The Doctrine of Repentance

Thomas Watson wrote a bunch of good stuff. Really he did. At Katie's prodding, I started looking for a book for us to devour. Nolan, my bro-in-law, was reading The Doctrine of Repentance and Facebooked about it. I took the bait when I considered how difficult it is to weigh true repentance in my life.

I just feel like so many modern authors just aren't as thought provoking as some of these old dead guys. I love that I have to harass my dictionary app while reading most pages. You know... I'm pretty sure his education would have been double of any given modern doctorate degree. Something else: he didn't have TV. Which, through my many hours of observation, has convinced me it is the devil's box. 

On to Repentance

My goal in writing this blog is to re-communicate some of the things I'm learning through this book. And secondly: because I mainly learn from regurgitating information.

Observations

I think it is important to note that there is nothing in the Christian life that is an equation. I could conceivably follow every step Watson lays out and never repent. Or I could feel terribly about my sin and again never repent. But, nevertheless, Watson gives an excellent starting point for the deep, soul saving half-act of repentance. The other half is faith in Christ, Amen!

This is probably oversimplified, but I'm thinking repentance is aligning our spiritual vision to view our actions as Jesus views them. Then calling them what they are: sin. Leaving these sin then for the hand of Jesus. Trading dust for living water. 

"The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out." (Proverbs 20:5) I'm still learning what this means, but I think it can be said of one who is trying to truly repent.

Chapter 1

12: I love that he isn't going to dive into the "What came first?" argument, and in a short sweet paragraph says what many have said in verbose books. Of course, Watson probably has read all those books. On page 14, he kind of restates this in his two points on how repentance is wrought. 

13: "Repentance is a pure gospel grace... The law required personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience." 

Chapter 2

16: 

    It is a great matter to leave a sin. Then Watson says many people would leave a child before some sins. I thought, "No way! I would give anything for AK and Spero!" Then I thought to the times I have failed to perpetual struggles throughout the years. I can see his point. Another thought: How many people in the world have left families and loved ones to chase after romance (lust), money, power, etc. Yeah, we people choose sin first. This is more evidence that page 12 is correct. 

"An old sin may be left to entertain a new..." Yeap, this is why many a smoker quits and gains 50 lbs. (I wonder why I have and extra 50 lbs. then!?) 

Seriously though, the path is wider on the edge of hell than at the start of life. 

17: "True leaving of sin is when the acts of sin cease from the infusion of a principle of grace, as the air ceases to be dark from the infusion of light."

Chapter 3 

"Sin must first be seen before it can be wept for." Jesus said it this way, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Lord Christ, will you give us holy sight to see our sin like you see it?

19:

    "A woman may as well expect to have a child without pangs as one can have repentance without sorrow." Katie went naturally with Spero. No Tylenol,  no epidural, no morphine. Just pressure, pain, and a little screaming. "IT HURTS!" is specifically what she demanded everyone know while Spero was crowning. 

Repentance will have sorrow like Katie had Spero.

22: 

    Fiducial. I like that word. Say it out loud. It means: having the nature of trust. Godly sorrow that leads to repentance has the nature of trust. Sorrow is sorrow, not repentance. Repentance is a mixture of part sorrow, some other good stuff, and part trust in Christ. 

    Ok, so this is a stretch and a little random, but follow me here. Trust is being sure what you hope in is going to be there, is unchanging, and is powerful enough to be trusted. Therefore you, dear reader, cannot have true trust in something that is not committed, right? You cannot have trust in something that is not powerful, right? This is my point: Marriage has been given these qualities: Commitment and Love based on the truth of the Gospel (Power). And should be a safe place for godly sorrow, then confession, and then repentance to take place without the fear of rejection. Matthew 18 is the standard I'm thinking of here. 

That's enough for now! Much love to my singular, soul, at home with the kids while I'm at work typing this, blog follower: Katie.

-David

Public Education

The Demise of Public Education

Recently, I have been reading a ton of articles on public education I gathered up for some research. Honestly, I was discouraged. This slug of a public education system we have is struggling to keep its head above water. While the blame for the failure is placed on the teachers, the real problem is the foundational beliefs driving public education. I am a teacher; I have 3 certifications and I'm working on my Master's degree, but public education may not be the best work in the future. I think it may end up like the US Postal Service, which is slowly grinding to a halt as people figure out how to go purely electronic. Its demise may have began not too long ago.

These things are related because there is a plethora of education materials out there for students of all ages. Just check out wolframalpha.com some time. While you're at it, look at owl.perdue.edu. These are just a couple of sites dedicated to knowledge. Public education mainly follows the Greek philosophy of learning. Simply put this is the idea of an expert imparting knowledge to non-experts. Basically the transition of knowledge is the essence of education. In the schools it is the teachers transmitting knowledge of a subject to a student. This seems like a great idea if the information wasn't already floating around cyber-space ripe for the picking. So my thought is this: we really don't have a need for teachers, just a basic understanding of how to get information (and motivation to do so) and the process is complete. I guess I'm saying my job is useless... You can find what I know by looking for 10 minutes on google! I hope the system doesn't figure this out soon!

The failure of the public education system has been in the spot light for a while now. I know this is an unprovable thought but I think it is because of what God teaches in the Bible. I get this from my recent reading in Proverbs. Chapter 1 says this, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7 ESV). Logically, then it is true to say Fear of God= beginning of knowledge. Then the inverse is true No Fear of God= No beginning of knowledge. Obviously, there is no fear of God in public education, so there is no knowledge, right? Well, there is knowledge at school, but knowledge my point is that it has no real value if it doesn't deal with the fear of Him. I suppose all knowledge is from God, but He is the source of true and valuable (as He defines value) knowledge.

"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—" (1 Corinthians 1:4-5 ESV). I think this teaches in grace through Christ our knowledge is enriched to true knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is the only truly valuable knowledge because it leads to the salvation of one's soul.

For some further reading on some of the problems with Public Education:

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/03/004-reforming-education-a-whole-new-world-20

This is just scratching the surface of the gigantic problem of education. I would love to hear some of your thoughts (reader) about it.