The following is an excerpt from Matt Chandler's sermon, Affections Matter, preached on 1/29/12:
Now I want to show you how deep the gospel penetration went into Ephesus. We are going to go to verse 21 (Acts 19). “Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’ And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines to Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.”
I love Demetrius. I want to have him in my house for dinner. Because one of two things just happened. Either he legitimately believes that, when he is making these silver images, he is making a god, or he thinks he just got busted by Paul. But either way, he’s undeterred from continuing on from his course of action. I don’t know what’s crazier. He either thinks that, when he is hammering silver into shape, he is building a god.
Just for the record, how powerful is a god if you made it? Like if you could manipulate it and make it, how could it possibly be god? How tiny and weak is your god, if your god is dependent upon you? This is Paul’s argument in Acts 17, “God is not made by any, He is not served by any human hands. As if He needed anything. He gives breath and life to all.” This is a very subversive attack on idolatry in Athens and Ephesus.
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I was not intending to write this blog tonight but I just had to share this. It is so awesome. I have heard the teaching before that says, "Are you trying to create God in your image instead of learning what it means to be made in His?" And that is absolutely spot on and something we should continually ask ourselves. But I love the way Matt has expanded that thought.
I am thinking back to some of my witnessing experiences and the individual across the table from me would constantly try to dismiss the attributes of God that are laid out in the Bible and replace them with things they found more appropriate. Examples include:
-God is love so everyone will be saved
-God is a passive observer because I don't feel or hear Him in my life
-God is the one who gave me these desires so how can it be sin to act on them
-God allows pain, illness and depression to persist so He doesn't care about me
-God is the only one who can change me so I will just wait until He does something
-God can't be eternal because I can't comprehend eternity
-God can't possibly know everyone intimately as well as everything that is happening
-God can't exist because I can't see Him and you can't prove He does
Notice what these all have in common...they either make God much smaller or inept than He actually is, or in the case of the last point, take him out of the equation completely. The primary motivation to make God smaller is that it makes us seem bigger by comparison. The more important we perceive ourselves to be, the more relevance and self-worth we have according to this world we live in. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
The temptation is to create a god that you want. That does not bring about the reality of that god anymore than it did when a silversmith created a figurine with his hands. All you have done is fabricate the existence of a god that reflects your logic, your desires and your incredibly limited and finite understanding. How tiny and weak is your god, if your god is dependent on you.
I will worship the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and the Omega, the eternal, omnipotent and sovereign Lord of all. I would much rather lack complete understanding and insight into the one true God than to delude myself into thinking that I have complete control and mastery of a god that only exists in my head. The only reason to do that is so you can continue to live and think the way you want without the conviction of having to answer to a higher Authority that may see things differently than you.
Is your narcissism so great that you would rather make up something useless than obey the One who created you to be truly useful?
"Make your choice. You can shut Him up for a fool, spit at Him as a demon, or fall at His feet and call him Lord and God." - C.S. Lewis
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Abortion
http://www.abort73.com/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/tgc/9-things-you-should-know-about-planned-parenthood
http://time.com/4028258/planned-parenthood/
http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcripts/abortion-and-mothers-mental-health-0
"The right created by the Court in Roe is a constitutional right of some human beings to kill other human beings." - M.S. Paulson
"When a woman has a baby in her womb, parenthood for her and the baby's father is not a choice. It's a definition." - John Piper
"Abortion is this generation's slavery. People will look back in horror & disbelief and say 'they used to kill babies in the mother's womb?!'"
As the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade has just passed (January 22nd), I felt it was time to publish this post as I have been collecting abortion resources for the past year. Abortion is now responsible for 41% of deaths worldwide. There is seemingly no topic more divisive or emotional as abortion. Both sides are vehement in their positions with little willingness to budge or consider the other side. I have a theory on what is at the heart of this contention.
I think abortion serves as the climactic intersection for a world torn between doing things the way it wants versus the way God wants. Those with a worldview that rests on them being the center of the story have a natural abhorrence to the idea that anyone would dare tell them what to do or not to do with their body. Those with a Biblical worldview that God is Lord and Creator have a natural abhorrence to the idea that anyone would willingly murder an innocent child.
I am a pro-life Christian. I come from a family who lost a son before he was even a week old and who later adopted a daughter from South Korea. My parents grieved the loss of a child and celebrated the gift of another. I grew up learning that life is indeed precious and a gift...a gift born out of God's power and grace. What I find particularly saddening is the way pro-choice advocates have chosen to view an unborn child. They have to use a word such as "fetus" to make their argument seem less horrific yet I have never heard a pregnant woman, Christian or not, refer to her unborn child as "this fetus inside of me".
Many pro-choice advocates are outraged when a pregnant woman is killed and her baby perishes with her. They demand a stiffer punishment for the killer than if only one death had occurred. But why, if the fetus inside her is not yet a person?
Further advances in science have given us new and amazing insights to the physical appearance of an unborn child after only a few weeks. Furthermore, surgeries are now performed on a child who is still in the womb. Science continues to show us just how much of a human being resides within his or her mother. Yet, in this case, science tends to be ignored by those who are dogmatically unwavering in their position.
My hope is that God will use the following resources to open up the minds and hearts of those who believe abortion is a legitimate option. I also hope that pro-life individuals can use these resources to grow in their convictions and share this truth with others in a way that is saturated in grace and love.
Abortion has taken over 53 million lives since Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. I was born in 1972. All of those lives have been destroyed within my lifetime. There are no words to describe that tragedy.
Britt Merrick - Abortion, the Bible and a Way Forward from Reality on Vimeo.
http://online.worldmag.com/2011/03/02/too-missional-for-abortion/
A reader passed along this story from ScienceNews:
The remains of seven children apparently killed in a ritual, and buried beneath a 500- to 600-year-old building in Peru’s Cuzco Valley have given scientists new glimpses of the sketchily understood Inca practice of sacrificing select children in elaborate ceremonies.
The children were buried at the same time, apparently after having been killed in a sacrificial rite that honored Inca deities and promoted political unity across the far-flung empire, say anthropologist Valerie Andrushko of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and her colleagues.
Chemical analyses of the bones indicate that at least two of the children came from distant parts of the Inca realm.
The findings lend credence to the accounts of Spanish conquistadors that described how children were selected for sacrifice from all across the empire, based on their physical perfection. We shudder at such brutal backwardness.
Today, using prenatal screening, we scour the empire for children with physical imperfections and sacrifice them to ourselves.
(First Things, “While We’re at It”, January 2011, 68)
And to show just how far in the wrong direction our society is going, how about a day where a dolphin is given the legal standing of a person while an unborn child is not? Think I am kidding? Read this...
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2015/08/13/planned-parenthood-grace-god
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/cetacean-rights/
http://theworksofgod.com/2011/11/28/three-continents-six-children-dead-every-headline-mistaken/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/10/31/why-your-friends-are-pro-choice-and-what-to-do-about-it/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/what-does-roe-v-wade-actually-say
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/22/obama-celebrates-roe-vs-wade-decision-54-million-abortions/
Please take 33 minutes and watch the following video:
http://www.180movie.com/
http://theresurgence.com/2012/01/22/15-things-to-consider-about-abortion
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/online-books/exposing-the-dark-work-of-abortion
In 2010, Planned Parenthood referred 841 women for adoptions and 329,445 for abortions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-medias-blinders-on-abortion.html?_r=2&hp
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abortionist-admits-babies-sometimes-born-alive-and-left-wiggling-around-in
http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcripts/abortion-and-mothers-mental-health
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/bonhoeffer-on-abortion
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the_baby_speaks
http://www.humanlife.org/Resources/DYK/DYK%20WEB.pdf
http://www.therightscoop.com/nbc-chief-medical-editor-its-pro-science-to-abort-children-with-genetic-defects/
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6030020312.html
thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/09/02/if-you-dont-know-if-abortion-is-wrong-choose-the-pro-life-position-by-default
http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=38920
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/10/24/10-questions-a-pro-choice-candidate-is-never-asked-by-the-media/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/01/18/9-things-you-should-know-about-roe-v-wade/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/01/13/thank-you-mr-president-for-these-pro-life-marching-orders/
http://www.radical.net/blog/2013/01/the-most-important-question-in-the-abortion-debate/
http://www.passionlife.org/john-piper-interview/
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/20/hagelin-obama-fails-kings-ideals-when-it-comes-to-/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/we-know-they-are-killing-children-all-of-us-know
marshill.com/2013/01/20/abortion-and-reconciliation-holly-has-been-changed-by-jesus
http://www.prolifetraining.com/FiveMinute1.asp
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-truth-about-abortion-will-set-you-free
www.worldmag.com/2013/05/read_about_abortion_reality_if_you_dare
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-truth-about-abortion-will-set-you-free
http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/the-sanctity-of-human-life/
http://www.skepticink.com/prussian/2014/03/13/the-atheist-case-for-being-anti-abortion/
http://www.inquisitr.com/1236243/abortion-survivor-finds-doctor-who-aborted-her-twin-brother-you-wont-believe-what-happened/
http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Sep/28/abortion-womens-health
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424721/bill-nye-youtube-abortion
http://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/the-supreme-courts-devastating-ruling-for-the-rights-of-women-and-children
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/deep-problem-narals-latest-propaganda-video
"If 16 year old messes with turtle eggs: up to $100,000 fine and one year in jail. If the same 16 year old aborts a baby.....she doesn't even need a permission slip."
1/18/14 - 38 states now have fetal homicide laws, which means you can be charged with two crimes if you crash into and kill a woman on her way to an abortion clinic. But if she gets to the clinic and pays a fee, a doctor will kill her child and there will be no crime. We have lost all sanity on this issue.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/tgc/9-things-you-should-know-about-planned-parenthood
http://time.com/4028258/planned-parenthood/
http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcripts/abortion-and-mothers-mental-health-0
"The right created by the Court in Roe is a constitutional right of some human beings to kill other human beings." - M.S. Paulson
"When a woman has a baby in her womb, parenthood for her and the baby's father is not a choice. It's a definition." - John Piper
"Abortion is this generation's slavery. People will look back in horror & disbelief and say 'they used to kill babies in the mother's womb?!'"
As the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade has just passed (January 22nd), I felt it was time to publish this post as I have been collecting abortion resources for the past year. Abortion is now responsible for 41% of deaths worldwide. There is seemingly no topic more divisive or emotional as abortion. Both sides are vehement in their positions with little willingness to budge or consider the other side. I have a theory on what is at the heart of this contention.
I think abortion serves as the climactic intersection for a world torn between doing things the way it wants versus the way God wants. Those with a worldview that rests on them being the center of the story have a natural abhorrence to the idea that anyone would dare tell them what to do or not to do with their body. Those with a Biblical worldview that God is Lord and Creator have a natural abhorrence to the idea that anyone would willingly murder an innocent child.
I am a pro-life Christian. I come from a family who lost a son before he was even a week old and who later adopted a daughter from South Korea. My parents grieved the loss of a child and celebrated the gift of another. I grew up learning that life is indeed precious and a gift...a gift born out of God's power and grace. What I find particularly saddening is the way pro-choice advocates have chosen to view an unborn child. They have to use a word such as "fetus" to make their argument seem less horrific yet I have never heard a pregnant woman, Christian or not, refer to her unborn child as "this fetus inside of me".
Many pro-choice advocates are outraged when a pregnant woman is killed and her baby perishes with her. They demand a stiffer punishment for the killer than if only one death had occurred. But why, if the fetus inside her is not yet a person?
Further advances in science have given us new and amazing insights to the physical appearance of an unborn child after only a few weeks. Furthermore, surgeries are now performed on a child who is still in the womb. Science continues to show us just how much of a human being resides within his or her mother. Yet, in this case, science tends to be ignored by those who are dogmatically unwavering in their position.
My hope is that God will use the following resources to open up the minds and hearts of those who believe abortion is a legitimate option. I also hope that pro-life individuals can use these resources to grow in their convictions and share this truth with others in a way that is saturated in grace and love.
Abortion has taken over 53 million lives since Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. I was born in 1972. All of those lives have been destroyed within my lifetime. There are no words to describe that tragedy.
Britt Merrick - Abortion, the Bible and a Way Forward from Reality on Vimeo.
http://online.worldmag.com/2011/03/02/too-missional-for-abortion/
A reader passed along this story from ScienceNews:
The remains of seven children apparently killed in a ritual, and buried beneath a 500- to 600-year-old building in Peru’s Cuzco Valley have given scientists new glimpses of the sketchily understood Inca practice of sacrificing select children in elaborate ceremonies.
The children were buried at the same time, apparently after having been killed in a sacrificial rite that honored Inca deities and promoted political unity across the far-flung empire, say anthropologist Valerie Andrushko of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and her colleagues.
Chemical analyses of the bones indicate that at least two of the children came from distant parts of the Inca realm.
The findings lend credence to the accounts of Spanish conquistadors that described how children were selected for sacrifice from all across the empire, based on their physical perfection. We shudder at such brutal backwardness.
Today, using prenatal screening, we scour the empire for children with physical imperfections and sacrifice them to ourselves.
(First Things, “While We’re at It”, January 2011, 68)
And to show just how far in the wrong direction our society is going, how about a day where a dolphin is given the legal standing of a person while an unborn child is not? Think I am kidding? Read this...
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2015/08/13/planned-parenthood-grace-god
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/cetacean-rights/
http://theworksofgod.com/2011/11/28/three-continents-six-children-dead-every-headline-mistaken/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/10/31/why-your-friends-are-pro-choice-and-what-to-do-about-it/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/what-does-roe-v-wade-actually-say
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/22/obama-celebrates-roe-vs-wade-decision-54-million-abortions/
Please take 33 minutes and watch the following video:
http://www.180movie.com/
http://theresurgence.com/2012/01/22/15-things-to-consider-about-abortion
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/online-books/exposing-the-dark-work-of-abortion
In 2010, Planned Parenthood referred 841 women for adoptions and 329,445 for abortions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-medias-blinders-on-abortion.html?_r=2&hp
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abortionist-admits-babies-sometimes-born-alive-and-left-wiggling-around-in
http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcripts/abortion-and-mothers-mental-health
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/bonhoeffer-on-abortion
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the_baby_speaks
http://www.humanlife.org/Resources/DYK/DYK%20WEB.pdf
http://www.therightscoop.com/nbc-chief-medical-editor-its-pro-science-to-abort-children-with-genetic-defects/
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6030020312.html
thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/09/02/if-you-dont-know-if-abortion-is-wrong-choose-the-pro-life-position-by-default
http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=38920
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/10/24/10-questions-a-pro-choice-candidate-is-never-asked-by-the-media/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/01/18/9-things-you-should-know-about-roe-v-wade/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/01/13/thank-you-mr-president-for-these-pro-life-marching-orders/
http://www.radical.net/blog/2013/01/the-most-important-question-in-the-abortion-debate/
http://www.passionlife.org/john-piper-interview/
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/20/hagelin-obama-fails-kings-ideals-when-it-comes-to-/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/we-know-they-are-killing-children-all-of-us-know
marshill.com/2013/01/20/abortion-and-reconciliation-holly-has-been-changed-by-jesus
http://www.prolifetraining.com/FiveMinute1.asp
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-truth-about-abortion-will-set-you-free
www.worldmag.com/2013/05/read_about_abortion_reality_if_you_dare
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-truth-about-abortion-will-set-you-free
http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/the-sanctity-of-human-life/
http://www.skepticink.com/prussian/2014/03/13/the-atheist-case-for-being-anti-abortion/
http://www.inquisitr.com/1236243/abortion-survivor-finds-doctor-who-aborted-her-twin-brother-you-wont-believe-what-happened/
http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Sep/28/abortion-womens-health
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424721/bill-nye-youtube-abortion
http://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/the-supreme-courts-devastating-ruling-for-the-rights-of-women-and-children
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/deep-problem-narals-latest-propaganda-video
"If 16 year old messes with turtle eggs: up to $100,000 fine and one year in jail. If the same 16 year old aborts a baby.....she doesn't even need a permission slip."
1/18/14 - 38 states now have fetal homicide laws, which means you can be charged with two crimes if you crash into and kill a woman on her way to an abortion clinic. But if she gets to the clinic and pays a fee, a doctor will kill her child and there will be no crime. We have lost all sanity on this issue.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Being Transformed
"Motivation built on guilt never leads to transformation. Conviction by the Holy Spirit leads to repentance and transformation."
See the difference?
This quote came from Matt Chandler's sermon on 1/15 entitled "Here to the Ends of the Earth." He was talking about our desire to witness our faith to others. In 21st century America, we have the opposite problem of the disciples after Christ ascended into heaven. Starting in Acts 2, Peter and the others were driven by the Holy Spirit to preach the crucified and risen Christ to all who would hear...in Jerusalem. But the thought of taking that message into Judea and Samaria as Jesus commanded wasn't quite so appealing. They were more comfortable sticking around at home. So what does God do? He uses Saul to persecute the church and disperse the disciples to where God wanted them to go. Amazing how God works sometimes, isn't it? You think you are making headway in attacking Christianity and all God does is use your efforts to advance His Kingdom in another way.
For a lot of Christians in the U.S., we have a sense that we could be very bold in sharing the gospel in a far off land. But ask us to walk next door to our neighbor's house and share the Gospel and we immediately hesitate. What if he/she thinks I am weird? I don't want things to get awkward between us. I really wouldn't know what to say.
Proximity MATTERS. You are where you are for a reason, for a purpose, for God's delight and glory. Whether it is at work, at home, at the gym, at the grocery store...it doesn't matter. And now that the Spirit brings it to mind...this mentality that says "witness at all times and use words when necessary" is not Biblical and is simply rationalizing your unwillingness to clearly state the Gospel that your faith is based upon to someone who may desperately need to HEAR it. It's a convenient excuse to say that we don't need to talk to witness our faith. Yes, by all means, LIVE as a Christian and be a Godly example to those around you. But don't ever feel like you have done what God has commanded by stopping there and calling it a day. Jesus didn't just perform a miracle and walk away. He taught. He spoke the truth. He engaged people. We are called to do the same.
"You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say." - Martin Luther
So, just as a New Year's resolution to lose weight is motivated by guilt and quickly fades into inaction, so are our best human efforts at being "good people". Don't be a good person for the sake of being a good person. After all, you won't ever completely succeed, and to the extent you do, you will face the sin of pride at every turn. Rather, repent of your sin and weakness, that you may be filled with the strength of the Holy Spirit who can truly transform hearts and lives.
In Christ, we are no longer struggling to be free. We are free to struggle. This simply means that we are now free from looking to ourselves for validation and victory because we are assured of our identity in what Christ did for us on the cross. So now we can live in that freedom and fight the battles of sin in our life in His strength knowing that the war is already won. That perspective...that freedom...that truth is truly transformational.
See the difference?
This quote came from Matt Chandler's sermon on 1/15 entitled "Here to the Ends of the Earth." He was talking about our desire to witness our faith to others. In 21st century America, we have the opposite problem of the disciples after Christ ascended into heaven. Starting in Acts 2, Peter and the others were driven by the Holy Spirit to preach the crucified and risen Christ to all who would hear...in Jerusalem. But the thought of taking that message into Judea and Samaria as Jesus commanded wasn't quite so appealing. They were more comfortable sticking around at home. So what does God do? He uses Saul to persecute the church and disperse the disciples to where God wanted them to go. Amazing how God works sometimes, isn't it? You think you are making headway in attacking Christianity and all God does is use your efforts to advance His Kingdom in another way.
For a lot of Christians in the U.S., we have a sense that we could be very bold in sharing the gospel in a far off land. But ask us to walk next door to our neighbor's house and share the Gospel and we immediately hesitate. What if he/she thinks I am weird? I don't want things to get awkward between us. I really wouldn't know what to say.
Proximity MATTERS. You are where you are for a reason, for a purpose, for God's delight and glory. Whether it is at work, at home, at the gym, at the grocery store...it doesn't matter. And now that the Spirit brings it to mind...this mentality that says "witness at all times and use words when necessary" is not Biblical and is simply rationalizing your unwillingness to clearly state the Gospel that your faith is based upon to someone who may desperately need to HEAR it. It's a convenient excuse to say that we don't need to talk to witness our faith. Yes, by all means, LIVE as a Christian and be a Godly example to those around you. But don't ever feel like you have done what God has commanded by stopping there and calling it a day. Jesus didn't just perform a miracle and walk away. He taught. He spoke the truth. He engaged people. We are called to do the same.
"You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say." - Martin Luther
So, just as a New Year's resolution to lose weight is motivated by guilt and quickly fades into inaction, so are our best human efforts at being "good people". Don't be a good person for the sake of being a good person. After all, you won't ever completely succeed, and to the extent you do, you will face the sin of pride at every turn. Rather, repent of your sin and weakness, that you may be filled with the strength of the Holy Spirit who can truly transform hearts and lives.
In Christ, we are no longer struggling to be free. We are free to struggle. This simply means that we are now free from looking to ourselves for validation and victory because we are assured of our identity in what Christ did for us on the cross. So now we can live in that freedom and fight the battles of sin in our life in His strength knowing that the war is already won. That perspective...that freedom...that truth is truly transformational.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Does Jesus Hate Religion?
Felt this was worth posting here as it has gotten a lot of attention on YouTube and I have used the phrase "Jesus came to abolish religion" in my conversations with Christians and non-Christians alike.
Now please read this theological response from Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/13/does-jesus-hate-religion-kinda-sorta-not-really/
Here is another helpful resource from Pastor Tullian:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/01/14/religion-and-the-gospel/
We must always strive to be more Biblically centered when it comes to our faith and our witness.
Addendum: What I love most about this is Jefferson's humble spirit. Here is his tweet after reading the aforementioned articles:
Thankful for these men! Humbled by @PastorTullian (http://shar.es/WO2ur) and Deyoung's (http://ow.ly/8txbY) words to me. Heb 13:17-18!
FYI...Hebrews 13:17-18 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things."
You can follow Jefferson on Twitter: @JeffuhsonBethke
An interview with Jefferson:
http://jeffbethke.com/my-thoughts-after-writing-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus/
His website is www.jeffbethke.com
http://jeffbethke.com/do-you-really-love-jesus-or-do-you-just-play-the-game/
Now please read this theological response from Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/13/does-jesus-hate-religion-kinda-sorta-not-really/
Here is another helpful resource from Pastor Tullian:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/01/14/religion-and-the-gospel/
We must always strive to be more Biblically centered when it comes to our faith and our witness.
Addendum: What I love most about this is Jefferson's humble spirit. Here is his tweet after reading the aforementioned articles:
Thankful for these men! Humbled by @PastorTullian (http://shar.es/WO2ur) and Deyoung's (http://ow.ly/8txbY) words to me. Heb 13:17-18!
FYI...Hebrews 13:17-18 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things."
You can follow Jefferson on Twitter: @JeffuhsonBethke
An interview with Jefferson:
http://jeffbethke.com/my-thoughts-after-writing-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus/
His website is www.jeffbethke.com
http://jeffbethke.com/do-you-really-love-jesus-or-do-you-just-play-the-game/
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Truth
My behavior does not influence or change God's love, grace and mercy for me but His love, grace and mercy for me should change my behavior and affections.
I still struggle with this. A part of me still thinks that if I do better today than I did yesterday that God is more pleased with me now...that I now merit more of His favor...that I am somehow more justified before Him.
What a load of crap. What a lie from Satan. What a fabrication that devalues Christ's work on the cross and somehow makes God's unconditional grace in my life about me.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will continue to recognize and fight against this lie in my life and in the lives of others.
Jesus saves me. I don't save myself. End of story.
"God's opinion of me doesn't change because his opinion of Christ doesn't change, and I am in Christ." - Stephen Altrogge
"Christianity is not a religion about a moral code to keep. It's about a God who saves people that can't keep the moral code." - Pastor Tullian
I still struggle with this. A part of me still thinks that if I do better today than I did yesterday that God is more pleased with me now...that I now merit more of His favor...that I am somehow more justified before Him.
What a load of crap. What a lie from Satan. What a fabrication that devalues Christ's work on the cross and somehow makes God's unconditional grace in my life about me.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will continue to recognize and fight against this lie in my life and in the lives of others.
Jesus saves me. I don't save myself. End of story.
"God's opinion of me doesn't change because his opinion of Christ doesn't change, and I am in Christ." - Stephen Altrogge
"Christianity is not a religion about a moral code to keep. It's about a God who saves people that can't keep the moral code." - Pastor Tullian
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Surrender
God's aim in our pain. "Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator." 1 Peter 4:19 (John Piper)
God disciplines because He cares. If He would simply bless all of our disobedience we would never grow or mature in our relationship with Him. God has a goal in mind. He wants to redeem us...every part of us. That simply can't happen until we surrender completely. That doesn't happen easily or quickly for most of us. It is a process...one that can seem overwhelming and never ending at times. We can lose heart even as God is pursuing our heart because we have replaced eternal joy with temporal hope.
That is my struggle now.
Well, maybe
Maybe that's the point
To reach the point of giving up
That is the point. Give up trying to arrange life for yourself. Give up crafting and pursuing dreams that don't include God. Give up trying to be your own savior. Give up thinking that all of the answers lie in you if only you could unleash them through the right self-help book or the latest "spiritual" fad. Give up thinking that you are the center of the story. Give up thinking you are strong enough to make it alone.
‘Cause I’m broken
Down to nothing
But I’m still holding on to the one thing
You are God
And You are strong when I am weak
Lord, help my find peace and joy in You and with You when the storms of life rage against me. Use these trials to root me in Your love. Cover me with Your mercy. I know I'm not strong enough to be everything that I'm supposed to be. But You are everything that I need. Amen.
"God’s greatest gifts often come camouflaged in a fine array of perilous circumstances that seem insurmountable. Ask Joseph." - Brett Jones
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." - 1 Corinthians 1:25
God disciplines because He cares. If He would simply bless all of our disobedience we would never grow or mature in our relationship with Him. God has a goal in mind. He wants to redeem us...every part of us. That simply can't happen until we surrender completely. That doesn't happen easily or quickly for most of us. It is a process...one that can seem overwhelming and never ending at times. We can lose heart even as God is pursuing our heart because we have replaced eternal joy with temporal hope.
That is my struggle now.
Well, maybe
Maybe that's the point
To reach the point of giving up
That is the point. Give up trying to arrange life for yourself. Give up crafting and pursuing dreams that don't include God. Give up trying to be your own savior. Give up thinking that all of the answers lie in you if only you could unleash them through the right self-help book or the latest "spiritual" fad. Give up thinking that you are the center of the story. Give up thinking you are strong enough to make it alone.
‘Cause I’m broken
Down to nothing
But I’m still holding on to the one thing
You are God
And You are strong when I am weak
Lord, help my find peace and joy in You and with You when the storms of life rage against me. Use these trials to root me in Your love. Cover me with Your mercy. I know I'm not strong enough to be everything that I'm supposed to be. But You are everything that I need. Amen.
"God’s greatest gifts often come camouflaged in a fine array of perilous circumstances that seem insurmountable. Ask Joseph." - Brett Jones
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." - 1 Corinthians 1:25
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Invitation of Life
The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, "Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner . . . Come to the wedding banquet." But they paid no attention and went off-one to his field, another to his business. (Matthew 22:2-5)
Now for a sobering truth, more sobering than any other we have considered.
To be honest, we must understand that not everyone lives happily ever after, not in any tale. This promise of the happy ending - or the new beginning - is only for the friends of God. Many people do not want the life that God offers them.
Remember - He gave us free will.
He gave us a choice.
We seem to forget-perhaps more truthfully, we refuse to remember - that we are the ones who betrayed Him, not vice versa. We are the ones who listened to the lies of the Evil One in the Garden; we chose to mistrust the heart of God. In breaking the one command he gave us, we set in motion a life of breaking his commands. (You have loved God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? You have loved your neighbor as yourself?)
The final act of self-centeredness is seen in those who refuse to come to the wedding banquet of God (Matthew 22:2-3). They do not want God. They reject His offer of forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus. What is He to do? The universe has only two options. If they insist, God will grant to them what they have wanted - to be left to themselves.
To be rescued from an eternity apart from God - this is why the rescued ones fall before him at the Great Feast in songs of gratitude and worship. Yes, we will worship God. It won't be like a church service, but we will worship Him. We will adore Him.
But that day has not yet come.
Until then, the invitation of life stands.
I have set before you life and death . . . Now choose life. (Deuteronomy 30:19)
-From "Epic" by John Eldredge
Now for a sobering truth, more sobering than any other we have considered.
To be honest, we must understand that not everyone lives happily ever after, not in any tale. This promise of the happy ending - or the new beginning - is only for the friends of God. Many people do not want the life that God offers them.
Remember - He gave us free will.
He gave us a choice.
We seem to forget-perhaps more truthfully, we refuse to remember - that we are the ones who betrayed Him, not vice versa. We are the ones who listened to the lies of the Evil One in the Garden; we chose to mistrust the heart of God. In breaking the one command he gave us, we set in motion a life of breaking his commands. (You have loved God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? You have loved your neighbor as yourself?)
The final act of self-centeredness is seen in those who refuse to come to the wedding banquet of God (Matthew 22:2-3). They do not want God. They reject His offer of forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus. What is He to do? The universe has only two options. If they insist, God will grant to them what they have wanted - to be left to themselves.
To be rescued from an eternity apart from God - this is why the rescued ones fall before him at the Great Feast in songs of gratitude and worship. Yes, we will worship God. It won't be like a church service, but we will worship Him. We will adore Him.
But that day has not yet come.
Until then, the invitation of life stands.
I have set before you life and death . . . Now choose life. (Deuteronomy 30:19)
-From "Epic" by John Eldredge
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