Why Study Theology? by Dr. Van Lees

Does theology really matter? That question is important in the present evangelical community because the systematic teaching of the Word of God is not present in many churches. Theology is said not to be connected with real life and, therefore, it is disparaged. David Wells, in his insightful book No Place For Truth addresses the lack of theology in the life of the Church: "The disappearance of theology from the life of the Church, and the orchestration of that disappearance by some of its leaders, is hard to miss today but, oddly enough, not easy to prove.

It is hard to miss in the evangelical world - in the vacuous worship that is so prevalent, for example, in the shift from God to the self as the central focus of faith, in the psychologized preaching that follows this shift, in the erosion of its conviction, in its strident pragmatism, in its inability to think incisively about the culture, in its reveling in the irrational. And it would have made few of these capitulations to modernity had not is capacity for truth diminished. It is not hard to see these things; avoiding them is what is difficult. . . . The stakes are high: the anti-theological mood that now grips the evangelical world is changing its internal configuration, its effectiveness, and its relation to the past. It is severing the link to historical, Protestant orthodoxy. It is emancipating contemporary evangelicals to form casual alliances at will with a multitude of substitutes for this orthodoxy. And the reason for this is that what that orthodoxy had and what contemporary evangelicalism so often lacks is a theology at its center that defines the faith and prescribes the sorts of intellectual and practical relations is should establish in the world" (No Place For Truth, p. 95, 96).

Dr. D. James Kennedy concurs with Wells and writes: "Ours is an era of malnourished church members who have been spoon-fed tapioca and cheesecake religion until their spiritual stomachs are bloated and their hearts are clogged with the cholesterol of meaningless 'I wanna be me' self-fulfillment" (How Do I Live For God? p. 9).

Blogging to the Glory of God

That would be what we strive to do. The Lazarus Commission is a trio of ordinary fellows who love the Doctrines of Grace. Billy made that clear in his opening blog (not that we are ordinary but that we are in love with the Doctrines of Grace. The pictures do enough to say that we are ordinary as will our many spelling mistakes and improper word usements from time to time.)

I wanted to add that we want to do this to the Glory of God. We are supposed to do everything to the Glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). But it is more than just doing to the Glory of God. We need to be for the Glory of God. As part of creation we are made and we function for the Glory of God whether we like it or not. Romans 11:36 says "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen!" We are part of the "all things" that Paul is talking about there. We are things. Things created. Things made. Things that God knows about because He made us along with every other thing.

It's more than an action. It's a perspective. It's a way of thinking and looking and smelling and tasting and touching. But it is not something that I can conjure out of my own imagination or power to make or to do. It is from the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit I am dead. As dead as Lazarus. Cold, stiff, lifeless. Not a drop of blood moving inside of me. Not a breath of oxygen being used. Dead. Dead in sin and sinfulness. I need a quickening. But unlike the Highlander I can't chop off an immortal's head to get it. The Holy Spirit has to come and do it.

I hope that it is not blasphemous to talk this way about the Holy Spirit. I intend no disrespect whatsoever to the third Person of the Trinity. I need to read more Tozer and Pink to know if I'm overstepping my bounds here. But once in awhile I wonder what it must be like to be the Holy Spirit. This Person has the most interesting task of quickening hearts. Flying like a bullet at a stone, unbelieving, sinful heart and turning it into a heart of flesh that loves God. Turning a heart from a vile, wicked block of junk that loves porn to a heart that beats with the Grace of God and loves the Bible. What fun that must be. I'll bet the Holy Spirit loves doing that. Of course, He does. For He is infinitely happy. He is the Glory of God.

I was once the curse of Adam and thanks to the mercy of God from before the foundations of the world I am now the righteousness of Christ. It's hard to see myself that way. Almost impossible. I'm a pretty good shot with a pistol. I'll admit that. I am a pretty good public speaker. Bruce Berg gave me an A in speech class. I'm not a bad driver now (Billy could tell you stories about what it was like teaching me how to drive a manual) . I'm even pretty handy in the kitchen (although Aaron steaks and milkshakes trump anything I can put together). But the righteousness of Christ? Do I dare say that? Can I even call myself that in my secret places? It's a scary thing to think about in a way....but we are. Because of imputation we are the righteousness of Christ. Kind of blows your hair back, eh?

So as the righteousness of Christ...everything I do must be for the Glory of God. I must be for the Glory of God. Whether I'm teaching Sunday School or drinking a beer I must be for the Glory of God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 describes us as ambassadors of Christ. The thing about an ambassador is that he is officially the President's representative overseas. In the American sense, he is the President when he is overseas. What he says is as binding as if the President himself had said it. He has to be his country. All the way. The other thing about the ambassador is that he is never not the ambassador. He can't just go out to the bars or to the markets or the the movies and say "for the next two hours I am not the ambassador." By virtue of his office he is the ambassador all day and all night. Everything he does or says is as if the President did or said it. So must we also live for Christ. Not that we are Christ but as His ambassadors we must strive to be always appropriate representatives of our true homeland. No matter where we are or what we are doing. It must all be for the Glory of God. Coram Deo. Soli Deo Gloria! Semper Reformanda!

Billy Kicks It Off

Maybe I should tell you my story. We all have stories. Maybe you think that yours isn't worth telling. Maybe it isn't. Mine isn't. I haven't done anything in my whole life that thousands of other people haven't done. Let's see... I was born, went to school, joined the Navy... so far pretty ordinary. Lazarus was probably a lot like that. The first thing that we learned about Lazarus is that he died. Nothing special there. But then he came back to life. One minute he was rotting in his grave, and the next he was alive and well. Now THAT is a story worth telling!
12:32 PM

I suppose that my first message was a little bit too cryptic to generate much response. let me fill in the blanks a little bit. The reason for the name "Lazarus Commission" is twofold: 1) We are interested in studying and discussing the implications of this unpressadented event in the death of Lazarus, and primarily his ressurection at the command of Jesus Christ. In this way we ARE a commission. 2) We have been commanded, and are zealous to, proclaim the good news that God raises those who are dead in sin, to spiritual life. In this way we have RECEIVED a commission. So what are some of these implications? Well for one thing it means that those who are raised from spiritual death to spiritual life are not raised because of their will. Your free will can do nothing but drag you to Hell. You are not in control of your destiny, God is. Dead people do not choose to walk from the grave. Nor do they choose to lie in a grave. Dead people lie in graves because it is the natural thing for dead people to do. Unless something supernatural calls them forth and gives them the ability, they will stay in the grave. So to for those who are raised to spiritual life. If you are a Christian, it is because of God's choice, not yours. Your choice of Him is only due to his merciful choice of you. Abraham was the first of our tribe. The apostle Paul was our most articulate spokesman. Jesus is our foundation. We are Christians. We are Calvinists. God has ordained that through us He will conquer the world. Cope with it!
4:40 PM

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