Hello Again!!!

After thinking about it on my own for months now and having a friend last night, completely out of the blue, say "I think you should start writing," I've decided to blog again.

I'm not writing, ultimately, for others, but for the glory of God and to hone this skill that He's given me. At the same time, I am not oblivious to the fact that this is a public blog so others can find it (how, I have no idea), so if people find it and read it, fine. If, with the literally billions of webpages out there, it remains hidden no one reads it, that's fine too.

With that in mind, I think I'm going to focus on a couple things in this blog: (1) The passion of my heart is to see Christians and non-Christians transformed by the Gospel, (2) After preaching through Proverbs twice (2008-10) in the college and singles' ministries I used to pastor in Aliso Viejo, CA I've been struck by my need for wisdom so I'll spend a lot of time looking at Proverbs 10-31, and (3) I'm working on a book idea that I'll be fleshing out here as well.

To start, I just came home from a leadership meeting at my church, Redemption Church Gateway, where the pastor asked a random person to give their testimony. It was a moving story of God's grace that moved the grown man speaking to cry in front of a room of around 100 leaders. God saved him over a decade ago, and it wasn't old news to him! It was still really good news! What struck me as I watched was how emotional he still was about being saved, something I realized I've lost the wonder of in recent days, remembering that just today I shared my testimony with a friend and didn't have that response at all.

What also hit me was how many leaders in our day are taking the obvious work of God in people's lives -- as seen in my friend who I just rejoiced with -- and using it to build their own personal kingdoms. In the lives and ministries of many, the sovereign miracle of conversion is not an end in itself to be marveled at and rejoiced in. Instead, it's used to market a man or his ministry, which is about as ridiculous as the paint brush taking credit for the Mona Lisa.

Now, this distorted and wicked motive is often hidden behind slogans like "I just want to get God's Word to more of God's people" or "More people means more exposure to the Gospel" when deep down it's about prestige, money, security, proving oneself to doubters, book deals, acclaim and bragging rights. Now, I know the obvious comeback is "You don't know their hearts" and you're right. I don't. However, according to Jeremiah 17:9-10, they don't know their own hearts either.

So, after watching my friend my thought was beware all of us who love the "Good job" after serving God's people. The sacrifice being made may not be our time and effort. The sacrifice being made may be the Gospel on the altar of our own personal ambitions.

Truth is Immortal!!!

Blood on Our Hands

While reading The Cross of Christ by John Stott, I was struck by the following quotes:

"'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' the old [song] asks. And we must answer, 'Yes, we were there.' Not as spectators only, but as participants, guilty participants, plotting, scheming, betraying, bargaining and handing him over to be crucified. We may try to wash our hands of responsibility like Pilate. But our attempt will be as futile as his. For there is blood on our hands. Before we begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading us to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance)" (63) ... "If the cross is not central to our religion, ours is not the religion of Jesus" (71) ... "It is impossible for us to face Christ's cross with integrity and not to feel ashamed of ourselves" (85).

Have you ever seen yourself as a guilty participant in His murder? A betrayer? Knowing the truth, but avoiding total commitment like Pilate? Resenting His authoritative demand for worship and obedience like the religious leaders? Not fitting into what I want a Savior to be like Judas? Have you seen the Cross in light of your sins, that your sins put Him there, or has it become a history lesson this time of year?

Work hard to continually see yourself in light of the Cross. When you do, you see yourself as you really are.

Author Spends 1 Year Obeying Bible

Author A.J. Jacobs just finished a year-long quest to obey every rule in the Bible--over 700--for his new book The Year of Living Biblically.

Here are some things I found interesting:

"I miss my sin-free life, but I guess I was never sin free. I was able to cut down on my coveting maybe 40 percent, but I was still a coveter" -- sounds a lot like Romans 7.

"...during the experiment I wore a lot of white clothes, because Ecclesiastes says let your garments always be white, and I loved it, so I look like Tom Wolfe now. Wearing white just made me happier."

"I also really liked what one of my spiritual advisers said, which was that you can view life as a series of rights and entitlements, or a series of responsibilities. I like seeing my life as a series of responsibilities. It’s sort of, "Ask not what God can do for you, ask what you can do for God"--nothing like works-righteousness.

"I started the year as an agnostic, and now I am a reverent agnostic. Whether or not there is a God, I believe in sacredness"--the "sacred" without God? Only in our self-centered, create-your-own-religion age.

"I went in really curious, I didn’t go in to mock religion. It was much more a journey to understand."

"One of the lessons of the book is, there is some picking and choosing in following the Bible, and I think that’s OK. Some people call that cafeteria religion, which is supposed to be a disparaging term, but I think there’s nothing wrong with cafeterias, I’ve had some delicious meals in cafeterias. I’ve also had some terrible meals in cafeterias. It’s all about picking the right parts. You want to take a heaping serving of the parts about compassion, mercy and gratefulness—instead of the parts about hatred and intolerance."

To a question about the restrictions of living Biblically, Mr. Jacobs responds "We all talk about freedom of choice, but there’s something very attractive about freedom from choice. Religion provides structure, mooring, anchoring. Should you covet? No. Should you give 10 percent to the needy? Yes. It really structures your life. After my year I felt unmoored, overwhelmed by choice. I have adjusted, but I’m still overwhelmed by choice, as we all are in America."

To read the article in its entirety, click here. My prayer after reading it is that he will be overcome by his inability to be "sin-free" by "keeping the rules" so that his exposure to God's Law will bring him to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ ("the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified [that is, pronounced "Innocent" by God for our sins against Him] by faith" Gal 3:24).

Two More 9/11's?

John Piper's weekly Taste & See is about Three 9/11's We Need to Know.

It is thought-provoking and utterly challenging, especially for us fat, happy, lethargic and apathetic American Christians.

Premoderns, Moderns & Evangelism

David Wells, in his excellent book Above All Earthly Pow'rs, writes insightfully about the difference between premodern and modern societies and their relationship to God:

"In premodern societies, the sacred was a matter-of-fact part of life; in modern societies, God has been excluded from public life, pushed to the margins of relevance, and made to live out his life, as it were, underground and out of sight" (27).

Why mention this seemingly academic difference? Because when you're witnessing or speaking to a poorly discipled Christian, and they don't understand your Christian commitment, it may be because you're coming across as a premodern to a modern or postmodern person.

For example, if you see the hand of God in every event of your life and you see living a life that is pleasing to Him as most important than you're thinking and acting and interpreting the world as a premodern (which I'd add is closer to the biblical view of life).

However, if God is a kind of after thought in your life, and your personal history as well as world history is interpreted without any thought of God that's more modern and postmodern--and far less biblical, I might add.

Often times, our miscommunication comes from the fact that we're approaching all of life from different eras. We need to know this if we're going to communicate the premodern gospel to modern and postmodern people effectively.

Edwards on Demonic Faith

I'm preaching a couple hours on lies people believe about salvation to our junior high group here at Compass. The sermon has been done for a while, but for last minute input I just finished reading Jonathan Edwards', True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils, a sermon he preached in 1752 on James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."

It was a very good sermon that contrasts false marks of saving faith that a person can have from true ones. While there is a lot I want to reproduce here, I'll just leave you this gem:

"[Seeing the beauty of Christ] is a special gift of God, which he gives only to his special favorites. Gold, silver, diamonds, and earthly kingdoms are given by God to people who the Bible calls dogs and pigs. But this great gift of beholding Christ's beauty, is the special blessing of God to His dearest children. Flesh and blood cannot give this gift: only God can bestow it. This was the special gift which Christ died to obtain for his elect. It is the highest token of his everlasting love, the best fruit of his labours, and the most precious purchase of his blood."

Seeing the beauty of Christ is what Edwards gives as the main mark of true conversion (cf. 2 Cor 4:3-6). If you liked this quote and would like to read the whole sermon, click here.

2007 Gospel Coalition Conference

I don't know when they got the 2007 Gospel Coalition audio and video up, but it is. This was a conference earlier this year at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (one of my alma mater) where D.A. Carson, Tim Keller and John Piper discuss the implications of the gospel for all of life and ministry.

What are they all about? In their own words, "We are a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures."

If these topics and/or speakers interest you, click on these links to download the audio or the video:

• Plenary Sessions -- Carson, Keller, Piper and Loritts
• Panel Discussion -- Audio only
• Interviews -- D.A. Carson, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, John Piper
• Workshops -- Many including Ligon Duncan, Mike Bullmore, Mark Driscoll and Philip Ryken

Also, if you have a slow internet connection you can listen to the messages online without download. The plenary sessions here, the panel discussion here, the interviews here, and the workshops here.

I just started listening to them, and I hope they'll be as much of a blessing to you as they are to me. If you're not sure where to start, start with Dr. Carson's "What is the Gospel?" and Dr. Piper's "The Triumph of the Gospel..." in the plenary sessions.

Mohler on Mother Theresa

Dr. Al Mohler insightfully comments on Mother Theresa's religious doubts and struggles here.

The title of the post bottom line's it well: Rest is found when you trust Christ, not your feelings.