Palm Sunday preperation

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" - John 12.13

It's Palm Sunday tomorrow. The day our Savior was welcomed with the honor of a king by the same people who would in a week crucify him as a thief. What it must have been like for Christ to look over these people and see their fickle allegiance. As I thought about this, it became clear that all the glory that was bestowed upon Him on this day (and more) was indeed due Him. I began to consider that these people praised Him because they thought He would deliver them from their oppressors, establish a Kingdom, and make them a nation. They had no idea the expanse of His kingdom, the type of salvation and liberation He offered! We find ourselves as adopted children, grafted into the inheritance that was promised by from the coming of Christ. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and we benefit completely from his Kingship and his deliverance from our sins! We have received so much more than the Jews thought they would receive, and how reluctant we are to praise Him. How often do we sing praises to Him and glorify his name? This Palm Sunday, let us praise our King, our Deliverer, our Savior. Let our thanks not grow cold. God, keep us from mocking and hating your Son, keep us glorifying You in our joy!

Lewis On Joy

This C.S. Lewis quote I have seen mentioned by John Piper on a few occasions, and I think it is worth reading and careful pondering.

If there lurks in modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Come so far to fall so short.

This past weekend, something happened. Right before I drove to Claremont to go visit friends at Harvey Mudd, I stopped by Albertsons to get something. When I walked toward the store from the parking lot, a lady stopped me and asked if she could wash my windshield for some money. I paused and gave her some money and told here there was no need to wash the windshield. As I talked to her some more, her voice was very hoarse and she said that she was feeling ill and didn't know what type of medicine she should get. I told her to wait there and went in to buy her a few dayquil and nyquil (since I thought she could use some sleep, but might need both). So I gave it to her and said "God bless" as I walked away. I felt decent about what I had done, especially since I have been harping on helping the needy recently, but then as if running into a wall I felt guilty. Here I was with this woman and sure I helped her physical needs, but I had her engaged in conversation and I let a prime time to share the gospel slip through my fingers. I almost started to cry as I continued to drive. I had become in that moment exactly what I preach against, a person who ends God's love with doing good for people's physical needs and doesn't meet spiritual needs. This hit me as a load of bricks, and I became very depressed. I talked with a friend over the course of the weekend about the matter, and I began to realize my progression, a good progression. A few years back I wouldn't have even helped the lady. Slowly I started to give help to the poor in various ways, but neglected to even mention God. Then I started to tack on "God bless" because I felt convicted about the shame I had at being a public Christian and wanted to bring God to the forefront. This is the place I was at until recently. Do good deeds and make sure God is associated with them. But this isn't far enough. I've discussed in an earlier (myspace) blog about how it's a tragedy to meet someones physical needs and neglect their spiritual, because meeting spiritual needs is a more pressing concern, and physical needs should be a secondly (though important) concern. I began to realize how God has been progressing me, and how at each stage when I feel convicted to go further I feel guilty when I am aware of how I've failed. This is been an odd source of encouragement though after talking to my friend, because I see this as living proof of what Jonathon Edwards wrote in Religious Affections about how when we are more aware of God's grace we are more aware of our sin. The closer you get to God, who has no blemish or defect, the more you see your own sin. Stated negatively, you see how wretched and sinful you are and how far you are still from true holiness. Stated positively, you see how great God's grace is and you see how far you have come in your faith as you recollect on how your struggles have changed.

A break from the silence!

I was hoping to have posted over the weekend in my visit to Harvey Mudd, and I have no excuse other than sleep for the past couple days. However, as I read from R.C. Sproul's "The Character Of God" this past weekend, I came across a quote I quite liked.

There are many things in my life that I do not want to put under the gaze of Christ. Yet I know there is nothing hidden from Him. He knows me better than my wife knows me. And yet He loves me. This is the most amazing thing of all about God's grace. It would be one thing for Him to love us if we could fool Him into thinking that we were better than we actually are. But He knows better. He knows all there is to know about us, including those things that could destroy our reputation. He is minutely and acutely aware of every skeleton in our closet. And He loves us.

...

To be known by God is our highest privilege. The deepest folly of man is to flee from the eye of God. Hiding from God is as foolish as it is futile. There is no adequate hiding place. We can call for the mountains to fall upon us and the hills to cover us. But the eye of God can see through mountains and penetrate the cloak of the hills.

There is only one adequate cloak for our shame -- the righteousness of Christ. Our nakedness and shame are covered by a shield that no guilt can pierce. Our lives are hid from Him. He is our refuge. He who knows the fugitive's crimes gives the fugitive a hiding place.

Sacrifice

What is it in your life that you are being called to lay down at the foot of the cross and give up. Part of the Christian life is sacrifice and no matter how much we are called to give, our Savior gave more. Our Savior, the incomparable Jesus Christ, sacrificed more than the whole of all other men's sacrifices! That is an impressive feat, because we can probably think of people who have sacrificed a lot over the course of their lives. Add up all of those sacrifices and you can't even begin to compare it to the sacrifice Christ made on the cross. Christ didn't just give up His life. He took upon the sin of all His children upon his shoulder and set aside His eternal union with the Father and Spirit to have the wrath of God poured upon Him for our sakes! He did it willfully, and he was pleased to do it! Oh how foolish we are when we look at the trivial things we fight not to lose, and how much we grumble when we're called to sacrifice! If only we had our eyes focused on the eternal things, sacrifice would be trivial, because the joy of losing your earthly pleasures to gain eternal pleasures is unfathomable! But our eyes are focused on our circumstances and not our destiny, our hearts adore temporal things and not eternal things, our passions are for fleshly things and not heavenly things. These indictments are true of us all too often, but thank God for grace, and thank God for His sanctifying work; taking our worthless lives and giving them purpose and value in Jesus Christ. God give us eternal eyes and help us to view sacrifice through Your eyes and cause us to do it joyfully!

Various links for the day...

There's a lot of things I read today that are link worthy, so instead of a blog for each im lumping them into one. First is the article where John Piper describes how he heard the voice of God. I'll admit I was skeptical, but I did give him the benefit of the doubt (since his track record speaks totally God-centered). I was right to do so, because he once again blew my mind with his humility and God-centric thinking! You can read that article here, and on a similar thought Tim Challies had a review on "Prayer And The Voice Of God" that is interesting. One of the greatest things I have read in a few days online was the 3 selections from Justin Taylor's blog on letters of John Newton dealing with controversy. (part 1, part 2, part 3) They're a great source of edification and deep food for thought/self reflection.

Theology that makes a difference.

This is one of many posts to come (or perhaps a large post), but I was thinking today about how Calvinism makes any difference. I recall discussing this with a friend, and his specific question was "what does it matter if there's election or free will? Isn't the outcome the same?" My initial response was true, but not really heavy with purpose. My simple response was "because having correct doctrines and glorifying God for correct things gives Him glory, and He isn't glorified by false doctrine, no matter how 'harmless' they are." I started meditating on things i recollected from various piper books and articles and sermons, and then I realized that there's an amazing benefit to believing in the doctrines of grace! If you believe in election and the effectual call of God then when you evangelize you can have full assurance that no matter how hard their heart is, if God intends to plant a seed of faith to blossom, it will be done and despite the hardness of their heart, and their free will that is indeed hostile to God, if God intends them to be saved, they will be saved! You don't have to beg them, you don't have to sugar coat the gospel and entice them, you preach Christ crucified who died to save a worthless dead people from their sins and was killed on the cross in an act of propitiation to appease the wrath of God for all who believe, and this brutal, offensive, non-seeker friendly gospel becomes the sweetest thing to the most wicked and obstinate person in the world if it is indeed the will of God! For people who cling to the unbridled free will of man in choosing his salvation, you have no assurance that an obstinate person will hear the call of God, you have no assurance that a desperately wicked person will turn from his sinful pleasure at the high cost that is required (deny yourself...pick up your cross...and follow Christ!). For those who believe in ultimate self-determination you have to beg and plead and woo and compromise the blessed gospel possibly to win souls! Calvinists, with their offensive doctrine of election, don't have to because we rely on God's grace, which is stronger than ANY of human will! More as the thoughts continue to digest.

John Piper invited a rapper to perform at Bethlehem Baptist?!?

John Piper had a rapper perform at Bethlehem Baptist and it started quite a firestorm of responses about Christianity and it's compatibility with rap and other forms of hip hop. Curtis "Voice" Allen wrote an article, which is a very good read, in regards to the controversy he was a part of for performing at Piper's Church. The article shows he handled a wide variety of malicious attacks very humbly. If you don't have time to read the entire article, the following quote I found very powerful, and it was a quote that helped him deal with abusive criticism. The article was entitled "The Cross and Criticism," by Alfred Poirer and was found in a 1999 issue of the Journal of Biblical Counseling.

"In light of God's judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God's criticism of me in Christ's cross, I can face any criticism man may lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has. And the most devastating criticism turns out to be the finest mercy. If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness, defensiveness, or blame-shifting."

In case you want to see the song he performed before the congregation, you can view it here. Personally, despite my general dislike of most rap, I am thrilled that Curtis is living in his neighborhood and his subculture unashamed of the gospel, and is speaking clear biblical truth through his music. He is a great example of being a light in the darkness. :) I hope you have time to listen to his song and read through the article he wrote.

Francis Schaeffer, a man of tears?

John Fischer wrote a very good article for Christianity Today about Francis Schaeffer being a compassionate, broken, man of tears. Here was one (of many possible) quote from the article that effected me. The whole article moves me to want to study and get to know Schaeffer's life and work more though. If you have a few minutes, I strongly suggest the article.

Jesus asked us to love our enemies. Part of loving is learning to understand. Too few Christians today seek to understand why their enemies think in ways that we find abhorrent. Too many of us are too busy bashing feminists, secular humanists, gay activists, and political liberals to consider why they believe what they do. It's difficult to sympathize with people we see as threats to our children and our neighborhoods. It's hard to weep over those whom we have declared enemies.

Perhaps a good beginning would be to more fully grasp the depravity of our own souls and the depth to which God's grace had to go to reach us. I doubt we can cry over the world if we've never cried over ourselves.

To be sure, Francis Schaeffer's influence has declined in recent years, as postmodernism has supplanted the modernity he dissected for so long. Schaeffer is not without his critics, even among Christians. But perhaps, in the end, his greatest influence on the church will not be his words as much as his tears. The same things that made Francis Schaeffer cry in his day should make us cry in ours.

Calvin on the Trinity

John Calvin from "Institutes of the Christian Religion" (Book 1, Ch. XIII, 18)

I am not sure if it is expedient to borrow analogies from human affairs to express the nature of this distinction. The ancient fathers sometimes do so, but they at the same time admit, that what they bring forth as analogous is very widely different. And hence it is I have great dread of anything like presumption here, lest some rash saying may furnish an occasion of calumny to the malicious, or of delusion to the unlearned. It were unbecoming however, to say nothing of a distinction which we observe that the Scriptures have pointed out. This distinction is, that to the Father is attributed the beginning of action, the fountain and source of all things; to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and arrangement in action, while the energy and efficacy of action is assigned to the Spirit. Moreover, though the eternity of the Father is also the eternity of the Son and Spirit, since God never could be without his own wisdom and energy; and though in eternity there can be no room for the first or last, still the distinction of order is not unmeaning or superfluous, the Father being considered the first, next the Son from him, and then the Spirit from both. For the mind of every man naturally inclines to consider, first, God, secondly, the wisdom emerging from him, and, lastly, the energy by which he executes the purposes of his counsel. For this reason, the Son is said to be of the Father only; the Spirit of both the Father and the Son. This is done in many passages, but in none more clearly than in the eighth chapter to the Romans where the same Spirit is called indiscriminately the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead. And not improperly. For Peter also testifies (1 Pet. i. 21), that it was the Spirit of Christ which inspired the prophets, though the Scriptures so often say that it was the Spirit of God the Father.

A nice chunk from Romans

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.- Romans 4.13-5.11

Oh so great a passage. I read this chunk a few times in my devotions today, every time it sank it to give me deeper insights and a greater appreciation and love for Jesus Christ, my savior and my righteousness. May everyone who takes the time to read it let it digest and let it change you. Maybe I'll write on it later.

I realize I do not love...Confession 2

What does it mean to love sinners? What does it mean to love the lost? What does it mean to love our enemy? What does it mean to love our neighbors? What does it mean to love?

I've realized my love (in practice, not in understanding) is so narrow and so selective. My heart has broken occasionally for the church or for people I know personally and enjoy their company, but it has never been broken for the lost people I do not know, or are not close. I can intellectualize about it and come up with a mental ascent for how important they are, but it's never sunk into my heart. I pass people on the street and in stores day after day, and I just walk by them. I may give a half smile, and possibly a nod, but I could also very probably look stern and deep in thought, careless and carefree to their presence. Then there's a lot of people I know. "Friends" that by a realistic standard are mere acquaintances, and I know they're on a path to hell, but do I care? If I did wouldn't I be running alongside them screaming and begging and pleading for them to head my warnings and turn to Christ, the one person that can save them? I know evangelizing to every stranger you see is a bit much, but people I have a relationship with, I don't believe I care about them. This realization hurts me, because this love isn't something I can muster of my own power, this love is supremely...divinely greater than any pathetic love we can attain on our own. I do love people who are close to me, and I'm beginning to love those who are opposed to me, but how much do I love those who are at a distance but still connected to me? God, break apart this death inside of me. Give me your heart, a heart that was broken over Jerusalem, a heart that loved people he had barely met, a heart that would lay down it's life for strangers and people who betrayed him. Oh God, transform me. This need I confess, this need I know you will meet. Please send help soon.

This is the gospel.

I was thinking about the gospel. I think, from observation and personal experience, that all too often we look at the gospel, and we know it has is the power of salvation to any and all who believe but we almost trivialize it after we're saved as if it's lost its power since we have obtained salvation. This i believe to be a tragic mistake. The gospel should be a great cause of joy to the believers, and it should be one of the ways that our love and holy affections for Christ are birthed and grown. The gospel is a means to bring us to humility and magnify the glory and love of Christ. The gospel can be a source of encouragement when we fall and a strength when we are tempted. Why is it that we overlook it so much? I've read on multiple occasions from multiple people (Jerry Bridges comes to mind first off) who have written that we should preach the gospel to ourselves daily. I decided to write out the gospel. Feel free to change the name when you read, comment, or give concerns about things i omit or include that you see as problematic. Bear with my words, and may God guide them and bless them.


John. You have read that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever, that means you John, that believes will have eternal life and escape the due punishment for their sins. Yes, you are indeed a great sinner, born into an inherited sin nature that has killed your soul, blinded your eyes, deafened your ears, hardened your heart, leaving you dead and hateful towards God, unable to love Him, unable to change, and unable to desire anything pleasing to Him. This sin effects every part of your life, and anything you do that is not for the glory of God is in fact sinful, which means that since you don't desire God and are an enemy of God, everything you do is sinful and further blinding you and hardening your heart. This leaves you as an object of God's wrath, deserving hell, leaving you at enmity towards God, who hates everything tainted by sin. His hatred is not bad, for it is rooted in His righteousness and justice and holiness. He cannot look upon anything tainted by sin with a pleased affection, or even apathy. His holiness burns against such things. You will justly be sentenced to an eternity in hell, having the wrath of a righteous and holy God poured upon you. You will lash out in hatred and agony, but the wrath will never stop, the pain will never cease. This is where you are found before you accept Christ. Every person who is born of the flesh, save Christ Himself who was born of immaculate conception without imputed sin, is born drenched in sin, and can do no good, nothing to please God. Therefor all mankind is born an object of God's wrath. Who then can be saved? With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. God, being so rich in love, grace, and mercy sent His son to come down and in an act of propitiation to lay down His life on behalf of anyone who hears the call of God and responds. How can someone respond if they're blind and deaf? The call goes out to the entire world, and it goes with the power of Holy Spirit that has the power to replace our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, to give us sight and hearing to accept the gospel, to give us a new spirit that is alive and full of holy affections and desires to know and follow God. This is the call of God. He saw you in your despair and your sin, and He felt compassion for you. His only begotten Son was sent down to earth to become a man, live a sinless life and then lay down His life to appease the wrath of God so that a loving God could save a wretched sinner and still be holy and just! Oh so great a love, that when we were worthless and deserved death The Loving One made a way for us to be reconciled as sons and daughters and be washed clean of our sin! He loves us so much that He sacrificed His son on our behalf and if only you will hear and believe you will be saved not because of who you are, but because of who He is. You're a sinner, so great a sinner. He is Love, oh so great a love it is! And so the call goes out: "Turn from your sin, the punishment has been paid for all who hear and who repent and believe"! John, that is the gospel...while you were yet a sinner, Christ lay down His life, his invaluable life, to save a sinner like you for it is by grace you have been saved!

Ligonier 2007 National Conference

From Ligonier Ministries:

We give thanks to the Lord that the 2007 National Conference has received such a favorable response. As never before in our generation, contending for the truth requires that we are able to give solid reasons for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:15).

John MacArthur, Al Mohler, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Ravi Zacharias aim to equip as many people as possible to defend their faith. To this end, we are offering a free live webcast of this conference.

Ligonier has just opened up registration for a free live stream of the conference. You can register here or here.

Lewis On Love

Yesterday Justin Taylor had this great quote posted on his blog, I thought it was worth spreading.

"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased." - C. S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis