Lessons from William Carey

I just completed a biography that has completely changed my life.  This book I am referring is a narrative about the life of William Carey.  Carey was an ordinary man with an exceptional calling that caused him to persevere through the most adverse circumstances and outwork men of more ability and scholarship.  Here is a summary of the four main points from the book that lit a new fire within me:

1. Carey believed in having a big vision for achieving great things for the glory and honor of God.  His famous quote is, "Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God."  Following Carey's example we as Christians should be willing to take risks and pursue endeavors that many people may refer to as impossible.

2. Carey believed in consistently and diligently working to achieve his God given goals.  In his journal he wrote that if there is anything true that people can write about me it is this, "I plod.  I am a plodder." What he meant by this is that he continues to press on even when adverse circumstances afflict him.  We could learn a lot from carry about getting back up when we have been knocked down.

3. Carey believed in being willing to make mistakes.  He along with his time translated the Bible into forty languages.  Many of these were sub par translations.  He was aware of the inadequacies within himself and of the translations, but he determined that a sub par translation of the Word of God was better than no translation at all.  He also concluded that the only way to get feed back of how to correct it was to get it in the hands of the people.  Carey firmly believed, "the man who never makes a mistake never makes anything."  We must be willing to put ourselves out their even if it means we will make some mistakes along the way.  Many of the translations would never been put to print if Carey had waited for the "perfect" one.

4. Carey believed it was his responsibility to evangelize the lost as well as reform the social evils of his day.  Two corrupt practices were prevalent in India during Carey's missionary days there.  One practice was referred to as infanticide in which many infants were brutally murdered for not wanting to eat.  It was concluded that these children had an evil spirit within them thus justifying the murder.  Another heinous act was sati.  According to sati, widowers must be burned alive with their dead husbands.  Carey put countless hours in seeking reform in these areas.  The lesson learned here is that we as Christians and especially God called preachers have a duty to strive for moral reform of the social evils of our day.  The greatest social evil of our day is Abortion.  I encourage everyone who is reading this to consider what they can do to get involved in attempts to bring an end to this horrific social evil.

Throne Room Worship

Christians are called upon to assemble together for throne room worship on the Lord's Day.  Now, under the new covenant, believers have the amazing privilege of being able to enter directly into the holy of holies in heaven when they worship, "We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19).  Christians often lose sight of this reality and consider worship to be very routine and mundane.  The great contemporary theologian Wayne Grudem has some very important insights in regards to what takes place in worship:

Worship in the New Testament church is not simply practice for some later heavenly experience of genuine worship, nor is it simply pretending, or going through some outward activities.  It is genuine worship in the presence of God himself, and when we worship we enter before his throne.

This is the reality of new covenant worship: it actually is worship in the presence of God , though we do not now see him with our physical eyes, nor do we see the angels gathered around his throne or the spirits of believers who have gone before and are now worshiping in God's presence.  But it is all there, and it is all real, more real and more permanent than the physical creation that we see around us, which will someday be destroyed in the final judgment.  And if we believe Scripture to be true, then we must also believe it to be actually true that we ourselves come to that place and join our voices with those already worshiping in heaven whenever we come to God in worship.  Our only appropriate response is this: "Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29).

Bibliography: 

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994. (accessed March 21, 2013). 

The Myth of Neutrality: Parts 2-4

The Myth of Neutrality: Part 1

Greg L. Bahnsen, (1948-1995), was an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and a full time Scholar in Residence for the Southern California Center for Christian Studies. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California, specializing in the theory of knowledge. He previously received the B.A. (magna cum laude, philosophy) from Westmont College, and then simultaneously earned the M.Div. and Th.M. degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Bahnsen lectured to a broad range of evangelical Christian groups at many colleges and conferences. He was an experienced apologist and debater, a clear and cogent teacher of the Christian worldview who was devoted to training believers in understanding and applying the Christian faith to every area of life. He published numerous scholarly articles, a number of well-known books, and has over 1,500 recorded lectures and sermons. NOTE: While Dr. Bahnsen died on December 11th, 1995, his audio tapes and written materials were, and still remain, the foundation for Covenant Media Foundation's ministry.  This is the first of a four part video series in which Dr. Bahnsen debunks the myth of neutrality.

He Will Bring You Through It

There they stood utterly overwhelmed with the spirit of fear.  Before them were the still vast waters of the sea and behind them those venomous Egyptians slithered closer and closer.  Many cried out to Moses saying, "What have you done to us?  We were better off in Egypt and now we are going to die by their hand" (Ex. 14:12).  Oh how quick they were to lose faith.  Then at once howled a boisterous wind cutting through the waters dividing them apart.  A clear bath through the sea was now open.  Moses as the leader steps forward saying "Do not be afraid.  Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord" (Ex. 14:13).  Still the people hesitate wondering if they should proceed?  They place one foot in front of another tentatively walking through as timid sheep.  Would the waves come crashing down?  As they neared the end of the sea the Egyptians footsteps shook the ground behind them.  They were coming hard and fast.  Fear overcomes the people again as they forgot that they need not a soldier as the Lord is their champion.  Providence strikes the chariots wheels.  The breath of God subsides sending the waves to come crashing down on their enemies.  The Egyptians were engulfed by the Sea.  They were free as salvation is of the Lord!  A valuable lesson is learned by the Israelites that whatever affliction God brings His people to He will bring them through!

Slow to Wrath

In my morning Bible study time I have been reading through the book of Exodus.  Many lessons can be learned from reading this historical narrative.  One thing that is very evident in regards to the nature of God is that He is slow to wrath and gives people many opportunities to repent.  Pharaoh was given several opportunities to repent before God brought His divine justice upon him.  If Pharaoh would have heeded the voice of God he would have escaped the judgment.  Here is what Matthew Henry had to say about this topic:

See how slow God is to wrath, and how willing to be met with in the way of judgments and to have His anger turned away, and particulalry how precious the lives of men are in His eyes: if the death of their cattle had humbled them and reformed them, their children would have been spared: but if, men will not improve the gradual advances of divine judgments, they must thank themselves if they find, in the issues, that the worst was reserved for the last (Matthew Henry).

God is often slow to wrath; however He will not withhold it forever.  Eventually the Lord's patience will wear thin and the stony hearted person will face their day of reckoning.  Do not wait until it is to late to obey the voice of the Lord!

 

Wait, I say, On the Lord

There is a word that sounds like a foreign language to most people in our individualistic, driven and focused society.  Many people often scoff at this word and it seems as if they even detest it.  The word I am referring to is "wait."

We live in the day and age of instant soup, fast food and cell phones.  People are not accustomed to waiting for anything.  When they want something they want it now!  When a decision needs to be made we value the one that can make the decision instantly.  When a person is going through hard times we praise the person that can solve the problem quickly.  Often there is something missing in these equations.  That missing piece is learning the art of waiting.  More specifically as we read in the Psalms to "Wait on the Lord" (Ps. 27:14).

In Psalm 27 we read David's reflections about some unwanted and really unwarranted afflictions that have enter into his life.  His enemy, Saul, who was jealous of David was pursuing him in order to kill him.  David had learned to live his life on the go as a pilgrim.  His heart was heavy because of these events he had not been able to be in the Lord's house for an extended period of time (Ps. 27:4).  Oh how he longed to know those days of worship in the tabernacle of the Lord.  He finds himself living with an enormous amount of anxiety as everyday of his life is lived in fear of being delivered into the hand of his enemy (Ps. 27:12).  As David was looking and longing for better days he penned these inspired words, "Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord" (Ps. 27:14).

There is great application that we can take from this verse.  Perhaps you find yourself in the furnace of affliction like David was in?  Or maybe there is some big decision you are facing and choices that need to be made?  Well, we should heed the exhortation of this Psalm and "Wait on the Lord."  Here is what the great Baptist theologian John Gill had to say upon dwelling upon this subject:

It becomes believers to wait on the Lord for the common blessings of life, for even the eyes of all wait upon him for their daily food; and for the light of his countenance, when it is withdrawn from them, he he will return again at the set time; and for answers of prayer which will be given sooner or later; and for the performance of his promises, which are yea and amen in Christ.

The Lord will bring those blessings to pass so it is incumbent upon us to wait on the Lord!