a curious fellow

forgiveness

2012-01-16T11:18:00.003-05:00

the following is the sermon i preached yesterday morning at first church of God harrisburg.

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good morning, first church. and welcome again to the visitors among us, we're glad to have you. as justin said a couple weeks ago, two of our focuses over the next year are Jesus and the gospel. In the coming weeks, we'll be looking at and digging into what this gospel really is. some of you may be wondering, why spend all this time on the gospel? and if you looked at the bulletin, you noticed that we're talking today about forgiveness. you might say, why talk about forgiveness? i know what that is; i've done that.

the reason we're talking about these things are twofold. first, because i think we throw around words a lot without really thinking about what they mean. how many of you, if i asked you to define what the forgiveness is, could tell me in a sentence or two? how many of you, if i asked you what the gospel is, could tell me in a minute or so what that means? how about glory? or righteousness? or love? or grace? or worship? i think a lot of us have an intuitive understanding of these things, but in my experience most of us haven't really thought about what these things actually mean. most of us use these words without thinking too much about what we're really saying. and while that's not awful, if we don't dig in to the truth of these things, we'll stay shallow, and, like Hebrews says, be grown men still drinking out of the bottle. we'll miss out on the fullness that God has for us in these things.

now follow me here, because i need to give you a little background. “gospel” is an old english word meaning “good news.” in greek, which the New Testament was orginally written in, the word is euangelion. this is where we get our word “evangelical” from, someone who is all about the gospel. and from its verb form we get our word “evangelism,” which is often translated as “preach the gospel.” now all of that is so you understand the second reason we need to talk about these things. if you have your Bibles with you, flip to Romans, chapter 1. if not, there are Bibles in the pews, so feel free to open it up and follow along. in the opening of the Letter to the Romans, the apostle paul is writing to the Christians in rome, and he talks about how he's been wanting to come to them for a long time. he says in verse 15, “i am eager to preach the good news to you also who are in rome.” he says he wants to evangelize them. paul wanted to evangelize the Christians. some of you may have heard or grown up with the idea that the gospel is kind of the front door of Christianity – Christianity 101, so to speak – and we eventually grow past it. you may have thought that evangelism is all about what Christians telling non-Christians about Jesus. but paul here is saying that he wants to talk to the romans, who have been Christians for years, about the gospel. and we are, like paul, eager to speak with you about the good news.

Now, when we think about the gospel, there are many parts to it. we can talk about God creating everything. we can talk about God becoming part of the creation in Jesus, as we just celebrated at Christmas. we can talk about repentance, a call to change the way we think and act, turning from sin to God. and the list goes on. for today, we're going to focus in on one of the major things that Christ accomplished for us: forgiveness.

so what is forgiveness? webster's dictionary says to forgive is “to give up resentment or claim to requital for an offense, to grant relief from a debt, and to cease to feel resentment.” now that sounds all nice and fancy, but in my mind it's just a bunch of words, mostly other big words we don't use a lot, so it's still detached from real life. instead, let's look at some things the Bible says about forgiveness.

let's look in 1 Corinthians 13. many of you know this as “the love chapter”, because paul here gives us a view of love from multiple angles. among them, in verse 5 he says love “does not keep a record of wrongs.” as true forgiveness is an act of love, i believe this is one way paul describes what forgiveness really means. think about it: if you keep track of all the ways someone has done you wrong, have you really forgiven them?

and since all true love flows from God, for He is true Love, we know that God does not do this. flip with me to psalm 25, picking it up in verse 4:

“make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; i wait for You all day long. remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithful love, for they have existed from antiquity. do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with Your faithful love, remember me because of Your goodness, Lord. the Lord is good and upright; therefore He shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. all the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep His covenant and decrees. because of Your name, Yahweh, forgive my sin, for it is great.”

as the writer of this song, king david, is crying out for forgiveness, did you see what he asks of God? he wants God to remember him, to think about him, in accordance with his love, and not remembering david's sins. how often have you heard the phrase “forgive and forget”? now that can't really work with God, because He can't really forget something. God knows everything. He knows our faults and failures. but He doesn't remember them. do you see the difference? it's not like God no longer knows about our sins. it's not like He doesn't know they happened, or can't remember them. but He won't remember them. He doesn't dig into his memory and actively remember them. He doesn't bring them up over and over again. He doesn't hold them against us. instead, He treats us with love, without regard to our transgressions.

now God is also a God of justice, and He can't just forgive. imagine if a judge let a murderer off the hook because he said he was sorry; would that be just? certainly not! and it's worse than that. flip forward to psalm 51. david writes this psalm right after he is confronted for his sins by the prophet nathan. at this point, david has sent men into battle while he slacks off in the palace, he sleeps with another man's wife, get her pregnant, tries to cover it up, ultimately orders one of his generals to abandon the man on the battlefield, essentially killing him, and then marries his widow and lies about the whole affair. he's sinned against urriah the soldier, bathsheba his wife, david's own wives, his commanders, his soldiers, and his whole nation as their king. it's hard to think of someone david hasn't wronged in this mess. but here, in psalm 51, he says “against You [God] and You alone have i sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” and in the grand scheme of things, david's right.

because, you see, God is ultimately the most offended party in any sin. He is most worthy of our obedience and honor, and yet we commit evil against an infinite and holy God. this is far worse than whatever anyone else can claim to hold against us. rebelling against the Lord is always the most heinous part of any sin. God is the most offended person when we sin. and so only God can ultimately forgive sin. that's why the religious teachers questioned Jesus when He said He could forgive sins, because, they rightly said, “who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

but 1 John 1 tells us that, not only does God forgive us when we confess our sins, but when we do, He is just to forgive us and to cleanse us. and Romans 3 tells us why. Jesus died in our place, so that the punishment we rightly deserved fell on Him instead. by His life and death, Jesus honored God as we should have, and by faith we now have that righteousness, we now have Jesus' spotless record counted as ours. as the great old hymn says, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him i owe. sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” and so, through Jesus, we can be rightly forgiven, and God is both good and merciful, both just and the justifier of us sinners. therefore paul rightly states in Ephesians 1, “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins.” this is what God has done! this is what we have in Christ! this is good news.

up to this point, we've been talking all about what God has done for us. we've been talking about objectivity reality, that which we have no effect on. God did it, and we can't add or subtract anything from it; we can't change what He's done for better or for worse. however, this good news, this part of the gospel, calls for a response from us. and that response is twofold.

first, God calls us to repent of our sin. this is first and foremost a change of mind, in which we no longer view sin as good and God as an obstactle or tyrant. instead, we see rightly that sin is evil and that God is our wonderful and worthy Lord. we see that sin ultimately leads only to death, in relationship, in health, in spirit, in all things, most of all in separation from God, who is our truest Friend, our great Savior, our loving Father and glorious King. from this change of mind comes new affections and new actions. we stop wanting what sin is offering, and we fight against its temptation. instead, we seek after this God who would give to us so freely. we want to see more of Him, to experience Him more fully, and to follow Him, because His ways are perfect. that's the first part of our response.

secondly, we're called to forgive others. as Jesus teaches His disciples what we call “the Lord's prayer” in Matthew 6, He teaches them to pray “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. for if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if don't forgive people, neither shall your Father forgive you.” later on, Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 18 about two slaves. we'll pick it up in verse 21.

“then peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and i forgive him? as many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. for this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. when he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. at this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘be patient with me, and i will pay you everything!’ then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. but that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. he grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘pay what you owe!’ at this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ but he wasn’t willing. on the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. when the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘you wicked slave! i forgave you all that debt because you begged me. shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as i had mercy on you?’ and his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. so My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

now, i hope you get the point, as i think Jesus is pretty clear. if you're not willing to forgive, you don't understand what it means to be forgiven, how valuable that is, and therefore you will not be forgiven. but since we don't use denarii and talents as money anymore, let me put this in perspective. the first slave owed what would be equivalent to a few billion dollars today, something he couldn't earn in a thousand lifetimes. to be forgiven that debt is huge. his fellow slave owed him roughly a few thousand dollars. i think sometimes when he here this parable, we think the second slave only owed the guy like $20, and we're stunned that he doesn't let it go. the debt he owed would take months of his full salary to be paid off. this was no small debt. it hurt. it would cost the first slave a lot to let that money go. but in comparison to what he'd been forgiven, it was a pitance, it was pocket-change.

all that to say, yes, it's going to hurt to forgive other people. it's not going to be pleasant in the moment. but God calls for us to follow Him, and not try to set a limit on how far this will go like peter did, but to forgive freely. to not walk in bitterness toward the person who has wronged us, but to love them as Christ loved us when we were still His enemies. we have to recognize what a huge debt we owed to God, and how great a punishment we deserved.

when we get that, the offenses against us pale in comparison. and not only that, but we understand that God is still a God of justice, and so we can forgive, knowing that God will rightly meet out justice; that either that person's sin against us has already been paid by Christ on the cross, or God will repay our offender in hell; either way, it's in God's hands, and so we walk with an attitude of forgiveness, not building up bitterness but seeking reconciliation, not vowing revenge but striving for restored relationship. this is first and foremost a choice we make, to not remember their sin, to not seek revenge or retribution or restitution, not to hold it against them. we offer that to any who will accept it, to any would will confess and repent. and if they sin against us again, the offer still stands, just like God does for us.

i hope this morning, you have a better grasp of what forgiveness is, not holding sin against the offender. i hope you understand with greater clarity and awe God has done for you in Jesus. and i hope you understand and will follow the call of the gospel to repent and forgive.

celebrating Jesus in Nehemiah 8

2011-11-14T22:26:00.002-05:00

this is my sermon from 10/23/11 at harrisburg first church of God, from Nehemiah 8.

good morning. for those of you who don’t know me, my name is walt raudenbush, and i’m one of the teachers here at first church. today we’re continuing in our sermon series “for the city” from the book of Nehemiah. for those of you who like structure, i have four points today: the Word of God, our response, God in history, and Jesus. i’ll give a quick recap of the book, and then we’ll dive in to today’s text.
the book starts with nehemiah, a godly man living with his people who have been exiled from jerusalem for decades. God breaks nehemiah’s heart because the city of jerusalem was in ruins, and he tasks nehemiah to return there and rebuild the city with his fellow jews. nehemiah returns to the city, lays out a plan before the people there, and with God’s help the work goes forward. along the way, opposition arises form various corners, both inside and outside, but nehemiah and his people do not give in. instead, they trust in God and continue the work of rebuilding the city. nehemiah also had to correct some of his own people for their mistreatment of their brothers, who repented or turned from their oppressive ways and followed God’s ways, honoring their fellow men as image-bearers of God. despite these problems, the wall around the city was finished in the incredible time of 52 days. and that’s where we pick up the story in Nehemiah chapter 8.

the chapter starts with all the people of jerusalem gathered together to hear God’s Word. they had spent the better part of two months working ‘round the clock standing guard or working construction. they’re tired, they’re sore, and they’re glad to finally be safe in their city. so what do they do with their first day off? they call ezra the priest, for whom the previous book of the Bible is named, and they have him read God’s Law to them. they want to hear from the God for whom they’ve labored so hard, so in this pre-literate culture, they have the scholarly priest open God’s Word for them. we know from earlier in the Bible that ezra had spent a great deal of time seeking to understand the Scriptures.
so ezra, as he reads to them, he “gives the sense of it” to the people, helping to explain what exactly the text means. in essence, he preaches a sermon to them, taking the Word of God as his basis and working through It, helping people understand and unpacking the text for them. and since that was written into the Bible, i get to preach on preaching, because we follow the same pattern, as various teachers who are a part of the church help us to understand what the Bible means, not just the straight-forward meaning of the text, but its implications about who God is and its application to us in our thoughts and actions. this happens not only on sunday mornings, but in home groups and Bible studies, as well as the plethora of media available to us in our technological age. something to consider: if you have a long commute like i do, perhaps spending that time listening to an audio Bible or recordings of sermons, which are widely available online or on tape or cd.
now notice something here: the people were gathered together for worship, all 50,000 of them. everyone was there, both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, across every societal division, anyone who could listen and think was there. imagine if God moved here in such a way that the entire city of harrisburg was shut down on sunday to meet as His people and worship through the preaching of His Word and the singing of His praises. that would be something, and it could happen, so let’s keep praying for it and seeking the advance of the gospel in this city, to see such a day in our time.
one thing to note: theirs was an age where most people couldn’t read very well, and there were very few books available to read. nowadays, we have giant bookstores and public libraries, and most of us have multiple copies of the Good Book. consider the privilege that is, and do not take it for granted.
also, notice the time indicators here. it’s so easy to read right over the details, but it says ezra preached from early morning until midday, roughly 6 hours. i’m not going to go that long today, which most of you are probably thankful for, but i want to impress upon you their example of earnest desire to hear from God, and prod us awake, that if we truly believe that the Bible is God-breathed, then we ought not to take it lightly, but rather treasure it and take advantage of the availability of Scripture and solid Bible-teaching.
ezra preaches from a wooden platform, above the people. this is not because ezra was in some sense better or more holy than the rest of israel. he was, in himself, just a man. but on that day, for that purpose, he is raised above them. why? because he was the messenger of God preaching the Word of God, and the Word deserves that place. you see, we can hold the Bible in one of two places. we can have it under us, reading it as a nice book with some good things to say, pulling it out when it suits our fancy, following it when it confirms what we already want or believe. or we can hold it above us, letting it have its place of authority over us, so that we submit to it, whether it agrees with us or not, we change to it. in this, its rightful position as inspired of God, we cannot avoid the parts that make us uncomfortable or that challenge our ways of thinking or acting. while we can ask questions and seek to gain understanding, we cannot dismiss what we do not like or cut out what we do not agree with. the question is, do we read the Bible, or do we let the Bible read us?

now we see in this next section the people’s response. their response is fourfold. they start with awestruck worship. in the Law, they see not only a list of commands, but a picture of the character of God. they see that He is holy and awesome, righteous and perfect. they lift their hands and bow down, and they cry aloud the blessedness of God.
their response is also to weep. but why do they weep? what has caused this great sorrow? for what reason are their hearts broken and their souls troubled? you see, they’ve just read through the Law of the Lord, which most of them have not heard much if any of while in their exile in babylon, and they realize that they have not lived up to it. now in our day and age, no one is expected to be perfect. our culture is full of “do your best” and “nobody’s perfect”, and while our anti-perfectionist mottos can be helpful and encouraging, i fear that we often forget that we are called to be perfect, for we are told “be perfect, as I am perfect, I am the Lord.” in our accepting of our limitations, we lull ourselves into complacency and comfort ourselves with a false sense of security when we come across the absolute demands of God and His standard. it goes so far that we barely take the Scriptures seriously. but the people in the text, when they heard from God, took Him seriously, and in so doing they were compelled to respond. they see how far they have fallen short, and they are deeply grieved by it.
thankfully, the text does not stop there, or else they and we should be left helpless and hopeless. ezra and his fellow leaders command them not to weep but to celebrate, to share in feasting and rejoicing with good food and drink. but why, if they were guilty, would the Bible teachers tell them to react in the exact opposite way? what is their reasoning for such an emotional about-face? the joyful news is that not only is God a holy and just judge, but He is merciful and forgiving. over and over in the Scriptures God described Himself as “a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” nehemiah quotes a merciful promise of God from the Law in chapter one, that “if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make My name dwell there,” and in this returning to jerusalem God fulfills His promise. and so the people are made to understand that, though they are sinful, God is providing a way back into relationship with Him, that they need not live in fear but can rejoice at the closeness of their Creator and King. and so their sorrow and repentance brings forth joy and celebration at the Word of God.
the last part of their response is obedience. they celebrate the festival of booths, also called the feast of tabernacles. the purpose of this feast was to remember the ancient israelites deliverance from slavery in egypt, how they traveled for many years in tents and huts, without permanent dwellings. so the people made temporary huts and lived in them for the week, as a remembrance of that part of their history.
this brings me to my next point: their reason for celebrating this is that God not only reveals Himself in Word and meets with His people in covenantal relationship, but He acts in history. over and over the psalms tell us to declare His mighty acts, and the Law commands us to tell of His deeds from one generation to the next. these things remind us that our God is not passive; He does not sit back and merely watch as the history of our world unfolds. rather, He is active in it, and works to display His glory, the radiance of His perfections. God shows in His works that He is not good and faithful and gracious and just in word only but in deed and in truth, and remembering these proofs of His goodness remind us that He is so, even when we question and doubt and struggle to trust. He works not only on the grandiose scale of nations but also in personal history. let me encourage you in this: when you pray, write down what you ask of God, and keep track of how He answers. it can greatly increase your confidence in His faithfulness.

lastly, let us take a step back and look at the bigger picture, because this passage is not alone, nor is the book that contains it isolated. it is part of one big book about one thing, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ. and as we take this bigger picture and look back at this morning’s text, we see that Jesus is all over this chapter. the chapter starts with the Word of God, and Jesus is ultimate revelation of God, the exact image of deity, the incarnate Word. and like the Law, the Gospel starts out with the fact that we are created by God and that we have fallen short. and like our text, the Gospel does not stop with sorrowful repentance, the turning from sin to God, but it continues with rejoicing in renewed relationship with God, which is ours because we were purchased by Him on the cross of Christ. therefore, instead of mourning over what we should have done or what we shouldn’t have said, we can rejoice in our God who is making us new. and lastly, we can look back at history, both on the grand scale of the progress of the gospel in the world at large, or the work of God in our own lives, and see how He is near and active in and around us, and that He’s not done with us yet. and that is very good news.
so now, we’ll sing a final song in response to God’s gracious love toward us, and then i’m off to celebrate His goodness with my family. how will you celebrate Jesus today?

momento mori

2011-04-18T17:43:00.003-04:00

this is a draft of my lesson for this wednesday. feedback encouraged.

ok, guys. so in two days, we celebrate what’s called Good Friday, the anniversary of the death of the Son of God. and sometimes i think we rush past the bad side of the good news. we rush past the dark and the evil to the beautiful and pleasant, so tonight i want to pause and reflect. that’s why we’ve come to the cemetery. i want you guys to take a look around, silently, and think. you might think about the ages of the people, young and old, who are buried here. you might think of their lives, theirs stories. what did the hope and long for? what were their goals, and did they ever achieve them? what did they want out of life, and did they get it? how did they die, and with whom? we’ll meet back at the front gate in twenty minutes.

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i hope that your time and your thoughts here tonight were helpful. there are two reasons i wanted us to come out here tonight. one is the fact that this is the result of our disobedience and rebellion against God. the curse of death rests upon this world because of our sin, our wrongdoing, our treasuring things more highly than our Creator and becoming slaves to those idols. as you look around the tombstones, you’ll see people who lived to old age, and those who died in infancy. the fact is, that because of their sin, every day between their birth date and their death date was the sheer grace of God, giving life onto ill-deserving sinners. the only thing that stops death from having the final say is Jesus’ own death, which He suffered so that all who trust in Him wouldn’t be ruled by death. we’ll talk more about that next week.

as i wondered around the graveyard a few days ago, looking at the tombstones and preparing for this lesson, i found a young man’s grave. his name was joseph g. doner, and he lived to be 23 years, 8 months, and 5 days old. i made sure to remember that, because i will be that old this june, on the day before my first anniversary. i wonder about who he was, what he wanted, what he dreamed of. did he have a job, and did he have people depending on him? did he have any plans: to have a family, to own a business, to move, to go on a trip, to see family? did he have a girl he wanted to marry and grow old with? was he much different from me?

the reason i wanted us to come out here is that death is a reality that, should Jesus tarry, we will all face someday. and most of us, because of the time and place we live in, don’t expect to face it anytime soon, at least not personally. most of us can reasonably expect to live for many years, getting gray hair and wrinkles and the whole nine yards. but in this cemetery there are dozens of infants who didn’t see their first birthday. there are several children who were younger than some of you when they breathed their last breath. joseph was but a few months older than me, and i doubt he expected to die at his age. but we are mortal. we are susceptible to all sorts of things, from bacteria and cancer to earthquake and hurricane. from murder to car accidents to war, our lives could end before we expect in any number of ways.

i don’t say this to frighten you. i don’t want you to go around being paranoid or living in a bubble-suit or a bunker, not that it would save you in the end. and though i’ve set it up rather well to speak of eternity in hell or the new earth, that’s not my purpose tonight either. heaven isn’t a place for those who are merely afraid of hell anyway. i don’t mean to cause you to despair or go around moping and downtrodden, and i hope not to suck the beauty out of this life, because though all that is here will eventually fade, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t good and delightful and praiseworthy.

what i do hope you gain from tonight is perspective. what i hope you understand is that things in this life will eventually fade. all of our stuff – cars, tvs, games, furniture, makeup, trophies, etc. – all of it will be in a dump one day. in the end, no one will really care what the score of the soccer or volleyball game was. few will remember who was prom queen, or what club you were in, or who got what part in the play. what school you went to, or what job you had, or how much money was in your bank account, will ultimately be rather meaningless.

there was a custom in ancient rome, that whenever a general or an emperor would return victoriously from battle, and there was a parade with soldiers and a band and admirers and such, that in the general’s chariot would be a lowly slave. and that slave would every-so-often whisper into the general’s ear the phrase “memento mori,” which means, “remember, you are mortal, you will die.” this was done to remind him that the splendor of that day would at some point fade, and the glory of his victory would not shine forever, and though he had won the day, there would come another day which he would not survive.

what is the point of remembering this? what is the reason to keep these things in perspective? my hope is that by doing so, we would not waste our lives. i know the struggle all too well myself to let your days slip by in meaningless triviality, whether that be video games or television or books or sports or shallow friendships, whatever it may be. it’s especially easy at your age, or even mine, when we expect to have so much time ahead of us that wasting an hour here or a day there doesn’t seem that important. with that mindset, it’s all too easy to look back and wonder where all the time went, to wake up one day and realize that you’ve wasted it.

if you don’t want to take my word for it, read through the book of Ecclesiastes. the whole thing is written is about how life can be spent in all sorts of ways, pursuing all sorts of things which seem good, but ultimately are vain, empty, meaningless. the book ends like this:

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)

a more modern poet puts it like this: “only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” and that is my hope for you. that you would see Jesus as the imperishable treasure, that you would set your heart and your hope and your identity in Him, and out of that you would work and play and sleep and eat and do all things so that your joy in Him may increase and His glory, the display of His perfections, would be seen in your life. that we would, as Jesus says, “not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” i wish i had time to unpack that more for you guys, and honestly i wish i knew how to do this better myself. but i want to strive with you guys in this, to have an eternal perspective, and not to waste this life. to that end, i have these little wooden tombstones for you. they have a cross engraved on one side, and that phrase “memento mori,” to help us to remember, and to live in light of our mortality.

love of the Gospel

2011-01-31T18:31:00.002-05:00

this is my sermon from yesterday for youth sunday at plainfield first church of God. let me know what you think.

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[Acts 2:1] When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. [2] And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. [3] And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
[5] Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. [6] And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. [7] And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? [8] And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? [9] Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, [10] Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, [11] both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” [12] And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” [13] But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
[14] But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. [15] For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. [16] But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

[17] “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
[18] even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
[19] And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
[20] the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
[21] And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

[22] “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— [23] this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. [24] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. [25] For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
[26] therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
[27] For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
[28] You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

[29] “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. [30] Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, [31] he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. [32] This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [34] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
[35] until I make your enemies your footstool.’

[36] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
[37] Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” [38] And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” [40] And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” [41] So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
[42] And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [43] And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. [44] And all who believed were together and had all things in common. [45] And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, [47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

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as i began thinking about this youth sunday, it occurred to me that youth sunday at this church will rarely fall in the month of february. since this is as close as we get to valentine’s day for the next twenty-some years, we decided that today’s theme would be love. my mind quickly was led to our text for this morning.
i want us first to take a look at the last six verses of today’s Scripture reading. verse 42 starts with devotion. the word here can also be translated as continually giving oneself over to something. i thought this was appropriate with the theme we chose for today, namely, love. have you ever thought about how often we pair these two together? we say that a man gives a woman his love and devotion, and if he’s as blessed to have a wife like mine, he’ll have her love and devotion in return. or take sports, for example. many of us, men in particular, will spend many hours watching games, keeping up with stats, maybe even playing in a fantasy league. or if we find a tv series which we particularly enjoy, we devote a certain time each week to watching that show. think about it: what do you love? don’t you spend your time, your money, your effort on those things? and aren’t they the frequent topics of your conversations? we devote ourselves to what we delight in, what we enjoy, what we love.
now our text today speaks of the very start of the Church, on the day in which God first poured out His Holy Spirit en masse upon believers. and i think this part of the narrative commends to us, in part, how the Church ought to act in every age, ancient or modern. so what did these new Christians devote themselves to?
first, we are told they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. their teachings, based on the hebrew Scriptures, the doctrines of Christ, and the direction of the Holy Spirit, were eventually collected in the Bible. so, in essence, they devoted themselves to God’s Word, and so should we.
on the one hand, this means knowing our Bible. this is something that is easier to do than ever. there are a plethora of options for reading or hearing the Scriptures, gaining understanding in them, and committing them to memory. i know a number of you do this: consider this an encouragement to continue in doing so. for those of you want to know Scripture better, we’re having a seminar in two weeks that’s all about how to get you into the Word and the Word into you, and if you can’t make that, talk to any one of the godly men and women you know in this church. but if you are not digging into God’s Book, nor have any desire to, let me encourage you to take a long, hard look as to why you don’t.
the flip side of this devotion is that we not only know the Word, but follow it, obey it. james, our Lord’s brother, says in his Letter, to “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. for if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. but the one who looks into the perfect Law, the Law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” let us resolve not to be deceivers, but to follow our Savior and be transformed into His likeness as we walk as He walked.
our text also says that they were devoted to fellowship. now when we hear that word, what comes to mind? pot-luck dinners, summer picnics, the occasional game night? i mean no discouragement on these things, because they can indeed be times of fellowship, the family of God meeting and blessing one another. but if this is all we mean by fellowship, are we really acting as the family of God? for that is what we are, brothers and sisters. and i know that life gets busy, and i’m not calling on you to give more of your time to some mere club. what i mean is for us to enter in to each other’s lives, and to get to really know those with whom God has placed us, that we might know each others joys and struggles and burdens and hopes and dreams. that we might talk to each other about what really matters to us, and what goes on inside, and not hide behind a pretty mask and chit-chat about weather and other thing of little importance. the text says that the saints of old gathered regularly in large groups and small ones, sharing meals, and in various ways encouraging each other in godliness. i don’t know how all of that will look in our day here in plainfield, but i want to work with you to flesh it out.
these new disciples were also devoted to prayer. libraries have been written and years’ worth of sermons have been preached on this. for the sake of time, let me only say this: i doubt there is a one of us who is satisfied with our praying, myself included. if you want to repent and grow in this, let’s encourage and walk with each other in this, and pray and look for the help we need. and again i warn you, my friends, if this isn’t something that concerns you, then for the sake of God’s glory and your joy don’t just put it off and continue in callousness.
the next part of this description of the early church is that they were generous. this is something i think you as a church are truly worthy of commendation for. the stories i have heard of the needs that have been met through things like the benevolent fund, and the generosity that has been shown to me personally by several members of this body, bear witness to that. may this text be an encouragement for us to continue and to grow in this, for our Father smiles at it. and if you have a need, or know of someone who does, please let us know, for it is our joy to be a reflection of God’s love in serving you.
The last part of the description we see in our text is that the believers “received their food with glad and sincere hearts, praising God.” they gave thanks to God for His provisions. notice they don’t do this begrudgingly, but with joy, and such a joy that the greek word is often used in the context of festival, of dancing and singing and celebrating. in a few moments, we’ll follow their example by having a time of publicly praising God for the good things He’s done and is doing in our lives, as well as to sing His praises. one suggestion: on holidays, birthdays, and times that cause us to think back and reminisce on the past, why not take some time to express to God our gratefulness for His good gifts to us? something to think about...

so we see that the early church became devoted to the teaching of the apostles, to each other, and to God. but do you ever see things in Scripture and wonder how they came about? what happened to cause this devotion? how was the love for these things sparked? i believe the answer lies in the rest of chapter, with peter’s sermon.
remember, these events take place 50 days after the first Easter, and at this point those who believe in Christ number around 120. as far as most people in jerusalem know, the upstart Prophet from galilee was dead and gone, and any of them who may have hoped for something to change with Him have moved on with their lives. all of a sudden, on this day of festival, something incredible happens. the remaining followers of Jesus are all speaking in languages they’ve never spoken before, and are speaking of what God has done through Christ. the crowd is amazed, confused, and some a little skeptical.
then peter stands up, and speaks with boldness and power of how these things have been foretold to them by the ancient prophets, and of Jesus as risen Son of God. but did you note how peter speaks of his audience? twice he reminds them that they are the ones who murdered Jesus, the One whom God has now vindicated and who is their rightful Lord!
can you imagine what must have been going through the minds of the crowd? what they might have written off as lunacy they cannot, because of the miraculous presence of the Spirit. so if what peter is telling them is true, they are the very murderers of God! and remember also, these are devout jews, who very much understand the atrocity of sin and the holiness of God and His righteous wrath against all ungodliness, and that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. and they had probably heard it read from the Scripture in the synagogue, “if someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?”
do you understand the turmoil of their hearts within them? do you understand the anxiety with which they cry out “what shall we do?!” and do you understand that we also are guilty of this crime? for the death of Christ was made so gruesome, so horrific as to make us understand the disgust and fury of God against sin. brothers and sisters, do you get this? i pray that you do, or nothing that follows will seem wondrous.
peter tells them first that they must repent, that they must turn away from their evil deeds and live toward God. this may seem obvious to us, but let us not miss it, or else we will easily fall into license and the devil’s snare. the need to repent is very great, and frequent. for even on our best of days, we do not live up to God’s perfect standards, and so we need to continually let go of the things of this world, even the good things, which can so easily distract us from godliness – we must break ourselves away from them, and fix ourselves upon our Lord. as Hebrews commands us, “let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” the apostle paul knew of the devil’s unceasing war upon our souls, and how his sly and crafty attacks could come upon those unaware. and so he encourages us to “fight the good fight of faith,” knowing that we cannot fully rest or let down our guard until we are called home and the world is made anew.
but it is not the call to repent that is surprising, for the people had heard such things before. it is the second part of peter’s reply that is truly astounding. he tells them to be baptized in Jesus name, and that in thus showing their faith, their sins will be forgiven. i wonder if these words are so commonplace to us that we do not see how great a thing this is. no Levitical sacrifice, no offering, no animals burning on the temple altar. this alone would be confounding to the jews. but more than that, they are to be baptized in the name of the One whom they have lynched, and for His sake they are to be forgiven and accepted by God? what amazing grace! what unbounded mercy this is! as in charles wesley’s hymn, “and can it be that i should gain an interest in my Savior’s blood? died He for me who caused His pain, for me who Him to death pursued? amazing love! how can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” john owen, a great puritan theologian, said it well: “oh to behold the glory of Christ! herein would i live, herein would i die, hereon would I dwell in my thoughts and my affections until all things here below become as dead and deformed things, and in no longer, any way, calling out for my affections.”
3000 baby Christians to took their first steps of faith that day because of this: the Holy Spirit followed the gospel message into their hearts, and awakened them to its beauty, the glory of the grace of the Lord God and of His Christ. they got the Gospel! welsey, owen; they got the Gospel! they understood holiness and sin and mercy and grace. and when you see it for what it is, Gospel transforms your life, because it is about all of life, because Jesus our Savior is Lord of all of life. it’s from this transformation, this new birth, that we gain new desires. we want to read our Bible and to follow it, because we want to hear from Dad and follow His ways, since He obviously wants what’s best for us, if He loved us enough to reconcile us to Himself at the price of the agony of His Son. we want to pray, because we want to talk to the One who so loves us and to tell Him of our hopes, our cares – of all of our lives. we want to meet together, to encourage each other, to lovingly correct each other and bear each other’s burdens, because through the Gospel we are brothers and sisters in the family of Christ. and we give freely, because our God has given so freely to us, and we want to share in His joy, for “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” our lives, as our brothers and sisters before us, become shaped by the Gospel. it informs every part of the Christian walk: how we eat, how we sleep, how we do our work, how we play our games, how we handle our money and our time and our relationship, and on and on i could go. do you see what i mean? think of any part of your life, something that you may have considered completely “unspiritual” until now, and see how the Gospel has implications for that area of life.
and so God in His love through His Gospel recreates us as new people, into a new family, a new society. and this true Christianity, this picture of God in His church shaped by His Gospel, becomes wondrous to behold. it reflects the glory of God to all: it mirrors it back to our Maker, it shows it to all the hosts of heaven and hell, and displays it to all the world. and this is where, i believe, the last part of our text comes in. verse 47 says that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” God honors our living for Him in using us as His instruments to bring about reconciliation to the world, especially as ambassadors to all people, so that they might be made into brothers and sisters in Jesus’ family as well. and how does this happen, but by believers talking about our Lord? imagine the new believers at pentecost. though there may have been legitimate fears that cropped up in their hearts, temptations to not speak about the Jesus who was publicly executed not two months before, i cannot believe that these people would be so devoted to Him in action yet never mention Him in their speech. and so let us follow their example: though there may be all sorts of hindrances and temptations to not talk about Jesus in our world, let us not submit to them, but rather speak of the One we love, Who has loves us so.
i entitled this sermon, “the love of the Gospel.” i did so, because it has at least three distinct meanings, all of which are wonderful and which i want to commend to you today. the first is the love which God shows us in the Gospel, the love displayed in the cross of Jesus Christ and in His resurrection. if this is unknown to you, ask me or someone around you to tell you more, so that you may experience it yourself and be transformed by it. the second is our love for the God who has so loved us. may God grow our love for Him, as we display it here together and as we go about our lives. and the last is the love of telling the Gospel, that others may know it, that they may taste and see that the Lord is good, and join us in treasuring Him above all things, for His glory and our joy in Him. Amen.

"out of darkness, into His light"

2010-11-10T12:43:00.002-05:00

my sermon from youth sunday (10/31):

good morning, family, and happy reformation day. in paul’s first letter to timothy, he commands the young pastor to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” and that’s what we plan on doing today. in a few moments, a few of us will be reading through the first letter from john, because it’s a lot better than what you’d hear from me (though that may be an unfair comparison). but before we do, a little background.
when we were planning for this morning, the youth decided today’s theme should be light. now light is a prominent theme in the Scriptures. in the beginning, God said “let there be light,” and it was so. during the exodus, God led the israelites as a pillar of fire by night, giving them light. in the psalms, God’s Word is called “a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.” in Isaiah and the Gospel according to john, Jesus is often called the Light. we see this theme all the way to the last chapter of Revelation, where we are told that in the new jerusalem the people of God will “need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.” so from beginning to end, the Bible is filled with light, especially as a metaphor for God and His glory.
as we talked about this, my mind was immediately taken to 1 John. the apostle john, who wrote this letter toward the end of the first century, wrote it to various churches in the middle east, many of which had been long-established by this point. but as the case has been throughout every age, certain people were trying to lead the church astray through false teaching, and some of the followers of the Way (as Christians were called back then) had their faith shaken by these men. so john is writing for three main reasons. first, at the beginning of the letter, he says he is writing “so that our joy may be complete,” that is, so that he may rejoice in Christ in us. at the beginning of chapter 2, he states his purpose as “so that you may not sin.” then toward the end of the letter he says, “i write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” the original recipients would have first heard these words, as most of them couldn’t read. so as this letter is read to you, as it was to them, keep the apostle’s purpose in mind.
there are a few ancient traditions in the church that i’d like us to follow today, done out of respect for the Scriptures. first, when the last reader is done, she will say “this is the Word of the Lord,” and we will respond, “thanks be to God,” because this is truly God-breathed, and because we are grateful for it. second, if you are able stand a while, please stand with us for the reading of God’s Word.

you may be seated. now if none of you had any plans for the next few weeks, then perhaps i could treat this letter as it deserves. unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time, so i’ll summarize, and leave the rest to the Spirit and your own study. this letter constantly splits the world into two groups, and i think of all the ways that it describes these two, the best is in the middle of chapter 1, where they’re called darkness and light. john defines light for us: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Who God is, His nature and character, are the definition of spiritual light.
darkness is also pretty easy to point out: it’s where light isn’t. in this letter, john often describes it as the absence of something; that those in darkness do not have the truth, are not of God, do not know God, do not love Him or have His love, and have no life in them. these are not pleasant things. and yet this is the world around us, and indeed, it is even in parts of us, where the light of God has not yet shined. i don’t know how much you follow pop culture, but have you noticed that it’s become cool to be “dark” and “edgy”? have you seen how many movies come out that are praised for their dark tone and their themes of darkness and death? our world seems to love darkness, to promote it. and this is fitting, for it says in john’s Gospel, “the Light [that is, Jesus] has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their works were evil.”
now if i took a poll, i imagine most of you would be with me in feeling some conviction as this letter was read. every time i’ve read through it, the Holy Spirit presses upon me how i’m not living up to the fullness of our calling. it makes statements like “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” and, “whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” now i must admit, i’ve failed at these things, regularly. i find myself at times looking like the rest of the world, loving the things of this world. i’ve done things, in secret and in public, that are neither righteous, nor loving to my brothers and sisters, and ultimately not honoring or loving to God. i’ve acted out of pride and lust and jealousy and greed. and now i’m reading this letter, which is supposed to assure me that i have been born of God and know Him, and i’m feeling ripped apart by it! and if we could be honest, i don’t think i’m alone here. i know there are those of you sitting out there who feel like i do in the reading of this letter. so has john failed? has the Spirit missed His mark in writing this?
the answer, brothers and sisters, is a resounding “no”. this book holds us to a high standard indeed. but don’t lose its main thrust. this letter, like the rest of the Bible is about one thing: the glory of the saving work of God in Christ on the cross, and all that that means for us. that’s why it says in chapter 1, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” and in chapter 2, “i am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” yes, he’s writing and instructing and exhorting so that we may not sin, for God will have no part with sinners. but that’s why Christ came! as john says in chapter 4, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” that is, Jesus is the wrath-bearing, righteousness-providing, God-appeasing sacrifice for where we’ve fallen short.
again, i say to you, that john writes these things to give us assurance of salvation, and for our joy to be full, and so we may not sin. and these three ends are one for the Christian. if you continue in sin, if you walk in darkness, then you will not have fullness of joy, which can be found only in God, and you will not be saved from judgment but prove that you are not of God. you will fall away from God, for sin is powerful in darkness, and like mold or germs it kills and spreads. so too sin, when left unconfessed, unrepented, will slowly kill you from the inside out. and “little” sins, hidden sins, will lead to “bigger” and public ones, ‘til one day the person you see in the mirror will reflect the devil more than Jesus. c.s. lewis said it better than i could, that each of us “may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare. All day long we are in some degree [moving to and] helping each other to one or the other of these destinations.” in every little act and thought, you are either growing in godliness, or feeding your sinful nature; becoming more like Jesus or like satan.
but Christ, the true light of the world, has come. in Him is the power to kill sin. so we are urged, and so i plead with you now, come into the light. walk with God. take the areas of your life that you’ve left in darkness, the ones that you’ve refused to let God in, and bring them into His wonderful light.
i’m not saying this is going to be easy. it’s going to hurt. there have been times, in confession to both God and man, where i have felt agony over the guilt and shame of what i’ve done. but Christ took away our guilt by nailing it to the cross. and we can’t let our shame win out over our pursuit of joy in God. we must imitate Jesus, “who…endured the cross, despising the shame,” as Hebrews tells us. why did He do it, and why should we? “for the joy set before Him.” Christ looked ahead to the new creation, with the throngs of the saved rejoicing around Him, and He said “that is worth this.” so we must say to shame, “i despise you. i will not obey you. i will confess and repent in spite of you, because my joy in God will be greater than anything you can do to me.”
i’m not expecting you to walk out of here perfect, never to sin again. God isn’t either. that’s why chapter three doesn’t say “no one born of God sins,” because even a good tree will bear a few bad apples. but what does it say? “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.” it’s not talking about one time, even though that one instance would be enough to condemn us. it’s talking about those who sin over and over without remorse, without regret, without confession or apology. those who have not been born of God do not love Him, indeed they cannot, and so they make no effort to live for Him. but we who do love God seek to do as He commands, to trust Him and love our brothers. this is not only out of a sense of duty or obligation, but out of delighting in Him, wanting to know Him more. and when we fail, we feel awful, because we have offended Him about Whom we care most.
as i said earlier, today is reformation day. almost 500 years ago today, a young monk named martin luther nailed into a church door 95 statements about the Christian faith and our walk with Jesus. and the first of them is this: the whole of the Christian life is one of repentance. this means that until we see Jesus face to face, until He comes back or calls us home, we strive against sin. even the apostle paul confessed “not that i … am already perfect, but … one thing i do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, i press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” paul, and luther, and untold numbers of our brothers and sisters who have come before us got this: that in this life we fight, we make war on sin, that we may increase our joy in God and have closer fellowship with Him, now and into eternity.
so i invite you, come into the light. as james wrote, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.” if you want to talk to someone afterward, look around you: we are brothers and sisters in Christ, here to love and do life with one another. it may be difficult, but it’s worth it.
one last thought: most of you are familiar with Christ’s saying, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” i would argue that one of the clearest ways to reflect the light of Christ in your life is to be open and honest about your sins, your failures, your screw-ups. i encourage you to ask for forgiveness from those you’ve wronged, and give it to those who have wronged you, and to let people see your sorrow and witness your turning from your mistakes and to Jesus. that’s part of walking in the light, and reflecting it to the world. let us encourage each other in these things, that God may smile upon us, and work among us, and that the world may know we follow King Jesus.

of first importance

2010-08-29T17:34:00.003-04:00

below is my first sermon, preached today at plainfield first church of God, plainfield, pa.

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“now i would remind you, brothers, of the gospel i preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word i preached to you – unless you believed in vain. for i delivered to you as of first importance what i also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to cephas, then to the twelve. then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. then He appeared to james, then to all the apostles. last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.” ~1Cor. 15:1-8

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today i want to speak to you about something hopefully most of you know. today’s sermon should have little new for you, though perhaps it might clarify some things in your mind. the purpose of today’s message is not so that you will come away with some new knowledge, or with a new way to apply what you know, but that your hearts would be filled anew with love for our Savior, and that your affections would be stirred once more by His gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

as this is my first time preaching to you, i figured i’d start with what’s most important. the text that is the “launch pad” for today’s sermon has in it an important phrase: “of first importance”. the apostle paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls what we’re going to be looking at this morning the matter of first importance. so i figure i’ll start at the top, so if, God forbid, i only get one chance, i’ve preached to you on the best thing i could.

now what is this gospel that God places such emphasis on? paul starts it off with a person: Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became a man, who lived like we do yet without sin. this is the Guy who the whole Bible is about. paul then states a historical fact: Christ died. while the Gospel narratives in our Bibles speak much about Jesus’ life and earthly public ministry, in the summary here paul skips straight to the point of the matter. many of you have heard this countless times in your life, but let me remind you that this is not some fairytale or bedtime story, not some parable or fable to be learned from. Christ’s crucifixion is a historical event, in a place and a time and with witnesses, as are all the other events that paul mentions here. and for sake of time, i won’t go into how absolutely brutal Jesus’ death was at the hands of the roman executioners, but think on this: our word “excruciating” was invented because they needed a new word to describe the agony of death on a cross. he says later in this chapter that if these things are not true, if they are only nice ideas and not historical, physical reality, then everything we believe is in vain.

paul goes on to give not only the historical event but its theological meaning. he says, “Christ died for our sins.” now sin is a word we use a lot in the church, but it’s rarely used outside spiritual or ‘God-talk’ conversations. we tend to think about sin as a list of things we’re not supposed to do. you might think of the ten commandments: don’t steal, don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, and so forth. or we might think of sin as the reverse: not doing things we’re supposed to do. so if we don’t pray or we don’t act nicely to other people, we’re sinning. and all of that is pretty much true. but that falls short of what the Bible means by sin, because it’s not just about what you do, it’s about who you are. it’s not just our actions that can be sinful; it’s also our thoughts, our motives, our emotions, down to the very core of us.

you see, sin is rooted in this simple idea: we want something other than God. we see this in the words of the prophet jeremiah: “be appalled, o heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” the people of israel, instead of enjoying God and drinking deeply from Him and His glory- they sought out other things to satisfy themselves. they went after other things, to honor them and praise them. we also see this in chapter 1 of the Letter to the Romans, where it is written that the people of the world, “although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but ...exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” or as paul summarizes it a few chapters later, “all have sinned and fallen short (or ‘lack’) the glory of God.” the basis of sin is that we trade away God as the object of our worship, the thing that we treasure and praise and seek after, and take instead something else as our ‘god.’ this goes back to the first commandment, “you shall have no other gods besides Me.” the essence of sin is idolatry: that we take something other than God as our highest treasure, what we are devoted to, in which we most delight, what we honor and prize above all else. as luther says, you’ll never break any other commandment if you keep the first one, because in order to sin in any way you must put something before God in your life.

now think with me a moment. most of us aren’t bowing down before some carving of a bird or cow or something. we’re not slaughtering farm animals to statues of wood or metal. our idolatry tends to be more ‘sophisticated’ and ‘civilized’ than that, but we still sacrifice for things other than God, we give offerings to them and make them our source of meaning and satisfaction in life. and some of you, as i’m saying this, will think of what most church folk tend to think of as the “big sins”: sex, drugs, money, and things along those lines; and those are definitely idols for many. but as calvin says, “our hearts are idol factories”, they keep producing new ones. for some, our tv or computer is a big idol: it’s where we escape to, it’s what we long for after a hard day at work, and we’ll sit staring at the screen for hours on end, numbing our minds and our hearts. for others, we make sports our idol. i know some african Christians who view the stadiums we build to our sports teams as modern-day temples, with mascots as the symbolic idol, and the team as our object of devotion. some make popularity an idol, or academic achievement. and we mentioned last week in sunday school that for some of us, our families are our idols. and some even make an idol out of external goodness and religiosity. we do all the right things, and check off all the boxes, either out of pride or for the praise of men.

one last example: one of the things we want for our kids is sexual purity, and that’s not a bad desire. but the guy who never slept around, who never looked at porn, who was abstinent ‘til marriage and completely faithful to his wife until the day he died: if that guy did not do so for the glory of God, he sinned in keeping sexually pure. because if he didn’t do it out of a love for God and a desire to know and honor Him, then he’s acting either out of self-righteous pride, or worldly fear, or people-pleasing vanity. Scripture says that “everything that is not from faith is sin.” so even our good works that are not born out of faith in God are disgusting in God’s sight; He tells isaiah that they are to Him as “dirty menstrual rags.”

now hear me out: most of these are good things. it’s not bad to love your wife, or your kids. and it’s not wrong to enjoy a sports game, or a tv show. the problem is that we make these good things into ultimate things. instead of being a means to honor and enjoy God, we make these things an end in and of themselves. instead of seeing God through the gifts, instead of being in awe of the display of God’s character and nature in the gift, we stop at the thing itself, and make it the source of our meaning and purpose and satisfaction.

the reason i need you to get this, to get what sin really is, and how pervasive it is, is because if you don’t get this, you won’t love Jesus much. Christ said that “the one who has been forgiven much, loves much, but the one who has been forgiven little, loves little.” the reason i’m praying to God that you get this is that if you don’t understand how great a debt you owed God outside of Christ, you won’t be in awe of the gospel, and the heart that once sang out “amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” will start to think of what we don’t have, and what we’re entitled to, and become puffed up like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son.

but get this, please get this: Jesus died for your sins. and i know we say that all the time, and as the old saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.” that’s why if you look at church history, you’ll see that one generation believes and loves the gospel, the next generation assumes the gospel, and the third generation ends up denying the gospel.

so hear this and let it impact your hearts: Christ died for your sins. and if you don’t know what that means, let me walk you through how the Scriptures unpack that.

• in Isaiah 53, we’re told that Jesus “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”
• in Acts 10 we’re told “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
• in Romans 3 we’re told that we “are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God put forward as a propitiation [that is, a wrath-absorbing sacrifice] by His blood.”
• in Galatians 3 we read that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
• in Hebrews 2 God says that “through death [Jesus] destroy[ed] the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
• in 2 Corinthians 5 we read, “God made Him Who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
• in Colossians 1 we read that “He has now reconciled [you] in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.”
• we read earlier that Revelation 5 declares of Jesus that “You were slaughtered, and by Your blood You ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God.”
• 1 John 4 declares that “in this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”
• 1 Peter 3 says that “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.”
• in Ephesians God tells us that “in love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

so because of the death of Christ, we get all this: our sins are forgiven, the wrath of God against us is removed, we are freed from the curse of the law, we are free from the power of death and the devil, we have the righteousness of Jesus counted as our own, we are considered holy and blameless before Him, we have been made a kingdom and priests of God, we have everlasting life, we know the love of God, we are brought back to God, we are adopted as sons, and we are free to praise His glorious grace forever.

think about this: how many of your sins were future sins when Christ died? all of them. Christ knows we’re unrighteous, we’re messed up, we’re broken, we’re evil. Romans says that before God got a hold of us, we were His enemies. but He loves us through all of that, not based on anything in us or anything we do, but because that’s the kind of God He is. we can’t earn it, and we can’t pay Him back. He doesn’t want us to! that’s the point of it being a gift! you don’t try to repay someone for a gift: it’s almost insulting, and it goes against the idea of giving.

so what do we do with a great gift? we enjoy it. we delight in it. we praise it to other people. i mean, if you get something really good for your birthday, within a few days all your friends know about it, right? we love the giver more because of the gift, because the gift reveals the character of the one who gives it. and we respond in thanksgiving.

and so, as Christ has saved us by His death, we receive all these wonderful blessings by grace, for free. we rejoice in this great gift of salvation, because now we have what we most need, and what is our highest joy, namely, we have God. through Christ, we get God, as our King, as our Father, as our Friend, and as our Treasure.

i wish i had time to really unpack the rest of this morning’s text for you. briefly, paul tells us that Christ’s death, burial and resurrection all happened, and they all happened according to the Scriptures. if you look through the Old Testament, the details of the gospel are laid out in dozens of prophecies, all from hundreds of years before Christ came. and because Jesus was resurrected, we know that God accepted His sacrifice on our behalf, and now He is interceding for us before the Father. and we know that we too will one day be raised, and live on the new earth with Him forever. and finally paul backs this all up by naming a bunch of witnesses to the whole thing, so if anyone had any doubts, they could go ask these guys.

so this is the gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ. this is the good news “which [we] received, in which [we] stand, and by which [we] are being saved.” i hope your affections for God have been stirred, that your spirits have been re-awakened to these glorious truths, and that your passion for the gospel has been fanned into flame once more. this morning i’m not going to go through practical applications of this, because the entire Christian life is the application of this message, of the gospel, to our lives. but this morning, being reminded of the great gift we have received, i invite you to respond to God. in a moment, we’ll respond in song, praising our God together. we’ll respond in giving, because our God is a giver, and He declares that “it is more blessed to give than receive.” we’ll respond in praising God for all the things He’s been doing in our lives: blessings purchased for us by the blood of Christ. we’ll respond in pouring our hearts out to God, asking Him to make His grace more evident in our lives: as peter says, “casting our cares before Him, because He cares for us.” we’ll respond by recognizing God’s work in the lives of our children, and dedicate their teachers to His work. and then leaving this place, we’ll respond with the rest of our lives, loving and enjoying God, “to the praise of His glorious grace.” amen.

Christology - the humanity of Jesus

2010-08-26T10:39:00.002-04:00

i've been a little behind the ball recently, but here is last week's youth group lesson. i owe a large part of this to matt chandler's message at reform and resurge '06.

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behold, My Servant shall act wisely;
He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted
as many were astonished at you –
His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance
and His form beyond that of the children of mankind –
so shall He sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of Him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
who has believed what he has heard from us?
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
for He grew up before Him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
and no beauty that we should desire Him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows
yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
but He was wounded for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His stripes we are healed.
all we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned – every one – to his one way;
and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not His mouth.
by oppression and judgment He was taken away;
and as for His generation, who considered
that He was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
and they made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in His death,
although He had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in His mouth.
yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him;
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for guilt,
He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied;
by His knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and He shall bear their iniquities
therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because He poured out His soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet He bore the sin of many
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
~Isaiah 52:13-53:12

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so i want to walk you through what we’ll be doing tonight. there are a few questions i want to discuss with you, then i’m going to lecture for a short bit to give you some background info (it won’t be long, so hang in there), and then we’ll tie the two together. so first, i want you to think about your own life. in particular, i want you to think about any really tough experiences you’ve had. some time when you’ve been really upset, where things have gone pretty bad for you. maybe a friend turned out not to be such a good friend. maybe a time where you had things all planned out, and nothing went the way it was supposed to. or maybe just a time where things were just really busy and hectic, and you felt like you just wanted it over with so you could finally get some rest. anyone willing to share?

ok, we’ll come back to that in a bit. this is where i’m going to go a little heady on you, and if some of this goes in one ear and out the other, it’s ok, but try to pay attention, especially those of whose favorite questions all start with “why?”. i know you might drive your parents or teachers crazy sometimes, but if that’s you, i’m glad your here; you’re in the right place.

so for the next two weeks, we’re going to be talking about Christology. those of you who really like science might remember that -ology means “the study of [something]”, so this means that today and next week, we’re going to looking at who this Jesus guy really is. this was a particularly debated topic back about A.D. 450, and so a group of wise and learned leaders in the church held an ecumenical (or church-wide) council, called the council of chalcedon, where they set down the Biblical and orthodox understanding of who Christ is. if you’re interested in going deeper than we will here, i’d recommend reading the chalcedonian creed and/or the athanasian creed, both of which lay out a short but thorough view of Christ’s nature.

when we talk of Christ, we generally say He is fully two things: fully God and fully man. think of marbled bread: you have dark and light bread, swirled together. it has all the characteristics of both the dark and light breads, but they are stuck together, inseparable, and one loaf is made out of the two types. in the same way Christ is both God and man, neither nature damaging or overriding the other, and also unmixed, indivisible.

so Christ is the God-man. next week, we’ll look more at what it means that Jesus is God, but for this week i want us to deal with Jesus’ humanity. because i think sometimes, when we think about Jesus, we think of Him as something like santa claus or some sky fairy. He’s up there, He’s watching us, expecting us to do and not to do certain things, and He’ll help us out when we get into a jam. or maybe we have God the Father and Jesus so connected in our brains that we have trouble thinking of Jesus as a human being. i have trouble with that sometimes.

but here’s the thing: Jesus became God incarnate. any of you like chili con carne? casey and i had some the other night, and it was delicious. do you know what the “con carne” part means? it means, “with meat” or “with flesh”. and so Jesus is God come in-carne, in the flesh. Deity become a man. it’s like there are two circles, God and creation, and they are completely different. God is infinite and without beginning. and He created the universe; so it is finite and time-bound. but then this crazy thing happened where these circles touched, and that’s Jesus.

now stay with me: when we think of the life of Jesus, what do you normally think about? perhaps His teaching, His miracles, His death and resurrection. but something we tend to overlook is Christ’s emotional life. if you look at John 4, where Jesus talks with the woman at the well, He’s there because He got tired and had to sit down. i sometimes have trouble of thinking about storm-calming, walk-on-water Jesus as being tired, but at least on this occasion, He got so worn out that He had to send His disciples into town for food, because He was too exhausted to get His own sandwich. have you been tired like that?

or in Mark 11, when He goes to the temple, and He sees all the swindling and greed and such that are going on there, He gets angry. really angry. so angry that He makes a whip, flips over their tables, and drives them out of there. this isn’t a guy letting his emotions run wild, either. this is controlled rage, focused and furious, which is all the scarier to me. we talked about this a little two weeks ago: Jesus is not the effeminate, skinny white guy we normally see in paintings. He was a ripped 1st century carpenter, and i imagine that when He got in these merchants faces, even a guy like schwarzenger would turn tail and run. have you ever felt angry at injustice in the world? has the evil and the brokenness of this world ever really made you fuming mad?

now remember with me the night of His arrest, how judas betrays Jesus. you’ve got to get this, judas was one of the twelve. he was one of Christ’s inner circle, who got to see things and hang out with Jesus in a way only a few got to out of the crowd that followed Him. think of your group of friends. think of the people who you let in on your secrets, and who you let into your life in a way that almost no one else is. judas was one of the guys closest to Jesus, and he’s the one who betrays Him. luke records that judas came up with this big crowd to where he knew Jesus would be, and it was dark. so he singled Him out from the other disciples by kissing Him on the cheek, which in that culture is a greeting of closeness and friendship. and Jesus turns to him and is like, “you’re gonna betray Me with a kiss, judas? with a kiss?! you’re one of my boys, judas! you’re one of the twelve!” Christ felt betrayal, and though He knew it was coming, even so He felt its sting, and he was grieved that one so close to Him would turn Him over for money. have you ever been betrayed? have you ever had one of your closest friends hurt you? and maybe not for a stack of bills, but because they’re part of this crowd now, and you’re not, and so that have to distance themselves from you. have you ever been betrayed?

or how about in Mark 3, when Jesus’ family comes and tries to get Him to stop teaching and bring Him home, because they think He’s lost His mind. even mary, the one who got pregnant by the Holy Spirit, who had to flee to egypt so herod couldn’t kill baby Jesus, who got the first Christmas presents ever; even she didn’t believe in Jesus at first. she and His brothers try to stop Him, because they think He’s crazy. have you had to deal with a family that thinks you’re nuts? with relatives who just don’t get it, and who are maybe even a little psychotic themselves?

one last example: Jesus praying the garden of gethsemane before He’s arrested. He said to His disciples, “my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Mark says that He was “greatly distressed and troubled.” Luke records that He started sweating blood, which is a real medical condition that happens only to those who are in the utmost stress and agony. He cried out for His Father to change His plan, even though He knew this had to happen, because that was how much He dreaded the cross: not just the physical pain, but the spiritual death of bearing the world’s sins. He knew it had to happen, but in that moment, He dreaded it, and while He had come into the world for this very purpose, as John says, even so He is in agony with the thought of it, and He lays His heart out before the Father. have you ever felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders? like you just couldn’t move on, because what you saw coming was so awful?

i could go on and on. the reason i bring all this is up is because of what the book of Hebrews says about Jesus. the first few chapters of that book are about how awesome Jesus is, and it says at the end of chapter 2:

“for surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of abraham. therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. for because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

and listen to this at the end of chapter 4:

“for we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

so Jesus is not like zeus, some wrathful old guy in the sky who is ready to strike us down for the least wrongdoing. nor is He some spirit which floats about, who doesn’t understand what we go through. He’s not some taskmaster who rates us based on how well we do. no, He has gone through what we go through. He’s been there. He is, as isaiah calls Him, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”

and get this: He didn’t have to. Jesus is the Son of God, part of the Trinity. He’s been around since before the beginning of time. He didn’t have to come into creation and write Himself into our story. He could have stayed in heaven, and enjoyed the fellowship of the Father and the Spirit, and have let us alone. but instead He came down to earth, born in a filthy barn to poor young parents and lived a life mostly in obscurity. He spent 3 years trying to teach a stubborn and hard-hearted people the nature and character of God and how we should live in light of that, and was homeless for most of that time, being followed by a bunch of people who just didn’t seem to get it, and being maligned and hated on by the religious rulers of that day. He didn’t have to do any of that, or face any of the trials and temptations and the emotional turmoil that we go through. but He chose to, out of His freely given love for us.

and not only did He live like us and face what we humans face, and more than what most of us will ever face, but He took the place we deserved on the cross, bringing us back to God. despite how often you and i mess up, no matter whether we do great things for Him or not, in spite of anything whatsoever we say or do, nothing is too big to get between us and Jesus. you don’t have to work for Him, as if to earn His love. you can’t! but because of the sacrifice of Christ, God is 100% for us, for all whom He has brought near to Himself. He is sympathetic, He feels for us, He intercedes for us with God the Father, He pleads our case for us, and He grants us mercy and grace and strength to get us through.

i say this so that when trial comes, when you mess up, when everything seems to be going wrong – and trust me, it is coming – when that happens, my prayer is that you’ll run to Jesus, and not away from Him. because He knows, He’s been there, He feels for you, and He does not let you go through hard things for no purpose. He will see you through, because He has saved you and made you His own. if you don’t get this, you’ll run away and find some idol to pursue, and it will kill you. this is about your life. so take the advice of peter, when he said “cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” run to Him, because He loves you, no matter what, unconditionally.

i want to give you a little time to process this now. just listen, think, pray, and then we’ll close. [play “i have been there”, then have someone close in prayer.]

now for the next week, i want you to take the Isaiah passage we read, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, and read 2 verses each day. then take 5 or 10 minutes, and just think about what those verses mean, pray about them, and maybe talk to someone about what they brought to your mind.

prayer of restless angst

2010-08-03T23:09:00.004-04:00

there are some times where something will hit my heart, and whatever i'm doing doesn't feel right. i often don't know what to do in those moments. this is one of those moments. i'm torn between writing down my thoughts and prayer, so i figure i'll do them both. feel free to join with me in wrestling.

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God, as casey and i were sitting here playing cards and listening to songs, "God of this city" came on, and after a minute or so of just tapping my foot to the good musid, my mind was grabbed by the lyrics. i was taken back to last spring, where 50 or so of my brothers and sisters were gathered in a dinky little apartment in north philly, singing with hearts full for Your glory to fill that place. we burned for You, and yet how quickly those flames can die down. yet You never let them go out. more than that, You freely bring that passion back to us; how great is Your grace to poor sinners like me! but God, i know not what to do with this passion that burns in my heart. this card game, being able to sit with my wife and enjoy some music and each others company, it is so nice, and it is a gift from You, and i want to receive it with thanksgiving, as You have instructed me to. yet i feel no peace about it now, for i long to see You own this place, where there are so many who know the name "jesus" but do not know Your Name. this culture is full of "church-ianity" as my brother once called it, and many hear seem inoculated to You and the glory of Your gospel. and even among my friends who i play poker with, and hang out in bars with, though i rejoice at being able to talk with them about You, yet they seem so unmoved! God, i would that Your power be made known in this place. my heavenly King, bring Your kingdom in greater fullness here, that Your Name might be known and praised among these people!

God, thank you for calming my spirit some, knowing that You will do what is right in Your eyes. yet You call for and expect our prayers, so i beg you for this area, for those at the trailer park tonight, for the members of this, Your church, and for those who hear Your Name on my lips. o God, may it ever be on my lips, that You are never far from my thoughts or my speech. show me my part to play, o Lord, and give me the strength to see it through. God, i feel so weak, and rightly i should, for i am. but Your Word says that in weakness is Your strength shown to be perfect, and so i offer You my all, weak and puny though it may be, and beg You to move through me. Lord, i would that You would even move in spite of me, for i am not as i ought to be, nor act i as i ought, but You, my God, are the one who talks the low and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. would You use me, in spite of my mind, which gets in the way so often, and my heart, which stumbles over itself, and my strength, which is very small and often consumed by laziness, and my soul, which grows weary so quickly.

God, i mean to be faithful to where You have called me. help me not to wonder what it would be like to answer some "more glorious" or "more epic" call, but to wonder still that You have entrusted this ministry to me, and though it may seem small, You care very much for these, Your children, and Your children's children. Be at work in them, and if it be Your gracious will, to use me in the process, that they might know You more fully, and be transformed by Your Word and Your ways, that they might look more like Your Son, and praise You all the more, because they see You more like You are, then the tiny bit they, and even we, see now. grow them for Your Name's sake, o Christ, that through You they might bow at the Father's feet, and be the objects of His love, and that they might display how great that love is, even as You did. be with me, Dad, for i am frail, and my heart is fickle, and i need You desperately. help me to rest in You, and take comfort in Your sovereign will, and hope against hope because You who have promised so much good are the One called Faithful and True. blessed be Your Name.

thank You for being with me. thank You for letting me know You. thank You that even though i type these words into a computer, yet You hear them in heaven, because You are near me, and because Jesus is my great High Priest, and perfect Mediator as the God-man. thank You for the cross, through which i can approach Your throne of grace with confidence and courage, knowing You will give me all that is good for me. i rest in Your care. thank You for hearing me for the sake of Your Son.

2010-07-15T23:06:00.001-04:00

so i'm going to start posting my lessons from youth group every thursday, since i write most of them out anyway.

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

“but now the righteousness of God has been manifest apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. this was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. it was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)

ok, so we’ve got a lot of work for tonight, a lot of ground to cover, so we’ll get right to it. which of you has had a time where your reputation was under attack? where you did something, and because of it, people questioned your character?

ok, so if you’ll remember the first time i was here, we talked about the prodigal son, and the grace that God shows to both the rebellious younger brother and the self-righteous older brother. and three weeks we talked about God as father, and His adopting grace to us. two weeks ago was the faithfulness of God’s love toward us. notice a pattern? now, last week things took a different turn. we talked about the holiness of God, how God is perfect, and that there is no darkness in Him at all, as 1 John says. does anyone remember where we left off?

we left off with the problem that this holy God has left sinners go free. now, think about your friends at school. if confronted with the wrath of God, or with hell, what would they say?

most, if they didn’t completely shrug off the whole idea, would probably say something like “why can’t He just forgive us? why can’t He just be loving and act like it never happened?” and that makes sense to them, because their mindset starts with them, and how their needs and wants get met. it’s a humanist mindset, and it’s what all of us are born with. most of us are still wrestling with that.

yet a Biblically-rooted mindset starts not with us, but with God, with who He is and what His purposes are. and this brings us to our text, Romans 3:21-26. paul has gone through the first nearly three chapters of this letter to show that no one in the world can stand before God. and he sums it up here with verse 23: “for all have sinned and fallen short the glory of God.” here, we run into another word that we use a lot in church, but might not know what it means. what does this word “sin” mean to you guys? don’t worry, i’m not looking for what you think i want to hear. i want you to tell me what it means to you.

here, we see sin tied into this idea of falling short of the glory of God. a very literal translation of that would say that we lack the glory of God. right now, we’re short on time, so i’ll come back to this later, but the Bible shows in a number of places that sin is the belittling of God’s glory. it’s trading God as our object of worship, and putting up something else in its place, or “de-goding God,” as d.a. carson would say. if you are treasuring anything above God, you are by definition sinning.

now, our sense of justice would tell us that the punishment you deserve depends on the person you have offended. if you squish a bug, no punishment. *** otherwise, fly-swatters would be illegal, right? i mean, we’d all be done for every time you swatted at a gnat, you’d be like “i hope no one saw that, or i’m in big trouble.” no jailtime for insecticide. but if you kill a dog, you get a big fine, and a few months or years in prison. if you murder a person, you get either lifetime imprisonment, or the death sentence. now, since God is infinitely worthy of our worship, and we haven’t given it to Him, we’ve committed an infinitely punishable crime. *** that’s the definition of hell: conscious, eternal torment, because for a finite being like us, it takes an infinitely long time to meet out infinite punishment. now, we all know we’ve done this, and paul has spent nearly three chapters of this letter proving that everyone has. so we all deserve hell.

now for a moment, let’s look at the opposite of this. the opposite of sin would be? righteousness, or justice (in greek, they’re the same word, just so you know). and so that word, by the Bible’s definition, is properly esteeming the glory of God above all things. and we know that God is righteous, so God values His glory above all things. i’m going to show you this is true a lot more thoroughly and with a great deal of Scripture in a couple weeks, but for now let’s run with this.

now God has let sinners, those who have dishonored Him by treasuring other things more than Him – He’s let them go. He’s forgiven us, right? but what would that say about God, if He lets God-belittling sinners go free? wouldn’t that be, in effect, agreeing with them, that His glory isn’t all that important? and wouldn’t that make God a sinner? it’s like, if there was a murderer on trial, and he’s convicted, and right before they cart him off he says he’s really sorry. wouldn’t the judge be unjust if he let the murderer go free? this is the problem that paul is faced with as he looks back over history, at God over and over showing mercy and kindness to those who have, in effect, flicked Him off and wanted nothing to do with Him. how can God do this and remain just, remain righteous?

this is why there has to be the cross. let’s look back at the text. verses 23 and 24 tell us that we have sinned and God has justified us, or counted us as righteous, through Jesus Christ. it says in verse 25 that God “put [Him] forward as a propitiation by His blood [that is, by His death], to be received by faith.” that word there, propitiation (or in the niv, an atoning sacrifice) means that Christ on the cross took for us the wrath of God against us, which we deserved because of our sins, the many times we’ve belittled the glory of God. then look what it says: “this was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.” so God is righteous, He does uphold the value of His glory and His renown, and He shows this by placing the just punishment for our sins, the sins He has forgiven or “passed over” on His own Son. now ponder this question with me: according to this text, did Christ die for us, or for God?

now of course, Christ died for us, in the sense that He set us free from our sins so that we might be reconciled to God. but did Christ die primarily for us? let’s look back at the text. it says that God sent Christ to be this propitiation, “to show God’s righteousness [in] pass[ing] over former sins.” the cross is primarily about God being vindicated, and His glory being upheld, because in love He forgives our sins, “so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus,” as verse 26 says.

this might seem strange to you at first, that God is primarily about God, but give it some time, and this truth will become wonderful to you. i plan on spending the week after we get back from the mission trip on showing you more clearly that God’s greatest passion is for His own glory, and the week after that on why this is the best news in the world. but let me just point you a little bit to what we’ll talk about in three weeks, and it’s in 1 John 1:9. God here says, “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” this idea that God is first and foremost about God, is the most solid bedrock and firm foundation of your faith and of your assurance of salvation that you could imagine. we’ll get there. let’s pray.

repentance

2010-07-10T22:04:00.004-04:00

a just had a renewed experience of this, and i thank God for it, as the giver of the grace of repentance. i find that often of late, i have been repenting before i act on certain sinful thoughts. i'm not sure if that makes much sense to some, but if the inclination in my heart to sin is sin (at least in some sense), then i'm repenting of that by not letting it follow through into action that leads to death.

last summer, at the advance09 conference, matt chandler spoke on the need for a culture of confession and repentance and dependence on the Holy Spirit. he said about how one falls into sin (in this case, so as to disqualify oneself from ministry) "it's easy, here's how it happens. it takes time, but there's a thought that goes rogue, the Holy Spirit says, 'uh-uh', and the person goes, 'leave me alone'."

i've found that to be true in me, so if i don't act on a leading of the Spirit in repentance at the moment i feel the temptation, if i don't run from it right then into the arms of God and into the ways He provides for the mortification of that unholy urge, then i will inevitably do something i will regret later. so i have to run, and obey quickly, for time is against me. God, help me. thank you for already answering for Jesus sake.

2010-06-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

the uncertain future

2010-06-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

i'm getting married in a week. i'm entering into a whole new world, it feels like. a large part of me is kinda scared because it's so different. (i don't have a good mental image of what it'll be like, and that generally makes me uneasy.) but this thing is certain, and in this i have hope:

God is already there.

2010-06-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

happy birthday to my beautiful bride-to-be. i pray your day is blessed, full of God's grace and provision. He is good, all the time.

a new world

2010-05-15T13:55:00.001-04:00

ok, so i've epically failed at my new plan. however, there's good reason. i've been working 2 jobs for the past couple of weeks, and i'm getting married in less than a month. i'll have news back on a youth min job in the area on monday, which i'm hoping is where God wants me. so hopefully i'll actually be able to get on that plan when things slow down a little bit. but one thing is certain and steadfast:

God is good.

wG09: the heart of worship

2010-04-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

back in august, i started posting stuff from the worshipGod09 conference, hosted by sovereign grace ministries. it was truly a blessing to be there, and my intention was, and now is, to share some of that with you. you can find the main sessions audio here. i would highly recommend listening to all of them. they were great fuel for my soul in worship while at the conference, and i pray the Spirit's fire will continue to use them to burn for the glory of Christ.

over the next few mondays, i'll be posting the rest of my notes for the sessions. i tried to keep them concise, both so i could pay more attention to the actual speaker (many of them *cough piper cough* were very animated) and so that i wouldn't have to pour over pages of notes to remember what God taught me there. anyway, here is session 2, the heart of worship, by john piper:

"
-John 17: Jesus' high priestly prayer. loving, in and by its focus on Christ's glroy (v. 1-5, 24)

-2 Cor. 4: satan blinds us from the glory of God in Christ. Jesus sets us free to see it. this is the gospel. (cf. "a divine and supernatural light" by jonathan edwards, and "God is the gospel" by john piper)

-Matt. 15:18 - "these people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." beware of this, specifically in your own life.

-OT is full of commands and instructions on forms of worship. NY is stunningly silent.

-proskunew - main word for worship in LXX (greek OT), is only Gospels and Revelation, not in the Epistles. why? Christ isn't there. worship is focused on the heart.

***-worship of the heart = experience of satisfaction of all that God is for us in Christ.
->"i don't write as one who has arrived, but as one who is desperately hungry."
-->i have seen it, tasted it, and desire it (which means i don't already have it)

-(1) Phil. 1 - defense of "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
->death half: if you are so satisfied in Jesus that losing all in death is gain, He is glorified.
->life half: cf. Phil. 3:7-8, satisfied enough to count all else as skubala. "you must pursue your joy. God threatens terrible things if you are not happy."
-->Phil. 2:14 "do all things without grumbling" because you are satisfied in Christ and count all things as loss (like piper's lost Bible).

"my understanding of preaching is music without the music." piper's gestures are equivalent to jumping in music

-(2) come to worship not to give, but to get from God. come empty desiring His fullness.
->a deer brings nothing to the stream it thirst for except its desire
->rose story (scroll to the highlighted part at the bottom)

-(3) worship is an ends, not a means to another end.
->[jwr: don't use worship to do things, do things in order to worship]
->wife, or supper? playing ball with son, or mowing grass? where's your desire?
-->other things improve with true worship, but worship isn't done in that hope [primarily]

-Rom. 12:1 - explained by Matt. 5:16 : outward life comes from inward heart.
->how is God the focus in good deeds? they are done out of rejoicing in Christ.

[note: Matt. 5:11 only makes sense if that kind of persecution for Christ's sake is a confirmation of our reward in Him.]
"

this message helped balance piper's first message, by showing how our pursuit of our joy in God was not detracting from being God-centered, but rather is necessary for God to be glorified in us. this has been very helpful for me in understanding the seeming tension between the two. it is more-or-less piper's foundation for his view of Christian hedonism.

i hope you are freshly affected by the grace and glory of God today, and that you may pursue your joy in Him with renewed vigor.

regularity

2010-04-25T20:56:00.002-04:00

a couple months ago, a friend of mine set up a system of regular posting on his blog, to keep himself accountable to his readers, to write more regularly, and probably to make things interesting and a little challenging by requiring certain topics be written on certain days. i like it, so i'll honor him by imitation.

here's the pattern i'd like to keep to:

mondays, i'll post up notes/comments on a message i've heard that i've found particularly impactful. i'd like to do this somewhat thematically, so i'm starting by continuing posting the notes from the worshipGod09 conference from back in august.
wednesdays, i'll post up either a song that God has impressed upon my heart, or some poetry i've written, as i would like an excuse and new motivation to write more of that.
fridays, i'll post something prose-ish from my mind, most likely in the form of random tidbits of thought from the week, especially gleaned insight into familiar Scripture, which i'm glad God has been giving me abundantly recently.

feel free to bug me to stay on this, because on top of the reasons i've mentioned, i'd like to use this as an exercise in faithfulness and consistancy. we'll see how this goes.

God bless you guys.

a moment

2010-02-24T02:29:00.003-05:00

"man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow."
~Psalm 144:4

it seems like the last two years have gone by in the blink of an eye. i'm not sure that i've done much good in that time. i believe that God can use even the poor things of my life for His glory, but if you took it on the whole, i feel like ephesian church in Rev. 2, knowing doctrine and striving for truth, but having lost my first love.

i randomly found an old note from last summer from a piper sermon on Romans 1 and the divide between eternal life and death. this kind of truth jerks me back into reality when i am lulled to sleep by my comfortable american life. it reminds me that my time is short.

and it's slipping away.

my grandmother is 89 years old. i visit her a few days a week for a half-hour or so, to break up her day in the nursing home with some company. i could say a lot about that, but one thing God has granted me through this is to really hate dying, the wasting away of life. and i know, death has lost it's sting because of victory in Christ. but death per se is still evil. it ought not be. it is the result of a sinful, fallen world. and one day, it will be no more, when sin is no more.

but for now, it's coming.

and i need to live in light of that. i need to be proactive. i need not to lose myself to the comfortable, fun things of this world. if i don't move now, i won't get where i'm going. it won't just happen; it's not inevitable. i refuse to stay where i am, for if i do, i disqualify myself. God's glory and my joy in Him are at stake. eternal things are in the balance.

it's time to move.

God, help me.

infinite God

2010-02-16T21:05:00.002-05:00

timeless Perfection, ever knowing
what to do with no regret;
never shrinking, neither growing,
no hurrying, nor need to fret.

Wisdom of the ages from before the foundation
of the world and its watery deeps
transcending time, unlike creation
which from moment to moment leaps.

eternal Master without measure
not bound by necessity or need,
by grace alone, and for Your pleasure
working all Your marvelous deeds

God alone, in glory dressed
no one can Your equal be
infinite in all Your goodness
holy and completely free

in Your light there are no shadows,
in Your day there is no night.
from Your throne, all blessings flow,
in Your presence, perfect delight.

inspired by a.w. tozer's book, "the knowledge of the Holy"

mortality

2010-01-30T23:39:00.002-05:00

the parents of my sister's best friend were over tonight for dinner, and afterward they and my parents and i sat around a fire talking late into the night. one thing that really caught my attention was talking about birthday's, and my dad mentioning that he doesn't want another one. (and by that, he just means that he doesn't want to get older, not that he has a death wish.) and i quoted back to him what he usually says, "it's better than the alternative." i'm not sure how true that is, for the Christian, but something really struck me about that tonight that hasn't in a long time.

every person who was in that room will die.

i don't consider my own mortality very often, but that was a bit of a wake-up call. i keep trying to motivate myself to do things, to not waste time, etc. and i think about how "i'll never live this moment again", and stuff like that, but it doesn't hit me too much, because i figure i'll have a bunch more, so wasting one moment, or one hour, or one day isn't a big deal.

but tonight, my eyes were opened for a moment. i felt what it would be like for each of these people, who i hold close, to be dead, gone, no second chances, no more time. and i thought about that for me.

i will die.

and that's kinda crazy to think about. but i think i've found something that helps me grip the reality that i only get one shot at this life, and the question i have to answer is "will i make it count? or will i waste it, just let it slide by?"

i want to make it count.

i want to burn out bright.

ever since december, i've had the song "for good" from wicked stuck in my head. particularly at the end, where they sing "i do believe i have been changed for the better; because i knew you, i have been changed for good." i want that to be true of me, that things have been changed for the better, that my life isn't a waste.

i want, "well done, good and faithful servant."

2010-01-11T12:39:00.003-05:00

matt chandler's latest sermon is a solid message on the balance between the sovereignty of God and the love and grace He shows in responding to His people when we pray and call on His Name.

one thing that was especially meaningful and impactful to me about this message was chandler's frequent reference to the fact that nothing he's saying is new, that his theology has not changed. he constantly references old material that he's really just repackaging, showing that he's now just living out, with new appreciation, the words he's preached for years.

"it's also a great comfort to me that i don't have to reinvent anything that i've been saying to you, but i get to stand in now and 'i'm not a liar, guys.' i'm pleading with you, for you, for the glory of God."

i pray that God would help us all to speak well now, to speak truth about our great God and His love and His sovereignty now, and to live it out always, even in the most painful of sufferings, because He is truly good. may none of us be found liars.

done at Christmas time

2009-12-24T23:43:00.003-05:00

i'm officially done with cornell. my grades are in, by the grace of God i've passed, and i'm moving on. it's been really great, and i hope to write about that more later. hopefully there'll be a lot more writing going on here soon. here are a few thoughts on Christmas eve:

we had a candle-lighting part of our Christmas eve service at church, and one thing that really hit me was when people were moving with their lit candles, they had to keep their hand in front of it to keep it from blowing out. i find it awesome that we can let our light shine, and move with it, without having to hide it for fear of blowing out. on the contrary, i find the more we move with our light, the heartier the flame becomes, and the Spirit acts as our shield against what would blow us out. as the old song goes, "won't let satan *whoo* it out; i'm gonna let it shine!"

we were also watching the muppet's Christmas carol tonight, which is a family tradition at our house. the ups and downs of my heart in that movie are quiet draining and moving at the same time. one thing that struck me in particularly was how it all fades, how none of the good bits last nearly as long as i want them too, and how even some of the best songs (like "one more sleep til Christmas") have some shadow in them (that cheery song ends with a homeless rabbit trying to sleep out in the cold). i think i'm particularly open to bittersweetness right now, with the ups and downs of graduating.

all of that points me toward heaven and toward eternity. one day, God will remove all evil, and there will be no more evil, no more sorrow that mixes with joy to produce a beautiful pain and heartache. and there will be no end to the joyous song, no end to the perfect rejoicing in our eternal and faithful God. our Jesus will always be with us, unchangingly beautiful and joy-filling.

i find that nothing here satisfies, either fading or tarnished, so i know there must be more outside. i think i'm beginning to awaken after a long sleep, to stretch atrophied muscles and a shrunken heart, and to move again. God, don't let me get complacent. i want more. let this be just the beginning of what's next, just another step along the way to fuller joy in You, that You would be shown as glorious, worthy of our treasuring, worthy of our all.

g'night, folks, and merry Christmas. may God grant you peace with Him and joy in knowing and celebrating Emmanuel.

a humble God

2009-10-17T22:24:00.002-04:00

so one thing that always got me in trouble before was trying to make sense of Philippians 2, where it says we're supposed to be humble like Jesus. now i don't know about you, but the idea of God being humble is hard for me to deal with, especially when i know that God's greatest delight is in His glory.

something that struck me tonight while i was reading mahaney's book was that a large part of my problem was with my definition of humility. i always though of it as thinking modestly of oneself, not puffing oneself up with pride or drawing attention to oneself, etc. a general sense of lowliness, self-defacing, slinking into the background and away from the spotlight.

but the redefinition i had of humility a couple weeks ago (see last post) might help change things. if humility is looking great in God's eyes, then i can understand a humble Christ. He left what He had in heaven, knowing the future glory would be greater than the past, and did what was perfect in the Father's sight. He didn't deny His greatness, or rebuke people for worshiping Him. but our God is a God would loves to serve, to gift, to be gracious with those who deserve it least.

and so the life of Christ up to and including His final sacrifice are displaying His glory, but not for the sake of man first. it is good that we see this glory, and enjoy it, and worship Him, but this is not, i think, the main focus for Christ, hanging on the cross. He is first and foremost concerned with what awaits Him when He returns to the Father, "the joy set before Him" as Hebrews 12 puts it. He wasn't primarily concerned with what the people thought of Him, or even what He thought of Himself. He was primarily concerned, i think, with the glory and the joy which He would bring and share with His Dad.

that's humility.

humility

2009-10-06T10:26:00.002-04:00

so i'm starting to read the book "humility: true greatness" by c.j. mahaney. even in just reading the endorsements and the introduction, God is starting to give me greater insight into this subject. one quick thought i wanted to share before i go back to reading:

vanity looks for approval from men.
pride looks for approval from self.
humility looks for approval from God.

death

2009-09-29T02:04:00.002-04:00

so i often think about my deserving death. i really do thank God most mornings that i'm not in hell right then, because i know that's what i deserve, and while i know it's pathetically small, i am really grateful in those moments that He's saved me from my sin and its just punishment.

however, i rarely think about the reality of my death. and i don't really live in light of it, no matter what i would like to say. it's hard to even fathom my own non-life, non-existence at least as i experience it now.

this might just be a guy thing, but talking about death or killing has a certain air to it, when one uses the right kind of language. i've always thought that saying "i will end you" is a particularly profound and epic way of threatening someone with death. i mention this, because i find that to be the best way of describing my predicament. it's hard to imagine one's own end.

i thank God that it's not truly the end, and that by His grace there is life and resurrection after our perishable bodies decay and are done away with. but to really come to grips with my own mortality, that's not something i do often, and something i think i dearly need to. i feel far too invincible, and act like i have all the time in the world.

come now, you who say, "today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. what is your life? for you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

c.j. mahaney on cross-centered songs

2009-09-22T14:50:00.003-04:00

during the worshipGod09 conference (which i was blessed to attend back in august), c.j. mahaney and bob kauflin had an interview session on what they've learned from leading a church in worship together for the past 30+ years. i highly recommend listening to that session.

one bit that particularly impacted me was one of the reasons sovereign grace has so many songs about the cross and the gospel. below is part of c.j.'s response.

"we must never leave the impression during corporate worship that we do not need a mediator. There isn’t a moment where I don’t need a mediator. In light of the Father’s holiness and my sinfulness, I cannot approach him directly apart from Christ. It is quite possible for us to sing songs that are accurately extolling the attributes of God. But if the cross is absent, we leave the unintended impression that somehow I can approach the Father apart from a mediator—that I can experience intimacy with God apart from the One who died for my many sins."

this idea has significantly changed how i think and pray. i hope you take the time to meditate on this, and that it blesses you as well.

owen and his passion

2009-09-18T16:07:00.001-04:00

"Herein, then, our present edification is principally concerned; for in this present beholding of the glory of Christ, the life and power of faith are most eminently acted. And from this exercise of faith does love unto Christ principally, if not solely, arise and spring. If, therefore, we desire to have faith in its vigour or love in its power, giving rest, complacency, and satisfaction unto our own souls, we are to seek for them in the diligent discharge of this duty; — elsewhere they will not be found. Herein would I live; — herein would I die; — hereon would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withering and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifying all things here below, until they become unto me a dead and deformed thing, no way meet for affectionate embraces."

~John Owen, Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ

the prodigal

2009-08-17T11:39:00.002-04:00

as i posted before, the guys at sovereign grace music released their sons and daughters album at worshipGod09. the songs are awesome, being musically well-crafted, lyrically poetic, and theologically informed. last time, i posted on "completely done", which you can now download for free from their website.

today i want to highlight on of the songs on the album called "the prodigal", a music representation of Jesus' well-known parable in Luke 15. the lyrics are as follows:

"You held out Your arms, i walked away.
insolent, i spurned Your face,
squandering the gifts You gave to me,
holding close forbidden things.
destitute, a rebel still, a fool in all my pride.
the world i once enjoyed is dead to me
no joy, no hope, no life.

where now are the friends that i had bought?
gone with every penny lost.
what hope could there be for such as i,
sold out to a world of lies?
oh, to see Your face again. it seems so distant now.
could it be that You would take me back,
a servant in Your house?

You held out Your arms, i see them still,
You never left, You never will.
running to embrace me, now i know,
Your cords of love will always hold.
mercy's robe, a ring of grace, such favor undeserved.
You sing over me and celebrate,
the rebel, now Your child."

this particularly hit me today, in repenting for sin in my life and asking forgiveness. with us mere humans, if someone sins against you, you may indeed forgive them, but there is still a wound there, especially for deeper sins, and it still hurts. with the Father, there is no talk of "you know, that really hurt Me". no, there is singing and rejoicing, "for this, My son, was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." oh, what a gracious God we serve, family. may His grace and mercy be evident to you today.

wg09: the God of worship

2009-08-12T19:15:00.001-04:00

so the main sessions from worshipGod09 are now online. i would highly recommend listening to all of them. they were great fuel for my soul in worship while at the conference, and i pray the Spirit's fire will continue to use them to burn for the glory of Christ.

over the next few days, i'll be posting my notes for the sessions. i tried to keep them concise, both so i could pay more attention to the actual speaker (many of them *cough piper cough* were very animated) and so that i wouldn't have to pour over pages of notes to remember what God taught me there. so, here is session 1, the God of worship, by john piper:

"
-mindset [jwr: heartset] of flesh (or secular mindset, sm) (on self, my rights and desires as starting point) vs. Biblical mindset (Bm) (on God, His rights and purposes as starting point)

-take time to contemplate on the absolute existance [jwr: aseity] of God: unconditional, independent, before and without all things

-"if you were able to embrace all the universe with benevolence, leaving God out of account, you would be infinitely parochial" ~jonathan edwards
->"galaxies are God's pinky-work" ~jp

-what's the riddle/big problem of the universe?
->sm: solve man's problems, preserve his rights
->Bm: display all the manifold wisdom of God
***-Rom. 3:25-26 -> unintelligible to sm. hard even for many Christians influenced by the world

-below justification and reconciliation, the God-centered cross displays and vindicates His righteousness in the face of forgiven sins
->the cross must be God-centered before and in order to be for our sake (cf. 2 Sam 12:12-13) God passes over sins - how is He then a just judge
-->[jwr: i am uriah's murderer]
->to be righteous, God's glory must be rightly valued
-worship flavor: no one has ever been wronged by God
->God's God-centeredness is love, because the only eternal happiness is a happiness focused on the glory of God in the face of Christ
"i don't play games in the pulpit...bash their ideas, and pursue them"

-the reason that the cross is folly to the world is that it's the end of self-exaltation, and the beginning of human exultation in God's exaltation.
"

this session greatly helped me understand why God's God-centeredness is not egomania and is, in fact, love. it pointed me back to the cross, the blazing center of God's glory, and the greatest display of His love for sinners. it was also a real treat to finally be able to sit under piper's teaching live. he is indeed a presence on stage. it was a great kick-off to a conference which i hope will bear much fruit for a long time to come.

completely done

2009-08-10T23:25:00.003-04:00

among great things from the worshipGod09 conference, sovereign grace music released their new album, sons and daughters, which all the attendees received sheet music for. we sang several songs from the album at the conference, which convinced me to buy the album. after listening through it a few times, i would highly recommend buying the cd. anyway, here are the lyrics to one of the best songs on the album, "completely done". may God bless you guys.

"what reason have i to doubt,
why would i dwell in fear,
when all i have known is grace,
my future in Christ is clear?

my sins have been paid in full,
there's no condemnation here;
i live in the good of this,
my Father has brought me near.
i'm leaving my fears behind me now.

the old is gone, the new has come,
what You complete is completely done.
we're heirs with Christ, the victory won.
what You complete is completely done!

i don't know what lies ahead,
what if i fail again?
You are my confidence,
You'll keep me to the end.
i'm leaving my fears behind me now.

the old is gone, the new has come,
what You complete is completely done.
we're heirs with Christ, the victory won.
what You complete is completely done!"

WorshipGod09

2009-08-10T15:56:00.002-04:00

So i was at the worshipgod09 conference last week. it was fantastic. i plan, over the next few days, to post much on it, from stories to song lyrics to notes from the sessions. but most important, most joyful of all is this:

Jesus met me there.

best thinking is done in the bathroom

2009-07-07T22:55:00.003-04:00

so much to write, so little time. hopefully sooner than later.

in any case, one random thought i had in the shower. the Bible says God kicked the human race out of the garden of eden and cursed them, the devil, and the world, because they ate of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". now this may be completely whack, but i was thinking, "what exactly is meant by the 'knowledge of good and evil'" and here's my idea. we know without the fall, God would not have had to save sinners, the glory of God's grace and mercy would not have shown through the cross of Christ, etc. so the knowledge of good is the knowledge (and not just intellectual, but Biblically knowing, like you know a person) of Christ, of the glorious grace of God, of His great love for us, of His justice, etc. the knowledge of evil is knowing (again, in the intimate Biblical sense) rebellion and hatred of God and death. just a thought.

a prayer

2009-06-17T00:10:00.000-04:00

Though I don’t always see it,
I know I’m in Your hand.
And though I may not know it,
I know You have a plan.

And though the way is dreary,
And though the night is dark,
I know that You are near me,
And that You guard my heart.

Though sometimes I do wander
And stray far from the way,
I know that You have bought me
And will ever near me stay.

And when my thoughts, around and round,
in downward spirals go,
You guide for Your name’s sake
While I am here below.

And someday all my longing
To see You face to face
Will be satisfied in glory
And I will sing Your grace.

So keep me while I struggle
And strive upon this earth
To see You and to know You
And to proclaim Your worth.

Let me love You always,
And catch me when I fall,
Let me know You as my treasure,
And crown Lord of all.

roman piper

2009-06-08T21:47:00.004-04:00

i really enjoy the fact that john piper, in 3 of his 6 messages on romans 1:16-17, spent significant time passionately urging his people to think and use “their God-given brains” to wrestle with the argument and meaning of the text. i need to learn how to do it humbly, but this gives me hope that you can say stuff like that and not chase everyone around you away.

he also talks about needing to fight to believe the gospel every day. it comforts me to know that “even someone like him” does. i hate to admit it, but i do set those guys (podcast preachers) up on a bit of a pedestal. but it is encouraging to know that men who have been at this for many years and can think circles around me theologically have this struggle as well, and are "fighting the good fight of faith". on the other hand, it scares me a bit. but Got is faithful, as it is written, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

core dump

2009-06-07T16:11:00.001-04:00

too many thoughts, so i’m just going to start typing out as much as i can on here:

i find i’m turning in to myself too much, that is, being inwardly focused. i’m struggling in part because i feel like part of my time here could be greatly used to advance me in knowledge that i’ll need later to serve others. there are a few dozen things i want to work on, from learning greek to working down my huge list of books to read to Bible study (self-study, learning study habits and methods, commentaries, sermons, memorization...)... the list goes on.

another part of me wants to get out and serve, to be “on mission”, but i feel like i have no idea how. i could do a bunch of contact ev, or try to street preach, or i’m thinking about starting a gig-type group (aka seekers Bible study) at a local coffeehouse or something, or maybe there’s something i’ve not yet thought/heard of. there’s also wanting to reach out to the people at my job, but i honestly don’t know how to do that.

part of this whole problem is the lack of older guys to teach me how to do this stuff, and how to balance it. i know i can’t shrug off my responsibility on that, but i honestly don’t know who to look up to on some of this stuff. i really need to find a mentor down here to talk things through with and get some wisdom from.

that goes back to why i always want to beat the drum for the local church, the local expression of the Body to help and equip each other, “encouraging each other toward love and good works,” as the author of Hebrews puts it. which i don’t know many churches to do.

like i was walking around church this morning between services, and the only people that said one word to me were the greeters, which on the one hand are helpful but in a sense is really fake, or at least seems like it, and those who i already knew. but i was just as guilty of this negligence, because i wasn’t introducing myself either. and there’s a part of me that wants to excuse myself, saying that i’m not really part of this church, i don’t know who is new and who isn’t. but i am a part of the Body, and i was there all fall, so while i don’t know most people, i could introduce myself and either welcome someone to the church or get to know those who are already there and plugged in.

but that’s not a part of church culture. it’s like a restaurant: get in, order, get fed, leave. and i exaggerate somewhat, because there is genuine worship of God by many, and the sermon is generally solid (today’s particularly so). but there isn’t a sense of the Body; that happens in small group, which often are so artificial that people feel obligated to join rather than joyfully coming together as a loving family (which too few of us know what that really looks like or means anyway). oh, that we would learn and act out these things that we find in God’s holy Word, out of joy and obedience.

and i even know where to begin, how to change things. sometimes it all feels so hopeless; but often i am invigorated through His Word and through real fellowship. i cannot express what a joy and treasure the dwynl group is to me. they are the only guys i know where anything like this is happening seriously, and it seems to be growing in leaps and bounds, though i’m not sure how many of the others see that. then again, perhaps there are places where that’s happening around me that i’m just not seeing.

i am very grateful for the family that God has given me. sitting around the table with my aunt and uncle, my cousin and his bride and their 4 kids is truly a delight and a blessing. two things were incredibly beautiful yesterday. i was playing with emmie (just shy of 2 years old) in the back yard. she had climbed up the stairs on the swingset, and was trying to climb back down, but only got one set down before she froze. she couldn’t get herself out of it; she couldn’t get down or turn around to climb back up. so i asked if she wanted help. she can’t really talk yet, so just held out my arms and took a step towards the stairs. without a second thought, she leaned forward and fell into my arms. i set her down on the ground, and she ran over to where her dad and sister were on the swings. and i just stood there, begging God to grant me that kind of faith in Him. that is what Jesus means when He talks about child-like faith. and i want to trust Him like that so much.

the other was when the kids were leaving with their parents, james (4 years old) came over and whispered in my ear “don’t be afraid; you can pray to Jesus, because Jesus loves you and He’s in your heart”. such a simple blessing; i almost cried. i need to remind my brothers and sisters of that more often.

my, it’s hard to be worried when i remember God’s grace in things like that. God will work this out, though i don’t know how. i still need to figure out how to balance my use of time between these things, but He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews again; man, i’m really starting to like that book). be in prayer for me, fam, for our Dad delights to answers the prayers of His people when they ask and depend on Him. and may He bless you as well, and make you a blessing to others.

gird your loins

2009-05-21T22:50:00.004-04:00

so i was listening to the mars hill men's "advance" 2007, and the idea of the armor of God was brought up. a lot of good was said about it, and the message overall was a helpful call to thoughtful action.

i grew up reading the king james' version of the Bible. it wasn't until high school that we started using the niv. so when we started reading shakespeare in school, and all of my friends were struggling with the "old english", i just thought it was like church. anyway, the point is that many passages of the Bible that are the "classic" memory verses, i have memorized in the kjv.

you might wonder what these have to do with each other. well, many modern day translations (niv, esv, nlt) call the first part of the armor of God the "belt of truth" (Eph. 6). growing up on the kjv, i learned it as "girding your loins about with truth."

the reason i bring this up is that, in my experience, belts are often in modern times just decorative, not necessarily serving much of a purpose. but in ancient times, men would wear long robes, and when they would prepare for battle or something that required ease of movement, they would tie up their robes about their loins so that it would not impede them. this is what the apostle paul had in mind when he was talking about truth in the armor of God, namely, that it prepares us for action.

1 Peter 1:13 also uses this same imagery. many translations get the gist of it right, "preparing your minds for action", and the esv does make a note that in the greek, it says "girding up the loins of your mind." this is what the truth is to do for us: in learning truth, we are to be preparing for acting on it. we are to tie up what may get in our way, and be ready to act on truth, particularly the truth of the Word of God, the Truth that is in Christ.

i guess sometimes it pays to be old school.

thoughts between the cross and the empty tomb

2009-04-11T00:08:00.004-04:00

"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

a few things that came to mind today, of how great the glory of our God in His gospel is.

it is true that Christ died the death we deserved, but it is not true that He died the death we now deserve, because we are counted righteous in Him, and we are new creatures, and that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. so we no longer deserve that death, because it was paid for at calvary.

i would highly recommend that anyone with a free hour over the next few days listen to session 11 of the resolved conference last summer, in which c.j. mahaney addresses Christ's cry, the scream of the damned, from the cross. it is powerful.

i think i've mentioned this before, but i love some of the paradoxes of the Christian faith. some frustrate me, most confuse me, but there are some that make my heart leap for joy. the fact that we celebrate the wondrous cross on which our Savior died on a day we call good friday is further proof of great our God is, to take the awful and make it wonderful.

all this has pointed me to the idea that, though we ought to take time to look at the seriousness of our sin and the depth of our depravity, especially on good friday, we ought to celebrate it all the more because of the love of God poured out in it. we ought not get so caught up in our sin that we miss the love and grace of God which is displayed in the cross. though it is dark and gory and awful, at the same time the cross is wonderful, joyful, and glorious. and so let us celebrate the cross, rejoicing in it, because it truly is good news.

"in this the love of God was made manifest among us, tha God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. in this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

a grace-filled day

2009-04-01T01:17:00.003-04:00

some random thoughts from a good day in our blessed God's hand:

~head-banging to rebel while reading a book on athanasius's battle with the arians in the library is definitely a different way of doing things.

~i find that i am more satisfied in God and more affectionately joyful in Him when i am forced to put it into words to express His grace to others. thanks to all who asked me how i was today.

~writing prayer requests on my hands makes them hard to forget, and draws me more often into reliance on God to be at work when i am not, helping me to be "overwhelmed to the point of prayer."

~if we are Christ's bride, not yet married, then i think dwelling on the feeling of being engaged may perhaps heighten my understanding of what it means that we groan for our future union with Him and the revealing of His full glory.

anything for Jesus

2009-03-30T20:50:00.002-04:00

so i think about language more than most. it's a weird thing for me, being an engineer, but the nuance that can go into and come out of words fascinates me, often too much. but this time it led to something awesome.

i was reading a really inspiring story today, which i would encourage you all to think over. the thing that really caught me, though, was one thing that jp mentions at the end: "i will give up sleep for Jesus any time."

now to most of us, the meaning is simple. he was giving up his sleep in order to serve God, "for Jesus" meaning "for the sake of Jesus". what got me thinking is that this same phrase can mean something else, especially when used for our Savior. giving up something "for Jesus" can also mean to give it up in order to gain Jesus, to trade what you're giving up in order to gain more of Christ. and, in a very real sense, he gave up his sleep so that He would gain more of Jesus.

what would you give up to gain more Christ? what will you?

separation

2009-03-09T18:57:00.004-04:00

-in creation, God separates the light from the dark, the waters with an expanse, and the seas from the dry land.

-the most holy place, where God's glory dwelt of old, was separated from everything by a veil.

-over and over, God calls israel to be separated from the nations, and to separate themselves from all uncleanliness.

-Jesus says that in the end He will separate people like sheep from goats.

i think we've forgotten what it means that God's people are to be separate from the rest.

nuggets of thought

2009-02-07T13:35:00.003-05:00

first, ed stetzer wrote a great article on being with and investing in your family. it is deeply insightful and encouraging.

also, Bible study magazine (a service of logos Bible software and mars hill church are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church, five subscriptions to the magazine, and a copy of logos Bible study library software! you can enter to win on the B.m.s. mark driscoll page.

lastly, i'm discovering more of what it means to die to myself. Jesus has thankfully been beating my pride into a bloody pulp recently, and though it is exceedingly painful, the joy that i am finding in His great grace is so worth it. we sang i surrender all last weekend at bg, and it's such a wondrous blessing to do that, and by His grace i'm learning to more and more, and finding more satisfaction in Him than i have in a long time. praise be to the King of all things, that He is gracious even unto me.

balanced and reformed

2009-02-02T14:49:00.004-05:00

i really like collin hansen. he wrote "young, restless, and reformed" (both article and book), and tends to give a good, balanced perspective on things. i earlier linked to his article about the efca clarifying their statement of faith before it was really an issue in that denomination. today i was pointed to this article
(HT: Pure Church and Ben Hutton) about what he would change if he had to write his book all over again.

encouragement in the face of opposition

2009-01-31T16:57:00.002-05:00

Exodus 1:12 - "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel."

even in the days of israel's slavery in egypt, opposition caused growth. we see this throughout history, in that both israel and the church multiplied and spread under presecution. this is why i sometimes pray for the removal of our great freedoms in the u.s. in the same breath that i praise God for them, in order that His church might grow and be purified here; that like the martyrs of old and those around the globe, we would need to seriously consider our faith and what it means to us.

peeling the layers of reality

2009-01-12T15:06:00.001-05:00

asking why and always trying to go a layer back can lead to some really deep thinking, and some unusual answers. i can’t pinpoint when this started for me, but this past year several friends of mine have encouraged this process of thinking in me like steroids. the idea is that almost any statement you make, especially when dealing with the deeper things of the universe (i.e. not small talk), can be taken a level or a layer backward in meaning, generally by simply asking “why?”. eventually there is a stopping point, because at some point there is a foundation of axioms or universal truths by which everything else is defined. here are a few building blocks, or some of the deepest answers, that i have found, specifically from a Christian worldview.

ultimately, when taken back to its absolute deepest, the basis of all things is God. the Bible is clear that God is the only uncreated thing, that there was never a time that He was not, and nothing ever defined Him, but He defines everything. in my understanding, He did not choose to be who He is, nor did something else choose for Him: He simply is who He is, as He has always been and ever will be. therefore, being the ultimate reality, all else is defined by God: who He is; what He’s like; His characteristics and attributes.

taking one of these attributes, namely, that God is good, leads to some interesting thoughts. all that we would call good are reflections of God’s character. whatever we enjoy that is good is enjoyable because we see God in it and we were made to worship God by enjoying Him.

also, taking a step back, we see that because God is the only uncreated thing, all that is is defined by Him, either positively or negatively. goodness, faithfulness, love, joy, truth, fellowship, power, beauty, peace, justice, righteousness, unity, authority, every good thing is defined by the part of God’s character that we define by these words. sin, perversion, deception, treachery, discord, weakness, every evil thing is defined by looking at God in negative: what He is not, how He did not make the world to be, etc. thus, when we speak of love, we should start by defining it in relation to God, rather than defining it by ourselves and holding God accountable to that definition. often our definitions are thus flawed, because we do not by nature treasure God. however, this does not mean that our definitions are meaningless, because it is also true that God has written His law and the story of eternity both generally, throughout His creation, and specifically, on our hearts.

if this is so, then it seems our understanding of God is best served by first knowing who He has revealed Himself to be (most specifically through the Bible), and then both adjusting our intuitive definitions of goodness, justice, etc., by how we find Him revealed there, and also trying to reconcile the various attributes and ways of God we find with our working knowledge of these ideals.

another clear Biblical idea is that God does all things for His glory.* in my understanding, glory is synonymous with weightiness, awesomeness, or renown. thus, God does all things to display His greatness for the fame of His name. now, if my earlier bit about God defining all things is true, then His glory or greatness is Him being Himself, as odd as that sounds. in that case, God does all things to display His character, so that He would be praised in all the earth.

it is often argued that God did not sacrifice His Son because something in us was worthy of His great love, but that He did so for the sake of His glory, that He would have a people to worship Him for all eternity, and so sent Christ to die in our place for our sins that we might praise Him forever. and this is true, but i think it’s stopping a bit short. if God’s glory is displaying who He is, then His death on the cross is not for some abstract thing called “glory”, but that we might see what true love is, because God is love – He defines it. and yes, He doesn’t love us because of us, He loves us because of His own eternal character. but that doesn’t diminish the fact that it was for love that He endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, that He might enjoy us reveling in His great love forever.

that is what makes God’s desire that we worship Him not tyrannical. it’s not begrudging praise or obligated obedience that He wants, but rather that we would find our truest and most satisfying joy in Him, which is the essence of what it is to glorify Him. we enjoy Him because He is good, and we were made to enjoy that. now some would say that a skilled dictator may convince his people to enjoy him and what he does, despite the fact that it is not truly what is good for them or what is most enjoyable. the problem with this – and one of the main reasons i started thinking more along these lines in the first place – is that this cannot apply to God, because there is no higher truth to appeal to for what is good and true and enjoyable. those who would claim that God is that sort of tyrant must believe in some higher power, some more ultimate reality, by which they could judge Him. and if there was such a power or reality, then God would cease to be God, and this higher being would be God.

hopefully that gives you some insight, either into who God is, or what truth is and how it is defined, or how i think, or simply something more to mull over. in any case, i hope you are well, that God is blessing you richly, and that you are finding more and more joy in Him, to the praise of His glorious grace.

*i know some of you at this point are probably thinking that that makes God the biggest narcissist ever. allow me to pose you a question to mull over: if God commands us to worship Him alone, which means centering ours lives around Him alone, and yet He is not God-centered, then would not God be an idolater?

and Scripture cannot be a broken

2009-01-11T16:42:00.002-05:00

this little insert in Jesus' argument in john 10:35 seriously made my day. God's Word does not fail, it cannot be broken. that means all it says about His faithfulness, His love, His holiness, His greatness, His grace; all of it is true and will not change.

yup, i love the Bible, because in it i see my True Love, the Lover of my soul.

grace and peace from our glorious King.

links and music

2009-01-09T22:03:00.001-05:00

hey guys,
i'll have a lot to update in the next week, but for now check out the links section on the left, especially the joshua project "unreached people of the day"; it's a great resource for daily prayer focus, and if you've never heard of the joshua project, click the link.
also, if you have any suggestions for new music i should get, see the previous post.
grace and peace from our awesome God.

new music

2008-12-28T21:32:00.002-05:00

so in addition to celebrating Christ's birth this Christmas, i received some itunes gift cards, and i'm looking for what music i should buy with them. right now i'm looking at stuff by lecrae, sho baraka, trip lee, and flame. if you could recommend specific songs/albums, i'd appreciate it. grace and peace from JC!

happy news

2008-11-30T17:58:00.001-05:00

as of friday, casey and i are engaged!

praise God from whom all blessings flow,
praise Him, all creatures here below;
praise Him above, ye heavenly host,
praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! amen!

2008-11-23T01:14:00.003-05:00

read this first:
"what should i do if my spouse does not keep himself or herself well?"

i understand we should present these types of things humbly and gently, but isn't it just... for lack of a better word, wimpy to have to frame requests like this or rebukes with "oh, well here's what's good about you, and here's what's wrong with me, and now i can tell you what's wrong with you." that doesn't seem to be the Biblical pattern, but rather from the false humility and "democracy" or "being like folks" (see "screwtape makes a toast" by c.s. lewis) that is promoted in the west, especially in the u.s.

jumbled thoughts

2008-11-19T19:51:00.004-05:00

"why is [love your neighbor as yourself] a summary of all that God calls me to? oh, get this truth: because it's only when i love God above all else that i'll ever love my neighbor as myself. it's only when God is in the rightful place in my life that i will treat you with the love that i have received from Him. brothers and sisters, hear this: you don't fix language problems, you don't fix communication problems, you don't fix word problems horizontally; you fix them vertically!" ~paul tripp, war of words: getting to the heart for God's sake, at desiring God national conference '08

"love your neigbor as yourself" doesn't just mean love them as you love yourself. here's another way of looking at it: love your neighbor as if he is part of you. treat him as a part of yourself. this is especially poignant if they are a Christian, because then you are truly a part of the same Body, namely, of Christ.

acts 4:34 & acts 6:7, people giving up houses and lands for people, and priests becoming believers. first, becoming homeless so the homeless aren't anymore makes no sense, because then they do the same and it's cyclic. so i would assume this means they lived more communally, or at least more simply, in smaller houses, because they realized they didn't need their luxury stuff as much as those in need needed what they could give from the sale of their stuff, because people are worth more than stuff.
secondly, if the priests became believers, and a large portion of what the priests did was offer sacrifices, and Christ is the great and final Sacrifice as the Lamb of God, then wouldn't a lot of them be out of work? what does this say about how we should see our jobs compared to being true to Christ?

despicable...

2008-11-02T18:45:00.003-05:00

...is what best describes the fact that this article is true.

God help us all.

the LORD gives and takes away; hallowed be His name.

2008-10-28T20:25:00.000-04:00

this is how i fight for faith;
this is the song of my life:

great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father!
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

2008-10-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

if you want a message to rock your world for following Christ, not just knowing about Him, listen to this message

one thought that really stuck with me:
we too rarely think about the needs of the Church universal, and often we are encouraged by someone convicting us with a phrase like "if it was your brother" or "your mother" or "your sister, then..." but the truth is, it's not an if statement. you're in the Body, they're in the Body, God is our father, therefore we are brothers. and it's time i started acting like it.

random jottings

2008-10-11T13:28:00.000-04:00

- electrical outages at work make for good conversations.
- i can't give myself to Christ as a gift. He bought me at great cost. If the wages of my sin were death, the wages of His grace and mercy are my life and my joy in Him above all things to the praise of His glorious grace.
- the only reason i can stand in front of God is because i stand in Christ. i've known this for awhile, but it really struck me the other day during service.
- God does not hang around like a lost puppy or an insecure friend. He's also not aloof like the hip crowd in school. He's our Father, and as a good father does, He listens when we have something to say, and finds delight in it, even those things that others would deem insignificant. as our perfect Dad, He loves it when we want to talk to Him, to show Him things; even though He already knows, He wants us to tell Him our hopes and joys and hurts and cares. He's just awesome like that.

a just man

2008-10-08T23:47:00.000-04:00

matt. 1-
"And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things..."
joseph was hurt. the woman he loved, who he was to marry, was pregnant. as far as joseph knew, she had cheated on him. this was utter betrayal, that which breaks a heart beyond what it has ever known. joseph must have been in anguish, deeply depressed, that the woman who was to be his wife must have been with another.

yet we do not see what far too many consider the masculine response: he did not freak out, go on a rampage, and have her killed, which was his right by hebrew law. he doesn't let his pain and his rage get ahold of him. instead, we see that he "resolved to divorce her quietly." he made up his mind to be a better man, showing grace to one who had harmed him in a way no other could. he was "unwilling to put her to shame." why? because he was a "just man." oh, that God would raise up more of these in our day; that He would take broken men like me and raise us to be called just. let us aspire to this, men, and let women seek this out and encourage it in the men around them. that instead of going ballistic, joseph "considered these things." he thought things through, didn't let his emotions get the best of him. he wrestled through his grief, his anguish, and considered what his actions would do, desiring to not cause even more suffering. may God mold my heart to be like that of joseph, a type for his adopted Son, who begged for the forgiveness of His murderers even as they were nailing him to the cross. oh, what wondrous love is this, oh my soul. God is loving and gracious, praise be to His name! amen.

a wonderful paradox

2008-09-24T17:45:00.000-04:00

Christianity is a religion of paradox. I've often felt at odds with songs that seemed upbeat while speaking of the horror of the murder of God. but we are a people which can sing of a great oxymoron, the wonderful cross. we rejoice that through betrayal, injustice, beatings, torture, disgrace, and lynching, God has brought about the salvation of His people. that He reconciled the world to Himself, pouring out His mercy on the sinners, the unjust, the ill-deserving, by pouring out the wrath and judgment that we have earned on His innocent, perfect Son. that Jesus would willingly and gladly bear it, scorning the shame of the cross for the glory of His name and the praise that would be bought with His precious blood. that "God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". that "Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God." and so i will sing of the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, so that i might live with, through, and for Him. praise the Lord for His amazing grace! Amen.

a long workday

2008-09-10T01:59:00.000-04:00

there's a lot you can learn from spending 12 hours stuck in a steel plant in delaware.

action - reaction

2008-09-04T23:50:00.000-04:00

"and immediately [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of simon and andrew, with james and john. now simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them." -mark 1:29-31

i was reading this passage just now, and it came to my mind how striking it is that peter's mother, after being ill enough that she was probably bed-ridden, as soon as she is healed, starts serving Jesus and His group.

Jesus has done so much for me, has poured out so much grace into my life, and yet i don't generally even do as much as peter's mother-in-law. i was brought from death to life, from darkness to light, and yet i rarely really serve. may this conviction not die with merely writing it here.

God, help me to serve you better, to want to do so, that i may rejoice all the more in your greatness.

one of the many reasons why eternity will rock

2008-08-31T17:14:00.000-04:00

w00t for a really good explanation of 1 cor 13:12.

and the sounds of the underground in town turned into praise

2008-08-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

this is a really awesome article on some stuff going on with mhc seattle. every time i read something like this i once again wish i actually had a place to host stuff. all in His good timing.

transition

2008-08-12T23:36:00.000-04:00

these next few weeks will be very interesting. i'll be leaving college, after having classes almost non-stop since last summer, and will be missing a ton of people who are coming back for the fall, and some who never left. i'm really excited for the recent grads of the youth group, and i need to remember to keep them in my prayers as they go off to something new as well. i'm learning once again to let go, which i can't say that i like, but i'm learning more and more how awesome it is that God's in charge, writing a story better than i ever could. i'm excited for spending a few weeks at home. i miss casey an awful lot, even though we talk quite a bit, so it'll be great to spend a few days with her. it's been weird only be spending a week or two here and there at home, as opposed to at least normal summers, let alone pre-college days. i'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with the fam. i miss them a lot, too. and the bunch of friends back home. i'm learning to make the little time that we have quality time. and a little time is all we have. i'm getting excited for the fall. i'll be working at tangibl, a small engineering firm north of philly, so i'll putting what i've learned into practice, and making money for it, so that'll be nice. i'll be living with my uncle and aunt, which will be good, and save me rent. i'll be interning at my cousin's church, which will be awesome, and hopefully learning some greek. so it's looking good. bittersweet, as always. i'm in one of those thoughtful moods, i suppose. listened through resolved, too, so thoughts of eternity factor in somewhere. it's pretty crazy, but God is good, so i don't have to know or understand how all this works out, i just know it does. He is so good, He is always faithful, and thank God that He's in control. more to come.

sociologically Christian

2008-07-20T19:55:00.000-04:00

here is a great post on being united as Christians, despite our theological distinctives.

pre-emptive maintenance

2008-07-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

james grant pointed to a great article on the revised efca statement of faith. i highly recommend reading it, and for more people taking this kind of pro-active view of defining doctrine.

a great sabbath

2008-07-12T22:14:00.000-04:00

so i've spent most of today praying, thinking, and listening to most of the t4g 2008 conference. let me tell you, God is awesome, He speaks clearly through His Word and those He has appointed to preach it, and His grace is glorious. i highly recommend listening through it yourself, especially the messages by john mcarthur on total depravity and by r.c. sproul and al mohler on penal subsitution. lots of awesome, deep stuff said. one lighter note, and a great quote, was this:

"south african waiter: would like the steak or the duck?
prince philip: tell me about the duck.
waiter: it's like a chicken that swims."

the point was that sometimes we really miss the obvious. and i laughed pretty hard. grace and peace, fam.

fighting temptation

2008-07-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

tim challies has an excellent summary of part of waltke's old testament theology. i highly recommend that you go read it, pray over it, think on it, and be encouraged and convicted by it.

a definition

2008-07-01T16:55:00.001-04:00

love is finding your joy in someone else's joy.

i was trying to define what love truly is last week, and that's what i got. and it fits, as far as i can tell. we love God by finding our joy in His joy, which means we obey Him because it shows we care about Him and what He wants us to do. Jesus loves us by finding His joy (part of it) in our joy, and since it is most joyful for us to know Him and treasure Him and be in relationship with Him, Jesus came down and died to reconcile us to Him, so that He would have a people to enjoy Him and glorify Him forever. and we love other people by finding our joy in their joy so that we rejoice with those who rejoice, we mourn with those who mourn, because their joy or lack thereof influences our joy or lack thereof. ultimately, we love them most by helping them find their joy in Jesus above all things, because they will not be most joyful until they treasure Him over everything else. this is how paul writes "not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith" (2 corinthians 1:24), and it makes sense in the context of the next few verses, where paul talks about finding his joy in the joy of the corithian church. so our joy makes those who love us joyful, which makes us joyful because we love them, and so it's a great feedback loop of joy. it's all about joy, and specifically, joy in Jesus. this is Christian hedonism. this is love.