Luke 8

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Who is God and how do we please Him?

Hey everybody, check out my friend Jeremy's blog: Who is God and how do we please Him? It's really good stuff.

Moved!...and other miscellany

Alright, so I have just recently moved. I moved from a four bedroom house in Clinton where I've lived for the past 15 months with three or four other guys (depending on the month) to a two bedroom condo on the east bench of Ogden with my good friend Micah Krishnan. The view is amazing. We have an unfettered view of the mountains right out our sliding glass door. And we're only separated from those mountains by a park and a golf course. It also located at the head of a bunch of trails, including a three-mile exercise trail that goes up the mountain a little ways and circles the golf course (I got a great picture of the sunset on my phone from there Saturday). However, there is a drawback - I don't have internet access at my house. Right now I'm at the coffee shop down the street paying two much for a drink I wasn't exactly in the mood for in order to get internet access. But I think this will actually be a very good thing for me. It's kind of a forced internet fast, and I definitely needed it. I used to get home and check the internet first thing and waste a bunch of time doing absolutely nothing and checking to see if anybody sent me e-mail, which doesn't happen :) So, overall, I think this is going to be really good for me. It will definitely free up more time for naps :) I took a two hour one earlier today. I guess I was tired.

I'm sorry I haven't written for so long. I don't like to go to long without an update because then I forget what's happened and I don't have anything to write about. However, today is not that day. I do have something to write about. Seeing that the summer is about over I'm going to give my summer a report card.

Fun: B
So far I've had a pretty fun summer. I got to go to a conference with my youth group, I've seen some decent movies, Kellen and Jen came down for a week, during the first month I picked up paintball and played some basketball, and I moved to a pretty cool place and have already had people over and I really enjoy my roommate.

Friends: A
I have reestablished my friendship with Jeremy Bair over the last few months. He has been one of my best friends over the last five or six years, but over the last couple we kind of drifted apart thanks mainly to different circumstances. But he hurt his knee and hasn't been able to work for the last few months, which has enabled us to hang out a lot. He is a great friend and really loves the Lord. I have grown so much over just the last few months because of his influence. We love going to Denny's on Saturday mornings and just hanging out there for a couple of hours just talking. I'm also going to be one of his groomsmen come October :) I also got to see my friend Matthew Emadi, whom I've known for about 12 years, while he was back from seminary for a week. I also got to meet his fiance, which was cool. I probably won't make their wedding :( since it will be in Kentucky.

Personal Growth: A-
I gave this an A- instead of an A or A+ simply because I have so much further to grow and there will be more times of growth like this (Lord willing Heb. 6:3). But, in recent memory I have never experienced a time of growth quite like this summer. God has been humbling me in a way that I so desperately needed. It started about half-way through June. I was having my monthly meeting/get-together with my friend Nino and he really challenged me on some things that were lacking in my life. One of the things that God has put on my heart that I don't think I've announced on this blog is the need for a church in downtown Ogden and I believe that God may be calling me to plant or at least help plant a church there. My plan was to really begin getting ready for that this summer. In my mind that meant getting my theology down and really growing and reading there, as well as developing a mission and vision statement, and then trying to get a core-group started and really intentionally plan to plant. God had the same basic plan of preparing me for that (or whatever it is that God really has planned for me) but it has looked so dramatically different than what I expected. It began with Nino. He challenged me on some areas of my life that were lacking and missing in my life. There was a "humble boldness" that lacked in my life. I needed a humility that resulted in an absolute abandoment to God's plan and purpose. I need to follow God wherever and whenever he calls. I need to say and do whatever God wants me to. I need to be a Jeremiah who is not dismayed by the people who don't listen to God's word but knows that God is for me and there is no one who can be against me. Nino let me borrow his copy of "The Pursuit of God" by Tozer and God granted me a lot of humility to hear Nino's and Tozer's words and begin to really see the pursuit of God as ultimately costing less than not pursuing him. If I had to describe my growth this summer in one phrase it would be: The cost of not pursuing God is far higher then the cost of not following him. On the one hand, I may not experience the loss of my life or any other kind of suffering. I won't have to take up my cross and die to myself. But, on the other hand, I would lose Christ and that loss is everything. My life is nothing if it is not spent completely on Jesus. There is not just a cost of following Jesus. There is an opposite cost of not following him. When we read "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." (Mark 8:34b-35 ESV) we see a dual cost. I had only really seen (or at least taken notice of) the cost of discipleship. Following Christ is a hard road and it will require loss. But I had never focused on the opposite cost. God has been smacking me upside the head with that reality this summer.

What I didn't know is that in order for me to be ready to plant a church I need to pursue Christ first at all costs. I learned this summer that I had made ministry my god. It is a good thing, but I believed it would satisfy me and give me purpose to be in the ministry that I believe God is calling me toward. Just like with a wife, to follow God's calling is a good thing, but if it takes the place of God, then it turns into a very bad thing in my depraved hands and I've perverted its purpose. God's calling isn't the summum bonum of my life. God is. And when calling takes that place, I'm an idolater. I've spent most of the last year being an idolater and it's time that stops, by the grace of God. I have by no means arrived there and I don't know if I ever will. There have been so many things that have caused much growth in me this summer and there have been a number of challenges along the way. Recently I've been convicted with my areas of lukewarmness and I've had to fight for my assurance along the way. It's a long road up a steep mountain to crucify yourself, but each day is just about carrying the cross and learning, by God's grace, to deny yourself and keep moving. One day, we will see fully the hope to which he has called us and we will rejoice in his glory like we never have before. This body of sin will be removed and we will be given a new body of glory. The corruptible will put on incorruptible and mortal will put on immortality. In that day we will never lose sight of Christ and our long hard journey will be complete. And our current troubles will be as nothing in the realization of our glory in Christ. And this life and these troubles and trials will be worth it. It is worth it. It is worth everything. Praying and walking with you through these trials. Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is our hope. We have no other hope but Jesus. False hopes will disappoint, but Christ will always satisfy and fulfill. Come Lord Jesus, come. We hope in you.

Religious Affections

On a couple of occasions, I've taken advantage of the online reading club (I don't know what else to call it) that takes place on Challies blog. I read through "The Mortification of Sin" by Owens and this time they're reading through "Religious Affections" by Edwards. I thought this was an opportunity to be held accountable to reading through this great work and I jumped at the chance. So far I have read through the first section of the second part. It is shaping up to be a great read - perhaps one of the best books I have ever read. The basic premise of the book, if you aren't already aware, is to determine from Scripture what affections, or earnest longings of the will, mind, emotions, and inclinations, are evidences of a heart that has been genuinely converted and transformed. Already, in the introduction alone, I have been convicted of the weakness of my own affections and I look forward to future conviction and, Lord willing, a closer and deeper walk with God by reading this book and applying it's Biblical truths to my heart. I can't guarantee any future insights to be posted to this blog. Those who have read me for a while know that I tend to not finish what I start. (What a horrible reputation. By God's grace this must be remedied.) But hopefully, if I don't post about the book directly, you will see the gracious hand of God at work in the other posts that come. If you haven't yet read "Religious Affections," then I highly recommend that you do. If you have, perhaps consider reading it again. I have yet to dive into the meat, and already I am highly anticipating the rest of this book. Praise be to God for the wonderful gifts he has given us in the works of his devoted saints. May we continue to be drawn closer to Christ through their works and each other. Until the next post - God Bless.

Summer is the time for love

Or so it would seem. Over the last three weeks, two of my good friends got engaged. Both are getting married this year. That means, that by the end of this year, I will be officially the only single guy in Utah. I jest, there are at least five of us. And I think the other four might be my only single friends. Anyway, I'm really happy for both of them and I can't wait to see them get married. It will be awesome. I'm going to get to be in one of them (this will be the only wedding I've been in since my sisters were married in a double ceremony almost three years ago). As for the other one, I'm not sure, I just found out about his engagement today through a facebook message. Other then that, I'm thinking about moving cross-city to my friends condo. Less congestion (I live in a house with four other guys), and a much better view (it's nestled up right next to the mountains...and yes, I just used the word "nestled"). I'll let you know how that develops later on this summer. Sorry for the lack of posts, I guess I just haven't been too inspired to right recently. Hopefully I'll bounce back though and you'll see a bit more of me. Until then, God bless.

Challenge '08 part 1

Hopefully this will be the first of a few blogs on the subject. I just got back from taking my youth group and the youth group of our parent church to Challenge '08. Challenge is the EFCA's (Evangelical Free denomination) youth conference that they hold every two years. This year it was in Salt Lake City, so the youth pastor for Wasatch Church (our parent church) decided to take our youth groups to it. Although it has only been one day since the conference ended, I can honestly say that this even may very well have been the most life-changing experience I have ever had. The last time I had an experience like this was at One Day '03 when I heard John Piper speak. Before that event God had been working on my friends and I about needing to be centered on God's glory and then everything just came crashing into place at that event. This time, about a week before the conference, my friend, Nino, confronted me on some areas of my life that I had set up a functional god and wasn't seeking God for God himself. I sought ministry as my satisfaction and end, rather then seeking it as a means to the true and ultimate end and joy of God himself. So last week, I spent a lot of time praying and seeking God on this, and Sunday night - the first night of the conference - the roof got blown off of my false temple. It started with an amazing time of worship led by Starfield (if you haven't checked them out, you should, they're amazing) that really got us ready for what we were about to hear. Then Francis Chan spoke. His goal was to set the tone for the conference by giving us an accurate picture of God. He did this by going through about four passages of people seeing God and how they described him. He ended on Rev. 4 and the image of the throne and Jesus sitting upon it. Needless to say, he totally blew away the image of God that I think most people in that room (about 5-6,000 of us) had of him. After that message and a couple of well-chosen (perhaps even Spirit-inspired) songs, I sat down and started weeping like I never have before. The only thing I could think about was that image of heaven with millions of angels gather around the throne with the 24 elders shouting out "Holy, Holy, Holy" and my heart burst out "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Never before have I been so enthralled with the worship of God. Never before have I loved the fact that God is Holy and is worshiped so completely both now and forevermore. Never before have I sensed such an awesome magnificence in God and the incredible blessing that I get to join in the song the heavens sing. I have been brought so much lower by that sight that I don't think I can ever be the same. And every session after that served to chisel away a little bit more of my false gods and temples that I have set up in the throne room of my heart. Over the next week or so I'll post some more thoughts and notes from the other sessions. But I ask that, if God leads, that you would pray for me and the youth we took down. Pray that what happened to us at the conference would not stop now that we are home, but that it would continue in our daily devotional time and in our daily worship of God in our service for and through him. We can't let this stop. We can't afford to go back to our puny, self-absorbed lives. We must go forth and be continually changed by God so that we can change our world for him. I love all of you and hope that what happened to me happens in even greater measure to all of you. God bless.

All is of God

I just read this quote on the Of First Importance blog. I don't even know who William Temple is, but the quote is amazing.

“All is of God; the only thing of my very own which I contribute to my redemption is the sin from which I need to be redeemed.”
- William Temple

Today

I had a pretty powerful experience at church today. I know, I know. The word experience is taboo in our conservative, evangelical, anti-seeker-sensitive theology, but I'm going to redeem it. As Christians we are to experience God as much as we are to know him and meditate on him. My worship leader has been on vacation and so I've been blessed to be able to lead worship the past two sundays and next sunday. Today, was an awesome sunday leading worship. We did a welcome song and then, after praying, we did a responsive reading of Psalm 136 which I think really set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Then we did a few more songs leading up to communion (which we celebrate every week). During communion we did "Rock of Ages" by Sandra McCracken which turned out great. But that's not why the meeting was amazing. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but God inhabited the praises of his people this morning. I had a power behind my voice that I didn't have during practice or warm-up. The music all came together really well. No one really messed up. And we all blended together, music and voices, almost seamlessly. And all of this, combined with the scripture and prayer, served to usher God's people into his presence this morning. As I look back over the past few weeks when the set came together in my mind and selecting songs and thinking about what I was going to say and pray about, I can see God working in all of it. A few weeks ago, we sang the song "Forever" by Chris Tomlin which is based off of Ps. 136. It was at that time that I decided to do the responsive reading and that song this week. Last week, I introduced the song "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong and I did it again this week to get the congregation familiar with it, which worked perfectly as a follow-up to "Forever." Throughout this week I had been trying to think of another song to do in between "Mighty to Save" and "One Thing" by Charlie Hall, but God restrained me and led me to keep the song list shorter than normal, which I think served to keep our minds more focused on God, rather than on the music. Then, yesterday I read something in "Vintage Jesus" that served as a perfect transition between "Mighty to Save" and "One Thing" and God brought it to mind to use in prayer in that transition.

All that to say that this sunday was totally not about me. It wasn't put together by me, it wasn't orchestrated by me, and it didn't come from the power of Darren and it didn't usher us into the presence of Darren, but it was from God, through God, and to God, and God got all the glory from today. I was truly blessed to be his instrument today. And from the responses I got after church it appears that God did truly bless his people through my pitiful leading. And that's what it was. I didn't lead today. God led. He led us to his throne on which sits the king of glory, Jesus Christ and we saw God today, reflected in the face of Christ. I guess that's all I can hope for as a worship leader and all I pray for for next week. I hope all of you had an equally blessed, if not more, Sunday.

Slacker

That would be me. Sorry for the long delay, and today probably won't bring you any satisfaction from my blog. But then again, if this is where you're finding satisfaction, it's always going to disappoint you. But anyway, the summer is going pretty good so far out here in Utah. This week has been our first week of 90+ degree weather, thanks to the huge amount of snow we got this past winter. So hopefully it won't get too hot out here this year. However, that didn't change the fact that my house was almost unbearably hot for the past couple weeks. I would guess that my room was about 85 degrees a couple nights ago. But, praise God, yesterday, my roommate fixed our evaporative cooler (known in Utah as a swamp cooler) and our house is now livable. Lots of things going on in my life right now, but I don't have the time to go over them seeing as how I just told my pastor that I would follow his advice and go to bed and get some much needed rest. So, this is all for now. Hopefully I'll post much more in the coming days (and yes I do mean days and not weeks, Lord willing). God Bless.


P.S. The Lakers just got their butts handed to them on a silver platter in game 6 of the Finals. I can admit that the better team won but it still doesn't feel much better. I'm really going to get it at work tomorrow :) But, oh well, my hope's not in them anyway. Christ in me, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

Psalm 145

I was really impacted by this a fresh, so I thought I would share it with you and since I don't know how to put youtube videos on my blog I'm just going to give you the link. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI1V2uaBRZA&feature=related

Again, I have been reading the Desiring God blog and I just read this post by Piper. It consists of part of a letter from Adoniram Judson to prospective missionaries. Like Piper, I think it has tremendous value for us ordinary missionaries here at home. Here is the letter:


Fourthly. It may be profitable to bear in mind, that a large proportion of those who come out on a mission to the East die within five years after leaving their native land. Walk softly, therefore; death is narrowly watching your steps...

Sixthly. Beware of the greater reaction which will take place after you have acquired the language, and become fatigued and worn out with preaching the gospel to a disobedient and gainsaying people. You will sometimes long for a quiet retreat, where you can find a respite from the tug of toiling at native work—the incessant, intolerable friction of the missionary grindstone. And Satan will sympathize with you in this matter; and he will present some chapel of ease, in which to officiate in your native tongue, some government situation, some professorship or editorship, some literary or scientific pursuit, some supernumerary translation, or, at least, some system of schools; anything, in a word, that will help you, without much surrender of character, to slip out of real missionary work. Such a temptation will form the crisis of your disease. If your spiritual constitution can sustain it, you recover; if not, you die...

Eighthly. Never lay up money for yourselves or your families. Trust in God from day to day, and verily you shall be fed.

Ninthly. Beware of that indolence which leads to a neglect of bodily exercise. The poor health and premature death of most Europeans in the East must be eminently ascribed to the most wanton neglect of bodily exercise.

Tenthly. Beware of genteel living. Maintain as little intercourse as possible with fashionable European society. The mode of living adopted by many missionaries in the East is quite inconsistent with that familiar intercourse with the natives which is essential to a missionary.
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I think I need to hear each and every one of those. May we all take these into account as we go about being missionaries to our friends, families, neighbors, and co-workers. May God grant us grace.

Piper on the cyclone

This is a really good post about how we should react to the tragic events taking place in Southeast Asia.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1215_6_ways_to_react_to_the_cyclone/

I really like #6 because it wasn't what I was thinking at all. I think it's a great way to show how much we truly care.

Myspace, Facebook, Blogs, et al.

I had a thought tonight about myspace, facebook, blogs, and all the other things out there that people do to create a social network and display their thoughts, pictures, videos, etc. I realized that the reason they are so popular is that they allow people to create their own little world in which they are the center. If I create a myspace, facebook, or blog (and ironically I have all three) I am enabling myself to put people or thoughts or anything else that all revolves around me. What music do I like? What movies to I go to see or want to see? What books am I reading? What happened to me today? What are my thoughts on a given subject? Everything revolves around me. These websites allow us to put ourselves in God's position with a freedom and to a degree that formerly wasn't possible. And then, after we set ourselves up as God of our own little world and universe, we invite other people to worship us in our world, and, if they do, we'll go and worship them in their world. "I'll make you a god in your own eyes if you'll make me a god in mine." So is this the last post I'll ever have? In light of this thought, will I swear off blogging? No. This is just another aspect of humanity that needs to be redeemed and brought under the headship of Christ in order to glorify him. In fact, I would argue that not only can myspace, etc. be brought to glorify God, as Christians we should seek to go out into these avenues and redeem them. We should see them as an aspect of our mission field and seek to save the lost souls seeking for satisfaction in their own glorification. Far too often, I have failed at this. This blog has far too often been about me and centered on me, as has my facebook and myspace. However, I also know that God has used this blog and the others as a means to glorify him more and show his awesome wonder to others, if in only a small way. So, fellow bloggers, let us take this opportunity to make a covenant with God and seek his glory in our blogging and social networking. This doesn't mean that everything has to be post on systematic theology, but let us seek to always keep God at the center of what we are doing. And I welcome any corrective criticism when I go astray.

Until the next time, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Quick thought on redemption man's way

I just finished watching the Kite Runner with my sister and brother-in-law (while eating some amazing chili I might add - thanks again Keri). I thought the movie was fairly interesting. If you're looking for a decent movie I would recommend it unless you're in the need for cheering up. This movie definitely won't help you with that. Anyway, this movie spurred some thoughts on redemption. Don't worry, if you haven't seen it I'm not going to give anything away. Basically, the plot line is you're simple redemption story. Things happen in the character's past that need to be corrected and healed so that all can be made right in his life. This is flatly stated at one point early on in the movie when the main character is told that he can be good again. So the story is told and the man sets out in search of redemption. Ultimately, you could say that redemption is found for him. But what struck me is that at the end of the movie you don't feel like the main character is in a better situation than if what had transpired earlier had never taken place. In fact, you find yourself wishing (or at least I did) that things had turned out very differently. What I learned from this is that when man tries redemption, even if it appears to have succeeded, it ultimately fails because the end result wasn't better than the beginning. However, when God works redemption, the end is always far more glorious than the beginning. Our redemption will spell a much better story, so to speak, at the end then it did at the beginning. God will be more glorified by all that has taken place then he would have if nothing that has transpired took place. The end is better than the beginning. When man tries redemption, he fails. When God accomplishes redemption all is transformed into something glorious and full of purpose.

Church as counter-culture

I've been thinking a bit about the church and it's role in regards to the surrounding culture. I think the first thing that should mark the church is that it is a counter-culture. Everything in the Bible tells us that when we were saved we were changed not just dramatically, but diametrically. We went from children of Satan to children of God (I John 3). We went from being in the domain of darkness to being in the kingdom of God (Col. 1). We went from slaves to sin to slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6). We who were once far off have been brought near. We have been completely and totally changed and are no longer a part of the world that we used to live in. Furthermore, because of our inner change the world that we used to be a part of no longer recognizes us and, in fact, hates us as it hated Jesus. And the church, being made up of these individuals, must reflect this. When we try to assimilate into the world, we lose the distinction that our very salvation gives us. We shouldn't try to hide who we are and what we are. We are completely and totally different from those around us. We must not be proud about this. After all, we did not save ourselves, but it was only by the grace of God. This should create in us a profound sense of humility. But, nonetheless, we must recognize and embrace the fact that we are changed and are no longer like that which is around us. The fact that we are now identified with Jesus and not the world is the basis for our counter-culture.

The problem comes when we look at other counter-cultures. The Amish are the perfect example of a counter-culture. They have done everything they can to demonstrate their seperation from the world around them. They go completely opposite of the culture they live in. If that's not the definition of a counter-culture, I don't know what is. The irony, though, of this counter-culture is that it rarely spreads. The inhabitants of this culture are so intent on being different that they have lost the ability to influence the culture around them. In short, the fact that they are a counter-culture inhibits the spread of the counter-culture. This is true of many, if not most or all counter-cultures. The inhabitants of these cultures see themselves and pride themselves on being the minority and having the majority and it's weaknesses figured out. They don't want to become the majority because then they lose their designation of being a counter-culture. They would, at that point, become just the prevailing culture. So the very nature of being a counter-culture is one of distance from the prevailing culture and a lack of interaction with the prevailing culture. Or at least, a lack of interaction that seeks to transform the prevailing culture.

Where does the church come in? The church is a counter-culture. As a body of saints, we go in an opposite direction from the rest of the world. But here's the difference between the church's counter-culture and the world's version of counter-culture: We attempt to engage the prevailing culture in an attempt to transform the culture into our counter-culture. Furthermore, we do so by becoming all things to all men. We begin to look and act like them in a righteous manner in order to remove any possible stumbling blocks to the message of our culture. Our counter-culture wants desperately to become the culture. We desire to see the hearts and minds and lives of the individuals around us transformed so that they can be like our Savior.

So what is the bottom line? The church needs to embrace the fact that it is a counter-culture and then embrace those who aren't a part of it in an effort to see them transformed. So, in a way, we are a counter-counter-culture. We are different from not only the prevailing culture, but also its sub-counter-cultures. We should act differently because we are different. We should seek the transformation of others, because we have been transformed. I like how Josh Harris puts it: We don't go and tell others the truth because we're right. We do it because we're rescued. Be a counter-culture, but don't act like one. Be in the world, but not of it. And only through the grace of God, through the cross of Christ - the only thing that can truly transform - can this be achieved. Work through us Lord Jesus and bring many to exalt the only Name worthy.

A thought on sports

Alright, I've been pretty good so far this year and haven't brought up the greatest sports team in the history of all sports. That's right, everybody. I'm talking about the Lakers. The only team that can really come close is USC's football team, but that's for another day. Anyway, my Lakers are dominating the Nuggets thus far in the postseason and I'm hoping for a championship this June. I even stayed up past 11 last night to watch the game. This meant that I got less than five hours of sleep last night, but it was worth it. My condolences go out to Lauren and Micah at this time. Lauren, I'm sorry your Mavs probably won't make it out of the first round this year, but, on the bright side, at least they're being taken out by your (I'm assuming) favorite player, Chris Paul (who will lose out to Kobe for the MVP). And Micah, I'm sorry that you can't enjoy the greatest sport that has ever been invented ;)

And that leads me to the purpose for this post. At work today, I was thinking about why God allowed/ordained that sports would exist. Why did God put it in the heart of man to put forth physical exertion in competition against other men? This isn't a full answer, but I have two thoughts. Sports has a sinful purpose and a sanctified purpose. The sinful purpose of sports is the same as when the Israelites asked for a king in II Sam. 8 (I believe). This regards more the watching and idolization of sports more than the actual playing of them. I believe we watch and idolize sports and athletes because we are looking for a hero that looks like us rather than worshiping the true Hero who is not like us, but transcends us and condescended to be with us and like us. The heros we watch on Sunday afternoon are but a poor shadow and symbol of the Hero of the ages who bore every sin and carried our every infirmity and took them to the grave only to conquer the greatest enemy mankind has ever faced in Satan, sin and death (I Cor. 15) by rising from that grave and living in glory for all eternity. There is no greater hero. Sports can be either a sinful escape from the reality of Christ, or it can be sanctified by acknowledging it for what it is - a symbol of Christ and a display of God's handiwork. And this is the sanctified reason why I believe sports exists.

I believe God put sports into the hearts of men to serve first as a symbol of Christ, and second to display the greatness of God's creation. Psalm 139:14 says "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well." God created man to display the greatness of his works. When we see how amazing the human body functions our thoughts should not terminate there on the sin of self-esteem, but rather our voices ought to resound with the praises of God for how amazing his workmanship is. Sports is one of the ways that we get to see the display of that workmanship. The human body is an amazing thing. The way muscles, ligaments, bones, nerves, sinews, etc. work together to acheive what the mind of the athlete desires is incredible. To see men jump over three feet in the air, or receivers run at a full sprint only to plant one foot and change their entire direction is absolutely incredible. The only words that we have to describe it are words that are generally used in religious contexts. And so it should be, because that display of athleticism is only a small aspect of how great and awesome our God is. His works are wonderful. He is the one who should be praised. God put it in the heart of man to play sports in order that we would look at the display of athleticism and not end there, but praise the display of God's wonderful works.