Romans 5:8 says this: "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us."
First, the 'us' there is Christians - not everyone.
But second - I've often divorced that from the following verses.
In doing so - I've forgotten that God also shows his love in that his Son didn't STAY dead. The Father rescued him from death and showed him to be the Faithful Son - and likewise he will raise us who believed and rescue us ultimately as well. What amazing love God has for us! Look to the risen Christ and rely on him for your future life with God Almighty!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I am self-righteous...
I am a self-righteous one...
Today I spent time repudiating my self-righteousness before God, my Father.
I found that I've believed that I'm a good husband. That I think highly of myself because of time spent in Scripture and in prayer. That I think I deserve something because I sometimes do a good job in ministry. That I think that I'm not guilty because I've not cheated on anyone. That I think I'm okay because I don't lie, cheat or steal - even though I covet and am discontent and rarely give thanks.
I found today that I am a Pharisee. I am self-righteous. I try to earn salvation before God by my works.
But I came upon this in my reading: "...but if, by the Spirit of God, you kill the actions of your sinful body, you will live eternally. The reason you'll live forever if you do that is this: all of the ones who are led along by the Spirit of God are children of God." (Rom. 8:13-14; my dynamic equivalence translation)
Obedience comes from already being made a child; it doesn't make me one. That same Spirit in me that cries to God 'Father!' because of what Jesus did - HE leads me in obedience and gives me eternal life.
Today I spent time repudiating my self-righteousness before God, my Father.
I found that I've believed that I'm a good husband. That I think highly of myself because of time spent in Scripture and in prayer. That I think I deserve something because I sometimes do a good job in ministry. That I think that I'm not guilty because I've not cheated on anyone. That I think I'm okay because I don't lie, cheat or steal - even though I covet and am discontent and rarely give thanks.
I found today that I am a Pharisee. I am self-righteous. I try to earn salvation before God by my works.
But I came upon this in my reading: "...but if, by the Spirit of God, you kill the actions of your sinful body, you will live eternally. The reason you'll live forever if you do that is this: all of the ones who are led along by the Spirit of God are children of God." (Rom. 8:13-14; my dynamic equivalence translation)
Obedience comes from already being made a child; it doesn't make me one. That same Spirit in me that cries to God 'Father!' because of what Jesus did - HE leads me in obedience and gives me eternal life.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Worship, Thanks, or Both?
I was thinking about the structure of the book of Romans today. (Some of you are probably chuckling at that...)
But I realized something. Before Paul moves to assuring US of our salvation - directing US to how great it is that WE are saved (beginning in 4:23) -
he merely celebrates that God is the God who justifies the ungodly.
That he has made his righteousness known.
That he has been propitiated through the redemption in the blood of Jesus.
That he is both just and the justifier of the ungodly one who trusts Jesus.
In other words, he teaches who God is before teaching who we individually are as a result.
I wouldn't mandate this - but I think there's wisdom in it - that we worship God for who he is and what he's done and what he is capable of doing (He is just, loving, the justifier, the life-giver - even towards the ungodly) - before we thank him for justifying us personally - for saving us personally.
Or in other words - perhaps it is wise to gaze into the glory of God before we gaze into how that glory has changed us personally.
Certainly we must make it personal. I think perhaps we just tend to do so too quickly.
God is the justifier of the ungodly!
And his dedication to his own glory has justified me.
But I realized something. Before Paul moves to assuring US of our salvation - directing US to how great it is that WE are saved (beginning in 4:23) -
he merely celebrates that God is the God who justifies the ungodly.
That he has made his righteousness known.
That he has been propitiated through the redemption in the blood of Jesus.
That he is both just and the justifier of the ungodly one who trusts Jesus.
In other words, he teaches who God is before teaching who we individually are as a result.
I wouldn't mandate this - but I think there's wisdom in it - that we worship God for who he is and what he's done and what he is capable of doing (He is just, loving, the justifier, the life-giver - even towards the ungodly) - before we thank him for justifying us personally - for saving us personally.
Or in other words - perhaps it is wise to gaze into the glory of God before we gaze into how that glory has changed us personally.
Certainly we must make it personal. I think perhaps we just tend to do so too quickly.
God is the justifier of the ungodly!
And his dedication to his own glory has justified me.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
He is risen! And I'm bored...
I don't know if you grew up in church, but I did, and so we celebrated Easter every year. And that's appropriate. But it wasn't a fun time of year for me: our family wasn't characterized by the character of Christ - his love - but by fear and dysfunction. So, to be honest, I don't really have good memories of Easter.
There's a huge upside to that, though. The cultural hang-ups of holidays - gifts, certain songs, food, family - were never in competition with my focus being on Christ. Those things are good, for sure, but our idols are very seldom intrinsically evil - it's that we, in our evil, replace God as the object of our delight with them.
And what was nice for me growing up - I didn't have those things to distract me from Jesus.
Unfortunately, that vacuum wasn't really filled with God and what he said about Easter when I was a child. I mean, I knew Jesus had risen. But so what? Maybe it was because I wasn't paying attention, but I had no idea why it was significant that Jesus had come back to life after dying.
Maybe you can connect with some of this. Maybe things you associate with the Easter holiday distract you from what the Bible says about it. Maybe bad experiences with family have left you emotionless in the face of the holiday. Maybe you just don't know what the Bible says about Jesus' resurrection.
But we should be happy about it, and we should worship God as a result.
Let me summarize a few reasons - then we'll look at some Scripture to really hammer them home.
1) Has your love for God got... emotionless? The resurrection shows off Jesus' glory.
2) Do you feel like your world - your family, relationships, finances - our out of control? The resurrection shows off Jesus' position and role and activity as Ruler.
3) Are you just living day to day? Maybe not really enjoying life? Hoping for things that may or may not happen - and that ultimately won't result in lasting happiness? The resurrection guarantees a future for us where we'll enjoy Jesus forever without hindrance.
4) Do you feel like you just can't live for Jesus at all? The resurrection has resulted in our having a new nature which obeys Jesus.
5) Do you feel guilty before God? Condemned? Like he's angry at you? The resurrection secures all of this previously mentioned goodness - because it shows that our rebellion has already been punished and can never be punished again.
Let's delve into this stuff about the resurrection.
1) It demonstrated the glory of Jesus' authority. He told Martha, "I am the resurrection"(John 11:25) - meaning that resurrection from the dead for all people was completely tied to himself. He also said, "I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again"(John 10:18).
Jesus is he who has authority over life and death - and he deserves to be worshiped for it. We don't, governments don't, armies don't, doctors don't - Jesus does.
2) Jesus' right to govern the universe for his pleasure was sealed by his resurrection. In other words, Jesus got a new title - a new position. He didn't 'become a god' or something weird like that - but his actions and role changed. God had this written: "[Jesus] was declared to be THE SON OF GOD IN POWER, according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead."
His new title is 'The Son of God in Power.' That means that he has begun to reign - to do all his will. That's why the Scriptures make such a big deal about Jesus sitting down at God's 'right hand' after he rose.
But Jesus has a new role as of his resurrection - and he has begun a new era - remaking the world into what it's supposed to be.
Look around. The world's broken. Heck, your world is broken. Jesus has begun to fix this broken world by his resurrection. We need to credit him as such. He's the sovereign fixer - both in title and action. And he'll finish the job.
3) Not only is Jesus the Divine Fixer of the world - but his resurrection itself is what is fixing the world. God has it written: "He (Jesus) is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead"(Col. 1:18).
'Firstborn' indicates the happening that secures the rest. Or in other words, if there's a 'firstborn,' the couple isn't infertile. They can have more kids. Here, that means that Jesus was the one whose resurrection from the dead secured the resurrection from the dead of those who are connected to him through trusting him.
This might seem a little bit vague. Let me get specific. Jesus' resurrection did two things. First, it secured the physical resurrection of all who obey him. Death is certainly not the end. When Jesus comes back, every Christian will physically rise from the dead in a new, immortal body.
Second, when that happens, this world will be released from its bondage to sin and resulting suffering.
In sum - new bodies without any remnant or iota of rebellion against God or its effects. New universe that bears no stain of the effects of our sins.
No suffering, no pain, no sin - but all creation governed by the glorious love of God. Christ's resurrection secured that. See Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15.
And by the way, don't skim Scripture. It's God's words. Every last one. Treat it as such.
4) Now that's all future, right? Seems like it in a way - but it's really not all future. Jesus' bringing new life has already begun. He's given us new hearts and minds and souls - a new nature. God said through the Apostle Peter, "[God] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1 Peter 1:3).
And in Ephesians 2:5, Paul speaks from God, writing that He "made us alive together with Christ."
What's the result of that? He tells us a few verses later in v. 10: "For we are his workmanship, created (catch that! we're new creations! we're part of the new world!) in Christ Jesus for good works..."
A lot of times people read that and say, "Aha! See! You're forgiven as a gift - but now you should do works!" That is completely missing the point - and actually, contradicting the point. The point is that God recreated us - resurrected us - so that we'd do good works. Or in other words, he had an end in mind when he raised us spiritually - obedience to him.
He's not sitting up in heaven, wringing his hands, just HOPING that we'll actually obey for once. No. He's reprogrammed us TO obey. Yeah, our obedience isn't perfect. But it's present. And it's present because Jesus rose from the dead and brought our souls from the grave with him. He gave us faith and gave us the desire and ability to obey him. And so we do, imperfectly now, perfectly when he returns.
We need to thank him for that and grab a hold of the fact that he's the one at work in our lives. We obey because he's at work. If we obey because we think it depends on us - we're acting like Jesus didn't rise. But he did. And so did we. And so we do obey. So let's obey.
5) Jesus' resurrection shows that he's dealt with our guilt - and we'll never have to. Romans 4:25 says this: "[Jesus] was delivered up (killed) on account of our trespasses and raised for our justification."
Because we disobeyed - and continue to disobey - what God's commanded - Jesus took our death penalty. He stood in for us. He died in our places. He was punished instead of us. You deserve to suffer the infinite wrath, anger, fury of your Creator; and Jesus, who never sinned, did it in your stead.
But if he'd stayed dead, he'd have continued to bear the penalty for your sins. It wouldn't have been finished. But it was - and so death backfired. Death died. Death happened completely, and so its existence was completed - and over. And Jesus rose.
His resurrection shows that the punishment for sin is over. None awaits us. None. The entirety of your guilt, if you are a Christian, is GONE. Jesus lived a perfect life in your place - he died by God's wrath in your place - and he lives because your justification - your acquittal in his law court - has been completely, unalterably, unchangeably, irrevocably, permanently, eternally, gloriously secured.
And so because Jesus rose from the dead - you stand in God's sight - as if you'd obeyed. As if you'd lived Jesus' life and earned Jesus' reward.
When you feel guilty - and if you can't believe any of this stuff - look to the resurrected Jesus. All of this is yours - because he rose from the dead.
There's a huge upside to that, though. The cultural hang-ups of holidays - gifts, certain songs, food, family - were never in competition with my focus being on Christ. Those things are good, for sure, but our idols are very seldom intrinsically evil - it's that we, in our evil, replace God as the object of our delight with them.
And what was nice for me growing up - I didn't have those things to distract me from Jesus.
Unfortunately, that vacuum wasn't really filled with God and what he said about Easter when I was a child. I mean, I knew Jesus had risen. But so what? Maybe it was because I wasn't paying attention, but I had no idea why it was significant that Jesus had come back to life after dying.
Maybe you can connect with some of this. Maybe things you associate with the Easter holiday distract you from what the Bible says about it. Maybe bad experiences with family have left you emotionless in the face of the holiday. Maybe you just don't know what the Bible says about Jesus' resurrection.
But we should be happy about it, and we should worship God as a result.
Let me summarize a few reasons - then we'll look at some Scripture to really hammer them home.
1) Has your love for God got... emotionless? The resurrection shows off Jesus' glory.
2) Do you feel like your world - your family, relationships, finances - our out of control? The resurrection shows off Jesus' position and role and activity as Ruler.
3) Are you just living day to day? Maybe not really enjoying life? Hoping for things that may or may not happen - and that ultimately won't result in lasting happiness? The resurrection guarantees a future for us where we'll enjoy Jesus forever without hindrance.
4) Do you feel like you just can't live for Jesus at all? The resurrection has resulted in our having a new nature which obeys Jesus.
5) Do you feel guilty before God? Condemned? Like he's angry at you? The resurrection secures all of this previously mentioned goodness - because it shows that our rebellion has already been punished and can never be punished again.
Let's delve into this stuff about the resurrection.
1) It demonstrated the glory of Jesus' authority. He told Martha, "I am the resurrection"(John 11:25) - meaning that resurrection from the dead for all people was completely tied to himself. He also said, "I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again"(John 10:18).
Jesus is he who has authority over life and death - and he deserves to be worshiped for it. We don't, governments don't, armies don't, doctors don't - Jesus does.
2) Jesus' right to govern the universe for his pleasure was sealed by his resurrection. In other words, Jesus got a new title - a new position. He didn't 'become a god' or something weird like that - but his actions and role changed. God had this written: "[Jesus] was declared to be THE SON OF GOD IN POWER, according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead."
His new title is 'The Son of God in Power.' That means that he has begun to reign - to do all his will. That's why the Scriptures make such a big deal about Jesus sitting down at God's 'right hand' after he rose.
But Jesus has a new role as of his resurrection - and he has begun a new era - remaking the world into what it's supposed to be.
Look around. The world's broken. Heck, your world is broken. Jesus has begun to fix this broken world by his resurrection. We need to credit him as such. He's the sovereign fixer - both in title and action. And he'll finish the job.
3) Not only is Jesus the Divine Fixer of the world - but his resurrection itself is what is fixing the world. God has it written: "He (Jesus) is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead"(Col. 1:18).
'Firstborn' indicates the happening that secures the rest. Or in other words, if there's a 'firstborn,' the couple isn't infertile. They can have more kids. Here, that means that Jesus was the one whose resurrection from the dead secured the resurrection from the dead of those who are connected to him through trusting him.
This might seem a little bit vague. Let me get specific. Jesus' resurrection did two things. First, it secured the physical resurrection of all who obey him. Death is certainly not the end. When Jesus comes back, every Christian will physically rise from the dead in a new, immortal body.
Second, when that happens, this world will be released from its bondage to sin and resulting suffering.
In sum - new bodies without any remnant or iota of rebellion against God or its effects. New universe that bears no stain of the effects of our sins.
No suffering, no pain, no sin - but all creation governed by the glorious love of God. Christ's resurrection secured that. See Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15.
And by the way, don't skim Scripture. It's God's words. Every last one. Treat it as such.
4) Now that's all future, right? Seems like it in a way - but it's really not all future. Jesus' bringing new life has already begun. He's given us new hearts and minds and souls - a new nature. God said through the Apostle Peter, "[God] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"(1 Peter 1:3).
And in Ephesians 2:5, Paul speaks from God, writing that He "made us alive together with Christ."
What's the result of that? He tells us a few verses later in v. 10: "For we are his workmanship, created (catch that! we're new creations! we're part of the new world!) in Christ Jesus for good works..."
A lot of times people read that and say, "Aha! See! You're forgiven as a gift - but now you should do works!" That is completely missing the point - and actually, contradicting the point. The point is that God recreated us - resurrected us - so that we'd do good works. Or in other words, he had an end in mind when he raised us spiritually - obedience to him.
He's not sitting up in heaven, wringing his hands, just HOPING that we'll actually obey for once. No. He's reprogrammed us TO obey. Yeah, our obedience isn't perfect. But it's present. And it's present because Jesus rose from the dead and brought our souls from the grave with him. He gave us faith and gave us the desire and ability to obey him. And so we do, imperfectly now, perfectly when he returns.
We need to thank him for that and grab a hold of the fact that he's the one at work in our lives. We obey because he's at work. If we obey because we think it depends on us - we're acting like Jesus didn't rise. But he did. And so did we. And so we do obey. So let's obey.
5) Jesus' resurrection shows that he's dealt with our guilt - and we'll never have to. Romans 4:25 says this: "[Jesus] was delivered up (killed) on account of our trespasses and raised for our justification."
Because we disobeyed - and continue to disobey - what God's commanded - Jesus took our death penalty. He stood in for us. He died in our places. He was punished instead of us. You deserve to suffer the infinite wrath, anger, fury of your Creator; and Jesus, who never sinned, did it in your stead.
But if he'd stayed dead, he'd have continued to bear the penalty for your sins. It wouldn't have been finished. But it was - and so death backfired. Death died. Death happened completely, and so its existence was completed - and over. And Jesus rose.
His resurrection shows that the punishment for sin is over. None awaits us. None. The entirety of your guilt, if you are a Christian, is GONE. Jesus lived a perfect life in your place - he died by God's wrath in your place - and he lives because your justification - your acquittal in his law court - has been completely, unalterably, unchangeably, irrevocably, permanently, eternally, gloriously secured.
And so because Jesus rose from the dead - you stand in God's sight - as if you'd obeyed. As if you'd lived Jesus' life and earned Jesus' reward.
When you feel guilty - and if you can't believe any of this stuff - look to the resurrected Jesus. All of this is yours - because he rose from the dead.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
What do the words 'world' and 'all' mean in the New Testament?
People argue about theology, and often assume they know what words mean. I'm going to list possible definitions of these words from BDAG, the standard, scholarly NT Greek Lexicon
For 'world' (when translating the word 'kosmos') - beautifying adornment, orderly arrangement, the sum total of all existence (the whole universe), the sum total of all beings above the level of animals (including angels), planet earth, humanity in general (especially of a group of humans), collective aspect of an entity or totality (as in the tongue is a world of unrighteousness from James 3:6)
For 'all' (when translating 'pas') - each one of something, any entity out of a totality (any), marks the highest degree of something (greatest), a high degree of completeness, every kind of something
When you're reading the Bible, you don't get to pick which meaning you like for the verse. The surrounding context determines the meaning.
For 'world' (when translating the word 'kosmos') - beautifying adornment, orderly arrangement, the sum total of all existence (the whole universe), the sum total of all beings above the level of animals (including angels), planet earth, humanity in general (especially of a group of humans), collective aspect of an entity or totality (as in the tongue is a world of unrighteousness from James 3:6)
For 'all' (when translating 'pas') - each one of something, any entity out of a totality (any), marks the highest degree of something (greatest), a high degree of completeness, every kind of something
When you're reading the Bible, you don't get to pick which meaning you like for the verse. The surrounding context determines the meaning.
Neo-Atheist Gets Owned by Stephen Colbert
If you haven't heard of Bart Ehrman... well, good. He's one of the neo-atheists whose made it his personal mission to dissuade as many people from believing in Jesus as possible.
He once was a Christian. Went to Moody, Wheaton, and studied New Testament under Bruce Metzger, one of the foremost Christian NT scholars, at Princeton. Then he left the faith. He's now the chairman of the religious studies department at UNC.
He's brilliant, but he's an apostate. He left the faith because he didn't like that our God decrees suffering, but argues against the faith using New Testament scholarship.
So it was with great pleasure to see him get ripped apart on this clip from the Colbert Report (thanks to Dr. James White).
Colbert certainly is no scholar, and he shredded Ehrman's arguments.
Now, one of the things that Ehrman said was that the Gospel of John is the only gospel which presents Jesus as Divine - as very God. The earliest gospels, according to him, do not.
Really? According to most scholars, Mark was written first. So, let's ignore the fact that several of the letters in the NT were written before Mark... and let's just look through Mark.
-The presence of Jesus is the same as the presence of God's Rule (God's Kingdom)
-Jesus has authority to forgive sins
-Jesus does miracles without directing credit away from himself
-Jesus says that people should do good things 'in his name' (to represent him for his glory)
-He says that people should leave their families for his sake
-He says that whoever receives him receives God Himself
-He points out that the Messiah, though David's Son, is someone that David calls 'Lord'
-He refers to himself as the cloud-riding Son of Man from Daniel 7 - God is spoken of in the rest of the OT as metaphorically riding on the clouds
-Mark 1:2 replaces a reference to God with a pronoun referring to Jesus in his quoting of Malachi 3:1
-He distinguishes himself from 'sinners' (Mark 14:41)
That's just from a quick reading. Of course Jesus isn't cited as coming right out and saying "I am God." Would we expect the Messiah to do so if he is not coming immediately to judge the world, but rather to start a movement which holds to his teachings? He'd have been executed within a day of ministry if he'd done that.
Furthermore, Ehrman was assuming that ancient Jews all would've assumed that the Messiah was not God.
My response:
First, it's pretty clear that some ancient Rabbis believed the Messiah was going to be God. Not all, but some.
And second, it's really hard to ignore the fact that there is one God presented in the Old Testament - and two persons (at least) of that God.
The thing is - Ehrman knows this stuff. So why is he battling against the faith?
"At that time Jesus declared, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him'"(Matthew 11:25-27).
Answer: because God is glorifying himself.
He once was a Christian. Went to Moody, Wheaton, and studied New Testament under Bruce Metzger, one of the foremost Christian NT scholars, at Princeton. Then he left the faith. He's now the chairman of the religious studies department at UNC.
He's brilliant, but he's an apostate. He left the faith because he didn't like that our God decrees suffering, but argues against the faith using New Testament scholarship.
So it was with great pleasure to see him get ripped apart on this clip from the Colbert Report (thanks to Dr. James White).
Colbert certainly is no scholar, and he shredded Ehrman's arguments.
Now, one of the things that Ehrman said was that the Gospel of John is the only gospel which presents Jesus as Divine - as very God. The earliest gospels, according to him, do not.
Really? According to most scholars, Mark was written first. So, let's ignore the fact that several of the letters in the NT were written before Mark... and let's just look through Mark.
-The presence of Jesus is the same as the presence of God's Rule (God's Kingdom)
-Jesus has authority to forgive sins
-Jesus does miracles without directing credit away from himself
-Jesus says that people should do good things 'in his name' (to represent him for his glory)
-He says that people should leave their families for his sake
-He says that whoever receives him receives God Himself
-He points out that the Messiah, though David's Son, is someone that David calls 'Lord'
-He refers to himself as the cloud-riding Son of Man from Daniel 7 - God is spoken of in the rest of the OT as metaphorically riding on the clouds
-Mark 1:2 replaces a reference to God with a pronoun referring to Jesus in his quoting of Malachi 3:1
-He distinguishes himself from 'sinners' (Mark 14:41)
That's just from a quick reading. Of course Jesus isn't cited as coming right out and saying "I am God." Would we expect the Messiah to do so if he is not coming immediately to judge the world, but rather to start a movement which holds to his teachings? He'd have been executed within a day of ministry if he'd done that.
Furthermore, Ehrman was assuming that ancient Jews all would've assumed that the Messiah was not God.
My response:
First, it's pretty clear that some ancient Rabbis believed the Messiah was going to be God. Not all, but some.
And second, it's really hard to ignore the fact that there is one God presented in the Old Testament - and two persons (at least) of that God.
The thing is - Ehrman knows this stuff. So why is he battling against the faith?
"At that time Jesus declared, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him'"(Matthew 11:25-27).
Answer: because God is glorifying himself.
Friday, April 10, 2009
In my place condemned he stood...
...sealed my pardon with his blood
HALLELUJAH! What a Savior...
What is celebrated today is that 2,000 years ago
our guilt was dealt with
our consciences were cleaned
our punishment was meted out
our forgiveness was secured
our freedom from sinning was attained
our judgment stood finished
our justification was accomplished
our freedom from this dying world was purchased
our King was crowned
our Lord was glorified
our Creator... died for us
Praise the Lord! There is no god like our God - and truly no glory like His - our Most High Triune God.
HALLELUJAH! What a Savior...
What is celebrated today is that 2,000 years ago
our guilt was dealt with
our consciences were cleaned
our punishment was meted out
our forgiveness was secured
our freedom from sinning was attained
our judgment stood finished
our justification was accomplished
our freedom from this dying world was purchased
our King was crowned
our Lord was glorified
our Creator... died for us
Praise the Lord! There is no god like our God - and truly no glory like His - our Most High Triune God.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
New Book on Decision-Making
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Right doctrine and zealous emotions
If you've got right doctrine, but you don't have an accompanying holy, firey zeal for God, you're being a hypocrite.
If you have a great deal of emotion about God, but you don't know what the Bible says about him, you've created an idol that you have feelings for.
Real Christianity is about right doctrine that comes from God that results in right thoughts, feelings, and actions for the glory of God.
If you have a great deal of emotion about God, but you don't know what the Bible says about him, you've created an idol that you have feelings for.
Real Christianity is about right doctrine that comes from God that results in right thoughts, feelings, and actions for the glory of God.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Worship
This morning as I was praying, I realized that true worship really is the result of truly tasting God's character and glory.
Because I'm depraved, that means first coming to grips with my own depravity, rebellion, and even inability to obey his holy commands. And then it means coming to grips with his love given freely in Christ.
But how often do we just sing of general ... stuff? There's nothing wrong with singing 'I could sing of your love forever' (outside of the fact that it's old and repetitive... sorry, couldn't resist the jab...), but if we're not thinking of the love of God for sinners in Christ, are we praising God... or the concept of love?
As I wrestled with God over my own sin this morning, I recognized that I really need to do this more regularly - that is, really come to grips with my ugliness, wretchedness, evil, and inability - and then the grace of God means something huge.
Because I'm depraved, that means first coming to grips with my own depravity, rebellion, and even inability to obey his holy commands. And then it means coming to grips with his love given freely in Christ.
But how often do we just sing of general ... stuff? There's nothing wrong with singing 'I could sing of your love forever' (outside of the fact that it's old and repetitive... sorry, couldn't resist the jab...), but if we're not thinking of the love of God for sinners in Christ, are we praising God... or the concept of love?
As I wrestled with God over my own sin this morning, I recognized that I really need to do this more regularly - that is, really come to grips with my ugliness, wretchedness, evil, and inability - and then the grace of God means something huge.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
In Conclusion...
So in conclusion to the last post - do stupid things. In other words, do things for the glory of Christ that don't make sense to this world - and don't make sense to even the part of you that is still worldly. And your heart towards Jesus and his Kingdom will grow.
Where's your heart?
I'm raising support right now. From a Biblical standpoint, I'm seeking people to partner with me in the ministry God's called me to for the sake of his glory. From a worldly standpoint, I'm asking people for money.
Now, when I'm tempted by the latter viewpoint, calling people I don't know to talk about money is really, really hard. I'm naturally shy and non-confrontational, and honestly, I don't think well on the fly while in the midst of conversation.
But Jesus said this: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Now note that he didn't say the reverse: 'where your heart is, there your treasure will be.' Now certainly, what you choose, care about, etc results in storing up treasure for yourself in that realm (the world or heaven).
BUT - that's not what Jesus said, exactly. Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.
In other words, if I've stored up a bunch of good stuff for myself on earth, I'm naturally going to make choices that prioritize those things. I'm going to care about that stuff that I've stored up.
On the other hand, if I look at the treasure purchased for me by Jesus and stop hoarding on earth - I'm going to make choices and be passionate about heaven.
So our heart, sometimes, follows our choices. And in my context, that means that I - though I don't have a lot of worldly stuff (I'm a missionary!) - need to focus on what Jesus purchased for me - and then I have to CHOOSE to keep storing stuff in the place that he's setting up for me - and THEN, my feelings and my choices and my soul will be increasingly in line with my Master's.
Now, when I'm tempted by the latter viewpoint, calling people I don't know to talk about money is really, really hard. I'm naturally shy and non-confrontational, and honestly, I don't think well on the fly while in the midst of conversation.
But Jesus said this: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Now note that he didn't say the reverse: 'where your heart is, there your treasure will be.' Now certainly, what you choose, care about, etc results in storing up treasure for yourself in that realm (the world or heaven).
BUT - that's not what Jesus said, exactly. Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.
In other words, if I've stored up a bunch of good stuff for myself on earth, I'm naturally going to make choices that prioritize those things. I'm going to care about that stuff that I've stored up.
On the other hand, if I look at the treasure purchased for me by Jesus and stop hoarding on earth - I'm going to make choices and be passionate about heaven.
So our heart, sometimes, follows our choices. And in my context, that means that I - though I don't have a lot of worldly stuff (I'm a missionary!) - need to focus on what Jesus purchased for me - and then I have to CHOOSE to keep storing stuff in the place that he's setting up for me - and THEN, my feelings and my choices and my soul will be increasingly in line with my Master's.
Friday, March 20, 2009
I'll keep that in prayer...
Say someone comes to you with a dire need. Someone they know is dying. Someone they know is spiritually dead. A relative is in bad financial straits.
I usually say, "I'll pray for you." You probably do too, right? Right. So...
1) If you can do something to help, DO SOMETHING. Remember James 1, kids.
2) Prayer is good, effective, and honoring to Jesus. So pray. Don't just say you'll pray. Pray then and there.
And then.... THEN.... WRITE IT DOWN. Seriously, do you think you're going to 'keep' ANYTHING 'in prayer' without writing it down to look at every day?
The fact of the matter is, in a fast paced, self-reliant culture, we neglect prayer. I neglect prayer. If I'm busy, it's often the first thing to go.
And also if I'm busy, prayer usually becomes about.... my junk. And no one else's. Certainly not the nation's, nor the world's... nor God's grand purpose in this world.
Whoops.
I pray through a list daily. Some of you might think that's lame. Well, I'm lame. I have a craptastic memory and a sinnin' heart that focuses on .... ME. So I write down stuff I need to pray for.
I read Scripture, ask the Father to convict me of sin, thank him for forgiving me for it, and pray through everything on that list - everything from my own walk with God, my wife's walk with God, to requests from others, to missionaries I support, to the whole world.
It ain't perfect. But it helps this dude out. Give it a shot! Prayer honors God, and through it, he's redeeming this world by the blood of Jesus.
Someone, at some point, probably prayed for your salvation. God used it. Let's keep the chain goin'.
Here's my list - maybe it'll help.
And feel free to help me out, too.
I usually say, "I'll pray for you." You probably do too, right? Right. So...
1) If you can do something to help, DO SOMETHING. Remember James 1, kids.
2) Prayer is good, effective, and honoring to Jesus. So pray. Don't just say you'll pray. Pray then and there.
And then.... THEN.... WRITE IT DOWN. Seriously, do you think you're going to 'keep' ANYTHING 'in prayer' without writing it down to look at every day?
The fact of the matter is, in a fast paced, self-reliant culture, we neglect prayer. I neglect prayer. If I'm busy, it's often the first thing to go.
And also if I'm busy, prayer usually becomes about.... my junk. And no one else's. Certainly not the nation's, nor the world's... nor God's grand purpose in this world.
Whoops.
I pray through a list daily. Some of you might think that's lame. Well, I'm lame. I have a craptastic memory and a sinnin' heart that focuses on .... ME. So I write down stuff I need to pray for.
I read Scripture, ask the Father to convict me of sin, thank him for forgiving me for it, and pray through everything on that list - everything from my own walk with God, my wife's walk with God, to requests from others, to missionaries I support, to the whole world.
It ain't perfect. But it helps this dude out. Give it a shot! Prayer honors God, and through it, he's redeeming this world by the blood of Jesus.
Someone, at some point, probably prayed for your salvation. God used it. Let's keep the chain goin'.
Here's my list - maybe it'll help.
And feel free to help me out, too.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thankful
I'm so glad right now that I stand righteous before God, and will forever stand righteous before him, because Jesus has been righteous in my place. I'm so glad...
that I'm not judged by my 'heart' and my 'intentions' - both of which are often wicked
that I'm not judged by how much compassion I have for people
that I'm not judged by how much zeal I feel for God
that I'm not judged by the strength of my faith
that I'm not judged by how well I love my wife
that I'm not judged by how many people I tell about Jesus
And I'm so thankful that Jesus willingly was judged for my wickedness in all of those areas and more
And that now my Creator looks on me as if I'd obeyed, because his resurrected Son did in my place.
that I'm not judged by my 'heart' and my 'intentions' - both of which are often wicked
that I'm not judged by how much compassion I have for people
that I'm not judged by how much zeal I feel for God
that I'm not judged by the strength of my faith
that I'm not judged by how well I love my wife
that I'm not judged by how many people I tell about Jesus
And I'm so thankful that Jesus willingly was judged for my wickedness in all of those areas and more
And that now my Creator looks on me as if I'd obeyed, because his resurrected Son did in my place.
Evolutionary "Science"
Apparently, the new Science Minister in Canada, a country far more postmodern and post-Christian than my own, is a Christian.
See the article here.
And he won't say that he believes in evolution. Now, I'm not saying as a Christian one can't believe in evolution; I just love that this guy is up front - 'I'm a Christian.'
I also laughed out loud when I read evolutionary scientists stating that
1) evolution is a scientific fact
2) evolution is the foundation of all modern biology (they said this in my undergrad evolution classes - ridiculous then AND now)
3) evolution has been TESTED
Okay, seriously... regardless of whether you believe in it or not - evolution is not science. It hasn't been tested. There have been no repeated experiments in controlled environments that show that biological organisms are present on our planet today as a result of naturalistic evolution.
Sometimes it's amazing to me how utterly foolish very educated people can be.
See the article here.
And he won't say that he believes in evolution. Now, I'm not saying as a Christian one can't believe in evolution; I just love that this guy is up front - 'I'm a Christian.'
I also laughed out loud when I read evolutionary scientists stating that
1) evolution is a scientific fact
2) evolution is the foundation of all modern biology (they said this in my undergrad evolution classes - ridiculous then AND now)
3) evolution has been TESTED
Okay, seriously... regardless of whether you believe in it or not - evolution is not science. It hasn't been tested. There have been no repeated experiments in controlled environments that show that biological organisms are present on our planet today as a result of naturalistic evolution.
Sometimes it's amazing to me how utterly foolish very educated people can be.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The infamous 'but'
Okay, before I start, let me admit: I'm guilty of this. Very guilty of it.
I hear a lot - and have said - well, this ministry is doing such and such correctly, and God may be using it, BUT this is what they're doing wrong...
Okay, seriously, when I say that, or you say that or whoever says that - are we REALLY celebrating what God is having someone else do right? Are we REALLY celebrating how God is glorifying himself? Do we REALLY think that our ministries or lives are that much more holy than someone else's?
Or are we just trying to give ourselves license to pick on someone by saying something nice first?
With me, I know a lot of times, it's the last one. We need to not do that. We need to be honest, and have an authentic, heartfelt praise of God for what he's done through people and ministries that we see as having problems.
I hear a lot - and have said - well, this ministry is doing such and such correctly, and God may be using it, BUT this is what they're doing wrong...
Okay, seriously, when I say that, or you say that or whoever says that - are we REALLY celebrating what God is having someone else do right? Are we REALLY celebrating how God is glorifying himself? Do we REALLY think that our ministries or lives are that much more holy than someone else's?
Or are we just trying to give ourselves license to pick on someone by saying something nice first?
With me, I know a lot of times, it's the last one. We need to not do that. We need to be honest, and have an authentic, heartfelt praise of God for what he's done through people and ministries that we see as having problems.
Stop Talking about Driscoll.
So, a sermon at a well-attended event was given about how us preachers are to speak from the pulpit. And in this sermon, Mark Driscoll was addressed multiple times as one bringing 'vulgarity' and 'lewdness' to the pulpit.
Two admonitions to all of you who like ripping on Driscoll -
1) If you're going to address how we're to speak from the pulpit, address US, not Driscoll. Addressing Driscoll isn't helpful for us - just distracting.
2) If you are going to address US about how we're to speak - address us with exegesis of the appropriate texts - not opinions about the propriety of someone else's jokes.
I like Driscoll. I don't always think he does the write thing. He's not Jesus. He doesn't think he's Jesus. But the appropriateness of his speech is subjective; there is no commandment that says 'use this word, not this one' nor that 'this joke in particular is wrong.' So stop writing about Driscoll, and if you want to edify US - start writing to us - address our depraved souls and give us the salve of the gospel of Christ.
Or at least just stop talking about Driscoll. He's neither the Messiah or the antiChrist.
Two admonitions to all of you who like ripping on Driscoll -
1) If you're going to address how we're to speak from the pulpit, address US, not Driscoll. Addressing Driscoll isn't helpful for us - just distracting.
2) If you are going to address US about how we're to speak - address us with exegesis of the appropriate texts - not opinions about the propriety of someone else's jokes.
I like Driscoll. I don't always think he does the write thing. He's not Jesus. He doesn't think he's Jesus. But the appropriateness of his speech is subjective; there is no commandment that says 'use this word, not this one' nor that 'this joke in particular is wrong.' So stop writing about Driscoll, and if you want to edify US - start writing to us - address our depraved souls and give us the salve of the gospel of Christ.
Or at least just stop talking about Driscoll. He's neither the Messiah or the antiChrist.
The Temptations of a Blogger
The fact is, if I have a caustic tone or say something that is bordering on offensive, more people will be more apt to read this, and perhaps even pick a fight.
And to be honest, as a blogger, that feels good.
But then I'm blogging for my glory, not God's. I think to blog for God's glory means to blog about God's glory in a way that is attractive - that makes you actually want to read it instead of skimming it.
The latter's a skill. I may or may not have it. But as a blogger, it's hard to resist the temptation to stir up trouble so that I'll feel good.
SO - there it is. Hopefully, there'll be no caustic tones, no calling out specific people, no starting fights, no divisions - just the glory of the risen Christ.
And to be honest, as a blogger, that feels good.
But then I'm blogging for my glory, not God's. I think to blog for God's glory means to blog about God's glory in a way that is attractive - that makes you actually want to read it instead of skimming it.
The latter's a skill. I may or may not have it. But as a blogger, it's hard to resist the temptation to stir up trouble so that I'll feel good.
SO - there it is. Hopefully, there'll be no caustic tones, no calling out specific people, no starting fights, no divisions - just the glory of the risen Christ.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Jesus' name makes sinners ANGRY
Jesus said, "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you... but all these things they will do to you on account of my name..." (John 15:20, 21).
Isn't it interesting that in our culture you can talk about spirituality - or even 'God' in general terms - but as soon as you bring up Jesus, you're in trouble? (At least, the Jesus of the Bible!)
That's not exactly what this passage is talking about, though it certainly could be included in it.
In John's gospel, the way that Jesus' ministry is talked about is that Jesus makes his glory known - the glory of the unique Son of the Father - and some believe, while some hate. That's what Jesus' "name" means - it's his glory. It's who he truly is.
So what do people resist? Surely not the name, "Jesus." But they do, as soon as they see who he truly is - very God - Creator, Life-giver, Ruler, Sovereign, Risen-from-the-dead, Judge of the world -
People don't like that.
But as a Christian, that's what we are called to represent: his name, his person, his glory. We don't represent some vague 'god' out there. We represent the glory of the Risen Messiah - Jesus, who is coming again!
Isn't it interesting that in our culture you can talk about spirituality - or even 'God' in general terms - but as soon as you bring up Jesus, you're in trouble? (At least, the Jesus of the Bible!)
That's not exactly what this passage is talking about, though it certainly could be included in it.
In John's gospel, the way that Jesus' ministry is talked about is that Jesus makes his glory known - the glory of the unique Son of the Father - and some believe, while some hate. That's what Jesus' "name" means - it's his glory. It's who he truly is.
So what do people resist? Surely not the name, "Jesus." But they do, as soon as they see who he truly is - very God - Creator, Life-giver, Ruler, Sovereign, Risen-from-the-dead, Judge of the world -
People don't like that.
But as a Christian, that's what we are called to represent: his name, his person, his glory. We don't represent some vague 'god' out there. We represent the glory of the Risen Messiah - Jesus, who is coming again!
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