Beliefs About Scriptural Authority

Excerpt from John D. Woodbridge post:  Evangelical Self-Identity and the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy

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Identifying and adhering to central church doctrines and confessions is a very important thing for us even if we uphold Scripture as our ultimate, final authority. The enterprise can provide us with a better understanding of our own evangelical theological self-identity. Do our beliefs about scriptural authority, for example, reside within identifiable central teachings of the historic Christian church? If they do not, we may have become doctrinal innovators regarding our views of Scripture despite our intentions to uphold orthodox Christian teaching.

Heeding and adhering to central church doctrines and confessions can also help steer us away from theological mishaps. In the volume The Mark of Jesus, Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School, describes well the value of statements of faith:

How do such statements of faith serve the cause of evangelical unity? Perhaps they are best compared to the guardrails that help a driver especially in bad weather, to negotiate the treacherously narrow road and hairpin curves of a dangerous mountain highway. Such guardrails establish limits that protect us from the dangers of the gaping ravines to the right and to our left. Only a fool with suicidal tendencies would want to drive across a range of mountains such as the Alps in Switzerland without guardrails. It would be equally foolish, of course, to mistake the guardrails for the road, for when we start driving on the rails it is certain that catastrophe is imminent!

For the Christian there is only one road. Jesus said, “I am the way [road] and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Or, as Augustine put it, Christ is “both our native country and himself also the road to that country.” This analogy is not a perfect one, of course; still, we might push it a little further to say that the Bible is our road map, a divinely given and indispensable resource that helps us to find the road and keeps us on it while the Holy Spirit helps us to see both the road and the guardrails [statements of faith] and to keep both in proper perspective.4

In this essay, I will reiterate the thesis that biblical inerrancy has been a church doctrine or Augustinian central teaching of the Western Christian churches, including evangelical Protestant churches. Consequently, evangelicals who affirm the doctrine of biblical inerrancy are by no means doctrinal innovators. By biblical inerrancy, I mean in shorthand the doctrine that the Bible is infallible for faith and practice as well as for matters of history and science.5 By the expression church doctrine, I am referring to a widespread shared belief of Christian churches that have had a historical existence in the West.6

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Love So Amazing

My richest gain I count but loss
and pour contempt on all my pride

Theologically Thinking

Excerpt from Dan Kimball post:  Theology and Doctrine Series at Vintage Faith Church

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The more I am engaging in conversations in particular with college age and younger adults, I am finding that for one - there is a general lack of understanding of basic historical doctrines of the faith. But also, they are greatly eager to learn them. I first ran this idea by our 8 interns at our church who are in their 20's and they overwhelmingly were very excited about the idea of this and believed that others would be as well. I do believe more than ever today, we need to be teacher of theology and apologetics in addition to whatever else we may be covering. But without fail, in any friendship or discussion I have with those who aren't Christians, theological questions and topics come up. So if we are truly missional, then we must be theologically thinking. For some of you reading this, you may be "Of course, that is elementary and of course you should." I respect that but I do wonder how well we actually do this in many of our churches? I know some of the more hard-core Reformed churches are better at this than the rest of us. But in mainstream evangelicalism, I think we need to ramp up our theological teaching, apologetics and especially with new generations.

So for this Fall, we are kicking off a 13 week series about doctrine and theology and then in all our Community Groups that meet mid-week, they will be studying through the book of Romans. Our mid-week community groups generally all study books of the Bible and Romans felt appropriate for this season.

We are teaching the Sunday series more as a systematic theology class. When I approach systematic theology, I will be teaching with the understanding that systems on their own can be confusing. Also the various streams of Christianity that exist out there as to what "historical" doctrines are believed as "core". It is important to teach this beyond just the systematic breakdown of doctrines. You can dissect an automobile to its parts and study each part. But without understand how they all fit together...and what kind of car is it that they even fit within.... and even backing out further to what kind of person or family and what reasons did they choose that car... and what is their socio-economic situation for how they chose that car....  You can study a part or system, yes. But it needs to be placed within the whole - especially for theology which is the study of God, not an automobile.

But organically, our bodies have systems. We have a respiratory system, a circulatory system, nervous system, musculoskeletal system etc. So systems are important to break down and study but also need to see how they fit in the whole. For this study, it is the whole story of God revealed in the Scriptures which the systems of theology fit within.

Here is the week to week breakdown of what we will be studying/teaching. It is dificult to only look at breaking it into 13 weeks. But it is my best attempt at doing it. I was trying to come up with catchy names for each week too, but then gave up and simply put the basic title of the topic or doctrine.

September 18 - Why Theology and Doctrine Matters
September 25 - God: The Trinity
October 2 - Jesus
October 9 - The Holy Spirit
October 16 - The Bible
October 23 - Creation
October 30 - Angels, Satan and Demons
November 6 - Salvation
November 13 - Sanctification
November 20 - Guest Speaker: David Lamb teaching on "Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist?”
November 27 - The Church and The Kingdom of God
December 4 - Baptism and The Lord's Supper
December 11 - The Afterlife
December 18 - The Return of Jesus (and we will tie the second coming into the first coming at Christmas to end the series)

We are recommending that everyone gets one of two books to be reading along as we teach through this series. One is a short book and the other a long one, but they both coincide together and also will be able to easily follow along with the Sunday teaching.

Christians Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem (shorter  book - 137 pages)

Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings Of The Christian Faith by Wayne Grudem (longer book – 471 pages)

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New Kosmos

Miscellanies post:  Ethics and New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NRSV)

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Richard Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics (HarperOne, 1996), page 20:

The apocalyptic scope of 2 Corinthians 5 was obscured by older translations that rendered the crucial phrase in verse 17 as “he is a new creation” (RSV) or — worse yet — “he is a new creature” (KJV). Such translations seriously distort Paul’s meaning by making it appear that he is describing only the personal transformation of the individual through conversion experience. The sentence in Greek, however, lacks both subject and verb; a very literal translation might treat the words “new creation” as an exclamatory interjection: “If anyone is in Christ — new creation!”

The NRSV has rectified matters by rendering the passage, “If anyone is in Christ there is a new creation.” Paul is not merely talking about an individual’s subjective experience of renewal through conversion; rather, for Paul, “creation” refers to the whole create order (Rom. 8:18–25). He is proclaiming the apocalyptic message that through the cross God has nullified the kosmos of sin and death and brought a new kosmos into being. That is why Paul can describe himself and his readers as those “on whom the ends of the ages has met” (1 Cor. 10:11). The old age is passing away (cf. 1 Cor. 7:31b), the new age has appeared in Christ, and the church stands at the juncture between them.

Citizenship

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Politics, the Pulpit, and the IRS

As Christians, we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom and also live as citizens of the country where God has placed us. Part of being a "good citizen" is to care about where you are-- its economy, justice, morality, etc. We mostly do that in personal ways-- by being a "faithful presence."

However, through elections we get involved in government. And, when you are involved in government, that involves politics. Politics is often simply the machinery that moves government. If you want to influence government, you will (to some degree) be impacted by politics.

We have completed two surveys recently looking at pastors, people, and politics. The numbers are pretty clear: pastors and people do not think that pulpits are the right place for politics and they also feel that the IRS should not be using the threat of the loss of tax exemption to regulate those pulpits.

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Choose Life

Ray Ortlund post:  Our words have direction:  life or death

“The book of Proverbs is, in ways, a treatise on talk.  I would summarize it this way: words give life; words bring death – you choose.  What does this mean?  It means you have never spoken a neutral word in your life.  Your words have direction to them.  If your words are moving in the life direction, they will be words of encouragement, hope, love, peace, unity, instruction, wisdom, and correction.  But if your words are moving in a death direction, they will be words of anger, malice, slander, jealousy, gossip, division, contempt, racism, violence, judgment, and condemnation.  Your words have direction to them.  When you hear the word talk you ought to hear something that is high and holy and significant and important.  May God help us never to look at talk as something that doesn’t matter.”

Paul David Tripp, in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, 2009), page 24.  Italics original.

Let’s never tell ourselves, “But it’s okay.  It’s not as though I’m doing anything.  It’s only words.  They will go away.”

Fresh Grace Today

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer Expressing How Much We Need Jesus

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spoke this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Mark 8:31-33

Lord Jesus, one of the many things I cherish about the Bible is the way it robs me of my penchant for hero worship. Who but God would write a book documenting the foibles and failures of so many of his sons and daughters? Who but God would chronicle the ways his chosen leaders, like Peter, limp along and prove themselves to be in constant need of mercy and grace?

This gives me great encouragement and hope. It also gives me freedom to acknowledge that I need the gospel today just as much as the first day I believed it. This will be just as true tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Keep me convinced, Jesus, because I’m much like Peter.

It’s one thing for me to get irritated and angry about the ways this generation is downplaying your work on the cross. But it’s quite another to see the subtle ways I try to keep you from the cross. Deal with me as you dealt with Peter.

When I mute my heart to the insult of grace, I deny your cross. When I think, even for one moment, that my obedience merits anything, I deny your cross. When I put others under the microscope and measure of performance-based living, I deny your cross. When I wallow in self-contempt and shame, I deny your cross. When I’d rather do penance than repent, I deny your cross.

When I gossip juicy tidbits more than I gossip the gospel, I deny your cross. When I pout more than I praise; when I show more fear than faith; when I want to be right more than I want to be righteous, I deny your cross. When I talk about people more than I pray for the same people, I deny your cross. When my grip on grudges is tighter than my grasp of the gospel, I deny your cross.

By the gospel, help me to mind the things of God more than the things of men. May your cross get bigger, and may my boast in it grow louder. Jesus, you’re the main hero in the Bible. The rest of us are totally dependent on you. That’s never going to change. I need fresh grace today. So very Amen I pray, in your patient and persistent name.

Living by Faith

Excerpts from Tullian Tchividjian post:  Luther on Law

Ok, get ready to do some real thinking here. What follows is heavy theological lifting.

I asked my friend Jono Linebaugh to weigh in on the recent discussion about Law and Gospel. His thinking is solid. His nuances are crucial. He adds serious depth to this ongoing conversation. Much food for thought here.

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Compare this to a couple examples of New Testament imperatives. First, consider Galatians 5.1. After four chapters of passionate insistence that justification is by faith apart from works of the Law, Paul issues a couple of strong imperatives: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore stand firm (imperative) and do not be subject (imperative) again to the yoke of slavery.” Are these imperatives instances of God’s accusing and killing words? Are these commandments with conditions? Is Galatians 5.1 an example of Law? No! The command here is precisely to not return to the Law; it is an imperative to stand firm in freedom from the Law. Or take another example, John 8.11. Once the accusers of the adulterous women left, Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Depart. From now on, sin no more.” Does this final imperative disqualify the words of mercy? Is this a commandment with a condition? Is this Law following the Gospel? No! This would be Law: “if you go and sin no more, then neither will I condemn you.” But Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The command is not a condition. “Neither do I condemn you” is categorical and unconditional, it comes with no strings attached. “Neither do I condemn you” creates an unconditional context within which “go and sin no more” is not an “if.” The only “if” the Gospel knows is this: “if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1 John 2.1).

For Luther, it is within this unconditional context created by the gospel, the reality he called “living by faith,” that the Law understood as God’s good commands can be returned to its proper place. Freed from the burden and bondage of attempting to use the Law to establish our righteousness before God, Christians are free to look to commandments, not as conditions, but as descriptions and directions as they seek to serve their neighbor. In other words, once a person is liberated from the commonsense delusion that acting righteously makes us righteous before God, and in faith believes the counter-intuitive reality that being made righteous by God’s forgiving and resurrecting word precedes and produces righteous action, then the justified person is unlocked to love.

For this reason, Luther would insist that the Law only applies to the second question of Christian living: what shall we do? It helps to answer the “what” question, the question about the content of good works. The Law, however, does not answer the more basic question, the question far too few people ask: How do good works occur? What fuels works of love? While the Law demands and directs, what delivers and drives? For Luther, the answer to this question always follows the pattern of 1 John 4.19: “We love because he first loved us.” Works of love flow from prior belovedness. Thus, as Lutheran theologian Oswald Bayer has said, the essential question of theological ethics is this: “What has been given?” The answer: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5.8).

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How We See Him

Steven Furtick post:  Jesus: What You See is What You Get

Jesus left there and went to his hometown…When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed…Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son? And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Mark 6:1-6

Have you ever wondered why some churches and people experience the power of God on a greater level than others? Why some people seem to be magnetic for miracles and the extraordinary, while others only ever hear about them?

There’s a lot of reasons, but I believe this passage gives us one huge aspect of the answer.

At this point in His ministry, Jesus was on a roll.  In fact, in this chapter of Mark we pick up in the middle of a regional speaking tour and Jesus was practically packing out coliseums with people who came to hear Him and be healed by Him. You would expect him to be able to roll into his hometown and do even greater things. But that’s not what happens. Instead, all He can do is heal a common cold.

Why does the Bible say Jesus couldn’t do miracles? Not wouldn’t, but couldn’t?

When you read the above passage, it’s pretty clear. The miracle working power of Jesus wasn’t limited because His ability subsided. But because they did not believe. And their unbelief was tied directly to what they saw, and they didn’t see much. It goes back to the perception principle I explained last Thursday. Because they did not perceive, they were not able to receive.

Like most American Christians, their exposure to Jesus was great. But also like most American Christians, their experience of Him was limited. That’s why He was amazed at their lack of faith. And that’s why His power was limited.

I believe that the reason some churches see God show up in extraordinary measures and do remarkable things and other churches are dying on the vine has nothing to do with the power of God. God is powerful everywhere.  He’s powerful on every continent in every time zone. He has the ability to change lives anywhere you go.

The determining factor in the activity of God in our churches and in our lives isn’t even who Jesus is. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
It really comes down to this:
It’s not who He is, it’s how we see Him.

These people saw Him as a carpenter. That’s what they got.
Others had seen Him as someone capable of miracles. That’s what they got.

The same principle is true today.

If you see Jesus as a good teacher, that’s what you’re going to get.
If you see Him as someone who used to move in power, that’s what you’re going to get.
If you see Him as someone who still moves in power, that’s what you’re going to get.


When it comes to Jesus, what you see is what you get.

Jesus’ infinite miracle-working power hasn’t changed. It’s still the same, yesterday, today, and forever. What can change today is how you choose to see how that power is available to you. And what can then change is how much you will witness that power flowing through your life.

Finding Rest

Excerpt from Paul Tripp: The Futility of Control and Your Reason to Rest

As a pastor, I learned the hard way that my ministry was either propelled by hope-motivating rest in God’s sovereignty or fear-inducing belief that success would be the result of me controlling everything. In my early morning waking moments, in those quiet moments in the car or as my body gave way to sleep, I would pepper myself with a long list of “what ifs” and “if onlys.” This habit never produced greater courage or rest. It only tempted me to wonder if I had what it takes and pushed me to try to control things that I could not control. But over and over again in grace my heavenly Father came to me through his Word and the ministry of others and remind me of the only place rest could be found.

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Pastor, God does the same thing with you, over and over again. He meets you in one of the difficult hallways of your life, kneels down before you in condescending love, and asks you to trust his loving and wise rule, even though you don’t have a clue what he is doing. He knows there are many times when your life and ministry don’t look like there is anyone ruling them, let alone someone wise and good. He knows there will be times when you will wish you could write your own story. He knows that at times you will be overwhelmed by what is on your plate. He knows that his plan will confuse and confound you. And he knows that real rest cannot be found in understanding. Real rest is found in trust. So he is willing to have the conversation with you again and again, and he has made sure that his Word assures you of his rule again and again. (For just a few examples, see 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalm 103:19, Psalm 115:3, Proverbs 21:1, Isaiah 46:9-10, Daniel 4:35, and Ephesians 1:11.)

Is your ministry a place of rest? Are you propelled by the security of your Father’s sovereign care? In condescending love, he kneels before you once again today, face to face, and invites you to find rest where it only can be found—in trusting him. You can rest in the knowledge that your Father is wise, powerful, gracious, holy and faithful and his rule is bigger than all the responsibilities, opportunities, and obstacles that you could ever face.

God and God Alone

Love this song (Kingdom Come) by Nicole Mullen

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Our Father, in heaven,
So holy is your name.
The angels, they adore you,
Soon all Earth will do the same.

Where every tear that we have cried,
Will be comforted and dried.
We'll eat from the Tree of Life,
And life will never end.

And we'll worship at your throne,
Where you'll make your Glory known.
That you are God and God alone,
And we pray.

[Chorus]
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
Right here on Earth, as it is in heaven.
Come,
Make us your home,
And let thy kingdom,
Let thy kingdom...Let it come!
Thy will be done,
Right here on earth, as it is in heaven.
Come.

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A Chief Virtue

Mark Batterson post:  The Law of Favor

I love Peter 5:5-6: God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. That single verse, I call it the law of favor, is at the core of my spiritual operating system.

God can’t bless pride.  God won’t bless pride.  But if we cultivate a posture of humility, there you can’t stop God from blessing, from favoring, from gracing.  All I know is this: I don’t want God opposing me!  So my only option is to cultivate a spirit of humility.

I’m more and more convinced that humility is a chief virtue.  When you operate with a prideful spirit you’ll experience resistance, but if you operate with a spirit of humility the world will come to your aid.  And more importantly, the Almighty will come to your aid. The Spirit of pride never wins.  The spirit of humility is undefeated. You can’t lose if you operate out of a humble heart.  Will you be be taken advantage of on occasion? Sure.  But God will honor you.  Will you have to eat some humble pie along the way?  Absolutely!  But the net result with be the favor of God.

Humble Mindset

Excerpt from John Piper:  I and the Father Are One

[John 10:22-42]

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They are just about to seize him (verse 39), but he gives one more plea. And if there was still a chance for them, there is a chance for you. He says in verses 37–38:

“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand [it’s the same word for know and understand, only a different in past tense and present tense: “that you may know and go on to know more fully”] that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

This strikes me as amazingly merciful. I hope you hear it that way for yourself. If you can’t see your way clear to grasp my words and my person, then at least grasp what you can make of my deeds.

Why? Because that bit of knowing might turn into a fuller knowing and understanding of who he is.

This was Jesus’ last offer. And they came at him to seize him.

And you would think that the story is over. And it ends with opposition and unbelief. John could have stopped here and turned to the story of Lazarus in chapter 11. But he didn’t. For some reason, he gave another snapshot of Jesus across the Jordan to the northeast where many believed on him.


The Jerusalem story ends with anger and unbelief and murderous plans. But across the Jordan they believed. Is there a key here? Is John giving us a clue to what it is that opens the door of faith? Here’s what he says in verses 40–42:

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

Here’s what I think John is doing. He is showing us the key to faith—the kind of soil in which faith springs up and grows. He says that this place was where John the Baptist had preached and baptized.

In other words, where John’s message was embraced and respected faith in Jesus flourished. And what did he say about John’s ministry? What did the Gospel writer focus on? He reported what the people said (verse 41): “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

In other words, John’s ministry was utterly unpretentious. He was not after fame. He threw the spotlight utterly on Jesus. And wherever that mindset is admired and embraced, faith in Jesus flourishes. It didn’t flourish in Jerusalem. They rejected John and his message (Matthew 21:23–27).

But where John’s humble, self-effacing mindset was embraced people recognized Jesus. They heard his voice. They were his sheep.

Let me close with the words of John the Baptist. And as I read them, pray that you would love this humble mindset. That it would be yours. And that your heart would be the good soil where faith in Jesus springs up and keeps on growing.

“I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:28–30)

Adapting

What's Best Next:  Why Success Often Starts with Failure

A helpful article from the 99%.

Here’s the first part:

“Few of our own failures are fatal,” economist and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford writes in his new book, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. This may be true, but we certainly don’t act like it. When our mistakes stare us in the face, we often find it so upsetting that we miss out on the primary benefit of failing (yes, benefit): the chance to get over our egos and come back with a stronger, smarter approach. 

According to Adapt, “success comes through rapidly fixing our mistakes rather than getting things right first time.”

Be Patient and Stand Firm

Ray Ortlund post:  A responsive reading for 9/11

Leader:  “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

All:  And Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.”  And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Leader:  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

All:  “I don’t know,” he replied.  “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Leader:  The Lord said, “What have you done?  Listen!  Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

All:  Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!  At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.

Leader:  This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath,

All:  Because Edom pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked.”

Leader:  Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.

All:  Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.

Leader:  To the faithful you show yourself faithful, O Lord, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

All:  He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.  The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.

Leader:  You love righteousness and hate wickedness, O Lord.

All:  You will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

Leader:  Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you.

All:  As for me, O Lord, I will trust in you.

Leader:  But whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

All:  For our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Leader:  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

All:  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Leader:  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought we to be?

All:  Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Going Public

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. 

Matthew 5:14-16 [Message]

Free to Lose

Tullian Tchividjian post:  It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

The gospel liberates us to be okay with not being okay. We know we’re not okay—though we try very hard to convince ourselves and other people that we’re basically fine. But the gospel tells us, “Relax, it is finished. The pressure’s off.”

Because of the gospel, we have nothing to prove or protect. We can stop pretending. We can take off our masks and be real. The gospel frees us from trying to impress people, appease people, measure up for people, or prove ourselves to people. The gospel frees us  from the burden of trying to control what other people think about us. It frees us from the miserable, unquenchable pursuit to make something of ourselves by using others.

The gospel frees us from what one writer calls “the law of capability”—the law, he says, “that judges us wanting if we are not capable, if we cannot handle it all, if we are not competent to balance our diverse commitments without a slip.” The gospel grants us the strength to admit we’re weak and needy and restless—knowing that Christ’s finished work has proven to be all the strength and fulfillment and peace we could ever want, and more. Since Jesus is our strength, our weaknesses don’t threaten our sense of worth and value. Now we’re free to admit our wrongs and weaknesses without feeling as if our flesh is being ripped off our bones.

The gospel frees us from the urge to self-gain, to push ourselves forward for our own purposes and agenda and self-esteem. When you understand that your significance, security, and identity are all anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win—you’re free to lose. And nothing in this broken world can beat a person who isn’t afraid to lose! You’ll be free to say crazy, risky, counterintuitive stuff like, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”!

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others—because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front—because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking—because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

Real, pure, unadulterated freedom happens when the resources of the gospel smash any sense of need to secure for myself anything beyond what Christ has already secured for me.

Excerpted from my forthcoming book Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

He Changed Everything

The Wellspring post:  Jesus the Party Animal

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” But wisdom is proved right by her actions. (Matt. 11:18-19)

“They thought Jesus was a party animal,” she said, after reading the scripture. “And John was a prude.”

My pastor painted a word picture of a modern day party animal pastor—one who drove a sports car, had “long flowing hair”, and pierced ears. And she said, you have to understand—this is how the religious leaders of his day saw Jesus.

And then she described John as the stodgy old pastor up the way who was a bit consumed by the following of rules. Well, he was a Nazirite, right? No wine could touch his lips and no razor used on his head.

She was speaking in extremes, of course, to make a point, but her illustration sparked my imagination. I drew a picture of the “party animal Jesus” in the margin of my bulletin. Complete with flowing hair and convertible. Jeffrey peeked over my Bible at my artwork and he added an illustrated version of Fingerface in the backseat-- glamourized with lipstick and hair that whipped around in the breeze.

The poor will always be with you, he once said. And he shattered their delicate sensibilities. (Matt. 26:10-13). He changed the way the law was perceived (he did not come to abolish it, he said, but to fulfill it.—Matt. 5:17)

He changed everything.

I can’t help but to think that he must have been a lot fun to be around. I bet he laughed a lot.

I thought about this party animal Jesus as I added earrings to my convertible-driving savior. His coming ushered in the new covenant, yes. And even John did not understand. Are you the one? He sent his disciples to ask Jesus while he waited in Herod’s prison.

The stodgy old pastor is made a bit nervous by the sweeping changes that Jesus ushered in. But he accepted them. Even gave his life.

And Jesus? He loved John. So much so, that when he learned of his cousin’s death he withdrew to a solitary place. I imagine no shortage of tears were shed during that time of grieving, shortened as it was by the needs of the people. (Matt. 14:13)

I think about these two men and their love for one another. A love demonstrated by action, sacrifice. And I wonder at the example they have given us. And I wonder why, in the face of change, we have such difficulty following it.

Renewed by God's Intensely Personal Care

Ray Ortlund post:  When we can't count on anything else

What do you have going for you everything is against you?  What will not fail you when what you thought was true and solid and real collapses beneath you?  Who will stand by you when friends forsake you and enemies see their opportunity?  What works when everything is on the line but nothing else is working?

This experience is inevitable.  We don’t have to go looking for it.  It will come find us.  God himself wrote it into our scripts.  But when this happens, we are forced to ask the basic question: What can I count on when I can’t count on anything else?

Psalm 139 is where to go for the answer.  When David found himself in that catastrophic place, he dug down into the foundations of his very existence.  This is the unchanging bedrock he found there:

God, you know me (verses 1-6).

God, you are with me (verses 7-12).

God, you made me (verses 13-18).

The psalm then turns on the hinge of verse 18b: “I awake, and I am still with you.”  David wakes up from his contemplations, lost for a while in his thoughts, and he is still with God as he returns mentally to “the real world” where nothing has changed.  But he has changed.  He has been renewed by meditating on God’s intensely personal care for him.  His boldness returns:

God, I am wholeheartedly for you (verses 19-24).

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God” (Psalm 139:17).

His Delight

What's Best Next post: Justice — Even in the Secular Arena — Is God’s Work

“A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.” (Proverbs 16:11)

And, God doesn’t have the sacred / secular distinction that many today have, in the sense of implying that the secular arena is insignificant and unimportant. For God is not only the one who is ultimately behind all justice; he actually takes delight in it:

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.” (Proverbs 11:1)

For more on this, see John Piper’s sermon “The Pleasure of God in Public Justice.”