I have been taking notice of what people say their problems are. Unfortunately what I hear most about are problems that are rooted in ourselves. Emotional instability, loneliness, poor self-esteem, not fulfilling our destiny, lack of fulfillment, or lack of money, etc. I think the reason that Christianity is so unappealing to many, Christians and pagans alike, is that these are problems that unenlightened are always looking to fix t and unelightened men are turning to Jenny Craig, Oprah, and Dr. Phil and are finding some relief.
What makes Christ stand out as a treasured Messiah in the midst of so many proposed ones? He came to solve the problems that are much more severe than the pithy emotional ramblings above. You see, we often do a great job of stating the solution: Jesus. But we don't do a good job of stating the real needs that are at the root of the ones listed above, the ones on the surface.
Read this paragraph from Calvin. I trust your heart will be opened to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus as you ponder our real needs and see that Christ has sufficiency satisfied them.
When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the minutes portion of it from any other quarter. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that he possesses it;if we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in his unction; strength in his government; purity in his conception; indulgence in his nativity, in which he was made like us in all respects, in order that he might learn to sympathise with us: if we seek redemption, we shall find it in his passion; acquittal in his condemnation; remission of the curse in his cross; satisfaction in his sacrifice; purification in his blood; reconciliation in his descent to hell; mortification of the flesh in his sepulchre; newness of life in his resurrection; immortality also in his resurrection; the inheritance of a celestial kingdom in his entrance into heaven; protection, security, and the abundant supply of all blessings, in his kingdom; secure anticipation of judgment in the power of judging committed to him. In fine, since in him all kinds of blessings are treasured up, let us draw a full supply from him, and none from any other quarter. Those who, not satisfied with him alone, entertain various hopes from others, though they may continue to look to him chiefly, deviate from the right path by the simple fact, that some portion of their thought takes a different direction. No distrust of this description can arise when once the abundance of his blessings is properly known.
Dec 13, 2007
Nov 23, 2007
God in the nude
Now that I have your attention.
I have often asked God to reveal Himself to me. In times of despair, confusion, or general spiritual numbness, often my awareness of God dwindles away into faint memories of what I remember of Him. While in this helpless estate, I begin to ask God to show me again who he is.
This may be the sentiment behind the line in a once popular modern chorus, now disregarded upon the pile of "disposable" hymns that we write nowadays:
Lord, I want to know you. I want to see your face. I want to know you more.
I know when I sang this song, I tried to conjure up in my mental viewfinder an image that would represent God to me. I wanted to perceive Him again. Something had covered God up. Like a cloud that separates us from the sun on a fall day, I had lost the practical awareness of God and the cold had begun to creep in. However, this exercise of asking God to come out from behind this curtain would often leave me just as confused and alone as when I started.
In retrospect I ask: Was it really that I needed to God to uncloak Himself and show me his face. or did I really need God to put somthing on instead?? Read John Calvin:
They who form their ideas of God in his naked majesty apart from Christ have an idol instead of a true God. Whoever then seeks to really know the only true God, must regard Him as the Father of Christ; for whenever our mind seeks God, except Christ be thought of, it will wander and be confused, until it is wholly lost.
We don't often think of it this way. But when our vision of God is obscured and our attempts to see Him fail, it is often because we are seeking Him as he is, in His essential, and naked capacity and NOT as he as revealed Himself in His crucified, buried and risen Son.
Lets beware trying to see the face of God and looking past Jesus and the cross, or as Calvin would say, trying to see God in the nude and thereby missing Him altogether.
I have often asked God to reveal Himself to me. In times of despair, confusion, or general spiritual numbness, often my awareness of God dwindles away into faint memories of what I remember of Him. While in this helpless estate, I begin to ask God to show me again who he is.
This may be the sentiment behind the line in a once popular modern chorus, now disregarded upon the pile of "disposable" hymns that we write nowadays:
Lord, I want to know you. I want to see your face. I want to know you more.
I know when I sang this song, I tried to conjure up in my mental viewfinder an image that would represent God to me. I wanted to perceive Him again. Something had covered God up. Like a cloud that separates us from the sun on a fall day, I had lost the practical awareness of God and the cold had begun to creep in. However, this exercise of asking God to come out from behind this curtain would often leave me just as confused and alone as when I started.
In retrospect I ask: Was it really that I needed to God to uncloak Himself and show me his face. or did I really need God to put somthing on instead?? Read John Calvin:
They who form their ideas of God in his naked majesty apart from Christ have an idol instead of a true God. Whoever then seeks to really know the only true God, must regard Him as the Father of Christ; for whenever our mind seeks God, except Christ be thought of, it will wander and be confused, until it is wholly lost.
We don't often think of it this way. But when our vision of God is obscured and our attempts to see Him fail, it is often because we are seeking Him as he is, in His essential, and naked capacity and NOT as he as revealed Himself in His crucified, buried and risen Son.
Lets beware trying to see the face of God and looking past Jesus and the cross, or as Calvin would say, trying to see God in the nude and thereby missing Him altogether.
Nov 10, 2007
Worse than frogs...Part 2
I promised to bring you a 6 year old answer:
Dad: Who is worse, us or frogs?
Abby: We are, because we disobey. Frogs just hop around and go "ribbit".
Way to go Abby. Now the other girls? Lets just say that 1 out of 3 is not bad!
This leads me to a reflection on the nature of true "blessing". (go with me here, I'll connect the dots.) Its a word used a lot in Christian circles, but do we use it correctly? A prayer before a meal? An unexpected gift? An affirmation to go and do something? It certainly can mean a lot of different things, but what does the Bible emphasize as the blessing of God?
We first have to see how the Bible emphasizes our need for God's blessing. What is it about man that we need God to bless us. It certainly implies a shortcoming in man, that we cannot bless ourselves but that we need someone else to do it. So what is that shortcoming, that need?
We don't have to look far to see a great disparity between what certain people in the world (you?) need and what it has. We see problems everywhere. We are hungry in need of food. We are poor in need of money. We are sick in need of health. We are lonely in need of friends.
As you have experienced these needs, you know they are very real and if they are not met, severe suffering and death may result. Even so, the Bible does not put these at the top of the list? How is that possible?
“If all the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us altogether and at once, would be nothing compared to the overwhelming problem of God: that He is, what He is like, and what we as moral beings must do about Him." A.W. Tozer
Our greatest problem? God is holy and just and has declared judgement against sin and sinners and those worse than frogs. How are we to escape this? Enter: the blessing of Abraham.
Rom 4:6 - 8 "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."
Our deeds have been forgiven, our sins covered. Therefore our sin will not be taken into account. This is our blessing and what a great one indeed.
Dad: Who is worse, us or frogs?
Abby: We are, because we disobey. Frogs just hop around and go "ribbit".
Way to go Abby. Now the other girls? Lets just say that 1 out of 3 is not bad!
This leads me to a reflection on the nature of true "blessing". (go with me here, I'll connect the dots.) Its a word used a lot in Christian circles, but do we use it correctly? A prayer before a meal? An unexpected gift? An affirmation to go and do something? It certainly can mean a lot of different things, but what does the Bible emphasize as the blessing of God?
We first have to see how the Bible emphasizes our need for God's blessing. What is it about man that we need God to bless us. It certainly implies a shortcoming in man, that we cannot bless ourselves but that we need someone else to do it. So what is that shortcoming, that need?
We don't have to look far to see a great disparity between what certain people in the world (you?) need and what it has. We see problems everywhere. We are hungry in need of food. We are poor in need of money. We are sick in need of health. We are lonely in need of friends.
As you have experienced these needs, you know they are very real and if they are not met, severe suffering and death may result. Even so, the Bible does not put these at the top of the list? How is that possible?
“If all the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us altogether and at once, would be nothing compared to the overwhelming problem of God: that He is, what He is like, and what we as moral beings must do about Him." A.W. Tozer
Our greatest problem? God is holy and just and has declared judgement against sin and sinners and those worse than frogs. How are we to escape this? Enter: the blessing of Abraham.
Rom 4:6 - 8 "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."
Our deeds have been forgiven, our sins covered. Therefore our sin will not be taken into account. This is our blessing and what a great one indeed.
Nov 2, 2007
Worse than frogs...
I ask you, who has more value, you or a frog? (I will also pose this to my girls soon and get you their answer)
Slime, warts, eats bugs. Right? Anyone in their right mind would say that we humans, the pinnacle of God's creation, would certainly be of more more value than a frog. We were created in God's image. Not sure what this ugly reptile is a copy of.
You might be thinking, "We must be of immense value, certainly more than frogs. Look at what it cost God to redeem us. His ONLY Son." Now, it is certainly true that the price that God paid to restore us is immeasurable. However, note that this does not reflect our worth, but rather the immensity of God's love.
Read this quote from Piper's 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die and you will see where I am headed:
I have heard it said, "God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans." This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They are not bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
We think we have more inherent value than other people or other things (including frogs) because we have we not considered the seriousness of sin. If we will contemplate the seriousness of our rebellion, as exposed by the greatness and inherent worth of God, we will realize our absolute unworthiness. It is not because we were valuable that we were redeemed. It is not because we were wise enough to make a decision. It is because Jesus died for the unlovable and unworthy. If we will spend time considering this, the cross of Christ will be the most precious thing we can think of. We will talk of it, sing of it, and cherish it. We will put Jesus in the limelight where he belongs and cast ourselves to the shadows. What a blessed riddance!
Slime, warts, eats bugs. Right? Anyone in their right mind would say that we humans, the pinnacle of God's creation, would certainly be of more more value than a frog. We were created in God's image. Not sure what this ugly reptile is a copy of.
You might be thinking, "We must be of immense value, certainly more than frogs. Look at what it cost God to redeem us. His ONLY Son." Now, it is certainly true that the price that God paid to restore us is immeasurable. However, note that this does not reflect our worth, but rather the immensity of God's love.
Read this quote from Piper's 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die and you will see where I am headed:
I have heard it said, "God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans." This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They are not bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
We think we have more inherent value than other people or other things (including frogs) because we have we not considered the seriousness of sin. If we will contemplate the seriousness of our rebellion, as exposed by the greatness and inherent worth of God, we will realize our absolute unworthiness. It is not because we were valuable that we were redeemed. It is not because we were wise enough to make a decision. It is because Jesus died for the unlovable and unworthy. If we will spend time considering this, the cross of Christ will be the most precious thing we can think of. We will talk of it, sing of it, and cherish it. We will put Jesus in the limelight where he belongs and cast ourselves to the shadows. What a blessed riddance!
Oct 30, 2007
The Devouring Beast
Have you thought recently about God in relation to time? Read this excerpt from Tozer in the Knowledge of the Holy:
How completely satisfying it is to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. For those outside of Christ, time is a devouring beast; before the sons of the new creation time crouches and purrs and licks their hands. The foe of the old human race becomes the friend of the new, and the stars in their courses fight for the man God delights to honor. This we may learn from the divine infinitude.
How completely satisfying it is to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. For those outside of Christ, time is a devouring beast; before the sons of the new creation time crouches and purrs and licks their hands. The foe of the old human race becomes the friend of the new, and the stars in their courses fight for the man God delights to honor. This we may learn from the divine infinitude.
Jul 10, 2007
What the snail does not know...
This pretty much sums up my capacity to understand the gospel. While I certainly think we should be diligent to read and communicate, it all comes down to this excerpt from Spurgeon:
We have those in our company who never will be able to give a systematic statement of the doctrines of grace, though they are full of grace. They could never explain how they were saved; but they are saved. I daresay the snail could never explain how he got into the ark, but he did get in; and these feeble ones are in Christ, though they cannot fully explain how they came to that blessed position. Some of these good people are not very apt to receive knowledge: they are not "learnable", if I may coin a word to express my meaning. We cannot make them learn. They are willing to be taught, they are teachable; but they are not "learnable." Ah, well, our blessed High Priest can have compassion on the ignorant, and the feeble-minded!
Read the whole sermon here.
We have those in our company who never will be able to give a systematic statement of the doctrines of grace, though they are full of grace. They could never explain how they were saved; but they are saved. I daresay the snail could never explain how he got into the ark, but he did get in; and these feeble ones are in Christ, though they cannot fully explain how they came to that blessed position. Some of these good people are not very apt to receive knowledge: they are not "learnable", if I may coin a word to express my meaning. We cannot make them learn. They are willing to be taught, they are teachable; but they are not "learnable." Ah, well, our blessed High Priest can have compassion on the ignorant, and the feeble-minded!
Read the whole sermon here.
Jun 30, 2007
Remember that song...
"Let's just forget about ourselves, magnify the Lord, and worship Him"
If you had a "born on date" (if you drink domestic beer, you know what this is) into Christendom during the 70s or early 80s you probably remember this song. I was reflecting, by the way of D.A. Carson's Worship by the Book, how incomplete this line is. If we are simply told to forget about ourselves and sing this song, even after about 4 times through, we are no farther along. Think about it. Are we drawn to leave anything for something else unless we are persuaded and can see that what we don't yet have is better than what we already have? We love ourselves dearly. In fact, we are completely stuck on self-preservation and self-worship. Our only possible way out of this is for us to somehow see something even better. The only way to turn away from ourselves is not to forget about ourselves, but to remember and see Christ. Until seeing Him we don't see ourselves as less than desirable. If fact to attempt to turn away from ourselves with out turning toward Christ is really more like Buddism or other eastern religions that help us trot on the way to Nirvana, a state of perfect nothingness. So, in short, the gospel never asks us to turn away from ourselves unless we are turning toward the overwhelming superior magesty of Christ himself.
If you had a "born on date" (if you drink domestic beer, you know what this is) into Christendom during the 70s or early 80s you probably remember this song. I was reflecting, by the way of D.A. Carson's Worship by the Book, how incomplete this line is. If we are simply told to forget about ourselves and sing this song, even after about 4 times through, we are no farther along. Think about it. Are we drawn to leave anything for something else unless we are persuaded and can see that what we don't yet have is better than what we already have? We love ourselves dearly. In fact, we are completely stuck on self-preservation and self-worship. Our only possible way out of this is for us to somehow see something even better. The only way to turn away from ourselves is not to forget about ourselves, but to remember and see Christ. Until seeing Him we don't see ourselves as less than desirable. If fact to attempt to turn away from ourselves with out turning toward Christ is really more like Buddism or other eastern religions that help us trot on the way to Nirvana, a state of perfect nothingness. So, in short, the gospel never asks us to turn away from ourselves unless we are turning toward the overwhelming superior magesty of Christ himself.
Jun 14, 2007
A guy named Aiden...
Aiden W Tozer walked into my life shortly after Jesus did. A pastor, author, and prophet (not in the typical charasmatic sense, but in the boldness and clarity sense) ministering in the 50's and 60's, his books have set the course of my spiritual life.
This blog title comes from chapter 7 of his book, The Pursuit of God (click here to read the whole text online) I will quote below my favorite quote from chapter 7 which somehow tries to make it into every bible study and sermon I am a part of. Apart from the Bible, this is best expression of the power of the Gospel to change a fallen heart that I have ever read. Enjoy.
"Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do."
This blog title comes from chapter 7 of his book, The Pursuit of God (click here to read the whole text online) I will quote below my favorite quote from chapter 7 which somehow tries to make it into every bible study and sermon I am a part of. Apart from the Bible, this is best expression of the power of the Gospel to change a fallen heart that I have ever read. Enjoy.
"Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do."
Jun 7, 2007
Home Alone
I have been thinking much about how much we need other people. And its not to make up for our lonliness. In fact, we need each other to expose our lonliness. The true lonliness is a lonliness of heart, not of company and it is caused not by a lack of friends but by sin. And to expose our sin is the only way to come to Jesus and to really know one another. Read the following excerpts from and comments about Deitrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together
"The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous."
So what do we do? We cover up our sin, and live in hypocrisy. In contrast to this kind of fellowship, the gospel is only for the sinner. We do not have to lie but we can own up to God.
Moreover, we are to confess and be confessed to.
The importance of confession centers around the nature of sin. "Sin demands to have a man by himself."It isolates him, by desiring to remain unknown. Where there is confession, the way is open for returning to the community. In confession one gives up his evil, gives his heart to God, and finds forgiveness and fellowship. Confession should be on a personal basis between two people, not necessarily to the entire church, for in confession to one member confession is made to all. If there is confession, the sinner is never alone again.
"The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous."
So what do we do? We cover up our sin, and live in hypocrisy. In contrast to this kind of fellowship, the gospel is only for the sinner. We do not have to lie but we can own up to God.
Moreover, we are to confess and be confessed to.
The importance of confession centers around the nature of sin. "Sin demands to have a man by himself."It isolates him, by desiring to remain unknown. Where there is confession, the way is open for returning to the community. In confession one gives up his evil, gives his heart to God, and finds forgiveness and fellowship. Confession should be on a personal basis between two people, not necessarily to the entire church, for in confession to one member confession is made to all. If there is confession, the sinner is never alone again.
Jun 5, 2007
On-line dating saved my life...
Pastor types can sometimes see a 4 hour counseling appointment a mile away. However, I have yet to have one of these: "I thought on-line dating saved my life". I think the time is coming soon, however. I know of several success stories, and that's the problem. You only hear about the good ones. Stats show that only 1-2% of folks currently on the books, end up with a significant relationship. (Significant? I'll save that one for later.) I can only imagin the carnage that is out there, waiting to be drug up in a counseling appointment coming to an office near you. ( or near me). Anyway, I have been looking for some substantive remarks on the subject and have found some from the generation X dating guru of : Josh Harris. Read on...
http://www.joshharris.com/2007/05/a_pastoral_response_to_online.php
http://www.joshharris.com/2007/05/a_pastoral_response_to_online.php
May 21, 2007
What does my daughter and Jerry Fallwell have in common?
One of the greatest joys of life is watching your kids verbally process the gospel. I mean its enough to make you really want to understand it yourself. The other morning, while reading HEAVEN FOR KIDS, by Randy Alcorn, with my 3 oldest daughters, Lauren, the oldest, blurts out with no solicitation, "I don't know if I'm going to heaven."
Chris: Oh really? Why is that?
Lauren: I do a lot of bad things.
C: Is doing only good things the way to get to heaven?
L: Yes.
C: Does anyone only do good things?
L: No
C: So, how does anyone get to heaven?
L: (silence)
C: Lauren, no one gets to heaven because of doing good and no one misses heaven for doing bad. Only Jesus takes away our sin and that's the only way to heaven.
The conversation then dwindled into questions about pets and dolls in heaven...
So what does this have to do with Fallwell. I remember my first thought when I heard of his death. "Well he's one person who we know is with Jesus" (I know, I am really getting in trouble with this one, but please suspend your disbelief and look for the analogy at the end) And then I thought, "Why am I so sure about him and not some others" What came crashing upon me is the reality that the ONLY thing that makes someone righteous is the cross of Jesus, applied to our souls by the Holy Spirit according to the gracious initiative and prerogative of God the Father. So no matter if its Lauren who needs Jesus because she speaks harshly to her sisters or wether its Fallwell who needs Jesus everyday becuase none of his great deeds could commend him to God, we all need Jesus. Period.
Chris: Oh really? Why is that?
Lauren: I do a lot of bad things.
C: Is doing only good things the way to get to heaven?
L: Yes.
C: Does anyone only do good things?
L: No
C: So, how does anyone get to heaven?
L: (silence)
C: Lauren, no one gets to heaven because of doing good and no one misses heaven for doing bad. Only Jesus takes away our sin and that's the only way to heaven.
The conversation then dwindled into questions about pets and dolls in heaven...
So what does this have to do with Fallwell. I remember my first thought when I heard of his death. "Well he's one person who we know is with Jesus" (I know, I am really getting in trouble with this one, but please suspend your disbelief and look for the analogy at the end) And then I thought, "Why am I so sure about him and not some others" What came crashing upon me is the reality that the ONLY thing that makes someone righteous is the cross of Jesus, applied to our souls by the Holy Spirit according to the gracious initiative and prerogative of God the Father. So no matter if its Lauren who needs Jesus because she speaks harshly to her sisters or wether its Fallwell who needs Jesus everyday becuase none of his great deeds could commend him to God, we all need Jesus. Period.
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