Favorites of 2011

As the year draws to a close, here are a few of my favorite postings from 2011:

February 1: The Certainty of Genesis.
February 27: Meeting Jesus: Friend or Foe?
April 26: Chapell on Hell, Part 1.
May 5: Comprehending God...in Part.
August 24: Engaging Our Neighbors...Normally!
September 8: Here's a Need!
October 11: Helping Everyone?

Blessings to you and your family. Thanks for your time!

Evangelism...Do It!

It's still there. On my office bookshelf. A brand new copy of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. This classic was one of my favorites in High School and college. I purchased this copy at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, pledging to myself to reread it at leisure over the course of the next year. That was three years ago! I still haven't reread it. It serves as a constant reminder about good plans gone awry. Perhaps you can relate. But as we prepare for the coming year, 2012, let's determine to not let this be just another year of half-achievements, partial accomplishments, and tasks lost completely to procrastination. And may this be especially true concerning evangelism. Personal evangelism isn't easy. But it is necessary. And we are all called to do it. In his book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever addresses the issues at hand that often inhibit our obedience to the Great Commission. He writes:

"The way I've been careless can vary. Sometimes I don't see the opportunity because I'm busy. Evangelism, after all, can be time consuming and inconvenient. Or maybe I'm too tired...Maybe my neglect of opportunities is more habitual. Maybe I'm lazy, caring more that I not be hassled or hurried than that this person hears the Gospel. Maybe, when it comes right down to it, I'm simply selfish. I don't see the opportunities because I'm unwilling to be inconvenienced. I guess that means that I am, finally, apathetic. My blindness to God's provision is voluntary. I don't consider the reality and finality of death, judgment, and hell. So I don't notice the reality of the person and their plight before me. We must not only close our eyes in prayers for opportunities, but we must open our eyes to see them."

I'm not calling for resolutions and well-intentioned plans. I'm simply asking for Christians to be obedient to the Gospel. And that means sharing the Good News in the coming year. If 2012 closes and I haven't even cracked the pages of Moby Dick, who cares? As Linus questioned Lucy years ago in the Peanuts comic strip, "A hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?"
But if I don't tell others about Christ, a hundred years from now we will all know the difference. And that's worth caring about.


p.s. -Remember what Mark Twain observed about a classic. It's a book that no one's read but everyone recommends.

Singing Theology...Songs of Christmas

I often marvel at the depth of doctrine contained in our Christmas songs. It's really a shame that we don't sing many of these songs year round. Consider these verses from Charles Wesley, found in Hark! the Herald Angels Sing:

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of Earth, Born to give them second birth.

Come, Desire of Nations, come! Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman's con-q'ring seed, Bruise in us the serpent's head.
Adam's likeness now efface, Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above, Reinstate us in Thy love.

Or this verse from another of Wesley's works, the oft-overlooked Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus:

Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever-Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

As you gather in your respective churches to celebrate Christmas this Sunday, don't put your mind on auto-pilot. Think about the words and phrases intentionally crafted to bring honor and glory to the King of Kings.

Considering the Virgin Birth

"But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.'"

Matthew 1:20,21 (HCSB)

Despite the protests and objections of many, the virgin birth is still a non-negotiable issue in Christianity. The virgin birth is of primary importance; this is not a teaching where we can simply agree to disagree. We must be of one mind and heart concerning the biblical narrative describing the birth of Jesus, a narrative steeped in the supernatural. As you consider the virgin birth, consider the following:

*Salvation is from Heaven to Earth, not from Earth to Heaven. In other words, it has its origin with God; salvation is initiated by Him. Apart from God's intervention through Jesus Christ, we would be hopeless and helpless. But because of Christ, we are neither.

*The unfolding story itself is a testament to the fact that God honors His word. What He declares will come to pass, just as He says. And that will never change!

*God, through the work of His Spirit, protects the person of Christ from inherited sin. Because of this, His righteousness may be imputed to me, and my sin to Him. If Jesus inherits the sin of Adam, then His death is meaningless, as insignificant as me dying for you or you dying for me. But because of the virgin birth, God ensures that Christ will be the sacrifice to atone for the sins of man. Truly, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!

Being Salt!

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men."

Matthew 5:13


Everytime we visit our local Cracker Barrel restaurant, I order fried okra. Sometimes even with breakfast. It's good...I mean goooood! But fried okra needs salt. So when my server brings the meal, the first thing I do is reach for the salt shaker. I then proceed to provide my bowl of okra with a sufficient dusting of sodium. The salt shaker and the bowl of okra can share the same table, but until the salt leaves the shaker, the okra remains unsalted. I can push the glass salt shaker up against the ceramic bowl of okra, but that still doesn't salt the okra. I can even hold the shaker above the bowl, but until the salt makes contact with the okra, the okra isn't salted! For the salt to do what the salt is intended to do, it must come into contact with the okra. And the same thing is true for the Christian concerning the unbeliever. We must take the Gospel to those that have yet to believe in Christ. Until we make this contact, we are not doing what God has called us to do. It is not enough to live in the same towns or neighborhoods. It is not enough to share schools and workplaces. It is not enough to smile and wave, making acquaintances along our way. We must love them, befriend them, and serve them, all in the name of Jesus. Anything less and we're still in the shaker.

For Whose Purpose?

"The phrase crucifying the flesh is not exactly a friendly, appealing group of words. I think this is because God wants us to be clear on what we are getting into. He wants us to know that His gift of the Holy Spirit is really not for our own pleasures or purposes. The Spirit is meant to lead us toward holiness. The Spirit is here with us to accomplish God's purposes, not ours. When you decide to put to death-to crucify-your flesh, you are by default choosing the way of the Spirit. You are leaving one path and joining another. The new path will undoubtedly have its share of twists and turns. At the forks in the trail, you will, at times, choose to follow the desires of your flesh, even though you left that path long ago...But while the path is winding and difficult, you are constantly moving in a particular direction, and that direction is set by the leading of the Holy Spirit."

Francis Chan, Forgotten God

Considering the Spirit

My apologies for the gap in posting. My computer is in the process of being repaired. Thanks for your patience in this matter. I currently have partial function, so let me take advantage of the moment with the following post:

We are using Francis Chan's Forgotten God as the resource for our Tuesday night Discipleship Study. During the first session, we examined, as lifted from scripture, the role and function of the person of the Holy Spirit. Consider the following when reading the Bible and contemplating the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

*The Spirit gives us the power to be witnesses locally, regionally, and to the ends of the Earth.
*The Spirit performs the supernatural through human beings.
*He gives gifts designed for honoring God and for common service.
*As believers in Christ, we are the residence of the Holy Spirit; He actually lives in us!
*The Spirit leads us into all truth; He is the teacher of the Church.
*The Spirit brings liberty and genuine freedom; The Spirit breaks down the stronghold of fear.
*The Spirit sanctifies us and prepares us for service in the Kingdom.
*He is transforming us into the image of Jesus, a work guaranteed to be completed.
*He gives us strength and leads us to a knowledge of God's love.
*He is identified as the Spirit of Adoption, establishing us as God's children and rightful heirs.
*The Spirit is freely given by God and grants the believer the mind of Christ.
*In times of turmoil and anguish, the Spirit makes intercession for us.
* The Spirit knows the perfect will of God.
*Through the Spirit's power, we may learn to kill the activity of sin.
*He gives life and peace; He equips us to live a life pleasing to God.
*The Spirit gives the believer assurance and certainty.

Helping Everyone?

As I was preparing to teach our Tuesday evening discipleship study, I came across the following statement/challenge. I suggest you read it slowly several times so that its broader meaning and implications can be mentally absorbed. After you think it through, take some action. I'd love to hear from you about your experience in living out the power of the gospel. Again, read this s-l-o-w-l-y:

It's natural to want to help people who are like you, who like you, and who you like. But what would it mean for you to help people who are not like you, who do not like you, and who you do not like?

Staring Down the Proverbial "Fork"

"When God invites you to join Him in His work, He presents a God-sized assignment He wants you to accomplish. It will be obvious you can't do it on your own. If God doesn't help, you will fail. This is the crisis point at which many people decide not to follow what they sense God is leading them to do. Then they wonder why they do not experience God's presence, power, and activity the way some Christians do. The word crisis comes from a Greek word that means 'decision'. The same word is often translated 'judgement'. We aren't talking about a calamity in your life such as an accident or death. The crisis is not a disaster or a bad thing. It is a turning point or a fork in the road that calls for a decision. You must decide what you believe about God...This is not a one time experience. How you live your life daily is a testimony of what you believe about God."

H. Blackaby & R. Blackaby, Experiencing God

We are His!

"'You are my witnesses'-the Lord's declaration-'and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me.'"

Isaiah 43:10


As God's people, we belong to Him. Notice the possessive language used by God in describing us: "my witnesses" and "my servant". Our lives are completely defined by who we are as God's possession. Properly understanding this will cause us to arrange our lives differently than our worldly counterparts, and perhaps differently from our fellow believers who are struggling coming to terms with the reign of a sovereign and jealous God. Ask yourself this difficult question: Am I living my life as the possession of God, biblically content to have my identity and desires defined by Him? Or am I living my life as though it belongs to me, attempting to find a meaning and purpose apart from Him?

Luther on Righteousness II

"Although I am a sinner by the law, as touching the righteousness of the law, yet I despair not, yet I die not, because Christ liveth, who is both my righteousness and my everlasting and heavenly life. In that righteousness and life I have no sin, no sting of conscience, no care of death. I am indeed a sinner as touching this present life and the righteousness thereof, as the child of Adam: where the law accuseth me, death reigneth over me, and at length would devour me. But I have another righteousness and life above this life, which is Christ the Son of God, who knoweth no sin or death, but is righteousness and life eternal: by whom even this my body, being dead and brought into dust, shall be raised up again and delivered from the bondage of the law and sin, and shall be sanctified together with the spirit. So both these continue whilst we here live. The flesh is accused, exercised with temptations, oppressed with heaviness and sorrow, bruised by the active righteousness of the law; but the spirit reigneth, rejoiceth and is saved by this passive and Christian righteousness, because it knoweth that it hath a Lord in heaven at the right hand of the Father, who hath abolished the law, sin, death, and hath trodden under his feet all evils, led them captive and triumphed over them in himself."

Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians

Luther on Righteousness

"Therefore this alien righteousness, instilled in us without our works by grace alone-while the Father, to be sure, inwardly draws us to Christ-is set opposite original sin, likewise alien, which we acquire without our works by birth alone. Christ daily drives out the old Adam more and more in accordance with the extent to which faith and knowledge of Christ grow. For alien righteousness is not instilled all at once, but it begins, makes progress, and is finally perfected at the end through death. The second kind of righteousness is our proper righteousness, not because we alone work at it, but because we work with that first and alien righteousness. This is that manner of life spent profitably in good works, in the first place, in slaying the flesh and crucifying the desires with respect to the self, of which we read in Galatians 5:24: 'And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.' In the second place, this righteousness consists in love to one's neighbor, and in the third place, in meekness and fear toward God. The Apostle is full of references to these, as is all of the rest of scripture. He briefly summarizes everything, however, in Titus 2:12: "In this world let us live soberly (pertaining to crucifying one's flesh), justly (referring to one's neighbor), and devoutly (relating to God)." This righteousness is the product of the righteousness of the first type, actually its fruit and consequence, for we read in Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.'"

Martin Luther, from Two Kinds of Righteousness

Arends on Faith

The following excerpts are from Carolyn Arends' August contribution to Christianity Today. Her column, Wrestling with Angels, can be read in its entirety at www.christianitytoday.com. Arends, commenting on the complexities of our faith, writes:

"When we fall for false dualities, we end up arguing over whether the gospel is concerned with ministering to the poor or proclaiming the Word. We believe our theology must emphasize a free gift of grace or a call to holy living. In a myriad of areas, we polarize, dichotomize, and greatly minimize the life God has for us...Most of us would like our faith to reduce tension. But according to Jesus (who told us to be anxious for nothing but always alert, to be last in order to be first, to be weak to be strong, and to lose our lives to find them), tension is required...So I am trying to remember that the Way is narrow, but the life we're called to is wide and deep. Still, I can't help asking: Is following Jesus an act of simple trust, or an adventure of unimaginable complexity? Yes."

Lewis on Sexual Morality

"In the first place our warped natures, the devils who tempt us, and all the contemporary propaganda for lust, combine to make us feel that the desires we are resisting are so 'natural', so 'healthy', and so reasonable, that it is almost perverse and abnormal to resist them. Poster after poster, film after film, novel after novel, associate the idea of sexual indulgence with the idea of health, normality, youth, frankness, and good humour. Now this association is a lie. Like all powerful lies, it is based on a truth-the truth that sex in itself...is 'normal' and 'healthy', and all the rest of it. The lie consists in the suggestion that any sexual act to which you are tempted at the moment is also healthy and normal. Now this, on any conceivable view, and quite apart from Christianity, must be nonsense. Surrender to all our desires obviously leads to impotence, disease, jealousies, lies, concealment, and everything that is the reverse of health, good humour, and frankness. For any happiness, even in this world, quite a lot of restraint is going to be necessary; so the claim made by every desire, when it is strong, to be healthy and reasonable, counts for nothing."

C.S. Lewis

Church and Football!

I am preparing for a short vacation; I will resume posting early next week. Thanks for checking in with True Beggars! Here are a few laughs in the meantime. Let's see what these gridiron terms mean when applied to church:

*Quarterback Sneak: Church members quietly leave during the invitation.

*Draw Play: What many children, and some adults, do with their bulletins during the service.

*Benchwarmer: Those who don't sing, pray, give, work, or apparently do anything.

*Staying-in-the-Pocket: What happens to a lot of the money that should be given to God's work.

*Two-minute Warning: The point when you realize the sermon is almost over and you begin to gather up your belongings.

*Sudden Death: What happens to the congregation's attention span if the preacher goes long.

*Trap: What happens when you are called on to pray and your mind is a million miles away.

*End Run: Getting out of church fast by skirting around the preacher at the front door.

*Flex Defense: The ability to let absolutely nothing during the sermon affect your life.

*Halfback Option: The decision of fifty percent of the congregation not to return for Sunday night's service.

*Blitz: The mad rush for the restaurants following the benediction.

Here's a Need!

Need something big to occupy a place on your prayer list? I mean a pressing need that's really big! Then pray for the people of the 10/40 Window. This area, extending from West Africa to Eastern Asia, is ten degrees north to forty degrees south of the equator, thus the name 10/40 Window. Some considerations about the 10/40:

*It is the home to the vast majority of the world's unevangelized people.
*The largest populations of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddism live within this area.
*Thirty-seven of the world's least evangelized countries are represented in the 10/40.
*Of the poorest people on earth, eight out of ten live in the 10/40 Window.
*The total population is approximately 2.4 billion people. Yet only eight percent of the world's missionaries work in this area.

Suggestions on how to pray for the needs of the 10/40 Window:

*Understand that everything is possible with God. Everything.
*Learn to personalize your prayers. Praying for needs like those within the 10/40 Window can be a daunting task, often because it seems so impersonal. Who can picture the faces of some 2.4 billion people? That is why we need to hear the stories of missionaries and ministries working in this area; we need to see specific faces and hear the details of their life experiences.
*Ask God to send workers into this area of the globe. Jesus tells us to petition God for an increase of laborers for work in the harvest.
*Involve your local church. Make this need known to other people. And find missionaries that are working in this area and support them...materially and spiritually.
*Ask God how you yourself could be more involved in the evangelization of the 10/40. Understand your place in the Great Commission.
*While we often focus on the missionary endeavors, let's be sure to pray for the existing churches with these countries. Pray for the leadership and laity alike. Much of the work of the gospel will be done through biblically strong, Spirit-led local congregations. Which leads to...
*Pray for those being persecuted for their faith in Christ. Terrible, sweeping persecutions are common in the 10/40 Window.
*Never forget that these are real people. Not nameless faces. Not cold statistics. Real people with real brokenness and a real need for Jesus.

The Sight of the Mind

"But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

II Corinthians 4:3,4

We tend to associate sight with the eyes; here Paul tells us that we actually "see" with the mind. As we pray for those who do not yet know Christ as Savior and Lord, let us pray that the veil presently blinding them will be lifted by the power of the Holy Spirit, that they may "see" the beauty of "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." And let us offer our thanks to Him for lifting the same veil from our mind's eye. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!

It's Finally Here!

If you are looking for something really spiritual, today's entry isn't for you. Sorry. The wait is over...the 2011-12 college football season begins tonight! And I am excited! The sound of the bands. The thousands of rabid fans packing the stadiums week after week. The traditions. The pageantry. The debate. I love it all. Here are some odds and ends from me to you about the upcoming season:

*First of all-Go Vols! There's no place like Rocky Top.
*I hope Joe Paterno and Penn State win the Big Ten. Maybe then the "Joe's Too Old!" crowd will be quieted...until next year. Leave the man alone; he's earned his keep.
*The toughest conference? The SEC. Toughest division? The SEC West. It could be scary.
*The NCAA needs to find a way to enforce rules and punish wrongdoers without making innocent parties suffer. A player today shouldn't have to live in the shadow of what the rule-breakers of a decade ago did to the program. Fine the universities...millions of dollars for the serious transgressions. That will go a long way to putting an end to the shenanigans.
*Cheer for the (used-to-be) little guy: Boise State. Although I'm an SEC man, I have always enjoyed watching the Broncos play, even when just a few years ago their games were relegated to late night showings. I'm not saying they deserve a shot at this year's championship, but I do wish them well.
*My least favorite conference: PAC 10. I'll watch them play, but only if nobody else is on TV.
*On a personal note: I have a friend who is a die-hard Mizzou man. He's convinced the Tigers will finish the season in the top ten. Let me go on record by saying that it ain't gonna happen!
*As always, I hope Michigan and Auburn lose every game. I guess it's my throwback to Woody and the Bear. And I don't want Florida State to succeed, at least not this soon after forcing out Bobby Bowden. See the above comments concerning JoPa.
*The eventual BCS champion? Tennessee. O.K. Maybe not. There are a handful that have the potential to win it all, but my pick is Alabama.
*In all seriousness, enjoy the season as a blessing from God; remember I Corinthians 10:31, "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Three Ways to Live

"People tend to think there are two ways to relate to God-to follow him and do his will or to reject him and do your own thing-but there are also two ways to reject God as Savior. One is the way already mentioned: by rejecting God's law and living as you see fit. The other, however, is by obeying God's law, by being really righteous and really moral, so as to earn your own salvation. It is not enough to simply think there are two ways to relate to God. There are three; religion, irreligion, and the gospel. In 'religion', people may look to God as their helper, teacher, and example, but their moral performance is serving as their savior. Both religious and irreligious people are avoiding God as Savior and Lord. Both are seeking to control their own lives by looking to something other than God as their salvation. Religious legalism/moralism and secular/irreligious relativism are just different strategies of 'self-salvation'. Christians may have had both religious phases and irreligious phases in their lives, but through the gospel they have come to see that the reason for both their irreligion and their religion was essentially the same, and essentially wrong. Christians have come to see that their sins as well as their best deeds have equally been ways of avoiding Jesus as Savior."

Tim Keller, Gospel in Life

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 6

As Jonah 3 unfolds, we are told that God spoke to Jonah "a second time". We should be reminded that we are not owed a second chance; that's the remarkable thing about God's grace and mercy! At this point, Jonah is obedient, at least outwardly, to the call and instruction of the Lord. God is determined to place the message of repentance before the Ninevites. And He is equally determined to use Jonah in this process. Jonah went into the city preaching to the people of Nineveh, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" We are told that upon hearing the message, the Ninevites believed God. The message, coming from the mouth of Jonah, was accepted as having its origin with God. A revival came to Nineveh, ushered in by a sweeping wave of repentance. All the people turned to the Lord, "from the greatest of them to the least of them." From this we see the marriage of divine intervention and human responsibility. According to Jesus in John 6:44, God draws people to Himself. Yet He has ordained the means by which this occurs. This is best illustrated by Luke in Acts 16:14: "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul." We, like Paul, have been given the responsibility to preach the gospel; as Christians, we cannot ignore this calling. Yet we cannot in human arrogance think for a moment that we can bring about the supernatural by way of our words and deeds. As God opened Lydia's heart, He opened the hearts of the multitude in Nineveh. Yes, we preach with passion! Yes, we labor for the cause of the gospel with tears and pleading. But the glory of success belongs to the Lord! Jonah was the means, but God was the cause. And ultimately, God reigns over both.

We Can't Withdraw!

This story, courtesy of Al Mohler from his contribution to the book Preaching the Cross, reinforces some considerations lifted from Jeremiah 29. See yesterday's entry for more information on this passage. This one always makes me laugh...

"...and we might also look at examples such as the Old Order Amish or the Mennonites, who live apart from culture. Of course, the problem with this is that it does not work. You cannot withdraw, at least not totally...Even the Amish and the Mennonites cannot withdraw entirely. A story is told of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, who was visiting one of the Old Order Amish communities that abound in upstate New York. As the senator was talking with the Amish people, one man indicated he was having some trouble with one of his daughters. "My daughter," the man said, "is being influenced by Catholicism." Telling the story later, Moynihan, himself a Catholic, said, "I knew we were good, but I didn't know we were this good." Nonetheless, he asked the father, "Just how is this showing up in your daughter?" The Amish father answered, "Well, I heard her talking to some of her friends, and she's been talking about Madonna." The Amish father's problem is a lot deeper than he knows!"

Engaging Our Neighbors...Normally!

Last evening at our church we began working through Tim Keller's Gospel in Life series. The first session dealt with our relationship to the city, the present world where we live. The biblical text was taken from Jeremiah 29. In this passage we find God presenting instructions to the exiles as to how they should live in Babylon. He tells them to live normal lives among their new neighbors while maintaining their unique spiritual identity. Keller makes the point that the exiles are torn between assimilating into the Babylonian culture and listening to the false prophets, men who decree that the exiles would be best served by preserving their spiritual identity through withdrawal from the city. Yet God tells them to live among the Babylonians, praying for them and serving them, all the while keeping their distinctions intact while living a normal life. They were not told to surrender their identity to the opposing cultural. And they were not told to withdraw from the people of Babylon. They were told to live out their faith where God had planted them. And I can find no exception for us today. Let's love our cities and the people in them. Let's serve them and pray for them, knowing that in doing so we are bringing honor and glory to our King.

God's Peace

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

John 16:33


"Too often the peace of God is thought of as if it were essentially a feeling of inner tranquility, happy and carefree, springing from knowledge that God will shield one from life's hardest knocks. But this is a misrepresentation...The peace of God is first and foremost peace with God. It is the state of affairs in which God, instead of being against us, is for us. God's peace is pardon and acceptance into covenant-that is, adoption into God's family."

J.I. Packer, Knowing God

More from Owen

This is another short teaching from Puritan author John Owen. Here he reminds us about the importance of faith. I am grateful for this reminder; hope it helps you as well:

"The only way of receiving supplies of spiritual strength and grace from Jesus Christ, on our part, is by faith. Hereby we come to him, are implanted in him, abide with him, so as to bring forth fruit. He dwells in our hearts by faith, and he acts in us by faith, and we live by faith in or on the Son of God. This, I suppose, will be granted, that if we receive anything from Christ, it must be by faith, it must be in exercise of it, or in a way of believing; nor is there any one word in the Scripture that gives the least encouragement to expect either grace or mercy from him in any other way, or by any other means."

John Owen, The Glory of Christ, 1684

Thinking...Hard!

The following excerpt is from Puritan author John Owen's 1684 book The Glory of Christ. See the 8/7 entry for Dave Harvey's comments on the Puritans. Here Owen is addressing the development of the believer's mind. Take your time; this is tedious material. My head hurts just trying to think about it:

"Labor that your minds may continually be fitted and prepared for such heavenly contemplations. If they are carnal or sensual, or filled with earthly things, a due sense of this love of Christ and its glory will not abide in them. Virtue and vice, in their highest degrees, are not more diametrically opposite and inconsistent in the same mind, than are an habitual course of sensual, worldly thoughts and a due contemplation of the glory of the love of Christ, yea an earnestness of spirit, pregnant with a multitude of thoughts about the lawful occasions of life, is obstructive of all due communion with the Lord Jesus Christ in this. Few there are whose minds are prepared in a due matter for this duty. The actions and communications of the most evidence what is the inward frame of their souls. They rove up and down in their thoughts, which are continually led by their affections to the far corners of the earth. It is in vain to call such persons to contemplations of the glory of Christ in his love. A holy composure of mind, by virtue of spiritual principles, an inclination to seek after refreshment in heavenly things, and to bathe the soul in the fountain of them, with constant apprehensions of the excellency of this divine glory, are required to this."

John Owen, The Glory of Christ

Thinking!

In the course of my preaching, I often remind people that God gave them a brain that He intends for them to use. Thinking is not in conflict with faith. This quote, used by Ravi Zacharias in his book The Real Face of Atheism, has a great element of truth to it:

"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you: but if you really make them think, they'll hate you."

Don Marquis

Bear in mind Paul's instruction to every Christian, lifted from Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Let's think for the glory of Jesus!

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 5

Jonah 2 contains the prayer of a truly helpless man; we must remember that we are as helpless as Jonah, a people completely dependent on God's loving provision. One commentator, writing about this scene, recalled a child's Bible storybook that he read as a young boy. The illustrator of the book portrayed Jonah calmly seated at a table while drinking coffee and reading a newspaper, all while inside the fish. This commentator observed that even as a young child he knew this probably wasn't quite accurate. Make no mistake; God certainly has Jonah's attention! He is cramped in the belly of the great fish, uncertain as to which breath might be his last. The gastric juices from the fish are bleaching his skin. The stench of digesting food is unavoidable. And the temperature is approximately 100-110 degrees F. All of this for three days and nights. From these circumstances, Jonah prays. He pours out his heart to God. But prayer isn't a one-sided conversation. God also speaks to Jonah, and in this frame of time Jonah's heart is touched by the grace of God. The climax of the prayer is found in Jonah 2:9: "Salvation is of the Lord!" Jonah recognized what we often miss: only God can save. Therefore our reliance is not on self, religion, or any other of the countless makeshift plans, schemes, and systems devised by the human heart. Our hope is only in the Lord. Jonah came to this realization in the belly of the fish. As we will see later, he didn't grasp the implications of such a declaration. But at this point, he is willing to go to Nineveh. So, at God's command, the fish safely vomits Jonah onto dry land. Next stop: Nineveh! But maybe a shower first...

A Great Read from Dave Harvey

If you haven't yet read Dave Harvey's Rescuing Ambition, don't hesitate to purchase a copy. Dave skillfully addresses the delicate subject of ambition, leading the reader to a God-centered application of what most Christians would consider a dirty word. The Tuesday, August 17, 2010 entry is from Harvey's writing. Here is another small excerpt from his book:

"If church history were a dojo, the English Puritans would all be black belts. Seriously, they had some staggering insights into the Christian life. But when you read them, you have to wonder: did these guys get paid by the word? Long words, long sentences, long paragraphs, long books. Even the abridgements to their books are long. But in combing through all that Puritan writing, you'll inevitably stumble on a statement that's crisp, clear, and short enough to make you think for a long time: 'If we have not what we desire, we have more than we deserve.' In this brief sentence from his classic book The Art of Divine Contentment, Thomas Watson sketches the portrait of a saint at peace. On its face, contentment seems at odds with ambition, doesn't it? But for us to be rescued from selfish ambition, the warm colors of godly contentment must be mixed with the bright colors of godly ambition...When we don't have what we desire, it's important to acknowledge that. We would be foolish to ignore it. If what we lack becomes our primary focus, ambition becomes contaminated with self. If you want an ambition that screens out self and shrinks discontentment, mull over this idea: we already possess far more than we deserve."

Dave Harvey, Rescuing Ambition

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 4

This has been VBS week at our church. Each evening features a Bible story brought alive on stage by volunteer actors from our congregation. Wednesday's drama centered on Jonah, complete with boat, a big fish, and great sound effects. While it was more Monty Python than Cecile B. Demille, the kids enjoyed the skit and learned some important lessons. Although this story plays well to a young audience, we must remember that it is actually very adult in its content. Divine commandments. Human rebellion. Displays of God's sovereignty. Anguished prayers. Preaching and repentance. The darkness of the sinner's heart. The light of the Gospel. It's all there, packed neatly into four short OT chapters. Let's be careful not to reduce Jonah to only a juvenile influence; God intends for readers of all ages to learn from its pages.

Quick Thoughts...and Spurgeon, too!

I served as evangelist at one youth camp last week and am about to begin my second stint as evangelist at another. Your prayers would certainly be appreciated. After this week , I will return to a frequent schedule of posting, which will include more in the Thoughts from Jonah series. Until then, a thought or two from Spurgeon:

"Faith...hears God say 'Stand still'; keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, 'Go forward'."

C.H. Spurgeon

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 3

Jonah 1 brings several thoughts to mind. Among the considerations from the first chapter:

1. We cannot flee from the presence of the Lord. It is impossible. We may make various types of life changes, but none of them will resolve the issue of rebellion. Repentance is absolutely necessary.

2. Our obedience/disobedience always involves other people. We do not live life in absolute isolation. Jonah's initial disobedience prolonged the horrible living conditions in Nineveh; the Ninevites gave no regard to God and his laws, thus human life was assigned little worth. And Jonah's disobedience jeopardized the lives of the pagan sailors.

3. Although God does use us in spite of our disobedience, as in the case of the sailors coming to faith in the God of Israel, we should never mistake this as meaning we are in fellowship with God.
Sinclair Ferguson writes, "There are times in our lives when the Lord will employ us in his service despite our disobedience, to demonstrate that the grace, the fruit, and the glory are entirely his...But it is also a warning to us, lest we be deceived by what God is able to do into a false sense of fellowship with him." Addressing this subject, John Newton once wrote, "Beware, my friend, of mistaking the ready exercise of gifts for the exercise of grace."

4. God is in control...of everything. He sent the storm. He sent the fish. According to Paul, this God is for us and not against us because of Jesus! Let us learn to rest in the power of the sovereign God that loves us with a perfect love.

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 2

"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah...But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."

Jonah 1:1,3

God spoke clearly to Jonah concerning his desire for the people of Nineveh to hear the message of repentance. But Jonah refused to obey. The reason for Jonah's refusal is found in Jonah 4:2, voiced by Jonah himself: "...for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." Jonah will not heed the command of God because he does not want the hated Ninevites to receive grace and mercy! While we might be quick to condemn Jonah for his blatant disobedience, we have to confess our own acts of rebellion concerning taking the word of God to those in need. Consider the parallel of God's word to Jonah and the words of Jesus found in the Great Commission. Our disobedience is just as disturbing as Jonah's. Jonah tried to flee; we often do, too. But we know we cannot flee from the presence of God. His word remains true and binding regardless of our location or surroundings. But rebellion makes us out to be fools. When we refuse to obey God, we think foolishly, we speak foolishly, and we act foolishly. The manifestation of this foolishness is not a matter of "if", but rather a matter of "when". Jonah's rebellion made him look like a fool; ours will as well.

Thoughts from Jonah/Part 1

Last week I began a summer sermon series preaching from the OT book of Jonah. Over the course of the next few weeks I will share some teaching points from these sermons. I would certainly appreciate your prayers with this endeavor. Thank you.

"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.' But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord."

Jonah 1:1-3


Within the first three verses of Jonah, we see the drama unfolding. But this is not a work of fiction. Jonah is to be given a literal reading. It is to be understood as such. Some years ago, while visiting another church for a friend's wedding, I noticed a table holding copies of the pastor's sermon manuscripts. I picked up the one about Jonah and began reading. In both sadness and anger I read this pastor's words that he had offered his congregation. He instructed them to embrace Jonah as an allegory, a work of imaginative literature whereby we learn from the fictional characters and events. But we see that Jesus affirms the literal rendering of Jonah in Matthew 12:38-40. Unless, of course, the resurrection is also an allegory, as some foolishly believe; but that's a lesson for another day. There is no reason for us to doubt the authenticity of this OT book. These things did happen in the life of an actual human being. Knowing this will bring Jonah vividly alive in our minds and hearts as we study God's word.

E.M. Bounds/On Prayer & Revival

"There is considerable talk in the air about revival. However, we need the vision to see that the revival we need, and the only one worth having, is the one born of the Holy Spirit. This kind of revival brings deep conviction for sin and regeneration for those who seek God's face. Such a revival comes at the end of a season of real praying. It is utter folly to discuss or expect a revival without the Holy Spirit operating in His distinctive office, and this is conditioned on much earnest praying. Such a revival will begin in pulpit and pew alike; it will be promoted by both preacher and layman working in harmony with God."

E.M. Bounds

David Platt 2011 SBC Remarks

David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, AL, addressed the attendees of the 2011 SBC gathering in Phoenix, AZ last week. His comments were sharp and certainly thought-provoking. Here is an excerpt from that sermon:

"We have reduced Jesus the King to a poor, puny savior who is just begging for people to accept him into their heart or invite him into their lives, phrases that are never used in the Word of God. We have reduced the Gospel of the Kingdom to a shrink-wrapped presentation that if we can get people to say and pray the right things back to us, we will pronounce them fit for heaven and free to live their life on earth however they desire."

These two sentences have already caused me to assess our commitment to discipleship. It reminds me of a story told by the late Adrian Rogers. Once, after the close of a revival meeting, a preacher was reflecting on the success of the week, noting that several hundred decisions had been made. Another man quickly warned, "If you want to gauge the success of the week, come back a year from now and see how many of the decisions have become disciples." Well said.

SBC Outreach

The 158th Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting took place this week in Phoenix, AZ. The SBC is the nation's largest protestant denomination and often serves as an influence of Christian thought and behavior in the United States. The major news coming from the SBC's 2011 gathering was the pledge to plant churches within the world's unreached people groups. These people groups have no viable indigenous Christian representation within their social/physical borders. Northern Yemen serves as a prime example. Its population is approximately 8 million, but there are only an estimated 30 Christians within the given population. Read that sentence again. Only 30 believers serving a population of some 8 million! While there are some exceptions, missionary research indicates that 2% of a specific population need to be Christians in order for churches to be established, leaders developed, and the evangelistic outreach sustained. I applaud the SBC for making this global need a priority. I pray that other North American churches that are non-SBC, such as the one I presently serve, will understand that this is not a denominational issue, but rather a biblical command from the very mouth of Jesus: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Now may we boldly obey.

The Wonder of the Church

I'm so sorry I haven't posted recently, but I have had some difficulty with my blogger page. Things seem to be running much smoother now. Thanks for your patience. I do hope and pray that these entries serve you as a source of instruction and encouragement as you walk with Christ. The following excerpt is from Jonathan Leeman's book The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love:

"I am especially grateful for the emphasis some missional writers give to the witness of the corporate body. One author writes, 'In North America, what might it mean for the church to be such a city on a hill? to be salt? to be a light in the world? It means, first of all, that the inner, communal life of the church matters for mission.' In other words, the witness of the church does not merely consist in the fact that it goes; it consists in the fact that it has a distinct corporate life. Its witness consists in the fact that it's distinct in holiness, love, and unity. So Jesus promises, 'By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.' The church's internal work of holiness and love amongst its members is inextricably tied to its outward work of witness. We must display Christ in our corporate life in order to display Christ in our individual lives. The church, Mark Dever has said, is Jesus' 'evangelism plan', because it alone displays the wisdom of God. Paul puts it like this: 'Through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.' Only an all-wise God could take a group of people who were once at war with him and one another and convert them into an assembly of love. Let all the cosmos look on and marvel!"

Christian Worldview 101

"The question of the existence or nonexistence of God is primary, but so is the question of God's power and character. The Christian worldview is structured, first of all, by the revealed knowledge of God. And this means the comprehensive knowledge of the self-revealing God who defines himself and will accept no rivals. There is no other starting point for an authentic Christian worldview-and there is no substitute."

Al Mohler

Ware on Prayer

"God's knowledge is infinite, and his wisdom is impeccable. We simply cannot rightly understand prayer to provide God any item of information or insight that would assist him in determining what is best to do. As I've noted elsewhere, when Jesus instructs his disciples how to pray, he does not encourage them to pray, 'Your will be formed', but rather 'Your will be done'! Prayer cannot rightly be seen as a source of added knowledge or wisdom for God. God alone knows all, and he alone knows best. Period."

Bruce Ware, from For The Fame of God's Name

Driscoll on Church Marketing

"The assumption that everyone is a customer to be marketed is a great pitfall for those who proclaim the gospel, because we tend to cast God as a product, and as mainstream a product as possible. After all, scriptural teaching about the curse, death as the wages of sin, the flooding of the earth, the killing of Egyptian babies, the slaughter of perverts in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the fiery torments of hell is a tough sell even for the best of marketing firms...Businesses of all sorts shamelessly pander to felt needs, and customers love the benefits they reap from fierce competition. People often take the same approach when they 'shop' for a new church that emphasizes their felt needs and offers more amenities for them to consume...People with this transaction mindset about God and church will even see ministry not as something they do with the spiritual gifts that God has given them but rather as something that is done for them as a religious service by someone else. Consequently, churches pandering to this mindset are filled with consumers who take more than they give and with observers who watch more than they participate."

Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission

The End of Time?

My morning routine consists of hot coffee-black, no cream, no sugar, since I actually like coffee-and the daily copy of the USA Today newspaper. Yesterday, as I was reading the national news section, imagine my surprise when I found out that the world is going to end on May 21. As in May 21 of this year, 2011. That's less than two weeks away! This headline, however, was not written by the newspaper staff, but was captured in a full page ad sponsored by a religious group. Granted, the beginning of the end may start on May 21. Or it may start by the time you finish reading this blog entry. Or it may not be seen in our lifetimes. I don't know; you don't know. But some things are certain. First of all, whenever these types of predictions are made, Christianity as a whole often suffers. We are perceived as just another group of doomsday prophets, spouting empty jargon about the end of time. I pray that our witness will be protected from such prejudice. Secondly, we must understand, that at some point, the end is coming. That is why we must labor for the Gospel while we have opportunity. Finally, we must recognize that for many, the end is near by way of death. Read the obituaries. People of all ages and life experiences die every day. Some in the grace of Jesus; others in condemnation. We need to understand that the end for most will not be announced in a national newspaper. As servants of Christ, we are to herald the Good News that whenever or however the end comes, people may be ready to meet God as sinners saved by the grace of Jesus. Whether it be today, tomorrow, or May 21.

Faith's Certain Object

"If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead when in fact Jesus did not rise from the dead, your faith is worthless because faith's validation depends in part on the truthfulness of faith's object.
That is why the Bible never encourages you to believe something that is not true or that is not prepared to declare to be true. That is why in the Bible faith is strengthened by articulating and defending the truth. The Bible never says, 'Just believe, believe, believe, believe, believe-it doesn't matter if it's true, just believe. So long as you are sincere in your belief, that's good.' So as long as you are convinced that Christ did not rise from the dead, I am the last person who is going to urge you to sort of tighten your stomach muscles and pretend to believe it. That is not faith. It might be the onset of a stomach ulcer, but it is not faith."

D.A. Carson, The God Who Is There

Comprehending God...In Part!

"Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it...How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" Psalm 139:4-6, 17

Ravi Zacharias once observed that although it is impossible to know God exhaustively, it is possible, even expected, that we may know God meaningfully. These verses, lifted from Psalm 139, serve to remind us of the nature of the Creator/creation relationship. Standing on the edge of the ocean, with the waves gently rolling over our feet, we cannot begin to fathom the depth or reach of the waters before us. But we are aware of the awe-inspiring spectacle that is the ocean. So it is with God. While we cannot, as David joyfully confesses, humanly comprehend the "vast sum" of our Creator, we can celebrate God knowing what we do know: God as he has chosen to reveal himself to us, chiefly through his son Jesus! Don't ever let our finite understanding of God inhibit your adoration and praise of him. David doesn't lament his lack of understanding the fullness of his Lord; he embraces his own limitations while glorifying the greatness of God. As we learn to know God in a meaningful way, let us also, in humble worship, celebrate that because he alone is God, we do not know him in an exhaustive way. And may we, like David, count that to be a good thing.

The Solid Rock

I appreciate any song with a lyric of biblical faithfulness and Christ-centered focus. Here are the words to one of my many favorites I sang frequently as a child, The Solid Rock, written by Edward Mote:

vs.1
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand-All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

vs. 2
When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand-All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

vs. 3
His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid rock I stand-All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

vs. 4
When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand-All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Packer on Answered Prayer

"Our Father in heaven does not always answer his children's prayers in the form in which we offer them. Sometimes we ask for the wrong thing! It is God's prerogative to give good things, things we have need of, and if in our unwisdom we ask for things that do not come under these headings, God, like any good parent, reserves the right to say, 'No, not that; it wouldn't be good for you-but have this instead.' Good parents never simply ignore what their children are saying, nor simply disregard their feelings of need, and neither does God. But often he gives us what we should have asked for rather than what we actually requested. Paul asked the Lord Jesus graciously to remove his thorn in the flesh, and the Lord replied by graciously leaving it and strengthening Paul to live with it. The Lord knew best! To suggest that because Paul's prayer was answered this way it was not answered at all would be utterly wrong."-J.I. Packer

Chapell on Hell, Part 2

"If we are afraid that talk of hell will 'turn off' people interested in the gospel, then we need to reconsider the message of the one who made that gospel available. Jesus, who was more concerned with building the Kingdom than any other person who ever walked the earth, preached more about hell than any other person in the Bible. Why? Because, as harsh as it sounds, we need to be reminded of the realities of hell. We need these realities branded on our hearts and burning in our consciences, or inevitably we will become preoccupied with personal peace and prosperity while those we know and love are floundering on the brink of God's eternal wrath. Hell, rightly understood and rightly talked about, builds the Kingdom of God. May our Lord grant us the courage to speak this difficult truth with love to those who need to hear it, and may he work through even our weakest efforts to bring many souls to the knowledge of his saving love-and away from the brink of hell."-Bryan Chapell, The Wonder of It All

Chapell on Hell, Part 1

Here is another passage on the subject of hell (see the 3/15, 3/28, 4/2 entries). These comments come from Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO. I had the opportunity to meet Bryan at this year's Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. He is an alumni of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, having completed the graduate program in Speech Communications. It's always great to meet a fellow Saluki. This excerpt is from his book The Wonder of It All. Bryan writes: "I was once asked to speak about church growth at a conference. So I spoke about hell. The preachers at the conference thought I was kidding. Maybe it is hard not to think so. In today's world, the mention of hell-indeed, the very notion of it-embarrasses some of us and hurts others. It seems there could hardly be a less winsome topic, and yet, if we want to grow with the spiritual vitality that God intends, we must not neglect the grace implicit in Jesus' clear warning of the eternal consequences of sin. I will not try to prove here that there is a hell. Jesus himself says that there is...That certain knowledge ought to give us intense concern for the final disposition of those whose lives touch ours. Yet the potential destination of our unsaved friends, co-workers, and family members rarely burdens our hearts. We seldom go to great effort, or any effort at all, to introduce those we know to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And if we do exert ourselves in this regard, it is often only to prove ourselves to others, to endear ourselves to God, or to build our church's numbers rather than out of any real desire to save souls from hell. There is something corrupt in our faith if the prospect of souls in hell concerns us little."

He is Risen!

"The resurrection of our divine Lord from the dead is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. Perhaps I might more accurately call it the keystone of the arch of Christianity, for if that fact could be disproved, the whole fabric of the gospel would fall to the ground...The silver thread of resurrection runs through all the blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds them together."-C.H. Spurgeon

Persuaded by the Cross

I hope that today, Good Friday, will serve as a time of serious reflection and soul-searching for you and your family. Apart from the eternal declaration of Christ that "It is finished", we would have no hope. But we have hope! God loves us! He loves us so much, in fact, that he gave Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. The cross is God's greatest demonstration of his love for us as sinners. Sinclair Ferguson writes, "The cross is the heart of the gospel; it makes the gospel good news. Christ died for us; He has stood in our place before God's judgment seat; He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross which we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that he loves us." It is my prayer that this persuasion would settle into the depths of our minds and hearts.

Lryics of Faith/Celebrating Easter

"I'm forgiven because you were forsaken/I'm accepted, You were condemned/I'm alive and well, Your Spirit lives within me because You died and rose again"/Chorus: "Amazing love, how can it be that you my King would die for me?/Amazing love, I know it's true;/It's my joy to honor you, in all I do I honor you."-You Are My King, Billy Foote, 1999

The Love of the Father

"But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him."( Luke 15:20) Most people recognize the importance of the father in Jesus' parable teaching about the prodigal. But the greatest emphasis is often placed on the story's title character, the rebellious son. Unfortunately, the prodigal is made to be the hinge of the story, the central point of understanding what Jesus is saying. The father should be our focus. He owes the wayward son nothing. He has every right to look away, go into his house, close and lock the door, and refuse all contact with his son. He has every right to forever banish him from the family. But he doesn't! As Erwin Lutzer notes in his book After You've Blown It, the phrase "a long way off" is the same word as "a distant country" in the original Greek text. Lutzer writes, "The father's eyes are searching the whole landscape, longing for a sign of his son's return." The father demonstrates a heart of love, grace, mercy, and compassion not only for the youngest, but for both of his sons. He willingly extends the hands of his tender heart to them. Our Father has done the same for us through Jesus. Our personal stories should not be told with the emphasis on us. They should be told with every word pointing to the incredible love of our Father. That was the intention of Jesus. It should be ours as well.

Spurgeon on Hell

Today we will hear from another voice of the Christian past commenting on the realities of Hell (see 3/15, 3/28 for further explanation). Here are the words of Charles Spurgeon, commenting and observing in his pointed style: "Do not begin telling me that there is a metaphorical fire in hell. Who worries about that? If a man were to threaten to give me a metaphorical blow on the head, I should worry very little about it. He would be welcome to give me as many as he pleased. And what do the wicked say? 'We do not worry about metaphorical fires.' But they are real, sir, yes, as real as yourself...Some have staggered over the doctrine of eternal punishment because they could not see how that it could be consistent with God's goodness. I have only one question concerning that: Does God reveal it in the scriptures? Then I believe it, and leave to him the vindication of his own consistency. If we do not see it to be so, it will be nonetheless so because we are blind."

Wesley on Hell

With the recent release of Rob Bell's latest book (see the 3/15 entry), the subject of Hell has found itself once again at the center of conversation and controversy. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will look to the voices of the past for biblical guidance and correction concerning the scriptural and historic understanding of Hell. I begin with the thoughts of John Wesley. Here is Wesley, commenting on the eternal state of divine punishment: "Consider...that all these torments of body and soul are without intermission. They have no respite from pain, but 'the smoke of their torment ascendeth up day and night.' Day and night...And of this duration there is no end! What a thought is this! Nothing but eternity is the term of their torment. And who can count the drops of rain, or the sands of the sea, or the days of eternity? Every suffering is softened, if there is any hope, though distant, of deliverance from it. But here, 'Hope never comes, that comes to all' the inhabitants of the upper world! What! Sufferings never to end!...Such is the account which the judge of all gives of the punishment which he has ordained for impenitent sinners. And what a counterbalance may the consideration of this be, to the violence of any temptation. In particular to the fear of man; the very use to which it is applied by our Lord himself: 'Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell,' Luke 7:4,5."

Letting The Bible Be The Bible

"If we let our unexamined beliefs undermine our confidence in the Bible, the cost may be greater than we think...Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God that can contradict you? You won't! You'll have a Stepford God! A God, essentially, of your own making, not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figure of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition of it."

Tim Keller, The Reason For God

A Look At John Newton

"What was (John) Newton's motivation? It was a profound awareness of the grace and mercy of God toward him, a wretched sinner. Newton wrote,

Amazing grace-how sweet the sound-
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Newton never forgot God's mercy to him. Once a friend of Newton's was complaining about someone who was resistant to the gospel and living a life of great sin. 'Sometimes I almost despair of that man,' the friend remarked. 'I never did despair of any man since God saved me,' said Newton. In his most advanced years, Newton's mind began to fail and he had to stop preaching. But when friends came to visit him he frequently remarked, 'I am an old man. My mind is almost gone. But I can remember two things: I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior.'"

James Boice, Mind Renewal

Rob Bell Controversy

Today is the national release of Rob Bell's latest book Love Wins. Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, a mega-congregation located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many are acquainted with him through his NOOMA video series. Bell is a national voice of unorthodox theology, reaching and influencing thousands, many of whom confess dissatisfaction with traditional Christian teachings. While I have yet to read Love Wins, I am, by way of Bell's own quotes and public conversations, aware of its content. Simply stated, Bell argues against the ideas of the historical understanding of Hell, the punishment of sinners that reject the Gospel of Christ, and the urgency of preaching the Good News. In fairness to Rob Bell and others, I do plan on reading the book. As the fallout surrounding Love Wins grows, I do pray for good things to come from this controversy. Two specific things come to mind. May we be driven to the Bible as the source of answers to our questions; once we find the answer, may we trust the wisdom of God regardless of whether or not we like what we read. And, may our concern not be on who "wins" the public debate, but rather may this firestorm rekindle our passion to reach the lost with the uncompromising message of Jesus, a message that includes the truth about both Heaven and Hell.

The Value of Children

The following excerpt is from Wess Stafford's book Too Small To Ignore. Wess is the president and CEO of Compassion International.

"On that occasion I went on to tell the story I often tell of Dr. Tony Campolo, well-known author and sociologist at Eastern University outside Philadelphia. He grew up in that city, and one day while downtown he got the notion to drive by his old boyhood church. He knew the demographics of the neighborhood had changed several times since his childhood, and the congregation had gone from white to black to Asian to...now, nothing. He drove up to the familiar address to see plywood covering the windows of the sanctuary. Deterioration was on every side.

Dr. Campolo was sad-but also curious. He began to muse, What kills a church? What makes a once thriving church wither away and die? He decided to make his boyhood church a case study.

Finding the last group of elders, he introduced himself and then said, 'I'm interested in the life cycle of this church. Do you still have the records? May I study them?' They told him where to find the archives-in the basement of the building in a vault behind a door nailed shut. Dr. Campolo showed up a few days later with a crowbar and managed to pry open the room. Sweeping away the cobwebs, he stared at the stack of annual reports. Where do I begin? he wondered. I know, he said to himself, I'll start at the year I gave my life to Christ as a boy. He rustled through the stack until he found the report. Opening its yellow pages, he began to read.

That had not been a particularly good year for the church, the author admitted. Giving was down from the previous year. Mission activity was subdued. Attendance had declined. There were only three conversions over the course of the year, and they were 'just children'. Dr. Campolo stared at the page in disbelief and irritation. Wait a minute! he said out loud. I was one of those three! And I know the other two. One spent his life in mission service in Africa, while the other became president of a seminary here in the United States...What do you mean, just three children came to Christ that year?

The sociologist had found his answer to his research question. A church begins to die when it says, 'They were just children.' If that is the mind-set, decline and decay will surely follow."

Tuned To Christ

"Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship."

A.W. Tozer

Meeting Jesus: Friend or Foe?

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."

Revelation 19:11-16


As a child, I naively thought that salvation was simply God saving us from the devil. While certain elements of that reasoning may be true, I have, quite thankfully, come to the understanding that God is saving us from Himself! There are over 4o references in the book of Revelation that allude to Jesus as King, enthroned as the Sovereign of the universe. This is one of the most terrifying. The blood soaking the robe? That of his enemies. This is the King we cannot escape; this is the King of our present lives and future judgement. By his grace alone we are saved from the wrath of God. Let us run to this King for mercy and grace, that we may meet him as a friend. There will be no hope for us if we meet him as foe.

Defining Idols

"What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give you. A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would hardly feel worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that
you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving 'face' and social standing."

Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

Happy Valentine's Day!

"There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden."

Proverbs 30:18,19

"As Christians, we can be sure that romantic love is as old as time itself, for it came into being in the Garden when the first man and woman gazed on each other. We must recognize that it was our Creator who gifted us with the capacity for the intense and passionate emotions required to fall in love."

Ed Wheat


"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

John 3:16

"If there is one subject more than another upon which I wish to speak, it is the love of Christ. But if there is one that quite baffles me and makes me go back from this platform utterly ashamed of my poor feeble words, it is this subject. This love of Christ is the most amazing thing under heaven, if not in heaven itself."

Charles Spurgeon

Keeping Up With The Joneses

"The quest for success often keeps our focus on that next big raise, that next house, that next new thing. But if we think we have some catching up to do, we should consider how the other 90 percent of the world lives. See how you stack up to the rest of the world at: www.whoarethejoneses.org. "

The above is the text for an ad in the Winter 2011 edition of Compassion International's quarterly publication. I visited the website and must say that it is well worth a few minutes of your time. I hope that you will consider the points being made by its content and will share the website information with your family and friends. For more information on the ministry of Compassion International, please visit them online @ www.compassion.com.

The Call To Die

"The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death-we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be like Luther's, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time-death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. Jesus' summons to the rich young man was calling him to die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ. In fact every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and his call are necessarily our death as well as our life."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945

The Certainty of Genesis

Every year, in the weeks preceding Christmas, I reread A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In the opening pages of this charming little book, Dickens painstakingly confirms the actual death of Jacob Marley. He is insistent that his reading audience understand that Marley was dead, really, truly dead! After detailing the demise of Jacob Marley, Dickens writes, "There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate." Dickens declares that if the fact of Marley's death is lost to the reader, then we are never going to comprehend and embrace what follows in the life of Ebenezer Scrooge. And so it is with Genesis 1 and 2. If we do not understand, as fact, that God is our creator, we will never be able to understand and apply all that follows in the Bible. If we fail to embrace God as the sovereign of the universe, we will never come to terms with our own sin; we will never begin to see the depths of God's love, mercy, and grace; and we will never consider our absolute dependence on him for all things. Granted, thinking hard about God, his origin and place in the beginning of the biblical storyline, can be a daunting task. As G.K. Chesterton once said, "God is like the sun; you cannot look at it, but without it you cannot look at anything else." We may not be able to explain all things about God; that's a given. But as Dickens confirms to his readers the utmost importance of excepting Marley's death for the sake of a fictional story, we are called to except the truth of Genesis 1 & 2, that it may serve as a foundation for all else God is telling us. Settle the issue in your heart; God is who he says he is! Be certain of that!

The Loneliest Moment

"When the pleasure button is repeatedly pressed and can no longer deliver or sustain, the emptiness that results is terrifying. Surely, the loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced what you thought would deliver the ultimate, and it has let you down."

Ravi Zacharias, from The Real Face of Atheism

Henry on Atheists

Matthew Henry, commenting on Genesis 1:1, made the following observation:

"Let us learn, hence, that atheism is folly, and atheists are the biggest fools in nature; for they see there is a world that could not make itself, and yet they will not own there is a God who made it."

SOHL Sunday 2011

Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion in our nation. Since then, approximately 50,000,000 pregnancies have been terminated via abortion procedures. Abortion is not a political issue. It is a spiritual issue. We, as Christians, are to be the heralds of the Gospel, proclaiming Christ's forgiveness to those that have chosen an abortion; his guidance for those contemplating ending a pregnancy; and a voice for the rights of the unborn, those who are the most fragile of our society. For those that believe in the non-existent barrier between biblical principles and political positions, please consider the following ad that ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, sponsored by Pastor John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church. It was simple yet pointed:

"I am personally pro-life. But politically pro-choice." - Pontius Pilate

More importantly, meditate on the words of the psalmist, found in Psalms 139:32:

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb."

Remembering Dr. King

"Was not Jesus an extremist for love: 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'? Was not Amos an extremist for justice: 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream'? Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: 'I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus'?...So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremist we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

A Prayer of St. Francis

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

St Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226

Think About It!

"In the beginning, God created..."

Genesis 1:1


Our church recently completed a study of Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. Many of us are still sorting out the challenges and considerations presented by Chan in this bestseller. Our next Discipleship class will use The God Who Is There by D.A. Carson as its resource. In preparing for the sessions and the related Sunday sermons, I have been attempting to summarize the focus of the first chapter, Genesis 1 & 2, in a brief, pointed thought. Reading the opening pair of chapters to the Bible, two truths are overwhelmingly evident. First, God made everyone and everything. Second, if God made everyone and everything, then everyone is accountable to Him and everything is sustained by Him. These thoughts are foundational for rightly understanding what follows in scripture, whether it be Genesis 3 or Revelation 22. As you read and study the Bible this week, bear in mind the implications of the creation narrative. You will soon see that "God created" is the bedrock of scripture, made evident in the turning of every page. Thus, Genesis 1:1 serves as more than an introductory verse to the Bible; it is the essence of God's truth.

Owen on Obedience

"This obedience, as for the use and end of it, was not for himself, but for us. We were obliged to it, and could not perform it; he was not obliged to it any otherwise but by a free act of his own will, and did perform it. God gave him this honor, that he should obey for the whole church, that by 'his obedience many should be made righteous'. In this, I say, did God give him honor and glory, that his obedience should stand in the stead of the perfect obedience of the church as to justification."

John Owen (1616-1683)

Happy New Year!

In the midst of football, football, football...Happy New Year! As we begin 2011, let us give consideration to the words of David from Psalm 103:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!"
vs. 1

"Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
vs. 22