Ping Pong, The Gospel, et al

Death & The Christian

2007-06-27T07:55:00.001-07:00

The Lord's gentle usher

(Thomas Brooks, "A Heavenly Cordial " 1665)

Our life in this world is made up . . .
of troubles and trials,
of calamities and miseries,
of crosses and losses,
of reproaches and disgraces.

Death frees the Christian from all these things.
It wipes away all tears from his eyes, it turns . . .
his miseries into mercies,
his crosses into crowns, and
his earthly hell into a glorious heaven!

When a godly man dies--he shall never more be haunted, tempted and buffeted by Satan!

"Death," says one, "which was before the devil's sergeant to drag us to hell; has now become the Lord's gentle usher to conduct us to heaven!"

For a saint to die, is for a saint to be eternally happy.
Death is but the entrance into glorious life. That is not death but life--which joins the dying man to Christ!
Death will blow the bud of grace into the flower of glory!

Death is not the death of the man--but the death of his sin. When a believer dies--his sin dies with him.
As death came in by sin--so sin goes out by death.
Death kills sin--which bred it.

The Persians had a certain day in the year wherein they killed all serpents and venomous creatures. Such a day as that, will the day of death be to every believer.
All his serpentine and venomous sins will be forever destroyed! Then he shall never again . . .
be proud,
nor passionate,
nor unbelieving,
nor worldly,
nor neglectful of duty,
nor grieve the Holy Spirit,
nor wound his conscience,
nor break peace with God!

When death takes away a godly man, it takes him away from his sins! And as death rids the believer of all his sins--so it will rid him of all his sorrows. Death cures all diseases, the aching head and the unbelieving heart.

Death does for a godly person, that which all ordinances could never do, and which all their duties could never do, and which all their graces could never do. It immediately frees them from . . .
all their sins,
all their sorrows,
all their tears,
all their temptations,
all their oppressions,
all their oppositions,
all their vexations!

Forgiveness Project...the whole schmear

2007-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

FORGIVENESS PROJECT

Read and mark “!” - for something that helped you

“?” -for something that raised a question

Introduction: In Galatians 4:12-20, Paul’s forgiveness of the Galatians for their betrayal of him is so automatic that we can hardly notice it. It is only because his appeal to them (as strong as it is) is so affectionate and free from resentment that we realize the strength of Paul’s forgiving spirit. Later he cautions the Galatians against a growing spirit of resentment and back-biting (Gal.5:15). The more they lose touch with the gospel, the more resentments and grudges are growing.

Below is a guide to how the gospel helps us reconcile our relationships with a balance of truth and love. (At times you can see that this project has been used in seminars for married couples! But the principles are basic to all relationships.)

A. The Resources for Forgiveness.

1. We need enough humility.

Jesus ties our ability to forgive to our ability to repent. ("Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" Matt.6:12.) This doesn't mean that God forgives our sins because we forgive others. It means that in general we are as forgiven by God as we are forgiving to others because unforgiving people are unrepentant people. The more we hold grudges the less we see ourselves as having done wrong and needing forgiveness; the more we see ourselves as needing forgiveness, the more likely we are to forgive others. Why? Resentment requires a person to sit in the position of Judge (Rom.12:19-20). We can only hold grudges if we feel superior to the other person. Jesus very directly and bluntly tells us that, if we hold a grudge against another person, we are ignorant of how much we owe God. So the first thing we have to see is our own need for forgiveness. We need enough humility to forgive.

Transition: But this is not enough! Because though pride is one reason that we cannot forgive, emotional insecurity is another. So in addition:

2. We need enough “emotional wealth”.

Why is it that we can forgive some wrongs easily but not others? It is because everyone draws a sense of self-worth (a sense that we are worthy of love and respect) from certain objects. No one can “validate” themselves. We all look to certain ones or things to convince us that we are significant. The more certain we are of this, the more “emotionally wealthy” we are--confident, poised, at peace. What are the things that we look to? Steven Covey calls them “personal centers” and Victor Frankl calls them your “meaning centers”. They may be career, possessions, appearance, romance, peer groups, achievement, good causes, moral character, religion, marriage, children, friendships--or a combination of a several. However, this means that these things are things that we absolutely must have, or we face emotional “bankruptcy” and death. And all our most powerful feelings are connected to them. We respond in deep guilt if we fail to attain them, or in deep anger if someone blocks them from us, or in deep anxiety if they are threatened, or in major drivenness since we must have them, or in despair if we ever lose them completely.

For example: A husband and a wife discovered that a school teacher had been emotionally abusive to their daughter and had fairly ruined her academic year and sent her into counseling. They are both angry at the teacher, but the husband has less trouble “getting past” the anger than the wife. Why? Is the husband a less angry person. No, in general he tends to be more angry temperamentally. Does he love his daughter less? No. The issue is that the wife has tied her own self-image and sense of self-worth to her daughter’s progress and happiness (while the husband does this with his career). As a result, her anger is far deeper, since she is going “bankrupt”. She feels “if my daughter doesn’t turn out well, what good am I?” So her anger toward the teacher is powerful. Sum: Ironically, it is both a sense of superiority or a sense of inferiority that makes it hard for forgive. Paradoxically, the two can often go together. We often deal with our own inferiority and insecurity by taking a superior, judgmental position toward someone else.

B. The Character of Forgiveness.

A definition. What is forgiveness, specifically? When someone has wronged you, it means they owe you, they have a debt with you. Forgiveness is to absorb the cost of the debt yourself. You pay the price yourself, and you refuse to exact the price out of the person in any way. Forgiveness is to a) free the person from penalty for a sin by b) paying the price yourself.

The ultimate example. We are told that our forgiveness must imitate God's forgiveness in Christ. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph.4:32). a) How did God forgive? We are told that he does not 'remember' them. That cannot mean that God literally forgets what has happened--it means he "sends away" the penalty for them. He does not bring the incidents to mind, and does not let them affect the way he deals with us. b) How did God forgive "in Christ"? We are told that Jesus pays the price for the sins. "It is finished" means "It has been paid in full" (John 19:30). The Father gave up his Son, and the Son gave up his life. God absorbed the cost in himself.

C. Practical Steps for Forgiveness.

1.Distinguish between granting and feeling.

Realize that forgiveness is granted (often for a long time) before it is felt. Forgiveness is granted first, and felt later (Luke 17:3-10). Forgiveness is not primarily a feeling, but a set of actions and disciplines. In summary, forgiveness is a promise not to exact the price of the sin from the person who wronged you. This promise means a repeated set of "payment" in which you relinquish revenge. It is hard and (for a while) constant. If this promise is kept actively, eventually the feeling of anger subsides. It is critical to realize at the outset, then, that forgiveness is not the forcing or denying of feelings, but a promise to make and to keep despite our feelings.

2. Determine to never exact the price, but to pay the price ourselves.

"[Forgiveness] is to deal with our emotions by sending them away--by denying ourselves the dark pleasures of venting them or fondling them in our minds....

"Once upon a time, I was engaged to a young woman who changed her mind. I forgave her...but [only] in small sums over a year...[They were made] whenever I spoke to her and refrained from rehashing the past, whenever I renounced jealousy and self-pity, whenever [I saw her] with another man, whenever I praised her to others when I wanted to slice away at her reputation. Those were the payments--but she never saw them. And her own payment were unseen by me...but I do know that she forgave me....[Forgiveness] is more than a matter of refusing to hate someone. It is also a matter of choosing to demonstrate love and acceptance to the offender...Pain is the consequence of sin; there is no easy way to deal with it. Wood, nails and pain are the currency of forgiveness, the love that heals."

-- Dan Hamilton, Forgiveness

3. Take two inventories: of ways to exact the price; of ways to pay the price.

This quote shows us that there are numerous ways that we can "exact" and take payment from the offender, but each time we refrain, we are absorbing the cost ourselves and "making payments". Below are the ways in which we tend to try to exact payments:

a) In our dealing with the offender:

(1) We can make cutting remarks and drag out the past.

(2) We can be far more demanding and controlling with the person than we are with others, all because "they owe us".

(3) We can punish with self-righteous "mercy" which makes them feel small.

(4) We can avoid them, be cold or to them in overt and/or subtle ways.

(5) We can actively seek and scheme to hurt or harm them, taking from them something valuable to them.

b) In our dealing with others:

(1) We can run them down to others, under the guise of "warning" people about them.

(2) We can run them down to others, under the guise of seeking sympathy and sharing our hurt.

c) In our dealing with ourselves:

(1) We can replay the tapes of what they did to us, to justify our anger and hostility.

(2) We can "root" for their failure or fall or pain.

Forgiveness is a promise, to not "bring the matter up" to the person, others, or even ourselves. At each point when we are tempted to exact payment, we refuse, and though it hurts, that is a payment:

a) With the person

In our dealings with the person we are courteous and warm as possible. If the person is repentant, we seek to restore the relationship as much as possible. Why say "as much as possible?" If the person has done grievous wrong, it may mean the trust can only be restored in degrees. If the person is continuing in a hostile manner, you must not make it easy for them to sin against you. And there are other circumstances. (e.g. If the person is a former "love interest", then to re-create the same relationship may be inappropriate.)

The speed and degree of this restoration entails the re-creation of trust, and that takes time, depending on the nature and severity of the offenses involved. Part of real repentance usually means asking: "what could I do that would make you trust me?" and being willing to accept the answer. Part of real forgiveness means being open to the possibility of lasting change in the offender and being truly unbiased and willing to offer more trust little by little.

b) With others

We must not criticize the offender to others. We should be careful, when seeking support for our "burdens" (Galatians 6:1-6) that we aren't using them as an excuse to get others to justify us by agreeing how horrible the other person is! We must be reasonable. This is not to say you can never say anything that casts a bad light on someone else, but you must watch your motives. If the person stays in a hostile and unrepentant mode, it may be necessary to "warn" someone about him or her, but again, motives must be watched.

c) With yourself

What does it mean to "not bring it up yourself"? It means not to dwell on it in the heart, and not to re-play the "videotapes" of the wrong in your imagination, in order to keep the sense of loss and hurt fresh and real to you. It means, when you are ready to do so, you should pray for the person and yourself, remind yourself of the cross (see below) and turn your mind to other things.

4. “Will the good” of the other, not only for his/her sake but also for yours!

Notice that on the cross Jesus says, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) He doesn't actually say "I forgive you". He does forgive, of course, but by turning to the Father and praying for them, he shows us an important method if forgiveness. He admits that they are sinning (otherwise they would not need forgiveness!) but he sees them as needy and weak (they don't know). He seeks their enlightenment and forgiveness from God. He prays for them.

When we identify "evil" too closely with the "evildoer", we get pulled into the same cycle of hurt pride and revenge and self-absorption and then more hurt pride and more revenge. The secret of overcoming evil is for us to see "evil" as something above and distinct from the evil doer. When we do that, there are two results: 1) The spread of evil is checked toward us. Its hatred and pride does not infect us. Consider this--the only way to truly “beat” the ill-will of the other is to forgive him/her. Why? If you don’t, you are still being controlled by the other. Even if you are reacting against them, you are still being dominated and affected by them. 2) The spread of evil may be checked in the evildoer. He or she may be softened and helped by our love. We don’t know that for certain, but it is almost the only way that can happen. This is, then, an act of the will. We determine to wish them good and will their growth and healing. We determine to pray for them.

Note: It needs to be said here that in general, it is not loving to let another person go about sinning and doing wrong. Forgiveness does not therefore mean you cannot criticize, or oppose, or contend against continued destructive behavior. Forgiveness that turns away from confrontation is not loving at all--it is self-serving. The ordinary approach is to a) stay angry inside (exact payment) and b) say nothing on the outside. That lets evil spread in both your life and the life of the other. Instead, the right thing to do is a) completely forgive inside (make payment) and b) confront lovingly on the outside. That checks the spread of evil all around. Also, it is impossible to speak lovingly and winsomely to a person doing wrong unless you have gotten control of your anger through forgiveness steps. The model for this is Christ, of course, who spoke out enough to get crucified, but who forgave his crucifiers every step of the way. The result of his perfect conformity to this model was the triumph of grace both in his own life and in that of his crucifiers.

D. Pre-conditions for Forgiveness.

1. Getting Humility.

The Bible is explicit in telling us to forgive as God in Christ forgave you (Eph.4:32). There is no better way to get the humility necessary for forgiveness than to accept what the gospel says about us. It tells us that we were made by God and owe him therefore everything--we owe it to him to put him first in our life. Even religious people ordinarily only relate to God when we need him in times of trouble. None of us love him as we owe--”with all our heart, soul, strength and mind”. Jesus himself shows us vividly how to do this in Matthew 18:21-35. When Peter asks about forgiveness, Jesus tells the parable of a servant who is forgiven a debt of an infinite sum (10,000 talents--roughly equivalent to about $300,000,000 dollars) but who then refuses to forgive a debt to him of a few dollars. Jesus calls the servant "wicked" and says, in effect, to him, "shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?"(18:33) This is a challenge to us. We must compare our debt to God with people's debts to us AND we are to compare his Christ's payment for our forgiveness to our payment for their forgiveness. We are to say, "Lord, you did not exact payment for my debts from me, but Jesus paid for them with his life. Now what right to I have to exact payments for their debts to me? And for me to forgive would not take a payment anything like Christ's payment!"

Paul in Romans 12 shows us another way to think of resentment and forgiveness. He says, "Leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: 'vengeance is mine...says the Lord" v.19. What we are being reminded is that all resentment and vengeance is taking on God's role as judge. It is playing God. But (1) only God is qualified to be judge (we are imperfect and deserve judgment ourselves) and (2) only God knows enough to be judge (we don't know all about the offender, what he/she has faced and deserves) and (3) Jesus took the judgment of God. So Paul is saying: "Think this! Either these persons you are angry at will repent some day and Jesus will take their judgment, or they will not and God will deal with it. But in either process, you are not involved." "Pride won't allow forgiveness; forgiveness won't allow pride". If you cannot forgive, it is because you are sure that you are not as sinful as the person you are mad at.

2. Getting “emotional wealth”.

Anger is the result of love. It is energy for defense of something you love when it is threatened. If you don't love something at all, you are not angry when it is threatened. If you love something a little, you get a little angry when it is threatened. If something you love is an "ultimate concern", if it is something that gives you meaning in life, then when it is threatened you will get uncontrollably angry.

When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self--worth, it is essentially an “idol”, something you are actually worshipping. When such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore, if you find that, despite all the efforts to forgive (using 0.-4. above), your anger and bitterness cannot subside, you may need to look deeper and ask, "what am I defending? what is so important that I cannot live without?" It may be that, until some inordinate desire is identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.

Here is a real example. A woman in her late 30’s had never married. Her family and her part of the country believed that there was something radically wrong with any woman of that age that was still single. She wrestled greatly with shame and unworthiness, and she also had tremendous unresolved anger against a man she had dated for many years but who had not married her. She went to a counselor. The therapist rightly told her that she had taken her to heart her family’s approach to personal value and worth. They taught that a woman had to include a husband and children if she was to have any value or worth. She was bitter against this man only because he had come between her and the thing she felt she needed to have to have value. The counselor then proposed that she throw off such an unenlightened view and throw herself into a career.

About this time she was going to a church where she was clearly hearing the gospel for the first time. She heard that the gospel is not that we live a worthy life and then give it to God and then he owes us, but that in Jesus Christ he has already lived a worthy life (he lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died) and that when we believe, he gives it to us. Then we are completely accepted and loved by the only One in the universe who counts. This gives us the ultimate “emotional wealth”, a sense of being loved so deep that we can afford to forgive anyone. She realized that the well-meaning counselor was asking her to throw off a politically incorrect system of works-righteousness for a politically correct one! She said, “why should I leave the ranks of the many women who make ‘family’ their worth and value to join the ranks of the many men who make ‘career’ the same thing? Would I not be as devastated then by career setbacks as I have been by romantic ones? No. I will receive the righteousness of Christ, and learn to rejoice in it. Then I can look at males or career and say, ‘what makes me beautiful to God is Jesus, not these things.’ Only then will I have power and freedom. And power to forgive” She found the “pre-conditions” for forgiveness.

Note: It will become clear that one of the most typical “idols” we can have is our spouse! We may need his or her approval and respect in idolatrous ways--we may look to the other person to be a “savior”, the source of our self-worth. No human being can bear that pressure however. Your spouse is a finite human being with limitations. He or she cannot love you consistently. And if you try to get from your spouse what only the Lord can give, you will be locked in a vicious cycle. Your will not be able to forgive your spouse for his/her failures unless you find a Spouse whose love is perfect and whose forgiveness is perfect too.

E. Steps for Repentance.

Why wait until now to talk about repentance? And why give it so little space? Repentance and forgiveness are really different ways of looking at the same thing. We could just as easily spent the lion’s share of this essay on repentance, and then added this note on forgiveness. Both are the same in all of these ways:
1) The pre-conditions are identical. (Both are blocked by pride and emotional bankruptcy. Both require humility and emotional wealth.) 2) The character is identical. (Both are just ways of saying, “I am willing to absorb the payment for what I have done.”) 3) Even the steps are nearly the same. See below.

1. An honest admission of just your part of the wrong. Maybe in the disagreement you are only 10% wrong, or 30% or 80%. You just confess your part without any blame-shifting or excuses. Even if the other person believes you are more guilty than you think you are, admit the truth. Only offer to analyze and describe the part of the mess that you are responsible.

2. Make no excuses. Do not explain it away as blame-shifting. Treat other “triggering” factors as occasions not causes. Your own selfishness or insensitivity etc. was the real cause, and what other people did to you only released those things out into the expressions that you did. If you don’t do this, your repentance can actually be a way to not repent at all.

3. Be willing to listen to a realistic account of what your wrong cost the other. It is possible to use repentance to say “shut up” to another person. How? a) If your repentance is very over-dramatic and emotional, you are saying, “look how bad I feel--don’t tell me anything more about how I made you feel” or even “look how bad I feel--don’t you want to take back what you said? “ b) If your repentance is very quick and analytical, it may make the other person feel that she or he cannot share what he/she was feeling. It can be a way to say, “I’m not interested in hearing how you feel at all.”

4. Provide “fruits” of repentance, rather than just an expression of sorrow. a. Offer to make changes that would restore or remunerate is some way for the damage done. b. Offer to make changes in behavior that would make it very unlikely for the incident at issue to happen again. If you can’t do this, your partner has the right to think you haven’t repented.

If competent repentance and competent forgiveness coincide, the experience is almost a joyful revival of your relationship each time. It is a bit like a conversion experience, with the reality and sweetness of your relationship appreciated in new ways. You see the marriage as a gift, and you find new emotional wealth, since the love of the other person actually points you to the forgiving Lord himself. But if your spouse is not repenting, you a) should still forgive, since it is the only way to keep evil from spreading in you both (see above) and you b) can still forgive if you meet the pre-conditions (see above).

Gospel Parenting

2007-05-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Today is the first of several posting of excerpts from a good article on parenting, written by Dave Desforge.

Heart to Heart Parenting
I. As a parent/steward I am called to imitate God’s example.A. The biblical picture of God as a perfect parent is rich and multi-dimensional.He reveals Himself as much more than simply a disciplinarian. He is protective (Psa. 68:5), compassionate (Psa. 103:13,14; Isa. 49:15), comforting (Isa. 66:13; 2 Cor. 1:3), loving (Hos. 11:1), a caregiver (1 Peter 5:7), and a gift-giver (Jer. 3:19; Mt. 6:4; 7:11; Lk. 11:13; Jas. 1:17).He is depicted as one who knows His children intimately (eg., Psa. 139), as one who liberally forgives (Mt.26:28; Jn. 3:16,17; Eph. 1:7), and as one who is responsive to human needs (eg., Gen. 9:8-17; and the rescue of Israel from Egypt).

Are there any ways in which my role as a parent is becoming narrow and truncated? Am I allowing necessity and expediency, the tyranny of the urgent, to shape my parenting? As I face the hectic, overbooked, overcrowded, overcommitted nature of modern life, am I becoming more and more of a reactive parent, who steps in far more often as the corrector, than the balanced, multi-dimensional sort of father God models?

an excellent overview of Psalm 27

2007-05-27T02:30:00.000-07:00

PSALM 27 SHARES SOME THEMES with its nearest neighbors (Pss. 26, 28)
but is more exuberant than either.

(1) The Lord is my light (27:1 - 3). Light is an evocative figure
for almost everything good: truth, knowledge, joy, moral purity,
revelation, and more. Here the word is linked with "salvation" and
"stronghold" (27:1); light is associated with security. David faces
enemies who attack him like a pack of wolves, but if the Lord is his
light and salvation, David will not be afraid. With a God this
sovereign, this good, this self - revealing, this delightful, how will
he not also be our security?

(2) The Lord is my sanctuary (27:4 - 6) — in the double sense that
the word has in English. On the one hand, the theme of the first
three verses continues: God is David's sanctuary in the sense that he
is David's protection, his stronghold: "in the day of trouble he will
keep me safe in his dwelling" (27:5). But on the other hand, this
"sanctuary" spells infinitely more than mere political security: "One
thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the
house of the LORD all the days of my life" (27:4). This does not mean
that David entertains a secret, impossible desire to become a Levite.
Rather, he has a profound passion to live his life in the presence of
the living God. That is the locus of security.

(3) The Lord is my direction (27:7 - 12). David does not envisage
his relation with God as something static, but as his lifelong
pursuit. Moreover, he understands that this pursuit simultaneously
shapes him. If he seeks God's face as he ought (27:8), if he begs for
mercy so that God will deal with him in compassion and not in wrath
(27:9 - 10), then he will also learn God's ways and walk in a straight
path (27:11). This cannot be said too strongly or too often: to
claim that one is pursuing God without concomitant reformation of life
and growing conformity to the ways of God is wicked and dangerous
nonsense.

(4) The Lord is my hope (27:13 - 14). However true it is that God
is the believer's refuge, sometimes in this broken and fallen world it
does not feel like it at the moment. The truth is that God's
timetable is rarely the same as ours. Often he demands that we wait
patiently for him: his timing is perfect. His vindication of his
people often takes place in history (27:13), but rarely as soon as we
want; nevertheless his ultimate vindication is priceless. "Wait for
the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD" (27:14).

Copyright 2006 D.A. Carson

Newton on Temptation

2007-04-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

God has wise and gracious ends in permitting Christians to be tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Ere long these designs will be more fully unfolded to us; and we shall be satisfied that He has done all things well. In the meanwhile, it is our duty, and will be much for our comfort, to believe it upon the authority of His word.

Prayer, which at all times is necessary, is especially so in a time of temptation. But how hard it is to come boldly, that we may obtain help in our time of need! But however hard, it must be attempted
(Newton goes on to point out that if Satan cannot stop us from praying, he will attempt to make us legalistic and think that we must pray long & great prayers for them to be effective)
Short, frequent, and fervent petitions, which will almost necessarily arise from what is felt when temptation is most violent, are best suited to the case....
Blessed be God that we fight with an enemy already vanquished by our Lord, and that we have a sure promise of victory. The Lord is our banner.

powlison.... has God said???

2007-02-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

From this detailed description of the armor to be worn by the disciple of Christ we learn something very important regarding the kind of battle we are in. Note that each weapon represents a Christian doctrine. That is, each component delineated by Paul corresponds to one of the essential truths of the gospel itself. This strongly suggests that spiritual warfare is a battle for truth. Satan’s most powerful weapon is the lie, more specifically, false doctrine. This is also evident in the wilderness encounter between Jesus and the devil. Even earlier, we see the same satanic strategy employed in Genesis 3:1 where the devil asks, “Indeed, has God said . . . ?” (for more on this issue see David Powlison, Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare. Baker Books, 1995)

Stott on Christians and Social Structures & Authority

2007-02-04T04:47:00.000-08:00

Stott paragraph… thinking clearly about Christian view of social structures

#1. There has been abuse and Xns should be vanguard to bring liberation

#2. Liberation does not equal no role distinctions

Our initial reaction to these liberation movements, I do not hesitate to say (although I shall qualify it later), should be one of positive welcome. For we have to agree that women in many cultures have been exploited, being treated like servants in their own home; that children have often been suppressed and squashed, not least in Victorian England in which they were supposed to be ‘seen and not heard’; and that workers have been unjustly treated being given inadequate wages and working conditions, and an insufficient share in responsible decision-making, not to mention the appalling injustices and barbarities of slavery and the slave trade.
We who name Christ’s name need to acknowledge with shame that we ourselves have often acquiesced in the *status quo* and so helped to perpetuate some forms of human oppression, instead of being in the vanguard of those seeking social change. Nothing in the paragraphs we are about to study is inconsistent with the true liberation of human beings from all humiliation, exploitation and oppression. On the contrary, to whom do women, children and workers chiefly owe their liberation? Is it not to Jesus Christ? It is Jesus Christ who treated women with courtesy and honour in an age in which they were despised. It is Jesus Christ who said ‘Let the children come to me’ in a period of history in which unwanted babies were consigned to the local rubbish dump (as they are today to the hospital incinerator), or abandoned in the forum for anybody to pick up and rear for slavery or prostitution. And it is Jesus Christ who taught the dignity of manual labour by working himself as a carpenter, washing his disciples feet and saying ‘I am among you as one who serves.’

CS Lewis quotes on INFECTED WITH ZOE

2007-02-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

He is the origin and centre and

life of all the new men. He came into the created universe, of His own will,

bringing with Him the Zoe, the new life. (I mean new to us, of course: in

its own place Zoe has existed for ever and ever.) And He transmits it not by

heredity but by what I have called "good infection." Everyone who gets it

gets it by personal contact with Him. Other men become "new" by being "in

Him." CSL

The difference between Biological life and spiritual life is so

important that I am going to give them two distinct names. The Biological

sort which comes to us through Nature, and which (like everything else in

Nature) is always tending to run down and decay so that it can only be kept

up by incessant subsidies from Nature in the form of air, water, food, etc.,

is Bios. The Spiritual life which is in God from all eternity, and which

made the whole natural universe, is Zoe. Bios has, to be sure, a certain

shadowy or symbolic resemblance to Zoe: but only the sort of resemblance

there is between a photo and a place, or a statue and a man. A man who

changed from having Bios to having Zoe would have gone through as big a

change as a statue which changed from being a carved stone to being a real

man.

And that is precisely what Christianity is about. This world is a great

sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the

shop that some of us are some day going to come to life. CSL

The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into

the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to "inject"

His kind of life and thought, His Zoe, into you; beginning to turn the tin

soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part

that is still tin. –CSL

My goodness! The “Let’s Pretend” section of Mere Xnity seems amazing at glance.

For you are no longer thinking simply about right and wrong; you are trying
to catch the good infection from a Person. It is more like painting a
portrait than like obeying a set of rules. And the odd thing is that while
in one way it is much harder than keeping rules, in another way it is far easier. –CSL

Communion Helps... Prep your heart

2007-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

“The very fact that Jesus instituted this practice (Holy Communion) for His disciples is an indictment of our own tendency to forget the reality, necessity, and cost of our redemption. It is also a testimony to Christ’s wisdom and love in providing us with an ongoing, regular, and dramatic reminder of these saving truths.” --Tom Ascol

John Gerstner, “The thing that really separates us from God is not so much our sin, but our damnable good works.”

HC Question 81: For whom is the Lord's supper instituted?Answer: For those who are truly sorrowful for their sins, and yet trust that these are forgiven them for the sake of Christ; and that their remaining infirmities are covered by His passion and death; and who also earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened, and their lives more holy. But hypocrites, and such as turn not to God with sincere hearts, eat and drink judgment to themselves.

Stott's Summary of Ephesians 4 & 5

2007-01-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

What is the theme which has run right through chapter 4 and spilled over into chapter 5? These chapters are a stirring summons to the unity and purity of the church; but they are more than that. Their theme is the integration of Christian experience (what we are), Christian theology (what we believe) and Christian ethics (how we behave). They emphasize that being, thought and action belong together and must never be separated. For what we are governs how we think, and how we think determines how we act. We are God’s new society, a people who have put off the old life and put on the new; that is what he has made us. So we need to recall this by the daily renewal of our minds, remembering how we ‘learned Christ... as the truth is in Jesus’, and thinking Christianly about ourselves and our new status. Then we must actively cultivate a Christian life. For holiness is not a condition into which we drift. We are not passive spectators of a sanctification God works in us. On the contrary, we have purposefully to ‘put away’ from us all conduct that is incompatible with our new life in Christ, and to ‘put on’ a lifestyle compatible with it.
Two words stand out as summarizing this theme. In 4:1 Paul begs us to lead a life that us *worthy* of God’s call, and in 5:3 he tells us to avoid immorality, ‘as is *fitting* among saints’. It is most unfortunate that the word ‘saints’ has come to be used, if not for the heroes of the church who have been canonized, then at least for exceptional and often eccentric people who are distinguished from others by their pallid countenance, heavenward look and invisible halo. But ‘the saints’ are all God’s people who have been reconciled to him and to each other.
Let no-one say that doctrine does not matter ! Good conduct arises out of good doctrine. It is only when we have grasped clearly who we are in Christ, that the desire will grow within us to live a life that is worthy of our calling and fitting to our character as God’s new society. --John Stott

New Book on Messy Relationships

2007-01-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making?

With penetrating insight and practical applications, Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp help readers work through the most stubborn problems plaguing contemporary relationships

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—From the very first chapter, authors Timothy S. Lane and

Paul David Tripp drop the masks of “relationship experts” and “got-it-together professionals” to honestly speak of the difficulties and restoration they have encountered in their own friendship. By admitting the reality of their own struggles and need for grace, Tim and Paul inform readers up front that their new book, Relationships: A Mess Worth Making (New Growth Press, January 2007), is not theoretical, but personal and experiential.

With transparent candor, the authors admit, “We are not saying that we are heroes of relationships. No, the opposite is true. We would like readers, through this book, to look through the shattered glass of our sin and struggle and see the rescuing glory of an ever-present and still-redeeming Christ.”

While skillfully identifying the deeper issues that keep relationships less than they are designed to be, Tim and Paul also show readers how to experience the other side of relationships as well. They convincingly testify of the power of God’s presence to bring believers to the place where:

• Conflicts actually get resolved

• Tough conversations turn out positive

• Forgiveness is granted and real love is expressed and shared

• Casual relationships mature into deep friendships

• Weaknesses are overlooked and strengths are applauded

• People are honest without being mean

A book about relationships, written within the context of their own friendship, Tim and Paul’s new offering is straightforward about the relational disappointments that we all suffer. But they are also optimistic about the power of grace to redeem and restore our relationships. Rather than presenting new or sophisticated techniques to make relationships flourish, the authors instead focus on the basic character qualities that can only be formed in the heart by the gospel. “We are called to be people of great character so that when we do come in contact with the world our character shapes and influences those around us. Even though relationships are messy, they are also what God uses to rescue us from ourselves,” say Tim and Paul.

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp

New Growth Press, January 2007

ISBN: 0-9770807-6-5/171 pages/softcover/$17.99

Excerpts from Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

“Eight biblical facts summarize the way God wants us to think about our relationships. They are the foundation for our model of healthy, godly relationships. (Summarized on pages 9-14)

1. You were made for relationships.

2. In some way, all relationships are difficult.

3. Each of us is tempted to make relationships the end rather than the means.

4. There are no secrets that guarantee problem-free relationships.

5. At some point you will wonder whether relationships are worth it.

6. God keeps us in messy relationships for his redemptive purpose.

7. The fact that our relationships work as well as they do is a sure sign of grace.

8. Scripture offers a clear and attractive hope for our relationships.”

“God has put people in your life and placed you in theirs. When you look back, you can see their imprint on your character. There have been times when you were very glad not to go through life alone. You have been greeted by patience and grace even after a failure. And you too have been willing to forgive and have experienced the blessing of doing so.”

“We all live in these two worlds in some way. Some of our deepest joys and most painful hurts have been in relationships. There are times we wish we could live alone and other times we are glad we don’t. What is certain is that we all have been shaped significantly by relationships that are full of both sorrow and joy.”

“In Genesis 2:18, God says that it is not good for man to be ‘alone.’ This statement has more to do with God’s design for humanity than Adam’s neediness. God created us to be relational beings because he is a social God.”

“When we fail to worship God as Creator in our relationships, we try to ascend to his throne and do all we can to recreate others in our own image...

…This has many implications for relationships, because only when I am worshipping God for who he is am I able to love you as you are. Real love and esteem for other people are always rooted in our worship of God.”

“Conflict with others is one of God’s mysterious, counterintuitive ways of rescuing us from ourselves. God uses it to get us where he wants to take us before we die. Because we don’t usually think that trials can be used in such a positive way, this truth catches us by surprise. But it shouldn’t. All kinds of suffering, including conflict with others, can be redemptive because of the grace of God. By redemptive, we mean that God can use conflict (as well as everything else in our lives) to defeat sin in us and make us more like Christ, with a love for him and others that reflects his nature.”

“No one ever said that conflict would be fun! But the Christian life is not always fun. That is not the most important thing to God. He is committed to something much bigger. His kingdom plan involves a total restoration of what he has made. He will settle for nothing less in his creation than to see that all things ultimately bring him glory. He will be the center of everything at the end of the age, and, when that happens, we will be most satisfied. Right now, he is using conflict to work out this comprehensive plan in you. Take heart, for he is present in your struggles and is fighting on your behalf!”

How Proper Grammar Can Keep You Sane

2007-01-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

What we learn about living the Christian life from the structure of Ephesians

The basic structure of the letter to the Ephesians is an indicative/imperative structure; I do not get tired of mentioning that. This sounds very grammatical, uninteresting, and boring: indicative/imperative. One interesting question is, “Why does Paul always begin with the indicative?” I always want to start with the imperative. Somehow we are conditioned in our natural, unregenerate disposition to say, “Tell me what to do and I will be okay. Tell me how to behave.” But you see, we are created for relationship. We are created for fellowship with God and our behavior is to emanate from that. The purpose, the design,for man is not to have a code of behavior and to follow that. The purpose and the design for man is to be

related to God. Therefore, Paul does not tire of saying, “Think of who you are in Christ. Know what Christ has done for you. Know that you are acceptable to Him on the basis of His work and then let your action come out of that.” He says this even in the face of stoic pressures and other pressures in the first century A.D. To us that may sound like a deviation; “Do not waste all that time talking about all these wonderful truths about the Christian faith. I need to know how to live, how to act, and how I should conduct myself. Do not waste this time.” Paul says we are not wasting time at all because, if you go for the imperative first, you will not reach the goal that God has for you, which is to live a godly life.

Ephesians 4:1 to 6:22 deals with the imperative. Do you realize how much we have studied and how much we have reflected on the indicative, the truths and realities of God's work? You see, we need to have God's perspective; we need to understand God's work on behalf of His people so that we do not get discouraged. Understanding these indicatives, these truths about ourselves and God, keeps us from becoming so absorbed with ourselves that we are just overwhelmed in our commission to live out the

Christian life. We see ourselves kept by the powerful hand of God and we can trust that, especially when things seem to be completely chaotic. When we can see and know that God is still the sovereign God who holds us when our lives seem to be dissipating, we do not know what is going to happen, and we see there will be a major collapse. When we experience these things and know the indicative of God's enduring hand, we are not immediately saved from depression. We are not necessarily saved from

throwing up our arms and saying, “Where is our God?” But there is a foundation established of knowing that God has carried this world through these great histories and He has been faithful—He will see you through.

There is enormous amount of truth established in the indicative before we come to the imperative.

--Hans Bayer

1st post

2006-08-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

what pressure, what do you say? I'm thinking Frank and Rob post brief comments here.