The Date

Since I proposed to Sarah in August, we've been trying to figure out when to get married.  We're both graduating in May, but there were a lot of extraneous things to figure out.  It was really hard for me to try to walk through that process without stressing about it and with the eternal perspective of 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.  But God has been very good to us.

The long and short of it is: we have a date.  July 25, 2009!  Which is, like, 8 months from now.  That's really exciting.

Please pray for us for the next 8 months, that both the way we plan our wedding and the way we conduct our relationship will be carried out in a way that shows that Christ is infinitely more valuable than any other relationship, even a life-long one.

Making it to the Cross

I came across an excellent blog post today entitled "Making It To The Cross," about how important it is to get a glimpse of the cross every time you open your Bible.

Here's the opening paragraph, to get you hooked:

"Today, whether you read a few chapters in Leviticus or Luke, Ezekiel or Ephesians, Proverbs or Philippians, you must make it to the cross.  If you don't make it to the cross, if you don't see the connection between a chapter in Proverbs and what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you'll miss the whole point of your regular Bible reading.  The whole point of reading through your Bible on a regular basis is to begin to see and celebrate that the whole Bible is about the cross-- about the gospel, about the good news of what Jesus has done for you."

Read the whole article here, and remember to make it to the cross.

The Good Shepherd

I was incredibly blessed last night in my daily Through-the-Bible reading to get a new glimpse of Jesus and His glory.  I was reading from Ezekiel 34 and John 10, and I don't know if the people who designed the reading plan intended this, but both passages overlap marvelously.

In Ezekiel 34, we get a stunning picture of the grace of God and His plan of future redemption in Christ.  This is especially amazing, coming after 33 straight chapters of judgment.  At the beginning of chapter 34, God condemns the shepherds of Israel (their spiritual leaders), saying "The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought."  But then a few verses later, the tone shifts dramatically:

"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will see them out.  As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered... I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.  I will seek the lost and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak... And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them.  I am the LORD; I have spoken."

What a prophecy!  We see its fulfillment in John 10: 

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before me where thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Praise God for that!  He Himself will be the shepherd, and lay down His life for His sheep that He will seek out and bring in and bind up and heal.

A Faithless Seeking

In my Through-The-Bible reading plan, I'm in John 8, and I was bowled over by Jesus' words that I read this morning. In 8:21, He says, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins."  I was shocked.  Do you mean that a person can seek after God and still die in their sins?  That certainly was a shock to my self-assured Calvinist sensibilities.  But then after the Jews objected, Jesus continued in 8:24.  "I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

So now he says that people who don't believe Him will die in their sins.  But He just said that seekers will die in their sins.  I always thought that seeking Jesus was a sign of faith.  But apparently not.

There is such a thing as faithless seeking.  You can seek Jesus earnestly and diligently without one drop of true faith.  The people who followed after Jesus in John 6 when He fed the 5,000 were not seeking Him with faith.  "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.'" (John 6:26-27)  The people were seeking Jesus because He gave them food; they weren't actually interested in Him.

How well this describes so many "seekers" today!  So many people are only interested in seeking Jesus because of what He might be able to give them: a job, money, a spouse, friends, security, a personal sense of spiritual fulfillment or enlightenment.  Jesus is clear in John 6:35- believing Him means coming to Him as thirst-quencher and satisfier, believing that HE is the bread of life.  In other words, seeking Him in order to get something is no faith at all.  True faith means seeking Jesus because you want HIM, and all the glorious fullness of everlasting joy that He is.

Are you seeking Him with faith today?

How Christians Should Respond to the Election

So how should Christians respond to the election of Barack Obama, the most extreme pro-abortion member of the Senate (and now the President-Elect), the liberal Democrat, and the first African-American President in history?  Here are 8 responses from Scripture that should be expected of God's people:

1) Pray for our President.  Pray for our new President-Elect.  Pray for our country and its new leaders.  Pray for the cessation of injustice, the freedom of the Church, and the advance of the Gospel.  "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."(2 Chron. 7:14)  And do not think that, because you do not support President Obama or his policies, that you should not pray for him.  "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matt. 5:44)  Pray especially that God will change his heart to save the lives of the millions of defenseless unborn who will otherwise die during his term.

2) Do not fear.  If the prospect of an Obama presidency scares you, you should take a good hard look at where you are placing your security.  We as Christians will almost certainly face more opposition in the next four years, and we will almost certainly face setbacks in the cause of justice.  But God is our security, heaven is our home, and we are not citizens of this world.  "He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'  So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?'" (Heb. 13:5-6).

3) Respect our President.  Regardless of how you voted, you are commanded by the Word of God to respect your new President.  "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Rom. 13:1)  If Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, could write these words concerning the anti-Christian pagan emperor, how much more should Republicans submit to their Democratic leader!  Do not be like so many partisans who will drag the name of Christ through the mud tomorrow morning by the vindictive bitterness of their words.  Honor Christ in how you honor the President.

4) Rejoice at the demise of racism.  The election of the first African-American President, regardless of his political views, is a thrilling moment in American history, a decisive blow in the ages-long battle against bigotry, racism, and hatred.  Christians everywhere should rejoice in this triumph of justice-- justice that for centuries was denied to people created in the image of God for His glory.  Pray that God will use Barack Obama's presidency to further heal the divides of racism that still exist in this country.

5) Defend the defenseless.  With pro-choice Democrats now in control of the White House and Congress, the people of God must speak out with one voice against the horrific evil of abortion.  Pray earnestly, desperately, and faithfully that God will deliver us from this judgment and will renew this country's love for the sanctity of life.  "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.  If you say, 'Behold, we did not know this,' does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay each man according to his work?" (Prov. 24:11-12)

6) Trust in God's sovereignty.  We must never let election outcomes cloud our view of God's sovereignty as revealed in Scripture.  "He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings." (Daniel 2:20-21)  "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35)  God is sovereign, and the outcome of this election was always in His hands.  If He has chosen to lose the restraints on evil and "give us over" to the fruition of abortion and homosexuality, His judgment is just.  Continue to pray for mercy for our nation and boldness for His people, but never cease to trust His unswerving allegiance to His Church and to His glory.

7) Thank God for His mercy.  Though God has "given us over" to a liberal, pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality President, in His great mercy He has not given us the leaders we deserve.  In our sin, we deserve anarchy and dictatorship and violent oppression, yet God in His goodness has seen it fit to preserve our political freedom.  This is the fruit of the Gospel; God continues to defend His church and extend incredible patience to rebels.

8) Remember our freedom.  Many Republicans will say that a liberal President means the end of liberty.  I disagree.  It may be true that Constitutional protections will be rolled back or ignored; it may be true that Big Government may take away economic and social and educational and familial choices that once were ours.  But President Obama cannot take away our freedom, for our freedom is found in Christ.  "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)Do not put too much stock in political freedom; after all, this world and everything in it is quickly passing away.  Christians in North Korea today are just as free before God as Christians in the USA.  Remember the benefits of the Gospel bought and applied to you by the Holy Spirit: you are free, forgiven, reconciled, a citizen of heaven, and no human government can take that away.

Thoughts on the Election

I have been enormously helped towards thinking biblically about today's election by John Piper's and Justin Taylor's blogs on this subject.

In his interview, Piper reminds us that we need "a healthy dose of the sovereignty of God" when thinking about the election.  He says:

"God governs this election, and He's gonna get elected the one He wants elected, and if it's the person we think will be hurtful, then we need to be hurt.  Sometimes people say, 'God's gonna judge us if do abortion or if we have gay marriage, or if we elect a pro-choice president or something.  Well, He's not going to judge us because of that; that IS the judgment!  Abortion IS the judgment.  The spread of radical gay activism IS the judgment."

What Piper is saying is Romans 1-- God's judgment against humanity is, three times from verses 24-28, that He "gave them up" to impurity, to dishonorable passions, to a debased mind.  God is sovereign over sin; the extent of evil in the world is God's judgment against that evil.  In other words, God says, "You want abortion?  Very well, reap the consequences of your slaughter.  You want gay marriage?  Very well, reap the consequences of your perversion."  Abortion is the judgment.  Gay marriage is the judgment.

So today, on this historic election, as we go to the polls to exercise our right to vote and to exercise our duty to pursue God's prescriptive will for leaders, we need a big dose of the sovereignty of God.  God is in charge of this election, and He will govern the result-- whether towards restraint of evil or judgment on evil-- to the praise of His glory.

Something More Sure

On Sunday morning as I was having devotions and coming to God to prepare my heart to preach, I was reading in my Through the Bible reading plan in 2 Peter 1.  I was given a great encouragement by how Peter describes his faith.

"For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven."

In other words, Peter said, "We didn't make this stuff up; we saw Jesus on the mount of transfiguration; we saw His glory and we heard the voice from heaven."  But that makes what he says next so astounding:

"And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, which you will do well to pay attention to."

He says, "We saw the glory with our own eyes, we heard the voice from heaven with our own ears, but the Word of God is even more sure than that!"

Wow.  That was such an encouragement to me on Sunday, as I was preparing to preach a pretty heavy-duty sermon about sin.  I needed to hear that the Word of God is more sure than even a voice from heaven.  And it was also a huge encouragement to me and Sarah, as we have been struggling with a lot of post-college plans and trying to figure out when to get married and how we're going to make money, etc etc.  So often when you're waiting on God's timing, you wish He would just write His answer in the sky.  But 2 Peter reminds us that He doesn't need to; He has given us His Word, which is even more sure than a voice from heaven.

Fountains, Faith, and Fullness

This morning I was given the grace and responsibility to preach at Center Presbyterian Church in New Castle, PA.  My text was Jeremiah 2:11-13 and my sermon was entitled "Fountains, Faith, and Fullness: Pursuing the Glory that Profits."  Below is a (very) brief outline/summary, as well as the link to the audio file on the DVO website.

1) Historical context: The book of Jeremiah describes God coming in judgment against His people because they have "exchanged the glory of God for that which does not profit;" they have forsaken Him and turned to idols.

2) "Be appalled, O heavens... be shocked."  God says we should be shocked and appalled by this idolatry.  I have three reasons why we should be appalled:

A) The glory of God is at stake: God's glory is the most ultimate, most valuable reality in the universe, because the glory of God is most valuable to God.

B) We were created to exhibit and enjoy the glory of God: We exist to display the worth of Jesus Christ to a watching world, and we do this by enjoying "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus."

C) God's glory profits: The obvious implication of Jeremiah's accusation, "They have changed their glory for that which does not profit," is that we should be pursuing the glory that does profit.  We are commanded to consider knowing and enjoying God that we view all else as worthless by comparison.  Therefore, the proper response to the glory of God is to pursue it joyfully and drink of it deeply, and come to Jesus who says "I am the bread of life."

3) What does it mean when Jesus says, "Come to me"?  Jesus' statement in John 6 ("Whoever comes to me shall not hunger; whoever believes in me shall never thirst") is a parallel statement, in which the first phrase means the same thing as the second phrase.  Therefore, what Jesus is saying is that coming means believing.  Believing in Jesus means coming to Him as thirst-quencher and satisfier-- this is the essence of true faith.

You can listen to and download the entire message at http://www.dailyverseonline.org/sermons