The Life Interior

His Righteous Soul Tormented

2012-01-02T16:20:00.001-06:00

Any thinking Christian must readily admit that there is evil present in the world in which we live. And are we not surrounded by the evidences of evil in our decaying culture? Do not sin-broken families, prurient media, and the ravages of iniquity upon individual lives bear witness to this truth? As Christians, we should view evil, in all of its many manifestations, as abhorrent, as things to be reviled, as putrid offenses to God. But perhaps this may not be the case.

A Christian once talked to his friend, a Hollywood mogul, about why the powers that be in Hollywood never made Christian films and more family-friendly fare for the majority of viewers who were self-proclaimed Christians. The mogul answered that the reason such films weren't usually made was that when they had been in the past, for the television and the big screen, no one ever watched. The mogul's take on it was that all those who said they were believers preferred watching the same things as those who rejected Christ.

Whether the Hollywood mogul was right, his perspective raises an interesting question: Do Christians find pleasure in embracing sin, or are they repulsed by it? Clearly, the difference need not be explained as it should be obvious if the heart is one way or the other. But perhaps we are ill equipped to judge our own hearts. What is needed is the inward work of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin if we have truly treasured iniquity in our hearts that we may repent, and thereby be restored into right fellowship with the Lord. The allurements of this world have an immediate appeal, but we must recognize in a moment that the appeal is an invitation unto death. When this world passes away, and it most assuredly will, the deathly disease of sin and all its entrapments will burn with it. Which of these sins will seem worth it when we stand before the eternal and glorious throne of the Lord Jesus Christ? Not one of them. Therefore, let us beg God to give us souls that are tormented over sin in reflection of His holiness.

". . . righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds . . ." 2 Peter 2:7-8

Simply Love

2011-10-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

"Assuredly there is but one way in which to achieve what is not merely difficult but utterly against human nature: to love those who hate us, to repay their evil deeds with benefits, to return blessings for reproaches. It is that we remember not to consider men's evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them."

John Calvin

Freedom to Serve

2011-07-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

Many are they who, enslaved to the opinions of men, serve the Lord in slavery rather than in freedom. The praise of men changes like the wind and can turn in a moment. The same lips that sing of your worth can also question your love and labor for Christ. Following Jesus Christ and doing your good works so that others will see and affirm your calling is an exercise in vanity. A man who lives searching for the praise of men to affirm his good works will indeed live a life of constant want, the cries of his heart left unfulfilled because mortal men can not rightly evaluate the works of any man.

True freedom in Christ and genuine love for Him brings about the fruit of the Holy Spirit in a way that only the Lord can receive glory for your outward works. Likewise, truly serving the Lord in this way means that your affirmation and assurance also comes from Christ Himself. Jesus alone has called sinners out of death and into life, and He alone may declare the true evaluation of the works of His servants. Serve the Lord, therefore, with your whole heart in humility, grace and love. Let Jesus Christ decide the worth of your labors. All others are mere clamorers and of no consequence. Abide in Christ alone and you will know the freedom to serve Christ alone.

"We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father," 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

The Bondage of Criticism

2011-06-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

The history of the church is replete with the blood of the saints shed by their brethren for the slightest cause or doctrinal disagreement. The simple truth is that sheep bite. How wonderful if this biting were a thing relegated to history. Such is not the case. Every town in America, both large and small, has its share of stories in which this church split from that church over _________________ (Fill in the blank.). The flaw lies in our sinfulness to be sure, but it is fueled by hearts that do not have a vision for fulfilling the Great Commission and their role in it both corporately and individually.

Every body of believers and every individual Christian is commanded to make disciples. When a professing Christian does not do this, and is therefore in sinful disobedience, he begins to cast his gaze inward to the Bride of Christ. In so doing, he has taken his eyes off of Jesus Christ and feels compelled to find flaws within the church as if it were not a collection of redeemed sinners saved by grace. When a professing Christian begins to attack Christians mentally, verbally, and by his actions, he willfully joins in the work of Satan in his assault of God's people. Of course such actions are entertained in the vain imagining of an individual out of a subtle hubris that masquerades as genuine concern for the church, but it is nothing of the sort. It is the spirit of anti-Christ at work and the fuel of human pride is all too ready to join in the destruction.

The Scripture says that from the fruit of the heart, the mouth speaks. How very true. The one who attacks the Bride of Jesus Christ reveals a heart that is as blackened by sin as the darkest night. This is understandable in unbelievers for Jesus Himself told us that the world would hate us because it had first hated Him, but when a converted Christian enjoins himself to the work of Satan through sarcastic remarks, scathing accusations and lies, or slanderous gossip veiled in the pretense of a prayer concern, it is a mockery of the finished work of Jesus Christ that has set him free. Likewise, it is woeful evidence that the individual is so very far removed from the Savior that they claim to follow that deep and abiding repentance is the call of the hour.

For a Christian to walk in holy obedience, the heart must be focused upon the Person and finished work of Jesus Christ, and out of love for Him, the proclamation and living out of the Gospel must be done alongside other vessels of redeemed clay in all of their innumerable imperfections, imperfections just like our own. Saints of God, we are called to love Jesus Christ and to love others rather than to fester in the bondage of criticism. Let us abide in Jesus Christ in complete surrender so that we love the way the Lord does, reflecting His love for us, and dwelling with our brothers and sisters in Christ in a unity led by His Spirit so that He receives the glory from His church that He is due.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it it for brothers to dwell together in unity." Psalm 133:1

Worth the Listening

2011-06-17T08:43:00.002-05:00

Think of the situations in which you find yourself that offer you the opportunity to speak or to remain silent. Rare is the individual who, when presented with such a circumstance, can keep his words to himself. The urge to speak his mind is overwhelming, as if the future of mankind hinges upon the opinion that he must speak into a sharing of ideas. It does not.

Perhaps it has something to do with age. I don't know, but the older I get, the more I enjoy listening and weighing the ideas of others, and waiting a while to join the conversation if at all. I know that everyone has experienced people who talk a blue streak and rarely utter a thing worth hearing. How much more profitable it is to speak less and say more with our brevity.

I am currently reading The Great Gain of Godliness by Thomas Watson, an examination of Malachi 3:16-18, in which the author expounds upon the character of the godly. He contends in Chapter 7, "The Godly Should Speak of God," that "A good Christian not only has the law of God in his heart (Psa. 37:31), but in his tongue . . . the country to which a man belongs is known by his language. He who belongs to the Jerusalem above speaks the language . . . none of God's children is dumb; their mouth is a 'wellspring of wisdom' (Pro. 18:4)." (pp. 62-63) Can that be said of me? I pray daily that it can, and surely I fail daily in such a high calling, but I persevere.

Let us weigh our words today. Let the inane ramblings we post to social media be of greater weight than the contents of our latest meal, what new toy we purchased, where we plan to fritter away our days with entertainment, or why we are so very excited about ourselves. Let the random conversations in which we daily engage with family and friends and strangers be words of encouragement in the faith, of challenge to the upward calling that we have received in Christ Jesus, of sharing the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let our words be worth the listening.

"He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent." Proverbs 17:27-28

What Will It Profit a Man?

2011-06-14T08:36:00.005-05:00

Jesus said, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 16:25. The immediate context was that Jesus was telling His disciples that He was going to suffer and die. His view of life, His purpose in His earthly Incarnation, was to atone for the sins of men through His sacrificial death, thereby redeeming fallen man back into relationship with their heavenly Father. He walked in perfect obedience to His Father even to the point of death on the cross. Christ's holy obedience to His Father was more important to Him than any temporal relief or consideration. The cross notwithstanding, do we have less of a call of obedience upon our lives than the Son of Man did during His earthly ministry?

Jesus then said to His disciples, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26. The Lord weighed the entire world against one soul, and found the soul of infinite worth and the world wanting. Do we view the value of our own souls and the things of the world the way Jesus does?

Then, speaking of Himself, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS." Matthew 16:27. The latter half of this verse is capitalized in Scripture because there are Old Testament references germane to the text, specifically Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12, that reinforce the idea that whether a man lives for the glory of God in this life, or pursues the vaporous treasure of this world, he will receive the fruit of his actions directly from Jesus Himself Who sees the true motives of the heart. With this in view, how then should we live?

As Christians we must decide daily to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, or a way of our own making. There is no middle ground here. The decision is your ways or His ways. It is pretty simple, but you must decide one day at a time.

"The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied with his." Proverbs 14:14

Draw Me After You

2011-05-25T15:22:00.007-05:00

In the twinkling of an eye she exchanged vows with me, her hands trembling ever so slightly, shaking her small bouquet so that I reached out to cradle both of her hands in my own. I remember her looking up from our joined hands and, smiling, whispering "I love you." Her beauty took my breath away as it still does, and right before my eyes she was trading her life of solitude for a joining into covenant with me that would change both of us forever. We would no longer be individuals, but rather a picture of Jesus Christ and His Church, the Bridegroom and His Bride, and it has been a journey beyond my imagining.

In the almost quarter century that has passed since that day, I have come to realize that my love for my closest friend, confident, lover and mother of our precious children has grown more deeply profound, and has shaped my life more truly for the glory of Jesus Christ, than I knew was possible. We have loved and argued, laughed and wept, prayed and trusted and hoped together for all manner of earthly and eternal concerns of our hearts. In so doing, it is in the every day living that a love born of devotion, respect, and adoration of the precious gift that she is to me, fills my heart with thankfulness to the Lord for such a wondrous entrusting of her soul to mine.

I love that she always begins a day by meeting the Lord in prayer and in His Word. I love that she is so incredibly organized and yet deems it unimportant to completely close a drawer or cabinet. I love that she finds great joy in buying new plants every Spring and filling our gardens with foliage and color, and then never waters any of them, leaving them to me or the Lord to secure their continued existence. I love that her lips get kind of poochy when she grows tired. I love that she has made a delicious and beautifully presented breakfast for her family every day that I can remember so that each day begins with yummy sounds. I love to see her smile when she cuts fresh flowers from outside, and they find their way to vases in the living room, in bedrooms, and in bathrooms. I love the way she fights off sleep every night as she sits in the comfortable embrace of an old chair and we talk of the events of the day, or our plans for the day to come. I love that I can tell what she is thinking by the way she looks at me, her eyes and her touch speaking volumes without a word. It is the language of love within covenant that is safe and abiding in Jesus Christ, a language that only we two share between us, unspoken, seamless, and brightening to our love for each other. I love the way she nurtures our children, filling in the cracks of my many weaknesses. Together, we are one as He intends.

I know that there will come a day in heaven when we will no longer be married or given in marriage. Thus, I am torn between longing to see the Lord Jesus Christ return in all His glory, and yet wanting many more years with the wife of my youth if our King will allow it. There is not a day that dawns that I do not think of her with thoughts of gratitude to my Father in Heaven, recognizing that she is first the daughter of the King, and then my wife for much too short season upon this earth. I must love her accordingly that she may be a godlier woman for having said "Yes" to me so many years ago.

Father, grant that by your Spirit I may live for Risa in a way that she has a right and holy picture of her heavenly Bridegroom because You are daily conforming me in the image of Jesus Christ. May we walk this life with our fingers entwined knowing that I will one day put her hand into Yours. Help me to love her the way You do, Lord Jesus.

"Draw me after you and let us run together!" Song of Solomon 1:4

Will He Not Render?

2011-05-24T18:34:00.003-05:00

We are surrounded by slaves, men and women who look to other men and women for their worth, their affirmation, their kudos. Such individuals find their assurance in the words and accolades of men. They are dependant upon others for the surety of their life's purpose. Truly, they are enslaved.

While everyone benefits from the encouragement of others, these enslaved individuals are not only empowered by the actions of others, but their are likewise paralyzed by the criticism or lack of encouragement from others. Their self worth hangs in the balance of words spoken to them, and the affirmations of men give both they and their work value.

People of God, your true worth must rest solely in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your are counted righteous because of the shed blood of His sufficient atonement. Therefore, He alone will deliver the verdict regarding your labor in His name. The hearts and words of men are as fickle as the wind. The same person who welcomes you with one hand will strike you with the other. It is the nature of all who struggle in this life with the old nature. Jesus Christ will never relate to you this way. His evaluation of your heart is true, perfect, and redemptive in all that He is accomplishing in and through you. The most adoring human heart, and the most vehement attacker, will have no bearing on the eternal verdict of your good works born of salvation.

Your God has ordained good works for you to walk in, so do your work heartily as unto the Lord, and let your reward be a heavenly one that comes directly from the nail-scarred hand that has set you free. Only in the Beloved will your heart find the truest love of all abounding and resounding to the depths of your inner man, and then back unto Him in praise and worship. Let the Lord alone be your God.

"And will He not render to a man according to his work?" Proverbs 24:12d

Jesus and Bean Laden

2011-05-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

I wish I were relevant enough to the world's happenings and culture to be able to comment on the death of Osama bean Laden. Even so, I am thankful that this mass murderer is gone, but I won't dwell for long on the disappearance of such a despot, Mr. Bean notwithstanding. His reign was one of sin and suffering grounded in this world that is passing away. He will not be missed by any that hold a right view of eternity and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High God, the Word made flesh, Who holds time and space and eternity in the palm of His hand. The earth is His footstool and though the nations rage against Him, He Who sits in the heavens laughs at the kings of the earth in their scurrying opposition toward Him. I am thankful that my life and eternity are secure in He Who shed His blood for my redemption.

Thinking back on the horrific events of September 11, 2001, I still mourn for those we lost. Their deaths were a tragedy and a shock, but Scripture tells us that all our lives are but a vapor upon this earth. A lifetime is so short a time in stark contrast to the bouldless of eternity that we would all do well to examine our lives in light of Jesus Christ. I've shared the message of the Gospel with many who have dismissed it for any number of reasons, but one of the great things about absolute truth is that it does not require a person's belief to still be absolute truth. Despite those who deny the message of the Cross, I am thankful to the Lord that He is completely sovereign over the world of men and I am not.

"Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!' He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them." Psalm 2:1-4

Made From the Stuff of Earth

2011-04-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

I find it funny that so many people who call themselves Christians wrestle with obedience in giving tithes and offerings to the Lord as if keeping their money for themselves and from God somehow gives them control over anything. In all candor, wrestling with obedience is another way of saying disobedience, which we also know is sin. If a soul claims to have trusted Christ for their eternal salvation, would sinning in the area of giving engender trust in either the individual, or in that person's trust of God? All this being said, giving and sin are not the issues. The issue is one of sovereignty.

Knowing the wretchedness of our mortal frames, and the quickness of our souls to be distracted by sin, why would we ever want to be the sovereigns over our own fate? We need God to be sovereign over the material world in which we find ourselves. We were made from the stuff of earth and we are poor substitutes to usurp His throne. God is a Sovereign Who orders all things after the counsel of His will in order to bring glory to His only begotten Son. The circumstances in which we find ourselves, whether blessings or trials, are from Him, for Him, and about Him. A cursory glance at life would not reveal this truth, but looking with the eyes of faith shows the true weight of it. God is in control, Christian, and we would not want it any other way. Questions about why? and when? and where? are not even germane to the conversation. God alone is the Lord and there is no other. Rest, therefore, in the trust of your Sovereign.

"The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all." Psalm 103:19

Arm Chair Gods

2011-03-02T10:34:00.000-06:00

Whenever I have watched a football game with friends, I have always found it funny how much more we know than the professional athlete who is on the field. We sit comfortably back with our game day food in hand, and cheer and jeer at the successes and mistakes of our chosen teams, often yelling at the screen when the quarterback makes a huge mistake by throwing to the tight end for a loss when he obviously had wide receiver completely open in the flat! But even on our best day, we are little more than arm chair quarterbacks, and we are seriously unqualified to do their job. We are infinitely more disqualified to be God.

When we take stock of our lives, of our trials and blessings, often thinking mistakenly that they are not one and the same, we are prone either to rail against the Lord for His apparent lack of movement in the direction that we think He should move, or we deride Him for moving in a direction that is clearly wrong from our perspective. But the point is simply this: God does not see things from our perspective, and for this we should be humbly grateful.

God's action in His creation is always to glorify Jesus Christ. Always. He does this from a Throne not bound by time, nor by space, nor even by eternity. His actions are always the perfect expression of the glory of Jesus Christ, and in His sovereignty, he need not confer with anyone, even those made in His image. Too often in the Christian life, we run ahead of God diving headlong into the seas of our own choosing, and then wonder in astonishment why it is so very hard to swim. Many a believer's life would have a very different flavor if rather than asking God to bless what they have already purposed in their hearts to do, they would humble themselves before the Lord, in true humility and surrender, and ask Him what He wills for their lives. Content is the man who says in all worship and surrender, "Not my will, Lord, but Yours be done."

"Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!" But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." Genesis 17:17-19

Ghosts of the Dead

2011-02-23T10:15:00.001-06:00

In remembering recently the road I walked on my way to saving faith, it is nothing save the sovereignty of God that kept me from embracing the deceptions and emptiness of numerous pseudo-Christian Western cults that assailed me for two decades until my conversion. Many were the days in which I grappled with the claims made by false teachers inviting me to join them on the broad road, struggling to understand truth, and to find the one true God. But thanks be to the Lord that He is patient and loving, a Father Who wants to be found, and a Revealer of truth to sinners that we might repent of our sin and find rest. No longer do I have to wonder what is real, walk in darkness about the future, or guess at my eternity.

The enemies of God do not know such peace. He offers to them the shed blood of the Lord Jesus, but if they refuse Him, He is not diminished in His glory. Rather, He is glorified in His righteous judgment of their sin, even turning them over to the wickedness of their own devices, and confounding their plans, that they might trust in idols and the ghosts of the dead.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You are the true and living God in whom we sinners may trust.

"and I will confound their strategy so that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead." Isaiah 19:3

Decision

2011-02-15T15:07:00.000-06:00

"A chasm is opening between the men who believe their Bibles and the men who are prepared for an advance upon Scripture. Inspiration and speculation cannot long abide in peace. Compromise there can be none. We cannot hold the inspiration of the Word, and yet reject it; we cannot believe in the atonement and deny it; we cannot hold the doctrine of the fall and yet talk of the evolution of spiritual life from human nature; we cannot recognize the punishment of the impenitent and yet indulge the "larger hope." One way or the other we must go. Decision is the virtue of the hour."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Clean Mangers

2010-12-14T09:58:00.000-06:00

Often in the doing of ministry, Christians face the temptation of building their own little kingdoms in the midst of what the Lord is doing. It happens when, after a season of successful ministry in which the blessing of God has been obvious, things begin to change, and the way it has always been done is threatened with newness. It does not mean that the new way is better, nor is the previous method, but changes comes and we find ourselves uncomfortable, even hostile or bitter, toward both the newness and those who brought it.

The fact is that when God is growing something, it changes, and changing things challenge us to look within our hearts. We are forced to examine our true motives. Are we really working with God to build His Kingdom, or are we trying tooth and claw to hold on to the kingdom we have built? When God brings change, Christians must not succumb to the temptation to fight against what He is doing. Many are they in Scripture who believed they were serving the Lord when in fact they were fighting in vain against His will and His work.

The simple truth is this: ministry is messy because it involves sinners who, even under the mutual grace of Jesus Christ, still struggle with the consequences of enslavement to the first Adam. We are nothing more than redeemed clay who must daily die to ourselves that we might live to Jesus Christ. Do you want to be used by the Lord for His purpose? Then recognize, Christian, that new people serving in the ministry in which you have been serving, doing things differently from the way you have been doing them, may very well be the Lord Himself bringing change to the ministry . . . which, by the way, is His, not yours. Christians ought not to engage in turf wars, butting heads with fellow workers, over the ground on which the King of kings has already won for His Kingdom. Finding yourself in the midst of change in a ministry in which you have been faithfully serving should be an encouragement to know God is still interested in what you are doing in service to Him, but just now it needs the fresh wind of His Spirit to move forward.

"Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox." Proverbs 14:4

Momentary Light Affliction

2010-12-13T10:04:00.000-06:00

It seems that we often don't recognize circumstances in life for what they are. We encounter trials or difficult people and we pray for God to deliver us from them, missing the fact that it is the Lord Who allows and directs these things in our lives for His good purpose. Wouldn't it be better if thorns in our flesh came with a sign identifying what they were? We'd probably still miss it.

If someone walked up to us wearing a shirt that read, "παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως," we would still miss the meaning. Translated, the shirt would read, "momentary light affliction." That would certainly be helpful in identifying those who will prove to be thorns in our flesh. The fact is that the Lord is Lord over all of our suffering whether it comes in the form of circumstances or people. His purpose is one of preparing us for eternity. The trials which we face today will be a vapor of a memory one hundred billion years from now. Does that sound too extreme a time frame to imagine? In one hundred billion years those of us who have been born again in Jesus Christ will be with Him in Heaven, and none of the sufferings of this world will matter any longer.

Therefore, endure brethren, all of the pain of this world with steadfastness of heart, and the full assurance that the same Lord Who bore the weight and penalty of your sin will also bear you to glory by His ineffable grace.

"For this momentary, light affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." 2 Corinthians 4:17

Thoughts and Dreams and Castles

2010-12-09T11:19:00.000-06:00

Each of us have talents and abilities that enable us to do great and mighty things. We think great thoughts; we dream big dreams; we build impressive castles, but there is a danger inherent in our thinking and dreaming and castle building. It is simply this: we are much too apt to believe that we are adequate in ourselves to accomplish them.

If the fulfillment of my life's vision and purpose is attainable by my own strength and wit, then I am serving the wrong god, namely myself. I once heard it said, "Pray like nothing depends on you, and work like everything does." We are much too often our own gods of self-sufficiency, the builders of our own tiny fiefdoms. God is not impressed by the things that humans can accomplish by themselves. Rather, He is patient with us, waiting longsufferingly until we are either exhausted or disgusted enough with ourselves to continue. This brings us to the place in which we surrender and cry out to Him. Why would we wait any longer to yield up our striving after wind? If we have the wisdom to surrender, we will find that our Father is the Master Castle-Builder Who desires that we join Him in the great work of building His Kingdom. In this we realize that His yoke is indeed easy, and His burden is light.

"Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God." 2 Corinthians 3:5

Life in the Borderlands

2010-11-04T10:40:00.012-05:00

Within the region of Moab, and while on the borders of the promised land, the Israelites joined themselves to the worship of false idols. They were on the way to the fullness of God's promised delivery, and rather than trusting in the faithfulness of God, they chose instead to believe that the land of Moab and idolatry was preferable over the Lord's blessings.

As Christians, we now live in the land of Moab. This world is not our home. We ought never to feel at ease in this world because we are passing through it on our way to an eternity of joy and love and peace that is altogether ineffable. The distractions and allurements and temptations of this temporary life should never hold a lasting draw upon our hearts because we have surrendered them to Jesus Christ. We should never, ever worship the gods of this age, thereby eating the sacrifices of the dead.

I heard recently, as if it were news in this dying world, of a man who has abandoned his wife and children to pursue the adultery that he believes will satisfy him. For the momentary pleasure of his sin, he is mocking God openly to His face, defying His Son and the sure condemnation of sin that awaits him, and is worshipping a god of his own making just as those in the land of Moab. Theirs was a wickedness of ritual prostitution and perverse sexual iniquity that should make us blush in the hearing of it, but we are rarely shocked by such descriptions, and we are much too familiar with the tales of those who claim to follow Jesus Christ only to reject His atoning death in order to return to the stench of the rotting old man in Adam.

Brethren, be sure that the judgment of God is more certain than the rising of the sun. Be sure that the promise of God to glorify those whom He has redeemed is as sure as the air you breath. Your King is coming. Do not grow weary in well-doing. Persevere as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Your redemption from this world is coming. Look longingly from these borderlands in which we dwell, and let your heart ache for your passage into all that your heavenly Father has promised you in Jesus Christ.

"They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead." Psalm 106:28

Crumb Eaters

2010-10-13T13:38:00.008-05:00

In relation to our corporate worship experience, I recently heard a man pray, "Lord, please do not let what we do here this morning be the sum total of anyone's walk of faith." Perhaps this has been true for each of us at one point or another in our walk with Jesus Christ, but brethren this should not be so.

The corporate gathering of the saints is certainly one part of the life of faith, but it is only one part. There must also be individual disciplines which we faithfully practice. There must be outward acts of service as we demonstrate the love of Christ to others. There must be intentional stewardship of the Gospel in our evangelism. All of these, and corporate gatherings as well, constitute the fullness of our relationship with Jesus Christ, the meat and potatoes if you will.

If, however, a Christian hopes to find all of the sustenance his spirit needs on Sunday morning to the neglect of the true needs of his spirit, his is an anemic faith, a shadow of what could be if he were seriously pursuing the Lord. Feasting on Jesus Christ rescues us from starving like so many crumb eaters who play at Christianity. Let us no longer try to stay alive spiritually on the meager rations that fall from the table of the Lord. We have been invited to sit with the King of kings and dine. In so doing, maturity comes, the pettiness of weakened Christianity is strengthened, and the devout grow strong in Christ Jesus. What a blessing awaits us when we are able to meet in corporate gatherings as the family of God after having feasted upon the Person of Jesus Christ. Surely, this is a glimpse of what awaits us in Heaven.

Live not, Christian, as one who settles for crumbs from the table of the Lord. Be faithful in seeking the Lord of the Harvest that you might reap a harvest of righteousness.

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8

Overcome Us

2010-10-06T10:53:00.012-05:00

There is an emphasis upon the freedom of the individual in our society that permeates everything we see and read and hear, from the founding documents of this great experiment that call a Republic, which help to guarantee our freedoms, to the very plurality of ideas and expressions and actions inherent in such freedoms. In and of themselves, however, the founders and their laws are incapable of governing other than a moral people, and we as a nation have departed from the biblical morality that once served as the foundation of our freedom. What we have in the wake of such a departure from biblical standards is a people who claim individual freedom, but are in fact enslaved to their own appetites, their own desires, their own sins. What is a soul to do?

The Apostle Paul opened his epistle to the church at Philippi by describing himself as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ. Having served in opposition to God with zealous fervor while considering himself a free man, Paul came to saving faith and chose willful enslavement to Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22b) as the true path of freedom. Only in the economy of God does slavery to the King bring realized freedom in the life of the individual. It makes no earthly sense, but Christians are not called to live by earthly standards. We are called to live by God's truth during our strikingly brief stay upon this earth.

Thus, knowing that bondage to Jesus Christ is freedom to the soul, both now and for eternity, let us willfully surrender our hopes and desires, our very lives, to the complete care of the Master of our souls Who created us. There is none better to overcome us with His love, thereby revealing to us that true freedom is found only in submission to the Master.

Father, enslave us to Jesus Christ.

". . . for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." 2 Peter 2:21

For Your Justice

2010-09-29T08:31:00.013-05:00

It was while praying with a group of Christians recently that I heard one of them whisper, "Thank You, Lord, for Your justice." In the midst of other words of thankfulness, this struck me as such a profound thing for which to offer thanks to the Lord. I thought about it all day.

In thanking the Lord for His justice, certainly His holiness and righteousness are in view, and thus His separateness from sin. So, too, are His wrath and judgement against sin necessary precisely because He is the holy and righteous God. Thus, His righteous wrath and holy judgement of sin necessitated the shed blood of either those guilty of sin, or of a perfect Sacrifice Who would become sin for the guilty ones. Therefore, to thank the Lord for His justice is to acknowledge the atonement, and to thank God for redeeming His creation back to Him thereby securing the salvation of those who would place their faith in the perfect Sacrifice: Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Lord, for your justice.

". . . a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope." Matthew 12:20-21

Make Us Dangerous

2010-09-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"

Jim Elliot

A Listening Ear

2010-08-26T06:59:00.015-05:00

There are times in our lives when the Lord speaks to us in order to show us that we have erred. This is an act of love on the part of a heavenly Father Who loves us beyond our understanding. Sometimes this speaking comes through prayer, sometimes through Scripture, sometimes through the words of a friend, but always by His Spirit. The motive for the Father's action is always to ultimately bring glory to Jesus Christ. Therefore, His actions are always redemptive toward us even if in the moment they are painful or confront our sin. But there is a danger inherent in God speaking to us.

The very reason that we can discuss our fallenness is because we are no longer one with our origin. At our creation we knew only God. The fact that we know of existence apart from God demonstrates our sin, an anchor much too familiar to us. Even so, we love this anchor exceedingly. The danger in God speaking to us is that we are so very apt to desire to be chained to this anchor fixed in the pit of the first Adam that we find it difficult to loose ourselves even to hear His voice over the self-sufficient chain rattling of our enslavement. When the Lord God Creator of the universe comes to us by the Holy Spirit and the Scripture, and through the mouths of others, we had better listen. By so doing, we can allow Jesus Christ to unchain us from our slavery, and return us again into right relationship with Himself. The man who responds to the Lord in such times with a listening ear is both wise and affirmed as a true son of God. This man is no pretender. This man loves the God Who made him. This man shows that he loves the Lord because he receives reproof as if it were gold.

"Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear." Proverbs 25:12

Children of Light Reflected

2010-08-09T08:17:00.012-05:00

Have you ever wondered what it is about those people who draw others inexorably into their lives? They seem to permeate warmth and grace and joy in every day life, and even more so in the midst of trials. It is not that they have a Pollyannaesque view of the world, but rather that their view of the world transcends the world itself and holds instead a view of eternity in which the ineffable love of Jesus Christ is all that matters, and worshipping Him is the sole purpose of existence. So how does one begin to live this way in this life? Why are those people who draw other in by their love like this? The answer is a simple one.

Inevitably as we walk through this life, we pick up fragments of death, pieces of sinful attitudes, willfulness, pride and the list goes on. When coupled with an all too familiar sin nature, to which we have died in Jesus Christ, we allow a crust of wickedness to form on our hearts that stifles our ability to hear the Holy Spirit and breaks our fellowship with the Lord. We all fight in this battle, but some have learned the secret to victory through repeated defeat, repeated fighting, and repeated success. These victors are the people who draw others in. What sets these Christians apart from others is that they have surrendered more of themselves to Jesus Christ, and in so doing have become more like Him. This is accomplished in one way and one way only: they have spent more time with our Lord. In our daily walk with Jesus Christ, this is accomplished in several ways.

First, Children of Light must pray. Everyone talks of this and hardly anyone does it. There is no substitute for it. Nothing happens spiritually in a vacuum of prayer. God will not use you and you will not be transformed by His Spirit if you do not pray. Children of Light pray.

Secondly, Children of Light are a confessional people. They confess their sins to God and to each other. They confess the weakness of their flesh and their utter dependence upon the Lord. They confess their love for Jesus Christ and that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life before a fallen world. They speak often of their King. Children of Light confess.

Thirdly, Children of Light are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ by the Word of God. They are lifelong students of Scripture. Becoming like Jesus means that they are transformed by the renewing of their minds, and this comes by the work of the Holy Spirit applying the truth of Scripture to their lives. Children of Light are conformed to Christ by the Word of God.

Finally, Children of Light are those who love. The evidence of their salvation is shown in innumerable outward acts of grace toward the lovely and the unlovely, but love is the determining factor that most assuredly testifies that they love Jesus Christ. Children of Light love.

In the final analysis, then, it is not the person of warmth and grace and joy to whom we are drawn. It is Jesus Christ in them to Whom we are drawn. Let us not, therefore, idolize another created in His image. At best, they are Children of Light reflected. Let us receive the blessing of their fellowship, but let us do so while pursuing the truest Lover of our souls: Jesus Christ the Lord.

"My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" Galatians 4:19

Wonder Hill Road

2010-08-02T08:51:00.010-05:00

Through a small turn of events I found myself driving a friend to his relative's house yesterday afternoon. Their home is located a few miles out of town off the beaten path, through rolling hills of tall hardwoods, open fields, the occasional pond, and populated by well-fed cattle. What made this drive memorable, however, was not the beautiful scenery, but rather the name of the road upon which we stopped. The family lives on Wonder Hill Road.

The name of this road drifted in and out of my thoughts all evening reminding me of Calvary. Is the hill upon which the one true God would kill His only Son not a wonder to behold even if only in the mind and heart? Is Golgotha not a wondrous, improbable yet absolutely true display of the terrifying justice of God Who loves us enough to treat His own Son to such horror that we might be the recipients of fathomless grace? The riches of Heaven's forgiveness given to sinners such as we is a wonder indeed. May we never grow familiar with that hill, but rather live out a holy obedience that bears witness to our thankfulness and praise of our Risen King.

"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." Isaiah 53:10

And Hannah Prayed

2010-07-26T08:46:00.003-05:00

"And Hannah prayed and said, 'My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.'"

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Loyalty

2010-07-20T08:39:00.009-05:00

Having recently served in a church in a small town where most of the members of the congregation have spent their entire lives together, I have fresh memories of a church family that knows itself well. Such a church stands in stark contrast to the usual consumer mentality that permeates much of western Christianity. Those disheartened by church life, whether by their own fault or at the hands of others, simply relocate to a new, unsuspecting fellowship, and start over as if they weren't running from what the Lord was trying to teach them through the difficulty they encountered in their previous church family.

This, I think, is at the heart of the issue of loyalty. While many will proclaim their own loyalty to the Lord and a body of believers, who can really find a trustworthy man? So many abandon ship when the mildest issue with a fellow shipmate annoys them, or they are inconvenienced, or someone in authority fails to give them the praise to which they feel they are due.

Loyalty to the Lord and His people means that we have a right understanding that the Body life of which we have become a part by the shed blood of Jesus Christ is not about us. It is and always will be about Jesus Christ. Thus, our loyalty to a body of believers is a picture of our loyalty to the Lord Himself. This kind of devotion is as rare today as it is encouraging when observed in the life of a faithful Christian. For the glory of the Lord, let us persevere to be such a people, hearts and hands open to one another, faithful, loyal, one soul at a time. In so doing we demonstrate to the wanting world that there is another way of love, and His name is Jesus Christ.

"Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?" Proverbs 20:6

Arise and Build

2010-07-12T09:43:00.007-05:00

Many are the ministries that move forward by the work of men's hands, ministries that boast impressive numbers of people, colossal buildings, and well-dressed and well-spoken personalities. They prosper by their creativity. They prosper by their expansive visions. They prosper by their cutting edge everything. And the loyal adherents to such a faith follow in droves. By the grace of God, may we never surrender our hearts to a vision for the Kingdom of God that we ourselves can accomplish.

Ministry that the Spirit of Christ affects is never grandiose by worldly standards. It is measured not by the counting of people, nor the erecting of structures, but rather by the exalting of Jesus Christ in the lives of individuals. It is not stained glass that demonstrates the work of God; it is the soul washed clean of its sin by the blood of the Lamb of God. Thus, when the God of heaven prospers the work of men's hands, it is not so that they may build castles made of sand. It is in order that they will arise and build the Kingdom of Jesus Christ by the furtherance of the Gospel. Such a work of eternity will never be of any great interest to the world, but it is the plan of God that He may redeem a people unto His name.

"So I answered them, and said to them, 'The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build . . .' " Nehemiah 2:20

Whose Spirits God Had Moved

2010-07-08T10:30:00.010-05:00

So much of life and ministry is about busyness. We race from one necessary activity to the next with children and plans in tow, accomplishing our 'to-do' lists, grabbing meals along the way, doing our best to sustain our hurried relationships, and hoping that we can keep our lives from fraying at the edges. As I sit in my new office this morning, looking out at a wall of tall oak trees under a low, gray sky, soaking up the richness of His Word as the drone of a deluge of rain drums on the roof, there is a stillness born of waiting on the Lord for the last year and a half that is very comfortable, a familiar friend.

And this stillness, rooted and growing in an utter dependence upon the Lord, will continue as stillness before Him yields frutifulness in ministry. I have such a deep and abiding joy in the faithfulness of the Lord, in complete trust in surrendering to His will. I am praying in thankfulness that the Lord has stirred my spirit and empowered me to be about the work of building His Kingdom as I lead and serve this new church family. Our God is so faithful to allow redeemed sinners to arise and go and build His house.

Thank You, my Father and my God.

"Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priest and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." Ezra 1:5

Separated

2010-07-07T14:21:00.006-05:00

There is no shortage of wickedness in the world to which we could surrender our hearts as ours is a culture of abominations that would impress even the residents of Tyre and Sidon. Truly the church is under the torrential onslaught of such sin with some professing believers more successful than others in remaining holy before the Lord. What would it take, I wonder, for the average American Christian to live wholly apart from the trash heap of the world, and separated wholly unto the Lord? Other than our pride and self-sufficiency and unholy appetites, what would have to change that we might lay our everything before the Lord God of Israel?

Perhaps rather than asking what it would take for the average American Christian to be holy before the Lord, I should begin by praying, "Lord, please forgive me, a sinner."

"Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel."

The Fruit Of Your Waiting

2010-06-05T12:48:00.007-05:00

Walking with the Lord in times of great trial and suffering, when rescue seems an irrational expectation, is a clinging to the only Hope possible. Turning to Christ by faith in such instances seems right and obvious. Such hardships certainly remove the temporal cataracts from our earth-bound eyes. But it is also in times of stillness that the metal of one's faith and devotion is defined, purified and stripped of its trappings. "Be still and know that I am God." are easy words to read in a greeting card. They are all together different when spoken to the heart by the Lord Who alone is in sovereign control of every circumstance, of every nuance, of every breath. After a year and a half of waiting on the Lord, of saying no to invitations to ministry that came one after another, of trusting God for eternity, and now learning to trust Him in a new way in the moment that is this life, there comes from His hand His plan for ministry that is the fruit of our waiting.

Thank You, Father, that Your ways are perfect, Your love an overwhelming flood, and Your grace enough.

Where Then Is Boasting?

2010-05-17T09:22:00.018-05:00

It is a wonder that the same God Who spoke time and space into existence, Who is holy in His very nature and character and essence, Who was and is and is to come, self-existent in the three Persons of the Godhead in all eternity, Who alone possesses immortality, perfect in His divine attributes, Who knows perfect love within Himself, unbegan, undiminishing, unending, would create a form from dust, imbue it with His image, and breathe His life into it, and then invite this creature into love relationship with Himself, all the while knowing that this creation and his progeny would reject infinite love, an act requiring the very death of God as recompense.

I know that there have been days subsequent to my salvation when I did not display the image of Jesus Christ in a manner worthy of Him just as I know that there have been days subsequent to my salvation when I have been as surrendered and worshipful to Him as I know I can be; and there have been many days in between. But whatever my particular obedience or surrender might look like on any given day, I am never far from abject wonder at the truth of Christ's saving grace extended to me in the cross.

I have a friend who has seen the ugly side of ministry in his service as a layman, and it has colored his view of pastors accordingly. He is quick to notice, and not unjustified in his observations, a bent toward arrogance on the part of many in vocational ministry. I, too, have seen this, but I in no way understand it, especially as a pastor. Having come to the Lord at the age of twenty while still in college, I had plenty of time to work on my testimony, to taste the vapid desserts of the world, to defile myself in the blackness of sin, knowing the unfathomable depths of hopelessness apart from God. Consequently, when I am preparing and studying to preach, when I am praying for the unction of the Holy Spirit that I may stand before His people to proclaim His truth, when I am alone with Him listening for His still, small voice, I am humbled that this great and powerful God Who bore my sins would ask me to serve in His Kingdom. There is no place for hubris at the feet of the King of kings, only humility and brokenness and rejoicing. His grace is truly amazing in that in Jesus Christ, we have the imputed righteousness of the Son of God so that when the Father looks at us, He sees His Son's righteousness, and not our wickedness that we brought as an offering when we first came to the Throne. Now in Jesus Christ, this same Throne of grace is open to us as disciples, as worshippers, as lovers of the Bridegroom. In light of so great a salvation, where then is boasting?

"After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God." Revelation 19:1

Until Now, I Have Not

2010-04-14T09:55:00.014-05:00

If you belong to Jesus Christ, then the salvation of souls must be your utmost concern. While some would argue that the foremost concern of Christians must be abstaining from evil or holy living, I contend that the Word of God presents these aspects of sanctification as requisite components of a regenerate life. They are a given. Christians are expected to obey and thereby glorify God with the fruit of righteousness as evidence of their regeneration. The Great Commission moves beyond this starting point of the Christian experience as Jesus commands His followers to make disciples.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, then the salvation of souls must be your utmost concern. By yielding to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Christian soul is attuned to the presence of unregenerate souls around him. His heart learns to ache with Jesus for the salvation of sinners. He intercedes for their conversion. He prays for circumstances that will allow him to speak of so great a salvation that he has received by faith in Jesus Christ. Truly, he dreams of them, and his desire for their redemption increasingly permeates every area of his life.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, then the salvation of souls must be your utmost concern. Such a statement often brings protests of legalism, or the lack of giftedness in the area of evangelism, to diffuse the sting of the truth, but this is to be expected in a society of self-aggrandizement in which the exaltation of the individual has unseated even the clear command of the Son of God to His disciples to be witnesses to the utter most parts of the earth. The simple truth is that Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost because He loves them. Perhaps what is in order is a simple prayer in which we confess, "Lord, please help me to love the lost the way You do because until now, I have not."

"According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted." 1 Timothy 1:11

My Sister and My Bride

2010-04-08T15:23:00.012-05:00

As part of my sermon on John 6:1-2 for this Sunday, there is an examination of the motivations in Scripture of the hearts of people. Specifically, what drives them to come to Jesus Christ. One of the verses I reference is Luke 10:39 which reads "She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word."

This woman followed Jesus only to sit at His feet and listen to Him speak. This verse so reminds me of a woman that I have known for a long time that wants most of all to rest at the feet of Jesus Christ, to love Him with her whole heart, to worship Him with her whole life, and to be in His holy presence all of her days. This woman loves Jesus just for Who He is. She loves Him with a pure and holy love, and I believe that her heart is the delight of her Bridegroom.

This truth places me in an interesting situation in that I realize that as I am married to her, I must treat her as the redeemed daughter of the King, and the future Bride of Jesus Christ. She is only my wife for the fleeting season of this life, and then we will share eternity with Jesus Christ in which we are no longer married nor given in marriage.

With this in mind, I pray that You, Lord Jesus, will show me daily how to live so that You will be glorified in her life. I pray that being married to me will make her a more godly woman. I pray that she will recognize the love of her eternal Bridegroom in the temporal and temporary love her earthly bridegroom. Lord, make me more like You for her sake.

"How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!" Song of Solomon 4:10

Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς

2010-04-06T07:31:00.005-05:00

"Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς· Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον· καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καί ἡ δύναμις καί ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν."

Translation:

"Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Matthew 6:9b-13

The Proper View of Creation and Eternity

2010-04-01T12:38:00.002-05:00

"I remember a year ago when a doctor told me, 'You have an illness from which you won't recover.' I walked out to where I live five miles from Portland, Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love. I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God's own poetry to my soul. Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps, and I said, ' I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down pulling of the material Universe!' "

W. B. Hinson

Simple

2010-03-26T10:42:00.023-05:00

I've always thought the book of James was about as in your face a call to live out your faith in Christ as you can get. Show me your faith by your works. It doesn't get any more straight forward than that. If you believe Scripture as it proclaims Jesus Christ to be the Lord of the Earth, and you have come to saving faith, then you will walk in obedience; seems pretty simple.

Too often professing Christians ask the question about what is permissible, seeking leave to walk with one foot in each camp. How close can we get to the line of acceptable before we cross into sin? God never intends for us to live this way. Living this way reveals a heart that is not convinced that Christ is really worth our all. Living such a life leads only to dissatisfaction in which we are tempted to blame God because life in Him is not what we expected when in actuality, we were never in Him in the first place.

A life surrendered to Jesus Christ finds not only its greatest satisfaction in Him, but also, rather than asking how close can we get to the line of sin and still be OK, a surrendered life asks, "Lord, how can I decrease all the more so that You may increase in me." In such a desire, born of the Holy Spirit working in the heart, there is found joy unspeakable, and the deep satisfaction of knowing the love of the Father in Jesus Christ that is boundless, eternal, and infinite in its scope.

This is a life through which God the Father displays the glory of His only Son. This is a life through which the Holy Spirit works to give evidence of a redeemed soul that bears witness to Christ. This is a life through which the Great Commission resounds with the testimony of the Living Christ as the Lord and Savior of men. This is a life that has been transformed by love.

Show me your faith by your works? Live out the truth and tell people about Jesus Christ Whom you love. It is pretty simple.

"What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" James 2:14

Contending for the Gospel

2010-03-21T17:07:00.012-05:00

There is a woman I know who greets me with a kiss on my cheek every time I see her. Her name is Mary and she just celebrated her ninety-third birthday last Thursday. When I had been the Interim Pastor at East Side Baptist Church for only a few months, she came up to me with tears in her eyes after the morning service and said, "Thank you for contending for the Gospel." She went on to explain her statement.

She told me that during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, her husband was forced, along with other local men, to dig pits on the outskirts of their village. Once completed, the Germans killed many of their neighbors, all Jewish, and filled the pits with their bodies: men, women and children. She told me through tears that entire families were murdered. All the while, she and her family hid some of their Jewish friends in their basement, and this continued for years until the war was over. She said, "What else could we do? We were Christians! We had to save them! So you see, I know what it means to have to contend for the Gospel, and I thank you for contending for the Gospel when you preach."

It is a small world indeed when I can meet so mighty a heroine of the faith amid the wind-blown peanut and cotton farms of West Texas, but such is the way of the Kingdom of God. As I looked into Mary's beautiful, smiling eyes, whispered a weak "Thank you" and admitted to myself that I do not yet know what it means to contend for the Gospel.

"Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back." Proverbs 24:11

Ferris Bueller and the Great Commission

2010-03-10T14:36:00.017-06:00

It was at the end of his day off that Ferris Bueller reminded the rest of us encumbered by maturity that, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." I was reminded of the truth of this statement last night as I spent two hours with a friend whom I have known for twenty years. I always enjoy our time together, but yesterday was especially Christ-honoring. Our conversation touched on the Great Commission, the ministry of an indigenous pastor in Haiti, the Great Commission, the nature of the Church, the Great Commission, corporate life in the Body of Christ, the Great Commission, the individual Christian's responsibility to preach the Gospel, the Great Commission, financial stewardship and giving for the purpose of supporting the work of missions, the Great Commission, effective and ineffectual leadership, and the Great Commission.

Both my friend and I are very busy men with families and vocations and responsibilities, but in the midst of life moving so quickly for both of us, we found time to sharpen one another, to encourage each other, and to direct our gaze upon the Person of Jesus Christ.

Life moves pretty fast, and I am thankful that I am running the race with mighty men of God whom I may call my brothers.

"As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Earth's Crammed with Heaven

2010-02-23T11:55:00.007-06:00

"Earth's crammed with Heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Book Review: The Shack

2010-02-19T09:54:00.007-06:00

Having been raised by missionary parents in the high mountain jungles of the former New Guinea, author William P. Young’s worldview was framed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ at an early age, a perspective that helped him as a child cope with the death of his young sister. It was her death, his family’s response to so great a tragedy, and subsequent suffering as an adult that in large measure served as the impetus for his novel. Despite the author’s apparent Christian upbringing, however, this novel contradicts primary doctrines of the Christian faith and should be avoided.

Summary

Introduced by Willie, a friend of the protagonist, The Shack is the story of Mackenzie Allen Phillips, or Mack, a Midwestern boy raised in church and converted at a young age while the son of an alcoholic father (8). As a teen and into his early twenties Mack traveled the world, worked to send money home to his mother, and even fought in a distant armed conflict before attending seminary in Australia (9). All of this is shared with the reader as background information and, as the story begins, Mack is in his early fifties and views God in much the same way he viewed his earthly father: “brooding, distant, and aloof” (10). He and his wife, Nan, have been married for thirty-three years and have five children (11). Their lives of faith and family could be descriptive of many that anyone might know, but the heart of this novel centers on the grief, strain, and suffering that befalls Mack as the result of a horrific tragedy.

Because of the abduction and murder of his young daughter, Missy, while on a family camping trip (43), Mack’s world is torn apart. In response to a note that he apparently receives from God as an invitation, Mack makes his way to the shack (77) where Missy was taken and killed. It is here that he spends three days with God, as expressed to him by way of the three Persons of the Godhead, and, through a series of lessons, faces his “pit of desolation” (79) that he calls his Great Sadness. Through these interactions with the Lord, Mack comes to understand God and His purpose in a way heretofore foreign to him. Ultimately, he arrives at the place where he can forgive, not only God, but also himself for allowing Missy to be taken, and even her killer (230).

Critical Evaluation

In a culture in which the cult of celebrity is not limited to the allure of movie stars and sports figures, The Shack has certainly garnered the starry-eyed attention of the public, having sold over one million copies. A Herculean accomplishment to be sure, but unfortunately, this novel does so devoid of a biblically sound view of the nature and character of God.

Early in the novel Mack meets God the Father, Who, despite the fact that all three Persons in the Trinity are clearly shown in Scripture to be masculine, is personified as a “large black woman” (84). The Holy Spirit is likewise embodied by a woman of Asian descent, “maybe of northern Chinese or Nepalese or even Mongolian ethnicity” (85). Only Jesus is portrayed in masculine form as a man of “Middle Eastern” (84) origin. Mack struggles to understand what he is seeing, this “Trinity sort of thing . . . two women and a man” (87). He asks Jesus, “Am I supposed to believe that God is a big black woman?” (89). The feminine God the Father, Papa, later responds to Mack’s questioning by stating that she, God, is “neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature . . . for me to appear to you as a woman (is) . . . to keep you from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning” (93). This might make for good pulp fiction, but it does so at the cost of rejecting the religious conditioning called orthodoxy in which God is the Father. The Word of God makes no allowances on the nature of God for the easier understanding of fallen man. But the god of The Shack does not stop there, however, in her departure from the God of the Bible.

It is during a conversation with the feminine Papa that Mack sees the “deep piercing” (95) scars in the black woman’s wrists. Explaining the suffering of the cross, Papa says that she, and the Asian, female Holy Spirit, and Jesus “were there together” (96). She explains that all three suffered the pain and agony of the cross, a heresy referred to by biblical orthodoxy as Patripassianism, the belief that not only the Son suffered, but also the Father in atoning for the sins of men. But the contradictions to the biblical testimony of the nature of God do not end there.

In trying to get Mack to redefine his narrow understanding of the nature of the Trinity as defined by Scripture, Papa tells him that “when we spoke ourself into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human . . . we now became flesh and blood” (99). The incarnation of Jesus somehow made the other two feminine members of the Godhead incarnate as well. Scripture clearly declares that God the Father and the Holy Spirit are Spirit, not flesh, but this biblical truth is apparently suspended for the expediency of an appearance at The Shack. And the departures from the Word of God continue.

While explaining her nature as one of love, Papa describes herself in a way that further contradicts Scripture, stating that “unless I had an object to love - or, more accurately, a someone to love . . . then I would not be capable of love at all” (102). While couching this in terms of the love known within the Trinity, Papa is describing herself as the God of the universe Who would be lacking or in need without an outlet for the love that defines her. This is not the God of the Bible Who is the all-sufficient Lord of eternity, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. But it is not only the true nature and character of God that are contradicted in The Shack.

Sarayu, the name the author uses for the Holy Spirit, explains to Mack that “both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence” (136). Darkness and evil only come upon men when they depart from God, but evil is not real. It is interesting that in teaching the disciples to pray, the Jesus of the Bible instructs them to ask the Father to deliver them from evil, or the evil one. This is another instance in which the story of The Shack departs from the truth of the canon of Scripture.

Perhaps one of the most shocking contradictions to biblical orthodoxy in this work of fiction comes during Mack’s questioning Papa about the nature of her wrath and the nature of punishment. Mama God replies to Mack saying, “I am not who you think I am . . . I do not need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment . . . it’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it” (119). If this were true, then not only was the Incarnation unnecessary, but the crucifixion was a horrible tragedy and an appalling waste of life. The author may hold that the issue of sin is made acceptable by this god’s joy in curing sin, but the remedy for sin was the intentional, foreordained death of Jesus Christ Who bore the penalty of man’s sin, man’s punishment, that the wrath and justice of God would be satisfied, thereby opening the floodgates of the grace and mercy of God to sinners. But again, the author puts the needs of fiction above the truth of the Word of God.

Conclusion

It is indeed unfortunate that a novel like William P. Young’s The Shack that so gravely departs from the clear teaching of the Word of God can gain so great a following in a culture that no longer defines truth in terms of moral absolutes. Rather than anchoring his story in biblical orthodoxy by which his readers may come to know the true God of the Bible, Young has chosen to color his fictional deity in absurd strokes of emotionalism and politically correct inclusivism that dismiss primary doctrines of Scripture. His attempt at making the Trinity seem more approachable and more palatable to the modern, twenty-first century mind have unraveled, not the immutable, ineffable Word of God, but rather his own story. If, in an attempt to arrive at a kinder and gentler understanding of the nature and character of God, we discard the truth of Who God reveals Himself to be in His Word, then we have arrived nowhere save at the feet of an idol of our own making. The Shack serves only to encourage such idolatry, and should, therefore, be avoided in favor of biblically sound fare.

The Glory Of The Second Life

2010-02-16T10:14:00.004-06:00

"There is a secret, heavenly vigour infused into every gracious soul by the sanctifying Spirit, which deadens it to the world, and makes it delight in God. He ought to shine in the world, as a light 'in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,' Phil. ii.15. Light and darkness cannot endure one another; neither the power of grace those works of darkness in which the world lies drowned. He is by no means to be conformed to this world, Rom. 12:2, nor to run with the wicked to the same excess of riot, 1 Pet. 4:4. He is now new-born, and becomes a child of eternity; whereby his heart is fallen in love with new and everlasting delights, and the eye of his soul turned from the dung of this world towards the glory of the second life. As the worldling cannot relish the sweet joys of gracious exercises, so neither can the christian the frothy pleasures of carnal fellowship. You can as hardly draw the sound professor to an assembly of swaggering companions, as a lover of pleasure to a day of humiliation."

Robert Bolton

Camping On Mars

2010-02-09T09:16:00.009-06:00

What if Jesus were to draw away from you, to remove Himself from your perception, to be just far enough out of reach that you received no consolation from Him? How would your faith sustain you in a season of silence? We are a people marinated in the immediacy of our culture, wanting and waiting for little if anything, and all the while railing against the mildest inconvenience. We are as unfamiliar to suffering and stillness as we are to the surface of Mars. We pray and expect God to answer us, not right away, but certainly before lunch.

What if we had nothing from the hand of God for the rest of our lives on this earth save only the promise of Heaven? Would we still bless Him? Would we seek His heart alone if His hands were withheld? When we read the Word of God and look at the life of Abraham, putting together the times that he prayed, and the number of times God answered him, and over how many years, Abraham averaged hearing from the Lord once every seventeen years. That is both mind-boggling and convicting.

Father, thank You that we may rest in Your faithfulness and trust in Your goodness even in days of silence.

"So Jesus said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.'" John 4:48

A Word To The Pastor Of A Small Church

2010-02-04T13:14:00.003-06:00

"I know the vanity of your heart, and that you will feel mortified that your congregation is very small, in comparison with those of your brethren around you; but assure yourself on the word of an old man, that when you come to give an account of them to the Lord Christ, at His judgment seat, you will think you have had enough."

John Brown as spoken to one of his ministerial students

A Much Simpler Time

2010-01-22T09:22:00.013-06:00

The church where I am the Interim Pastor is an incredible country church comprised of mostly farmers and ranchers and their families. Once a month the older members of the congregation put on a lunch called Sonshine in which they bring in all the shut in members of their congregation, and some mentally handicapped members of their community who are accompanied by their helpers.

During yesterday's Sonshine, I spoke with a lot of people, some old friends and some new ones. One conversation, however, stuck with me more than the others. A sweet old lady told me how her father was one of the two men who planted the church when it was still out of town. It was in a place called Weaver. The small group of a few families met in front of an arbor overgrown with vines out on the edge of a field. The local lumberyard had donated some wooden planks and they laid them across tree stumps to create pews. The "preacher" stood in the arbor and brought the Word of God with great volume and authority. After the sermon and a lot of hymns, they would all eat lunch together sitting on those same boards, and then head home in the early afternoon.

The woman telling me the story said that the best part of the Sunday morning experience was when they were leaving for church, her father would reach down and, with his big, strong hand, pull her up into the wagon behind him, and make sure she was secure before he would snap the reins the get the horses moving. She would then stand behind her father, taking in the morning as the wagon moved down the dirt road on the way to the arbor. I asked her when that was and she told me her memories of that church went back to 1924. She said church meant so much to her because her family identity was connected to that body of believers. They loved to hear good preaching because there was nothing else to do, and it was all about the family living their lives of faith together. "There were a lot fewer distractions back then." she said through a gentle, nostalgic smile. "It was a much simpler time."

"Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set." Proverbs 22:28

Incomparable

2010-01-15T09:27:00.007-06:00

The sins of the old Adam from which Jesus Christ redeemed us will never seem to us the dung that they are if we look upon them with earthly eyes, and take our own measure of them. For us to see the trappings of the sinful life as the utter waste of life that they are, we must hold them up to the light of Christ. Only in such a blinding comparison can we behold the incomparable beauty of the Son of God, and recognize that the pursuit of everything else is nothing more than striving after wind.

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments . . ." Ecclesiastes 12:13

Whoever Loves Discipline

2010-01-12T10:15:00.010-06:00

With refreshing candor the Word of God speaks to all issues that we will ever face in this life. In reading Proverbs today, I found a description of the difference between the wise and the . . . well . . . the stupid:

"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid." Proverbs 12:1

It is an exercise in futility to argue with the Word of God. Therefore, what can I understand from this verse that has application for my life? If I am wise I will love discipline. I will both receive the disciplining hand of God in my life, and I will give evidence of this embrace by loving knowledge that my life may reflect the presence of the Spirit of Christ.

If, on the other hand, I am stupid, I will hate reproof. I will not yield to the pruning work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I will not yield to those in authority over me who should be able to speak truth and correction into my life. This refusal to receive reproof proves me to be not only unwise, but an idiot. Isn't the Word of God refreshing?

The Lord speaks plainly to us because He loves us and wants us to know all the joy and fullness of life in Jesus Christ. If the Lord brings reproof into our lives, it is because He is at work in us. Be wise, therefore, and love the knowledge that God's loving correction brings.

The Games of Childhood

2010-01-11T08:43:00.017-06:00

I remember playing games of tag and hide and seek when I was a child. In reading the book of Judges today, I was thankful that my childhood games did not include elements of tag like the verse below:

"But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes." Judge 1:6

Obviously there was a lot more going on here than a childhood game of tag, but we can all remember games in which we found joy and laughter as a child. As we grow older, the amusements of childhood surrender to the world of maturity in which childish things no longer garner our attention. It is not that we do not find joy in life, but rather that the things that draw our attention change. This is the long way around the barn to arrive at the point: the things in which we took part as babes in Christ, because of our immaturity, should not be true of our lives as mature Christians.

Often times the immaturity of our faith is evidenced by our continued works of the flesh - deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander - that we have not yet surrendered to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in conforming us to the Image of Jesus Christ. This is, however, God's intention for our lives. We are not just to grow old in Christ as the years pass by like a vapor, but we are also to grow up in Christ. We are to mature in our faith having grown by the pure milk of the Word of God making us strong and faithful Christians who no longer act sinfully as children as was the manner of our former lives. The man or woman who claims to follow the Lord and continues to sin against the Lord and His Church is either a babe in Christ who has never grown up, or they are wolves among the flock of God.

Consequently, shepherds do two things: They help sheep to mature in the safety of the fold of the Lord, and they eliminate wolves. There is no Option C.

"Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." 1 Peter 2:1-3

Unless They Teach

2010-01-09T10:45:00.003-06:00

“I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s word becomes corrupt. Because of this we can see what kind of people they become in the universities and what they are like now. Nobody is to blame for this except the pope, the bishops, and the prelates, who are all charged with training young people. The universities only ought to turn out men who are experts in the Holy Scriptures, men who can become bishops and priests, and stand in the front line against heretics, the devil, and all the world. But where do you find that? I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.”

Martin Luther, “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, 1520,” trans. Charles M. Jacobs, Rev. James Atkinson, The Christian in Society, I (Luther’s Works, ed. James Atkinson, vol. 44), p. 207 (1966)

Longings of the Human Soul

2010-01-08T10:44:00.020-06:00

There are times in life when I weary of seeing Christ as through a glass darkly, only glimpsing and hearing hints of Him in my marriage, in my children, in the lives of my friends, and in His abundant grace granted to a sinner like me. It is not that His grace is anything save complete, but rather that I long to be with Him in eternity. I think the Apostle Paul felt this same ache within his bones.

Paul wrote in his New Testament epistles of his love for the church, and of his thankfulness for being with the Bride of Christ so that he might minister to them, but he expressed that it was better for him to leave this life so that he might me with the Lord. I think the Holy Spirit presses this desire upon our hearts so that there is both a sense of urgency in our lives and ministries, and so that we will never be fully satisfied with anything in this life. Truly, only Jesus Christ Himself will ever fulfill the desires and longings of the human soul for we were made for relationship with Him. And while there are many pretenders that might lay a claim of pseudo royalty to the throne of our hearts, only the risen Lord of Heaven will ever reign supreme over our souls, and forever put an end to the ineffable cry of our hearts.

So just now, overwhelmed by the breath-taking beauty of Christ and longing to push through the veil of this mortal coil to be forever with the Savior, I pray, "Lord Jesus, come quickly."

Through The Gate

2010-01-07T11:29:00.019-06:00

I remember a time when New Year's resolutions were all the rage. People promised themselves a life reformation involving everything from stopping smoking to weight loss to stopping procrastination . . . eventually. When I asked the congregation last Sunday how many of them had made a New Year's resolution, only five people raised their hands. I was one of them. I think the smart ones abstained. Even so, my resolution has been made.

I find New Year's resolutions interesting for two reasons. First, we find something significant enough in the change of a calendar that should motivate us to transform our lives. It sounds kind of silly when we couch it in those terms. Second, New Year's resolutions are virtually always made in terms of what we will stop doing. This seems like a recipe for failure. And of course, every year someone will pull out some of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions as if he is the plumb line for the rest of Christendom. I love his resolutions, but they were his resolutions. If I need to make a change so that I can be more faithful, or more loving, or more obedient to Jesus Christ, then my resolution needs to be germane to my own life.

Consequently, I have made a resolution in the dawn of this new year out of obedience to Jesus Christ in a specific area of my life. My prayer is that I will walk through this gate of obedience in His strength rather than in my own weakness. I've rattled this gate before, but never in surrender. Today, I surrender. I am doing it out of my love for the Lord, and for the blessing that obedience to Christ always brings in my life.

Thank you, Lord, for freedom.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

True And False Repentance

2009-12-10T14:19:00.009-06:00

Jesus Christ did not come to earth incarnate in flesh for the glory of God to save the righteous. He came to earth incarnate in flesh for the glory of God to seek and save the lost (Matthew 19:10, NASB) . His horrific suffering and death on the cross, sovereignly ordained by God before the foundation of the world, was not only the absolute justice of holy God satisfied regarding sin, but it also demonstrated the seriousness with which the Lord views violations of His perfect commandments. As descendants of Adam who first transgressed God’s Law, each man has inherited a sin nature as well as the guilt of that sin for which he bears responsibility before God (Romans 5:14). And just as man has received imputed sin from Adam, he may also receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22). This is accomplished when the Holy Spirit brings the full weight of conviction upon a sinner (John 16:8), convincing him of the great stain of his guilt which he cannot remove, who then responds in agreement with the Divine verdict of his condemnation. This agreement is then rightfully expressed by men convicted of their sin through genuine, biblical repentance. Thus, true repentance, as defined by Scripture, is the only basis upon which God accepts man.

In order to understand true repentance, it is imperative to first arrive at a proper understanding of what repentance is not, and the Word of God is replete with such examples. Beginning in the Garden of Eden as the Lord walked in the cool of the day, calling to Adam and Eve as they hid themselves in self-conscious shame among the trees of the garden, God asked Adam, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). What follows is an acknowledgment by Adam of his nakedness and shame (Genesis 3:10). When then asked by God, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (Genesis 3:11), Adam responded by blaming Eve for his transgression with the caveat that it was God Who gave Eve to him (Genesis 3:12). It takes a special kind of hubris to not only refuse to accept responsibility for sin and turn from it, but also to accuse almighty God to His face, but such is the nature of sin. Eve likewise, when queried by the Lord for the reason for her transgression, tried to defer her guilt by blaming the serpent who tempted her (Genesis 3:13). Clearly, this is not repentance. It is the entry of sin into the human race with stark refusals to accept due responsibility for volitional sin. The consequence for Adam and Eve was that they were expelled from the Garden (Genesis 3:23-24), and their intimate relationship with God was broken. Adam and Eve are not alone in their refusal to repent when confronted with sin, however, for their progeny generations later proved that they had learned the lessons of their forebearers well.

In response to the wickedness of the Amalekites and their poor treatment of God’s chosen people, the Lord sent King Saul to destroy everyone and everything over which King Agag ruled (1 Samuel 15:2-3). In partial obedience King Saul destroyed most of the kingdom of the Amalekites, but he and the people kept alive the best of the livestock, and spared the life of King Agag, because they were not willing to destroy them all as God had commanded (1 Samuel 15:7-9). When confronted by the prophet for this willful sin of disobedience, Saul first lied about obeying the Lord’s command (1 Samuel 15:13), and then attempted to pass the responsibility for his sin from himself to the people (1 Samuel 15:21). When Saul could no longer deflect his guilt, he finally acknowledged his sin but only as a means of convincing the prophet Samuel to accompany him before the elders and Israel in order that he may worship the Lord in sight of all the people. But this is a heart bent on false worship because Saul is concerned, not with having sinned against holy God, but rather how he is perceived in the eyes of men. This is not repentance on the part of King Saul, and as a result, the kingship of Israel is taken from his hands and given to a shepherd boy who, though owning feet of clay just like his predecessor, first finds himself convicted of sin before another prophet of God, and then demonstrates genuine repentance before the Lord.

The culpability of King David in conspiring to kill Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:14-15), the husband of his adulterous lover Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2-4), is beyond question. The record of his transgressions is a grievous narrative of a man of God who succumbs to his lusts over his love for the Lord. The difference in this story, however, between King David and King Saul, is a remarkable display of true biblical repentance. Upon hearing of his guilt and judgment before the Lord through the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12:7-12), David says, “"I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Samuel 12:13). David does not dispute God’s verdict nor try to pass the blame to someone else. The guilt of his sin and its consequences are his to be born before all of Israel, including the death of his unborn son who is the fruit of his adultery. Herein lies the stark difference between Saul and David when faced with their sin: the former denies his sin while the latter immediately repents. As a result of his heart of repentance, the Lord immediately replies to David through the prophet, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). While God certainly brings the consequences of David’s sin into his life, the king is at once forgiven for his transgression because of his unconditional repentance, a reflection of the Lord’s description of David as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). Thus, God offers men life instead of death through repentance. "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live" (Ezekiel 18:32). The New Testament is likewise prescriptive in defining the truly penitent as acceptable to God.

In preparing the way of the Lord, the manifestation of the Son of God incarnate in flesh (John 1:29), John the Baptist ministered to the house of Israel as the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Mark 1:3) with a clarion call to a baptism of repentance (Luke 3:3). This call to return to God through repentance came in the wake of four hundred years of silence since the last prophet of the Lord had spoken in the midst of God’s people. Having held on to their own distorted version of the Law given to Moses for so long, and believing themselves to be holy before the Lord because of it, the leaders of the Jews were offended by a call to repentance. But it is not the traditions of the Jews as the descendants of Abraham that brings men into right relationship with God (Luke 3:8). It is only in surrendering in repentance before the Lord that men may have their sins wiped away (Acts 3:19).

During His Incarnation, Jesus Christ’s ministry was “not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). He called upon men to repent of their sins because the Kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 4:17), and in order that they might not perish (Luke 13:3). He condemned the scribes and Pharisees for refusing to repent of their sin, and for causing others to stumble over their perversions of the law, even as He grieved over them in love: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” (Matthew 23:37). Later in His ministry Jesus also began to “denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent” (Matthew 11:20). Thus, the avenue by which men must come to Jesus Christ by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and thereby be acceptable to God is the low road of repentance.

God's Purpose In Suffering

2009-12-09T10:22:00.010-06:00

From the display of the seemingly infinite heavens to the interplay between plant and animal species on the earth to the complexity of subatomic particles that cannot be seen, God’s creation is full of the wonder and beauty of His glory. Subsequent to man’s fall into sin, however, the glory of God in mankind is more difficult to comprehend as the history of the human experience is one of great suffering and hardship. Whether as the consequence of natural disasters, the result of disease, the attacks of Satan, or at the hands of sinful men, a thinking person must consider and come to terms with the presence of suffering in the world. The very presence of grievous affliction moves some to postulate that they suffer because they deserve to do so while others believe that suffering in the world proves that God is neither good nor just. Still others go so far as to deny God’s existence due to the horrible suffering men must face. God’s purpose in suffering is to bring glory to His name by the display of His sovereignty and the sanctification of the saints.

There is no greater display of suffering than the Son of God becoming sin for God’s elect and bearing the full penalty of the weight of their sin that the justice of holy God would be satisfied. The New Testament canon is certainly replete with this truth, but it would be short-sighted and contradictory to the biblical record to attribute the circumstances surrounding the crucifixion to the unbelieving Jews who held power in Judea at the time of Christ’s Incarnation. It would be an equal error to ascribe the death of the Son of God to the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate or to Judas Iscariot. While these parties bear responsibility for their roles in betraying the Son of God to His death, it was God the Father Who sovereignly ordained the brutal murder of His only begotten Son. The prophet Isaiah foretells of the suffering messiah in the fifty third chapter of the book that bears his name stating that “the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief . . .” (Isaiah 53:10a, NASB). Luke speaks of Christ in this same way stating, “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” (Acts 2:23) It was not, however, for the sake of the suffering in and of itself that the Father was pleased, but rather God was pleased with the results that the atonement would secure for His glory as Isaiah explains:

"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice." (Isaiah 42:1-3)

The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” (Hebrews 13:12) It was by His suffering that Jesus Christ the Son redeemed fallen man back to the Father for His glory. Thus, the vehicle by which God was glorified in the cleansing, forgiving and restoring of sinful men back into right relationship with Himself was the suffering of His only Son. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth by the perfect plan of God the Father.

Save the agony of Jesus Christ in His passion, there is no greater biblical narrative of suffering than that of Job. Scripture states that Job was a man who “was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1) who, by no fault of his own, and as the result of discourses between the Lord and Satan which the Lord initiated, found himself suffering the horrific loss of his family, his possessions, his position among his people, and finally his own physical well-being. With God’s permission, this suffering was wrought upon Job by Satan through the agency of wicked men and natural disasters, but it is the Lord Who sovereignly controls the events. Job’s anguish, when coupled with the faithless council of his wife and the untrue evaluations of the situation by his friends, produces in him an honest questioning for the ultimate cause of such torment. In response, not only does God not provide Job with definitive reasons for his affliction, but He asks Job, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2) What then follows is a litany of descriptions of the glory of God as evidenced by His sovereignty over the different aspects of the creation which includes atmospheric chaos, the ebb and flow of the seasons, and the vast diversity of the animals upon the earth. Such omnipotent sovereignty brings Job to a place in which his only response is to acknowledge the greatness and glory of God: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:5-6) Thus, Job is satisfied with the sovereignty of Almighty God over his life, and all of creation, and comes to the place where he does not need to understand the reasons for his agonies which God allowed for His own glory.

God’s purpose in suffering is also realized in the sanctification of His saints. Following his conversion on the road to Damascus, the Apostle Paul, then called Saul, was sent to Ananias who was to pray for him to receive his sight. God told Ananias that He would “show him (Paul) how much he must suffer for My name's sake." (Acts 9:16) As a result, Paul came to embrace the nature of sanctification through suffering as a requisite part of following Jesus Christ, and his epistles bear out this truth. In his encouraging believers to faithfulness, Paul held that suffering in Christ was from the Lord saying, “For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29). Consequently, trials were not something to be feared because suffering was granted to believers for the sake of Jesus Christ. Paul even invited Timothy, his son in the faith, to “suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3). Suffering willingly is a mark of the faithful servant of God. It is not something from which a saint should shrink. When Paul wrote, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.” (Colossians 1:24), he was explaining that he was willing to be the physically suffering witness to the truth of the Gospel, and an encouragement to the church. It was wholly reasonable to the Apostle Paul that suffering for the sake of the Gospel, enduring stoning and beatings, hunger and exposure, rejection and privations, was to be expected since ultimately such torments came from the sovereign Hand of the Lord Who alone could be trusted. “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” (1 Peter 4:19). Thus, Christians may walk faithfully before the Lord through great adversity and distress with the assurance that God’s purpose in suffering is to bring glory to His name, and they may therefore rejoice that they have “been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:41b).

He Trains Us To Obedience

2009-11-12T10:12:00.005-06:00

"Another end which the Lord has in afflicting his people is to try their patience, and train them to obedience—not that they can yield obedience to him except in so far as he enables them; but he is pleased thus to attest and display striking proofs of the graces which he has conferred upon his saints, lest they should remain within unseen and unemployed. Accordingly, by bringing forward openly the strength and constancy of endurance with which he has provided his servants, he is said to try their patience. Hence the expressions that God tempted Abraham, and made proof of his piety by not declining to sacrifice his only son. Hence, too, Peter tells us that our faith is proved by tribulation, just as gold is tried in a furnace of fire. But who will say it is not expedient that the most excellent gift of patience which the believer has received from his God should be applied to uses by being made sure and manifest? Otherwise men would never value it according to its worth. But if God himself, to prevent the virtues which he has conferred upon believers from lurking in obscurity, nay, lying useless and perishing, does aright in supplying materials for calling them forth, there is the best reason for the afflictions of the saints, since without them their patience could not exist. I say, that by the cross they are also trained to obedience, because they are thus taught to live not according to their own wish, but at the disposal of God. Indeed, did all things proceed as they wish, they would not know what it is to follow God. Seneca mentions that there was an old proverb when any one was exhorted to endure adversity, thereby intimating, that men truly submitted to the yoke of God only when they gave their back and hand to his rod. But if it is most right that we should in all things prove our obedience to our heavenly Father, certainly we ought not to decline any method by which he trains us to obedience."

John Calvin, On the Christian Life, Chapter 3: Of Bearing the Cross - One Branch of Self Denial

Of These Destinations

2009-11-09T15:21:00.003-06:00

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are helping each other to one or other of these destinations.”

Clive Staples Lewis

Motivation

2009-11-06T08:04:00.017-06:00

I am so very thankful for the orthodox Christian faith in which I may rest. For centuries the church fathers prayed and studied and persevered to arrive at the foundational understanding of the primary doctrines of Scripture in which we now abide. My fear is that many professing believers give little or no thought or consideration to such doctrines. About ten years ago the Christian Book-Sellers Association gave out its annual sales numbers: 86% of book sales were Christian fiction, 10% were self-help books, and 4% were books on doctrine. Is it any wonder that most Christians cannot articulate precisely what they believe and why?

I do not make these observations as an avenue for admonishment, but rather as an encouragement and a challenge to myself and other Christians to do the work of study so that we may know the Word of God, showing ourselves approved workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth. We should be intentional in our use of time to study the great doctrines of the faith: justification, salvation, election, redemption, confession, repentance, etc. We should purpose to hear sermons that exalt Jesus Christ and His glory by men who are faithful to the Scriptures. We should invest our time in reading great Bible expositors like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Watson, John Owen, John Calvin, etc.

Most importantly, however, is not the study of this great truth or the words of these great men of faith, but rather our motivation for such discipline. Our motivation must solely and absolutely be our love for Jesus Christ. He is the Object of our faith, and there is none other. So before we run off with a renewed determination to be faithful, life-long students of the Word of God, let us remember that we do not have a relationship with a book. We having a relationship with the Son of God Who bore our sin and set us free. Thus, we may study and learn and grow, but it is out of the overflow of our love for the Lord that such faithfulness must come.

"constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father." 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Rare Indeed

2009-11-03T15:07:00.011-06:00

In order to put in the study time necessary for seminary, it is all about location, location, location. I put in a reasonable amount of time in various libraries, but I also set up a desk that looks out from our second floor master bedroom over the small lake in our backyard. If ever I need to stop reading or writing for a moment to think, I can gaze out past the trees, watch for squirrels that are suffering from lead deficiency, look over the water, and see a Great Heron that daily depletes our stock of perch. There is also a party of duck regulars, mostly mallards, that congregate directly behind the house. These inhabitants have become commonplace.

As I was working on an assignment today, however, I looked outside to find a pair of Wood ducks paddling right up against the shore. The females are fair looking enough birds, but the males are striking. I watched the male for five minutes before I realized that the day was ebbing away and I had better get back to the grind, but the sight of so rare a visitor stayed with me.

Those things which we hold as common do not move or stir us simply because they are common. Perhaps this explains why it is such a profound thing to encounter a man whose life is, in every way, surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His fear is in the Lord, not men. His hope is in Jesus Christ, not his own strength. His trust is in the veracity of the Word of God, not the temporal thoughts of the culture. His eternity is intimately tied to the finished work of Christ on the Cross, not the vain hopes of carnal men. His love is given to the Lord alone, not the creation. His sleep is deep and sweet for he knows to Whom he belongs, and he knows and believes by faith that all the promises of God are realized in the Son of God in Whom he trusts.

Rare indeed is such a man, and yet we persevere that we may be sanctified into such a man.

"For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God . . ." Ecclesiastes 9:1

I Believe by Hannah Starr

2009-10-29T14:21:00.006-05:00

For the past two months, I have been learning how to develop a worldview that is built on a Biblical foundation. Here are seven things it should include: What is God like, which should briefly show a small fraction of His character. Also, what is the nature of the universe, how did it come into existence. What is the essential nature of man, the basis of morality, the cause of evil and suffering? If you were to ask someone if they knew what happens to them at death, they most likely would not be able to give you a solid answer. If someone were to ask me, a Christian this question, I would need to be able to give them a confident answer. In the next few pages I have the answers to these questions, and these answers, will explain my worldview.

First, I studied the characteristics of God. The two major characteristics I have been focusing on are: God is infinite and He is eternal. The Lord is infinite, which means he is not confined to His creation. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, became incarnate in the flesh. He put Himself lower than His creation and accomplished what He set out to do. The Lord is personal; He has all the elements of intellect, personality, feelings, and will. The Lord acts according to His person and will. As I continued my studies, I confirmed that God is the ultimate creator of everything we know and see.

Psalms 33: 6,9 says, “that by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. For He spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.” To write a book it would take months or even years to put your knowledge on paper. What the Lord God of heaven and earth created in six days, makes our little creation look hardly comparable. When the Lord created the earth, all He had to do was utter a word and it was done. In Psalm 33:9 it says, for He spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast. The same Lord that created the universe and its inhabitants, is the same Lord that lives in me and knows my every thought. I can hide nothing from Him, for He created, and He loves me. God loves me so much that He created me in the image of Himself.

Man is created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). God created man to be perfect, but He also gave man a free will. With his free will man chose to sin, which leads to death. In Genesis 1:27 it says, “ God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” God created man to be perfect, but He also gave him a free will. With man’s free will, sin entered into the world. Because of sin, man is alienated from fellowship with God. Our understanding has been darkened by the prince of the power of the air (Satan). The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience entices man to follow the lusts of the flesh. But by God’s grace, He made us a promise in that through Him, we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The Lord is waiting for us in heaven, and until then, He has given us guidelines on how we should live.

The Bible reflects the character of God. He has given us His holy word (the Bible) for guidelines on how we should live our lives, and an understanding of what is good and true in the sight of the Lord. The Lord is perfect, so the commands of the law of God are perfect. In Micah 6:8 it commands us to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord our God. When people do not have a relationship with their creator, and are not walking with Him, they can not know what is good and true. I think some people have a desire to do good, but are not willing to give up the lusts of the flesh. Their desire for good is sometimes overpowered by their lust for sin. If you have a relationship with your Father in heaven and are walking with Him, you will be able to judge the temptations of sin that cross your path, and you will be able to conquer, with God’s help, the sin that constantly seeks to find you. In this is the question what is the cause of evil and suffering?

This morning, did you choose to have cereal or toast for breakfast? Our choice to choose what to eat for breakfast, our free will, is the root of our evil and suffering. When God created man, He made him in His own image. He also gave man a free will. With man’s ability to choose between good and evil, the first sin entered into the world. When Eve chose to listen to Satan’s lies, and disobey God, sin took a foothold in man's life. Now we have separation from our Creator and are destined to live for eternity apart form Him. But, by God’s grace we can have our sins forgiven and spend eternity with Him in heaven. All you have to do is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him form the dead and you will be saved (Romans 10:9). By the saving grace of God the Father. Man can only be covered by saving grace if God has chosen him.

Whether a man belongs to Christ or does not; he either has life through Christ or he is dead in his sins. This is what I believe and know to be true of what happens to us after death. When we die, our physical body is buried, but our souls go either to heaven or hell (which is the difference between eternal life and eternal death). Jesus says, that after death, either a man has life through Christ, or he is dead in his sins. If you have given your life to Christ before death, you will live for eternity in comfort and rest with your heavenly Father. If you have not given your life to Him, you will live for eternity in the lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But, God has an alternate plan.

The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah.9:6 foretells the coming of Christ born of a virgin. To whom it was invisible, but has now become visible to the Church. The disciple John, in the book of Revelation prophecies the second coming of Christ. For whom to us, is still invisible. When the prophet Isaiah prophesied the coming of Christ in Isaiah 9:6 he foretells this saying, ‘For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of peace.’ Christ was born as the lowly of low. He went from suffering to the Savior of the world, and finally to the reigning King. The disciple John in Revelation speaks of the second coming of Christ. When Christ will come again and lift the righteous from the unrighteous. Matthew 24:32 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

Dr. Francis Schaeffer writes: "The World is not going to get better and better. The Christian's hope is not the gradual betterment of the world, but that Christ is coming back again." Until Christ returns for His bride, I need to proclaim His truth to the ends of the earth. If I do not share this truth with every person I meet, then I have failed to fulfill the Great Commission.

As a result of what I have studied, my knowledge has soon become my belief. From what I have read, my understanding of what a worldview is has become visible to me, and I now understand how important it is to have one. As a Christian, I need to know what I am labeling myself as. I need to always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks me the reason for the hope that is in me with meekness and fear.

The Nicene Creed

2009-10-21T09:15:00.007-05:00

I had to memorize this for an exam in Church History recently and it is incredible how simple a tool this would be to use in refuting many of the claims of the pseudo-Christian cults that have been spawned in our country. Remember as you read that "catholic" used in this sense means "universal."

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost. But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' — they are anathematized by the holy catholic and apostolic Church"

I Freely Confess

2009-10-15T17:49:00.005-05:00

“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

Charles Darwin

A Legacy Of Life

2009-10-06T14:49:00.013-05:00

It usually takes most of a man's life for him to realize the striking brevity of his own earthly existence. Once it happens, however, if he is wise, he will begin to take stock of all he has held in his hands, weighing his achievements against his failures, evaluating his decisions and priorities and their impact upon those whom he most loves.

There are those men who never consider such questions about the meaning of life, their use of it nor their affect upon others. They waste their lives serving themselves, giving lip service to knowing God while living in complete opposition to Him. As a result their lives are a barren wasteland strewn with the remnants of emotionally wrecked wives and wounded, discarded children. Theirs is a legacy of death.

There are also those men who consider each day questions about the meaning of life, their use of it and their affect upon others. They invest their lives in serving their families, loving by their words and their actions, living lives of faithfulness that point to the God Whom they serve. As a result their lives are a vineyard of the fullest fruit, their wives rejoicing in the Lord because of their husbands. Their children live surrounded by love and security because their father is living out toward them a picture of the faithful, unchanging, and unconditional love of their heavenly Father. Theirs is a legacy of life.

The man pictured above with his son, preparing for deer hunting season, is the latter of the two. In every way he is a picture to me of what a man who follows Jesus Christ should be. He loves the Lord above all else. He loves his wife and children more than his own life. He is faithful in his provision and his protection of and for his family. He says what he means and he means what he says. He is a man who is as good as his word. He is a just, kind and humble man. At the end of your life, if you could point to such a man and call him friend, you'd be a rich man indeed. And if you found such a man who would also marry your goofy baby sister, you'd be really blessed.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

Unearthing The Giants

2009-09-25T21:05:00.012-05:00

To say that I have been busier in study of late is an understatement to be sure, but it has been a dizzying labor of love, intoxicating in the most unbelievable and surprising ways. Tonight was yet another example as I searched for a specific book that may help me in deciding on a research paper for one of my classes. In lieu of an office, I have closets full of boxed books. Consequently, finding a resource takes more time and searching than usual, but it was the search that revealed the treasure.

As I looked through box after box, reading the familiar titles as they cascaded through my hands like well-worn cards, I realized that each book held some role, either great or small, in the spiritual formation of my life in Christ. It seems a strange thing to keep great men of God, such giant mentors, entombed in cardboard within my closets, but they seem not to mind. I remember how much I enjoyed having them, Spurgeon, Edwards, Watson, Owen, Baxter, Bonhoeffer, Pink, Piper, Tozer and others, just a chair role and a stretch away. I have a deep and abiding appreciation for men such as these who counted the cost and then gave everything they were for the glory of God. I miss having them close in a strange way that I suppose only readers will understand, but it makes me look forward to unearthing them all the more when the Lord chooses to plant us in a local church in which I may serve and lead, and let loose the giants who patiently wait for me to call upon them again.

"When you come bring . . . the books, especially the parchments." 2 Timothy 4:13

Of The Fruit Of This Tree, Eat

2009-09-01T08:50:00.008-05:00

I heard an interesting analogy recently about two men who were walking through the woods together on a Sunday morning. They were very hungry as they walked until they came upon a wild and beautiful peach tree heavy with fruit. Both men took fruit from the tree and ate until they were full. One of the men decided that he wanted more of the fruit so he filled his hands with peaches to carry home. The other man took no fruit with him, but upon arriving home, he grabbed a shovel and went back into the woods, dug up the tree and planted it at his home. The abundance of fruit nourished his family for the rest of their lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the tree is the Word of God. The man who took fruit home in his hands is the Christian who comes to church once or twice a week, receives a filling, and then expects that nourishment will sustain him for the rest of the week. The man who is wise will plant the Word of God in his home that he may feed himself and his family for the rest of their lives. Perhaps you have heard it said that someone left a certain church, or didn’t like a particular pastor’s preaching, because they were not getting fed. Brethren, babies need to be fed. Mature Christians feed themselves on the Word of God. Let’s face it, our actions reveal what we truly believe. If we truly believe that knowing the Word of God is important, then we will do whatever it takes to be transformed by it every day.

"for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Peter 1:23

Oasis

2009-08-25T07:40:00.012-05:00

There are times in life when the Lord may seem far away as if He has withdrawn for a season in order to give us opportunity to press forward in the disciplines of the faith. It is as if He asks us to continue in faithfulness even when we can see only one step ahead, to trust, to persevere. There are also times in life when the abiding presence of His Spirit is so palpable that He takes our breath away as we meet Him in exuberant worship. The latter was my experience yesterday as I began my MDiv classes at Southwestern.

The beginning of this three year degree program is the culmination of years of seeking the Lord for His timing for seminary. Every class resounded in my heart with confirmation that this is the perfect plan of God for our family unfolding before our eyes. By the time I left my last class at 9:00 pm and began the drive home from Ft. Worth, I was very thankful that I was alone as it provided me with two and a half hours in which to worship and pray and rejoice in the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our family has been through some desert places in the last few years that most people will never see, but the Lord is always faithful to provide for us the Oasis of Himself when we need Him most.

Thank You, Lord, that You are a God Who wants to be found by Your people.

"Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Hab 3:18

It Was For Freedom

2009-08-21T10:09:00.020-05:00

We have lived in this wonderful house for the last six years. It has been a place of incredible love and faith as our family has continued to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ. It has been a place of incredible ministry as we have opened up our lives to the Body of Christ for prayer, study of the Word of God, worship, and fellowship. It has also been a place of incredible heat!

Our home is three levels set into the ground so that it appears to be a two story house. The top floor has never really cooled well in the summer. In fact, it is just ridiculous to try to fall asleep at night in the summer because it is just so hot. Having recently seen signs that our air conditioner is about to give up the ghost, I called in four local heating and air conditioning companies to give us quotes on the replacement cost. One of them was a young man named Colby who just looked really puzzled as he walked through our home.

"Your house should not be this hot. The system you have should be doing the job. Is it always this hot up here?"

Yes, Colby. It's not that we live in Hell, but you can see it from here. It's just that hot here all the time. As he continued to poke around our house, Colby looked at our duct work for a long time, and then finally asked why the baffle to the upstairs was closed . . . wait for it . . .

"What baffle?" For six years we have been roasting while the baffle was closed tight. With the slightest motion of his hand, Colby opened the baffle and cold air rushed upwards to end our suffering. In the master bedroom, a book that lay open on a desk on the opposite side of the room flipped wildly through the pages as cold air dropped the temperature by at least twenty degrees. It was all I could do to not break into the Scarecrow's solo "If I Only Had A Brain."

But as usual, these not yet humorous events got me thinking about more important issues. How many times do we let external forces like circumstances, or our past hurts, or our fears, or our familiar sins dictate what we believe to be true about ourselves and our Lord? If we are really Christians, then the Word of God is true for our lives. That means that what was true of us before Jesus Christ, the old Adam, is passed away. We are new creations in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. With the slightest motion of His hand, the Son of God allowed nails to be driven through His flesh and grace flowed down to end our suffering. We are no longer enslaved to the sin nature of old. We can choose to obey the Lord rather than sin. We can choose holiness over sin. The only thing now enslaving us to sin is our love for it.

May we all recognize that the yoke of slavery has been loosed. We have been set free in Christ, having received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that we may live freely for the glory of God. Therefore, precious saints of God, keep standing firm in Jesus Christ.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

To A Living Hope

2009-08-18T07:41:00.011-05:00

Just as life is fraught with its myriad struggles, so too is it replete with its blessings. Last night I received a book compiled with letters of encouragement from friends who are truly family in every sense of the word. It is so miraculous to me how simply living our lives in Jesus Christ can touch the lives of others in ways that we don't often see.

As the words of the precious saints of God fell upon my heart while reading through their letters of love to me and my family, I recognized once again that it is only those works of love born out of our love for Jesus Christ by which we may bring the infinite love of the Lord of Eternity to bear on the lives of others. All that we give to each other in word and deed find their worth and meaning in Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we have been rescued from a life of meaningless toil and hopelessness. It is through Him that we have been given the ministry of reconciliation in bringing to faith those who know only toil and hopelessness. It is through Him that we will one day leave behind this present earth and step into the hope that we have been promised in Heaven. So for a few more days, I will praise the Lord for rescue, for reconciliation and for hope.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3

To Him Who Is Able

2009-08-14T19:44:00.015-05:00

It is almost laughable how the tyranny of things bound in time can occupy our minds so fully, so completely. The last few weeks for our family have been busy and prayerful and a race headlong into the unknown. Through the words of a friend, I found myself an hour from home preaching at a church filled with sweet people who love Jesus Christ. They have asked me to be their Interim Pastor beginning right away. I am relishing the future with such precious saints.

I have also registered for classes at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth and have about two more weeks until classes begin. There is plenty of studying to do in preparation for my classes as I have stacked all of them on Mondays, and the work load will be substantial.

Add to this the need to find the other half of our necessary monthly income so that the Starr Foundation can stay solvent, and you can find yourself slightly preoccupied.

And of course in the midst of all this excitement about new ministry and study, the enemy attacked with a ferocity that I had not experienced in many years. We must be doing something according to God's will with the steps that we have taken. No problem. We'll respond with love and grace, prayer and trust, and let the Lord work all things after the council of His will.

So while the pull of temporal necessities do indeed require my attention, I continue to be reminded that this life is but a vapor, a rehearsal for eternity, and I only get one shot at it. Consequently, in the harried hustle and bustle of the Twitter, texting, Facebook, cell phone, MySpace, high speed Internet, pager, headline-generating society in which we live, I will keep my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ the Immutable, Omniscient, Holy, Unchanging, Omnipotent Son of God.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:24-25

Life Where There Is Death

2009-07-27T09:53:00.008-05:00

"Is it easy to convince someone that the Bible is the Word of God on the basis of its unity, its scientific, historical accuracy, its miracles, its archaeological evidence? I haven't found that to be the case. In a special series spread over a three-week period I presented such data at a private college in California. I felt the proof was overwhelming and not one person became a believer. Why doesn't it convince all unbelievers when it's so convincing to us? Paul said it when he wrote, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). Only when the Holy Spirit does His regenerating work, only as He opens the mind, tears off the scales of blindness, gives life where there is death and plants the marvelous understanding of the revelation of God, only then do people come to believe and trust in the Bible. The reason I know the Bible is true is that the Spirit of God has convinced me of it."

John MacArthur

The Heart Of Christ

2009-07-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

“The heart of Christ became like a reservoir in the midst of the mountains. All the tributary streams of iniquity, and every drop of the sins of his people, ran down and gathered into one vast lake, deep as hell and shoreless as eternity. All these met, as it were, in Christ's heart, and He endured them all.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Worth Every Step

2009-07-22T08:58:00.020-05:00

My wife and I had a meeting last night that would have potentially provided a way for us financially to remain in Abilene as I pursue my Masters of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary this fall. It was readily apparent to us after a very short time that this is not what the Lord has for us, and so we continue to wait on Him as He has commanded. Tom Petty notwithstanding, the waiting is the hardest part.

I am a man, charged with the protection of and provision for my family, and so to be in a place in which I must continue to wait on the Lord is one of the hardest things I have ever done in this walk toward Heaven. If I were praying for someone to be saved, then waiting is my only option. This is not so with working. I can go out and make this happen. In fact, opportunities have presented themselves, like the meeting last night, from which the Lord has repeatedly turned our hearts away. And so we wait without a preference as to whether or not we stay in Abilene. We only want what the Lord wants for us even if it means leaving our home of the last twenty one years. It seems kind of like a tightrope walk, and perhaps it is, but the narrow road is just that, a twisting, turning, narrow road of faith rather than sight. And the journey, however challenging and faith-building it might be, is worth every step.

"When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another." Acts 21:5

Thoughts

2009-07-21T10:29:00.002-05:00

"Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny."

Tryon Edwards

Only For A Lifetime

2009-07-20T09:51:00.029-05:00

Having spent a third of my life abroad, I was thoroughly indoctrinated in a Western-centric worldview. Being an American overseas only served to strengthen that perspective, leaving me with an overly inflated view of my citizenship and my country. While I still think that I am blessed to be an American, the cross of Jesus Christ has put all such national allegiance into proper perspective, and though I love the grand experiment that is this great republic, believing it to be the greatest nation on earth, that is really the point: I will be a citizen of this nation only for a lifetime. I will be a worshipper of the One True God of the Universe for eternity.

How would life be different if we lived every day as if we believed that this were true at the very core of our being? Would we be so very interested in the latest sports news? Would we be so easily shaken by the failings of national or local leaders? Would we care so much about the latest trends in clothing or automobiles? Would we be so very distracted by the cult of celebrity? Would the book of our lives note a sudden and radical change of direction from our current course? Would we develop even a small desire to share the Gospel with the walking dead around us? Would we be so easily beset by sin? Would we love more? Would we give more? Would we serve more? Would we . . . would we . . . would we . . .

There is no greater employment for the heart of man than to live a life of worship for the glory of Jesus Christ. In Him alone do we find true and abiding joy that will not fade, love that does not end, and assurance that cannot be shaken. Cast your hopes and fears upon the Son of Man, looking solely to Him that you may find eternal life. We must recognize that this entire life is simply a dress rehearsal for eternity. Let's live like we believe it.

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Romans 12:1

Full Of Wonders

2009-07-16T08:11:00.001-05:00

"Oftentimes in reading (the Bible), every word seemed to touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in my heart, and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light exhibited in every sentence, and such refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence, to see the wonders contained in it; yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders."

Jonathan Edwards
Personal Narrative, Selections

Satisfied

2009-07-13T14:28:00.014-05:00

There were two men who sharpened me in my walk with the Lord when I first became a believer. Years later I found out that both of those men walked away from the Lord into lives of abject wickedness. They were both present when, one month after my baptism, I baptized my brother John in the same lake where I was baptized. Almost a quarter century later, my brother's life looks nothing like that of a man who truly came to know Jesus Christ. His life has left a wake of broken marriages and broken lives. Even now he pursues yet another woman who was left by her husband with a house full of children; more lives for the using and discarding.

You may read this and think that this is harsh treatment, circumstances too raw for public dissemination. John and I have always had a 'shoot straight' relationship, but still I am only heartbroken for him. He has given me permission to share his story with whomever, and to ask everyone to pray for him, but I have found my prayers for his heart to soften toward Christ have availed nothing in my finite view. I know this is untrue, however, so I continue to pray for him.

What my two fallen mentors and my brother, and perhaps many that you also know, fail to understand is that godliness, a life invested in the loving pursuit of knowing and serving Jesus Christ, brings deep, abiding, fadeless satisfaction that fills the heart. The man who walks away from the Jesus Christ, however, will never find anything that satisfies his heart. He will search in vain the rest of his days for satisfaction outside of the Lord that does not exist, having his fill of his own ways, striving after wind.

In case you are wondering, the man pictured above is not one of the three men who have fallen, but rather a mighty man of God who has found true satisfaction in following Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are the Way, the Truth and the Life.

"The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his." Proverbs 14:14

You'll Know The Truth

2009-07-07T08:42:00.017-05:00

I once heard a story from a very successful Christian high school football coach. Whenever he would interview a new coach for his staff, he would ask them about their faith. There are certainly laws that prohibit such questions in job interviews, but in West Texas, when the head coach asks you a question, the long and short of it is that you answer him. This coach understood that he was first a disciple of Jesus Christ, and second a football coach. Thus, everyone who came in contact with his players was going to be there because the Lord had sent him, not because the devil had.

Being a Christian in this part of the country is like asking if you are an American. Most everyone answers in the affirmative. Consequently, every potential new coach would answer, "Yes." To get to the bottom of things, however, the coach would take the new guy out to dinner with the rest of the coaching staff. When the meals arrived, the head coach would ask the new professing coach candidate to pray a prayer of thanks to the Lord for the meal. That would pretty much seal the deal. The man of whom the head coach was speaking had apparently not passed muster for many reasons, but dinner was simply the last straw.

The coach told me, "If you want to know if a man knows Jesus Christ or is just flappin' his gums, then pray with him. You'll know the truth of it right off."

I guess you're right, Coach.

"For You, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made a revelation to Your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house'; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You." 2 Samuel 7:27

Better Kept

2009-07-06T10:24:00.022-05:00

As I have watched men over the years, one thing about their lives has become readily apparent: godly character is better kept than restored. Real men, godly men, fight with unrelenting tenacity to rise above the moral morass of our day, striving toward personal holiness in Jesus Christ, and gathering around themselves other men of like mind who will strengthen them, and hold them accountable to the Lord.

Conversely, pretenders to the faith, those who conceal themselves behind a thin veil of religion, care nothing for godly character and disdain true holiness. They wear their pseudo piety in a vain attempt to fool those around them, leaning untethered before a deadly precipice, and dragging others down with them as they plummet toward darkness. They fool perhaps only themselves for God is not mocked.

It is a requisite part of this life that we must meet both kinds of men, but pray to God that He find us to be the former, ever faithful, ever vigilant by the might of the Lord.

"He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail." 1 Samuel 2:9

The Whole Man

2009-07-02T08:17:00.001-05:00

"The Lordship of Christ over the whole of life means that there are no Platonic areas in Christianity, no dichotomy or hierarchy between the body and the soul. God made the body as well as the soul, and redemption is for the whole man."

Francis Schaeffer

The Common Tasks

2009-06-29T10:29:00.003-05:00

"Monastic vows rest on the false assumption that there is a special calling, a vocation, to which superior Christians are invited to observe the counsels of perfection while ordinary Christians fulfil only the commands; but there simply is no special religious vocation since the call of God comes to each at the common tasks."

Martin Luther

Go Dad!

2009-06-18T09:50:00.002-05:00

For Your Sake

2009-06-17T08:41:00.025-05:00

Familiar with both the strength of men and the strength of God, the Psalmist wrote, "Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." Psalm 20:7. Time and time again the Lord had shown Himself to be faithful. He is the Deliverer of His people.

As the people of God we, too, encourage each other with tales of remembrance of our great and awesome King, and His intervention on our behalf. We remind one another that He has delivered us out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. We speak of His wondrous salvation given to us unmerited and unearned. We rejoice over His sure, strong Presence in our lives, and we desire no one else.

In so doing, we recognize that in the midst of a given circumstance from which we cry out to Him, we want only the deliverance that the Lord provides. If a solution presented itself to solve our woes that was not from the Lord, we would reject it as the false and strange god that it is. The Lord knows the secrets of our hearts. He knows how we long for His Hand to rescue us. He knows that our souls ache for Him so that even if we were killed for His sake, sheep to be slaughtered, we would not shrink back from His love, nor His sovereignty, nor His will. Even death, when coming from our Father's Hand, is victory and grace. May we always find ourselves resting in His love and His timing for the unfolding of our life story.

"If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hands to a strange god, would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Psalm 44:20-22

A Consuming Fire

2009-06-16T09:16:00.019-05:00

We put our trust in a lot of things: relationships, jobs, circumstances, health, community, church; the list is endless. These are certainly good things, but they are at best temporary. The Lord our God wants us to look to and hope in Him and nothing else. What better way to remove our trust in other things than to show to us the transitory nature of all that we see?

Out of His love for us, the Lord brings us through fiery trials so that created things in which we might otherwise hope are removed, leaving only the revelation of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. It is this Kingdom that we will receive when all else had been taken away. Thus, out of gratitude for the love of our Father, let us offer to Him an acceptable service with reverence and awe, lives of surrendered worship in every way.

So from now on, whenever we encounter circumstances that test our faith, let us allow the flames of the moment to correct our vision so that our faith is indeed placed upon the right Object: Jesus Christ Himself. He alone is our Hope. He alone is our Redeemer. He alone is our King.

Thank You, Lord, for everything that comes from Your Hand, even suffering that points our eyes to You. Thank You that in Your lovingkindness, You are a Consuming Fire.

"And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:26-29

Armor Of Light

2009-06-09T08:41:00.018-05:00

A friend shared with me a few days ago that his job required him to work all hours of the day and night as well as be 'on call' twenty four hours a day. As a result, he could rarely be with his wife and children in church. He believed that God would have him lead his family, not only by providing for them materially, but also spiritually. This was not possible with his current employment. Consequently, he firmly believed that the Lord was calling him to leave his job immediately and find other employment. He jumped without a net. Some may say that this is foolish, to leave a job without something else to step into, but I am not at all surprised when this happens because I see it all the time.

In increasing numbers I have witnessed more and more men choose the well-being of their families over a worldly definition of success, forsaking the boardroom for the living room, leaving behind the conference table in favor of the family dinner table. Is it possible to remain in a difficult and demanding job and still remain faithful to the Lord? Of course. Men do it all the time. Whatever the circumstances of his employment, it is truly an awesome thing to watch as a man grows in Jesus Christ and displays unmistakable love toward his family. As my friend shared about his recent decision, I was so encouraged in my own walk with the Lord to put my love for the Lord and my family above all else.

This is the kind of man who has laid aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. This is the kind of man through whom God will do great things to glorify Christ. This is the kind of man who understands the true riches that are his in Jesus Christ. This is the kind of man whose children will rise up to call him blessed just as I am blessed to call him my brother.

"The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13:12

Death Lovers

2009-06-08T09:17:00.015-05:00

I talked with a friend recently who has daughters. His wife is expecting another child and they want to wait to discover if it is a boy or a girl. I told him that personally I was glad that we had our son first because our girls were much less . . . active than our son. While girls like to play dress up, have tea parties, and play nicely for the most part, boys like to jump out of tall trees, tackle parked cars, wrestle anyone and everyone, and generally plow through life with their hair on fire. Ahhh, the good old days. I remember them well. I, too, did things that were not the most healthy activities for me, but while they were sometimes dangerous, they were a requisite part of being a boy and becoming a man.

There are, however, activities in which a man might engage that are indeed injurious to him both body and soul. When a man chooses sin over salvation, he wounds his own spirit. He injures himself because he sins against God, and such acts of rebellion will always reap consequences of death. He who decides to sin anyway, knowing that he does so against the Lord, might readily be described as a death lover for this is what surely awaits such a man. He expresses by his choice his hatred of God and thus his love of death itself.

This is no game of semantics. This is truth. God has made of way for us to be whole again, to return to Him cleansed of the stain of earth by the grace of Jesus Christ, but for those who reject Him, there awaits only death, the grave, and an eternity of torment.

"But he who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death." Proverbs 8:36

Given So Freely

2009-06-05T17:23:00.015-05:00

My wife and my daughters are leaving on Sunday as the girls' Ballet Eleve' Company departs on tour through Texas and Louisiana. This evening we had the opportunity as families of the dancers to gather at the Ballet studio for a time of communion, prayer and foot washing to prepare our girls and their sponsors to go forth to serve others with the message of the Gospel. It was a simple time with simple actions, but I am always amazed at the how the Spirit of God uses the smallest things to open hearts to His love, to bless with His presence, and to remind us of his ineffable love.

I am so very thankful to the Lord for so many things, but His overflowing grace, His empyreal radiance, His expression of His Own beauty is most evident to me through the lives of our children. In preparing my daughters for service through washing their feet and praying for them, I could not help but remember how very different their lives are then mine was at this same age. I praise the Lord that He has given them grace and forgiveness, and hope and Heaven because of the incomparable riches of Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Lord, for so great a salvation given so freely to me and to my children.

"Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre." Psalm 149:3

By Your Holiness

2009-06-04T07:54:00.001-05:00

"So remember, you who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus, that to you indifference is impossible! You must bless the church and the world by your holiness, or you will curse them both by your hypocrisy and inconsistency. In the visible church it is most true that 'no man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself.' "

Charles Spurgeon

The Ministerial Work

2009-06-03T08:28:00.003-05:00

"The ministerial work must be managed purely for God and the salvation of people, and not for any private ends of our own . . . Hard studies, much knowledge, and excellent preaching, is but more glorious hypocritical sinning, if the ends be not right."

Richard Baxter

Pour Forth The Colors Of Redemption

2009-06-02T08:15:00.042-05:00

It is not news to any thinking person that the institution of the family has been under attack in this country since the Industrial Revolution first began to separate husbands and wives from each other, and parents from their children as our society turned from a primarily agrarian one into a grinding machine of industry. The blurring of familial roles, attempts at redefining the meaning of family within legislative and judicial spheres, the belittling of parental authority in film and television - especially the image of the father, and the exalting the separation between parents and their teenage children hint strongly at the disintegration of the one institution that is both ordained by God and the foundation of every civilization since Eden. Consequently, I should not be surprised by blatant examples of this trend even when they arrive in my email inbox, but I was.

This morning I received an email from Apple, Inc. replete with its latest offerings of indispensable widgets just in time for Father's Day. Their tag line to get Mom and the kids to buy Dad an iPod Nano is "Now it's his turn to tune you out." In it's not too subtle way, the marketing braintrust at Apple believes that the rest of the family has been tuning out dear old Dad for years. Now it is his turn to respond in kind. This may seem like a small thing, but it is emblematic of the greater societal degradation of the family. Even so, before I level a few well-deserved shots at our society and culture, there is plenty of room for introspection.

Of all of the activities that demand my attention, or more appropriately that receive my attention, which of them strengthen my family's view of who God created me to be as a husband and father, and which of them tear down that view? Do they see in me someone who is faithful to the things of God like prayer and devotion to the Word of God, faithful to service and worship, faithful to stewardship of my finances and my physical well being, or do they instead see in me someone who shifts like the wind in devotion to prayer and the Word, or someone who serves when it benefits me and worships corporately when others are watching, or someone who never really gives tithes or offerings and is a slovenly glutton? At one time or another, I would guess that each of these descriptions, both good and bad, would have been accurate adjectives for my life. But today is not one time or another.

In Jesus Christ I have been made new now, and so have you. We have shaken off the grave clothes of the old man and have put on the glory of the second Adam, the incomparable Son of God Himself. We are recreated into the image of the risen King, and we will never be the same again. As evidence of so great a transformation, our lives should pour forth the colors of redemption rather than the temporal drippings of the world's latest lie. The world is going to Hell by choice, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Is it not wondrous that what we bring to the Cross is a mess of sin, sorrow and regret, and receive in its place the cleansing flood of forgiveness, grace unending and joy unspeakable? And while the world is indeed be headed to Hell, how wonderful and infinite a message of grace we have to share with all who will hear. Let us not lose heart, therefore, because the world is turning away from the loving face of our Father. Let us instead be encouraged to be the heart and hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the lost who more than anything need to hear the Gospel of our good and gracious God. Let us live our lives so that the claims of Jesus Christ upon a man's soul will be seen for what they are: true and liberating and full of hope. In so doing, we will find in due time that it is the lies and schemes of the enemy that are being tuned out as many come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:9

Living Martyr

2009-06-01T09:15:00.021-05:00

I am always thankful for rain here in West Texas, but this morning it came with an extra blessing. As I left the gym at 7:15, a young husband and his wife were out the door just ahead of me. We all walked out into the rain, and as I opened my car door, I looked up to see the that this husband walked to his wife's side of the car to open the door for her. It would have been a dryer experience for him if he had simply gone to his side, opened the door, and then unlocked the door for his wife. Instead, he opened the car door for his wife, closed it, and then walked around to his side pretty well soaked. Chivalry is not dead.

I love being part of a church, and this young couple is a part of our church family, in which men lead their families by serving their wives and children. Many men claim that they would die for their families, and I suppose there is merit in that. The problem is that they just won't live for them. What blesses those most important to us is that we die to ourselves daily for their benefit. We push away the fulfilling of our own needs that we might give our lives away for them. What a wife needs most in her husband, what a couple's children need most in their father, is a living martyr who lays it all down for the sake of Jesus Christ in their lives. Such demonstrations of love bear true and lasting evidence of the claims of Christ upon a man's purchased soul, and fosters an ever-deepening trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God in the hearts of his family members.

As men of God, our wives and our children should be more in love with their heavenly Father because of who we are in Jesus Christ rather than in spite of us. I doubt that the young husband I saw serving his wife in the rain knew that I was watching him, but he sharpened me nonetheless. How many men of faith are there who see me and are either sharpened or dulled by my walk with the Lord? I don't know, but I am sure that life is made more rich by consistent acts of sacrifice as a man stands strong as the provider and protector of his family because our lives are not our own.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20

Spent For Their Sakes

2009-05-27T09:30:00.007-05:00

"We must feel toward our people as a father toward his children; yea, the most tender love of a mother must not surpass ours. We must even travail in birth, till Christ be formed in them. They should see that we care for no outward thing, neither liberty, nor honor, nor life, in comparison to their salvation . . . When the people see that you truly love them, they will hear anything from you . . . Oh therefore, see that you feel a tender love for your people in your hearts, and let them perceive it in your speech and conduct. Let them see that you spend and are spent for their sakes."

Richard Baxter

For My Friend

2009-05-21T09:32:00.002-05:00

"Our lives are full of supposes. Suppose this should happen, or suppose that should happen; what could we do; how could we bear it? But, if we are living in the high tower of the dwelling place of God, all these supposes will drop out of our lives. We shall be quiet from the fear of evil, for no threatenings of evil can penetrate into the high tower of God. Even when walking through the valley of the shadow of death, the psalmist could say, will fear no evil; and, if we are dwelling in God, we can say so too."

Hannah Whitall Smith

Hearts Once Bound In Darkness

2009-05-20T09:26:00.014-05:00

I once met a man who said that he no longer had any sin in his life. He claimed to have come to the place where, being dead to his sin nature in Christ, he no longer sinned or even struggled with it because he chose not to do so. His claim reminded me of the deadly pride of Uzza: "When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it. The anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God." 1 Chronicles 13:9-10

Uzza, like the man making the claim of his own sinlessness, believed that he could touch Deity with the familiarity with which one touches a cup or a plate or any other thing of the earth. The Lord God is infinitely holy, terrifying in His power, and of such radiant purity that no man may look upon Him and live. We have certainly been given the privilege to call Him Father and come boldly before His Throne through the blood of Jesus Christ, but may we never lose our fear and trembling, our reverence and awe for the great and reigning Sovereign. And may we always look up to Him from our temporary home upon this earth ever thankful for His gracious light. Remember, we are sinners, with hearts once bound in darkness, now saved by grace; redeemed clay and nothing more.

"Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?' " Proverbs 20:9

Water In The Hand Of The Lord

2009-05-19T09:50:00.019-05:00

The headlines that relentlessly assail our minds via the twenty four hour news cycle available to us are not windows into reality. These machinations may tempt us to believe that life is spiraling out of control, a chaotic stream of happenstance, the schemes of men, and the wiles of the devil against which we struggle in vain. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God alone is sovereign over all that is from the smallest sparrow that falls to the ground to the riotous warring of nations as they convulse in search of power. Everything lies within His grasp as effortlessly as if He were holding a vapor. It is He Who raises up the kings of the earth to reign, and it is He Who brings them low. It is God Who sees the motives of a man's heart, his plans, desires, discontents, loves, loathings, and graces, fluid and fluctuating like water in a stream, and it is He Who directs a man's heart wherever He will.

Our Father in Heaven knows infinitely more of us than we know of ourselves, and this truth should give us great comfort. He Who has invited us back home in Christ, clothed in the blinding white glory of His righteousness, knows our very hearts, is fully cognizant of our fears and failings, and still invites us to open our hearts to His love. We may rest in this life in complete assurance that the great and glorious God of all eternity is our Father, and we are His children whose hearts overflow with His love.

"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Proverbs 21:1

A Faithful Man

2009-05-18T12:38:00.017-05:00

There are many a man who will speak with earnestness of his admirable qualities, expound upon his superior accomplishments in comparison to his fellows, and extol his own virtues ad nauseum. There are times, I suppose, when such pronouncements regarding the self are necessary: political campaigns, resume' writing, etc., but most often, they are vain and vaporous imaginations of a mind inflated by its own importance. In light of a true understanding of the glory of God displayed in Jesus Christ, however, who could stand?

On my best day, I am a wretched sinner who has profaned the holiness of God by my very existence. I am a man without hope save the cleansing blood of the Son of Man. Knowing that I deserve death but have been redeemed from the pit, what then should be the attitude of my heart toward all my accomplishments? Each admirable quality, superior accomplishment or virtue is but dust lest it is laid at the feet of the King. God looks not for great and mighty men whose deeds echo his own greatness around the world. God looks for the man, small or great, who echoes the name of Jesus Christ around the world. This is the man whom God regards as faithful, not he who proclaims his own love, but he who is faithful to proclaim the greatest love of all: Jesus Christ.

"Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?" Proverbs 20:6

Brothers In Faith

2009-05-12T21:26:00.015-05:00

The life of a man of God is fraught with many trials by which the Lord may refine our faith. He brings them into our lives to prune us, to strip away one layer at a time, so that everything in us which is not of Jesus Christ may be removed. It is a certainty for each man who claims the name of Christian. If we were to face such refining alone, isolated and in our own strength, it might become more than we could bear, but the Lord blesses us with other men, companions, friends whose fellowship makes sweet even the swiftest current of the river.

As I pray about God's direction for my family, I am constantly amazed at the faithfulness of men of God to come along side me to strengthen me with Scripture, words of encouragement, fasting and prayer. They always come to me when I need them most even if I didn't know I needed them until they arrived. Through them I am reminded of God's faithfulness, His friendship and His love. How blessed is the man whom God has given brothers in faith.

"But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God . . ." Psalm 55:13-14

Among The Pots Of Earth

2009-05-06T09:35:00.004-05:00

A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil; nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to alarms. The bitter quassia cups of earth will give a relish to the new wine which sparkles in the golden bowls of glory. Our battered armour and scarred countenances will render more illustrious our victory above, when we are welcomed to the seats of those who have overcome the world. We should not have full fellowship with Christ if we did not for awhile sojourn below, for he was baptized with a baptism of suffering among men, and we must be baptized with the same if we would share his kingdom. Fellowship with Christ is so honourable that the sorest sorrow is a light price by which to procure it. Another reason for our lingering here is for the good of others. We would not wish to enter heaven till our work is done, and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light to souls benighted in the wilderness of sin. Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God’s glory. A tried saint, like a well-cut diamond, glitters much in the King’s crown. Nothing reflects so much honour on a workman as a protracted and severe trial of his work, and its triumphant endurance of the ordeal without giving way in any part. We are God’s workmanship, in whom he will be glorified by our afflictions. It is for the honour of Jesus that we endure the trial of our faith with sacred joy. Let each man surrender his own longings to the glory of Jesus, and feel, “If my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of earth. If to live on earth for ever would make my Lord more glorious, it should be my heaven to be shut out of heaven.” Our time is fixed and settled by eternal decree. Let us not be anxious about it, but wait with patience till the gates of pearl shall open."

“All the days of my appointed time will I wait.” Job 14:14

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Joy

2009-05-05T13:12:00.006-05:00

"Society is a bored, gluttonous king employing a court jester to divert it after an overindulgent meal. But that kind of joy never penetrates our lives, never changes our basic constitution. The effects are extremely temporary-a few minutes, a few hours, a few days at most. When we run out of money, the joy trickles away. We cannot make ourselves joyful. Joy cannot be commanded, purchased or arranged. But there is something we can do. We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs. We can decide to live in the environment of a living God and not our own dying selves. We can decide to center ourselves in the God Who generously gives and not in our own egos which greedily grab. One of the certain consequences of such a life is joy . . ."

Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, p. 96-97

Marbles

2009-04-27T12:33:00.013-05:00

"I turned the dial up to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding gentlemen, with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business.He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say . . .

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a thousand marbles.

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part."

"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that If I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container, I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time, and the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you, Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again."

You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about, I had planned to work that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C-mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.“

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a while since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.“

Steve Harvey - Introducing Jesus Christ

2009-04-23T10:24:00.001-05:00

Steve Harvey Introducing to Christ @ Yahoo! Video

Encouragement From A Friend

2009-04-21T12:47:00.002-05:00

"May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother's sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly." Psalm 69:6-17

How Much More The Hearts Of Men

2009-04-15T08:06:00.012-05:00

"Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, How much more the hearts of men!" Proverbs 15:11

If we were to explain this verse so that it would be a little more easily understood, it might read, "Hell and the grave lie open before the Lord, how much more the hearts of men!" This is profound truth to be sure. Two of the things that men fear most, Hell and death, lay before the Lord like an open book or a window before the eyes of a man. There is nothing hidden from His great, unsleeping eye, always searching, always seeing. So, too, the hearts of men lay within His view, open, plain, undisguisable. For the Christian, this should be a source of great trust and encouragement.

There is no fear of the mind, no calamity of the heart, no circumstance upon the body that the eyes of our great and faithful Father do not fully know, completely comprehend and sovereignly encompass. What then in all of this tempestuous life could we possibly fear save the Lord of Life Himself? The answer is nothing. A Christian who fully understands Who Jesus Christ truly is has neither the luxury nor the time to waste in fretting over the frailty of this mortal coil. God is in control and we are not. Why, then, do we worry as if we could, by our carnal doubt, affect anything? Brethren, we should not. Rather, trust in the now the God Whom you trust for your eternity.

Thank You, Lord, that You alone are our Light and our Salvation.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?" Psalm 27:1

The More Spiritual A Man

2009-04-14T08:17:00.003-05:00

"Truly it is a misery even to live upon the earth. The more spiritual a man desires to be, the more bitter does his present life become to him; because he sees more clearly and perceives more sensibly the defects of human corruption."

Thomas a Kempis