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| Quick ThoughtI realize that I am slow at updating the blog....the problem seems to be a matter of time. I have so many other things that I frankly would rather do, that updating a blog is at the bottom of the list. I think in order to appease my itch to blog, yet have time to do it, I can only do it if I post quick thoughts now and again as opposed to long drawn out entries. Which leads me to my quick thought of today - I just got done reading the forward to a new book I bought myself for Christmas from someone (Yes, I know its not Christmas yet, but I did buy the book so I can read it whenever I want). The forward is written by John Piper and he has this following paragraph:
John Owen says about lust "God says, 'Here is one, if he could be rid of this lust I should never hear of him again; therefore let him wrestle with this, or he is lost." Astonishing! God ordains to leave a lust with me till I become the sort of warrior who will still seek his aid when the victory is won. God knows when we can bear the triumphs of his grace.
Read that last line in bold again. Have you ever thought about that before. It is so true but yet I have never thought of it before. I have been thinking about the struggle in my own life against sin and why I seem to continue to look back to my once enslaved life and sometimes long for it. It seems I am just like the nation of Israel when they came out of Egypt where they were slaves, but yet at times in their freedom longed to be back as slaves. Is that not how we act sometimes!!! But the times that I feel as if I have overcome a particular sin, the sin of pride creeps in and I stumble yet again and so Piper's brilliant insight is ringing so true in my ears right now. You see what is happening when "I" overcome the sin - in my heart down, deep where us Christians don't want to talk about -is I think I did it on my own. I am not yet ready to bear the triumphs of his grace, but I pray o God that I am ready shortly. | | |
| Church Marquee Madness "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" 1 Tim 4:1 I have grown to really despise these little quotes that churches put on their marquee's outside, as if that is proclaiming the truth of Scripture. I find myself searching for them now so that they can get my blood boiling (probably not a good thing). Here are a few examples of what I mean, most of which I saw the others from a quick yahoo search…. "If your life plan is not working out, give Jesus a try"
"Man built the Titanic, God built the Ark"
"Believe me, Hell is not hotter then this - God"
"Download your worries: Get Online with God"
"God answers knee mail"
"The end for your search of a traditional church stops here"
"Our church is like fudge, sweet with a few nuts"
"A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who is not"
While some of these tag lines may be funny and even have some truth in them, they are exactly what is wrong with the evangelical church in America today. We try to spoon feed sound bites in the ears of men, thinking that is the only way in which we can reach them. We don't want to do the hard work exposing them to the complete depth and breadth of the Word of God. We say times are different, people can't focus like they used to. Hog wash. If my rambunctious 4 year old can sit in a church pew for almost 2 hours (most of which is devoted to preaching) with his little Bible opened asking me to turn the pages for him and then come home and my 4 year old ask my 7 year old questions about Hell, Christ, Sin and the Cross and my 7 year old answer the questions - then that excuse is an offense to God. Which leads me to the one tag line that has been bothering me the past 4 weeks I have driven by it everyday onto work. "There is no right way to do the wrong thing" Yes there is no right way to do the wrong thing, but there are lots of wrong ways to do the right thing - and the church is doing most of them the wrong way. Evangelism: Is not done by tag lines, man made systems or trickery
Repentance: Is not done by signing a card, raising a hand or repeating a prayer
Church: Is not a social club, not a baby sitter and not a place to re-energize
Prayer: Is not the Prayer of Jabez, name it and claim it or talking with your best friend
Study: Is not done by reading the Bible for Dummies, listening to the Bible Experience, or done only by pastors/teachers Preaching: Is not a job, it’s a calling
Sheep: Are not pew-warmers, critics, or in charge
Spiritual Gifts: Are not necessarily talents and not determined by taking a skills test
Christian Life: Should not look like the world and is not as easy as many people claim
Worship songs: Are not 7 words repeated 11 times, do not have to be written in the past 10 years, do not have to be sung with instruments Maybe I will create my own sign: "The church is beginning the great falling away" | | |
| The Battle for the MindFinally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dewell on these things. Phillipians 4:8 When God saved us He gave us a new life (2 Cor 5:17) and with that new life comes the ability to do good works for His glory (James 2:17-18). These are works that we are doing through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, but we are the ones doing them. There are times that we succeed in this work and times we chose to be ashamed of the gospel and fail. God could have made created a way in which when we were saved we became instantly sanctified and glorified, thus never sinning again. But in His wonderful mercy and grace He allows us to be a part of the work of sanctification not just the recipients of it. Understanding that we have work to do in our own lives and not to just sit back and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon us is vital in our Christian walk. We need to understand where the where battle between sin and sanctified living takes place and what we can do to live a more Holy life. The Battle of the Mind In Romans 7:14-25 Paul describes the battle that rages on within our new lives in Christ - a battle we all kind attest to. This battle takes place in our minds. There are times when all of us have tortured souls because of the battle against sin in our lives. In fact if you are walking through the new life in Christ and there are not times of immense conflict in your soul then you should take time to examine your life to make sure that your are saved (Phil 2:12). As we become more like our Savior there will be times that sin in our lives is ripped, or torn, from our flesh (Heb 4:12). It is part of the sanctification process that all true believers will go through. In verse 23 of Romans 7 Paul states that he sees "a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members." Paul is telling us that the real battle between sin and holiness lies in the mind. He goes onto say in Romans 8:6-8 that two minds produce two different out comes. The mind of the Spirit is life and peace (vs.6). The mind of the flesh is death (vs.6), hostility towards God (v.7), not able to obey God (v. 7) and can not please God (v. 8). So it's clear that the battle of the mind is important. Which is why so much is given to us in Scripture around this battle and how to fight it. There are 2 major things that must take place in order to successfully do our work and overcome the enemy in this battle. One requires pain, one requires study - both require discipline. The Purging of the Old Mind The process of purging an infection out of the body is not pleasant. And that is exactly what sin is - an infection of the worst kind. It is not fun to purge the mind of sinful thoughts. When you are serious about the battle and start to purge the mind of sinful thoughts you quickly find out just how totally, utterly, indescribably sinful we truly are. I had this event happen in my own life a few years ago. I grew up in a strong Christian home, went to church every time the doors where open, but I was constantly defeated by sin. Once God grabbed hold of my life and shook my out of my slumber I started purging my mind of sin - and the more I purge, the more I find. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 there are two kinds of purging to take place. First of all there is the individual purging of our minds. Paul tells us that he is, and we should be example of him, "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Think about that for a moment - taking EVERY thought captive. Have you ever tried to do that? If you were told that the Christian life was easy, you were lied to. We are suppose to taking every thought captive because Satan is prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) and we are not to give the enemy an opportunity in our lives (Eph 4:27). We can never rest, never stop and never think it is over. We are to be constantly purging our minds of the taint of sin. Secondly, not only are we to individually purge the sin from our own lives, we are suppose to be ready to punish disobedience within our own churches (vs. 6, Matt 18:15-17). This doesn't mean that when you disagree with someone you right away begin that you begin the Matt 18 process. This means that you have such close relationships with the body of Christ that when you see a brother or sister caught in sin you HELP THEM purge the sin from their lives. The entire concept of Matt 18 is to bring the brother/sister to repentance not to humiliate or judge them. The Pondering of the New Mind After we recognize there is a battle for our mind and after we purge our mind of the old sins we are to ponder something new. If we neglect this last step then eventually the sins will flood back into our lives. At the end of v. 8 Paul instructs us to Ponder the things he listed and to dwell on them. These things are to fill up our mind so that nothing of the old mind can come back in. So what exactly are we suppose to ponder? 1. Whatever is true. As Pilot famously asked Christ - what is truth? What is Paul saying to think on whatever is true? Should we sit back in our lazy chairs think 2+2=4? Not at all - Psalm 119:160 says "The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting." We should study His word and think about the truths that are in it. The times I feel the strongest against sin is when I find myself throughout the day pondering great truths of Scripture. Have you ever been working and at the same time been thinking about the doctrine of justification? Or when a brother is faced with a trial in their lives thought of Scripture that would encourage them? The Word of God is 100% sufficient for all that we will encounter in this life. We are told to mediate on the Word day and night (Psalm 1:2). We are told to hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). And here in Philippians we are told to ponder it. Not only is the Word of God truth, but we are told in John 1:14 that Christ and the Word are the same thing. A quick Sidebar: Think about that one…when you are reading the Word of God you are reading Christ! We have the in the Word the manifestation of Christ, so that even though we have never seen Him, we can still 'see' Him! Do we need any other reason to read the Word other than that? Furthermore, Christ says in John 14:6 that He Himself is truth. So when Paul says to ponder what is true he is saying to meditate on the Word of God and on the person and work of Christ. 2. Whatever is honorable As if that wouldn't be enough to keep our minds occupied and free from sinful thoughts Paul gives us another thing to think on. Paul tells us to think on things that are honorable. Honor is really about something that is not talked much about these days - chivalry. This is a word that maybe are parents and grand parents new about but not us. Chivalry is by definition is that which is honorable or of valor. Moses for example showed chivalry by defending the seven daughters at the well from shepherds in Exodus 2:17. Husbands are commanded to have chivalry towards their wives and to treat them as a weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). Psalm 135:3 tells us to sing praises to His name because it is lovely (honorable). When we think on His name and we think of honorable actions of people in the Word of God it draws us away from our flesh and towards the glory of our God. 3. Whatever is right John 5:30 Christ makes the statement that " I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; And my judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent me." We should think on the fact that there will come a day when Christ will be come back as the glorious Judge of all men. If we truly longed for His appearing and His true judgment maybe we would live our lives a little less like the world. 4. Whatever is pure Obviously nothing we do is pure….yet. There will come a time in future glory when after going through the fires of purification that we are pure - due to His work. Until that time anything that we think of in purity must be from above. Psalm 19:8 tells us that the commandments of the Lord are pure and righteous altogether. Part of mediating on the Word is thinking of His commandments. This goes beyond His 10 commandments (though just mediating on those are beautiful in themselves), but there is the great commission, the greatest commandment is love, to keep His commandments, the command to preach and teach, to be holy - that is certainly not an exhaustive list, but just an example of what it means to think of pure things. 5. Whatever is lovely Only Christ is truly lovely. Everything else in this world compared to His name is anything but lovely. Psalm 135:3 instructs us to "sing praises to His name, for it is lovely." I would encourage during times of quiet private worship to the Lord to spend some time singing praises to His name. But what are we suppose to praise Him for? His name. It is such a simple command that it truly is lovely. In this complex world, sit back and think of His name. Take the time to look through Scripture to find all the different names for God - The great I Am, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Emanuel, Christ, Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, Prince of Peace, The Mighty One, God of my salvation, our refuge - that is just a few…think of the names of God and praise His for each one of them. 6. Whatever is of good repute Everything else we have discussed has focused on the God and His work. It is clear to see that our focus in pondering is to be on the work of God. This last point is telling us that we should think of other people who have practiced thinking about what is true, honorable, right, pure and lovely. A person, or group of people, that thinks on those things will do amazing things for the glory of God. Paul is instructing us here to think about the good news in the kingdom. Colossians 1:4 Paul says "We have heard of your faith…." Phil 1:27 Paul says we "hear of you standing firm". The apostles where encouraged by the good works done in faith by other Christians. In this day of all the false teachers, man focused churches and worldly so-called Christian living there really isn't much to think on - but there are great things being done in the kingdom. Can you think of any church that is remaining faithful to God honoring teaching - think on their work! Is there a believer you know that is brining glory to the Lord - think about what they are doing! Whatever is going on of good repute within the Kingdom today, we should think of it and give God glory for it. One thing here in closing, have you picked up on the common thread through everything in Phil 4:8? What is true? Christ. What is honorable? Christ. What is right? Christ's judgment. What is pure? Christ's commands. What is lovely? Christ's' name. What is of good repute? Work done for Christ. Our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ is what we are ultimately to be pondering. As I continue in this journey I have become increasingly more intrigued by the work of Christ in my salvation. It seems I find Him everywhere in Scripture. I can not escape Christ. His work for me is unfathomable and I will never understand it. When we put labels on that work (whether it is the doctrine of soteriology, election, 5 points, TULIP, etc…) no matter how true they are, we lessen the glory of Christ's work. I am not saying we should not study those doctrines because they help us understand more of what He has done, but brothers and sisters, please don't ever allow a label to prevent you from seeing the bigger picture. Christ is everything! To Him be the Glory forever and ever. Amen. | | |
| HHMMM...what is it that Nova is missing?I watched part of a show tonight on Nova that was telling the story of the search for the neutrino. You might be asking why would I be watching Nova, it clearly is a program that denies the existence of our God so of course their conclusions will be wrong. But we can learn from these studies as scientist try to understand the universe. As long as we view them through the lense of Scripture we will weed out the lies and half-truths. Remember that Daniel didn't refuse the education of the Babylonians. I personally like to watch these types of shows because it reveals how powerful and majestic our Sovereign Lord is. Fallen man is continually studying and trying to understand this universe. But without Christ they are grasping at straws. Back to the neutrino - the neutrino is a particle in the universe that scientist discovered within the past century. Scientist believe that to understand the neutrino may be the key to understand where all matter came from, and thus where we came from. To quote the description of the show "Trillions of ghostly neutrinos move through our bodies every second without us noticing a thing. Yet without them the sun wouldn't shine and the elements that make up our world wouldn't exist. This program explores the 70-year struggle so far to understand the most elusive of all elementary particles, the neutrino." Wow! Sounds like we better get this figured out. At the end of this cool show with all these tests they have run and massive below ground, radiation free testing facilities what was their conclusion - We just don't know what these things are but they are important and could hold the key to the big bang. They even said that they didn't know what held these things together. Man, talk about missing the mark. What is holding them together? Nova doesn't know, but we know the rest of the story...  "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" Colossians 1:16-17
I praise our Creator God that is infinitely more intelligent and powerful then us. Through all of man's study we have not even begun to understand His universe. By the way...I posted this quick post because someone reminded me that it has been April since my last post. Sorry about that, things have been busy. I plan to get back on track here shortly. | |
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| BANISHED! "Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their  transgressions in regard to all their sin; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness." Lev 16:21-22In my last post I talked about the importance of remembering Christ's resurrection to our redemption. Today I would like to look at one part of the pain of His death that is often overlooked. During this season all across this country many will hear the sermon of how Christ became our Passover, and that is certainly true. For it says in Hebrews 9:22 that "without the shedding of blood their is not forgiveness of sins." and in Hebrews 10:12 that Christ "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time.." There is something else that seems to be required for sin - banishment. In Leviticus 16 the Lord gave to Moses the Law of the Atonement and included in that along with the shedding of blood is the scapegoat. There were two goats used during the service - one was sacrificed and the other was banished from the city, but they where considered one offering (just as our Savior was one offering). Before it would be banished from the city the high priest would lay his hands on the head of the goat and would confess the sins of the nation of Israel and transfer those sins to the goat. Then one of the other priests would escort the goat outside of the city left to wander outside the gate. Outside the Gate When Christ was in the garden before he was 'betrayed into the hands of sinners' we initially think that the agony that He was going through was because He knew that He was going to be crucified. As child I can remember reading this and thinking about what it must of felt like to feel that pain of the cross. But as sickening as it is, thousands of Jews were crucified by Rome. In fact the famous Jewish historian Josephus says that during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD Titus was at a time crucifying 500 Jews a day. It wasn't that He was going to have to endure the physical pain (for many had done that already), He knew that He, being sinless, was going to have the sins of all who would believe cast on Him and He would shed His blood for them, but also He would be banished from the Father's presence. In Matthew 27:46 when Christ cries out from the cross "My God, My God, why hast though  forsaken Me?" By being forsaken, Christ was left behind. He had taken on our sins and was banished from the city. For the first time since eternity past there was true separation from Father. During His walk on earth we see many places were Christ communed with the Father, the Spirit or angels - but now He was alone. Hebrews 13:12 says "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate." He endured the fate that would have been ours, a final separation from God that could never be overcome. Inside the Gate But our Savior didn't stay outside the gate! With the power of His resurrection all authority was given to Him. Christ overcame death as it says 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." As another proof to Christ's absolute Deity only God could overcome that separation, both physical and spiritual. And if He had not overcome that separation we would have to endure it. What has Christ's victory over death and banishment given us? "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:9 "Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4:7 "And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord." 2 Corinthians 6:18 "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household." Ephesians 2:19 "for you are all sons of the light and sons of day, We are not of night no darkness." I Thessalonians 5:5 We are not only citizens of the kingdom but we are heirs with Him. Christ's banishment and subsequent resurrection opened the door for us to enter the gate into the kingdom which would have otherwise been shut to us. Only the One that has the authority to open the gate could let us in. And that One was none other than Jesus Christ the name by which men must be saved. So in the closing moments of this Passover season lets us remember that Christ bled to remove our sins, was banished so that we were not and was raised that we may enter into life, hope and His eternal Kingdom. | | |
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