Archives For Nathan Busenitz

May 10, 2013

3 Reasons to Think about Heaven

by Nathan Busenitz

The Word of God is far from silent on what eternity will be like in the eternal heaven (i.e. the New Earth). But why has God seen fit to reveal these truths to His people?

There are at least three reasons why the future reality of heaven ought to influence believers in the present. These might be summarized as: hope, holiness, and the honor of God.

001Hope. The reality of heaven provides hope for the future, even in the face of trials or death. Thus Paul could tell the Thessalonians that believers do not grieve “as the rest of the world who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). As Charles Spurgeon observed:

The very happiest persons I have ever met with have been departing believers. The only people for whom I have felt any envy have been dying members of this very church, whose hands I have grasped in their passing away. Almost without exception I have seen in them holy delight and triumph. And in the exceptions to this exceeding joy I have seen deep peace, exhibited in a calm and deliberate readiness to enter into the presence of their God.

Writing about his trials, the apostle Paul similarly explained to the Corinthians, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Because believers know what the future ultimately holds, they can face the temporal troubles of this life with confidence and courage. Continue Reading…

in Devotional with 2 Comments
permalink
May 9, 2013

What Makes Heaven So Wonderful?

by Nathan Busenitz

Heaven is only heaven because it is the place where God dwells. To “go to heaven” is to be ushered into the presence of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:8). In the same way that eternal life is more about a quality of fellowship than a quantity of lifespan (John 17:3), so heaven centers around a Person more than a place.

clouds

Jonathan Edwards aptly summarized that truth in these words:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows, but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean.

Above all else, it is God’s personal presence that makes heaven what it is. It is not heaven because it is beautiful and glorious; or because the saints of all the ages are there; or because angels lift up their voices in magnificent hymns of praise. On the contrary, it is only heaven, because the Triune God makes it His dwelling place. In the words of D. L. Moody, “It is not the jaspar walls and the pearly gates that are going to make heaven attractive. It is the being with God.” Continue Reading…

in Devotional with 1 Comment
permalink
May 2, 2013

Want Free Books?

by Nathan Busenitz

This post is probably going to sound more like an infomercial than a blog entry. (I promise I’m neither an official spokesman nor a paid actor.) But I wanted to share a resource with our readers that might benefit many of you.

Undoubtedly, some of you already know about this. But for those who don’t, it is an exceptional opportunity – especially for those who love to read.

free_books

If you want to grow your library with brand new Christian books, there is an easy and free way to do it. Christian publishers will gladly send you free books, in exchange for your willingness to post an online blog review of each book after you read it.

Signing up to receive free books is easy. Here’s how to do it: Continue Reading…

in Book Review with 11 Comments
permalink
April 25, 2013

Our Fundamentalist Future

by Nathan Busenitz

 The year was 1878. Modernism was on the rise, and its attack on the church was full scale. In response, a group of conservative Bible scholars established a set of fourteen doctrinal principles to outline what they believed was the essence of biblical Christianity. Known as the “Niagara Creed” (because it was associated with the Niagara Bible Conference of 1883–1897), these principles laid the foundation for a movement that would later be called fundamentalism.

On the broader front, the dispensational organizers of the Niagara Bible Conference were joined by non-dispensationalists like B.B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen in their fight against modernism. In 1910, the fourteen-point Niagara Creed was distilled into “five fundamentals” by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. These five fundamentals were as follows:

1. The inerrancy of Scripture

2. The virgin birth and deity of Jesus Christ

3. The substitutionary atonement through God’s grace and human faith

4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ

5. The authenticity of Christ’s miracles (or later, by others, the imminent return of Jesus Christ)

It was also in 1910 that a wealthy Presbyterian layman, named Lyman Stewart, funded the publication of twelve pamphlets entitled The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth. These pamphlets, which together consisted of 90 essays written by 64 authors from several denominations, were published between 1910 and 1915. The articles themselves expanded on the five fundamentals, and strengthened the fundamentalist stance against modernism. Continue Reading…

in Evangelicalism, History with 12 Comments
permalink
April 18, 2013

Should We Boycott Starbucks?

by Nathan Busenitz

StarbucksI was asked that question last week, as a result of some controversial statements made last month by the coffee company’s CEO in which he publicly supported gay marriage.

If I were a coffee snob, I probably would have answered that we should boycott Starbucks because they burn their beans. But I’m not a coffee snob. And I knew that wasn’t really the heart behind the question.

My actual response went something like this:

If your conscience is pricked by drinking Starbucks coffee, then you should not drink Starbucks coffee. That is a decision that you ought to make in your own heart before the Lord. But if other believers choose not to join you in your boycott (because they don’t share that same personal conviction), you should not judge them for responding differently than you do.

While it is not an exact parallel, the situation regarding food offered to idols (addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 8-9) provides us with principles that apply to these types of situations.

In our day, the issue involves purchasing coffee from a twenty-first century company that publicly supports gay marriage. In Paul’s day, the controversy centered around buying food from first-century vendors who had openly offered it to idols in the local pagan temple. Though the specifics are clearly different, both situations raise a similar moral question: Are believers at liberty to purchase food (or coffee) from an openly anti-Christian source?

Paul’s response to the first-century dilemma is instructive for us today. It provides principles for thinking through issues (like the Starbucks controversy) that involve both conscience and Christian liberty. Continue Reading…

in Evangelicalism, Shepherding with 41 Comments
permalink
April 4, 2013

Can You Be a Christian and Not Love Jesus?

by Nathan Busenitz

I wrote a version of this article several years ago for the Pulpit blog. But the issue came up again in my seminary classes just this past week. In light of that discussion, I thought it might be timely to introduce the subject again, here on the Cripplegate.

At its heart, I believe the lordship debate can be boiled down to this one question: Can a person truly be a member of God’s family and yet not be characterized by a love for Christ? Or to put it more directly, Can you be a Christian and not love Jesus?

The Free Grace advocate, in order to be consistent with the non-lordship system, must answer “yes” to this question. Thus, in his book Absolutely Free!, Zane Hodges vehemently rejects the assertion “that no true Christian fails to love God” (p. 130), accusing those who hold this belief as teaching a form of works-salvation. In the words of Hodges, “The scriptural revelation knows nothing of a doctrine in which Christian love for God is guaranteed by the mere fact that one is a Christian” (p. 131).

In other words, according to Free Grace, you can be a Christian and not love Jesus. Continue Reading…

in Evangelicalism with 6 Comments
permalink