Remembering

Mark Batterson post:  Memorial to the 12 Apostles

Very few people can name the twelve Apostles and even fewer know anything about them. Hope this changes that. On this Memorial Day weekend when we remember those who sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we enjoy, it seems appropriate to share how each of the twelve apostles died.

James the brother of John was killed with a sword during a persecution initiated by King Herod in AD 44. Andrew was hung on an olive tree around 70 AD. Doubting Thomas was thrust through with pine spears, tortured with red-hot plates, and burned alive around 70 AD. Philip went to Phrygia where he was tortured and crucified in AD 54. Matthew was beheaded sometime after 60 AD. Bartholomew was flayed after he refused to recant. After the removal of his skin, he was crucified in 70 AD. James the lesser was taken to the top of the Temple where a crowd gathered. When he refused to recant, he was thrown down. He survived the fall so a mob beat him to death with clubs in 63 AD. Simon the Zealot was crucified by the governor of Syria in AD 74. Judas Thaddeus ministered in Mesopotamia where he was beaten to death with sticks in AD 72. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, went to Ethiopia and was stoned to death while hanging on a cross in AD 70. According to Eusebius, the third century historian, Peter thought himself unworthy to die in the manner in which Jesus was crucified so he requested that he be crucified upside-down. And last but not least, John the beloved is the only disciple who died a natural death, but that doesn't mean he was exempt from persecution. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos and according to legend, thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. 

I’m not sure what that does to you. In fact, I'm not sure what that does to me. But I know this: I'm grateful for the estimated 70 million martyrs who have died because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And I'm grateful for the freedoms I enjoy as an American. May we never take them for granted.

 

Satisfies and Fills

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
   whom he has redeemed from trouble ...

⁸ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
   for his wondrous works to the children of man!
⁹For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Psalm 107

Global Cities

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Global Cities & Gospel Influence

A "global city" is a large urban center that exerts great economic and cultural influence beyond its own region.

Wikipedia explains it this way:

A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city) is a city deemed to be an important node point in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global system of finance and trade.
The most complex of these entities is the "global city", whereby the linkages binding a city have a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socio-economic means. The terminology of "global city", as opposed to megacity, is believed to have been coined by the sociologist Saskia Sassen in reference to her 1991 work, "The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo" though the term "world city" to describe cities which control a disproportionate amount of global business dates to at least May 1886 to describe Liverpool by the Illustrated London News.

In fact despite their different histories and cultures, global cities often look more like one another than their respective countrysides. In "Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers" Tim Keller explains that Global Cities "are becoming more alike and connected to one another than they are to the rest of their own countries. For example, New York and Los Angeles have become far more influential in forming the culture of teenagers in rural Indiana or rural Mexico than the national or local governments.

The reason many of us believe it is so critical to strategically target global cities with the gospel is because as our cities go, so goes the rest of the world. The greater impact the gospel has there, the greater impact it will have throughout the world. If you are not serious about cities, you are not really serious about missions. Cities are not the only place in the world, but any serious missions strategy must include a city emphasis.

...

Divine Wrath

Miscellanies post:  Mumbling on

“Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the church mumbles on about God’s kindness but says virtually nothing about his judgment. How often during the past year did you hear, or, if you are a minister, did you preach, a sermon on the wrath of God? How long is it, I wonder, since a Christian spoke straight on this subject on radio or television, or in one of those half-column sermonettes that appear in some national dailies and magazines? (And if one did so, how long would it be before he would be asked to speak or write again?) The fact is that the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter.”

–J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 148–149.

Obedience

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

IMMATURE OBEDIENCE

My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.  Psalm 119:167

I don't think any child wants to obey.  Fear and respect keep his behavior in check.  Fear of consequences and respect for authority will cause him to adhere to the rules.  That is immature obedience but obedience nonetheless.

There may come a time when this child disobeys, that he will see his father's heartbroken face.  If he loves his father, that will evoke a different perspective to disobedience.  The next time he is faced with the temptation to break the rules, he will remember how much it hurt his father.  This is the beginning of something holy.

God has a church full of children who obey because they feel they have to rather than want to.  When a yielded life doesn't bring the blessing they expect, there can be resentment and then abandonment to God's ways.  David makes it clear that he walks in God's ways because he loves them.  What is it David knows that I can easily forget?

God's laws are given, not by a nit-picky Father who wants to ruin His child's good time, but as a way to offer them protection, freedom, internal well-being, and the privilege of working collaboratively with Him to further the kingdom.  Knowing that, I love Him more.  Loving Him more, I obey for the right reasons.  David's sentiments are mutually heartfelt rather than far fetched.

I feel alive and close to You when I walk in Jesus' footsteps.  Amen

Weakness

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

2 Corinthians 12:9a

Spirit Help

Ray Ortlund post:  Weakness

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness.”  Romans 8:26

Last week at the meetings of The Gospel Coalition, one of the men pointed out that Romans 8:26 does not say, “The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses” but singular “weakness.”  Our problem is not just weaknesses.  More profoundly, our problem is weakness.  Weakness is not just one more experience alongside our other experiences; weakness is the platform on which we have all our experiences.  Weakness is a pervasive presence in all we are and do.  It will not always be so.  But for now, it is.

Every Sunday I am a weak man preaching to weak people.  Admonition has its place.  But what weak people need, more than admonition, is help.  For weak people to live the Christian life in a way that is humane and sustainable, rather than defeating and shaming, we need good news more than good challenge.

Weak sinners, continually reassured by grace, will accomplish more for Christ than they would if continually confronted by demand.  I am thankful that the Spirit meets us not in our strength but in our weakness, where alone His help enters in.

Resolve

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

FINISHING WITH RESOLVE
 
I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you.  Psalm 119:168

Charles Spurgeon calls this Psalm 'David's life-psalm'.  Now that I am near the end of it, with just a few verses left, I notice that the verses seem a bit shorter, more pointed, like David is breathing out the things most important to him in short musical phrases.  The lines are still strong melodically; just brief and to the point.

Oh, to be able to say at the end of one's life that, even in old age, there is a resolve to keep God's ways because there is still the keen awareness that God's eyes are upon His children.  God said to Abraham in his old age, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless." Gen.17:1  While some might argue that the pressure should be lessened, considering the fragility that often comes with old age, David would not agree.  As the sunset of his life appears on the horizon, he reviews God's graces and renews his vows.

Here's the challenge.  The condition of body and soul affect the spirit.  When I've been sick, it's been hard to connect to spiritual passion.  Everything felt dull, including my spiritual life.  Since old age brings with it decreased energy, physical ailments, and a constant series of losses, spiritual passion can easily be threatened.

God's grace comes in many shapes and sizes.  It is as varied as the sands of the sea.  It is given according to what the needs are.  In the senior years of our lives, God will give daily grace for our obedience; grace to love Him, grace to feel His presence, and a special grace given by the Spirit as He cups His hand around the flickering flame of our faith, a faith that is tested in the fires of frailty.

There are places, even today, where faith is as fragile as an egg shell.  I cry out for your grace.  Amen

What We Do Have

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Growth by Remembering

My friend Elyse Fitzpatrick has taught me a ton about the gospel. Through her many excellent books, she has taken me to gospel depths that have changed my life. During the most difficult year of my life (2009) Elyse provided gospel-drenched counsel and insight that, in a very real sense, saved me. Thanks Elyse!

This morning, as I was re-reading a portion of her book Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life, I was recaptured by a truth that I preached recently. In my sermon on Colossians 1:9-14, I said:

It’s important to note that in these verses Paul doesn’t pray for something the Colossian Christians don’t have. Rather, he prays they will grow in their awareness and understanding of what they do have. Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. Christian growth happens by working hard to live in the reality of what you do have.

I used to think that when the Bible tells us to work out our salvation, it meant go out and get what you don’t have—get more patience, get more strength, get more joy, get more love, and so on. But after reading the Bible more carefully I now understand that real gospel fruit happens, not as we “work harder” but only as we continually rediscover the gospel. You could put it this way: rediscovering the gospel is the hard work we’re called to.

You see, the secret of the gospel is that we become more spiritually mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and focus more on all that God has already done for us. The irony of the gospel is that we actually perform better as we grow in our understanding that our relationship with God is based on Christ’s performance for us, not our performance for him.

With this same idea in mind, Elyse writes:

One reason we don’t grow in ordinary, grateful obedience as we should is that we’ve got amnesia; we’ve forgotten that we are cleansed from our sins. In other words, ongoing failure in sanctification (the slow process of change into Christlikeness) is the direct result of failing to remember God’s love for us in the gospel. If we lack the comfort and assurance that his love and cleansing are meant to supply, our failures will handcuff us to yesterday’s sins, and we won’t have faith or courage to fight against them, or the love for God that’s meant to empower this war. If we fail to remember our justification, redemption, and reconciliation, we’ll struggle in our sanctification.

I guess you could say that Christian growth does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners.

I closed that sermon by saying:

Let me summarize what Paul is saying in this whole section (v.9-14): You will grow in your understanding of God’s will, be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding, increase in your knowledge of God, be strengthened with God’s power which will produce joy filled patience and endurance (v.9-12a) as you come to a greater realization that you’ve already been qualified, delivered, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven (v.12b-14)

Cry Out to God

Ray Ortlund post: If you can only groan or sob or sigh

“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.” Psalm 63:1

“Do not be afraid, dear children of God, you that have fallen into a mournful state, do not be afraid to cry out to God. I know we sometimes feel as if we must not and dare not pray. We have become so dull, so lifeless, so unworthy, that we do not expect to be heard, and feel as if it would be presumption to cry. But our heavenly Father loves to hear his children cry all day long. . . .

If you can cry out to Jesus, he will joyfully hear you. If you will give him no rest, he will give you all the rest you need. The Lord finds music in his children’s cries.

‘Oh,’ say you, ‘I would cry, but mine is such a discordant and foolish cry.’ You are the very man to cry, for your sorrow will put an emphasis into your voice. Of all the cries your children utter, that comes closest home to you which arises out of their pain and deep distress. A dying moan from a little one will pierce a mother’s heart. See, she presses the babe to her bosom! She cries, ‘My dear dying child,’ and weeps over it. You too shall be pressed to the bosom of everlasting love if you can only groan or sob or sigh.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the Old Testament (London, n.d.), II:663.

Will Hold You

A picture of the body of Christ:

But hiding's such a lonely thing to do
I can't stop the rain
From falling down on you again
I can't stop the rain
But I will hold you 'til it goes away
 [Third Day - When the Rain Comes]

Cannot But Speak

for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

Acts 4:20

Heart

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

MAKING APPLICATION

Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.  Psalm 119:164

Praise is reserved for Sunday morning worship.  It does not characterize a fraction of most daily prayers.Knowing this, and reading of David's frequency to praise God for His Word, I can be motivated by guilt to do better in order to be more like David.  I can start building 'prayers of praise' into my day's calendar, consciously making an effort every hour to say the words.  How long can I perform under such pressure?  A while.  Eventually though, I'll burn out because the problem wasn't my schedule.  It was my heart.

Such is the dilemma of how to apply scripture.
§    Job forgave his three insensitive friends.  I should forgive mine.
§    Paul said that he was content in all circumstances.  I should quit complaining.
§    Jesus said, "Not my will, but thine be done."  I should resign myself to whatever God wants and tell my heart to expect less.
§    James said that my tongue needs to be controlled.  I'll choose to sit on inappropriate comments.

Welcome to the way I used to live.  This outlook toward my Christian life was shallow and consisted of nothing more than behavior modification.  The Word became an exhaustive 'to-do' list while my heart languished for want of attention.

If I fail to praise, it is because my heart is not engaged.  I am capable of praising other people and other things.  I will go on and on about what is valuable to me, what is life changing and life saving.  If I don't praise God, spontaneously, for His Word, it is only because I haven't found it to be my lifeline. 

§    Wow, David praises God seven times a day for His Word.
§    I'm not sure my heart feels that passionately.
§    What is keeping my heart from feeling that way?
§    Lord, show me.
§    Awaken my heart to the power of Your Words.  Give me the grace to apply them so that when I do, they save my life.
§    I see it, Lord.  I praise what I love.  I praise what has changed my life.

It's always about my heart.  Not about my performance.  Thank you for teaching me to live love-driving, not guilt-driven.  Amen

Desire the Treasure

Jon Bloom post:  Jesus & the Buddha on Happiness

Greatly disturbed by the suffering he saw in the world, 29-year-old Prince Gautama Siddhartha (563-483 BC), who was later called the Buddha (enlightened one), left his wife and young child and set out on a search for the meaning of life.

What he observed was the impermanence of the world—nothing lasted. In spite of this, people desired these impermanent things. They desired to hold on to life, health, possessions, and each other. But life, health, possessions and people pass away. Human desires would always ultimately disappoint. This, he reasoned, was the cause of human suffering.

Therefore, he concluded that if he could kill desire, if he could be tranquilly unaffected by either good or evil, his suffering would cease and he would be happy. He would be free from pain and the endless cycle of reincarnation. This was Nirvana.

It is ironic, though, that driving the Buddha’s rigorous pursuit to kill his desires was one great human desire: lasting happiness.

There was also a huge, vacuous hole in the Buddha’s pursuit of lasting happiness: no God. The Buddha didn’t say much about God’s existence because, frankly, to him God was irrelevant to human happiness. Rather, happiness was being free from desire-induced suffering and reincarnation. Happiness was the blissful end of individual existence—a sort of sweet annihilation.

How different are Jesus’ answers from the Buddha’s. When a rich and troubled young man, not so different from the rich and troubled young Gautama, sought out Jesus’ direction for eternal happiness, Jesus replied,

You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Mark 10:21)

Notice that Jesus did instruct the man to become detached from his possessions. But he did not mean a Buddhist detachment. He said it another way here:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:45)

The message is clear: desire the treasure! Desire it enough to count everything else as loss in order to gain it (Philippians 3:8).

The difference is that the Buddha wants to be desire-less and completely absorbed into the impersonal cosmos. Jesus wants us to deeply desire and be completely enthralled with the Person in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

That’s why, in the battle against sinful desires, Jesus is so much more helpful than the Buddha. He knows that our desire for happiness is designed by God, and so is our desire for permanence. They are not evil. Here is what is evil:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

We are designed to be satisfied with the one eternal (permanent) God. Evil is when we believe that God will not satisfy us and therefore pursue happiness in something else. That’s the essence of sin. And the way we fight sin is not to kill desire, but to abandon our futile desires for broken cisterns. There is no water there. Go to the Fountain!

Jesus and the Buddha agreed that pursuing ultimate happiness in transient things is futile. But they direct us to opposite solutions. The Buddha says satisfaction is treasuring no thing. Jesus says it is treasuring God. In God we get all things. In no thing we get, well, nothing. 

Emerging Church

Dan Kimball post:  "Preaching and the Emerging Church" free e-book

I got an email this morning that let me know on Mark Driscoll's web site a free e-book to download was posted called "Preaching and the Emerging Church". You can go here and download it as a pdf or transfer it to an e-reader. This is the page: 
http://theresurgence.com/preaching-and-the-emerging-church

I scanned the chapter he wrote on my view of preaching very quickly tonight - so I can't comment on it yet. I don't use the term "emerging church" too much more, as I have blogged about before.  But from my fast scan it looks like he did a good job writing about my personal view and practice of the role of preaching. I do need to read it through more carefully, but if this is helpful or anyone has interest - here where you can download it.  It has a bunch of charts and graphs at the back of the book.

It has a recommendation from Ed Stetzer on it, so should be interesting to read. The book used the categories about the emerging church that Ed created.

Millennials

Ed Stetzer post:  More on the Millennials

At LifeWay Research, we are continuing to explore the issues of millennials and faith. USAToday, CBS Evening News / CNN ad others reported on our last study.

Yesterday, we released more-- focused on what millennials value most. The Christian Post has the story here.

Here are a few excerpts:

When asked what's important in life, most American "Millennials" - those born between 1980 and 1991 - say family comes first, ahead of friends, education, careers and even religion.
Sixty-one percent of Millennials place family at the top of their priority lists, followed by friends (25 percent), education (17 percent), careers/jobs (16 percent), spouses/partners (13 percent), and spirituality/religion (13 percent)...

Total percentages exceeded 100 because respondents were permitted to list more than one priority...

"Millennials are committed to family above other priorities, even though many are waiting to start their own families," said Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

"To minister effectively, the church should tap into this priority among Millennials. Churches with a strong understanding and sense of family will be able to more easily reach Millennials. I expect that ministries that cross generations - such as older adults mentoring young adults - could be highly effective in connecting Millennials to Jesus."

That's the finding of LifeWay Research based on a wide-ranging August 2009 survey of 1,200 Millennials in the United States. The study forms the basis for the upcoming book "The Millennials: Connecting to America's Largest Generation" by Dr. Thom Rainer and his son Jess Rainer.

Looks Like

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Gospel-Centered Church Life

Here is a great word from Michael Horton regarding the relationship between the inner life of the church and effective outreach, taken from his book A Better Way:

John Calvin’s Geneva was a model city, historians say, in part because of the effectiveness of its restored diaconate (deacon board). As refugees fled persecution from all over Europe and arrived in Geneva with nothing but the shirt on their back, the deacons in Geneva established an enormous network of service institutions. With each office performing its function well, the church in Geneva was a powerful witness in a difficult period of history, and Christian leaders came from great distances to experience and take the model back to their own countries.

Leaving the inner city has been a trend among evangelical churches. Yes, there are notable exceptions, and among these are strong churches with a faithful preaching ministry, a wise ruling ministry, and an effective diaconal ministry. Examples of the latter include services to AIDS victims, soup kitchens, thrift stores, medical clinics, schools, and other ministries of mercy. As these offices are performed according to God’s revealed will, unbelievers cannot help but see the kavod–the weightiness–of God among us, even through the weakness of the church.

A renewal of the inner life of the church–from worship to teaching and church discipline–is the most pressing need today, not only for the church’s own health but for genuine outreach to take place.

As I was reading Mike’s words, I thought of three pastors in particular who gave their lives for cities: John Stott, James Boice, and Tim Keller. All these men, at different times and in different cities, led (or, in the case of Tim, continue to lead) church’s that embody Mike’s exhortation. I’m so grateful for the faithful who have gone before us, showing us what Gospel-centered church life looks like.

Shines Brightest

Ray Ortlund post:  Then Christ's hand reaches out

“Let us then as Christians rejoice that we see around us on every hand the decay of the institutions and instruments of power, see intimations of empires falling to pieces, money in total disarray, dictators and parliamentarians alike nonplussed by the confusion and conflicts which encompass them.  For it is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been explored to no effect, when in the shivering cold the last faggot has been thrown on the fire and in the gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered out, it’s then that Christ’s hand reaches out sure and firm.  Then Christ’s words bring inexpressible comfort, then his light shines brightest, abolishing the darkness forever.”

Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom (Grand Rapids, 1980), page 56.

Speech

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

GOODBYE TO AMBIVALENCE

I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law.  Psalm 119:163

    I have spent most of my life feeling ambivalent.  If I watched a talk show where there were two opposing viewpoints, I found myself somewhere in the middle.  If asked personally about where I stood on issues, I would have a hard time laying out concrete convictions.  Part of this was due to ignorance.  Part of it was due to a desire to flee controversy.  The remainder was because I failed to live in the Word enough to understand that God is rarely ambivalent.  He loves truth and He hates falsehood.

    David has spent enough time in the Torah and enough time in worship that God's appetite has rubbed off.  How our culture needs more like him.  There are far too many prominent Christians in the spotlight who, when asked where they stand on current issues, fail to answer the way Jesus would.  Their tolerance makes them palatable to the masses but erases their saltiness.  They have confused loving people with condoning what people do.  They have abdicated their chance to speak the language of the kingdom in order to draw others onto the narrow pathway that leads to eternal life.

    Having grown up in legalism, I was used to a regular diet of dogmatism.  A church or Christian organization defined themselves by what they were 'against' rather than what they were 'for'.  They had a poor track record when it came to loving people.  Perhaps some of our Christian tolerance, our ambivalence on critical issues, is an over-correction to legalistic Christianity.  In our woundedness, we have made opposite choices that are equally as detrimental to the advancement of the kingdom.  The cure for any of us who fail to speak clearly about what we love and what we hate, whether it is rooted in fear or poor theology, is time with Jesus and time immersing ourselves in His Word.  Christian education, in the context of relationship, cures ambivalence.

   Today, I follow Jesus who ate with sinners, put his arm around the broken and repentant, but simultaneously, spoke clearly about righteousness and unrighteousness.  His speech was so clear that his audience felt NO ambivalence.  They left everything to follow Him or they picked up stones to murder Him.  If others fail to react to me in the same way, my speech is still diluted and I have a ways to go to look like, and sound like, my Savior.

Sharpen the sword of my mouth with the sword of the Word.  Clearer speech, compelling speech, in the remainder of my life.  Amen

No Distinction

Miscellanies post:  Love for others

This excerpt from John Calvin reminds me a bit of the quote I posted earlier in the week from James Davidson Hunter. In The Institutes, Calvin writes (2.8.55; McNeil/Battles, 1:419):

“…we ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves. When we turn aside from such contemplation, it is no wonder we become entangled in many errors. Therefore, if we rightly direct our love, we must first turn our eyes not to man, the sight of whom would more often engender hate than love, but to God, who bids us extend to all men the love we bear to him, that this may be an unchanging principle: Whatever the character of the man, we must yet love him because we love God.”

Morning

⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
⁶my soul waits for the Lord
   more than watchmen for the morning,
   more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130

God's Faithfulness

Mark Batterson post:  For David's Sake

I love it when you get big revelations from little verses. We're reading through I and II Kings right now and it's incredible the way God blesses certain kings because of his loyalty to their ancestor, David.

This little phrase in I Kings 15:3 got in my spirit: "for David's sake." You've heard the phrase: For Pete's Sake right? I actually have no idea what that means. But it reminds me of this phrase: "for David's sake." David's faithfulness to God resulted in God's faithfulness to David. It translates into a multi-generational blessing that defied time and space. Why? Because God's faithfulness isn't limited to the present tense.

In the margin of my Bible I wrote "grandfather." There have been moments in my life when the Holy Spirit has whispered to my spirit: this is an answer to your grandparents prayers. I have experienced the blessing of God because of my grandfather's faithfulness.

I'm hoping that God blesses my kids and grand kids "for Mark's sake."

Even Then

I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God's church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother's womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.

Galatians 1:13-16 [The Message]

Divine Strength

Ray Ortlund post:  When really weak in ourselves

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

“Christ says to those who seek deliverance from pain and sorrow, ‘It is enough that I love you.’ . . . Most Christians are satisfied in trying to be resigned under suffering.  They think it is a great thing if they can bring themselves to submit to be the dwelling-place of Christ’s power.  To rejoice in their afflictions because thereby Christ is glorified is more than they aspire to.  Paul’s experience was far above that standard. . . .

When really weak in ourselves, and conscious of that weakness, we are in the state suited to the manifestation of the power of God.  When emptied of ourselves, we are filled with God.  Those who think they can change their own hearts, atone for their own sins, subdue the power of evil in their own souls or in the souls of others, who feel able to sustain themselves under affliction, God leaves to their own resources.  But when they feel and acknowledge their weakness, he communicates to them divine strength.”

Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, 1973 reprint), pages 287-289.

Engagement

Miscellanies post:  Parodies of eschatological hope

It was inevitable that I would read James Davidson Hunter’s book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford, 2010). The book has generated a lot of buzz in the blogotubes and for a time I’m pretty certain one of my friends was doing his morning devotions from it. So I read it and I’m glad I did. Hunter is an exceptional writer.

Personally, I am hesitant to embrace or endorse his overall vision for cultural engagement mostly because I’ve left the entire discussion of cultural engagement to those with much larger brains than my own. But one of Hunter’s points resonates with me.

On pages 234–235 Hunter writes the following (bold/italics his):

Let me finally stress that any good that is generated by Christians is only the net effect of caring for something more than the good created. If there are benevolent consequences of our engagement with the world, in other words, it is precisely because it is not rooted in a desire to change the world for the better but rather because it is an expression of a desire to honor the creator of all goodness, beauty, and truth, a manifestation of our loving obedience to God, and a fulfillment of God’s command to love our neighbor.

It is clear at this point that the very source of affirmation—its motive, its logic, and its telos—contains the second moment in the dialectic: antithesis. Antithesis is rooted in a recognition of the totality of the fall. In this light, all human effort falls short of its intended potential, all human aspirations exist under judgment, and all human achievement is measured by the standards of the coming kingdom.

In the present historical context, this means that Christians recognize that all social organizations exist as parodies of eschatological hope. And so it is that the city is a poor imitation of heavenly community; the modern state, a deformed version of the ecclesia; the market, a distortion of consummation; modern entertainment, a caricature of joy; schooling, a misrepresentation of true formation; liberalism, a crass simulacrum of freedom; and the sovereignty we accord to the self, a parody of God himself.

As these institutions and ideals become ends in themselves, they become the objects of idolatry. The shalom of God—which is to say, the presence of God himself—is the antithesis to all such imitations. Always and everywhere he relativizes the pretensions of all social institutions to power, fellowship, joy, freedom, and authority. Always and everywhere his presence declares that human endeavor is never the final word.

True or Helpful

Miscellanies post:  Pragmatism

C.S. Lewis opened his essay “Man or Rabbit?” [now published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970), pages 108–113] with these words:

“‘Can’t you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?’ This is the question on which I have been asked to write, and straight away, before I begin trying to answer it, I have a comment to make. The question sounds as if it were asked by a person who said to himself, ‘I don’t care whether Christianity is in fact true or not. I’m not interested in finding out whether the real universe is more like what the Christians say than what the Materialists say. All I’m interested in is leading a good life. I’m going to choose beliefs not because I think them true but because I find them helpful.’

Now frankly, I find it hard to sympathise with this state of mind. One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When that desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe any of you have really lost that desire. More probably, foolish preachers, by always telling you how much Christianity will help you and how good it is for society, have actually led you to forget that Christianity is not a patent medicine. Christianity claims to give an account of facts—to tell you what the real universe is like. Its account of the universe may be true, or it may not, and once the question is really before you, then your natural inquisitiveness must make you want to know the answer. If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be: if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives him no help at all.”

Proximal and Personal

From Didn't See This Coming:  Treatment #5:  What's Next??

From Dr. Groopman's book on Psalm 23: "Rabbi Hamilton pointed out to me that the psalm suggests two very different scenes. The first is an idyllic one: green pastures and still water. The second is a harrowing on: the valley of the shadow of death. In the idyllic setting, God is somewhat distant and is spoke of in the third person: "he" maketh me to lie down in green pastures, "he" leadeth me beside the still waters. But then there is an abrupt shift in scene and of God's person. When the Psalmist walks through the valley of the shadow of death, God is addressed as "thou". The change to the familiar indicates that God has moved near to us, become a close companion, allaying our fear, supporting us with rod and staff, nourishing us in the presence of our enemies. Faith is most powerful when God is felt as proximal and personal."

Relationships

Ray Ortlund post:  Seven ways we can guard and repair relationships

1.  We can rejoice in one another, because the Lord rejoices in us.
Psalm 16:3 sets the tone: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”  There is excellence to admire in every Christian.

2.  We can create an environment of trust rather than negative scrutiny.
1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”  Human eyes are not competent to judge human hearts.

3.  We can judge ourselves, even as we give each other the benefit of the doubt.
Matthew 7:5 says, “First take the log out of your own eye.”

4.  If a problem must be addressed, we can talk to, not about.  Gossip destroys.
Matthew 18:15 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”  James 1:26 says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

5.  If a problem must be addressed, we can avoid blanket statements but identify factual specifics, offer a positive path forward and preserve everyone’s dignity.
“You are ___________” is too absolute to be fair.  It leaves a person with no freedom to improve.  Better to say, “In this situation, when you _____________, that set us back.  It would be helpful if, in the future, you would ______________.  What do you think?  And is there anything I can do that might help?”

6.  We can always extend kindness.
Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another.”  The word “kind” is used in Matthew 11:30 when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy.”  Kindness asks, “How can I make this situation as easy for the other person as possible?  How can I avoid embarrassing this person?  How can I make a positive response as easy as it can be?”

7.  When we do wrong one another, we can say to the person harmed, “I was wrong.  I am sorry.  It won’t happen again.  Is there anything I could do now that might make a positive difference?”
Where a wrong has been done, as the Bible defines wrong, an apology heals and helps.
“Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.”  Genesis 33:4

A Pure Gift

^21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. 


Romans 3:21-24 [The Message]

Tensions

Excerpt from Matt Chandler:  Divine Tensions

Here’s what I’ve learned, even through this little journey, and I knew it to be true before. Keep in mind, I’m not teaching a new sermon here. You can go download this from October. My theology has not changed here. What I’ve got to experience is both through this. I get e-mails from people just going, “The Lord’s will be done,” and then I get e- mails from people going, “You just believe and the kingdom is here. Christ has already purchased your healing,” which is partly true. He has purchased my healing, but we’re still wasting away. Paul unbelievably clear about that. So you get these two camps. Do you see what’s happening? There’s, “We don’t need to bother Him. He’s going to heal Matt or He’s not,” or it’s, “We just need to pray enough.” There’s this draw in the soul of man to be Aladdin and make God Robin Williams, to rub the lamp and go, “Do what I tell You.” And we’ll lock up whether or not God loves us depending on if He responds in the way we want Him to. We make Him a cheap magician and not the God of the universe. And it’s a sad, horrible thing to condense and reduce God down to “He loves me if He does what I say.” That’s Willy Wonka, that’s Veruca Salt, that’s “I want the squirrel” or “I want the goose that lays the golden egg,” depending on which version you like. So in this, both are correct. You’ve got to watch your tendency to reduce. You’ve got to watch the tendency to go, “It’s just His will, and what He’s going to do He’s going to do.” And you’ve got to watch the tendency to go, “No, if we simply believe, we fast, we pray and we bother and He’ll answer.” You’ve got to resist polarizing in either one of those directions, because the truth is they are both true. The Scriptures are flooded with both of them.

...

I think there are several other examples in Scripture that help us with this. I love Paul in Corinthians, who is far more powerful and I in regards to walking in the Holy Spirit. His handkerchief and apron heal people. A lot of times in the Scriptures, he’s not going, “Jesus, please heal this man.” He walks up and goes, “Get up and walk,” and the guy gets up and walks. Now that’s different, right? Because I’ve prayed for a lot of people while I was in the hospital, “Please heal. . .please heal. . .please heal. . .” I have never said, “Get up and walk,” and had someone hop out of their bed and walk. So this is a different level of power that I’ve ever been able to walk in, and I would contend that it’s greater than anything you have been able to walk in either. And yet on three occasions, Paul pleads with God, “Remove this thorn in my flesh. . .remove this thorn in my flesh. . .remove this thorn in my flesh.” And what’s the answer? “No.” God’s answer to him was, “No, I won’t. If I take this from you, you’ll boast in your exceedingly great revelation, and I’ve already said that the proud I know from afar. No, I will not heal you, but My grace will be sufficient for you in it.” But then you’ve got other times where God absolutely heals. In Philippians, you’ve got a guy, Epaphroditus, who gets really sick, and Paul and other apostles are praying that he’d be healed. But he keeps getting worse and worse, and they think he’s going to die. And then right near the end, all of a sudden, God heals him and it’s clear that He heals them in the prayers of the saints. So you start getting these pictures of, “No. . .Yes, but I’m going to let you suffer for a season,” and then sometimes it’s just immediate and miraculous. So I would say in all of this that even if God chooses not to heal, then we praise Him for all circumstances, knowing that He is sovereign, knowing that He is above all, knowing that He is in all and through all. There is a great C.S. Lewis quote in his book on grief where he talks about when you’re in heaven, when all of it is said and done, it’s not that you look back at all the problems and pain and go, “Oh, that makes sense.” Instead, you look back and there was never a problem to begin with. I’ve always loved that quote.

Children of God

From Worship Matters:  The Prodigal

Able to Deliver

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Daniel 3:16-18

Voices

Mark Batterson post:  The Classic Mistake

For better or for worse, your destiny is determined by decisions. And it's often big decisions that seem like little decisions, but destiny can turn on a dime.

The decision in I Kings 12:8 was "for worse." It says: "Rehoboam abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him."

Who are you listening to?

I think Rehoboam made the classic mistake many young leaders make. He surrounded himself with "yes men." By surrounding himself with the young men he grew up with he limited his input to those who only knew what he knew. They had only experienced what he experienced. It's so important that you have some people who can speak into your life from a different vantage point. It's so important that you have counselors who have been there and done that. It's so important that you respect those who have made more trips around the sun.

We only make a few major decisions in our lives. We spend the rest of our lives managing those major decisions. This one was catastrophic. This little decision to listen to the wrong voices split the kingdom in two! It led to civil war. And it all sprang from a young leader's arrogance.

I think it's so important that we listen to the voice of innovation but we also need to listen to the voice of wisdom. It's not either/or. It's both/and.

Liberating Mission

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer:  Monday is for Missiology:  Missional Voices II

Roxburgh amends the "gospel, church, culture trialogue" to reflect his aforementioned themes in another type of "relational" triangle:
In this paradigm, Roxburgh claims the whole of the missio Dei is about what God is doing in all of creation. The calling of the church is to ask the larger questions of what God is doing in the creation and to be the "sign, witness, and foretaste of that work."

According to Roxburgh, so much of the missional conversations in North America place the church as the "goal, end, subject and purpose," and "this preoccupation continues to prevent Christians in North America from engaging the kind of missionary dynamic Newbigin so eloquently presented to us." [3] At the same time, he affirms the function of the church in mission:

The argument here is not to diminish the incredible dignity, vocation and, even, ontological priority of the church. This acting and working of God in Christ is in and through the church. The church is that which has, even before the creation itself, been in God's purposes in terms of how the work of Christ is made tangible and expressed in creation. [4]

Alan and I have only met once when we led the "Beyond the Church Doors" conference sponsored at Dallas Theological Seminary. I found him to be a deep thinker and a challenging communicator. I have read (I think) all of his books and use them when I teach on the missional church.

Alan Hirsch
Another of today's leading missional practitioners, Alan Hirsch, is the founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network, co-founder of shapevine.com, and author of such books as Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship, co-authored with Deb Hirsch (2010), ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church, co-written with Michael Frost (2008), The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (2006), The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century, co-written with Frost (2003), among others. His writings have been widely cited in assisting the church as it sorts through the intersection of Christology, missiology, and ecclesiology within today's evangelical landscape.

In his book ReJesus, Hirsch cites the same Trinitarian grounding of the missio Dei by Bosch that Guder does earlier, but Hirsch reflects the fullness of Bosch's expansion of the missio Dei to another "movement." In Transforming Mission, Bosch writes, "The classical doctrine of the missio Dei...[is] expanded to include yet another 'movement': Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world." [5] Hirsch is quick to assert that it is important to see the cycle continuing with the triune God sending the church into the world, while at the same time, refusing to revert to the previous ecclesiocentric approach.

Once the missio Dei becomes the framework for mission, Hirsch believes that the subsequent role of the church is participation in the liberating mission of Jesus (referred to by the Latin term participati Christi). Hirsch echoes Bosch:

Mission takes place where the church, in its total involvement with the world., bears its testimony in the form of a servant, with reference to unbelief, exploitation, discrimination, and violence, but also with reference to salvation, healing, liberation, reconciliation, and righteousness... Looked at from this perspective, mission is...the participation of Christians in the liberating mission of Jesus...It's the good news of God's love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world. [6]

Therefore, according to Hirsch, the church is not a religious institution but rather a vibrant community of believers who partake in the way of Jesus and his work in the world. Further, he argues that the function of the church is "humble participation in his grand scheme -- the kingdom of God. We neither determine our own agenda nor merely imitate God's, but rather participate in the marvelous plan of God according to his call and guidance." [7]

Hirsch warns that it is a great error to equate the church with the kingdom of God. In his paradigm, the kingdom is much broader than the church-- in a cosmic sense. He writes, "The church is perhaps the primary agent in the kingdom but must not be equated with it. We need to be able to see the kingdom activity wherever it expresses itself and join with God in it." [8] In a recent article in Leadership Journal, Hirsch asserts that the mission is an instrument of the church, a means by which the church is grown. But, he writes, to say the "church has a mission" is incorrect. [9] According to missional theology, Hirsch says, the more correct statement is "the mission has a church." [10]

Gracious

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

WHAT CONSTITUTES A SUFFICIENT APOLOGY?

Great is your mercy, O Lord.  Psalm 119:156

When I've wronged someone, how many times do I have to say "I'm sorry" for mercy to be shown?  In this world, the greater the offense, the more times a repeated apology is necessary.  To match the crime, restitution can be steep as the other party decides what it's going to take to make them happy.

Jesus paid my debt to God.  His death was saying to His Father, "I'm sorry", on my behalf.  Sorry for my sin of rebellion, for glorifying myself, for spurning His love.  All I have to do to access God's merciful response is acknowledge my sin and ask for forgiveness.  Then, it's mine.  No reservations.  Nothing given piece-meal.  God does not require a repentance that is steep enough to match my crime.  Jesus already gave that. God forgives when I ask the first time and washes the condemnation away.  The memory of my offense is out of sight and behind His back.

Is. 30:18 "The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy toward you." What about the times I'm a prodigal?  What of the times I go off and really blow it with God.  The offense is so bad that I dread the thought of ever being in God's presence again.  Surely, I will be struck dead.  I'll feel a sense of His displeasure for years to come, right?  Look how badly I sinned.  Satan writes and directs this mini-movie that plays out in the hearts of the afraid.  God is portrayed as the angry, spurned Father who will never truly be satisfied with a simple, sincere apology.

My Father is just waiting to be gracious to me.  He has mercy in His hands.  On the tip of His tongue is the cry for a party to be given to honor my homecoming.  For any who have transgressed, then come limping home, we testify to the great love of the Father that envelopes us the moment we repent. In the presence of so great a love, we wonder why in the world we waited so long to find our way home.

There aren't the words to truly convey what your mercy is like.  Show us and send our preconceived ideas packing.   Amen

Hallelujah -- All I Have Is Christ!

All I Have Is Christ from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Joy

Ray Ortlund post:  As long as you are just moral

“A Christianity which does not make you happy is not worthy of the name.  But as long as you are just moral you will never be happy; you will never know the joy of the Holy Spirit.  But the kingdom of God, the faith of the New Testament, is vibrant with joy.  Look at the people on the day of Pentecost. . . . That is Christianity.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Kingdom of God (Wheaton, 1992), page 83.

Who You Are

Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics. 

Romans 2:25-29  [The Message]

Only Place of Immaculate Hope

LifeToday Weekly Devotional

The Only Place of Hope
by Matt Chandler

I have always, by the grace of God, been intrigued by the tensions created in scripture, so I’ve dug and asked questions and been tenacious about pursuing understanding. If, however, I step back and truly gain the perspective that God is the Alpha and the Omega, who has always been and always will be, while I am finite, small and momentary then it is evident that there are pieces that I am not going to understand or see that are very clear to Him.

This is where faith comes in. This place of mystery is not where we, as believers, turn off our brains, stop thinking and start speaking foolishly. It’s where we press in, we study, we do sound exegesis in the scriptures, we learn what the Bible says and we learn to live in faith in tension.

According to Jesus, the birds are fed because the Father feeds them and wildflowers grow because God lets them grow.  Here’s an interesting thing – Ecclesiastes clearly outlines in chapter one that these people understood the water cycle: it rains, it evaporates and then it rains again. They understand the science behind how the natural process works, yet they still say, “God makes it rain.” It’s their understanding that He is behind all the natural processes.

“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.” (Psalm 135:5-6)
The first chapter of Ephesians shows us that God works everything according to His will and that we were loved and called from before time and the earth were created. There is not a single part of creation over which God does not rightly and beautifully stand and declare, “This is Mine, this is My doing, this is Me operating, this is Me accomplishing for Me and My purposes.”

In the midst of this, men and women in the Bible cry out to God about their circumstances and situations. They ask Him to relent, they ask Him to start something He’s not doing, they ask Him to stop something that He’s doing, and He hears them and responds.

In Exodus 32, the people have rebelled against God and God tells Moses, “I’m killing every one of them. Leave Me alone. I’m going to destroy them, and then I’m starting with you.”  Moses, however, pleads with God for the lives of Israel and God changes His mind.

“And the Lord changed His mind about the terrible disaster He had threatened to bring on His people.” (Exodus 32:14)
God is sovereign, God already has His plan and is working it, and yet He says, “If you’ll come to Me, I’ll respond.”  Because we are Western and have a linear mindset, we have difficulty with this concept.  We question, is God sovereign or can we change His mind? Can we engage Him in such a way that God hears us and responds?  The answer is, “Yes!”

We see this interactive dynamic appear over and over again in scripture.

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
When my wife and I began the process of dealing with my cancer, at every doctor’s appointment we knew what we wanted to hear and what we didn’t want to hear. We went into every doctor’s appointment only to have things go exactly opposite the way we had hoped and prayed.  Lauren and I had to smile as Proverbs 16:9 became very real to us.

What I’ve experienced through my journey with cancer is the tension we see between God having His plans and God being willing to respond to us.

Two camps of thought exist regarding how God interacts with us. There is the camp of “We don’t need to bother God. He’s going to do it or He’s not.”  This camp turns God into an uncaring, absentee landlord. Then there is the “We just need to pray enough” camp which makes Him into a genie who can be controlled if we rub His lamp the right way.  Both camps reduce God to something He’s not. We’ve got to resist polarizing in either direction. The truth is that both pictures are seen in scripture but neither is the rock upon which we place our hope.

The love of God for us is wrapped up in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God in the flesh – His death on the cross, burial and resurrection – and not in whether He heals me.

My plan is to grow old, to walk my girls down the aisle, to see my boy grow up and marry a godly woman and become a godly man. I hope and pray for those things. My wife and I aggressively fight for those things, and we believe that’s how it’s going to play out. But if it doesn’t, there is no bitterness in my heart. We have been privileged to live really, really well and enjoy God very deeply for a long time, praising Him for all circumstances, knowing that He is sovereign, knowing that He is above all, knowing that He is in all and through all.

God’s love is bound in Jesus Christ, the cross and the resurrection, not on any suffering you or I may experience. We have been given God’s love in the cross of Jesus Christ and the surety that Christ willingly absorbed the God’s wrath toward you and me so that we might be blameless and holy before Him according to His predetermined plan. (Ephesians 1) Our love is secure there, nowhere else. This is the only place of immaculate hope.

Adapted from Pastor Chandler's sermon notes on "Divine Tensions" available from The Village Church website.