Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Driscoll: Jesus Shoots the Wolves
I had the opportunity to be present when this message was delivered at a DG National Conference. It is one of the most memorable and most powerful messages I have ever heard. The entire message is available for free on audio and video.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
To Judge or Not to Judge?
"By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are."
- Dietrich Bonhoefffer
- Dietrich Bonhoefffer
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Politics & Religion
If one is looking to ruffle feathers, one needs look no further than the subjects of politics or religion. If one is looking to get stones throne at them, one needs only combine the two.
I am stunned at the silence proceeding from many church leaders, denomination leaders, indeed many Christian leaders in our nation regarding some of the happenings of our day. I know that there are many bold leaders, who regularly preach the truth from pulpits that have a broad and in some cases national and international reach. Yet these leaders remain silent regarding a great many issues that are effecting our society today.
Don't get me wrong, some are starting to stand up and to speak up. But most are choosing the sidelines rather than the front lines. Bonhoeffer's words reach prophetically from his grave to our day, "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."
I admit that I do not know all of the details, however as I understand it, there are some rules that pertain to churches in order for them to maintain their tax exempt status. One of which is that political statements cannot be made from the pulpit. Again Metaxas' book on Bonhoeffer still rings in my ears with the sound of the nazi government of the 1930's which became very involved in what preachers could and could not say from the pulpits of Germany.
To America's preachers I make this plea: Speak up. Speak up now, while you still can. Engage your congregation in understanding the events of our time, how the Bible speaks to those events, and how that impacts us and our responsibility as followers of Christ.
Surely many people will cry "separation of church and state" when they encounter the combination of politics and religion. Yet as for me and my house, we will both cherish and use the freedoms that our country was founded on, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of religion (NOT freedom from religion).
I am a patriot, I love my country, I am proud to be an American, but I am first a follower of Christ. To the United States of America: You can keep you tax exempt status. I'm going to say what needs to be said.
I am stunned at the silence proceeding from many church leaders, denomination leaders, indeed many Christian leaders in our nation regarding some of the happenings of our day. I know that there are many bold leaders, who regularly preach the truth from pulpits that have a broad and in some cases national and international reach. Yet these leaders remain silent regarding a great many issues that are effecting our society today.
Don't get me wrong, some are starting to stand up and to speak up. But most are choosing the sidelines rather than the front lines. Bonhoeffer's words reach prophetically from his grave to our day, "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."
I admit that I do not know all of the details, however as I understand it, there are some rules that pertain to churches in order for them to maintain their tax exempt status. One of which is that political statements cannot be made from the pulpit. Again Metaxas' book on Bonhoeffer still rings in my ears with the sound of the nazi government of the 1930's which became very involved in what preachers could and could not say from the pulpits of Germany.
To America's preachers I make this plea: Speak up. Speak up now, while you still can. Engage your congregation in understanding the events of our time, how the Bible speaks to those events, and how that impacts us and our responsibility as followers of Christ.
Surely many people will cry "separation of church and state" when they encounter the combination of politics and religion. Yet as for me and my house, we will both cherish and use the freedoms that our country was founded on, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of religion (NOT freedom from religion).
I am a patriot, I love my country, I am proud to be an American, but I am first a follower of Christ. To the United States of America: You can keep you tax exempt status. I'm going to say what needs to be said.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Josef Tson: Courage in Christian Ministry
Josef Tson, a Romanian follower of Christ, suffered intensely for his faith at the hands of the Romanian government. Josef shared this powerful testimony at Desiring God in 2000. He entitled this message Persecution and Christ-likeness. It is available to download for free from the Desiring God website.
This message is full of magnificent statements like, "If all of your enemies are God's instruments, why are you afraid?"
Let me encourage you not to deny yourself the tremendous blessing of listening to this excellent message.
This message is full of magnificent statements like, "If all of your enemies are God's instruments, why are you afraid?"
Let me encourage you not to deny yourself the tremendous blessing of listening to this excellent message.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Darkness & Light
My heart aches upon hearing the terrible news of the massacre at a Colorado movie theater. At least 12 people dead, maybe three times that many injured, and an entire country left terrorized.
A very sad fact is that this horrible incident is not an isolated one. With the bus bombing in Bulgaria recently, the school shootings that we are becoming all too familiar with, and the daily assaults of news paper headlines of shootings in our cities, it is almost as if we live in a war zone.
This dark and evil destructiveness stands in stark contrast to the words of the most famous teacher in history, "Love each other as I have loved you" and "Love your neighbor as yourself."
I sit here stunned as the news of these terrorist attacks swirl around in the media. Meanwhile the words of life hang in the atmosphere of my mind like a neon sign.
The amazing thing about the great teacher's words is that while he told us to love as he loves, he knew all the while that he would face a horrible death. He did not shy away from that terrible death specifically because of his great love for us and his powerful submission to the will of his Father. Love each other so much that you would lay your lives down for one another...
Another of his great quotes is this, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend." Not only did he teach this, he lived it, and then he died to show that it was not just words.
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.
- Jesus, John 13:34
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
- Paul, Galations 5:14
What would the world look like if these words were taught in our schools and our churches, displayed in our courtrooms, placed in prominent places in our cities, and adhered to by our citizens?
In stead our country, which has pushed very hard to remove God from our society, looks much more like this:
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
- Jesus, John 3:19
A very sad fact is that this horrible incident is not an isolated one. With the bus bombing in Bulgaria recently, the school shootings that we are becoming all too familiar with, and the daily assaults of news paper headlines of shootings in our cities, it is almost as if we live in a war zone.
This dark and evil destructiveness stands in stark contrast to the words of the most famous teacher in history, "Love each other as I have loved you" and "Love your neighbor as yourself."
I sit here stunned as the news of these terrorist attacks swirl around in the media. Meanwhile the words of life hang in the atmosphere of my mind like a neon sign.
The amazing thing about the great teacher's words is that while he told us to love as he loves, he knew all the while that he would face a horrible death. He did not shy away from that terrible death specifically because of his great love for us and his powerful submission to the will of his Father. Love each other so much that you would lay your lives down for one another...
Another of his great quotes is this, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend." Not only did he teach this, he lived it, and then he died to show that it was not just words.
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.
- Jesus, John 13:34
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
- Paul, Galations 5:14
What would the world look like if these words were taught in our schools and our churches, displayed in our courtrooms, placed in prominent places in our cities, and adhered to by our citizens?
In stead our country, which has pushed very hard to remove God from our society, looks much more like this:
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
- Jesus, John 3:19
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Bold Truth - A Rare Combo Today
It is rare that I agree with much of anything that a Catholic Priest has to say. However this is one of those very rare times. May there be many more who boldly speak the truth like this! God Bless America!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Musings from Socrates in the City
"it is astonishing how almost every culture has some myth of paradise lost. Now, that doesn't mean it's true, but it does mean that it's in the collective unconscious, and to say that there's no truth in it at all is to be a snob. This is my fundamental argument against atheism, by the way. If atheism is true, then the incredibly small minority of human beings - most of which are concentrated in our uprooted society - are the only ones who are wise, and everyone else is living their lives with a fundamental illusion at the center... It doesn't prove anything, but at least it ought to give you a bit of pause."
- Dr. Peter Kreeft, Making Sense out of Suffering, Socrates in the City
- Dr. Peter Kreeft, Making Sense out of Suffering, Socrates in the City
Friday, June 1, 2012
FIRST: DO NO HARM
I remember seeing an edited version of the Hippocratic Oath on a sign posted at my family physician's office. I was struck by the phrase, "First do no harm." That phrase has become imbedded in my mind ever since I first read it in the doctor's office as a teenager. I still remember where the sign was placed on the wall near the check out desk. While thinking about this phrase recently I was reminded of how closely it fits with many of Jesus' words:
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
- Matthew 10:16
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
- Matthew 7:1-2
"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."
- John 13:34
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
- John 15:12
May it be that we, who bear the name of the greatest healer, would take to heart what he said, how he loved, and how he first did no harm.
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
- Matthew 10:16
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
- Matthew 7:1-2
"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."
- John 13:34
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
- John 15:12
May it be that we, who bear the name of the greatest healer, would take to heart what he said, how he loved, and how he first did no harm.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Eric Metaxas at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast
Obama, Biden, and Pelosi were present for this event.
Nicely done Metaxas.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Roe v. Wade, 35 Years Later
Breaking Hearts
On a day not unlike today
Did our 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 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 gives 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
and fingers on hands 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
(Originally posted on 01-22-2008)
Did our 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 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 gives 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
and fingers on hands 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
(Originally posted on 01-22-2008)
Friday, March 9, 2012
Sunrise from the median...
The sunrise was magnificent yesterday morning as I sat in my patrol car parked in the median. I took this photo while in the median of I-94 near the 12 mile marker. (I took a similar photo of a sunset several months ago, that photo recently was put on the cover of the Trooper magazine.) In case you're wondering, the item in the photo is the hood ornament on my patrol car.
It is good not to waste such moments. All creation displays the glory of God, as He has designed it to do so. While walking (and working) "in the valley of the shadow of death" it is nothing short of majestic to enjoy the varied displays of God's glory, which He makes of Himself in order that we may know Him more and enjoy Him more. That His light does so shine here is but a taste of the glories we will experience when we are eternally encompassed with His glory, as we live in His presence, enjoying Him and glorifying Him forever.
Again I am reminded of the famous catechism statement:
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Or as Piper put it:
The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
Both of these statements have proved powerful in relaying truth to the inmates at the jail recently.
(Originally published on 03-18-2008)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Sirens, Cisterns, and Superior Satisfaction
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth there is nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
How easy it is for our hearts to desire something other than the Lord. Calvin rightly said that our hearts are perpetual idol factories. When we begin to long for something more than God we are entering very dangerous territory. When the affections of our hearts long after another more than after God we have made an idol.
There remains a contrast to our idolatry prone hearts:
I believe the psalmist when he said, "on earth there is nothing that I desire besides you." I believe it is possible to have the affections of your heart laser focused upon God and Him alone. (I'm not saying that I'm doing this, but rather that I want to do this.)
When is the last time you evaluated your life and considered, "What is it that I desire that either competes with my desires for God or comes close to doing so?" (I'm asking myself this question too.)
There are an overabundance of siren songs luring us into deep danger. There are songs which are less subtle than others. There are also siren songs which are so entirely subtle that we can hardly even notice them. It seems to me that these are the ones which will claim the most victims.
These subtle songs lure their victim's into ineffectiveness, complacency, apathy, misguided contentment, and ultimately to a life lived in service of self. Siren songs such as these steal our time. They will convince you to lay down your cross because it is simply too heavy. All this in efforts to undo Jesus' instruction to take up your cross and follow Him. Almost in a perfect parallel to the deceit which took place in Eden, "Did He really say that? Is that really necessary?"
When your heart, or the sirens, are telling you something is to be desired more than He is, danger is near. This is a significant warning flag waving like crazy in the wind of your heart. Do not fall for these siren songs...
They are only illusions, only broken cisterns.
Rather combat these adulterous desires with the most powerful weapon against them: the most satisfying pleasure - God, whom the Scriptures refer to as the Fountain of Living Waters. Life is war and the battle is for the affections of your heart (and mine).
Whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth there is nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
How easy it is for our hearts to desire something other than the Lord. Calvin rightly said that our hearts are perpetual idol factories. When we begin to long for something more than God we are entering very dangerous territory. When the affections of our hearts long after another more than after God we have made an idol.
There remains a contrast to our idolatry prone hearts:
I believe the psalmist when he said, "on earth there is nothing that I desire besides you." I believe it is possible to have the affections of your heart laser focused upon God and Him alone. (I'm not saying that I'm doing this, but rather that I want to do this.)
When is the last time you evaluated your life and considered, "What is it that I desire that either competes with my desires for God or comes close to doing so?" (I'm asking myself this question too.)
There are an overabundance of siren songs luring us into deep danger. There are songs which are less subtle than others. There are also siren songs which are so entirely subtle that we can hardly even notice them. It seems to me that these are the ones which will claim the most victims.
These subtle songs lure their victim's into ineffectiveness, complacency, apathy, misguided contentment, and ultimately to a life lived in service of self. Siren songs such as these steal our time. They will convince you to lay down your cross because it is simply too heavy. All this in efforts to undo Jesus' instruction to take up your cross and follow Him. Almost in a perfect parallel to the deceit which took place in Eden, "Did He really say that? Is that really necessary?"
When your heart, or the sirens, are telling you something is to be desired more than He is, danger is near. This is a significant warning flag waving like crazy in the wind of your heart. Do not fall for these siren songs...
They are only illusions, only broken cisterns.
Rather combat these adulterous desires with the most powerful weapon against them: the most satisfying pleasure - God, whom the Scriptures refer to as the Fountain of Living Waters. Life is war and the battle is for the affections of your heart (and mine).
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Taming Tigers...
Yesterday during our family's trip to the zoo we encountered this rather 
large tiger.
My five year old daughter was quite nervous and would not stand next to the glass by herself. It occurred to me that although we were only a few feet from the massive animal, I was completely unconcerned for our safety. This was obviously because of the secure facility which housed the great beast.
I could not help but ponder the parallel; our lives are lived in close proximity to the treacherous enemy of our souls. 1Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Our God is our shield, our defender, and our fortress. Though daily we walk in the midst of predators we need not tremble for them. Romans 8:31b If God is for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 23:4-5 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Certainly this life affords us various experiences of suffering and trials. This is why the Psalmist uses the phrase, "the valley of the shadow of death." What a solid foundation we have in God's sovereignty over suffering. We can say with the Psalmist, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me." If He is with us, what have we to fear? There will be troubles, there will be trials, there will be dining in the presence of enemies... But He is with us. And our God is the One who can make ALL things, including suffering and tragedies, work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
I love how John Piper puts it in his poem about Job:
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God
(Part 4)
I have some friends who thought they knew
The mind of God, and that their view
Of tenderness exhausted God's,
And that severity and rods
Could only be explained with blame,
To vindicate his holy name."
"So you think it was God who made
You sick?" "I think God never laid
Aside the reins that lie against
The neck of Satan, nor unfenced
His pen to run at liberty,
But only by the Lord's decree."
...
That he might kindly show to me
What I would be when only he
Remains in my calamity.
Unkindly he has kindly shown
That he was not my hope alone."
...
And finally, my servant, Job,
Can you draw down and then disrobe
Leviathan, the king of all
The sons of pride, and in his fall
Strip off his camouflage of strength,
And make him, over all the length
Of earth and heav'n, to serve the plan
Of humble righteousness? I can.
I make Leviathan my rod.
Belovèd Job, behold your God!"
large tiger.
My five year old daughter was quite nervous and would not stand next to the glass by herself. It occurred to me that although we were only a few feet from the massive animal, I was completely unconcerned for our safety. This was obviously because of the secure facility which housed the great beast.
I could not help but ponder the parallel; our lives are lived in close proximity to the treacherous enemy of our souls. 1Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Our God is our shield, our defender, and our fortress. Though daily we walk in the midst of predators we need not tremble for them. Romans 8:31b If God is for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 23:4-5 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Certainly this life affords us various experiences of suffering and trials. This is why the Psalmist uses the phrase, "the valley of the shadow of death." What a solid foundation we have in God's sovereignty over suffering. We can say with the Psalmist, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me." If He is with us, what have we to fear? There will be troubles, there will be trials, there will be dining in the presence of enemies... But He is with us. And our God is the One who can make ALL things, including suffering and tragedies, work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
I love how John Piper puts it in his poem about Job:
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God
(Part 4)
I have some friends who thought they knew
The mind of God, and that their view
Of tenderness exhausted God's,
And that severity and rods
Could only be explained with blame,
To vindicate his holy name."
"So you think it was God who made
You sick?" "I think God never laid
Aside the reins that lie against
The neck of Satan, nor unfenced
His pen to run at liberty,
But only by the Lord's decree."
...
That he might kindly show to me
What I would be when only he
Remains in my calamity.
Unkindly he has kindly shown
That he was not my hope alone."
...
And finally, my servant, Job,
Can you draw down and then disrobe
Leviathan, the king of all
The sons of pride, and in his fall
Strip off his camouflage of strength,
And make him, over all the length
Of earth and heav'n, to serve the plan
Of humble righteousness? I can.
I make Leviathan my rod.
Belovèd Job, behold your God!"
Friday, March 2, 2012
To You It Has Been Granted...
"Have you considered my servant Job?"
This single divine inquiry set ablaze an inferno of tribulation for Job. The searing flames of righteous Job's trial were ignited to highlight the glory of the All-Sovereign God. Though a severe cost was paid by Job and his family, their flaming circumstances have since served throughout the mellennia to display the glory of the Sovereign God who reigns over and above all circumstances.
Joseph too suffered great pains. This also served the very same purpose, God's glory put on display for all to see. Such displays of the glory of the Lord are costly. Joseph's painful and trying ordeal set in place both the divine provision for his family, and ultimately also four hundred years of the enslavement of the nation of Israel in Egypt. Tremendous suffering was endured by generations of God's people until the time was right for the Lord to unleash a magnificent display of His glory in the mighty and multi-miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
So also all of humanity is bound to endure an enormously vast array of sufferings. Yet these painful situations and trying circumstances serve to display the glory of our God who reveals Himself in and through them. Our sufferings are not in vain. There is purpose in the midst of this pain. One day all sufferings will cease, but until then we have an opportunity to glorify the Lord on our painful path. This opportunity is unique to this side of heaven, for on the other side the Lord will no longer be glorified through our pain, as it is there that He will be glorified in the eternal removal of it.
For it has been granted to you
that for the sake of Christ
you should not only believe in Him
but also suffer for His sake
- Philippians 1:29
Not only do we among humanity bear the burden of suffering. The Lord Himself also stooped very low to bend beneath the unimaginable weight of divine suffering granting the greatest display of His glory. This side of heaven the most clear revelation of the glory of the Lord is seen in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Divinity became humanity to deliver mankind from bondage to the insanity of worshipping everything but Him.
For in Him
all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell,and through Him
to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of His cross.- Colossians 1:19-20
This single divine inquiry set ablaze an inferno of tribulation for Job. The searing flames of righteous Job's trial were ignited to highlight the glory of the All-Sovereign God. Though a severe cost was paid by Job and his family, their flaming circumstances have since served throughout the mellennia to display the glory of the Sovereign God who reigns over and above all circumstances.
Joseph too suffered great pains. This also served the very same purpose, God's glory put on display for all to see. Such displays of the glory of the Lord are costly. Joseph's painful and trying ordeal set in place both the divine provision for his family, and ultimately also four hundred years of the enslavement of the nation of Israel in Egypt. Tremendous suffering was endured by generations of God's people until the time was right for the Lord to unleash a magnificent display of His glory in the mighty and multi-miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
So also all of humanity is bound to endure an enormously vast array of sufferings. Yet these painful situations and trying circumstances serve to display the glory of our God who reveals Himself in and through them. Our sufferings are not in vain. There is purpose in the midst of this pain. One day all sufferings will cease, but until then we have an opportunity to glorify the Lord on our painful path. This opportunity is unique to this side of heaven, for on the other side the Lord will no longer be glorified through our pain, as it is there that He will be glorified in the eternal removal of it.
For it has been granted to you
that for the sake of Christ
you should not only believe in Him
but also suffer for His sake
- Philippians 1:29
Not only do we among humanity bear the burden of suffering. The Lord Himself also stooped very low to bend beneath the unimaginable weight of divine suffering granting the greatest display of His glory. This side of heaven the most clear revelation of the glory of the Lord is seen in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Divinity became humanity to deliver mankind from bondage to the insanity of worshipping everything but Him.
For in Him
all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell,and through Him
to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of His cross.- Colossians 1:19-20
Thursday, March 1, 2012
One Day The Fog Will Lift
The other morning while returning home from work I was impressed at the thickness of the fog hanging in our neighborhood. Once inside I looked out my front window into the gray haze surrounding our home. The thick gray mist was almost blinding. I could barely see a nearby tree across the street from our house. The fog caused me to be completely unable to see the house right behind that tree.I was struck by the illustration of our temporal shortsightedness. Caught as we are in the midst of this temporary fog, we are amazingly shortsighted. Our present state of blindness regularly prohibits us from seeing the various dangers on our paths and often we run headlong into them.
Then it hit me. One day this temporal fog will be entirely dissipated as the light of the Son is unveiled and as it shines in its full strength illuminating everything. On that great day even the blindest among us will behold His glory. In the all encompassing light of His glory even our hidden sins will be illuminated as we will begin to behold the horror of the manifold atrocities of which we are all guilty. We will come face to face with the guilt of our continual exchanging His magnificent glory for many things infinitely less glorious.
It is also then that those who are in Christ will see more clearly than ever the glories in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. The gold mine that is the cross of Christ will be more thoroughly mined in that single moment than it has been by all of the theology books throughout history combined. We will stand in awe of the Lamb of God and of what He accomplished upon that cross. Thus the eternal worship of the great Christ will begin as His purchased people will be intensely satisfied by beholding the eternal magnificent light of the Lamb who was slain from the foundations of the earth.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
- 1st Corinthians 13:12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
- 1st Corinthians 13:12
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.- Revelation 21:23
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