Friday, December 26, 2008

BOOKS SUGGESTIONS ON REFORMED EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS

After checking these suggestions, I invite you to read my book report on the book Jonathan Edwards Evangelist right below this post.


1- The Art of Man Fishing


2- An Introduction to the Science of Missions





3- Salvation to the Ends of the Earth



4- Tell the Truth: the Whole Gospel to the Whole Person





5- Jesus, the Evangelist





6- Puritan Evangelism: a Biblical Approach


7-God Centered Evangelism

Jonathan Edwards Evangelist


Gerstner’s book helps us to find where the deficiencies which the reformed churches recognize in modern evangelism are. Making an exhaustive analysis of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons, he recovers the content used by that great preacher when calling unbelievers to repentance and belief.
The introductory chapter is meant to inform the content of the book and gives a detailed outline of the whole treatise. It depicts the theology that must be present in the preaching of the so called “predestinerian evangelist”. From this great biblical doctrine, the preacher draws tranquility in his role as the deliverer of the gospel, glorifying and trusting God’s sovereignty in bringing to Him those whom He have chosen. The preacher may also draw boldness in the delivery of the message, not hindering any part of from his hearers for fear of rejection. On the contrary, in his preaching, like Edwards, the evangelist must “be consistent with the justice, mercy, majesty, and truth of God to save or to damn”.[1] He alone selected the content of the preaching, the nations that would hear it and when they would hear. The last paragraph is destined to inform the reader of what he will find in the subsequent chapters.
He precedes his argument on the sovereignty of God by emphasizing the mean by which the Lord has appointed to spread the gospel among the nations. He calls this mean of the “outward call” and since it is God’s appointed as well as the following inward call, it is part of the divine initiative to restore man to his original state. The outward call takes place by two different ways: natural (through creation and man’s conscience) and supernatural (by God’s revelation of His will, the Holy Scriptures). This call is universal; all must hear and should respond to it, although the same is not true to the effectiveness of the calling. Concerning the effectiveness of the ways, although “the Spirit sometimes strive with men apart from the Bible, he never strives so much, nor successfully, apart from it.”[2]
The content of the calling that was present in the preaching of Edwards comes completely from Scripture and aims to explain the anger of God against those who sin in rejecting His infinity love. He tried to bring up a “rational hell”, demonstrating by means of reason and Scripture that “there is just enough judgment in this world to indicate that there will be a greater one in the world to come.”[3] In other words, for his hearers, in the delivery of his sermon, hell became a real place and its reality could almost be felt. They could taste the torments and afflictions of the cursed place. Edwards understood this “frightening” method to be very reasonable; as reasonable as frightening someone out of an eminent accident.
He would also struggle to convince sinners of their actual state. He would fight to convict them of the truth of his preaching, of the truth of condemnation and hell and of the truth that they were those who deserved that punishment. In order to achieve that, he would appeal to their conscience as a natural resource in the soul of man. He certainly recognizes that the renewing and the sanctification of man was a prerogative of the Holy Spirit alone, but conviction he believed to be “a work of the Spirit in the unchanged nature of fallen man; it is not a change within man.”[4] Since conscience is a natural ability for man, man could resist it either by “giving way to lusts or by directly opposing the Spirit in his inward workings”[5] and to reduce the possibility of fabricated activations of the conscience, Edwards considered a genuine activation those which were a fruit of a profound, sincere and prolonged understanding of the content preached and of the sins revealed.
Though the emphasis in hell, condemnation and conviction, that was not the complete message of Edwards’ evangelistic preaching, and he would always encourage his hearers to repentance and to seek salvation. For him, it was not enough to wake man to damnation but it was also necessary to point the solution: the grace of God in Christ. Thus he would encourage them to seek salvation, to flee from the day of wrath. Because of his emphasis on the seeking ability of man he was sometimes accused of Arminianism but, on the other hand, Edwards never affirmed that man was able to believe in Christ by his own reason or that man was able to do good by his own efforts, he only affirmed that man have the ability to believe and to seek. Man is never willing to believe because of his fallen state, but can be stirred up to seek to be willing. Because he seeks what is bad and evil, he does have the ability to seek, than he must have this ability directed towards Christ and his sacrifice and that is the duty of the evangelist. While preaching on the means of salvation, Edwards would say: “the reason why they don’t use the means is not because they could not if they were disposed but because they are not disposed.”[6]
Edwards was always worried about false motives for seeking salvation. Although he defended self-interest as being a point of contact between sinners and the gospel and that the sense of auto-preservation that there are in sinners should be used to bring their attention to the redemptive message of the evangelistic preaching, they should be absolutely discouraged to seek salvation for their own interest. In fact he would affirm that “if men actually do become professing Christians from principles of fear and self-interest alone, they are no true Christians.”[7] In order to avoid such mistake, he would enforce Christians’ duty of self-denial and the desire to please God. To be a genuine seek for salvation, man should be motivated by the goal of glorifying God, of enjoying him and of imitating him.
This seek would have been achieved, according to Edwards, only if God, in his infinity mercy, had appointed before the foundation of the world the salvation of the one who seeks. That would be demonstrated with a change in the life and in the values of the, now, believer. The justification that had been applied to his heart should now be preserved and persist until the return of the Savior. In his own words: “ ’tis necessary for those that have religious affections and seem to have a love to Christ that they should endure to the end in order to their being saved.”[8]
One striking characteristic of his ministry was the attention given to young hearers in the evangelistic preaching. In the fourth chapter of the book, the author describes Edwards’ addressing to those in early age although not determining how old they exactly were. In those words, Edwards uses examples of the quotidian life like going to school together or playing together as an invitation to heaven. “How dreadful to be separated or to be damned together”[9], he would say. He would bring examples like that of Elisha’s cursing children to show the wickedness of their hearts and also their sins were hated by God just like the ones done by the adults. He would also use other sins typical of their age, and even the death of another child, to stir up their conscience.
The main reason for doing so, Edwards thought, was the great learning capacity of children as well as their susceptibility to be frightened of the coming wrath of God. He would also recognize that a sure way to revival was the education of the children in the truth and therefore it was the responsibility of the head of the house and of those who were involved in the care of children top provide such knowledge.
[1] Gerstner, John H., Jonathan Edwards Evangelist, (Pittsburg: Soli Deo Gloria Publications), 15.
[2] Ibid., 23.
[3] Ibid., 25.
[4] Ibid., 42.
[5] Ibid., 43, 44.
[6] Ibid., 89.
[7] Ibid., 64.
[8] Ibid., 164.
[9] Ibid., 39.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

SUGGESTIONS ON HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH

I invite you to spend some minutes of your time checking my suggestions on early church history. Click on each book at the right column for more information.


Images depicting the first ecumenical council held in Nicaea. There the Arian controversies faced its first defeat!

The second icon portrays Constantine (the emperor who called the council) and the influential church fathers at the council.

Augustine's Confessions


Reading Agustin is always a single experience. Reading his solid and matured defense of Trinity leaves us with an academic flavor in our mouths. Reading the confessions, was a practical experience. It was a journey into self, into who the entrance of sin made us be, creatures without hope and lost in their own desires.

Coming from a more sexual appealing background, in my country the word “desire” always convey the idea of physical satisfaction. Maybe it is also so because of the catholic background. On the other hand, Augustin brings the twofold side of the word. He certainly shows the physical satisfaction side. But it is also interesting how he felt about all the knowledge that he acquired, of the books he wrote during his time of perdition. Agustin was certainly a man o great intellect and it is beautiful to see his recognition of how academicism can turn out in a fair of vanity.

But “The Confessions” is also a theological tract. And in fact it proves that man is a religious creature and that all true knowledge is found in God alone. The description of his wicked past is just and explanation of total depravity. Reading him in those parts is like reading the Boston’s fourfold state of man. Then he also deals with the Trinity, with Christ centered salvation, with the divinity of Christ, with the work of the Holy Spirit and much more.

Another characteristic of his work that caught my attention was his thankful spirit. He is always thanking God for his glory, mercy, wisdom, power, etc. In fact, there is embedded in the whole book this feeling of gratitude and I have to confess that it embarrassed me. It made me think that I do not thank my Lord enough for his holy in my life. It also made me think on how rare this feeling of gratitude is emphasized in our pulpits. From this reading, though recognizing Augustin’s intellect which made him that great church father and theologian, the simplicity of his grateful spirit was what most struck me.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Books on the Westminster Simbols of Faith - 01

As a good Presbyterian, it is impossible not to love and adopt the Westminster confession and catechisms as the faithful (maybe not complete) exposition of the doctrines found in Scripture. Maybe not complete because the aim of the symbols is not to exhaustively explain what are those things in what we must believe, but to briefly and consistently expose those basic statements of the Christian faith. For more details about each book, just click on it.

My first suggestion is to have on your hand the text of the confession. And it is event better if you can compare it with other faithful doctrinal documents produced by the reformed churches around the World. Reformed Confessions Harmonized will be for you a handfull tool to perform this job. Here you will find not only the Westminster simbols but, in harmony with each subject, there are other four confessions produced other strands among the European churches. From the Dutch-German reformers came the Belgic Confession of Faith (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Canons of Dort (1618-19) and the Swiss churches contributed the Second Helvetic Confession (1566).
The most precious thing, in my opinion, about this book is the additional bibliography it provides for individual study in each of the doctrinal topics. The only problem is that it does not follow the Westminster confession content, but I can live with that! :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Broken tree, rotten spot.


Last Tuesday a tree that is in front of my house broke in half. It was big surprise for me because it always seemed very healthy. And even with all the wind that is blowing during this fall, I never suspected that it would not resist to it. But when I looked closely it became clear why the accident happened: there was a rotten spot in a small part of the tree’s trunk. No one could have noticed it and it was a really small part of the trunk, but it was there and made it succumb.
Thinking about it later, it astonished me how similar what happened with this tree is with what happen with us when we are tolerant with sin. We are sometimes so satisfied with our general spiritual performance that we tend to ignore or to take for granted that little spot that still keeps our heart dirty, forgetting the main commandment of our Lord: “You shall be holy for I am holy.” (1Pet 1:16) And even if we look spiritually healthy, soon our public fall will come. Scripture is full of such examples (Achan, the rich young ruler, Simon the magician).
Now, more important than our similarities with this tree are our differences. Trees do not have feelings. They do not love. We do! How delightful it is to love Him who loved us first. Is not love revealed in obedience? Yes, it is. That is what teaches us our Savior Jesus Christ. “If you love me, you will keep my Commandments.” (John 14:15)
Trees do not grow in grace. We do! This marvelous God, who loves us, promised us that He would sanctify us and that with faith in Him and trusting in His power we would overcome the enemy of our souls and his temptations. “I have written to you, young man, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.” (1John 2:14)
Trees do not repent. We do. In fact, that is the very nature of a true Christian. He is able to recognize what he really is. When examining his heart, he is confronted with those things his Savior hates, his conscience bothers him and until he bows down his knees and begs for forgiveness he finds no peace. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)
I suggested my landlord that the remaining of the tree should also be cut off. There is a great chance that it is also compromised, further and even greater damage can be caused. But as trees of the Lord, He is always ready to deal with us, to treat our sin, to bring us closer to him. “His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations.”

Monday, December 8, 2008

Suggestion of a commentary in the book of the prophet Jeremiah

(Click in the image to visit bookstore)

The “Weeping Prophet,” the rabbis said, began wailing the moment he was born. Jeremiah had reason to weep–he witnessed the devastating consequences of life without God. Sadly, the relativism Jeremiah saw in ancient Israel predominates in America today. That’s why his words are so relevant for our lives. Better than anyone else, Jeremiah exemplifies through his courage, passion, even his sufferings, how believers can live for God in a society that has turned against Him. While the book of Jeremiah shared the last, desperate days of the Jerusalem he loved, Lamentations expresses the cries of his heart. Yet they reveal more than the prophet’s grief–they are an attempt to reflect on the meaning of human suffering. Lamentations gives voice to the deepest agonies, with the hope that some comfort may come from crying out to God for mercy. Together the two books illustrate the eternal principle that man reaps what he sows. It is a lesson the world–and the church–needs to hear. With the heart of a pastor and the knowledge of a scholar, Philip Graham Ryken applies these words of life to us today. His commentary will not only help you understand and teach from these spiritually relevant books, but inspire you with the courage and passion of God’s personal call for you to live in these times.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Identities - 1Pe 1.1 and 2 - Introduction


When I and my wife arrived in this country we faced an extremely annoying situation: we had no identities. Of course we did have our passports and visas in it, but they are no good to drive after three months, or to make any kind of contract like cell phones services or even garbage collecting services. We had no records, no credit; in only one word we had no identification.
We, than, became the “riders of the lost I.D.”. And it was most like a mission impossible: standing on lines at the social security department, answering questions, handing declarations from the seminary. At the DMV we have our worse time when were asked to provide a English translations of our Brazilian driver’s license but no one told us were to get a official Portuguese translator since we ourselves were not allowed to translate it.
Thanks to our Lord everything turned out fine and today we have all the documents that we need. But this whole situation shows us how important it is to have an identity. How it is important to be known and to know ourselves.
But identity is something that goes beyond social life. In fact, the Christian life also cares for definitions, for detailed explanations, especially in times of doubt, suffering and persecution. This is what we find in the first epistle of the apostle Peter. He is here addressing, probably around 63 A.D., a group of churches who were not yet facing a official persecution (the one that would be established by Nero some years later), but a social persecution, possibly a pressure from society, and, because of that, they were also in need of guidance and care.
The whole letter can be divided in three big sections, having the Christian identity in view: (1) Identity of Christian Doctrine – 1.13 to 2.10; (2) Identity of Christian behavior among a wicked society – 2.11 to 4.11; (3) Identity of Christian behavior towards a hostile world.
The first two verses which will be further analyzed, generally regarded as greetings and salutations, curiously addresses to the issue of identity and can also be structured in a two point outline which we are going to follow during their exposition: (1) The identity of the writer in relations to the Church; (2) The identity of recipients in relation to God and the world.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Attributes of God




The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Psa 103:19


In 1859 a young lad from Pennsylvania, after his graduation in Princeton under Professor Charles Hodge, was ordained and sent to Brazil as a missionary effort of the PCUSA to preach the gospel and the Presbyterian standards in that country. His name was Ashbel Green Simonton. In 1860, Rev. Simonton preached his first sermon in the Portuguese language and in 1862 founded the first Presbyterian Church in Brazil, located in Rio de Janeiro.
This just reminds me of God’s providence, His control over history, His absolute dominium. Anyone living in the catholic Brazil of the 19th Century would never believe that the Lord would bring a foreigner who would learn the local language in 2 years, enable him to preach His Gospel powerfully in such a way that,146 years later, that single church would become 2304, distributed in 236 presbyteries.
Since me and my wife arrived here, we have been learning a lot on that matter. We have found demonstrations from our Lord of his mercy and care not only in the Seminary but brothers and sisters individually have been used by Him to bless us with love, attention, prayers and gifts.
The knowledge of this biblical truth must find a special place in the hearts of faithful believers and must cause a great impact in the way they live and see the world. The Christian ought to exercise his dependence on God by struggling against the thought that he can solve problems or live his life by himself and by spending time in private prayer as advised by Lord Jesus.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

STUCK IN MY OWN HOUSE


When I was about to leave for the seminary this morning what a horrible surprise: our driveway was completely frozen.

Being an "expert" in snow as I am (considering that I came from one of the most hot cities in Brazil) I tried first to drive our car trough the snow and it obviously didn't work. Later we tried to water the snow out of the driveway, but it was too cold and it would take the whole Taylors water resource to remove the snow out of there. I finally used my vast hollywoodian knowledge (and all this with only one good leg) and concluded by remembering all American movies I’ve seen in the past that I should have a shovel to manually remove the snow out of the way and be able to drive to the seminary. When I realized that I just gave up. Entered home again and made myself some hot coffee.
Now I'm attending the History of Philosophy class using the seminary's internet conference system (thank's God it exists).

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

SNOW AT TAYLORS


Although the alert of iced storm in the Greenville area, the night was blessed with a nice snow fall.

The streets are already white, my car is also covered in snow. My neighbor Emilio and his young brother-in law(on the picture) came some minutes ago here in our house, shooting snow balls.

It is all very exciting.