Theology Meets Life

A Philosophy of Christian Counseling

2009-12-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I had the opportunity to make a "Philosophy of Christian Counseling" in outline form. I just came across it again, and I thought you might find it helpful and interesting to interact with.

Philosophy of Christian Counseling Outline

(Note: This philosophy of Christian counseling outline does not claim to be so comprehensive as to address every problem that may be experienced by men and women; rather, it acknowledges that many of the problems faced by people living in today’s world are caused, or at least fueled, by a refusal (whether conscious or not) to take responsibility for one’s own actions in the context of relationships with others. With this being said, however, it should always be remembered that in helping others who refuse to take responsibility for themselves, the rule for conduct should generally be compassionate concern rather than confrontational criticism.)

Mankind’s Problem: People are deceived by themselves and others, because they would naturally rather hide behind a lie than be vulnerable and take responsibility for their own actions.
1. People are born into this world with innate tendencies, character, and temperament (nature); in addition, they are also shaped through their family of origin, through early childhood experiences, and through traumatic events (nurture).
2. Given this interaction between nature and nurture, people are led to act and make decisions that are nevertheless real choices for which they are responsible before God and others.
3. Because human beings are finite creatures both in knowledge and potential, they inevitably make mistakes that result in damage to their relationships with God and other people.
4. Healthy Response to Mistakes: For the healthy person, mistakes that result in damage to their relationship with God and others are responded to through acknowledging their mistake, taking responsibility for the damage that resulted, and asking for forgiveness in a genuine manner.
5. Unhealthy Response to Mistakes: For the unhealthy person, mistakes that result in damage to their relationship with God and others are responded to through denial, deceit, and blame-shifting. Rather than being vulnerable and taking responsibility for their actions, unhealthy men and women choose to be deceived both by themselves and others in believing that someone or something else is to blame for their choices, whether God, other people, their biological predisposition, or their environment.

Ramifications of Mankind’s Problem: In order to conceal the lies they have accepted and avoid addressing the damage they have done in their relationships with others, people continue to deceive both themselves and others, thus spinning a web of lies and complicating their problem.
1. Once a person has chosen to hide behind the lie that someone or something else is responsible for the choices they have made, they will be forced to continue telling more lies in order to cover their first lie and avoid addressing their initial problem.
2. As men and women begin embracing more lies, they actually begin to convince themselves that the false version of reality that they are constructing is true; thus, many people come to a point in life where they no longer are able to separate truth from falsehood in terms of their relationships with God, their family, and their friends.
3. In spite of their self-deception, many around those who are hiding behind lies are often able to recognize this subtle falsehood; indeed, it is often easier to recognize fault in others than in oneself.
4. As a result of the intricate web of lies that people develop in order to avoid personal responsibility, attempts to help on the part of others are often viewed as personal attacks, and in this way an even greater rift can be created in relationships that would otherwise be healthy and productive.

Solution to Mankind’s Problem: As a result of their complicated self-deception, people must begin untangling the mistruths they have accepted and led others to believe by acknowledging the truth, by taking responsibility for the damage they have done, and by seeking forgiveness from those whom they have offended.
1. Step One: The first step that must be taken by a person hiding behind lies is to genuinely acknowledge the truth that they are ultimately responsible for themselves. Leading others to embrace this first step must be done gently and tactfully, for those who are hiding behind a lie are often not aware of their own self-deception.
2. Step Two: The second step that must be taken by a person hiding behind lies is to take responsibility for the root issue which they have been concealing. This person needs to recognize that they have damaged relationships with others (whether God, family, friends, etc.) through their actions, and accept the consequences that are due to them for their mistakes.
3. Step Three: The third step that must be taken by a person hiding behind lies is to seek forgiveness from the party they have offended in a genuine manner. In seeking forgiveness, a person should not try to offer explanations or excuses for the mistakes they made, but they should instead recognize the harm they have caused to others and seek reconciliation with the offended party.
4. In the future, when this person who has hidden behind lies makes mistakes that result in damage to relationships with God and others, they should direct themselves to follow these three steps of acknowledging the truth, taking responsibility for their actions, and seeking forgiveness rather than shifting blame elsewhere, so that further damage does not result in their relationships.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T18:57:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year, I wanted to share this video with you as a special treat-I hope you enjoy it!

Why A Heart For The Gospel Should Lead To A Heart For The City

2009-12-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

Before I moved to Portland back in 2003, I spent about eight years living out in the country. Whether you've ever lived in the country or not, it has a lot to offer: open spaces, distant neighbors, breathtaking views, and more flora and fauna than the zoo can boast. I wasn't even excited about living in the country at first, but over time it grew on me. As a result, when it came time for me to move to Portland and begin college, I was torn. On the one hand I was excited about beginning my studies at Multnomah Bible College, and on the other hand I sort of dreaded the thought of leaving the country and moving into the city.

With the passing of these past six years, however, everything has changed. Not only am I thankful that I live in an urban center, but I am also convinced that God has placed me (along with all other believers in this city) here to develop me as a disciple of Jesus Christ and provide me with opportunities for ministry. But how did this change happen?

My change in thinking really came about through discovering God's plan for redeeming the nations and bringing them to faith in Jesus Christ as I studied the Scriptures in-depth. As I intentionally and rigorously studied the Bible over these past six years, I found that not only does the heart of God beat for seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ, but He is also intensely interested in redeeming entire nations and people-groups. This certainly doesn't mean that every individual composing any particular people-group will be saved, but it does mean that God will not rest until people " from every tribe and language and people and nation" come to an obedience of faith toward God in Jesus Christ.

But how does this relate to having a heart for the city? To my surprise, as I studied the New Testament and church history, I found that the church of Jesus Christ has always tended to spread to urban centers first, and only to outlying rural areas second. In the book of Acts, for example, we see the Apostle Paul intentionally targeting the cultural, religious, and political centers of the Roman Empire in his work of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. He certainly passed through rural regions on his journeying from city to city, but the majority of his work was focused on the urban centers. Likewise, as we look to the pages of church history, we find that this trend continued with Christians being located primarily in the cities until the establishment of Christianity as a legal Roman religion upon the ascension of Constantine to the throne. And this makes sense: if you want to really have an impact upon a nation, you would target the cities first, and only after that the surrounding countryside. It is unlikely that a movement beginning in the country will muster enough influence to change the city, but it is very likely that a movement taking root in the urban centers of a nation will slowly began to influence an entire nation.

So if Christianity has always tended to target urban centers in the process of evangelization and discipleship, what's the need for this blog post? I do truly believe now that a heart for the gospel should lead to a heart for the city. But in recent decades this hasn't always been apparent. At least in the United States, there has been a gradual but definite shift as "ghetto-ization" has led minorities into the inner city and white middle-to-upper class people to the suburbs and out into the country. As this "exodus" has happened, churches have tended to follow their congregations. And I can demonstrate this with an anecdote: where are the majority of mega-churches in your city located? Are they located in the inner city, or in the suburbs? At least in my city, they are all in the suburbs! As those who are able to do so have left city centers, the church has tended to follow, so that the cities have been left to those ministries dedicated to ministry to minority ethnic groups, social justice efforts, etc. This trend is very backwards in my opinion, but it is nevertheless a reality in our nation.

So how should a heart for the gospel lead you to have a heart for the city? My intention behind this post is definitely not to make you feel guilty if you live and minister in the suburbs or in a rural setting; it is very possible that God has placed you there for a purpose. But as we move into the future as the people of God and try to strategically plan how to impact our nation with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to keep our sights fixed on the city. America will not be taken for Jesus Christ through political campaigns, building stronger families, reforming our churches, or emphasizing correct doctrine (as important and necessary as all of these things are); instead, the only way that we will see our nation become a place that truly shines as a "city set on a hill" is through being intentional about targeting our cities as the crux of culture and incarnating the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ through our work there.

I Have Seen The Light

2009-12-15T05:59:00.001-08:00

Distinguishing Between Cultural And Biblical Views Of Masculinity

2009-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

The company that makes "Dockers" pants just came out with a new "man-ifesto" aimed at encouraging men to step up and take their rightful place as men who act in a masculine way in society (which by a strange coincidence means wearing their pants). The "man-ifesto" states:

Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khaki’s and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by and cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.

This declaration definitely attracted a lot of attention, with some hailing it as a call to return to a proper view of masculinity, others decrying it as sexism, etc. If you are interested, you can view the "man-ifesto" in its' original context here.

After reading this manifesto I've got to say that I appreciate a lot of what it had to say. It is certainly true that gender roles and distinctions have become so blurred in our society (largely due to the sexual revolution and the rise of feminism) that there is no longer much meaningful difference between men and women. Men have begun to assume roles once largely assumed by women, and vice-versa.

And if you stop to think about it, this is a pretty ironic situation. What people tried to achieve for women through feminism-a (re)newed appreciation of women, their rights, dignity, and contributions to society-was actually what they sacrificed in the pursuit of their goal. Why-because women don't inherently have rights, dignity, and contributions to make toward society? Not at all! Instead, the distinctive rights, dignity, and contributions of women toward society were given up because in the pursuit of feminism's goals, the basic idea postulated was that "women need to be doing the same kinds of things as men in order to be valuable and have worth". By phrasing the discussion in these terms, people pursued equal rights for women and sacrificed any distinctiveness and identity that women have simply in being women and doing the things that come naturally for women to do. So on this count, I definitely have to agree with the people at Dockers that something is radically wrong with our understanding of gender roles and distinctions.

On the other hand, I was also a little disturbed by the way this declaration seemed to paint the picture of masculinity that men need to re-embrace. Based on reading this manifesto, it seems that being a "real man" includes wearing pants (preferrably Dockers!), opening doors for women, helping old ladies across the street, not going to discos, not drinking lattes, not eating from salad bars, and not using plastic forks! I believe that some of these things are what men should be doing as gentlemen-namely opening doors for women and helping ladies across the street-but I would have to say that I couldn't care less about the rest of these items in terms of defining masculinity. And the evident result of American men abandoning this view of masculinity as set forth by the advertisers over at Dockers is a genderless society, a crumbling world, misbehaving children, and old ladies who can't get across the street. I recognize that some of this ad may be tongue-in-cheek, but they are really raising some pretty serious issues either way.

So what's my big problem with this manifesto? I want to re-affirm that I do appreciate the spirit behind this declaration: there are appropriate and important distinctions between men and women, and the observance of these distinctions determines the health and ongoing sustainability of society and culture. But I'm concerned that this manifesto is more of a call back to a 1950's cultural understanding of masculinity than it is of a call back to a biblical view of masculinity. By a "1950's cultural understanding of masculinity", I'm talking about the view of a real man presented in the media (television, radio, movies, newspapers, and magazines) of post-World War II America in which a man was someone who was primarily defined by working long hours to pay for lots of material goods for his family, eating lots of red meat, getting dirty with his buddies in pick-up games of football and baseball on the weekends, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a man who does any or all of these things; but this is just one expression of what it means to be a man rather than something that necessarily comes from the Bible.

My point in all of this is to show that we need to be careful and wise in how we embrace what at times seem to be movements in our culture toward a more biblically-defined morality and view of society. I really have no problem with the Docker's ad in general, but if we understand the picture of masculinity that Dockers is presenting as normative or biblical we would be very, very mistaken indeed. To properly understand masculinity, we would need to go back much, much further than 1950's Americana to the very pages of Scripture themselves...

How To Pick The Right Side In Any Church Split

2009-11-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, a church that I was a member of went through a really nasty split. I can think of worse circumstances that a church could go through, but this split still wasn't pretty. As a result of that split, a group broke away to form a new church, and a group remained behind to continue on with the already existing church. I remained with the group that stayed behind, honestly believing that this was where God wanted me to be.

Over the course of these past few months, what began as a disturbing church split has grown into something altogether different. As people chose "sides" and decided where they would find fellowship and worship God, loyalties seemed to set in, to such a great extent that I was actually warned on a few occasions to not talk to certain people from the other side. And, I have to admit, I fell into this mindset myself. What began as a desire to minister in the place I honestly felt God telling me to be turned into a deep-seated loyalty within my own heart toward my church and our "party". This mindset became so powerful in my own life that it caused me to disregard growing evidence that I was becoming aware of that the group that broke away from us in the first place might have actually been justified in doing so. I was convinced that our side was right, and when any information to the contrary came to my attention, I overlooked it, assuming that there must be a good explanation to explain it away.

Thankfully, as time passed, I really began attempting to seek God's will in this matter and get the best information I could about what actually happened in the split. To my amazement, I discovered that there were a lot of things that I simply wasn't aware of, things that would have changed my initial decision to remain at my church in the first place. I recognize now that I really fell into a "party" mindset where I was taking sides, and I bought into this mentality so much that it began to color the way I viewed other brothers and sisters in Christ.

And if we think about it, it shouldn't really surprise us that as humans (even regenerate ones!) we have a tendency to take sides and picture reality as "us versus them". Actually, Joshua 5:13-15 gives us an excellent illustration of this mindset:

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

As Joshua and the Israelites were preparing to take Jericho, they were confronted by a strange man. Realizing that he was a warrior, Joshua asked the obvious question: are you on our side, or on theirs? Instead of giving the answer he expected, though, the commander of the army of the Lord gave a surprising answer: he wasn't on either side.

You see, when God comes into the midst of a situation, He doesn't come to take sides; He comes to take over. Our temptation is to try to paint the situation as though God is on our side (what Christian group ever realistically believed that God was against them?), but if we try to say this, we are making exactly the same mistake Joshua made. I think what we can learn from this story is that we need to spend less time asking if God is on our side, and spend more time making sure we are on God's side.

So how does this apply to church splits? I think what we can learn from Joshua 5 is that when we are in a confrontational situation with divided parties, the only way we can choose the right side is to make sure we are on God's side. My mistake was that I ended up choosing a human side, and largely left God's side out of the equation. Now to be clear, we often will find ourselves in situations where necessity will force us to come out on one side or the other; the truth of Joshua 5 teaches us, however, that our primary responsibility in those kinds of situations is to make sure we pursue the path that upholds justice, righteousness, and truth more than any other.

Oh God, I pray that you would give your people the grace today to look beyond human parties, divisions, and sects, and to look to your guidance and your wisdom alone. I confess that I am so prone to taking sides with other men too quickly, and I don't honestly look to you and what is pleasing to you as often as I should. Let your Spirit be with your people today to cause us to see what is pleasing to you, to desire to do it, and to live out this life of the New Covenant in a way that will bring a smile to your face. I pray these things in Christ's name, amen.

So How Do We Realistically Give Thanks In All Things?

2009-11-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Each year around Thanksgiving, I hear people mentioning 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to describe the kind of attitude that we should have not only on Thanksgiving, but also on every other day of the year: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." This definitely is an important verse to remember not just at this time of year, but in every other season of the year as well. But if you have actually tried to follow this verse, you might have found that it's not really as easy as you initially thought.

What I mean is this: some seasons of your life are going to be better than others. During the good times, it's really not too hard to be thankful; but when things aren't going your way, being thankful is easier said than done. Especially during those "dark" seasons, I have noticed that we try to encourage one another with a number of different verses, but primarily with Romans 8:28. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." And I am convinced that this verse really does hold the secret to how we can be thankful in all circumstances. But the verse isn't quite as straightforward as you might think at first.

So what does Romans 8:28 teach us about how to be thankful in all circumstances? I'd like to share with you an essay I came across a few years ago by Dr. Vernon C. Grounds on Romans 8:28. Dr. Grounds deals with this passage simply and accurately, and he brings out its' meaning in a way that I have seen few others be able to do. I sincerely hope that as you consider what Romans 8:28 has to teach us about being thankful this Thanksgiving, you will allow God to expand your perspective of what He is doing for you, you will gain a more balanced view of the good and bad seasons of your life, and you will experience a spirit of thankfulness that extends beyond just Thanksgiving, but also into the weeks and months to come.

DO ALL THINGS REALLY WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD?

Dr. Vernon C. Grounds, President
Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary
Denver, Colorado 80210

On February 15, 1947, D. Glenn Chambers of New York boarded the powerful DC-4 of the Avianca Airlines en route to Quito, Ecuador, in order to begin his ministry with the "Voice of the Andes." But he never arrived! Not far from Bogotá, rising 14,000 feet toward the sky, is the towering peak, "El Tablazo;" Chambers' plane crashed headlong into that peak and dropped, a flaming wreck, into a ravine far below.

The last letter he wrote was addressed to his mother. At a Miami airport he picked up a piece of advertising on the flyleaf of which was the single word, why! Around that word he scribbled a hasty and final note. So when his mother received it, having previously learned of his death, staring up into her face was that question, why.

And whenever stark tragedy breaks into life, all of us instinctively wonder "Why?" Why does God permit such experiences? Why does God allow us to suffer? Why does a loving and almighty God tolerate evil in His universe? Why?

When stark tragedy breaks into his life, the man without Jesus Christ may respond in one of several fashions. Cynicism may be his response; he may unwittingly follow the advice of Job's wife, "Curse God and die." Or stoicism may be his response: "Grin and bear it, and if you can't grin, then grit your teeth and bear it anyhow." Or Epicureanism may be his response: "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow ...!"

But when tragedy breaks into his life, the Christian, instead of responding with cynicism or stoicism or Epicureanism, falls back upon Romans 8:28, attempting to make that text a soft pillow for his heart: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And yet, if we are going to be ruthlessly candid, the Christian does not always find that Paul's radiant certainty proves a soft pillow for his heart. Often, on the contrary, it turns out to be a hard problem for his head, because of two facts.

In the first place, the text is much too sweeping. It is too unqualified; it is too glibly inclusive. Do "all things" indeed work together for good? Who can possibly believe that? The accident which imprisons a young man in a wheel chair as an incurable cripple; the emotional breakdown which puts the mother of a large family out of her mind; the agonizing frustration which causes an idealist to degenerate into an embittered skeptic, mocking and denying God; the death which leaves an unhealed scar upon a heart — are these things good?

Some things may indeed work together for good, but how can any person of even limited discernment conclude that all events without exception turn out for our highest welfare?

In the second place, this text is much too dogmatic. Paul states with unshadowed certainty: "We know all things work together for good." He does not say that this is our faith; he does not say that this is our pious hope; he does not say that this is a proposition which we are unable to prove but which we embrace with a trust that appears to defy logic and reason. Paul's affirmation, we have uncomfortably felt, is overly confident. It smacks of a naive optimism for which no solid evidence can be adduced.

Thus, the text seems too sweeping and too dogmatic. Yet implicit in it are four truths which, when once grasped, transform Paul's assertion from a hard problem into a soft pillow.

NOT A COSMIC FREAK

Notice, first, that the apostle declares: "All things work together for good." He does not declare that every event, every episode, and every experience of life achieves good by luck or chance or accident. He does not declare that by some cosmic freak or by the mere random whirling of senseless matter, good is eventually produced. Paul declares that all things work together for good. And, consequently, he teaches here the same truth which he teaches in Ephesians 1:11: "God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

Why does everything, even heartbreaking tragedy, turn out for good? The answer is simple. God is at work in the whole process! And by His infinite wisdom, power, and love, God is making all things work together for good.

Visit a huge, sprawling plant where automobiles are manufactured. Watch the bewildering mass of raw material -- metals, wood, fabrics, glass, and what not -- as it pours into the factory. Then, without entering the doors of that mammoth structure, walk around to the ramp where the finished product, a sleek and shining mechanism, rolls out, ready for shipment to every corner of the world. Can you possibly believe that just by luck or chance or accident all that mass of raw material assembles itself into an automobile? Of course not!

But when you realize that extraordinary skill and power have been brought to bear upon that raw material, you can understand why the finished product is so beautiful and efficient.

Similarly, who can believe that all the mass of our raw experience — sickness, disappointment, broken bodies, blasted hopes, blighting sins — just by luck or chance or accident achieves good? Introduce God into the picture, however, a God of infinite wisdom, power, and love, and it is possible for even the most searching mind to believe that everything works together for good. And it works together for good because God is at work. He is making all things work together for good, bringing to bear upon the raw stuff of our experience all of His limitless resources.

Confessedly, there may be aspects of existence which will baffle us until we see our Lord face to face. But still, embryonically, we have a solution to this tantalizing mystery. Our cosmos, we realize, is not a self-existing chaos of atoms which swirl about senselessly. Undergirding our universe is the everlasting purpose of a person who is perfect in wisdom, love, and power, and who uses the vast process of nature and history for the fulfillment of His gracious purpose, a purpose which is supremely good.

A few years ago, the Rev. James Patton, pastor of the Carmel Avenue Baptist Church of Detroit, left home early one Sunday morning in order to pick up children for Bible school in the church bus. The man who ordinarily served as driver had found it impossible to do the job that day, and so the pastor himself volunteered. And tragedy struck. The bus was demolished by a train which killed Patton and several other people. Meanwhile, his wife was waiting at home for him to return.

Who can imagine the shock and horror which overwhelmed her when she learned of her husband's death? Among the many condolences which she received was this telegram which brought immense comfort to her heart: "God is too kind to do anything cruel, and too wise ever to make a mistake."

Yes, introduce God into the context of life's worst tragedies, the God whose love has been supremely revealed at Calvary, and it is possible to believe Paul's triumphant assertion. A God like that can be trusted to make all things work together for good.

INGREDIENTS MIXED TOGETHER

Notice, secondly, the truth implicit in another fragment of this text. Paul writes: "All things work together for good." Together! Do not overlook that seemingly unimportant word. In point of fact, it embodies a profoundly significant thought. Our experiences, when you take them in isolation, are frequently very bad; yet when you take our experiences as a whole, they are radiantly good.

The ingredients which constitute a three-layer chocolate cake are not good when you taste them in isolation. A mouthful of flour is not especially savory. A spoonful of spices is not in the least delicious. Shortening as shortening is none too palatable. But let a skillful cook mix them together, and the result is superbly good! And thus it is with our lives.

Very strikingly the experience of Joseph illustrates this principle. Jacob's expressive and unwisely partial love for the son of his old age was bad. The priggish conceit of young Joseph was bad. The understandable hatred of his brethren was bad. Their conspiracy to kill him was bad. The sale of Joseph into Midianite slavery was bad. The lie told to Jacob was bad. The heartbreak of the bereaved father was bad. The temptation which befell Joseph in Egypt was bad. His imprisonment, though an innocent man, was bad. And thus the components of his experience, taken singly, were unquestionably bad. Yet what was the outcome of all those evil things?

As Joseph finally faced his brethren, having by his God-bestowed foresight preserved them and the whole nation of Egypt from starvation, he could testify: "As for you, ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20). Yes, indeed! Where men intend evil, God intends good, and in His love and wisdom and power He makes human wrath to praise Him, and out of the black components of our experience He brings a shining result. All things work together for good.

Notice, in the third place, just what Paul says in our text. "All things work together for good." But the good as we ordinarily conceive it may be entirely different from the good about which the apostle speaks.

WHAT IS GOOD?

We tend to interpret good in terms of animal comfort. If we are exempt from disease, that we consider good. If our bodies are never stabbed by pain, that we consider good. If we always have money in our pockets and a reserve at the bank, that we consider good. If we live in modern homes and enjoy the latest luxuries, that we consider good. If we can dress well, take long vacations at the seashore, and in general exist like the smug bourgeois against whom Karl Marx poured out his scorn, that we consider good. Unfortunately, we find ourselves victimized by a materialistic civilization, and, despite our Christian faith, we subtly equate comfort and goodness.

In the same fashion we tend to equate success with goodness. If we are always out in the front, a winner in our highly competitive society, that we consider good. If we own more gadgets than our neighbors, that we consider good. If politically or ecclesiastically we exercise a considerable influence, that we consider good. If we are men and women of prestige, that we consider good.

Or, yet again, we tend to equate pleasure with goodness. Or we tend to equate good with power. Or we tend to equate good with the fulfillment of our fondest dreams, and some of those dreams may indeed be extremely lofty. And such equations are, of course, a million miles removed from Paul's basic teaching. And because all of these are false equations, we have trouble with Romans 8:28. Our failure to grasp Paul's concept of the good changes what ought to be a soft pillow for our hearts into a hard problem for our heads.

You see, according to the New Testament, goodness is not to be interpreted in terms of comfort, or success or pleasure or power or even the fulfillment of our fondest and most praiseworthy ambitions. Goodness is nothing whatever like that. Goodness, as Romans 8:29 brings out, is Christ-likeness, and therefore the goal which God has in view for us is conformity unto the image of His own dear Son.

Perhaps this concept of goodness strikes us as being somewhat novel, and consequently it may prove helpful for us to read the entire twelfth chapter of Hebrews. The theme of that passage is God's fatherly chastisement. Why does He discipline us, and do it often so painfully? Why does He allow not only minor vexations but also major catastrophes in our lives? He does it — this is the apostle's amazing and illuminating answer — because He loves us. He longs that we shall be like Himself as He has been revealed in Jesus Christ. He hurts us for our eternal profit in order that "we might be partakers of his holiness." He does it all not for our comfort nor for our pleasure nor for any such reason. He does it all for our good, striving to conform us unto the image of His Son.

God is holy love, and therefore in holy love He sometimes uses the lash, and He uses the lash to make us leash our hearts unto Himself in faith. And He uses the lash, moreover, in order that for all eternity we ourselves may bear the likeness of His holy love.

Hence, buoyant health, good as it seems to us, may be a hindrance to the only true and abiding good. And, accordingly, God may send lingering sickness and even a shattered body for our good.

Success in business, good as it seems to us, may be a hindrance to the only true and abiding good. And, accordingly, God may drive us into bankruptcy and failure for our good.

Pleasure, good as it seems to us, may be a hindrance to the only true and abiding good. And, accordingly, God may compel us to live out our days under circumstances which are tedious, annoying, and distressing; and He does it for our good.

Power, good as it seems to us, may be a hindrance to the only true and abiding good. And, accordingly, God may keep us in some insignificant position, and He does it for our good.

The fulfillment of our lofty ambitions, good as that seems to us, may be a hindrance to the only true and abiding good. And, accordingly, God may cause all our dreams to break like bubbles, and He does it for our good.

Some day, however, if not in this life then in the life to come, we will realize that like children we were really grasping after bubbles in our pursuit of what we regarded as good. And we will see from the perspective of eternity that behind the apparent harshness and cruelty of God was the logic of an unsentimental love, a love that is not a mere flabby amiability, a love that is akin to the love of a wise human father who is willing to discipline his children for their good. Yes, when at last we bear perfectly the likeness of Jesus, we will confess that the logic of divine love was infinitely above and beyond our human logic. To be like Jesus, we will understand eventually, is the only true and abiding good.

THE RESTRICTIVE PHRASE

Notice, finally, one other fact implicit in this text. Paul's confident assertion is not so unqualified and inclusive as at a first glance it may strike us. It embraces only those "who love God" and are "the called according to his purpose." Thus, before any of us attempts to appropriate this shining guarantee, he must be utterly sure that he comes within the category Paul lays down.

And how can we determine whether or not we are embraced within this blessed category? Very simply! Have we as yet in simplest trust accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, acting upon the gracious invitation, "Whosoever will may come"? Have we as yet looked to Calvary and beheld there the convincing demonstration of divine love? If we have done this, then the promise applies to ourselves — but not otherwise!

Perhaps you have been embittered by some of your experiences. Perhaps you have hardened yourself against Jesus Christ, perhaps you have resolved to live in icy defiance, refusing to obey His pleading. I would beseech you to lift your eyes to Calvary, where on a bloody cross your Creator in agony and brokenhearted-ness perished for your sins and mine.

A Listening Ear: The Best Remedy For A Grieving Heart

2009-11-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me well will know that the past six months of my life have been interesting, to say the least. There have been unexpected changes and surprises in pretty much every area of my life, and for a while it left me dazed, confused, and not knowing exactly where to go. During this time, I spent a lot of time seeking counsel and advice from several other believers in the midst of my hurt and confusion, and I got just as many different responses as I had counselors. Thankfully, I am confident that I am finally coming out of this tough season and heading in a better direction. At the same time, I have been stopping to reflect a little bit on all the different counsel and advice that I received.

After what I have experienced from the past six months, I can confidently say that I have learned that a listening ear is the best remedy for a grieving heart. I can't tell you how many times I have shared what I am dealing with in conversation with others and I have quickly received a Bible verse to read or a piece of advice in response. When I went to look up the Bible verse, I found that it was usually taken out of context and that it wasn't really addressing my problems. When I considered the advice, I recognized that the advice might be wise in some circumstances, but not in others. To put it bluntly, when I shared my grief and frustration with many people, their responses showed me that they just didn't understand what I was going through, or at least that they can't identify with where I am at right now. And because of this, time and time again I found myself receiving more comfort and help from those people who were just willing to sit and listen to me ramble than from those who wanted to give me advice or correction too quickly.

This probably shouldn't surprise us, either. Actually, we see an example of how helping someone with a grieving and frustrated heart works in the book of Job. After Job went through all of the tragedies that Satan inflicted him with to test him, Job was pretty much at the end of his rope. In the midst of his brokenness, despair, and grief, Job's three friends did something incredibly insightful: they came to him, they mourned with him, and they remained silent for seven days (Job 2:11-13). They knew that there was no insight they could offer, no word they could speak, and no gift they could give that would console his heart. This is a good example of how to help people with a grieving heart, and we should follow it. Unfortunately, the book of Job also gives us a picture of how not to help someone grieve. After their wise actions toward Job in 2:11-13, the three friends went on to give Job their "wise" counsel, which actually just served to make his unbearable loss even worse.

And aren't we so much like Job's friends? The theology of Job's friends really wasn't that bad; it followed what we learn about wisdom and the way life generally works from the book of Proverbs. The problem wasn't so much their theology; the problem was that their theology didn't really apply to Job's situation or address what he was going through. In fact, not a single character in the story (besides God and Satan) knew the "why" behind Job's suffering; it would have been far better for Job's friends just to remain silent and say nothing. And unfortunately I have experienced this personally, too: when I have shared with people the struggles and trials that I have been experiencing, they quickly try to give me a theology lesson on the sovereignty of God and His goodness in all things. Yes, I agree that God is sovereign, and He is certainly working all things according to His purpose, but this isn't always the best thing to say when something is hurting. Some situations, even though they are part of God's bigger purpose, just simply suck; we don't need to try to extricate God from guilt in the situation-we just need to listen and be there.

With all this being said, I do need to backtrack a little bit. There is definitely a time for sharing Scripture with someone in need, and a time for offering advice. But what I am saying is that we can't use our offering of Scripture and our quick counsel as a substitute for simply being present (not just physically, but also emotionally and mentally) in a person's time of need. I know I am guilty of offering Scripture and my own "wisdom" far too quickly, and what I have experienced over the past half year has shown me the mistake in this approach. What I am realizing is that I need to be much quicker to listen and much slower to speak. What do you suppose might happen if we only offered someone our opinion or counsel when they asked for it or when we were directly prompted by the Holy Spirit to give it? I suspect that we would find people moving through the stages of grieving much more quickly, and that they would come out on the other side being even stronger as a result.

Chuck Swindoll touched on this same topic in his book "Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back". Quoting Joe Bayley, Swindoll wrote:

Don't try to 'prove' anything to a survivor. An arm about the shoulder, a firm grip of the hand, a kiss: these are the proofs grief needs, not logical reasoning. I was sitting, torn by grief. Someone came and talked to me of God's dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly, he said things I knew were true.

I was unmoved, except to wish he'd go away. He finally did.

Another came and sat beside me. He didn't talk. He didn't ask leading questions. He just sat beside me for an hour or more, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply, left.

I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go.

May God give us all the grace to be quick to listen, to be slow to speak, and to be the friend who sticks closer than a brother to others when we find them in their time of need.

The Biblical Pattern of Worship

2009-11-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

The Biblical Pattern of Worship

I think the main reason we find it so difficult to worship God with a pure and devoted heart is because our worship doesn't follow the biblical pattern for worship. In the Bible, worship is always the response of the people of God to something that God has done on their behalf. For example:

God delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, and then thoroughly defeated Pharoah's army by drowning them in the Red Sea. What was the people's response? "Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, saying, 'I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea'" (Exodus 15:1).
God brought the Israelites out of their captivity in Babylon (a "second exodus") and showed them His favor by restoring them to the land. What was the people's response? "When Yahweh restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, 'Yahweh has done great things for them.' Yahweh has done great things for us; we are glad" (Psalm 126:1-3).
God judged the nations of the earth to vindicate His people and execute His vengeance in John's vision in Revelation (a vision which is closely and intentionally structured to include the same themes as the Exodus, by the way). What was the response of the twenty-four elders in heaven? "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth" (Revelation 11:17-18).

So are you seeing the pattern here? In the Bible, worship is always an intentional response to something God has first done.

This might seem pretty straightforward, but I don't believe that the way worship is done in most evangelical churches today follows this pattern at all. Instead of being a response to God's mighty acts, worship is pretty much just another program or activity of the church that we do each week because we feel God expects it from us. It isn't really done in response to anything at all, and if you asked the average church-goer why they were worshiping God any particular Sunday, you would probably get a blank stare.

If we followed the biblical pattern for worship, then, what would look different? I would suggest that it might be worth our time to move the sermon to the front of the worship service, and have worship through singing come afterward. This would be following the biblical pattern: we fix our hearts and minds to focus on what God has done on our behalf, and then we respond in worship. This wouldn't be a fool-proof way of making sure that everyone's heart was in the right place, but it would least make it so the reason for worshiping God is front and center in each person's mind. Whether your church follows this pattern or not is up to them, but I think the principle of worship being a heartfelt, enthusiastic response to God's works on our behalf should at least come into play when we are planning out our worship services.

How Can You Make Your Worship More Biblical?

Even if you don't go to a church that's willing to totally switch things up and move the sermon to the front of the service, don't fear! There are still several things that you can do to let this biblical pattern of worship revolutionize your life. Here are just a few:

Before you go to church each week, choose one of God's attributes to focus on in your Bible reading, prayers, and on your way to church in the car. If you do this, even though your church might not be too intentional about how the worship service is done, you will already have some particular thing in mind that you are choosing to worship God for that day. Just watch: your singing won't just be routine and boring, but it will be a response to what you have been learning about God throughout the week.
Memorize some of the "great" passages in the Bible that really emphasize who God is and what He has done. Any time our worship becomes shriveled up, dry, and boring, it is almost always because our view of God has become too small. For me, the passage I go to time and time again when I'm finding it tough to worship God is Isaiah 40:10-31. Try seriously and humbly reading through this passage a few times and then tell me that you are having a tough time wanting to worship God!
Try sitting in the back of the sanctuary during your time of worship through singing so that you won't be distracted by thoughts of what people will think of you. For me, the thoughts of what people might think go two ways: on the one hand, I fear being too expressive because that might cause people to think I'm weird (if you've read this blog for long enough you should have no doubt that I am!); on the other hand, I sometimes fear being expressive because I'm afraid I might be doing it to be seen by men rather than by God. When I'm sitting in the back of the sanctuary, most of these fears go away, and I can do all of the stuff that I feel God leading me to do! Think beyond raising your hands here, too: think kneeling on the ground, dancing, laying face-down on the floor, etc.

I'm sure that you might have other ideas that you can add to this list, but this is just to get you started. The important point to remember is that biblical worship is always a response to something that God has done. If our worship doesn't begin as an intentional response to what God has done, then there is very little chance that we will have the right attitude in worship at all.

The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World

2009-11-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

I just came across a message that Tim Keller delivered in 2006 at the Desiring God National Conference. His message was called "The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World". I had a chance to visit Tim Keller's church and hear him preach when I was in New York last September, and I've got to say that this is a man who absolutely practices what he preaches. More than this, he is a man who has a heart for the city, because he sees in the city a place filled with lost people whom God dearly loves, cares for, and desires to see saved. If you have a chance, I would strongly encourage you to listen to Tim Keller's message here.

Better Than Life

2009-11-07T08:41:00.001-08:00

My Testimony

2009-11-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

I've had a bunch of people ask me over the past few days how exactly it was that I came to Christ, and so I have been finding myself sharing my testimony time after time recently. As I was doing this, I realized that I have never given a full account on this blog of how I came to know Christ. So I decided that it is about time to do just that.

As many of you know, my dad is a pastor, so I have lived in a Christian home since the time I was born. There are a lot of advantages to having a parent in full-time ministry, but also a number of disadvantages. For me, the advantages were growing up listening to excellent biblical teaching and preaching, seeing lives of increasing Christ-likeness in my parents, and being around people at church who loved me and wanted to see God's best for me. But there were also disadvantages: people placed higher expectations on my brother and I than on other kids at church, we were forced to fit a certain mold of what people thought a pastor's son should look like, and we never felt like we quite fit in with the other kids at church. So from a very young age, I learned how to say and do all the right things so that people thought I was a Christian without having experienced any transformation on the inside.

On top of this, I made a "decision" for Christ when I was about six years old. This happened at a summer vacation Bible school program when the youth counselors were asking if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus. I didn't really want to give my life to Jesus (I didn't even know what this meant!), but the other kids were doing it, and heaven sounded nice, so I went ahead and did it anyway. The youth counselors told me after I said a prayer that they led me in that I was a Christian, and that I could be sure that I would go to heaven when I died. Even with them telling me this, I didn't feel any change on the inside, and there was certainly no difference on the outside.

So I continued in this lifestyle of conforming to what I thought people at church wanted to see on the outside but being rebellious on the inside for several years. There were a lot of "smaller" sins that I commited during those years, but nothing that most people would consider grievous. When I hit about the age of 15 and entered high school, however, all of that changed. At that point, I no longer cared about conforming to what anyone else wanted me to do, and all the rebellion and hard-heartedness that was on the inside began to work its way out. No one could have seen this change coming, but as I entered my freshman year in high school, a serious and very bad series of changes occured in my life.

To start with, I got involved in a relationship with a girl from school that proved to be very toxic for both of us. The relationship never became sexual, but it was filled with raging hormones, disregard for the opinions of others, and a lot of secrecy. This toxic relationship led to a lot of other things: open rebellion against my parents, a web of telling lies to pretty much everyone I cared about, skipping a lot of school, falling grades, and damaged relationships with almost all my friends. By the grace of God, my parents finally discovered the full extent of what I was doing and intervened. They basically grounded me from anything not related to school, told me that I had to break up with this girlfriend, and kept a very close eye on everything that I did. I knew that I couldn't get away with much more, but my heart still wasn't ready to submit.

After I broke off the relationship with this girl, that was honestly the lowest point in my life. Even though I had been the one to end it, I didn't want to. In fact, that was the one and only time in my life that I have actually contemplated suicide, because I just couldn't see any hope or joy in living without her. Thankfully I didn't do anything foolish in harming myself, but I still spent several weeks struggling in my own heart. I knew I had to make a choice: I could either get bitter at my parents and allow their intervention to turn into hatred in my heart, or I could submit.

As weeks passed and I continued to be grounded, I was pretty much at rock-bottom. And it was finally there, at that place of absolute discouragement, hopelessness, and despair that God began to work in my heart. He allowed me to see that the place where I was at was exactly where I will always end up when I choose to ignore Him and try to live life on my own. Through that, He showed me that my heart was wicked, corrupt, and beyond my ability to cure. And I realized that the only way I could move forward and restore all the damage that I had caused was through surrendering my life to Christ. So it was finally at that point, during the summer of 2000 when I was 15 years old, that I first repented and trusted in Christ for salvation.

When I made that decision to trust in Christ, things began to change pretty quickly. Within a matter of days, God began to place in me an insatiable desire to read His word and pray. I had never honestly sat down and read the Bible on my own before that time, but as I began to read the Bible (starting in Genesis) I just couldn't get enough! Since I was still grounded, I had plenty of time on my hands, too, so I started reading large portions of the Bible for two or three hours a day. He also gave me a new desire to be a blessing to other people rather than a burden. I never really liked Christians before this point, but with the changes that God made in my heart, I actually enjoyed being around my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I wanted to do good to them and show them God's love. Within a matter of months, a number of big changes were obvious in my life, and lots of people were noticing the difference.

At that same time (about 2 or 3 months after I received Christ) God directed me to join a vibrant youth group at a church near my own. It was part of a small community church that wouldn't really catch your eye, but it had a dynamic youth pastor who loved God with all his heart and preached His word unlike anyone else I'd ever heard. Through that group, I got tied in to a small group Bible study lead by a young guy who had come out of a Calvary Chapel Bible college. In that group, our leader took a group of six or seven of us young guys verse by verse through the book of Romans, and opened up God's word to us in a way I had never experienced! His passion and enthusiasm for God's word were contagious, and through that experience I realized that I wanted to spend my time doing the same thing that this youth leader had done for me in teaching me how to study God's word for myself. That first year after I received Christ was incredibly transformative for me, and it propelled me onto the path that I am still going down to this day.

After that first year, life started to go by more quickly. I keep pressing in to learn God's word better, to grow as a disciple of Christ, and to discern God's will for my life. While I had never opened God's word to read it on my own before I was 15, I spent my last three years in high school literally devouring it whenever I could. By the time I graduated from high school, I honestly had read through the Bible at least 12 times (mostly in English, but one time also in Spanish). Other people recognized my desire to study God's word and teach it to others, and so they directed me to go to Multnomah Bible College, a calling which God clearly confirmed.

Since the time that I made the decision to go to Multnomah, God has done a lot of work in my heart and life. I have spent the last six years working very hard to learn God's word better, and I don't regret spending a single one of those years the way I have. These years have been challenging, stretching, and at times frustrating, but God has worked through them all to make me the man I am today. I am genuinely thankful for the path that God has led me down, and although I probably would not have chosen it if presented with the option beforehand, I would not change one bit of it when looking at my past in hindsight.

So where am I going from here? That's a great question! I can honestly say that the thing I am most passionate about in life is to teach God's word to others so that they can read it for themselves and grow spiritually in the process. I have had many opportunities to do this in the past, I have seen God bless my efforts, and I have had people much older and wiser than me affirm that I do have this gift. I don't exactly know where God will use this gift. My heart beats for the local church, and I want to spend myself in the work of strengthing and building up whichever local congregation God might place me in during any particular season of my life. Beyond this, I can't say much. What I can say for sure, though, is that God is not finished working in me yet, and that if the future proves to be anything like the past, I am in for a very interesting journey!

Thank you, Father, that you have taken someone like me-someone who rejected you, rebelled against your laws, and slandered your name-and chosen to make me your son! Your grace is much greater than I can imagine, and your mercy much greater than I could ever see. Let your Spirit continue His work within me, and let me never be content until your perfect work of making me more like Jesus is accomplished. Amen!

What Does God Want To Cleanse From The Temple Of Your Life?

2009-11-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

I was getting counsel from an older friend of mine who has been a mentor to me for the past three or four years yesterday, and he shared with me an insight he received recently into Scripture that absolutely astounded me. In John 2:13-22, we read:

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

This passage of Scripture is pretty straightforward-Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem, drove out those who were polluting the place that was supposed to be dedicated to worshiping God, and that was that. My mentor showed me, however, that there is something deeper going on here that we don't immediately notice.

In the Old Testament and into the time of Jesus, the tabernacle and then the temple was the one place beyond all others that was to be set apart as holy for the worship of the one true God. There were regulations and requirements for how worship and sacrifice was to be carried out in and around the temple, and people could not just simply approach God however they might wish to. Because of this, when worldliness began to enter into the temple (here in the form of commerce), Jesus was filled with a holy anger and was moved to violently clear all the impurities from that place.

With the death of Jesus, however, things changed. When Christ died, the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two, and through this God made it clear to everyone that He no longer dwells in any sense in buildings made by human hands. Does this mean that God no longer has a dwelling place, then? Not at all! As a matter of fact, the Bible now teaches that God has at least two places where He dwells as He did in the temple. So we read in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

God's temple here seems to refer to the church as a corporate body (think your local church). In some sense, when a group of believers commits to meeting together on a regular basis, they now become the temple of the living God. But later on in 1 Corinthians, we also get a different picture in 6:19-20:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Unlike 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, the temple of God spoken of in 6:19-20 is not the local church, it is actually you as a saved individual!

So given the fact, then, that God now dwells in you as a person and your church as a congregation of believers, let's think back to John 2:13-22. Jesus was filled with a sense of holy anger when the temple of God (the building) was polluted, and He went to radical measures to clean it up. Now that we are God's temple, is there any pollution in us that God wants to clear out of the way?

Here's how my mentor actually asked this question: "What does God's Son want to clear from the temple of your life?" And ever since he asked me that question, it has burned in my heart and caused me to do a lot of thinking... So let me ask you: what does God's Son want to clear from the temple of your life?

The Sabbath: Does It Really Matter Anymore?

2009-10-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Recently one of the readers of this blog asked me a question about the Sabbath day and how it relates to Christians. This was a pretty involved question and I won't take the time to repeat all of the details here, but I gave it my best shot to put together a brief (but hopefully comprehensive) answer. Here's the gist of what I had to say about the Sabbath:

There are really a bunch of different positions on this issue.

First of all, you have the position which basically says that the Sabbath carries over from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant without being changed at all. Groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists, Seventh-Day Baptists, and some Messianic Jewish congregations hold to this position. They are really taking the commandment to keep the Sabbath more at face value than anyone else, because they keep it on Saturday (the seventh day). I wouldn't really say that they take the commandment entirely literally, though, because they usually won't put people in their congregations who break the Sabbath to death. Still, they are following this commandment pretty closely to the letter of the law. They would argue that since the commandment to keep the Sabbath is not part of the ceremonial or ritual laws of the Old Covenant (which Christ fulfilled and in the process did away with) and since it was never explicitly nullified, Christians should keep the Sabbath day as closely as possible. They would also argue that the Sabbath day is actually Saturday, since "Sabbath" literally means "the seventh day" in Hebrew. So for this group, to say that I am going to keep the Sabbath day on Sunday is like saying that I'm going to keep the fourth of July in the heart of winter. It is just a contradiction of terms to them.

Secondly, you have the position on the opposite end of the spectrum that holds that the Sabbath day isn't relevant for Christians at all, because we aren't under law, but under grace. People who hold this position would really emphasize statements that the apostle Paul made about the Christian's relationship to the law. On this basis, they would conclude that the Sabbath is now unimportant to keep because it was either fulfilled in Christ or just done away with altogether. So people with this perspective would still go to church on Sunday (or Saturday, or whenever they felt like it), but then they would have no problem going to work, a baseball game, wherever right after church. Most evangelical Christians in the United States fall into this category-not usually because they have thought through the issue and ended up here by conviction, but just because it is easier to fit this view into an already busy lifestyle.

Thirdly, you will also find the position that the law of the Sabbath has been carried over from the Old Covenant, but with some important modifications. The most important modification that Christians will put in here is that the Sabbath day is now on Sundays rather than Saturdays. For the guys who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith, Sunday was the Christian Sabbath, and Christians are to refrain from all work, from all recreation, etc. The obvious reason for the change from Saturday to Sunday was because of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. These guys also probably wouldn't execute Sabbath-breakers, but they did try to pass laws in England to restrict the kinds of activities that people could do on the Sabbath. This is sometimes called "Christian Sabbatarianism"; the basic idea is that the Sabbath has been shifted from Saturday to Sunday.

The fourth and final big perspective is basically the position that the Sabbath is no longer a binding requirement on believers living under the New Covenant, but that it is still an important principle to follow that is based on the unchanging character of God (who took one day of rest out of seven). And-you guessed it!-this is my perspective, since I saved it until last. I believe that the commandment to keep the Sabbath is no longer binding upon believers living under the New Covenant. It is confusing to me why some Christians will preach grace time and time again, but then on a couple particular issues (the Sabbath and tithing) slip back into the mindset of using the law to issue commandments to other Christians about how to live. As Christians, we were not saved through keeping the law, and we will not remain saved by keeping the law! So why in the world would we take a new Christian who has had an encounter with God through the grace of Christ and start giving them a set of rules to follow? That seems like legalism through and through to me. It is dangerous and it is un-scriptural to say that 99% of the law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ, but that 1% is still remaining and active. If God wanted to do something like this, He definitely could have; but there is no reason to think as far as I can tell that He did.

So from my perspective, what do we do with the Sabbath? Since the laws God gave through Moses were all based on the unchanging nature and character of God, I'm definitely not willing to throw them away and say that they have nothing to teach me! Instead, I think that we need to try to find the unchanging principle behind all of the laws God gave through Moses, and wisely apply them to our own lives. Being under the New Covenant is no excuse for not living wisely; we should actually be living in a way that is wiser than people living under the Old Covenant! With the Sabbath, I believe that the principle we see is that it is wise and appropriate to set aside one day out of seven for rest and worshiping God. Could this be Saturday? Sure. Could it be Sunday? Why not. It could even be Thursday. Here's the key point-God gave us the principle of Sabbath-rest for our benefit, and He intended it to help us, not to hinder us. And since this is an issue of wisdom rather than law, I would never try to make someone feel guilty for not setting aside one day out of seven. I would try to help them see that this is wise counsel from a God who loves them, but I'm definitely not going to do what I've seen other people do in threatening the people of God with a curse if they don't keep the Sabbath. That is the farthest thing from grace that I can possibly imagine.

And I think it's the same with tithing. God gives us a principle to set aside one-tenth of all that we produce and give it to Him. Are we going to be cursed if we don't? I'm not willing to say that. But it is a scriptural principle, and one that we should pay attention to.

After some time passed, this blog reader shot back a few more questions, and so I followed up with this explanation of how I see the relationship between Christians living under the New Covenant and laws we read in the Old Testament:

Maybe this will clear up some of the confusion regarding my position: I don't believe that Christians are obligated to keep the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were part of the covenant that God made with the Israelites through Moses; we are not part of that covenant. So don't worry about keeping the Ten Commandments!

With that being said, I should probably back-track a little bit. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, and it is obvious that Jesus and the apostles expected Christians to obey them (the Sabbath law being the only one never explicitly repeated in the New Testament). So it's not like we can live any way that we might want to live. So which is it: do we keep the Ten Commandments, or don't we?

I think this is what I would emphasize: we are not under the law of Moses any longer (Ten Commandments included), but we are not without a law. Instead of being under the law of Moses ('do this and you will live, don't do it and you will die'), we are under the "law of love" (love God with all you've got and love your neighbor like yourself). But then we've got to ask the question, "What does it look like to love God with all you've got, and what does it look like to love your neighbor like yourself?"

This is when the Old Covenant becomes helpful. Because God never changes, we can get a really good idea of what it means to love God and love others from looking at the law. We can't just say that the law is God's timeless will for all people at all places at all times; however. There are some laws that are entirely general and timeless ("Don't kill"), while there are other laws that are more specific and time-bound ("Don't allow an Amalekite to enter the assembly of the Lord", etc.). So we've got to discern the principle behind all of the laws God gave to His people, and then apply that same principle to our own lives.

So what do you think? Would you agree with what I said about Christians and the Sabbath, or disagree? Anything that you would add?

The River

2009-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

After not listening to this song for more than a decade, it randomly came back to my mind yesterday. It's called "The River" by Garth Brooks, and it's one of the few country songs that I actually like. I would encourage you to listen to it and pay close attention to the lyrics!

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores...and

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide...yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

There's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all...yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Yes, I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
'Til the river runs dry

When Prayer Becomes An Excuse For Disobedience

2009-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of days some things came up that caused me to question some decisions I have made in life and the course I am heading in. There was nothing "earth-shattering" that happened, but it was enough to make me concerned, agitated, and anxious. And so I decided to pray about it this morning (good thing, right?). And the answer I got from the Lord absolutely shocked me.

Here's what the Lord basically told me: "You are praying about things that I have already given you a clear word of instruction about. You're prayers are just becoming an excuse for disobedience." Excuse me??!? My prayers are becoming an excuse for disobedience? To be fair, my response wasn't that extreme, but I was surprised. But as I thought and prayed about it some more, I realized that God was right, and a sense of peace came to my heart that I was actually hearing from Him. God has confirmed the direction that I am taking in life a number of times, and He has made it clear that where I'm going and what I'm doing is no mistake. So when I prayed about my situation, I wasn't praying in faith; I was really just going to God again and ignoring the answer He had already given me.

To make things even more convicting, God gave me this picture: I was acting just like the Israelites did in Joshua 7. To give you some context to this passage, in Joshua 6 the Israelites had just taken the fortified city of Jericho in a stunning victory, but they had not followed God's instructions precisely in how to handle the plunder from the city. God instructed through Joshua that the people should not keep the spoils of war for themselves, but Achan the son of Carmi kept some of these items devoted to the Lord. So when the Israelites went up against the next city of the land, Ai, God gave them up before their enemies. In response to this unexpected defeat, Joshua humbled himself before the Lord and cried out to God (a good thing, right?). Here's how the book of Joshua records the prayer and God's response:

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?"

The LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you."

When God found Joshua in the place of prayer, He rebuked Joshua. Here was God's point: it won't do you any good to pray when you are living in disobedience. Joshua definitely didn't know about Achan's sin (neither did the rest of the nation of Israel, for that matter), but he represented the people, and as long as the people were living in sin and disobedience, God would continue to give them over to their enemies.

When God showed me this, I realized that I was just like the Israelites in this story. God gave me clear instructions about the path I'm supposed to be on in life right now and what I need to be involving myself in, but things happened to take my eyes off God's good plan for my life. I grew discouraged, and instead of fixing my focus on God's goodness and never-ending kindness, I went to God in prayer. It's not bad to pray, but it's bad to pray when your prayers are basically just a sign that you are doubting or disobeying something that God already made clear. And this is exactly what I was doing this morning. God's rebuke to me was strong, and it was clear. It wasn't fun receiving this word from the Lord, but when it came, it was good. I knew it came straight from the heart of God, and I knew that He intended it for my correction, my good, and my benefit.

How about you? Are there areas in your life where God has made His will clear, but you just keep praying and hoping that things will change? For me, I didn't really think about the fact that I was disobeying God and doubting His goodness when I went to Him in prayer this morning, but that's what I was doing. And you might be doing the same. When we do this, we're no different than Joshua and the sons of Israel-trying to honor God with good intentions but the entire time dishonoring Him by ignoring the clear instruction that He has already given. As long as we remain in this place of disobedience and questioning the will of God (even through prayer!) we will be powerless, and we will be helpless to stand against our enemies.

May the Lord give us the grace to hear His voice the first time He speaks, to be eager to obey, and to always trust in His faithfulness, goodness, and kindness to us!

The Life of Prayer That Delights God

2009-10-20T05:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are interested, I just posted the audio to a sermon that I preached recently at my home church, so it is available to listen to online. The sermon was given on October 18th, 2009 at Gresham Household of Faith Community Church, and the title was "The Life of Prayer That Delights God". You can listen to it here.

A Code Of Ethics For Biblical Preaching

2009-10-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is a code of ethics for biblical preaching that I made a few years back. I was just looking through it again as I am getting ready to preach tomorrow, and I thought you might be interested to browse through it!

A Code of Ethics for Biblical Preaching

I. Preamble

The purpose of this code is to present a set of guidelines for myself regarding the communication of God’s truth contained in His word, the Bible. As a disciple of Jesus Christ who has been purified through His vicarious death, my purpose and calling in life is to present God’s word to believers and unbelievers alike in a way that is simple, clear, intelligible, and challenging. In this communication I have obligations to God, my audience, other ministers, and myself. The task of preaching is unlike any other, but the rewards and blessing that come from it are unmatched, and as a result I have dedicated myself to this task more than to any other.

II. Statement of Faith

A. God and Creation: I believe that God, the eternal and all-powerful ruler of everything, exists as one God in three persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although He lacks nothing, He chose out of His great love to create all that exists. He created all things out of nothing, and He brought them into existence by the power of His spoken word. In six days He created the heavens, the earth, plants, and animals. On the sixth day in particular, God created man, who was to be the crowning gem of all His creation, and who was to rule over the earth through God’s authority. (Gen. 1:1-2:25; Is. 43:10; Matt. 28:16-20; 1 John 4:8)

B. Man and Sin: I believe that as God’s unique creation, man was created in the image and likeness of God. Although man was elevated to a position far above the rest of the physical creation, he chose to break relationship with God and he thus became corrupt. The sin of the first human couple didn’t remain with them, but was rather passed down to their offspring. As a result, all people are born with a twisted and corrupt nature that prevents them from seeking, honoring, pleasing, or glorifying God. (Gen. 3:1-24; Ps. 8:1-9, 51:5; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22)

C. Christ and Salvation: I believe that although God would have been glorified and just in condemning all mankind to eternal punishment forever, He chose rather out of His great love and mercy to provide salvation that would be sufficient for all through Jesus Christ. Christ, the second member of the Trinity, was born into the world through the Virgin Mary. He led a sinless life, and He taught His disciples and those around Him about the Father. When the time came near for Him to die, He went to Jerusalem so that everything written about Him would be fulfilled. He was crucified, died, and was buried. Three days later, He rose again from the dead, substantiating His claims about the Father and Himself. After forty days He commissioned His disciples to go out into all the nations, to make disciples of them, and to teach them to walk in His own footsteps. Afterward, He ascended into Heaven. He will return one day in the same manner to reign as king and to judge the peoples of the earth. For those who accept Christ as their Savior and Lord and who begin to walk in the footsteps of Christ, the door to salvation is thrown open and heaven becomes a certainty. For those who reject Christ, there is no other salvation; all that remains for them is the gloomy expectation of judgment and eternal condemnation. (Matt. 1:18, 26:1-28:20; John 3:16-21; Acts 1:1-1:11; 1 John 2:2)

D. God’s Revelation: I believe that God has revealed Himself and His plan of salvation to all mankind through His unique written word, the Bible. The Bible contains the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, and was delivered to us through human authors who wrote as the Holy Spirit led them. While the Bible is ultimately written by God, the words of Scripture reflect the culture in which they were written and the personalities of the human authors. As a result, diligent study and exegesis of Scripture are necessary in order to understand and apply its’ truths. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21)

III. Statements of Obligations

A. To God:

1. I will only preach messages that have as their center the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:5)

2. I will clearly and succinctly communicate and exalt God’s character and nature to my audience. (Ps. 21:13)

3. I will rigorously study the passage of Scripture to be preached in order to discover the principle that God communicated through the human author to his original audience. (2 Tim. 3:15)

4. I will ask God to apply the truth I will be presenting first to my own life, and I will allow Him to change me as He desires.

5. I will seek to apply God’s truth to all areas of life as His Holy Spirit directs.

6. I will only preach the word of God as it has been understood in the historic creeds (Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed), and I will not venture into novel or unorthodox teachings. (Gal. 1:6-10)

7. I will only deliver messages that proclaim God’s truth, edify His people, or invite unbelievers into His kingdom.

8. I will seek to magnify God and minimize myself through preaching. (John 3:30)

9. I will strive to use my talents and abilities to the utmost in the task of preaching. (Ecc. 9:10; 1 Cor. 10:31-32)

10. I will not shrink back from preaching God’s truth when it is controversial, unpopular, or dangerous. (Eze. 3:16-21; Matt. 24:9-13)

B. To my audience/congregation:

1. I will strive to present Jesus Christ and Him crucified in every message that I deliver. (1 Cor. 2:2)

2. I will seek to serve my audience through the ministry of the word. (John 13:12-17; 1 Pet. 5:1-3)

3. I will speak only those words which will be edifying to my audience. (Eph. 4:29)

4. I will try to motivate my audience to demonstrate their love for God through love and service to others. (Matt. 22:34-40)

5. I will not use sensational or artificial methods. (1 Cor. 2:4-5)

6. I will use plain, simple, and intelligible language to boldly present the Word of God. (2 Cor. 3:12)

7. I will not use rude or forceful language to preach, but I will rely upon God’s power for results. (1 Cor. 4:20)

8. I will not use falsified illustrations, examples, or stories in my sermons and present them as true. (1 Thess. 5:22)

9. I will not use confidential information or embarrassing stories about others in a sermon without their permission.

10. I will not make long or showy prayers before or after sermons. (Ecc. 5:2; Matt. 6:5-7)

C. To my peers in ministry:

1. I will honor other ministers of the Gospel through my preaching, including their ministries and accomplishments. (Phil. 2:25-30)

2. I will not speak out in bitterness, wrath, or anger against other ministers of the Gospel. (Eph. 4:31)

3. I will not seek to exalt one ministry or minister above another in my sermons. (1 Cor. 3:1-23)

4. I will highlight the unity of the body of Christ in my messages so that there will be no sense of division between local congregations. (Eph. 2:11-22)

5. I will attempt to align my messages with the various ministries and activities of my own church, the churches in the surrounding community, and the community at large.

6. I will share techniques, methods, and ideas about preaching with other ministers as necessary.

7. I will ask other ministers of the Gospel to evaluate my preaching style, technique, and effectiveness. (Acts 18:24-28)

8. I will regularly meet with others involved in ministry for prayer, accountability, and community. (Heb. 10:25)

9. I will seek to occasionally delegate my role of preaching to other ministers who may be visiting or to those who have received a message from God.

10. I will preach at other churches and functions when available for other pastors and ministers who cannot attend to the duty.

D. To myself:

1. I will study God’s word and seek the Lord in prayer daily. (Ps. 119:11)

2. I will labor diligently and study intensely to prepare biblical messages through God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

3. I will prepare my own biblical messages rather than use the work of others.

4. I will not deliver sermons when I am uncertain about the accuracy of my understanding of a passage.

5. I will practice delivering my sermons at least twice before I deliver it to an audience.

6. I will honor God through taking care of my body by getting eight hours of sleep the night before a sermon and through eating healthy meals before delivering that sermon. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

7. I will not preach a message to gain personal notoriety or to increase my status with others. (Matt. 6:1-34)

8. I will model all that I say in a message by what I do throughout the week. (1 Cor. 4:20; 1 Pet. 2:1-3)

9. I will attempt to preach without notes whenever it is possible, so that I can more actively and dynamically interact with the audience.

10. I will not derive self-esteem from compliments given after a sermon, nor will I accept a poor self-image from criticism.

IV. Statement of Conclusion

As a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have committed myself to sharing with others His Gospel through biblical preaching. In the work of biblical preaching I have obligations to God, to my audience, to my peers, and to myself, and because of the nature of the task at hand, I take these obligations very seriously. While I have certainly not mastered biblical preaching nor do I ever expect to do so, I am excited about the opportunity to exalt God through this task, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life in service to others through the ministry of the word. Amen!

An Exhortation To Young Christian Women

2009-10-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in my Hebrew class the other night, and a young lady came and sat down by me. I said "hi" and introduced myself, and got to know her a little bit. She was very nice, but there was one huge problem that I noticed almost immediately: her shirt wasn't quite long enough for her. A little bit later, another girl came in with a shirt that didn't quite cover her all the way up on the chest. And so it continued for the rest of the night. I have to say, I was annoyed and frustrated by this lack of clothing. Just to clarify: I go to a Christian graduate school, and everyone who attends makes a profession of faith and must submit personal references testifying to their Christian character before they ever get accepted. So I don't mean to condemn or judge these young ladies, but it was just a couple more examples of a problem growing among young Christian women.

What is the problem? Our young women often feel (whether consciously or subconsciously, I don't know which) that they need to expose different parts of their body in order to be attractive to men. And on the one hand, this isn't too surprising. We live in a culture that holds up a stereotypical image of what an attractive woman looks like, and this image often includes showing as much skin as possible. Christian women usually don't go as far as others, but you can definitely tell that many of them are still influenced by it. On the other hand, this trend is highly alarming. Both the Old and New Testaments hold up a standard of morality for the people of God that touches upon how God's people dress (in principle, although not always down to the details). And so we read in 1 Peter:

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

So I've got to say that I do understand why there is a temptation for young Christian women to draw attention to themselves by how they dress, but that giving into this temptation is radically opposed to God's instruction. And to be fair, I realize that men share a huge burden of the guilt for this problem because through their comments, the attention they give, and what they describe as "attractive" they only reinforce this behavior in women. But we are called to be a different breed of people, and so we must live above this.

And I want to be very direct and upfront on this issue: if you were a young woman who wanted to get my attention, no matter how attractive you are, I would never, ever pursue a relationship with you if you didn't dress modestly. This isn't because I'm trying to be "prudish"; it's because I would be terrified that if the relationship led to marriage and we had kids, you would teach them to dress the same way. As a man who is trying to pursue God with all my heart, and knowing other men who are of the same mind, I can honestly tell you that if you ever want to find a husband who loves God more than anything else, you will not get him through showing off your body.

What is the alternative, then? For me, and for all the other guys I have discussed this issue with who are like-minded in pursuing God, the way that you can make yourself most attractive is by pursuing God with all that you have in you. I couldn't care less if you are up-to-date with the latest fashions; tell me what God has been showing you recently in your quiet time. I'm uninterested in whether your skin is dark enough and if you have been tanning recently; let me see you involved in serving and building up the body of Christ. I don't care if you perfectly match the figures on the magazines in the supermarket; let me see the gentleness and quietness of your spirit as you patiently wait on God to provide you with a husband. These are the things that will attract a man who is truly seeking God, and they will cause you to grow in Christ-likeness all along the way.

And one last point for young Christian men and women: I learned something a few years back that I have always kept close to me, and it's incredibly practical for this discussion. Don't get involved in a relationship with someone that you don't respect. I've had the opportunity to start relationships with a number of girls that were attractive in one way or another, but I chose not to because I just didn't respect them and see them as women of "noble character" when it came down to it. There are a number of things that might attract you to a person, but if you don't respect them at the deepest and most fundamental level, you are already off to a bad start. This rule of thumb has served me well until now, and I think that you will find it helpful and true to the Bible as well.

May God give you the grace to pursue Him with all that you have in you, and the humility and modesty to conduct yourselves in the world in a way that will attract people that is truly pleasing to Christ!

Why It Is Worth Your Time To Pursue Humility

2009-10-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

God has recently been impressing a particular verse on my heart and mind more strongly than I have ever experienced before. This verse comes from Isaiah, and has to do with the importance of having a contrite and lowly spirit. Before I share the verse with you, a brief description of the context of Isaiah might be helpful. In Isaiah chapters 1-39, we read chapter after chapter of condemnation and judgment upon God's people because of their unfaithfulness to their covenant with God. But in chapters 40-66, the tone of Isaiah radically changes, and instead of constant condemnation and judgment, we read of mercy, grace, pardon, forgiveness, and restoration. This shift in tone is so dramatic that the majority of modern biblical scholars actually believe that there were at least two different authors of Isaiah-one who wrote chapters 1-39, and another who wrote chapters 40-66. I believe that the prophet Isaiah wrote the entire book, but this just goes to show that there is definitely a radical shift in tone between chapters 39 and 40. So when we get to Isaiah 57, where the verse I am going to share is from, we are in a context describing how God desires to pardon His people, forgive their sins, and restore them into a relationship of covenant faithfulness with Him.

With this in mind, we read in Isaiah 57:15:

For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

So how does this fit into the broader context of Isaiah that I just mentioned? Since this verse comes in the second half of Isaiah (40-66), it is basically describing to God's people the way that they can be restored from their bondage to sin, enslavement to their enemies, and frustration in all that they do. God called upon His people to humble themselves, to become contrite and lowly of spirit, and to look to Him for restoration. Making treaties with foreign kings would not help, strengthening their armies would not save them, and fortifying their cities could never deliver; but to those who had a contrite and lowly spirit before the God of Israel, He promised to make His dwelling place in them.

But enough about Israel-what does this verse have to say to us? I believe what we can get out of this verse is a better understanding of why it is so worth our time to pursue humility. Before I can get to this, though, I have to give a couple quick theological clarifications. In Christian theology, we say that God is "omnipresent". By this, we mean that God is present in all places at all times. So there is no place that you can go where God won't be-heaven, hell, the earth, the outer reaches of the universe, you name it. There is nothing hidden from His sight, and no place where you can go that will be removed from His presence. But at the same time, there are certain places where God chooses to manifest His presence in a special way for the purposes of blessing and having an intimate relationship with His people. Because of this, God is present in heaven in a way that He is not present in hell. He was present in the tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon's temple in a way that He was not present in all the pagan temples of the ancient world. And He is present in the lives of all genuine Christians in a way that He is not present in the lives of all unbelievers. So even though God can be and indeed is present in all places at all times, there still remains a fuller and deeper manifestation of His presence that He gives as He sovereignly chooses.

Keeping this distinction in mind, what do we learn from Isaiah 57:15 then? First of all, God is transcendent; that is to say, He is entirely exalted above this creation and all it contains, He is totally different from it, and there is no way that any of us could have access to Him if He chose to hide Himself. To put it another way, there is nothing outside of God that could ever compel Him to take notice of you, to care for you, or to reveal Himself to you in any way. If God actually chose to remove Himself from us, there would be absolutely nothing we could do, because He is bigger than us, He is beyond us, and there is nothing that He needs that He would ever have to get from us.

But even though this is true, we learn something incredible here! The high and lofty God, the one who is exalted, who inhabits eternity, and whose name is holy chooses to make one exception to where He will dwell!! This God promises that the person who is contrite and lowly of spirit, who is humble before Him and depends on His strength will receive His attention!!! There is no end to how far you could travel and not find God, there is no depth that you could not search to and not be frustrated, and there is no height that you could not ascend to and not come short if God chose to hide Himself. But when you humble yourself before Him, become contrite and lowly in spirit, and recognize that you have nothing to bring before such a majestic, holy, righteous, and exalted God, God's attention is instantly fixed on you.

And this is what makes it so worthwhile for you to pursue humility. It is only when we have genuinely humble and contrite hearts before God that God promises us His attention and He promises to make His dwelling place in us. You could never earn God's attention by performing perfectly in anything; you could never make Him desire you by living without sin from this day until the day you die; and there is no task that you could complete that is so great that would make Him notice you for even an instant. But when you humble yourself before God, His eyes are on you, and He will come and have genuine fellowship with you.

In contrast to this, the alternative to the way of humility is quite frightening. In Psalm 138:6 we read, "For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar." If we have hard hearts and proud attitudes, we have God's promise that He will stay far away from us. There's a good chance that He won't answer our prayers, He won't respond to our cries, and He won't have real fellowship with us when we cherish pride in our hearts (this is true for genuine Christians, too). And just think about this: to be distant from God, a God who inhabits the highest heaven and whose presence the whole universe cannot contain, is to be very far off indeed.

So this is why it is so worth your time to pursue humility. There is no other way to have real fellowship with God, and there is no other way to find the satisfaction that God wants us to have in Christ in this life. Let this prayer from the Valley of Vision be your prayer today as you meditate on these truths and seek to live a life that reflects the way of the cross.

Humiliation

Sovereign Lord, when clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me, I see thy purpose of love in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more, in chastening me for my confidence in past successes, that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured. Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing the vanity of honour as a conceit of men's minds, as standing between me and thee; by seeing that thy will must alone be done, as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments; by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil, mind, mouth, life void of thee; by seeing that sin and Satan are allowed power in me that I might know my sin, be humbled, and gain strength thereby; by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me, so that I sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love. Then possess me, for thou only art good and worthy.

Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin, Satan did not play in tempting me to it, I do not play when I sink in deep mire, for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble; let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the person sinned against. When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me, by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but that in Christ I am reconciled, made alive, and satisfied; that I am feeble and unable to do any good, but that in him I can do all things; that what I now have in Christ is mine in part, but that shortly I shall have it perfectly in heaven.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

2009-10-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you another video that my dad came out with in his series on the names of God. Like I said before, be sure to check out my dad's website here!

Have You Set Your Heart To Seek God?

2009-10-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the book of 2 Chronicles, there is an interesting account of the life of King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Rehoboam wasn't the best king that Judah ever saw, but he certainly also wasn't the worst. He was probably somewhere in the middle of the road. But the author of Chronicles nevertheless had a scathing rebuke for this heir of David in 2 Chronicles 12:14: "He (that is, Rehoboam) did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD." Tough words for a stubborn king, but still fitting if you read through what he did during his lifetime.

Before we move on too quickly, though, think about those words. "He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD." Is it really true that Rehoboam was never obedient to God? Of course it's not true! Just look through the account of Rehoboam's life in 2 Chronicles, and you will find that at times he was incredibly obedient:

2 Chronicles 11:1-4: "Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.””’ So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam."

2 Chronicles 12:5-6: "Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.’ ” So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous."

2 Chronicles 12:12: "And when he humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah."

So why would the author of Chronicles give this rebuke to Rehoboam? He condemned Rehoboam in this way not because he did not seek the Lord, but because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Do you see the difference here? It is entirely possible to seek God on occasion but never actually set your heart to seek Him. You might turn to Him when times get tough (like Rehoboam). But have you made it the one consuming passion of your life to be a man or a woman who seeks His face, and is satisfied just in the ability to know Him and to seek a deeper knowledge and a fuller fellowship with Him? This is the kind of passion that God is after, and it is only this kind of heart that has been set on fire by the Spirit of God that will keep us from wandering away from the path that God has placed before us.

So in contrast to Rehoboam and his failure to set his heart to seek God, what does it look like to purposefully set our hearts on God? Thankfully, 2 Chronicles gives us an example of just this very thing. We go on to read in 2 Chronicles 15:1-19 of how Asa, a descendant of this same Rehoboam, was exhorted by the prophet Azariah to "seek the Lord". And what was the result? Unlike his ancestor, Asa responded, and he responded in a big way! Here's what we read:

2 Chronicles 15:8-15: "Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side."

When Asa and all the nation of Judah with him set their hearts to seeking God, we witness a radical transformation. They gained courage, they became obedient, they worshipped God through sacrifice, they were incredibly joyful (even ecstatic!), they found God, and they experienced rest. Both Asa and Rehoboam experienced tough times, but one responded through setting his heart to seek the Lord, while the other just sought the Lord when it was convenient, and abandoned Him after that. And, like we see from their examples, they experienced radically different results.

So what will it be for you? Will you be like Rehoboam and only seek God during the tough times when you think He might get you out of a jam? Or will you set your heart to seek God like Asa and the people of Judah in his day? The choice is yours. Let me warn you, however, that unless you make a conscious and intentional decision to seek the Lord each and every day (this means so much more than Bible study and prayer, friends), it is more likely than not that you will end up making the same decision that Rehoboam did (he probably didn't sit down one day and decide that he would not set his heart to seek God). Let these examples from God's word speak to you and cast light on your life, so that you will become wise in the process and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:11: "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come."

Does Ephesians 5:16 Apply To How Much We Use Facebook?

2009-09-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

I was convicted a few days ago about how much of my time I spend on things that really don't matter that much, particularly facebook. I don't really spend a ridiculous amount of time on facebook, but it seems like more often than not, I will get logged in, spend a few minutes doing "important" things (like responding to messages, commenting on people's status, and taking quizzes), and before I know it, it is a half hour later! This has started to bother me, and it might be an area in your life that is a problem as well (God only knows, I don't).

While I was thinking about this, one verse in particular came to mind. In Ephesians 5:15-16 we read, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil." When I remembered this verse, the thought struck me: "I wonder if this has anything to say about how much I use facebook?" It is obvious that Paul meant for this truth to impact each and every part of our lives, and so I realized that it must also have something to say about using facebook.

So what is Paul trying to tell us here? The word behind the phrase that most Bible translations put as "making the most of your time" would be literally translated as "redeeming" the time. It's not entirely clear what Paul meant by "redeeming the time", but he seems to be suggesting that time is a precious commodity that slips away from us all too easily. In fact, since our time is a resource, however we spend it is an investment. If we are not wise and intentional about how we spend this resource, it will be wasted. And because of this, in light of what God has done for us in Christ and the new realities of grace that this brings to our lives, we have a responsibility to "buy back" the time that would otherwise be wasted. This isn't just a matter of getting the most activity that we can squeezed into an already full day; it is a matter of using our time wisely and in a way that will most honor God.

Switching back to facebook, then, what would this truth that Paul is trying to teach us have to say about how much we use social networking? I believe that there valid uses for facebook, and that many people have been successful in using it as a tool for evangelism, restoring old relationships, and promoting ministry events. But if you are honest with yourself, you might find that more often than not it just becomes an opportunity to squander your time. This is certainly the case for me. I have found ways of using facebook to promote different ministry events, to share the gospel, and to encourage other believers, but I also get sucked into the trap of just wasting time on it as well. As Gregg Harris (an elder at my church) would probably say, "Facebook loves you, and it has a wonderful plan for how you spend your time and money!"

Where do we go from here, then? It would be inappropriate and wrong for me to say that you should no longer use facebook, or that it is sinful to use it for more than ten minutes a day. It may be necessary, however, for you to limit yourself in terms of how often you use it. For myself, I'm not planning on giving myself a time limit, but I do intend to ask myself whether the ways in which I'm using it are a "redemptive" use of my time, or whether they are just wasting another precious day that God has given me as a gift. If I do that, I really believe that I will begin to find more time in my day, find myself spread less thin between a number of different activities, and I will find the opportunity to seek the face of God more. May God give us all the grace to use our time wisely, to turn away from the areas where we waste it, and to do everything with a mind toward honoring Him in all our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Why Prayer Must Be The Foundation Of Any Movement Empowered By God

2009-09-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

I've been really impressed lately by the need of my local church to give ourselves as a body to corporate prayer. This is sort of strange to me, because up until a few years ago prayer never really mattered to me that much; this tells me that this impression is almost certainly from God. But this also got me thinking about the question, "What's so special about corporate prayer?"

For a lot of people, it seems like it should be good enough to pray individually, or even just as families. After all, doesn't Jesus say in Matthew 6:6, "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you"? It is good (and very important) to pray individually and in smaller groups (such as families), but if prayer never goes beyond this level, I believe that the church will never have access to all of the power of God that He wants to give to those who are earnestly seeking Him. And I'm convinced that the reason that God will only give certain things in response to prayer is because prayer itself must be the foundation of any movement empowered by God.

Now this last statement ("prayer itself must be the foundation of any movement empowered by God") might have caught you off guard, but when you consider the nature of what sin really is, you will also see that prayer is one of the ultimate antidotes toward the problem of sin that God has given Christians in this life. At the core, I believe that sin is self-reliance rather than God-reliance. When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, the problem wasn't so much that they ate a piece of poisonous fruit that killed them spiritually; the problem was that in the act of eating that fruit, they declared independence from the expressed will of God for their lives, and in the process became self-reliant. To put it in other words, they thought that they knew better than God did how they should live, and this attitude of rebellion killed them. And because of this, as God is working in our lives to undo the effects of sin ("sanctification"), He is also teaching us to live in the way that Adam and Eve should have lived in the first place-in a trusting, reliant relationship with God. This doesn't mean just believing that God's way is best; it means seeking God out constantly for His insight, His wisdom, His strength, His motivation, and His joy. It means we seek God out through prayer.

With this in mind, it begins to make sense why the Bible talks so much about the importance of prayer. God could easily just give us whatever we need without our asking it (see Matthew 6:32), but He evidently sees much more need for the asking than we do. The reason for this, like I just said before, is because in the process of asking, we are making a conscious decision to rely upon God instead of ourselves. God doesn't want us to continue making the same mistake that our first parents made thousands of years ago and that humans have been making ever since. Instead of just trusting that what we already think is best, He wants us to come to Him again and again, over and over, trusting that as we come to Him each and every day, He will give us the good things that we need to continue on in this battle.

So what does this mean for prayer on the corporate level, such as in the church? If God wants me as an individual to depend on Him in prayer for my everyday life, and if He wants our families to look to Him over and over again to provide the things we need, how much more does He want our churches to express this same attitude of dependence and reliance on Him as we come together as a group of believers in prayer! The reason that prayer must be the foundation of any movement empowered by God is because it is only through prayer that will we truly be relying on Him rather than on ourselves, and it is only through prayer that God will get all the glory that He deserves out of us. We can try to keep doing things on our own-relying on our own ideas, trying to muster up our own strength, and hoping that we will see things clearly enough to chart a course into the future-but if we do this, we are making exactly the same mistake that Adam and Eve made. We might not put it in so many words or even admit that this is the case, but when our churches are marked by an attitude of being prayerless, they are also marked by an attitude of being self-reliant and they are possibly quite offensive to God. May God give us all the grace to seek Him through prayer each and every day as individuals, as families, and as local church congregations.

"A prayerless man is proud and independent, and any church that neglects corporate prayer is sadly no better. Only God's humble and needy children take the time to pray. Everyone else is just going through the motions and naively trusting in their own strength!" (David Smithers)

"The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if He be not there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be a slothfulness in prayer!" (Charles Spurgeon)

When Was God At His Best?

2009-09-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just came across a sermon by the late Pastor E.V. Hill called "When Was God At His Best" that he gave at Chicago's Moody Bible Institute in 1992. I posted it to my podcast site (http://theologymeetslife.mypodcast.com), so you can check it out there if you are interested. This is honestly one of the best and most passionate sermons that I've ever heard-check it out!