Jack Hager's Jots and Thoughts

Profound 3-Minute Answer to "How Can God Be Loving and Still Send People to Hell?"

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:58:00 +0000

How can God be loving yet send people to hell? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

Pop Tart Directions - Hilarious

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Favorite Sign of All time

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Can't remember if I posted this before; sign on a Dairy Queen in Western Kansas...fantastic!

If I Were King

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:16:00 +0000

If I was the king of the world (hmmm, I hear Coldplay)...anyway, if I could I would mandate that every Christ-folower, especially those in vocational service, would read On Being A Servant of God by Warren Wiersbe. It is one of a handful of books that I read, reread, and get encouraged, clobbered, and exhorted with each reading.

His definition of ministry is worth several times the price of the book: "Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God."

As I restarted the book this morning here at Crescent Lake Bible Camp in Rhinelander, Wi I reflected that I first spoke at this camp for a winter retreat probably in 1979. Yikes! And I again reflect on what a slow learner I am...and a book like this challenges, comforts, and kicks-in-the-butt in just the right way to bring about not simply conviction, but change.

If you are satisfied with your life and ministry, ignore the book. If you are open to a sanctified mixture of challenge, conviction, and confirmation, get the book!

And, yeah, you can provide me a few cents for my deputation account if you order off the link below:

Permissible Versus Beneficial

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:31:00 +0000

Here is great stuff from Mark Batterson:

"Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial."

Your future is found in I Corinthians 10:23. It reveals two options: permissible or beneficial. And your destiny will be determined by which option you choose.

Who we become is determined by whether we settle for what is permissible or strive for what is beneficial. It's so tempting to live down to what is required. It's so tempting to live in our comfort zone. It's so tempting to take the path of least resistance, but the path of least resistance never takes you where you really want to go!

What am I getting at? Well, are you setting for what is permissible? Or are you striving for what is beneficial? Are you giving God leftovers? Or are you seeking first the kingdom of God? Where are you compromising? Where have you become comfortable with what is permissible?

Don't let short-term comfort short-circuit God's long-terms plans for your life. Spiritual short-cuts always turn into detours! Take the hard way. Take the high road. Strive for what is beneficial.

"The Motions"-Matthew West

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:19:00 +0000

One of my favorite songs; made a bit nicer through a video collage

How Does This Impact Life? Ministry? Future?

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Very well done documentation of the amazing, incredible, rise and continued rise of social sites etc...

Reading Without Obeying Dangerous

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:56:00 +0000

A. W. Tozer brings it home:

"To be entirely safe from the devil's snares the man of God must be completely obedient to the

Word of the Lord.

The driver on the highway is safe, not when he reads the signs

but when he obeys them."

That Incredible Christian, 51.

No Comment Necessary

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0000

A Genuine Bat Man!

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Craziness

Janelle Soon To Be FIFTEEN!

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Hard for me to believe that my (only) daughter, Janelle, will be 15 on Wednesday. With three sons (two older, one younger) I testify that daughter-raising is HUGELY different than son-raising...and can't even imagine doing ANY kid-raising without absolute assurance that the Lord loves them more than I or Mom do! Photo was taken at the recent Life Chain; Janelle is flanked by Faith and Sarah Williams, daughters of Johnny and Pam Williams (of God's Mountain, and First Baptist, Wathena, Ks). We've known Johnny and Pam for three decades and consider it a tremendous joy to live just a few miles from them.

A sort-of Formula for Christian Growth

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:25:00 +0000

I am not a big fan of “seven steps to spiritual growth” or “four keys to revival” stuff. Formulatic spirituality loses some of the spontaneity that I believe is evidence of the Spirit of God honoring time spent in His Word.

But, if I discern a formula in the reading of Scripture, it maketh sense to me.

I discovered one this morning while reading Romans 4.

This chapter is focused on Abraham, and that he was justified by faith rather than by works. Reading from the English Standard Version, verse 16 summarizes, “That is why it depends on faith…”

Verse 18 declares, “In hope he (Abraham) believed against hope.” The next couple verses reveal he “did not lean on his own understanding” (Prov 3.5); and then verse 20 reads “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” (emphasis added)

Verse 21 reveals that he was “fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.”

It appears to me that “as” he gave glory to God, his faith grew stronger.

So, no matter how dark the day, how dense the fog, how tough the journey; we are to “rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice,” give God glory that He is sovereign and that “all things work together for good” and, thereby, our faith grows stronger.

Rather cool.

The Pilots Who Overflew Minneapolis: What REALLY Happened

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:35:00 +0000

This was written by good friend Denny Brownlee for the Morning Show at Family Life Network (the ministry with which I served for over 20 years before moving to Missouri a year ago)

Sinning Against Law versus Sinning Against Love

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:06:00 +0000

“…when the devil comes and says, ‘You have no standing, you are condemned, you are finished’, you must say, ‘No! my position did not depend upon what I was doing, or not doing; it is always dependant upon the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Turn to the devil and tell him, ‘My relationship to God is not a variable one. The case is not that I am a child of God, and then again not a child of God. That is not the basis of my standing, that is not the position. When God had mercy upon me, He made me His child, and I remain his child. A very sinful, and a very unworthy one, perhaps, but still his child!

"And now, when I fall into sin, I have not sinned against the law, I have sinned against love. Like the prodigal, I will go back to my Father and I will tell Him, “Father, I am not worthy to be called your son.” But He will embrace me, and He will say, “Do not talk nonsense, you are My child,” and He will shower his love upon me! That is the meaning of putting on the breastplate of righteousness! Never allow the devil to get you into a state of condemnation. Never allow a particular sin to call into question your standing before God. That question has been settled.”

Martyn Lloyd Jones, The Christian Soldier, p. 255

God Owes Us No Explanation

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:58:00 +0000

A couple years ago I read a great book by Alistair Begg, The Hand of God, which seeks to demonstrate God's sovereignty throughout the life of Joseph.

The book tells the partial story of Dr. Helen Roseveare (photo) who served in the Belgian Congo during the horrific uprising in the mid-1960s that resulted in dozens of missionaries being brutalized and murdered.

Roseveare was in the middle of all this chaos; saw friends shot and dropped into mass graves, and was a victim of brutalization beyond belief.

In a letter to Alistair Begg, Dr. Roseveare declared, "The phrase God gave me years ago, during the 1964 rebellion in the congo, in the night of my own greatest need, was this: 'Can you thank Me for trusting you with this experience, even if I never tell you why?'"

Ponder that for a while. How often have we heard, or said, "Well, I sure don't get this, but I'm sure God will tell me why I'm going through this situation...."

The question Dr. Roseveare heard from God echoes in my heart, and I pray continues to bounce around my heart and mind..."Can you thank Me for trusting you with this experience, even if I never tell you why?"

Our God IS A Mighty Fortress

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Okay, it doesn't rock, Steve Green is not everyone's cup of tea; but on this day when spooks and goblins get too much attention, remember Jesus said there is only One whom we, who are His, need fear...and it ain't the devil or his followers...

Janelle Hager and Faith Williams October 30 Birthday Bash at the Hager Barn

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:39:00 +0000

Blaise Pascal on "Knowing"

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:06:00 +0000

“Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride.

Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair.

Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness.”

- Blaise Pascal

"Law and Order" Depicts Abortion's Horror

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

I easily admit I am a "Law and Order" junkie, not so much the spinoffs, but the original series. This came across my computer today, and I am prayerful that many who watched were forced to think...and rethink...

The Champs!

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Daughter Janelle (kneeling, right)and her volleyball team took first place at a local tournament last Saturday. Ah, the joys (and energy) of youth!

The Difference Between Myth and Gospel

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Of course most people think the gospel is a religious fairy tale. It is, as scripture points out, "moronic" to those who are perishing.

But, unlike the Great Pumpkin etc, when we share the Gospel, laced with Scripture, the Spirit of God uses the Word supernaturally. Never forget that every incident of "bragging on Jesus" is a victory, whether there is immediate "fruit" or not!

Ryan Ferguson recites Psalm 25

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Rather cool!

Eye Can Testify to This

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:24:00 +0000

C. John Miller:

I have found that there is nothing like testings of the soul to drive me to Christ and break my pride. Samuel Rutherford says, “Pride rots in winter,” indicating that we must have much need of humbling to rot away our proud self-dependence.” In, The Heart of a Servant Leader, page 213.

A Quick Test of Understanding of Christianity

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Thanks to Justin Taylor's excellent blog for bringing this fantastic summation of the faith from J. I. Packer:

"You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator.

"In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father.

"If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.

"If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

"For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up I the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God."

Evangelical Magazine 7, pp. 19-20, cited in Knowing God, p. 201.
Packer says on p. 202:

Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.

Owned

jack.hager@gmail.com (Jack Hager) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000

I got a few letters in high school; a few medals in the Army; and some other stuff since then...but it really all evaporates into "stuff" when I read these words from Jonathan Edwards:

"How great an honor will it be to a person to have God at the day of judgment owning a person, declaring before all men, angels and devils that that person is before his all-seeing eyes and that he stands innocent and perfect in his sight, clothed with perfect righteousness and entitled to everlasting glory and blessedness. How honorable will this render them in the eyes of all that vast assembly that will be together at the day of judgment. That will be an infinitely greater honor than any man or any angel declaring that they judge him upright and sincere and that eternal life belongs to him. What can be a greater honor than this -- to be owned by the great King and Lord of all things?"

Jonathan Edwards, The Glory and Honor of God, edited by Michael D. McMullen, page 61.