Christian Album of the Year, Maybe of the Decade

  
John Mark McMillan's recently released album, The Medicine, has been a great medicine to my soul for the last month or so.

In my opinion, The Medicine is the album of the year, maybe even of the decade.

Check it out at Amazon.com.

In This World You Will Have Trouble

  
Thoughts on Suffering
  
Thoughts on Job

A Powerfully Potent Paragraph

The first paragraph of C.S. Lewis' excellent book, The Weight of Glory, is quite possibly one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful paragraph that I have ever read (apart from Scripture).

That said, I'm only going to post the first portion of that paragraph to highlight what I've been thinking about for a week or two now;

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point."

A few paraphrases from my recent meditations on this paragraph:

Love does not merely sacrifice self for the sake of an other, but love does so while sincerely pursuing the happiness of the other.

Love is not the delight one takes in an other, rather it is the delight one takes in delighting the other.

The happiness of an other is the end that love is the means to.

Seeing Eye Friends

 
Ever appreciate the sight of a blind person being aided by a "seeing eye dog?"  I have not seen this often, but just this last week I saw a man in our local court house, who seemed to be working as an aid or an intern.  He appeared to be completely blind and clearly benefited from the eyes of his four legged friend.

Now for the punch-line, ever feel blind?

If so, have you ever benefitted from the vision of a friend who could see things more clearly than you?

I had just such an experience this week.  A friend was sharing with me about the wisdom of Jesus' words regarding eyes with logs or specks jammed into them.  As he spoke I felt quite like the man I had seen earlier in the week being led around by his seeing eye dog.  The stunning thing to me is that despite being very familiar with the scripture my friend was referring to, and having read this text more times than I know, I found myself seeing this text for what seemed to be the very first time - and that through the eyes of my seeing eye friend.

I'll do my best to share/paraphrase what has so profoundly been shared with me:

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

- Jesus, Matthew 7:3

If I view the objects lodged in my own eye (my sin issues) rather carefully and closely then they will appear quite a bit larger and nastier than I thought at first.  For it is in our nature to give much grace to ourselves and to surround such blind spots with cushy excuses and vigilant nuancing.

Carefully considering this teaching regarding logs and specks and then applying it to my own life would actually result in a demonstration of obedience to some of Jesus' other massively important words, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  For if I love others as myself, then I would give them the same grace that I always give myself and minimize their blind-spots (sin issues).  At the very same time I would make every effort to get to the E.R. and get the telephone poles removed from my eyes.

Many problems arise because our blind-spots appear rather small and insignificant to ourselves, but these are no doubt blatantly obvious to those around us.  Yet if we would step into the shoes of the patient with eye issues, we may actually be able to see more clearly the seriousness of our own eye sight problems and look with grace upon those who share in our same ailment.

So this is a confession of sorts; I have some serious eye sight issues, and I am thankful for the additional vision of several seeing eye friends.
 

Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road

  
FREE AUDIO BOOK!!!

During this August ChristianAudio.com is giving away the audio book Ministries of Mercy by Tim Keller.
 

Hiding In? Or Merely Dipping Toes?

It seems that I have not been hiding in the Sovereignty of God as much as I had thought I was. It seems rather that I was just dipping my toes into the magnificent waterfall that is the inconceivable power and wisdom of God.

It is a terrifying thing, completely other-worldly and like nothing I've ever experienced. The fury of the falling water is so loud that it takes my breath away. It is overwhelmingly clear that these are dangerous waters, yet they are also strangely inviting. The message was delivered to my heart without language and it echoed through the corridors of my heart, "Come away with me." I tremble at the fury, yet at the very same time I long for more of it. Fear grips me so tightly that I cannot even speak and in the same moment I am drawn so sweetly that I cannot back away.

The beckoning resounds from deep within the heart of the raging waterfall. I cannot resist. Why remain content to have wet feet when my entire body and my very soul longs to be soaked in and surrounded by this majesty.

Years of walking in the sinking sand of the idea that I was in control have left me weary and almost completely unable to trust. Yet the feel of the quicksand beneath my feet deposited some deceitful comfort in the notion that I have at least some level of control.

The choice is so crystal clear as to make any deliberating completely foolish. Who would continue to dwell in the sinking sand of self-wrought control when there is a massive rock upon which to gain an unshakable hold. Yet this immovable foundation is only found deep behind the unending waterfall.

My thoughts are engaged in combat with each other. On the one hand I can remain here in the familiar, and on the other I could charge head long into the depths of the unknown. An illusion of security in this land where everything and everyone sinks into oblivion, or an unfathomed security in the midst of the everlasting explosion that is the absolute sovereignty of God?

Eventual oblivion in the land of the forgotten or eternal significance found only by beholding and ever enjoying He who alone is eternally significant? Is there really even a question?

How could it be that I would abide one more second without throwing myself into the waters? What is it that keeps me at bay?

It is decided; or rather it has been decided. May all the days perish when I imagined that my life would be best secured in my own hands. Having let go of everything, in order that I may truly grasp everything, I close my eyes, hold my breath, and charge violently into the furious downpour.

Potent Medicine

____________________

No good thing does He withhold 
from those who walk uprightly

- Psalm 84:11b

____________________

    

He does not hold back anything that will benefit His people.  So also He does not permit anything which will not finally work out in the good of His people.  If all Scripture is true (and we believe that it is) then this verse holds true even in the midst of the most severe storms of life.  What a medicine to my soul, to consider that God has my good in mind even when He permits the winds of life to rage.  For if such things were not to serve ultimately for my good then He would not permit it.
 
How strange this sounds in the ears of those who have imagined that God is good only when our circumstances are pleasant.  Oh, but how potent is this medicine for those who will bow to receive it. 

   

Death in His Grave

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Lyrics:

Though the Earth cried out for blood
Satisfied her hunger was
Her billows calmed on raging seas
for the souls on men she craved

Sun and moon from balcony
Turned their head in disbelief
Their precious Love would taste the sting
disfigured and disdained

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

So three days in darkness slept
The Morning Sun of righteousness
But rose to shame the throes of death
And over turn his rule

Now daughters and the sons of men
Would pay not their dues again
The debt of blood they owed was rent
When the day rolled a new

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke holding keys
To Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

He has cheated
Hell and seated
Us above the fall
In desperate places
He paid our wages
One time once and for all


HT:JT
  

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence

How He Loves: The Story Behind The Song

In case you didn't already know, John Mark McMillan wrote the song "How He Loves" which was made famous by the David Crowder Band. Here is the story behind that incredible song:

"Oblivious to Our Eventual Oblivion"

Justin Taylor recently had a helpful blog post on Pascal and addictions to distraction.  Taylor quotes from Douglas Groothuis:

"Diversion consoles us—in trivial ways—in the face of our miseries or perplexities; yet, paradoxically, it becomes the worst of our miseries because it hinders us from ruminating on and understanding our true condition. Thus, Pascal warns, it “leads us imperceptibly to destruction.” Why? If not for diversion, we would “be bored, and boredom would drive us to seek some more solid means of escape, but diversion passes our time and brings us imperceptibly to our death.” Through the course of protracted stupefaction, we learn to become oblivious to our eventual oblivion. In so doing, we choke off the possibility of seeking real freedom.

Diversion serves to distract humans from a plight too terrible to encounter directly—namely, our mortality, finitude, and failures."

"The compulsive search for diversion is often an attempt to escape the wretchedness of life. We have great difficulty being quiet in our rooms, when the television or computer screen offers a riot of possible stimulation. Postmodern people are perpetually restless; they frequently seek solace in diversion instead of satisfaction in truth. As Pascal said, “Our nature consists in movement; absolute rest is death.” The postmodern condition is one of oversaturation and over-stimulation, and this caters to our propensity to divert ourselves from pursuing higher realities."

- Douglas Groothuis


HT:JT

Bible Reading Plans

I've just recently implemented a Bible reading plan which I stumbled upon at the ESV website.  I'm using the M'Cheyne plan.  There are also several others to choose from.

Do you use a Bible reading plan?  If so, which one?

The fish that got away... twice

Not being much of a fisherman, I must share my only fishing story:

My dad and I hit Harwood Lake bright and early this morning.  Of the two of us, he's the fisherman.  I'm only occasionally along for the ride and might catch a fish or two depending on the day's luck.  After a period of no luck we moved around the lake trying to find a productive fishing hole.  We finally stumbled upon one and each caught a few blue gills and perch.  After just reeling one in and tossing it into the cooler I cast out to the same spot.  My bobber was gone in an instant and it was clear that the fish on the end of the line was no blue gill or perch from the way my fishing pole had nearly bent in half.  We both saw a quick glimmer of silver in the water and watched it disappear under the boat.  Snap!  My line broke and the bobber disappeared. 

Dad quickly went to work on the line and hooked up a new sinker, bobber, and hook.  We were back in business.  About a half an hour later, while keeping a watchful eye on my bobber and glancing occasionally at dad's, another bobber came into view about twenty feet from our boat.  I initially wondered if dad had tossed another line into the water, but then it became clear that this was my missing bobber.  I told dad about it and then it disappeared under the water.  I had flashbacks of the Jaws movie, where the huge shark announced it's presence with a reappearing buoy which had been hooked to it's mouth. 

The bobber reappeared near the same position, well out of reach from our anchored boat.  Dad suggested that he might be able to hook it with a treble hook.  We both knew it was a long shot, yet after about a dozen casts he hooked the bobber.  He quickly reeled the larceny suspect into the boat - hook, line, and sinker (bobber too).  The suspect was a decent sized bass, who happened to be an inch or two shy of the keeper measurement of 15''.  A mug shot was taken and the bobber thief was released with a verbal warning.

Thus the true story of two fisherman, two fishing poles, and the fish that got away twice.

ESV for BBTC

Each of the 1st year students at BBTC recently received an ESV Study Bible. Last year all of the students at BBTC received an ESV Study Bible.

Every one of these Study Bibles were purchased by financial gifts from the Body of Christ in America. These Bibles were purchased through the Protestant Book Centre in Cape Town, South Africa (because it is simply too expensive to ship them from the States).

If you would like to support future BBTC students by giving toward the purchase of ESV Study Bibles for future 1st year students please feel free to contact me.

BBTC and DG International Outreach

BBTC Students with their books 

Donated by Desiring God International Outreach

1st Year Students (47) received:

Finally Alive

Dangerous Duty of Delight

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die

For Your Joy

2nd Year Students (44) received:

Let the Nations be Glad

Don't Waste Your Life

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die

For Your Joy

3rd Year Students (29) received:

Filling up the Afflictions of Christ

Don't Waste Your Life

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die

For Your Joy

Staff (23) received:

Dangerous Duty of Delight

For Your Joy

Many thanks to Desiring God International Outreach for their generous support!

  

Back from BBTC

We returned from Africa yesterday afternoon.  Total travel time including drive time, flying, time change, and layovers was about 30 hours.

"Make friends with your trials"

____________________

Make friends with your trials, as though you were always to live together, and you will see that when you cease to take thought for your own deliverance, God will take thought of you.
- Francis de Sales
____________________


 

Bonhoeffer Poetry

  
Discipline

If you set out to seek freedom, then learn above all things
to govern your soul and your senses, for fear that your passions
and longing may lead you away from the path you should follow.
Chaste be your mind and your body, and both in subjection,
obediently steadfastly seeking the aim set before them;
only through discipline may a man learn to be free.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Quote from Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer

Today's Bonhoefferism

 "The only fight which is lost is that which we give up."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This phase was often repeated by Bonhoeffer to another inmate & friend during his imprisonment.

Quote taken from Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer

Easy or Hard?

Ever find that the narrow path is difficult?  Ever tempted to chose the easy route?

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
- Jesus

Bonhoeffer on Sovereignty

"Everything we cannot thank God for, 
we reproach Him for."


- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Quote from Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas

Free Audio Book

ChristianAudio.com is offering the following book as a free audio download during the month of June:

Forgotten God: 
Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit 
 By Francis Chan

Check it out!

Earthly Sorrows Outweighed by Eternal Glory

While considering the recent loss of a family member, I have been pondering the nearly antithetical relationship between pain and hope. These words don't seem to fit together and yet we so often find them side by side:

Pain and suffering hangs like a dense fog in the atmosphere of our lives.  Sorrow is ever present.  For our obituary pages are always full, as are our hospitals and jail cells.

The sustaining power of hope holds us fast like an anchor holds a storm tossed ship.  We are granted hope that is deep enough and strong enough to get us through what must be endured here.

There is no shortage of hope-filled passages in the Scriptures, but this one is probably my favorite:

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."
- Revelation 21:3-6

Though this world is indeed filled with sorrow and heart-ache, there is a life sustaining hope in Christ.

“When we shall come home and enter to the possession of our Brother's fair kingdom, and when our heads shall find the weight of the eternal crown of glory, and when we shall look back to pains and sufferings; then shall we see life and sorrow to be less than one step or stride from prison to glory; and that our little inch of time - suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to heaven.”
- Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

Bonhoeffer on Grace & Repentance

"The world upon whom grace is thrust as a bargain will grow tired of it, and will not only trample upon the Holy, but also will tear apart those who force it on them.  For its own sake, for the sake of the sinner, and for the sake of the community, the Holy is to be protected from cheap surrender.  The Gospel is protected by the preaching of repentance which calls sin sin and declares the sinner guilty.  The key to loose is protected by the key to bind. The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Quoted from "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas, pg. 293

It's a Beautiful Day!

A Must Read:

Now nearly at the halfway point through the book "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas, I can no longer wait to write a review. So here is a first half review:

Metaxas' Bonhoeffer is an intensely compelling combination of history, theology, and biography. This insightful work is seriously educational and inspirational at the same time. Bonhoeffer has the potential to have a massive impact on our society, specifically upon the Christianity therein.

I must admit it is alarming to consider events and movements within Germany during the 1930's which bear a stunning similarity to movements in our day.

This book is a must read.

Today's dose of Bonhoeffer:

"With that we have articulated a basic criticism of the most grandiose of all human attempts toward the divine - by way of the church. Christianity conceals within itself a germ hostile to the church. It is far too easy for us to base our claims to God on our own Christian religiosity and our church commitment, and in so doing utterly to misunderstand and distort the Christian idea."

"One admires Christ according to aesthetic categories as an aesthetic genius, calls him the greatest ethicist; one admires his going to his death as a heroic sacrifice for his ideas. Only one thing one doesn't do: one doesn't take him seriously. That is, one doesn't bring the center of his or her own life into contact with the claim of Christ to speak the revelation of God and to be that revelation. One maintains a distance between himself or herself and the word of Christ, and allows no serious encounter to take place. I can doubtless live with or without Jesus as a religious genius, as an ethicist, as a gentleman - just as, after all, I can also live without Plato and Kant.... Should, however, there be something in Christ that claims my life entirely with the full seriousness that here God himself speaks and if the word of God once became present only in Christ, then Christ has not only relative but absolute, urgent significance for me.... Understanding Christ means taking Christ seriously. Understanding this claim means taking seriously his absolute claim on our commitment. And it is now of importance for us to clarify the seriousness of this matter and to extricate Christ from the secularization process in which he has been incorporated since the Enlightenment."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Quotes from "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas

Quotes from Bonhoeffer

"Where a people prays, there is the church; and where the church is; there is never loneliness."


"It is much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer, a praying prostitute, that a vain person praying. Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity."


"Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued."


"The religion of Christ is not a tidbit after one's bread; on the contrary, it is the bread or it is nothing.  People should at least understand and concede this if they call themselves Christian."

- Detrich Bonhoeffer
Quotes taken from "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas

Subtitle: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

____________________

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed for a plot to assassinate Hitler
____________________

After enjoying John Bird's review of "Bonhoefer" I've just purchased a copy for myself.  The subtitle alone is sufficient motivation for me to read this book, not to mention the subject of the bio. Biographies have historically not been my favorite type of literature for they are often to boring to keep my attention.  This biography is different.  John was right and I cannot wait to read more!

Was Jesus' message different than Paul's?

T4G 2010 -- Session 6 -- John Piper from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Seeing Blind Men

"One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
- John 9:25b (NIV)

Controversy regularly surrounds Jesus. This was the case when He lived, and it is still the case today. After reading John 9 I began to wonder how controversial could it be that a man who was born blind was made to see?

The religious people gathered to examine the evidence and to interview witnesses. Though it appears that they were trying to get to the truth, a closer examination reveals that they were not investigating at all. For the very nature of investigation is a pursuit of the truth. When people have already closed their minds to the truth there is no need for investigation - for there is no concern for the truth. This is clearly the case in John 9:22b: for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

How could it be that two groups of people could look at the very same event (the healing of a blind man) and come up with the exact opposite conclusion?

Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided.
- John 9:16

Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
- John 9:39

Conversion is nothing less than men, blind from birth, receiving the gift of sight.


Blind?

Which eyes are more blind?
The eyes which cannot behold the sun and the stars,
Or those which cannot behold Your glory?

The eyes that cannot see all the beauty of creation,
Or those that cannot see that You have created it?

Which eyes are more blind?
The eyes that will never look upon a father’s face,
Or those that will never look upon You as Father?

The eyes which cannot see a loved one,
Or those which cannot see how much we are loved by you?

Which eyes are more blind?
The eyes which cannot see to read,
Or those which cannot see that You are the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us?

The eyes that cannot see fresh bread, hot from the oven,
Or those that cannot see that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord?

Which eyes are more blind?
The eyes that do not see to find the way,
Or those that do not see that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life?

The eyes which will never see the beauty of many pearls,
Or those which will never see that You are the pearl of greatest price?


A. B. Seal
02-11-06
Poem written during a mission trip to Honduras with Vision Outreach International

Bizarro World

Sometimes the upside-down-ness of our world still stuns me. Though I so often encounter the bizarre nature of the present state of our world that it seems I am quite used to it, every once in a while I'm reminded how backwards we really are. The latest incident still left me stunned though I've encountered it multiple times before. So here it is:

Last week I handled a breaking and entering of a garage in which the suspects stole about $3,500 worth of property. A few days later a suspect was identified, located, and arrested. The 17 year old was just old enough to avoid the foolishness of our juvenile court system and faces 3 felonies and a high court misdemeanor charge as an adult.

A local judge set the bond for this suspect at $10,000. It was an appropriate amount. As soon as the judge set the bond the 17 year old's parents were at the station with a bondsman. A surety bond was posted and 22 hours after he was arrested, I released the suspect to his parents in the lobby of the station.

Now for the bizarro world: Out comes the suspect who was arrested for multiple felonies to smiling parents and siblings who greet him with hugs and kisses. Almost as if to say, "Well done, nice job, we are so happy for you."

The thought occurred to me, that if I at 17 years old were to commit such crimes, my parents would have quite a different response. First of all they never would have bonded me out. Second of all if I were to get out I'd have to face the just wrath of my dad (which would no doubt be worse than any punishment the court could hand out). I most certainly would not be greeted with hugs and kisses. I would have more likely been greeted by a severe punishment which would have made me want to volunteer to return to the jail cell.

And so I guess the massive grace of having decent parents in my life is why I ended up being a police officer. In the same way the lack of such massive grace in that 17 year old suspect's life resulted in him not fearing to do that which I would have been terrified to do.

It is not surprising that the suspect's mother has a criminal history record that is longer than my arm.  It is one which her son would have to work at very hard for several years to exceed.

Still I'm shocked at how upside-down things can become once we lose the center of gravity of right and wrong. Things truly begin to look bizarre once we throw off the restraining grace of fearing the authorities which were set in place by God to keep the world from dissolving into anarchy.

I voiced my displeasure at releasing this knucklehead to his smiling family. One of the dispatchers who heard me said she thought that after so many years of doing this I'd be used to it. The sad thing is that after nearyly 10 years of doing this I am used to it, but it still bothers me.  I hope I never get to a point where it doesn't bother me.

Abandon Kansas: Close Your Eyes

What a great line: "Close your eyes and then we'll start to see."

An Honest Answer

Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?"
The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!"
- John 7:44-46

Jesus attends the feast of Tabernacles.  He initially goes quietly and by Himself.  But eventually He begins teaching in a very public place - the Temple.  The chief priests and pharisees had arranged for His arrest.  The officers were sent with a very specific assignment.  When they return empty-handed they were questioned regarding their failed mission.  The officers have a very interesting response, "No one ever spoke like this man."

As a law enforcement officer, I too have had many such assignments to locate and arrest people.  I cannot imagine giving a reason for failure to arrest a person because, "No one ever spoke like this man."  But then again I have been dealing with criminals and the officers referred to in this passage were dealing with God incarnate.

Their reason for failing to arrest Jesus was simply honest.  History agrees with the testimony of these officers; truly no one ever spoke like this Man.

Judgment & Mercy

"Let him without sin throw the first stone"
There remains an interesting thing to tell;
He was without sin, yet He knew His blood would atone
For her sin, and for ours as well

Caught in the act
Guilty and shamed
Deserving this punishment;
Angry mob with rocks readied and aimed

Yet it was He alone
Who could legally cast
The killing stone
Judgment trumped by mercy so vast

The judgmental crowd scattered
At His heart-piercing word
And it was not as if sin had not mattered
Yet it was His declaration of grace that was finally heard

He was the last to stand at her trial
Mercy triumphs over judgment in grace
And though her sin was so incredibly vile
Her darkness was vanquished by the light of His face


- A.B. Seal 
A meditation upon John 8:1-12

Words of Wisdom

I had a very helpful meeting with a good friend this week. I thought I'd share one of the many helpful insights he had to share. Just one for now. I'm guessing if I were to try to list them all it would look more like a book than a blog post - there may be more to come later:

"What you see God doing is never as important as what you don't see Him doing."

"He is always up to more than we can see. Our eyes are too dull and His work is way too subtle for us to be too comfortable with saying 'This is what He is or isn't doing.' It's kind of like the light spectrum. We are able to detect with normal vision only a fraction of the actual visual field. So i suppose that if you are fleshing out the metaphor, it means that God does His best work in the ultra-violet and infra-red."
- K.G.

"Be Killing Sin or Sin Will Be Killing You"

Piper, while recently at Driscoll's church, delivered this message on the text of Romans 8:13.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- Romans 8:13

Faith and Reason

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"
- John 6:41-42

Logic and reason are not sufficient tools with which to ultimately know Jesus. For logic and reason only have part of the picture in view. The rationality of the Jews sounded good, for they did know Jesus' mother and step-father. Yet they did not know the whole story, they did not see the whole picture as they imagined. True faith extends beyond mere reason and logic.

Remember what Jesus said to Peter after Peter proclaimed Jesus' true identity; (Mat 16:17) "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."

Just as it was the Heavenly Father that revealed to Peter who Jesus really is, so also it is with all of those who believe. So we see that logic and reason are not sufficient foundations for faith in Christ Jesus, for true faith in Him comes as a revelation from Him. Genuine faith is birthed through the Word and by the Spirit. It is a gift (Rom. 6:23).

All that said, throwing logic and reason away entirely would be like throwing out the baby out with the bath water. For even Paul reasoned with men in the synagogues, in the market places, and in the Areopagus (Acts 17:17-19).

Yet faith does not finally rest upon logic or reason but upon something much deeper, upon something accomplished by God, something revealed by Him.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- 2 Cor. 4:3-4

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- 2 Cor. 4:6

Dinner a La King

Thousands gathered to hear Him speak
And surely their stomachs were growling
Yet He would not let them grow hungry nor weak
For His glory, to be unleashed was howling

He fed them first upon His word
Philip had no food, yet He gathered
The crowd to sit and prepare to dine
On a meal miraculous, a gift divine

No restaurants nor stores nearby
No food from shelves stacked very high
Yet these He does not ever need
In order for a few thousand mouths to feed

He needs nothing never, not even you or me
No, for you see, He is the anti-need
Yes, He is all-sufficiency indeed
And once He rolled up His sleeves
And came to serve a bunch of thieves

A King serving dinner to beggars
This is good news indeed

- A. B. Seal
(inspired by the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John)

The Me Monster

Brian Regan makes a great and humorous point.
But don't miss the main point:
There is a Me Monster living inside of every one of us.

It is a peculiar thing that humans are so obsessively mindful of themselves.  How could we think so highly of ourselves especially when we consider that:

• We are only individuals on a planet full of about 6.5 billion other individuals
• We did not chose to be born
• We did not chose where we were born, nor into which family
• We did not chose to be born blessed with eyes and ears that work
• Every heart beat is a gift which we did not earn
• Every breath of fresh air is enjoyed by lungs which we did not make
• One day we will all die and dissolve into dust
• One day almost everything we cherish will also dissolve into dust

This list could go on and on.  I wonder what you might add to the list?

It all reminds me of an intensely humbling verse of Scripture:
"What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
- 1 Cor. 4:7b

2 Free Audio Books!

ChristianAudio.com is offering the following two excellent audio books as free downloads during the month of March:

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer


Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, by John Piper

The Gospel According to Jonah

The Outrageous Love of God

Ever been outraged at the love of God?  Or overwhelmed by His abounding mercies and grace?

This was the theme of an excellent sermon delivered by a man whom I've previously never heard of, Bob Glenn of Minnetonka, Minnesota.  After having been blessed by marinating in the intense meditation upon the love of God via this message, it is now my goal to pass on this blessing to as many people as possible.

HT:JT

Seeking Wisdom?

____________________

Buy truth,
and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction,
and understanding

- Proverbs 23:23
____________________

Be diligent in obtaining truth. Do not squander it.
Be earnest in gaining wisdom and understanding.

Man Pool vs. God Pool

HT:DG

Where?

Where are the young men and women of this generation who will hold their lives cheap and be faithful even unto death? Where are those who will lose their lives for Christ's sake -- flinging them away for love of him? Where are those who will live dangerously and be reckless in his service? Where are his lovers -- those who love him and the souls of men more than their own reputations or comfort or very life?

Where are the men who say 'no' to self, who take up Christ's cross to bear it after him, who are willing to be nailed to it in college or office, home or mission field, who are willing, if need be, to bleed, to suffer and to die on it?

Where are the adventurers, the explorers, the buccaneers for God, who count one human soul of far greater value than the rise or fall of an empire? Where are the men who are willing to pay the price of vision?

Where are the men of prayer?

Where are God's men in this day of God's power?

- Howard Guinness, Sacrifice

Made New

At one time Your book to me
A foreign language was like to be
Yet now oh Lord Your book is dear
Like the most delightful music to my ear

With ears that have now been washed in grace
And new eyes that will one day behold Your face
New affections too, with which to love Thee
And new hope because You have promised with us to be

All of these wonders and much more
Because You have enabled us to truly adore
Yourself, You who overflow with matchless worth
You whose glories fill Heaven and Earth

I've heard You say, "Behold I make all things new"
You have demonstrated that Your Word is powerful and true
By going through such extraordinary measures
To forgive sinners and transform wretches into treasures

- A.B. Seal

Fernando Ortega: Sing to Jesus

I first heard this song at the recent DG conference. I was so moved by it that I made a note to myself to post it here.

Darkness and Light

Wandering in pain
Wounded and forgotten
Struggling all over again
To see beyond such sin

Walking long without a light
Through this darkened valley
In the middle of the darkest night
Yet, still the sun must rise eventually

For night is not eternal
No, it's end is almost in sight
And enemies, all nocturnal
Will find their end in His glorious light

These darkened clouds cannot always rain
Nor sin forever rule the night
For once the Son stands up to reign
All darkness will be swallowed up in His majestic light

- A. B. Seal 

Urgency & Happiness

____________________

"It is not as urgent 
as you think it is, 
God is urgent."

- John Piper
____________________

"Man was designed by God 
for exceeding inexpressibly 
great happiness."

- Jonathan Edwards
____________________

HT:DG

Thomas Gates on Affliction

____________________

"Affliction is God's forge 
to soften the iron heart."

- Thomas Gates
____________________

Unsatisfying Labors?

____________________

Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.


When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.

- Proverbs 23:4-5
____________________

Why strive for that which is not most important, nor most valuable?  Wealth is not dependable, for it can be here one day and completely gone the next.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 
- Isaiah 55:2

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 
- Jesus, Matthew 6:19-20

Suffering & Sanctification

"Joy should not be situational."
- Eric Mason

Eric Mason delivered this powerful message on the relationship between suffering and sanctification at the recent DG conference:

Missions Maxim

You have to go out.

You don't have to come back.

- A Motto of the US Coast Guard

HT:DG 

Piper on Lewis

Piper just gave his biographical message on C.S. Lewis:
Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul



This is, in my opinion, the best of all of Piper's biographies.

Free Audio Books!

You've got to check this out:

BooksShouldBeFree.com

You'll thank me later.

Driscoll in Haiti

The Priority of Prayer

____________________

Prayer does not fit us 
for greater works;
prayer is the greater work

- Oswald Chambers
____________________

abort73.com

HT:DG

God of Stars and Flowers

O God of stars and flowers, forgive our blindness;
No dream of night had dared what Thou has wrought!
New every morning is Thy loving kindness,
Far, far above what we had asked or thought.

So, under every sky, our "Alleluia,"
With flowers of morning and with stars of night,
Shall praise Thee, O Lord Jesus - Alleluia -
Till Thou shalt fold all shadows up in light.

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes

The Origin of Prayer

____________

Real prayer comes not from
gritting our teeth,
but from falling in love

- Richard Foster
____________

Breaking Hearts

On a day not unlike today
did our high court rule and say
that the life of the unborn
was not a life and could be torn
away as if the child was a blob
of flesh, though his heart did throb

Tears of pain and guilt
rack the minds which were built
upon the premise of
choices now known as self-love

The alter here is very high
where the children often come to die
Who will speak in their defense
and who will pray to forgive the offense
before our just and righteous God
who gave these little ones, who now lay in sod

His is the heart that breaks each time
a child is thought not to mirror the divine
when eyes are formed and hearts do beat
with fingers on hands and with toes on feet
when little people living in small wombs
would lay uncovered in chilling rooms

Oh merciful and gracious Lord
would you forgive, would you afford
us this request before your throne
for this sin too would your blood atone
please forgive us Lord we plead
may you grant us Lord the grace to heed
your words of truth and life
and save us from more sacrifice
of unborn children Lord we pray
would you deliver us from this tragic way


- A. B. Seal

A Sweet & Bitter Providence

Breakfast With Lewis

"Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects."

"What would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy."

- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I read recently of a man doing his doctoral work on John Owen. He and his wife had been praying that the Lord would grant him a mentor to instruct him in Christ and to be used to mold him into the image of Christ. A short while thereafter this man was sharing with his wife of his learnings from Owen. She quickly pointed out the answer to their prayers; the Lord has arranged that John Owen is your mentor. That said, C.S. Lewis is currently mentoring me. What a wonder it is to have such abundant access to such incredible mentors via their preserved writings. I woke up this morning and had breakfast with Lewis. He spoke with me powerfully regarding The Weight of Glory.

The Book of Eli

I recently saw The Book of Eli. It is an excellent story which delivers a powerful message. Its interesting to see this unique message portrayed in such a modern way. No doubt many religious people will refuse to see it, or scoff at it's violence and profanity. Yet it is clear to me that the creators of this movie have done a very unique thing in telling such a powerful story in a way in which it could be heard in our day, a way which may cause many to consider weighty matters which they may not have considered otherwise.

"Incomparable in Infinite Excellency"

"O, pity for evermore that there should be such an one as Christ Jesus, so boundless, so bottomless, and so incomparable in infinite excellency, and sweetness, and so few to take Him!"

- Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

Prayer: Duty vs. Delight

"If we were perfected, prayer would not be a duty, it would be a delight.  Some day, please God, it will be.  The same is true of many other behaviours which now appear as duties."

- C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

Could it be...

Could it be that Thy great grace
Would fall heavy upon us here
Could it be that light from Your dear face
Would burn bright in this dark sphere

Could it be that Thy majesty, to us unseen
Would be unfolded before our eyes
Could it be that we might be clean
And be transformed by visions of Your glory

Could it be that though this world is shrouded in
An ever present darkness, blackened and grim
Could it be that Your hands would part the clouded sky
Granting us to see that pure light streaming down from Him
From Him who sits upon the throne
Full of majesty and grace
From Him who illuminates the heavens
With the glories of His face

- A.B. Seal

Sermons by Jim Elliot

Justin Taylor recently highlighted two sermons preached by Jim Elliot:

Feeding of the five thousands
Resurrection

How excellent it is to be able to hear sermons from such a hero of the faith.  I remember the first time I heard Elliot's famous quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."  I was about 14 years old at the time.  I think it is fair to say that I have rarely, if ever, been more impacted by a single sentence. 

"that you might follow in His steps"

"Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps:

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."

- 1st Peter 2:17-23


Painful Lessons in Taming the Tongue

I am painfully in need of learning how to tame my unruly tongue.  How quick my tongue will strike back. How inept I am at keeping that monster bridled and under control.  Truly "it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."  How many times must I hear this message of taming the tongue, and see the devastation an uncontrolled tongue can cause until I will master that beast and beat him into submission? 

Oh for the grace to keep my mouth shut...

.

"In that cloud thou shalt behold My face"

The Cloud

I thought the way upon the mountainside
Would lead to certain clearness; but my Guide,
Whose thought was otherwise,
Led to a cloud which blotted out the skies.

I feared to enter into that great cloud,
And fearing, cried aloud,
"O patient Guide, I fear;
Be not far from me now, with trouble near."

"Let not thy heart be troubled. Could I cease
To care for thee?
Can vapors cancel peace, My gift of peace?
O rest in Me.
I wait to meet the in that cloudy place,
And in that cloud thou shalt behold My face."

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes

"For it will be pleasant"

____________________

Incline your ear,
and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart 
to my knowledge

- Proverbs 22:17
____________________


Put your ears to work. Engage your ears in careful listening. Do no neglect or ignore the words of the wise. Rather hear them and then heed them. Set your affections upon His knowledge. Employ your heart in knowing Him.

____________________

FOR it will be pleasant
if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips

- Proverbs 22:18
____________________

Following Jesus

Can there be any other Christianity?
Can there be any other way?
To live and to die serving the lost among humanity
Or to simply exist for one more day

Can there be another way to follow Him?
Or is giving it all the only way?
You could choose temporal peace and security in which to wallow
But He has said, It is good that the servant, his master would follow

He has said, "Go"
And yet we still remain
He has said take up your cross
Disobeying His voice will prove quite insane

Would you, who say you follow Him
Rather ignore His command and stay
Exchanging His magnificent light for pleasures that at best are dim
Or would you give your everything for an opportunity to obey?

- A. B. Seal

The End of Injustice

____________________

Whoever sows injustice
will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail

- Proverbs 22:8
____________________

Sowing seeds of injustice results in reaping the fruit of calamity. Such an injust one will find his wrath and judgment to become impotent.

Those who practice injustice foolishly forget about the God-Judge who is perfectly just, and who will one day unleash His perfect justice upon 100% of all the injustices ever done upon the earth. They are ignorantly digging themselves into a massive debt which they themselves will never be able to repay.

Injustice meets its end in the justice of God.