Sweeter Than Life

The Pledge of Allegiance and Me

2010-09-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Last year I decided something that may not be a huge deal to some, but people do ask me about it from time to time. That decision is as follows: I no longer say the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, I have not converted to being a Jehovah's Witness, who are not allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance, but I do have my reasons.

My first reason is this: Everything that the flag stands for (which is good and right and just) is also found in Scripture, the living word of God. I adhere to those things, not because I am an American, but because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Ruler over my life.

My second reason is this: Everything that the flag stand for (which is not good and unrighteous and unjust) I would not pledge my allegiance to anyway, as it goes against the sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life.

Now, before people begin commenting I would like to point out one thing: I realize that, to some extent, we were founded upon Judeo/Christian beliefs. I would argue, as a side note, that some of that was simply pragmatic, not because the men were zealous and ardent believers in Christ Jesus. I have heard that John Adams was becoming a Unitarian (whether this is true or not, I do not know). Connected to this is another side note: Even if we were founded by an Apostle, we are not now a Christian nation.

Before the question arises of do I believe it wrong for others to say the Pledge, the answer is "no". Do as conscience--informed by Scripture-- dictates, nothing more and nothing less. As one last thing, I would add that any comments about me not being "patriotic" or "hating America" will be deleted, unless they can be intellectually backed up with some sense.

Thank you.

MacArthur to Congregations

2010-09-08T07:02:00.001-07:00

Found this years ago and thought it was great. It is a long one, but also worth it in many ways.

“Here are some suggestions…for a preacher. Fling him into his office, tear the office sign from the door, and nail up a sign, "Study." Take him off the mailing list. Lock him up with his books and his Bible. Slam him down on his knees before texts and broken hearts and the lives of a superficial flock and a holy God. Force him to be the one man in the community who knows about God. Throw him into the ring to box with God until he learns how short his arms are. Engage him to wrestle with God all night long, and let him come out only when he’s bruised and beaten into being a blessing. Shut his mouth forever spouting remarks. Stop his tongue forever tripping lightly over every nonessential. Require him to have something to say before he dares break the silence, and bend his knees in the lonesome valley of suffering. Burn his eyes with weary study. Wreck his emotional poise with worry over his life before God. Make him exchange his pious stance for a humble walk with God and man. Make him spend and be spent for the glory of God. Rip out his telephone. Amen. Burn up his ecclesiastical success sheets. Put water in this gas tank. Give him a Bible, and tie him to the pulpit, and make him preach the Word of the Living God. Test him. Quiz him. Examine him. Humiliate him for his ignorance of things divine. Shame him for his good comprehension of finances, game scores, and politics. Laugh at his frustrated effort to play psychiatrist.

Form a choir and raise a chant and haunt him with it night and day. Sir, we would see Jesus. And when, at last, he does enter the pulpit, ask him if he has a Word from God. If he doesn’t, then dismiss him. Tell him you can read the morning paper. You can digest the television commentaries. You can think through the day’s superficial problems. You can manage the community’s weary fund drives. You can bless assorted baked potatoes and green beans ad infinitum better than he can. Command him not to come back until he’s read and reread, written and rewritten, until he can stand up worn and forlorn and say, "Thus says the Lord." Break him across the board of his ill-gotten popularity. Smack him hard with his own prestige. Corner him with questions about God. Cover him with demands for celestial wisdom, and give him no escape until he’s back against the wall of the Word. Sit down before him and listen to the only word he has left, God’s Word. Let him be totally ignorant of the down-street gossip, but give him a chapter, and order him to walk around it, camp on it, sup with it, and come at last to speak it backward and forward until all he says rings with the truth of eternity.

And when he’s burned out by the flaming Word, when he’s consumed at last by the fiery grace blazing through him, when he’s privileged to translate that truth of God to man, and finally transferred from earth to Heaven, then bear him away gently, and blow a muted trumpet, and lay him down softly, and place a two-edged sword on his coffin, and raise the tomb triumphant, for he was a brave soldier of the Word. And ere he died, he had become a man of God.”

- John MacArthur

Luke 9:23: The Disciple's Privilege

2010-08-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

And He said to all, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

There is no true disciple of Christ who has not come across two things: 1. Their Lord asking of them to relinquish something from their lives, and 2. The obedience to the Lord to relinquish that thing. The Rich Young Ruler is marked by one thing, that he went away sad, distraught even, because in looking at Christ and looking at his material possessions he could not part with the latter. How strange it was, to me, that he went away sad. It would seem to make more sense that he want away angry, saying to himself, "How dare this man DEMAND that I leave behind my riches just to follow Him?!" But that is not what it says. The man went away sad because he had great riches and had no desire to part with them. Yet, he knew, on some level, that he needed what Christ had to offer, so he made a decision, and form this decision he kept his possessions.

How would his thinking have changed if, when confronted, he saw the giving away of his things to follow Christ as a privilege and not a burden, as a delight and not a harsh demand? Do you see it that way? More importantly to myself, do I see it that way? Is it a delight to part with the things of a perishing World in order to greater enjoy that World that cannot perish? Must it be stripped from my hands by divine prying or can I empty my hands willingly, allowing the Lord to fill them as He sees fit? Sacrifice is a funny word, but it is Biblical, so we are right to use it, but how strange it seems to use it at times. Would I view it as a sacrifice if, for every hour I spent working, I would make 100,000 dollars? Would I think to myself, "I could be watching TV right now?" The issue of sacrifice would never enter into my mind! It would be a privilege to work for such a short time, to give up such a small amount, in order to gain so much.

Audioslave and an Accurate Vision of GOD

2010-05-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

"I am not your rolling wheels
I am the highway
I am not your carpet ride
I am the sky
I am not your blowing wind
I am the sky here
I am not your autumn moon
I am the night
The night"

--From the Song, "I am the Highway"

The above chorus is from the band Audioslave, which plays often on my iTunes, but that is a different story altogether. Whether or not there are Christians in this band, I do not know, but this line struck me in an interesting way this morning as I prepared for my first class in the morning.

Why did it strike me? Well, the chorus implies that the person who is being sung to his an inaccurate version of the singer. He/She makes the singer out to be less than what he actually is. Let's run down the list: 1. I am not your rolling wheels, I am the highway, 2. I am not your carpet ride, I am the sky, 3. I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning, 4. I am not your autumn moon, I am the night.

The person in the song thinking these things sees the singer as less than what he actually is, though still impressive. Wheels are a necessity; carpet rides are amazing; wind is a great force of nature; the moon is a large heavenly body. However, their view is not big enough.

How often do we treat GOD in the same manner? We think big thoughts about GOD, but if they do not take into account all Scripture, these thoughts are not big enough. GOD is not merely a GOD of Love. GOD is not merely Merciful or Gracious in His dealings with us. No, His name is Jealous and His Wrath makes the very mountains tremble and one day will make those same mountains disappear altogether. We have a huge GOD who is not more only governed by Love than He is only governed by Wisdom, Wrath or Omnipotence.

A Message to Jay-Z from Percy Bysshe Shelley

2010-05-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Says Jay-Z

Fear not when, fear not why, fear not much while we’re alive
Life is for living, not living uptight, see ya somewhere up in the sky
Fear not die, I’ll be alive for a million years
Bye-byes are for legends, I’m forever young, my name shall survive.

Says Percy Bysshe Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The name of the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley is called "Ozymandias" and it is the first thing when I thought of when I heard Jay-Z's song "Forever Young". The poem talks about how, in the desert, there stands to legs of a long gone statue. The statue is of the once great Ozymandias, a ruler, who perceived himself as King of kings. Yet, what remains of his statue is nothing but two legs, and, ironically enough, the prideful message stamped upon them.

No, Jay-Z, you will not go on forever. None of us will, for we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of GOD.

Demas: 2 Timothy 4:9-10

2010-04-07T05:03:00.001-07:00

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

Paul, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, was part of the foundation of the Church, along with the other Apostles and the Prophets of the Old Testament. The Lord, for whatever reason, chose this ex-blasphemer and killer of Christians to become a man would be killed AS a Christian soon after the last words of this letter were penned. In the closing parts of correspondence to Timothy, Paul explains why he desires for his young disciple to make his way to him quickly. Other workers in the Lord had ministry that they needed to tend to: Crescens had to go to Galatia; Titus had to make his way to Dalmatia; Tychicus was sent to Ephesus. Only the physician Luke remained with Paul in those moments leading up to his death.

Then there was Demas.

Demas, in love with the present world, was forced to leave Paul's side and go to Thessalonica. Forced? Why do I say "forced"? I say forced because his love made him make a choice. He would either give himself fully unto this present age or he would give himself fully to the age to come. And in the end we all must make that decision. How we would love to see ourselves as Luke in this passage, sticking by the Apostle when you could virtually smell death it was so close. Yet, we must realize that we stand everyday as men and women who could so easily desert the truth for the pleasures of this present age.

Demas, as far as I know, is the same man who is "pictured" with Luke in Colossians 4:14 as greeting the recipients of Paul's letter. What does this mean? It means that those who would leave the faith, forsake Christ and love the World are even now in our midst as believers...and you may be a Demas yourself. Paul, in Colossians, was writing from prison, which means that Demas was probably there with him, possibly patting himself on the back for sticking with the Apostle, even when the going go tough. Yet, in the end, his love for the World came to the surface and forced him to leave the truths that Paul went to prison for so many times. So, our last recording of Demas is that he deserted the truth. Will we see him in glory? Possibly. Upon hearing about the death of Paul it could have driven him to his knees in repentance for his desertion, but we do not know. And that is a point in itself.

Forsaking the truth that you have professed to love does not necessitate that you will come back to the truth later, having repented for your desertion. You may die in that state, showing that you have never loved the truth in the first place, but instead have loved this present age. In the end the only thing to do is what Moses warns the Israelites in Deuteronomy to do: Beware, take care and be diligent. Rest upon the grace of God for the finality of your salvation, but never assume that where others have fallen you will not.

A Call for Diligence: Deut. 4:9

2010-04-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children--

Is there a greater call on the Church in Western Society today as this one? Do you hear Moses' voice calling out throughout the centuries telling you to keep your soul? This is a DILIGENT work. This is not a work to be done between commercial breaks of your favorite TV show. This is a not a work to be done in the last few moments of the day, when you have spent your energy involved in the business of other things. This is a call to diligence, a call to hard work, a call to CONTINUED hard work in the life of the believer.

Why is it so important? In context of this passage, Moses is speaking to the children of the faithless generation that God rescued from Egypt. All but Joshua and Caleb were slowly, but surely, cut down, never entering the Promised Land that God said was their land. Moses saw it happen before his eyes. A generation faithless before God, forced to wander the desert until all of them died. Even Moses himself, because of a moment of weakness before them, was forced to remain in the desert of Sinai, the Lord Himself burying Moses in the Wilderness. And so Moses, this great Liberator and Prophet, now speaks to a new generation of Israelites, warning them to be diligent about keeping their soul. He saw first hand what happens when the people lapse in doing so.

What may happen if we do not? Simply put, we will forget and truth will depart from our midst. If I had a quarter for every time a Christian said, "If God would just show me..." or a quarter for every non-Christian who said, "Well, if God did miracles now like He supposedly did then..." I would be a rich man. But let us look at the Biblical account. The men and women who started the Exodus from Egypt saw their enemies bowed by Ten Plagues. The Red Sea split before them, yet closed upon those who pursued them. They were led by a Pillar of Fire by night and a cloud by day. They saw the glory of the LORD descend physically upon the Tabernacle. They ate miracle bread for 40 years of traveling and heard the voice of God Himself. Yet, as Paul said, with most of them God was displeased. Why was God displeased? They did not guard their souls diligently from evil, from grumbling, from idolatry. And, though they saw the work of God DAILY performed in their midst, before their eyes, they were cut down because the truth of these things departed from their hearts.

Fellow believer, keep your soul diligently! Many who seemed to be greater in faith and works than you have fallen by the wayside and, like Demas, deserted the things of God because they were in love with this present world. How that generation that was cut down loved to talk about the ease, comfort and joys of Egypt, forgetting that they were slaves to a cruel master! Keep your soul diligently or you will forget what your eyes have seen and the truths of Scripture will depart from you, because they were never etched upon your heart, only upon your brain. There is so much to be lost if you are not diligent. Those who are shown to not be diligent will never find themselves in the Land of Promise that is to come.

On Health Care

2010-03-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

Well, concerning the Bill that passed the House last night, I am a bit torn and here is why: If we liken this to other struggles throughout American History, one must wonder if our Legislature has done the right thing or not. Why do I say this? One of my reading classes is going through a small book called The Right to Vote and in that book there is a quote by Lyndon B. Johnson where he says,

"There is no issue of states' rights or national rights. There is only the struggle for human rights."

Now, that quote was about voting for African-Americans and I must assume, until I do more research on it, that numerous law makers were told by the people who sent them to Washington that they did not want them to vote for the Voting Rights Act, but it passed anyway. That means that the law makers, essential, went against the will of the people. We can even say this going back to slavery, can we not? Slavery of Blacks was a decision that was taken out of the hands of the States and their state sovereignty and deemed wrong by the National government.

It seems that we now have Health Care on the table and the question has been one of does the Federal Government have the right and power to do such a thing as overhauling the Health Care system. My question is this: Did they have the right to overhaul voting or end slavery, taking away the sovereignty of states? Don't get me wrong, I am glad they did, of course (how could I not be?!). For some people (me included) is the issue of how much money is being spent on the endeavor of Health Care and how responsible our government is with the money they ALREADY HAVE. But are we dealing with a basic issue of human rights or is this fundamentally different? I would love to "hear" peoples' responses and any response that does not follow the Biblical format of respect and love will be deleted quickly.

Your thoughts?

My Awesome Wife

2010-03-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

I was sitting at school today thinking about every thing that we need to get done before we head out of town for Spring Break (down to Poplar Bluff to see Katie's parents). Such things on my mind were getting the oil changed, then I remembered a conversation with my wife this morning. I said I needed to get the oil changed, and so she responded that she would come up to my work on Thursday, switch the kids into my car from her car, get the oil changed and then come back up, put the kids in her car again and then head back home. THAT IS A LOT OF WORK. I could do it when I get home from work, but if we get the oil changed between the hours of 7a-10a we save a good deal of money.

The above started me thinking about how much of a help my wife truly is in so many ways that I fail to realize day in and day out...so, here we go:

1. My children are not acting crazy when I come home from work.
2. Our apartment is not a heap of mess when I come home from work.
3. IF my daughter is crying when I come home it is because my wife has showcased godly discipline and corrected poor behavior in my daughter.
4. Dinner is normally in the process of being cooked when I come, if it is not already done when I walk through the door.
5. If I ask her to, she would get up with me in the morning and fix my lunch for me (but I do not ask her to 'cause the woman NEEDS HER SLEEP!).
My wife is incredible industrious and loves to find ways of cutting money from our monthly expenses.
6. The dishes are done throughout the day, so when I get home all I have to do is the dishes after dinner (which is not a lot at all).
7. Since we have our own place now, we have people over just about every weekend, and she is one of the most hospitable human beings I know.
8. (And this one should be at the top of the list) It is not unusual to find my wife reading her Bible and taking notes on what she is learning (women, if you are reading this, such behavior blesses a man's heart like you would not believe).
9. During the day, while I am at work, my wife is hard at work with my daughter teaching her such things as colors, her numbers in Spanish, the days of the week, how to spell her name and her brother's name, etc...
10. She listens to me rant about things, without rolling her eyes or sighing heavily (women, if you are married to a man with strong opinions this is another blessing).
11. She indulges my dreams and aspirations about things I would like to do one day and then helps me practically to see how we could achieve them as a team.
12. She cares so deeply for our children that, when they do spend the night elsewhere, she misses them in a matter of 30 mins. to an hour. (I miss them by about the time they return...is that wrong?)

While I am not running out of things to say, I am on my break time at work and need to get things done around the classroom. It is my prayer, has been my prayer and will continue to be my prayer that I will love and cherishes my wife while praising God through her and for her. LOVE YA BABE!

New Creation, pt 2: Meditation on 2 Cor. 5:17

2010-02-26T10:41:00.001-08:00

What does it look like to be a new creature, or new creation in Christ Jesus? I think we can "see" this in seven different ways:

1. New hopes
2. New desires
3. New hates
4. New loves
5. New aspirations for life
6. New audience to please
7. New fears

Now, some of these will look like merely splitting hairs, and it may be just that. But as I meditated on this verse I saw these seven. Giving them more written thought (which is always better for me) may conclude that it is too much splitting hairs or that there needs to be more. Happy to have you along for the ride.

New Hopes:
Most people we know have a messed up (at least, unScriptural) definition of the word "hope". Our modern definition goes something like this, "Man, I hope it does not rain today!" Our hope is built on lack of evidence. Normally, when the above quote is said, or something like it, we are looking into a dark sky, clouding over, wind blowing and maybe even a little thunder. Chances are it is going to rain, no matter how hard you hope. Our word hope really should be the word wish.

Biblically speaking, however, hope is about knowing something for sure. Take the same situation above: The sky is dark, clouding over more and more, and you hear thunder in the distance. Only now, toss in there that God has promised that it will not rain. It seems like we still have a lack of evidence, but it is just the opposite. Let every weather man in Missouri and across the nation say it is going to rain, but it will stay dry, at least until that day is over, for God Himself has promised it.

What does this mean for being a new creation in Christ Jesus? While God may have not promised that it will not rain, He has promised that Christ Jesus will return, that sin will be put away and that His Kingdom is indeed going to come, amongst other such promises. What then does this mean for us as new creations? We camp out on these promises and make them our hope. Whatever else in life may take place, rise up or fall away, we know that God's promises will stand.

This is the reality that Abraham saw when Paul talks about him in Romans 4. God promised him that he was going to be the father of many nations. Abraham looked at his withered body of one hundred years, his wife's withered body of 90 years and the fact that she was not able to have children even when she was young and said, "Alright! I'm gonna be a daddy!" (Pearson Version). Hope does not backdown from circumstances, but latches on to the promise and rides through the storm.

Issues with...

2010-02-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

Church Advertises for Mystery Visitors on CraigsList

Info“Need people who aren't Christians to review church service,” the ad read online. “Who: Age 20-35. Do not currently believe Jesus Christ is God. Not mad at Christians. What: Attend a church service (anonymously) and complete a survey. Earn $50.” It’s the inspiration of Jim Henderson, a Seattle evangelical Christian, former pastor and author of Jim & Casper Go to Church, who says it’s past time Christians found out “what our true customers really think...We say it’s our mission to reach out, including to nonbelievers,” Henderson, 62, says. “So why would we not want them to tell us what they think of our efforts to influence, change or even convert them?” Henderson even created a Web site allowing visitors to rate churches in their areas. Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times said of Henderson’s plan, “What’s fascinating about all this is the way the Web and consumer culture are altering even the most traditional, cloistered institutions. Everything now gets polled, ranked, exposed, debated. I suppose Henderson is right—you either go with it or get passed by.”

Okay, I am going to come back to looking at the ways in which we are new creations in Christ, but this is something I wanted to look at first while it was fresh in my mind. This comes from a group of emails called "Church Leaders Intelligence Report", and the above is one of the snippets. The bold section (which I may bold, not the email itself) is what concerned me the most. Just so you can see it by itself, it reads as follows:

Jim Henderson, a Seattle evangelical Christian, former pastor and author of Jim & Casper Go to Church, who says it’s past time Christians found out “what our true customers really think...We say it’s our mission to reach out, including to nonbelievers,” Henderson, 62, says.

This is the problem: Unbelievers are not the customers...in fact, believers are not our customers. Who is? Well, if I got a restaurant and order food, I am the customer. In the case of a "church service", God has ordered the product, which means He is the customer. He sets up how our church services are suppose to look, not an unbeliever, and, again, not even a believer.

New Creation, pt 1: Meditation on 2 Cor. 5:17

2010-02-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

With a new creation comes with it a new EVERYTHING, including a new body, which we will receive at the return of Christ. So, what does "everything" include:

1. New hopes
2. New desires
3. New hates
4. New loves
5. New aspirations for life
6. New audience to please
7. New fears

As I am taking a small break from Romans, I hope to fill this out in later posts. This is something that I personally have been looking at, and hoping to develop in my own life, before I seek to place it upon another.

Love More+Sin Less

2010-02-21T04:27:00.000-08:00

"Injoyment of God is the life of our lives. And how do we Injoy God? God doth come down to us, and we do Ascend and go up to him... And what is the Ladder whereby we ascend unto God, and take our turnes in Heaven with God, but believing Meditation?"--Puritan Quote (unsure who)

The Puritans were by no means innovative, but that is what made them so powerful. They did not try to come up with new ways to do this thing or that thing, but were simple and spiritually powerful men (and women) who turned two continents upside down with their simple faithfulness to God, evangelism, doctrinal truths and prayer. What was the hinge upon which the whole door of Puritanism swung? It was an adherence to the word of God. They loved it. They drank it in deeply. They savored it by means of Meditation. They responded to it by means of prayer. They could not get enough of THE BOOK.

I chose to post the above quote because it just spoke to my own heart this morning. I hate sin. Sin ruins everything. It hurts the sinner. It hurts the sinned against. In society we talk a lot about "Victimless Crimes", such as doing drugs, etc...but there are no victimless sins. Even if it was a sin committed in the mind, the sinner himself is a victim of sin, though they are also the perpetrator! What does this have to do with the above quote?

Though the word "sin" is not in the above quote, the idea is there, I believe. Ask a Puritan how one fights the temptation to sin and he or she may launch into the exact words of the above quote. How do we fight against sin? We make the enjoyment of God the very center and starting point of our lives. We say to ourselves, "I WILL enjoy my God today!" But we cannot enjoy God and be in willful sin, for God will not abide sin. The child under the heavy disciplining hand of his parent does not enjoy the parent (of course God disciplines us even when we do not sin, for our own holiness, but I am speaking of discipline that comes because of sin). If I am to enjoy God through Christ Jesus I must put away my sin and meet God in the Scriptures, ascending to Him and He descending to me.

See, Piper was not original when he said that we glorify God by enjoying him forever! Hundreds of years before him the Puritans hit upon the same basic idea. That is the glory of Christianity, that we get to, through Christ, enjoy the Triune God forever starting now, starting during our lives right now. When the enjoyment of God is the alternative to sinning, why would we purposefully sin?!

Powerful

2010-02-19T03:42:00.000-08:00

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

God sent this song to my heart earlier this morning and I just HAD to find all the lyrics. I hate when people use the words "all" or "none" in comparing things. For example, all men are unfaithful to their wives, etc...(of course, the exception is that "None is righteous...all have turned aside...all have sinned, etc)

That having been said, I will not say that all worship songs from our generation are trite and cheesy, but a good number of them are. But should we expect anything less? Yesterday, as I walked out of the gym, the song "They don't serve breakfast in Hell" by the News Boys played in my head for some reason. Let's compare the two:

Hold the milk, put back the sugar
They are powerless to console
We've gathered here to sprinkle ashes
From our late friend's cereal bowl

Breakfast clubbers, say the motto
That he taught us to repeat
"You will lose it in your gym class
If you wait until noon to eat"

Back when the Chess Club said our eggs were soft
Every Monday he'd say grace and hold our juice aloft
Oh, none of us knew his checkout time would come so soon
But before his brain stopped waving, he composed this tune

When the toast has burned
And all the milk has churned
And Captain Crunch is waving farewell
When the big one finds you
May this song remind you
That they don't serve breakfast in hell

Breakfast clubbers, drop the hankies
Though to some our friend was odd
That day he bought those pine pajamas
His check was good with God

Those here without the Lord, how do you cope?
For this morning we don't mourn like those who have no hope
Oh, rise up, Fruit Loop lovers; sing out sweet and low
With spoons held high, we bid our brother "Cheerio!"

When the toast has burned
And all the milk has turned
And Captain Crunch is waving farewell
When the big one finds you
May this song remind you
That they don't serve breakfast in hell

Now, not all old songs are "There is Love" and not all new songs are "Breakfast in Hell", but that being said, there is a vast difference between the two. There should have been an outcry from youth and young adults across the music world when News Boys made this song, but that is where most of the Youth and Young Adults were at the time. This campy, fun song depicts a Hell...where there is no cereal. Eternal damnation away from the glory and beauty of God...and no cereal.

Romans 3

2010-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

Forgoing my normal mini-rant about verse divisions...

Romans 3

Then what advantage had the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. But what if some were on faithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar. As it is written,

That you might be just in Your words and justified when you are judged.

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us (I speak in a human way.)? By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come-as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written,

No one is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God; all have turned aside and together have become worthless. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive; the venom of asps is under their lips; their mouths are full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

No we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law,although the Law and Prophets bear witness to it-the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He has passed over former sins. This was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He may be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

What then becomes of our boasting? It is excluded? By what kind of Law? By a Law of works? No, but by the Law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one-who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the Law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the Law.

Some of Jesus

2010-02-12T04:55:00.001-08:00

The following quote is usually attributed to Ghandi, and goes something like this:

"I like your Jesus. It's your Christians I cannot stand."

Now, I cannot say for sure the context of the quote, though it SEEMS obvious, nor do I personally believe that this is the exact way it goes, but you get the basic idea. Others have said such things as, "Everyone in the world knows what Christ taught except for Christians." I find these quotes, and others in the same vein, very interesting indeed and would like to answer them, though many who speak in such a way may never read what I am about to write.

Did Ghandi like Jesus? I have no doubt in my mind that Ghandi liked some of Jesus. What do I mean by this? Ghandi liked some of Jesus in the same way that those who prescribe to a Liberation Theology like some of Jesus. They like the part about Jesus that condemns the rich and seems to give preference to the poor, the wounded and the outcast. Ghandi, no doubt, loved the Jesus who touched the leper, who sat with the woman at the well or healed the sick though it was unpopular to do on the specific day He did it. How do you NOT love that Jesus?!

The problem is that Jesus was not merely the Leper-Healer, He was also the great Sin-Condemner. He was quick to tell crowds standing around them that unless they were righteous in God's eyes that they would indeed perish. He was quick to tell people that there was no way to get to God the Father, except through Him. He abolished all ideas of these possibly being other ways into eternal life and even called Himself God incarnate. I wonder what Ghandi thought about that part of Jesus, you know, the part of Jesus that commanded His followers to go and preach a gospel of unprecedented exclusivism in that day and age. THAT JESUS.

Here is the thing, and it sounds almost blasphemous to say: A little Jesus, some Jesus will get you to Hell faster than no Jesus at all. A little Jesus will convince you that you are doing right by a Righteous God who either only cares about how you treat others or (lest I leave out all the theologians) only cares about how you view predestination, spiritual gifts and whether or not Genesis 1 is a literal seven days or not. The complete Jesus speaks condemnation to sin and preparing ourselves for the coming Kingdom. This Jesus also speaks of going to the poor and the outcast. Only a complete Jesus saves, for only a complete Jesus is the Jesus of Scripture. Anything else is a sad figment of our imagination and, since "He" is created by us "He" is a damnable idol.

GOODNEWS!

2010-02-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

Good news is good news because of bad news. If the doctor delivers my son or daughter and says, "You have a healthy baby!" That is good news, of course, and a moment worthy of praise and thankfulness. However, if our baby is born with serious health issues and after three months we are at the hospital and the doctor comes out of the Operating Room and says, "You have a healthy baby!" Our joy is vastly multiplied as we knew the great possibility of the child being in a horrible position. It is by this reasoning that Romans 3:21 through the end of the book is so incredibly beautiful and, well, such good news.

Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe...

ALMOST out of the Woods

2010-02-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

Romans 3:9-18

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God; all have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one; their throat is an open grave; they use their lips to deceive; the venom of asps is under their lips; in their mouths are curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and destruction, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

I titled this post "ALMOST out of the woods" because verses 19-20 of this chapter wraps up some of the most depressing portion of the Bible. Paul has systematically condemned the Hedonistic Gentiles, the Moralist and the Jew in perfect manner and has made it painfully and perfectly clear that none are in good standing before God.

The Gentiles who did not know God, but worshiped idols instead are under condemnation. The Moralist who condemns the Gentile, yet sins himself is under condemnation. The Jew who has the knowledge of the Law and Circumcision, but has not obeyed God from the heart is under condemnation. Finally, in a condemning crescendo, he states that NONE IS RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE.

It is important to note at this point that God did not have to speak. He could have kept His mouth shut, leaving us to grope in the dark for idols. Even in speaking, He did not have to speak grace and mercy to condemned men and women. Romans could have begun at 1:18 and just as easily ended at Romans 3:20. He owed us no knowledge of Himself and in giving us knowledge (of His own free will, not by compulsion in anyway) He did not have to speak grace and mercy to us through Jesus Christ. The word given to us is not simply an amazing gift, but the most amazing gift that God could have given to sinful humanity. May all love this word!

Wow...

2010-02-05T05:02:00.001-08:00

A bit about the event from Tim Conder, the event instigator:

Can you imagine communities that encounter the biblical text as a privileged invitation to collaborate in the process of interpretation? In these same communities — collective and personal imagination, artistic expression, sacramental practices such as the common table and baptism, and other essential practices such as mission, hospitality, and dialogue are not only motivated by the text but also are integral in shaping our reading of the Bible. This is the vision of the “Free for All.”

Sadly, this dream can be rare in its actual expression. Biblical interpretation in our present culture tends to be limited by a few powerful voices who tell us precisely what it must mean (and what it cannot mean), theological overdetermination that also restricts meaning to predefined possibilities, the personal entitlements of individual readers who read the text to reinforce their agendas and loyalties, the apathy of bored readers, or the profuse frustration of silenced perspectives. The result is a devastating disconnect between text and community.

The consequences of the disconnect are dramatic. In many fellowships, the Bible is perceived to be oppressive, sacred but irrelevant, or even trivial by its lack of interpretation or intersection with the actual lives of those in community. In more churches and communities than we care to admit, participants live in the typical anxiety of “don’t ask, don’t tell” environments where they fear to reveal their honest questions about the text and the actual contours of their lives. In addition, many perspectives and experiences are entirely excluded from the interpretative process.

You can find the above section on Doug Pagitt's website. I know I am giving someone I DEFINITELY do not agree with free publicity, but I had to engage this.

I find it funny how "rediscovering" the word of God is always about "rediscovering" that God is a God of "Love" (notice the quotation marks). If I were to go to this meeting and "rediscover" that God is a God of Jealousy and Wrath I wonder what the community would say. If I went into their meeting and said that my "interpretive freedom" leads to understand that we have completely misinterpreted the seemingly clear passages about love and that God is not really a God of Love, what would they say?

It is always interesting to me how people like Doug, and most of those who would find a meeting like this beneficial, seem to believe that they are doing something fresh and something new. They are transforming what we think about Christianity in the 21st Century!

No
They
Are
Not.

They are falling into a trap that was set by Satan himself so long ago: Get them to question what God has said and then interject the "truth" about what God said. It works so well, why would Satan switch to another scheme?

I heard a radio program years ago where a native Romanian (maybe the founder of Voice of the Martyrs was being quoted) talked about persecution. He said that Satan, in Scripture, is depicted in two ways: 1. A roaring lion seeking to devour and 2. Masquerading as an angel of light. He said that in Romania it was easy to fight Satan because he was obvious. He is the one holding the gun to your head or burning your Bible. In America, however, he comes as the angel of light, seeming as though he speaks truth when all he speaks is lies. The man said it was harder to fight him in America because he could be standing right next to you.

Romans 2...a review

2010-01-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, being as how I am done with Romans 2 (all except for the review, which will end tomorrow) I figured I would post it on my notes/blogs as last time. As last time, when I posted Romans 1, I have decided not to include verses. It is not secret that I am NOT a fan of verses, and personally believe they cause more harm than good. Seems like a strong view, but if you would like the details of this particular dislike, please let me know. Anyway...lest I be distracted some more, Romans 2...

Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, everyone of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God. Or do you presume upon the riches of Hos kindness and forbearance and patience, not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when the righteous judgment of God is revealed.
He will render to each one according to his works: To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.. But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But there will be glory and honor and peace for every human being who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For Gos shows no partiality.
For all who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law. And all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, by nature do what the Law requires, they are a Law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely in the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed by the Law. And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob from temples. You who boast in the Law dishonor God by breaking the Law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
For circumcision is indeed value if you obey the Law, but if you break the Law your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision, but break the Law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from men but from God.

Phew, that was a mouth full! Again, please do not take what you just read as a "Look what I can do guys!!" My hope, my passion and ambition is to not merely enrich the lives of other believers by the spoken power of God's word, but to also encourage believers to do the same in their own lives. All praise goes to the God of the word.

Romans 2:23,24

2010-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

Romans 2:23-24

You who boast in the Law (Scriptures) dishonor God by breaking the Law (Scriptures). For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (Unbelievers) because of you.

This is a stinging accusation, and my desire was to make it a bit more "hurtful" by the words in parenthesis. Paul, as I have already written elsewhere, is speaking about the Jews. The Jews, the "ethnically" chosen of God, had the Law of Moses, something that 99% of the rest of the world did not have, or even know existed. The rest of the world had the "work of the Law written on their hearts", but they did not have God Himself personally hand down eternal truths via His prophet. Yet, what happens? Despite the fact that they had the written word of God they still found themselves in the same position...some may say a worse position.

Why? They found themselves in such a position because they could boast in the Law, but they did not follow the Law. Thus, when the Gentiles came to understand that the Jews were the "people of God" they saw a God whose people were unruly and just as bad as they themselves. This kind of behavior reflected upon God and caused the Gentiles to blaspheme His most holy name.

Pat Robertson has been in the press a lot lately about his comment concerning Haiti, and he automatically came to mind when I read these verses. Here is a man on the nation and international stage who took the name of God upon His lips and announced that 50,000 people dying in a tragic earthquake was because of deals made with the Devil. Do you think that unbelievers across the world have gone onto say, "Well, I am sure that Pat Robertson does not speak for all believers. I am sure that most of those who call themselves Christians do not feel this way." Probably not. They see someone who has claimed Christ showing a heartless attitude in the face of unspeakable horror and death. Though I cannot know for sure, I would wager that Robertson has led some unbelievers to blaspheme the name of God for such an attitude.

But shall we single out Robertson? Yes, he is on a national stage, but surely we cannot place such a sin squarely upon his shoulders, can we? I think not. When people at your work place know you are a believer, then they see you acting in a way unbecoming of a believer, that says something about your God. When your family knows that you name the name of Christ, yet gossip along with them about Aunt Bessie's new boyfriend, that says something about your God. Pat Robertson may have said something foolish on international TV, but have you provoked unbelievers in your circle to think something they ought not think about our God?

Schedule of Memorizing Romans

2010-01-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

Well, most people know by now that I am memorizing the Book of Romans...it will probably be the last book I do for a while, as it will take a good deal of time and the book is so meaty that it will take some time to meditate upon its passages and really drink deeply of it. That being said, I have schedule as to when I will be through Chapter 3 of the amazing book of Scripture: February 13th, 2010.

Now, I will admit that I am pushing myself to get this done because of several reasons:

1. Romans 1:18-3:21 is some of the most depressing parts of the Bible, definitely the New Testament, in my opinion.
2. As it is my desire to actually recite Romans for other believers, reciting only Romans 1-2 is kind of...blah. Again, really depressing stuff. But, when you do Romans 3 along with the first two chapters it is even more powerful! Ah, yes, the importance of not only knowing, but memorizing Scripture in its context.

So, anyway, this time next month I will have the first three chapters of Romans memorized (Lord willing). If this comes across as boasting I am sorry. I would rather you look at it as someone who just became a father. I am not boasting in the child, but rather sharing my joy with others at what God has done, and, indeed, this is what God has done and nothing less than that. When I am done with chapter 3 I will review all three chapters for a week and then move onto chapter 4...I have a long road ahead of me, but I have already enjoyed such a journey thus far.

Football and Standing for Truth

2010-01-18T12:44:00.001-08:00

As I think about my last post and watched the Playoff Games yesterday, something occurred to me about the job of the Referee. Imagine yourself as a referee during the Playoff game that took place in San Deigo, where the New York Jets beat the Chargers on their home turf. Imagine having to make a call against the home team. This is not some high school game, but a NFL game. Nor is it simply week 5, but a Playoff Game. Truth of the matter is that all you have to do is look the other way every now and then and you get cheers and applause from the crowd of tens of thousands around you. How tempting it must be to hear the sound of clapping and cheers when you rule in favor of the home team and against the visitors!

Yet, a good referee, the referee faithful to his calling, does not listen to the acclaim and applause of those around him. What does he do? He speaks, not in favor of the home team, nor the visitors, but in favor of truth and which ever way that truth lands, so be it. If Number 84 on the home team roughs the kicker and the referee calls that and it sets up the visitors to win, so be it. What has the referee done, but give witness to the truth?

It is also important to note that the ref's did not get together before the game and decide the rules for the day. The Ref's do not enforce shifting rules that apply to some and do not apply to others. The men in black and white merely uphold the rules already in place. This is, perhaps, the most powerful tool they have in their arsenal. The referee stands up, not upon what he believes to be a good rule and thus enforces, but simply enforces that which is true. He answers to, not the happiness of the crowd around him, but those who enlisted him to give witness to the truth. It is his calling to execute his position with the utmost accuracy that pushes him along. May all believers, including myself show the same spirit as the lone referee who would stand before tens of thousands and proclaim the truth.

Without and Under

2010-01-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

Romans 2:12-16

For all who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God but the doers of the Law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, by nature do what the Law requires, they are a Law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

What is Paul's point in these verses, or, a better question to ask would be, what does the Holy Spirit intend for us to gather from this? Let's march down the passage, which in the ESV is a full paragraph, and try to glean what is happening, and of course, the discernings of others is appreciated.

First, Paul makes it clear that the Gentiles, while they did not have the Law, will still be judged by God. By what basis will they be judged? We already know from verses 9-10:

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but there will be glory and honor and peace for every human being who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

God is judging upon the basis of works (though works do not save a man) and all who have done good works will survive and all who have done evil works will perish. Simple, right? But how do the Gentiles know what works are good and what works are evil? After all, they do not have the Law of Moses!

No, they do not have the Law of Moses, which is the superior witness (as Paul will point out in chap. 3), but they do have two witnesses: The Law that is written on their hearts and their own conscience. We have already seen in chap.1 that all show have a working knowledge of God simply due to the things that have been made. Now we see that such knowledge should go even deeper than mere understanding of existence, but also how morality works in the mind of God as well.

So, the question, one of the biggies, must be asked: Is the witness of nature (chp. 1) and the witness of the Law written on their hearts and their conscience enough to save? The answer? A trembling, no, it is not enough to save. But that should not surprise us though, right? It should not surprise us because the Law of Moses itself was not able to save! As Paul is going to show in Romans 4, the Law, be it upon stone or upon the heart, has NEVER been able to save. Rather (jumping ahead a bit) through the Law merely comes knowledge of sin. This is why Paul is able to say that

For all who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law.

What then do we say to this? Does this seem unfair? I will admit that sometimes it does to me, and I am a believer! But what is the alternative? If the Gentiles will be saved due to their ignorance of the true God, then the mission to go and tell all the World becomes the most heartless one in all of history. If the man over in some distant village in Africa knows a little about God, but not the gospel, then He will saved. However, if I go and fill in the blanks for him and he rejects it, then he is going to hell. Foreign missions, save aid to others throughout the world, becomes the most damning enterprise that mankind has ever entered into if men can be saved by what they naturally understand about God.

As we think about these things we have the remember the point of Romans 1:18-3:20: To show that everyone, both Jews and Gentiles, are in a dangerous state before a holy God. Those who have been closest to His truths are in a dangerous state, and those who have been distant are in a dangerous state. The Native American born during the time of Moses is no more distant from salvation than the Jew who was born in the Promise Land itself. While this is sobering, and should be, I remind us again that this is the point of this section. It is meant to break our hearts, to make us understand that God is not "yes and no" in His holiness, in His righteousness. Not all truths in Scripture are meant to lead us into dancing with joy. Some are meant to leave us in silent reflection before our God.

Judgment

2010-01-16T02:11:00.001-08:00

Romans 2:16

on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

The context of this verse can be seen beginning at Romans 2:1. Paul, turning his pen from the Gentile/Pagan world has turned his pen to the Moral aspects of mankind, with his fellow Jews in view by the end of the chapter and into chapter 3. I make it a point to say "fellow Jews" because we can forget that the majority of the players in Scripture were Jewish and that only one Gentile, by God's inspiration, contributed any writings to the Scriptures and that would be Luke. Anyway, Paul is speaking to those people who would condemn those practices in chapter 1, specifically those of 1:28-32

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know the decree of God, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them

So, far away from giving approval, this new audience condemns these sins. Paul, however, will not let them off that easily. The first 5 verses are dedicated to the fact that the Moralist does the same things that the Pagan does, and still judges the Pagan for it. Verses 6-10 show that God is going to judge all people justly, both the Jews and the Greeks (Gentiles). Finally, verses 12 through 16 show how they will be judged. For those who do not have the Law, they will not be judged by the Law, but by the witness of the Law that is written on their hearts and the sins against conscience. This is why Paul states that the secrets of men will be judged by Christ Jesus.

It is quite a thought to know that the secrets of my heart are going to be judged by God. I know that He already knows my thoughts, but to actually stand before Christ and see Him judging my thoughts, that will be a most daunting experience. When I think about the fact that my sins are not merely surface level sins, but dig deep into the root of my mind I am forced to see why I needed a Savior in the first place and why I still need one to this very day. But this is the point of these first three chapters of Romans. This is the bad news: That even my secret thoughts--my sinful, unrighteous and evil thoughts--are a slap in the face to a holy God.

This also brings to the forefront of my mind the perfection of Christ. Jesus did not sin in action. Jesus did not sin in word. JESUS DID NOT SIN IN THOUGHT. For 33 years Jesus of Nazareth had perfect Godward thoughts flowing through His mind, while I am "lucky" if I can crank out ten minutes. No wonder I am told to look to Jesus.

Why Bad News is So Important

2010-01-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

I have just finished memorizing Romans 2:15 and thought to myself, "Thank goodness! This was getting depressing!" and it is depressing. But before chapter two lets out and we actually get to how God remedies the problem, it gets much worse. Just as the poster from Demotivators says, "It's always darkest right before it goes pitch black." How true that is for the first three chapters of Romans.

Yet, the "bad news" of the good news is essential. If I tell you to rejoice because they have found a cure to Blimptot's Disease, you may be happy, but you, since you have no clue what that is then you might not really care all that much. However, if I say that Blimptot's Disease is a bad as mixing AIDS and Bubonic plague together and that YOU yourself have it, then, well, let the rejoicing begin! Why? You understand your issue and that you need a cure, not now, but RIGHT NOW. Unless men and women understand their place before God the gospel really carries no weight with them. Tell a man that God simply loves them and wants a relationship with them, what will they think? Tell someone that all of Hell awaits them and the wrath of God looms over them it becomes quite clear that something has to change.

Memorizing Scripture

2010-01-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

Several people have asked me how to memorize Scripture, not books of Scripture necessarily (which most people know I encourage), but even just individual verses or passages. My answer is normally the same that I gave to a group of taught about a year ago on the same topic:

Imagine I hand you a nice shiny quarter and said, "Hey, I need you to drive from Fenton to East St. Louis. I am not going to pay for any gas or cab fair, but I need you to take this box to this address by 4pm this evening." Now, talk about lack of motivation. Are you going to jump on this task right away? No. If you even get to this task you will probably just take your time and not really care if you make it by 4pm or not.

Now, let's fill in some small details and change the story completely: I still need you to drive from Fenton to East St. Louis. I am not going to pay you though. The box I am giving you has a syringe of medicine that your spouse or child or some loved one needs by 4p. The address is to a doctor's office in East Saint Louis. Now, how is that motivation? It does not matter how you get there, you just need to get there. You do not ask questions about transportation or how much you will get paid. Your entire mindset is focused upon getting to where you need to be now.

Memorizing Scripture is less about "how to" and more about "why do I need to". Once you figure out the need to of something, how you get it done falls into place. You simply get it done.

Scary

2010-01-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

Romans 2:13

For it is not the HEARERS of the Law who are righteous before God, but the DOERS of the Law who will be justified.

Take a big whiff and let the full aroma of this verse sink deep within. It is more than hearing the Law that makes one justified, but it is the doing of the Law...the DOING of the Law. Can you do the Law? I can work at the Man-focused parts of the Law (ie. Do not Murder, Lie, Steal, etc...), but what about the first four? The first four? (someone may ask) Yes, the first four. Let's give a brief rundown of those, shall we?

20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before [1] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands [2] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Well, no other gods before the one true God? I think I got that one down...unless He means that I am to hold nothing in such regard as to view it as sufficient in my life. I am to look at no created thing and say, "I find all my pleasure and joy in this." Well, if He means THAT then...let's move on.

Wait...

You mean I only have to break one and the deal is gone?

Oh.

So...how am I going to be justified by the Law?!

Ah ha.

New Phrase

2010-01-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, as I begin to mull over the idea of Meditation, I decided that I needed a phrase to depict Christian meditation, but believe it or not, Christian Meditation is even being used by those who just pour "Eastern" practices into Scripture and meditate in that fashion. For example, some encourage others to repeat the Lord's Prayer, not thoughtfully, but simply saying the words.

Along these lines, I have also not used the name of Christ in this phrase either. Why? Those who are New Age and Mystic in leanings look to a Christ of their own invention, but they still do look to something they call Christ. However, God was gracious enough to allow me an idea as I wrote earlier today...

Cross-Centered Meditation

I know, the whole "centered" thing may seem a bit cliche by now, but that is the first phrase I thought of as I thought upon this topic. Some may ask, "Why Cross-Centered"? Simple really. The idea of "grace", "mercy", "love" and all the sorts are so improperly used because the World likes all these ideas (just not in the way that Scripture uses...but moving on), but bring up the Cross and you still have an obvious division. Why? You still have division because the Cross draws a line in the sand between a Fru-Fru hokey God who wants to cuddle mankind and an Almighty Just God who, out of His grace, sent His Son to be butchered by man and heinously die for the sins of all who would believe. So, I am defining Cross-Centered Meditation as follows:

The Mind being brought into alignment with the Holy Scriptures, so as to lead one into greater obedience of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures.

Again, the definition serves a purpose. The purpose is to create a greater separation between Cross-Centered Meditation and what most people understand as meditation. This meditation is focused on conforming the mind, not to nothingness or simply some ethereal, mystic "peace". This definition stems largely from Joshua 1:8 where God tells Joshua that he was to meditate for the purpose of being careful to do all that is written in it. This gives meditation its meat, its substance, its purpose. When I go to meditate I have a goal in mind: To become more obedient to the word of God. So, if you read any of my posts from now on and see the phrase "Cross-centered Meditation" you now know what it means.

Why I seek a ministry of reciting Scripture to believers and unbelievers

2010-01-06T05:05:00.000-08:00

My own journey into heavy memorization and meditation upon the word of God is why I desire the same for others. Several years ago, while I was still at Saint Peters Baptist, a brother by the name of David Lloyd began to memorize Ephesians. I remember during AWANA one night he recited, with great passion and the utmost clarity, the second chapter of that great epistle and it blew me away. If I did not know that it was from Ephesians I would have believed he was simply preaching it himself. I decided, however, that I could not do such a thing and settled for just standing in astonishment at those who could.

Months later (I think) I attended Founders Conference at Saint Peters and there was an evangelist there by the name of David (cannot remember his last name). He was wheel chair bound, but the glory of God seemed to radiate off of him. As he preached he reference a verse in Jonah...and then another verse...and then another...until we are realized he was actually quoting the entire book from memory. Once again, I was blown away by the ability and decided that was something that needed to happen in my own life.

I started with the book of Jude, one of the shortest books in the Bible (25 verses). After starting and stopping over the course of about five or six months, give or take a month, I finally finished it. I began to realize that all I did was memorize 25 verses and most people know that many, they just do not know them in order. For example, most people know John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, Romans 8:28, Romans 12:1-2, etc...they just do not know John 3 in its entirety. I made a conscious effort to not push or bully people into doing this, namely because that was not the way God placed it upon my heart. He placed it upon my heart by those doing it around me.

Over the next several years I learned--in order of memorizing them--Colossians, Ephesians, 1 Peter and 1 Thessalonians. I have still not lost the desire to recite the word of God in front of others, so that they may be convinced as I was of the power of the spoken word of God. Along these lines, please enjoy a video from 2006, not of myself, but from a brother named Ryan Ferguson.

Frugal Minds

2010-01-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

Most of the time when we hear the word "frugal" or think about being frugal we are speaking of money. Frugality (my own definition) is the ability to be discerning about what we do and do not spend our hard earned money upon, and it is a skill that is lacking greatly in our culture. In fact, part of the problem is that people simply whip out a credit card, swipe that sliver of plastic through and give no more than two seconds worth of thought to what they just did. But here I am not talking about being simply frugal with your money, but something I think is as important, if not more important: Having a frugal mind.

Mental frugality is the ability to discern what we should "spend" our thoughts upon throughout the day, and this is where meditation comes in to play. I do not mean meditation as in repeating a word or two over and over until we have become mentally-numb, but rather the God commanded discipline of taking the Scriptures and mulling them over in the mind for the purpose of greater obedience to the revealed will of God. God places high order on this in Scripture and we see this starting all the way back in Joshua 1:8

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Let's look at Joshua's new post at the beginning of this chapter: He has just become leader of the Israelites, having taken Moses place as he was not allowed to set foot into the Promised Land. He is going to be in charge of God's covenant people from this point until he goes the way of all flesh. There is much to think about, much to do, but before he does anything God, who has assigned him his post, gives him a strong priority: Meditate on My word for the purpose doing all that is written in it and you will be prosperous and have great success. If a new national leader is told to make time for purposeful Scriptural meditation, I am sure we can find time to do so ourselves.

In fact, it is not about "making" time, but rather allocating time in the appropriate manner, and this, again is what we mean by "Mental frugality", discerning what you will spend your mental energies on and what you will not. Very few times in Scripture do we see formulas of any sort, but I believe we can safely say that Joshua 1:8 is--Meditation for the purpose of obedience=Prosperity and Success. However, we must be careful in how we DEFINE the last two words of that formula, lest we fall into a spiritually fatal trap of the Enemy. More on that next time.

New Year's Decisions

2010-01-04T06:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, after I pass my Teaching exam this coming weekend, I am going to do a handful of things:

1. I am going to re-write my book on Scripture Memorization. I need to brush it up, revise and revisit, and edit. I am going to enlist my friend Terry to help me in such an endeavor. Hopefully the product will be something I can send to actually publishing companies to try to get it published.
2. I am going to look into graduate school. I would like to start Masters classes some point during this summer in the area of Education and an emphasis in English/Writing.
3. I would like to start to my next book on Biblical Meditation during the summer as well. Note that I said "start" and not "start and finish" said book. I will need to do research on the topic before I really get going.
4. I am sure that I could add something else in here, and may do so before the week is over. Happy New Year every body and God bless us everyone.

Why I dislike chap/verse divisions

2010-01-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know the decree of God that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
There you have no excuse, O man, everyone of you who judges. For in judging another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge practice the very same things.

Now, I understand the need for chapter and verse divisions, to a degree. However, I would say that it would take a lot of time and energy to have me believe that they are actually valuable. Take the above passage as an example. "Therefore" is one of the most powerful words in all of Scripture, definitely within Paul's writings. Paul, within his writings to different churches and individuals, makes incredible use of logic, moving from one concept to another in a logical sequence. One of the most important "therefore" passages is found in Romans 12:1, where the "therefore" stitches together chapters 1-11 to chapters 12-16.

Here, in chpp. 1-2, the "therefore" is incredible important because it is part of Paul's argument to level the playing field for all mankind. All of those heinous sins that we read about in Romans 1:18-32 are also leveled against those who chap. 2 applies to. Paul's argument, his progression of logic, is simple: All of those things he already listed are, of course, sins against God. Yet, they are sins that the readers of chapter 2 commit as well. This is important because you can almost hear Paul's audience in Rome, in their hearts, saying, "Yeah, Paul. Stick it to them." Then, in one fluid motion, Paul turns his gaze to the Legalistic and say, "Oh, I am talking about you as well." Despite the fact that the "therefore" is there, we are forced to visually separate it in our minds.

Exchanging

2009-12-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote that we have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever! Amen." Yesterday, meditating upon this verse, I began to wonder: What do I exchanged God's truth for in my personal life?

Ephesians 5 is very clear about how husbands are to treat their wives...as Christ Himself treated the Church, for which He died. That is the truth, an understandable truth. I am to treat my wife as Christ has treated the Church, His Bride, His version of Katie. Here is where I make one of my exchanges. Instead of "I will treat Katie with all the love she deserves, just as Christ treats His own Bride," I say, "I will treat Katie with all the love she deserves, just as Christ treats His own bride, so long as she treats me in a loving and respectful manner." Where is the exchange there? I have exchange the truth that God has plainly give for more convenient truth.

I, however, am not so foolish as to believe that I alone do this. We all make the exchange, everyday, from moment to moment. What is worse is that it is not always a conscious exchange, is it? Why do we exchange? Simple, it is easier than sticking with what God has given us. Part of idolatry, I believe, is that it is easier when I have my god right in front of me. I can see it, feel it, touch it. Not only that, but I can control it and not the other way around. I exchange that which desires to control me (the one true God) for that which is controlled by me (ie. a statue, a car or a skewed version of truth). This is why the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven.

The Great Exchange

2009-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Romans 1:22-23

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things...

The title of this post is "Great Exchange", not in the sense that "I had a GREAT time at the party", but in the sense of large or monumental, and such is the only way someone can describe the exchange that takes place in the above verses. The Spirit, through Paul, has already explicitly stated that man knows God. Man knows enough about God, the one true God, to honor Him and give thanks to Him, but they have declined to do so. By making this choice as a race we have become futile in our thinking and our foolish hearts are darkened. What we have erroneously considered wisdom, God has called foolishness. Our race has no excuse for the choice we have made, for our "Great Exchange".

What is the extent of this exchange? We have not opted for fruits instead of vegetables, nor have we exchanged grandma's handmade quilt for something from Wal-Mart. We have exchanged the Creator, the glory of the Creator for something else entirely. The exchange was and is damnable. Why? Choosing anything outside of God is always a step down...an infinite step down. We have exchanged the "glory of the immortal God for"...does it matter? Does it really matter what I have given Him up for? Is the man who gives God up for a fatter wallet smarter than the man who gives God up for a cheeseburger? Of course not, we have traded the greatest in for something else, and by necessity of that decision, we have traded in Infinite Awesomeness for...again, does it matter?

In the 23rd verse of Romans 1, Paul says what man has traded God in for: Images. Images of Man, Birds, Animals and Creeping Things. Sounds stupid, right? But, again, what would have been a better exchange? What exchange would have made sense? What would have justified a race-wide decision to dishonor God? Gold? Prestige? Power? But again, does it matter what it was, or what it could have been? What profit is there for a man who gains the entirety of the world, but in the process forfeits his soul?

Late Evening Meditation

2009-12-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

Why didn't Paul--in his letters to Ephesus, Colossae, or any others that discussed slavery--dismiss slavery as something intrinsically evil that should be done away with completely? For some reason I was thinking about this tonight and the following illustration came to me:

Say you are visiting me house and you see two things occur at roughly the same time: 1. I have a huge gash on my hand and 2. My house is burning down, the flame has almost reached my garage (where my car with a full tank of gas is parked) and the entire house will explode in a matter of minutes. Which one are you going to take care of first? The last word in the previous question, the word "first", is essential. Why? It is essential because the hand could become infected and cause its own major issues, so it must be seen to at some point. However, one most look at the most urgent detail before they look at the smaller matters.

So, you are visiting me, you see these things happen and you say that we need to leave the house immediately and call the fire station. Why don't you take care of the hand first? Simple, the hand becomes a moot point if the rest of my is in ashes on the floor next to my TV. Save my life and the hand can be saved. This is essential why we do not have explicit commands about ending slavery in Scripture, especially the New Testament. Paul and Peter (the two authors who discussed Slave/Master relationships the most) had greater matters to attend to than slavery. The sentence I wrote sounds painful, and it especially sounds painful to me, but such is the truth. Souls were at stake. March into Philippi demanding that people release their slaves and you are starting from the wrong point.

In my analogy above, where does slavery fall? Slavery falls in the "hand gash" corner, something that most be taken care of, but not the biggest problem I have at the moment. What is my biggest problem? My home burning, or, outside of the analogy, the fact that my eternal destination is one of sure condemnation and bearing the eternal weight of an infinitely angered God for all eternity. Slavery lasts for a lifetime, judgment lasts forever. The greatest concern of the moment was not physical freedom, but freedom from the Law that would have sunk both slave and master to the pits of Hell in death if they were not believers in Christ.

However, one need only look at history and see that where the true gospel was preached and true repentance shown, such social evils were rooted out. Why? They were rooted out because they did not coincide with the holy character of God. A saved man, a man whose heart now yearns to be as his savior in all respects, will look at the issue of slavery at the realization that these men and women are made in the image of God will scream at him and he will find he NEEDS to do something about this social injustice. Back to the analogy: Now that we have escaped the burning house, the hand does need to be taken care of and, if it is not taken care of, shows gross neglect. Social ills, no matter what they may be, will flourish where the gospel is not prevalent.

Romans 1:11-12

2009-12-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

Romans 1:11-12
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you--that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine

Many people ask the question of, "what can I get out of this church?" or, "what does this church have for me?" But John F. Kennedy was right on track (if we apply what he said to a local assembly of believers) when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." To make it more applicable we can say, "Ask not what FBC Whatever can do for you, but what you can do for the believers at FBC Whatever."

Churches are often chosen based upon things are nice, but should not determine whether or not we will be part of that particular group of Christians. Yes, the place down the street has a nice choir and the place a couple of blocks over has an amazing Evangelistic ministry, but are these the things that should make us choose one church over another?

Our search for a fellowship should have us asking two questions: 1. Does this church hear/believe/act according to the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and 2. How can I add to them spiritually as a fellow believer? Too often we walk into a building simply hoping to be fed and walking out. Our desire should be to gain encouragement and strength, yes, but to also pass on that encouragement and bless others with the strength that God has given to us. All of us most be fed (encouraged by others) and all of us most feed (encouraging others). This is the beauty and the call of fellowship for the local body.

From Desiring God

2009-12-10T07:55:00.001-08:00

The following is an edited transcript of the audio.

How does unbelief contribute to the need I feel for pornography?

Feeling the need for sexual titillation is like getting hungry when you haven't had anything to eat for a day. It's as natural as the day is long.

Sex is a desire that rises up within the body and is there. We're just wired for it, men and women (women differently, but not without it). And it wasn't belief or unbelief that made that desire happen. It was hormones that made that happen.

So the first answer to the question, "How does unbelief relate to my sense of need?" is that it doesn't have anything to do with the sense of want or desire. Those desires are just there like your hunger for a steak or your tiredness and desire for sleep.

Now when the question is, What do you do with it?, there unbelief has everything to do with whether you need pornography. I said "titillation" earlier, referring to some kind of sexual feeling—that's natural. But now, if you go towards pornography to do that, that is an issue of sin.

Because pornography is the abuse of women, first of all. And, secondly, it is the illegitimate stoking of a legitimate desire. And God has other ways for that to be satisfied.

Unbelief relates like this: my understanding of faith is that you don't just believe that Jesus as the Son of God died for your sins, rose again, reigns in heaven, is coming again, and forgives my sin. That's only factual. It's also a being satisfied with that, treasuring that. Faith is not just an intellectual assent to doctrines. Faith is an affectional embrace of the Savior for my deepest longings.

Unbelief, on the other hand, is a failure to be satisfied in Jesus. It's a failure to go to him as the living water and the bread from heaven and the light of the world. It's a failure to go to him as a satisfaction that's deep enough and strong enough to satisfy me when I am tempted to go in a sinful direction to indulge an appetite—say, an appetite for companionship or food or sex. The satisfaction of Jesus—that is, belief in Jesus, embracing Jesus, loving Jesus, being content in Jesus—is going to be the power that severs the root of that impulse.

I believe with all my heart that the main way we're sanctified in life is that we conquer the power of the promises of sin with the power of a superior promise, such as Jesus saying, "I'll be with you. I'll love you. I'll take care of you. I'll reward you. You'll know a fellowship with me if you conquer this that you wouldn't have known otherwise."

And who of us has not tasted that, right? We've either yielded and gone into some sexual thing that has made us feel yucky and dirty, and we have to repent and hope we won't do it again; or we've conquered. We've walked into some path of light and holiness and purity, and everything in us is saying, "Yes! O, that I could do that every single time, because it is so much richer and fuller and deeper than the other way!"

If belief includes an affectional embrace of Christ as your deepest satisfaction, then it's going to have a huge effect on whether you embrace pornography.

© Desiring God

Romans 1:1-2

2009-12-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures...

It is one thing to make a promise, as most anyone can make a promise to another. We live in a society where the divorce rate is rampant because people have made promises to one another and then years later, for one reason or another (normally not Biblical reasons) they decide against keeping that promise. Then there is a keeping a promise once that promise has been made, which is true faithfulness. But there is nothing quite like the one who keeps a promise when it will lead to their own hurt, harm and pain. Such is the GodMan Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

When God promised in the holy Scriptures through His prophets that He was going to send His Son, we cannot assume that Jesus was in a back room in Heaven and had no clue about what was going to transpire. Jesus knew His purpose for coming. He was going to die a ransom for many. He was going to be lifted up (a preview of how He was going to die) and in doing so He was going to draw all men unto Himself. He was going to bear the full brunt of the wrath of God for all those who would come to Christ, seeking to be forgiven of sins and rest fully upon His work. God made a promise that this was going to happen. This was not a promise made in the heat of the moment, an exasperated promise made by someone just to please another party. This was a thought out plan and purpose, thought out for eternity past and placed into action starting in the Garden of Eden when all men fell due to Adam's sin.

We serve a promise keeping God who has kept His promise despite the pain that it would cause Him, despite the pain it would cause His Son, Jesus Christ. If God so great a promise and so high a cost, what will come of His promises to you and me? He has promised that all things work for my good and His glory. He has promised that He Son will return and fully bring forth the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. He has promised that the small and temporal work we do here will be rewarded with infinite and glorious treasures in Heaven. He has promised that Heaven will make up for every tear spilt by the saints across the centuries. He has promised to forgive when I confess my sins and turn from them. All this He has promised. If God sees fit to fulfill the promise of sacrificing His only Son for the forgiveness of sins, then why would we ever fear that God's "lesser" promises would go unfulfilled?

Tiger Woods

2009-12-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, this post is about Tiger Woods, the (in)famous golfer in the news lately. I find his life a living, breathing example of the BEST this World has to offer, and it drives me to find contentment in nothing, save Jesus Christ our Lord and the hope we have in Him.

What did Mr. Woods have that this World has to offer a man? In one word, EVERYTHING. He had a supermodel wife. When I say "supermodel", I do not mean, "Wow, you could be a supermodel." I mean, his wife was a supermodel. He had a yacht big enough to house my family and all of our extended family. He was on course to be the first billionaire athlete in the history of sports (That is BILLIONAIRE with a "B"). He had fame as being the best ever in his specific sport. So, what did he have? He had beauty (his wife), fame (his status at the best as what he does) and fortune (on course to being a billionaire golfer). He had all that this world could give him and now what?

If his wife divorces him she is going to take half of his money, or stay with him and make his life miserable. Let's say she does divorce him, there goes the fortune. What about his fame? While he will still be the best at what he does his reputation is forever tarnished. He has come down several notches in people's eyes. His fortune and fame being gone, what of his beauty, or to be more accurate, his wife? Well, he traded in her love and loyalty for a cheap affair with another woman. How could he not be content with what he had with all the World had to offer? Simple, he had the best the WORLD could offer and this World never satisfies. It is not meant to satisfy.

Really?

2009-12-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

“We may be surprised [who] we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.” — Desmond Tutu

Found this quote on someone's twitter page today and felt like I should answer the very thought behind it. This type of idea may sound good and even Biblical at first glance, but hopefully, when we refocus our eyes and view, not a soft God, but the stout God of Scripture, we will see such thinking as what it really is: Weak, foolish and all together unBiblical in every way.

If God's standards are so low, why then did Christ have to die? If God's standards are so easily matched by you, me or anyone else, why send His most precious and glorious Son to do the work of redemption. "Work of redemption?" one might ask. Yes, the work of redemption, the work where the spotless, sinless and faultless Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the World. The Work where Christ, the sufficient Passover Lamb was slain, and His blood sprinkled upon the doorposts of every heart that would repent of their sins. The Work where my filthy record of unholiness, impurity and rebellion is actually TRADED with His perfect record of holiness, purity and complete submission to His Father. THAT WORK.

Oh, the things Christ went through NEEDLESSLY if God's standards are so low! All the things He suffered, not simply that last night or upon the cross, but all things that humanity mys tread through while on Earth. Born a child in a manger, the Eternal Son, the Word, had to sit in His own filth until someone got around to changing what we would call a diaper. He walked through hot humid days of the desert, fasting, denying Himself food, to prepare Himself for a ministry that would end with Him being posted to wood as though a common criminal. And all of this, why, because God's standards are so low?

No! God's standards are high, higher than any mortal and finite mind can entertain. Standards so high that those who do not repent must spend an eternity under the greatest of judgments just to make up for even one sin. God's standards are so high that the only thing that could match His standards was something that seemed impossible before it actually happened: The Lord of Creation BECOMING creation Himself, bleeding and dying and rising again. Does this sound like a God that has relaxed His standards? Does this sound like a God that has lowered the bar? God in Christ has spoken to man and said, "See? Do you see it? This, this right here is how much I hate sin! This is the infinite cost of sin, just one sin, that my only begotten Son had to feel the sting of death, the cold of the grave and the punishments of My wrath! See how much I hate sin!"

Tell people the standards have been lowered and you send men whistling and rejoicing to a grave that will drop them into Hell itself.

My Name is Chris...and I am a Creataholic.

2009-11-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

It is hard for someone like me to put down a pen and a piece of paper. I write. Normally I write fiction, and normally that is fantasy fiction (think Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia...just not as good). But lately I feel tapped. I feel as though I am completely drained of creative juices and I keep trying to force them out, but nothing is happening.

Actually, that is not accurate.

The ideas are still there, but somehow they are not translating from head to hand. I think I may have overloaded, but I do not know. If you are not a creative-minded person, then the feeling of not being able to translate a mental-creation into a written-creation is not really one I can explain. But this entire episode, only minutes ago, has led me to realize that I have come to a point in my writing where I subconsciously define myself as being a writer, as a creative person or as someone who can translate thoughts into a story. Thus, to feel as though I am not doing this as well as I would like right now hurts my mind much more than it should. I have come to the point where I feel as though I am missing something if I do not write, which is a problem.

Is this what one would call an...addiction?

I need to take a break from writing, but that is a tough one, which may be WHY I need to take a break from it! God has made me more creative than most I know, and that is not pride talking. Quite the opposite. Imagine a flood of water desperately trying to shoot through a clogged hose. There is so much in there that it almost becomes a strain for any of it to come out. So, I have decided that I am going to spend only 30 minutes a day writing...writing whatever idea comes to mind and then come back to that same idea the next day, until I have exhausted it. In this way I hope to empty my mind just a tad, and at the same time develop something into a full idea. Full blown writing, however, will take a backseat to the rest of life.

This should be INTERESTING.

Thoughts on the Resurrection

2009-11-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

We tend to believe tomorrow is a promise and that eternity is far off, when, in reality, God has promised quite the opposite: Eternity for all men is a promise and tomorrow may never come.

What do you DESIRE

2009-11-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

John 15:7-8 (New King James Version)

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

It is hard to imagine, for me at least, Jesus sitting across from my kitchen table and saying, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, I want you to ask for what you desire and I give it to you. I'm doing this so that My Father is glorified and so that you bear more fruit." Then there is an uncomfortable pause in the conversation, as Christ--the Eternal Son, the King of the Everlasting Kingdom, the Sacrificial Lamb, the Conquering Lion--waits for my response.

What do I tell Him? He can do, as Ephesians 3 says, far more abundantly that what I could ever ask or think, so nothing I ask will be too hard. In fact, my mind cannot conceive of is true power to give anything and everything to His own. I am at a lost for words. But why is that? In reality, I am at a lost for words because my dreams, hopes, my desires do not even feel big enough to mention as an answer to His question. Then I realize that those seemingly mundane things are the things I truly want, they are the things I desire.

I want for godliness in my own life and in the life of my wife. I want my children, having been raised around the word and nightly prayers and church and preaching to one day call out to Christ and live godly lives as well. I desire to be a great Husband and Father. I want to masterfully hone my craft of writing, so that I may bring glory to God in the ways He has gifted me. I have come to realize that the "mundane" things, such as what I just mentioned, are those things God is pleased to give to His children, and those "extravagant" things are so small. I could desire to be famous, but the World achieves that well enough. I could desire lots of money and great riches, but does that necessarily prove that God has done so?

God desires to give good gifts to His own because He is Self-Centered, which is completely different than Selfish. Selfish is someone withholding when he has plenty to share and not giving to anyone. Self-Centered is just as it sounds, when someone's actions are centered around themselves. Verse eight shows God to be self-centered, but as far from selfish as any being could be. In one statement Christ promises to give us the desire of our heart, yet His reason for doing so is so that God may be glorified. God will give us all manner of great and wondrous gifts, bountiful and mighty blessings, but He is going to do so in a way that focuses every eye upon Himself and not upon us.

If you are reading this, I encourage you to meditate upon your desires and how those desires would play into God receiving every ounce of glory from your life. Those things that you seek in prayer, earnestly asking for, will they show God's glory and, if not, why do you or why do I pray for them so desperately?

Thomas Watson, One Hour in Heaven

2009-11-04T03:31:00.000-08:00

One hour in heaven

(Thomas Watson, "A Treatise Concerning Meditation")

Meditate upon HEAVEN. Heaven is the quintessence of
all blessedness. There the saints shall have all their holy
hearts can desire! We shall behold the King in His beauty!

What a glorious place will this be! In heaven "God will be
all in all"—beauty to the eye, music to the ears, joy to
the heart; and this He will be to the poorest saint, as well
as the richest. O Christian, who is now at your hard labor,
perhaps following the plough—you shall sit on the throne
of glory! The poorest believer shall be taken from his
laboring work, and set at the right hand of God, having
the crown of righteousness upon his head!

"For our momentary light affliction is producing for us
an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory!"
2 Corinthians 4:17

Meditation on heaven would excite and quicken
OBEDIENCE. It would put spurs to our sluggish hearts,
and make us "abound in the work of God, knowing that
our labor is not in vain in the Lord!" The weight of glory
would not hinder us in our race—but cause us to run
the faster! This weight would add wings to duty!

Meditation on heaven would make us strive after heart
PURITY, because only the "pure in heart shall see God."

Meditation on heaven would be a pillar of SUPPORT under
our sufferings. Heaven will make amends for all. One
hour in heaven will make us forget all our sorrows! The
sun dries up the water; just so—one beam of God's
glorious face will dry up all our tears!
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain!" Rev. 21:4

Faithfulness

2009-11-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

Philippians 1:6 is the faithfulness of God defined: The one who began the awesome work of salvation is the one who will bring the awesome work of salvation to completion on the day of Christ Jesus our Lord. While Paul does not come right out and say that this person is God, who else could we attribute this glorious task to?

Did I begin the work of salvation? If so, then it is up to me to complete the work of salvation. I can barely get up in the morning when my alarm goes off or remember my lunch for work every morning. Lord may it never be that I am the one who is responsible for seeing my salvation through to the end!

Mine is like the hand of a two year old crossing a street. My Father holds MY hand and not the other way around. It does not matter if I let go or stumble as we cross the street, my security is not that I am holding fast to His hand, but that He holds to my own. Do you see the Faithfulness of God in this? Paul told Timothy that if we are Faith-less He still remains Faith-ful to His own, for He cannot deny Himself! God's faithfulness to me is not rooted in me, but in the fact that God will not deny Himself. It has been said, and I am paraphrasing, that it is more sure a Christian will rise from the grave on the last day, than he will rise from his bed tomorrow morning. That is the faithfulness of God in action.

What does the faithfulness of God produce within me? God's faithfulness brings about a deeper devotion. How do we not love a God who promises that once we are His own He will never leave us nor forsake us? How do we not love a God whose promises towards us in Christ Jesus are more sure than the rising of the sun and going down of the same? May our passion for God burn brighter knowing that the one who calls us if faithful to His people and we are His own.

Deepness

2009-11-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

How does "deepness" occur in nature?

When it comes to rivers, it usually take years upon years of some constant flow over water, rushing over one place time and time again. This water slowly, but successfully begins to erode the ground underneath and carves out a place for itself upon the land. As more and more water continues to rush over this spot, the newly formed stream erodes, not only wider, but deeper and deeper until finally it has become a river.

This is no different than our spiritually lives, but we would love for it to be so. We want to come to a quiet place for five or ten minutes, crack open our Bibles (with 6 million more things on our mind), read a little, pray even less and walk away truly feeling like we have met with God. You are guilty of it and so am I. We want the deepness that spiritual giants before us have had, but we conveniently forget the time and energy they spent getting there. I live a shallow life, not necessarily because I have a desire to do so, but because I do not have a desire to not do so.

Thomas Watson Writing

2009-11-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Suck out the sweetness

(Thomas Watson, "The Christian Soldier" 1669)

Meditation is a holy exercise of the mind; whereby we
bring the truths of God to remembrance—and seriously
ponder upon them and apply them to ourselves. It is a
work which cannot be done in a crowd. A Christian must
retire from the world, to have serious thinking upon God.
It is not a few transient thoughts that are quickly gone;
but a fixing and staying of the mind upon heavenly
objects.

As the bee sucks the honey from the flower—so by
meditation we suck out the sweetness of a truth.
It is not the receiving of food into the mouth, but the
digesting of it, which makes it nutritious. Just so, it is
not the receiving of the most excellent truths in the
ear, which nourishes our souls—but the digesting of
them by meditation.

Satan does what he can to hinder this duty. He is an
enemy of meditation. The devil does not care not how
much we read—so long as we do not meditate on what
we read. Reading begets knowledge—but meditation
begets devotion. "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate
on it all day long." Psalm 119:97

Holy meditation quickens the affections. The reason
why our affections are so cold to heavenly things—is
because we do not warm them at the fire of holy
meditation. As the musing on worldly objects makes
the fire of lust burn; and as the musing on injuries
makes the fire of revenge burn; just so, meditating
on the transcendent beauties of Christ, would make
our love to Christ flame forth.

Meditation has a transforming power in it. The reading
of the Word may affect us—but the meditating upon it
transforms us. Meditation stamps the impression of divine
truths upon our hearts. By meditating on God's holiness,
we grow holy. While by meditation we look upon God's
purity—we are changed into His likeness.

Meditation produces reformation. "I have considered
my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes."
Psalm 119:59. If we would spend but one quarter of
an hour every day in contemplating heavenly objects,
it would leave a mighty impression upon us!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sweeter Than Life

2009-10-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog does not refer to me in anyway, shape or form, but rather to Christ Jesus, the Lord of Glory! In particular the title refers to my personal meditations on Christ Jesus and upon the truths revealed in the word of God. Meditation, as a real Christian Discipline, has been lost as a widely practiced art for most Christians. Why is this? I can only answer from my own experiences, but I will assume, for the time being, that my life and my experiences are not entirely far from that of other believers.

I live in a busy word where people and activities pull me in all manner of directions. Not only this, but I like to be entertained. I like to be entertained my TV, by movies, by books and by so many other things that do not really profit me anything. Now, does this mean that I cannot watch Heroes on Monday nights or football? I say no, but it does mean that there need to be marked periods of time where my mind is focused upon the following four things, which I believe to be hallmarks of Biblical Meditation:

1. The works of Christ
2. The attributes of God
3. The wretchedness of Sin
4. The future glories of Heaven

1. The Works of Christ:
By "works of Christ" I mean those things our Lord did, not only before He died (healing the sick, teaching the masses, raising the dead, etc.), but also what He did in His death and resurrection and His ascension into Heaven. In His death Christ paid for the sins of His Church; in his resurrection Christ showed He not only has victory over death, but all those who trust in Him does as well; in His ascension He went to the right hand of His Father to intercede for us. And one day, by the Father's direction, He will return for the Church for which He died.

2. The Attributes of God:
There are many who profess to know the God of Scripture, but do not dwell on who He is as God. Can those who simply have passing thoughts about God truly know God? Can they truly belong to God? For me that is a scary thought! God is holy, and meditating upon that holiness will bring us to want that holiness. God is jealous for His glory and meditating upon such jealousy will make us yearn for God to receive all the glory of our lives, those around us and throughout the world.

3. The Wretchedness of Sin:
What is the most destructive force on Earth? Sin. Sin took man out of the Garden. Sin brought about the first murder and every murder after. Sin brings about divorce, adultery, greed, jealousy, envy and all the sort. Sin brought about the death of Christ. There is nothing good in sin, and, because we are only filled with sin before the Spirit makes us alive to Christ, there was nothing good in us before Christ and there is nothing good in us now without Christ.

4. The Future Glories of Heaven:
Past this life, past the pain, past the disappointments brought upon us by our own sin and by the sins of others are the glorious of Heaven. Waiting for us in Heaven is the Crown of Life, the praise of our Savior concerning the work we have down unto Him and for His name. Waiting for us in Heaven is the Glory of our Father who predestined us, the Son who bought us, and the Spirit who sealed us.