Words of Life

Timothy Ward writes in the introduction what his thesis is “I want to articulate, explain and defend what we are really saying when we proclaim, as we must, that the Bible is God’s Word. In particular, this is how I want to go about this: I am attempting to describe the nature of the relationship between God and Scripture.” (p. 11)  Ward is going to argue his thesis by starting first with a biblical outline, “we shall find that the words of the Bible are a significant aspect of God’s action in the world.” (p. 12) He will also answer the question, “What, according to the Bible, is in fact going on when God speaks?” (p. 20) Ward makes it clear we can’t separate God’s actions from his person and his words.

In the next section of the book, Ward will then move to write about “a theological outline of Scripture in its relationship with God, focusing on Scripture’s role in the relationship with each of the persons of the Trinity.” (p. 13) In this section, he is going to make the argument for what he calls “speech-act theory” (pp. 57-60) we as Christians can use this as a powerful tool when we are talking about the doctrine of Scripture. 

Ward is going to move from biblical, theological and lastly, he will write about God’s Word from “a doctrinal outline of Scripture.” (p. 17) In this section, Ward will cover “Scripture’s necessity, sufficiency, clarity and authority (including inerrancy and infallibility).” (p. 17)  Ward writes with clarity and illustrates just how important it is for us to keep these attributes of God’s Word.

The final section of the book is seen as practical theology as Ward will end with a call for us as the readers to apply what he has written to preaching and our private reading of Scripture. He will deal with the misunderstanding of sola scriptura. Ward wants us to be encouraged to preach the Bible and we can be confident that we are not just speaking empty words by human authors but that we are ambassadors speaking the very words of God when we open up the Bible to preach. 

 

Ward is able to make his argument clear. He does persuade me on the way that I need to see that all three persons of God are an activity in the words of God. The Father speaks the Words, the Son is the Word of God in the flesh and the Spirit continues to have a role to play in both the authoring and the preservation of Scripture. I had never read how all three are involved in the Words of Scripture. I knew that all three were involved and Ward was able to persuade to see how God and the Scriptures are in a relationship. 

The strength of the book is that Ward is able to remind the reader of the conservative Reformed view of Scripture by pointing us to Calvin, Turretin, Warfield and Bavinck with quotes. He reminds us that this is not a new idea but has been something that has been held as a view of Scripture for years. Another strength is how Ward builds from the biblical outline to the theological outline, to the doctrinal outline as Ward buildings from one to the next that is one of his strengths. 

The first quote comes from the summary where Ward is showing us how he has made the arguments in the book, “The central biblical, theological and doctrinal arguments of this book can be summarized briefly. 

Scripture, by which we mean the speech acts performed by means of the words of Scripture, is the primary means by which God presents himself to us, in such a way that we can know him and remain in a faithful relationship with him. Once we are clear on this definition of the nature of Scripture, we can say something important and true, even though at first sight it seems perhaps dangerously close to making an idol of the Bible: Scripture is God in communicative action.

Theologically Scripture is the means by which the Father presents his covenant to us, and therefore the means by which he presents himself to us as the faithful God of the covenant. It is also in the words of Scripture that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, comes to us so that we may know him and remain in him. And it is through the Scripture, which he authored, preserved and now illumines, that the Holy Spirt speaks to us most reliably. All this is what we are saying when we confess, simply that, ‘The Bible is the Word of God.’

Doctrinally Scripture is necessary, because of the character of God, and because of the covenantal form in which he chooses to relate to us. It is sufficient as the form in which God’s covenant promise is made to us. It is clear, in that God’s voice speaking through Scripture gives us sufficiently solid grounds to base on Scripture alone our knowledge of God, our trust in him, our hope and our actions. All of this amounts to an exposition of what it means to say that Scripture is authoritative, since to speak of Scripture’s authority is really shorthand for speaking of the way in which the sovereign God chooses to speak authoritatively to use in and through Scripture.” (pp. 177-178)

The second argument is, “For the great revealed truth we must trust, explain and defend is that the one who is the Word of life (I John I:I) speaks to us words of life (John 6:68). He gives us Scripture as our word of life: the trustworthy, clear and sufficient means of knowing him and remaining in covenant relationship with him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, right up until the day we no longer need it, because then we shall see face to face.” (p. 179) Ward made the arguments that we need to see that Scripture is trustworthy, that it is clear and sufficient for us to be in a covenant relationship with God.

The first insight from this book that I need to apply is the section The Son and Scripture: the words of the Word - Jesus and the Bible as both ‘Word of God’. Ward writes “A book is not a person and a person is not a book; the necessary safeguards to ordering ‘Christ as Word’ and ‘Bible as Word’ appropriately in relation to each other are already there in this rather obvious fact.” (pp. 71-72) “Paying full and wise attention to Scripture as the written Word of God is crucial if we wish to worship and follow the Word-made-flesh, the Son of God, rightly.” (p. 74) I need to watch when I am talking about Jesus as the Word of God and the Bible as the Word of God. It could be confusing to people. 

The second insight is found in The Holy Spirit and Scripture: the God-breathed Word - The inspiration of Scripture - The Spirit as the author of Scripture. The insight was when Ward is writing about the inspiration of Scripture. Ward writes “Consequently it is arguable that we should drop the term ‘the inspiration of Scripture’, as the phrase so easily leads to confusion.” (p. 83) This was the first time I had read about dropping the term the inspiration of Scripture. I thought why would we do that and then Ward went on to write about people wanting to drop the word but then he gives a good reason to keep using the word to help us understand why we should this word. Ward writes
“Scripture is then said to be ‘inspired’ in the sense that Christians find it spiritually inspiring.” (p. 84) I want to always see the Scripture as God’s Word that is inspired and inspiring me. 

Finding God in the Margins

Finding God in the Margins by Carolyn Custis James

James brings the readers right into the story of Ruth. This is the story of a widow (Ruth - a Moabite) and her widowed mother-in-law (Naomi- a Israelite). She helps you understand that the mercy (hesed) of God is still there even when Naomi thinks He has left her because of what is going on in the world around them. If you wanted to understand the theology more of this story this is a good resource to have. James brings in the social and culture times. Ultimately she reminds us the whole story of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi is pointing to a One that is coming - that is Jesus. I would recommend reading this book to someone that wants to know about the story of Ruth.

(I have review this book for SpeakEasy)  

I have written a few book reviews for school the last few months. This part of one of the reviews. The book was Adventures in Missing the Point. I had owned this book for a few years and have never read it.

Overview of the main points the authors are trying to make

When Brian McLaren was working on writing the book Adventures in Missing the Point, he went to EmergentYS to see if they would publish the book. Instead, “they suggested Tony Campolo as a coauthor.”(1) The authors then “divvied up the chapters”(2) and each chapter ends with the response written by the other author. Campolo disagrees with McLaren “on several points, which is part of what makes the book interesting and fun” says McLaren. The authors have heard “really positive response on this book, especially from people in “the Christian subculture” (3) who feel it kicks some doors down and opens some windows for needed fresh air.” The Christian subculture is the audience most likely to read this book since the authors are making the argument that most Christians have missed and keep missing the point of the Gospel that they have been called to proclaim. 

The authors have written their book in three sections: God, world, and soul. The first section they believe Christians have missed the point on are those of salvation, theology, kingdom of God, end times, and the Bible. The second section deals with the topic of the world. The authors think the church has missed the mark on: evangelism, social action, culture, women in ministry, leadership, seminary, environmentalism, and homosexuality. The third section is going to deal with the soul where they cover sin, worship, doubt, truth and being postmodern.

Footnotes from  https://brianmclaren.net/adventures-in-missing-the-point/ (accessed November 22, 2018)

This was part of a book review written for CSBS and my Christian Apologetics course online

10 MINUTES IN THE WORD: PROVERBS

I have had the chance to review 10 minutes in the word: Proverbs. I appreciated that I was able to read whatever translate of the Bible I wanted to use that day for the Proverbs reading. It was great that they make connects to Jesus and the New Testament. The prayers and questions at the end of each devotional were so helpful. I would recommend this book for people looking to read the Proverbs.     

How the Nations Rage review

How the Nations Rage review

Jonathan Leeman in the book "How the Nations Rage" challenges people to rethink politics. Leeman takes the time to define what politics is and what God has called political leaders to do. He also helps us understand what the church is by defining what the church is to do. And how the church is different than government. Leeman shows the way the local church needs to be a mix of the right and left. In the end, the church needs to be about the gospel and government needs to work for justice.

Strange Fire review

In the book Strange Fire, the author John MacArthur lays the groundwork for challenging the Charismatic church. He has seen the negative impacts the charismatic movement has had on the church. MacArthur argues that the charismatic movement has misrepresented the Holy Spirit. He calls the people to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1). He focuses on pointing out false teachers.  MacArthur maintains that the supernatural gifts have ceased. The charismatic movement is painted with too broad of a brush in the book. There are some good things that have occurred in the charismatic movement. This is a good book for people to read but like all books the time to process what is said by John MacArthur.

Let Hope In

Let hope in

I have just had the chance to review Let Hope In by Pete Wilson. Wilson has a great way of taking us into our past and how we are shaped. He challenges us to let Christ bring us hope from our past. Out of this hope we can have a Christ-centred future. Pete has four challenges in the book to help us understand our past. Wilson does a great job at bring us into the book though the questions he asks in each chapter. I would encourage you to check out Let Hope In!

An Amish Kitchen

An Amish Kitchen is a collection of three short stories, or novellas of faith, family and love.

“A Taste of Faith”, by Kelly Long is a story of the young local healer in the community, Fern Zook. She lives with her grandmother, because her parents both died from influenza at a young age. She spends her days tending to minor ailments of those in her community. Her world changes when she meets Abram Fisher, a determined bachelor who vows he will never marry. After his grandfather falls ill, his parents leave town, leaving him to care for his brothers and sister. His ideas of marriage change the more time he spends with Fern.

“A Spoonful of Love”, by Amy Clipston, is a story of a young woman, Hannah King, who tends to her family’s bed-and-breakfast. After her father suffers from a stroke, she struggles to keep up with the maintenance, cooking, cleaning, and book-keeping involved in running a successful bed-and-breakfast. Stephen Esh, a broken man haunted by his past, becomes an answer to her prayers. He is hired as the maintenance man for the bed-and-breakfast against Hannah’s mother’s wishes and quickly befriends Hannah.

“A Recipe for Hope”, by Beth Wiseman is a story of the importance of family. Eve Bender and her family must move back to her parent’s house after their house gets destroyed by a fallen tree. Eve and her mother have always had a strained relationship, and both are uneasy about the forced living conditions. Throughout the time spent together secrets are revealed and betrayal within the family comes to light. 

Pete Wilson - Empty Promises

 

I just had the chance to read Pete Wilson's book empty promises. I got this book from the web site book sneeze. I enjoyed reading this book. This book talked about the idols we all face in life. Pete did a great job with bring each one to for front of the reading by adding in questions in different areas of the book questions to make the read think deep about their own life. Pete as did a great job adding in real life stories (some times I wish I got here more about the stories but as he said at one point in the book it is not a tell all book). The whole book can be summed up on page 191 "This book has never been about guilt. It was never my goal to simply point out the fact that we all struggle with idolatry. Quite the opposite. I long for you to find the freedom that comes from living your life wholly seeking God. I long for you to become increasingly aware of empty promises so you won't be distracted from the Source of real power. You need that, because the danger you face is real enough." Pete gives us a message of hope in world of idolatry. Hope that comes from Christ alone!

HMH

God loves broken people

God loves broken people and we need to enter into a personal relationship with Him to be healed from this brokenness. We are all broken people. This book you will hear about people's brokenness and the writers story also.

Not having read or heard of this author before. I did not know how her writing style would. This book will be useful to use in a small group.

If you would like to hear the author speak. You can attend the Women of Faith conferences. Please get the book and read it!

Drip, drip, drip

I have just finished reading the Liturgical Year. I did not grow up in a church that used the liturgical caldenar however the churches I did work at did celebrate Advent by lighting candles and talking about the coming of Christ as a baby. We also celebrated Good Friday and Easter. One church had done an Ash Wednesday service the year before I got there. When I moved to a new city I found out more about Lent as I had friends giving up things for 40 days. After reading this book I see how important the liturgical year can be. The challenge laid out by the author is to allow the liturgical year to drip, drip, drip slowly in the "deepest parts of our psyches." (12) If you want to learn about the liturgical year from a book that is not a "text book" I would tell you to read this book.

Matthew Howden

Risks...

I enjoy getting books. I own a few books. When I moved in 2008 I have 6 Rubbermaid's full of books and only 5 full of clothes. Since 2008 I have added a few more books. Two of them I have read in the last two months. They are: Forgotten God by Francis Chan and small is the new big by Seth Godin. They are two very different books. Chan challenges the readers to live a life that is impacted by the Spirit of God. Godin is getting you thinking about small business as the way of the future. They might be very different but they are have this idea of risk. Chan and Godin what us to live lives that have a risk element in them. To got of the safe and see what could happen. I would encourage to check them and see what happens when you take a risk the time safe seems like the only way to go. Let's live a life of risk it is better then a life of the normal!

Howden Matt Howden

I am reading Wide Awake right now. Just finished the first chapter. Erwin talked about satellite radio. I googled the person he talked about.

True or False Ethiopian Born Noah Samara Invented Satellite Radio?

The answer is true. The same country that has brought the world the likes of the world’s richest person of African descent Mr. Mohammed Al Amoudi has also brought the world Noah Samara.

Mr. Samara is indeed the founder and CEO of WorldSpace, which pioneered the satellite radio technology, thereby being the first to introduce the technology to the market.

Noah Samara was born in Ethiopia and comes from a very diverse background. He was born to an Ethiopian mother and a Sudanese father. At the age of 17, Noah left Ethiopia and the familiar East African coast for America, in search of a better education. He found the education that he was looking for, while in America and his educational sojourn ended with him receiving his law degree from Georgetown University.

The area that he chose to specialise in was satellite communications law. Prior to the launch of World Space, Noah embarked on career that was heavily weighted towards satellite technology. In 1990 he resigned from his job and began working towards the launch of WorldSpace. And $USD 2.5B later World Space was up and running with it’s first satellite-AfriStar. The company has been lauded for it’s ability to reach remote area’s of the world with vital information, via satellite transmission.

Major partners of World Space are NPR Radio, BBC, CNN, and Bloomberg. In addition to starting WorldSpace, Mr. Samara also did other things with his his experience in the satellite industry-one of which was to help bring XM Satellite radio to fruition.

One of the most interesting thing facts about Mr. Samara’s launching of World Space, were the altruistic motives that inspired him to start the company. He cites the need to provide adequate access to radio for populations in rural Asia and Africa that were unable to receive radio signals prior to the arrival of WorldSpace.

In closing, I would like to say that I think Noah represents a very interesting aspect of Ethiopia. That Ethiopia has reached a tipping point (when it comes to business) and that with the right ingredients the future may hold even greater business success in store for this very mature nation. (http://www.beninmwangi.com/2007/05/22/true-or-false-ethiopian-born-noah-samara-invented-satellite-radio/)

People changing the world...

Howden Matt Howden

"I may not know you personally, but this I know about you without question - there is a hero within you waiting to be awakened."

The alarm sounds. Your feet hit the floor and carry you into another day. But what does that day hold for you? Will you be punching your card at work, catching up on TV at home, and crashing into bed before you rinse and repeat the next day? Or will you dare to dig deep and discover the incredible potential lying dormant within you?
In Wide Awake, Erwin Raphael McManus challenges us to put an end to all the sleepwalking and settling, for each of us was created by God for a reason. He has called you to live as Jesus did - a heroic life, void of monotony, teeming with danger, adventure, and the unknown. Living wide awake is about realizing that the world desperately needs you to live up to your greatness.
There is a future that needs to be created, and it is waiting for us all to wake up and get out of bed. The alarm has sounded, and it is time to shake off the slumber.

It's time to live, to create, to imagine, to dream... Wide Awake.

This is from the back of a book I am starting to read by Erwin McManus.

More posts will be coming from it I am sure of that.

Howden Matt Howden

Church Gives Fresh Meaning to 'Offering' Plate

Most churches have church members put offerings into the collection plate - but one church has decided to do it backwards, CNN reports. Pastor Toby Slough at Cross Timbers Community Church in Texas told his congregation to take what they needed from the plate earlier this year, hoping to ease financial stress. When the church collected the plates again though, they found that the church had had its highest offering ever. Since that Sunday, Slough and his church have given away a half-million dollars to members, non-members, missions and local groups. "In these economic times, we can't be so into church business that we forget what our business is, and that is to help people," Slough told CNN television affiliate KDAF in Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas.

What I learned today

I thought today I would check out some podcast I download the other day.
I downloaded a few from Youth Specialties. Here is a clip from one of them.




Any thing to add?

Howden Matt Howden

"life"

A few Thursdays ago I came across this tv show on the Global web site. It is called Life.
"Life centers around Detective Charlie Crews, who at the start of the first season (set in 2007) is released from Pelican Bay State Prison after serving twelve years of a life sentence. In 1995 he was wrongfully convicted of the triple murder of his business partner and the partner's family. Thanks to the efforts of his lawyer Constance Griffiths, DNA evidence exonerates him of the murders. Having lost his job, his wife, his friends, nearly all contact with the outside world and even his grip on reality for a time while in jail, he emerges enlightened by the philosophy of Zen, a fixation with fresh fruit and an obsession with solving the murder that nearly cost him his life and exposing the conspiracy that framed him for it. After successfully suing the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD, he is reinstated to the police department and receives an undisclosed but substantial monetary settlement. (Several hints throughout the series indicate that the amount was 50 million dollars)" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(TV_series)#Plot_synopsis)

The idea behind this show really is he got life in prison and now he is getting life back. The whole Zen part of the show is something different. Because of Zen things have no meaning to him i.e. cars they are just an object to him. Everything is connected to something. I have enjoyed checking this show out.

Howden Matt Howden

What I learned in reading today...

I am reading a commentary on the book of Proverbs (I know what you are thinking why? I am going to let you think of the answer).

The writer is writing about love for neighbor (perfect for the month of February). Here are the words he penned "For Americans this means taking seriously the claim that we have the means but lack the political will to virtually bring an end to world hunger. A number of presidential studies in the 1970s concluded with Jimmy Carter's commission on hunger that "if decisions and actions well within the capability of nations and people working together were implemented, it would be possible to eliminate the worst aspects of hunger and malnutrition by the year 2000." (Cited in D. Beckmann and A. Simon, Grace at the table: ending hunger in God's world 1999) Sadly, we know that the challenge was not heeded and that the numbers of the hungry in the United States and around the world has increased disproportionately with the growth of world population. Christians who choose the neighbor love of Proverbs will both give and seek to bring an end to unjust economic practices on a local and national level."

What do you think?













Howden Matt Howden

Super Bowl ads

This past weekend there was an event that went on. With an average U.S. audience of 98.7million viewers, this was the most-watched Super Bowl in history.

There are some people that only watch the Super Bowl to see the commercials. (Thinking Critically (and Christianly) about Super Bowl Commercials)

The cost of a 30-second spot for Super Bowl I in 1967 was $42,500 on CBS and $37,500 on NBC. (That’s right; it was the only time the game was broadcast on two networks). In 1987, the cost
Last year’s game, CBS asked $2.6 million. had gone up to $600,000.

This year NBC asked for 3 million for the air time alone, the company still has to pay for the production and actors. All advertising slots were sold out one day before the game, resulting in sales of $206 million.

Some companies had more than one slot. Pepsi, Budweiser and some companies had none and some of those
companies were the 3 big US automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler).

Some companies offered things with their ads check this out

Only time will tell whether commercials -- such as Denny's well-received promise to serve up free Grand Slam breakfasts -- spur consumers to spend during what's shaping up to be a rough recession. (Denny's said it spent about $5 million on Super Bowl advertising and the cost of free breakfasts 12 million.)

Some restaurant’s even had to give rain checks out.

Car companies even promised something check this out

So with the way credit rating is going in North America you could get a car and if you lose your income you can return the car and that will not affect your credit rating. The first time I saw back in January I was like really .

Some companies did not want to pay the 3 million for 30 seconds so they did this

There are 3 ads you should check out and ask your self a few questions.

The Simple Seven

What product is this ad selling?

What, besides the product, does this ad sell? (ideas, lifestyle, worldview, behaviors, etc.)

What’s the bait, hook, and promise?

Complete this sentence: “This ad tells me, use __________ (the name of the product) and __________ (the result the ad promises).

Does the ad tell the truth? What? How?

Does the ad tell a lie(s)? What? How?

How does this ad and its messages agree or disagree with God’s truth and what does that mean for me? (www.cpyu.org)

In closing I just have a few verses I would like to add to get your thinking. As we live in this culture sometimes we can see these ads and they have not influence over us.

But I have a question where is God in the everyday life?

Do we remove the God part of life when we choose what movies, t.v. shows we watch?

When we choose how we talk about people?

Romans 12 “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (MSG)

God wants us to think about the culture around us.

Are you thinking about what you are watching saying?

And where is God in all that?

Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. (NLT)

Are you guarding your heart?

We need to be people that guard our hearts. Jesus said “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

So for the next couple of minutes we are going to think about what you saw, what you heard. And where is God in all that.

May you make chooses in life that shows you are thinking about the culture around us
and may you guard your heart.

Howden Matt Howden