterian Church emblem. Growing up from a slightly Pentecostal and then a standard evangelical background, I grew up recognizing that the New Covenant was comprised of believers.  I have no recollection of learning anything to the contrary.  However, while investigating churches in the O'Fallon / St. Peters / St. Charles, MO area, my wife and I have spent the last month or so at Mercy Road Fellowship, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) plant near Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters.  Aside from a small Acts 29 church plant of maybe 15 people, this is by far the smallest congregation I've been involved in on any capac...

//In this series, I look at a few common objections I have received regarding Christianity and attempt to give a defense for the hope that is within me.// Objection #2:  Everything comes from something, so something had to create God.  God must have an origin. This goes back to a conversation I’ve heard posed between two children:   “Who   created the trees?” one child asks, to which the second replies “God.”   “Who made the birds?”   “God.”   “Who made God??”   The second child pauses for a bit and replies: “God made himself.”   Cute storey, but the kid needs a bit more time of schooling in the beliefs of the Christian faith.   ;-)   Where did God come from?   He always existed.   If he did not always exist, he would not be God.   Definitionaly, he was not created.     As dumb as this example sounds… Saying that God was created is like saying there can be an all-green painted room that is colored orange...

1 Peter 3:15 "...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,..." I am a fan of apologetics.   One of my favorite apologists ... nay... my favorite one is Dr. James White over at Alpha & Omega Ministries .  I am used to hearing 1Peter 3:15 every week on his twice-a-week show The Dividing Line.  Be ready to give a defense for why you have hope in Christ... but do so not with arrogance, but with respect and a gentle spirit.  This is something God has been working on in my life I think.  Before I get to that... something else should be mentioned in passing... I think I am, more or less, past my "cage stage."  What is THAT, you ask?  A stage in every Calvinist's life, just after he becomes a Calvinist, when he is a very angry and bitter person, filled with arrogance, and a demeanor that wants to kee...