What A Play! October 29, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Lighthearted, Video.2 comments
I know this is a bit late for many individuals already, but I simply cannot help myself in not putting it on here. Watch this clip of Trinity vs. Millsaps in Mississippi on October 27, 2007. The score was 22 (Trinity), 24 (Millsaps). These are two college division 3 football teams. With two seconds remaining on the clock and on their 39-yard line, Trinity had very little options to go with.
This has to be one of the best–if not the best–play in football history. I’m not going to spoil for you . . . simply watch.
Humility (Reader’s Den Review) October 17, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Reader's Den Review.2 comments
C. J. Mahaney
174 pages
Multnomah (2005)
Recommend: Yes
Genre: Christian Living/Practical Life
Introduction:
In Isaiah 66:2, God says, “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit” (ESV). What a standard! Humility is one of those character traits that the world values in word but not in actuality. For the Christian humility is not only indispensable, but a mandate. One of my good friends would often jokingly tell me, “I’m the most humble person I know,” while I would respond, “I’m so proud of my humility.” While we may joke around with humility, we all know the natural human tendency to become puffed up and arrogant. Sometimes we even portray a “false” humility where we fake our piety in order to receive applause and praise for our facade. Indeed, to be humble is the pursuit of a lifetime when placed under the perfect shadow of our Lord who Himself came not “. . . to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
From the outset, C. J. Mahaney makes this disclaimer:
“I’m a proud man pursuing humility by the grace of God. I don’t write as an authority on humility; I write as a fellow pilgrim walking with you on the path set for us by our humble Savior. I can only address you with confidence in the great and gracious God who has promised to give grace to the humble . . .” (pp. 13-14).
Book Structure:
The book is easily organized into three sections. In the first section, Mahaney examines how humility is our greatest friend with all its promises and how pride is our greatest enemy with all its perils. The second section seeks to redefine success by taking a look at the Word of God and observing Christ who not only redefined greatness by His words but ultimately by the giving up of His own life for His own creation. And then finally in the third section, Mahaney gets very practical with the “How To’s” in cultivating humility and weakening pride each and every day for the glory of God.
Notable Quotes:
- “The sad fact is that none of us are immune to the logic-defying effects of pride. Though is shows up in different forms and to differing degrees, it infects us all. The real issue here is not if pride exists in your heart; it’s where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life. . . . Pride takes innumerable forms but has only one end: self-glorification. That’s the motive and ultimate purpose of pride—to rob God of legitimate glory and to pursue self-glorification, contending for supremacy with Him. The proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God, thereby attempting in effect to deprive God of something only He is worthy to receive” (pp.29,32).
- “Jesus alone came to give His life as a ransom for the sins of many—and this separates Him from any other sacrificial service that anyone else anywhere could ever offer. Here we find what is completely, utterly, and categorically unique about the Savior and His example. And in true humility, our own service to others is always both an effect of His unique sacrifice and the evidence of it. His sacrifice alone makes it possible for us to achieve and experience true greatness in God’s eyes” (p.48).
- “What a powerful death! The cross ransoms, the cross liberates, the cross transforms! So make it your aim and lifelong habit, when you see someone serving, to be reminded of the sacrifice of the Savior, for apart from His sacrifice there is no serving. True greatness is attained only by emulating the Savior’s example—and made possible only by the Savior’s sacrifice” (p.58).
- “Let each of us recognize every day that whatever grace we receive from God is so much more than we’re worthy of, and indescribably better than the hell we all deserve” (p.71).
- “Humility doesn’t demand mathematical precision from another’s input; humility postures itself to receive God’s grace from any avenue possible” (p.134).
- “Those who know true joy in the midst of suffering are those who recognize that, in this life, our suffering is never as great or as serious as our sins. As Jonathan Edwards wrote, ‘How far less [are] the greatest afflictions that we meet with in this world . . . than we have deserved!’ That’s a divine perspective of suffering. Regardless of the severity of suffering we experience in this life, it will always be less than what we have deserved for our sins” (p.149).
- “That, my friend, is amazing grace, simply amazing! And because of Him we can know forgiveness of sins and freedom from fear of future wrath. Because He ‘humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross,’ we can be reconciled to God and know Him as Father and no longer as Judge—and only because of His perfect humility and perfect sacrifice on the cross for our pride” (p.168).
Conclusion:
Being humble is no easy job. To be truly humble as God defines it goes against the grain of our world’s conception of humility. It is only by the work of Christ that we can become truly humble. And yes, in a sense, in this side of heaven we will never arrive to perfection. By grace we strive each day to mortify the remaining presence of pride in us, and by that same grace we plead with God to grow in us a heart akin to God’s that seeks no recognition and no fame. What a calling?!
I hope Mahaney can awaken your heart to the reality of pride and the necessity for humility as he has in me. I recommend this book whole-heartedly for any Christian who seeks to glorify God in all things.
Additional Resources:
- Listen to this free sermon by C. J. Mahaney on the subject of humility, entitled “True Greatness.”
The Natural Art of Forgetfulness October 14, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Spiritual Growth.add a comment
Recently, I’ve been realizing how easy it is for one to forget the things which are so obvious.
God is holy and He hates sin. We know that.
God longs to be reconciled with His people. We know that.
God takes the initiative of saving lost and rebellious sinners. He stoops down to us. We know that.
God makes His ways known to us—He reveals Himself . . . and He has in His Creation and His written Word. We know that.
His presence is terrifying yet sweet; His Word is powerful yet gentle; His law is convicting yet delightful. We know that.
But O how so often do we forget that which is so simple and basic.
May God empower us to be effectual doers of the Word and not merely listeners of it (Jas. 1:22). Let us dig deeper into God’s revealed Word and let us always keep reminding ourselves of the basics—we are sinners in need of grace and mercy which is only found and obtained in Jesus Christ.
People of the Book October 10, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Spiritual Growth.2 comments
Do we want to see the glory of God? Are we willing to do whatever it takes to see God’s magnificent radiance on display? In Exodus we find a particular experience that Moses went through that I think stands out from among the others.
Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!‘ And [God] said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!’ Then the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen’” (Ex. 33:18-23, emphasis mine).
This is amazing. Moses had asked to see the very glory of God and how did God respond? By saying yes. God knew that no man would be able to see His glory and survive; at seeing God’s glory, man in his complete sinfulness would not be able to behold such awesome, holy splendor. Therefore, God said He would put Moses in the cleft of a rock and cover his eyes while He passed by and let Moses gaze at His back.
The next day, when this was to occur,
“. . . Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.’ Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship” (Ex. 34:4-8, emphasis mine).
There’s so much truth in these texts that reading it alone seems overwhelming, but I do want to highlight the reaction of Moses. Moses here had asked God to see His glory and He conceded; He allowed Moses to see His back so that Moses might not die in the process. Moses’ immediate reaction is in verse eight: “Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.” What a response! His reaction at seeing God’s back was of complete humility and acknowledgment of his unworthiness to gaze upon such a glorious God!
After having spent “forty days and forty nights” (v. 28) up on Mount Sinai, Moses came down. The text says that “. . . as he was coming down . . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him [God]. So when Aaron [Moses' brother and priest] and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him” (v. 29-30).
Now stop and realize that this was Moses—a finite, imperfect, and sinful man who was reflecting the glory of the infinite, perfect, and righteous God on his face, even after he had finished being in God’s presence.
Are we, like Moses, in the presence of God sufficiently, that after leaving Him we walk into the world radiating a faint glimmer of the glory we experienced with Him? I’m not saying that we are to scare people with an angelic-like ray of light that blinds people, nor do I want to stretch this text and make it mean something weird and mystical. I also don’t mean that we’re supposed to shout to everyone how holy we are by the amount or manner of time we spend in God’s Word in communion with Him. But I do want to make a point that our time in the Word of God should be a time where we are entranced by God’s greatness, beauty, wonder, fury, and righteousness, and that that should affect our whole being— our words, our actions, our thoughts, and our motives.
What keeps us from being so impacted by the Word? One of the biggest problems, in my opinion, is that there is a growing plague of biblical illiteracy within the church. Plainly put, people don’t know the Bible. The frightening reality is that many people are content in their illiteracy, which seems absurd when we live in a day and age (and especially in our country) when knowing God’s Word couldn’t be easier to know; but more than that, God commands us again and again in Scripture to guide our lives and grow our faith by the Word itself.
Not long ago people underwent persecution in simply having the Bible in their common language (let alone studying it), yet many of us have no problem in giving the Bible a place on our bookshelf and read on sporadic occasions or when we feel “spiritual” or in the “holy mood.” Even today, countless Christians around the globe are reading it with fear and paranoia thinking that at any moment someone might come in and at least torture them and arrest them. Many even lose their lives for their love and faithfulness to the Word.
One of the results of this biblical illiteracy in our country is that people then have no way to distinguish truth from error—no discernment. This is all too prevalent in the church today. It seems as though believers are willing to accept anything and everything that sounds or seems Christian, when in fact it might very well be contradictory to the Word. There is no discernment because there is no standard, namely, the Word of God.
Paul, in writing to the young pastor in the Ephesian church, Timothy, wrote, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, emphasis mine). Paul saw the importance of knowing God’s Word. Timothy was to have a zealous, fervent diligence in handling the word of truth which is the Word of God itself (cf. Jn. 17:17b), knowing full well that he was accountable to God Himself. Paul, during his final days before his martyrdom, wrote to Timothy:
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
This was the closing chapter of Paul’s ministry here on earth. His death was imminent and he wanted Timothy to be steadfast and unwavering in his commitment to the preaching of the Word. Paul knew that while he was there, he would be able to mentor Timothy, but this was his final exhortation. He had passed the baton and the responsibility now fell on Timothy.
Paul exhorts him,
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:1-4, emphasis mine).
Do you see Paul’s point here? Though his life was soon coming to an end, he couldn’t leave while not making it crystal clear that Timothy was to be ready “in season” and “out of season.” (Obviously, we’re living in an “out of season” time right now in America.)
If we are to rise above the biblical illiteracy that dominates the church, we need to go back to the source so that we won’t be as “. . . children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness in deceitful scheming . . .” (Eph. 4:14). Satan is not kicking back in his EZ chair popping out on Halloween to scare children. No! His is a continual onslaught against the universal Church of God—constantly scheming ways to discredit and confuse the church with heresy and lies. But we praise and serve a God who is faithful and omnipotent, and one day He will come again and call us home. He promised that He would build His church and that the gates of Hades will not overpower it (Mt. 16:18). That is a comforting truth that underscores the sovereignty of God over all.
Our duty while on this earth is to stand on the truth of God’s Word, know it, cherish it, obey it, and proclaim it. We are to dive into the depths of the Bible and come out with its inexhaustible riches, wanting to go back and dive even deeper than before. We are to be like Moses whose desire was to see the glory of God. He was earnest and he got it. What’s stopping us?
God has given us His Word. Let us not cast it aside and open it on Sunday mornings alone. May we be known as people who stand firm, along with Paul, knowing that whatever new popular fad is going on in the church, it will by no means deter us from our rock-solid foundation, the Word. May we be people of the Book.
SDG
The Constant Sin of Anxiety October 8, 2007
Posted by danielbuckley in Spiritual Growth.1 comment so far
Applying the Gospel to all of Life
Anxiety.
Psa 127:1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Psa 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psa 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psa 127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
Psa 127:5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
I can sleep cause of your hand. You will fill my quiver. A rich legacy. Be kicking yourself for being so anxious when there is no reason to. Anxiety reveals lack of trust in God and possibly great selfish ambition. So the life lived always anxiously is a vain life. The wise know they can rest in the grace of God, unmerited by their own shortcomings. Christ has earned it all. Submit humbly to him.
Isa 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
Isa 35:2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
Isa 35:3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Isa 35:4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
Isa 35:6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Isa 35:7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
Isa 35:8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
I am a fool. I will not go astray. Hallelujah for tough guardrails. My heart may feel dry, but you will make it blossom. When I look upon your glory, my own attempts melt to nothing.
Jer 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
Jer 17:8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Jer 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
You know my heart, you know it’s shortcomings, it’s blatant sin. And yet I am forgiven through the person and work of Christ. You have planted me firmly, I am built on the rock. No drought can scare me.
Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Mat 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Mat 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
As I serve you only, as my master, I need fear nothing, I need not be anxious about anything. I can humbly walk in peace. Anxiety characterizes those who are living for self. Test my heart, give me peace in you.
you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
Mat 10:20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Mat 10:21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,
Mat 10:22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
By the power of your Spirit, I will endure to the end. Not by any personal resolve, but by the Spirit that is in me. It is in my new character in Christ, in the Spirit, that I am being made more like him. By your grace, I will remain faithful. Oh that my ways may be steadfast! Fix my eyes on the cross.
Luk 10:41-42 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Like a child at your feet, may I seek that which is greatest, not being anxious about all the troubles of life, all the many things and details I could worry about, but which ultimately are in your hands. Though I am faithless, you are faithful.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Rom 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Rom 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus did it all. All to him I owe. I will be forever at peace, welling with joy and sweet harnessed passion because of your blood. I will behold the face of God, and am already called his son, a co-heir with Christ. Oh, reveal to me the truth of this! I want to have eyes opened even more! I don’t want to walk through life lukewarm! I want to be exuding a joy that is unmatched by joy in any other thing!
There is no area of my life that is not effected by this truth, specifically applied in any certain way. Every aspect of the Gospel is powerful. Every piece is atomic. It will have a huge impact on life, and make it so much happier than mere piety, or even than flagrant partying. Life lived in light of the Gospel has no shortcomings, cause it is under the canopy of truth, unsusceptible to rains of hopelessness or bitter fear. It is a perfect life. All imperfections in our life can be attributed to a lack of focus on the truth, a stumbling on our parts as far as gospel focus goes. But God is faithful to us even as we are faithless.
The Deception of Sin October 7, 2007
Posted by Ivan in Spiritual Growth.2 comments
One of the biggest things I miss right now is the ability to write. All throughout this past summer, with the freedom I had, I was able to think a lot and put it on paper (or in this case, the internet). Things have slowed down a bit for me; though I know it won’t be for long. Here I go.
For a while now I’ve been realizing more facets of my constant sinful heart. The other day I was talking to a friend over lunch and I asked her how her time with God was like. After telling me what she did to commune with God, she fired at me with the same question. As a biblical studies major, and chaplain for my dorm, but more than that, as a Christian, I not only have to read the Bible, but I love the word of God—it is the overarching delight of my life. As I answered her question, I told her the truth (”I do such and such . . .”). But how easy is it for the truth to be told with evil motives and intents. I didn’t brag outwardly, but I did brag internally in my own mind.
God’s diagnosis of the human heart is not very uplifting: “The heart is deceitful than all else / And is desperately sick; / Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). I know my heart. And at that moment when I shared with her my daily routine, I found myself desiring to impress her with my “intimacy” and “tightness” with God. Don’t get me wrong, I love to have that time with God where I can bask in His word, confess my sins, and appropriate the gospel once more. But in that moment, my desire to share with her was skewed—it was sinful. I wanted her to see me and realize how “godly” I was.
How often do we do the right things with sinful, self-seeking motives? Though redeemed and set apart from sin, we still battle our sinful flesh. Paul himself, in Romans 7, understood this constant warring of the flesh with the spirit: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (Rom. 7:19).
What is the cure for this curse? The gospel! I was hearing Jerry Bridges the other day, and he said that at one point in his life, he saw the gospel only for non-believers. He reasoned that as a saved person, one no longer has need of the gospel. He then went on to say that such thinking is ludicrous!—we desperately need the gospel every day; not only the day we were saved, but every day ’till we see our blessed Savior face to face.
The gospel is the essence of our faith where we need to daily come and bow the knee and find the cure to our constant wayward heart.
