Thank you for Charles Spurgeon

I've been going through a rough time lately. Very rough. I go through these bouts of depression and anxiety every now and again, and sometimes they're blacker than others. This recent trough as been particularly bleak.

Then I 'happened' to read today's 'Morning' entry on my PC (its in my startup folder and I've posted it below). And there's Charles Spurgeon, pointing me back to the One who can cover my sins and make me whole. His love of and confidence in Christ is contagious. I've been struggling with the sin of unbelief, and CHS's words have reminded me that the answer to this sin as well as my struggles in general is Christ. My default position is self-reliance. How foolish I am.

Thank you, Lord, for your patience, for your Word, and for saints like Charles Spurgeon who point the way to you - even 100 years after they're gone.


MORNING
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
- Romans 8:37
We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Take your sins to Christ’s cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration-you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, “Lord, I trust thee to deliver me from it.” This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell him, “Lord, I have trusted thee, and thy name is Jesus, for thou dost save thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!” Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears-the whole of them put together-are worth nothing apart from him. “None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;” or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among his olives in Gethsemane.

My Friend Jim

My friend Jim passed away this morning at 6am.

When we started going to WRBC, Jim latched onto us and made us feel welcome, like we could be the messed up people we are and still be accepted. Jim went out of his way to get me to go to Promise Keepers and then offered to disciple me. For a margin-dweller like me, Jim was just what the doctor ordered. I took him up on his offer, and it started a process that changed my life.

Me being me and Jim being Jim, we had many a heated debate. Through it I saw a man who was very much like me: a prideful guy who liked to hear himself talk. But I could also see the Lord at work in him, pushing and empowering him to fight his natural tendencies, and it gave me hope that Christ could do the same thing in me. Jim helped me identify some serious sin in my life and connected me with some other guys with similar struggles. He was also very frank about mistakes he had made as a husband and father. I truly believe God used Jim to heal my marriage and family.

Jim certainly wasn't perfect. He was stubborn, prideful, gossipy, and was an expert at button pushing. But he is one of the most generous, gregarious, and friendly people I’ve ever met. I already miss him.

My State of Mind..

is such that I find this quite amusing:

YouTube - library ninja episode 1

Something I Hate

First off, Aunt Martha always told me I shouldn't use the word "Hate". This was one of her favorite mini-lectures, right up there with the evils of sugar *and* artificial sweeteners (no sweets for the wicked?). That said, I've looked up the word hate, and it means "extreme dislike", and as I won't be applying the term to individuals, but rather to things, I think I'm on pretty solid moral ground with this post (uh, wait, was I just being arrogant?). Anyway....

I hate...Glossy Christianity: I think the production quality of Jesus' ministry was nil. Can you see Jesus scouting out a locale, saying to Himself "Yeah, I think with the dramatic backdrop of this historic place, a few lepers to heal, and a couple of numbskull scribes to throw me some lame questions which I will summarily knock out of the park, I should be able to really do a great work for the Father!"

Yet production quality seems to be the rallying cry of Evangelical Christianity in America. How much energy goes into 'producing' a worship service? Into 'producing' successful (i.e. lots of people in attendance) church programs?

Of course, being thoughtful and deliberate are important, and God wants us to use our minds. Still, there is a thin yet critical line between being thoughtful and considerate and being contriving and manipulative. In the former instance we leave the results to God and seek to honor Him with the means while in the latter we don't trust God with the results and as a result feel licensed to play with the means in order to achieve the "good" results we're after (aka the end justifies the means).

I'm not saying churches shouldn't use modern technology or modern music, I'm just saying I think we've all gone a bit overboard trying to be 'hip' (that means 'dope' for all you millenials) and impressive. I know the generation under 40 is very 'visual' and that they are impressed by high-quality multi-sensory presentations. But as impressive as our powerpoints and videos may be, they will never have the power or impact of God's truth and love, and if we spend too much time tweaking dials to produce a desired effect we might miss the chance to do great things for God.

Interesting Quotes

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” Albert Einstein - 20th Century


“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much." Jesus Christ - 1st Century

Claims swirl around 'tomb of Jesus' | csmonitor.com

Now that my faith has been utterly destroyed by Linda Hamilton's ex, I suppose I will have to choose between a life of existentialist hedonism or Wicca (free Stevie Nicks solo album for the next 1000 new converts).

The frightening thing is how poor the science and reasoning behind this particular claim is. I find the position that states "I just don't believe this Jesus guy came back from the dead, if he existed at all" much more reasonable than this cockamamie conglomeration of half-evidence. But then again, we Christians are a fool-hardy group of ninnies, and maybe the scathing condescension of Richard Dawkins and intriguing voice-overs of the latest Discovery Channel special will be what it takes to finally stop the insanity of believing God exists and that He came to earth 2000 years ago to reconcile us to Himself.

Scottish, Irish, Steel Cut, or Quaker...

I love OATMEAL!!!

There, I fell better now.

Office 2007 Now Includes an Option to Directly Post to Your Blog…

For a WYSIWYG guy like me, this could be a boon! Perhaps I'll actually start blogging regularly.

 

This optimism, of course, ignores the following realities:

1. I really don't have time to blog
   
2. Others don't have the time or inclination to read my blog
   
3. I don't want to put too much out there for The Man™ to read;I'd like Big Brother to learn about me the old fashioned way – you know, eavesdropping, reading my email, and the like.

Traveling Mercies

I'm about halfway through this book by Anne Lamott. It has been challenging. I find myself cringing a lot: cringing at some of the things Anne says, then cringing at my own reaction to it, if that make sense. Discerning truth from error while not judging someone is difficult - it takes wisdom, and lot more of it than I presently have.

Anyway, Anne's book has been good for me to read, despite our differing views on just about everything. She's a gifted writer and at certain points I believe she is being totally transparent and honest.

Still, much of it appears false and contrived, as if she's taken on the mantle of "Christian" only to drop an f-bomb so she can seem hip in comparison to stodgy-types who wouldn't use "such language". It has the vibe of someone who claims to be something so they can disavow it to impress others - like the Dixie Chicks lead singer "apologizing" for America's Texan president to an audience in England. "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I'm not like *those* Christians....".

Again, I haven't finished the book and can't judge Anne's heart (nor should I). I'm just commenting on my impressions thus far.

Muslims express fury over Pope's remarks - Yahoo! News

Muslims express fury over pope's remarks - Yahoo! News

This is ridiculous. The guy was quoting something somebody said 6 hundred years ago.

And the question is never asked: "Does Islam condone spreading "the faith" by the sword?". No - the Pope, whom I disagree with on all sorts of theological issues (5 solas come to mind immediately) - is simply castigated for merely repeating a statement that is viewed as politically incorrect. The veracity, or truthfulness, of what he's saying is never brought into the discussion. Any question is simply squelched by the steamroller of Political Correctness.

The suppression of honest inquiry is the hallmark of tyranny, whether secular or religious in nature. If Islam doesn't teach what this 16th century emperor says it does, then Muslims should respond by simply saying "That's not the case". When they take to the streets in mobs they give credence to the very notion they so vehemently disagree with.

Jews believe one thing, Christians another, Buddhists another, and Muslims yet another. And in believing different things, they're bound to come into conflict. One test of the worth of a religion, then, is how it responds to those who disagree with it. Christ said to bless those who curse you, so we who are Christians have been given our marching orders and anyone who kills another human in Christ's name is doing something other than what Christ commanded.

So the question remains, when Muslims take to the streets in fits of rage to burn flags and scream threats and spew hatred are they acting in accordance with, or against the teachings of their faith?

From the New Attitude Blog

Na: "This concept of humble orthodoxy grew out of our experience as believers in local church communities. It made such a difference in our own lives that we wanted to share it. Our hearts constantly tend to redefine truth to suit our own purposes or to remake them in our own image. But we don't think our role should be to show up and change truth, we should let truth change us. "

I think this is what the folks meandering through the emergent church movement are trying to get at. Yet instead of submitting to the truth, they wring their hands and say they're "not sure" what the truth is. Frustrating and sad.

Gene Veith Hits it on the Head

From his article in WORLD Magazine, Silent Witnesses:

"Some evangelicals stop referring to Jesus because they think they do not need Him anymore. Jesus was involved in their conversion, long ago, but now they have to concentrate on living the Christian life. They have forgotten that the gospel is for every day of the Christian's life. And that no one can live the Christian life without Christ, who says, 'apart from Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). "

That's the hardest thing to remember, that it's all about the Gospel. Our fallen state as humans and our redemption; God's wrath and justice right right alongside his mercy and grace; God's holiness and love displayed to the ultimate degree: it's all wrapped up in the Gospel.

Oh, how we want to ram God's wrath down people's throat in an attempt to cause them to "fear the Lord" when it's his grace that leads to proper respect for (and repentance 'unto') him. And oh, how we want to camp on God's love without mentioning that in his love for mankind the Father had his only Son crucified as an atonement for our sins. We find it easy to gravitate to the left or right, to be "liberal" or "conservative" but find it hard to be "...perfect [whole, complete], lacking nothing...".

Why? Because: "...apart from me you can do nothing".

On Calvinism vs. Arminianism

From a post I made in a thread on John Piper's prostate cancer over at Christ and Culture. My thinking was a little muddled towards the beginning of the post, but I think I made my point by the end ( i.e. no one's got God and his decrees 'pinned down' or defined entirely):

"I may be hairsplitting and trying to draw middle ground where there is none, but...

The "hard-line' Calvinist view seems to be (or at least is interpreted to be): God directly acts to cause suffering. God directly forms the cancer in John Piper's prostate for some unknown purpose.

The "hard line' Arminian view (which I believe logically leads to open-theism) appears to be: God doesn't have anything to do with suffering, whatsoever, other than to attempt to comfort us in it. It's as if God says to the cancer patient "Gee, I wish I could help you, but...".

When I recall the stories of Job and of Joseph, I see a different picture. One where God is not the agent of sin or suffering, but who is the Almighty God who *allows* sin to occur and uses even that which is intended to disgrace him (sin) for his glory. Now of course, God does smite sinful humanity at times. It's his prerogative.

Why do I include suffering along with sin? Because both are subsequent to the Fall, both are harmful to man, and yet both are used by God for his glory.

Another comment: I see a tendency on the part of Calvinists (I'd consider myself to be one, as long as one doesn't equate it with being "mean") to overthink things to the dishonor of God and a tendency on the part of Arminians to underthink things to the dishonor of God.

Many Calvinists seem to think they actually have the doctrines of grace (DOG) pinned down and thoroughly defined, and as a result can speak with a frightening degree of certainty about incredibly complex, doctrines. We can NEVER completely grasp the reality of the DOG anymore than we can fully understand the Hypostatic Union or the Trinity. To think we can is to sully the glory of Christ.

As for the Arminian postion, I think many simply reject Biblical truth because it is initially difficult to accept - it often doesn't appeal to our emotions, but instead requires thoughtful and prayerful consideration. So rather than "thinking biblically", they rely on philosophy or raw emotion to reach the theological conclusion that suits their tastes.

God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, infinite, and without sin. And he created a universe into which sin and suffering entered. And he did it with the full knowledge (omniscience) that they would enter in. He wasn't taken aback by the Fall ("Oh my, what do I do now!!"), his plan and purpose have remained the same from before the foundation of the world, and "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will". "

OK, not so Angry Calvinists.

:) See the link above for Steve Camp's reply to my post.