The Throne of God in the Depths of Humanity

(excerpted from God is in the Manger, a collection of writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

"We cannot approach the manger of the Christ child in the same way we approach the cradle of another child. Rather, when we go to his manger, something happens, and we cannot leave it again unless we have been judged or redeemed. Here we must either collapse or know the mercy of God directed toward us.

"What does that mean? Isn't all of this just a way of speaking? Isn't it just pastoral exaggeration of a pretty and pious legend? What does it mean that such things are said about the Christ child? Those who want to take it as a way of speaking will do so and continue to celebrate Advent and Christmas as before, with pagan indifference. For us it is not just a way of speaking. For that's just it: it is God himself, the Lord and Creator of all things, who is so small here, who is hidden here in the corner, who enters into the plainness of the world, who meets us in the helplessness and defenselessness of a child, and wants to be with us. And he does this not out of playfulness or sport, because we find that so touching, but in order to show us where he is and who he is and in order from this place judge and devalue and dethrone all human ambition.

"The throne of God in the world is not on human thrones, but in human depths, in the manger. Standing around his throne there are no flattering vassals but dark, unknown, questionable figures who cannot get their fill of this miracle and want to live entirely by the mercy of God.

"'Joy to the world!' Anyone for whom this sound in foreign, or who hears in it nothing but weak enthusiasm, has not yet really heard the gospel. For the sake of humankind, Jesus Christ became a man in a stable in Bethlehem: Rejoice, O Christendom! For sinners, Jesus Christ became a companion of tax collectors and prostitutes: Rejoice, O Christendom! For the condemned, Jesus Christ was condemned to the cross on Golgotha: Rejoice, O Christendom! For all of us Jesus Christ was resurrected to life: Rejoice, O Christendom! ... All over the world today people are asking: Where is the path to joy? The church of Christ answers loudly: Jesus is our joy! (1 Pet 1:7-9) Joy to the world!"

To God alone be the Glory.

The Great Turning Point of All Things

(or as Gandalf would say, "I come to you now, at the turn of the tide")

I've been posting here and on Facebook, excerpts from God is in the Manger, a collection of writings from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They are focused primarily on Christmas and Advent, but with other themes thrown in. The book was very helpful for me this year to reorient my heart and mind to the meaning and purpose of Christmas. Much has been lost and distorted even in the Christian celebration of this glorious event. I think we lose the majesty and the power and the awesomeness of Christmas when it becomes about gifts or family or church (good things, but not ultimate things). Christmas should always and forever be about God becoming man (no, a baby), being born  (no, born in a stinky, dirty, noisy stable), living  (no living a commoner's life), and dying (no dying a traitor's death). He did this for the twin goals of fulfilling his Father's will and executing a rescue mission that no Seal team would dare attempt. Jesus was born, lived and died for God and for you. Christmas is about Christ, not us. Glory to God indeed!

"What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders of religions and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do--that now happens through a new born child. Putting to shame the most powerful human efforts and accomplishments, a child is placed here at the midpoint of world history--a child born of human beings, a son given by God (Isa 9:6). That is the mystery of the redemption of the world; everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the almighty God comes to us, descends to us in the form of a child, his Son. That this child is born for us, this son is given to us, that this human child and Son belongs to me, that I know him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine--on this alone my life now depends. A child has our life in his hands... 

"How should we deal with such a child? Have our hands, soiled with daily toil, become too hard and too proud to fold in prayer at the sight of this child? Has our head become too full of serious thoughts...that we cannot bow our head in humility at the wonder of this child? Can we not forget all our stress and struggles, our sense of importance and for once worship the child as did the shepherds and the wise men from the East, bowing before the divine child in the manger like children"  - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Government upon the Shoulders, Christmas 1940

To God Alone be the Glory

The Wonder of All Wonders

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

God travels in wonderful ways with human beings, but does not comply with the views or opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him; rather his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self determined beyond all proof. 

Where reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away: that is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable; there he aggravates our nature, our piety--that is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly... God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and the broken.

To God Alone be the Glory

Oh, to see Jesus!

I think we have the Christmas gift thing mixed up. Its not that I'm against giving (or receiving) gifts, but when we actually stop and ask, what is Christmas is all about, we seem to go in one of two directions.

First, we might ask "what could I give Jesus for Christmas?" Presumptuous, I know, but the heart is one of devotion, seeking to honor Christ with our lives, our gifts and our heart.

Or, we might ask "what would I receive from Jesus this Christmas?" Perhaps this just a more focused, seasonally heightened prayer request, but if its anything like mine, its focus, aim and goal usually falls way short.

Well, what if we crumpled all of the above like so much old Christmas wrapping paper? What if we found our guidance in the Holy Spirit and in the ebb and flow of God's Word?

For instance, consider Luke 18. While there is a lot in this chapter, I think Luke uses a great, subtle teaching technique by repeating overlapping truths in various parables and narrative accounts so that if one section doesn't hit us, the next one might. So, in one chapter we have God giving justice, a tax collector calling for mercy, the disciples learning that all things are possible with God, that Jesus journey to Jerusalem will result not in glorious, messianic victory, but painful, ignominious defeat, and that seeking the mercy of Jesus is worth more than any social custom or anyone's opinion of us.

Beyond this, Luke 18, like other sections of this book, is a study in contrasts. God vs the judge. Tax collector vs Pharisee.  Child-like faith vs "grown-up" faith. A love for Christ himself vs a love for all that Christ can (and does) give us. A vision to do God's will God's way vs a desire to do God's will my way. A willingness to defy all conventions to see (really see) Jesus vs obeying all conventions and missing (really missing) Jesus although he is right in front of us.

So, whether I zero in on the tax collector, who really grasped his position before God and his desperate need for God's mercy and grace or the blind man who defied all social and religious customs because he too desperately knew he was both helpless and hopeless without Jesus, my prayer and my plea this Christmas is that I want to see Jesus. This prayer is not just to see him in passages like Luke 18, but to see him as Paul says in Eph 1, with the eyes of my heart. To see him in his fullness, in his deity, in his humanity, as prophet, priest and king, as redeemer, as intercessor, as brother and as friend. Along with this, I need God's gracious reminder that on my own I am desperate, helpless and hopeless. The only reason to tenacious cling to Christ by faith is a firm knowledge that letting go results in ruin.

After nearly fifty years I think it is starting to sink in that while Christmas may be a great time to discipline our selfish hearts and actually be generous (not just pretend or talk about it), the reality is that we are never truly the giver. Christmas is about a gift given. A life lived. A death died. A price paid. A relationship restored. A victory won. 

May Jesus invade your Christmas this year in a great, glorious and perhaps unexpected way so that the focus is not so much on us but on Him. And not just Him in the manger, but on the cross and at the right hand of the Father and on the cusp of His return.

I pray that we each may take some time this year to consider not what we can give to Jesus, but what we so desperately need from Him and then have the humility and child-like faith to plead for it.

To God Alone be the Glory

Pummeled by Prayer

Please notice that the title of this post is not "Pummeled in Prayer". That reality is actually part of the pummeling. The sad fact of the matter is that I would much rather read about and contemplate prayer than simply bowing my head and praying. Yet my growing conviction is even now asking "Why are you writing? Why aren't you praying?"

Over the past week or so, I've run across several blog posts, devotionals etc., that have highlighted the significance and the primacy of prayer in the life of a believer. And, while I've included excerpts from a few different sources below, there is really very little that is new, especially if you've tracked with my posts on prayer in the past. However, what is different for me, at least at this point in the game, is the Spirit-wrought conviction that I spend too little time actually praying. For me the concern has shifted from quality to quantity.

Yet, even as I write this and prayerfully consider my next words, a self-debate is raging. The quality of our prayers is important, isn't it? Isn't that why the Bible gives us multiple models, including Jesus himself? Aren't the motives and the directions of our hearts important as we approach the throne of God? I would answer yes to both of these and a dozen other considerations on getting the focus of our prayers right. Yet, if that focus some how debilitates our praying, we've lost the forest for the trees.

Another objection that is raising its head even now, is the fact that Jesus seems to discourage frequent, extended prayer (Mt 6:7). His model prayer is very short and compact. Maybe this is because he was in such deep communion with his father that a long diary of praises and requests was not needed. If Jesus (and us too) prayed regularly and frequently, then he (and we too) wouldn't need a "data dump". We would simply lift each prayer and praise to God as they came along.

It should be noted that of all the bible characters, the one who would appear to need prayer the least, it would have been Jesus. And yet, he is the one we see doing it the most, followed closely by the post resurrection disciples. For me, this highlights some of the most mind bending aspects of prayer. It is both simple and complex. It comprises both a moment and a season. It reflects both child-like faith and deep communion. I displays a complete dependence and a desire to petition the sovereign God of the universe. It is both humiliating and incredibly arrogant.

As I stated earlier, I wanted to share some of what I've read over the past few days that have conspired to shake me out of my prayer lethargy.

But, alas; how seldom can he do [prayer] as he would! How often does he find this privilege a mere task, which he would be glad of a just excuse to omit! and the chief pleasure he derives from the performance, is to think that his task is finished: he has been drawing near to God with his lips, while his heart was far from him. Surely this is not doing as he would when (to borrow the expression of an old woman here,) he is dragged before God like a slave, and comes away like a thief. - John Newton

Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in fervency. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer-it is essential that it be red hot. It is praying perseveringly. The true suppliant gathers force as he proceeds, and grows more fervent when God delays to answer. The longer the gate is closed, the more vehemently does he use the knocker, and the longer the angel lingers the more resolved is he that he will never let him go without the blessing. Beautiful in God's sight is tearful, agonizing, unconquerable importunity. It means praying humbly, for the Holy Spirit never puffs us up with pride. It is his office to convince of sin, and so to bow us down in contrition and brokenness of spirit. We shall never sing Gloria in excelsis except we pray to God De profundis: out of the depths must we cry, or we shall never behold glory in the highest. It is loving prayer. Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love-love to our fellow saints, and love to Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith. A man prevails only as he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God's promise. O that this blessed combination of excellent graces, priceless and sweet as the spices of the merchant, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Ghost is in our hearts! Most blessed Comforter, exert thy mighty power within us, helping our infirmities in prayer. - CH Spurgeon

But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small. 

Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? Is it a discipline? You can call it that. It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater. It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers. It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns. It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food. It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water. It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid. It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin. It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey. It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer. - John Piper

I do not deny that a man may pray without heart and without sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person praying proves everything about his soul. As in every other part of religion, so also in this: there is plenty of deception and hypocrisy. But this I do say—that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured, it is all vain talk if he does not pray. - JC Ryle

I will stop here, in part, to pray. At this moment, that prayer is that the Spirit may use my words, the words of men much wiser and more prayerful than me and most of all the very words of God to bring us all into a deeper, more prayer dependent communion with Father through the grace and mercy of His Son, our Savior Jesus.

To God Alone be the Glory

Vote 2012

In 2010, I wrote the post below.  I stand by those thoughts today even more than I did then. And to them I would add one other.

There is a responsibility that comes with our rights. Whether those rights are God given or the result of the government system we are under, our rights lead to our responsibilities. So, not only do we have the right to vote on Nov 6, 2012, we have the responsibility to do so.

But rights and responsibilities go beyond voting. They include helping others when they are down and we are doing good. They include sharing our bountiful excess when others have nothing. And, they include defending the helpless and the hopeless, when we have both safety and security.

No one is more at risk than a baby in his or her mother's womb. And no deserves more protection from society and yes, the government. If I can be compelled to recycle to protect a defenseless environment or wear a seat belt to protect my defenseless self, how much more do the weakest and most precious members of humanity deserve our protection?

Please vote and pray for life.

To God Alone be the Glory

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On Nov 2, 2010, all Americans 18 years old and older will have the privilege to vote.  I typically avoid discussing political issues because I think such discussions can quickly slide from a pure Biblical perspective to a very humanistic one.  However, I feel compelled to share the thoughts of two of my heroes in the faith: John Piper and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I will let their words speak for themselves, but my prayer is that for true Christians, we would approach our privilege to vote prayerfully, seriously, humbly and very, very gratefully.  SDG

Piper:

No endorsment of a single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor or president, but there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from oublic office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, regardless of his party or platform. Or a person who endorsed corperate fraud would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said no black person could hold office--on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said rape is only a misdemeanor--that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.

You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying the endorsement of racism, fraud or bribery would disqualify him--except that killing a child is much worse. -- The Godward Life, vol 1

Bonhoeffer:

"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And this is nothing but murder." -- Ethics pg 206

Taste Bud Transformation

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2Co 5:14-17

I have a new quote to add to my list of favorites. I just read it in a post by Dane Ortland (read the whole thing here) on irresistible grace.

Irresistible grace is grace that softens us way down deep at the core of who we are. Taste bud transformation. In a miracle that can never be humanly manufactured, we find ourselves, strangely, delighting to love God.

This is a big God, with big grace

Here's the thing about the grace of God, the love of Christ and the power of the Spirit. We are not simply whitewashed tombs or dressed up corpses. In Christ we have been remade and reborn. We are not yet what we ultimately will be, but we are no longer what we were. We really are a new creation and we really do have a calling to walk in.

To God Alone be the Glory

Guard the Good Deposit

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. - 2 Tim 1:14

As I read this verse today, it dawned on me that there are several implications here for all of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus. For now, I simply want to list them with a short comment or two. I pray God makes a connection for you with one or more of these and leads you into deeper study and prayerful reflection.

1) The good deposit is the gospel. This is fairly clear from the context, especially vv 9-10. I don't list this here to be pedantic, but because the gospel really needs to be first and central in everything we do. It really is the good deposit.

2) Whatever God is expecting of us in relation to the good deposit (ie the gospel), He is expecting it by and through the Holy Spirit. I have an ongoing, internal debate around my action vs my dependence on God, which is summed up beautifully in Phil 2:12-13. One thing that the Bible makes abundantly clear is that whatever God asks of us, He enables by his Spirit.

3) The gospel is worth guarding. This may seem redundant to the first item, but I think many of us might agree that the gospel should be central, but can easily step back from the fray when push comes to shove. Paul's day was no different than our day in this respect: someone is always looking to shade the gospel just a little. Add a little here. Trim a little there. Tweak something. Tune something. Polish something. Our command is simply to guard it. Protect it. Preserve it.

4) This responsibility has been entrusted to us. Some might argue that Paul is writing to Timothy as a pastor / mentor to an upcoming pastor. There is a sense in which this is true. However, there is a broader sense in which we all have pastoral roles, in families, Bible studies, friendships, so we too must take on this responsibility. Additionally, the call of discipleship is always to strive to be like the master. Or should I say the Master? Paul says in 1 Cor 11:1 "Imitate me as I imitate Christ" We can't walk on water, raise the dead or die for the sins of the world. But we can guard the gospel which has been entrusted to us.

5) Guarding isn't just a passive verb. I say this in equal parts as confession and exhortation. Guarding seems passive to me. I picture the night watchman, maybe walking the halls periodically, but mostly sitting around watching some cameras. I also picture some one disconnected to what he is guarding. Are they jewels or engine parts or food for orphans in Africa? The guard probably doesn't really care. But the gospel's claim on us is to care intensely and to guard it actively.

6) Finally, to come full circle, God is pulling this all together. Skip back 2 verses to 2 Tim 1:12 "I am convinced that he (God) is able to guard until that Day what he has entrusted to me"

So today, by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you and with confidence in the God who is accomplishing everything for His own purposes and glory, guard the good deposit of the gospel which has been entrusted to you.

To God Alone be the Glory

Hungry for God?

In hearing this excerpt from a recent sermon by John Piper, God reminded me of a couple things.

1) Come to church (or any time with God) hungry

I don't know what it is. Every time I'm reminded of this reality, it makes sense. Yet in this case, head knowledge rarely produces heart ache. I come to church the way I come to any other event. Glad to see friends. Excited to gather for corporate worship. Ready to hear God's Word preached. But am I really hungry? Am I starving for fellowship? Am I famished for worship? Am I craving God's Word?  Where is the expectation that only God can fill? Not just anticipation, because I can conjure up those feelings. No, where is my expectation that God will actually be present in our services (or Bible studies or devotions or prayers)? Where is my ravenous need to be filled with the food that only God can provide?

2) My lack of hunger is not because I am full of God

Here's the thing about being hungry for God. I think we are completely deceived about why it may be missing from our experience. Maybe we've have an occasional encounter with a deep, gnawing hunger for God, but in general, I think its safe to say we all live feeling quite full. Why is that? Have we really experienced so much of God that we have all of Him that we could possibly want or need? Is He a spiritual miser that doles out one bread crumb at a time? If its not these things, then what is it?

Reflect on the conscience-jabbing words of John Piper:

If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. . . .

The more deeply you walk with Christ, the hungrier you get for Christ . . . the more homesick you get for heaven . . . the more you want "all the fullness of God" . . . the more you want to be done with sin . . . the more you want the Bridegroom to come again . . . the more you want the Church revived and purified with the beauty of Jesus . . . the more you want a great awakening to God's reality in the cities . . . the more you want to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ penetrate the darkness of all the unreached peoples of the world . . . the more you want to see false worldviews yield to the force of Truth . . . the more you want to see pain relieved and tears wiped away and death destroyed . . . the more you long for every wrong to be made right and the justice and grace of God to fill the earth like the waters cover the sea.  (A Hunger for God, 23)

All of that to say "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." (Mt 5:6)

To God Alone be the Glory

It Starts With A Humble Heart

I have been blessed by a series of posts on the Gospel Coalition web site by Paul Tripp. And while his focus is primarily on folks in ministry, there is much truth and application to those who are not.  Here is one sample from his latest post, If You Still Think You've Arrived:

You live in the middle of the "already" and the "not yet." There is temptation all around. In the middle you are still susceptible to its draw. In the middle there is still an enemy lurking around looking for his next meal. In the middle we are capable of self-deceit and personal delusion. In the middle we still need to be rescued from ourselves. In the middle we must always live humble, concerned, and protective lives. In the middle we constantly need grace's rescue.

How true is this? I almost feel as if Tripp is writing about me. I think this because he has tapped into a reality that we all face, whether we admit it or not. By God's grace, we can (and do) face these temptations, but how often do we forget that we need to fight with the armor that Christ himself provides (Eph 6:10-20)?

My plea to God is for a serious reordering, refocusing of my own view of who He is, Father, Son and Spirit and who I am, a man of dry bones, dust and ashes. Can we be instruments in the Master's hands? Absolutely! And we should allow Him to make music with and through us. But we must always remember that even a Stradivarius receives its glory not from itself, but from the One who made it and the One who plays it.

Let me conclude with a final quote from Tripp:

The great spiritual war doesn't only rage outside of us. There is ample evidence every day that it still rages inside of us. Gospel-driven, Christ-centered ministry, one that gives grace to those who hear, doesn't start with theological knowledge; it starts with a humble heart. It starts with recognition of your own need and the acknowledgment that you and I are more like than unlike the people to whom God has called us to minister. And for this we have the grace of Jesus.

To God Alone be the Glory

An Application to Divine Wealth

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. - Phi 4:6

Any who know me, know that I have grappled with prayer most of my Christian life. Its not that I have devalued it or questioned it. Its more that as I sought to grasp it so I could rightly practice it, I've continually realized that prayer is much bigger, much more dynamic, and much more intrinsic to our walk with Christ than I realized. And this "unfolding mystery" of prayer simply keeps coming at me.

A few days ago, I was blessed to read in CH Spurgeon's Morning by Morning devotional the following:

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.

This perspective on prayer, while maybe not new, is certainly not what is usually in the forefront of my mind. It is great reminder and prayer is a great reminder, that we are the utterly dependent ones and that God is the only sufficient One. Oh, how I need this reminder, day after day!

To God Alone be the Glory

Though He Slay Me

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake - Phil 1:29

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; - Job 13:15

I continue to be struck by the reality that suffering is not just allowed by God; it is often a gracious gift.

This reality is in stark contrast to every other message in the world around me. Success. Comfort. Retirement security. Health. Ease.

Are these things evil? No. In fact they can be gracious gifts from God as well. But consider the testimony of Scripture and of your own life. When does God speak most clearly? When do his children cry out most passionately? When are they most easily distracted and drawn into sin?

Consider the cross. On the surface there is no comfort, no success, no security, no health, no ease. Christ put all of that (and so much more) aside so that he could stand in our place. Ultimately, he purchased for us comfort, success, security, health and ease. But today we only have a taste of the glory that will be revealed. And, we still need pruning

So rejoice in God's blessings, but rejoice more as you suffer for the sake of Christ. Know that we are really simply unworthy servants, but we have been given worth in Christ and have been adopted into the family of God. And, rest in the reality that "this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison," (2Co 4:17)

It is a true faith which holds by the Lord's faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father's countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," is heaven-born faith. - CH Spurgeon

To God Alone be the Glory

The Greatest Draw

I could not sound bite Spurgeon's "Faith Checkbook" entry for 10/4. There were too many gems and the overall truth was too profound. Jesus is the greatest draw, whether it be in building a church or the friendship, a marriage or a career. Anything else, everything else, will fall way short. So, I prayerfully share these 100+ year old thoughts, which seem as real today as they were when they were written. And, along with Spurgeon, I urge all who read this to avoid the quakeries of our day and depend solely on Jesus for your life, beginning, middle and end.

Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest "draw" that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw other? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn and see if it does not draw them. 

No sort of man is beyond this drawing power. Old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and leaned, depraved or amiable—all men shall feel the attractive force. Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not draw to Jesus, neither will eloquence, logic, ceremonial, or noise. Jesus Himself must draw men to Himself; and Jesus is quite equal to the work in every case. Be not tempted by the quackeries of the day; but as workers for the Lord work in His own way, and draw with the Lord's own cords. Draw to Christ, and draw by Christ, for then Christ will draw by you.

To God Alone be the Glory

Just Keep Pedaling

Last week I read a post with this same title by Chris Castaldo. Read his full post here. In the middle, he shared comments from an old missionary from Africa that struck me as wonderfully descriptive of the Christian life.

To understand the Christian life, imagine riding a bicycle in the middle of a two-way street heading up a steep hill. Your job is to keep the bicycle wheels on the yellow line and keep pedaling. If you veer to the left or to the right, with cars zipping past you on both sides, you're road kill. And as you get further up the hill, the forces of gravity and fatigue make pedaling more difficult (so get it out of your head that elderly people go on spiritual cruise control). The challenge continues until the end, and there is no reprieve until we finally arrive home. 

Of course, we do veer off the yellow line. Every single day. And when we do, Jesus' victory---the cross, resurrection and pouring out of the Spirit---provides forgiveness and healing. But we are nevertheless called to pedal. When our legs feel shot and we're unable to proceed, we pray for divine strength, and somehow it comes. This is God's promise: "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

When I read this I think of Heb 2:1 (pay attention, don't drift) and Phil 3:12-14 (forget what is behind (our righteous stuff) and press on toward what is ahead (Jesus)). This a day by day (maybe an hour by hour) task. But praise God, the Holy Spirit walks with us, to allow us to keep pedalling.

To God Alone be the Glory

Simply a test

In my attempt to be modern, I am trying to post from a tablet. We'll see how it works...

As I read Ezk 34 and Eph 1 this morning, I had twin, Spirit directed thoughts. One was, despite the quality of our earthly shepherds (or our ability as shepherds), God himself will always be the Shepherd of his people (See Jn 10)

The other was this: we have been given so much more when we were saved, rescued, redeemed, adopted in Christ than we can possibly grasp that any (and every prayer should really be at least 99% praise, worship, thanksgiving and awe. I'm not there yet, but God is working on me.

To God Alone be the Glory

Because it was not possible

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. -- Acts 2:23-24

For all the times I've read Acts 2, a certain aspect of verses 23 and 24 have escaped me until now. Read it again. Slowly. Soak it in.

Oh, there is so much there, but what struck me out of the blue when I heard it read yesterday was this reality: It was not possible for Jesus to stay dead.

Part of why this struck me hard is that I have often viewed Jesus as the participant in the resurrection. In other words, the resurrection happened to Him. And while this may be partially accurate, I think it misses the point. Peter's point here is that the resurrection had to happen, because the grave simply could not hold Jesus.

Kevin DeYoung recently used the illustration of childbirth -- tied to the word pangs -- to describe Jesus in the grave. Was he dead? Yes? Could he have stayed dead? Not a chance. Just like a baby cannot -- will not -- stay in the womb, Jesus could not stay in the grave. It could not contain Him. It could not hold Him. Add to that the imagery associated with labor, a baby needing to be born and mother needing to deliver her child and we begin to glimpse the heaven reality -- death could not hold on to Jesus.

This is important for at least two reasons. First and probably foremost is that the resurrection is the lynch pin of our faith. If Jesus didn't rise, we are still in our sins. Everything we believe, every hope we have is tied to this one historic fact.

Secondarily, but no less important for our daily walk with Christ is that Jesus has defeated death. We may not see all of the implications of this victory yet, but Jesus' resurrection proves that the victory has occurred. And because Christ has conquered  sin and death, he can -- and will -- rescue us from our sin and death. Spiritually speaking, we are safe and secure in Christ. Romans 8:33-34 say it best:

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

So, if you are believer in Christ know this: the grave that couldn't hold Jesus, can't hold you either. Your eternity is certain and Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee.

However, if you do not believe that Jesus' life, death and resurrection have anything to do with you, know that you are taking an awful risk. And yet, even in this moment, as you read these words, you can give your life, your future, your eternity into the hands of the One who made you, who loves you and was willing to die so that you might live.

To God Alone be the Glory

A Better Ref

I'm amazed by all of the commentary surround the NFL referee issue. Not that the comments and concerns are inappropriate nor worth discussing, but that it reveals a deep need in the human heart that the rules, whether in football or life, be followed and administer fairly. The collective "outrage", while maybe a little over the top, springs from and reveals that even the least theological among us still carry the image of God within us.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a better ref? One who never blew a call? One who made sure each player played within the boundaries of the game? Even better, wouldn't it be great if there was a ref who could, by his very presence, make each player want to play within the rules and execute each play to the best of their ability.

Of course life is different than football, and we can do "all the right things" and still face failure, temptation, illness and even death. To face these things, and so many other things, we need more than a ref. We need a friend. We need a father. We need a protector. We need an advocate. We need a deliverer. We need an adviser.

And when we "commit a penalty" and the ref "throws the flag" we need someone to stand in our place. Because, in life, its not just a 10 yard penalty. It will cost us the game. It will cost us the season. It will cost us our lives.

The good news is that the Better Ref has come. Jesus is that ref. He has lived. He has died. He is risen. And He is the ref over the whole world. And while we may not see his calls as being right and good, in reality they are. And He is so much more than just a ref. He offers us new life. He delivers us from both the affects of our penalties, but also from the power that causes us to want to commit them. He can change us from the inside so that we want to and are able to play the game within the rules that have been established from the beginning. And, best of all. He's already won the Super Bowl.

I just want to pray, if you've read this far, that you will allow Jesus to be for you everything He promises to be. He has made this promise, which can be yours if you entrust your life to Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. -- Mat 11:28

To God Alone be the Glory

Refocus

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -- 2Co 12:10

In reading 2 Cor 12 this morning I was struck by two things. The first was Paul's undeniable deference to Christ and his mission. The second was that Paul's ultimate aim was not for right theology or right ecclesiology, but for right hearts. Verses 10 and 14 bring these two thoughts to the forefront.

In verse 10, Paul states that for the sake of Christ he will be content with hardships. It isn't some Spirit driven masochism that Paul is describing. It isn't some sort of spiritualized denial of reality. Instead, Paul is boldly claiming that weaknesses, hardships, calamities, persecutions and insults actually serve a bigger, better purpose. They serve the purpose of Jesus.

Is that purpose in our own lives? Perhaps. There is the ever present battle with pride. There is the continual learning that this world is not our home. There is the never ending fight against sin, in all is multifaceted effects on our hearts and minds and bodies.

But, perhaps there is also a bigger, broader purpose to the hardships, insults, weaknesses, persecutions and calamities that Jesus allows (dare I say ordains) into our lives. Perhaps these things come along to take our focus off of the god of ourselves and place our gaze back on the God who made us, who redeemed us, who called us, who is sustaining us, and who will one day deliver us unblemished before His glorious throne. Perhaps it is to use us as a signpost for others who are traveling this narrow road of faith. Remember Jn 9:3? Perhaps it is to give us a chance to say with Christ, not in despair or defeat, but with sorrowful joy, Father, not my will but yours be done.

Now, add to this Paul's thought in verse 14. He says to the Corinthian church, I came not for what is yours but for you. In that one statement is the essence of the Church. In the end, it is not about what I can contribute to the church or what you add to the body. It is about you and its about me; it is about the condition of our hearts. The church is a family and as the Spirit has knitted this family together, God's desire is for his children to be rightly related to Him and to each other.

Are there gifts? Absolutely. And they should be used for the glory of God. Is correct theology important? Without a doubt. Correct ecclesiology? Amen. But whatever ology you bring up, as important as they all are, they all serve the bigger, broader purpose of God calling a people to himself.

So, where does this leave us? For me, I am left in need of refocusing. Refocusing on the purpose of Bible study and prayer. Refocusing on the purpose of worship and sermons. Refocusing on the purpose of giving and of serving.

In the end, it means refocusing on Jesus and His blood-bought bride.

To God Alone be the Glory

Plausible Arguments

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Col 2:4

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2Ti 4:3-4

I have no idea why I would be surprised by someone claiming to be a biblical scholar publishing an article that at the same time states the Bible is the inspired word of God and that it is all culturally conditioned. Why would I be shocked when it is stated that the Bible has many different literary types and that our understanding must begin by understanding the literary style we are reading which is followed by mis-categorizing the literary genre of the one book the author chooses to discuss? Why am I bothered by an article that seems so nonsensical and politically, 2012 issue driven that it almost made me laugh, except for my tears?

Perhaps its because the article (read it here to do your own review) is in my local newspaper. Perhaps its because the article is written in a style and tone that actually supposes to support the Bible. Perhaps because as I read it I kept thinking of all of the Biblical writers and Jesus himself who warned about people who would want to change what had been written. Perhaps, most of all, it was because his arguments were so plausible.

My point here is not to refute anything the article presented. To me, that seems to take the discussion in the wrong direction. Is there merit in discussing methods of interpretation? Absolutely. But the Biblical writers almost always direct our gaze away from the counterfeit and back to the genuine. One of the main themes of the book of Colossians is the one preparing the church for the onslaught of false teachers. Paul's refreshing technique is to draw the Colossians (and us) back to Christ and the gospel. I think that is where every interpretive question should begin and ultimately must end.

My other point is that we all need to be wary of what we read and watch and listen to. It may easy to filter out the extreme positions (e.g. the Bible is fiction, so why worry about interpretation?) but there are so many shades of grey that may become for us a path toward wandering off into myths. I pray that we can read the newspaper in light of the Bible, not the Bible in light of the newspaper.

To God Alone be the Glory

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! - 2 Cor 9:15

A verse like this serves to remind us, especially me, that the mercy and grace that we have received from God in Jesus goes way beyond what we can grasp. Somehow we think we can come into God's presence in a spirit of praise and actually express to Him the depth of what we've been given. But, in the words of Job, these are but the outskirts of His ways (Job 26:14).

May the Holy Spirit revive in us a holy awe at the magnitude of our salvation in Christ. There is the depth of the sin Jesus' paid for. There is the entrenchedness of our selfishness and pride that He is graciously removing. There is the security Jesus has guaranteed to us both by his resurrection but also by the send of the Holy Spirit. There is this new community that Jesus is gathering to himself to the glory of God.

And, as magnificent as these things are, they are only the gifts and blessing we can perceive. How many times has the Holy Spirit redirected our lives to keep us in the love of Christ? How many ways has God answered our prayers and we have not been aware of it. How many holy coincidences has Jesus orchestrated so that we can sit here today a say, I am a follower of Christ?

You see, everything we have, the mundane to the magnificent, is a gracious gift of God. And because of this, the gospel and the cross should drive us to continually proclaim:

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

To God Alone be the Glory

Hit between the eyes.

Have you ever been hit between the eyes by God?

Do you know what I mean? You're just cruising along in life, reading or working or driving or talking when the thought hits you "I am off track" or "I've drifted way to far" or "My life and doctrine isn't what it was nor is it what it should be"? Visually, I think of this as walking in the woods, so intent on the trail that you're on that when you finally look up you realize you don't know where you are.

Such a moment came to me yesterday as I read a blog post by Paul David Tripp entitled Beware Your Delusions of Spiritual Grandeur. Based on previous posts by Tripp and the title, I thought of people to whom I should forward it to and others to whom I wouldn't forward, but who would really needed to read it.

Then I read it. And God hit me right between the eyes. Statements like the following brought me up short:

an attitude of arrival still shaped my ministry. 

when you think you've arrived, when you quit being convicted of and broken by your own weakness, failure, and sin, you will begin to make bad personal and ministry choices.

So I sit here today considering the ways my attitude of arrival has infected how I approach people and ministry. And, quite frankly, this attitude not only affects pastors and leaders, it affects us in the "rank and file" as well. Prayerfully consider this:

The reality and confession of personal spiritual weakness is not a grave danger to your ministry. God has chosen to build his church through the instrumentality of bent and broken tools. It is your delusions of strength that will get you in trouble and cause you to form a ministry that is less than Christ-centered and gospel-driven.  

Remember, the tender ministry of grace grows in the soil of constant awareness of your need for grace.

Read the full post here.

To God Alone be the Glory

All of Life

About 15 years ago I heard a sermon by Stuart Briscoe on the 6th commandment, which he entitled Valuing All of Life. His main thrust was on the tragedy and horror of abortion, but he had other, very relevant sub points as well. In general, those sub points could be summed up like this. All of life is precious, whether it is in the womb, in the crisis pregnancy center, in the food shelter, or on skid row.

This weekend in the area where I live, two people were killed as they were closing their shop for the day. I don't know them, but somebody does. There is now a wife without a husband and kids without a dad. There is a mom whose lost a son and siblings without their brother. There are possible grandchildren who will never know grandpa. And there is a possible wife and children that are never to be.

As I considered this, it reminded me of Briscoe's thesis: All of life is precious.

Perhaps what strikes me about this the most is the intentionality of it. Lives are lost in accidents and natural disasters with the same or similar consequences. Yet in those instances, the loss of life was beyond human control. But this weekend, lives were taken deliberately. Clearly, at that point, those lives were not precious and had little value to the one who took them.

I'm sharing all of this ask a very direct question: what value to we place on the lives God has created? Not just the lives that are precious to us, our spouses and kids and relatives and friends. What about the ordinary people we meet? What about the people we don't particularly like? What about the people we would rather not think about? What about the life in the womb, the crisis pregnancy center, the food shelter or on skid row?

One of the hard things about reading the gospels is that Jesus ministered to all of life. He had no racial barriers. He had no gender barriers. He had no religious barriers. He had no social barriers. He had no age barriers. How are we doing in imitating Him?

Personally, my grade is pretty poor.

The great thing about grace, is that if we are surrender our lives to Christ and trust Him alone for our salvation, we are forgiven. Falling short on His call to follow Him, as regrettable as it is, does not separate us from Him any longer. But, it doesn't absolve us either. The call is still there. The call to give a cold cup of water to the least of God's children is still in effect.

Daunted? I am. The need far exceeds the supply. Yet, the other great thing about the gospel is that I am not in this alone. And neither are you. First and foremost, we have the Holy Spirit to encourage and empower and exhort us. But also have each other. We are, after all, the body of Christ. Let us serve Him together.

And, by our service to Jesus, let us show that there is value in All of Life.

To God Alone be the Glory

O the deep, deep love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

To God Alone be the Glory

Too Small A Thing

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
   to raise up the tribes of Jacob
      and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
   that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.  -  Isa 49:6

Update 9/24

A few weeks ago I heard a sermon by Kevin DeYoung that caused me to look at Isa 49:6 and thus spur the blog post below. This weekend, DeYoung published an excerpt from that sermon on his blog. By the grace of God, it was the very portion that dealt that referenced Isa 49:6. So, if the implications of the words below or more likely the verse above cause your heart to stir, I would encourage you to reflect on DeYoung's thoughts here.

-------------------------------------------------

Honestly, I had to let the implications of this verse sink into my soul.

I am growing more and more enthralled with the book of Isaiah each time I read a portion of it. So, when I heard a reference to Isa 49:6 in a sermon I listened to this weekend, I had to look it up. But as I prayerfully read it this morning, I was struck some uncomfortable realities.

Reality 1:  God (Father, Son & Spirit) is really beyond me.

This was the point in the sermon I heard as well, but reading Isa 49 just served to solidify that thought in my mind. We probably all give lip service to the verse that says God's ways are not our ways, but that is often the reality. But consider this: our service to our neighbor, our kindness to a waitress or barista, our integrity at work or school, our faithfulness to spouse or girl/boy friend or a thousand other things can be used by God to push His glory to the ends of the earth. Do we really believe that the Word of God never returns void, but always accomplishes what God intends for it?

What is so cool about this, at least for me, is that it means God is constrained by me and my conceptions of Him. He really is at work 24x7 and not just in America. Not just in middle class white people. Not just in people how had a reasonably "good" upbringing. Any of these categories is too small for God.

Reality #2:  My prayers are not too much for God.

I'm not saying stop praying for a Honda and start praying for a BMW. I'm saying why just pray for the salvation of one neighbor? Why not the neighborhood? Seriously! Why are my prayers so timid and iffy? Isn't this the God who delights to bless His children? Isn't this the Christ who said you will receive everything you ask in my name? What else could be more in the name of Christ than the salvation of lost souls? Remember Lk 19 or Mt 9? This Jesus wept and had compassion on the lost. All of the lost.

Maybe we should try pushing the boundaries of prayer. Not for more stuff to waste on ourselves (see Jm 4). Instead asking God to demonstrate in our day the reality of Isa 49:6. I, for one, am willing (the flesh may be weak) to give it a try.

Reality #3: Our God is glorious, really glorious.

Read through the remainder of Isa 49. It is like wave after wave of God declaring His expansive saving plan. I may not know how to craft my next sermon or blog post, but God knows how He is going to engrave his people on the palms of His hand and how He will put us on like an ornament. I may be worried about speaking to a friend about the gospel while God knows how He will cause the heavens to sing and the mountains exult. Some, actually most, of this causes me to simply want to stand back and say wow!

I will wrap it up here but I think there is more. The allusions to Jesus in Isa 49 are the biggest. God's non-dependence on us is another. Maybe I'll touch on those another day. For now let's just rejoice that verses like Isa 49:6 have been given to us to set our hearts on fire and call us out of our own spiritual lethargy and into glorious service of the One whose salvation will reach the ends of the earth.

To God Alone be the Glory

Have mercy on me, O God.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
    then will you delight in right sacrifices,
  in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 51

To God Alone be the Glory

In The Valley

Posted from For the Love of God vol 2 -- 9/7

Why do we choose what can last but an hour
Before we must leave it behind?
Why do possessions exert brutal power
To render us harsh and unkind?
Why do mere things have the lure of a flower
Whose scent makes us selfish and blind?
The cisterns run dry, and sour is our breath;
We dwell in the valley of death.

Why is betrayal attractive to us
Who often are hurt and betrayed?
Why barter faithful devotion for lust,
Integrity cast far away?
Why do our dreams, then our deeds, beggar trust,
Our guilt far too heavy to pay?
The cisterns run dry, and sour is our breath;
We dwell in the valley of death.

Why do we stubbornly act out a role,
Convincing the world that we’ve won?
Why for mere winning will we sell our soul,
In order to be number one?
Why sear our conscience so we’re in control—
Despairing of what we’ve become?
The cisterns run dry, and sour is our breath;
We dwell in the valley of death.

O Jesus—

Why do you promise to quench all our thirst,
When we have despised all your ways?
Why do you rescue the damned and the cursed,
By dying our death in our place?
Why do you transform our hearts till they burst
With vibrant expressions of praise?
The well flows with life—and we’re satisfied—
The fountain that flows from your side.

To God Alone be the Glory

Have We Become Functional Atheists?

Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ (Ezk 9:9)

Here's a personal note: It is always risky to pray before opening God's word something to the effect of "Open my eyes to see You in your word, even in obscure passages like Ezekiel." The Holy Spirit may just honor such a request.

It is interesting to peel back some of the layers in Ezekiel 8 & 9. These chapters contain a great expression of God's displeasure with his people and help us understand why he dealt so severely with them at the end of  run the of kings. It is also helpful to remember that God's expectations haven't changed. Do we have a better understanding of grace than Israel did? Sure. Do we have the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely. But if our lives are not marked by a trajectory that is leading toward God and toward Christlikeness, one has to wonder whether we are revealing the heart attitudes found in Ezk 8-9.

For me, the telling phrase found in each chapter is when God repeats what he hears the people saying "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see." It is easy to read this in the sense of "The cat's away so the mice can play." I'm confident that is a large part of what was happening in Israel and what is happening in our day. Throw away any conception of God, abandon any moral code that He might impose and what your left with is an ever decreasing cycle of sinfulness and depravity. I imagine taking 10 year snapshots of our culture even for the past 100 years would show not just a decline but one that is accelerating.

And yet, I think there is another layer in these chapters. When God repeats what he's heard "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see." he is quoting in one instance the elders and in another instance the houses of Israel and Judah. In effect, He's addressing the church. And why this is pressing so hard on me today is not from the morality perspective (as real and profound as that is), but rather from the perspective of Christians, both individually and corporately, who have functionally abandoned God.

Consider your own lives or the life of your church. How much is done that totally depends on God? Not just sitting on the banks of the Jordan and waiting for the water to part, but to actively stepping into river expecting something only God can do? Not simply standing in the crowd around Jesus thinking "He could heal me if He wants to", but actively pushing through the throng and grabbing the hem of His robe? I see a lot of methodology in my own life and in the churches I've been a part of. I see much less abandonment to the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the question comes down to this: If the Holy Spirit left you, your family, your church, would you even notice? The leaders of Israel couldn't even see Him while He was still in their midst, so when He did leave there was no change from their perspective. Are we in the same boat? Do we have everything scripted so well that we have functionally removed our need for God?

I don't know that I have all (or any) of the the answers, but one thing I do know that needs to change in my own life is more God dependent, Spirit pleading prayer. I know its not the quantity of prayer that makes a difference, but there is some correlation between how often we come utterly dependent and bankrupt before God and our true vision of our own abilities.

In conclusion, maybe the picture of the church of Laodicea from Rev 3:14-22 is apt. In their self assessment, they needed nothing. In Jesus' assessment, they needed everything, The solution: "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see."

To God Alone be the Glory

Basking in the "Godness" of our Salvation

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Tit 3:4-7)

In preparing for an upcoming message on the power of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, I was drawn to Titus 3:5. However in quickly scanning the surrounding verses I was struck once again by the otherness of our salvation. Or maybe its better to say the "Godness" of our salvation.

I could break down each verse and highlight things like the goodness and kindness mercy of God, the richness of the grace of Jesus, cleansing and renewing (dare I say resurrecting) power of the Holy Spirit. I could highlight that our salvation really occurs in spite of ourselves, like little children who are rescued from dangerous, even life threatening peril without even realizing we were in danger. I could draw out the cooperative effort of the Trinity in saving us or the fact that our salvation doesn't just get us in, but places us in the exalted position of heir, one of God's beloved children.

I could do all of the above in this post, but my heart has a different bent right now. I simply want us to bask in the enormity of what God, in all of his trinitarian fullness, has orchestrated and accomplished for us. In reality Titus 3:4-7 is like a picture of the Grand Canyon. It is awesome to behold and is compelling to consider. But it pales to actually being there. No picture, no movie can replace actually standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and just soaking in its enormity. No description, no topographical map can communicate the depth and scale of being in the inner canyon and actually feeling as small as we really are.

And what is true of one small part of God's incredible creation is true of the apex of His work in the lives of his people. Today, can we take 5 minutes and simply (or profoundly) step into God's salvation? For 5 minutes can we take our eyes off ourselves and put our eyes on the Father of mercy, the Son of grace and the Spirit of power? For 5 minutes can we get lost in the enormity of God and His amazing, incredible, boundless love?

May this be the beginning of a journey that will take us to the very heart of God.

To God Alone be the Glory

The Foolishness of God

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:23-25)

This weekend I have been compiling notes to go along with a video series prepared by Francis Chan. And as Chan's comments flow from biblical truth through the TV into my soul, the word that kept rising up in my mind is "paradox". Then, in reading 1 Cor 1 this morning, the paradox symphony hit its crescendo. Of all the biblical, God ordained paradoxes that exist, the cross is the ultimate.

Think about it:

• The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why? Because true fear of God leads us to despair of self salvation and run to the cross.  
• Our righteous acts are but filthy rags. Why?  Because God's economy is fueled by love and grace and mercy and only in the cross do we see that our righteous acts have no value to save. 
• Pray for those who persecute you and if your enemy is hungry feed him. Why because agape love must extend beyond what is lovely and reach to that which is unlovely. This was done triumphantly on the cross.

So what do we do with this? Here are just a couple of personal things that the Holy Spirit is pressing into me.

Do I fully embrace the paradox of the cross? The just dying for the unjust. God's justice being satisfied for all of my sins, past present and future. My worthlessness being remade to something incredibly worthy (a whore becoming a cleansed and beautiful bride) I am able to add nothing, to earn nothing, coerce nothing to repay nothing to a God who has everything and a Savior who gave up everything to rescue me from my rebellion and my spiritual death and despair. And so much more

Do I fully grasp the paradox of the Christian life? Being a Christian is not simply acknowledging some truths. It is not simply accepting a label or checking a box on a form. It is not just being a follower of Jesus, like a duck in a long line of other ducks or a mule in a mule team in the Grand Canyon. It is a call to be an imitator (1 Cor 11:1).  It is a call to be a disciple and make disciples (Mt 28:18-20). It is call to give up what we cannot keep to receive what we cannot earn (Jim Elliot, Lk 9:23-25). It is the call to a narrow gate and a hard way (Mt 7:14). It is a call to give our lives so that the gospel may be proclaimed. (Phil 1:18,20-21). It is a call to know the love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). And so much more.

To God Alone be the Glory

Don't Settle for Mediocre Preaching

"Preaching is more than regurgitating your favorite exegetical commentary, recasting the sermons of your favorite preachers, or reshaping notes from one of your favorite seminary classes. It is bringing the transforming truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a passage that has been properly understood, cogently and practically applied, and delivered with the engaging tenderness and passion of a person who has been broken and restored by the very truths he now stands to communicate. You simply cannot do this without proper preparation, meditation, confession, and worship."

The quote above is an excerpt from a blog post by Paul David Tripp. What he said resonated with me since I find myself facing these same challenges in my preaching but also as I encounter and sit under a lot of mediocre preaching. I used to think it was noble to withhold sermon critiques to "honor the pastor". Now I realize that I was simply enabling mediocre preaching and doing a disservice to the Church and the one preaching. 

Here's the challenge. For those of us who sit in the pew, we need to know our Bibles well enough and love our Savior deeply enough to expect and demand good preaching. And,we need have the courage to speak the truth in love to our dear pastor, if his preaching has fallen on a rocky shoal.

And, the for those of us who have the rare privilege of preaching God's Word to God's people, we must, as Tripp says, "not lose sight of the excellent One and the excellent grace we have been called to represent. We cannot let his splendor appear boring and his amazing grace appear ordinary." We must realize that, as inadequate as we may feel, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God is making his appeal through us. Men, we have a high and holy calling. Let's not waste our lives rearranging deck chairs!

Tripp's entire post can be read here.

To God Alone be the Glory

Bonhoefferian Radicality

The following is an except from an article by Robert W. Yarbrough in the most recent issue of Themelios.

We might note that Bonhoeffer seemed to have an eye for what one could call the apocalyptic dimension of his era in the run-up to Axis hegemony (recall, e.g., the rape of Nanking in 193711) and World War II. It is in tragic hindsight of what he glimpsed and what most denied that his work takes on special poignancy. Surely we are not on the cusp of some analogous international cataclysm? We could wish for Bonhoeffer's prophetic instincts; it might put fire in our bones when we are prone to be at ease. 

Might this help? It has been plausibly estimated that since the early 1920s, around the world there have been nearly 1 billion abortions-about 950 million, actually.12 At current rates we will have reached 1 billion very soon. I wonder if that alone constitutes enough of an affront to God to justify Bonhoefferian radicality in our work, if I may coin a term. This would be in response, not to political usurpation in one nation most relevant to us, as terrible as the Nazis were and the Holocaust was, but because we realize how richly this world as a whole deserves divine retribution. Six million Jews is horrendous, but 950 million is about 158 times the Holocaust. Scripture seems to indicate that God is slow to anger, not bereft of the capacity. If justice exists in or around this cosmos, how short the time may be for us to extend the good news of redemption in whatever ways granted to us! (And to be quite clear: I have in mind here radical and engaged gospel-ministry and legal political activity where warranted, not physical aggression of any kind against abortion clinics or doctors.)

Read the whole article here.

At the end our days, may we be able to say along with Bonhoeffer: "This is the end. For me the beginning of life."

To God Alone be the Glory

When Sleep Doesn't Come

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Ps 121:4)

I have to thank God that I usually have very little trouble sleeping. I can have hard days and I can have long days, but when my head hits the pillow, its usually lights out. But every once in a while...sleep doesn't come. Sure sleeplessness provides an opportunity for prayer or a little extra reading or perhaps a bowl of Cherrios (my favorite sleeplessness remedy). Yet, I think the tossing and the turning, the mind that won't relax, hanging on to yesterday or anticipating tomorrow, the body that is wired for some unknown (or maybe well known) reason all can be viewed as gifts from God to remind us (again) that our rest (physical and spiritual) must be in Him.

Here is a reality that many of us know, but most of us fail to embrace. The message of the Bible from beginning to end is that God is lovingly and sovereignly in control of our lives. Isn't that the point of Mt 6, especially verses 25-34? And yet we live our lives as if we have sole control over everything. Even when things don't quite go our way, we think of what mid course corrections we can make, what lessons we can learn, how we can make improvements to what ever that didn't go our way. Yet, with all of this self focus, God gives us these gracious reminders that we are not even in control of our own sleep.

Of course, we need to remember that God's objective isn't simply to demonstrate His raw power and control. No, as a loving Creator, He always has twin objectives. For those who don't know Him, He is posting yet another sign post that He exists and that our lives are ultimately empty and pointless without Him. And for those who do know Him, He is calling us as a loving Father to rest and trust in Him. Perhaps Heb 4:10 says it best "for whoever has entered God's rest  has also rested from his works as God did from his"

In the end, sleep is good since it too is a gift from God.(Ps 127:2) But I think sleeplessness is good as well, because God can be glorified even in what he periodically withholds.

For God Alone be the Glory

Ambassadors for Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

The following is the conclusion of a sermon preached today. Read the whole thing here

In the end my friends, we are ambassadors because of 3 things.

• We are ambassadors because Jesus has claimed us as His own.
• We are ambassadors because God has given us the ministry and message of reconciliation, the unbridgeable gap between God and man has been bridged in Christ.
• We are ambassadors because Christ’s love compels us to plead with our friends and neighbors and all who the Spirit brings into our lives: Be reconciled to God.

I think it is fitting to close with the words from Isaiah. Despite the cultural decay and spiritual apathy around him, he continued to plead for reconciliation on God’s behalf:

Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
  Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
  let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

To God Alone be the Glory

Life Lessons from Acts 4

"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12)

For some time now, but especially over the past few months, I've been challenged by God to see that this faith we proclaim and this Savior we trust and adore are not new things that God called out of nothingness, but they are rather lost things that He has graciously brought back to our minds and hearts. Part of this challenge has been to read (and re-read) the Old Testament with a Christ-centered, Christ-expectant heart. Another part is to read the New Testament, not as corrective to the Old Testament, but as an expansion, a clarification and (dare I say it?) a fulfillment of what God was saying and doing and promising.

That's where Acts 4 comes into play. As I read it this morning I saw a few key connections between the Old Testament and New. On top of that, I also saw some great examples how we can take this unified story and plan of God out to a lost and dying world.

Everything Starts and Ends with the Gospel

Much could be said about the contents of the first 12 verses, including the fact that preaching the gospel will annoy religious people. But as I read these verses today, what struck me was the simple transparency of the early church's gospel witness. Their master plan was to speak to people (v1) and do good deeds in Christ name (v9, in reference to Acts 3) They also had the willingness (and the power) to testify to gospel realities (vv10-12). How often to I get lost in trying to fit the right words in the right situation instead of just talking about gospel realities. D.A. Carson calls this "gosipping the gospel". And, as Peter says later, "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet 3:15)

It should be noted that the conflict here and in most of the first half and the last quarter of Acts is a conflict between two views of God's connection with His people. Either its exclusive and limited by the whole Jewish system, thus Jesus is in fact a heretic, or it is expansive and unlimited through a salvation by grace through faith. Peter makes it clear which claim he believes is true.

The Gospel is a Synthetic Part of our Lives

Nothing seems more difficult for me to remember than the truth that the gospel is not something "out there", but it is "right here" and it touches every aspect of my life. Verses 13-22 bear this out, but verse 13 hammers the point home. The disciples were not the cream of anyone's crop and so people were that much more amazed by the effectiveness of their preaching and ministry. And, people recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Pause a minute to consider the implications of that verse. How could someone tell whether Peter or John or any of the others had been with Jesus? The cool t-shirts? A specific hair style? Their accent? The shekinah glory? Perhaps its because there's an internal recognition system in each of us, broken by the fall, that still resonates when the truth of God and his redemption is proclaimed. This is what our lives, our daily, mundane, ordinary lives are to be like.

On top of this, the disciples had a mantra that should really be placarded over each of our lives. "We must obey God rather than men." This again demonstrates the connection the disciples see with the faith that came before them. They don't see themselves as abandoning Judaism as much as fulfilling it.

God Entranced Prayers yield God Entranced Results

As any of my good friends would know, I have a very healthy respect for the height and breadth and depth of prayer. I certainly would be the last person to deny that God honors the simple, here and now requests of His children. That is the straightforward conclusion of the second half of the Lord's prayer and the teaching of Mt 6:25-34 and Mt 7:7-11. Yet, so many of the prayers within the Bible transcend this "me centered", "temporal centered" perspective. The prayer in verses 24-30 is no different. The disciples give glory to God and ascribe to Him the sovereignty over all the events leading to and through Jesus' crucifixion. Then they don't seek relief, nor do they abandon themselves to the nebulous "will of God". Instead they pray in the hard direction they knew they were called to. And of course the ask for God to continue bring glory to Christ. The results are a direct manifestation of the Spirit and an unashamed proclamation of the gospel.

Our Lives and the Church should begin to look like the New Heavens and the New Earth.

This is not a statement of post-millennial eschatology. Rather, it is simply the observation that in verses 32-37. The people individually and the church collectively were doing something so counter cultural and so against human nature that we simply want to discard these verses. However, if we are really growing in grace, shouldn't this sort of "real-world", radical generosity be a mark of our lives? Isn't this extravagant blessing of others be a mark of people who have been with Jesus? I know there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of "real-world" reasons for us to be cautious of how we give our money and resources. But this doesn't mean hoard them or waste them. Instead it should mean prayerfully, wisely lay them at Jesus' feet and distribute to all who have needs.

It is interesting that the one highlighted for his self-sacrificial generosity is Barnabas, a Levite. The Levites were dependent on other's generosity for their own needs, so here is one who has nothing of his own giving to others who had even less. He is thus pointing to and fulfilling the enduring call of the people of God to love their neighbors as themselves (Lev 19:18, see also Lev 19:9-10)

The bottom-line? We always need to be growing up and growing in to our salvation. There is always more Jesus will ask of us, but He will give us today our daily bread (manna, anyone?). What we should not do is either despair, thinking the bar is too high and we can never achieve it or ignore, thinking this is only for the "elite" Christians who read Puritans and write blogs. The call of Acts 4 is for us all. May the Spirit apply it to your heart today in way that brings glory to Christ and brings you closer to One who sits on the throne.

To God Alone be the Glory