THE GOSPEL:  I’m accepted-therefore I obey.
-
RELIGION:  Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

THE GOSPEL:  Motivation is based on grateful joy.
-
RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God.

THE GOSPEL:  I obey God to get to God-to delight and resemble Him.
-
RELIGION:  When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

THE GOSPEL:  When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.
-
RELIGION:  When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’.  Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.

THE GOSPEL:  When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’  My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ.  I can take criticism.
-
RELIGION:  My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.

THE GOSPEL:  My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration.  My main purpose is fellowship with Him.
-
RELIGION:  My self-view swings between two poles.  If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people.  If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate.  I’m not confident.  I feel like a failure.

THE GOSPEL:  My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever.  In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ.  I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time.  Neither swaggering nor sniveling.
-
RELIGION:  My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work.  Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral.  I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’

THE GOSPEL:  My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me.  I am saved by sheer grace.  So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me.  Only by grace I am what I am.  I’ve no inner need to win arguments.
-
RELIGION:  Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols.  It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc.  I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God.

THE GOSPEL:  I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc.  But none of these good things are ultimate things to me.  None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

Adapted from sermons by Tim Keller.  HT: Tullian Tchividjian.

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”
–1 Peter 1:22-23

What, then, does it mean to show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters, to love each other deeply with all your heart?  What does such brotherly affection look like?  How do we believers live out this important biblical command (something my frequently dad tells me I must do and not just say!) ?

In my reading I came across this long but enlightening quote by Richard Niebuhr.  His explanation is apt and profound:

What then is love and what do we mean by God and by neighbor when we speak of the ultimate purpose of Church, and so of theological education, as the increase of love of God and neighbor among men? By love we mean at least these attitudes and actions: rejoicing in the presence of the beloved, gratitude, reverence and loyalty toward him.

Love is rejoicing over the existence of the beloved one; it is the desire that he be rather than not be; it is longing for his presence when he is absent; it is happiness in the thought of him; it is profound satisfaction over everything that makes him great and glorious.

Love is gratitude: it is thankfulness for the existence of the beloved; it is the happy acceptance of everything that he gives without the jealous feeling that the self ought to be able to do as much; it is a gratitude that does not seek equality; it is wonder over the other’s gift of himself in companionship.

Love is reverence: it keeps its distance even as it draws near; it does not seek to absorb the other in the self or want to be absorbed by it; it rejoices in the otherness of the other; it desires the beloved to be what he is and does not seek to refashion him into a replica of the self or to make him a means to the self’s advancement. As reverence love is and seeks knowledge of the other, not by way of curiosity nor for the sake of gaining power but in rejoicing and in wonder.

In all such love there is an element of that “holy fear” which is not a form of flight but rather deep respect for the otherness of the beloved and the profound unwillingness to violate his integrity.

Love is loyalty; it is the willingness to let the self be destroyed rather than that the other cease to be; it is the commitment of the self by self-binding will to make the other great.

H. Richard Niebuhr, The Purpose of the Church and Its MInistry, Reflections on the Aims of Theological Education (New York: HarperCollins, 1956), pp.34-36.  Quoted in David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), pp.69-70.  Emphasis mine.

Used predominantly by Christians in order to not break the commandment “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God”.

Used when in awe or surprised by an event and when something unexpected happens.

“Oh my word, did you see that Kayla is pregnant again?”

Source: Urban Dictionary

Their fellowship is founded solely upon Jesus Christ and this “alien righteousness.” All we can say, therefore, is: the community of Christians springs solely from the biblical and Reformation message of the justification of man through grace alone; this alone is the basis of the longing of Christians for one another. (12)

Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together—the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship. (26–27)

Letters and Papers from Prison:

Over the destiny of woman and of man lies the dark shadow of a word of God’s wrath, a burden from God, which they must carry. The woman must bear her children in pain, and in providing for his family the man must reap many thorns and thistles, and labor in the sweat of his brow. This burden should cause both man and wife to call on God, and should remind them of their eternal destiny in his kingdom. Earthly society is only the beginning of the heavenly society, the earthly home an image of the heavenly home, the earthly family a symbol of the fatherhood of God. [...]

In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. (31)

The Cost of Discipleship:

Thus it begins; the cross is not a terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us  at the beginning of our communion with Christ.  When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. . . .

“Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” There shall the poor be seen in the halls of joy.  With his own hand God wipes away the tears from the eyes  of those who had mourned upon the earth.  He feeds the hungry at his Banquet. There stand the  scarred bodies of the martyrs, now glorified and clothed  in the white robes of eternal righteousness instead of the  rags of sin and repentance. The echoes of this joy reach  the little flock below as it stands beneath the cross,  and they hear Jesus saying: “Blessed are ye!” (99, 128)

Dietrich Beonhoeffer, as quoted in John Piper, This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence (Crossway, 2009).

Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing Grace (Eph 2:1-10) from Alex Leung on Vimeo.

Title: Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing Grace
Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Date: Sunday, June 7, 2009 - Joint Communion Service
Location: North Toronto Chinese Baptist Church - Melville Mission

File Size: 29mb

Introduction/Context

In chapter 1 of Ephesians, we have already seen how God blesses us so that we could bless him. The Father has graciously chosen us to be adopted to be his own sons and daughters, through His Son Jesus Christ He has redeemed us, and by His Spirit He has marked us out as his own people with his seal.

In the last half of chapter 1, God has shown us his power by raising Christ from the dead, and putting all the cosmic powers under his feet.  Jesus thus now reigns over all things as Lord, and he’s given to us as the head over the church and all believers.

And now, in this famous passage—Ephesians 2:1-10, about salvation by grace through faith–the Bible tells us how undeserving sinners become trophies of God’s amazing grace.

So let us be amazed this morning by two things: 1) Our desperate condition: we were spiritually dead! (vv.1-3)

In what we did:

You were spiritually dead in what you did. You are very much physically alive, but you are “following the passionate desires and inclinations of your sinful nature”.   And so your spiritual walk before conversion is simply this: completely unable to do anything holy or good in God’s eyes.  You were spiritually dead. Your lifestyle followed the standards of the world;  you lived like the Devil was ruled your life; you only did what you naturally were inclined to do—sin and disobedience.

In who we were:

Who you are is also characterized by spiritual deadness.  The end of verse 2 says that you were “sons of disobedience”.  Before God saved you, you not only did not trust God, but you actively defied God! For disobedience is rooted in unbelief. And the end of verse 3 says that you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  In other words, because of our nature, because of our natural sinful condition inherited from Adam—we are subject to God’s condemnation and punishment as children of wrath!  All of us, whether you’re a Christian today or not, without God everybody is a child of wrath.  And when unbelievers sin, we actually have a closer relationship to God’s wrath than to God himself!

2) God’s decisive provision: He gives us life! (vv.4-6)

Why? Being rich in mercy, because of God’s great love for us.

How does God show us He loves us?  He demonstrates it in 3 ways:

First, he makes us alive together with Christ. (v.5)Having been spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins—God crushed his Son on the cross in our place for our sins… and we died with Him spiritually when are united with Jesus in His death.  So that since God has first made Jesus alive, God thus makes us alive with Jesus to walk in newness of life!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Second, he raised us up with Christ. (v.6a)  Christ was raised from the dead physically (1:20), and we also were raised together with him spiritually.  This is not talking about our future resurrection.  Colossians 3:1-2 says that “If you have been raised with Christ, [He gives you the power & ability to] seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 [and to] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Third, he seated us with Christ in the heavenly places. (v.6b)  God puts us into a place of spiritual benefit!—that we might share in Jesus’ heavenly status, and heavenly power to overcome sin and temptation, here and now!

How is this all possible? (vv.8-9)

A) By Grace:

It is only because of God’s grace that you and I are saved from God’s wrath;  and it is only because of grace that we can do the good things he has planned for us to do (v.10).   Grace: God’s undeserved favor towards us, specially demonstrated through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.  It is not a reward for the good things we have done; we cannot take credit for it!

Grace = Objective Cause: Salvation and regeneration is totally a gift from God; it is the work of God alone!  (Because we were spiritually dead; totally unable to do anything)  So God’s grace is the objective cause of our salvation, since salvation didn’t come from yourself!!

B) Through Faith:

Faith= Subjective Means: But do you see also the subjective means?  The subjective means by which we are saved is “through faith”.  This is how God’s saving work gets applied to us: When we fully trust and confidently rely on Jesus’ accomplished work on the cross, and not on the things we can do to earn it.

Putting your faith in Him is not a work… faith itself, the text says, is even a gift of God, along with grace!!  Knowing and believing in Jesus is simply pointless if you’re not willing to trust, and sit, and dwell, and live in him—in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Lamb of God, the Lord and Savior of the world—who is completely reliable and trustworthy; who is mighty and able to save you—and He has saved you!  This my friends, is how undeserving sinners become trophies of God’s amazing grace.

Conclusion

So next time, when you fall into a hole on this road of life, let us remember our desperate condition—how we were spiritually dead.  And be reminded of God’s decisive provision—how God has made us alive in Christ!  May you call upon Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.  And may you delight yourself in God’s mighty act of salvation, and be empowered by his grace to live triumphantly by faith.

Date: Sunday, May 17, 2009 - English Worship Service
Location: North Toronto Chinese Baptist Church - Melville Mission

File Size: 36.6mb
(I apologize for the large file size. My recording device did not record the audio that well.)

Background

As opposed to most of Paul’s other letters, Ephesians is not written to address any particular problem in Ephesus. The apostle is sitting in prison in Rome, jailed for preaching the gospel, and writing a letter to the Christians in Ephesus—but he is not responding to a big sin that the church has committed, or some big issue that the Christians there are facing. Rather, it seems that Paul is writing simply to encourage the churches in area of Ephesus to be united in love. We know from Revelation 2 that the Ephesian Christians—somehow, overtime—have forsaken their first love—Jesus Christ. And thus, this is such an important thing to learn even for our church today.

This is a theme that we will come across continually over the next few months as we study Ephesians: unity and love: how true unity in the church only happens when people love one another. And as one commentator has noted, “unity without love is possible, but love without unity is not.” [[Harold Hoehner, Ephesians, 105.]]   When there is love in action within the community, unity is naturally fostered.

Thesis

So this is one of the main thrusts of Paul’s letter, and it is the underlying theme of today’s text. Because what we will see this morning is that out of His love for us, God first blesses us that we should bless him. The Father gives us grace and blessings, so that we his children might—in response, in praise, and out of thanksgiving—bless him!

We can see this kind of love and unity at work even within the Trinity himself, when we understand how each person in the Godhead blesses us that we would bless him. So my goal this morning is to encourage you by showing how much God loves you, and to fuel a passion in your heart to praise him evermore. I want you to see 3 observations that I trust are taken straight from the text:

1. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Father has Chosen you (verses 3-6)
2. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Son has Redeemed you. (verses 7-12)
3. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Spirit has sealed you (verses 13-14)

A church covenant can be described in five different ways.

* A church covenant is a promise - a promise made to God, to a local church, and to one’s self.
* A church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live. While our statement of faith is a good summary of what we believe, our church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live – more importantly, it is a summary of how God would have us live. It does not include every explicit command regarding obedience, but it does give a general summary of what it means to live as a disciple of Christ.
* A church covenant is a sign of commitment – a commitment to God, to His church, and to personal holiness.
* A church covenant is an ethical statement. Historian Charles W. DeWeese writes, “A church covenant is a series of written pledges based on the Bible which church members voluntarily make to God and to one another regarding their basic moral and spiritual commitments and the practice of their faith” (Baptist Church Covenants, p. viii). One theologian calls church covenants the “ethical counterpart to confessions of faith.” A church covenant can be an important part of applying a Christian worldview to every aspect of our lives. Inherent in the purpose of a church covenant is the understanding that church membership involves being held accountable to live in a manner consistent with a common understanding of Scripture.
* A church covenant is a biblical standard. A church covenant is helpful in a church that is practicing Biblical church discipline. As members of a church, we exhort one another to live holy lives, and we challenge brothers and sisters persisting in sin.

Membership Matters - What is Our Church Covenant? - 9Marks

See also Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church, pg.62-63.

There was no unwritten accountability between church members for personal and spiritual growth, let a lone a written and regularly read statement of what we are to do as covenanted members in the Body of Christ.  When there was care and prayer and accountability, it was in the spur of the moment–usually because somebody was going through a trying situation.  As those who were betrothed to Christ as members in this one local body, we were clueless that such a marriage relationship entailed covenantal promises and stipulations for being part of this ekklesia.

This was until January 2008 when I became a member of a small Baptist church.  This church practiced covenant church membership; and consequently but sadly, also church discipline.  Regenerate church membership is something that the Elders, Deacons and members strive for, often meaning that our hearts break when a member continues in grievous, public sin even after being counseled by numerous other church members and Elders.  When a member of the body is suffering illness, the whole body feels the pain, even as we pray for each other’s specific needs.  We lift each other up in prayer, with words of encouragement, with Scripture that sanctifies, every time we meet together in our Care Groups.  In genuiness, covenant church membership can mean much stress as well as happiness.  It takes a lot of time and effort to run after those who seem to be falling or running away.

I am not touting one church over another, but I do mean to emphasize the tremendous good and joy that comes out of covenanted church members.  It is the exercise of biblical care and accountability within the local church body.

The following is the covenant I made to my fellow brothers and sisters in my local body when I was voted in as a member.  It is something I think about weekly if not daily–how I am accountable in my spiritual walk to my fellow church members, not just to God alone.  Being a Christian means being a member of a local church; being a member of a local church is not just about “me and God”–it’s about us and God, and about us members of the Body and each other.

So when one part of the body suffers, the whole body really does suffer.  And when one part is in joyful celebration over God’s grace in their lives, the whole body celebrates.  We made a promise to love each other as Christ first loved us; and to fail to do so is to fail in our covenantal promises.

As we trust we have been brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the influence of His Spirit to give ourselves up to Him, so we do most solemnly covenant with each other, that God enabling us, We will walk together in brotherly love:

That we will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other, and faithfully warn, rebuke and admonish one another as the case shall require; and in all things we will seek and guard the honor and the true function of the church;

That we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor omit the great duty of prayer, both for ourselves together, and for others; and for the enterprises of the Kingdom of God;

That we will share in each other’s joys, and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy, to bear each other’s burdens and sorrows;

That we will seek divine aid to enable us to walk circumspectly and watchfully in the world, denying ungodliness and every worldly lust;

That we will endeavor by example and effort to win souls to Christ, and through life, amidst evil report and good report seek to live to the glory of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Source

The style of music you use on Sunday mornings is incredibly unimportant.

That may seem like an odd way to begin a chapter on “blended worship,” but it may be the most important thing we say on the topic of worship. You may be, or your church may employ, a “worship leader,” someone who plans, facilitates, and leads the corporate gatherings of your church. You may be accustomed to calling that time each week a “worship service.” You may even think of particular parts of your weekly service (such as the singing) as being “worship,” as opposed to other things that happen during that time (such as preaching or taking up an offering). Yet while none of those uses of the word are, strictly speaking, incorrect, neither do they even come close to the heart of what the Bible means by worship. According to the Bible, worship is not fundamentally what we do on Sunday mornings when we gather with other Christians. It certainly includes that, but it is much more. Worship is our service to God. It is acting and thinking and speaking as if He really is who He says He is and we are really who He says we are. Worship is the creature (you and me) serving the Creator (God).

This book is specifically concerned with one of the ways we most frequently talk about worship–our times together in church, and specifically the style that characterizes that gathering. This is a great thing to talk about, and obviously important, given the amount of conflict this topic generates in many local churches. However, we want to be clear at the outset that this is not the heart of what the Bible means by worship. Furthermore, if worship does not refer merely to our corporate times together, it MOST certainly does not mean merely our music.

–Michael Lawrence and Mark Dever.  From “Blended Worship,” chapter 7 in Perspectives on Christian Worship: Five Views. Edited by J. Matthew Pinson; other contributors are Timothy C. J. Quill, Dan Wilt, Ligon Duncan, and Dan Kimball. Nashville: B&W Academic, 2009, p. 218-19.

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own[d] by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

(Ephesians 1:1-14, NLT)

I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.

Is Rob Bell’s “gospel” really a gospel in all its New Testament sense? What is missing? Or, what is Rob Bell really saying, because I surely don’t know what he is talking about; I think he’s talking about something big related to history that’s going somewhere, but I cannot tell by his statement what that big thing actually is nor where it is going.

Help?

Check out also Greg Gilbert’s response to Bell’s statement.

• A study of 90,000 Japanese by the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found that people who drank one to four cups of coffee daily had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank coffee. Researchers aren’t sure why, but they speculate that antioxidants may play a role.

• A study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health that followed more than 125,000 men and women for more than a decade found that regular coffee drinkers had a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 (or late-onset) diabetes. Studies in Sweden and Finland also concluded that coffee consumption offers protection from type 2 diabetes. Again, researchers aren’t sure why.

• A half-dozen recent international studies showed a positive relationship between drinking caffeinated beverages — including coffee — and lower rates of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Other research links coffee consumption with reduced risk of cirrhosis of the liver, colon cancer and asthma.

• A cup or two of coffee can improve endurance in activities such as running, cycling and swimming, according to other research. Coffee has a strong ergogenic effect, meaning it helps people work harder and longer, explains Lawrence Spriet, an exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph who has researched the effects of caffeine on athletic performance for more than a decade. “Even small amounts of caffeine can be quite powerful,” he says.

Source: Canadian Living

1. we can deny God’s hand in it, and become self-righteous and bitter,
   or
2. we can discern God’s hand in it, and trust he is making us more Christ-like through it.

Samuel laid the groundwork; others came after him to build the nation of Israel.

John Richard Sampey in somewhat the same role? A child of the Civil War, standing in the gap between an old and a new America, entangled in an era of change in Baptist life in America, John Sampey acted as a catalyst for survival and identity. He established strong foundations for those who would follow after him. He served faithfully under the presidential administrations of James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, William H. Whitsitt, Edgar Y. Mullins, and took on the presidency of the seminary after an age when many of us hope to retire. He taught and studied, he preached and evangelized, he traveled on the mission field, and he built relationships with colleges and universities. John Sampey helped to build a strong foundation for the future of Baptist scholars, preachers, and teachers.

Source: "John Richard Sampey: shoulders on which to stand"
Baptist History and Heritage ,  Wntr, 2003   by Nancy L. deClaisse-Walford

http://cli.gs/5JG5Yq

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Do I truly trust the Lord God?  Is God himself — apart from his blessings — actually sufficient for life?  Is God enough?  Is God enough for you when my circumstances don’t change?

Such questions are the bread and butter of the Christian pilgrimage.  We all want to say, “YES!”  I look back on the various kinds of sufferings I have faced this past week, last month, this past year, and even the sin I struggled through back in 2005, and in all these things, they are incomparable to the testing of my faith right now.  God is not looking you and me to just say “Yes”, but to actually mean it, because we are living it.

I have realized that I am currently the greatest time of spiritual testing I have ever faced.  There is no doubt about it.  When everything is fine, when all the dominoes are in place; when I have studied and applied what I learned to myself... And yet nothing happens; and I have to “wait” on God to act. This is what faith is all about.  Patiently waiting on the Lord to move. Trusting that God is sovereign over all things, and that there is nothing I can do to make it happen.  Compatibilism in its fullest meaning.  It is a very painful experience, a struggle, and through this my true colors will show.  As John Wesley once said,

Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.

Maybe, when I can truly mean it and live “Yes” to such spiritual questions, maybe it will seem that God hasn’t acted and it appears as if He is quiet.  And I will have to wait, actively and patiently wait on the Lord… and faithfully continue doing all that God has called me to do.

This, brothers and sisters, is the time for the Holy Spirit to show me His power.  And in so doing, I hope to be a great testimony to the truth that God can and does do miracles.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

–James 1:2-4

When my soul has cried its tears
And my heart begins to faint
Will You draw near
Will You meet with me

When my days are filled with longing
And my spirit groans and waits
Will You draw near
Will You meet with me

I’m calling and waiting
Your presence Lord is life to me

Breathe on me now as I bow down
I’m desperate Lord for more of You
Come satisfy until I
Am even more in need of You

When my dreams have been forgotten
And my hope begins to fade
Will You draw near
Will You meet with me

When my days are filled with searching
And my strength has given way
Will You draw near
Will You meet with me

“Satisfy” by Kathryn Scott

–Resolution 25. Jonathan Edwards, The Resolutions.

Is it really true for all things in life? That because you have done it in the past, you will definitely remember how to do it today?… And you can just resume that activity, as if you never forgot how to, like you never even had that long hiatus?

I am a personal testimony to the fact that it is not always possible to just get back on the bike and start riding. After two years, (hypothetically speaking) I still have trouble getting back on the bicycle. It’s been so long of not cycling that I have a tremendous fear of falling, of slipping and sliding, of crashing and burning.

The fear is because of my last experience with cycling, where despite my supposed skill and intentions of biking successfully, I lost my balance and fell, flipped out and rolled over, breaking my leg. I was in a cast and on crushes for six months, the doctors having to put a steel rod into my leg. After my leg healed, I was able to walk again; the rod was removed, but still there were scars left from the accident and the surgery that was necessary for my healing.

In the past couple years, I have wanted to start cycling again. I even bought new shoes and cycling gloves, and have been training in the Rec center with the stationary bikes. I really wanted to get back to cycling. So intent and desirous of cycling again, I consulted cycling trainers and other cyclist who have been on the bike circuit for a long time. I read books on the methods and techniques of successful bicycling, how-to’s and also how-not-to’s. Furthermore, I have even gone so far as going to various bike stores to check out what is available today in terms of bikes — new ones and old/used ones.

I have on occasion found a bike that I wanted. Some looked really nice on the outside, but the parts and mechanics of the gear system did not fit my preferences. One looked good, but was an 18-speed while I wanted at least a 21-speed. Other times, I found a bike that had all the specs that I wanted, but the paint job did not look the way I wanted. There was another one that had the perfect gears, brakes and suspension, and even looked amazing, but it was just too expensive and out of my price range! Or, there was a similar one where the price just seemed way too good and cheap to be true. All in all, I have not ridden a bike in all these years.

As I have mentioned, I have recently started training in the gym again, working out on the stationary bike and elliptical machine, getting ready to start cycling again. It has been a tiring experience so far, because I have not ridden in so long and am so out of shape. I wish there was another way to rid myself of the fear of getting back on the real bike, to build my strength and endurance, but such a training regiment pales in its effectiveness compared to just getting back on a bike and really cycling.

And thus, I am seriously considering cycling again. I have found one bike that I’d like to try right now, and would like to commit to cycling with it. However, I still don’t feel like I know how to cycle; I am trying to rid myself of the fears of falling and getting hurt. Even so, I have been reminded on many occasions that the benefits outweigh the negatives.

I just pray that I am ready for this, and hope that my heart can take it.

(Originally published Aug.29, 2007)

It is not a sign of a seasoned Christian soul that steady joy is untinged with steady sorrow.

Or to put it positively, the seasoned soul in Christ has a steady joy and a steady sorrow.

They protect each other. Joy is protected from being flippant by steady sorrow. Sorrow is protected from being fatal by steady joy.

And they intensify each other. Joy is made deeper by steady sorrow. Sorrow is made sweeter by steady joy.

For the seasoned Christian soul, I do not see how it can be otherwise while people are perishing and we are saved. I do not see how it can be otherwise while these two passages are written by the same inspired man:

I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Romans 9:2-3)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

My conscience felt and owned the guilt
And plunged me in despair
I saw my sins His blood had spilt
And helped to nail Him there
But with a second look He said
“I freely all forgive
this blood is for your ransom paid
I died that you might live”

Forever etched upon my mind
Is the look of Him who died
The Lamb I crucified
And now my life will sing the praise
Of pure atoning grace
That looked on me and gladly took my place

Thus while His death my sin displays
For all the world to view
Such is the mystery of grace
It seals my pardon too
With pleasing grief and mournful joy
My spirit now is filled
That I should such a life destroy
Yet live by Him I killed.

"The Look".  Original lyrics by John Newton.
New and alternate lyrics and music by Bob Kauflin. © 2001 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

According to the title, David composed Psalm 30 for the dedication of the temple (an event that took place after David died, 1 Kings 8:63). The temple does not figure much in the psalm itself, except for the address to fellow worshipers in Ps. 30:4. The theme of the whole psalm is one of personal thanksgiving for God’s repeated care and deliverance over the course of a life; the title makes the concrete situation of David’s experience the background, and the worshipers can liken their own experiences to his.¹

This psalm praises God for rescue from a life-threatening crisis of which we catch only glimpses. The sequence is as follows: the poet’s praise of God for deliverance from a life-threatening illness (vv. 1–3); call to the community of believers to praise God (vv. 4–5); recollection of the speaker’s ill-founded self-confidence before his crisis (vv. 6–7); petition to God to save the speaker’s life (vv. 8–10); praise of God for deliverance (vv. 11–12).²

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

1. ESV Study Bible
2. ESV Literary Study Bible

(Emphasis is all McLaren’s)

Every time I read about the suffering that the Apostle Paul had to endure during his life, I am continually humbled to the point of shame.  For I feel like I have suffered so much in the last year, having my faith put to the test by intense personal affliction and heartache.  I often think that the difficulties I have had to go through could not be any worse, that there could not be a darker abyss of despair than the valley I found myself in.   But the Scriptures tell us that the Apostle suffered even worse, and yet he did not despair.

Paul was a man who had truly experienced hardship in ministry: beaten and whipped; stoned and shipwrecked; lost and adrift at sea; attacked by Christians and unbelievers alike; and facing death threats from Gentiles and even his own Jewish people (cf. 2 Cor 11:16ff).  In all these respects, he was no ordinary disciple of Jesus Christ.  And yet, he was just a regular minister of the gospel in many respects.  The only thing different between Paul and me was that he understood the necessity of suffering in gospel service and in his personal spiritual pilgrimage.

Read the entire article.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.   Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
–Ephesians 4:31-32

We are all on a life long journey, and the core of its meaning — the terrible demand of its centrality — is forgiving and being forgiven.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you; it is giving up the possibility of a better past; it is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me; it is accepting God’s sovereign use of people and situations to strip you of self importance, and humiliate your self love.

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. It is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.

Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another’s control… to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past. Forgiveness frees the forgiver. It extracts the forgiver from someone else’s nightmare.

For to err is human; but to forgive is divine.

And unfortunately, it is easier to do to an enemy than to a friend.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
–John 13:34-35

–Augustine of Hippo, On the Trinity, 9.2.2.

Within the night I know Your peace;
The breath of God brings strength to me,
And new each morning mercy flows
As treasures of the darkness grow,
As treasures of the darkness grow,

I turn to wisdom not my own
For every battle You have known.
My confidence will rest in You;
Your love endures; Your ways are good.
Your love endures; Your ways are good.

When I am weary with the cost,
I see the triumph of the cross;
So in its shadow I shall run
Till He completes the work begun,
Till He completes the work begun.

One day all things will be made new;
I’ll see the hope You called me to,
And in Your kingdom, paved with gold,
I’ll praise Your faithfulness of old;
I’ll praise Your faithfulness of old.

—Keith & Kristyn Getty

O Changeless God,

Under the conviction of thy Spirit I learn that
the more I do, the worse I am,
the more I know, the less I know,
the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,
the more I love, the more there is to love.

(From The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions, 128)