Take a Technology Fast

How often do we take technology for granted and just accepted it?  How often do we look past the moment and truly contemplate the impact technology will have in the future?  Do we own technology or does it own us?  These, and more, are questions we need to ask when faced with any new, or for that matter, current, technology.  This is not a matter of seeking to avoid all forms of technology or simply calling all technology bad  as we need to realize technology comes in many forms.  The clothes we wear, the utensils we use and many other things that we utilize in everyday life are all a result of some form of technology.  No, what we need to do is look at all technology with an eye to its impact on us and the world that God has called us to steward and to do so from a Biblical perspective. 

While the Bible does not necessarily speak directly to a particular technology we can ask ourselves how any particular technology will affect our lives in light of how God would have us live and glorify Him.  For example; when we see a technology that will work to divide a family we can know that whatever the technology is it needs to be seriously scrutinized and either minimize in its use or avoided all together.  Also, if a technology will take over ones life, as so many tend to do, and leave little time for God then we need to deal with that so as to avoid its impact of our walk with God.

One book I highly recommend with regards to getting one to think about technology and our interaction with it is Michael Bunker’s book Surviving Off Off-Grid.  Even if you feel you have no desire to live off grid or do not think that society will crumble Bunker asks some probing questions that will make one think about their relationship with technology.  The world puts forth that to question technological advances is somehow being backward and ignorant.  However, the issue is not just about whether one accepts a certain technology or not but whether we have thought through the implications of its use.  These implications are not to be limited to the present but also to its impact on future generations as well.

If we are honest with ourselves we will have to admit that with all the promises of technology saving us time and effort we are as busy as ever, maybe busier.  We have been duped by the allure of what we are told technology can offer and bought into the lie.  A lie that says leisure is just around the next technological corner but what we will find around the corner is another corner and another marvel to buy and consume our time and affections.

 We live in a consumer based economy and thus technology needs to be in a constant state of change so as to always be creating the possibility of selling one more item, one more gadget.  Thus, we need to be vigilant so as not to get caught up in this trap of consumerism and keeping up with technology which will never happen since as soon as you buy the latest wonder it will be obsolete and you will need to buy the next one.

When it comes to any technology what we need to do is to stop, take a breath, and ask if technology is being used by us or are we being used by it.  If tomorrow the Internet was to go down many would be lost.  If we had no electricity for a day, weeks or even months what would we do?  I am not even talking about survival here but what would be our mindset.  Would we sit in front of our TVs or computers pining away for it come back online?  Would we be lost since all our “friends” are on Facebook, Google+ or some other social network and we realize we have no personal contact with “actual” people?  What would we do with all our free time, would we remember how to read, how to talk to family or could we even find the kitchen?

Let me confess; I have made connections with people on Facebook that I do consider friends and I have corresponded with people via my blog and other connections on the Internet.  But in truth it was so much more meaningful when I could actually meet these people face to face or at a minimum was able to at least talk on the phone with them.  Technology has allowed me to learn and share insights that would have taken longer and been more difficult if it had not existed.  I can see the good that has come via technology.  However, I have to admit I have not been as discerning as I should be in monitoring my use of technology as I have, as many of us, been sucked up into the black hole of “technological acceptance.”

As I write this article on my laptop to be posted over the Internet I wonder if I am a hypocrite in questioning technology.  I would say that I would be if I was saying all technology, at anytime, was wrong.  What I want to stress is that we need to seriously ask questions about the technology we use and how we use it.  As I have already said we need to ask what the consequences of any technology could be.  We need to be constantly aware of our reliance, and often total dependence, on technology and work to avoid such dependence.  Of course if you are like me and live in the city or have a job that is technology driven it is difficult.   We do need to ask if we have a plan for what to do if for some reason God decides to pull the plug?  What will we do when He moves to show us that we need to rely more on Him than Microsoft, Mac or Dell.  Most of us do not have any plans and until recently I had not even contemplated such a scenario.  Michael Bunker’s book, and a few others I have read recently, have made me begin to think about these things more deeply.

One example of technology, and its associated mindset, being blindly accepted without much reservation was the Industrial Revolution.  When we entered the Industrial Revolution Christians did not ask the questions they should have and we have thus paid a heavy price.  We as believers did not ask what God would have us do by looking at the affect the Industrial Revolution would have on His people.  The following articles make some very good observations with regards to the impact of technology on mankind:

Reforming the Family – Rev. Brian M. Abshire

Machines and Family (Pt 1 of Series) – Howard king

Industrialism: Rooted in Greed (Pt. 2 of Series) – Howard king

The Efficiency Invasion: How Industrialism Destroyed the Traditional Family (Pt. 3 of Series) – Howard king

Efficiency vs the Family – Scott Terry

This all said what should we do, and thus the reason for the name of this post.  Throughout this article I have mentioned questions we need to ask but we need to go further.  We need to take action so that we do not become more dependent on technology than on God.  To do this my family has decided to challenge ourselves and go on a technology fast for a week, once every 2 months.  During that time we will work to minimize our use of the technology we have come to so rely on.  Apart from work, as I do have to make a living and am sure my employer would not want to go along, there will be no computers, thus no internet.  I think Facebook can live without me.  We will only use our phones for emergencies and with regards to cooking be limited to our stove.  Of course if we lived in a different environment we might be able to limit our use of technology even further, but this is a start.  Actually even making a decision to do this showed some of our over reliance and desire for technology in our family.  There were some in the family that balked a little since until we talk about curtailing our use of technology we did not realize how dependent we had become on it.

In taking part in this “technology fast’ we hope to grow closer to God.  Not necessarily because of the lack of technology but because of the time we will have that is no longer absorbed by the technology we use.  I am hoping and praying that our time in family devotions will grow and our interacting as a family will flourish.  Let me say, if this is done purely to simply say we have avoided technology I think we would miss the point.  No, we want to do this so that we can realize how dependent we have become on technology, often at the cost of our dependence on God, and work by God’s strength to rely on Him as we should.

I encourage you to join us as we seek to set technology aside, as best you can, for a week.  Our first Technology Fast will take place from January 23^nd to January 29^th.  If you need to start on a different week that is great since it is not the dates that matter but that we seek to do something.  I encourage you to share your thoughts on joining us and after the week, whether it be the same as us or another week, share what God did in the life of your family during the week. 

This, as with all things needs to be done for His glory and that needs to be at the forefront of our minds.  Let us grow closer to Him as we remove those things that often are seemingly good but end up impinging on time with Him, with family and with ones church.

Previous Posts in this Series:

Christians and the Care of God’s Creation
God, Work and Redemption

GMOs: An Agricultural Tower of Babel?

GMOs: An Agricultural Tower of Babel?

(Updated with what is now paragraph 6 on 1/7/12)

There are many out there that feel anything we do to increase production and efficiency, thereby apparently reducing price, is a good thing.  Others put forth that the only way we can feed the world and produce enough food is by genetically engineering it.  But is this correct as the true total cost, including subsidies and increased health costs, of the food we eat is yet to be tallied.  Also, from what I can find the issue with food is not a quantity issue but a distribution issue so making more at any cost is not the answer.  However, more importantly we need to ask if the producing of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) pleases God or is it an Agricultural Tower of Babel?

Now I have probably already tipped my hand as to where I stand on this subject but if God’s word is sufficient for all of life, and it is, it must say something about this topic.  Of course you will not find a passage such as 1 Agronomy 1:1 that says “Thou shall not make GMOs” but this does not mean that God does not speak to this area of life, He does.  God speaks to every area of life, either directly or in principle.

I realize that when one speaks to the topic of food there will be those that say that what we eat and what we produce is an area of liberty and we can basically do as we please.  Some may even go to Peter’s vision in Acts  10:9-16 to say that we can eat all things.  Well, first the passage in Acts is not dealing as much with what one has for dinner as dealing with religious preconceptions about what was clean or unclean, to say that Peter can indeed eat and fellowship with the Gentiles who were considered unclean by the Jews.  The “liberty” card is usually used whenever ones toes are being stepped on and one becomes uncomfortable.  While we do have liberty it is all within the confines of God’s order and commands so we need to be careful of where we proclaim liberty.

To see what God’s plan was from the beginning one needs to go back to, well the beginning, Genesis 1:25-27 and Gen 2:5,15 to see that God placed man in a garden to care for what God provided.  God could have easily made the garden to care for itself and produce in abundance all that Adam and Eve required but God decided, in His infinite wisdom, to have man cultivate and till the soil.  He placed man not so much as lord over the land but as a steward of God’s provision, as caretaker and overseer of it.  While this call was prior to the fall it did not change after it.  What changed after the fall was man’s relationship with the soil as it was going to now, in a sense, fight back and not produce as man would have liked.  God did not tell Adam to go out and try and manipulate the ground, the foliage or the animals but to care for it to bring forth what God wanted from the soil even with the curse that was placed on it. 

So what does man do today but try and avoid the curse anyway they can.  I spoke on some of this in my last article on work.  We create food, if you can really call it that, which is modified so as to be able to produce more crops by being pesticide resistant and in the process nutrient deficient.  Man, instead of simply dealing with the various issues created by the curse through hard work and natural methods has tried to be God and create new organisms.   At the heart of much of this is a desire to avoid work and the trials of it and to be as God. 

As I mentioned the Tower of Babel in the title of this article, I should add that it is, among other things, a picture of man seeking to use technology to create their own heaven, their own redemption.  Gen 11:1-5 speaks of the technology used, that of brick and mortar, and the passage even speaks of them being baked.  Now we may not think of bricks and mortar as a technological advance but it truly was.  Man was seeking to use what advances they had before them to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4) and in a sense find redemption on their own.  They sought to make something of themselves and avoid being scattered.  However, God would put a stop to that and He can do the same with us.  God can bring down the technological tower we have created and rely on.  At issue is not necessarily a matter of avoiding technology, as that is often difficult, but it is a matter of what we do with that technology.  It is a matter of what we rely on, God or self.

But what of those that farm and have worked to make mixed breeds of animals and plants?  Is this a form of genetic manipulation?  This is dealt with in Joel Salatin’s book Folks, This Ain’t Normal (Pg: 225-239) as he shares how genetic engineering deals with manipulating “kinds” whereas the natural mixing of breeds and plants is keeping kinds together.  God created “kinds” (Gen 1:11,12,21,25) and we should not seek to make, to be as God, and create new kinds. 

This tendency to want to be as God is not new as we see it in the Garden, at Babel and we see it still today. When we manufacture, manipulate and modify the natural order that God has provided we in essence seek to be as God.  Being creative is an innate attribute we have as a creation made in the image of God. However we need to realize the limits of that creative desire and understand that simply because we physically can do something that does not mean we should.  Adam and Eve could physically eat of the tree but they were not to so we too need understand our limits and be careful that we do not turn our call to dominion into a call to be as God.  

Does all of this mean we simply need to accept the thorns and thistles that make producing food difficult?  In one sense yes as they will exist in some manner until Christ’s return.  But I think we can, by the sweat of our brow, fight those incursions that make the ground unfruitful.  We need to do so in a manner that aligns with God’s order and in a manner that magnifies Him and not us.  We need to make sure that all we do honors God’s creation and is not in the end simply more of a curse, as we are finding with the genetically engineered food substitutes that have been created.

Let us seek to be reliant on God and what He provides.  One of the results of the curse on the land is to remind us of our reliance on Him for our redemption.   Let us be content with the trials we face due to the curse.  Not that we are to be complacent but understand that we cannot avoid the curse and must work within the confines God has set before us.  God has provided all we need to live for His glory and we need to come to grips with that.  Can we create technology to better glorify God, well that is a topic for another post but in short yes as long as we understand the difference between using technology and being dependent on it. 

So, yes the genetic engineering of our food is indeed an Agricultural Tower of Babel and it will crumble.  The question is how long will it be until God pulls the tower down and how much damage will have been done in the mean time.  Should we not instead work to pull the tower down and thus reveal our reliance on God and not on ourselves? 

Previous Posts in this Series:

Christians and the Care of God’s Creation
God, Work and Redemption

Law & Government: An Introductory Course

The Law & Government: An Introductory Course is on sale for 50%.  I have not had a chance to listen to my set yet but the speakers are very good.  I will be doing a review of this resource once I finish the set

Here is the VF description:

With America’s legal heritage under attack, are you ready to give biblical answers to the critical cultural debates raging today?

Law & Government: An Introductory Study Course will arm your family to meet this challenge with the foundational concepts of law, ethics, and public policy; a clear understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the proper roles of the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches, and much more.

Featuring leading Christian attorneys and legal scholars such as Chief Justice Roy Moore, Douglas Phillips, Esq., and Dr. Paul Jehle, this course offers seven easy-to-follow unit studies.

28 hours of audio and video, plus study guide.

Course Includes:

• Study Guide with Answer Key
• 6 Lectures on DVD
• 16 Audio Messages on MP3
• Certificate of Completion

Here are the speakers:

This Weeks Vision Forum Sale

THIS WEEK AT VISION FORUM, through midnight (CST) December 16th:

25%-60% Off 200+ Items,
Free ‘Courageous’ DVD, and $5 Shipping!

Receive ‘Courageous’ FREE with Every $75+ Order

Before you finish shopping, make sure your shopping cart totals at least $75. If it does, you will receive Courageous, this year’s most watched and beloved Christian movie, for free on DVD!

Here’s how it works: Courageous DVDs won’t begin shipping to retailers until January 2012. However, through December 16, Vision Forum has a way for you to give this wonderful film to your family right now. Just place any order of $75 or more at VisionForum.com and receive a beautiful Courageous DVD gift receipt for FREE with your order.

Keep the gift receipt for your own family as a reminder of what’s coming, or give it to someone else as a present. Once the Courageous DVDs arrive in Vision Forum’s warehouse in late January, we will ship your copy to your original qualifying order’s ship-to address at no charge. If you give the DVD gift receipt to someone as a present, just make sure you give the actual DVD to that person as well after you receive it!

Enjoy $5 Flat-Rate Shipping*

Pay just $5 to ship your entire order. Shop from home, complete your gift list, and spend less for shipping than you would on gas.

*Our “$5 flat-rate shipping” offer is valid for UPS ground shipping and applies only to the 48 contiguous United States and Canada, and is not applicable to the 70-volume Henty Set, the 20-volume Ballantyne Set, or other “Specialty” and “Drop Ship” items. Does not apply to past orders, and may not be combined with other coupons. Please note that shipping in-stock items ahead of backordered items will result in additional shipping charges to you.

God, Work and Redemption

I want to preface what is to come, in this series, with a few books I have been reading that have given me much food for thought, pun intended.  Two of them are by Joel Salatin: “Everything I Want to do is Illegal” and “ Folks, This Ain’t Normal.”  Another book I am almost done with that has given me much to think about as I try and work through how we are to deal with technology and man’s attempts to “make life easier” is "Surviving Off Off-Grid" by Michael Bunker.  I think these are worthwhile books to read as we too often are so ingrained in a way of thinking that we need to be jolted out of our slumber and these books may help do just that.  Will you agree with all they say, maybe not, but these are books that may help you to look at things differently, and that is what we need today.   Also, both authors have a Christian worldview that sees all that is around us as God’s creation and that God has a way He desires for us to interact with it, a view I would pray we would all seek to posses.

When we look at any area of life we need to do so with God’s word as our standard, our filter, and this includes when we interact with God’s creation and our required stewardship of it.  When I speak of God’s word I mean not only His inerrant word but also His all-sufficient word.  If one does not see God’s word as sufficient for all of life then one will not seek to see what God says about every area of life and thus will end up setting up areas that are not judged by the only infallible rule of life, His word.  To make God honoring decisions we need to see what God’s word says about every area of life.  

I thought I would start with looking at the issue of work because so much of what we have to deal with today is promoted as being “required” so as to reduce our work, save time and increase our ability to spend more effort in recreation.  I need to mention here that the idea of saving time is misleading as we all have 24 hours and we invariably fill up every minute.  Thus, seldom do we actually save time but instead just rearrange the use of the minutes, now back to the subject of work.  The world seeks to tell us we need this device, that program or some other modification to our life because it will reduce our work and benefit us by giving us time to do any number of other “more” enjoyable activities.  Due to this propaganda, for most things I do not think this is too strong a word, we need to understand the biblical concept of “work” so as not to be taken in by the many claims of the world and its offerings.

To begin with work is not in and of itself evil.  Man was created and given dominion, stewardship, over the garden (Gen 1:26-31) that God created.  God calls what he had created, including the work of dominion, very good thus we see that work at this point is not what we think of it as today, but is instead good.   Work is not a result of the fall, as most treat it, but is a creation of God and is His means for man to care for His creation.  However, when man fell work became burdensome as God’s word reveals in Gen 3:17-19.   Adam would indeed keep working but in contrast to before the fall work would now be what we know it as today “WORK.”

We all too often look at work as just that, work, something to avoid.  But have you ever contemplated why God chose work to be so hard because of the fall?  It was not simply as some form of punishment from an indiscretion but instead was, and is, to be a reminder.  It is to be a reminder of the state of our nature and a reminder of our need for redemption.  For the believer then there is hope in the midst of the toil of work.  Knowing this does not mean that work will be easy, as our flesh desires it to be, but it does let us know that as we work we can find joy as we contemplate that God is reminding us of all He has done, is doing and will do, in our lives.  Thus, we should not avoid work but embrace it and seek to redeem it by having an attitude of remembering what it signifies.  In our toil work lets us see our rebellion against God, our reliance on Him for redemption and it also reminds of the glorious hope that is before us.  For me this is convicting as I often grumble at work not being as easy as I would like it to be instead of taking the toil and looking at it as I should, a vivid reminder.  While we should seek to be efficient and work as best we can, so as to glorify God, even then we need to realize work in our fallen state is meant to be tiresome and troubling so as to remind us of our sin and Christ’s work.  That is where true peace and joy in the midst of work comes from, when we recognize why work is as it is.

When we think of joy and peace we all too often define them by the world’s standards and thus we cannot find joy and peace in the midst of our toil and trials.  Let us not forget that Christ in going to the cross found joy in knowing what was ahead (Hebrews 12:2.). He suffered more than we can ever imagine by taking on the sins of His people but His joy was in knowing He was glorifying the Father.  We need this attitude of joy in our work and for me that is very convicting.  It is in having a right view of work that will allow us to make right choices and not let promises of pleasure and rest dictate the decisions we make. Having a right, biblical, view of work, joy and peace will allow us to take what from a worldly perspective is a hard route and see our situation as one that sanctifies us and thus most glorifies God.

We are to be serious about the work God has for us and should not be complacent in our endeavors, seeking just to get by. When we work we are to do so for His glory because of what He has done in us and is doing through us in our work..  The world can only toil at work thus its instinct will be to avoid work but we as believers are to know that work is our destiny and we need to see God’s hand in it.  What a joy that is.

Having a right view of work is imperative so as to inform our every decision for God’s glory.  However, the world seeks to set before us an alternate reality, an alternate path to take. One where work is sought after to be non-existent and where recreation is the goal of all we do.  We are sold this worldview in everything from vacation getaway plans, such as “time-shares,” to fast food offerings all of which are to save us time, effort and increase pleasure.  We fall for this advertising that seeks to make us feel as if we can avoid work and it’s toil because our sin nature wants to forget about our sin, neglect God’s redemption and not realize there is only true freedom in what God offers.  The world wants us to believe that true happiness can only be found without work and promotes the concept that work is evil.  We as believers need to remember that while work may be hard and tiresome it is not evil.  It is, as we have already seen, in reality a great reminder of what God has done, is doing and will do in our lives.  It is the avenue God has given us for dominion and stewardship of His creation and we need to partake of work as God defines it, hardships and all, so as to experience the peace and joy only God brings when we are seeking to glorify Him.

I started with the topic of work as I think it is at the core of many of the wrong decisions we make with regards to the care of God’s creation.  For example man crowds the animals God has provided us into unnatural surroundings known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) as this is our way of saving time, work and as we are often told, to be more productive.  However in doing this not only do we treat God’s creation, the animals and the land, poorly we also create food that is not conducive to good health and thus makes us less able to work as we need to and thus not glorify God as we ought.  Also, by our not wanting to work we have allowed the melding of science and “nutrition”, even though it is not really nutritious, in such a way as to make substances that are called food and are sold to us as being able to reduce our work and leave more time for recreation.   Again, when we lose sight of the biblical meaning of work we make decisions that not only are bad for us they negate the glorification of God in our relation to the work God has for us.

So, there are some thoughts on work and how it relates to creation and areas such as food.  If you take anything from this I pray it is to see that work is a gift of God.  Yes we have to deal with the affects of sin in our work but by the work of Christ we can find joy in the midst of our toil.  While we should seek to be more efficient as we work I pray we would always weigh our motives by biblical standards.  Let us see if our goal is to be better stewards of God’s creation, for His glory, or if it is to avoid the work God has for before us.   Let us make sure we do not buy into the world’s view of work but cling to God’s view.  Always seeing in work a reminder of our sin, a reminder of God’s work in redeeming us and a reminder of the future peace to come at His return.   Let our view of work be a stark contrast to the world’s and let our lives live out that difference in our thoughts, words and actions.

More to come on other areas relating to our interaction with God’s creation.

This is a sermon delivered 12/25/11 on this subject: God, Work and Redemption

Previous Posts in this Series:

Christians and the Care of God’s Creation

This Week's Sale at Vision Forum - Through Dec 8th

THIS WEEK AT VISION FORUM, through Decemebr 8th:

For four days only, take an extra 25-30% off your entire Vision Forum order!

Simply add at least $95 of products* to your shopping cart, then watch your order total instantly drop by an extra 25%. This offer is on top of any already-discounted products.

Or, increase your 25% instant savings to 30% when you add at least $175 of products* to your shopping cart. Again, this offer is a 30% discount on top of already-discounted products!

Also, the following great resource is free with your purchase over the next 48 hours:

*Instant Cashback savings does not apply to the following products: 20-Vol. G.A. Henty Set; 40-Vol. G.A. Henty Set; 70-Volume G.A. Henty Library; all iPods; Girl’s Heather Harp; Ultimate Flyer Sled; Bambino Pull Sled; Mountain Boggan Sled

So as to have full disclosure I am a Vision Forum Affiliate and get a small percentage of the sales generated thorugh my links.  However, even if I were not an affiliate I would suggest these sales and items as I have done in the past before being an affiliate.

Law & Liberty Book Giveaway #2

Thanks to the Chalcedon booth at the latest NCFIC conference (Gospel-Centered Marriages for a Glorious Church ) I have two more Law & Liberty books by R.J. Rushdoony to give away.  There will be one  this month then anothe in January. 

I will collect names until 5PM (PST) on Wednesday the 14th of December.  Here is how you can get multiple entries:  One entry can be gained by leaving a comment to this blog post.  You can get additional entries by placing a link to the giveaway on your blog and leaving a link to the post on your blog in a comment here.  Another entry can be gained by sharing this post on Facebook or sharing the post that is already there.  Lastly, you can share this giveaway on Goolge+.  So, leave a comment here, on the Facebook or on the Goolge+ post letting me know the methods you have used to enter.

December Vision Forum Sale

THIS WEEK AT VISION FORUM

Save 20%-50% on Everything, Plus Free Shipping! *

December is almost here! And to help you with your shopping needs, Vision Forum is running an incredible December kick-off sale across our entire website.

This week only, save up to 50% off list price on everything we sell — EVERYTHING! Plus, use coupon NOSHIPPING and receive free shipping on every order of $25 or more!*

The sale ends this Friday at midnight (CST), so now is the time to stock up on great gifts for your entire family — toys, books, DVDs, CDs, and much more!

*Your coupon entitles you to receive free standard shipping on your order. Please note that shipping in-stock items ahead of backordered items will result in additional shipping charges to you. Our "free shipping" offer applies only to the 48 contiguous United States and Canada, and is not applicable to the 70-volume Henty Set, the 20-volume Ballantyne Set, or other "Specialty" and "Drop Ship" items. Does not apply to past orders, and may not be combined with other coupons.

Christians and the Care of God’s Creation

Let me start by saying I have not always held the views I will put forth here.  But as I have grown in my understanding of God’s word and seek to be obedient to all of it, it has become increasingly clear to me that we as Christians should be the most diligent people caring for God’s creation.  In this care for God’s world, yes it is His, we do not do as the environmentalists and elevate the creation over the creator but instead seek to be the best stewards of what is God’s that we can be because that is what pleases Him.  We are to care for, be a steward of, His creation so that it can be used for His glory and that does not happen if we simply see God’s provision as ours to do with as we please.  God is most glorified when we see His grace in providing all that He does is firstly for His glory and then our good.

For too long the Christian community has taken its cues for how we are to relate to the world around us from the Rush Limbaugh’s, Sean Hannity’s, Ann Coulter’s and so many other “conservative” radio personalities rather than from God’s word.  We have rightly seen the error in the environmentalist movement but instead of asking what it is they are reacting to we have taken an equally wrong swing in the other direction.  Instead of seeing the call to subdue and have dominion (Gen 1:26-28) as a call to care for, grow and cultivate creation for God’s glory and our good we have instead often taken the idea of dominion as a free pass to damage, abuse and destroy and that does not glorify God or do us any good.  We need to not discard the concept of dominion but instead need to see it for what it was intended from the beginning, as stewardship with a mind that sees all as belonging to God and thus of value.

This stewardship we are to provide extends not only to the animals, foliage and land God has placed around us but also to our bodies and how we treat them.  If you think clearly, and biblically, on this I think you will find they are inter-related.  In all of this we are to seek to be the best stewards we can be; not to stop some theoretical end of the world but to bring glory to God as we show the world how we revere God and what He has graciously provided.  If we take God’s sovereignty seriously we should not only think that God has created that which is around us but that He has created it to work and live together as He designed it.  When we seek to modify this God ordered symbiosis we in essence say we know better than God and in the process seek to be God.

Is that not at the heart of much of what we do, that is to say God meant to do such and such but stopped short and we need to finish what He could not do.   I realize it is not always easy to see where our actions are trying to be as God and where we are seeking to work according to God’s purposes.  But there are areas that where it is much more clear such as in man’s attempts to genetically modify that which God has placed among us and thus seek to create new kinds.  This work of modifying what God has designed oversteps our bounds of stewardship as we attempt in our sin-tainted wisdom to create what God could not, or at least by our actions we say God could not.

So over the next few months or so, as time provides, I will be writing on a number of areas from care for the land to sustainable agriculture and whatever area comes to mind, all from a biblical perspective.  Since God’s word is applicable and sufficient for ALL areas of life I believe God wants us to live as such.  This view of life needs to flesh itself out in more than what we deem as spiritual, since at the end of the day all of life has a spiritual aspect, but needs to be applied to the physical as well.

Other Posts in this Series:
God, Work and Redemption

Vision Forum Buy 2, Get 1 Free Sale Through Saturday Nov 26th

Check out Vision Forum’s latest sale that runs through Saturday November 26th.  You may want to get some of the resources I recommend here: Recommended Resources

Recommended Resources

Here are some great resources from Vision Forum.

You can get Rushdoony’s 3 volume set, The Institutes of Biblical Law for only $54.  While I have not read this entire set I have read parts of it and know others that have read more of it than I have and it is a great work.

With regards to an understanding of the law of God as it realtes to our lives today William Einwechter’s Walking in the Law of God is a must read.  I have read this and give it out as it concisely explains how we should view God’s law and our lives.

As far as seeing how law relates to life this is a great audio resource: The Best of the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy

If you would like to understand the topic of patriarchy from a biblical perspective Family Man, Family Leader  is a must have resource.  

If you would like a book that speaks on nutrition and health I highly recommend Health for Godly Generations.  My wife and daughter have read this, it is next on my list, and they thoroughly enjoyed and were edified by it.

I want to add that while I am a Vision Forum Affiliate and get a small percentage from the sales that go through the above links I recommend these books no matter where you buy them or what link you use. 

Recovering Biblical Patriarchy

What is it about the word “Patriarchy” that sets many people into a rage and others into a mode of finding a way around even speaking about the word?  Now of course there is the usual argument that some person or other has abused the idea of patriarchy but that is not a valid mode of argumentation and actually avoids the nature of the subject.  Are we to remove every doctrine that is abused or are we to seek what scripture has to say and then seek to correct the errors that may exist?  Also, there exists the thinking that patriarchy is some sort of vestige of a bygone era that we are to jettison since we have evolved out of that archaic way of thinking.  Many evangelicals talk this way even if they do not use the idea of evolution in their language as they still speak of patriarchy as some form of Old Testament bondage.

I do not think the avoidance and rejection of “Biblical Patriarchy” is to be separated from the biblical illiteracy that exists in the church today.  Nor are we to separate it from the misguided view of the Christian life that does not see a need to follow God’s commands and principles that are found in the “entire” canon of scripture.  Both of these mindsets lead to denying or misunderstanding biblical patriarchy.  I do want to stress “Biblical” when speaking of patriarchy since I readily agree that there are many that have taken the biblical concept of patriarchy and run in their own, unbiblical, direction.  However as mentioned before, even if there are those that abuse correct doctrinal principles that does not necessitate the eradication of that doctrine.

So is patriarchy biblical?  I am not going to even come close to dealing with this subject exhaustively.  I think Phillip Lancaster in his book Family Man, Family Leader does a great job of setting out what biblical patriarchy looks like.  Will there be those that espouse the views of this book that do so imperfectly, or maybe even fail at them, I am sure there are. But the measure of a book is not simply how it is lived out, as we are imperfect people, but how it aligns with scripture. If one simply takes the text of the book and looks at the scripture given and does due diligence in seeking out God’s word I think you will see that the principles put forth are clearly biblical.  What I want to do in the rest of the article is to briefly see how the concept of patriarchy is intrinsic to Christianity and thus patriarchy as seen in the family is simply a living picture of God’s working in His world.

First let me make it clear that I not only find scripture infallible, sadly a place many stop, but also hold to scripture being sufficient for every good work that God has set out for us (2 Tim 3:16-17).  Thus not only has God set out the basics of life but also His word directs all areas of life, in precept and/or principle.  Also, we are not to limit our search for God’s directions for life to the last third of scripture, the New Testament, as many are wont to do but are to take 2 Timothy 3:16 seriously and seek God’s direction for a God glorifying life in all of His word and that includes the Old Testament.

That said, we need to start with the relationship in the Godhead.  In the trinity we see a patriarchal relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit in that the Father sends the Son (John  6:44, 16:28 ) and the son the Spirit. (John 15:26)  We also see the Son do as the Father commands  (Luke 22:42; John 14:31).  So the relationship in the Godhead is a patriarchal one.

How about the relationship with Israel and the people of God seen in the Old Testament which foreshadows His relationship with us?  Throughout scripture God is seen as Father and thus His relationship with His people is patriarchal as one of a Father to His children.   Even the patriarchs, such as Abraham, Jacob and Joseph, are seen as the leaders of their families, which is not shown in scripture as a model to be done away with or to be modified.  We see in the Old Testament that the fathers were to lead as directed by God as fathers today are to lead as directed by the all sufficient word of God and as empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Yes, Christ is the head of the church as its bridegroom but God, as in the past, still works through fathers as a picture of Christ leading His church and thus we are to lead as God directs.  That is key since patriarchy is not about fathers leading families by their every whim.  But it is about fathers leading the families God has them over as directed by His Word and Spirit.

Lastly we see God has set men over the family in the context of marriage as clearly seen in Ephesians 5:22-31.  This is a passage much maligned and manipulated by those desiring to do away with patriarchy and male headship as set forth by God.  Also, this passage is often abused by those claiming to hold to patriarchy, I intentionally left out “biblical,” and is used to claim some sort of unbiblical leadership role.  The Ephesians 5 passage instead sets out that the relationship of the man to the women is one of head, as in leader, as Christ is the head of the church.  We have seen in our day not only the erosion of male headship and patriarchy but also, by practice, the dissolution of Christ as head of the church and I think this is a natural outcome.  When the doctrine of Christ and His relationship to the church is minimized or abandoned there are repercussions and the loss of a biblical understanding of patriarchy and family is one of those results.

This was by far not a thorough explanation of “Biblical Patriarchy” but I hope it showed a connection with the entirety of scripture and set some ground work for the recovery of biblical patriarchy.  We need to see that patriarchy is not simply a bygone practice of some other era but is how God has worked, and still works.  We need to not simply regain some outward form of male headship and fathers being leaders in the home but we need to recover a right view of patriarchy and see it being implemented in the home for God’s glory and the good of His people.

Law & LIberty Book Giveaway

Thanks to the Chalcedon booth at the latest NCFIC conference (Gospel-Centered Marriages for a Glorious Church ) I have three Law & Liberty books by R.J. Rushdoony to give away.  There will be one given away each month from now until January so if you do not get one this month check back the beginning of December and January. 

I will collect names until 5PM (PST) on Wednesday the 9th of November.  Here is how you can get multiple entries:  One entry can be gained by leaving comment to this blog post.  You can get additional entries by placing a link to the giveaway on your blog and leaving a link to the post on your blog in a comment here.  Another entry can be gained by sharing this post on Facebook or sharing the post that is already there.  Lastly, you can share this giveaway on Goolge+.  So, leave a comment here, on the Facebook or on the Goolge+ post letting me know the methods you have used to enter.

Love and Law

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”  ~  1 John 5:2 (KJV)

Have you ever read a verse over and over and then one day see it differently.  Well that was what happened to me in studying for a sermon on 1 John 5:1-5.  What I had not noticed before was that John does not make the connection of loving the children of God by what we do to the children of God, directly, but by how we love God and obey His commands.   If this does not strike you let me repeat; we show our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ by loving God and obeying His commandments.

What struck me was the connection between love and law, His commandments.  A connection that most believe is nonexistent since most see love and law being at odds with each other.  Ask the average professing believer what they think of the law as it relates to love and you will either get a blank stare or more than likely they will say that they are not connected.  But, John after speaking throughout his letter about the life of the believer, says that love for one another is shown by loving God and being obedient to God’s commandments, living out His law.  

Now most may not have an issue with the connection to loving God and if obeying God’s command is about His call to love one another they may also not see an issue.  However, the passage says “commandments” and thus this is not speaking to only one command of God but about His law, His commands.  How can this be so?  How can obeying God’s law reveal love for each other? 

As I thought through this it became clear that as we love God and obey His commands we do what not only glorifies God, our first duty, but we do what God sees as best for one another.  When we seek to show love for one another by our own standards we end up with all sorts of problems as we try by our own devises to show love.  We need to see that God has set out in His word how we show love for one another and that includes obeying His law.  Not just that part of God’s law we like but all of His law as reveled in His word.  God’s word is sufficient for all of life and that is why we are to obey His commands and when we do so we not only show our love for God but also for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

An example of this is when Paul speaks to the Corinthian church about the man that was having an affair with his father’s wife (1 Cor 5).  Paul tells them that in their efforts to seem accepting they did what not even the world would accept.  To deal with this Paul tells them they should discipline the man as God’s word speaks to dealing with sin and not overlooking it.  That they need to obey God’s word and commands and not come up with their own law.  This is all done not out of retribution but out of love for the man as the goal is reconciliation, to them and God.

We need to regain a view of the law that is not at odds with love and grace.  The opposite of law is lawlessness and that is what God’s law deals with and as believers we need to seek to obey the law and help our brothers and sisters in the Lord do so as well.  Is it not loving to be used by God to help His children stay on the path His law gives us to live on or to let them wander of God’s path.  God will do what is necessary for His children to live lives that glorify Him and we need to seek to help others avoid the discipline that will come from straying.

For more on obeying God’s law and seeing how that work’s itself out as love you can listen to the sermon that led me to look at this subject: Love and Law.  I know that for many this is new since for so long the evangelical world as set up a wall between Love and Law, Grace and Law, but that wall does not exist in scripture.  Yes, the law is not to be seen as a way to salvation but the law is used by God as a means to lead one to salvation and for the child of God His law is used as the path for life.  So let us regain a love for His law and see that this will reveal love, biblical love, for one another.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (10/13/11) – Political Edition

Here are two articles with regards to voting for Ron Paul. What is interesting and useful is both articles are from people that could be said come from basically the same side of the theological tracks: “Should Christians Vote for Ron Paul” by Stephen Halbrook & “Yes, Christians Should Vote for Ron Paul; or why Treebeard Is Not a Good Example for Christians” by Bojidar Marinov.


Some good articles by Bill Einwechter on government and politics: “Government and Jurisdiction” , “Evangelical Political Compromise”, “Government” and “ The Biblical Model for Civil Government.” There are a host of articles at his website, Darash Press, that I would highly recommend reading.


Chuck Baldwin writes on the “Black Regiment” or as some have called the “Black Robed Regiment” which refers to the clergy that spoke up during the countries war for independence: The Black Regiment Led the Fight in Our War for Independence.


Pastor Joe Morecraft III speaks on the issue of religion and politics: Godless Conservatism Has Failed; Time For Christians To Act Like Christians, Proclaim Christ’s Lordship Over Politics, Too

News Alert: You are a Slave!!

Some may see this title and think I am going to speak to the government and its enslavement of the people through a plethora of unjust, unconstitutional and most importantly unbiblical laws.  While that is a tempting subject with all that is going on around us that is not my intended direction.  While all of the above may be true I want us to see that we are all slaves, it is just a matter of who we are slaves of.

Yes, God’s word tells us we are either slaves of righteousness or sin (Rom 6:16-23).  Slaves of Christ or slaves of Satan.  Now, our sinful nature does not like to see ourselves as slaves but Paul does not mince words in letting us know there is no in between; we are to see ourselves as either slaves of one or the other.  Our slavery is not contingent on that which is around us as in our environment but that which has been changed, or not changed within us.  Of course we will see the outworking’s of this change, our inward disposition, and thus as the letters of 1 John and James make clear our actions and proclamations in life will reveal whose we are.  They will reveal who is our master.

In 1 Cor 7:22-23 we see Paul explain how as a child of God we are called to be a slave of Christ.  No matter how much our flesh seeks to be its own person, be autonomous, we as believers need to understand our true position with God is as a slave.  It is by grace we are called out of our slavery to sin into slavery to the law of God because it is only in the law of God we find true liberty.  What a joy it is to be called by God out of our sin to serve him and not the sin we previously so loved since to sin, let alone live in sin, is true slavery (John 8:34).

Now that we know we are slaves, at least I pray we see we are, we need to understand that the work of a slave is to obey his master.  One who is enslaved to sin by his very nature willingly follows the world and thus will be a slave of it.  The nature of one who is a slave to sin and not righteousness will be averse to the law of God, often adamantly so, and seek to do what they can to serve their master, sin.

Many decry the call to obey God’s commands as being legalistic and the antithesis of grace.  However, James 1:25 speaks of the law of liberty but sadly many that profess Christ and cry out for liberty see God’s law as curtailing liberty rather than enlarging it as God’s word reveals.  The issue that most miss when it comes to being obedient to God’s law is that to disobey God’s law is to lead one to be restrained, enslaved, by the consequences of the sin that ensues from staying from God’s perfect law.  Thus, only obedience to God’s law brings true liberty, biblical liberty.

We that are the called of God need to live as the slave we are called to be, obedient.  We need to seek to please the only master worth pleasing.  Not to gain anything but merely for the pleasure of worshipping the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We need to understand and grasp that God’s law is meant to bring true liberty.  Man is notorious for seeking to set up his own kingdoms and laws but they all end in tyranny and slavery apart from being founded and grounded in the law of God.  As obedient slaves of Christ we need to, no must, seek by His power to follow His word.  Not just those portions we like, not just the words in red and not just those commands of Jesus found in the last 1/3 of God’s book.  No we as slaves of the most high God need to seek to follow all of His word which takes effort, a lot of effort, but because our affections have been changed by the one we serve this effort is not burdensome and we as His adopted children will desire to serve our master.

Yes we are slaves and I for one am grateful I am a slave of Christ and have been called out of my slavery to sin and the world to serve Him.  Not by my merit but by His grace.  We are not called at the cross just to some place to spend eternity but to serve and obey our master in the here and now.  We are called to make His glory known in all the world and that can only be done by seeing the Masters word as all sufficient and being obedient to that very same word.

What a joy it is to be a slave of Christ.