change of address

my old block is being refurbished, so i've moved from...

to...

i'm still part of james college

my new room

my new address is:
Room F/207
Flat F6, Barbara Scott Court
Wentworth Way
Heslington
YO10 5NN

return of the king

kevin keegan is back on tyneside. time to start planning a trip to st james' park!

chosen and free

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." - John 15:16 (NIV)

rev gary patchen expounded on our verse of the year (John 15:16) at this morning's service in york baptist church, describing how salvation starts with God's choice. true believers have eternal security because God - who 'works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose' (Romans 8:28, NIV) - does not alter His eternal decree. 'we are more than conquerors through him who loved us' (Romans 8:37, NIV), 'for those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. and those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified' (Romans 8:29-30, NIV).

spiritual blessings in Christ

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory." - Ephesians 1:3-14 (NIV)

Scripture does not say that we believe because we are chosen (preterition), or that we are chosen because we believe (open theism). moreover, it is not necessary for us to establish that we who believe believe because we are chosen, or that we who are chosen are chosen because we believe. it is sufficient for us to know that we who believe also are chosen, and that we who are chosen also believe.

believing and being chosen are neither independent of each other nor based on each other, but simply in accordance with each other, and in accordance with God's good, pleasing and perfect will.

Trust His Heart

All things work for our good
Though sometimes we can't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth

Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim
And you just can't see Him
Remember you're never alone

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

He sees the masterplan
He holds our future in His hands
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him

We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry
He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you...

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

history, human agency and the will of God

knowing and doing are one and the same, and knowing the will of God is doing the will of God. so how do we discern (know and do) the will of God?

charles swindoll labels it a mystery, while john macarthur expounds that God's will is that you be saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering - then do whatever you want! both of them are right - swindoll gestures at our incomplete understanding of what is yet to be revealed, while macarthur refers to God's complete and revealed Word.

history and the will of God

we discern the will of God as we witness history unfold. the past, the present (which will eventually become the past) and the future (which will eventually become the present, and then the past) are all in accordance with the will of God. indeed, God acts from eternity and is not bound by time or space.

as john gardner muses, 'history never looks like history when you're living through it. it always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable'. nevertheless, our incomplete understanding of what is yet to be revealed does not detract from God's complete and revealed Word.

counterfactual history is imaginative and even entertaining, but too many "what if" questions spoil the broth. asking whether man could have not sinned is only a step away from asking whether God could omnipotently destroy His omnipotence. what if God created a rock so big that He couldn't move it? this doesn't prove anything.

history and the will of God are not about "what ifs", but about "what is". it is true, as Scripture says, that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23, NIV). it is true, as Scripture says, that 'the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 6:23, NIV). it is true, as Scripture says, that 'God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16, NIV).

one will in two senses

There is no inconsistency or contrariety between the decretive and preceptive will of God. It is very consistent to suppose that God may hate the thing itself, and yet will that it should come to pass.

Yea, I do not fear to assert that the thing itself may be contrary to God's will, and yet that it may be agreeable to His will that it should come to pass, because His will, in the one case, has not the same object with His will in the other case.

To suppose God to have contrary wills towards the same object, is a contradiction; but it is not so, to suppose Him to have contrary wills about different objects. The thing itself, and that the thing should come to pass, are different, as is evident; because it is possible that the one may be good and the other may be evil. The thing itself may be evil, and yet it may be a good thing that it should come to pass. It may be a good thing that an evil thing should come to pass; and oftentimes it most certainly and undeniably is so, and proves so.

- Jonathan Edwards, Decrees and Election

human agency and the will of God

calvinism vs arminianism. predestination vs free will. divine sovereignty vs human responsibility. for the record, i am not a calvinist any more than i am an arminian. i believe in predestination and free will, as well as divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

it is not contradictory to simultaneously hold that God 'will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2:4, KJV) and that God does not predestine to save all men. on the contrary, it is contradictory to simultaneously hold that God 'will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2:4, KJV) and that God does not desire to save all men. indeed, God 'desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2:4, NKJV).

God wills (desires) to save all men, but God does not will (predestine) to save all men. God predestines that those who will choose Him will thereby be saved, and God predestines that those who will not choose Him will thereby not be saved (true). this does not mean that God predestines those who will choose Him and will thereby be saved, and God predestines those who will not choose Him and will thereby not be saved (false).

the question of faith

faith is not the gift of God. faith is the means by which we receive the gift of God, which is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. at the risk of belabouring the point, the gift of God is not faith. the gift of God is salvation by grace through faith. God does not predestine to save all men not because God does not offer all men salvation by grace through faith, but because not all men receive salvation by grace through faith.

God does offer all men salvation by grace through faith, as well as the ability to respond in faith which accompanies it. this is why all men are without excuse, 'for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made' (Romans 1:20, NIV).

discernment in christian liberty

discernment in christian liberty is really about proving the will of God with our free will - more precisely, our God-given capacity for exercising our free will within our God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires. discernment in christian liberty - proving the will of God with our free will - is from justification (by faith), through sanctification, to glorification.

we may not have the God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires. for example, God in His sovereignty may not give us certain spiritual gifts which we ourselves desire to have. however, this is not the same as saying that we do not have the God-given capacity for exercising our free will. while we may not have the God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires (the gifts we want), we always have the God-given capacity for exercising our free will within the God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires (how we use the gifts we have).

note: the spiritual gift of faith to believers (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12) is not the gift of faith to non-believers (there is no such thing).

furthermore, while we may not have the God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires, it is never to the extent that we are unable, by the work of the Holy Spirit, to believe and be saved. we are called to exercise the God-given capacity to believe and be saved because we always have the God-given capability to believe and be saved, regardless if we are capable or incapable of anything else.

of course, as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, emotion and reason will eventually converge and centre on the paths He has prepared for us in advance. we will have the freedom from choice, which comes from our freedom in Christ. like Christ, all that our free will desires will be knowing and doing the will of God.

chosen and free

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." - Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

we are chosen because God knows what the future holds, and we are free to choose because we do not know what the future holds.

"You will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John." - C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

fleshing out the will of God

Discovering and embracing God's will invariably brings us to a crisis of belief. And that forces us into faith and action.

Obeying and delighting in God's will leads us to make major adjustments. And that requires us to release and risk - releasing the familiar and risking whatever the future may bring. That's the bottom line of fleshing out God's will.

The longer we walk with the Lord, the more we realise that we really don't know what each new day may bring. A phone call can come in the middle of the night shattering our joy. Suddenly, everything changes. It's amazing what a knock at the door can bring or what the opening of a letter can do.

I don't say these things to conjure up fear in our hearts, but simply to remind us that God alone knows our future. And there's no safer, no better, no more rewarding place to be than in the nucleus of His will, regardless of where that may be.

In spite of all our struggling, there's something within us, down in our redeemed hearts, that craves to know His smile, His rewards, and the joy of following obedience. Nothing can be compared to that. No salary offers it; no money can buy it; no possession can replace it... just knowing we have pleased our Father is sufficient.

God is not running around hiding from us, mocking us, or delighting in keeping us squirming in a dungeon of confusion. In many ways, His will for us emerges very clearly as we go through this process we've been considering. But we do have to be willing to walk by faith, which means doing His will against seemingly insurmountable odds.

We are only finite human beings. We can only see the present and the past. The future is a little frightening to us. So we need to hold onto His hand and trust Him to calm our fears. And at those times when we're stubborn and resisting and God shakes us by the shoulders to get our attention, we're reminded that we don't call our own shots, that God has a plan for us, mysterious though it may seem, and we want to be in the centre of it.

All the risks notwithstanding, that is still the safest place on earth to be.

- Charles Swindoll, The Mystery of God's Will

the year ahead

now that the festive period is over and i'm about to fly back to york, it's timely to take a step back and reflect on what God has done in my life, as well as look forward to the year ahead.

you could object that dividing life into different chapters goes against the idea that life is not about drawing lines, but that just draws the line between drawing lines and not drawing lines. besides, God acts from eternity and is not bound by time or space.

already in the few weeks i've been back in singapore God has been leading me through church, conversations with others and my own quiet time/self-study, but He has been doing so from eternity (and for the purposes of this essay entry i shall briefly revisit the past two years).

out of the wilderness

2006 was the year i got baptised. it was the year God led me out of the wilderness, mentally (ord loh!) and spiritually. i can't help but think that things would have been very different if i had disrupted to study overseas in 2005 or even 2006 - not necessarily better or worse, just different. not that i had the chance to disrupt.

rehab, renew, restart

2007 was the year i turned 21. it was the year God led me on a transformation journey as i travelled in and out of physical and emotional prisons. it was the year i grew older and wiser, in the grace and knowledge of Christ. not that the process ever comes to an end.

here we go

in many ways, the next couple of months will be more significant than my first term at york. i'm going to be busier, have more commitments and be away from home for a much longer period of time. but 2008 promises to be an exciting year ahead.

the best is yet to be!

a new perspective on ethics

in preparation for (or rather, in juxtaposition to) next term's philosophy module on ethics, i've been reading ethics by dietrich bonhoeffer - the 'seminal reinterpretation of the role of christianity in the modern secularised world', according to the back cover of the book. it was actually a gift from some of the guys in church for my 21st birthday back in jun, and i'm glad i've finally got down to reading it (now you know how long it takes for me to get down to reading a particular book, if ever). it's given me a new perspective on ethics - if not on a philosophical level, then certainly on a theological level.

[the headings in bold and comments in normal font are my own; everything else in italics quotes bonhoeffer.]

the knowledge of good and evil

The knowledge of good and evil seems to be the aim of all ethical reflection. The first task of Christian ethics is to invalidate this knowledge.

what?

Already in the possibility of the knowledge of good and evil Christian ethics discerns a falling away from the origin. Man at his origin knows only one thing: God. It is only in the unity of his knowledge of God that he knows of other men, of things, and of himself. He knows all things only in God, and God in all things. The knowledge of good and evil shows that he is no longer at one with this origin.

In the knowledge of good and evil man does not understand himself in the reality of the destiny appointed in his origin, but rather in his own possibilities, his possibility of being good or evil. He knows himself now as something apart from God, outside God, and this means that he now knows only himself and no longer knows God at all; for he can know God only if he knows only God. The knowledge of good and evil is therefore separation from God. Only against God can man know good and evil.

ah, that makes sense.

the philosophy of philosophy

Knowing of good and evil in disunion with the origin, man begins to reflect upon himself. His life is now his understanding of himself, whereas at the origin it was his knowledge of God. Self-knowledge is now the measure and the goal of life. This holds true even when man presses out beyond the bounds of his own self. Self-knowledge is man’s interminable striving to overcome his disunion with himself by thought; by unceasingly distinguishing himself from himself he endeavours to achieve unity with himself.

here, socrates's dictum that 'the unexamined life is not worth living' springs to mind. self-knowledge and self-reflection are indeed what philosophy is about, but they alone can't save you. as john macarthur observes, 'there is a serious missing connection'.

unity in the faith

Now anyone who reads the New Testament even superficially cannot but notice the complete absence of this world of disunion, conflict and ethical problems. Not man’s falling apart from God, from men, from things and from himself, but rather the rediscovered unity, reconciliation, is now the basis of the discussion and the point of decision of the specifically ethical experience. The life and activity of men is not at all problematic or tormented or dark: it is self-evident, joyful, sure and clear.

the legalism of the pharisee

It is in Jesus’s meeting with the Pharisee that the old and the new are most clearly contrasted. The correct understanding of this meeting is of the greatest significance for the understanding of the gospel as a whole.

The Pharisee is not an adventitious historical phenomenon of a particular time. He is the man to whom only the knowledge of good and evil has come to be of importance in his entire life; in other words, he is simply the man of disunion.

For the Pharisee every moment of life becomes a situation of conflict in which he has to choose between good and evil.

in the world, but not of it

What takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees is only a repetition of that first temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11), in which the devil tries to lure Him into a disunion in the word of God, and which Jesus overcomes by virtue of His essential unity with the Word of God.

Already in the New Testament there is no single question put by men to Jesus which Jesus answers with an acceptance of the human either-or that every such question implies. Every one of Jesus’s answers, to the questions of His enemies and of His friends alike, leaves this either-or behind it in a way which shames the questioner. Jesus does not allow Himself to be invoked as an arbiter in vital questions; He refuses to be held by human alternatives.

the freedom of Jesus

The freedom of Jesus is not the arbitrary choice of one amongst innumerable possibilities; it consists on the contrary precisely in the complete simplicity of His action, which is never confronted by a plurality of possibilities, conflicts or alternatives, but always only by one thing.

This one thing Jesus calls the will of God. He says that to do this will is His meat. This will of God is His life. He lives and acts not by the knowledge of good and evil but by the will of God. There is only one will of God. In it the origin is recovered; in it there is established the freedom and the simplicity of all action.

greater good. lesser evil. where do you draw the line? as the line on the back of kurt angle's "freedom of choice" t-shirt half-jokingly goes, 'tap out or angle slam' - that's not having the freedom of choice.

having the freedom of choice appears to be a good thing, but it also means that you're constrained to make a choice. having the freedom of choice means that you don't have the freedom to choose not to have the freedom of choice. instead, true liberty - true christian liberty - lies in having the freedom from choice, which comes from our freedom in Christ.

life is not about drawing lines like the pharisees did. at the end of the day, keeping God's commands and discovering His will is what counts.

do not conform, but be transformed (new year resolution #4)

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

What does this proving mean? Why is it needed? This question may appear to be logically necessary, yet it is in itself wrongly conceived. The knowledge of Jesus Christ, metamorphosis, renewal, love, or whatever other name we may give it, is something living, and not something which is given, fixed and possessed once and for all. For this reason there arises every day anew the question how here, today and in my present situation I am to remain and to be preserved in this new life with God, with Jesus Christ. And it is just this question which is involved in proving what is the Will of God.

Knowledge of Jesus Christ implies ignorance of a man’s own good and evil; knowledge of Jesus Christ refers the man entirely to Jesus Christ; and from this it follows that there must every day arise a new authentic proving which will consist precisely in the exclusion of other sources of the knowledge of the will of God.

This proving springs from the knowledge that a man is preserved, sustained and guided by the will of God, the knowledge that he has already been endowed with the merciful union with the will of God; and it seeks to confirm this knowledge every day afresh in his actual concrete life.

It is not, therefore, a defiant or desperate proving; it is a humble and a trustful proving, a proving in freedom for the ever new word of God, in the simplicity of the ever one word of God. It is a proving which no longer calls in question that unity with the origin which is regained in Jesus; it presupposes this unity, and yet it must always recover it anew.

But when all this has been said it is still necessary really to examine what is the will of God, what is rightful in a given situation, what course is truly pleasing to God; for, after all, there have to be concrete life and action. Intelligence, discernment, attentive observation of the given facts, all these now come into lively operation, all will be embraced and pervaded by prayer.

Particular experiences will afford correction and warning. Direct inspirations must in no case be heeded or expected, for this could all too easily lead to a man’s abandoning himself to self-deception. In view of what is at stake there must be a lofty spirit of sober self-control. Possibilities and consequences must be carefully assessed. In other words, the whole apparatus of human powers must be set in motion when it is a matter of proving what is the will of God.

But in all this there will be no room for the torment of being confronted with insoluble conflicts, or for the arrogant notion that one can master every conflict, or even for the enthusiastic expectation and assertion of direct inspiration. There will be the belief that if a man asks God humbly God will give him certain knowledge of His will; and then, after all this earnest proving, there will also be the freedom to make a real decision, and with it the confidence that it is not man but God Himself who, through this proving, gives effect to His will.

Anxiety as to whether one has done the right thing will not now become a desperate clinging to one’s own goodness or swing round into the assuredness of the knowledge of good and evil, but it will be dispelled in the knowledge of Jesus Christ who alone delivers the judgement of mercy; it will cause a man’s own goodness to lie hidden until the proper time in the knowledge and the mercy of the Judge.

discernment in christian liberty is really about proving the will of God with our free will - more precisely, our God-given capacity for exercising our free will within our God-given capability of accomplishing all that our free will desires - but that's for another time.

new year resolutions

1. wait on the Lord

"Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." - Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 (NIV)

- divine delays, 16 aug 07

2. hope in the Lord

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:30-31 (NIV)

- faith, hope and love, 28 aug 07

3. commit to the Lord

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." - Psalm 37:3-6 (NIV)

- commitments, 12 sep 07

4. do not conform, but be transformed

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

- more random thoughts, 19 sep 07

5. overcome temptation

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

- luke and james, 22 oct 07

6. run with perseverance

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)

- run with perseverance, 10 dec 07

7. do the will of God

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does." - James 1:22-25 (NIV)

- knowing and doing, 24 dec 07

the best is yet to be!