"I Saw Jesus in You" by Ron Hamilton - Mr. P. Sings Stuff - Ep. 06

Father's Day is upon us and I am once again reminded of the burden a Father has to lead and set an example for His family. This is no simple task, nor is it one to be taken lightly. Yet, there are numerous families that have no Father figure to lead by example or play a significant role in the lives of their children. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have our Father's present may or may not have always had the best relationship with them, but we definitely learned from them one way or the other even if that lesson was simply how not to be a good father.

Fortunately, in me and my brother's case, our Father was definitely present, active, and did his best to guide and direct us in life even if we didn't always agree with his opinion or how he handled it. Incidentally, even he doesn't agree with how he handled certain things so I'm glad we're all on the same page on that one, finally. However, even with the disagreements and butting of heads, neither one of us ever doubted his sincerity to do what he believed was the right thing to do. As a father myself, I have a much better understanding of what this is like, and I also fully realize that about 99% you second-guess yourself after doing just about anything when it comes to discipline. Was I too rash? Did I go overboard with the punishment? Did I really listen to my kid and did I have all the facts? Did my child really understand what he did wrong? Are my expectations too high for the ages of my kids? Am I expecting a level of understanding the kids just don't have at that age? On and on the list of questions goes. Yet, no matter how many times we may question ourselves, we should always examine ourselves to make sure it was done for the right reasons based on what we knew at the time. For a Christian father, the burden becomes even greater because we have to constantly assess whether or not what we have done has properly emulated the example of Christ. Even if we did everything right, if we didn't do it with a demonstration of the love of Christ, then it was meaningless. As Paul wrote to Corinth:

If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NASB2020)

This passage is certainly true for all believers, but as a father, I feel this hit a bit more close to home since it has a direct impact on how my kids learn to behave. Have I been setting a good example for my own son? Does my son understand what it means to model Godly behavior as a man. Now, to be frank, I'm not convinced my son is even a Christian yet. Sure, he's been raised in a Christian milieu, but that's not the same thing as having embraced it on your own and having your own personal relationship with Christ. As someone once said, "a cat can give birth to kittens in an oven, that don't make 'em biscuits." So really, the question I have to ask myself is, is my behavior demonstrating anything to my son that would make him ever want to be saved?

Did I mention there is a lot of pressure on fathers? Huh. I probably should have mentioned it at some point. I'm sure if it becomes necessary I'll bring it up.

Now, the good thing is that, as Christians, we don't have to wonder what a proper relationship looks like. The life of Christ is a perfect example of reliance and dependence and obedience to the Father. If we wish to know how to set the example for our children, the objective is pretty clear:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB2020)

This is obviously much more difficult in practice than on paper. I constantly fail in this area and am well aware of the numerous shortcomings I have. Yet, the goal should always be to fulfill this command. We see the same thing again in Hebrews 12:

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB2020)

What was the consequence of Christ living such a perfect life in obedience to the Father? Well, Philippians 2 tells us very clearly:

For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NASB2020)

This sort of glory is unique to Christ as a member of the Trinity. Even if we live the rest of our lives in perfect obedience, we will never be exalted in this way. What then do we have to look forward to if we submit ourselves to Christ and His Lordship? Matthew 25:14-29 provides the parable of the talents (a weight of currency equivalent to roughly 6000 days or almost 16.5 years worth of wages). A master had three slaves that he entrusted with a vast amount of wealth. When he returned, only two of the slaves had done something with the money and given their master a return on his investment. The other did not. I'll let you read the passage for yourself, but it doesn't end well for the third slave. However, the other two are told the same thing because of their faithfulness.

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21 & 23 NASB2020)

Their obedience resulted in joy and blessings. As Christians, we understand this to be a reference to entering into eternity and experiencing the joy and blessings of not only being in the presence of God for eternity but the unbroken and perfect fellowship we will have with all believers throughout history. As daunting as living the Christian life can be, and as almost overwhelming as it may feel to have to model that to children as a Father, we know that if we are faithful, we will be rewarded by our Father in Heaven when the time comes.

As much as we long for the time when someone, especially our children, come to us and tell us that they saw Christ in us and that was what led them to faith, how much more should we long to have our Heavenly Father tell us that not only were we good and faithful, but that the evidence of that faithfulness was because even He saw Christ evident in our lives?

Anyway, happy Father's day to all of you who are, you know, fathers, and especially to my own father who I know always did his best for me and my brother to see Christ in him just as my grandfather did before. You have carried on a great legacy within our family, and I can only hope that I set the same sort of example for my kids as well. Happy Father's Day dad and thank you for doing your best for us to see Jesus in you.

A Higher View of Discipleship: A Study in 2 Peter 1:12-15 - Mr. P Talks Theology - Ep. 06

I had the privilege to teach this morning at church using 2 Peter 1:12-15 as the foundation for the lesson. Following his introduction and opening remarks, Peter expresses his desire for his audience to be well versed in what he has just said so that even after he dies they will remember what has been said. He even states that he knows his audience already knows these things and is established in the faith, yet he persists in repeating these things. It is necessary for their training and discipleship.

Often, we think of discipleship as being individualistic. Is it though? The church is responsible for training and discipling its members, but aren't all Christians members of the universal church, the Bride of Christ? Also, the great commission wasn't only for the apostles? We must not only be concerned with our own spiritual development, but this also means we need to develop to the point where we can teach others and train them to be as independent in the faith as possible. This means that the Christian should not need to be dependent on others to tell them what scripture means. This isn't to say that gaining wisdom and insight from those wiser than us is unnecessary. It absolutely is. Christianity isn't to operate in a vacuum. However, we should not feel woefully inept when reading and understanding scripture on our own.

So, if we are not at a point where we can reliably understand scripture on our own, there is no way we could ever hope to teach someone else and help to disciple them. The faith is not inherited through blood. It must be taught. Discipleship includes concern for the spiritual growth of others, not just ourselves.

Final Fantasy 3 Pixel Remaster Completed! - Mr. P Reviews Stuff - Ep. 05

 

It's interesting to experience the evolution and development of a game series from the beginning all over again. It's been a good number of years since I've played through the original Final Fantasy games on NES, though to be fair only the first one ever came out state-side. The others were played via...other means that will not be mentioned here. However, since then, there have been several ports of the original Famicom titles and I've finally gotten through Final Fantasy III (the real one, not the mislabeled one in the USA that was actually FFVI).

Final Fantasy III introduced us to the beloved job system which has been present in quite a number of titles since then in some way or another. Of course, this iteration of it is really the job system in its infancy but it opened up a great deal of customization for players who wanted variety to what their characters were capable of.

Well, variety to a degree. Not every job is equal to one another. In fact, some jobs are more equal than others. Some jobs are really only good for one or two fights and then they get thrown back into the list of jobs to never use again.

If you're like me, that ends up being most of them because Monk/Master is still super overpowered, outclassed only (in my opinion) by a maxed out, fully equipped Onion Knight. I do think ninja can outdo it with the throw command and the use of shurikens (and its ability to equip anything and everything). But still, it's not a bad job and will carry you through most of the game bar a few gimmick dungeons and bosses. Even then the bosses can still be wiped out without much trouble.

Now, it took a bit longer than usual to complete this one because I went overboard into the game, maxing out character levels and job levels.

Please do not ever do this and learn from my mistake.

Anyway, the game is decent but still leaves something to be desired, but it's still a good showcase for some early concepts that would be used to greater success in later games.

Introduction to Christology and Soteriology - Mr. P Talks Theology - Ep. 05

 

After much procrastination, I've finally gotten around to recording part three of our Christian doctrines series. Up until now we've had a brief overview of theology (the study of God), anthropology (the study of man), hamartiology (the study of sin), and now we get into the study of Christ (Christology) and the study of salvation (soteriology). That's a lot of big words you should know by now, but if not that's alright. Unlike when I was a teacher in school, I can't deduct points from you or fail you not memorizing key terms and definitions.

But shame on you anyway. Slacker.

Anyway, we began with theology proper because in order to have a proper understanding of other biblical doctrines, we have to begin with proper understanding of who God is. We begin with God and work down toward man, not the other way around. If we begin with man and try to come up with who or what we think God is, we often end up with a very distorted view of God because we want to mold Him to our standards and not ourselves to His. His standards define what sin is and it is He that created us to live a certain way. When we fail to live up to that standard, we sin. At first, mankind sinned in ignorance, but when the Law was revealed in it's entirety, sin became even more abundant because man's knowledge of what he was doing increased exponentially (Romans 7:7-13). As long as a person remains reprobate, their sin is ever-present before God. This is one of the reasons that sin is punished eternally. Not only that, but even in Hell, it's not like man is going to stop sinning. If God restrains man's evil in the world now and man continues to rebel, how much worse will it be when that restraint is fully removed? Even in Hell mankind will continue to sin, incurring even further judgement.

So, given the bleak outlook for humanity, what hope is there of avoiding eternal damnation and judgement from God? If, as I've explained in the previous videos, that God's standard is perfect obedience but sin prevents us from doing that in any way shape or form, what possible remedy could there be? This of course is where the doctrines of Christology and soteriology come into play. Christ, as the second person of the Trinity (something explained in more detail in the video) took on human form, submitted Himself to death, and lived a sinless life in total dependence on the Father for all that He needed. Though I cite it in the video, allow me to cite it here as well:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow , of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 NASB2020)

Christ did not become human at the loss of His divine nature. He added a human nature onto His own and became the God-man for us. Furthermore, He did not lose any of His divine attributes or abilities. However, He did lay aside the voluntary use of them so that He could experience life as a man and live in complete submission to the Father as a way to demonstrate to us what that looks like. Even with His example we fail all the time. Fortunately, His righteousness is credited to us (Romans 4:5-8). Instead of having an infinite debt of sin, Christ's atonement not only forgives the debt we had incurred, but it also provides an infinite credit on our account that can never be wiped away. This isn't just a statement that we can do nothing to erase that credit, but it even goes further than that. It cannot be wiped away because God will not wipe it off of our account. There is a perfect union between all three members of the Trinity to save God's elect and that none will ever be lost (John 6:36-40, 44). It is impossible for us to be separated from the righteousness and love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39) because it would be a violation of God's will and character to do so. Now, this doesn't mean we are instantly perfect. Far from it. We simply have Christ's righteousness covering us so that we can be pleasing to God. Martin Luther provides the analogy of a snow-covered dunghill. Think of a stretch of farmland where animals have been pooping all season and the farmer collects the dung into a pile to use for fertilizer. Not quite the rosiest thing to come across. However, when the first heavy snowfall hits (for those like me who live in the South, this is one of those phenomena you may have to do a google search on or watch on YouTube...but not before you watch my video, of course) it covers everything in a perfect blanket of white, hiding all that is unpleasant. This is precisely what Christ's righteousness does. It covers our sin. We're still a giant pile of crap underneath all of that, but at least God doesn't look at that any more. Now, throughout our lives God works to change us from a steaming turd into gold, but that's a process that takes a long time and will never fully be completed in this life. Only when we die and are raised to eternal life are we glorified and fully freed from the power and presence of sin (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). Until then, we will continue to struggle with sin just as Paul describes in the latter half of Romans 7, but we are still God's adopted children and heirs to eternity with Christ.

Now, even with that we have to be careful. We must always be willing to examine ourselves to make sure that we truly are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Perhaps one of the best ways to do this is by examining the end of Galatians 5 which outlines the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). If however we discover that there is no fruit, then that is a major red flag that we do not abide in Christ and are not truly joined to Him (John 15:1-6). There should always be evidence of salvation. If there is none, then our faith is dead (James 2:14-26). While it is true that we are saved through faith alone (Sola Fide) by grace alone (Sola Gratia), that does not mean that we can live however we wish without consequence. If there is no fruit, there is no life.

"Wings as Eagles" by Ron Hamilton - Mr. P. Sings Stuff - Ep. 05

 

If I hadn't made it clear by now, I've been heavily influenced by Ron Hamilton over the years as far as musical tastes are concerned. I've been slowly introducing his music to my church over the years and it's time for me to do so yet again. Well, not really "again" in this case since I've performed the song once before. If my records are correct, I purchased the backing tracks for this particular album back in March of 2021, so it's been close to two years since I first started. I've only been able to do a few of them given the special music rotation and I haven't done that many specials since purchasing this selection of tracks as well as another album. Anyway, I digress. This is probably another of the most famous of Ron's works among those who are familiar with his ministry. This and "Rejoice in the Lord" also feature in the same audio drama, "The Misterslippi River Race".

The song itself is based off of two key passages. The name of the song comes directly from Isaiah 40:

Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:30-31 NASB2020)

Those who are true followers of God, those in whom He has placed His spirit, are frequently subjected to numerous trials in life, many times at our own doing. Often we bring trouble on ourselves because of our propensity to sin and do the opposite of what God directs us to do through His word (James 1:13-15). However, there are those times when God puts us through trials and testing, not to punish us but to purify us and to strengthen our faith by forcing us to realize that there is a reason we need to rely on Him in the first place. Again, this is something James writes about in his epistle, directly before the above referenced passage:

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NASB2020)

Incidentally, Paul says something very similar in his letter to Rome:

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 NASB2020)

So, the idea is that there are things that we go through in life that cause us to become worn out. We want to throw in the towel and give up. However, it is when we throw ourselves onto the goodness of God and rely on Him, that He enables us to persevere with a strength that does not come from ourselves. Not by coincidence does this perfectly dovetail into the second passage upon which this song is based:

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB2020)

What else did Christ do but live the human life for us by relying solely on the Father? Christ said as much in the book of John:

I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30 NASB2020)

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. (John 8:28-29 NASB2020)

Christ's doing nothing on His own was not because He lacked the ability to do anything in and of Himself. He was, in fact, the God-man, God incarnate. Christ lost none of His divinity when He inhabited human flesh. Instead, He laid aside the voluntary use of His divine attributes, submitting Himself entirely to the will of the Father. This is what Paul spoke of in Philippians 2 when he wrote to Philippi and discussed Christ's voluntary humiliation (Philippians 2:5-11). So, if we ever feel run down or burnt out when it comes to following in obedience or that the costs aren't worth the rewards, we mustn't forget the words of Isaiah or the apostles, and certainly not the example of Christ our Lord. He modeled the behavior for us so if we ever need to know how to handle a situation, we need look nowhere else but to His perfect example for us. In doing so, we find that the only option is to rely on God who will give us the strength to persevere, lifting us up on wings as eagles.

Final Fantasy 2 Pixel Remaster Completed! - Mr. P Reviews Stuff - Ep. 04

 

As promised I finished playing through the Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster on PS5 and it was everything I forgot it was!

Don't think too hard about that one.

Anyway, there was a lot that changed between the first and second game, the battle system being the most obvious. A lot of people didn't care for it and the series never used it again except in the Final Fantasy Legend series on gameboy which was really the first entries in the SaGa series. Still, it's even more easy to abuse this time around especially with boosts. The encounter rate is still horrid and the dungeon design is mostly trash what with all the pointless empty rooms, but Jareth the Goblin King the Emperor makes for a decent enough villain and the soundtrack has some bangers. A lot of what is in this game can easily be seen to be reused in Final Fantasy IV to some extent, but that's really what the first three games did, they set the stage for the greatness of the next three.

Introduction to the Natures of Sin and Man - Mr. P Talks Theology - Ep. 04

 

About two weeks ago I posted a video discussion regarding a Reddit post that was all sorts of garbage and was a deliberate attack on the Christian faith. I began the discussion by not only reading from the thread but also by beginning a discussion of several key Christian doctrines starting with the nature of God. There, we got into a brief overview of who God is and some of His attributes, including His righteousness and justice against sin.

This week, we're covering the doctrines of sin (harmartiology) and man (anthropology). These two doctrines flow nicely from the biblical view of God since it helps us to understand what sin is and then the consequences sin has had on humanity. How does it affect us? Exactly how extensive is the problem? Is there anything we can do? As before, this is not an exhaustive study, but serves to introduce or remediate on core aspects of the Christian faith, all with the ultimate purpose of providing a thorough and meaningful response to the post on Reddit that will address the underlying presuppositions and show how it does not even begin to address a biblical view of sin, salvation, and even eternity.