If you have ever met me, for whatever reason, i have to process almost everything on my own time. It does not matter how skilled the communicator or how influential or persuasive the friend, almost nothing will sink into my thick comprehension until my mind has put every bit of information and nuance into its appropriate (or inappropriate) shelf. That is why i have to confess that this post is in response to a question posed by a friend many months ago. This man is one of the closest people God has created around me. On a road trip he asked me, "Do you ever write poetry". Again, if you know me, I am the son of a career carpenter. Poetry has never been an encouraged medium. As a result I shuffled around with nerdy dodges about prose and narrative being more accessible for me. It was the kind of prolonged and poured on excuse which produces an awkwardness that only obvious guile can produce. He graciously went on with his point but he asked that for a reason- he knew me. My default usually is one of a processor. I can process a lot of structures and ideas quickly with the end goal being to teach said ideas and structures. As a result, the scary reality is that I can reduce the great truths that my mind deals with to cogs in a mechanism. So what happens is that frequently I set up a party- I lay out plates, unfold table clothes, plug in the CD player and tap a keg- then i leave. I teach and do not partake in the joy the words create by his power. The point is not to glory in what God is doing but rather to simply DO the teaching, to exercise the mental steps to have people understand the Gospel in so many different ways. So when my friend asked me if I ever wrote poetry he was probing to see if I was glorying in God. Were my emotions and heart tied up into what I was saying?
Tonight I was praying and God worked this into me. He is Good. So Good! Believe and trust in him. Now I apologize for what comes next. I would not try to pass this off as poetry but it is my attempt at being poetic- i hope that this achieves at least that.
Its been a long time since I have read the psalms.
Its been a long time since i have felt your rain,
Since i have swam in your salty oceans,
Since i have tasted your gritty moss
Its been a long time since I have looked into your sun.
Since my eyes have danced diamonds as I bask in your rays.
Its been a long time.
Its been a long time since I have read the psalms
Oh how i miss your Gardens,
from which i have grown absent,
your pleasant Spirit's touch alien from my mind.
Its been a long time.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Help in Becoming More Gospel Centered
Therefore, we need to commit ourselves the knowledge of it. The following list is a series of helps which build us into the knowledge of the gospel. They teach and inform us of the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Bible:
The bible is all about the Gospel. The whole narrative of Scripture screams it. It tells it in big picture ways as the entire narrative is one that tells the gospel, along with entire books being dedicated to its proclamation. It also displays it smaller, little picture ways through illustrations and specific or abstract notings.
The Bible is where we can determine what the gospel is as we see its truths confirmed in our life as we grow.
Some phenomenal gospel books in the bible are: Hosea, John, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, and 1 John. The whole bible screams the gospel but these scream the loudest and most explicitly.
The Story of God:
Link: http://www.somacommunities.org/blogs/story-of-god/
The story of God is a story formed version of the bible. It is meant to be read, taught through dialog, and presented within a smaller Jesus community. It is an amazing tool for discipleship and inundating our life with the gospel. It plays on our natural proclivity to story as a fundamental aspect of the way we believe and learn. You can download the entire story at the link posted above. Just go to the left hand side of the page until you reach the "download" section. Then click on the link that says, "register to download all the stories". You will receive additional cues from there.
There are many questions that you may have about it (i.e. how to present, is it actually helpful, what does it say, who wrote it?) this is a link to aid in answering those questions. It comes from an a29 church (if you don't know what that means don't worry its not important) called Soma, which uses "the story formed way"as their primary teaching method. They are awesome men and women who i trust very much.
http://www.somacommunities.org/blogs/story-of-god/
"What is the Gospel?"
This is a fantastic book. It is the pure meat of the gospel. If you want one resource to determine exactly what the good news of Jesus is, read this book.
"The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing"
Here is another stellar book on what the Gospel truly is, its importance, and how to keep it central. The later is the greatest asset of the book. It shows really practical ways to keep Christ crucified as your foundation.
"The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of Christian Faith"
The beautiful thing about this book is that it tells the both the true nature of what the gospel is but also the pitfalls we fall into when we do not believe the gospel in our lives. All these books are good, but second only to "What is the Gospel", "The Prodigal God" is the most effective book in lighting the fire of the gospel under you.
"Death by Love"
"Death by Love" is a beautiful book designed to show us the power of the cross and how it works in us to save. It illustrates twelve different and actual cases of people who have been changed by Christ in a certain way. Each way shows how Christ is triumphant in a different way. Jesus is highlighted in this book in the only way that Mark Driscoll knows how, frequently and as the solution. Praise God for this teaching.
There are so many great resources out there but this can get you started.
The bible is all about the Gospel. The whole narrative of Scripture screams it. It tells it in big picture ways as the entire narrative is one that tells the gospel, along with entire books being dedicated to its proclamation. It also displays it smaller, little picture ways through illustrations and specific or abstract notings.
The Bible is where we can determine what the gospel is as we see its truths confirmed in our life as we grow.
Some phenomenal gospel books in the bible are: Hosea, John, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, and 1 John. The whole bible screams the gospel but these scream the loudest and most explicitly.
The Story of God:
Link: http://www.somacommunities.org/blogs/story-of-god/
The story of God is a story formed version of the bible. It is meant to be read, taught through dialog, and presented within a smaller Jesus community. It is an amazing tool for discipleship and inundating our life with the gospel. It plays on our natural proclivity to story as a fundamental aspect of the way we believe and learn. You can download the entire story at the link posted above. Just go to the left hand side of the page until you reach the "download" section. Then click on the link that says, "register to download all the stories". You will receive additional cues from there.
There are many questions that you may have about it (i.e. how to present, is it actually helpful, what does it say, who wrote it?) this is a link to aid in answering those questions. It comes from an a29 church (if you don't know what that means don't worry its not important) called Soma, which uses "the story formed way"as their primary teaching method. They are awesome men and women who i trust very much.
http://www.somacommunities.org/blogs/story-of-god/
"What is the Gospel?"
This is a fantastic book. It is the pure meat of the gospel. If you want one resource to determine exactly what the good news of Jesus is, read this book.
"The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing"
Here is another stellar book on what the Gospel truly is, its importance, and how to keep it central. The later is the greatest asset of the book. It shows really practical ways to keep Christ crucified as your foundation.
"The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of Christian Faith"
The beautiful thing about this book is that it tells the both the true nature of what the gospel is but also the pitfalls we fall into when we do not believe the gospel in our lives. All these books are good, but second only to "What is the Gospel", "The Prodigal God" is the most effective book in lighting the fire of the gospel under you.
"Death by Love"
"Death by Love" is a beautiful book designed to show us the power of the cross and how it works in us to save. It illustrates twelve different and actual cases of people who have been changed by Christ in a certain way. Each way shows how Christ is triumphant in a different way. Jesus is highlighted in this book in the only way that Mark Driscoll knows how, frequently and as the solution. Praise God for this teaching.
There are so many great resources out there but this can get you started.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sin in the Family
Risking that only my mom will understand this title and maybe even the content this is what has been trapped up in my heart and mind for those who are in Christ and all those who will be.
The thing with being saved by grace through Jesus is that it turns you into a sibling. You go from an orphan to a privileged son or daughter- an alien to a citizen, more than a citizen, a member of the royal family. Christ died and made you a co- heir of his inheritance- an inheritance of the only son of the king. That is why we have many brothers and sisters, all of the same scandalous family of orphans. (Romans 8:15-17, 1 Peter 2:9-12) We together are found guiltless apart from our works but in what Christ has done. This is the church- a family. We as a family have tremendous obligation to one another. We together are called to live out our identity in Christ as one another. Our calling to live lives showing and displaying Jesus we are told is impossible to do outside of the body. Every new testament command in the epistles (aside from the pastoral epistles) are written to a group. They are commands for a community. Therefore every command to be living out identities in Christ, worship, practice, exhortation, rebuke is done in and to a group. This is primarily because we alone cannot mirror and display Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). We need all the saints to be Christ as his body here on earth. Some of us are hands, some of us are feet, we all build up and show who Christ is together as the church. We are a nation to the nations, a community to the communities. This is our identity. You cannot read the new testament and come up with a personal spirituality but rather a cooperate one. As a result as we live out our lives everything is done, or should be done, within the context of our family. Consciously, we are must identify collectively, before we identify singularly.
This is who Christ has created us to be, not one but one of another. As we live out or new identities in this even our sin is felt collectively as well as dealt with collectively. Inherent within all Jesus communities must be a rigorous habit and rhythm of dealing with one another’s sin, (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25, James 5:16) And when we establish this practice as an act of worship we build up one another to be more like Christ, promote the Gospel as victorious and not our sin. And perhaps more importantly, it frees us up to be on mission to see many come to Christ.
This however can bring up some fears. Shame and embarrassments is the primary reason why I have not confessed sin. I want to appear a certain way before people because the real me is evil and disgusting. It is embarrassing for people to see my junk. However when my brothers and sisters remind me of the gospel I remember truth. Why am I so concerned with how my sin reflects on me? Isn’t that what I say was killed on the cross for my sake? Then why do I act as though it has sway over my standing? We have to remember our standing as new creations. Remember the Gospel, the reason why we are here. We are not called to be anxious or fearful in Christ. You, to whom all things have been given on heaven and earth (John 17:22), to whom nothing is counted against in Christ (Romans 8:1) are a son of the most high who cannot be snatched out of your saviours hand. Therefore, our worth is not put in our reputations or our image. How could it be! It is not you who live but Christ who lives in you! Your reputation, evil and tainted as it was, was taken and pinned on a roman cross. It died there. Your worth is in Christ, boast in him and put your trust in him. He can carry you.
The first and foremost thing we have to know about sin is that it is always a heart issue- not a mere breaking of rules. It is always something wrong with who you are rather then what you do. To some of you this might be obvious. To others, it might be obscure. There has been an evil and religious tradition in Christianity which has attached a skewed morality to the gospel. These groups have gotten it backwards. They say that if you change your actions then your heart will follow. If you alter your doing then you will alter your being. And while this precedence is being established these enforcers are appear like gospel believing Christians. They however are enforcing a works based righteousness instead of the righteousness given to us on the cross. Some of us may have grown up in this. Approaching the issue of our sin this way is contrary to the gospel that you were saved by. Christ came to change hearts through faith in his saving work. It is never our doing that will redeem us but rather our belief (faith) that will justify. When dealing with one another’s sin, we must point each other to belief not to rules. Now, do not think that I am advocating a workless repentance. More often then not, we must do things when we repent. But let us have a reason for our doing namely the gospel- realizing that it is not our work that will separate us from sin but his work that will defeat it. The works is there to aid us in our belief. It is an extension, a slave of the belief. Let us be like James who is saved by faith but will know faith by works. Our doing reflects being. But our doing will not change our being, it may mask it but never alter it. If our action is not based on the power of God in Christ (the gospel) then it is based on our power or something else’s. Is this not idolatry-When our power (ability, safety, leverage) is found outside of God? This is why we must be a gospel people, through and through. A god empowered people, living by the spirit which gives us power because of Christ. We need new hearts and those are only given by the spirit in Christ.
So, the question is: how do we point one another to Christ? If Christ not only saves us from death but also from sin- sanctification not just justification- how do we demonstrate this reality to ourselves and to Christ? We are really good at making rules which have the ability to alter behaviour, but how can we really “spur one another on to good works” in Jesus? It is to all of this where we will now turn our attention.
So what follows is a loose train of thought which aids in our visualization of what “teaching and admonishing” should look like when we put it in the context of the gospel. It is not by any means a reified program or process. This would be creating a false justification by list. What I want in this is to provide a crystallized vision of what “gospeling one another” is.
1. Where is our idolatry. What is the lie that we exchanged for a truth?
a. All sin putting something ahead of God in your affections. It is placing someone or something in the place where God should be your treasure, your safety, your identity, your trust, your hope, etc. Where should God be that he isn’t ?
2. How exactly has the gospel specifically defeated this lie and is better.
a. This requires that we are well versed in the Gospel word and not simply bible verses.
i. Sadly, for some of us this may be a foreign concept. As I noted before, many Christians have replaced the gospel with empty religion. The scary part of this exchange is that the religion is so often supported with verses. This is not because the verses are religious in their intent but because the quoter’s have removed the principle of the gospel away from the pragmatism that the verse talks about. The bible does call us to a doing but it is always a response from the gospel that we should have after we have faith and believe. Christians must be pragmatic in dealing with sin- we must do things which aid in our repentance- but when the principle of the gospel is removed from the reason of the pragmatism we get religion. This is because when we remove the principle of the Gospel from our pragmatism, we then forfeit both our perfection in Christ by his work not ours and the power of God to save. Then what is left for us to use for defeating sin? What but ourselves and our work? And where does our work get us? It gets us alienation from the creator.
ii. That is why we must know the principle of the gospel by the back of our hands before we ever start practicing the responses to the gospel. We have to know the why before we know the how. It is like expecting a cart to move up hill with no horse. To do this we need to know the story of the gospel. We have to be gospel experts. We need to know its ins and outs. Then we need to learn how to be so literate in it that we can transcribe it to any and all sin situations with our selves and others. This is so integral. If we are not well versed in the gospel then we have no clue how our sin is dealt with and effective repentance is impossible. Think to yourself for a moment, can you tell the whole gospel to yourself right now. Is it the WHOLE gospel. Now that you have done that, apply it to a specific sin that you struggle with. If you can do that you are probably on your way to being gospel fluent.
iii. But what if we are not? How do you become fluent enough in the truth to be able to transcribe it to another person’s life? This comes straight back to a fundamental understanding of what Sin is. Remember, sin is rebellion. it is an exchange of truth for a lie. It is where God should be in one place in your heart but something else is found there instead. Because of the fact that at the heart of every sin is pure cosmic treason against the perfect wonderful God of the universe, it immediately becomes a gospel issue. This is because it is in the gospel where these cosmic issues are dealt with. This means that my lust issue is no longer a matter of unplugging my computer but rather a matter of why i think i can search for comfort and intimacy outside of my assurance in Christ. My lack of tithing is no longer an issue of me being “too” tight fisted but rather
3. Repent by turning completely away from the sin and leave yourself vulnerable to the spirit to work and change you by his power. This is faith in the power of Christ to save as you point yourself towards obedience out of the love of God which rises out of what he has done by his power in Christ- his death burial and resurrection. It is here where we live by faith in him to save.
a. Keep in mind that there probably are things you need to DO in order to live out your belief. This could very well mean that you should unplug your computer because it aids you in keeping your belief. But that action does NOTHING to defeat your sin. It is only in Christ’s work on the cross where sin is defeated. Our work should aid our belief, not our belief aiding in our work.
I hope this helps. I want to leave you with a letter Paul wrote to a church in Ephesus encouraging them to be built up in the gospel. This is my prayer for me and my community. I hope that it will be for yours. The truth is the Gospel of Jesus!
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [1] 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds [2] and teachers, [3] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, [4] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Evangelion
I talk a lot about the gospel in this blog and i realized that i havnt yet laid it out. I am sorry and this is my weak attempt.
God creates everything in perfect harmony and synchronicity with him. Everything is good and right. There is no brokenness, no darkness, no death. Everything is in perfect rhythm with its surroundings and its creator. Everything rightly glorifies its creator as he is the best best, the greatest greatness, the most loving love, the most powerful power, the most pure good. It all perfectly works for his well deserved and perfect glory and in this working perfection exists. He creates very specific image bearers, thinkers and reflectors of him. People are created to love and be in personal relationship with their creator. He calls them very good. They live in a beautifully designed area . They exist in beautiful relationship with the creator of all of it. They are created to be one with one another- man and woman, together, perfectly mirroring their creator. One day a deceiver, one who had already rebelled against his creator, lied to them, telling them to disobey God in hopes of becoming like him. This would be the first act in Gods physical creation that was unjust, not pouring out to him. It would be the first time where identity was found outside of something’s creator and in itself. This is evil. To worship and glorify something that is not the Lord and creator of all things. The people disobeyed God and became horribly self aware and introspective. They found that they were naked and hid themselves in shame. There God-the loving creator who had blessed them and created them for love and glory in their creator- came to meet them asking where they were in disappointment. He called them to himself. He found that they had tried to cover their shame themselves with fig leaves. He explained how this rebellion had invited a curse. It separated them from him. It brought in strife and pain- Sin. This ushered in all brokenness and corrupted all the rhythm in which God had created the world. But the loving creator said that he would send a saviour through the woman’s seed which would destroy the work that the deceiver had started. He testified to a redeemer that would return the people to the beauty that they had been created in. Then many evil and desperate years and decades and centuries and millennia passed. Through it all God was faithful to continue proclaiming this redeemer, this messiah that would deliver the people back to their God. He did this through a people called the Jews, a race started by a man named Abraham whom God called. This race was chosen to be Gods Children to proclaim to the nations his plan for the world. His children, like all mankind were disobedient and sinful. However, these people were the ones who God chose to be the ancestors of his saviour. After many years the time came. After many types and examples, after many proclamations and prophesies , the time came for the saviour. His name was Jesus. He was Gods planned and proclaimed rescuer and ruler. He came to kill and dismantle the people and the deceivers evil work of rebellion. He came to kill sin on the cross. He did this by satisfying Gods righteous punishment for the evil rebellion. Every evil ever done was put on his shoulders as he was tortured and killed for them. He did this obediently loving his father to death. He was then buried and three days later rose. He did this to conquer the death that he came to kill. He then showed himself alive to some 500 people before he ascended back to the father to rule at his right hand. His perfection is now ours. What we could not do he did. He came ushering in a new kingdom to show and display Gods plan for the world. They are a new people who would do what the old people didn’t. These are a holy nation of priests who go everywhere proclaiming their righteous saviour and this message- the good news of Jesus which was just told to you. They wait anxiously for there king to return and make all things new or for them to drop and go their reward.
God is good. We are evil, alienated from him. Christ comes to restore us to him. We receive this through faith. This is how He would restore. That is the good news.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Gospel on the Beach
Today I got the pleasure of sitting on Waikiki beach to read my bible and pray to the God who redeemed me through the death of his son. Oh how great is our God. I am “learning to relax” as my beautiful girlfriend would put it. She spent the better parts of 20 minutes reminding me to rest in the fact that God is powerful and sufficient. That the Gospel is sufficient to save me. I was given enough grace to listen. So here I sit on the beach instead of trying to read three books at a time in a coffee shop pretending to be productive. As I look to my left I see the horseshoe shaped cove jutting out to the sea. It swoops from the east, dips in and begins its ascent back over to the other tip of the horse shoe where I am sitting. Jutting up behind the beach is Diamond head. The remnants of a massive volcanic explosion which left a crater. The zenith of which pokes out towards the water. I look up and I see massive expansive sky peppered with fluffy white clouds. As I allow my eyes to drift towards the east, out towards the ocean I detect a distinct shift in hue of the robin’s egg sky transitioning to the azure of the deep warm ocean. Slowly floating my gaze inward my eyes catch the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves gently tumbling into the sand. To my left is my bible flapping its pages against the cell phone I am using to hold its place. To my right is my red REI backpack buttressed by my Crock sandals and the Arizona Ice Tea I had for breakfast.
Its beautiful here. But funnily I can not stop glancing at my far right as a dad plays with his small son. They first caught my eye as they both hand in hand leapt into the surf. The son beaming because of the fun the ocean gives and the dad beaming because of his son enjoyment. They must have rehearsed this procedure ten times in the past ten minutes. Running in then running out, away from the oncoming waves splashing and laughing as they go, the dad lifting up his sons arm as he fell. They both appeared as though mom had dressed them. You know what I mean, just a little too coordinated for their own good. The right blue matching the right grey. He was probably being a good husband and dad, giving her a break.
The reason I noticed them so readily was because of what I was reading. Over the past months I have been meandering my way through the book of Matthew in the Bible. It has been explosive to read these words. Matthew, being an old school Jew saw certain things in Jesus that only a Jew would notice. He saw his Kingship. All throughout the Tanach, Jewish scriptures. (essentially the old testament) you have a promised king being told about again and again to the Jews. He would culminate what the Jews were supposed to be about, revealing and displaying who God is to the world. The king would establish his kingdom on earth and usher in Gods glory for the rest of time. Many Jews thought this would be a military conquest. The king would gallop in with an army and dismantle the oppressors with a final battle solidifying Israel as the number one power on earth. That is why many during Jesus time thought that if the king was going to come then, he would most certainly take out the Romans, the ruling oppressors of their day. No one ever thought of a spiritual king. One who would come renewing hearts and establishing his kingdom through the promise of new life in him. That is why Jesus came, too make all things new. He came preaching that we were evil, alienated from the creator of all things. The creator was a loving, compassionate, just father, who sent his only Son (Jesus) to redeem and restore creation back to him. Jesus’ whole life was oriented around establishing that idea. He came talking about a new people who would believe this and have their lives changed by the father. These people would be created anew, to be returned to their father who loves them. These people would be governed in this radical new life by a different set of ideas. Ones that centered on who their savior was and what he did rather then arbitrary rules and obligations. This was Jesus’ kingdom. He is the king of it. And it withstands and is growing today.
That is why Matthew is filled with new paradigms and strange, countercultural ideas like “blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall comforted”. Jesus wants to show what this kingdom looks like. Matthew is the declaration of independence for the Gospel. This is why these characteristics are all based on the gospel as the guiding core of all morality. A principled pragmatism as my Soma friends would say.
So as I was reading this morning on the beach I came upon another one of those instances in Matthew 18:1-4. Christ was yet again setting up his kingdom and what he wanted it to look like. And again in very “Jesus-y” fashion it was counter cultural. As his disciples were talking they came to him with a question, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. Jesus looks around, and calls a little kid to his over to sit on his lap. He looks at the kid and looks at them and says, “whoever humbles himself like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. I read this and thought what does that mean? That’s a huge category to try to find meaning in-kids? Then I was reminded of something, I cannot discern anything spiritual without the spirit of God. So asked for his aid. As I raised my head this son and dad caught my eye. I just sat there and watched for a minute. There they were, running in and out of the water together having a blast. The first thing I noticed was that the Dad was not there because he loved giggling and running in water. He was there because he loved his kid. But it wasn’t a broad father-son love it was a very specific “I am completely enamored with the child”. He wasn’t there because he loved water, he was there because his son does. He was selfishly enjoying his sons enjoyment. As I looked on, they began to doodle in the sand. The kid didn’t really know how to write letters so his dad was trying to show him. His dad grabbed his index finger and impressed it gently into the sand and made the first letter of his sons name. He then moved the right of this symbol and drew it again this time on his own, showing his son. As he looked and nodded at his child he began to write the rest of his name. While he was looking at his handiwork he turned around to see his son smearing his palm all over the letters. He hadn’t been writing as his dad turned around he had been, well smearing. His dad laughed and they returned to jumping around in the ocean.
I looked back at the pages of my bible and then back to the pair. I realized that kids cant even help but being humble in a way. This is what I mean. There is an inherent lowly quality in kids. They are in almost every way, by nature of size, maturity, emotional and intellectual depth, found lacking compared to adults (all through there are some adults to which this principle does not apply). The most agreeable and sensible children are those who listen. They realize that there lack of experience etc. is lacking and they need to come under your wisdom. The child in this instance is wonderful to be around because they are realistic. They do not think that they are more then they are. They are humble. This is what Christ is calling us to in him. This is what the gospel implores us to do. If we are in the gospel then how else can we be postured other then being committed to death in obedience to the loving savior that gave away everything to make me a child of the father, a brother of him. We have to be enamored with our father and not simply the ocean. Christ is saying that my kingdom must be filled with children looking towards there smiling father. He holds our hands as we frolic in the waves and he smiles as we smear our hands over the things he is showing us. Our father has returned us to him.
However, when we forget the gospel, when we seek after other things for significance and identity- in essence worship them, we become like the worst kind of child. The obstenent kind. Imagine a time at which you attempted to reason with a child, maybe this was a nephew, sibling, or son/daughter, perhaps even the object of your reasoning is for their safety. Then imagine that the child completely disagrees. In the face of what seems to you obvious and inevitable danger the child still wishes to do what it wants to do. How frustrated do you become? How silly are they? But is this not us in the face of our loving father?
This is why we cannot forget the gospel. It says that in our rebellion we, like the prodigal son have left our fathers love. We rebel and hate him with our sin, taking our inheritance and squandering it on evil. But in the midst of this, God pursues. He becomes us to save us. He takes on our form to be put in our place of very deserved punishment. He is tortured and killed for our sin where we were meant to be tortured and killed. He the rises and defeats the sin and death that was so justly ours. He then presents himself to us, perfect and in glory welcoming us back to him to be with the father who loves us. We take advantage of this through faith and through it we are given the Spirit of God to enable us to live in response to Christ telling the world about him. He frees us up to be children you see. With out Jesus we could never be children. He allows us to be so. Paul says it this way:
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba! (daddy) father! The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
We are his children. Let us trust him. Let us love him. Let him be our Joy and Salvation. He has proven it to us on the cross.
By the power of God given to me in Christ I want to be a child. Please give this to me King.
Amen
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Adaption of Kierkegard's Parable of the King and the Maiden
"There once was a king who loved a humble maiden. This king was of uncommon royal lineage. He was a king above kings, with power and might to make all others humble before him. Statesmen trembled at his pronouncements. None dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all who opposed him. The wealth of his holdings was unfathomable. Tribute arrived on a daily basis from lesser kings who hoped to gain his favor.
And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in the poorest village in his vast kingdom. He longed to go to this maiden and announce his love for her, but here arose the king’s dilemma: how to declare his love? Certainly, he could appear before her resplendent in his royal robes and surrounded with the Royal Guard, ready to carry her away in a carriage inlaid with gold and precious stones. He could bring her to the palace and crown her head with jewels and clothe her in the finest silks. She would surely not resist this type of proposal, for no one dared to resist the king.
But would she love him?
She might say she loved him. She might be awed by his royal splendor and tremble at the thought of being blessed with such an amazing opportunity. She might tell herself that she would be foolish to reject such a marriage proposal. But would she love him, or would she go through the motions all the while living a life of empty duty, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she love him or regret the moment of being face to face with the overwhelming grandure of the king?
Or would she be happy at his side, loving him for himself and not for his title or riches or power?
He did not want a wife who behaved as a subject to his royal decrees, cringing at his word and unwilling to do anything but agree with all he said and did. Instead, he wanted an equal, a queen whose love knew no restrictions or limitations. He wanted an equal whose voice would speak to him at all times without hesitation. Love with his beloved maiden must mean equality with her. He wanted a relationship with the woman that had neither barriers nor walls in which he was not a king and she was not a poor subject of the crown. The love shared between them would cross the chasm that threatened to keep them apart, bringing the king and peasant together and making the unequal equal. In short, he wanted the maiden to love him for himself and not for any other reason.
He had to find a way to win the maiden’s love without overwhelming her and without destroying her free will to choose. The king realized that to win the maiden’s love, he had only one choice. He had to become like her, without power or riches and without the title of king. Only then would she be able to see him simply for who he was and not for what his position made him. He had to become her equal, and to do this he must leave all that he had.
And so one night, after all within the castle were asleep, he laid aside his golden crown and removed his rings of state. He took off his royal robes of silk and linen and redressed himself in the common clothes of the poorest of the kingdom. Leaving by way of the servant’s entrance, the king left his crown, his castle, and his kingdom behind. As the next day’s sun rose in the east, the maiden emerged from her humble cottage to find herself face to face with a stranger, a common man with kindly eyes who requested an opportunity to speak with her and, in time, to court her for her hand in marriage."
http://www.verumserum.com/?p=1737
And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in the poorest village in his vast kingdom. He longed to go to this maiden and announce his love for her, but here arose the king’s dilemma: how to declare his love? Certainly, he could appear before her resplendent in his royal robes and surrounded with the Royal Guard, ready to carry her away in a carriage inlaid with gold and precious stones. He could bring her to the palace and crown her head with jewels and clothe her in the finest silks. She would surely not resist this type of proposal, for no one dared to resist the king.
But would she love him?
She might say she loved him. She might be awed by his royal splendor and tremble at the thought of being blessed with such an amazing opportunity. She might tell herself that she would be foolish to reject such a marriage proposal. But would she love him, or would she go through the motions all the while living a life of empty duty, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she love him or regret the moment of being face to face with the overwhelming grandure of the king?
Or would she be happy at his side, loving him for himself and not for his title or riches or power?
He did not want a wife who behaved as a subject to his royal decrees, cringing at his word and unwilling to do anything but agree with all he said and did. Instead, he wanted an equal, a queen whose love knew no restrictions or limitations. He wanted an equal whose voice would speak to him at all times without hesitation. Love with his beloved maiden must mean equality with her. He wanted a relationship with the woman that had neither barriers nor walls in which he was not a king and she was not a poor subject of the crown. The love shared between them would cross the chasm that threatened to keep them apart, bringing the king and peasant together and making the unequal equal. In short, he wanted the maiden to love him for himself and not for any other reason.
He had to find a way to win the maiden’s love without overwhelming her and without destroying her free will to choose. The king realized that to win the maiden’s love, he had only one choice. He had to become like her, without power or riches and without the title of king. Only then would she be able to see him simply for who he was and not for what his position made him. He had to become her equal, and to do this he must leave all that he had.
And so one night, after all within the castle were asleep, he laid aside his golden crown and removed his rings of state. He took off his royal robes of silk and linen and redressed himself in the common clothes of the poorest of the kingdom. Leaving by way of the servant’s entrance, the king left his crown, his castle, and his kingdom behind. As the next day’s sun rose in the east, the maiden emerged from her humble cottage to find herself face to face with a stranger, a common man with kindly eyes who requested an opportunity to speak with her and, in time, to court her for her hand in marriage."
http://www.verumserum.com/?p=1737
When I Travel i Do not Believe the Gospel
To be "gospel centered" is to be based in nothing else other then the gospel. It is to have the story of the gospel inform every thought, action, idea, relationship, and lifestyle choice. We must be a "gospelled" people in every avenue of our life. This goes against the grain of much of western evangelical teaching which implicitly communicates constantly that the gospel is the beginning, not the constant whole of the Christian life. Its a good start to a life of good works. This teaching states that God Has saved you by grace but Now we must placate him with other things then the cross of Christ, namely works and behaviors condoned by western Christians. It is a linear thinking which places us on a progression to "maturity" (a hijaked term which needs to be retaken for the gospel), not a wholistic transformation. It (the gospel) is the spring board, not the water implicit in this idea. However, i believe if we dig into Gods revealed written word (didactic) as well as the over arching story of Gods redemption and reconciliation (syncratic) we find that the gospel is the entire tapestry that we live out of and are informed by. As Tim Keller would say, "The gospel is not the ABC's of christian life but rather the A-Z of the christian life".
Romans 12:1 is an amazing example of this, while there are many others. It states that; "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, [1] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] 2 Do not be conformed to this world, [3] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [4]". This is beautiful because we get both sides of the same coin in the same passage. It calls us to commit our whole selves (our body) to God in total worship. It paints a wonderful picture of selling out to the Lord. This results in spiritual worship. This passage paints a mural of obedience. However, where does this obedience come from? Well, and to use the tired axiom, "what is the therefore, therefore"? Why is he asking us to do this? Because of the mercies of God. What are they? He has been talking about them for the last eleven chapters. Before chapter 12 he has been teasing apart a myriad of different implications of the Gospel. This is ground breaking. What Paul has said is that because of Christ reconciling you back to the Father, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. The gospel is the reason that you are to do this, not because God would like you better or you would be more mature if you did (while this is partly true) or even that it is the right thing to do. This is a morality based off of mercy not alteration of behavior.
However, that means that if we are in sin, then it is a matter of belief and not of "trying harder". This is what i mean. If we are living life out of the gospel, out of faith in who Jesus is and what he does, then our change is completely alienated from our work. This sounds strange but what does the gospel inform us about how we are saved? Where is our will or ability factored in?
Ephesians 2: 1-10 says that; And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body [1] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But [2] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
And again in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that; 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, [2] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being [3] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him [4] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
And again in Romans 8:28-30 that; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, [7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
It is God who justifies! The gospel informs our thinking by showing that our salvation has never been about us. We have nothing to do with us. A dead man has never made himself alive. We need Gods power in us to raise us from the dead because Christ hung on a bloody cross and rose again leaving an empty tomb. Therefore, what does our repentance look like if we are Gospel centered? It certainly doesn't have a lot to do with us.
When having this conversation with an old saint that I had done life with for a time we hit a barrier in his understanding. He could not see how we could have so little to do with our change. "We have to make the decision!" he said through gritted teeth. The problem latent in his thinking was that he had through time been pumped full of processes and ways to help you repent when the at the heart of his sin was not a behavior but something that he valued more then then Jesus. He had right practice but not right belief. His orthapraxy did not come from his orthadoxy. So often we do not follow a gospel model of repentance. We do not obey because of the mercies of God but usually out of guilt and fear. If we are truly responding out of "the mercies" (ie the gospel) of God, what do we look like?
The Truth of the gospel usually instills in us the opposite of what we repent out of. The gospel says that we do not get what we deserve. Its glorious declaration is that of "grace upon grace". It tells a story of a perfect and holy God who creates people in a perfect and loving relationship with Him. They have the greatest joy possible with their creator-their Father. He is their reason, in the midst of His love is they find their identity. They walk with Him and He talks with them. One day they are promised something better- to be like Him . This promise is a lie coming from an ancient and known deceiver but the promise of power and fulfillment in themselves is too much to turn down. They try to take it but in doing so fall into the deception and are found to be children who do not love their Dad. This hatred brings in disobedience, something that was never known before and cannot exist with this perfect King. However, their loving and gracious Father promises another Son who is to come which will somehow overcome this horrible mistake. They bring this love of other things into the world and their children fall into it, as do there children until an entire race is captivated with things other then their Father. The Father calls some to him and calls them to show what he is like to the other children who have disobeyed. However, still marred by there first earthly parents these called ones still don't trust that their heavenly Father will be all they need. The Father then, in desperate and reckless love for his children, as promised sends his only perfect Son to be punished for the imperfect children's mistake. He comes showing and displaying what life with Him will be like. He is spit on and despised by the other children. They do not understand or see why he is here. They hate their perfect and holy older brother. Even the children who love him do not fully understand. He is delivered by the Father to be punished in the place of the other children. In perfect and loving submission he does this. He is tortured and killed by the very ones he came to save. The few who love him are devastated. They cower and are afraid of the other children's wrath for three days as they hide from their brothers. Then on the third day they cannot find their older Brother's body. He is not where he was laid. As they walk back from this place he reveals himself to them! He explains why the Son had to be laid down for his younger brothers and sisters. He shows them that it needed to happen because of how great the rebellion was. But he alive now and their sins are forgiven! He gives the newly justified children a charge. To tell their brothers of this great truth and to obey their father. He then left them to be reunited with them when He returned. These children then lived broken lives, but joy filled lives. When they fell back into their old disobedience they remembered how that rebellion was dead with the Son and they moved on in greater joy and obedience then before because they realized that their Father loved them because of the Son.
You see, in this Gospel, this good news, we are found to be perfect, like the Son. Not because of us as evil children but because of Him as the perfect one. We therefore cannot respond out of obligation because we have none- it has been done by the Son. We cannot respond out of guilt because everything that we have to be guilty about has been pinned on the cross. How then do we obey? Out of love. We are the children who have been given the perfect Son. When we disobey it is because we have forgotten- we have stopped believing. That is why we do not need systems or ways to re-create behavior but the gospel. We do not need rules and law to make us worshipers but rather the mercies of God.
So here I sit in a coffee shop in Honolulu, convicted. I am convicted of three things. One, i am severely worried. A worry which is brought on by a unique combination of accelerated social interaction with my dad (i dont know why but sometimes it is hard for me to talk with him) and a new place. It has revealed itself in money worries. I do not believe that God will provide for me as I move and get married. The second is a general lack of love for almost all i interact with. And the third is a fear of man which has crippled how i show and display the Son to those who do not know him. These, at the core are disbelief in the Gospel. I need to believe that God is good, that he sent his only son because he has loved me, he will provide for me. I need to believe that the greatest love was shown to me in an in love, heaving, bloody God on a cross. Out of this i can love, if i can believe it. And i need to know that it is only the fact that i stand before the Father, because of the Son, that i need to give me affirmation. That will dismantle my fear of man. Oh God grant me the ability to repent by the power of your Holy Spirit given to me because of Jesus. I need him to show me the gospel. That great and glorious truth. Oh praise be to God.
Romans 12:1 is an amazing example of this, while there are many others. It states that; "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, [1] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] 2 Do not be conformed to this world, [3] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [4]". This is beautiful because we get both sides of the same coin in the same passage. It calls us to commit our whole selves (our body) to God in total worship. It paints a wonderful picture of selling out to the Lord. This results in spiritual worship. This passage paints a mural of obedience. However, where does this obedience come from? Well, and to use the tired axiom, "what is the therefore, therefore"? Why is he asking us to do this? Because of the mercies of God. What are they? He has been talking about them for the last eleven chapters. Before chapter 12 he has been teasing apart a myriad of different implications of the Gospel. This is ground breaking. What Paul has said is that because of Christ reconciling you back to the Father, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. The gospel is the reason that you are to do this, not because God would like you better or you would be more mature if you did (while this is partly true) or even that it is the right thing to do. This is a morality based off of mercy not alteration of behavior.
However, that means that if we are in sin, then it is a matter of belief and not of "trying harder". This is what i mean. If we are living life out of the gospel, out of faith in who Jesus is and what he does, then our change is completely alienated from our work. This sounds strange but what does the gospel inform us about how we are saved? Where is our will or ability factored in?
Ephesians 2: 1-10 says that; And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body [1] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But [2] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
And again in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that; 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, [2] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being [3] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him [4] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
And again in Romans 8:28-30 that; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, [7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
It is God who justifies! The gospel informs our thinking by showing that our salvation has never been about us. We have nothing to do with us. A dead man has never made himself alive. We need Gods power in us to raise us from the dead because Christ hung on a bloody cross and rose again leaving an empty tomb. Therefore, what does our repentance look like if we are Gospel centered? It certainly doesn't have a lot to do with us.
When having this conversation with an old saint that I had done life with for a time we hit a barrier in his understanding. He could not see how we could have so little to do with our change. "We have to make the decision!" he said through gritted teeth. The problem latent in his thinking was that he had through time been pumped full of processes and ways to help you repent when the at the heart of his sin was not a behavior but something that he valued more then then Jesus. He had right practice but not right belief. His orthapraxy did not come from his orthadoxy. So often we do not follow a gospel model of repentance. We do not obey because of the mercies of God but usually out of guilt and fear. If we are truly responding out of "the mercies" (ie the gospel) of God, what do we look like?
The Truth of the gospel usually instills in us the opposite of what we repent out of. The gospel says that we do not get what we deserve. Its glorious declaration is that of "grace upon grace". It tells a story of a perfect and holy God who creates people in a perfect and loving relationship with Him. They have the greatest joy possible with their creator-their Father. He is their reason, in the midst of His love is they find their identity. They walk with Him and He talks with them. One day they are promised something better- to be like Him . This promise is a lie coming from an ancient and known deceiver but the promise of power and fulfillment in themselves is too much to turn down. They try to take it but in doing so fall into the deception and are found to be children who do not love their Dad. This hatred brings in disobedience, something that was never known before and cannot exist with this perfect King. However, their loving and gracious Father promises another Son who is to come which will somehow overcome this horrible mistake. They bring this love of other things into the world and their children fall into it, as do there children until an entire race is captivated with things other then their Father. The Father calls some to him and calls them to show what he is like to the other children who have disobeyed. However, still marred by there first earthly parents these called ones still don't trust that their heavenly Father will be all they need. The Father then, in desperate and reckless love for his children, as promised sends his only perfect Son to be punished for the imperfect children's mistake. He comes showing and displaying what life with Him will be like. He is spit on and despised by the other children. They do not understand or see why he is here. They hate their perfect and holy older brother. Even the children who love him do not fully understand. He is delivered by the Father to be punished in the place of the other children. In perfect and loving submission he does this. He is tortured and killed by the very ones he came to save. The few who love him are devastated. They cower and are afraid of the other children's wrath for three days as they hide from their brothers. Then on the third day they cannot find their older Brother's body. He is not where he was laid. As they walk back from this place he reveals himself to them! He explains why the Son had to be laid down for his younger brothers and sisters. He shows them that it needed to happen because of how great the rebellion was. But he alive now and their sins are forgiven! He gives the newly justified children a charge. To tell their brothers of this great truth and to obey their father. He then left them to be reunited with them when He returned. These children then lived broken lives, but joy filled lives. When they fell back into their old disobedience they remembered how that rebellion was dead with the Son and they moved on in greater joy and obedience then before because they realized that their Father loved them because of the Son.
You see, in this Gospel, this good news, we are found to be perfect, like the Son. Not because of us as evil children but because of Him as the perfect one. We therefore cannot respond out of obligation because we have none- it has been done by the Son. We cannot respond out of guilt because everything that we have to be guilty about has been pinned on the cross. How then do we obey? Out of love. We are the children who have been given the perfect Son. When we disobey it is because we have forgotten- we have stopped believing. That is why we do not need systems or ways to re-create behavior but the gospel. We do not need rules and law to make us worshipers but rather the mercies of God.
So here I sit in a coffee shop in Honolulu, convicted. I am convicted of three things. One, i am severely worried. A worry which is brought on by a unique combination of accelerated social interaction with my dad (i dont know why but sometimes it is hard for me to talk with him) and a new place. It has revealed itself in money worries. I do not believe that God will provide for me as I move and get married. The second is a general lack of love for almost all i interact with. And the third is a fear of man which has crippled how i show and display the Son to those who do not know him. These, at the core are disbelief in the Gospel. I need to believe that God is good, that he sent his only son because he has loved me, he will provide for me. I need to believe that the greatest love was shown to me in an in love, heaving, bloody God on a cross. Out of this i can love, if i can believe it. And i need to know that it is only the fact that i stand before the Father, because of the Son, that i need to give me affirmation. That will dismantle my fear of man. Oh God grant me the ability to repent by the power of your Holy Spirit given to me because of Jesus. I need him to show me the gospel. That great and glorious truth. Oh praise be to God.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration
We as Gods Children are so blessed! The Gospel is so expansive and implicative, relevant and potent for every avenue and corner of our life. However, it is also declarative and simple, able to be distilled while still maintaining all of its fullness. It is simple, yet complex. Singular, yet dynamic. Correspondingly, when it is declared, usually in a simple way, the spark becomes a forest fire, the explosive power of the atom is released as the Holy spirit splits it. Its simple story, "Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration" is life giving and when it is believed death turns green.
So often though, we can substitute a part of that story for ones that we want. This is what God calls idolatry. The section most commonly substituted is redemption. We usually "create saviors" by trusting in them to be our safety, our validation, our rest, instead of Christ. Many times we put our trust in how we appear to people, how well we work, how much money we receive, or our spouses rather then the power of God to save. Romans 8 asks the beautiful question. "who is to condemn, it is God who Justifies". What are putting out as a false justification? We need not look any further then our belief in the gospel to deal with our sin. It is in Christ where we find life.
Also, in order to be the sent people that God has saved us to be, we need not look any further then Gods story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration to display the kingdom. What parts of this story do our coworkers, family, neighbors, etc. believe in? What dont they believe in? Many contexts believe in fall- some dont. This context maybe thinks that there was once a better time (this time could be a former ideology, political structure whatever) and now it is worse then before because of a man. This sounds familiar doesn't it? However, they believe in a redemption and restoration different then Gods story. It could be brought forth with a man or with a human structure. Here after listening we can start to discern where their unbelief is. We can ask them questions and display how Gods story is so much better then theirs. "How can a man fix mans problems?" "How can mans structures be expected to restore what man's structures broke?" "Wouldn't we need to go back to the begining and see if the creator of the creation could repair it?" You see how aptly Gods story can substitute man's story?
This is why we must view the Gospel as a story, beacause we are a story people. Live in Gods story, sift your life through and see new life.
Some one another Sayings
These are some of the one another saying that we talked about. Some of them are paraphrased and it is not exhaustive. Enjoy.
Romans 12:5- We are members of one another.
Romans 12:10- love and out due honor with one another.
Romans 12:16- Live in harmony with one another without pride.
Romans 14:13-Don’t pass judgment on one another.
Romans 15:5- Live in harmony in accord with Jesus with one another.
Romans 15:7- Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.
Romans 15:14-To instruct one another.
Romans 16:16- Greet one another as Christ has greeted you
1 Corinthians 6:7- To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.
1 Corinthians 12:25-Have no division with one another.
2 Corinthians 13:11- Agree and live in peace with one another.
Galatians 5:13- Serve one another from the freedom of Christ.
Galatians 5:26- Don’t envy, be conceited towards one another.
Galatians 6:2- Bear one another's burdens because of Christ.
Ephesians 4:2-be gentle, patient and humble to one another.
Ephesians 4:25- Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members oneof another.
Ephesians 4:32- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 5:19- addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Ephesians 5:21- submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Collosians 3:9- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[1] with its practices
Collosians 3:13- bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Collosians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom
1 Thesselonians 3:12- and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
1 Thessalonians 4:18- Therefore encourage one another with these words
1 Thessalonians 5:11- Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:15- See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Titus 3:3-6- 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Hebrews 3:13- But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 10:25- not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
James 4:11- Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[1] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge
James 5:9- Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
James 5:16- Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working
1 Peter 1:22- Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
1 peter 4:8- Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:9- Show hospitality to one another without grumbling
1 Peter 4:10- As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.
1 Peter 5:5- Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward oneanother, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 3:11- For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 4:7- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 1:5- And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
What the bible calls the church to do is what we do.
Romans 12:5- We are members of one another.
Romans 12:10- love and out due honor with one another.
Romans 12:16- Live in harmony with one another without pride.
Romans 14:13-Don’t pass judgment on one another.
Romans 15:5- Live in harmony in accord with Jesus with one another.
Romans 15:7- Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.
Romans 15:14-To instruct one another.
Romans 16:16- Greet one another as Christ has greeted you
1 Corinthians 6:7- To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.
1 Corinthians 12:25-Have no division with one another.
2 Corinthians 13:11- Agree and live in peace with one another.
Galatians 5:13- Serve one another from the freedom of Christ.
Galatians 5:26- Don’t envy, be conceited towards one another.
Galatians 6:2- Bear one another's burdens because of Christ.
Ephesians 4:2-be gentle, patient and humble to one another.
Ephesians 4:25- Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members oneof another.
Ephesians 4:32- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 5:19- addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Ephesians 5:21- submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Collosians 3:9- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[1] with its practices
Collosians 3:13- bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Collosians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom
1 Thesselonians 3:12- and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
1 Thessalonians 4:18- Therefore encourage one another with these words
1 Thessalonians 5:11- Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:15- See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Titus 3:3-6- 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Hebrews 3:13- But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 10:25- not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
James 4:11- Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[1] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge
James 5:9- Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
James 5:16- Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working
1 Peter 1:22- Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
1 peter 4:8- Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:9- Show hospitality to one another without grumbling
1 Peter 4:10- As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.
1 Peter 5:5- Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward oneanother, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 3:11- For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 4:7- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 1:5- And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
What the bible calls the church to do is what we do.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Transcript of a Sermon on Matthew 12:1-8
The Need for and the Promise of a Kingdom Bringer:
Hey guys, we are going to be in Matthew 12:1-8 tonight if you got your copy of the word you can flip there. Tonight we are going to be looking at Jesus doing something that he does a lot in Matthew, talk about the Kingdom. Now, the kingdom is how Christ is fulfilling his role as Gods sent rescuer and ruler. It is how God engages with his people and ho he is returning all creation back to his rest, his perfect order. You see God has always been about reconciling humanity back to him. Ever since our parents Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden God has been violently appealing to the nations in different forms through different people in order to gather his wayward humanity back to him. One of the biggest ways God did that is through the nation of Israel. Israel was intended to mirror and display God through Gods commandments in order to initiate Gods redemption of the entire world. He begins it with Abraham. Abraham was pagan from Mesopotamia who God saved in order to establish Israel. He promised that Abraham’s offspring would number the stars in the sky and his descendants would bless the nations. It would be through Abrahams off spring that Israel would be formed and Christ would be born. Israel was governed by laws which were there to show Gods Characteristics. However, throughout the whole old testament we begin to see that there is a greater prophet then the others coming to declare THE TRUTH to the world (Deuteronomy 18:18), there is going to be a greater King who was coming to rule finally establishing Gods Lordship and quelling the dominance of Sin and death in the world (Matthew 1:1; Psalm 2:7-9), and a greater Priest who can intercede for us to God, bringing us into his presence (Hebrews 7:11-18; Psalm 110:4).
So when Jesus comes to Earth as promised through prophets he comes preaching and proclaiming his fulfilment of all these things. He comes preaching and showing that all of these Laws, all of these prophets, all of these priests, all of these Kings have come before him to prepare for him, to foreshadow him. It is in him that God would establish his kingdom to the nations and Gods great work of reconciliation would be finished in Christ’s work. In order for this to work though, Christ needed to show that his kingdom would operate under different paradigms then the old ones. These new paradigms didn’t conflict with the old ones but fulfilled them and illustrated Gods complete plan with the old Law as a component of the new one. It’s kind of like when a professor gets sick right in the middle of the semester and a new professor comes and takes their place and doesn’t use the old syllabus. Rather substituting a whole new paradigm, a whole new way of engaging with the text, with the teacher, and with each other. This is what Christ did when he came to earth; he set up a whole new paradigm for engaging with the father. And it all centred on Jesus dying, being buried, and raising again in power over it all and how that not only affects how our sin is dealt with but everything, its all based on that worldview, that Jesus is Lord. We will get to this.
Now, to Matthew 12. This is what Christ is doing in this text. He is laying the groundwork for his kingdom. The book of Matthew works as a declaration of independence, outlining and showing what Gods kingdom on earth looks like. Everything that he does is to inform us on how this new paradigm, this new idea works. That is why Jesus always is the most frustrating person to ask questions from. You ask him why he chose the elevator instead of the stairs and he will say “so there is this sheep right? And this sheep gets lost. What does the shepherd do?” everything comes down to him and how he can reconcile you back to the father. But that is how committed Jesus is to the Gospel and the mission of God. It just bleeds out of his pores. Everything he does is for the Gospel. In light of that we should pause and ask ourselves if that is what we look like? Are we that devastated by the Truth of the Gospel. Are we living out life in such a way that the back drop of our personality is the fact that Jesus lived our life and died our death so that we could be united with the father? Do we love God to that extent? We need to ask ourselves if everything we do is oriented around the mission of God. Is everything we do centred on how we can follow in our saviour’s model of humanity and proclaim the Gospel? Is that how you tailor your life?
Anyways, back to the text.
12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
What is happening in this passage is that Jesus has just preached a mini sermon which is going to kick off a series of other sermons for the next two chapters. As Jesus was walking away from this sermon he and his disciples cut through a wheat field. (Something that we can relate too) His disciples began to pick off the tops of the wheat stalks to eat them. (One thing we got to remember is that our God was homeless and living off of other people’s charity so there were probably a lot of time’s that he and his disciples were hungry) Seeing this, the Pharisees began to accuse the disciples of not honouring the Sabbath by gleaning and eating the wheat on the Sabbath. Jesus turns to them and rebukes them with two examples and then one truth. Now remember, what Jesus is doing is establishing his kingdom. This is the new way, the fulfilled way of worshiping the one true God. This is what he is about. In order to understand what he is saying about this kingdom we must understand what he is rebuking the Pharisees for.
(Dialogue here: what is Christ rebuking them for?)
(READ)
The Pharisees were the religious enforcers of the day. They were the elite of a theocratic society and in many ways they were seen as the most holy and the most devout individuals in their society. Everything they were about was built off of the foundation of morality approving or devaluing you. They expected the Messiah to usher in a nice and tidy moralism. Jesus instead provided a messy, overt supernaturalism which required you to be born again. It promised forgiveness for sins and a life of reckless sacrifice. It was their council that would decide if you were worthy to hang out with the “good people” or not. The clean people. They were all about morals. In fact, at the heart of moralism is a goal, that goal is to be approved. There is always bar in the back of the head of the religious person which tells you if you are a good person or a bad person- or even worse, if you are a good Christian or a bad Christian. It says that we are defined by what we do. It sets up the deadly structure of “I do therefore I am”. This is what lay at the Pharisees heart. However what Jesus does here is undermine their entire worldview and contrasts it with his kingdom.
The way he contrasts their ideas is with a simple idea. His big idea here is summed up in the phrase “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”. It is in this six letter sentence that all of the Pharisees ideas are thwarted. It is as if he is saying, “You would understand if you knew what this meant”. “You would have never accused us if you knew what this meant”. The whole passage orbits around it. Based on what we know about Jesus and the whole bible it is very safe to say that if we know what this phrase means we can understand what the kingdom is about.
What he means by it is this. Instead of offering sacrifices in order to earn your way into my love, I want to give you mercy. There is nothing you can do to earn back my love because you already have it! This is cataclysmic to the Pharisees! If this is rubbing you the wrong way here, if this really grinds on your heart then i want to ask you to dwell there. Investigate it. Does it coorespond with the truth of the Gospel? If not repent and start to kill it. Back to the Pharisees: It goes against every bone in their body to say this. In order for us to grow deeper in our understanding of why Jesus offers this up as such a bombshell to morality requires us to go to where he got it from. Hosea
o Jesus quotes from a minor prophet named Hosea. Hosea is about a prophet who God calls to marry a whore. God does this to show, you (the nation of Israel) are like a whore to me. And just like this woman is unfaithful to me. So are you to me (Hos. 1:2-3). He causes Hosea to fall madly in love with her. She stays with him for a little while but she goes out and begins to have sex with men for money again. Hosea is then forced to go out into the market and buy her back (Hos. 3:1-5) Hosea then pleads with her to come back and repent. So is it with us and God.
(Read)
God desires to love us because he is merciful not because we have earned it! There is no possible way to sin or work harder for him so that we can alter any feelings he has for you. None! If you are a Christian you cannot swear enough, Drink enough, have sex enough, hate enough, cheat enough, fight enough, steal enough, lust enough, gossip enough, be unfaithful enough, or kill enough people to separate you from the love of God. Some of you have been here right? Christ’s sacrifice was too big, God dying is way more weighty then your sin. God did not purchase you with his blood for you to be bought back with sin. Do not turn to religion. Don’t cheat on God and have sex with people who are not your husband.
So what keeps us from sinning?
o One simple thing, love. What did Hosea say (Hos. 2:14-15)? The only thing that God uses to bring back Hosea is he woos her.
Who has heard the lie that God releases his spirit from you if you rebel for too long? Is that how it works for Hosea? No!
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor [5] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
God takes us out into the wilderness where there is going to be no other lovers to speak to us. And he woos us there. The only joy to be not had there is when we are frantically looking over God to find our adulterer.
The fact of the matter is that when Jesus is laying out his new kingdom for us he contrasts it with morality. And what is his kingdom:
• His kingdom is the Gospel
o If we are truly believing the Gospel, our lives start looking like the one Jesus is describing in Matthew 12. Let me show you what I mean. Intrinsically, the gospel screams unconditional father. There is no room for condition in that statement. It does not say that Jesus lives part of our life and dies part of our death so that we would be expected to work ourselves into Gods love if we mess up! No! We are always Gods children.
o Now some of you might be getting the lie that i am offering up a cheap grace. A grace that is trite and handed out. How could God be just and still give us this. NEVER. This grace was never cheap it took the only perfect man and God to die so that we might experience it! Your sin was so disgusting and that the creator of the universe had to be snuffed out in order to absorb it.
o What keeps us from sinning
· Our love for God. If we are truly loving God then righteousness will simply blossom out of our love not our obligation.
· 2 Corinthians 5:14
o Every single one of our sins is a love issue, not a control, obligation, or moral one.
John 21:15-19
o Do you love me.
What does our life start looking like when we begin to believe the gospel? I am going to give you three quick examples and then we can get out of here because of time but we could go on forever because the gospel is meant to be brought to bear on every part of our life.
We no longer feel the need to punish ourselves; we are freed up to obey.
We are freed up to be missional
We can forgive
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
"If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is there are many parts yet one body."
SO often in leading and shepherding we begin to gravitate towards a singularity which is detrimental to our gospel family. This singularity is an emphasis on the self. We do not identify our selves as a thread in the fabric of a team of leaders but rather as the captain of the football team. This idea is entirely unbiblical. Christ had the holy spirit (John 1:33), he sent out his disciples two by two (mark 6:7, even in church leadership we see that there is a plurality of leaders (Titus 1:5, Acts 20:17, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:2-3) . Now, given, there is a senior Pastor but his name is Jesus (Hebrews 5:1-7, Matthew 16:18).
We begin to see our selves as the final authority instead of submitting to one another's gifting. This works because we have varying gifts. The prophetic preacher and teacher must submit to the priestly pastor shepherd lest the body be dominated by his particular personality, gifting, ideas, and more negatively sins, baggage and shortcomings to the extent that the rest of the body is frantic and un-shepherded. Conversely, the priestly shepherd must differ to the organized and driven king so that the church doesn't become intrspectic and inclusive. Lastly the king must default again to the prophet for mission, vision, and truth keeping, lest the church become an event where we attend, (rather than) not a people on mission redeemed for the glory of God.
If we do not do this, two things will happen among a myriad of other potential dangers: The first is that the stride of Christ's body will be found limping. The body of believers will reflect you, because they are receiving all their direction from you alone and as a result your mission and vision will be under realized biblically speaking. Your single perspective is not adequate because you do not have all of the gifts of the Church, you do not even have all the leadership gifts of the Church. In doing this, you are setting yourself up in a presidential role which is unbiblical and rests in your unbelief in the gospel.
The second is that what the world sees as Christ will be jeopardized. The Church is the extension of Christ here on earth (John 17, 1 Cor. 12:27). When we shy away from the biblical plurality model of church we shy away from Christs character. When we begin to remove essentials from scripture, Gods glory is cheapened temporarily by our sin. Let us run our race well!
These commands however are not ends in and of themselves but rather expressions leaping out implicitly from the gospel changing our hearts. They are the elaborate blossomings the crosses implications. They are the power of God incarnated in our lives. We must never pursue these aims as rules to be followed but rather signs to look for as we believe further in the gospel. In this way we migrate away from the "default of the human heart"- religion. If we do these things we are no more perfect in Christ then we were before. Gods righteousness is no more righteous after we obey his word. Rather, we are simply bringing the gospel to bear more on our lives and these things are mere echoes of the cacophony instigated in our heart through the death burial and resurection of Jesus the Son of God.
This is the audio page from soma communities GC leadership training. It speaks much more on this subject. listen to the "Leading a missional community" clip.
http://www.somacommunities.org/learners/audio--discussions/training/
We begin to see our selves as the final authority instead of submitting to one another's gifting. This works because we have varying gifts. The prophetic preacher and teacher must submit to the priestly pastor shepherd lest the body be dominated by his particular personality, gifting, ideas, and more negatively sins, baggage and shortcomings to the extent that the rest of the body is frantic and un-shepherded. Conversely, the priestly shepherd must differ to the organized and driven king so that the church doesn't become intrspectic and inclusive. Lastly the king must default again to the prophet for mission, vision, and truth keeping, lest the church become an event where we attend, (rather than) not a people on mission redeemed for the glory of God.
If we do not do this, two things will happen among a myriad of other potential dangers: The first is that the stride of Christ's body will be found limping. The body of believers will reflect you, because they are receiving all their direction from you alone and as a result your mission and vision will be under realized biblically speaking. Your single perspective is not adequate because you do not have all of the gifts of the Church, you do not even have all the leadership gifts of the Church. In doing this, you are setting yourself up in a presidential role which is unbiblical and rests in your unbelief in the gospel.
The second is that what the world sees as Christ will be jeopardized. The Church is the extension of Christ here on earth (John 17, 1 Cor. 12:27). When we shy away from the biblical plurality model of church we shy away from Christs character. When we begin to remove essentials from scripture, Gods glory is cheapened temporarily by our sin. Let us run our race well!
These commands however are not ends in and of themselves but rather expressions leaping out implicitly from the gospel changing our hearts. They are the elaborate blossomings the crosses implications. They are the power of God incarnated in our lives. We must never pursue these aims as rules to be followed but rather signs to look for as we believe further in the gospel. In this way we migrate away from the "default of the human heart"- religion. If we do these things we are no more perfect in Christ then we were before. Gods righteousness is no more righteous after we obey his word. Rather, we are simply bringing the gospel to bear more on our lives and these things are mere echoes of the cacophony instigated in our heart through the death burial and resurection of Jesus the Son of God.
This is the audio page from soma communities GC leadership training. It speaks much more on this subject. listen to the "Leading a missional community" clip.
http://www.somacommunities.org/learners/audio--discussions/training/
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Spurgeon On Prayer
"'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much'; but if it be not fervent we cannot expect to find it effectual or prevalent. We must get rid of the icicles that hang about our lips. We must ask the Lord to thaw the ice caves of our soul and to make our hearts like a furnace of fire heated seven times hotter."
Spurgeon's Call
"Reformations have not been wrought by men of lukewarm spirit and temporising policy. One fiery Luther is of more value than twenty like the half hearted Erasmus. who knew infinitely more than he felt, and perhaps felt more then he dared to express. A man if he would do anything for God, for the truth, for the cross, must set his face and with the whole force of his will resolve to serve his God. The soldier of Christ must set his face like a flint against all opposition, and at the same moment set his face towards the lord with the attentive eye of the handmaiden looking towards her mistress."
Friday, January 15, 2010
Notes from Meeting
Expression of the gospel
itinerary:
Greeting,introduction, then the series of questions.Who are we, what does the cross mean for us? What are the gospel implications of this? Why are we here? Where are we without the cross? What is our response to the gospel?
Then, what do we do? What does this mean for us?
Leave
itinerary:
Greeting,introduction, then the series of questions.Who are we, what does the cross mean for us? What are the gospel implications of this? Why are we here? Where are we without the cross? What is our response to the gospel?
Then, what do we do? What does this mean for us?
Leave
Resources for young bloods
http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/sermonlist/215
http://acts29network.org/sermon/influence-through-mission--vision/
http://acts29network.org/sermon/influence-through-brokenness/
Book List:
Total Church
The Prodigal God
Radical Reformission
http://acts29network.org/sermon/influence-through-mission--vision/
http://acts29network.org/sermon/influence-through-brokenness/
Book List:
Total Church
The Prodigal God
Radical Reformission
Monday, January 4, 2010
Image
I am so worried of people finding out who I am. I guise it with outgoingness or big words or clothes or preferences. I put on another personality with a different image or feeling. I am worried that people wont respond to me in the desired way—it fleshes out artificially though. I think that I am introverted. When I am at my most sincere and comfortable I am quiet and responsive, not outpouring. I like to think and plan in silence. I can identify with my friend David whose most sincere moments are in solitude and I resonate most with him.
As I write this I am coming to realize that this conviction is not the silver bullet. I am identified with Christ. I do not attain to a standard because I am already that. Therefore I have freedom in that to be…who I am? Is that how it works? The way I really am is OK to be in Christ? For a majority of my life I have not felt it acceptable to be myself.
Because I can merely determine some of human nature I began in high school to alter my perceived self and appearance. I think it began then. It gave way to a compartmentalization of my life. Some friends began to be separated from others for sake of appearances and some clothes were worn with some friends while some were worn with others. Some topics were verbalized and others weren’t. I was always afraid to show my true self so I disguised it with multiple ones.
I am striving to realize how my worth is in Christ is a new creation so I am free to be how I was made to be. I haven’t fixed anything here. Rather, I need to know how the gospel works here in practicum. How is my personality redeemed in the new creation? How do I lead in my sincere personality? How do I be excited? How do I be angry? I see my actuality as semi- emotionless. This, I know, cant be true. Lord, reveal to me what this is. Show me how to be in my newness. How do I only say things that I feel, nothing more? How do I trust in your sovereignty o king and not try to manipulate the situation? How do lead men in my sincere-ness? Does this work the same way as counting all things as rubbish for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ? Oh Jesus how I know that pride would infect the beauty of the way you have made me in Christ. Can this way I actually am be the way I glory in Christ? Is this the way I must decrease, be crucified, die to myself? Oh great king, I don’t have powers—you do. I am nothing you are everything.
As I write this I am coming to realize that this conviction is not the silver bullet. I am identified with Christ. I do not attain to a standard because I am already that. Therefore I have freedom in that to be…who I am? Is that how it works? The way I really am is OK to be in Christ? For a majority of my life I have not felt it acceptable to be myself.
Because I can merely determine some of human nature I began in high school to alter my perceived self and appearance. I think it began then. It gave way to a compartmentalization of my life. Some friends began to be separated from others for sake of appearances and some clothes were worn with some friends while some were worn with others. Some topics were verbalized and others weren’t. I was always afraid to show my true self so I disguised it with multiple ones.
I am striving to realize how my worth is in Christ is a new creation so I am free to be how I was made to be. I haven’t fixed anything here. Rather, I need to know how the gospel works here in practicum. How is my personality redeemed in the new creation? How do I lead in my sincere personality? How do I be excited? How do I be angry? I see my actuality as semi- emotionless. This, I know, cant be true. Lord, reveal to me what this is. Show me how to be in my newness. How do I only say things that I feel, nothing more? How do I trust in your sovereignty o king and not try to manipulate the situation? How do lead men in my sincere-ness? Does this work the same way as counting all things as rubbish for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ? Oh Jesus how I know that pride would infect the beauty of the way you have made me in Christ. Can this way I actually am be the way I glory in Christ? Is this the way I must decrease, be crucified, die to myself? Oh great king, I don’t have powers—you do. I am nothing you are everything.
Yesterday
Christ Must be my greatest passion. However, I cannot say that a majority of the time he is. My blindness is so extensive, I am born with a need of Christ on my heart and the Lord’s divine nature and eternalness is obvious in all things that he has made but I find it hard to live in it. Even more, he has been revealed to me as a scandalous member of the elect, I am given the gift of the holy spirit who leads me and directs me. Even more, God has given me a need for his recorded word and I have been in it a decent amount. Even more, I have been given wonderful community where I am constantly inundated with Christ’s nature and person through my brothers and sisters. Then where is my excuse when I live day in and day out involved in minor skirmishes against the sanctification which is given for my joy and Gods ultimate glory.
I am washed out in my interaction with Jesus. My impish attempts at following him are wrought with hesitations for I refuse to set him up as my ultimate goal. I exchange a relationship which is more fulfilling then my capacity to be filled for a worthless trinket which shifts flippantly from pride to lust to self adulation to comfort. My end is selfish and I do not live in servitude. I am shamed by diligent brothers in Christ who model a good soldier and who tailor there life for the purpose of the Gospel. I would rather argue and create strife in the name of the truth while I abandon love and patience.
But God in his infinite grace steadfastly chases me! God in his Wonderful forbearance would still pursue me! I am a willing servant for that which destructs but Christ still hangs on the Cross for me. While I talked on my phone as freshman moved in he still died for me, as I wander in my thoughts and fall into impurity he still intended me to be his before the foundation of the world. My God! Why is your favour un merited. You steadfast love endures forever.
Christ, your wooing of me extends to my darkest moments. Tonight, as I caught the flu by your sovereignty, I was brought to my knees ( literally) in painful nausea. I had no control over my body as I was gripped by violent dry heaving and an inability to keep even water in my belly. No degree of numerous broken bones, thrashing football games, joint- destroying wrestling, lacrosse fights, or brutal MMA training kept me from my default- a direct and weak denial of Christ as my only joy and a pursuit of comfort in my affliction. I am like a homeless man who is offered a four star supper and upon entering the restaurant walks through dining room, past the kitchen and goes through the back door to fish out expired meats and mayonnaise soaked bread. As I vomited in my dorm sink all of my crutches were kicked out from under me as wallowed in helplessness. Optimism- swept away, lust- futile, anger- dismantled, and pride was stripped of its potency as I leaned over the faucet and wiped saliva from the corner of my mouth. My only, and to my shame the last, hope for me in that moment was Christ. His worth stood before me radiating in glorious oscillations. My worth in that moment was laughable in the ominous shadow of the holy Saviour. My happiness became obsolete as joy filled my heart. His glory filled me as I recalled how his sacrifice was complete and how he loved me through my sin because of his work on the cross. I still vomited violently but as my head bobbed up from the sink I caught my expression in the mirror, it was a smile! Not of any work or mindset that I could muster but rather Gods power at work in me. It was as if my joy was removed from my circumstances and was set in the unshakable bastion of the gospel. Ill say it plainly, my joy is not impacted by things that happen to me. King, your gospel is where I must stand in the midst of my affliction.
I am washed out in my interaction with Jesus. My impish attempts at following him are wrought with hesitations for I refuse to set him up as my ultimate goal. I exchange a relationship which is more fulfilling then my capacity to be filled for a worthless trinket which shifts flippantly from pride to lust to self adulation to comfort. My end is selfish and I do not live in servitude. I am shamed by diligent brothers in Christ who model a good soldier and who tailor there life for the purpose of the Gospel. I would rather argue and create strife in the name of the truth while I abandon love and patience.
But God in his infinite grace steadfastly chases me! God in his Wonderful forbearance would still pursue me! I am a willing servant for that which destructs but Christ still hangs on the Cross for me. While I talked on my phone as freshman moved in he still died for me, as I wander in my thoughts and fall into impurity he still intended me to be his before the foundation of the world. My God! Why is your favour un merited. You steadfast love endures forever.
Christ, your wooing of me extends to my darkest moments. Tonight, as I caught the flu by your sovereignty, I was brought to my knees ( literally) in painful nausea. I had no control over my body as I was gripped by violent dry heaving and an inability to keep even water in my belly. No degree of numerous broken bones, thrashing football games, joint- destroying wrestling, lacrosse fights, or brutal MMA training kept me from my default- a direct and weak denial of Christ as my only joy and a pursuit of comfort in my affliction. I am like a homeless man who is offered a four star supper and upon entering the restaurant walks through dining room, past the kitchen and goes through the back door to fish out expired meats and mayonnaise soaked bread. As I vomited in my dorm sink all of my crutches were kicked out from under me as wallowed in helplessness. Optimism- swept away, lust- futile, anger- dismantled, and pride was stripped of its potency as I leaned over the faucet and wiped saliva from the corner of my mouth. My only, and to my shame the last, hope for me in that moment was Christ. His worth stood before me radiating in glorious oscillations. My worth in that moment was laughable in the ominous shadow of the holy Saviour. My happiness became obsolete as joy filled my heart. His glory filled me as I recalled how his sacrifice was complete and how he loved me through my sin because of his work on the cross. I still vomited violently but as my head bobbed up from the sink I caught my expression in the mirror, it was a smile! Not of any work or mindset that I could muster but rather Gods power at work in me. It was as if my joy was removed from my circumstances and was set in the unshakable bastion of the gospel. Ill say it plainly, my joy is not impacted by things that happen to me. King, your gospel is where I must stand in the midst of my affliction.
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