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Subordinationism

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Since I’ve been back, some people have been talking (in a helpful way I might add) about the nature of relations in the Trinity. The issue has to do with the subordination of the Son. On the one hand, I think evangelicals must affirm that there is no subordination in terms of being within the Trinity. This was condemned as heresy in 325 A.D. at the council of Nicaea. A helpful summary of this can be found on Wikipedia. This should be distinguished from the eternal subordination of the Son in relation to the Father. This is the function of Jesus. A helpful series of posts highlight this opinion at the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. I like how Grudem summarizes it:

The heresy of subordinationism, which holds that the Son is inferior in being to the Father, should be clearly distinguished from the orthodox doctrine that the Son is eternally subordinate to the Father in role or function: without this truth, we would lose the doctrine of the Trinity, for we would not have any eternal personal distinctions between the Father and the Son, and they would not eternally be Father and Son. (p.245, footnote 27)

Hope this helps clear up some confusing (and deep) theological waters.

Back from Vacation…

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Yes, made it back safe and sound. Kind of hit the ground running getting the sermon (of which I had already researched) finally pulled together on Saturday. But thought the sermon Sunday went well. Was nice to be back in the saddle again. Was also nice to be back to the boys (we vacationed without them). Some other highlights included…

Reading books:
Letters Along The Way by Carson and Woodbridge
Comforts from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick
Spurgeon’s Autobiography
Meg and I enjoyed devotionals from Colossians

Listening to sermons:
I already mentioned how we listened to Humble Pastors by Driscoll. We also listened to C.J. on Parenting and the latest sermon by Chandler

So, we had a great time and fully enjoyed ourselves without regrets.

More Vacation Recap (& Scenery)

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 My last update involved what we did through Monday. We ended up eating at a neat Pizza By the Slice place. It was very good pizza and the pieces were ginormous.

On Tuesday AM, we went to a Tai Chi class, grabbed some lunch, watched a movie at our condo, and then headed out that evening to a covered wagon ride and all you can eat BBQ dinner put on by the activity office of our place. It was a good time. Meg and I laughed a lot. We have a hot tub at our place and have used it a good bit.

Wednesday involved another tennis lesson and then driving to hike. The picture here is one we took at this cool lookout we hiked to. Again, that night we watched a movie and relaxed.

Today (Thursday) we had a really lazy day and haven’t done much. We anticipate leaving in the morning. Just thought some of you might like an update.

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Vacation Update #1…

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Meg and I are on vacation. Pretty amazing blessing from God. We left Saturday (without our boys…Thanks, Robin!) and arrived in Colorado Springs that night. We got to Garden of the Gods just before sunset, which was amazing. Then we ate at Giuseppe’s Restaurant. Sunday, we got up and after some AM devotions together, headed to Pagosa Springs, CO. They are known for a natural hot spring that is one of the largest in the world. Oh, on our way, we enjoyed listening to Mark Driscoll teach on what it means to be a humble pastor. We enjoyed the discussion of it. We also, on our way here, stopped in at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Driving over Wolf Creek Pass was an amazing experience with the gorgeous scenery. We are here, though. I already feel so refreshed and encouraged. God has used this in amazing ways for us as well. We look forward to some tennis lessons and a lazy Monday today. Thanks so much for thinking of us.

Tripp on the “Little Moments”

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Tony Reinke did an excellent service in posting this (from Paul Tripp’s latest curriculum What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage):

You and I don’t do many significant things in our lives. We only make 3-4 major decisions. Most of us will not be written up in history books. Sorry, it’s true. For most of us, several decades after we die, the people we leave behind will struggle to remember the events of our lives. You live in the utterly mundane. You live in little moments. And if God doesn’t rule your little moments He doesn’t rule you because that is where you live. I think one of the big problems we make in our marriages is when we name little moments as “little moments” and say they are not important. If the character of a life is not set by four or five big moments but is set by 10,000 little moments, every little moment of your life is important. That’s where your life is formed and that’s where your relationships are built and formed. We cannot back away from the little moments because that happens to be where we live. And our God is a God of the little moments. He enters those little moments with his truth and wisdom and grace. [session 1, 7:50-9:30]

This was especially helpful as I anticipate HomeWord tonight and the truth we will look at from 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.

Youth Ministry vs. Adult Ministry…

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Over at the DG Blog, they are beginning to blog about an interview Abraham Piper and Tyler Kennedy had with Paul Tripp. An early question had to do with the differences seen in ministering to youth versus ministering to adults. I LOVE Tripp’s answer:

There are ways in which there’s no difference. There’s only one gospel, not a different one for children, young people, and adults.

And there’s a way the struggles of the heart are the same. These struggles play out differently depending on our stage in life, but when it comes down to it, we all want to be sovereign over our own lives.

If you understand that about your heart, and you’re humble about it, you’ll get what a kid or teenager is going through. You’ll understand that it isn’t first a problem of misbehavior; it’s first a problem in the heart.

There is also an audio of this interview and probably more posts coming.

I learned this lesson on aiming at the heart a few years back and it has revolutionized my entire approach to ministry in the local church.

Wed PM Awana Awards…

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Tonight, I get to speak to the children who have labored hard all year in memorizing Scripture for our church’s AWANA program. I’m going to give them an appeal from 2 Timothy 2:1-9 and encourage them, as Paul did Timothy to look to the Gospel.

There are 3 analogies used. Here’s the ESV Study Bible on them…
Verse 4 [The Soldier] calls for a single-minded desire to please God.
Verse 5 [The Athlete] reiterates that one must obey God’s rules in order to succeed.
Verse 6 [The Farmer] is the least clear but seems to encourage hard work by holding out the promise of blessing.

Pray that my words would encourage them and point others to the Gospel.

C.J. on Productivity…

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Productivity. Seems like an important topic these days, especially for those of us who live life eying a great day when we will stand before our Creator and give an account for the deeds done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). We don’t want to waste our time. We want to use it wisely to the glory of God. C.J. Mahaney recently wrote a 17 part series at his blog on Biblical Productivity. It has now been brought together into one PDF here. Enjoy and be challenged!