I have had an amazing day so far today. It's been filled with a lot of conviction, tears, worship, and love for my incredible Savior. I want to share my simple reflections on one of my readings this morning: Luke 8:42b-48
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (ESV)
I was incredibly struck by the woman and Jesus' response to her. The response she had to her healing and her nakedness before Jesus (in that she couldn't hide from his knowledge about his healing her) was simply to fall trembling before him, declaring her need for Jesus, and what Jesus had done for her. It is the response that we all should have. She was marked with impurity - a discharge of blood that lasted for 12 years. In that culture she was unclean. She was impure. She had spent all of her livelihood looking for a cure that couldn't be found, until she came to Jesus and he had the cure offered as a gift, needing no payment to be secured. Upon humbly seeking and touching Jesus in faith, she was made clean. We are impure in every way. We are dispicable, depraved, and deplorable sinners. We have no cleanliness in our being. We have gone out and sought every "cure" under the sun. We have tried to cleanse ourselves through moralism and leagalism. We have tried to cure it by denying our own uncleanliness and living sinful hedonistic lives. We have tried to drown it out with entertainment of the basest and finest forms. We have tried other religions that tell us how to be clean and lay heavy burdens on us and in the end all we have are empty promises that kill us more than they ever hoped to heal us. In the end, we come to Christ. In faith we reach out and touch him and cry out for him. In power, he applies his blood to our sin and makes us clean. In the words of C.S. Lewis' "Till We Have Faces" we are made to be like Psyche - clean and beautiful and pleasing to God. Then, when all is stripped away and we are made to stand before God and the world we fall on our faces before our risen Christ and declare our sins and his power to heal us. We declare Christ to the world. We are naked and unashamed before Him and we show the world what it is to be clean before the all-knowing God. This is evangelism. This is the gospel. I was lost and now I'm found. I was blind but now I see. I was a wretch and now I'm clean. I am a sinner and now I'm saved. And we fall down at his feet and worship. We confess, we worship, and we proclaim. This is our God. What God is there like Him. All other gods load us up under burdens that can never be met, or they take away our inherent offense to God. Our God knows our sins and He knows our impurity and He gives us grace through the power of His cross and makes us clean so that we can be unashamed before Him knowing the burden of the law has been met by Him. This is our God.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Another quote
Here's another great quote from the Of First Importance blog:
“It could not have been done unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that while man alone owed it, only God could pay it, so that the same person must be both man and God. Thus it was necessary for God to take manhood into the unity of his person, so that he who in his own nature ought to pay and could not should be in a person who could.”
- Anselm of Canterbury, quoted by Richard D. Phillips in Hebrews: Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006), 79.
Praise you, Jesus!
“It could not have been done unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that while man alone owed it, only God could pay it, so that the same person must be both man and God. Thus it was necessary for God to take manhood into the unity of his person, so that he who in his own nature ought to pay and could not should be in a person who could.”
- Anselm of Canterbury, quoted by Richard D. Phillips in Hebrews: Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006), 79.
Praise you, Jesus!
Unity
A few months ago I was reading through Ephesians and I was convicted by the verse that reads "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. 4:3) The reason this verse struck me so powerfully is that I don't think I ever would have described myself as eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Don't get me wrong, I like unity and I think we should strive for it, but I was also willing to forgo unity in order to prove my theology. If there was a disagreement on some issue that I found important (not determining our salvation, but an important secondary issue) I would engage in the argument until I won, not until we were brought to union in the Spirit. My goal was to increase my glory and fame at the expense of our unity. So this verse really brought me low and showed the depth of my pride and my lack of fear of God. This morning God brought this section of verses to mind again. I realized that, generally, we the church view unity as not arguing over secondary issues or not splitting or being able to hang out. But that is not what the context says. If we take this as our goal, then we will end up being a useless church that doesn't edify one another and we won't be effective in carrying out Jesus' mission on earth. The verses after that read "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." The unity that we should be eager to maintain is related to the unity of our God, our faith, our baptism, the oneness of the body, the Spirit, and God, (the greek word for unity is taken from the word for "one") and his reign over all of earth (possibly making reference back to chapter one where Paul tells us that God's plan is to reconcile all of the world in Christ). Let's just look at a couple of these. First our union is to resemble the oneness of God. God is the Trinity. Within the Trinity there are three persons and yet they are one. Our unity is to resemble the Trinity. We see this in other books of the Bible. Every member of the body is given gifts to use for the building up of the body. There are a variety of gifts but they are all to be used for the sake of the one body. Just as there are three members of the Godhead but only one God, we must demonstrate our unity by the use of all of our gifts for the one body.
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves [4] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, [5] yet one body." (I cor. 12:12-20)
Our unity should also resemble the oneness of our faith and our baptism. As Christians we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and are brought into a single faith. There is no post-modern, relativistic, unitarian faith here. There are no other baptisms (at least that relate to our salvation, I don't think this refers to our denominational traditions symbolizing this spiritual baptism). We are brought into a single faith. As the body of Christ we must be eager to maintain this oneness. We are one, not in a panantheistic way, but one nevertheless. Do we act like it? Do we show the world that there is a oneness to us? Do we demonstrate the relationship of the Trinity in our own relationships with other believers? Do we show the world that even though we might disagree on the finer points we are still one body, with one faith and one baptism? At the end of the day I think we all have to agree that we've failed at this. We do not strive for the oneness that God has given and modeled for us.
So how do we it? The first two verses of Ephesians four tell us: "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." If our lives are not marked with humility and love, with gentleness and patience, then this unity will not be maintained. Being eager to maintain this unity means that we are going to have to love people that really annoy us. We are going to have to be patient with that couple's kids. I'm going to have to be gentle toward that arrogant theonazi that is always trying to pick a fight (that's right, you'll have to be gentle and patient toward even me :) ). We are going to have to be humble and put everyone else's desires for worship songs and styles ahead of ours. I have to admit that when it comes to this I'm usually the last to do it and worst at it. I think I'm right and I'm not going to give up my "rightness" for anything. In the end, all I do is make myself more important and bigger than the church and God and tear all of His work down (or at least as much as He'll allow before the holy 2x4 comes in). So as we finish up our Sundays and go about the rest of the week, may we be eager to maintain our unity by being gentle, patient, humble, and loving. Myself most of all. God bless.
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves [4] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, [5] yet one body." (I cor. 12:12-20)
Our unity should also resemble the oneness of our faith and our baptism. As Christians we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and are brought into a single faith. There is no post-modern, relativistic, unitarian faith here. There are no other baptisms (at least that relate to our salvation, I don't think this refers to our denominational traditions symbolizing this spiritual baptism). We are brought into a single faith. As the body of Christ we must be eager to maintain this oneness. We are one, not in a panantheistic way, but one nevertheless. Do we act like it? Do we show the world that there is a oneness to us? Do we demonstrate the relationship of the Trinity in our own relationships with other believers? Do we show the world that even though we might disagree on the finer points we are still one body, with one faith and one baptism? At the end of the day I think we all have to agree that we've failed at this. We do not strive for the oneness that God has given and modeled for us.
So how do we it? The first two verses of Ephesians four tell us: "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." If our lives are not marked with humility and love, with gentleness and patience, then this unity will not be maintained. Being eager to maintain this unity means that we are going to have to love people that really annoy us. We are going to have to be patient with that couple's kids. I'm going to have to be gentle toward that arrogant theonazi that is always trying to pick a fight (that's right, you'll have to be gentle and patient toward even me :) ). We are going to have to be humble and put everyone else's desires for worship songs and styles ahead of ours. I have to admit that when it comes to this I'm usually the last to do it and worst at it. I think I'm right and I'm not going to give up my "rightness" for anything. In the end, all I do is make myself more important and bigger than the church and God and tear all of His work down (or at least as much as He'll allow before the holy 2x4 comes in). So as we finish up our Sundays and go about the rest of the week, may we be eager to maintain our unity by being gentle, patient, humble, and loving. Myself most of all. God bless.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Unemployed
For the first time in my life since I started working I am about to be unemployed. I have three weeks before I lose my job. As you may know I work for a government contractor. Apparently, the contract we are on is a year-by-year renewable contract. Yesterday we were told that the IRS offered to re-up my company for the upcoming year, but my company had been losing money over the last two years due to the IRS failing to meet some financial obligations. IAP (my company) told the IRS that they would re-up with them if they would make money this year doing that. The IRS told them that if that was the case they would just take the contract back. So, effective October 1st, I will no longer be an employee of IAP worldwide services. And the way the IRS hires employees, I'm not guaranteed my old position. In fact, I'm almost guaranteed that I won't get my position, but I might be able to get a lower position, which will require a significant pay cut. Life gets a little crazier from here on out. I've already applied for a couple of jobs, and I'll be applying for a lot of jobs over the next few weeks. I would really appreciate your prayers over this whole situation. But more than a new job, pray for my witness at work during this time. There is a lot of stress as you can imagine what would happen with 180 people losing their jobs. I've only worked two days this week, but it feels like four. God has blessed me with a great deal of peace over the situation and I'm not really worried about what will happen with me, but I want to show my co-workers how real my faith is and point them to the only true hope there is - Jesus Christ. So pray for my witness and pray for my patience as it can be very trying dealing with people who are stressed and others who are spreading baseless rumors about future opportunities with the IRS. There were a couple of times I really felt like yelling at people today and I know I'm not the only one. I am definitely learning how weak I am and how dependant I am on God's grace. His grace is sufficient for me and his power is made perfect in my weakness. Lord willing, He'll shine through me over the next three weeks. The irony of this whole situation and how I see the sovereignty of God in all of this is that last week I was really convicted of my idolization of money and how much I trust in and worship it as the provider of all of my need and my security. I've been asking God to reveal how I need to think of, treat, and use my money for his glory and his purposes. I guess this is part of the answer to that prayer. I won't have much of an income pretty soon and I'm going to have to rely totally and completely on God. He doesn't promise me another great-paying job, or even that I'll find any kind of decent job soon. But He does promise that He'll be there with me through it all and this will only serve to make me more into the image of His Son, and therefore it is for my good. Praise God for His grace. Praise God for the trials that help us lean on it. And praise Jesus that we are more than conquerors through Jesus. It won't always go easy, but it will always go best for us and for God. I'm struggling to hold on to this and believe it fully. I definitely am no super-saint. God bless you all.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Church planting, youth group, and Bible studies
Church planting...It's been on my mind a lot lately. Actually a lot of things have been on my mind lately. The summer's over and there is work ready to be done. I'm beginning to teach the junior highers for Wednesday night youth group for the second straight year and I also have a small group of 7th grade boys. If the Lord wills, I'll be starting a Friday night young adult Bible study. And, I'm auditing a class on church planting at Salt Lake Theological Seminary. The class is being taught by the pastor of my church's mother church who is also (I believe) the regional director of church planting for the EFCA (my denomination). So there are a lot of things going on right now. A lot of things to pray for if they happen to come to your mind during the week. I think that leaves Tuesday night free and the occasional Thursday night.
For Wednesday night, I'm doing a character study through the book of Genesis. I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously, I'm starting with God. I think I'll do the first three or four lessons on God and different things that are revealed about Him in the first chapter or two. That will be followed up with Adam through Joseph. I'm hoping to show how the gospel is revealed in the lives of all these characters, as well as grounding us in the foundations of who God is and what that means for our lives. I'm hoping this will humble me and the kids. The first lesson is that God is not all about us - God is all about God. He is the principal character through all of the Bible and He does everything for His own glory. Follow that up with the holiness of God, God's sovereignty and authority over and in creation, and the Trinity. Should be interesting.
The genesis of the Friday night study actually came from the end of my Sunday morning youth duties (potentially). Over the summer we cancelled sunday school and just had the main service. The elders decided to keep that format for the foreseeable future, which means that I won't be teaching a youth sunday school class. This frees up some time to really focus on adult ministry. In God's infinite wisdom and impeccable timing, the sunday that this was all announced I started talking to one of my friends about getting together friday nights for some discipleship/accountability and he really wanted to make it a young adult study which has been on my heart for some time. So, in the matter of about 15 minutes, one door of ministry closed and another one opened up. And the one that opened up seems more in keeping with my calling toward the Ogden area. So in the past month I've moved to Ogden and I'm about to start a Bible study (again, Lord willing) in Ogden. We'll see if this ends up becoming a church plant or if it will be another way for God to mold and shape me into who he wants me to be.
And finally, the church planting class kind of happened out of nowhere. I got an e-mail a couple weeks ago from Ross Anderson (the pastor of Wasatch EV Free) saying that he was going to be teaching that class and that he had been talking to my pastor about my desire to church plant and thought that I would be interested. I got the e-mail on a Thursday, read it Saturday, and signed up to audit the class the Monday it started. The books I'll be reading for it look really interesting. I really enjoy Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer. We'll see what God has for me in this class. At the very least I'll be learning a lot of practical stuff about planting churches.
Anyway, that's about all the new stuff in my life so far. God bless and have a great Sunday.
For Wednesday night, I'm doing a character study through the book of Genesis. I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously, I'm starting with God. I think I'll do the first three or four lessons on God and different things that are revealed about Him in the first chapter or two. That will be followed up with Adam through Joseph. I'm hoping to show how the gospel is revealed in the lives of all these characters, as well as grounding us in the foundations of who God is and what that means for our lives. I'm hoping this will humble me and the kids. The first lesson is that God is not all about us - God is all about God. He is the principal character through all of the Bible and He does everything for His own glory. Follow that up with the holiness of God, God's sovereignty and authority over and in creation, and the Trinity. Should be interesting.
The genesis of the Friday night study actually came from the end of my Sunday morning youth duties (potentially). Over the summer we cancelled sunday school and just had the main service. The elders decided to keep that format for the foreseeable future, which means that I won't be teaching a youth sunday school class. This frees up some time to really focus on adult ministry. In God's infinite wisdom and impeccable timing, the sunday that this was all announced I started talking to one of my friends about getting together friday nights for some discipleship/accountability and he really wanted to make it a young adult study which has been on my heart for some time. So, in the matter of about 15 minutes, one door of ministry closed and another one opened up. And the one that opened up seems more in keeping with my calling toward the Ogden area. So in the past month I've moved to Ogden and I'm about to start a Bible study (again, Lord willing) in Ogden. We'll see if this ends up becoming a church plant or if it will be another way for God to mold and shape me into who he wants me to be.
And finally, the church planting class kind of happened out of nowhere. I got an e-mail a couple weeks ago from Ross Anderson (the pastor of Wasatch EV Free) saying that he was going to be teaching that class and that he had been talking to my pastor about my desire to church plant and thought that I would be interested. I got the e-mail on a Thursday, read it Saturday, and signed up to audit the class the Monday it started. The books I'll be reading for it look really interesting. I really enjoy Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer. We'll see what God has for me in this class. At the very least I'll be learning a lot of practical stuff about planting churches.
Anyway, that's about all the new stuff in my life so far. God bless and have a great Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
