Post from: Julian Freeman

Man Purse

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These are tough questions, indeed, and this is a topic that deserves far more thought than I’ll give it today. But in my own meditation this afternoon I’ve realized this:

Because God is righteous judge, who is altogether just, it is never wrong for us to long for justice.

Our problem, however, is that we don’t know what justice is.

Sure, we think we do. But the reality is that what we think of when we think of justice generally has more to do with what assuages our sense of ‘wrongness’ than it does with what establishes God’s ‘rightness’.

The downfall of simply thinking in imprecatory categories for those who work evil is that we’re all workers of evil. All of us have sinned and deserve God’s judgement. Any good in us is only because of the image of God impressed on us and the grace of God worked in our hearts. Any sense of justice we have is only present because God has given it to us. How then can we boast about our righteousness and another’s evil and long for them to be judged when we too deserve to be judged?

Ultimately, we must all beg mercy from God–yes, for the evil we’ve committed, but also because we don’t know what his justice established would really look like. Who could have guessed that he would use a cross to show his righteousness (Rom 3.21-26)? Who could have guessed that the innocent being slaughtered for the guilty would accomplish perfect justice (2 Cor 5.21; 1 John 2.2)?

Can I pray that someone would be damned?

It seems that the better question would be, ‘How can I pray for God’s justice to be shown?’ If David prayed for God’s justice, if Jesus came to accomplish God’s justice, and if God was so determined to show his justice that he crushed his Son, then I should be concerned with seeing it accomplished too. But I need to pray with humility. The cross, like nothing before, shows me that I understand very little of the vastness and comprehensiveness and complexity of God’s judgement–and his passion for showing mercy even in the midst of judgement. That’s a vastness, comprehensiveness, and complexity that I don’t get.

So we must be cautious. Pray for justice, yes, we must! But presuming to know what that justice looks like is a far bigger step. For now I’ll pray that God would cause his name to be revered as holy (Matt 6.9) however he sees fit, whether in the damnation or salvation of a particular sinner, I cannot know.

Post from: Julian Freeman

A Thought on Imprecatory Psalms

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Thanks to JT, Kreeft, and Pascal for convicting me and making me think.

Pascal, to my mind, has written the most profound reflections on God, man, and “diversion.” I’d recommend getting Peter Kreeft’s edition, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Pascal’s Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained, where the relevant thoughts are all gathered in one section (pp. 167-187). Kreeft writes that when he teaches this material, his “students are always stunned and shamed to silence as Pascal shows them in these pensees their own lives in all their shallowness, cowardice and dishonesty.”

Here is one line from Pascal (from #136) that it worthy of a lot of meditation, especially in The Age of Internet:

I have often said that the soul cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.

Kreeft’s restatements and comments are also worth reading. For example, here is an excerpt from pp. 167-169:

We ought to have much more time, more leisure, than our ancestors did, because technology, which is the most obvious and radical difference between their lives and ours, is essentially a series of time-saving devices.

In ancient societies, if you were rich you had slaves to do the menial work so that you could be freed to enjoy your leisure time. Life was like a vacation for the rich because the poor slaves were their machines. . . . [But] now that everyone has slave-substitutes (machines), why doesn’t everyone enjoy the leisurely, vacationy lifestyle of the ancient rich? Why have we killed time instead of saving it? . . .

We want to complexify our lives. We don’t have to, we want to. We wanted to be harried and hassled and busy. Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about. For if we had leisure, we would look at ourselves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hole in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big that nothing but God can fill it. So we run around like conscientious little bugs, scared rabbits, dancing attendance on our machines, our slaves, and making them our masters. We think we want peace and silence and freedom and leisure, but deep down we know that this would be unendurable to us, like a dark and empty room without distractions where we would be forced to confront ourselves. . .

If you are typically modern, your life is like a mansion with a terrifying hole right in the middle of the living-room floor. So you paper over the hole with a very busy wallpaper pattern to distract yourself. You find a rhinoceros in the middle of your house. The rhinoceros is wretchedness and death. How in the world can you hide a rhinoceros? Easy: cover it with a million mice. Multiple diversions.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Why Are You So Busy?

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In particular, I’ve been reading today all kinds of speculation about what the doctrinal problems were that faced Timothy and Titus in their local churches. Since Paul doesn’t specify in any of the three letters exactly what the heresy is that they’re dealing with, we’re left to fill in the gaps by putting together hints and drawing inferences — not ideal exegesis.

Anyway, this thought struck me as I was reading: ‘Isn’t it interesting that God never details for us what the doctrinal problem was; I guess he didn’t want us to know. I wonder why that is…?’

Then I got to a particularly helpful section of Mounce’s commentary where he says, basically, it doesn’t matter on one level what the issue was; Paul’s answer to everything is the gospel.

Ding! The bulb above my head flicked on.

The very fact that the individual errors aren’t highlighted serves to draw those problems to the background and highlight the one great thing that’s the answer to everything: the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the point. No matter what the problem is in your local church, the answer is always found in a right understanding of what God has done for a fallen people in his Son Jesus Christ, by the power of his Holy Spirit.

And here’s how Mounce concisely summarizes that glorious gospel, the answer to everything:

God has acted in grace and mercy through the death of Christ with an offer of forgiveness, to which people must respond in faith, turning from evil, receiving empowerment through God’s Spirit, and looking forward to eternal life. (William D. Mounce, The Pastoral Epistles, WBC v.46, lxxvi.)

So if you want to be a part of the answer instead of a part of the problem in your church, ask yourself this: Am I focusing on the gospel? Is the gospel part of my conversation? Do I speak it with others? Is it an essential part of my ministry in my local church?

The gospel is glorious truth, and one that we can never major on enough. That’s what Timothy and Titus had to be reminded of and that’s what we must remember.

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Answer to Everything

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That justification—by which we mean God’s forgiveness of the past together with his acceptance for the future—is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question. Justification is the primary blessing, because it meets our primary spiritual need. We all stand by nature under God’s judgment; his law condemns us; guilt gnaws at us, making us restless, miserable, and in our lucid moments afraid; we have no peace in ourselves because we have no peace with our Maker. So we need the forgiveness of our sins, and assurance of a restored relationship with God, more than we need anything else in the world; and this the gospel offers us before it offers us anything else…

But contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship—he establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with the God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.*
———–
Note:
* J.I. Packer, Knowing God (IVP, 1993), pp. 206–207.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Adoption or Justification: Which is Greater?

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A quick look at the job postings from a lot of churches across North America list all kinds of requirements.

• Good with time management
• Young
• Humorous
• Outgoing
• Gifted & dynamic speaker
• Good with young people
• A seminary degree
• And the list goes on…

Are these really the things that make a pastor competent for his pastoral responsibilities?

Pastor David Robinson of Grace Bible Church in Cambridge will be addressing the topic of what makes a pastor competent this coming Monday at the monthly meeting of the Toronto Pastors Fellowship.

I’ve just finished reading through his paper and I’m extremely excited to hear him present it and then to discuss it with the other pastors.

Here’s an excerpt / sneak peek:

It is in this context (2 Tim 3.1-5), the weakness of Timothy and the degeneration of a godless culture, that Paul calls Timothy to a simple yet profound task: “Preach the Word.” Is that it? Well, yes and no. Yes, preach the Word but no, the preached Word must be accompanied with godly character (2 Tim 3.10-11).
Paul has just made the task even more daunting, if that were possible. He has called Timothy and all subsequent pastors to preach the Word in a thoroughly pagan and rebellious, uninterested and hostile culture. You will need to have faith, patience, great love, and endurance. In short, godly character. Again, who is sufficient? Paul answers this question in some of his final words to Timothy:  ‘But the Lord stood by my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.  And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.  The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will be me safely to his heavenly kingdom.  To him be glory forever and ever’ (2 Tim 4.17-18).
But what if we tweaked the question?  “OK, we know we are called to preach the Word and it will come at a cost. But is there any encouragement to preach the Word?  Or more specifically, what makes us competent for the charge of preaching the Word of God?” Those answers lie in our passage in 2 Timothy 3.16-17. Paul answers the question in three ways.
First, Paul reminds Timothy that the power of the Word does not lie in the preacher of the Word, but in the nature of the Word.  “All Scripture is God breathed.”  This Word is the living Word of God, breathed out of the mouth of God into the hearts of the writers.  What we hold therefore, is the very Word of the living God. What a beautiful expression: God breathed. Scripture’s source is the breath of God or conversely,  Scripture is the result of the breath of God.
When the pastor stands to preach, it is as we read in Exodus: ‘The Lord said to him [Moses], “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say (Exodus 4.11-12).’
The Lord will help and the Lord will teach through the God-breathed Scripture.  Here lies the great hope and responsibility – the great hope is when we preach we are taking God-breathed words to the people; the great responsibility is to do exactly as Paul exhorted Timothy: “preach the Word.”

If you want more you’ve got to be at Richview Baptist Church this coming Monday at 10am. Hope to see you there!

Post from: Julian Freeman

A Competent Pastor?

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Outside of Christ, nothing brings me more joy than the three women in my life. If you know me, you know I don’t come close to deserving them or their love, but God has granted me both. And I like thinking about that, so I thought I’d post it here.

Our Fighter Verse this week at GFC is Psalm 103.1: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name!’ That is definitely my response to him this week for all his blessings on my life.

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Three Most Beautiful Women in the World

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What's Most Important?

I disagree. I disagree not so much with the results (which are subjective… and I believe it’s how people honestly feel), but I disagree with the premise of the question itself.

The problem is that the proposed answers are in totally different categories–and if people were honest, and thought hard enough about it, then 100% of the answers would be ‘happiness.’ That’s what’s most important to people. Everyone. Without exception. As Blaise Pascal said,

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

The question should not be, ‘What is most important to you?’ because the answer is always ‘Happiness.’

Rather, the question should be, ‘What do you believe will bring you happiness?’

I think people don’t pick the answer ‘money’ because they would feel bad. It makes them feel much better about themselves to pick something more noble and honourable like ‘family,’ ‘happiness,’ or ‘health.’ And of course, even this proves they are motivated by happiness. Even though they believe money will bring them happiness, they believe that in this situation it would bring them more happiness to answer ‘family’ because then they will feel much better about themselves, which will bring happiness. (But really, how many times have you heard about people ruining their careers for the sake of their family? Yet, we hear all the time of people ruining families for their careers. Also, people ruin their families for the sake of getting ahead in their career for the sake of getting money, which they believe will bring them more happiness than the family they already have. There’s no way people actually believe family will bring them more happiness… otherwise, why are we as a society full of beautiful houses and broken homes?)

As Jeremiah said, so long ago, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?’ Here is more proof. We all search for happiness… just no one can really seem to find it in this world. And then we lie about where we try to find it.

Post from: Julian Freeman

What’s Most Important to You?

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As we were playing, I was filled with joy and delight in all that God has given me in this life. I am overwhelmed with blessing in my life.

At the exact same time, however, I felt twinges of sadness. Why, you ask? Because I can’t remember the last time I took time and just played with my girls like that.

Life has been so busy lately. We bought a house, began renovating, and found the work that needed to be done was a lot more than we had anticipated. That, combined with the usual September busy-ness at church, has made for a long stretch of working every waking moment.

I don’t like that. Busy is not what I was created for. It robs me of joy and peace and makes me frantic and tired. It brings constant temptation to stress and anxiety (a.k.a. pride and disbelief).

Busy is not what life is for. Being busy causes me to miss out on good things. Important things. The best things.

Lately, after our day of prayer, I thought to myself, ‘I never get tired of praying. I never pray and then think that it was a waste of time. It never gets old. It’s always worth it.’ Today I had that same thought while I was playing with my girls.

That got me to thinking, what are the things in life that are always worth making time for? What are the things that never get old? What are the things you can do with your time that are always worth the investment? Here’s my first attempt at a list.

1. Prayer — private, family, corporate prayer with brothers and sisters from church
2. Time in the word — reading on my own, studying for preaching, sitting under preaching
3. Going on dates with my wife — we generally just get away somewhere where we can sit and talk… I can never get enough of that
4. Playing with my girls — especially when I haven’t wasted all my energy on everything else so that I’m too tired to enjoy them
5. Eating meals with my family — time sitting, talking, learning fighter verses, hearing the funny things that kids think to say…
6. Time at ‘my’ Starbucks — not that Starbucks is worth the time, but when I’m there I have a good book or just my Bible, sometimes my list of people to pray for… I sit, enjoy coffee, the change of scenery, meet with God and seek opportunities to share the gospel with the people I know there. It’s always refreshing.
7. Preaching — I’ve found that even when I preach and feel like it was a ‘bad sermon’, I hear reports from people of how the Spirit is working in their heart. His word will not return to him void, so it’s never a waste of time to preach.
8. Being with people — one of the saddest things that can happen in my job and in life in general is when I get so busy with ’stuff’ that I don’t have time to be with people and open up my heart to them and have them do the same with me. The more time I have to just be with people, the more I’m amazed at how I see God in that person and the more I’m blessed by them.

These are the things that I love. I’ll never get to the end of my life and think, ‘Man, I wish I had spent less time doing those things.’ Would you have the same things on your list? What would you add / change / delete from your list?

The question I suppose I should ask is, ‘What are the things in my life that detract from these things?’ And then, is that necessary? Is it what is best?

I’m praying tonight that my God gives me grace to prioritize and wisdom to know how to find better balance so that I don’t miss out on the very things I’m put on this earth to enjoy.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Things That Never Get Old

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This morning, I was tired.

As I was going about my morning routine, I thought to myself, I should have some coffee when I get to work. That will help make me alert. But as I was driving in to the office I began to think about it a little more. I think I’m afraid of being tired. I didn’t know why that was.

There are times when I definitely don’t want to be tired; times when I want and need to be firing on all cylinders, and so I thank the Lord for the gracious gift of coffee or sugar or whatever else helps restore mental alertness. But I didn’t need coffee this morning. The jobs I’m working on currently are more mundane jobs of scheduling, planning, catching up on e-mails, etc. and I can do those just fine without any stimulant… even on a Monday morning!

So why would I be want coffee? Why would I be so upset at the thought of being tired? I think the answer lies in what CJ Mahaney so astutely points out in Humility with regard to tiredness and sleep:

The fact is, God could have created us without a need for sleep. But He chose to build this need within us, and there’s a spiritual purpose for it. Each night, as I confront my need again for sleep, I’m reminded that I’m a dependent creature. I am not self-sufficient. I am not the Creator. There is only One who will ‘neither slumber nor sleep’ (Ps 121:4), and I am not that One.

Sleep is a gift, but it’s a humbling one. It’s a matter of only hours, at most, before you’re ready to again receive God’s gift of sleep. When that time comes, let me encourage you to pray something like this: ‘Lord, thank You for this gift. The fact that I’m so tired is a reminder that I am the creature and only You are the Creator. Only You neither slumber nor sleep, while for me, sleep is something I cannot go without. Thank You for this gracious, humbling, refreshing gift.’

What CJ says about preparing to go to sleep can be applied to being tired throughout the day as well. If I use my tiredness right, it’s not something I should be afraid of; rather it has become an opportunity to grow in humility.

So why am I afraid of being tired? Because I’m proud. Because I live a in a self-created illusion that I am somehow self-sufficient. Rather than seizing this opportunity to thank God for the physical reminder that he is God and I am not, I try to mask the symptoms of my creatureliness, my weakness, and my limitations and pretend that I am God… that I will not grow weary.

So this morning… I drank no coffee. I’m glad that I’m tired. I’m glad that God never is. I’m thankful for this reminder and I pray the Lord uses it in an ongoing way to stretch me and grow me in humility.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Tired Isn’t Always Bad

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