Thanksgiving 6

I’m thankful for good friends, long walks and uplifting visits. And a daughter who cleaned the kitchen and bathroom while I was out having fun.

What are you thankful for today?

• Kristina is thankful that Christ came and redeemed the lost.
• Jules is thankful for the military.
• On her new business blog, Kim is thankful for John Neal Bookseller.
• Elle is thankful for comfy clothes.
• Connie is thankful for her home.
• Kim is thankful for things on the internet that make her think.
• Lisa is thankful for “a home to clean and a family to care for and serve by washing their clothes and cooking their supper and washing their dishes and, yes, cleaning their bathrooms.”
• Kim of Hiraeth is thankful for reconnections.
• Carla is thankful that she is not shoveling….yet.
• Rosemary is thankful that “God is my refuge for weariness and the aches of a body that would rather lie still.”
• Ann is thankful for God’s word.
• Dorothy is thankful for her home.
• Jenn is thankful for Saturday mornings.
• Kim is thankful “that Chris has registered for Together for the Gospel!”
• Lisa is thankful for a teen girl and an older woman.
• Veronica is thankful for Hannah.
• Jennifer is thankful for safety.
• Tulipgirl is thankful for perseverance and more.
• Julie is thankful for her husband and his math skills.
• Leslie is thankful for tickets to secret church.
• Suzanne is thankful for beautiful weather and more.
• Whitestone says, “After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in January I’m thankful that chemo is done and I am feeling good. I’m thankful to be living in a time when medical care helps us deal with such illness, unlike the time of our grandparents or great-grandparents. Spiritually, I’m thankful that God holds us safe in His hands. No matter what, we are His. John 10:28,29 and a whole lot more!”
• Lisa is thankful for memories and more.

Here are three ways you can join in the thanksgiving. 

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here and I’ll included it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in a post, or
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post(s). If you plan to make your thanksgiving posts daily during the month, let me know that and you won’t need to send me daily links.

More details here.

If you’ve got a thanksgiving post and I missed it, please let me know so I can add your link.

My Desktop Photo 78

Photo by Andrew Stark
(click on photo for larger view)

Thanksgiving 5

Today I’m thankful for all of you who are participating in this year’s month of thanksgiving. It gives me so much joy to find all your links and put these posts together. Thankfulness is contagious, you know.

What are you thankful for today?

(I will be busy until what is late evening for me and tomorrow for some of you. But when I’m back again, I’ll link to all of your posts for today, okay?)

• Kristina is thankful for her kids.
• Jules is thankful for her family.
• On her new business blog, Kim is thankful “a good night’s sleep and a day away from the rigors of starting this business.”
• Elle is thankful for quotes. 
• Connie is thankful that she is delicious food and drink.
• Kim is thankful music.
• Lisa is thankful for the Word of God.
• Kim of Hiraeth is thankful for all these thankful posts.
• Rosemary is thankful for her books.
• Ann is thankful for her husband.
• Dorothy is thankful for the person and work of Jesus Christ.
• Kim is thankful for the timing of her daughter’s flu.
• Lisa is thankful for passionate Bible teachers.
• Veronica is thankful for the Master’s College.
• Jennifer is thankful for the blog community.
• Tulipgirl is thankful for peaceful life circumstances and more.
• Julie is thankful for health and healing.
• Leslie is thankful for the gift of curiousity.
• Audrey is thankful for her life.
• Becky is thankful that God delivered her from sin, for new hope for her health.

Here are three ways you can join in the thanksgiving. 

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here and I’ll included it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in a post, or
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post(s). If you plan to make your thanksgiving posts daily during the month, let me know that and you won’t need to send me daily links.

More details here.

If you’ve got a thanksgiving post and I missed it, please let me know so I can add your link.

Theological Term of the Week

total depravity
The doctrine that the inherent corruption of humankind “extends to every part of our nature, to all the faculties and powers of both soul and body; and that there is no spiritual good, that is, good in relation to God, in the sinner at all, but only perversion.”1

• From scripture:
  

  [B]oth Jews and Greeks, are under sin,  as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
  11 no one understands;
  no one seeks for God.
  12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
  no one does good,
  not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12 ESV)
  

  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body  and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV)
  

• From the Second Helvetic Confession, Chapters 8 & 9:

  Sin. By sin we understand that innate corruption of man which has been derived or propagated in us all from our first parents, by which we, immersed in perverse desires and averse to all good are inclined to all evil. Full of all wickedness, distrust, contempt and hatred of God, we are unable to do or even to think anything good of ourselves.

  What Man Was After the Fall. Then we are to consider what man was after the fall. To be sure, his reason was not taken from him, nor was he deprived of will, and he was not entirely changed into a stone or a tree. But they were so altered and weakened that they no longer can do what they could before the fall. For the understanding is darkened, and the will which was free has become an enslaved will. Now it serves sin, not unwillingly but willingly. And indeed, it is called a will, not an unwill(ing).

• From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer:

  The phrase total depravity is commonly used to make explicit the implications of original sin. It signifies a corruption of our moral and spiritual nature that is total not in degree (for no one is as bad as he or she might be) but in extent. It declares that no part of us is untouched by sin, and therefore no action of ours is as good as it should be, and consequently nothing in us or about us ever appears meritorious in God’s eyes. We cannot earn God’s favor, no matter what we do; unless grace saves us, we are lost.

  Total depravity entails total inability, that is, the state of not having it in oneself to respond to God and his Word in a sincere and wholehearted way (John 6:44; Rom. 8:7-8). Paul calls this unresponsiveness of the fallen heart a state of death (Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13), and the Westminster Confession says: “Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto”

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:

  [T]otal depravity means that sin is tragically inclusive, i.e., it dreadfully impacts every part of us. There is something terribly wrong not only with who we are inwardly, but with every aspect of our being. No element of our personality is less affected by sin than any other. Our intellects, our consciences, our emotions, our ambitions, our wills, which are the citadels of our souls, are all enslaved to sin by nature…. 

  Total depravity means that when God scrutinizes the human heart, affections, conscience, will, or any part of the body, He finds every part damaged and polluted by sin. Apart from saving grace, every part is alienated from God and actively pursuing sin. If the Spirit teaches us this experientially, we will understand Jonathan Edwards’ confession: “When I look into my heart, and take a view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell.”

Learn more:

1. GodQuestions.org: Total Depravity - is it Biblical?
2. Victor Shepherd: What Do the Protestant Reformers Mean by “Total Depravity”?
3. John Sampson: Total Depravity
   
4. John Reisinger: Total Depravity, part 1, part 2
5. Phil Johnson: What You Need to Know about Depravity (mp3)
6. Previously at this blog: Why I Love the Doctrine of Total Depravity

1Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Thanksgiving 4

I’m thankful for my sister. Have I told you that she is adopting three lovely children?

I’m thankful for her willingness to raise three more when her others are grown or almost grown. I’m thankful that God has given her stamina and energy and patience.

I’m thankful for the those three little stinkers, too.

What are you thankful for today?

• Kristina is thankful for several blessings.
• Rachel is thankful for encouragement.
• Jules is thankful for her son.
• On her new business blog, Kim is thankful for the blank page.
• Elle is thankful for her husband. 
• Connie is thankful that she is good friends.
• Kim is thankful the improvement in her daughter’s health
• Lisa is thankful for her Bible study group.
• Kim of Hiraeth is thankful for a haircut.
• Carla is thankful for lots and lots of stuff.
• Rosemary is thankful for her husband.
• Ann is thankful for recovery from illness.
• Dorothy is thankful for her daughter’s health.
• Jenn is thankful for her parents and parents-in-law.
• Kim is thankful for someone very small and sweet. And there are photos.
• Lisa is thankful for twitter prayers.
• Veronica is thankful for the red cup.
• Jennifer is thankful for the blog community.
• Tulipgirl is thankful for freedom in Christ and more.
• Update: Julie is thankful for allergy meds that work.
• Update: Julana says,

  I’m thankful yesterday is over. It was too busy.
  I’m thankful for an automatic washer and dryer.
  I’m thankful we don’t yet have snow.
  I’m thankful for our new Ikea floor lamp.
  I’m thankful for ice cream.

• Update: Leslie is thankful for abiding joy in Jesus.

Here are three ways you can join in the thanksgiving. 

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here and I’ll included it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in a post, or
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post(s). If you plan to make your thanksgiving posts daily during the month, let me know that and you won’t need to send me daily links.

More details here.

If you’ve got a thanksgiving post and I missed it, please let me know so I can add your link.

For what things are we to pray?

We are to pray for all things tending to the glory of God,[1] the welfare of the church,[2] our own [3] or others good;[4] but not for anything that is unlawful.[5]

Click to read more ...

Not My Tie Rod

So I don’t want to get involved in another comment thread at Evangel, because, believe it or not, I have things to do.

But here’s the deal: When you read Paul’s statement in Ephesians 1 where he says that by the redemption that comes through Christ Jesus, God is uniting everything, you don’t think, “Well, not my broken tie rod,” do you?

Why do people seem almost eager to qualify the power of the gospel?

Round the Sphere Again

Always Longing
for a better country. (The Irvins.com)

Still Speaking

• Marie Durand (168 hours)
• Martin Luther (The Upward Call)

Fact Checking
Hydrogen Peroxide: Good for everything? (Notes in the Key of Life)

Fully Functioning
and fun, too: Unique bookshelves. (I wish I had a big enough room for the figure 8.)

Speed Reading
The world’s most prolific reader has a new blog.

I plan to read all of the New York Times bestselling books over the course of the whole year. Do the math and you’ll see that this will come in at somewhere around 10 million words.

Read more.

Thanksgiving 3

Today, I’m thankful for the son who shovelled the snow in the driveway for me. (If I could find the cable to download a photo from the camera, I’d show you all the snow.)

Today the sun is shining and the sun on the snow makes things beautiful, so I’m thankful for the sun and snow, too.

What are you thankful for today?

• Rachel is thankful to know Christ.
• Jules is thankful for her Godly husband.
• On her new business blog, Kim is thankful for estimates, an order, and small business resources that are available online.
• Elle is thankful for appliances. They do make life easier, don’t they?
• Connie is thankful that she is her family.
• Kim is thankful her little workspace.
• Lisa is thankful for her youngest son.
• Kim of Hiraeth is thankful for her sweet old dog.
• Carla is thankful that she had her grandpa.
• Rosemary is thankful for renewed physical strength.
• Ann is thankful for rest and sleep.
• Dorothy is thankful for Tuesdays and “a happy marriage to a husband that I want to be with.”
• Jenn is thankful for her parents and parents-in-law.
• Kim is thankful for her friends.
• Lisa is thankful for memorizing with her daughter.
• Veronica is thankful for sleep.
• Jennifer is thankful for the opportunity and ability to study God’s Word.
• Update: Tulipgirl is thankful for God the creator and more.
• Update: Leslie is thankful for kisses.
• Update: Kristina is thankful for coffee and more.

Here are three ways you can join in the thanksgiving. 

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here and I’ll included it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in a post, or
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post(s). If you plan to make your thanksgiving posts daily during the month, let me know that and you won’t need to send me daily links.

More details here.

If you’ve got a thanksgiving post and I missed it, please let me know so I can add your link.

Why I Love the Doctrine of Total Depravity

Total depravity is going to be this week’s theological term, so I searched the archives of the very old blog to see whether I’d posted on it and I found this. I’ve punched up the ending a bit, added the picture, and I’m reposting it.

I came to Christ when I was very young. For almost as long as I can remember, I have been a crooked arrow being made straight rather than a crooked arrow spinning wildly. My testimony doesn’t start with “I was a teenaged prostitute drug-dealing felon, but God saved me.” Nope: “I was a naughty five-year-old” is about the worst I can do.

This is why I love the doctrine of total depravity: Understanding total depravity is the best antidote for pride. You might not know it, but coming to Christ as a youngster and being protected from some of the more sensational sins can be a recipe for pride, but the uncomfortable truth of total depravity is the great equalizer.

When Paul says

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another (Titus 3:3 NET)

the “we too” includes me. You may not have seen it, if you’d known me, because I didn’t have much of an opportunity to express those passions and desires in a visible way. But the seed that blossoms into evil and envy and hate was there germinating in my heart.

This includes me, too:

And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… (Ephesians 2:1-3 NET)

Yep, there I was, in the evil band marching along the vile path. I looked innocent enough, with my ringlets and ruffly dress and patent leather shoes, but what you couldn’t see is that I was being energized by the spirit that is ruled by the prince of the power of the air. The same spirit working in the  teenaged prostitute drug-dealing felon was already working in me. I was a cute little girl; I was a child of wrath. And God, in his mercy, reached down and plucked me from the power of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of the Son (Colossians 2:13 NET).

Do you see? I, too, have a former life. But God saved me!

Total depravity is both the nastiest and loveliest of truths. It shows me exactly what I was—and what I am, minus God’s grace to me. That’s the hideous part, but I must look at it—see it; for it’s by knowing exactly what I was that I can understand what has been done for me. It’s by fathoming how low my heavenly Father stooped to grasp me that I can begin to plumb the depth of his love for me. And his deep, deep love is glorious.