On The Solid Rock I Stand

Matthew 7:23-25 (New King James Version)

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

As I get older and study history; I notice that a lot of philosophies and ideas come and go. But one remains the same and still stands. Take for example the hottest book out right now The Secret; in a few years this book will fade into history like all the other ideas of men. But I can certainly understand the reasons for all these philosophies. We instinctively understand that the world is not as it should be, something has gone wrong. Why do children die? Why do people murder each other? Why is it easier for me to lie than tell the truth? The questions could go on and on. But the question remains, why? What has gone wrong with the world? We know that things are not as the should be or could be. We have a sense of right and wrong and we want things to be right, but they're not. We are desperately looking for answers and constantly trying out new theories. We want to know what we can do to fix it. Yet, after thousands of years we (collectively speaking, people in general) are no closer to the answers then when we first began, which ought to tell us that the answer lies outside of ourselves. We can not get there from here. And where is "there", from where does this notion of the good come from and why don't we experience it? Some would say "don't worry, be happy" or "love is the answer" or any other empty platitude. But those notions will not help when someone walks into the mall where you are sipping your latte and starts gunning people down. How do you make sense of that? How do you make sense when your son is born with a birth defect that takes his life before he can ever say " I love you" . I don't know about you, but I need real answers to these questions. I need to base my life on something that can carry me through tragedies, loss, suffering, old age and death. Passing fads, and empty platitudes are like chasing bubbles, touch them and they are gone. I need something I can stand on, build my life on and die on.

Let's consider the Pilgrims, since it is Thanksgiving. On what did they build there lives? What was it that was so sure and so strong that in spite of all they faced, they carried on. When faced with months at sea, cold, hunger, lack of comfort and death, even the death of their own children what carried them through? They could've gone back to their homes, in fact they could've never left. What was it that motivated them, what was it that they were so sure of that they gave their fortunes and lives for. Do you have that kind of passion and confidence in life? Some might say they were just stupid. Were they? their children were more educated and more read than any college graduate today. What was it that they built their lives on and on what did they build our government? A little study of history will show that these people knew in whom they believed and knew that scripture was given by Him to them and us. History is filled with men and women like this; they are Christian Martyrs. These are people who gave their lives for the cause of Christ, not taking the lives of others for their cause. These are the people who founded the greatest nation the world has ever known. These are people who started hospitals, founded universities, and have done more to relieve human suffering than any other group of people the world has ever know. You might say they knew why there is suffering and sorrow in the world and they knew what to do about it. And they most certainly knew were to find answers to life's toughest questions. Consider Horatio G. Spafford who lost his four daughters at sea and only his wife survived. On his way to join his wife, he stopped at the place where they died and pen the words to the classic Hymn, It Is Well With My Soul.
Faced with that kind of loss, could you say "it is well with my soul"


That is what I want to build my life on, the word of God as contained in scripture. History ought to tell us that those who stand on scripture alone, stand on solid ground. And those who stand on the philosophies of men, stand on shifting sand. The Bible has withstood thousands of years of criticism. Countless philosophies have come and gone but God's word remains. We as a people need to see in scripture what these great people saw in scripture, a complete and sufficient worldveiw, not just some place to get some personal values. The word of God is so much more than that. So the question is; Will you be the wise person who builds on the Rock or the foolish one who builds on sand?

Matthew 7:23-25 (New King James Version)

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Happy Thanksgiving

On this day, let us remember to whom we give thanks and from whom all our blessings come.
The great men who laid the foundation of our country on God's word certainly did. May we never forget it, lest we have to shed our blood, as they did, to regain it.

"Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god."-Charter of Berkeley Hundred.

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country...for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed...and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually...To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best." George Washington's national Thanksgiving Proclamation in of 1789

Are you born again ?

In recent studies the Barna Group has determined that Born Again Christians are no different from the world. Is it possible for someone to change and not change? The Barna Group would say yes, but the New Testament clearly says no. John Piper has started a series on defining what the New Testament means by born again or regenerate. Here is a quote from the first installment, to read the whole article and follow along as he explores this topic, click here.

The New Testament Moves the Opposite Direction

I’m not saying their research is wrong. It appears to be appallingly right. I am not saying that the church is not as worldly as they say it is. I am saying that the writers of the New Testament think in exactly the opposite direction about being born again. Instead of moving from a profession of faith, to the label “born again,” to the worldliness of these so-called born again people, to the conclusion that the new birth does not radically change people, the New Testament moves the other direction. It moves from the absolute certainty that the new birth radically changes people, to the observation that many professing Christians are indeed (as the Barna Group says) not radically changed, to the conclusion that they are not born again. The New Testament, unlike the Barna Group, does not defile the new birth with the worldliness of unregenerate, professing American Christians. Quoted from John Piper at desiringgod.org

Shoving Grandma and Politics

Greg Koukl, from Stand to Reason, raised some very interesting thoughts on his weekly radio program this past Sunday, November 11th. And honestly, I have changed my view on the upcoming election because of them. There has been quite a lot of discussion in evangelical circles regarding the upcoming presidential election. The discussion has focused on the hypothetical scenario of what should evangelicals do if both candidates are pro-abortion. How should we vote? Dr. Dobson has taken a lot of flack for his position and comments he made during a recent interview where he said he would not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, and he stands by that. The media has misrepresented him even to the point of claiming that Dr. Dobson wants to start a third party, which is not the case. At first, I applauded Dr. Dobson and others like him for their convictions and agreed with them, but on second thought I think their convictions aren't well thought out. Let me explain. Is it wise to make our decisions with no regard for the outcome? Christ would argue that we should "count the cost" Dr. Dobson could keep his word and actually cause more deaths and I don't think that is a viable option.

Is it ever right to vote for a pro-abortion candidate? And if I'm pro-life, how could I vote for someone who is pro-abortion? (which could be the dilemma pro-lifers face if Rudy Giuliani gets the Republican nomination.) Some would argue that it is a compromise to our position if we do, but is it? Well, that depends. Is it wrong to shove Grandma? Yes and no, it depends on the situation. If I shove Grandma because I'm mad at her, yes that is clearly wrong. But, if I shove her out of the way of a speeding car that's an entirely different thing. It is the motive, not the act, that determines the morality of an act. Our obligation is to cast our vote in a way that does the greatest good possible given the circumstances we are facing. Or to put it another way; we try to do the moral thing. So we see that it is not necessarily what we do, but why. Then we must also ask; what is the standard by which we judge.

Now some might claim this is Situational Ethics, but it is not, nor is it Relativism (moral subjectivism). Situational Ethics as a philosophy is actually objective in nature because it grounds itself outside itself in love, but I'm not grounding my position in love or myself. My position is moral objectivitism because it is dependent on the details of the objective situation. It's truthfulness is not based on me (the subject), but on those things outside myself (the object). Because all truth claims depend on the circumstances and circumstances are always relevant questions to whether an act is moral; this is the correspondence theory of truth. True truth is the way things really are.

So here is the way I see it. If we are placed in this situation between two pro-abortion candidates and our objective is to save as many lives as we can given the circumstances we face, then which candidate will do that best? Clearly the Republican.

Welcome

Welcome to Robby's Pancake House

I have started this blog as a means to share those things I have learned and those things I'm pondering. Not because I think I'm some great person, but because I love to get down to the fundamentals of things and wrestle with things like epistemology. I reject the postmodern notion that truth is not knowable, I think truth is knowable. Truth is worth knowing and pursuing with all your heart. I believe in the correspondence theory of truth. I'm egalitarian regarding persons and an elitist regarding ideas, Some ideas are simply superior to others. This site will be explicitly Christian and my thinking will be done from an explicitly Christian worldview. Sound thinking will be the rule and I will do my best to use language carefully so as to avoid confusion. For after all, clarity is more important than agreement. However, I'm fallible, so if I blunder please let me know. If you do correct, be prepared to substantiate it. This will be a place where politics, religion, philosophy and what ever else is on my mind will be discussed regularly. So hopefully this will become a place you visit regularly to get some food for thought.

Robby's Pancake House is officially open for business.