The End is Near

Theology for Breakfast will be wrapping up soon as we take summers off. Here is the planned schedule for the final weeks of reading Confessing the Faith:

4.25 - chapter 27
5.2 - chapter 28
5.9 - chapter 29
5.16 - chapter 30
5.23 - chapter 31

9.12 Theology for Breakfast Resumes. Text will be The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson.

The Law of God

As we prepare to discuss the Law of God, an insightful statement by a favorite Baptist is in order:

"The Doctrine of the Divine Covenant lies at the root of all true theology. It has been said that he who well understands the distinction between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace is a master of divinity. I am persuaded that most of the mistakes which men make concerning the Doctrines of Scripture are based upon fundamental errors with regard to the Covenants of Law and of Grace" C.H. Spurgeon. 

Please read chapter 19 of Confessing the Faith for Tuesday, February 28 in preparation for some excellent discussion.

* If you are wondering about what we are reading on later dates, we cover a chapter a week.

A Snowless Snow Day

There will be NO Theology for Breakfast on Tuesday, January 17th as public schools have canceled. Its a snow day with no snow. Be safe on the icy roads and plan to meet on the 24th. We will cover ch.14 of Confessing the Faith on January 24th.

Back in the Saddle

The new year is here so we are back at it. Our text is Confessing the Faith by Chad Van Dixhoorn and we are discussing one chapter each Tuesday morning at 6:30 AM.

Jan 17 -- Ch 14
Jan 24 -- Ch 15
Jan 31 -- Ch 16
Feb 7 -- Ch 17

You get the idea. One chapter per week.

*Theology for Breakfast is a men's ministry of Omaha Bible Church. Visitors are welcome.

Holiday "Hours"

Theology for Breakfast will be meeting throughout the winter with two scheduled exceptions. There will be no meeting on December 27th or January 3rd. If you or someone you know shows up on one of these two days, loneliness will ensue. Here is the reading schedule for the next few weeks: Dec 13 (chapter 11 Justification), Dec 20 (chapter 12 Adoption), January 10 (Sanctification). Enjoy!

Effectual Calling

“The general call of the gospel is like the common ‘cluck’ of the hen which she is always giving when her chickens are around her. But if there is any danger impending, then she gives a very peculiar call, quite different from the ordinary one, and the little chicks come running as fast as they can, and hide for safety under her wings. That is the call we want, God’s peculiar and effectual call to his own" C.H. Spurgeon.

The reading for December 6th is chapter 10 on Effectual Calling.

Universal Spiritual Anarchy

Human rebellion against the almighty Sovereign is hopeless and apart from gracious intervention we are helpless. Thanks be to God that a mediator is provided in Christ Jesus. The mediating work of Jesus will be discussed on Tuesday, November 22. Please read the first half of chapter 8 (and more if you're ambitious) so we can have some meaningful interaction.

Covenant of Works Part 2

Because we didn't get done and because it is my favorite subject (true reason!), we will continue talking about the covenant of works (ch.7) on Tuesday, November 15th.

"Seduced...by Satan"

Chapter 6 of Confessing the Faith is up next for Nov.1. It'll be wonderful and terrible all at the same time. What a great men's ministry!

He Loves Me. He Loves Me Not.

Nothing against daisies, but whatsoever comes to pass is not hanging in the balance. The topic for Tuesday, Oct. 11 will be God's Eternal Decree. Read chapter 3 to be ready for our discussion. Best of LUCK to you!

Chapter 2

The triune God is the topic for Oct. 4 so we will be discussing chapter 2. The video link contains the excellent lecture on apologetics that we discussed 9.27.16. It is worth your attention. NEED TO SKIP AHEAD ABOUT 12 MINUTES. 

Chapter 1

Tuesday Sept 27 will have us discussing chapter 1 of Confessing the Faith by Dixhoorn. Come ready and willing to discuss. 

Christianity Didn't Start Last Tuesday

Read the introduction to Confessing the Faith by VanDixhoorn for Tuesday, Sept. 20th. Be sure to find at least one interesting fact about the history of the Westminster Confession that is worth noting. So starts another great year of Theology for Breakfast!

Old and NOT Improved

I like new and shiny when it comes to things like cars and bikes. But when it comes to theology, give me well-worn every time. Therefore this year Theology for Breakfast will be delving into cutting edge seventeenth century stuff. We will be looking at the tried and true old paths of confessional Christianity with the help of Chad Van Dixhoorn (an able 21st century guide). The start date is Tuesday, September 13th. We will be meeting in the OBC library at 6:30 AM. No reading required for the first day, but be sure to secure your copy of Confessing the Faith by Chad Van Dixhoorn (available at OBC and online). 

Summer Break

We are now officially on summer break. Enjoy the summer!

Future Justification

No, we will not be talking about the theology of "future justification" on Tuesday, May 17. But we will be talking about justification and as I type this a week ahead of time, it is in the future. Please find the reading in the OBC bookstore and don't be fooled by the similar appearance between last week's reading and this week's. The article is a great one.

Justification Reader

Since justification is vital to the gospel, it's attackers don't seem to rest. This means we need to be aware of the issues and vigilant. May 10 and May 17 will focus on some helpful miscellaneous articles on the justifying work of Jesus. Copies are available in the OBC bookstore.

The Canons of Dordt

The assignment for Tuesday, April 26th is to read the first two "Heads" of the Canons of Dordt as well as the objections. The full document can be found here. Feel free to read a little more about the history of the Synod of Dordrecht as we will discuss that also. We will also consider the importance of the event and its conclusions. See you Tuesday!

Temple Rewind?

A thorny issue in Christian theology is the matter of the temple. Is it God's intent to have the Jewish temple rebuilt and the sacrificial system restored? Some say "yes" and others "no." We will be discussing this issue on Tuesday, April 19th. Pick up the article in the bookstore, give it a read, and come ready for some good discussion.

Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions

Old School Princeton's Samuel Miller argues for the importance of creeds and confessions. Is his argument for sound doctrine sound? We will be discussing this and other matters relating to his work "The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions" on April 5th and 12th. Please read the first half for the 5th and the second for the 12th. Hard copies are available at the OBC bookstore or you can find it online.

Potpourri

Tuesday, March 29 will be a fragrant assortment of various topics with no reading prerequisite. Just show up and engage. 

Law, Legalism, and Turretin

We will be discussing Francis Turretin's treatment on the law on March 22nd. A copy of the reading is available in the OBC bookstore. Insert something creative and preferably pithy here. :).

Friend or Foe?

The assignment for 3.15.16 is to answer the following questions in one sentence or less and in five minutes or less of research: 1) What is a covenant? 2) What is Covenant Theology? 3) When did Covenant Theology start? The important qualifier is that the answers are not to be yours, but the answers of others you came across during your five minutes of research. In other words, we are looking for what is commonly believed rather than what is necessarily true. Plan to share your answers and cite the source for each. 

Reading for March 8th

Solo Scriptura: The Difference a Vowel Makes by Keith Mathison is the reading for March 8th. It can be found here. Enjoy the thought provoking read.

No Glory February 2

There will be no theology for breakfast meeting on Tuesday, February 2nd due to the predicted blizzard and corresponding school cancelations. God, however, will nevertheless be glorified even if we are not discussing his glory together!

Lord willing, we will resume meeting Tuesday, February 9th. Discussion will be of chapter 5.

Dieting in December

We will not be meeting on the week of Christmas and New years (12.22 and 12.29), but we will be meeting on the first three weeks in December. The topic will be the Covenant of Works. If you need a copy of the reading, you can find a copy in my church mailbox. The reading is a draft and not for distribution outside of Theology for Breakfast.

Starting January 5th, we will begin discussing the soon to be released book God's Glory Alone by David VanDrunen. The release date for the book is December 1. You won't want to miss out on this one!

Crossing Dangerous Waters

Our next discussion of Luther will be regarding the sacraments. Since we are not Lutheran, there will be some big differences. Lessons to learn regardless. Chapter 6 to be discussed on Tuesday, November 3rd. God told me to tell you to read it...okay, I just made that up.

Church Should be Boring

What do you think will happen at church this Sunday? If you are less than sure, is it a good thing or not? Learn more from Luther's profound focus on the basics. Chapter 4 of Trueman on Luther will be discussed on Tuesday, October 20th. 

Preaching Christ

While the Word is more powerful than a thousand pictures, this picture of Luther preaching Christ illustrates his priority in preaching.

We will learn about Luther and the preached Word (chapter 3) on Tuesday, October 13th. 

The Only Latin You Need to Know

Read chapter two of the Luther biography for Tuesday, October 6th and plan to discuss the outlandishly wonderful reality of Simul Justus et Peccator.

Pope in America

Today we learned that we can admire people for some things and not others while avoiding attempts to reshape them into the evangelicals that they are not. Here's a timely case in point  (or not). I really like the Pope for his taste in bicycles while at the same time I adamantly disagree with his title of ultimate mediator (Pontifex Maximus). Please read chapter 1 of Trueman on Luther for Tuesday, September 29th. 

A Diet of Worms with Luther

We're back! And Martin Luther is going to inspire, entertain, and on occasion offend us. All before 7:30 in the morning! What more could one expect from Theology for Breakfast? The book is Carl Trueman's Luther on the Christian Life (a Presbyterian claiming to know something about a Lutheran, now that's odd) and it should be great mental fodder for some stirring Tuesday morning chats. Read the first 30 pages to be ready for discussion on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Since one of our "asides" on Sept. 15 brought up dispensationalism, here is an article on what it is written from a positive perspective.

Ordinary Schedule

I'm shutting down the entries here and apart from a radical April snowstorm or the like, this will be it until the Fall. The next book we will be discussing is Luther on the Christian Life by Carl Trueman. September 15 will be the Fall launch date. It'll be another dose of greatness when it comes to theological breakfasts.

April 21 - Chapters 5-6 of Ordinary
April 28 - Chapter 7 of Ordinary
May 5 - Chapter 8 of Ordinary
May 12 - Chapter 9 of Ordinary
May 19 - Chapters 10-11 of Ordinary

Children's Church (literally)

There are great things about being young. But are there great things about being old? The answer is yes even though it seems so unnatural for me to say so given that I'm the product of my culture. We are so infatuated with youth that we easily forget that lessons are learned and wisdom can be gained with the passing of time. 

The Bible therefore values both the young as well as the old and puts significant emphasis upon the need for the mature to lead. 

So why is it then that the church's ministry models are built around a youth led paradigm?

Food for thought as we discuss chapter 3 of Ordinary on Tuesday, April 7th.

When Extraordinary is Mediocre or Worse

Ordinary is not the same as mediocre (as we will see in chapter two of our book on 3.31.15). 

In fact, have you noticed that when the church attempts to harness the so called extraordinary in her methods, Christians look mediocre at best? After all, who other than mediocre believers would find hefty middle-aged men attempting to break bats on their heads anything remotely close to illustrating divine power? 

The extraordinary gospel appears foolish and is not. Abandoning the ordinary means of proclaiming the gospel looks foolish and in fact is. 

Ordinary and Not

Now that we Know the Heretics (smirk), we are moving on to the Ordinary! Okay, it's not like it sounds, but it is time for a change. Starting Tuesday, March 24th we will begin discussing the book by Mike Horton entitled Ordinary. To listen to an interview on the book with the author, click here.


In the meantime, we will be discussing a chapter from Biblical Words and Their Meaning by Moises Silva. This is only for one week, March 17th. You can pick up the chapter from the OBC bookstore if you need it. Its not an easy read, but an important one that should create some stimulating conversation.

Poke Your Eyes Out

"Dwell on the past and you will lose an eye. Forget the past and you will lose both eyes" (Russian Proverb). 

Okay men, its time to wrap this book up. Please read the final two chapters and conclusion for our next meeting on Tuesday, March 10th. 

We will discuss Nestorianism, Socinianism, and the benefits of historical heresies.

Big Appetite for Heresy

Remember the best selling book Blue Like Jazz? I remember buying and reading it after a respected church leader told me how much he liked it. I don't remember much about the book other than the line where Miller says “There was something inside me that caused [Jesus] to love me” (Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz), 238. 

That was enough to make me conclude that the book was a bad book, to lose respect for the church leader, and to wonder why an evangelical publisher would promote such things. An extreme reaction? Not if Pelagianism is a heresy. 

So what's the relevance to Theology for Breakfast? The relevance is that if we knew our heresies better, we wouldn't gobble them up as if it were the gospel. 

The next two doses of heresy for breakfast are Apollinarianism (2.17) and Pelagianism (2.24). 

Arianism Smackdown

Is Jesus like God or is he himself God? The question means we are talking about Arianism. Read chapter 7 of Know the Heretics in preparation for our next T4B men's meeting on Tuesday, February 10th.

Sabellianism

Which best describes God: an egg, water, or a pie? Does God manifest Himself in three forms? Who comes up with these bad questions anyway? Okay, enough already. Tuesday, February 3rd will be our discussion of Sabellianism (ch.6 of Know the Heretics). In case you are more of a visual learner, pictured here are some naive trinitarians enamored by a best-selling disciple of Sabellius.

Manichaeanism

When Christianity is mixed with Zoroastrianism (or any other religion for that matter), bad things happen. Tuesday, January 27 will have us discussing Manichaeanism as it relates to this problem (ch. 5). Hopefully the outcome will be a greater appreciation of the sufficiency of Christ.

DOCETICISM

Chapter 4 on Doceticism is up for discussion on Tuesday, January 20th. Sorry, nothing edgy or witty this week for the blog. Let's talk Doceticism in the morning!

"The God of the Old Testament"

We've all heard God described as different in the Old and New Testaments. You know, upset in the Old and loving in the New! But did you know that the historic heresy (yes, I said heresy!) associated with this philosophy is Marcionism? Plan to learn more about this ancient/contemporary heresy on Tuesday, January 15th as we discuss chapter 3 of Know the Heretics. 

No Heresy for 2 Weeks

To honor good old Saint Nic, we are going to take two weeks off from Knowing the Heretics. Therefore we will NOT be having theology for breakfast for two weeks (no mtg. 12.23 or 12.30).

Enjoy the break. Resuming on Tuesday, January 6th.

Know the Heretics

Chapter one is up for discussion for Tuesday, December 16th. The Judaizers will be the culprits in view. An easy read regarding an immensely important issue.

Have You Seen This Man?

Know the Heretics is our next read. Why this book? First, because there isn't anything new under the sun when it comes to false teaching. Second, because Christians are called to embrace the truth and avoid falsity. Third, because knowing some of the key historical players and their errors can serve us well in our ongoing pursuit of wisdom. 

Read pp.1-22 for discussion on Tuesday, December 9th. 

*While you have not seen this man, you have surely seen Pelagius' fingerprints all over the American church.

No "MEATING" Thanksgiving Week

We will NOT be meeting on the week of Thanksgiving. To reiterate, we will NOT MEET on Tuesday, November 25th.

Theology for Breakfast will resume on December 2nd when we will discuss The State of Theology published by Ligonier and Lifeway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

GoLAWspel

Some things just aren't right. Mixing the Law with the gospel is one of those things. Yes, they are both important and yes the gospel only makes sense in light of the Law, but collapsing them into one another is hugely problematic. For Tuesday, November 18th we will see the problem illustrated in Kline's helpful article entitled Covenant Theology Under Attack. You can find it here. 

The New Covenant

We are wrapping up Sacred Bond with a discussion of the New Covenant (chapter 8) on Tuesday, November 11.

The next book will be Know the Heretics by Justin Holcomb, but before starting that book, we will look at an article by Kline and one by Mike Horton.

The God Who Swears

One of the most important things about God from where I sit is that he is a covenant keeping God. In other words, he vows and in Christ His "vowing" is for our sure good. We will see this vowing for us in Christ as we discuss the Davidic Covenant (chapter 7 of Sacred Bond) on Tuesday, November 5th. 

*The empty picture frame comes in lieu of a picture of God taking an oath which would go best not pictured for reasons I hope are obvious.

What's Wrong with this Statement?

"...Israelites were appointed to live and serve under a meritorious, legal system, while Christians live and serve under a gracious system..."

Is this true? Hopefully what you have been learning in Theology for Breakfast helps you to more confidently say "No!" Hopefully it also helps you to see why it is important to think through issues of continuity and discontinuity in the Scriptures.

Both the New and Old Testaments teach that grace is the one and only way that sinners have rightly related to God as Abraham was justified by faith and is therefore the spiritual father of faith transtestamentally (Romans 4; Galatians 3; Genesis 15).

Reading for Tuesday, October 28 will be chapter 6 of Sacred Bond. 

Be Still My Heart!

If you know what's good for you (and I know that all breakfast theologians do!), you will want to be a part of Reformation Today. It's Saturday, October 25 and Carl Trueman will be in the house. You can sign up here. Reading for Tuesday, Oct. 21 is chapter 5 on the Abrahamic Covenant.

The Forbidden Woods!

The Village is a tidy and well ordered community. It is also oh so very safe, safe as long as no one ventures past the boundaries where danger lurks. But as with other M. Night Shyamalan films, things are not what they seem.

I don't want to give away the movie's twist in case you have not seen the Village, but I will say that the fear tactics of the village elders remind me of those who warn about the supposed monstrosities of theological covenants. 

We will be reading and discussing chapter 4 on Tuesday, October 14th. I hope to see many of you then, but beware, there may be marks on the door and the bad color will be seen so do your very best not to SCREAM!