Application Without Exegesis: A Destructive Trend

Exegesis is foundational to understand scripture’s application to our lives. The problem is that many in the church want to hear the application without doing the work of the exegete. In many cases this has also been translated into the way many preachers preach. In order to keep congregants happy, they are given large amounts of life application with little if any scriptural content. This puts both the preacher and the congregant in a dangerous position, because now neither the preacher nor the churchgoer is tethered to the text. Two major problems can arise in the life of the church member because of this. First, even if the application of scripture is correct, when it is challenged by those who disagree, the church member is left defenseless when it comes to defending this truth biblically. And second, if the application is not truly derived from scripture, then the church member has been sold some kind self-help scheme as if were a “biblical principle.” And when this self help scheme eventually lets them down, not only will they be disappointed in the church, but they may even start to believe scripture is no longer trustworthy. This is indeed a destructive trend.

-Doug Eaton-

10 Ways Daily Bible Reading Will Enhance Corporate Worship

1. When a scripture is read you will already have some idea of the context of the passage and be able to draw more from it.

2. As you sing songs in worship you will recognize many of the passages of scriptures alluded to in the music, which will enrich the truths they are communicating.

3. You will better understand the significance of the ordinances like baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which will make you be able to see more of the imagery of the law and gospel in them.

4. As you study the text while it is being preached, you will be able to relate it to other passages of scripture not included in the sermon.

5. During discussion times you will better be able to contribute to discussions and edify others.

6. You will have a greater hunger for the word because you have been feeding on it and finding satisfaction in it. This hunger takes away much of the dryness that some people experience when attending church and makes it a pleasure to be in the house of the Lord.

7. In times of fellowship you will be able to apply the scripture to people’s lives as they talk about their daily joys and struggles.

8. It will reveal your sinfulness and give you strength as you fight against the indwelling sin in your own life, and make you better able to strengthen others. And better understanding this struggle produces contrition and begins to eliminate the pride which causes unneeded divisions in many churches.

9. As you desire success for your church, you will better understand what true church success is, and it will keep you trusting in the Lord who gives the increase instead of trusting in worldly tactics as you seek growth.

10. Since the Word moves us to prayer, you will be more prayerful as you spend time in the Lord’s house which is called a house of prayer.

This list is designed to let people know a few of the ways daily bible reading will enhance the corporate worship in bible teaching churches. If you attend a church where the bible is neglected and pop psychology is the main course, attending those types of churches while engaged in daily bible reading will only frustrate you. This is because you will find that motivational “preaching” neglects the main themes that run throughout scripture and replaces theology with therapy and replaces redemption with a self-help regimen. Of course even that frustration is a good thing.

-Doug Eaton-

The Cities of Refuge: Sermon on Youtube

Lane Chaplin has graciously posted the Cities of Refuge sermon on youtube.

Doug

Christ Our Refuge (Christ in the Cities of Refuge)

Here is a link to a sermon I preached recently on the cities of refuge and how they point to Christ. The text is Joshua 20. The MP3 can also be downloaded at the link.

Christ our Refuge

God Bless,

Doug

Truth and Personal Peace

Sometimes truth and personal peace seem to be at odds. So what do you do when that happens? You follow the advice of John Owen.

"See in the meantime that your faith brings forth obedience, and God in due time will cause it to bring forth peace." - John Owen

God Bless,

Doug

Christianity, The Church, and Government

Why is it that many Christians who decry Christian political involvement (read Tony Campolo types) because power and politics are tools of Satan, then go on to argue for government solutions to global warming and health care? Do they really want Satan and his tools cooling our plannet and running our health care? Perhaps a more balanced approach is needed.

Should Christians be involved in government? Isn’t Christ our hope not politics? Is any influence of Christian thought on the state a violation of the separation of church and state? In this episode of Apologetics.com radio, Dean, Donald McConnell of Trinity Law School, Doug Eaton, and Lane Chaplin discuss several questions that pertain to the Christian’s role in government and the governments role in Christianity.

http://www.apologetics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=385:christianity-the-church-and-government&catid=43:kkla-995-fm-los-angeles&Itemid=74

This show can also be downloaded for free as a podcast in itunes. Simply search for apologetics.com in the itunes store.

Discomfort and Daily Dependence Upon God

When we become believers we still have a strong natural tendency to consider our earthy pleasures and our feelings as the measure of what is really important in life. So much so, that we may often desire the old flesh-pots of Egypt, instead of what we really need. To break us from this the Lord will take us through times of discomfort as He teaches us daily dependence upon Him instead of the frames and feelings of this life. Through it all He is moving us further along in our sanctification where we begin all the more to understand that Christ is the greatest treasure we could ever have.

God Bless,

Doug

Dark Nights of the Soul

Sanctification is process that will not be completed on this side of heaven, which means that right now we still have issues of sin that the Lord is dealing with. This video looks at some of the things a true Child of God can face when God deals with us in our sinfulness. Even though these times can be the darkest of nights for the believer, they are also some of the most precious as the Lord works in us great progress in our sanctification. Which will make us much more useful for His glory.

God Bless,

Doug

Charles Finney and the Heresy of American Pelagianism (White Horse Inn)

Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism

This is from Lane Chaplin's Youtube Channel. This is a great resource.

Lanes Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/LaneCh

Link to purchase the DVD: http://www.theapologeticsgroup.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=219

Study Guide for Amazing Grace:http://www.theapologeticsgroup.com/export/Articles/1%20AmazingGraceStudyGuide.pdf

Sanctified Affliction

"No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright."

-Valley of Vision-

He Restores My Soul - Video Devotion

The Lord is my shepherd and He restores my soul.


God Bless,

Doug

Affliction and the Chastisement of God - John Calvin

"[O]ur most merciful Father requires not only to prevent our weakness, but often to correct our past faults, that he may keep us in due obedience. Therefore, whenever we are afflicted we ought immediately to call to mind our past life. In this way we will find that the faults which we have committed are deserving of such castigation. And yet the exhortation to patience is not to be founded chiefly on the acknowledgment of sin. For Scripture supplies a far better consideration when it says, that in adversity "we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world," (1 Cor. 11: 32.) Therefore, in the very bitterness of tribulation we ought to recognise the kindness and mercy of our Father, since even then he ceases not to further our salvation. For he afflicts, not that he may ruin or destroy but rather that he may deliver us from the condemnation of the world. Let this thought lead us to what Scripture elsewhere teaches: "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth," (Prov. iii 11, 12.) When we perceive our Father's rod, is it not our part to behave as obedient docile sons rather than rebelliously imitate desperate men, who are hardened in wickedness? God dooms us to destruction, if he does not, by correction, call us back when we have fallen off from him, so that it is truly said, "If ye be without chastisement," "then are ye bastards, and not sons," (Heb. 12: 8.) We are most perverse then if we cannot bear him while he is manifesting his good-will to us, and the care which he takes of our salvation. Scripture states the difference between believers and unbelievers to be, that the latter, as the slaves of inveterate and deep-seated iniquity, only become worse and more obstinate under the lash; whereas the former, like free-born sons turn to repentance. Now, therefore, choose your class."

-John Calvin-

Boredom, Self-Denial, and the Christian Life

As a Christian are you bored? There should be some things that bore you, but are you bored by the right things?

God Bless,

Doug

A Vision of Your Sinfulness - Oswald Chambers

"When God wants to show you what human nature is like apart from Himself, he has to show it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and he only does it when His Spirit is at work), you know there is no criminal who is half so bad in actuality as you know yourself to be in possibility."

- Oswald Chambers -