Other People Exist

 
Inspired by a talk Donald Miller gave at Catalyst a few years back about his book Blue Like Jazz. 

Donald Miller points out that “our sin nature wants us to reduce other people to tools and machines.” When, in actuality, we are called to understand that the world does not revolve around “me” but rather, that everybody is having an experience, created by God, and loved by God.

This is something I’m completely guilty of. I constantly forget that this life is just as much about other people as it is myself. How has God’s kingdom missed out because we view other people like the city bus?

Here’s what Paul had to say on the matter (Romans 12:3, 10, 16):

12:3 - For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

12:10 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

12:16 - Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Psalm 23

A David Psalm
1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

Finding Freedom in the Commands of God

Alex and Brett Harris (The Rebelution) respond to a recent comment: What I would like to know is your view of 1 John 5:3 which states: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” You say that following Christ is hard, but worth it, and yet here we read it isn’t hard. What is your response?

First, let’s read the next sentence. After John writes, “His commandments are not burdensome,” he follows-up on that statement by saying, “for (or because) everyone born of God overcomes the world.” In other words, God’s commands are not burdensome because we have Christ dwelling in us.
In my opinion 1 John 5:3-4 is confirming Luke 1:37, where the angel of the Lord tells Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” This doesn’t mean that God’s commands are not hard, it means that (with Christ) they are not impossible.

God’s commands definitely aren’t burdensome or oppressive like the legalistic code the Jews were living under at the time. They aren’t commanded as our means of eternal life — which is a huge burden lifted — but instead as a joyful expression of our love and appreciation for being saved. 1 John 5:3 says: “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” It does not say: “This is how we are saved: by obeying God’s commandments.”

I’m convinced that God’s commands can be hard — but not burdensome. They can be hard — but not oppressive. They can be hard — but we can joyfully do them through Christ. They can be hard — and God is glorified by the fact that it’s hard.

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was in me.”

Here you see a beautiful paradox. Paul’s hard work didn’t get him any glory, and God’s grace didn’t make it easy. But both of them together brought Paul to the end of his life where he was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

HT: The Rebelution

Seeing the Half Dead Man on the Road

Watch the video above … it is shocking. Watch it second time and count how many cars and people drive by the man in the accident before anyone stops.

The video reminds me of a parable that Jesus told in Luke 10:25-37. A lawyer asks Jesus to explain to him who his neighbor is so he would know who to love. Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable a man was robbed and beaten and left half dead on the road to Jericho. A priest and the Levite saw the man lying there but walked by on the other side of the road, too busy to be bothered by the man. Finally a Samaritan came along and “had compassion” (v.33) for the man and helped him out by bandaging his wounds, taking him to an inn for help and paying for the man’s care.

After watching this video I found myself asking, “What would I do in this situation? Would I stop to help, or would I simply drive or walk by?” People all around us are lying in the road dying (spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically). How will we respond? Will we simply walk away and act like we don’t see them?

Jesus ends the parable asking, “Which of the three proved to be a neighbor to the man?” The people responded, “The one who showed mercy.” Then Jesus gave these simple instructions, “you go, and do likewise” (V. 37).

Without Jesus we’re all dead … dead spiritually now and hopelessly dead, both physically and spiritually, throughout eternity. It’s time for me to do likewise.

Georgia Sex Offenders Challenge Church Volunteer Ban

“‘Five sex offenders filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that a tough new Georgia law that bans them from volunteering at churches also robs them of their right to participate in religious worship.

The lawsuit, filed in Rome, claims the Georgia law effectively ‘criminalizes fundamental religious activities’ for sex offenders and bars them from serving as a choir member, secretary, accountant or any other role with a religious organization.

‘Even helping a pastor with or preparing a meal in a church kitchen will subject (sex offenders) to prosecution and imprisonment.’”

Here’s my two cents on this:

Sin is sin, but the consequences of sin are different. If you lie to your friends and family, then people won’t trust you. If you murder someone you will hopefully go to jail for the rest of your life. If you are a sex offender, your freedom is going to be limited so that the freedom and innocence of others, especially children, can be protected.

This has nothing to do with the sex offender as a person or his right to worship God. The concern is for children and others who may be victimized at the hands of a sex offender. There is clearly a need to minister to these folks, but there’s also a responsibility among parents, pastors, youth workers, and child care providers to ensure that children are safe. Volunteering is not a right, it’s a privilege, and it’s a privilege that is lost, in some cases, as a result of one’s own sin.

Please come to church Mr. Sex Offender, repent of your sin, do battle with your sinful nature, come to know Christ as your Savior and worship Him as your King, but please understand why you will not be allowed to help teach the third grade Sunday School class, volunteer during Vacation Bible School, or do anything else that will provide you with the opportunity for one-on-one interaction with a child. If allow I that, then I’m being disobedient and ignoring my responsibility as a pastor, and as a parent, in my church. Whether you see it or not, all of this is done out of love for you and for the members of my church family.

HT: Yahoo News

Doesn’t systematic theology rely on the Bible being thoroughly topical?

It’s odd: those most opposed to “topical” preaching are often the most committed to systematic theology.

Soteriology and pneumatology are topics, no?

HT: Abraham Piper

Continual Repentance

O God of grace,

Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness
to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many
aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with
selfishness.

I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of
raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.

HT: Justin Taylor

Americans: My Faith Isn’t the Only Way to Heaven

The AP reported the findings on a new survey of 35,000 adults about their spiritual beliefs, saying that the results “can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don’t know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.

Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.

In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.

“The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep,” said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion.

“There’s a growing pluralistic impulse toward tolerance and that is having theological consequences.”

The results of this survey are by no means a surprise, but they are in direct opposition to the word of God. Jesus said, “I am THE WAY,” not one way. However do not be mistaken, this is not an emerging trend; the desire to conform God to our standards, rather than to submit to His, was first introduced in Genesis. You can clean this up in anyway you choose — call it seeker sensitive, call it Emergent, call it whatever you need to convince yourself that’s it’s okay, but the Bible clearly calls the desire to create “God” according to your own beliefs and wishes sin.

HT: AP

Shadow of the Resurrection

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17 (ESV)

Christ is sufficient. It’s not Christ plus our obedience to any sort of law or regulation. “Christ and his new order are the perfect reality to which these earlier commandments looked. The reality has already come and the things of the shadow have no binding force; they are no longer a norm for judgment” (New Bible Commentary). Those who teach Christ plus anything are distorting the gospel, falsely leading others back into the slavery from which Christ came to free us. By faith alone, through Christ alone, that is how we have been saved, are saved, and are being saved.

You've Been Left Behind

The folks at www.youvebeenleftbehind.com offer, for forty dollars per year (seriously!!!), a service that allows you to reach out to your friends and members of your family left behind after the rapture. I don’t want to debate beliefs about the end times here, but I would to ask one question: “If you’re worried about your friends and family who do not know Christ as their Savior, why would you wait for a website to tell them about Jesus after you’re gone? “

Save the money, pick up your phone, take your friend out for lunch, or write your friend a note and share the gospel with them yourself … rightnow! These guys are right, no one knows when Jesus will return, and so we should be concerned about our non-Christian friends, but those concerns ought to move us to take personal action rather than move us to join an emailing outreach service. Act now, not later!

There's a Person Behind That Blog

Abraham Piper reminds us:

“People are more than their ideas. It’s easy to forget online that you’re dealing with real human beings who are having real days that can be really ruined.”

It’s okay to disagree, or to even tell someone that they’re completely whacked out, as long as you do it in a loving way. So lets extend each other a little love and watch what we post.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

—John 13:34-35

HT: Abraham Piper

What happened to the Dinosaurs? The Evolution of Nonsense

Ask a scientist about what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and you’re likely to hear one whale of a tale. The same field that is absolutely certain about the theories of evolution and global warming, has answered the question,” What happened to the dinosaurs?” in the following ways over the years:

They died of constipation (1960s);

They died from air pollution, resulting from the release of their own methane (1970s);

They died from sunburn as the result of the ozone layer being destroyed (1980s);

They died from the impact of an asteroid or comet or a series of asteroids or comets (2003);

They died from an underground gas explosion (2004);

They didn’t die, they evolved into birds (2005)

Scientists seem to rewrite and rewrite their arguments about evolution and expect all of us to take them and their ideas seriously. It’s better to trust in the Lord ( Psalm 118:8 ) rather than put our faith, and it is faith that scientists have in their theories, in men (i.e., evolution). In the face of evidence pointing toward the likelihood of an intelligent designer (e.g., where did we get the genetic material for eye balls and feathers?), science is willing to accept almost any idea, except the possibility that God did indeed create everything. Why is that?

Their ideas will continue to produce folly, and so this list of theories explaining the demise of the dinosaur will likely get longer, while the word of God remains unchanged.

HT: Answers in Genesis

5 observations about Hell from Revelation 14:9-11

1. It’s eternal.
2. It involves the suffering of those who are there.
3. It is conscious suffering.
4. It is God-inflicted suffering.
5. It is righteous.

(From John Piper’s first message at Resolved.)

HT: Abraham Piper

What’s qualifies as a worship song?

Joel Lee, on his blog Wayward Now Home, contrasts the Biblical definition of worship with the modern definition of worship seems to be influencing many churches today.

Joel writes:

“In a previous post, I gave a definition of Biblical worship that contrasts with the modern definition of worship in most churches. And although worship is not primarily about music, corporate worship can involve music. There’s no problem with using music as a medium of worship towards God during a church service (or even outside of a church service). The Biblical basis for music as a form of worship comes from the Psalms.

So what qualifies as an acceptable corporate worship song? I define a corporate worship song as “a song that is directed from the congregation, in Christ and the Holy Spirit, towards God, with clarity, where the primary objective is to lift Him up in praise and give Him all the glory.”

Any thoughts on that definition? Have one of your own to share?

Romans 8:29-30

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” ~ Romans 8:29-30

Simply amazing! Amen.

How do you view older people in your church?

Whenever there’s talk about changing an established ministry or trying something new in the church, it’s common to hear someone, who’s typically uncertain about the proposed change, say, “I just don’t think our older members will like this.” Have you heard this in your church?

The assumption is that older people don’t like change. For whatever reason, older folks are typically assumed to be adversarial to change, holding on tight to “sacred cows” without regard to the call of Christ to share the gospel. I think this is crazy!

Maybe my church is just strange, that’s a real possibility, but many of the older people at my church aren’t unwilling to consider, or even initiate, change if they understand the vision and need behind a new idea. They want to share the message of Christ with a lost world as much as anyone and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen - even if that includes change.

What I have observed about the older members of my church is that they are very intentional. They want to make sure that whatever we do has been well thought out and organized, so that time and resources aren’t being wasted; but they are rarely opposed to change without a good reason.

At the heart of many misconceptions about older people is the view that they are mostly passive recipients in the church. They are thought of pew sitters, rather than as individuals with gifts, talents, and wisdom to share and utilize as we go about realizing the mission of the church to make Christ known. I think the church would be well served to stop making assumptions about older people and begin including them in the mission of the church. They have much to share and are, I have found, eager to get involved if asked.

What’s your experience with the older members of your church?

How Sermon Delivery Affects Your Credibility

How does sermon delivery affect your credibility as a preacher?

Preachingtodaysermons.com says:

“When a congregation is listening to a sermon they have a sub-conscious feeling about how the speaker is coming across. For example, listeners might think, “Gee, he’s uncomfortable,” or “She’s angry or upset.” They wouldn’t think, “He is not standing up straight,” or “…not speaking loudly,” or “…is not looking at me.” Those observations are really conscious decisions–where somebody is looking, or how someone is standing. They detect the unconscious emotion: discomfort, ill at ease, anxious, angry, upset.”

Check out the here; they offer some good suggestions about how pastors can enhance credibility by tweeking the delivery of their message.

HT: preachingtodaysermons.com

Please Pray for Tricia

Rick Lawerson, writing for Nate Lawerson of Confessions of a CT Husband, writes:

A great suggestion was made to his last post about dedicating the hours of 7-10AM EDST tomorrow, Wednesday, June 11 to pray specifically for Tricia’s tests and her health. I’ve asked my church to join in and now am asking you to be a part of a huge breath of prayer ascending to the throne of God on her behalf.

If you can and will find a quiet time during those three hours, please do so. I’m seeing to it that our church will be open for those who want to come here and pray as well, although your location isn’t important.

Thanks for all the support you have given thus far. Their journey isn’t over and you’re needed again.

Please pray.

Stop Trying to Earn Your Salvation

DOWNLOAD FREE POSTER HERE.

This poster is a reminder that we need to stop trying to earn salvation, stop trying to earn love. We were dead in our sins, but God still gave us grace. We were a slave to sin, but in God’s love we have freedom. We did not earn this, nor can we try and earn it now. Stop trying to earn God’s love and just accept it. Ephesians 2:1-10

HT: The Plow

Canceled Sermon Leads to a Time of Worship, Prayer and Community

At our monthly evening service last night we canceled the sermon. We’ve been on a journey together, studying the Lord’s prayer, and many of our regular attenders were not able to join us because they were out filling sandbags in anticipation of rising flood waters. It just didn’t feel right to continue on without them, so we canceled the sermon and decided to worship by simply singing praises to our King and sharing in Communion. As we closed, one lady asked if she could come forward and share a little about what God has been doing in her life - an hour later nearly everyone in attendance had shared a story of faith, a personal concern, about a time struggle and doubt, or an experience with healing and regeneration. It was amazing and completely unplanned (by us, that is).

Our worship leader, David Bush, closed with a thought and a prayer, saying that those on the outside of the church often think they have to get their lives together before they can come into the church; or they think that those inside the church are a bunch of hypocrites for not living perfect lives. He wished that those on the outside could have experienced what we shared last night, because what they would have witnessed were a bunch of broken and messy people who have realized that they are nothing but lost and hopeless sinners without Christ.

On the drive home I was in awe of God’s love and His amazing grace. I pray that, as a church and as individual Christian Strivers, we start canceling our own plans more often, because they don’t even come close to what He has planned for us.

Gospel Check

Zach at takeyourvitaminz says:

That asking yourself a simple question might be a good indicator of how well the Gospel is taking shape in your life. The question is: When was the last time I spoke these phrases?

1. I’m sorry
2. I was wrong
3. Will you forgive me?

If you find that you are habitually unable to say these phrases, you might have a gospel problem. The reason I say this is that these phrases underscore the fact that you are aware of your own sin. If you never see your sin, either you are perfect (not the case) or for some reason you can’t seem to come to terms with your sin and confess it. If you can’t come to terms with your sin and confess it then you probably are not pursuing the remedy for it, namely the Cross.

Amen.

The Bible is a Book of War

Heirs with Christ: The Puritans on Adoption

I just started reading this book and I’ve really been enjoying it so far.

Here is part of the foreword by Dan Cruver:

Earthly adoption is horizontal. It is one human being establishing a relationship with another human being. Heavenly adoption is vertical. It is the eternal God graciously establishing a relationship with fallen human beings, creatures who are by nature “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2) or “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3).

God is an adoptive Father. Jesus, our Elder Brother, is God the Father’s eternal, only-begotten, natural Son. We believers are His children through adoption. This identity is central to who we are. As adopted children, we enjoy all the rights and privileges of the relationship that God the Father enjoys with His eternal Son. This is an amazing reality and eternal privilege.

Adoption is heavenly before it is earthly. One is what God does; the other is what we do. Adoption is something God has done and is doing before it is something we have done and are doing. Adoption was invented by God even before He created the world. Adoption is how God brings us into His family.

Westminster Bookstore has provided a pdf of the Table of Contents, Foreword, and Chapter 1 here: http://www.wtsbooks.com/pdf_files/9781601780409.pdf