In the Presence of Mine Enemy...

I've had kind of a blogger's block the past week, in case anyone had noticed that there have been no posts here at the Den since last Sunday. Not much has really come to the forefront in my thinking that seemed blog-worthy. Even as I've continued reading through the Psalms, I've had a tough time identifying with so much of what David says to God there. There are so many references to David's enemies, those who are against him and pursuing him and speaking lies about him and the like. His repeated cries to the Lord to vindicate him and punish his enemies just don't seem to resonate with me. I mean, I don't have the likes of King Saul coming after me to kill me like David did. I don't have a rebellious son like Absalom trying to usurp my throne like David did. Heck, come to think of it, I really don't have any enemies at all. Or do I?

As I pondered this while mowing the lawn this afternoon (I do my best thinking while mowing), it occurred to me that I do in fact have an enemy. The same enemy that all who trust Jesus Christ for eternal life have. That enemy is, of course, Satan, the Evil One, the Accuser of the brethren. While he often seems much less tangible than the visible enemies like those who David referred to, he is no less real or formidable. He operates not in the realm of human relationships or authorities, but rather in the realm of the supernatural. He stands before the throne of the Most High God and attempts to bring a charge of sin against me, as he did twice against Job. He seeks to distract and deceive me, to keep me from the whole truth of the Word of God, to deter me from living a life that glorifies the Risen Christ. As Peter says, he prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking a victim to devour. While his time is limited and he knows this, he nonetheless continues to fight a guerrilla war against God's elect, and against God Himself.

So in considering all this, it seems that I really do have a reason to identify with the pleas of David regarding his enemies. And my real enemy is much more serious than any of those men who persecuted David. But at the same time, I do not fear my enemy, the Devil. For he has been defeated once and for all, at the Cross of Jesus Christ. Any accusation he may try to bring against me is covered by the blood of my Savior Jesus Christ. Christ Himself stands before the throne of God, interceding on my behalf as He already has done by His death in my place. He is now my Advocate, my Mediator, my sole defense against the schemes of the Devil. And He is the all-sufficient defense. He has provided the complete armor needed to respond to my enemy the Evil One, both defensively as well as offensively. Yes, I have a powerful adversary, but I have an infinitely powerful, gracious and merciful Savior who defends me against him.

Remember these truths, those of you who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Never underestimate our enemy the Devil. But never fail to trust the One who has defeated Satan, Death and Hell forever. He indeed does prepare us a banquet table in the presence of our enemy.

How to Waste Your Theological Education

Here's a list of 45 ways to waste your theological education, from Derek Brown. While this list is sort of a "Screwtape Letters" for seminary students, there are a lot of points here that strike close to home for any of us that study and teach and preach the Bible, theology, ministry and the church.

1. Cultivate pride by writing only to impress your professors instead of writing to better understand and more clearly communicate truth.
2. Perfect the fine art of corner-cutting by not really researching for a paper but instead writing your uneducated and unsubstantiated opinions and filling them in with strategically placed footnotes.
3. Mistake the amount of education you receive with the actual knowledge you obtain. Keep telling yourself, “I’ll really start learning this stuff when I do my Th.M or my Ph.D.”
4. Nurture an attitude of superiority, competition, and condesension toward fellow seminary students. Secrectly speak ill of them with friends and with your spouse.
5. Regularly question the wisdom and competency of your professors. Find ways to disrespect your professors by questioning them publicly in class and by trying to make them look foolish.
6. Neglect personal worship, Bible reading and prayer.
7. Don’t evangelize your neighbors.
8. Practice misquoting and misrepresenting positions and ideas you don’t agree with. Be lazy and don’t attempt to understand opposing views; instead, nurse your prejudices and exalt your opinions by superficial reading and listening.
9. Give your opinion as often as possible - especially in class. Ask questions that show off your knowledge instead of questions that demonstrate a genuine inquiry.
10. Speak of heretical movements, teachers, and doctrine with an air of disdain and levity.
11. Find better things to do than serve in your local church.
12. Fill your life with questionable movies, television, internet, and music.
13. Set aside fellowship and accountability with fellow brothers in Christ.
14. Let your study of divine things become dull, boring, lifeless, and mundane.
15. Chip away at your integrity by signing your school’s covenant and then breaking it under the delusion that, “Those rules are legalistic anyway.”
16. Don’t read to learn; read only to refute what you believe is wrong.
17. Convince yourself that you already know all this stuff.
18. Just study. Don’t exercise, spend time with your family, or work.
19. Save major papers for the last possible moment so that you can ensure that you don’t really learn anything by writing them.
20. Don’t waste your time forming friendships with your professors and those older and wiser than you.
21. Make the mistake of thinking that your education guarantees your success in ministry.
22. Don’t study devotionally. You’ll never make it as a big time scholar if you do that. Scholars need to be cool, detached, and unbiased - certainly not Jesus freaks.
23. Day dream about future opportunities to the point that you get nothing out of your current opportunity to learn God’s Word.
24. Do other things while in class instead of listening - like homework, scheduling, letter-writing, and email.
25. Spend more time blogging than studying.
26. Avoid chapel and other opportunities for corporate worship.
27. Argue angrily with those who don’t see things your way. Whatever you do, don’t read and meditate on II Timothy 2:24-26 and James 3:13-18 as you prepare for ministry.
28. Set your hopes on an easy, cushy pastorate for when you graduate. Determine now not to obey God when he calls you to serve in a difficult church.
29. Look forward to the day when you won’t have to concern yourself with all this theology and when you will be able to just “preach Jesus.”
30. Forget that your primary responsibility is care for your family through provision, shepherding, and leadership.
31. Master Calvin, Owen, and Edwards, but not the Law, Prophets, and Apostles.
32. Gain knowledge in order to merely teach others. Don’t expend the effort it takes to deal with your own heart.
33. Pick apart your pastor’s sermons every week. Only point out his mistakes and his poor theological reasoning so you don’t have to be convicted by anything he says.
34. Protect yourself from real fellowship by only talking about theology and never about your personal spiritual issues, sin, and struggles.
35. Comfort yourself with the delusion that you will start seriously dealing with sin as soon as you become a pastor; right now it’s not really that big a deal.
36. Don’t serve the poor, visit the sick, or care for widows and orphans - save that stuff for the uneducated, non-seminary trained, lay Christians.
37. Keep telling yourself that you want to preach, but don’t ever seek opportunities to preach, especially at local rescue missions and nursing homes. Wait until your church candidacy to preach your first sermon.
38. Let envy keep you from profiting from sermons preached by fellow students.
39. Resent behind-the-scenes, unrecognized service. Only serve in areas where you are sure you will receive praise and accolades.
40. Appear spiritual and knowledgeable at all costs. Don’t let others see your imperfections and ignorance, even if it means you have to lie.
41. Love books and theology and ministry more than the Lord Jesus Christ.
42. Let your passion for the gospel be replaced by passion for complex doctrinal speculation.
43. Become angry, resentful and devastated when you receive something less than an A.
44. Let your excitement for ministry increase or decrease in direct proportion to the accolades or criticisms you receive from your professors.
45. Don’t really try to learn the languages - let Bible Works do all the work for you.