Reformed Books

This site looks pretty cool. In some ways similar to a project i have planned for the future, but still plenty different that i will pick up with again when time permits.

http://www.reformedbooks.net

I haven't had a chance to look over it in depth yet, but it seems to be what a resource site should be. It's straight and to the point but still organized into categories for easy browsing. The layout is nice but not too distracting. It seems to be an easy-to-use site with a good number of books listed. It is a subministry of mongerism.com, who said that they have more to be added. Fifteen cool points. Have fun!

Is it Fall Yet?

It's been getting colder. Fall is my favorite season. I crave of the crisp air brushing across my face. The best month is October, although September is really climbing up there ;)

I was planing on entering the Worldviews Essay contest the Trinity Foundation is putting on, but I didn't get that far in the book, and then I got really busy with wedding-planning and moving. The receive-by date is Labor Day, so really Saturday since mail isn't delivered on holidays. That's not going to happen. I still have a lot of stuff at my old place and Morgan wants her room back. I did enjoy reading the book though and will eventually go back and finish it. I think it will also come in handy years from now as a textbook.

When you need help is when you find out who your friends are. Kudos to Meaghan, Miguel, Sarah, Vaillen, and Greg for helping us out during this moving process.

Dr. Lehman delivered one of the most powerful semons I have heard in a while. The presentation was a little difficult to follow, but the content made you try. It was on prayer. Just showing examples of how prayer has worked and such. It convicted me for waiting for soemthing bad to happen because I have been blessed so much lately. It makes me want to pray more. It has always been a difficult habit to keep (for many people too, i'm sure), so it's good for a basic sermon like that to remind you of the importance and power of prayer. I'm just sad that I always forget about the prayer meeting at our church when scheduling anniversary dates. This Thursday will be one year since Nathaniel and i started "dating" (courting?). I already have something planned and am not sure if I can reschedule it. I thought they were going to start having weekly meetings on Thursdays instead of still monthly on Fridays. That would be so much better. ::shrug::

The Grove-Watkins Wedding!!

It's getting really exciting now, because our wedding is less than a month away (one day shy, but that's still less!) There is still so much to do but I think I have it all under control (famous last words?) Anyway, we were trying to limit the guest list because the reception hall capacity is so relatively small (and we can't afford food for more people than can fit in that room). It was a very hard task and we did go over (oops. what? Nathaniel has a very large family). However, we decided that since the church can sit 300, that it will be open. So if you didn't get an invite (check your inbox just in case) and aren't a random stranger passing by the blog (that would be a little creepy for us and boring for you) then please consider this an invitation to attend the ceremony. All the details can be found at the website below.

http://wedding.becksterslaboratory.com

Yeah a shameless plug. I put a lot of time into that site. ^__^ You can contact us through the site or leave a message on our comment wall. YAY!

New Site

I meant to get this up by June 13th or at least July 13th, but that didn't happen. The wedding is less than 7 weeks away and i still need to get out invitations. I am proud to announce, however, that i have finished my wedding website.

http://wedding.becksterslaboratory.com

Nathaniel and i also found the apartment we are going to live in. I get to move there first, in a couple weeks, while he gets to crash other guys' couches from 9/1-9/12. ^__^

Note from the Mad Scientist

I have been busy working on wedding stuff and reading some books for a study group i am in and a contest i am entering. I don't even read blogs much anymore, but i got a good laugh when FrankFusion sent me a link to a blog that were both on, pegged as moreyites. You wanna know why? I attend FCC. Oh, the horror! LOL

I am so excited. I'm going to the church (that we're getting married at) again tonight. Hopefully we can figure out for sure how many people will fit in the "reception hall." My bridal shower invites have been sent out. I'm so excited. My mom showed me them, and i saw a shopping list on the fridge, but other than that, i'm pretty much in the dark. Is it August yet?

The paper invites and evites for the actual wedding are nearly finished. Now i just need to work on the guest list. That is getting there too! Once i'm done adding, then comes the sad business of substracting because we can't afford so many people.

Repentance is a Lifestyle

This life, therefore,
is not righteousness but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.
The process is not yet finished, but it is going on.
This is not the end but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.

--Martin Luther, “Defense and Explanation of All the Articles,” Second Article (1521).

What is Worship? Part 1b

Happy Memorial Day. It's been a while since I posted the first section. According to the date of my saved draft, I started this post on Christmas Eve. Oops; i've been busy. ^__^ Here is the number two of the nine parts to this study. in this section my sources are John Gill and John Frame. I am picking up where I left off, which was answering the question "who is the object of worship?"

Put simply, God is the object of worship. If you are worshiping someone/thing else, you are in sin and need to repent. It's as easy as that. There is a plethora of articles, audio sermons, and videos that I could point you too for more depth on the topic. So much so that I don't know where to start, so I am moving on. Worship is just too important to put things simply and leave it at that. We worship the one true God, Jehovah (YHWH - LORD). There are different aspects that one can and needs to keep in mind while worshiping. You can emphasize different parts of God's character for different approaches. One must worship with His essence in mind, which is simple, uncompounded, immutable, infinite, and eternal. Remember that He is the Lord "thy" God. In other words, He is your creator, benefactor, supporter, and preserver. According to John Gill, the name Elohim is derived from an Arabic word that signifies to worship. However, I haven't found any other sources that say that, and have only found that it is the plural of El. His citation for it does not even seem to be in English. He could be saying that because El means God, or a diving being, the very nature of which evokes worship. Which happens to be the very argument of this section. ^__^

Trinity
We worship God the One, and we also worship God the three. We worship Him as the triune Godhead, three in one. Baptism is a form of worship and it is administered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is done under God's authority and command, and to baptise into the name of a creature would be idolatrous. Prayer is another form of worship and it is, imho, one of the best displays of the triunity of God at work. Access and address is most frequently made to the Father because He has no office. Christ is our mediator to the Father, and the Spirit assists our supplications to the Father. Through prayer (not solely of course, nor that it is by any work of our own) the Father grants us, Jesus is the petition for, and the Spirit is the increase of grace and peace. Of course, we pray to Jesus or the Spirit directly as well. Acts of faith, hope, and love are also forms of worship. The Father was the object of Christ's love as man and mediator, so He is the object of love of those that believe in Him (John 14:31). As Jesus' people, we hope in Him for happiness, and have an affectionate devotion for Him. Graces from the Spirit are exercised on the Spirit; we have faith, trust, and hope that He will finish the good work.

Covenant Lordship
This part is an idea that John Frame really likes to push, and rightly so. We worship God as our covenant Lord, our prophet, priest, and king. His relation to us is lord, but it is not a mutually dependent covenant. His divinity precedes our existence. He is the one that is not only in complete control (king role) of the universe, but created it as well. We are totally dependent on Him and our worship should reflect that. His authority (prophet role) denotes his right to be obeyed. We should not question Him. His authority covers all other authorities that may be. He is above all, and therefore should take precedence and those finite authority should be in submission to Him as well. His authority covers all of life and all the ends of the earth. Just as He created the universe, there is no corner that is outside His realm. Our worship should reflect this also. Lastly, as our covenant Lord, He has a great presence (priest role). He is always with us and involved with us. This last role presupposes the previous two, and none of them are independent of the others. They are tied together so closely and are but a different perspective of God's almighty power. This one, i think, is the one that can really bring worship home for someone. How can you know that God is there with you and not worship properly? The very God who gave and sustains your life is there with you. All powerful but made Himself available for us, for our happiness and peace, for His glory. That idea alone should bring you to your knees.

To the exclusion of all others
One cannot worship God in addition to others. A person must not worship idols. This includes images of things in heaven, earth; or the sea or man-made works of gold and silver. All these things are not bad, but it can only point back to God's glory at best and is not something that should be worshiped. This also includes idols of the heart. This one is more tricky since it can often be subtle and not as obvious as worshiping a statuette. A person must also not worship creatures in the heavens or on the earth. It is sinful to worship the sun, moon, or stars. They are but mere creations and with all their radiance only reflect back a fragment of God's glory. We should not worship men, heroes, or kings/presidents, whether good or bad. Even the most virtuous, honorable person is only a sinner created in the image of God. Anyone who worships a man is missing the point. Lastly, we don't even worship angels, and especially not demons. These are celestial beings but they too were created for the purpose of worshiping God and should not be worshiped themself.

Gospel-centered
Most importantly, our worship is to be with the beautiful truth of the gospel front and center. In the garden (of Eden), Adam and Eve had a pure worship, an adulterated paradise of life and God. It was a pretty sweet deal, but, well you know the story. At any rate, pre-Fall it was a unique type of worship. Afterwards, the worship centered around sacrifices. I will get more into more detail on this in part eight of this study. Times where the word group for worship is used in the old testament is referring to the various sacrifices and detailed procedures that God instructed Israel to do. It was atonement of sins of sorts, but it didn't work since they had to continually do it. It was worship because they are displaying the knowledge that they are in need of a savior. It's a recognizing of this Supreme Being and being in total submission to Him. Christ fulfilled so many things on the cross, among which is worship. We now worship a risen Lord. Where all worship in the old testament was a shadow, a pointing forward of things to come, worship in the new testament and beyond is a fulfillment of that. Every act of worship today should point to the wonderful work of Christ. There is no worship without a true understanding and appreciation of the mercy and grace of our great God.

Stayed tune for the next discussion, where we will look into the qualifications of the worshiper. Yep, not any joe can just decide he feels like worshiping. There are some important qualities that must be present first for his worship to have any significant value, by God's grace (ooh spoiler: that is one!).