Above the Coffee Shop

Thoughts for the New Year

Eric Roseberry — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:10:09 +0000

It seems like everyone had some kind of new year’s resolutions. I thought about what I wanted to change for the upcoming year, and honestly most of it had to do with my reading habits. I’ve made three basic commitments for the coming year that will hopefully stick.

1. Read Fewer Books

This might sound like a strange resolution, but I spend way too much of my time skimming in 10-15 books. One of my goals this year is to pick the absolute best books that I can and spend more time with them.

2. Read Them Slower

I don’t know if it was school or just a personal thing, but I read way too quickly. Often I can’t even remember simple ideas from the books that I’ve read because I’m working through them too fast. I’m deliberately setting up some schedules with the books that I’m reading to keep me from going way too quick.

3. Think Through What I’m Reading

Too often I simply find myself reading for information without engaging what I’m reading. I feel like I need to spend more time understanding and arguing with what I’m working through.

These were just some basic ideas I thought about for the new year. What are some of the things you’re hoping to change?

John Stott on the Majesty of God

Eric Roseberry — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:49:29 +0000

“Yet these notions are foreign to modern-day people. The kind of God who appeals to most people today would be easygoing in his tolerance of our offenses. He would be gentle, kind, accommodating, and would have no violent reactions. Unhappily, even in the church we seem to have lost the vision of the majesty of God. There is much shallowness and levity among us. Prophets and psalmists would probably say of us that ‘there is no fear of God before their eyes.’ In public worship our habit is to slouch or squat; we do not kneel nowadays, let alone prostrate ourselves in humility before God. It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears. We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship; it does not occur to us that he might send us away. We need to hear again the apostle Peter’s sobering words: ‘Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives…in reverent fear’ (1 Pet. 1:17). In other words, if we dare to call our judge our Father, we must beware of presuming on him. It must even be said that our evangelical emphasis on the atonement is dangerous if we come to it too quickly. We learn to appreciate the access to God that Christ has won for us only after we have first seen God’s inaccessibility to sinners. We can cry ‘Hallelujah’ with authenticity only after we have first cried ‘Woe is me, for I am lost.’ In Dale’s words, ‘It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God.’”

John Stott, The Cross of Christ, pg. 110.

Doctrine of God: The Lord

Eric Roseberry — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:38:11 +0000

This post interacts with pages 21-35 of John Frame’s The Doctrine of God.

In the opening chapter of The Doctrine of God Frame looks to assert God as the Lord. In his estimation, “no description of God, is more central to scripture than this.”

The concept of God as Lord stems from God’s interaction with Moses in Exodus 3. In v. 15 God commands Moses to tell the Israelites that “The Lord” (YHWH) has sent Moses to the people. This is the name that God personally revealed to Moses, and is one of the initial ways that God reveals himself to his people.

Because God, or YHWH, is Lord he is “the one and only true God…and deserves all of our love and allegiance.” This title is used for God (and Jesus in the NT), over 7,000 times in the bible.

The concept of God as Lord implies ideas of power and possession. God is above us and we are under him. God has a right to rule over us. He is always in a posture of authority over his creation. Frame notes that a growing number of theologians are attempting to downplay these attributes of God. Because of the abuses of power all around us, and the negative connotations many have of authority and subordination, there are some who seem to want to rescue God from the idea that he would be viewed as a tyrant or dictator.

However, just because a term or idea has been abused doesn’t make it inherently an evil thing. Lordship doesn’t necessarily have to imply abuse or oppression. Frame spends the rest of the chapter showing how scripture more clearly defines the Lordship of God. As he reveals himself throughout scripture what do we come to find out about God?

1. YHWH (Lord) is the name of a person

The bible is consistent in its teaching that God is not an impersonal force. Frame writes, “Rather than taking him for granted, as we do with impersonal things and forces, we must always take his concerns into account, responding to him in repentance, love, thanksgiving, and worship.”

2. YHWH (Lord) is holy

Although God is personal he is also unique to every other created thing. Again, in his encounter with Moses we see this uniqueness of God when Moses is instructed to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground (Ex. 3:5). One aspect of God’s holiness is this ability of God “to arouse our reverent awe and wonder.” In our understanding of God he must be set apart. We can not treat Him as simply a friend or something to be trifled with.

Another aspect of the holiness of God is his purity. When Isaiah encounters God he sees himself clearly as a sinner in contrast to the perfection of God (Isa. 6:5). It is when we begin to understand this perfection in God that we begin to see ourselves more clearly. In a time when individuals can almost be flippant in the way that they talk about God the scriptures are constantly lifting God up as someone not to be dealt with lightly.

3. YHWH (Lord) is covenant head

The final point that Frame draws out about the Lordship of God is His role as covenant head. When God initiated his relationship with Israel (Deut. 4:37-38; 7:6-8; 10:15) he set the relationship up by means of a covenant. Similar types of covenants were made between kings and their subjects in this time period. Most of these covenants (the biblical covenant included) shared a common structure:

The name of the king identifying him as the author
An overview of the ways that the king has helped the people
The stipulations (or laws) that the people are expected to obey
Blessings and curses depending on obedience to the covenant
Provisions for various circumstances that might arise

What’s important about this idea for Frame is that God established the terms in which he would relate to people. It’s not up for us to decide what God expects of us or who God is because he has clearly laid such ideas out for us. God desires to be known, and he desires that his will for his creation be known. The context that God established to reveal himself was (and still is) a covenant.

So what are your thoughts after hearing these ideas from Frame? Does the idea of God as Lord make you uncomfortable? Are people to flippant in the way that they treat and talk about God? What changes in the way we relate to God if we don’t simply see him as friend, but also as the creator of this world who rules and reigns over all people?

I look forward to some good discussion.

Intro: Doctrine of God Series

Eric Roseberry — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:46:33 +0000

John Frame is a professor Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary. Over the past few years he has published a number of important works in a four volume series he calls, “A Theology of Lordship.”

Over the next few weeks I’ll be taking time on this blog to engage with volume 2 of this series, “The Doctrine of God.” Hopefully these chapters will offer an opportunity for readers here to engage in a study of an often neglected topic in theology. I look forward to having some great discussion in the comments section. My prayer in diving into a review of this major work is two-fold:

1. To help Christians develop a clearer picture of God the Father.
2. For that picture to be rooted in scripture, and not primarily based on feelings or attitudes of what we want God to be like.

Luther on the Gospel

Eric Roseberry — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:57:59 +0000

“The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine…. Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

- Luther commenting on Galatians 2:14

Dr. Hurtado on PhD Prep

Eric Roseberry — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:21:36 +0000

Dr. Larry Hurtado recently wrote about several disturbing trends in students pursuing a PhD in Biblical Studies. Both articles offer helpful encouragement on skills one needs to be a competent New Testament scholar.

Part 1

Part 2

Luther On Responding to Satan

Eric Roseberry — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:40:04 +0000

“When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal condemnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.’”

Are You an Advocate or a Witness?

Eric Roseberry — Sat, 14 May 2011 21:28:57 +0000

“Let me put it like this: there is all the difference in the world between being a witness and being an advocate. Men and women can be advocates of these things without the Holy Spirit. I mean that they can have an understanding of the doctrine; they can receive the truth, and can present it, argue for it and defend it. Yes, they are acting as advocates. But primarily, as Christians, we are called upon to be witnesses, to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as the Saviour of the world, as our own Saviour, as the Saviour of all who put their faith and trust in Him. And it is only the Holy Spirit who can enable us to do that. You can address people and act as advocates for the truth but you will not convince anybody. If, however, you are filled with the Spirit, and are witnessing to the truth which is true in your life, by the power of the Spirit that is made efficacious. So this filling is essential to all our Christian service.”

Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1997). God the Holy Spirit (242). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossways Books.

When Your Preaching Over Corrects

Eric Roseberry — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:03:14 +0000

Not that any of you would ever do this, but from time to time I’ve had to drive when I’m tired. We’ve probably all had that experience of nodding off only to wake up to the sound of our tires going off on to the shoulder of the road. What’s our natural tendency at this point? We’re all tempted to grab the wheel and jerk it hard the other way. However, over correcting can be almost as dangerous as going off the road.

I’ve found this tendency in my preaching as well. One of the occupational hazards of being a preacher is that you listen to a lot of other pastors. One of the things I quickly realized was how critical I can be of another pastor’s sermons (sometimes deservedly so). What are some of the things I find myself criticizing from time to time?

“His preaching is way too upbeat. Do they ever talk about sin or the wrath of God?”
“All he preaches about is how Jesus can make you happy and wealthy. What about all of the times in scripture when someone that loved God had things go wrong?”
“He never preaches from the Bible. Why doesn’t he go through books to help his people understand the word better?”

Up front, I do feel like some of these are honest criticisms. We have to talk about issues like sin, wrath, and suffering. Our messages need to be thoroughly biblical. However, in talking to some people close to me I finally realized the tendency I have in my preaching to over correct on some of these issues.

I want people to understand sin and the wrath of God so badly that I neglect the love and mercy of God.
I want people to understand that Jesus doesn’t equal an easy life so I beat them over the head with how much suffering they can expect.

And so what happens? In my effort to not preach like a certain individual I begin to short change my people. Week after week they’re leaving with a much better understanding of the wrath of God, but they are very rarely feeling his love and mercy. Is what I’m doing any better than the other guy? We’re both taking a biblical truth, camping out on it, and failing to give it full Biblical expression.

So what do our people need? They need the wrath of God and his incredible love. They need to recognize their sin, but also see the beauty of forgiveness. They need to understand that life might be hard, but Jesus really does want to do good things for them in this life.

It’s always hard to strike a healthy balance on issues like these. So where are you at with your own preaching? Are you reacting to what others are saying in their pulpits, or are you trying to be faithful to scripture and what God is trying to tell your people? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Realistic Expectations for Marriage

Eric Roseberry — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Over the next month at City of God Church we’re going to be working through the book of Song of Solomon. There is going to be a lot of information I run across that I won’t be able to get into sermons so I want to use this as an outlet.

One of the major problems that couples run into when they get married is that they’ve got unrealistic expectations. In his book A Celebration of Sex Dr. Douglas Rosenau offers ten healthy expectations to bring into marriage.

1. We will be best friends.
2. We won’t expect to meet every need our spouse has.
3. We will leave our “mother and father”
4. We will have one healthy fight or disagreement per week
5. We will take regular vacations or “honeymoons”
6. We will use credit carefully as we become wise stewards of our finances
7. My mate will be faithful and committed to me
8. Either of us will be able to initiate counseling, and the other will be willing to go
9. We will have regular satisfying sex
10. We will enjoy a growing spiritual life together with prayer and Bible study

So what do you think of his list? Anything you would add? Anything you disagree with?