on a Christian approach to immigration

Daniel Carroll Rodas shares briefly about how we as Christian's must think Christianly about the Immigration debate, no matter our political stripe or personal feelings.

the Gospel of John

I'm studying John for an upcoming sermon, and I found these two statements regarding the 'argument of the Gospel of John' to be insightful.  Calvin, in the Preface to his Commentary on John, says:

But as the bare history [of what we call 'the Gospel'] would not be enough, and, indeed, would be of no advantage for salvation, the Evangelists do not merely relate that Christ was born, and that he died and vanquished death, but also explain for what purpose he was born, and died, and rose again, and what benefit we derive from those events.

 
 ...

And as all of [the four NT Gospels] had the same object in view, to point out Christ, the three former exhibit his body, if we may be permitted to use the expression, but John exhibits his soul.  On this account, I am accustomed to say that this Gospel is a key to open the door for understanding the rest; for whoever shall understand the power of Christ, as it is here strikingly portrayed, will afterwards read with advantage what the others relate about the Redeemer who was manifested.

the beautiful Christ

Reading Hebrews 1:1-4 last night with friends, and one remarked, "It doesn't get bigger than this!"

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Meditate on the intricacies of this word about the Final Word who was spoken.

the Image

  One of the most important theological truths in my life for the past year has been "...God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:27 ESV)  This is by no means a new concept; I was thoroughly taught the theological implications of it in my formal biblical studies. Plus, I have been familiar with the truth and its basic implications since I was a child.  God made us to be correspond to Him in many of His perfections.  Consider two current personal illustrations:

1.  I have not practically lived out the implications of the image of God very well personally.  In other words, I have often doubted who God made me: I didn't necessarily fight who I was, I just didn't believe in His image in me enough to pursue the design He had placed in me.  I do not have the normal abilities for what I plan to do in my life. Yet, if I am following the direction that God has led and if He truly designed me to reflect certain aspects of Himself (however imperfect that reflection actually is), then I will find that the direction, the abilities and the desires which He has and is giving me will match.  This has helped to direct our path as we leave our home and trek towards a new home and the journey that awaits there.  We were designed for this!

2.  A second area has emerged from what was originally a community Bible study but continued in my personal study... thoughts from Ephesians 5: what would it look like if we as husbands really sought to build up our wives as Jesus builds the Church.  It would be thorough; it would be for their benefit; it would be beautiful; it would be in the same way Christ loved.  But the Image of God... what if I learn to love the reflections of Himself that God had designed in Bethany as well as those in me?  What if the image of God were evenly and equally displayed in our home and marriage? 

The Future of America and the Globe

  "The myth of America's decline" on cnn.com today brought to mind various readings I have done in the last year.  The article expresses well the basic reasons why America will continue to be in a commanding central position as a global leader for the foreseeable future, barring a disruptive act of God.  George Friedman's excellent book The Next 100 Years is a more detailed argument for the same basic thought.

In my opinion (though some would disagree), there is little contradiction between those who see a dominant America and those who would argue that globalism will soon overpower the unilateralism of the present.  Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World (now in its second edition) makes compelling arguments for why the world will become less dominated by America, but he does not make a strong case for another nation becoming more dominant.  In other words, as we look to the future, I see no reason that the USA will not be the world's primary shaker-and-mover indefinitely: only America will have the power to move the world to action and lead such action.  However, Zakaria's basic point that America will no longer be able simply to do as it likes also carries weight.  The balance may well be that a tandem will be created by which America must dance with (much of) the rest of the world while also being the only force large enough to chose the tune for dancing.

For the redemption of Joy

As sin, shame and sorrow rocked through Adam and Eve's souls, it was only an echo of the heart breaking sorrow that pierced the Son and the Father. For with one look, they both knew the Son would go Fatherless and the Father go Sonless for the sake of the redemption of joy.
 ...
But now that the only begotten Son has been joined to me in inseparable union, I now live out my sanctification out of the extravagant overflow of this grace from the Son's relationship to the Father and the Father to the Son. I am now the most favored and blessed man on the face of the earth. There can be no greater favor than what the Father shows to the Son and we receive all that favor because we are now Christ's body. 

- Jerome Grosskopf

a nugget of golden Scripture

Psalm 119:132 

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.

my paraphrase:

God's constant habit is to approach and show favor to everyone who loves Him.

The Dinner Table

"Something holy happens around a dinner table that doesn't happen in a sanctuary."

A plea for deep fellowship from today's sermon...

The Gospel at work in Marriage

The quote below is from a helpful article about the Gospel in marriage relationship:

When your spouse disappoints you for the umpteenth time, what is the ruling motive of your heart? Can you rest in God the Judge, or are you compelled to be your spouse’s judge?

When you sin…again…are you tempted to punish yourself through a stringent moralism, or do you appropriate the releasing forgiveness that is found in Christ’s work on the cross?

If our Gospel means anything, then it must be real in the moment of our sin, whether it is yours or mine. Otherwise, there is no redemptive purpose in His sacrifice.

Sonship leads to natural living

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Nov 14th)

This is a rather gripping thought which is elaborated on throughout the rest of the November 14th devotional.  There are also a number of other helpful thoughts in that essay.

D. A. Carson's Commentary on John, with sample

  As I've been studying for my sermon tomorrow from John, I have referenced D. A. Carson's The Gospel According to John which is part of the Pillar commentary series.  It is one of the most helpful commentaries I remember reading in (right there with Spurgeon's Treasury of David and Hoehner's Ephesians).  The background and study which went into it is quietly apparent, while the content is insightful in a way that shows meditation and Christian sensitivity to what the text is saying.  (The fact that I am reading it as a Kindle book on my computer makes me like the whole experience even better.)

  Anyways, a sample or two from the section on John 20:21-22 which will be a major portion of the sermon tomorrow.

There is sufficient comprehensiveness both here and elsewhere to make Christians aware that they never have an excuse to rest on their laurels, or to define their task too narrowly; perfect obedience to the Son, modelled on Jesus’ perfect obedience, is as daunting a challenge as the command to teach others to obey all that Jesus has commanded (Mt. 28:20). 

[...]

Just because he ascends to his Father does not mean he is no longer the ‘sent one’ par excellence (cf. 9:7). Thus Christ’s disciples do not take over Jesus’ mission; his mission continues and is effective in their ministry (14:12–14). ‘The apostles were commissioned to carry on Christ’s work, and not to begin a new one’ (Westcott, 2. 349–350; cf. Schnackenburg, 3. 324).

Carson, D. A. (1991-01-01). The Gospel According to John (Pillar New Testament Commentary) (p. 649). William B Eerdman Co. Kindle Edition.

in a moment of lunacy

An Address about Me

One score and seven years ago, my mother brought forth upon this continent a new baby conceived in misery and dedicated to the proposition that all men have inflated egos. Now we are involved in a great inner war testing whether that baby, or any baby so conceived ad so dedicated, can long endure.

Seems unlikely...

Judgment

What happened in the Father's heart when He judged His Son with the fury reserved for the world? For the One to whom hours and centuries are interchangeable, what was the pain of those hours and days?

What was the depth of sorrow in heaven as its Maker lay dead?

What sort of incredibly abounding love must the Father have for us to have not spared His own Son, beloved and cherished!

Prayer or obedience?

I'd never read anything by C. T. Studd before today, but when I randomly had some time for extra reading, I opened a free download of his The Chocolate Soldier Heroism.  While it is quite short, it is nonetheless a compelling work, calling all true Christians to decisive devotion to Jesus.

 We Christians too often SUBSTITUTE PRAYER FOR PLAYING THE GAME. Prayer is good: but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is naught but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism. We need as many meetings for action as for prayer--perhaps more. Every orthodox prayer-meeting is opened by God saying to His people, "Go work today; pray that laborers be sent into My vineyard." It is continued by the Christian's response, "I go, Lord, whithersoever Thou sendest me, that Thy Name may be hallowed everywhere, that Thy Kingdom may come speedily, that Thy Will may be done on earth as in heaven." But if it ends in nobody going anywhere, it had better never have been held at all. Like faith, prayer without works is dead.

 This booklet is well worth the minutes it would take you to read it.

Psalm 38 - When You are on the Brink...

In Psalm 38, David sees himself on the brink. He is drained. Physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, socially, and positionally, he sees his world in shambles. (vs. 1-14) And so, he waited trustingly for God. Whenever you are on the brink, plead for God's saving Presence to draw near to you.

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.
Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

(ESV)

Jesus and Women

   I have been reading The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ by James Stalker recently.  It is one of the great meditations on the sufferings of Christ's last day.  (It is available on Amazon for free if you have a Kindle, or for about $10 if you want to hold the book in your hands.)  There have been many valuable insights in the book, and the book itself, as a meditation on our King and His sacrifice for us, is obviously helpful and enriching.

   Speaking of Jesus' words to the "Daughters of Jerusalem," Dr. Stalker comments, "His words show that He had a comprehension of women and a sympathy with them such as had never before existed in the world."  This is a striking comment which seems either unexpected or obvious when you read it, but truly bears some thought.  If you get the book, the context gives even more to chew on.

   I have been planning to seek a deeper understanding of the Bible's teaching on women and men for a while.  It is an issue in our culture and churches, but it is also an issue of daily life.  If we will not be monks or monkettes, we must deal with men and women. And, the above comment suggests a better way to approach the study than leaping immediately into the middle of the definitions-, interpretations-, and presuppositions-debate.  It may be well to first consider the exemplary teaching of Scripture on the topic, the stories of God's interaction with gender and those of His people.  Then, within the greater framework of Scripture, it seems that we will find not only a more accurate, but, quite possibly, a more nuanced understanding of the image of God as it is revealed in male and female.

The Little Treasure

Her life is filled with joy by simple things.

 And thus, she shares her joy with us.

Who is a Husband Really?

  As our group studied through Ephesians 5 last week, we came to see the godly husband's actions and identities as summarized below.  The Husband is to treat the Wife as Christ treats His Bride, the Church.  Thus, if you watch my marriage, you should know more about Jesus and His relationship with the Church.  Jesus is the ultimate example of all that is written below, and He does this for all of God's children.  In other words, Ephesians 5 is a beautiful picture to study for both married and single people.  May we be an increasingly accurate picture of Jesus and His darling, the Church!
 PS Incidentally, biblical manhood and womanhood would be a lot more attractive if we lived like this.

Husband’s Actions: He should…	Husband’s Identities: He is to be her primary…
Love her as myself	Lover and Carer
Give myself for her	Personal Sacrificer
Sanctify her through the Word	Purifying Word-giver
Seek her purity	Watchful Cleanser
Nourish her	Thoughtful Provider
Cherish her	Intentional Delighter
Hold fast to her	Most Intimate Friend

Nuggets from Genesis

 The quote below is from an excellent book that a friend loaned me this week, and the quote below has several nuggets on Genesis which I haven't found anywhere else in the two years in which I've been doing deep study there.  I bolded the one sentence which is one of the best summaries of Genesis I've seen.

In other words, these promises assure Abraham that he and his descendants will begin to experience what Gen. 1-2 describes.  Humankind was told to be fruitful and multiply; Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.  Adam was given the garden of Eden to till; Abraham is promised the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey.  In Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed the continual presence of God; Abraham and his descendants will enjoy similar blessing and protection.  And ultimately, through Abraham and his offspring all the families of the world will find blessing.

The rest of Genesis elaborates these promises, making them richer and more comprehensive.  It also shows their gradual but progressive fulfillment. The family of Abraham slowly and with great difficulty increased in number, so that there were seventy who actually went down to Egypt.  In the course of their travels in Canaan, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob acquired small portions of the land, such as wells, burial sites, and even a hilltop near Shechem.  Throughout the sojourn they experienced God's protection and blessing, when they deserved it and when they did not.  For although Genesis shows God's promises being enhanced after acts of faith and obedience (e.g., 13:14-17; 22:16-18), these promises are not nullified by disobedience; instead, their fulfillment is delayed (e.g. ch. 16).  Ultimately, the promises rest on God's grace, not human obedience.  Human obedience, the text implies, hastens the fulfillment of these promises and increases human happiness, but God never deserts those to whom he has made the promises.

(Wenham, Gordon. "Family in the Pentateuch." Family in the Bible, edited by Hess and Carroll, pg 29)

God gives us needs to create opportunity to lavish His abundant supply upon us.

- a gem that was passed on in community group tonight

God's work in the Bible

“If one looks at the mission of God in the Bible, God wants the whole world to know him as the living God, to come into blessing of knowing him as Creator and Savior. So if the greatest possible blessing for humanity is to know the living God then the greatest possible obstacle for that is to be worshiping false gods."
- Dr. Chris Wright on this video which is really good

Four Generations: the other part

Sherrie, Bethany, Talitha, Louise, and Tabitha

How much do you want?

That Jacob knew to desire and determine to have the blessing of God, in spite of his conniving nature indicates there was some understanding of the "blessing of thy father" (Gen. 28:22).  How much we get may have something to do with how much we desire it; and yet, you look at yourself and have to ask, "Why me?"  God's sovereignty has to be involved as well.  And if He chooses to bless me abundantly above any attitude toward Him or action on my part, I can only be humbly grateful and seek to respond appropriately.

 (a lightly edited quotation from an email from my grandmother)

Four Generations

Matthew, Talitha, Jonathan and Darrell

On His Blindess by John Milton

This poem has come up several times recently due to the last line, but having re-read it, I think the poem is worth quoting and thinking about in full.

"When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest he returning chide,

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts: who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed

And post o'er land and ocean without rest:

They also serve who only stand and wait."

-- John Milton

Jonathan Edwards and "the Perfect"

 Interesting, just came across this while reading one of Edwards' sermons on Heaven... As he preaches from 1 Corinthians 13 on love, he gives the following statement on what "that which is perfect" means.  I have bolded the two components to his view:

There is a twofold imperfect, and so a twofold perfect state of the Christian church. The church in its beginning, or in its first stage, before it was strongly established in the world, and settled in its New Testament state, and before the canon of Scripture was completed, was in an imperfect state - a state, as it were, of childhood, in comparison with what it was to be in its elder and later ages, when it should have reached its state of manhood, or of comparative earthly perfection. And so, again, this comparatively perfect church of Christ, so long as it remains in its militant state, that is, down to the end of time, will still be in an imperfect, and, as it were, in a childish state, in comparison with what it will be in its heavenly state, in which latter it is comparatively in its state of manhood or perfection.

  In other words, Edwards considered both the completion of the canon AND the eternal state to be included in the the "Perfect."  An interesting stance given the raging dorm-room debate of my college days...

(He gives more detailed thoughts as the sermon continues.)

just remembering

Old-fashioned kissing

Carey: The Spread of the Gospel: the Ministers, their Method, their Money

Carey's seminal work, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, is my most recently finished reading.  It is not a long work, and much of it is not particularly relevant for today.  But, the forth section is excellent and enduringly relevant.  With that being said, below are some quotations from that final section of the work, which I believe are still deeply meaningful for today.  (Carey's topic was the need  to take the Gospel of Christ to those who did not have access to it; thus, if the reference in the quotations seem vague, that is what is being spoken of.)

The [ministers of the Gospel] must be men of great piety, prudence, courage, and forbearance; of undoubted orthodoxy in their sentiments, and must enter with all their hearts into the spirit of their mission; they must be willing to leave all the comforts of life behind them, and to encounter all the hardships of a torrid, or a frigid climate, an uncomfortable manner of living, and every other inconvenience that can attend this undertaking. ...
 

by all lawful means to endeavour to cultivate a friendship with them, and as soon as possible let them know the errand for which they were sent. They must endeavour to convince them that it was their good alone, which induced them to forsake their friends, and all the comforts of their native country. They must be very careful not to resent injuries which may be offered to them, nor to think highly of themselves, so as to despise the poor heathens, and by those means lay a foundation for their resentment, or rejection of the gospel. They must take every opportunity of doing them good, and labouring, and travelling, night and day, they must instruct, exhort, and rebuke, with all long suffering, and anxious desire for them, and, above all, must be instant in prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the people of their charge. Let but [Gospel ministers]  of the above description engage in the work, and we shall see that it is not impracticable. ...
 

In respect to contributions for defraying the expences [sic], money will doubtless be wanting; ...

We are exhorted to lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. It is also declared that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. These Scriptures teach us that the enjoyments of the life to come, bear a near relation to that which now is; a relation similar to that of the harvest, and the seed. It is true all the reward is of mere grace, but it is nevertheless encouraging; what a treasure, what an harvest must await such characters as PAUL, and ELLIOT, and BRAINERD, and others, who have given themselves wholly to the work of the Lord. What a heaven will it be to see the many myriads of poor heathens, of Britons amongst the rest, who by their labours have been brought to the knowledge of God. Surely a crown of rejoicing like this is worth aspiring to. Surely it is worth while to lay ourselves out with all our might, in promoting the cause, and kingdom of Christ.

Carey: The Spread of the Gospel and Prayer

One of the first, and most important of those duties which are incumbent upon us, is fervent and united prayer. However the influence of the Holy Spirit may be set at nought, and run down by many, it will be found upon trial, that all means which we can use, without it, will be ineffectual. ...

The most glorious works of grace that have ever took place, have been in answer to prayer; and it is in this way, we have the greatest reason to suppose, that the glorious out-pouring of the Spirit, which we expect at last, will be bestowed. ...
 

Many can do nothing but pray, and prayer is perhaps the only thing in which Christians of all denominations can cordially, and unreservedly unite; but in this we may all be one, and in this the strictest unanimity ought to prevail. ...
 

We must not be contented however with praying, without exerting ourselves in the use of means for the obtaining of those things we pray for.

-- from Carey's Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians

Rested Running (Isaiah 40:28-31)

   Yesterday morning, our prayer group read and talked through Isaiah 40; it was particularly impacting to see again who God is and who we are at the most basic level, and all of this shown to us in the most gracious and merciful ways: "Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." Below are the final verses of Isaiah 40 along with my poetic thoughts from those verses, written yesterday night in the middle of a late-night security shift. :) 

 

Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

 

        Rested Running  (Isa 40:28-31)

The Lord’s eternal; He’s Creator.

By His own power, He’s Sustainer.

He will not faint; He won’t grow weary.

Praise to our Lord!

We’re not infinite; we’re created.

In our own power, we’re constrained.

We’ll always faint, collapse, grow weary.

 Hope in the Lord!

We anticipate; He is coming.

In His great power, we are running.

We will not faint or e’en grow weary.

Rest in the Lord!

    A summary of these verses might be "The unwearied God is the only one who can keep you from being weary; weariness is a sign that you are running in your own strength.  Run, but do not be weary!"

the missionary God, his Son, and his Church

“The Lord of the Scriptures is a missionary God who not only reaches out and gathers the lost but also sends his servants, and particularly his beloved Son, to achieve his gracious saving purposes.  As many have rightly observed, the most important mission in the Scriptures is the missio Dei. Jesus Christ is the ‘missionary’ par excellence: the basic and foundational mission is his.  He has been sent by the Father to effect forgiveness and salvation, especially through his death and resurrection (cf. Luke 4:18-19; 24:47-47), and then to announce it to Jews and Gentiles alike.  In fulfillment of the Servant’s role his task is to bring (or, perhaps, be) God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.  

"The mission of the exalted Jesus is accomplished through the witness of the apostles in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The one who is himself sent by God sends his representatives to bear testimony to his salvation, to announce the forgiveness of sins and to make disciples of all nations.  In other words, his witnesses continue the mission of Jesus by declaring to men and women everywhere the glorious gospel of the grace of God.”

- Köstenberger, Andreas J. and Peter T. O'Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, pg. 269.

Imperialism and Diversity

I'm most of the way through Tim Chester's excellent book From Creation to New Creation, which is a book on the story of the Bible through the lens of Genesis 12 and the promises to Abraham.  This quote seemed interesting and worth sharing. All the nations are gathered in heaven in the last day and bring their rich cultures with them...

A characteristic of imperialism ever since Babel has been its move towards ethnic and linguistic homogeneity.  But the 'empire' of the Lamb is different.  It celebrates diversity. (153)

(Chester is best known perhaps for his book Total Church, but he has a number of excellent resources available.  Check the Westminster Bookstore as well as Amazon.)

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you!

  In the last couple days, I noticed that when I call Talitha to me and she starts crawling, she often gets distracted.  She needs me to keep calling her to me because the initial expression of my desire for her to be closer is not strong enough or important enough in her mind to keep her focused on coming to me.  She needs to see me also stretching my arms further and further and moving towards her.

  Are we not often just like that in our walk with God?  Do I not continually get distracted from my purpose of drawing nearer to our Daddy in Heaven?  Do I not forget that He already gave me the greatest possible incentive to draw near and the greatest expression of His love centuries ago?  And so, He continually reaches out to us and Himself comes a little nearer with His arms stretched even further toward us.

Steady certainty - What God and His Word always bring!

Turn to me and have mercy on me, 

   as you always do to those who love your name.  

Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
   and your servant loves them.  (Ps 119:132, 140- NIV)

  Two verses that stood out today as some friends and I were going through those two sections of Psalm 119.  1) God always turns to His children and is merciful to them, always!  2) Furthermore, his promises have been thoroughly tested and proven true, so we may put full faith in them and delight and love them.  The promises of God have been put through the wringer of human experience, particularly in the incarnation and suffering of His Son, and they have always come through.  Delight in the promises of God, for they are certain.

Extracts on Storytelling

I have been studying storytelling over the course of a couple months to try to learn to tell The Story better; this website has some good basic advice from which I have clipped some statements.

Oral storytelling involves much interaction between teller and hearer. I have observed that our audiences have lost some of the skills to follow a narrated story and see things in their minds. Storytelling has become more difficult. Attention spans are shorter and more demanding, more sophisticated, yet less able to independently imagine or visualize. People seem to need more visual stimulation.

Once you settle on a story, you will want to spend plenty of time with it. It will take a considerable period of time and a number of tellings before a new story becomes your own. 

Once you finish the story - stop! Don't ramble on. Leave their thoughts lingering over it. Don't feel you have to explain everything, or tie together all loose ends. Let them go away thinking about what has been said, and drawing their own meaning from it!

The more you practice- the more skilled you will become. Don't be afraid to try different methods. Be creative. As you do learn from your experiences. Expect to flop, the best of us do. Don't be overly self- conscious. Have fun and share the joy of story.

regarding sacrifice and ease

And it is no strange thing that happens to us, if God takes us at our word, and strips us for a while of all that made life beautiful.  It may be outward things-bodily comfort, leisure, culture, reputation, friendships--that have to drift away as our hands refuse to clasp on anything but God's will for us. Or it may be on our inner life that the stripping falls, and we have to leave the sunny lands of spiritual enjoyment for one after another of temptation's battlefields, where every inch of our foothold has to be tested, where even, it may seem to give way--till no experience, no resting-place remains to us in heaven or earth but God Himself--till we are "wrecked upon God."
-----
You are right to be glad in His April days while he gives them. Every stage of the heavenly growth in us is lovely to Him; He is the God of the daisies and the lambs and the merry child hearts! It may be that no such path of loss lies before you; there are people like the lands where spring and summer weave the year between them, and the autumn processes are hardly noticed as they come and go.
-----
Yes, there is another stage to be developed in us after the lesson of absolute unquestioning surrender to God has been learnt. A life that has been poured forth to Him must find its crown, its completion, in being poured forth for man: it must grow out of surrender into sacrifice.
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"Love is the fulfilling of the law," and sacrifice is the very life-breath of love.

--- Parables of the Cross by I. Lilias Trotter

regarding sanctification, the 'putting off' and 'putting on'

In Parables of the Cross, I. Lilias Trotter shows herself to believe in Keswick sanctification at its very best, and the first quotation below is what the best of the early Keswickians believed as best as I can tell... though it is certain that they don't always sound like they believe that "It is both."  It is probably the best practical summary of Keswickian sanctification that I have seen.

But is it an act, or a gradual process, this "putting off the old man?" It is both. It is a resolve taken once for all, but carried out in detail day by day. The first hour that the sap begins to withdraw, and the leaf-stalk begins to silt up, the leaf's fate is sealed: there is never a moment's reversal of the decision.
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Once allow the manifestation of His grace in these poor hearts of ours to be a miracle, and there is no need to defer it vaguely. How many of the wonders wrought by Christ on earth lay in concentrating the long processes of nature into a sudden act of power. The sick would, many of them, have been healed by degrees in the ordinary course of things; the lapse of years would have brought about the withering of the fig-tree; the storm would have spent itself in few hours. The miracle in each case consisted in the slow process being quickened by the Divine breath, and condensed into a moment.

regarding salvation and spiritual reproduction

   I just finished listening to Parables of the Cross by I. Lilias Trotter (on my Kindle!), and there are several quotes that stand out as worthy of sharing.  So, I am planning several different posts from that source.

 It is when we come to self-despair, when we feel ourselves locked in, waiting our doom, that the glory and the beauty of God's way of escape dawns upon us, and we submit ourselves to Him in it. All resistance breaks down as faith closes on the fact: "He loved me and gave Himself for me." 

A flower that stops short at its flowering misses its purpose. We were created for more than our own spiritual development; reproduction, not mere development, is the goal of matured being--reproduction in other lives.

Culture, Fundamentalism, and Evangelicalism

  These thoughts were spawned in part by the quote below which I came across on Andy Naselli's blog:

I think it fair to say that the main difference between Fundamentalism and what we would now call historic Evangelicalism is as much cultural as anything else and is particularly an American phenomenon.(Christopher Catherwood, Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious (2nd ed.; Wheaton: Crossway, 2007), 196)

  Good, bad or indifferent, I would agree with the point of this quote.  The major difference between the two movements, from my perspective, appears to be what do you do with culture... this is part of the point of some of Kevin Bauder's recent writings.  Bauder appears to be championing a view in which we see most culture as largely, though not completely, negative (except for older, European-based, Christianized culture.)   Meanwhile, evangelicals generally seem to see culture as redeemable and valuable, particularly if we are willing to be incarnational in our approach and seek out the positive aspects of the culture.

 In my understanding, the way issues of culture are typically approached from the fundamentalist perspective is that what enters a person's ears, touches his body, enters his mouth, or passes before his eyes is inherently defiling (unless it happens to be on the particular institution's/individual's approved list).  I am not trying to be sarcastic here.  On the evangelical side, the perspective seems to be more along the lines that none of these things can defile us... unless we get too carried away with them, then maybe.  Praise God that the actual practice of local bodies of believers is more balanced than such stereotypes!

 So, the call is to return to the Scriptures.  On the one hand, we must recognize that it is not what goes into our mouth/ears/eyes/hands that defiles us: Jesus touches the leper while under the Law and cleanses him without defilement.  On the other hand, we must realize that the pollution of the world easily clings to our souls unless we are watchful in purifying ourselves.  To put this in the context of one of the NT discussions, is meat that has been offered to idols inherently defiling or only potentially defiling?  If we say the former, we slide away from our liberty in Christ, but to say the latter cannot be an excuse to forget that there is potential defilement.  May God give each of us grace in our community of believers to walk circumspectly in both holiness and freedom!

a lot of little brothers

God is changing us to be like Jesus, so that Jesus can have lots of little brothers.  If that is the goal and we are becoming like Jesus, we must pursue those who are not yet sons or brothers and seek to multiply the family even more!

For those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

a Prayer for Embarking on a Shepherd's Journey

My Master's joy, Lord, may I share

and weight of glory know fore'er?

Your counsel full may I declare

and walk each day in works prepared?

May my report with joy be fair

with little grief concerning tares?

In heav'n, or earth, Your Name I bear

to magnify Your glories there.

Amen.

MCC, 2/23/2011

Disciple-making versus a typical model of Discipleship

Disciple-making is spiritual pregnancy and trainer-hood.  "Making disciples" is not simply helping people with spiritual growth; it is teaching people to be Jesus-followers, that is, bringing them to vigorous, new spiritual life.  Making disciples is the intentional process of moving people more deeply into relationship with Jesus Christ through the gospel.  This will involve showing them (by teaching and example) where they are unlike Jesus and how to become like Him, both before and after they have repented and believed in Jesus.  Thus, we are constantly to call everyone around us to be devoted followers of Jesus regardless of their current posture toward the Gospel.

Look at Matthew 28:18-20 - "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make [devoted followers] 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.”"

Here we see that what Jesus gives as the central command, "making disciples of all nations" will involve going under His authority, baptizing those who become His followers, and teaching them to come into complete submission to all that Jesus commanded.  So, true disciple-making will extend from before salvation to the point of full obedience to Christ.

(These thoughts were spawned by our time at Soma School and honed during conversation with friends.

Christ-centered Christianity - a guest post

As simply as I can state it, my question is: Is Gospel-centered Christianity a subtle deviation from Christ-centered Christianity, making Christ preeminent in everything?

Now, I know that it is impossible and probably undesirable to seek to draw a clear distinction between Christ and His cross-work, but there is a difference. One is who He is—Himself—and the other is what He does/has done—His ways/work. Obviously, His work flows from who He is and is a perfect expression of Who He is. The major point of the work, then, is to reveal Him to us. That means we have to accept and embrace what He has done for us, and due to the nature of salvation and how the cross changes everything, we are rightly overwhelmed and fascinated by the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is the story of Jesus, the Good News of His redemption and His provision for reconciliation between holy Creator God and rebellious, damned created humans. As the song says, “This is the best news that we could ever hear. More than amazing, it drives out every fear. By trusting in Jesus Christ, in His saving sacrifice, we can be made new.” If we are focused supremely on His work, however, we may never actually follow through to the end that His work intended us to reach: knowing Him, seeing Him, being fascinated with Him, gazing on His face, fellowshiping with Him personally, understanding and glorying in Him. Due to the nature and message of the Gospel, this should never ever happen. But it does.


What does that look like? Well, look around. In a growing, healthy church these days, a growing number people have grasped/are beginning to grasp the earth-shaking significance of the Gospel for everyday life. You hear them. They talk about it. They discuss it theologically and even spin out some of its implications. In fact, they talk about it a lot—especially in specific settings like church… or Bible study… or even with a fellow-believer on occasion. “Spreading the Gospel.” “Preaching the Gospel to myself.” “Living out the Gospel.” Nice phrases (not being sarcastic here!) that we hear a good bit these days, and I am glad of that. I use those phrases, or very similar ones, myself. But then check out the rest of the conversation and look at some of the life choices—not even the “sinful” ones necessarily. Look at the way leisure time is spent, the entertainment choices, the financial commitments, the casual/careless speech, and the personal preferences and delights. Is there a disconnect? (I realize no one is perfect and/or completely consistent.) Usually, the answer is “Yes.” Do they mean to be inconsistent? Usually the answer is “No.” After all, these are people that are striving to be Gospel-centered. When they say they love the Gospel and are committed to living it out, they truly mean it. So why don’t their lives look like little suburbs of Heaven? (Again, not envisioning perfection, but seeking something that matches Scripture’s portrait of how God’s people should live.) There is a disconnect. Due to the nature and message of the Gospel, this should never ever happen. But it does. 

Why? “Gospel” is inherently a “thing” word. The Gospel is a story, a set of facts—a story about a Person, a set of facts about a Person—but not the Person. Gospel and Christ/God are inextricably linked, but they are not interchangeable. (It is the "power of God"...) “God is the Gospel” is not the same as “the Gospel is God.” The Gospel is not the Person, and Christianity is about a Person, not about a story about a Person. (I really hope this does not sound like I am engaging in purposeless, endless semantics.) If the Gospel does not lead you to the Person, you have missed the whole point of the Gospel. When I say “lead you to the Person,” I do not mean that in your examining the Gospel, you occasionally (or even frequently) express your gratitude to God for all that He has done for you through the Gospel. I do not mean that you do not acknowledge the mercy, grace, and love of God so brilliantly displayed at the cross, or that you completely ignore the blazing power of the resurrection. But, you can process all those as part of the “story” without ever allowing them to impact your functional view of God. You can gaze at the Gospel and never quite get around to gazing at Christ and being transformed by the Spirit into the image of Christ. Due to the nature and message of the Gospel, this should never ever happen. But it does.


How does this happen? I suggest that Gospel-centered Christianity is a subtle misuse of the Gospel. Let me illustrate with two word pictures:

1.  The Gospel is a bridge. It is the bridge that Christ built to provide access to Himself and to His Father. You cannot get to God without the Gospel. (Right now, I am not speaking of the salvific sense either. I am speaking of the Gospel as it relates to the believer’s life.) Perhaps it would be slightly more accurate to say that, even as a believer, you will not get to God without the Gospel. You will not get to God without the Gospel because you will be so overwhelmed by your sin, by your slowness to grow, by your lacking performance, by your fears, etc., that guilt and discouragement will cripple you, and you will be, for all intents and purposes, estranged from God. You will lapse back into being afraid of Him, trying to hide from Him, striving to manipulate Him, attempting to appease Him and weasel your way into His favor somehow. Unless you go to the Gospel, you will not get back to God. The Gospel reminds you of what Christ did for you and how what He did gives you perpetual and immediate access to God without fear. It reminds you that your performance has never been the grounds of God’s acceptance of you. It bids you run to God now, just as you did when you first turned from your sin to worship and serve the true and living God. And so you run across the Gospel bridge and throw yourself in the arms of God and stay there, talking with Him, learning from Him, looking at His face, worshiping Him, obeying Him….until you either intentionally or carelessly wander off and find yourself isolated by your sin, having chosen to allow sin to be your master again, though Christ broke sin’s tyranny over you. You long for fellowship with God again, and the Spirit reminds you of the Gospel. In His strength, you run across the Gospel bridge (we might call this preaching the Gospel to ourselves) and back into our dwelling place in God through Christ. The Gospel is the bridge. It is indispensable. It is glorious. It is beautiful. It is an incomprehensible display of the wisdom of God, the love of God, the wrath of God, the righteousness of God, the mercy of God, and much much more. But do not build your house on the bridge. The bridge manifests the character of God in order to point you to God Himself. If you settle down on the bridge instead of actually crossing all the way over and finding your home in God, I think you are misusing the bridge. The Gospel is not the center of the Kingdom; the One sitting on the throne is the center of the Kingdom, the center of life and Life.


2. The Gospel is a beautiful glass window in an otherwise wretched dungeon, a dark, filthy, stench-filled torture-chamber (again, not in the salvific sense, but in the believer’s experience). You can be fascinated by the glass window itself—its beauty, clarity, light-giving properties and so on, or you can look through it and see the sun and the trees and throw it open and climb out of your prison cell back into freedom.


Analogy: From cover to cover, the Bible tells us of God’s relationship with people, and, barring the first two chapters of Genesis and last two chapters of Revelation, His relationship with a sinful, rebellious people in need of redemption. The only reason there is a need for redemption is because God loved sinful man. No sin = no redemption story. So, in a sense, the Bible is about us and our being redeemed. But we know that in a much greater sense, the Bible is about God. It is about Who He is and what He is doing and how everything from eternity past through eternity future is working together to bring Him glory, the glory due to His Name. We can read the Bible as a revelation about us and find some really large, really relevant truth in that. Or we can read the Bible as a revelation of God and practically explode our minds by the little glimpses that we see into the Infinite One and eternity. So we can read the Bible from two different perspectives—both acceptable, though not equally weighty—and get two different results from our reading—both profitable, though not equally magnificent.


The Gospel is kind of like that. You can view the Gospel as the truth about Jesus and His work on your behalf that saves you and enables you to live by grace instead of trying to keep the law and living under guilt and fear, and you can truly and legitimately derive profit and joy from seeing the Gospel like that. You can also view the Gospel as the truth about Jesus, the Savior who saves you  and gives access to God both now and forever, and you can go on to take full advantage of that access to God by living in His presence day and night and knowing Him and admiring Him and growing in your understanding of Him and being transformed by His Spirit into His likeness.


I think that our common application of “Gospel-centered Christianity” leaves us sitting on the bridge, admiring the magnificent window, and content to escape living a guilt-laden life because we have tapped into grace. Due to the nature and message of the Gospel, this should never ever happen. But it does. That is why I think we are missing something… something really essential. Hence the question: Is Gospel-centered Christianity a subtle deviation from Christ-centered Christianity: making Christ preeminent in everything, being His disciple, knowing Him and making Him known?

**This is a guest post by Miriam K. Champlin, slightly edited with her permission.

May the depth of His mercy engulf the depth of my sin!

The quote below is from John Calvin as he discusses the complete impossibility of confessing all our sins to God.  Instead of trying, we must throw ourselves upon the mercy of God!  But still, notice the last highlighted sentence and beyond, he does not say that believers must not admit and repent of our sin which we are aware of, simply that we must not consider that to be essential to our forgiveness, which would be to dishonor the sufficiency of Christ's work and steal peace from our consciences, as Calvin speaks of in 3.4.27.

"For, while they are wholly occupied with the enumeration of their sins, they lose sight of that lurking hydra, their secret iniquities and internal defilements, the knowledge of which would have made them sensible to their misery.  But the surest rule of confession is, to acknowledge and confess our sins to be an abyss so great as to exceed our comprehension. On this rule we see the confession of the publican was formed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13); as if he had said, How great, how very great a sinner, how utterly sinful I am! the extent of my sins I can neither conceive nor express.  Let the depth of thy mercy engulf the depth of sin! What! you will say, are we not to confess every single sin? Is no confession acceptable to God but that which is contained in the words, "I am a sinner"?  No, our endeavor must rather be, as much as in us lies, to pour out our whole heart before the Lord. Nor are we only in one word to confess ourselves sinners, but truly and sincerely acknowledge ourselves as such; to feel with our whole soul how great and various the pollutions of our sins are; confessing not only that we are impure, but what the nature of our impurity is, its magnitude and its extent; not only that we are debtors, but what the debts are which burden us, and how they were incurred; not only that we are wounded, but how numerous and deadly are the wounds. When thus recognizing himself, the sinner shall have poured out his whole heart before God, let him seriously and sincerely reflect that a greater number of sins still remains, and that their recesses are too deep for him thoroughly to penetrate. Accordingly, let him exclaim with David, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults," (Ps. 19: 12.)" (Calvin's Institutes, 3.4.18, page 418; emphasis mine)

If you want to read more, you can find section 18 part way down this page. 

a recent description of me by Bethany...

 "And frankly you are an odd pool of random and intellectual knowledge so I never know what you do know."

there you have it...

What does your heart say to/about these people?

Humor: just a sense of proportion

   I was doing some reading about storytelling, because I want to learn to tell The Story better.  The Art of Storytelling by Marie Shedlock comments on "... a sense of humor, which is really a sense of proportion..."  That brought to mind  Psalm 2 where the One who sits in the heavens laughs at those who are plotting His overthrow.  The very idea of the Lord who made the heavens and the earth being destroyed by puny men who sit upon one of His planets is ludicrous... a sense of proportion would make the audacity of these kings and peoples appear as sheer lunacy.  

Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

(ESV)

4 questions

A thorough way to do theology and counseling is to walk through these four questions in the current order:

1.  Who is God? 
2.  What has He done? <--Relational identity -->
3.  Who are we? (Who has God made the Church to be?)  <--Functional identity -->
4.  What do we do? (What has God saved and created the Church to do?)

This is the exact opposite of what we normally do - normally we find our identity based on what we do, assume God interacts with us based on who we are and what we do, and therefore see God's identity based on what he does, who we are, and what we do.  That's crazy!  Real theology and counseling should go about it the other way. (Not rocket science, obviously this shouldn't be surprising.)

(also from Soma School training)

more from Soma

reflection of thoughts, not exact quotes, both are classic!

The enemy is the accuser of the brothers; the Spirit is the affirmer of the brothers.  The Spirit will always affirm God's love for you.  He is our comforter and counselor.

The Church is your privilege; it is your family; it is your community.  Too many pastors think their house is their refuge instead of Jesus being their refuge and their house being a place of ministry. This really only works where there is shared leadership so that there is space for the weight of ministry to be shared.

(Also from Vanderstelt's talk)

The Gospel in power and in purpose

My favorite quotes from today's training time at Soma School; they are by Jeff Vanderstelt, as nearly as I could write them down.  Jeff is one of my absolute favorite people to listen to talk about the Gospel, and today was no exception, though these quotes are about how we take that Gospel to the world around us.  Context would reveal more of the details, but unfortunately I can't give that at the moment.

"God will never call you to something you can't do without God's power, but what you've been told is that God will never call you to something you can't do!  Are you kidding me?!?!"

"If you are going to call people to mission..., they are going to have to be confident in the future."

"If the Gospel doesn't include the Spirit, it isn't the Gospel. ... The cross is wasted without the Spirit of God!"