Summertime in the Bryant Home - Go Cubs!!!

That's Absolutely Crazy, Diane!!!

I don't want to criticize, but the host of the program is a yellow hat away from being this guy. I''m sorry.

Not Exactly a Quote, but a Comment from a class on Jonathan Edwards

I was listening to a classroom lecture on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards and the teacher made this comment (or something like it).

"The reason God is willing to give the wicked riches and fame is because he see how worthless those things really are."

I posted last time about Adam and Eve hiding behind fig leaves. This quote from Edwards reminded me there is a day coming where there will be no more fig leaves to hide behind. May God give us more grace to see what really matters and not be fooled by the riches and values of the world.

Lived by the Sword - Died by the Sword

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

If that doesn't terrify you read it again.

Everything is laid bare before the eyes of God. He knows every thought and intent. He knows the ones we aren't even aware of ourselves. And he is judging them. His judgment is based on his holiness which he has revealed to us in his word (the sword that is sharper than any two edged sword and cuts much deeper).

When David was confronted with this terrifying truth he wrote this:

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

David responded the way every human has since the fall. God knows everything about me. I better get away and hide.

In Genesis 3 we are told the story of Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating the forbidden fruit from the forbidden tree. Their eyes were opened, their nakedness exposed, and their new default (fear and hiding) applied. They tried to hide behind fig leaves, but God covered them with animal skins and sent them away from the garden.

What kept Adam and Eve from reentering the garden? An angel holding a flaming sword. There would be no entrance into the garden without passing through God's justice symbolized by the sword.

So we're back to Hebrews and facing that sword again. The amazing thing is that the section in Hebrews about the sword and being naked and exposed before God is actually in the middle of a section on God's rest. How can we possibly rest when the bible teaches us that a righteous and holy God is going to judge our every thought and intent based on his perfect law?

The gospel.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus the Great High Priest

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Jesus, our high priest, has passed through the sword. He came to earth as a man and completely fulfilled every 'dotted i' and 'crossed t' of the law. He obeyed God's law and lived by the sword in every respect. Instead of receiving the blessings promised to those who obey God's law he was mutilated by the same sword he obeyed. God's justice slew him on our behalf. Christ received the curse of the covenant so we could receive the blessings.

Hebrews speaks of God's rest in the same way Romans speaks of God's righteousness. It is a rest that comes from believing God's promises. We are told to cease from our works. God wants us to quit trying to cover ourselves with fig leaves and let him cover us with the blood of Christ.

Psalm 32 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

He was made naked so his people could be clothed. He was made poor so his people could be rich. He was made hungry and thirsty so his people could be filled. He was crushed by the sword and banished from rest so his people could go back to Eden.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Enter the rest he freely gives his own.

Quote From Sunday's Sermon

One of my pastors, Mike Smith, said this Sunday.

"I have a hard time believing God accepts me because I know me. I don't have a hard time believing God accepts Jesus."

Colossians 2:9-15

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

My Heart’s Ache

I am breaking a rule I made for myself when I began this website. I promised myself I wouldn’t write about me. The whole idea of a public diary makes me uncomfortable. That being said, this subject has been running through my mind for weeks. I thought I would make an exception. Please bear with me.

I was reminded last weekend why I started this website. Rebecca and I went to lunch with a few friends, and I was telling one of them about Abundant Redemption. He asked why I started the site and I couldn’t remember. I said something to the effect of “I like to write about Jesus and the gospel.” Another friend was sitting there and said, “Didn’t you start it to try to help people who have left your old church?” I had completely forgotten my original motivation.

Many of you know my story. I am sure many of you don’t. I was raised in a pseudo – Christian church that denied (and continues to deny) the full deity of Christ. They also deny that Christ’s death and resurrection are enough to accomplish full salvation. The group shares no doctrinal convictions with Orthodox Christianity. I could elaborate, but I believe the two doctrines listed above are the errors from which all the others stem. When I was fourteen the group moved from Southern California to Middle Tennessee because the pastor told us God wanted us to move. My family (some of which still belong to the group) moved here with about two to three hundred other people.

I can say without exaggeration that there is not a day of my life when I don’t think about them. My memories of childhood (from birth to seventh grade) consist almost exclusively of people from the group. The memories are bittersweet. You don’t move thousands of miles with a group that small (or large depending on how you view it) without developing some special friendships and making some special memories.

Since leaving I have attempted several strategies in sharing the true gospel with my old friends. Some have been foolish lapses in my judgment. Since I have left I have found myself walking a strange line of wanting to share the gospel with those still there and at the same time wanting to warn others about them.

Recently I found out that a group of four or five churches were partnering together with my old group for a cancer benefit. One of my hopes and prayers is that other Christian churches would take a stand against the false doctrines of the group. I contacted the churches and warned them about the list of beliefs that are contrary to the biblical gospel. Only two responded. One told me they would send the message to the pastor. The other church had their pastor call me, but he was unwilling to remove his own church from the partnership.

All this to say, my heart is aching. When I realized my old friends would not listen to me and what I had to share about the gospel, I hoped other Christian churches would step up and warn them about their false doctrinal beliefs. So far, most have not. Some individuals have tried to share the gospel with them, but they have been turned away as well. It seems all that has happened is they have taken biblical terms used by Orthodox Christians and tried to make them fit their own false beliefs.

In Romans Paul writes, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race.” I can’t claim that amount of self-sacrifice, but I can relate. I want my friends to know the Savior. I want them to be saved and enjoy the fellowship only the true gospel can produce.

This post may not make much sense to a lot of you. It is a strange story with a lot of strange details that have been left out. Please pray for my old friends. Pray that God will open their eyes and hearts. Pray that God will give them the faith and the grace they need to believe the gospel.

Thanks for bearing with me.