I have been thinking lately a lot the precious gift of salvation I have been given. I think a recent quote, “If the Gospel is old news to you, then it is will become dull to everyone else”, I read by Kevin DeYoung spurred this thinking. I so often forget to REMEMBER the importance of REMINDING myself of the message of the cross, of the gift of salvation EVERY DAY. Because I fall prey to my own selfishness, my own self-sufficiency, and my own pride, I tend to “forget” the Gospel. Now, I don’t mean I literally forget it, but I forget the reality of what happened, the entirety of it, it becomes old or dull news instead of precious Truth I am alive because of.
In Ephesians 1:4-10 we read:
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
These verses stick out to me as a beautiful illustration, expression, of the amazing act of the Gospel of Christ on the cross. The adoption that I, or you, if you are in Christ, have received as sons and daughters, should transform our DAILY lives. We should be continually grateful, continually humble, and steadfast in our adoration and praise of the Holy One. If our lives are not marked with a radical submission to the Gospel, to consistent living as worthy of that Gospel, we will fail to represent the Truth to those around us. If I, as a child of God, have “forgotten” the Gospel, how is someone who has never heard it, or someone who has never responded going to find it appealing, amazing, and life-changing? My attitude must change; my mind must be renewed each and every day.
If I remember the Gospel, like it should be remembered, each and every day, I will change, becoming more like Christ. The more that I find my hope and joy and sufficiency in Him, and in who He is and what He did, the more I will exude with Him; the more beautiful the Gospel will become. If the Gospel becomes increasingly fresh and new and powerful each and every day to me, it will become that to those around me.
May we as maturing believers lead by example, may we find the Gospel as precious as it truly is, every single day, and forever grow in our knowledge and gratitude of it. And through that remembrance and power may we be ever increasing lights in this dark world.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
He Keeps His Promises
Keith and I have recently begun teaching Sunday school together each week. It truly has been a blessing. I am so excited to see how God uses us in that ministry, together. This past weekend we were in Genesis 8-9 looking at how God "REMEMBERED" Noah and his family, and made a promise to them. I was so encouraged to be reminded of the reality that God remembers His people, His children; His remembering is much more than ours, it suggest an intimate and deep care and concern for the welfare and well being of the individual. This promise, seen in Genesis 9:11 " I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”, got me thinking about the promises that God makes and keeps with His beloved children.
Scripture is replete with these promises. Here are just a few I wanted to share. My hope is that you would be blessed and encouraged and reminded of how much He cares intimately for you, if you are His child. I pray that as you reflect on the promises in Scripture that He has made, that you would be motivated to worship and praise Him. And the best part about the God we serve with regards to these promises is that we are ASSURED that He will keep them, fulfill them...forever!
-He saves us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corintians 5:17
-He will sanctify us:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
- He promises to supply ALL your needs:
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
-He will protect you from enemies:
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue which rises against you in judgement you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord...."Isaiah 54:17
-He will help you:
For I the Lord, your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13
-He will guide and direct you:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8
-His mercy will never end:
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children. Psalm 103:17
-He fulfills His promises:
“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
-We have the Spirit's power:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
-We have the ability to walk in the Spirit:
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
-His Kingdom will come:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” Revelation 11:15
Scripture is replete with these promises. Here are just a few I wanted to share. My hope is that you would be blessed and encouraged and reminded of how much He cares intimately for you, if you are His child. I pray that as you reflect on the promises in Scripture that He has made, that you would be motivated to worship and praise Him. And the best part about the God we serve with regards to these promises is that we are ASSURED that He will keep them, fulfill them...forever!
-He saves us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corintians 5:17
-He will sanctify us:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
- He promises to supply ALL your needs:
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
-He will protect you from enemies:
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue which rises against you in judgement you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord...."Isaiah 54:17
-He will help you:
For I the Lord, your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13
-He will guide and direct you:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8
-His mercy will never end:
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children. Psalm 103:17
-He fulfills His promises:
“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
-We have the Spirit's power:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
-We have the ability to walk in the Spirit:
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
-His Kingdom will come:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” Revelation 11:15
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Deception
"Don't judge me!" - a common phrase in our culture, in our society, in our America, and even in our world. What's right for you and what's right for me seems to be the motto we are to all live by, and that very idea has not only convinced much of society, but has deceived much of the so called "church". No where in Scripture does Jesus forbid making judgements, in fact, we are called to make judgements about and toward one another when the Truth is at sake, when people's souls are at stake. What's right for you is right for you can't fly within the church, if it continues to be our mindset, deception will only become more rampant, and more and more souls will be lost, eternally damned, forever in hell.
I know I might sound harsh right about now, and you are wondering maybe what spurred this blog, well, a book was recently published by a proclaimed "evangelical" preacher, Rob Bell. This book apparently claims to teach the "true gospel" message in which all roads lead to heaven, and presents a new God, a God far from that of Scripture. Frustration, anger, and sadness fills my heart as I think about the countless number of individuals who will read this book, without searching Scripture for themselves, and be led astray, into believing a heretical gospel. But Bell is not alone, there are countless preachers and "Christian" religions, including the Catholic church, that preach a FALSE Gospel message, and deceptively lead or as they call it "love" them to hell. Much like the Pharisees were warned in Matthew 7, these people will find themselves on the very doorstep of heaven hearing the most frightening words ever, "depart from me I never knew you!".
Kevin DeYoung, another evangelical pastor puts it accurately in a recent blog he posted in response to this new book, "it is possible that I (like other critics) am mean-spirited, nasty, and cruel. But voicing strong disagreement does not automatically make me any of these. Judgmentalism is not the same as making judgments. The same Jesus who said “do not judge” in Matthew 7:1 calls his opponents dogs and pigs in Matthew 7:6. Paul pronounces an anathema on those who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8). Disagreement among professing Christians is not a plague on the church. In fact, it is sometimes necessary. The whole Bible is full of evaluation and encourages the faithful to be discerning and make their own evaluations. What’s tricky is that some fights are stupid, and some judgments are unfair and judgmental. But this must be proven, not assumed." There is a time when making judgements is appropriate.
As believers, we are called to encourage, exhort and spur on the brethren. In order to do this we will be required to "make judgements". If someone claims to be a true follower of Jesus and is preaching a FALSE Gospel, one that does not align with Scripture (for example the Catholic Gospel which teaches that you are saved through what Jesus did and by the "good" inside of you), we are called to speak TRUTH to those individuals, and show them where there is error. If someone claims Christ, and does not have any evidences of genuine saving faith, such as repentant hearts, hatred toward sin, service within the body, growth in the knowledge of the Lord etc., we are called to ask why. If an individual is claiming to know Jesus, and to truly be His, and thinks they can add to Scripture, things like homosexuality being ok (not a sin), or that the Bible is not the ultimate authority (as it claims to be), we must question, we must ask, we must judge.
Do we do this for our own sake? ABSOLUTELY NOT! It is out of sheer love, and deep concern for that individual who may be either struggling or who may indeed be deceived about their own salvation. The most loving thing we can do is to be a tool in the hand of God to bring them into a loving relationship, a saving, a TRUE relationship with Him. If we sit by silently, we are selfishly watching our family, our friends, our colleagues slowly pave a path to hell.
"Bad theology hurts real people. Open a Bible, pray to God, listen to the faithful Christians of the past 2000 years, and answer the questions for yourself by using THE WORD OF GOD, where the answers are found. Delight or deception, suffering or salvation—yes, even heaven or hell—may hang in the balance" (Kevin DeYoung).
I know I might sound harsh right about now, and you are wondering maybe what spurred this blog, well, a book was recently published by a proclaimed "evangelical" preacher, Rob Bell. This book apparently claims to teach the "true gospel" message in which all roads lead to heaven, and presents a new God, a God far from that of Scripture. Frustration, anger, and sadness fills my heart as I think about the countless number of individuals who will read this book, without searching Scripture for themselves, and be led astray, into believing a heretical gospel. But Bell is not alone, there are countless preachers and "Christian" religions, including the Catholic church, that preach a FALSE Gospel message, and deceptively lead or as they call it "love" them to hell. Much like the Pharisees were warned in Matthew 7, these people will find themselves on the very doorstep of heaven hearing the most frightening words ever, "depart from me I never knew you!".
Kevin DeYoung, another evangelical pastor puts it accurately in a recent blog he posted in response to this new book, "it is possible that I (like other critics) am mean-spirited, nasty, and cruel. But voicing strong disagreement does not automatically make me any of these. Judgmentalism is not the same as making judgments. The same Jesus who said “do not judge” in Matthew 7:1 calls his opponents dogs and pigs in Matthew 7:6. Paul pronounces an anathema on those who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8). Disagreement among professing Christians is not a plague on the church. In fact, it is sometimes necessary. The whole Bible is full of evaluation and encourages the faithful to be discerning and make their own evaluations. What’s tricky is that some fights are stupid, and some judgments are unfair and judgmental. But this must be proven, not assumed." There is a time when making judgements is appropriate.
As believers, we are called to encourage, exhort and spur on the brethren. In order to do this we will be required to "make judgements". If someone claims to be a true follower of Jesus and is preaching a FALSE Gospel, one that does not align with Scripture (for example the Catholic Gospel which teaches that you are saved through what Jesus did and by the "good" inside of you), we are called to speak TRUTH to those individuals, and show them where there is error. If someone claims Christ, and does not have any evidences of genuine saving faith, such as repentant hearts, hatred toward sin, service within the body, growth in the knowledge of the Lord etc., we are called to ask why. If an individual is claiming to know Jesus, and to truly be His, and thinks they can add to Scripture, things like homosexuality being ok (not a sin), or that the Bible is not the ultimate authority (as it claims to be), we must question, we must ask, we must judge.
Do we do this for our own sake? ABSOLUTELY NOT! It is out of sheer love, and deep concern for that individual who may be either struggling or who may indeed be deceived about their own salvation. The most loving thing we can do is to be a tool in the hand of God to bring them into a loving relationship, a saving, a TRUE relationship with Him. If we sit by silently, we are selfishly watching our family, our friends, our colleagues slowly pave a path to hell.
"Bad theology hurts real people. Open a Bible, pray to God, listen to the faithful Christians of the past 2000 years, and answer the questions for yourself by using THE WORD OF GOD, where the answers are found. Delight or deception, suffering or salvation—yes, even heaven or hell—may hang in the balance" (Kevin DeYoung).
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Self-Denial and the True Gospel
“Exemplifying Christ starts with self denial.”
When Jesus called His disciples, His words were simple, “Follow me”, and that is exactly what they did. They left everything they knew behind, without a word, without question, and followed Him. What’s more, his disciples soon found that following Jesus was much more than literal, but following also meant, in deed, in speech, in act. As disciples today, we have been called to do the same, to follow Him. But it seems so vague, so vast, and maybe confusing at times as to what that looks like. Yet, the command is simple, from Jesus himself, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross DAILY and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).
Jesus gave the command, the simple blueprint to follow…if you want to follow Him, YOU must DAILY, deny yourself and take up your cross. It is interesting that Jesus starts here in His call to discipleship. He starts with the call for one to understand their need to view self in the light of God’s holiness. Jesus is ultimately saying that if you want to be with me, if you want to enter my kingdom, you have to start by hating everything YOU are apart from me, knowing the only good that you may see in yourself in my eyes is filthy rags. You must see your good works as wretched, the way I do, and come to a place where you are in desperate need of mercy, seeing how truly unworthy you are. This is not a message that would sell well in society today. In fact it is opposite of what we see preached from pulpits even, and of course across mainstream media, in homes, and in schools across the world. We are all about self-esteem, pride, and seeing the “good” in people. Jesus was not about that, in fact in Romans 3 Paul reminds us that, NOBODY IS GOOD, NO NOT ONE!” You must deny yourself.
But why does Jesus use the idea of taking up the cross with this self-denial? Crosses at this time were instruments of death, of execution. Jesus is simply saying that you come to a place that you have denied yourself so much that you are willing to die. John MacArthur put it well, “Now if you want to follow Me, if you want to come after Me, you're going to have to feel this, you're going to have to understand your true condition, you're going to have to be emotionally overwhelmed with this condition, sorrow, shame, to the degree where you are eager to deny yourself, you're willing to go whatever the cost you're going to follow Christ, even if it's death. That's repentance. That's what it is. It is self-hate, self-denial.”
You see people hate the true Gospel message, not because it is so difficult to grasp, but for the very same reasons it was hated thousands of years ago when Jesus himself preached it…because people LOVE themselves far too much. “Jesus said, "You want to come into the Kingdom? It's going to take more than believing there's somebody up there. Where's the shame? Where's the remorse? Where's the overwhelming conviction of one's sin?"
And so, the principle is just basic. It's basic gospel truth. You want to follow Jesus, do you? Then hate yourself. The utter disavowing of oneself as having any value in unredeemed condition, and even in redeemed condition our only value is as a tool picked up by the sovereign Lord. So there is self-denial, and then cross bearing, and then following that is righteous obedience as we follow after Christ. That's just reminding you of what's involved in that principle.” (John MacArthur)
And for the believer it is an EVERY DAY thing, self-denial, must mark our daily lives. We must find ourselves seeking to bring glory and honor to God through our denial of self. We must love Him so much that we are willing to follow Him, no matter what the cost, even to death. A life marked by self-denial is a perfect picture to a fallen world of Jesus because it was what He was marked by. Practice self denial in the little things, say no when you have every right to say yes, train your body as Paul said, so that it doesn't master you, so that when you MUST deny self, you will be able to. And a life marked by this self-denial goes against everything man seeks to promote, it looks radically different in this world, and it brings the Gospel to the forefront…bringing Jesus all the glory.
When Jesus called His disciples, His words were simple, “Follow me”, and that is exactly what they did. They left everything they knew behind, without a word, without question, and followed Him. What’s more, his disciples soon found that following Jesus was much more than literal, but following also meant, in deed, in speech, in act. As disciples today, we have been called to do the same, to follow Him. But it seems so vague, so vast, and maybe confusing at times as to what that looks like. Yet, the command is simple, from Jesus himself, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross DAILY and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).
Jesus gave the command, the simple blueprint to follow…if you want to follow Him, YOU must DAILY, deny yourself and take up your cross. It is interesting that Jesus starts here in His call to discipleship. He starts with the call for one to understand their need to view self in the light of God’s holiness. Jesus is ultimately saying that if you want to be with me, if you want to enter my kingdom, you have to start by hating everything YOU are apart from me, knowing the only good that you may see in yourself in my eyes is filthy rags. You must see your good works as wretched, the way I do, and come to a place where you are in desperate need of mercy, seeing how truly unworthy you are. This is not a message that would sell well in society today. In fact it is opposite of what we see preached from pulpits even, and of course across mainstream media, in homes, and in schools across the world. We are all about self-esteem, pride, and seeing the “good” in people. Jesus was not about that, in fact in Romans 3 Paul reminds us that, NOBODY IS GOOD, NO NOT ONE!” You must deny yourself.
But why does Jesus use the idea of taking up the cross with this self-denial? Crosses at this time were instruments of death, of execution. Jesus is simply saying that you come to a place that you have denied yourself so much that you are willing to die. John MacArthur put it well, “Now if you want to follow Me, if you want to come after Me, you're going to have to feel this, you're going to have to understand your true condition, you're going to have to be emotionally overwhelmed with this condition, sorrow, shame, to the degree where you are eager to deny yourself, you're willing to go whatever the cost you're going to follow Christ, even if it's death. That's repentance. That's what it is. It is self-hate, self-denial.”
You see people hate the true Gospel message, not because it is so difficult to grasp, but for the very same reasons it was hated thousands of years ago when Jesus himself preached it…because people LOVE themselves far too much. “Jesus said, "You want to come into the Kingdom? It's going to take more than believing there's somebody up there. Where's the shame? Where's the remorse? Where's the overwhelming conviction of one's sin?"
And so, the principle is just basic. It's basic gospel truth. You want to follow Jesus, do you? Then hate yourself. The utter disavowing of oneself as having any value in unredeemed condition, and even in redeemed condition our only value is as a tool picked up by the sovereign Lord. So there is self-denial, and then cross bearing, and then following that is righteous obedience as we follow after Christ. That's just reminding you of what's involved in that principle.” (John MacArthur)
And for the believer it is an EVERY DAY thing, self-denial, must mark our daily lives. We must find ourselves seeking to bring glory and honor to God through our denial of self. We must love Him so much that we are willing to follow Him, no matter what the cost, even to death. A life marked by self-denial is a perfect picture to a fallen world of Jesus because it was what He was marked by. Practice self denial in the little things, say no when you have every right to say yes, train your body as Paul said, so that it doesn't master you, so that when you MUST deny self, you will be able to. And a life marked by this self-denial goes against everything man seeks to promote, it looks radically different in this world, and it brings the Gospel to the forefront…bringing Jesus all the glory.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Working FOR HIM
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” -Colossians 3:23-24
It has been about a year since I have worked full time. And for the first time ever I am working full time without getting paid, interning I suppose, student teaching that is. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of the day I would have my own classroom, impacting student’s lives each day, and seeking to be a light in the midst of darkness. And here I am, living that “dream”. A little more than a month in and I can already see fruit. A little more than a month in and I can already see my own flesh seeking to distract, distort, and rest. A little more than a month in and I can feel the enemies gentle nudge and hear his deceptive lies.
What on earth am I talking about? The reality of WHY I am working and for WHOM I am working is a daily struggle, a battle that I must fight, and refocus is what I constantly need.
Many of the jobs I have had have been in ministry, church ministry, and the like. Because of that, it was easy to think of and see the connection between working and the purpose and master for whom it was being done. But there is something largely different about working in a place that is not the church, in a secular vocation in which working has temporal purposes more far-reaching, and the temptation to work for self, for one’s own praise and glory, and differently when people aren’t watching becomes more plaguing.
I have found myself realizing more and more that my focus on why I am working and for whom I am working for is not present on my mind continually. And yet, when it is not, is when I find myself weak, discouraged and empty. The moment that I refocus, that I fix my eyes on Jesus, and remind myself that I am working for HIS purpose in this teaching role, and FOR HIM, a new energy, joy, and hope fills my heart and mind and soul; one I could never manufacture. I have realized that I NEED this daily reminder because I so often forget. This reminder not only encourages me, but challenges me greatly. I recognize yet again that I must be working to the best of my ability (with the Lord’s strengthening), with faithfulness, with joy, with a heart that seeks to love and represent Christ…ultimately with everything that I have.
Because I am not getting paid for this job, it is a true test- A test of why I work, and for whom I work for. Do I work well only when I get paid? If so, then am I working for the reward of money? Do I work well only when I know I will be watched and evaluated by a boss? Do I work well only when my job is on the line? OR do I work well because God has called me to work well? Do I work well because God has called me to work as unto Him? Do I work well because He is glorified in that? Do I work well because it opens doors to the Gospel? Challenging, yes…impossible, no. For we know that God has given us ALL we need for life and godliness and because of that we are able to do ALL things He has called us to do knowing that He will equip where He calls.
May our hearts rest in His perfect provision of the places of work He has placed us in, knowing that we are there FOR HIM, to SERVE HIM, to work as UNTO HIM, and to GLORIFY HIM! Be the best you can be, knowing He is watching all the time, and know your labor is not in vain.
It has been about a year since I have worked full time. And for the first time ever I am working full time without getting paid, interning I suppose, student teaching that is. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of the day I would have my own classroom, impacting student’s lives each day, and seeking to be a light in the midst of darkness. And here I am, living that “dream”. A little more than a month in and I can already see fruit. A little more than a month in and I can already see my own flesh seeking to distract, distort, and rest. A little more than a month in and I can feel the enemies gentle nudge and hear his deceptive lies.
What on earth am I talking about? The reality of WHY I am working and for WHOM I am working is a daily struggle, a battle that I must fight, and refocus is what I constantly need.
Many of the jobs I have had have been in ministry, church ministry, and the like. Because of that, it was easy to think of and see the connection between working and the purpose and master for whom it was being done. But there is something largely different about working in a place that is not the church, in a secular vocation in which working has temporal purposes more far-reaching, and the temptation to work for self, for one’s own praise and glory, and differently when people aren’t watching becomes more plaguing.
I have found myself realizing more and more that my focus on why I am working and for whom I am working for is not present on my mind continually. And yet, when it is not, is when I find myself weak, discouraged and empty. The moment that I refocus, that I fix my eyes on Jesus, and remind myself that I am working for HIS purpose in this teaching role, and FOR HIM, a new energy, joy, and hope fills my heart and mind and soul; one I could never manufacture. I have realized that I NEED this daily reminder because I so often forget. This reminder not only encourages me, but challenges me greatly. I recognize yet again that I must be working to the best of my ability (with the Lord’s strengthening), with faithfulness, with joy, with a heart that seeks to love and represent Christ…ultimately with everything that I have.
Because I am not getting paid for this job, it is a true test- A test of why I work, and for whom I work for. Do I work well only when I get paid? If so, then am I working for the reward of money? Do I work well only when I know I will be watched and evaluated by a boss? Do I work well only when my job is on the line? OR do I work well because God has called me to work well? Do I work well because God has called me to work as unto Him? Do I work well because He is glorified in that? Do I work well because it opens doors to the Gospel? Challenging, yes…impossible, no. For we know that God has given us ALL we need for life and godliness and because of that we are able to do ALL things He has called us to do knowing that He will equip where He calls.
May our hearts rest in His perfect provision of the places of work He has placed us in, knowing that we are there FOR HIM, to SERVE HIM, to work as UNTO HIM, and to GLORIFY HIM! Be the best you can be, knowing He is watching all the time, and know your labor is not in vain.
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