Last night I presented my Wednesday faithful with a defense of creeds and confessions (which have always been contested by some Baptists in every generation).
“We have no creed but the Bible,” sounds pure, but it implies that the Bible can mean anything to anyone, just as long as each takes his cues from the Bible. The trouble: this opens the doors to heretical interpretations of the Bible.
I found this in my class notes from Prof. Shawn Wright's Baptist history class:
Asa Chandler (1849): “What harm can creeds do if they contain the truth? Is the truth less valuable because it is published, or declared in a creed? . . . Creeds that do harm are those that contain error—not those that are founded upon Bible truth.”
Then I listed the usual topics in theology (Scripture, God, creation, sin, etc.). I showed examples of deriving a biblical truth about one of these topics from different types of Scripture passages.
Finally, I gave a few examples of theology preparing us to live.
Almighty God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Together with believers all over the world, we gather today to glorify Your Name. You are the Creator of heaven and earth. There is no one like You, holy and righteous in all Your ways. We submit to Your authority as the King of the universe. We pray with one voice to enthrone You in our hearts and to honor You before the world. Lord God, You alone are worthy of our praise and adoration.
Our Father in heaven, Thank You for loving the world so greatly. You gave Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we could be reconciled to You. We are grateful to call You Father and to be called Your children. Nothing can separate us from Your love. Thank You Father, for adopting us into Your family because of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Lord Jesus Christ, You alone are worthy to open the scrolls of history, for You were slain and have redeemed us to the Father by Your blood. We confess that You are Head of the Church
and Lord of all heaven and earth. May people from every tribe and language become Your followers so that Your blessing brings transformation among all peoples. Let Your kingdom be established in every nation of the world so that governments will rule with righteousness and justice. And may Your Name be great, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Jesus Christ, You are the Savior of the world and the Lord of all.
Father of mercy and grace, We acknowledge that we have sinned and that our world is gripped by the power of sin. Our hearts are grieved by injustice, hatred and violence. We are shamed by oppression, racism and bloodshed in our land. We mourn all loss of life in murder, war, and terrorism. Our homes are broken and our churches are divided by rebellion and pride. Our lives are polluted by selfishness, greed, idolatry and sexual sin. We have grieved Your heart and brought shame to Your Name. Have mercy on us as we repent with all our hearts. God of mercy, forgive our sins. Pour out Your grace and heal our land.
Spirit of the living God, Apart from You, we can do nothing. Transform Your Church into the image of Jesus Christ. Release Your power to bring healing to the sick, freedom to the oppressed and comfort to those who mourn. Pour Your love into our hearts and fill us with compassion to answer the call of the homeless and the hungry and to enfold orphans, widows and the elderly in Your care. Give us wisdom and insight for the complex problems we face today. Help us to use the resources of the earth for the well-being of all. Holy Spirit, we need Your comfort and guidance. Transform our hearts.
Lord Jesus Christ, Because You were dead, but are now risen, and the Father has given You a Name above all names, You will defeat all powers of evil. Tear down strongholds and ideologies
that resist the knowledge of God. Remove the veil of darkness that covers the peoples. Restrain the evil that promotes violence and death. Bring deliverance from demonic oppression. Break the hold of slavery, tyranny and disease. Fill us with courage to preach Your word fearlessly, and to intercede for the lost faithfully. Almighty God, deliver us from evil.
King of Glory, Come and finish Your work in our cities, our peoples and our nations. We lift our voices in unison with believers from Africa and Asia, from the Middle East and Europe, from North and South America, and from Australia and the PacificIslands—together we cry:
Lift up your heads, O you gates! Be lifted up ancient doors so that the King of glory may come in! As Your deeds increase throughout the earth, and as Your blessings abound to all the nations,
they will seek You, asking, “Who is this King of glory?” Together we will answer:
He is the Lord Almighty! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Come fill the earth with Your glory as the waters cover the sea. The Spirit and the Bride say:
Thought I'd post a cute picture of my Mimi hanging out with Wesley and Curtis. Mimi's always up for a book read with Wesley or snuggly time with Curtis. We got to spend two nights with her in April.
Wesley got his cast off yesterday. He's doing worse now than he did when he first got his cast on, but the orthopedist told us that would be the case. He keeps saying, "My leg still huwts (hurts)" and "Can you hold me??? I can't walk!" Hopefully it will start feeling more normal soon.
While we were in the waiting room yesterday before he got his cast off, he and an older little boy with an arm cast (probably about 7) were playing in a little plastic house with windows and a door that open and shut. As the boys got more comfortable with each other, they started talking inside the house a little...well, as much as a 2-1/2 year-old can talk with a 7-year-old. John Mark and I especially enjoyed this conversation between the two:
Older boy: Hey, who drew that Thomas on your cast?
Wesley: Gin-Gin did! She drew Thomas on my cast!
Older boy: What grade is SHE in?
Wesley: She's an ARTIST.
Older boy: She's an artist??
Wesley: Gin-Gin's an artist!
Older boy: Does that mean she's passed ALL the grades???
Wesley: silence and look of confusion
And then they went to opening and shutting doors and windows on the little plastic house as they had before.
John Mark and I were very impressed that he knew the word artist, let alone that he knew that Gin-Gin was one! I think my dad told him that while they were skyping one time.
He got lots of comments on his Thomas drawing.
(Everyone in the waiting room also got to enjoy spontaneous dancing performances by Wesley while watching the Jonah Veggie Tales Movie. This produced quite a bit of laughter as he hopped around enthusiastically.)
Here is what I prayed: Most High God, You give the ability to produce wealth, and you give the power to enjoy it. You have entrusted the earth to mankind; by wisdom, by diligence, and by your kindness mankind's stewardship has extended over the whole world as our population has grown. As you have transformed hearts around the world, many businesses, many workers, and many bosses have worked hard and used their prosperity to help the weak - following the example of Jesus.
King Jesus, though we cannot establish your kingdom on earth by our hard work, you told us to seek your kingdom and righteousness, so we ask that you will replace selfishness, entitlement & laziness with compassion, responsibility & diligence in our nation's workers. We ask that you would switch our priorities from amusing ourselves to benefiting others - especially the weak. We ask that prosperity will lead to gratitude & humble stewardship among businesses instead of worshiping that prosperity. We ask ultimately that you will use work relationships to spread the gospel of Jesus and use paychecks & profits to bring our King great honor here and around the world.
