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Awhile ago a friend of mine asked me about T.U.L.I.P., the acronym used to describe the 5 main points of Calvinism. In answering his question I put this quick biblical reference together outlining some of the major scriptures used to backup the doctrines laid out by TULIP. So with out further ado here they are:

T – Total Depravity

Genesis 6:5: "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Jeremiah 13:23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil."

Romans 3:9-10, 18 “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; … There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 7:18 "I know that no good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh."

Romans 8:7-8 "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

Romans 14:23 says, "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

U – Unconditional Election

Acts 13:48 "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."

Romans 9:11-12 "Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, [Rebecca] was told, 'The elder will serve the younger.'"

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He predestined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.”

Romans 8:28-33. “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose, For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.”

L – Limited Atonement

John 6:64-65 says, "'But there are some of you that do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that should betray him. And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.'"

John 10:15, "I lay down my life for the sheep." The sheep of Christ are those whom the Father draws to the Son. "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep."

John 17:6,9,19 Jesus prays, "I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me...I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom Thou hast given me, for they are thine...And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth."

Revelation 5:9, "Worthy art Thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for Thou wast slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation."

I – Irresistible Grace

Daniel 4:35 “all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Romans 9:19 “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’”

P – Perseverance of the Saints

l Thessalonians 5:23-24, "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

l Corinthians 1:8-9, "Jesus Christ will sustain you to the end; guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Last month our pastor showed us a video with the text of a sermon given by the late S.M. Lockeridge about who Jesus was. It's an incredibly moving sermon that I can't help but love. I think everyone should listen to it. There are a couple of video compilations out there. I've included one below that I like. There's also an mp3 with a nice compilation available for download here.

FOr a long time I have wanted to create a website that provided functionality similar to the Logos software, a package that is basically an incredibly extensive Christian library.  A friend of mine gave me the idea of calling it Red Letters, a reference to the red lettered text in the bible that is supposed to refer to the words of Christ.  I've had the idea for a long time and haven't really done much with it beyond a few mockup sites.  Over the weekend I got interested again and looked over the mockups, decided they all sucked and started a new one.  I don't know if it's going to happen but it sounds like a good chance to check out the Django web framework which seems really nice.  I'm not sure how well suited it is to the problem though as most of the site will probably store the content as ThML files (an xml format for marking-up religious text) and there is no builtin support for XML, although since it's just python I should be able to add it easily.  We'll see, hopefully something comes out of all this.

I just finished listening to John Piper's sermon this week.  I really like him.  God consistently uses the words he speaks to convict and inspire me to do what is right.  This last week he spoke on abortion.  It's amazing to me that since Roe vs  Wade there have been about 46 million abortions in the United States.  That is an astounding number.  Most agree that about 6 million Jews died during the holocaust; with these numbers in mind, the holocaust pales in comparison to the loss of life as a result of Roe vs Wade. We must do something and that's the part that I really liked about Piper's sermon--his call to action.  He says that it isthe Gospel that is going to stop these atrocities.  It is Jesus that saves and He will make the world right.  So let us pray for those who are administering abortions and let us eagerly await to see the hand of God move.  How great it would be to see the work of redemption that God will work in this generation!

It looks like the hearings for Judge Samuel Alito are coming to a close.  It's amazing how much attention gets given to the abortion issue.  I wonder how history will remember us in this regard?  Will they remember us as barbaric and cruel.  Will this be a time remembered as a time when the mass murder of millions of innocent children was condoned and actively lobbied for?

I am firmly against abortion.  I think it is murder and am appalled by the practice.  In general I think the arguments for a woman's right to choose are pretty weak.  Simply because the child is dependent upon its mother for survival does not mean that a woman has the right to choose.  There are many examples of things in life where you have responsibilities and burdens that you don't want.  A new born baby is dependant upon it's care giver, if it dies from malnutrition or lack of care we charge the care giver with murder, how is this any different from the unborn child?  Or why is it that it is suddleny murder after 3 months but before it is not.  At the 3 month mark is some magic wand waved making the child human?

These are not light issues and I think they should be at the forefront of our thought and debate.  Anything that bears so close a resembalance to murder should be scrutinized with the utmost care.

Tuesday nights are reserved for spending time with my roommates.  We usually go out and do something fun together.  Most of the time, my roommate Mike is not there because he has to work.  Tonight was nice because he had a bit of a break so he could hang out with us.  We got the chores we needed to taken care of, had a nice dinner, and then went to the dollar (well dollar-fifty theatre) and saw "The Exorcism of Emily Rose."  It wasn't a terrifing movie in the sense that it did not use loud music or excessively gruesome shots to send chills down the spines of it's viewers but it was terrifing because it could be real.  In fact, it was based on a true story.  The power of the supernatural is very scary and I thank God for the sacrifice he made for us on Calvary.  Watching the movie reminds me that I would like to write a book one day recording the superinatural events in the world of the time.  We live in a society so convinced that there is nothing supernatural, that there are no angels or demons, and that this world solely governed by the laws of nature that, I believe, it would be good for the believers to hear how God is moving through out the world.

A christian organization, which we will leave un-named, has recently decided to change their bible study material.  Some friends of mine are affiliated with this organization so I got to read a bit of it.  First off the whole of the material revolves around pornography and it's destructive effects.  If you've been reading my previous post you probably already know that annoys me.   The study goes through different things in the Christian life and discusses how pornography affects them.  I read the section on worship.  I'm sure the author was well intentioned but in his discussion he defines worship as a "saturation."  He regards the act of worship to be an outpouring of all that we are to God and then God filling us back up again.  For him, it's a two step kind of thing.  I can't help but wondering why we as christians insist upon muddling words so much.  I believe that there is a very specific definition of worship that we can apply across the board and I don't think that this gentlemen's definition is simple or universal.  I don't disagree that when we cry out to God and pour out our very lives to Him that He in turn fills us up; but, that is not worship.  That's what see worship being scripture.  If we define worship as a saturation it is far too general, inaccurate, and doesn't really give us that much information anyway.  Romans 12:1 defines worship as the sacrifice of our lives to God.  Worship is a display of our love and devotion to God; not what God does for us. The American Heritage dictionary define's it quite simply as:

worship (n): The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.

There it is--concise, complete, and simple.  It's a good definition which completely agrees with the way scripture represents worship.  Why can't we as Christians keep things simple?  Why do we have to come up with all these new definitions for things that aren't even accurate.  I can think of no where in scripture (and please correct me if I am wrong) where worship is equated with an outpouring of God.  The only mention of wosrhip in scripture is when man is demonstrating his devotion and love for the God-head.

Worship is not a saturation as this bible study teaches.  That is a wrong definition and only serves to further the confusion surrounding the subject.  We accomplish the exact opposite of what we are trying to do.  I know this seems like a simple thing to complain so much about but if our teachers don't understand the simple topics like what it really means to worship then how are we to expect the next generation to learn from them?  If we are going to teach, it is our responsibility to ensure that the things we are teaching are clear and accurate because when we begin to spread things like worship being an outpouring of man and God then we are doomed to fail.  As leaders we should choose the materials we use with the utmost care and precision.  Let's resolve to at least try to clearly communicate the basics like what it is to worship, what it means to be holy, what is righteous and what is glory.  And let us resolutly oppose those who try to teach otherwise.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the subject, if you have a few moments please post them in the comments section of this entry. 

Tonight Campus Crusade for Chirst at the University of Arizona put on an event called 'Porn Nation.'  They were very excited for the event and I guess I can't blame them too much, if you're going to put something on you better be excited for it.  I didn't actually goto the event so these thoughts are more spurred by the synposis I recieved from the director of CCC at UA, Gary Anderson.

What is bothering me is that it seems like we as Christians are constantly trying to evangelize social justice and morality to the world.  We are constantly putting on events like 'Porn Nation' which try to convince the non-believer of the evils of pornography or xyz sin and how they should stop doing it.  It seems to me that if Jesus Christ is really the one we put our faith in; if He is really the one that we believe changes hearts and makes lives new; then, why don't we spend our timetelling the world about Him?  Why should we waste our time talking of the evils of sin when we could be talking about the greatness of Christ.  If it's true that He changes hearts then all those sin issues will go away and it will only be Christ.  Why focus on the effects and not the solution?  Christ is everything and we should start behaving like He is.  I want my ministry--my life--to be a continual pointing to Christ for all things; because I believe that through Him all things are brought to completion.

I guess that's probably enough ranting for now. 

I am a christian; it's no secret.  I also like to think of myself as a logical, mostly rational person that does not blindly follow without thinking.  It is really annoying that within the scientific community it feels like christians are constantly relegated to some sub-standard form of intelligence simply because they believe there is a God and He did come down and die on a cross for our sins.  It's not like we help the problem though.  As a community we have many theories, arguments, and papers which claim they can prove the existence of God in a scientific way.  Why are we always trying to remove faith from the equation?  Jesus taught that faith is a good thing.  So why do we try prove beyond any doubt that God exists?  What is so wrong with faith?

I've read a number of these articles purporting to prove God's existence scientifically.  And to date, I haven't read one that convinces even me as a christian.  I suppose it's also relevant to note that I've never read anything that conclusively disproves the existence of God either.  It seems to me that both are a matter of faith and scientific "proofs" are just ways to satisfy our doubt.  It may seem like I am saying that we should stop trying to explain the existence of God scientifically--I'm not, I think it's a worthwhile thing to explore.  But let's stop wasting our time with arguments that are obviously weak and admit that we are not there yet.  Let's rely on our faith and the power of God to change hearts because that's the only thing that will. 

I started out writing this post thinking I would write about evolution and explore a little why I don't think it is in conflict with the christian world view; but, here I am at the end of this post and I've said very little about evolution and christianity.  In fact, I haven't said anything at all until now.  I guess I'll leave that for another time but it is something that I would like to explore sometime.

Until later, happy days and good nights!