Can't see? Won't see!

So, in the mind of Charles Schulz at least, canine hearts are, on occasions, just as spiritually hard and intractable as human egocentric hearts.









So much resonates here that is worthy of further consideration: see, for example Romans 1: 18-22;  2 Corinthians 4: 2-4
HT:  Peanuts

But then, God ...

"Try and sing in the night, Christian, for that is one of the best arguments in the entire world in favour of your religion …I tell you, we may preach fifty thousand sermons to prove the gospel, but we will not prove it half as well as you will by singing in the night."– Charles Spurgeon

For very helpful advice on how to prepare your testimony - that is, your own personal story of your experience of God's saving or sustaining grace in your life - to become more effective in our daily Gospel-engagement with others at home, in school, college, ward, farmyard, office, workplace, wherever... go here.

There are good reasons to seek another church: your child's attention span isn't one of them!

When frustrated parents come and say, "Our children don't get anything out of the service", how should we respond?  David Fitch has been doing some serious thinking about this.  He writes:

"...I get sad when I hear a parent tell me 'my children don’t get anything out of the service, we need to look a another church'. There are good reasons to seek another gathering of people. Mission is one of them, not a childs’ attention span. Don’t get me wrong eh? If the church as a whole is flat-out unengaging. If the church does not attempt to incorporate children into worship. If the church lacks hospitality for children, if the church itself is just another TV show passively consumed, then yes we have a problem here. Parents should should ask why and ask how we the pastors are leading the situation."

But when all else is equal, Fitch asks parents to consider the following ...
1) There’s an encounter with the living God here at our worship service. Your son/daughter need to be coached and prepared into that reality...
2) But discerning God is rarely immediately obvious. God is hidden. So your son or daughter and our church as a whole need to learn and be sensitized to discerning the presence of God. If we put God into sound bites or hyped up worship experiences, then your child will learn instinctually that church is the only place he or she can find God...
3) Children ultimately will follow or imitate their parents and those adults they can respect – therefore one’s children and how they are progressing can function as an excellent diagnostic for our own level of engagement with God. If we send our children to a more “passive” entertaining form of worship service, they will ultimately learn to become observers of the Christian faith not livers of the way of Jesus and His Kingdom...

Read the whole piece here.

HT:  Trevin Wax

Jesus and the fulfillment of the Law

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Matthew 5: 17-18. 

1. We are to have no other gods, because Jesus is the only God we are to worship (1 Tim 2: 5)
   
2. We are not to craft idols of our own image, because Jesus is the one perfect image of God (Col 1: 15)
   
3. We are not to misuse God's name, or treat it lightly, because Jesus is the name of the God (Phil 2: 10-11)
   
4. We are to remember and sanctify the true Sabbath, because Jesus is our Sabbath rest (Matt 12: 8)
   
5. We are to honour parents and families, because Jesus is our elder brother who restores us to the Father (John 5: 19-24; Lk 15)
   
6. We are not to murder or harbour hatred in our hearts, because Jesus is our life – he gave his life that we might live (Col 3:4)
   
7. We do engage in adulterous relationships, because Jesus is our bridegroom (Eph 5:22-23)
   
8. We do not take what God has not given us, because Jesus is the source of our inheritance (Eph 1: 11)
   
9. We do draw others into our false reality, because Jesus is God’s truth (John 14: 6)
   
10. We do not covet what God has not given, because Jesus is what we need – he satisfies the desires of our hearts (2 Cor 3:5)

HT: Toby Neal

A Tom Lehrer classic

Just gotta love this ...

This morning's (full) sermon outline ...

Church community: whose dream?

More wisdom from Bonhoeffer about the nature of true Christian fellowship...

"Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream.  The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and try to realize it.  But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams.  Just as surely God desires to lead us to a knowledge of of genuine Christian fellowship , so surely must we be overwhelmed by a general disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

"By sheer grace God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world.  He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us as a dream. God is not a god of the emotions [we might want to query that!] but a God of truth.  Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.... A community which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community.  Sooner or later it will collapse.  Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive.  He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and sacrificial.

"God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious.  the man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others and by himself.  He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God himself accordingly.  He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together.  When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure.  When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash.  So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.

"Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients.  We thank God for what he has done for us.  We thank God for giving us brethren who live by his call, by his forgiveness and his promise.  We do not complain of what God does not gives us; we rather thank God for what he does give us daily.  And is not what he has given us enough:  brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of his grace?  Is the divine gift of Christian fellowship anything less than this, any day, even the most difficult and distressing day?  Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too stand under the Word of Christ?  Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together - the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.  When the morning mists of dreams vanish, the dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (London: SCM Press, trans. 1954), 15ff.

Timothy Dalrymple's "Open Letter to a College Freshman"

For all you young'ns heading off to college or uni for the first time, or for those heading back for more of the same, here's some mature and very helpful counsel - from someone who clearly knows college life well - about making the most of your relatively short time there.  His main point is that your time in college/uni will have a transforming impact upon your life.  He writes, "The question is whether that transformation will be for the better... Unmoored from the people and places that once defined you, you’ll feel a fluidity in your identity that’s both thrilling and frightening.  You may feel as though you can be anyone and become anything.  I pray that you will become who you are — the individual you most truly and deeply are, the one God dreamt of when he made you — and not the person that you or your parents or your friends think you should be.  "  
For worthwhile life in this 'new world', here's his advice ...

1. Seek wisdom, not merely intelligence.
2. Seek mentors, not merely teachers.
3. Seek the truth, not merely prevailing opinion.
4. Seek answers, not merely questions.
5. Seek betterment, not merely achievement.
6. Seek fellowship, not merely friends.
7. Finally, seek first the kingdom and righteousness of God.

You can read the whole letter, and it really is well worth reading, here. 

Honesty in prayer

"Again, He who 'is' in the secret place 'sees' in secret, and honest dealing becomes us when we kneel in His pure presence.
"In our address to God we like to speak of Him as we think we ought to speak, and there are times when our words far outrun our feelings.  But it is best that we should be perfectly frank before Him.  He allows us to say anything we will, so long as we say it to Himself.  'I say to God my Rock,' exclaims the Psalmist, 'Why have you forgotten me?' (Ps 42: 9).  If he had said, 'Lord, you cannot forget;  You have graven my name upon the palms of Your hands', he would have spoken worthily, but less truly.  On one occasion Jeremiah failed to interpret God correctly.  He cried in his anger, 'O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed' (Jer 20: 7).  These are terrible words to utter before Him who is changeless truth.  But the prophet spoke as he felt, and the Lord not only pardoned him, He met him and blessed him there."

D.M.McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer, published 1913.  Altered for clarity

Update:  see also here... Great minds obviously thinking alike!

Pastoral leadership: seeing reality, helping others do the same...

In Norse mythology, the great Odin travelled the world disguised as a wandering pilgrim (Tolkein's Gandalf was inspired by the Odin myth) in an attempt to see the world as it was, asking questions of the people and learning what they might be willing to give up in order to gain something of significant value.  In fact, he sacrificed his eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom,"symbolizing his willingness to gain the knowledge of the past, present and future. As he drank, he saw all the sorrows and troubles that would fall upon men and the gods. He also saw why the sorrow and troubles had to come to men" (Odin: Wikipedia article). 
"One of the things that Odin soon discovered (which was one of Sigmund Freud's most important insights) was that humans will go to great lengths to avoid their real problems.  As individuals and in groups, people tend to shy away from addressing tough, complex, painful problems that are caused, perpetuated, or protected by their own values, habits and priorities.  Rather than look at the reality of the predicament they are in, they often distort what they see, put the problem outside of themselves, scapegoat others, and create distractions - all as a way of distancing themselves from the responsibility for the real issue.
"Given this natural human predilection, a prime duty of real leadership is to help people face the reality of their problematic condition, no matter now painful and disturbing, and to do the requisite problem-solving work of bringing resolution to their unresolved concerns and take advantage of the unique opportunities before them so that progress can unfold. Fundamentally, real leadership is about being responsible for one's world and helping others be responsible.
"The word responsible means 'being the cause, agent, or source of something.' ...The word Odin, according to mythologist Jacob Grimm, in ancient times literally meant the 'source of movement'.  Thus, Odin became the creator god, the source of all movement in the world.  I assert that our institutions, communities [read churches]... can only improve to the degree that someone takes responsibility for being a source of movement to help people face the reality of their predicament and deal sensibly with their problems and challenges ..."

Dean Williams, Real Leadership (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2005), p.10-11 (emphasis mine).

Application: trusted authors, such as Richard Lovelace, C. Jack Miller, Bryan Chapell, Jerry Bridges, Ray Ortlund, Jim Belcher, etc, highlight that Biblical renewal and revitalisation is facilitated through in-depth Gospel presentation and understanding.  This means facing up to and exploring more fully the reality "that we are more sinful and estranged from God than we imagined, but through faith in the atoning and subtstitutionary death of Christ, more loved and accepted by God than we would ever dare to hope."  Acceptance of, and dependence upon an otherwise superficial, false and inadequate (that is, an unreal) Gospel, inevitably leads to spiritual insecurities, a minimising of our sinful condition, and falling back onto a legalistic or performance-driven righteousness in a (hopeless) attempt to cultivate and maintain favour with God.  Only a fuller grasp of the wonders of the realities of our salvation (election, justification, adoption, etc.) as an expression of the glory of God's grace will bring real joy and peace into our lives. 
As a 'pastoral-leader', the Pastor-Teacher has the responsibility to lovingly (and humbly) help the church face the reality of life and the consequent need and granting of God's sufficient and sustaining grace - both as individuals and collectively as a living fellowship - from a Gospel worldview perspective.  

The Purpose-Moulded Life

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1: 2-4

When God wants to drill a man,
and thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mould a man,
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man,
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch his methods; watch His ways.
How He ruthlessly perfects
When He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
Which only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying,
And He lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When His good He undertakes.
How He uses whom he chooses,
And with every purpose fuses him;
But every act induces him
To try His splendour out --
God knows what He's about!

(I had thought this poem was considered 'anonymous', but various citations throughout the blogosphere attribute it to the Scottish born Henry F. Lyte, author of such hymns as 'Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven' and 'Abide with Me', and - interestingly - educated in Portora Royal School, Enniskillen.)

This morning's sermon outline ...

 

HT:  Peanuts
May you know the true Gospel blessings of God in your life today.

Getting the Glory of Christ Before Our Eyes

John Parnell blogging over at 'Desiring God' has juxtaposed 2 rich paragraphs from 2 of my favourite authors/ spiritual mentors from different eras, Jack Miller - seminal theologian-pastor who died in the 1990's, and John Owen - premier theologian of the 17th C.  These 2 men, different in so many ways, nevertheless shared a common purpose in their writing, viz.  encouraging others to live and minister in light of the reality of the awesomely majestic glory of God.  This is magnificently profound ...

 Jack Miller:What I finally came to as I walked and prayed for you is the old, old story of getting the gospel clear in your own hearts and minds, making it clear to others, and doing it with only one motive — the glory of Christ. Getting the glory of Christ before your eyes and keeping it there is the greatest work of the Spirit that I can imagine. And there is no greater peace, especially in the times of treadmill-like activity, than doing it all for the glory of the Lord Jesus.

Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters from Jack Miller, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2004), 22.

John Owen:Let us live in the constant contemplation of the glory of Christ, and virtue will proceed from him to repair all our decays, to renew a right spirit within us, and to cause us to abound in all duties of obedience. . .It will fix the soul unto that object which is suited to give it delight, complacency, and satisfaction. . . when the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and his glory, when the soul thereon cleaves unto him with intense affections, they will cast out, or not give admittance unto, those causes of spiritual weakness and indisposition. . .And nothing will so much excite and encourage our souls hereunto as a constant view of Christ and his glory.
The Glory of Christ, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, 1850-53, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1965), I, 460-461

He is able ...

Something to think about, something to remember, something to believe ...

He is able to do 

He is able to do [what] we ask

He is able to do all we ask

He is able to do more than all we ask

He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask

He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine

according to his power that is at work within us

to him be glory 

in the church 

and in Christ Jesus 

throughout all generations, 

for ever and ever! 

Amen.

From Ephesians 3: 20-21

What do you think of your church?

If we're honest, most of us spend a considerable amount of time complaining and grumbling about church - the people about their pastors and (shh! don't let it be too widely known ...) the pastors about their flocks!  It's hardly the most edifying attitude for brothers and sisters in Christ to exhibit.  And as an  effective evangelistic witnessing strategy, it's the pits! (...and probably straight from the Pit as well!)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor-theologian who was executed by the Nazi regime just before the end of WWII, wrote a short but significant book on the necessity of genuine and realistic church fellowship entitled 'Life Together'.  The good people at 'Desiring God' recently posted the following passage from the book which is a striking section about how we (pastors and people alike) should respond in those inevitable times of frustration, irritation and even sinful exasperation.  It's a challenging, timely and perhaps necessary read for many of us ...


"If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.
"This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from pastors and zealous members about their congregations. A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.
". . . let [the pastor or zealous member] nevertheless guard against ever becoming an accuser of the congregation before God. Let him rather accuse himself for his unbelief. Let him pray God for an understanding of his own failure and his particular sin, and pray that he may not wrong his brethren. Let him, in the consciousness of his own guilt, make intercession for his brethren. Let him do what he is committed to do, and thank God."


Let's learn to love again - with a selfless, Christlike, Calvary love - those for whom Christ lovingly and selflessly died. 

Inside the great man's head

It's certainly no way to lead a church, but these are fascinating insights into the modus operandi of Apple's founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs.  As others have noted, there is always something to learn ...

HT: Vit Z

Heidelberg @ 60

I'm not a great fan of catechisms, but the Heidelberg Catechism is so devotionally rich, it's hard not to be a  fan.  Consider the following description of 'justification by faith' ...

Heidelberg Catechism:  Question 60

Q. How are you right with God?

Answer:  Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.