Tag: Christianity

The National Day of Prayer is Today

It can be so easy at times to forget that prayer is the duty of every believer and follower of Jesus. While I cannot say that I do this as I should, I understand that the leaders of this country need the prayers of the people, but not for the reasons that you might think. Many times our prayers descend into a kind of political jockeying with God. Here is the bottom line.

God is NOT interested in our politics.

As a matter of fact, God could care less about the political situations in this world. God is more interested in accomplishing his purposes through his people. Therefore, it is important for us, the children of God, to quit trying to get God to change the political situation due to some preference we might have. This could very easily descend into a rant, but I will keep myself from that!

My desire on this National Day of Prayer is this: That we as Christ followers would not pray for God to change the political situation or climate or whatever. I would like for us to pray that God would change the hearts of the politicians toward himself. I want my confidence to be in God, not in some man or woman that wants to represent “my interests.” The only one I trust with my interests is God.

And I want to leave it that way.

Prayer

Most Gracious God,

You are greater and more wonderful that any political system, philosophy, or candidate. I pray that we, your people, would spend more time trusting you, rather than some elected official.

Father, I pray, that as a follower of your Son, I would call out to you for the heart and soul of every member of Congress and every elected official. I ask that you would transform them and conform them into the image of your Son. Trusting in others for what only you can provide will lead us toward idolatry and hopelessness.

Help us to increase our trust in you. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Integrity on the Cheap

This morning I was making a deposit at the bank. It was a personal trip. I had written out the deposit slip and was patiently waiting for my receipt. I don’t know if other people do this, but I try to always check the deposit to make sure it’s right. It’s not that I don’t trust the folks at the bank. I just know that mistakes can be made. Well, this morning a mistake was made, but it was made in my favor.

I was about to pull off and I noticed that there was too much money on my receipt. I had a decision to make (well, not really. I knew what I needed to do). I pressed the “call” button and asked the cashier to double-check the checks I had given. She looked slightly confused. Continue reading “Integrity on the Cheap”

Sermon Sketch | “Boldness is the Need”

I preached this sermon at my dad’s church. They were celebrating the opening of their new church building. We met outside because the fire marshal had not given the church a certificate of occupancy. It was a great service.

Boldness is the Need
Acts 4:13-23, 29-31

1. Confrontation is a sign that God is at work (v. 3)

2. Conflict is the natural result of conviction (v. 18)

3. Continue to show what you have “seen and heard” (v. 19-20)

4. Boldness is the need of the Church (v. 29-31)

  • Courage is the ability to face your fears
  • But… Boldness is courage with a purpose

Book Review | “Where Do Babies Go When They Die?”

Summary

I acquired The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism by Craig R. Brown because it was free at the time. I have always tried to understand the Calvinistic system of theology and have studied it for many years now. There are many things that I like about reformed thought. Just look at the name of this blog. In many ways I am reformed. But, there are also several questions that the Reformed point of view does not answer for me. I do not think, for one moment, that I am the final word on these questions. It is just that the answers provided by the Calvinist camp tend to, at times, resort to a type of logical gymnastics when an answer is not readily available.

One of the major strengths of the book is that it frames the concerns that some have about Calvinism in very provocative questions. Questions that you might see yourself asking.

  1. If God is in complete control of everything, to the point of predetermining all human actions, how can a man be held accountable for what he does?
  2. If we are saved by grace and not by works, why shoudl we do anything good? What purpose do good works serve? Are there rewards in heaven for what do here on earth?

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 14 | Faith is… Radiating the Glory of God

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God… (Hebrews 1:3a)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29, ESV)

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3, NIV)

What is the purpose, goal and ultimate end of this life of faith?

I think that we could come up with a wide and varied list of answers to the question. And, I do not think that any of those answers would be wrong or inappropriate. What I would say is that many of our answers would probably be much too shallow to accurately represent how God sees us. To think otherwise might somewhat naive on our part. God’s ultimate purpose for his people must be greater and grander than anything we could even conceive. If it is something that we could conjure up in our own minds and hearts we would be able to make ourselves equal to God.

The power of God to transform us from what we are to what he intends for us to be is something truly amazing. I say this, and I know that I do not fully understand what I am thinking. Just imagining a time in my future where I will be perfect. Where every action, thought and word will be correct. Thinking about a time where I will no longer be the source of pain or suffering to those I care for most. That I will no longer make a mistake in judgment that will bring about negative or unintended consequences to those I have never met. That truly is a wonderful thought. I can only dream about what that will be like

Over the course of this series I have hoped to expand our understanding of faith. Knowing what something is can help us to live better and choose better. But, faith is not like most other subjects. Faith, unlike many other things in life, is something that comes from God and works its way through us. Faith is dependent on an object. It is impossible to have faith in nothing. That is a contradiction in ideas. Faith always points to something outside of itself.

What I have come to realize is that our faith, this faith in Jesus, is not something that we strive for. While there are times that we can talk about pushing into our faith, or holding onto faith, the Christian faith is of a different nature. Faith in Christ takes hold of us, it pulls us forward, it calls us to go deeper. Christian faith is not something that has be fabricated from within. Christian faith is poured in from without because the object of our faith is so compelling, so transforming that it provokes action.

This begs the question, “Why do we not see this more often in those of us that profess faith in Jesus?”

I think that the major reason is that we have not accepted the fact about one of the most important effects of our faith in our lives. That effect is that God desires to make us like Christ in every way. And, one of the most compelling ways that we are made like Christ is to radiate the very glory of God to the world. At no point are we to point to ourselves or our won glory.

Fundamentally what this means is that at the center of our lives is not what is at the center of Jesus’ life. Everything that Jesus did he did because that was exactly what God wanted him to do. Everything that Jesus said was exactly what God wanted him to say. Jesus and God were so close together that Jesus described the relationship between himself and the Father as being one (John 10:30). I know the theological realities that this statement was pointing to. However, it would be a terribly short-sighted perspective to dismiss the relational reality that Jesus is describing.

Do you remember Jesus prayer for the disciples and all disciples to follow? Jesus prayed that we would all be one. How? Just like Jesus relationship with God the Father. John captured Jesus’ prayer on this issue and recorded it in John 17:

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:20-26, ESV, emphasis added)

I highlighted one phrase of this passage, but the entire paragraph is so rich with implications about what God desires for us to become because of our faith in the Son of God. It would take more space than is available here to explore what this means. Just read and re-read that paragraph a couple of times and see how Jesus joins together, not only his life with that of the Father’s, but also how Jesus joins our lives with God’s life.

Everything that God desires for the Son, he desires to be seen in those that are becoming like Jesus. The closer we draw to Jesus and the closer we walk with Jesus, the more like him we will become. The more we become like Jesus, the more like him we will be in radiating the glory of God to the world.

Learning How to Mourn is Never Easy | “Missing Missing” by R.C. Sproul Jr.

R. C. Sproul Jr., a theologian and apologist in his own right, is the son of R. C. Sproul Sr. (I know that’s just crazy right!). Anyway, late last year his wife passed away. In this post, R. C. Sproul Jr., speaks about the process of mourning. It is moving and difficult to read. You find yourself wondering and imagining how you would feel in those same circumstances. And yet, there is comfort in knowing that Jesus is good and God is most loving to those that serve him.

These sentences serve as an example of what I mean.

She has, rightly, wisely, and through the very love of our Savior, left me. And I feel lost. By His grace, however, I have a path to follow. For His pierced feet leave bloody prints all the way out of the valley, all the way up the mountain. I will follow Him, who promised to be with me, even until the end of the age. [Source]

Spiritual Starvation: The Reason Many Christian’s Struggle

Ok, so here is the deal. When I get hungry, I eat. When I get tired, I sleep. When I get discouraged, I eat. Just kidding on the last one. I usually go watch a movie or watch my kids play.

On a serious note, though, if hunger is the sign that something needs to be put in our stomach’s, what are we supposed to put in our spiritual belly when we are spiritually hungry? This is a question that I have been trying to get my head and heart around over the last couple of months. I do not have this all figured out, but I think that I am going in the right direction. So, let me share with you what I have been thinking.

There are two places in the Gospel’s were Jesus says something about spiritual food. What makes these two instances interesting is that one has to do with consumption and the other has to do with activity. I am by no means the symbol of fitness or dietary excellence, but I know that if I want to be healthy I have to eat well and exercise or stay active.

This is what Jesus said. The first he said to the devil and the second he said to his disciples.

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, ESV)

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work….” (John 4:31-34, ESV)

Continue reading “Spiritual Starvation: The Reason Many Christian’s Struggle”

Worthy is the Lamb! (and other things we have forgotten)

The story is told of two Moravian missionaries who heard of a colony of slaves who had not yet heard the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their hearts were burdened within them. So, they sought some opportunity to go and preach to them. They soon discovered that the slaves owner did not allow Christians to come because he was afraid of the effect of the Gospel on the slaves. These two young men finally came to the realization that the only way to preach to them was to sell themselves into slavery.

That is exactly what they did. They sold themselves into slavery and as they bade their families and friends goodbye, it is said that one of them looked over the rail ofthe ship, as it pulled from the dock, and screamed to those they would probably never see again,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive the reward of His suffering.”

I think we have forgotten that there are worse things than death, suffering or even slavery. The fires of hell and the people who will find themselves there because they did not repent and turn to Jesus are just two reasons to go into all the world!

Worthy IS the Lamb!

Only when our sense of calling is higher than our own comfort will we be able to forsake present pleasure for future glory. We have to see that ALL that this world pretends to offer is not the worlds to give.

Jesus said,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27, ESV).

Amen and amen!

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