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.

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."

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.

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