In Psalm 101 David boldly sings of mercy and justice. Flowing from the songs of mercy and justice are praises to God. David's Psalm is a cry of intention for his kingdom. He longed to see mercy and justice rule and reign. David promised to turn Israel to God through blameless sincerity. He promised to root out evil and punish the wicked. The longings of his heart were good, true, and insufficient for the task at hand.
What David saw and longed for from afar, God has graciously revealed to us in his Son. Mercy and justice have met in Jesus. In the life of Christ we see mercy's beauty. We see the sick healed, the poor raised up, the hungry fed, the oppressed liberated, the dead resurrected, and the broken healed by the the compassionate Savior. We see sins forgiven mercifully.
But true righteousness calls for more than mercy. The world is broken and full of people like you and me who are guilty of not loving God or others well. For a kingdom to be established with righteousness, justice is required.The guilty must be punished. Sin requires atonement. And in the death of Jesus we see justice satisfied. The Father was pleased to punish the Son for the disobedience of his wandering people.
Psalm 101 concludes with these words, "I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the LORD."
Evil has been eradicated from the eternal City of God because our evil was placed on the One who knew no evil. We are no longer orphans, but share in the merciful sonship of Christ, who is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. Let us humbly and boldly sing mercy and justice. Let us praise the only wise God who concocted the glorious plan of the gospel. He is King who saves and we are his people.
9/24/10
Praying with Bart and Tracy
One of the most memorable prayers I've heard comes from Bart Simpson. Homer had convinced the family to switch from electric to wind power. Bart and Lisa were watching tv and the wind stopped blowing. Bart went outside, climbed to the top of the family windmill, and prayed, "God, you've got the wind I need. I've got the prayers you crave. Let's make a deal."
That same week I witnessed another memorable prayer on 30 Rock. Tracy Jordan was wearing an electric dog shock collar, but had to leave his yard because he needed something out of his car. As Tracy got to the edge of his property line his shock collar started to electrocute him and he prayed, "God, if you deliver me from this, I promise that every Sunday I'll go to ..." The shock stopped and Tracy finished his prayer, "... to Pizza Hut. Every Sunday I'll go to Pizza Hut."
Bart and Tracy made the same mistake we all do. They assumed something about God that isn't true. Their inappropriate prayers (worship) flowed from their false views of God.
Their prayers presupposed that God is needy and desperate and is looking to make a deal. It's like he's the guy in the fantasy league who didn't draft a QB until the sixth round and is looking to deal Marion Barber for Tom Brady. The truth is that God is anything but desperate. He doesn't need us, or anything. He is the complete opposite of desperate in his generosity and love. His lack of need is the most beautiful aspect of his total and complete love for humanity. He just loves us. When we try to make deals with him, we're insulting his generosity. We're underestimating the joy he finds in loving and giving.
I believe one of our most damaging presuppositions is a belief that there are greater sources of joy than God. G.K. Chesterton described the joyfulness of God by describing God's view of the world at all times. We take vacations to see dolphins splashing in the ocean. We buy pets to experience the joy of playing fetch or petting a dog (not speaking from experience, but I've heard people like this). God sees all the dolphins all the time. He sees every wagged tail in the universe. He created it and enjoys it and perfect joy emanates from him now and will for all eternity. To be in his presence is fullness of joy. To know him, to worship him, to be invited into communion with him is the greatest of all experiences.
I see in the church today a pattern that things have to be made fun so people will want to go to church. Behind that action is a presupposition that God is not the author of joy. There is a fundamental foundation of thought that says simply worshiping the Creator needs to be manipulated so people can enjoy themselves. We are guilty of the same sin as Bart Simpson and Tracy Jordan. We have created and are worshiping an idol. We have believed something false about God and we have begun to serve the small god we have created. This small god does need all the help he can get because he is not worthy of worship.
But the true God of the Bible is not small and needs no assistance. He is the mighty maker of heaven and earth. He is ultimate goodness and everything we love and admire comes directly from him. He spoke the world into existence. He thought of and created everything we enjoy and he has seen it enjoyed in its purest form. He is so powerful mountains shake when his glory touches them, yet so meek and gentle he describes himself as an embracing father and a loving husband. His character is like a lion. His character is like a lamb.
And we call him boring. We presume we need to make him more exciting and trick ourselves into having a good time while spending time with him.
My heart is heavy with repentance when I think about all of the lies I believe about God. I have tried to make deals with him. I have tried to make him into something more like myself. My prayer today is for a new direction of steering for our Christian culture. I pray that God forgives us for the false things we believe about him and that he shows us heights and depths of his glory that leave us in awe of the tremendous invitation to worship and know him as our Lord and Savior.
That same week I witnessed another memorable prayer on 30 Rock. Tracy Jordan was wearing an electric dog shock collar, but had to leave his yard because he needed something out of his car. As Tracy got to the edge of his property line his shock collar started to electrocute him and he prayed, "God, if you deliver me from this, I promise that every Sunday I'll go to ..." The shock stopped and Tracy finished his prayer, "... to Pizza Hut. Every Sunday I'll go to Pizza Hut."
Bart and Tracy made the same mistake we all do. They assumed something about God that isn't true. Their inappropriate prayers (worship) flowed from their false views of God.
Their prayers presupposed that God is needy and desperate and is looking to make a deal. It's like he's the guy in the fantasy league who didn't draft a QB until the sixth round and is looking to deal Marion Barber for Tom Brady. The truth is that God is anything but desperate. He doesn't need us, or anything. He is the complete opposite of desperate in his generosity and love. His lack of need is the most beautiful aspect of his total and complete love for humanity. He just loves us. When we try to make deals with him, we're insulting his generosity. We're underestimating the joy he finds in loving and giving.
I believe one of our most damaging presuppositions is a belief that there are greater sources of joy than God. G.K. Chesterton described the joyfulness of God by describing God's view of the world at all times. We take vacations to see dolphins splashing in the ocean. We buy pets to experience the joy of playing fetch or petting a dog (not speaking from experience, but I've heard people like this). God sees all the dolphins all the time. He sees every wagged tail in the universe. He created it and enjoys it and perfect joy emanates from him now and will for all eternity. To be in his presence is fullness of joy. To know him, to worship him, to be invited into communion with him is the greatest of all experiences.
I see in the church today a pattern that things have to be made fun so people will want to go to church. Behind that action is a presupposition that God is not the author of joy. There is a fundamental foundation of thought that says simply worshiping the Creator needs to be manipulated so people can enjoy themselves. We are guilty of the same sin as Bart Simpson and Tracy Jordan. We have created and are worshiping an idol. We have believed something false about God and we have begun to serve the small god we have created. This small god does need all the help he can get because he is not worthy of worship.
But the true God of the Bible is not small and needs no assistance. He is the mighty maker of heaven and earth. He is ultimate goodness and everything we love and admire comes directly from him. He spoke the world into existence. He thought of and created everything we enjoy and he has seen it enjoyed in its purest form. He is so powerful mountains shake when his glory touches them, yet so meek and gentle he describes himself as an embracing father and a loving husband. His character is like a lion. His character is like a lamb.
And we call him boring. We presume we need to make him more exciting and trick ourselves into having a good time while spending time with him.
My heart is heavy with repentance when I think about all of the lies I believe about God. I have tried to make deals with him. I have tried to make him into something more like myself. My prayer today is for a new direction of steering for our Christian culture. I pray that God forgives us for the false things we believe about him and that he shows us heights and depths of his glory that leave us in awe of the tremendous invitation to worship and know him as our Lord and Savior.
9/23/10
Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness ... Some Humbling Quotes
Matthew 5:6 ... Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this. If this verse is to you one of the most blessed statements of the whole of scripture, you can be quite certain you are a Christian; if it is not, then you had better examine the foundations again.” Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
“I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this. If this verse is to you one of the most blessed statements of the whole of scripture, you can be quite certain you are a Christian; if it is not, then you had better examine the foundations again.” Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
“It is not that he wants to be a little bit better, still less he thinks of righteousness as an optional luxury to add to his other graces; rather, he hungers and thirsts for it. He cannot get along without righteousness; it is as important to him as food and drink.” D.A. Carson
“A hunger and thirst for righteousness that can never be curbed or stopped or sated, one that looks for nothing and cares for nothing except the accomplishments and maintenance of the right, despising everything that hinders this end. If you cannot make this world completely pious, then do what you can.”
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." - Martin Luther
“They are not full of their own righteousness, but long for more and more of that which comes from above. They pine to be right themselves with both God and man, and they long to see righteousness have the upper hand all the world over. Such is their longing for goodness, that it would seem as if both the appetites of “hunger and thirst” were concentrated in their one passion for righteousness. Where God works such an insatiable desire, we may be quite sure that he will satisfy it; yea, fill it to the brim. in contemplating the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, and the victory of righteousness in the latter days, we are more than filled. In the world to come the satisfaction of the “man of desires” will be complete. Nothing here below can fill an immortal soul; and since it is written, “They will be filled,” we look forward with joyful confidence to a heaven of holiness with which we shall be satisfied.” C.H. Spurgeon
9/13/10
My First Sermon
Yesterday was an amazing day for me. I was honored to preach for the first time at Church of the Redeemer. Preaching in the corporate worship service was one of the sweetest and most weighty moments I've ever experienced. I'm grateful to work at Redeemer and to be involved in the lives of the people there.
The theme of the service was God's shepherding heart. The worship ended with the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness. When I consider the unlikeliness of God choosing me to share the good news of the gospel with people, I am immediately humbled and more deeply convinced of his glory. I am grateful for his faithfulness and love.
Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and my family this week. I'm thankful for your prayers and your friendship. Here is a link to the sermon.
God's Repentance
The theme of the service was God's shepherding heart. The worship ended with the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness. When I consider the unlikeliness of God choosing me to share the good news of the gospel with people, I am immediately humbled and more deeply convinced of his glory. I am grateful for his faithfulness and love.
Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and my family this week. I'm thankful for your prayers and your friendship. Here is a link to the sermon.
God's Repentance
9/9/10
Many Roads...
This summer I was blessed by a person (who wished not to be named) with a couple plane tickets to Los Angeles. I got to take Joshua to Southern California and spend some time with dear friends and visit memorable places. Another blessing was a newer friend who was also from California, but oddly enough, I had met in Tennessee.
This friend works at Disneyland and offered to let Joshua and me into the park for free. He also offered a third pass, so I was able to take my friend Greg along to the park. One of the highlights of the trip was actually a conversation I wasn’t even part of. I listened as Greg and Eric began to talk and get to know each other. Eric began explaining to Greg how he and I had become friends.
About the same time I was leaving the cult I had moved to Tennessee with, Eric and his family were moving here to join the group. Eric had an opportunity to move here and pursue playing in a band with a member of the cult. The guy who had invited him and offered the musical opportunities in Nashville had invited him to worship and get to know other people in the Christian Gospel Temple community. As Eric and Ann (his wife) grew to know the people and enjoy the tight community, they decided to move to Tennessee. Throughout the decision making process, Eric and Ann were never told about the beliefs of the group that differ from Christianity. They moved their whole family (losing quite a bit financially in the process) because they weren’t told the truth about the group they had been introduced to. They only lived in Tennessee for about a year and ended up moving back to California. As they left, they experienced the rejection and abandonment of the members of the group who turn on those who leave.
Eric was explaining all of this to Greg and then he began talking about my mom and their friendship. He explained that after they had moved to California, they discovered there were others who had left the cult and had a tight community of friends who could share the hurts and disappointments of lost friendships. Eric, Ann, and my mom became very close. They visited last summer and I got to meet them and share stories and experiences. Eric told Greg that the community he had gained because of his experience with those who had left Christian Gospel Temple had become his family. God used a gut-wrenching, horribly trying experience to give Eric a community of friends that had become as close as his own relatives.
About a week after I returned from California, one of my favorite song-writers, Andrew Peterson, released an album called Counting Stars. I haven’t been able to listen to the whole album because every time I begin to listen I just listen to the first song over and over. I can’t make it through this song without thinking of Eric and Ann.
I can’t get over the simple truth that although it often seems like our lives are in the hands of people who aren’t looking out for what is best for us, it never really is. Our lives are always in the hands of the one whose hands will be forever scarred by nails.
The last month, for me, has been somewhat of a mountaintop experience. It hasn’t been a mountaintop in the sense of an overwhelming high, but instead the feeling of looking back over the last three years and seeing some of the things God was doing in my life. I’m realizing (literally daily) that I’m exactly where God wants me. I’m realizing the sleepless nights and painful days of believing my life was in the hands of people not seeking good for me weren’t wasted. I’m realizing my life was in God’s hands the whole time.
Yesterday, Rebecca and I were talking a little about some of these things and I said it was hard for me to understand some of the pain we had to go through. Some of it seemed wasted. She graciously listened instead of correcting me. She left that to Joshua.
This morning, as I was getting ready for work, Joshua mentioned another California amusement park.
“Dad, remember when we went to Legoland?”
“Yes.”
“And remember that dragon ride that I didn’t want to ride, but you made me.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for making me do that. It was fun.”
And with that, he ran out of the room.
I’m thankful for gentle reminders that God loves me enough to change me. None of my pain is wasted. None of the hurt is ignored. I’m thankful to be able to look back at the many roads that have led to today. The roads of pain and rejection. The roads of abandonment and loss. The roads of friends and family. I’m thankful they’ve all had a purpose and that everyday of my life has been held tightly in the hands of the Beloved Savior who bled and died for his weak people.
This friend works at Disneyland and offered to let Joshua and me into the park for free. He also offered a third pass, so I was able to take my friend Greg along to the park. One of the highlights of the trip was actually a conversation I wasn’t even part of. I listened as Greg and Eric began to talk and get to know each other. Eric began explaining to Greg how he and I had become friends.
About the same time I was leaving the cult I had moved to Tennessee with, Eric and his family were moving here to join the group. Eric had an opportunity to move here and pursue playing in a band with a member of the cult. The guy who had invited him and offered the musical opportunities in Nashville had invited him to worship and get to know other people in the Christian Gospel Temple community. As Eric and Ann (his wife) grew to know the people and enjoy the tight community, they decided to move to Tennessee. Throughout the decision making process, Eric and Ann were never told about the beliefs of the group that differ from Christianity. They moved their whole family (losing quite a bit financially in the process) because they weren’t told the truth about the group they had been introduced to. They only lived in Tennessee for about a year and ended up moving back to California. As they left, they experienced the rejection and abandonment of the members of the group who turn on those who leave.
Eric was explaining all of this to Greg and then he began talking about my mom and their friendship. He explained that after they had moved to California, they discovered there were others who had left the cult and had a tight community of friends who could share the hurts and disappointments of lost friendships. Eric, Ann, and my mom became very close. They visited last summer and I got to meet them and share stories and experiences. Eric told Greg that the community he had gained because of his experience with those who had left Christian Gospel Temple had become his family. God used a gut-wrenching, horribly trying experience to give Eric a community of friends that had become as close as his own relatives.
About a week after I returned from California, one of my favorite song-writers, Andrew Peterson, released an album called Counting Stars. I haven’t been able to listen to the whole album because every time I begin to listen I just listen to the first song over and over. I can’t make it through this song without thinking of Eric and Ann.
I can’t get over the simple truth that although it often seems like our lives are in the hands of people who aren’t looking out for what is best for us, it never really is. Our lives are always in the hands of the one whose hands will be forever scarred by nails.
The last month, for me, has been somewhat of a mountaintop experience. It hasn’t been a mountaintop in the sense of an overwhelming high, but instead the feeling of looking back over the last three years and seeing some of the things God was doing in my life. I’m realizing (literally daily) that I’m exactly where God wants me. I’m realizing the sleepless nights and painful days of believing my life was in the hands of people not seeking good for me weren’t wasted. I’m realizing my life was in God’s hands the whole time.
Yesterday, Rebecca and I were talking a little about some of these things and I said it was hard for me to understand some of the pain we had to go through. Some of it seemed wasted. She graciously listened instead of correcting me. She left that to Joshua.
This morning, as I was getting ready for work, Joshua mentioned another California amusement park.
“Dad, remember when we went to Legoland?”
“Yes.”
“And remember that dragon ride that I didn’t want to ride, but you made me.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for making me do that. It was fun.”
And with that, he ran out of the room.
I’m thankful for gentle reminders that God loves me enough to change me. None of my pain is wasted. None of the hurt is ignored. I’m thankful to be able to look back at the many roads that have led to today. The roads of pain and rejection. The roads of abandonment and loss. The roads of friends and family. I’m thankful they’ve all had a purpose and that everyday of my life has been held tightly in the hands of the Beloved Savior who bled and died for his weak people.
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