The Sojourner

The Ten Essentials

2012-01-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a weekend backing trip on the Butterfield Hiking Trail at Devil's Den State Park and National Forest for the weekend of March 30. This is just a quick post of a list of the "Ten Essentials" that should accompany every outdoorsman.

1. Navigation (map and compass)
2. Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
4. Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
5. First-aid supplies
6. Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles)
7. Repair kit and tools
8. Nutrition (extra food)
9. Hydration (extra water)
10. Emergency shelter

I'll post more about the trip later.

~Ryan

Bible Reading Plans for 2012

2012-01-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to a great post by Justin Taylor containing several different Bible reading plans. I've heard it said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I have definitely found this to be true even in spiritual things, such as Bible intake. Take a moment and consider how you will pursue God in His word for this coming year. A few moments of planning could see you growing in this area of your spritual development.

Bible Reading Plans for 2012

~Ryan

Photo Card

2011-12-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

Initially Snowflake Christmas

Visit Shutterfly.com for classic photo Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

2011 Family Pics

2011-11-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

We went to the Murrell Home the other day with Bethany and Matt Wheeler and got some new family pictures taken. Bethany did a great job with my unruly mob :)

Just For Fun

2011-11-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

I've been slowly working on learning to play the ocarina. I'm sure it looks silly when I wear this thing around my neck but it really helps to keep it close by so that I can practice when I have a free second or two. This is a video of some amazing ocarina playing. He's using a different style of ocarina than the ones I use but I love how this shows that they are legitimate musical instruments. Enjoy :)

Pro-Choice 180

2011-09-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

I so appreciate Ray Comfort and the service he does for the cause of Christ. I'd encourage you to watch the following video and show it to others.

Thankful for life,

Ryan

Spiritually Dull?

2011-08-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

John Bunyon

Sometimes when my heart has been hard, dead, slothful, blind, and senseless, which indeed are sad frames for a poor Christian to be in, yet at such a time, when I have been in such a case, then has the blood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, the admirable blood of the God of Heaven, that run out of His body when it did hang on the Cross, so softened, livened, quickened, and enlightened my soul, that truly, reader, I can say, O it makes me wonder!

The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (London, 1708), 183.

Five Ways To Make God Known At School This Year

2011-08-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Below are five ways to make God known this next school year – all of them are important. When one of them is missing, the witness to the truth of Christ suffers.

1. Doing your school work to the best of your ability shows the excellence and greatness of God.

2. Being a young man or young woman of integrity shows the integrity and holiness of God.

3. The love you show to students in your classes, in the hallway, at lunch, during sports, at band practice, etc. shows the love of God.

4. The way you handle money shows the value of God compared to other things.

5. The spoken message you give to the reality of Jesus Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.

How Should I Study the Bible?

2011-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

“And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). As we approach the Bible we must look at every word, verse, sentence, paragraph, and book as relating to the Good News of Jesus Christ. I was just listening to a White Horse Inn broadcast where Mike Horton was interviewing Dennis Johnson, author of Him We Proclaim, Preaching Christ in All the Scriptures, and Johnson gave some simple and helpful advice for filtering our study of Scripture through Christ as we interpret it. In essence we come to each passage of the Bible and ask how this relates to Christ in one of His roles: Prophet, Priest, and King.

Priest – Jesus’ role of Priest serves our central need to be reconciled to God, the need for forgiveness and reconciliation. Here the guilty person is made righteous by the slaughter of the spotless Lamb in his place – by this we are justified, that is we are declared not guilty and are acceptable and pleasing in His sight.

King – as the King, Jesus is the one who rules us AND the one who obeys in our place. He is the perfect picture of true submission. Our King tells us how to live, lived perfectly for us in our place, and leaves us an example to look to.

Prophet – as the true Prophet, Jesus is the one who speaks God’s truth to us. He challenges us to live in the reality of this world as God has revealed it to us. As the Bible says, Jesus is the very Word (Message) of God.

If we come to the Bible merely to see what it is that we are supposed to be doing then we will fall headlong into legalism and failure. It is only the Gospel that frees us and empowers us to live as our Lord has called us.

Become a Trader :)

2011-05-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

I think I need to watch this video every day. I so want to live every day for Christ and not be conformed to this present world!

~Ryan

Does it matter how we approach the Bible?

2011-04-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

In my circles we throw around alot of theological terms and one that must be near the top of my list in importance is the term "exegesis." Now you might read that and not even know how to correctly pronounce it let alone what it means. Here's a great video of a discussion between two of my living spiritual heroes discussing this important subject. Enjoy!

RC Sproul interviews DA Carson on biblical exegesis from Ligonier on Vimeo.

Easter Worship for Families

2011-04-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

How will you celebrate the Resurrection with your family? One idea that we have used for a few years now is called "Lenten Lights." This time of worship follows the last week of Jesus' life leading up to our His crucifixion and culminating in a celebration of the resurrection. The holidays can be wonderful times to help teach and encourage our families to keep the Savior our central focus. Maybe this coming Easter season can be a jump start for regular family devotional times. Below is the transcript that you can use for your own Easter family worship this year. This is adapted from a resource from Noel Piper.

To try this with your family you'll need a Bible and seven candles that you can use throughout the week. Also, I'd encourage you to read through the whole thing to get an understanding of what's going on before you try it as a family.

April 16, Saturday of Palm Sunday weekend (All seven candles lit before reading)

Read: God created the universe – from galaxies to water spiders. He created the breeze that calms us and the hurricane that terrifies us. All of it is to show what He is like, to display His glory and personality. BUT people have let themselves be blinded and say it just got there somehow – no need for God. Others worship the things that were created and don’t see God behind it.

Read: John 1:1-5; Genesis 1:1, 31, 2:1-3; Romans 1:18-23 (snuff out one candle. Do not light it again until Easter) Romans 1:25.

April 17, Palm Sunday (Six candles lit before reading)

Read: God created people to give Him glory. And He created a perfect place for them – a place that reflected His glory. He gave them everything they could need or want for happiness. BUT they listened to God’s enemy. They didn’t really believe God’s gifts to them were good enough for them. So they turned their backs on God, and they lost their perfect place to live and their perfect friendship with God. Now they could see pain and futility and death in their future.

Read: Genesis 2:8-9, 16; 3:1, 6-13, 16-19 (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Romans 5:12.

April 18, Monday before Easter (Five candles lit before reading)

Read: Usually God holds back His anger over sin. But one time He let it loose, so we would know how serious it is to turn our backs away from God and toward darkness, and so we would know how great His wrath is against sin. BUT He did not totally destroy His creation. He showed us His mercy, through Noah.

Read: Genesis 6:5-9, 11-14 (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Genesis 6:17-22; 7:12, 23; 8:1, 20-22; 9:12-15

April 19, Tuesday before Easter (Four candles lit before reading)

Read: Even before the world was created, God knew that Jesus would be the Way, the Truth, and the Life for all who believed in Him. But God didn’t just ignore His people then, waiting until the time came for Jesus. No, He gave them a way to be forgiven. If they offered sacrifices from a heart of worship, they could renew their friendship with God as they proved their reliance on Him. BUT people did not rely on God. Some did not follow His way of sacrifice and worship. And there was an even deeper problem. Many may have followed the outward ritual, but they didn’t trust God in their hearts. They didn’t love Him. They didn’t live lives that reflected His glory.

Read: Leviticus 1:1-4; Psalm 51:16-17; Jeremiah 7:21-26 (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Jeremiah 7:27-28

April 20, Wednesday before Easter (Three candles lit before reading)

Read: God wants people to be happy. And the only way we can be truly happy is by following His instructions. So He gave us His Word, His written Word, to make very clear to us where our life comes from and how we can keep it. BUT again and again we think our ideas are better than God’s. And we turn from life to death.

Read: Psalm 19:7-11; Daniel 9:4-6 (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Daniel 9:7-11

April 21, Thursday before Easter (Two candles lit before reading)

Read: God made very sure that we could understand who He is, what He is like, and what He wants for us and what He wants from us. He did this by sending His Son, Jesus. Now we don’t have just the written Word, we have the Living Word – a real person. When people watched Jesus, they were seeing God. BUT even God Himself, God in person, was rejected. People hated Him and rejected His message from God.

Read: John 3:16; Luke 2:6-7; Isaiah 53:3; (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Mark 10:32-34

April 22, Good Friday (One candles lit before reading)

Read: This was the darkest day in history. The Son of God Himself was killed by people who weren’t satisfied simply to reject Him; they couldn’t stand to have Him exist. They thought they could put God out of existence.

Read: Mark 15:22-25; Acts 7:51-53; 2:22-23; (Snuff the next candle. Do not light again until Easter.) Isaiah 53:4-6

April 23, Saturday before Easter (No candles. No readings. Let this serve as a reminder of the emptiness experienced by Jesus’ followers between his death and resurrection.)

April 24, Easter Sunday (Begin with no candles lit)

Read: HE IS GOD! He cannot stay dead. HE IS ALIVE. The true Glory of God shines in the world. The Light has won! The Eternal Light! The Bright Morning Star! The Light of the World!

Read: Matthew 28:5-6; (LIGHT ALL THE CANDLES) Colossians 1:15-23; 1 Peter 1:3-4

THE LORD IS RISEN!

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!

Adapted from Lenten Lights by Noel Piper, http://www.desiringgodministries.org/

Redeeming Your iPhone

2011-02-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

Are your electronics distracting you to death? Here's a great challenge from Pastor John Piper that we need to hear in our digital age.

Are apps a threat to God-focus? Yes. But it works both ways. Fight fire with fire.

If you are reading your Bible on your computer or your smartphone or your iPad, the presence of the email app and the news apps and the Facebook app threaten every moment to drag your attention away from the word of God.

True. Fight that. If your finger offends you, cut it off. Or use any other virtuous violence (Matthew 11:12) that sets you free to rivet your soul on God.

But don’t take mainly a defensive posture. Fight fire with fire.

Why should we think of the Facebook app threatening the Bible app? Why not the Bible app threatening the Facebook app, and the email app, and the RSS feeder, and the news?

Resolve that today you will press the Bible app three times during the day. No five times. Ten times! Maybe you will lose control and become addicted to Bible! Again and again get a two-minute dose of life-giving Food. Man shall not live by Facebook alone.

I’m serious. Never has God’s voice been so easily accessible. The ESV app is free. The OliveTree BibleReader app is free. And so are lots of others. Let the Bible threaten your focus. Or better: Let the Bible bring you back to reality over and over during the day.

Fighting with you,

~Ryan

God's Call for Us All - Do Hard Things, Don't Waste Your Life

2011-01-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

Please pray with me as I think through how to challenge our own youth to not waste their lives but to do hard things for the glory of our amazing God. Who knows, maybe God will even move our adults to do hard things too :)

~Ryan

Should the Church Work on Social and Political Problems?

2011-01-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

I love this answer from Pastor John Piper

Yes . . .

If you mean: Should ten million Christians take 10 hours a week spent watching TV, and give that time to worthy social and political engagement.

No . . .

If you mean: The pastors should leave their Bible study and pulpits and counseling and evangelism, and put that time into politics and social ministries.

May we not waste our lives, and may we keep the main thing the main thing - for His glory!!!

~Ryan

Happy Birthday King James Bible!

2011-01-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible, 1611 to 2011. God has blessed us richly by continuing to give us His eternal, settled word in our own language. Below are three short clips on how the King James Bible came to be. Enjoy!

Justin Taylor Interview: Leland Ryken, "The History of the King James Bible" (part 1 of 3) from Crossway on Vimeo.

Justin Taylor Interview: Leland Ryken, "The History of the King James Bible" (part 2 of 3) from Crossway on Vimeo.

Justin Taylor Interview: Leland Ryken, "The History of the King James Bible" (part 3 of 3) from Crossway on Vimeo.

~Ryan

Get in the Word This New Year!

2011-01-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

Many people I talk to say that they struggle to get into Scripture regularly and/or meaningfully. Recently I've been desiring to and attempting to (but failing miserably) memorize larger portions of Scripture, specifically the book of Philippians. The idea of memorizing this particular book just keeps popping up over and over again from different sources in my life. This leads me to a resouce I found just the other day that I want to commend to whomever might be interested. It is a sixteen week plan for memorizing the book of Philippians (just click the last sentence to see the blog post).

We desperately need to work to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). I've learned again and again that if I am not being transformed to the mind of Christ then I am, by default, being conformed to this present age in which I live (and so are you). I hope that some will join me in this endeavor to memorize the book of Philippians. Shelly and I plan to begin next week. As a side note if you are looking for the Moleskine notebooks they have some of the 3.5 x 5.5 plastic cover versions at our NSU bookstore. I actually like these better than the ones suggested in Tim's blog. The ones at NSU are 80 pages long allowing you to space out the sixteen sections a little more widely so that there is more room to journal your meditations for the week :)

Also here are a few options you could use for your Bible reading program for this year:

Discipleship Journal
This plan from NavPress's Discipleship Journal lays out four daily readings, but only for 25 days per month (let's face it we all get behind). This is my personal favorite for someone who wants to read through the whole Bible in one year (which I have never accomplished).

For Shirkers and Slackers
I just came across this one today and it now is probably my favorite plan for someone who wants some structure in their Bible reading and who wants to eventually read the entire Bible. There are no time limits, and no way to get behind, yet it allows you to keep track of what you have read.

Chronological Bible Reading Plan
You may or may not know this but our Bible's are not compiled in chronological order. The goal of this plan is to read through the Bible in a year taking the sections of Scripture as they would happen in chronological order. I've not done this yet, but is sounds interesting.

Whatever you decide to do - do it! Don't let yourself merely float or simply think that you can get your spiritual nourishment on Sundays and Wednesdays. If you are feasting on Christ and His word throughout the week then you will come to church hungry for more; but conversely, if you feast on the white bread of laziness during the week you will come to church not hungry at all and will receive little to no nourishment. Fight the fight of faith.

Wanting to hunger more,

~Ryan

The Twelve Doctrines of Christmas :)

2010-12-15T11:18:00.001-08:00

2010-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season is a great time to heed the warning of Hebrews 2:1 which tells us, "Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it." But one might say, "I won't drift away. I am eternally secure." Well part of my answer to that is that one aspect of the means that God will use to keep you is your work of paying much closer attention. This leads me to the reason for this post. I want to recommend a book to bless you as you seek to set your eyes of faith on Christ during Christmas.

The book is entitled Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (click the title to be taken to Crossway's site). It is, and I quote, "an anthology of Advent readings collected from the writings and sermons of 22 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers." Shelly and I picked up this little book last year and we were both greatly encouraged and I am again finding it to be wonderful source of food for my soul this year. Many of the authors are some of my all-time favorites - contributors like John Piper, J. Ligon Duncan, Randy Alcorn, John MacArthur, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, Skip Ryan, Joni Eareckson Tada, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, etc... With a line up like that how could one not be challenged and encouraged!

So, what will you do to heed the call and warning of Hebrews. Brothers and sisters, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

Striving alongside you,

~Ryan

Loving Life

2010-11-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to join us next Tuesday!!!

He Might Taste Death for Everyone

2010-11-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

What an amazing verse, "But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). He "tasted death" not merely as an example so that we would not fear death, as Chrysostom stated, but rather He took the death that I justly deserve before a holy God. John Calvin said it well,

By saying 'for everyone,' he means not only that Christ might be an example to others, as Chrysostom says, when he adduces the example of a physician taking the first taste of a bitter draught, that the patient may consent to drink it; he means rather that Christ died for us, and that by taking on Himself was was due to us, He redeemed us from the curse of death."

Death's sting, curse, and power have been destroyed by our Lord tasting death for us. Look to Him today - rejoice in Him today.

~Ryan

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

May this Thanksgiving find you rejoicing in our Savior God with expressions similar to those of our Puritan forefathers.

"O my God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou has created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express
for what thou art to thy creatures.

Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.
Amen."

See more puritan prayers in the book The Valley of Vision.

~Ryan

Ten Questions to Ask to Turn a Conversation Toward the Gospel

2010-11-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

By Don Whitney

Many Christians suffer with unnecessary fears about sharing their faith. Once they finally get a conversation turned to the subject of the Gospel, however, most believers find that they're able to manage quite well. Much of the time the biggest problem is simply moving a conversation from small talk to "big" talk, the biggest subject of all—the Gospel. Here's a list of questions that can help. Some of them aren't original with me, though I don't recall where years ago I first heard the ones I've borrowed. I've found that the last one opens more doors for the Gospel in the widest variety of situations.

When you die, if God says to you, "Why should I let you into Heaven?", what would you say? Are you interested in what the Bible says about your answer?
If you were to die tonight, where do you think you would spend eternity? Why? Are you interested in what the Bible says about this?
Do you think much about spiritual things?
How is God involved in your life?
How important is your faith to you?
What has been your most meaningful spiritual experience?
Do you find that your religious heritage answers your questions about life?
Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? Well, the Bible says . . . .
To you, who is Jesus?
I often like to pray for people I meet; how can I pray for you?

Copyright © 2002 Donald S. Whitney.

Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on the Center for Biblical Spirituality website is copyrighted by Donald S. Whitney. Permission granted to copy this material in its complete text only for not-for-profit use (sharing with a friend, church, school, Bible study, etc.) and including all copyright information. No portion of this website may be sold, distributed, published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast, or commercially exploited without the prior written permission from Donald S. Whitney.

Visit Don's website at http://www.biblicalspirituality.org/

What the Church in America Needs

2010-11-15T08:59:00.001-08:00

Check out The Gospel Coalition for more great resources.

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Veteran's Day! I just got back from the parade with my kids. I found it difficult at times to hold back my tears as I saw and honored the men and women who drove by who had done such a service for our country. I am truly thankful to our amazing Lord for the country that He has allowed me to live in. Our government may not be perfect, but at the same time it has a lot to commend it. Our freedoms did not come easily or peacefully and I truly want to express my gratitude for those who strive and have striven to protect this land. I pray we use our freemdoms and prosperity to further the fame of the name of Jesus Christ in this world. One day there will be a perfect "government" - when our Lord Jesus reigns visibly over all of creation. Until that day we are called to occupy until He comes or calls us home.

Below is a short documentary from the History Channel on the story behind the date we use to honor our veterans, November 11.

Thank you veterans.

~Ryan

Hebrews 2:1-4 - The Danger of Drifting Away

2010-11-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

We hear lots of warning in life and many of them we don’t pay much attention to - cigarettes; STD’s; speed limits; wearing a helmet when cycling or on a motorcycle, etc… Many of these are ignored for various reasons and often have disastrous consequences.

In this post we are going to be reminded of a warning of a danger that is much more deadly than the ones we just mentioned. We are going to consider just how it is that we are going to keep from being another one of those who drifts away from salvation in Jesus Christ?

We’re looking at the book of Hebrews – and what we have seen so far is that God has spoken today through His Son Jesus and we have beheld the breath-taking superiority of Jesus Christ.

My goal from this text is to warn you of the danger of drifting away from God and to point you to your help.

Hebrews 2:1-4

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

v. 1 - Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

We’re supposed to pay close attention to something – what is it? 1:1-2 – It is the message that God has spoken through His Son Jesus. God has given a message to us and we are supposed to pay attention to it.

Why is this message from Jesus such a big deal? Why is it a bigger deal than a message from someone else? The clue is in the word “Therefore.”

Because God has spoken through Jesus – Jesus who is absolutely superior to anything or anyone else, including the mighty angels of God.

He is the heir of all things, God created the world through Him, He is the radiance of the glory of God, He is the exact imprint of God’s nature, He upholds the universe by the very word of His power (vv. 2-3).

In other words, he is someone worth listening to.

What could happen if we don’t pay close attention to Him (v. 1)? We could drift away from that message – the message of the Gospel.

The word drift away has the idea of being in a ship and being carried past a safe anchorage by a current or the wind.

Here the idea is that we could drift away from the safe harbor of salvation in Jesus Christ if we don’t pay much closer attention to that message. And not just closer attention – much closer attention.

Come on, let’s be serious – is there really any danger of any of you reading this post drifting away from this message?!?

The answer is “Yes!” I’ve seen it over and over again. This is serious – this is deadly.

Look at verse 2 – For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution – Do you see what that’s saying?

God’s message in the past wasn’t always taken seriously – and think about the consequences.

God had sent his angels to bring His word to man (Exodus 23:20-23). He promised to bless them if the obeyed His voice – and to curse them if they disobeyed His voice.

Look at Deuteronomy 28 – especially verse 1 & verse 15. Did the blessing for obedienc and the cursing for disobedience happen to Israel? We know from history that it did (look at Judges 2:11-15).

God is serious. Disobedience has serious consequences. It receives the just penalty.

And do you see what the writer of Hebrews is saying?

If they didn’t escape – how can we expect to (v. 3)??? And their message was a message given to them by angels – our message was given by the almighty, superior Son of God Himself.

You might be saying at this point, “Okay, Ryan, but I’ve trusted in Jesus as my Savior. I’m right with God.”

BUT – what does the text say? We are called to pay much closer attention. And the danger for us is that we’ll neglect this great salvation.

A common mentality for many people is, “I’ll get serious about God later.” And this is exactly what this idea of neglect has in mind. To neglect means “to pay no attention to” or “to be unconcerned about.”

The Hebrew Christians were not “rejecting” the Gospel – but were in danger of minimizing it’s influence in their lives. They would have said, “Yes, I’m a Christian” – but in reality it was not that big of a deal in their lives.

And remember just what verses 3 & 4 say about this Gospel message – it was given by Jesus Christ, it was spread by eye witnesses, and God Himself gave evidence upon evidence that it was true and extremely important.

This Gospel isn’t some little hidden or secret message. It’s not like the founder of this religion was out in the woods with his head in a bowl receiving some private revelation from “god.” It was big – it was out in the open – it was noticed by people in all levels of society.

Many have tried to disprove it through the years – but none have been ultimately successful – and by God’s grace some who spent years trying to disprove it have themselves come to faith in the Son of God.

But what about you? More than likely if you’re taking the time to read this post you are not actively rejecting the message of Jesus Christ – BUT – are you neglecting it? Are you fighting the temptations of your own desires and the very air of the culture around you to minimize the implications of the Gospel on your life?

I would challenge you to rehearse this Gospel every single day – PAY MUCH CLOSER ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD.

(GOD) Get up in the morning and remind yourself of the greatness and holiness of God.

That this God made everything that you can see w/your eyes, everything you can taste with your tongue, everything you touch or smell. This is the God who has no evil – He is absolutely righteous in all He does and says.

(SIN) Remind yourself of your failure to honor God and obey His laws. Remind yourself that your tendency is to do the wrong thing and that you have no goodness of your own.

(CHRIST) Then remind yourself of this amazing God who sent His Son to be the payment for your sins. That God’s love and mercy led Him to send His Son to live the life we are unable to live, and that we refuse to live, and that He died on the cross taking the judgment that we deserve – and then was raised from the dead to give us new life.

(RESPONSE) And then repent afresh and trust in Christ. Acknowledge your need to live God’s way and not your own. Acknowledge your sinful rebellion and again place your trust in this Jesus who died paying the penalty for your sin and who rose from the dead.

Beloved – rehearse this every day. Pay much closer attention, lest you drift away.

Hebrews 1:4-14 - Will the Real Jesus Please Remain Seated?!?

2010-11-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

Who is this Jesus? We saw in the last post that He is the Revealer, the Heir, the Creator, the Radiance of the Glory of God, the very Image of God, the Sustainer of the universe, Purifier of God’s people, and He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. This is Jesus.

Hebrews 1:4-14 -

having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Who is Jesus? He is someone who is so much better than even mighty angels. Let’s just work our way through the text and see in what way He is so much better.

v. 4 – He has a more excellent name – i.e. “Son” – this denotes a more intimate family relationship

v. 5 – terms “Son” and “Father” are used repeatedly. This is quoted from Psalm 2 & 2 Samuel 7 - Jesus is the only one that could fulfill the promise to David that God would make a Son for Himself from the offspring of David. Solomon failed to keep the Law and so his kingdom did not last, but Jesus kept God’s law perfectly. He is the perfect Son for the perfect Father.

v. 6 – Jesus is said to be the “Firstborn” – this is the preeminent position in a family – receiving a double portion of the inheritance.

Also in v. 6 we see that these mighty angels - (who were even called “gods” in the OT – Job 1:6; Deut 32:43) - these mighty beings are called to worship Jesus the Son, because He is God. He is infinitely more excellent than they.

v. 7 – Angels are amazing – they beings mightily used by God.

vv. 8-9 – BUT not compared to the eternal, reigning, righteous, joyful King Jesus.

v. 10-12 – This is the Jesus that made everything and although this temporal creation will all wear out, He lives reigning forever and ever.

v. 13 – This is the Jesus who alone has the position of power and privilege at God’s right hand

v. 14 – The angels have a place – it is to serve believers – the ones inheriting salvation from God – yet how can you compare any angel or man to this Jesus the Son of God?!?!

This is who God in His word declare Jesus to be. And everyone believes this right? Let me just give you a quick comparison to a few other religious views of Jesus.

Islam – Muslim views of Jesus:
1. Jesus was created and not eternal
2. Jesus was merely a created human
3. Jesus is not the Lamb of God who was slain
4. Jesus is not the way of salvation for mankind – the five pillars of Islam are the way
5. Jesus was never crucified and therefore was not resurrected
6. Jesus cannot be worshipped
7. Jesus is simply another prophet of God
8. Jesus will die forty years after his return
9. Jesus is never said to love the world

Mormon views of Jesus:
1. Jesus is the literal son of god and his goddess wife – he was born through physical sexual relations with Mary.
2. Jesus is the brother of all spirits born in heaven – he is even the spirit brother of Lucifer
3. Jesus was married and had wives
4. Jesus is only a God – God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate gods.
5. Jesus is not to be worshipped and is not called God – (prayer is never addressed to Jesus Christ – prayers are made in his name but are addressed to the “Heavenly Father” – and do not go through Jesus)

Jehovah’s Witness views of Jesus:
1. Jesus is the first creation – the only begotten Son of God – there is only one God in one person
2. Jesus was Michael the archangel who became a man
3. Jesus was only a perfect man, not God in the flesh
4. Jesus did not rise from the dead in a physical body – but only a spirit
5. Jesus was born again
6. Jesus did not die on a cross but on a stake
7. Jesus alone cannot save us but we need faith and good works
8. Jesus was not entrusted with the duty to oversee the creation of the earth, Satan was.

Are these views compatible with the biblical view of Jesus? No. Jesus is not these things and He is not merely your “buddy” and “pal” who helps you through tough times. He’s not your “homey” or your “home-boy”.

No – He is God of very God – and He is worthy of your adoration, trust, and submission. He is what your life is to be all about. And He is worthy of that.

Hebrews 1:1-3 - The Incomparable Jesus

2010-10-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm starting my way through Hebrews on Wednesday nights and hope to post much of the lessons here. As I begin this study, I am again blown away by the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly He is worthy of our worship.

Hebrews 1:1-3 - [1 :1] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2 ] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3 ] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Truly Jesus has...

1. Superior Revelation (vv. 1-2a)

[1 :1] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2 ] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son

-vs- our inner “feelings” let alone the Old Testament. All that God did and revealed in the old days (OT) pointed to and prepared for what we have now in these last days. Jesus has come and has brought us understanding of what God’s design is for us all. He alone is worthy to reveal and carry out the will of God (Revelation 5).

Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Also, there is a great danger that we might simply trust our own judgments and feelings. But remember, we are fallen, finite, sinful creatures that need help from the outside. This is what God has provided. He has revealed Himself to us by His Son.

There is a God – and He has spoken. If you want to know Him, you come through His Son. Do you doubt Him? Spend some time considering the incomparable Jesus Christ.

2. Superior inheritance (v. 2b)

whom he appointed the heir of all things

-vs- our inheritance – What might you inherit? (money, land, house, dishes, etc…)

Psalm 2 – (read it!)

Colossians 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

3. Superior beginning (v. 2c)

through whom also he created the world

-vs- our beginning – How old are you? I’m 38 years old. How does that compare to the one who created everything???

John 1:3 - All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This is the God who has no beginning – He is the beginning for everything else.

4. Superior glory (v.3a)

He is the radiance of the glory of God

-vs- our glory – Who do you think is the greatest? The greatest in whatever category you want to choose. Compare that person to Christ - there is no comparison!

2 Corinthians 4:4-6 - In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

5. Superior image (v. 3b)

the exact imprint of his nature

-vs- our image – What do people think of you?

Colossians 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God

John 14:9 - Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

6. Superior power (v. 3c)

and he upholds the universe by the word of his power

-vs- our power – What’s something you accomplished or built that you were pretty pleased with? (Me – I remodeled a bathroom remodel) Compare the work we do with blood, sweat and tears with Christ using His “word” – comparatively speaking we are powerless.

Colossians 1:17 - And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

7. Superior cleansing (v. 3d)

making purification for sins

-vs- our spiritual cleansing – We so often try to think we earn God’s approval by how we live and act, by our good deeds or obeying God. But Christ has done the work – the penalty is death (OT sacrificial system by the high priest)

Hebrews 9:12-14 - he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

8. Superior position (v. 3e)

he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

-vs- our positions – 1st chair in band, youngest/oldest in family, job, class president, popular, even President of the U.S.

Ephesians 1:20-21 - that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Conclusion:

This is the incomparable Jesus Christ. Nothing you could live your life for could possibly compare to living for Him – anything else could not even be placed on the scale to compare. Compared to this Jesus, all mankind put together is lighter than a breath (Psalm 62:9).

I invite you to join me as we come together on Wednesdays to consider this amazing Jesus Christ and His implications on your life.

Finding God's Will

2010-09-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Finding God's will for one's life is not some great mysterious thing. Unfortunately many people misunderstand just what it means to "find God's will." Kevin DeYoung does a good job of summing up how to to go about doing it - here's a good summary from his book Just Do Something: A Liberating approach to Finding God's Will:

Simply put, God's will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). . . . God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better: He promises to make us loving, pure, and humble like Christ. In short, God's will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus.

So go marry someone, provided you're equally yoked and you actually like being with each other. Go get a job, provided it's not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and for God's sake start making some decisions in your life. Don't wait for the liver-shiver. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God's will, so just go out and do something. (61)

Is it Wrong for Men to Listen to Women Teachers?

2010-08-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Men's and women's roles within the church, as well as the home, are unfortunately often an area of controversy. I say "unfortunately" because we have God's Word that spells out for us God's "mind" on the matter. One great resource that lays a solid exegetical, biblical foundation is The Center for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood - and in particular the book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood which is available free in PDF format by following the preceding link.

I am also posting below the transcript of a question posed to Pastor John Piper and his answer. He articulates well and succinctly what we should understand from the Scriptures.

The following is an edited transcript of the audio.

The Question: I'm a guy. Is it wrong for me to listen to Beth Moore?

John Piper's Answer: No. Unless you begin to become dependent on her as your shepherd—your pastor.

This is the way I feel about women speaking occasionally in Sunday school. We don't need to be picky on this. The Bible is clear that women shouldn't teach and have authority over men. In context, I think this means that women shouldn't be the authoritative teachers of the church—they shouldn't be elders. That is the way Rick Warren is understanding it, and most of us understand it that way.

This doesn't mean you can't learn from a woman, or that she is incompetent and can't think. It means that there is a certain dynamic between maleness and femaleness that when a woman begins to assume an authoritative teaching role in your life the manhood of a man and the womanhood of a woman is compromised.

What I just said is unbelievably controversial. There are thousands, even millions of people that think this idea is absolutely obscene. That is the language people used back in the 70's when I was fighting battles over biblical manhood and womanhood. It isn't obscene. It is recognized profoundly in a lot of young people today, as well as older people.

To the question of whether men should listen to a woman like Elisabeth Elliot—who was the Beth Moore of my generation. Elisabeth Elliot provoked students to be lay down your life missionaries. I love it! Sock it to them Elisabeth! She was so in your face about laying your life down and being radically obedient and totally committed. She was not a pastor, and she didn't even preach on Sunday mornings. She is my kind of lady. I can learn heaps from her.

I want to learn from my wife and I am happy to learn from Beth Moore. But I don't want to get into a relationship of listening or attending a church where a woman is becoming my pastor, my shepherd or my authority. I think that would be an unhealthy thing for a man to do. I could give reasons for that biblically, experientially and psychologically, but I have given the gist of it.

So the answer is, no it is not wrong for you to listen to Beth Moore, but it could become wrong. I think Beth Moore would be happy with that answer. I've talked to her about this, and I think she would be OK with what I've said. Our paths cross at the Passion Conference every now and then, and we talk.

© Desiring God

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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/

Should the Church Entertain?

2010-08-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?

by Charles Spurgeon (edited)

An evil is in the 'professed' camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years this evil has developed at an alarming rate. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments!

The devil has seldom done a more clever thing, than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out the gospel, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses!

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel'.

No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people, or because they confronted them? The 'concert' has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the apostolic Church to the world? "You are the salt of the world", not the sugar candy; something the world will spit out, not swallow.

Had Jesus introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His teaching, He would have been more popular. When "many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him," I do not hear Him say, 'Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow; something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it! Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!'

No! Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them!

In vain will the epistles be searched to find any trace of the 'gospel of amusement'. Their message is, "Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them... Don't touch their filthy things..." Anything approaching amusement is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, 'Lord, grant unto your servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are'.

No! They did not cease from preaching Christ. They had no time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down; that is the only difference from today's church.

Lastly, amusement fails to effect the end desired. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God's link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer! The mission of amusement produces no converts!

The need of the hour for today's ministry is earnest spirituality joined with Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods!

http://www.gracegems.org/2002/Feeding%20Sheep%20or%20Amusing%20Goats.htm

Date Night Tips

2010-08-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Some great date night tips from pastor Mark Driscoll.

Parents, if you can’t afford a sitter, is there a way to set up a rotation with three other families to take turns each week watching kids for date night?
Husbands, when is your date night? Your wife needs it. You do, too. Grace and I have enjoyed Friday date nights for about 20 years.
Husbands, don’t waste every date night at a movie where you can’t talk. Use the time to visit with your wife, draw her out, and study her like you do the Bible.
Husbands, plan out your date nights. Ask you wife in advance what sounds good, see what your options are, and make a plan. She’ll be thankful.
Date night killers: no plan, selfishness, laziness, letting technology keep interrupting, and doing the same old predictable thing.
Time with other couples now and then is OK, but if most date nights involve other people, there is likely an intimacy disconnect in the marriage.
Dads, moms who stay home all day with the kids need to get dressed up, taken out, and have some adult conversation with their husbuddy.
Husbands, what can you do to find some creative ways to make date night fun and endearing even on a tight budget?
Husbands, what can you start doing days or hours before date night to build the expectation of connection with your wife? Flowers, cards, calls, texts?
When life gets crazy, the kids are sick, etc. is there any way to sneak in a bit of a date night at home with say a soak in the tub together, glass of wine etc. after the kids go to sleep?
Sometimes sending the kids out to someone’s house and having a date night at home can be cheap and fun if planned right.
Men, you don’t pursue a woman to marry her and stop pursuing her. You pursue a woman to marry her and pursue her with more passion and creativity than ever. How’s it going husbands?
Men, you don’t need to understand women. You will be doing better than most men to understand just one woman. Date nights are to ask inviting questions, listen, and learn about her. It’s also a night to open up and let her do the same.
Men, if you don’t date your wife, someone else may eventually volunteer for the job.
Ladies, sometimes it’s a great gift to go into your husband’s world for a date night by doing something like putting on a jersey going to a game and eating a hot dog. His love language may just be hot dog.
Men: find a shirt with buttons, try two eyebrows instead of one, find a breath mint or 20, show up with a gift, don’t ogle other women, and go to a restaurant that does not have a spork.
Sometimes the best date night is date breakfast, date lunch, or surprise pick up your spouse from work for an hour at a hotel.

Another resource I'd highly recommend for men is C.J. Mahaney's Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God. We need to remember that our marriages were designed by our Lord to be a picture of Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:22-33), therefore the health of our marriages is truly tied to God's glory. Let's constantly pray and work to be pursuing our spouses for our joy and God's glory!

~Ryan

Our New Baby!

2010-07-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday - Thursday July 29 - at 1:04am Adilee Sue Galdamez was born. What a blessing! It's amazing how impatient one can become as they await the arrival of these little bundles. Shelly and Adilee are doing are doing great. She came in at 6 lbs, 10.4 ozs, and 20 1/4 inches long.

It's amazing how choked up I get when I see my children for the first time. You'd think after six it would be old hat but it's not. Each of my kiddos is such an individual person and a blessing. They are great reminders of God's abounding grace to me in Christ. Now may He draw each of their hearts to see and savor His glory!

~Ryan

Adopting an Unreached People Group

2010-07-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to yesterday's post I thought I'd include some steps that our church, or any church, can take as they move toward adopting an unreached people group. This list is taken from the International Mission Board's website - http://www.imb.org/ - and a link to a more extensive PDF version of this list can be found on their site (click here to be taken to the PDF version).

1. Pray for God’s guidance

2. Discover your church’s natural affinity (DNA)

3. Determine the church’s expectations for adoption

4. Work with church leaders and identify a mission “champion”

5. Investigate opportunities

6. When God directs you to a specific unreached people group, pray and celebrate God’s direction.

7. Communicate, follow through and keep your commitments.

Please pray with me as we seek to honor our Lord and win the lost.

~Ryan

The Brushes of God's Painting

2010-07-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have begun dreaming, hoping and praying that our church, Grace Baptist, would move to "adopt" an unreached people group (UPG) in the 10/40 Window (Revelation 5:9) - specifically joining our missionary brothers and sisters in the Pacific Rim. I would love to see us labor and give by God's grace and not give up until we see a reproducing church planted in each UPG. Although I have some ideas as to how to go about this, I readily admit that I don't have all that many answers. Sankie and I met with Jim and Chris last week and talked about this vision and we are all praying that it will come to bear fruit.

The glory of God is the supreme value in all the universe (Isaiah 40:12-31) and we have been created for His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7; 1 Corinthians 10:31). What a joy and privilege we have to join this amazing God as He saves a people "to the praise of His glorious grace" (Ephesians 1:6). Take a moment to consider this quote from pastor John Piper which he stated in a message entitled "The Unfathomable Riches of Christ, for All Peoples, Above All Powers, Through the Church."

Picture in your mind a great, wise painter, painting on a huge canvas with many brushes, most of them very ordinary and messy. The painter is God, so you can't picture him. He's invisible. But he intends for his painting to be the visible display of his wisdom. He knows people can't see him, but he wants his wisdom to be seen and admired. His canvas is huge. It's the size of the created universe. I know you can't really imagine looking at that canvas because you are in it. But do your best.

And God is painting with thousands and thousands of colors and shades and textures—a picture as big as the universe and as old as creation and as lasting as eternity—a picture we call history, with the central drama being the preparation, salvation, and formation of the church of Jesus Christ. And he is using thousands of different brushes, most of them very ordinary and very small because every minute detail is crucial in this painting, to display the wisdom of the Painter. These brushes are God's missionaries.

I would add that these brushes also include God's faithful children who stand behind those missionaries through their prayers, financial support, and encouragement. Please pray with me and Sankie as we seek to move, by God's grace, in this direction.

For His fame,

~Ryan

Hudson Taylor and Resting in Christ

2010-07-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

I want to commend to you the book, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. We assigned it again this summer for our interns. As we began to our discussion last week I was again struck by the truth of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ alone and my need not to strive but simply to restfully trust. Here are a few quotes I sent to my brother in the Lord, Jonathan, as he serves in Ethiopia:

I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for meditation - but all without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.

But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One. As I read, I saw it all! "If we believe not, he abideth faithful." I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed!) that He had said, "I will never leave thee." "Ah, there is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me - never to leave me, never to fail me?" And, dearie, He never will.

And since Christ has thus dwelt in my heart by faith how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you about it, instead of writing. I am no better than before. In a sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be. But I am dead and buried with Christ - aye and risen too! And now Christ lives in me, and "the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Oh, to live in that conscious reality. The supremacy and sufficiency of Christ alone. I hope and pray that we expereince this type of rest and joy in the reality of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Looking to Him,

~Ryan

The Prodigal

2010-05-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

I have been being blessed more and more lately by the music ministry of Soverign Grace. Rarely today do we find such depth of truth, accuracy, and heart-felt worship. I listened to and watched this music video this morning and it left me tearing up and praising my amazing God for His grace found in His Son. I commend it to anyone for their humiliation and edification.

Here are the lyrics:

You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life

Where now are the friends, that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh, to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house

You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child

© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).

HALLELUJAH - WHAT A SAVIOR!!!

~ryan

Friendships - Proverbs, part 5

2010-03-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

Why do you spend time with the friends you have? Think about this for a moment. Why?

None of us wants to be lonely. In fact we know from Scripture that God made us to be in relationship.

What did God say after He made Adam? “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). So relationships are God’s idea. I mean think about it, when God saves us as individuals he saves us into something. What is that something? Answer: The church – the assembled/called out people of God. We are not saved to just go on our merry way all by ourselves, but rather we are called into a people, a family who are to seek to glorify God together.

So our relationships are important to God and they should be important to us.

Well let’s spend a bit of time gaining God’s wisdom for our lives in the area of friendships. Remember, this is God’s idea and it was meant for our good and His glory, so we would do well to listen to Him.

The Influence of Friends

First we are going to talk about the influence of friends. How much do you think your friendships influence you? Often our style of dress, the activities we engage in, the places we go, and the values we hold are being shaped by our relationships and we may not even realize it.

God knows that who we spend time with will influence us. Consider these texts:

Prov. 28:7 The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.

Prov. 29:3 He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

Prov. 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Prov. 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

1 Cor. 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

In short – you will be influenced by who you spend time with. So, how should this affect how you choose friends?

Characteristics of Friends

Now, let’s think about characteristics of friends. What makes a good or bad friend?

Consider these verses:

Prov. 27:10a Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend.
They stick with you. This is not always easy. What about when you do something wrong or embarrassing, will they still be by your side. A good friend sticks with you.

Prov. 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
They forgive real offenses. Do friends sometimes do things wrong? Yes. A good friend will try to salvage a relationship and forgive.

Prov. 24:28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
A good friend is honest. They won’t speak against you without a good reason.

Prov. 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
A good friend will get in your face when you need it. They’ll do what’s good for you, not merely tell you what you want to hear. I am right now reaching out to a friend who I’ve discovered is struggling with pornography. I could easily turn my head and ignore it but I care too much for him.

Prov. 27:9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
A good friend gives good counsel. Think about your friendships, are the things your friends are telling you to do good or not?

Heb. 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Heb. 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

A good friend will point you away from the deceitfulness of sin, will point you to Christ, to living for what really matters.

The Goal of Friends

Lastly, let’s think about the goal of friends. Have you ever thought about this? Have you ever stopped to consider that you should be intentional as a friend? I think we usually just have friends because we enjoy being with them. But, is this really all it’s about? Is there no higher purpose?

Let’s back this up to the bigger picture. What is our goal supposed to be for everything in life? Answer: to glorify God! So, should your friendships be any different?

How can you glorify God in friendships? Look back at the verses from Hebrews. What do we see? Exhorting away from sin – stirring up to love and good deeds – meeting together with the purpose of pointing to Christ and His return.

What about you?

Are you intentional in your relationships? Or are you just there for what you can get out of it? Really think about this.

Maybe you need to repent concerning how you’ve been handling relationships. Probably most of you need this. You need to again see how you’ve not walked in God’s way – you have sinned against Him. You need to recognize this and turn from it and again look to the cross of Christ – this amazing God-man who took our sins upon Himself and took God’s wrath in our place and then He rose from the dead to give us new life.

You see, God cares about your relationships. He cares about how you behave in relationships. Will you seek to glorify Him?

We need to remember that the book of Proverbs was written to help us live our lives in a way that pleases God and is profitable to us. Don’t be a fool. Be wise in your relationships.

~Ryan

A Little Food For Your Soul

2010-03-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

"The life of every Christian is filled with enough inconsistencies to disprove the Christian faith every day if it were based on our changed lives. The history of the church is littered not only with heresies and schisms but with crusades, inquisitions, and the justification of atrocities in the name of Christ. Yet in all of this we can point away from ourselves, individually and collectively, to "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) In fact, it is only by repenting of our spiritual pride and casting ourselves ever anew on God's mercy in his Son that we can become servants rather than masters of our neighbors" ~Michael Horton

Belief Test - Answers

2010-03-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are the answers to the "Belief Test" that I posted the other day. Take a look and see how you did.

1. Agree or Disagree: The sign of a justified person is to say, “God have mercy upon me a sinner.”
(AGREE – We know this is true because it is a quote from the lips of Jesus in Luke 18:13-14. This cry is from one who has seen His sin in light of the holiness of God and is crying out for mercy. Jesus stated that the tax collector who proclaimed these words went home justified. One might argue that this is not “the sign” but it would seem from Jesus words that the attitude that lead the man to utter these words would indicate one who is justified. What justified person would not utter these words?!?)

2. Agree or Disagree: There is no one who is righteous, no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God, there is no one who does good.
(AGREE – These are the very words of Scripture found in Romans 3:10-12. We have to line up our understanding of mankind with the Word of God and not let our own impressions guide us.)

3. Agree or Disagree: We are saved by grace after all that we can do.
(DISAGREE – This is in no way scriptural but rather is a teaching of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. We are saved by grace – period. There is nothing we can do – Ephesians 2:8-9. The saved person is one who has seen his sinfulness and the provision of God in Jesus Christ and responds by God’s grace in repentance and faith.)

4. Agree or Disagree: The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
(AGREE – Again, this is from the Bible - Jeremiah 17:9.)

5. Agree or Disagree: Salvation is for those who do absolutely nothing to help save themselves but simply trust in a God who justifies wicked people.
(AGREE – This teaching is found in Romans 4:5. This is the good news for desperately sinful people like us. You and I have nothing to offer God.)

6. Agree or Disagree: A Christian is someone who is simultaneously a saint and a sinner.
(AGREE – The Apostle Paul understood himself to be both a saint and a sinner. Check these references - Ephesians 3:8; 1 Timothy 1:15. Not only was Paul declared righteous in God’s sight and therefore a “holy-one” but he understood his remaining sinfulness that resided in him and clearly saw that he was still a sinner. Again, this is the Gospel – the good news that I stand before God not on my own merit but on Christ’s merit imputed to me.)

7. Agree or Disagree: No one can come to Jesus unless enabled to do so by the Father.
(AGREE – Jesus stated this in John 6:44. Left to our own devices we would continue in rebellion to God. We are saved by grace.)

8. Agree or Disagree: God will not deny His grace to those who do what lies within their power.
(DISAGREE – this is a medieval Roman Catholic belief – older version of “God helps those who help themselves.” This adds human effort to the work of Christ. Christ is sufficient for the salvation of all who believe – Hebrews 7:25.)

9. Agree or Disagree: Salvation does not depend on man’s choice or effort but on God’s mercy.
(AGREE – This is found in Romans 9:16. We want to add something to our salvation but God’s Word does not allow it. Read all of Romans 9-11. I love the way Paul concludes this section in 11:33-36. These teachings are too far above us and therefore should lead us to praise the One of infinite glory.)

10. Agree or Disagree: Even our good works are sinful and repugnant to God.
(AGREE – Isaiah 64:6 – We have nothing in ourselves to offer God. In fact anything we do that is not out of faith is sin, Romans 14:23. It is only through faith, by the cleansing of the Spirit, that we can offer anything to God that is acceptable.)

It is important to know what you believe and also why you believe it.

~Ryan

Spring Snow

2010-03-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of spring and everyone was out with shorts and T-shirts..what a difference one day makes. Here are some pics from today.

Why is Charys eating his head? Noel was a big help in building our snowman.

Noel and Indiana Snowman. Noel wasn't too sure that she liked the snow blowing in her face - but she sure was cute.

Elijah was trying to catch the snow on his tongue while the boys constructed a snow fort.

The girls made a bug.

Here's the finished product - pretty creative. Charys has a bug collection for a school project and she's going to add a picture of her big bug.

Well, it's been a fun day. Right now we're inside nice and warm and watching some "The Walton's." Quality entertainment.

Keep your eyes on Christ,

~Ryan

Belief Test

2010-03-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

What do you believe? Many Christians may know how to speak “Christianese” but do they really know what the Scriptures teach. Each of these statements below represents what some people believe. Test your knowledge here by telling me whether you agree or disagree with each of these statements. Try to answer them quickly and don’t get help from anyone else. Send me an email with your answers or post them in the comments section. I’ll post the answers next week.

1. Agree or Disagree: The sign of a justified person is to say, “God have mercy upon me a sinner.”

2. Agree or Disagree: There is no one who is righteous, no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God, there is no one who does good.

3. Agree or Disagree: We are saved by grace after all that we can do.

4. Agree or Disagree: The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

5. Agree or Disagree: Salvation is for those who do absolutely nothing to help save themselves but simply trust in a God who justifies wicked people.

6. Agree or Disagree: A Christian is someone who is simultaneously a saint and a sinner.

7. Agree or Disagree: No one can come to Jesus unless enabled to do so by the Father.

8. Agree or Disagree: God will not deny His grace to those who do what lies within their power.

9. Agree or Disagree: Salvation does not depend on man’s choice or effort but on God’s mercy.

10. Agree or Disagree: Even our good works are sinful and repugnant to God.

Church Victorious?

2010-03-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

What is your church like? Much of the modern church has been described as being 1,000 miles wide and an inch deep. But what about you and your church? This does not necessarily mean that your church has "great doctrine" or that you can quote the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Rather, are you striving after Christ's Kingdom? Is your church seeking to accomplish God's calling by relying on God's means in His power?

Take a few moments and consider this quote from Patrick Johnstone. I think he may be on to something.

“We are being compelled to return to a much more biblical and radical position – that of being a minority in the world but not of it… The church deprived of political power is free from the burden of trying to use human power to dominate and influence the world… Our reference point is not territorial or church growth aggrandizement, but building a kingdom that is not of this world, yet which will fill the earth as a contrasting alternative society. We need to return to the concept of a pilgrim church, the church will be hated, rejected, despised, persecuted, yet be an incisive, decisive, victorious minority which one day soon, will be ready for its heavenly Bridegroom as the perfected Bride.”*

Wow - "hated, rejected, despised, persecuted" - these are difficult terms for us Americans to grapple with. But again, take a moment to think on this. Is this not what we see in the New Testament? Were not the disciples building an "alternative society" that was often quite unpopular. Maybe we need to spend a bit more time getting ready to meet our Bridegroom rather than building programs, and buildings, and lives that will not last.

When I was a teenager in rebellion my dad wrote something in the front of a Bible that he gave me that has continued to call me forward. He said that it was written in the front of the chapel where he went to boarding school. He wrote,

Only one life, twill soon be past;
Only what's done for Christ will last.

There is a lot of truth in that little rhyme. Oh that our Lord would burn it deeply on my heart and mind. He is returning. He will reign supreme. Don't waste your life on superficial pursuits. "All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord; and shall glorify your name" (Psalm 86:9).

Christian, don't fight it. God will be glorified. Joyfully, willingly engage in what really matters and what will last.

With you in the fight,

~Ryan

*Patrick Johnstone, The Church is Bigger than You Think, 263.

Spurgeon Biography in Rhyme

2010-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a new twist for the "Prince of Preachers" - the hip hop life and ministry of Charles Spurgeon by Shai Linne.

Verse 1

Let me make this plain kids- God is the greatest

He never changes- His ways are blameless

For His own glory and at different stages

He raises up servants to make His name famous

I’ll highlight one particular servant for

The purpose of encouraging your worship to the Lord

Furthermore, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born

On the outskirts of London- 1834

His dad and his grandpa were both in the ministry

His mother was praying for his soul since his infancy

Naturally intelligent, rapidly developing

But lacking Jesus’ fellowship, that would be irrelevant

The God of his mother unknown

Though Christ was up in his home, the faith just wasn’t his own

The Lord answered prayer when at the age of 10

Young Charles became convinced of the wages of sin

For the next five years, the Spirit brought conviction

Terrors and affliction, aware of his condition

One Sunday morning though- the stormiest snow

Kept Charles from going in the church he’d normally go

Randomly stepped into a church

Heard the words “Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth”

And though only heaven knows the name of the preacher

That’s the day that Spurgeon became a believer

Verse 2

The Lord is so merciful, always so purposeful

Those whom He draws find His call irreversible

Immediately after Spurgeon’s conversion

Obediently, he was earnest to serve Him

The Lord poured His Spirit on Spurgeon abundantly

Anyone could see that he spoke with profundity

Extraordinary giftedness seen

Proclaiming God’s mysteries at the age of fifteen

In a place called Waterbeach graced with the sort of speech

That even made the old folks say, “This boy can preach!”

In fact he was so crafted after the Master

A Baptist church snatched him and asked him to pastor

At the time, He was seventeen years old

On fire for the King who redeemed his soul

People flocked from everywhere- it was quite a scene

Called to a church in London at the age of nineteen

He was more than ready- to his Lord he was dedicated

Even though he was never formally educated

If you would have scratched him, he would bleed Bible

A rich prayer life was his means of survival

Amount that he read was truly mind-blowing

Steeped in the writings of dudes like John Owen

And by God’s grace He fed the sheep new manna

In London met his wife, her name was Susannah

Verse 3

Behold the grace of God- stand to the side

The Spirit exalting the Lamb who has died

It can’t be denied- this man we describe

Was simply a tool in the hand of his God

To observe this servant’s extremely instructive

One word about Spurgeon is he was productive

Preached Jesus- no speakers- loudly he’d shout it

Each week packed houses of crowds in the thousands

His sermons were published- sixty-two volumes

He worked almost like he just knew he would die soon

Made mad disciples, passed on his knowledge

Established a school to train pastors in college

Sold out to the Lord Jehovah, his portion

Also he built two homes for the orphans

A monthly magazine, plus he wasn’t too busy

to write books- about a hundred and fifty

God’s grace in Spurgeon was manifest

But remember, the best man is a man at best

Yes, he struggled with depression- consistently sick, kid

Both he and Susannah physically afflicted

He experienced as a servant of Jesus

The power of God made perfect in weakness

Later on comes complications

His stands for orthodoxy got him shunned by his denomination

But through all the hardship and all the controversy

He never stopped relying on the sovereign God of mercy

And when he had finished pressing towards the goal

He entered into heaven at the age of fifty-seven

His life is a case of God’s grace effectively

At work in sinners to leave a great legacy

The proof is many years later in your speakers

We’re praising Jesus for raising up the "prince of preachers"

Why is God's God-Centeredness Good News?

2010-03-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Many of us have little problem believing that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But what about God's chief end? What is God all about? What would you say if I said that God's chief end was to glorify God and enjoy himself forever? Is this true? Is this good news? I think it is.

"God's first love is rooted in the value of his holy name, not the value of a sinful people. And because it is, there is hope for the sinful people - since they are not the ground of their salvation, God's name is."*

Psalm 106:7-8 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Rejoice and be glad that the foundation of your salvation rests in the name of God and not in yourself. In Him there is great hope for me and you.

-Ryan

*Taken from The Pleasures of God by John Piper

Good Advice

2010-03-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

A few months before his death at age twenty-nine in 1747, David Brainerd, the missionary to the Indians in New England, wrote to a young ministerial candidate, "Give yourself to prayer, to reading and meditation on divine truths: strive to penetrate to the bottom of them and never be content with a superficial knowledge."*

What great advice not only for a young ministerial candidate but for all of God's people. How much more rich our lives would be, how much more the cause of Christ would advance, how much more glory would God receive if His children actually practiced this.

Striving along side you to be less content,

Ryan

*Taken from The Pleasures of God by John Piper

The Sluggard - Proverbs, part 3

2010-02-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

What are your ambitions in life? Not necessarily your “dream” life, but when you look back at the end of your life, what would have been a good life, a life well lived? Career, home, family, involvement in the Great Commission, etc…? We are surrounded by a culture that holds out a great many things but seems to be training us to pursue and value leisure rather than diligence.

We can probably all think of examples of how our culture worships leisure. Consider these examples: the new movie Avatar grossed $2,467,962,011; The Dark Knight - $1,022,345,358; the video game Grand Theft Auto IV earned $500-million in its first week of release; Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the first video game to exceed $1 billion in sales. These numbers are staggering.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these things. Rest, relaxation, and entertainment are good things. But is rest, relaxation, and leisure what life is all about? Is it true that the best things in life are free?

We are going to consider the sluggard in the book of Proverbs. Let’s see if we can discern his characteristics and the outcomes from his/her life. I think our Lord has something to tell us about our pursuit of relaxation from the life of the sluggard.

"Sluggard" Proverbs:

Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 10:26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor

Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Proverbs 15:19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys

Proverbs 19:24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

Proverbs 21:25-26 The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 26 All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back

Proverbs 26:13-16 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. 15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

So, what characteristics did you see? Here are some I found:

Characteristics: lacks self control; has no initiative, not a self-motivated person; lacks long-range planning; focuses on the immediate; has great desires/cravings; foolish; lazy; no follow through, doesn’t finish what he starts (even when he’s gotten up the energy to actually start something); doesn’t do the work it takes to get the desired result; chooses to be this way, he refuses to work – it is a conscious choice; unrighteous; makes lame excuses; has an unhealthy love of sleep and rest, won’t get out of bed; arrogant; procrastinator; distracted/not diligent; wastes opportunity after opportunity; prefers laziness to labor; wants an easy life rather than one spent doing good.

What about results? Did you see the outcome of the life of the sluggard?
Results: has a lack of resources ($, skills, opportunity, etc…); harms those around him – disastrous to an employer; brings ruin to whatever he’s involved in; poverty; does not get what he wants in life; has nothing to fill his great desires; has a painful, difficult life; is unable to help others since he can’t even help himself.

Lessons Learned from the sluggard

So, what can we learn from the life of the sluggard? Many things, but consider these five:

1. Work is an appointed part of a godly life – Colossians 3:23-24, 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

2. Work is not a result of the fall of mankind into sin. Even before the fall man had work appointed to him – Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”; 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

3. Purposeful work is a good gift from God.

4. We should not adopt the view of our culture – despising our work and worshipping our leisure.

5. We reflect the character of God in work by caring for others, in producing things, and in being purposeful in our actions. Your work is to take what God has made and shape it and use it to make Him look great. You were created in God’s image to image Him forth in this world.

My Story

Let me close with a personal example from my life. I spent the first twenty years of my life, in many ways, exemplifying the sluggard. I lived for pleasure; I lived for myself. I squandered my education and did not learn the things that I could have. As a result I had a lower ACT score and did not get any scholarships to college. My freshman year in college was spent in partying and trying to avoid any responsibility and my grades greatly reflected this.

In short, I was wasting my life. I was no good for myself, and I was no good for anyone else. I had great aspirations for a full life but in reality the outlook was pretty bleak, and yet I couldn’t even see it. I just figured that it would eventually work itself out. I was a sluggard.

It was right around the time of my twentieth birthday, in January of 1992, that God took mercy on me and changed me. It was then that He called me to see the waste of my life and to see the treasure of His Son, Who had died and rose again for my salvation. With this my life had new meaning and direction. I knew that I was privileged to spend my life living to know Him and to make Him known. Although definitely not perfectly, I began to study and work to honor God with my education. By His grace I was able to not squander the rest of my education and went from almost failing to graduating with honors. I don't say this to brag in any way but rather to highlight the great mercy and grace of our God. He alone gets the glory; if left to myself my life would be in ruins.

The temptation to be slothful is always there for me and that is why I daily need Christ. He is my only hope before a holy God. I am immensely sinful and imperfect but He is my righteousness. He is the one who died to free me from sin’s penalty, to bring me new life, and set me free from sin’s mastery. As I look to Christ I see God’s calling for my life is infinitely better than my natural, sinful inclinations.

Knowing that this amazing God has set me free from sin and death, and now I want to invest my life in pleasing Him and being a blessing to others.

How will you live your life? What will be the sum total of your life’s value? Consider the ant, look to Christ, and then walk in the new life that He provides for your blessing and His glory.

The Fool - Proverbs, part 2

2010-02-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

The book of Proverbs is an amazing book. In it we see practical knowledge for daily living. Proverbs shows us how to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God and is profitable to us. One of the main characters in Proverbs is the fool. In essence he is wisdom's opposite. Take some time to read several of these verses from Proverbs that discuss the fool; maybe get a pen and paper and jot down some of your findings. Look for these things: results, actions, descriptions, and effects on others.

Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." 1:22; 1:32 ; 3:35; 8:5 ; 10:1 ; 10:8; 10:18; 10:21; 10:23; 12:15; 12:16; 12:23; 13:16; 13:19; 13:20; 14:3; 14:7-8; 14:9; 14:24; 15:5; 15:7; 15:14; 15:20; 17:10; 17:12; 17:21; 17:24; 7:25; 17:28; 18:2; 18:6-7; 19:1; 19:29; 20:3; 21:20; 23:9; 24:7; 26:1; 26:3; 26:4; 26:5; 26:6; 26:7; 26:8; 26:9; 26:1; 26:11; 26:12; 27:22; 28:26; 29:9; 29:11; 29:20; 30:2; 30:32

What does the fool look like?:
The fool is wisdom’s opposite – one of the key ways you can identify a fool is by what he thinks about discipline. Does this person welcome correction or does he avoid it? The fool rejects and avoids discipline and this points to his disregard for wisdom (1:7; 15:5).

(Does this describe you? How do you respond to the rebuke of your parents, your teachers, your boss, your friends?)

We also see in Proverbs that a fool’s foolishness is willful. It is not merely a character defect or a mental flaw – the fool is willful in continuing in foolishness – openly rejecting wisdom’s call to change (1:20-32). He likes his foolish ways, and thinks he is right (12:15; 18:2; 28:26).

Proverbs also shows us the results of living as a fool - the fool brings misery and destruction on himself and others (1:32; 10:1; 13:20).

But where does it all come from. Why is the fool a fool? The root trouble for the fool is spiritual, not mental. In rejecting wisdom he is like a dog returning to eat his vomit (26:11). And at the bottom of it all is the fact that he is rejecting the fear of God (1:29; 9:10). This is what makes him a fool. The fool trusts in himself; the wise person trusts in God.

What should I do:
There is a first step out of foolishness. It is in recognizing the foolishness of your own ways and turning to the wisdom of God’s way. And it is in seeing and believing that God has taken your rebellion toward Him and placed it all on His Son as He suffered and died on the cross. Jesus, the God-man, was and is the perfect wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:8-24). He lived, died and rose from the dead to save us from our sin of choosing what is right in our own eyes (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

You will either bear the curse of God for your own foolishness or you will flee to the One who took it for you (Galatians 3:10-14).

Choose life. Choose the life that both pleases God and profits us. See your foolishness and turn and trust in what God has provided. Don’t continue in your folly; listen to wisdom.

Are Youth Wiser Than Adults?

2010-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

I wonder how much of our culture has shaped how we view each other. I'm sure it affects us more than we can possibly imagine and more than we would like to admit. Below is an article from Albert Mohler as he considers the current trend of seeing youth as wiser than those with age and life experience. I would encourage you to consider what he has to say.

NewsNote: Seen But Not Heard?
by Albert Mohler

Whatever happened to being seen but not heard? Diana West asks that question in a recent essay, noting that there has been a massive shift in Western culture away from adult authority and toward the "wise child." All around us are signs that authority and wisdom are now to be recognized in the young, rather than the old. This is nothing less than a reversal of what previous generations had believed and assumed.

As Diana West explains:

When your average doting adult today murmurs the expression, “Out of the mouths of babes,” it is less an expression of wonder than a validation of the widely held assumption that children — babes, tweens, and teens — are innately wiser than their elders. They know better (sexual and fashion choices). They are discerning (music). They feel, therefore they understand (politics). Or so we have come to think due to a stunning if under-appreciated cultural reversal. Once upon a time, we believed wisdom was an expression of experience and maturity. Today, we believe the exact opposite.

Indeed, it is the exact opposite. Marketers target children because they know that the young drive many consumer choices. On the television screen, it is the kids on the sitcoms who are wise. The parents and other authority figures are routinely corrected by the wisdom of the young. The bumbling adults learn to laugh at their foolishness and follow the direction of the children and adolescents on screen.

Teachers and others who work with youth and children often receive the same message, not only from the kids but from their parents. "How dare you correct my child? His opinion is as valid as yours."

West traces the development of this trend through the 1950s and 1960s. As long ago as 1958, Dwight Macdonald had noted the rise of the adolescent, with a flood of books on parenting teens emerging from a host of "experts." As Macdonald saw, "The list goes on and on, and it includes many titles that would have been puzzling even in fairly recent times, because their subject matter is not the duty of children toward their parents, but precisely the opposite.”

The shift from the duty of children to parents to the duty of parents to children was not subtle. All of a sudden, the young became the instructors of the old, on everything from the morality of war and peace to the issues of sex and the meaning of life.

As West observes, "It is hard to overstate the significance of this change more than half a century ago. It is this fundamental rearrangement of life’s building blocks that put successive decades on an entirely new footing from all that had come before. To say the tide had turned is to imply a temporary, cyclical shift. What had occurred — replacing the child’s duty to his parent with the parent’s duty to his child — has so far turned out to be permanent."

A quick review of contemporary entertainment, educational philosophies, and cultural influences would suggest that this shift is not only thus far permanent, but may be virtually irreversible. Diana West underscores the fact that this great shift was only possible because adults forfeited their authority and responsibility. The kids did not seize power in a coup. They were handed authority on a silver platter.

West has referred to this phenomenon as "the death of the grown-up." Reaching adulthood ceased to be the great goal of the young. Instead, adults now attempt to present themselves as adolescents. The perpetual adolescent is the aspirational role model of today's youth -- and a tragic percentage of the nation's adults.

From a Christian perspective, Diana West's essay, as well as her book, The Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development is Bringing Down Western Civilization, serves to alert parents and others to the challenge of raising children in such a culture. The goal of Christian parents must be to raise children to adulthood -- a genuine adulthood. The Bible honors children, but the biblical worldview establishes parents as the authority figures and adults as the figures of wisdom.

"Seen but not heard" is not the best model for parenting children. On the other hand, it is infinitely superior to the abdication of adult authority that marks the current age. Once again, Christian parents are reminded that raising godly children in this age requires the courage of a counter-revolutionary.

How Connected Are Your Kids?!?

2010-02-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

The Kaiser Family Foundation has recently done some research into the lives of our American Kids. Their findings are startling. Consider this quote here:

A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

Parents, notice that this is every single day. This is not a week's total, but daily! How are your kids doing? This should be a wake up call for us as parents to think about what often goes on right beneath our noses. We live in a vastly different world of technology than the one in which we grew up. I would encourage you to read Albert Mohler's article on this topic: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/21/like-the-air-they-breathe-the-online-life-of-kids/

As I am thinking of this study I am reminded of taking groups of kids on camping trips. In the past I always thought it was a good idea to make them leave behind their walkman and their gameboy but in our current day the kids are so much more connected. Many youth find it extremely difficult to spend more than a few minutes without either updating their friends as to their "status" or reading about what their friends are doing. Where is the time for contemplation? Where is the room for deep thought? When can a youth find time to "be still and know that I am God?" Media can be extremely distracting. And without out strong self-discipline I fear that we will neglect one of our greatest spiritual disciplines: meditation on God's Word.

A few months ago we put together a hay ride for our teens and I was amazed and a bit dismayed by something that happened. As I went out on one of the rides I found that the majority of the youth had their faces buried in their cell phones. They were either sending each other messages, getting a hold of kids who were not there, or looking at other electronic media...ON A HAYRIDE. The hay fights, the laughter, the singing, and the jumping-off-to-scare-the-girls were replaced by an electronic glow and bent necks. I couldn't help but think that we were missing out on something.

I hope and pray that we as parents will have the courage and discipline to do what is unpopular and actually "parent" our children. Youth are not the repository of wisdom and should not be left to make the final determination as to how they spend their time. I need to remind myself that I have a great privilege and responsibility to train up my children. Today is a day worth redeeming.

-Ryan

Lord Save Me From Dutifully Serving You!

2010-02-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

Rose Day Pro-Life Rally

2010-01-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

Come join us as we express our belief in the sanctity of human life to our legislators during the 19th Annual Rose Day at the State Capitol.

A group of us will be heading out from Grace Baptist Church in Tahlequah, OK at 7am on Wednesday, February 3. All are welcome to attend.

The schedule for Rose Day is:

Rose Distribution - 10:30am
Pro-Life Rally - 11:45am

Event Info:

Each year, hundreds gather at the Capitol at the beginning of the new legislative session to promote and support the lives of unborn babies by meeting with their state senators and representatives and presenting them red roses, which represent the sanctity of the unborn. Attendees are encouraged to present roses to Governor, Lieutenant Governor and their state senator and representative. Roses will not be provided.

"Invite family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to join you," said Heidi Wilburn, Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee advisor for the BGCO. "Your voice is important and influential regarding these issues. When Christians do not speak up, legislators believe we are content with the outcome of their decisions. We are overwhelmingly blessed to live in a nation where our voice matters; take part in the political process!"

I hope to see some of you there!

His for life,

Ryan

How Do I Live Today?!? The Book of Proverbs, part 1

2010-01-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

What is the “good life” to you? What are your goals? What would you like to see happen in your life? All people have a picture in mind. As I asked these things to our youth last night most of the answers sounded similar, “To be happy,” “to be surrounded by friends,” “to be at peace,” “to be content,” etc.

This brings us to the book of Proverbs. Here we find abook of wisdom for those who want to find “the good life;” a life worth living.

Introducing Proverbs

Well first of all let’s look at the layout of the book. The first nine chapters serve as a kind of preface to the book seeking to convince one to read the book. Then chapters 10-31 contain the collection of wise sayings that we call “proverbs.”

In short, Proverbs is a book of wisdom – containing much of what the Bible teaches about how to live our everyday lives.

How to Read Proverbs

To be quite honest, Proverbs can be confusing. The book is filled with short, pithy statements – small, bite-sized bits of truth that can easily be misunderstood and misused. These statements can be confusing and even dangerous. With this in mind here are some basic principles to help one study this wonderful book.

1) Common sense is required.
For example, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is a secular proverb stating that a general rule for health is to eat good food. But what if you don’t eat an apple a day and don’t see bad effects? Does that mean the proverb is false? No, it is generally true and speaks of a bigger principle. Same is true about opening the Bible – you need to keep your common sense.

2) Individual proverbs are always ultimately true.
Proverbs will not always appear to be immediately true (think of above example). For instance, Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Think about what we know about the life of Jesus. He had many enemies who were not at peace with Him, but ultimately God will cause all of His enemies to be a peace with Him when He makes ever knee bow before Him and confess that He is Lord.

3) Individual proverbs are normally true now.
Take the above examples – these teach truths that are normally true even now in this life. In thinking of Proverbs 16:7, listed above, if one seeks to honor God by being kind, generous, loving, forgiving, patient, humble, gentle, etc… then often one will find himself at peace with those around him.

4) Individual proverbs employ poetic imagery.
Proverbs 16:17 says, “The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.” Does this mean that the righteous people have built a highway to travel on so that they don’t have to use the same road as the unrighteous? Of course not. It refers to how the righteous live their lives.

5) Individual proverbs are partial in themselves.
Individual proverbs are only partial. They don’t exhaust all that is involved in a subject. For example Proverbs 17:8, “A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.” So are bribes a good thing? This proverb is merely stating what is often true but not what will honor God by being what is right. Add to this Proverbs 17:23, “The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.” It is dangerous to merely grab one proverb and think it is telling you all that you need to know on any given subject.

6) Individual proverbs are sometimes obscure.
…because you don’t have an understanding of the cultural background to understand everything that was written three thousand years ago. For example, Proverbs 16:30, “Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.” So is winking bad? Not necessarily. In the author’s day, winking was associated with evil plans. That’s what he was getting at.

7) As a whole, the proverbs are religious.
The book of Proverbs is not simply a book of secular wisdom, like “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” It is a book about our lives before God. It tells us that “the good life” can be found only in wisdom about God and about ourselves.

Why Read the Book of Proverbs?

To answer this question, simply read chapter one of Proverbs. Here we learn that the book was written to help us; to show us how to live so as to avoid great dangers and to find great blessing. The last two verses of chapter one serve as a great summary:

“For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:32-33)

In short the book of Proverbs teaches that to ignore this wisdom is to invite great dangers into your life and to seek this wisdom is to invite great blessings into your life. Proverbs is urging us to choose the way of life now!

But Proverbs is not the final word on the subject of wisdom. The way of life, true wisdom, is ultimately found in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and for this we need to look at the New Testament.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18-24)

Christ is the perfect wisdom of God. In Him we find wisdom, forgiveness, true friendship, true love. The call for us is to repent of choosing our own way and to trust in the perfect life and substitute death of Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I came that they might have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

The call for everyone of us today is ths: repent of your foolishness and hard-heartedness and for all of the times you have chosen the path of death. And Turn instead to the way of life. Choose what the world calls foolish – the sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross to pay for the sins of all those who would ever repent and believe in Him. He is the way of life; both eternal and now.

Haiti and Pat Robertson's Remarks

2010-01-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

John Mark Reynolds has spoken well concerning the remarks made by Pat Robertson about Haiti being under God's curse. Here is an excerpt:

Robertson has been inhuman in two ways.

First, even if he were right, he has picked a horrid time to pontificate. When my friends is suffering from cancer, even if it is his fault, it is the wrong time to remind him that I told him he should have stopped smoking. It is ugly and useless.

Heal the sick, bury the dead, feed the hungry and then deal with root spiritual causes. Safe to say every nation, and Haiti is surely one, has made philosophical and practical decisions that help cause tragedy. We can talk about that when the people of Haiti have been helped by the Church.

Second, even if his theology were sound, he has stated it in such a way and at such a time that it will be misunderstood and will be mocked. He has pronounced a “truth” that (he must concede) would be hard for our culture to hear in a way and at a time that brings that “truth” into derision.

If Robertson were right in his theology and philosophy, his timing has fed his pearls to swine on a silver platter.

Recently Robertson faced major health problems and rightly asked for our prayers. It would have been wrong to be facile and associate his problems with sin. Robertson should grant the people of Haiti the same treatment that he demanded in the case of his illness.

Compassion, prayer, help, and charity.

May our Lord help us to speak the truth. And may we speak the truth in love.

50 Ways To Help Unborn Babies and Their Mothers

2010-01-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share another great resource. This is from Randy Alcorn.

Direct Personal Involvement

1. Open your home to a pregnant girl. Help her financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

2. Open your home to an unwanted child for foster care or adoption.

3. Volunteer time with organizations helping pregnant women, newborns, drug babies, orphans, the handicapped, elderly, street people, and others in need. Personal care is the most basic prolife activity.

4. Establish a pregnancy counseling and abortion alternative service that offers free pregnancy tests, counseling, and support. You can often get the very first listing in the Yellow Pages as Abortion Alternatives, which precedes Abortion Services. (For help getting started, see "Abortion Alternatives and Support For Women" in Appendix D or K, Prolife Resources, PLA.)

5. Donate materials, office equipment, furniture, baby clothes, professional services, and money to Pregnancy Resource Centers, Birthright, Bethany Christian Services, and other prolife groups.

6. Teach your children and other young people how to say no to premarital sex. Teenage sexual abstinence is not only psychologically healthy, it is the only sure way to prevent teen pregnancies. (Josh McDowell's Why Wait? and How to Teach Your Child to Say No to Sexual Pressures, and James Dobson's Preparing for Adolescence are helpful resources. See also the "Prochastity Curricula" listed in Appendix D or Appendix K, PLA).

Educating Yourself and Others

7. Become thoroughly informed about the abortion issue. Read ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments or the condensed version, Why ProLife? There are many other fine prolife books and videos as well as excellent—and usually free—prolife newsletters. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.) There are a large number of quality prolife websites. The one I highly recommend is Abort73.com .This website is one of a kind, cutting edge, informative and appealing in its presentation. Know the facts so you can rehearse in advance the best responses to the prochoice arguments. Be prepared so no opportunities are missed.

8. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers about the abortion issue. Challenge them to rethink their assumptions, and to be careful not to buy into an illogical or morally untenable position. Give them a copy of this book, with some pages marked for their attention. (Refer women who have had abortions to Appendix A, PLA, "Finding Forgiveness after an Abortion".) Use this book to read and discuss in a class or small group.

9. Volunteer your services as a prolife speaker for schools and church groups. Use the arguments laid out in this book as your presentation outline. Approach a church or Christian school and offer to teach a course in Prolife Logic and Action.

10. Call in and speak up on talk shows, and ask for equal time on television and radio stations that present the prochoice position. They often welcome a variety of positions. To say nothing is to endorse what is often an unchallenged prochoice bandwagon.

11. Students: Write papers, make speeches, and start a campus prolife group. See "Organizing a Student Prolife Organization" under Books on Prolife Strategies in Appendix D or K, PLA.

12. Display attractive prolife posters and information at your office or shop. You may lose a little business, and gain a little. But the truth will be served, and some innocent human lives will be saved.

Literature, Visuals, and Advertising

13. Order and distribute prolife literature. Have it displayed or available at your place of business. Leave it on your coffee table. Distribute literature door to door to influence opinion. An attractive piece left on each porch on a Saturday morning will be read by many. In some areas every home distribution has radically changed community sentiments about abortion. (See Appendix D or K, PLA, for a list of the best literature.)

14. Donate prolife books and magazine subscriptions to public and school libraries. They are usually well-stocked with prochoice literature—point out that you just want to provide a little balance and make sure the other position isn't censored.

15. Use a pre-made prolife slide presentation, assemble your own, or buy a video tape, and offer to show it in schools, churches, to your neighbors and government representatives. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

16. Wear prolife symbols, precious feet pins, buttons, and shirts (Abort73.com sells some attractive prolife apparel). These often stimulate conversations. Use prolife bumper stickers or lawn signs. Place prolife stickers on letters. More than a dozen people see the average piece of mail. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

17. Place newspaper ads, bench ads, and billboard posters. Attractive pre-made ads and beautiful full-size billboard posters are available. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

Letter-Writing

18. Write letters to the editor. Be courteous, concise, accurate, and memorable. Quote brief references cited in ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments. Some local newspapers have a policy of printing every letter to the editor. The opportunity for influence is enormous. Letters to the editor in a major national magazine may be read by a million people.

19. Compile a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of politicians, newspapers, television stations, hospitals, and others in your area that people can contact to express their prolife views. Distribute them widely.

20. Select the most strategic measures and issues and host a prolife letter-writing party. People can help each other compose informed and succinct letters to the right people and places. Since legislators and others assume there are a hundred others who feel the same way for every one that writes, there is considerable impact from each letter.

21. Write letters of encouragement to the sometimes tired and discouraged prolife activists.

Personal Conversation

22. Refuse any indirect or business support of abortion clinics, and explain your refusal. Boycott proabortion companies, landlords of abortion clinics, and businesses that share space with abortion clinics and abortion-promoters such as Planned Parenthood. Explain your reasons nicely, and they will often take you seriously.

23. Contact physicians and hospitals that perform abortions and insurance companies that cover them and express your convictions. Be polite but firm, stating that you, your family, and your business cannot in good conscience patronize those who contribute to the killing of innocent children. Does your own physician perform abortions? Ask him; you may be surprised to discover he does. If so, tell him you must reluctantly change doctors. Is your doctor prolife? Encourage him to take a public stand and participate in local prolife events. Share this book with him and ask his opinion of it.

24. Talk to journalists about your concern that they accurately represent the prolife side in their reporting. Many have never heard an accurate presentation of the prolife position. Until we present it to them, how can we expect them to be fair? Highlight sections of this book for their interest. Many will read what you provide, and some may use the material in future articles.

25. Talk to teachers, especially junior high, high school, and college teachers. Express your desire that they understand and be able to represent the prolife position rather than ignore or distort it. Whatever a teacher believes is multiplied a hundred times over in his students and those they in turn influence. Give them a copy of ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments or Why ProLife? or other prolife books or videos. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

Political Action

26. Write to representatives and others in government at local, state, and national levels. Be respectful, legible, straightforward, brief, and nondefensive. Enclose attractive prolife literature. The more personal your letter the better. Pre-printed postcards are not as effective.

27. Personally phone or set up a meeting with your representatives to share your views on abortion. Groups of three are most effective. If possible include a prolife doctor or other professional. Be careful how you come across; show them prolifers are intelligent and rational.

28. Draft, circulate, and sign petitions for prolife ballot measures, school board members, and so on.

29. Run for political office, school board, or precinct chairman. Or stand by other prolife candidates with your time and money. The only possibility for there to be long-term restrictions on abortion is if our state legislatures have a prolife majority. Churches and prolife groups should identify and support character-qualified, knowledgeable, and skilled candidates.

30. Help a bright young prolifer through law school. Challenge him or her to set a goal of becoming a judge. The legal and judicial arenas, as well as the medical and political, desperately need intelligent and skilled prolifers.

Prolife Events

31. Picket abortion clinics, hospitals, and physicians who perform abortions. Write a brochure or fact sheet documenting their performance of abortions. When abortions are only part of their practice they are much more inclined to eliminate them to preserve their reputation in the community. But until they are exposed they usually won't stop.

32. Make prolife signs for yourself and others. Make them large and attractive, with concise messages such as: Abortion Kills Babies. Adoption, not Abortion. Every Child Is Wanted by Someone. Give Your Baby a Chance to Choose. Please Let Your Baby Live. Equal Rights for Unborn Women. She's a Baby, not a Blob. We Care; Talk to Us. We'll Help Financially If You'll Let Your Baby Live.

33. Organize or participate in a Life Chain, where hundreds or thousands of prolifers stand on public sidewalks and display signs supporting the unborn and opposing abortion. This is an extremely effective means of mobilizing prolifers and making a clear statement for the children. Many who begin with Life Chain will solidify a prolife commitment and get involved in future prolife activities. (See Life Chain under "Prolife Event and Action Organizations", in Appendix D or K, PLA.)

34. Join prolife rallies and marches to galvanize prolife efforts. Have walk-a-thons and other projects to earn money for prolife groups. Get your children involved. They'll love it, and it's a great education as well as a family activity.

35. Attend prochoice rallies as a counter-demonstrator. Be peaceful. The quiet presence of your group and your signs will make others think and lead to conversations with passersby.

36. Participate in peaceful nonviolent civil disobedience at the doorways of abortion clinics. Or do the legal sidewalk counseling, singing, or praying in conjunction with other prolife activities.

Abortion Clinic Strategies

37. Research and write a brochure on your local abortion clinic, citing specific lawsuits and health code violations, which are a matter of public record. Write a leaflet or brochure asking something like, "What Do You Know about the Third Street Abortion Clinic"? Make it neat and attractive, perhaps with a photo of the clinic on the front. Give this brochure to women coming to the clinic, neighbors, nearby businesses, and passersby. Include information from this book on physical and psychological risks of abortion. Or use pre-made brochures specially designed for women entering abortion clinics. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

38. Collect information and initiate lawsuits against abortion clinics. Place newspaper or billboard ads asking, "Problems after an abortion?" Give a local or national phone number to call for medical, legal, or emotional help. (1-800-634-2224, the American Rights Coalition, is already set up for this purpose.) Many abortion clinics have been shut down by successful lawsuits.

39. Hand out questionnaires and legal information to women entering and leaving clinics. Did you have a doctor-patient relationship? Did the doctor ask you for a complete medical history? Did he explain to you the possible complications of abortion? Did he show you a picture or explain to you the state of development of your unborn child? This will encourage them to reconsider their decision, to seek other counsel, or—if the abortion is over—not to come back for another abortion, and possibly to initiate legal action against the clinic. Include the number of an alternative pregnancy center where they can get complete and accurate information the clinic won't give them.

40. Keep new abortion clinics out of your community by informing the public, writing letters to council members, and contacting potential landlords and real estate agents. Abortion clinics mean loss of business and declining property values to everyone due to public sentiment and frequent demonstrations. Those who do not respond to moral reasoning often do respond to public opinion and even more to financial loss. It is usually easier to keep a clinic out of an area than to shut it down once it's there.

41. Rent space as close as possible to an abortion clinic or Planned Parenthood office and establish a pregnancy counseling clinic or prolife information center.

Influencing Your Church

42. Organize a prolife task force and target key church leaders for influence. Identify pastors and other strategic leaders and speak with them one by one. Give them literature and ask them to watch a video. Recruit prolife activists in your church who will help you formulate and implement a plan of education and mobilization. Ask your church leaders to include prolife activities and literature in the budget.

43. Set up a prolife table at church with the best prolife literature and materials. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.) The presence of the table itself is a vital reminder of the prolife cause.

44. Show in church services or classes prolife films and videos such as The Abortion Providers, The Hard Truth, and The Eclipse of Reason. Offer to pay the film rental yourself. (See Appendix D or K, PLA.)

45. Place a prolife newspaper ad, bench ad, or billboard with your church's name and phone number, offering your help to pregnant girls. (See Appendix D or K, PLA, for pre-made ads.)

46. Take your church bus to prolife activities. Many people who won't go alone will go with a group. Some will discover an aptitude for regular prolife ministry they would otherwise never have realized.

47. Have prolife emphasis Sundays, with special music, speakers, films, and literature. This should include, but not be limited to, the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in mid-January. (Special bulletin inserts and materials are available from CareNet www.care-net.org and Right to Life of Michigan, www.rtl.org, listed in Appendix D or K, PLA.)

48. Bring prolife issues and opportunities to the attention of your pastor, Sunday school class, Bible study, or men's, women's, or youth group. Show them one of the videos listed in Appendix D or K, PLA. Provide relevant newspaper clippings and other information to inform your pastor and provide him with sermon ideas and illustrations. Give him ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments or Why Pro-Life? as a resource. Instead of expecting him to fulfill your prolife agenda, help him out by offering to be a resource and facilitator for him.

49. Start a group of sidewalk counselors from your church that go once or twice a week to talk to women outside abortion clinics. This is hard but rewarding work, and you need the camaraderie of others by your side. Some excellent sidewalk counseling materials are listed in Appendix D or K, PLA.

50. Pray daily for prolife ministries and victimized mothers and babies. Organize your own prayer group, perhaps combining prolife concerns with other vital needs, such as missions. Go to prolife rallies or sidewalk counseling and focus on the ministry of prayer. If the darkness of child-killing is to be overcome with the light of truth and compassion, it will require spiritual warfare, fought with humble and consistent prayer (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Permissions: Feel free to reproduce and distribute any articles written by Randy Alcorn, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this information, not protect or restrict it. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 39085 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 206, Sandy, OR 97055, 503-668-5200, www.epm.org, www.randyalcorn.blogspot.com

Are You An Expert At Defending Your Own Sins?

2010-01-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Humbling ourselves to hear correction can be quite difficult, and seeking it out even more so. But do we really want to glorify Christ? Are we truly interested in spiritual growth? Then we should take heed the truth of Scripture that tells us that, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Js. 4:6).

I have been listening to a sermon by Mark Dever taken from 1 Samuel 8-15. During his conclusion he shared the following story..."It was customary for the itinerant and local preachers back in John Wesley’s day to take breakfast together in City Road, where they had their main meeting place. On one occasion when Wesley was present a young man rose and found fault with one of his seniors. And the biographer says the Scotch blood of Thomas Rankin was roused and he sharply rebuked the juvenile for his impertinence. But in turn was sharply rebuked himself, Wesley instantly replied, ‘I will thank the youngest man among you to tell me of any fault you see in me. In doing so I will consider him my best friend.’"

I pray that my Lord continues to soften me and break my pride. "The LORD is near to the borkenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 35:18). The King of glory is magnified in our weakness, not in our strength. See your sin; see the Savior.

-Ryan

p.s. If you are interested in being helped and challenged in the area of your pride I would encourage you to read C. J. Mahaney's book, Humility: True Greatness.

The Manger

2009-12-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

"From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Chirstmas only points forward to Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of god displayed His glory by His death."

~ John Donne

MERRY CHRISTMAS! May you see the glory of our one true God in our Savior Jesus Christ this Christmas season.

-Ryan

Are Relationships Worth the Pain?

2009-12-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

C. S. Lewis

Are relationships worth the pain? Yes they are. The alternative is unthinkable.

-Ryan

Just how Pro-Choice is America, Really?

2009-12-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

"The idea that a bunch of pro-life rogue wingnuts have hijacked the agenda and thwarted the national will is a convenient, but fanciful, belief."

"A Rasmussen poll found that 48 percent of the public didn’t want abortion covered in any government-subsidized health plan, while just 13 percent did. (Thirty-two percent believed in a 'neutral' approach - though what on Earth that means is hard to say.)"

"Roe v. Wade was one of the few Supreme Court decisions that was out of step with mainstream public opinion."

"The choice argument is an analytical one, grounded in theories of privacy and the rights of the mother; the pro-life side has the case with instant visceral and emotional appeal: This is life we’re talking about."

"What do we do when caught between pro-choice discourse that, while it reflects our values, does not accurately reflect the full extent of our experience of abortion and in fact contradicts an enormous part of it, and the anti-abortion discourse and imagery that may actually be more closely aligned to our experience but is based in values we do not share?"

I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. It is written by someone within the pro-choice camp and I believe it is a startling and honest picture. Al Mohler writes concerning this article in the New York Magazine that, "it just might be the most important article on this issue in recent history."

Read more: Just How Pro-Choice Is America, Really? -- New York Magazine http://nymag.com/news/features/62379/#ixzz0ZE8SUgR7

Read Al Mohler's blog article here: http://www.albertmohler.com/2009/12/08/newsnote-an-amazing-article-on-abortion-in-new-york-magazine/

Pressing on for life,

Ryan

Fifteen Pro-Life Truths to Speak

2009-12-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

A few of us are helping to get a pro-life group started in our area. We do this out of love for our God and for people. This Thursday we are throwing a party to raise awareness and resources for our local crisis pregnancy center. So, the topics of abortion and pro-life issues are on my mind and thus I thought I'd post a resource from John Piper on this subject. Maybe our Lord will use it in your life and witness in our labor of love.

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." - Jesus Christ

1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother's womb (except in the case of abortion).

2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed.

3. Babies can sometimes survive on their own at 23 or 24 weeks, but abortion is legal beyond this limit.

4. Living on its own is not the criterion of human personhood, as we know from the use of respirators and dialysis.

5. Size is irrelevant to human personhood, as we know from the difference between a one-week-old and a six-year-old.

6. Developed reasoning powers are not the criterion of personhood, as we know from the capacities of three-month-old babies.

7. Infants in the womb are human beings scientifically by virtue of their genetic make up.

8. Ultrasound has given a stunning window on the womb that shows the unborn at eight weeks sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. Virtually all abortions happen later than this date.

9. Justice dictates that when two legitimate rights conflict, the limitation of rights that does the least harm is the most just. Bearing a child for adoption does less harm than killing him.

10. Justice dictates that when either of two people must be inconvenienced or hurt to alleviate their united predicament, the one who bore the greater responsibility for the predicament should bear more of the inconvenience or hurt to alleviate it.

11. Justice dictates that a person may not coerce harm on another person by threatening voluntary harm on themselves.

12. The outcast and the disadvantaged and exploited are to be cared for in a special way, especially those with no voice of their own.

13. What is happening in the womb is the unique person-nurturing work of God, who alone has the right to give and take life.

14. There are countless clinics that offer life and hope to both mother and child (and father and parents), with care of every kind lovingly provided by people who will meet every need they can.

15.Jesus Christ can forgive all sins, and will give all who trusts him the help they need to do everything that life requires.

You can see the original posting here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/47/1690_Fifteen_ProLife_Truths_to_Speak/

Also, the beginnings of the Cherokee County For Life web page is here: http://www.cherokeecountyforlife.com/

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

May our Lord bless you as you live in service to others.

Ryan

Advent Candles

2009-12-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Shelly and I desire to keep Christ the central focus of our household. We are always on the lookout for ways to worship as a family and to attach meaningful symbols to our holiday celebrations. Over and over agian we have been blessed by the ministry of Noel Piper. Below is a short blog post that Noel has published on the topic of Advent Candles.

By Noel Piper

Advent Candles probably are the most common Advent symbolism of looking back to the days of waiting for the Messiah God had promised.

Various helpful schemes of symbolism can be attached to Advent candles, their number, and color. But here are the basics—one candle for each of the Sundays of Advent, and if you wish, a fifth for Christmas Day. Some people have a special candle holder arrangement, a wreath maybe. That’s nice but not necessary. The only requirement for using Advent candles is candles.

On the first Sunday, only one candle will be lit, then two on the second, and so forth. That’s the ritual. But if we want our Advent candles to be more than a centerpiece, we have to ask ourselves, “What makes these more than wax and wick?”

The flame is a symbol of the one who is called “the light of the world.” We who follow him “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

But we need to remember that our very young children will see only candles. No matter how much we explain the symbolism, they need some more years before they can comprehend it. That’s why I usually incorporate a manger scene into our Advent candle arrangement. Tangible is my guiding word. What children can see and touch, they might understand a little more clearly. It’s helpful for us adults as well. These candles are pointing us toward God’s gift of Jesus.

On Advent Sundays, we Pipers gather at the table for a meal and hear a word from the Bible before lighting the next candle. When the children were younger, each week’s passage probably would be one part of the Christmas story from Matthew or Luke. As they grew older, we expanded to include Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming. Then on other days, whenever we sit at the dining room table where the candles are the centerpiece, we light that week’s number of candles.

The light, brighter by the week, points us toward Jesus who has called us to be “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

You can see the original post here: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2130_looking_back_advent_candles/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DGBlog+%28DG+Blog%29

The Doctrines of Grace

2009-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

God, who is glorious beyond description, has lavished His love on undeserving sinners with whom I readily identify. The salvation of sinful people is an act of God’s grace. In it He is magnificently glorified. His mercy and love are magnified as he forgives guilty sinners and His justice and wrath are magnified as He demonstrates His hatred of sin by not merely ignoring sins but by Christ bearing His wrath. Many people have a difficult time accepting the understanding of God’s grace that is sometimes called Calvinism. The basics of the Doctrines of Grace can be remembered by the acronym TULIP:

Total Depravity: This does not mean that all people are as sinful as they could possibly be, but that every aspect of human nature is infected and affected by our sinfulness. This is man's natural condition apart from any grace exerted by God to restrain or transform him.

We were dead in our trespasses. (Ephesians 2:5)

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7–8)

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Unconditional Election: God has chosen or elected some people to receive his grace of salvation based solely on the kind intention of His will and not on any condition met by the individual. In other words, God chose, before the foundation of the world, those that would be set free from the bondage of sin by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:15–16)

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. (Romans 11:7; cf. 9:11–12; John 6:37)

My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me. (Isaiah 43:10)

Limited Atonement: The atonement is the work of God in Christ on the cross whereby he canceled the debt of our sin, appeased his holy wrath against us, and won for us all the benefits of salvation. This atonement is available for all who will repent and believe. The atonement is available to all but will be effective for the elect bride for whom Christ died.

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:15)

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. . . . And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:9, 19)

Irresistible Grace: God in His sovereign grace destroys every barrier that would keep one from continuing in rebellion toward Him. This does not mean that He saves people against their wills but that He changes their wills so that they willingly receive Him.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:5)

No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. (John 6:65)

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 2:25

Perseverance of the Saints: Those that God has graciously chosen and saved will continue in the fight of faith; God will work in them so that they persevere.

Those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27–28)

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 3:12)

Salvation truly is an act of the grace of God. May you rest in Him and pursue Him.

~Ryan

New Family Pictures

2009-12-06T05:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to get some family pictures taken. Here are a few of my favorites.

These photos were taken in Tahlequah by Cassy Pack - http://www.cassypackphotography.com/

Twilight the Movie - How Should Christians Think About it?

2009-12-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

I have to admit right off that I have not yet seen the movies or read any of the books. I know, you're thinking, "then why are you writing about it?!?" Well, I just finished listening to a radio podcast from Issues Etc. where the twilight phenomenom was discussed and I felt they handled the discussion fairly and biblically. So what I'm offering here is a link to the pastor's website where he reviewed the series after watching the first movie and reading the books that were available. I would encourage thinking Christians to read and consider what pastor Rick Stuckwisch had to say.

http://sword-in-hat.blogspot.com/2008/12/twilight.html

How Can I Answer Those Opposed to Christianity? The Columbo Tactic

2009-12-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

"The belief in God is irrational." "The Bible is full of errors." "It is ridiculous to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven." How can you handle questions like this? One way to help steer a conversation in a positive direction is to use The Columbo Tactic.

"The key to the Columbo tactic is that the Christian goes on the offensive in a disarming way with carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. If you hit a roadblock when witnessing, ask a good question. There are three basic ways to use the Columbo tactic that can tame the most belligerent critic, each launched by a different question. Three uses, three questions:

1. To gain information and stay out of the "hot seat" - "What do you mean by that?"

2. To reverse the burden of proof - "Now how did you come to that conclusion?"

3. To indirectly exploit a weakness or a flaw in someone's views - "Have you considered...(then finish the sentence by offering an alternative view that gently challenges his/her beliefs, possibly exposing a point of weaknesss you uncovered in the answers to your first two questions. For example, "Have you ever considered that the existence of evil is actually evidence FOR the existence of God, not against it?")

This quote was taken from Greg Koukl's Ambassador Basic Curriculum, "Tactics in Defending the Faith" which can be obtained at his website, http://www.str.org/. Hopefully this will can serve you as you seek to be a faithful of our Lord Jesus Christ.

-Ryan

I'm Holding a Miracle

2009-11-30T16:38:00.000-08:00

My friend Jason French wrote and produced a beautiful song entitled "I'm Holding a Miracle" to display the God-wrought miracle of human life. Below is a video he made to go with it. (By the way, the child quoting Scripture in the song is his son.)

And along these lines the Cherokee County for Life group is hosting a "Party with a Purpose" on Thursday, December 10, 2009 from 6 to 8pm. This is a chance for like-minded people in our area to get together for the cause of life and support the babies of mothers who choose life. The idea is to bring a gift for these children that will be donated to the Pregnancy Center of Tahlequah. Please come join us in the fight for the lives of the unborn.

How Should I Share My Faith?

2009-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

When we share should we share our personal testimony or the Gospel? What do people need to hear? The content of what we say to unbelievers really does matter.

Should Christians Suffer? Part 3

2009-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

In the first two parts of this series I sought to demonstrate that suffering is both proper for Christians and good for Christians. But that is not to say that it is fun. In fact I don’t want to suffer and I’m sure you don’t either. But how are we to handle it? We will suffer; it is God’s will for us; so how should we respond when the rough times come?

How are Christians supposed to respond to suffering? Consider the following verses:

Romans 5:3, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces…”

James 1 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces…”

Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,”

Acts 8:1-8, “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city."

How are we to respond? Respond with joy because you know that God is working something wonderful in our suffering and as it happens preach the Gospel!

You are going to suffer. I don’t know what form it will take but I know that God has good purposes in the suffering of believers.

Many people are familiar with the story of Corrie ten Boom. She and her family hid Jews during the Holocaust. They were eventually discovered and taken to concentration camps. Corrie faced incredible hardships but fought to look to Christ in them. She wrote a poem that paints a beautiful picture of the suffering of God’s children:

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,
I do not choose the colors; He works so steadily.
Oft times He weaves in sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and me the underside.
Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

Will you endure suffering, even finding a joy in it, knowing and showing that Jesus is more valuable than all that life can give and all that death can take?

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliott).

Should Christians Suffer? Part 2

2009-11-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

In the last blog I endeavored to show from Scripture that suffering is part of the normal Christian life, in fact it is God’s will for His children. In this posting I’ll seek to explore a bit of the purpose for the suffering of God’s people.

Why do Christians suffer? Why would God will that His children have pain when He has the power to stop it?

First I want to remind us that suffering comes in all shapes and sizes. In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul lists afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hungers, treated as imposters, being unknown, dying, punished, sorrowful, poor, and possessing nothing. Wow, not a pretty picture. And James simply says that we face trials of various kinds.

But again, why? Why do we suffer? I want to mention two big reasons for Christian suffering: 1. It is for our spiritual growth; and 2. It is for our Gospel witness.

1. For our spiritual growth:

Romans 5:3-4, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Hebrews 12:10-11, “he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Painful discipline from God is for our good.

Think about what Hebrews is telling us: without God-ordained struggles we won’t be very holy – very set apart. And notice what it says – it’s not fun BUT it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those trained by it.

Trials will come; will you be trained by them or fight against them? When you plant a seed what do you do? You have to break up the soil so the seed can go down in it. That’s the kind of picture we have here. God kind of breaks up the worldliness in us to implant His holiness deep within us.

And one last place I want to look at to see this idea is 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

How serious were Paul’s sufferings? They were massive as we’ve already seen. And yet what does he call them? “Light momentary affliction.” Compared to what he will gain his struggles are as nothing. But how can he think this way? Look at those last verses again – all the comforts in this world are not going to last anyway. He lived for what would last – “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Again, we are reminded that suffering is part of normal Christian experience and it is designed for our spiritual growth.

2. Not only do Christians suffer for our spiritual growth but we endure suffering for our Gospel witness. When believers endure hard times with solid faith in the goodness of God in Christ Jesus unbelievers take notice.

Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,” – Paul suffered to bring the Gospel to people.

Acts 9:16, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” In order for the Gospel to go out it will take some discomfort. This doesn’t mean you go looking for pain but for the sake of God’s chosen people you are willing to joyfully endure pain.

In fact one church father, Tertullian, wrote that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And we’ve seen this over and over again.

Many have seen the movie, The End of the Spear, that gives a brief picture of the missionary work and martyrdom of Nate Saint. Here we see a vivid picture of how God used the death and sufferings of His children to bring many people unto Himself.

Our suffering shows the world that Jesus is more valuable than all that this life can give and all that death can take.

Suffering is God-ordained for our growth and our Gospel witness. But is suffering easy and fun? No. Then how are we supposed to respond to it? We’ll look at this in my next posting.

Should Christians Suffer? Part 1

2009-11-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

Suffering is part of life. Everyone suffers from time to time: deaths, illnesses, injuries, mistreatments, injustices, etc… But is this God’s will for His children? Are Christians meant to suffer?

In 1 Thessalonians Paul is concerned for his recent converts to Christianity because they are suffering great conflict, just as he had and just as he had told them they would. He is writing to encourage and strengthen them in their faith so that they will not be shaken. Paul writes,

“Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” (1 Thes. 3:1-4)

We know that Paul had seen many come to saving faith and had been run out of town by a jealous, angry mob for preaching Christ (Acts 17:1-9). And here we see again Paul’s heart of love for these believers. He does not avoid the subject of suffering but he sees himself as a pastor who has a job of preparing his people to suffer.

For us, the topic of suffering is one we often avoid. I mean, no one wants discomfort and pain. And some even go so far as to teach that Christians are not supposed to suffer. They teach that if we are suffering then we have a lack of faith or have some sin in our lives. But is this true? Is suffering really from a lack of faith or is suffering supposed to be a part of the normal Christian life?

Christians do suffer, but why do they suffer? And since it does happen, how should we respond to suffering? Those are the three main questions that we are going to look at in this blog series: 1. Is suffering supposed to be a part of the Christian life?; 2. Why do Christians suffer?; and 3. How should Christians respond to suffering?

Is suffering supposed to be a part of the Christian life? Or is it a lack of faith? In other words, should Christians suffer?

Let’s think about it. Did the apostle Paul lack faith? How does the Bible portray him?

Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Philippians 3:8 “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

It would seem pretty clear that Paul did not lack faith, so then did Paul suffer? In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 Paul describes some of what he had been through, “with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

Ya, I think Paul suffered.

Here’s the truth: suffering is God’s will. I’m just going to put up a few texts that I think show this truth quite clearly:

1 Thessalonians 3:3, “that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.”

Philippians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake”

And think of the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23-25, “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

Or in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

Or Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5, “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

It is God’s will that His children suffer. It is not about a lack of faith, but in a sense you could say it is because of their faith.

BUT WHY?!? What is the purpose of Christian suffering? Why is suffering God’s will? We’ll look at the “why” in part two of this blog.

Sexual Detox

2009-11-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today, as you know, a guy needs only to turn on his computer and, within two or three clicks of the mouse, he can have unlimited access to unlimited amounts of pornography. Today it is actually far more difficult to avoid pornography than it is to find it.

This quote comes from a helpful, free e-book by Tim Challies entitled, "Sexual Detox, A Guide for the Married Guy." I just finished reading this and would now put it in my top two or three resources for our battle against sexual sin. Tim does a phenominal job of showing the dangers of lust and pornography from a biblical perspective. One of the best chapters, in my opinion, is entitled, "A Theology of Sex," where he does a masterful job of showing the God-designed beauty and intent of sex.

Let's face it guys, lust and pornography are HUGE struggles with men today. I say "today" because as Tim wrote, porn is far more difficult, in our day, to avoid than to find. I have counseled numerous young men (and even not so young men) who struggle with the guilt and negative effects of lust and pornography.

Men, God has a better plan for you. Not a plan of withholding something good and wonderful, but of helping you enter into something good and wonderful and helping you to avoid incredible guilt and pain. I would urge you to give this little e-book a read (it's only 29 pages long) and enter into the blessing that our Creator has for us.

Sexual Detox A Guide for the Single Guy

Sexual Detox A Guide for the Married Guy

Two of the Greatest Words in the Bible

2009-11-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

I am meeting with a young man and we are spending a few weeks studying the four components of the Gospel: God, sin, Christ, response. This week we are spending our quiet times looking at what the Bible teaches on the topic of sin or the sinfulness of man. This morning I was working my way through Ephesians 2:1-3 which says,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

You gotta admit it's a pretty bleak picture. But now this leads me to the title of this post. Yes the state of humanity is horrendeous, but then you get to the first two words (at least in the English version) of verse 4, "But God." But God. There is no hope for mankind except in those two wonderful words - But God.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved... (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Those two words are so glorious. They introduce this amazing God who saves His rebellious enemies through His own plan and work in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. I pray you have seen the wonder and awesomeness of this God and respond to Him by turning from your own self-directed-way and placing your full hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you have already done this, that you would stand amazed again today.

Be Still

2009-11-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). I was reminded in my reading this morning of God. He truly will be exalted. No matter the turmoil around me, He is still in control and He will be exalted. I love the New American Standard version of this verse that says, “Cease striving.” There is a great rest knowing that God is unassailable and His purposes will stand. The challenge I see is to keep before me my purpose: to know Him and to glorify Him by enjoying Him. He is my “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Oh how easy it is to look at the tumult and not look to Him with eyes of faith. He will be exalted. Be still.

Why Pro-Life?

2009-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

When speaking with someone about abortion and pro-life issues, what can you say? Many people simply will not accept our Christian reasoning; they reject the Bible as God's Word and will not hear the truth of our arguments. I ran across a simple acrostic a while back that has been helpful for me in questioning a pro-abortion stance. The acrostic is "sled," S.L.E.D. I wish I remembered where I found this but here it is nonetheless.

Size: True, embryos are smaller than newborns and adults, but why is that relevant? Do we really want to say that large people are more human than small ones? Men are generally larger than women, but that doesn't mean that they deserve more rights. Size doesn't equal value.

Level of Development: True, embryos and fetuses are less developed than you and I. But again, why is that relevant? Four year-old girls are less developed than fourteen year-old ones. Should older children have more rights than their younger siblings? Some people say that self-awareness makes one human. But if that is true, newborns do not qualify as valuable human beings. Six-week old infants lack the immediate capacity for performing human mental functions, as do the reversibly comatose, the sleeping, and those with Alzheimer's Disease.

Environment: Where you are has no bearing on why you are. Does your value change when you cross the street or roll over in bed. If not, how can a journey of eight inches down the birth-canal suddenly change the essential nature of the unborn from non-human to human? If the unborn are not already human, merely changing their location can't make them valuable.

Degree of Dependency: If viability makes us human, than all those who depend on insulin or kidney medication are not valuable and we may kill them. Conjoined twins who share blood type and bodily systems also have no right to life.

In short, it's far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely with respect to talents, accomplishments, and degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal because they share a common human nature.

Elders' Meetings That Do Something

2009-11-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

On his website Jim Eliff gives a great challenge for elders/pastors to consider:

Elders' meetings should not be an exercise in futility. Rather, to be effective for the church and interesting for the elders, some thought must be put into your time together.

Some suggestions:

1. Plan for meeting together more often and for a longer period of time.

We find meeting for at least four hours weekly is about right, 6-10 pm. Even then we find that we want more time. In fact, before one of our elders changed jobs, we would meet from 5-10 pm. The “once-a-month elders’ meeting” is the kiss of death for most elder teams. It usually means that the elders do not understand their responsibilities and are mere figure heads. Don’t die from pastoral atrophy.

We like to make our meetings enjoyable. We start out by eating an inexpensive meal together, for instance. We might do this in a restaurant or at one of our homes by bringing in pizza. Sometimes we include our wives, so that they can enjoy visiting with each other while we meet. Occasionally, the entire family of each elder joins us. The elders then pull aside in a separate place for their meeting. The meal cost is on the church in order to provide us extra time to be together. It’s a reasonable perk for hard working elders.

If a man cannot make this time commitment (and there is more ministry time needed besides this) then he should not be an elder. There are many good men who do not have the time to serve as an elder. You are not really pastoring people if you don’t do the work.

2. Challenge each other spiritually.

Again, if you only meet a short time, you will miss this important element. We sometimes ponder six characteristics of leadership: Character, knowledge, skills, affection, faith and enthusiasm. Give an honest report of your lives. Challenge each other with insights from Scripture and experience. Be honest. Repent in each other’s presence. Be direct with each other. Good men will love it. Petty men cannot stand it. But petty men are not to be elders.

3. Discuss the state of the flock.

I know that every church is not set up the same, but most healthy churches share actual pastoral oversight responsibilities among the elders. This usually takes means that a segment of the church is under each elder’s direct care, such as might be accomplished through home cell groups of some kind. For us, we divide the entire church into several “congregations” each led by a pastor. The congregations have between 15 and 35 people, depending on how new the group is. If you do not have such a breakdown of the church, it is nearly impossible to actually shepherd the people.

We find that taking some time to talk about issues among the congregations is our pastoral responsibility. We share our insights about how to handle certain problems that come up, or how to stimulate those under our individual “charge.” This takes quite a bit of our time together (usually 45 minutes to an hour), but it is well worth it.

4. Have an agenda.

Not everyone is organized. One of our elders is better at this than the rest of us. He enjoys putting together the agenda of items to work through each week. Find out who does this the best and let him lead you. Other elders can shoot agenda items to him by email or phone call so that he is fully prepared. This does not mean that all discussion is led by this elder, but only that he moves you through the evening. Forget Robert’s Rules of Order, which is great for running the legislature but lousy for running churches and elders’ meetings. The church is a family, not a nation. It is helpful for the group to make assignments with end dates for the agenda keeper to highlight to the group. Having an agenda makes sense, but don’t let the group slide into acting just like a management team at your work.

5. Actually pray for individuals and issues being faced.

The elders must be pray-ers. This is a portion of your time together that is so important it cannot be overlooked. It is not tacked on to the end of a meeting, but a major reason you are coming together. We find praying about “one item at a time” is best, with the freedom to pray as often as we wish. Sometimes we ask each elder to pray about members of his own group particularly. If necessary, we can walk and pray, or do something else to give us focus and keep us energetic.

If all the rest of the church prayed like the elders pray, how effective would your church be?

6. Study together toward a unified position on difficult issues.

This is the most often missed facet of elders working together. It is the responsibility of every elder to be “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).

We’ve used this time for much profitable discussion concerning vital biblical issues. Our longest study actually lasted two years, more time than most will want to spend on an issue. But this study has turned into a book that we hope will be of great use to the churches. Usually a study on a particular subject will take months, however.

Start with reading over the biblical material on the subject of interest. For instance, you may wish to come to a conclusion about who should take the Lord’s Supper, or what the Bible has to say about the prerequisites for joining a church, or about women’s roles in the church, or about divorce and remarriage, or who is allowed to be an elder, or what the real responsibilities of a deacon should be. Once you have an issue that is of pastoral importance, try to find every biblical reference to it. Go through that material first as carefully as possible, painfully working through each word and phrase. Decide on a “scribe” who can take notes carefully.

Next, you may wish to read a couple of books on the subject, perhaps on various sides of the issue. There may be one or two elders who read even more broadly on behalf of the group.

Attempt to craft a position statement on the subject. It might be short or long. You should labor over the wording until you are all in perfect agreement, reading and rereading it. This is not wasted time. It serves to get the position deep into each elder.

Following this, take the men of the church through a biblical study of the subject. Read slowly and carefully through your position, looking up the passages and talking about every aspect. Listen to their input and reshape the document as needed. If it won’t fly among the men, it won’t fly in the church as a whole. If it is received on this level, it will likely be enthusiastically received by the church.

Finally, present the document to the church as a whole. Or, if it is a matter pertaining only to the elders, keep your findings in your own notebook of positions about various issues of leadership and oversight. When appropriate, post these position statements on your website. This will help incoming members and guests to understand better what is expected and what the beliefs and actions of the church are. It will also demonstrate that the church is interested in being biblical above being pragmatic.

Usually an hour and a half of our meeting is devoted to such study, or more if possible. One of our men is particularly good at shaping what we talk about into a draft to discuss and perfect.

You will find that elders will own these studied positions and will be able to carefully lead others with conviction and biblical insight.

7. Make these meetings non-optional.

Every elder must make meeting together a priority. Some men who travel might not find it possible to be in town for such meetings on a regular basis. Consider changing your travel schedule or stepping down from leadership. The meetings are too important to miss. It is disappointing to the whole team for one member to fail to be there. It often means that critical issues will be misunderstood.

There is much more to do as elders than meet together. But it is nearly impossible to do the work you are called upon to do without meeting. It would be akin to asking a man and woman to parent a family when they never talk about what is needed or expected. It simply cannot be done correctly without prolonged and intimate discussion.

Copyright © 2008 Jim Elliff
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc.
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form
including author's name, title, complete content, copyright and weblink.
Other uses require written permission.

www.CCWtoday.org

How Good Do I Have To Be?

2009-11-10T11:11:00.001-08:00

Earlier this morning I was looking up various passages dealing with the sovereignty of God and especially those dealing with His choosing of people. Of course this led me to the book of Romans chapter 9. I was again blown away by this amazing God who does all things for His own glory. As I read I was struck by the words at the end of the chapter,

What shall we say, then? That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it tis written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

I was again confronted by the Good News, the Gospel. This is the good news that God can and does declare unrighteous people (me) to be righteous. A good standing before God is not something that anyone can work for. God alone is righteous and He alone can impute righteousness to us and He does not do it based on our merit but rather He makes the sinner righteous who is trusting in His Son. He alone gets the glory. None will stand justified before Him on their own merit. But to those who trust not in themselves but in Him who justifies, they are saved by grace through faith.

What an amazing God. Let my pride fall; I have nothing in myself of which to boast. Let my guilty conscience rest; I have been declared righteous before this holy God forever. Hallelujah!!! What a Savior!!!

Wisdom From The Past: The Nicene Creed

2009-11-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

One of the dangers I see in our generation is that we tend to try to discern what the Bible is teaching on our own without considering what others have studied and learned. Here is a good biblical summary of truth from antiquity (originally adopted in 325):

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

9 Ways to Know the Gospel of Christ is True

2009-11-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

by John Piper

1. Jesus Christ, as he is presented to us in the New Testament, and as he stands forth from all its writings, is too single and too great to have been invented so uniformly by all these writers.

The force of Jesus Christ unleashed these writings; the writings did not create the force. Jesus is far bigger and more compelling than any of his witnesses. His reality stands behind these writings as a great, global event stands behind a thousand newscasters. Something stupendous unleashed these diverse witnesses to tell these stunning and varied, yet unified, stories of Jesus Christ.

2. Nobody has ever explained the empty tomb of Jesus in the hostile environment of Jerusalem where the enemies of Jesus would have given anything to produce the corpse, but could not.

The earliest attempts to cover the scandal of resurrection were manifestly contradictory to all human experience—disciples do not steal a body (Matthew 28:13) and then sacrifice their lives to preach a glorious gospel of grace on the basis of the deception. Modern theories that Jesus didn't die but swooned, and then awoke in the tomb and moved the stone and tricked his skeptical disciples into believing he was risen as the Lord of the universe don't persuade.

3. Cynical opponents of Christianity abounded where claims were made that many eyewitnesses were available to consult concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

"After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:6). Such claims would be exposed as immediate falsehood if they could. But we know of no exposure. Eyewitnesses of the risen Lord abounded when the crucial claims were being made.

4. The early church was an indomitable force of faith and love and sacrifice on the basis of the reality of Jesus Christ.

The character of this church, and the nature of the gospel of grace and forgiveness, and the undaunted courage of men and women—even unto death—do not fit the hypothesis of mass hysteria. They simply were not like that. Something utterly real and magnificent had happened in the world and they were close enough to know it, and be assured of it, and be gripped by its power. That something was Jesus Christ, as all of them testified, even as they died singing.

5. The prophesies of the Old Testament find stunning fulfillment in the history of Jesus Christ.

The witness to these fulfillments are too many, too diverse, too subtle and too interwoven into the history of the New Testament church and its many writings to be fabricated by some great conspiracy. Down to the details, Jesus Christ fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies that vindicate his truth.

6. The witnesses to Jesus Christ who wrote the New Testament gospels and letters are not gullible or deceitful or demented.

This is manifest from the writings themselves. The books bear the marks of intelligence and clear-headedness and maturity and a moral vision that is compelling. They win our trust as witnesses, especially when all taken together with one great unifying, but distinctively told, message about Jesus Christ.

7. The worldview that emerges from the writings of the New Testament makes more sense out of more reality than any other worldview.

It not only fits the human heart, but also the cosmos and history and God as he reveals himself in nature and conscience. Some may come to this conclusion after much reflection, others may arrive at this conviction by a pre-reflective, intuitive sense of the deep suitability of Christ and his message to the world that they know.

8. When one sees Christ as he is portrayed truly in the gospel, there shines forth a spiritual light that is a self-authenticating.

This is "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:6), and it is as immediately perceived by the Spirit-awakened heart as light is perceived by the open eye. The eye does not argue that there is light. It sees light.

9. When we see and believe the glory of God in the gospel, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that the love of God might be "poured out in our hearts" (Romans 5:5).

This experience of the love of God known in the heart through the gospel of Him who died for us while we were yet ungodly assures us that the hope awakened by all the evidences we have seen will not disappoint us.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/

Praise God for Pleasure!

2009-11-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

Screwtape (speaking for the devil—"Our Father"—in The Screwtape Letters) says to one of his under-devils:

Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which he has forbidden.... An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.... To get a man's soul and give him nothing in return—that's what really gladdens Our Father's heart. (quoted in The Narnian, 189)

How Not to Waste Your Life: Three Keys, Part 3

2009-11-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

We've been looking at 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 and discussing three keys to not wasting your life.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

The third key in this series is this:

Anticipate the Coming of Your Lord

Here is Paul’s great motivation. He lived in the reality that Jesus is going to come back.

But why is he calling the Thessalonian people his hope and joy and crown of boasting? Shouldn’t that be the Lord and not people? The picture here is that when Jesus comes back it won’t be just Paul and Jesus there but also these fellow Christians that God had used Paul to reach. It’s like Paul is saying, “When I see the Lord Jesus you are going to be my boast, you are going to be my joy, you are going to be the fulfillment of my hope.

Do you see this? This is our eternal reward: it is going to be the presence of people that we were responsible to lead to Christ, those that we influenced by our lives and our words and our praying. This is a call for us to spend our money, and time, and energy to reach people and love them and share the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead, to share that with them. Look how he repeats this in v. 20, For you are our glory and joy. He’s saying, “You are it. You are what we live for in the presence of the Lord.”

Is it any wonder that Paul was successful. He lived in light of eternity. He live in the constant awareness that he would stand before God at His coming and he wanted to take as many with him as possible. He loved people, he understood his enemy, and he anticipated the coming of his Lord.

If you could begin to put those things into your life you will unlikely reach the end of your time saying, “I’ve wasted it.”

How Not to Waste Your Life: Three Keys, Part 2

2009-11-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

How can we reach the end of our lives and not say, "I've wasted it! I've wasted it!"? In this series I'm exploring three keys that Paul speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

The first key we looked at was the need to genuinely love people.

Key #2: Understand Your Enemy
If you are going to be used of the Lord and not waste your life then you will come under satanic attack. I think that often in our culture we forget the reality and seriousness of spiritual warfare.

But how does satan hinder? The Bible shares many of his methods:
* He is the father of lies – so he lies and distorts the truth – Jn. 8:44
* He tempts believers – 1 Thes. 3:5
* He snatches the Word away – Matt. 13:
* He harasses, like he did to Job
* He disguises himself as an angel of light – 2 Cor. 11:14
* He accuses believers before God’s throne – Rev. 12:10
* He shakes up and distresses a life, like he did as he “sifted” Peter – Lk. 22:31
* He causes disease – Lk. 13, 16
* He possesses – Matt. 8:28
* He devours – 1 Peter 5:8
* He kills, he’s a murderer – Jn. 8:44
He has countless ways he can hinder and harm believers. Martin Luther said it well in a hymn, “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.”

Satan is all about attacking the church and church leaders. We saw this in Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). And we read about it all over in Revelation in regards to the churches listed there in chapters 2 & 3.

Think about the scandals we hear about in regards to church leaders. Not that long ago we heard of an evangelical pastor who was caught hiring a male prostitute and buying drugs from him. And we know that Jesus said to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat (Lk. 22:31). And so here is satan focusing on Peter. And we know that Paul was given a thorn in the flesh that he describes as, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (1 Cor. 12). Satan is always after church leaders.

And what does Satan want to do? Look at your text: he wants to hinder the progress. Hinder was a military term for tearing up roads or digging trenches to impede an enemy’s progress. Paul says that Satan is breaking up the road in front of him, “He has dug a bunch of trenches and I can’t get there.”

What are we do do?
Now, we have to ask ourselves, does this mean that Satan is too powerful? Should we run in fear? I mean why doesn’t Paul just say, “Satan I bind you!” Well to put it simply: because that’s not biblical. What we see in Scripture is that though Satan is opposing us, he is controlled by the providence of God. He can only do what God allows him to do and in the end even his hindrances serve God’s purposes. Paul’s thorn was used by God to show Paul’s weakenss and God’s strength. So here we have Satan successfully hindering Paul from going to Thessalonica but this could only happen because this fit in with God’s plans for the work that God had for Paul. James tells us, submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (Js. 4:7). No binding, just get close to God and try not to give in to the devil’s attacks.

So far we’ve seen our need to love genuinely people and to understand our enemy so that we will not waste our lives. Paul gives one other key, and we'll look at in the next post.

Until then, keep your eyes on Christ!

-Ryan

Just What is the Gospel?

2009-11-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

THE GOOD NEWS (The Gospel)

The Good News is God's message for all people in all places. You can remember the Gospel by reminding yourself of these four points: God, man, Christ, response.

GOD – There is only one God and He has revealed Himself in the Bible. He is the Holy One, who is both transcendent and immanent. He is the creator of all and as Creator He has established the laws by which His creation is to operate, therefore He is the Lawgiver. As the Lawgiver He is also the Judge who will hold His creation accountable for their attitudes and actions.

MAN – All people have been created by God and for God. But man has rebelled against His Lord and stands guilty of breaking His laws (by lying, stealing, lusting, not honoring God above everything else, etc…). All sin must be punished and so man, on his own, stands guilty before God and without hope.

CHRIST – Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity and God’s Son, came to earth 2,000 years ago in human flesh to live the perfect life that people could not live and to die on the cross bearing the anger of God for the sins of men. He was buried and He rose from the dead three days later. He did this to display the justice and mercy of God in saving a people from their sins.

RESPONSE – The Bible tells us that we are to repent and believe. Repentance carries the idea of changing our minds, that is recognizing that we are guilty sinners and desiring to stop dishonoring the Lord. In repentance we seek to turn from our sins and in belief we turn to God. We believe that when Jesus Christ died that He took our sins with Him upon the cross and bore the wrath of God that we deserve. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that only through His sacrifice can we gain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We are granted eternal life, not because we are good people, but because we are bad people who have been forgiven by the good God.

How Not to Waste Your Life: Three Keys, Part 1

2009-11-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

John Piper relates the following story in his book, "Don't Waste Your Life"

For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of aman converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during hymn, to everyone’s amazement he came and took my father’s hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face – and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears – “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!” (DWYL pg. 12).

At some point in time we will realize what really matters in life. This will be either while we still live and can do something about it or it will be right after we die and see the reality of the after-life. I hoping for me and you that we won’t reach the end of our time here and say with this old man, “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!”

So what are we going to do? How can we gain the perspective and passion to live life to the fullest? I think we see this in the apostle Paul and we are going to look at a simple text that can give us some clues for not wasting our lives.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Key #1 - Genuinely Love People
The key in this first post is a call for us to love people. Paul loved the Thessalonians – truly, genuinely loved them, and he makes this clear over and over again in this text. This is in stark contrast to the Jews and false teachers who must have been questioning his love since he was still gone. Paul had only been there a few weeks before the Jews became jealous and formed a rioting mob and drove he and his companions out of the city (Acts 17).

He obviously had not wanted to leave. Look how he describes it, since we were torn away from you . The word used is the term for being orphaned. Paul was their spiritual father, or even earlier had described his care for them as (v. 7) But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. And here it’s like he had been ripped away from his children leaving them as orphans. That would break any parent’s heart.

Now what was Paul looking for? I mean, he said he endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face. He really longed and worked to be with them. Did he just want to come hang out and enjoy their company? No it wasn’t just friendship. In chapter 3 verse 10 he says, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. He deeply cares for them and wants to see that they are helped in their walks with God. He doesn’t want them to fall away from the truth. what you see here is Paul genuinely loving, and genuinely concerned for these brothers and sisters in Christ.

What about us?
What we see for us is our need to genuinely love others. Do you really care about people? Are you seeing people around you as eternal souls that will either spend eternity with our Lord or away from His goodness, forever in His anger? For us to not waste our lives, we need to love others to the point that we are willing to sacrifice our time, money, and comfort to see them walking with Jesus Christ.

This is the first key to not wasting your life from our text in 1 Thessalonians. In the next two posts we'll look at the other two keys in the text; those of understanding your enemy and eagerly anticipating the coming of your Lord.

Until then keep your eyes on Christ,

-Ryan