The Tulip Driven Life

By: Thomas Fletcher Booher Something is wrong with America. According to Christians that is, and it has been for a long time. Gay marriage, abortions, Obama, wars, government, Arminians, it is all just wrong. I guess we better cry and complain about it some more and wait for God's judgment to pour down on all those wicked people.  Sometimes that's what it sounds like to me. Doom and gloom. No hope for America because she's already taken on too much water. What a sad lot of sovereign gracer's we are if we actually believe that. Cannot God do anything? Yes, He can do all His holy will. Or at least, isn't that what reformed people learned to mimic as children?  I'm reformed. I'm late to the party as I didn't become a Calvinist til I was 19. I love the reformed faith, I agree with Spurgeon that it is just a nickname for biblical Christianity, but that doesn't mean that I think all is well in the reformed world. You see, I think we are ...

By: Nathan Fox  The Problem For one reason or the other, I feel as if Christianity in America is on a rapid downhill climb. We can blame it on theological faultiness (and that would be correct), or on immoralit y in the church (correct also). But I will give one overarching reason for what I believe to be a continual decline of Christianity in this country: shallow faith.  For many reasons, the Christian faith  in this country is slowly fading into  an activity, and not a wholly devoted lifestyle . Many “Christians” now walk into church not because they want to grow closer to God, but because it is something that they have traditionally done. And believe me, I was no exception to this growing up. I went to church because my parents did, and thought that my faith was something that I did, not something that I was.  There was no depth to my faith growing up, and I would venture to say I was not the only one.  I often wonder how many of us go through th...

By: Thomas Clayton Booher 1 Peter 2:9   that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light Peter begins his first epistle by identifying the recipients as the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia  (1:1) .  Exactly  what the Dispersion refers to is not entirely agreed upon by Bible scholars and commentators.   One commentator  correlates the word, dispersion (Greek  diaspora ), with the LXX  translation of Deuteronomy 28:25,  [Thou] shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth  (KJV). The translators used the same word. He considers it the first use as a technical designation of Jews who lived outside of Palestine. On that basis, he believes Peter is writing to Jews who, by their own choice, are living in the regions listed in verse one. There is merit to that idea as there was a general division of labor between Paul and Peter, ...

By: Nathan Fox Introduction Last week I spoke about the message of redemption from our sins through the blood of Jesus. In last week’s blog, I spoke as openly as I could about the Gospel and the way that it changes lives. I spoke of Jesus’ persecution and pain for the forgiveness of our sins. This week, the topic remains Jesus, but it turns to His superiority. It is true that He shed his blood, but what makes His blood so worthy to be shed on our behalf? What makes Him so different that the entire crux of the Christian faith rests squarely on His shoulders? What makes Jesus the one that delivered us? Paul turns to answering these questions in Colossians 1:15-20, and it is there that we will focus our attention Christ is God Colossians 1:15 says this: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Look at the first part of that verse. In the first clause of this verse, Paul makes the argument that God could be seen in the fleshly body of Jesus. G...

By: Thomas Clayton Booher Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The writer does not identify himself, and the clues are sufficiently weak as to make it impossible to offer a suggestion with any certainty. The Scofield Reference Bible ascribes the letter to Paul. Most all other such Bibles refrain. It is very unlikely that Paul was the author. The writer places himself among those who had not received any direct revelation from Christ, but heard only those who had (Heb 2:3). Paul insists that he had received his Gospel from Christ himself (Gal 1:11, 12; Cf Eph 1:3). The occasion of the letter is an apparent danger of some Jewish converts to turn back to the Old Testament system of worship in some fashion. The temptation to succumb is easier because the temple and priestly offices were still in tact, as the letter seem...

By: Thomas F. Booher The following is a portion of a chapter from a short book on applying Calvinism to our everyday lives that I am working on. Preaching needs to take theology and apply it to everyday struggles with sin in the context of our culture and present day situation. This has been, in my estimation, woefully neglected in Calvinistic circles. Theology is practical and has authority over us, therefore, theology should be preached practically and authoritatively. The pastor should exhort with the text. The gospel saves and sanctifies, and we are commanded not to merely trust in the promises of God and the gospel, but to also make war against the flesh by the power of the Spirit. When we cease to seek to apply theology practically and make war with the flesh by the power of the Spirit, we cease to live the TULIP driven life. Another way in which we grow as Christians is by taking what we learn from Scripture and applying it to our own lives. We need to unde...

By: Nathan Fox Text: Colossians 1:13-14 My Personal Life of Grace I must start off by confessing that though it seems that I have my entire life in order and that my days are “peachy,” I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace. As a matter of fact, those who read this blog and read all the good stuff these contributors provide should realize this: each blogger is sinful and only through God’s grace are we even given the platform to proclaim His name. Before any one of us is magnified, and before anyone reading this blog thinks that we bloggers are just perfect, we must all remind ourselves that God’s grace is the only reason why we can proclaim what we proclaim. He is the source of hope in our life, and the certainly the only good from this life stems from his incomparable love for each of us. So before you take the time to read this blog even further, remember this: I only write what I write because it is God who is good, and not myself.  God’s Living Grace ...