Instant Gratification

Pandora Radio

Have you ever been in the mood for a specific kind of music, and nothing seems to fit the craving in your inner soul? Well, here's a resource that lets you listen to songs with styles that you dictate. Very customisable, and infinitely user friendly. I imagine site this is going to be my home page for a long time.

What an excellent idea! This is really cool, and best of all it's free.

From the Faq:
Q: What is Pandora?

Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe.

Q: How do you decide what to play?

We take your input (artists, songs) and feedback ("I like this", "I don't like this") and use the Music Genome Project to create stations that play songs that are musically similar to what you've told us. That's it; only the music counts. We don't care how popular the artist is, who's backing them, and we don't care which genre bin they usually belong in. Only the music matters.

Only the music matters. I hear anthems ringing in my head as I read that. What wonderful times we live in.

Proving the existence of God

People say that it's a circular argument that us "fundamentalist Bible believing" Christians use to talk about the existence of God: Why do I believe In God? The Bible says so. Why believe the Bible? Because it's the Word of God. What makes you so sure God wrote it? Because, ultimately, the Bible says so - that's a circular argument all right, but I don't think that a Christian needs to be ashamed or guarded about it.

Sure, the Bible can be historically verified is internally consistent. Sure scriptural prophecies have stood times test. But for someone does not believe, what good does all of that do? Because some of these discussions are so far back in time that no one of us was there - all we have is the Bible - God's word that it happened.

"Faith comes by hearing the word of God". Ultimately, discussions away from the Word of God will lead nowhere, and the danger is that the authority of Scripture is undermined, traded for the wisdom of man - much of which is helpful, but just not Divine Decree.

It's hard to comprehend from an outsiders perspective, how such an approach is inviting or even desirable for anyone who does not have the same presuppositions. But I believe we have no reason to apologise, or rationalise or be diffident about the claims of God on men. There is definitely a measure of gentleness and love and compassion and understanding and relevance - this piece is not about those issues - Francis Shaeffer has got good things to say about the right approach in "taking the roof off" someone's worldview. Ultimately the only word that will save is the Word of Power - and only God's Word, Scripture, the Bible, has power to save.

ESV, Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, [4] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Who speaks from a position of power? Is man justified in his questions about God? Let's get our perspectives right. God owes no man:

ESV, Romans 1:19-20
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Circular arguments are OK, in my book, when they are backed by the clear mandate of God's word. It's not God who has to explain himself or prove himself. It's man who stands judged, because what is plain to him, he has suppressed, and has left himself no excuse.

Holy Spirit Revival

We've been going through 1 John, and reached chapter 4, and the discussion about the experience of the Spirit from the end of Chapter 3 has sparked some thought.

John Piper on the Holy Spirit
This is why Paul can say in Acts 19:2 when he meets the confused disciples of John the Baptist, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" What would a contemporary Protestant evangelical say in response to that question? I think we would say something like, "I thought we automatically received the Holy Spirit when we believed. I don't understand how you can even ask the question." How could Paul ask that question? He could ask it, I think, because receiving the Holy Spirit is a real experience. There are marks of it in your life. And the best way to test the faith of these so-called disciples is to ask them about their experience of the Spirit. This is no different than what Paul said in Romans 8:14, "All who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God" (see 2 Cor. 13:5 and 1 John 3:24; 4:12-13). I sometimes fear that we have so redefined conversion in terms of human decisions and have so removed any necessity of the experience of God's Spirit, that many people think they are saved when in fact they only have Christian ideas in their head not spiritual power in their heart.

Something I'm trying to understand. Coming from a cessationist, non-charistmatic, non-sign gifts background, and now trying to understand these things in light of scripture, and interesting issue is raised about the experience of the Spirit. I don't know if I agree with Piper fully, but he does have some good things to say.
What's the connection between tongues and the Spirit? As soon as you start talking about an experience, people start to get uneasy and think oh no, this guy is going to start speaking in Tongues or something. No! Piper again:

So you see, the real issue the Charismatics raise for us is not the issue of tongues. In itself that is relatively unimportant. The really valuable contribution of the Charismatic renewal is their relentless emphasis on the truth that receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is a real, life-changing experience. Christianity is not merely an array of glorious ideas. It is not merely the performance of rituals and sacraments. It is the life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord of the universe.

Not dead faith, but vibrant passionate, even (hold on to your hats) emotional faith that is filled with the truth of God and expressive of the glory of God. Piper helps a little with defining the "experience" of the Spirit.

We could talk for hours about what that experience is. In fact, most of my messages are just that—descriptions of the experience of the Spirit of God in the life of the believer. But I'll mention two things from the book of Acts—things that mark the experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit or of receiving the gift of the Spirit. One is a heart of praise. In Acts 10:46 the disciples knew the Holy Spirit had fallen because "they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling (or magnifying) God." Speaking in tongues is one particular way of releasing the heart of praise. It may be present or may not. But one thing is sure: the heart in which the Holy Spirit has been poured out will stop magnifying self and start magnifying God. Heartfelt praise and worship is the mark of a real experience of the Holy Spirit.

The other mark I'll mention is obedience. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles say to the Sadducees who had arrested them, "We must obey God rather than men." Then in verse 32 he says, "We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gave to those who are obeying him." ("Gave" is past tense; "obey" is present ongoing tense.) It is inevitable that when the object of your heart's worship changes your obedience changes. When Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, and infuses you with a new sense of the glory of God, you have a new desire and a new power (1:8) to obey.