Lesson Learned

As I drove along my 90 minute drive to the Twin Cities yesterday morning a couple of hours before the sun would peak its light over the horizon a few thoughts rushed into my head. It was much earlier than I was accustomed to rising in the morning. After a few days in a row of above freezing temperatures, the mercury dropped and the wind pushed the wind chill down to 25-below zero. The rest of the people on the road seemed to be more affected by the early morning and cold temperatures as they couldn’t seem to remember basic highway maneuvering. Then God took this wonderful opportunity of my self-righteous pride to remind me of his spectacular majesty.

As I glanced over my shoulder for any oncoming traffic I looked to the dark western sky and covered in a slight fog, a full moon beamed its light through the haze to reveal a breathtaking sight.


The sight was brilliant. Dark rainbows appeared near the outer edges of the moon’s glow. The shadowy silhouette of the landscape on the horizon provided a beautiful frame for the painting in the sky. Then I quickly realized that had the weather patterns not been just right – cold weather, full moon, thin haze – and had I not been forced to be on the road in that direction on the morning of a full moon I would never have gotten to witness this marvelous spectacle. The things I had been complaining about were the very things that God orchestrated to paint such a beautiful image in the night sky.

Conviction hit pretty hard (though the guilt was softened by the thankfulness for the grace in the moment) as I pondered how often we complain about our circumstances. Living in Minnesota, it is a common pastime to grumble about the cold. It doesn’t take too much time on the road to identify someone who has violated our sense of righteous driving. We often joke about marriage being difficult or our spouse being stubborn while beneath the surface of the joke we are actually venting our personal frustrations. We use early mornings and late nights as an excuse for terse behavior. It always seems to be somebody else’s fault; sometimes we even blame God (see Adam and Eve in Genesis 3).

It is quite amazing that living in one of the most prosperous countries in the world, blessed far beyond what any of us deserve (anything but hell is blessing more than we deserve), yet we find every reason to be discontent with the way our lives are. I pray for more thankfulness and patience as I wait for God to weave difficult circumstances together for my good and for the praise of His holy Name.

Next time you find yourself set to gripe about your situation, stop and pray for a more thankful heart and look for God to use it for your good. When the weather is cold, thank Him for a warm house. When your spouse upsets you, pray for wisdom to respond respectfully. When a driver cuts you off, pray for strength to overlook the sin. When your boss gets on your nerves, look for ways to be a blessing to him.

We find it far too easy to complain when we feel our comfort has been upset when we should be praising God for these opportunities to show His work in our hearts to make us more content, thankful, and compassionate. Sometimes it takes a bit of a shaking from God to get us out of our comfort zone, to cast out our idols, to be more thankful and obedient to his commands.

I thank God that He used the beautiful morning sky to get my attention instead of getting swallowed by a large fish.

Revival Preparation

As I have been reading through the provided materials to prepare us for the upcoming renewal services, I have been increasingly convicted of my worldliness in many areas of my life. I have often gotten caught up in the American Dream of having a great wife, a couple kids, a steady job, a nice home with a beautiful yard, and a grill to sit on my deck to enjoy with the neighbors on a nice summer day. While there is nothing specifically wrong with these things, it is so easy to get caught up in this world, forgetting that this world is not my home; I am a citizen of another world.

In my search for guidance out of this worldly attitude, I was brought back to the famous Revival Hymn. It is a compilation of some older sermons set to powerful music. I have heard it many times before, but as I listened to it again, I really recognized the shallow Christianity that has taken over today's church. I cry about my sin and the sinfulness of this world when I listen to this compilation; yearning for the restoration of the world. As we prepare for the upcoming revival services, I pray that the following can help you in the preparation of your own heart.



An mp3 version can be downloaded here to listen to on your computer or iPod.

Slow Progress for this Pilgrim

As our Tuesday night Bible study finished up going through 1 Peter and I start preparing to study Philippians, I am really being convicted about my worldliness. In 1 Peter, he is writing to Christians in Rome who are being severely persecuted (read: burned, imprisoned, beaten) for their faith and Peter is writing to them to encourage them to stay faithful. Right in the beginning of the letter he encourages them by reminding them that they are strangers of the world (aliens, pilgrims, sojourners, exiles, foreigners), meaning that they may live under the authority of the Roman government, but they are merely strangers in the land; citizens of a different world.

Paul similarly displays this attitude in his letter to the Philippians; describing how he is willing to give up all that seems good in the world so that the gospel can be proclaimed. He takes Jesus call to deny himself very seriously and says he counts all the seemingly great things he has as "rubbish."

In my own life I have found myself too busy to really get serious about proclaiming the gospel to the world and personally investing more time in discipling those who are young in the faith. My personal prayer and study time has been diminishing as I find too many excuses to ignore such vital components of the Christian life. This summer, I thought, would be a season of great growth for me and the ministries I am involved in. But I have found myself along for the ride as every single weekend is planned out for me doing something different and I am sacrificing my prayer time, Bible study, personal reading, and ministry opportunities.

The difficult thing is that the things that are taking up my time aren’t necessarily sinful. Going to cousins weddings, visiting aunts and uncles, family reunions, playing baseball with unsaved neighbors and attending graduations aren’t bad things and are actually good things because I get opportunities to discuss the gospel with many different people. But it comes at a cost of my first ministries; my own sanctification, my wife (and soon my first child), and serving in my own church.

During the week it is so easy to go through the routine of life that I forget that I am a pilgrim simply passing through this world. I think that too often we justify our worldly behavior by pointing out that it isn’t specifically defined as a sin. However, anything that takes time away from what we have been called to do is also a sin and that is where I find myself battling right now. We are called to deny our personal desires and to gain holy desires to serve the King who is coming soon to take us home.

Imagine how much time we would have to read our Bibles if we got rid of our televisions. I know, I know. Watching TV isn’t in itself a sin. But it is so easy to be distracted by it. It consumes an hour of your life before you realize what happened. How much more time would we have to serve in a church ministry if we spent less time surfing the internet for no reason or being entertained by some game.

Often times in our efforts to be relevant to the world by “becoming all things to all men” we lose focus on the fact that we are not of this world. Even though we live in America, our citizenship is of another world. We work daily at our jobs and live in an entertainment culture and it is too easy to end up going through life like people who are of this world.

I pray that we can all be reminded more often that Christians are not of this world. We are called to deny ourselves and take up the cross daily. Being a Christian isn’t about doing the same things as everyone else while wearing a name tag that says “Christian.” It isn’t an easy life that involves being everyone’s friend so they might like Jesus too. It often involves losing friends, sacrificing some of our favorite things, and delaying gratification until Christ returns. We are foreigners to this land. People should recognize us as foreigners by how we talk, what we are entertained by, what consumes our free time. I pray that I can become a much better example of the pilgrim life.

"If it doesn't matter the day you die, it doesn't matter." -Mark Cahill

The Holiness of God - Review

Isaiah (chapter 6) once got a glimpse of God's holiness and immediately cried out, "Woe is me. I am undone." Moses (Exodus 33) asked to see God's face and He replied, "No man can see God's face and live." The disciples trembled in fear after witnessing Christ's display of control over nature (Mark 4:35-41). These men instantly understood their place in the universe when they were confronted with the awesome holiness of their Creator.

In The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul unfolds the incredible nature of the mysterious attribute called God's holiness. Of all God's characteristics described in the Scriptures, none is so beyond our understanding as His holiness. When we think of God we often consider His love, grace, or kindness, but Sproul notes an interesting emphasis placed in Scripture. "The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, that the whole earth is full of His glory." (pg. 26)

The book describes God's holiness as being separate, high above what we are. To be holy is to be of supreme and absolute greatness. Holiness is not just another attribute in a list of what God is like; it is all that God is. Holiness encompasses everything we understand about God and far beyond. God's love, grace, justice, mercy, wrath, kindness, righteousness, power, perfection, deity are all expressed as part of God's holiness. "When we call things holy when they are not holy, we commit the sin of idolatry. We give to common things the respect, awe, worship, and adoration that belong only to God." (pg. 40)

R.C. Sproul throughout the book discusses aspects of God's holiness and the effect it has on the lives of His creatures. He expounds on Biblical examples of the LORD's holiness revealed. He takes a look at how great men of God in history, Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards, were transformed and proclaimed holiness. Luther went from a Catholic monk who feared the holiness of God, to understanding faith in Christ and longing for His holiness. Edwards was a man who did not falter in preaching every aspect of God including His wrath, justice, love, and mercy, in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

It is wise for us to study the holiness of our God and Savior. The more we understand who God is, the better we grasp our true place in creation. We recognize how utterly sinful we are and how righteous God is; how helpless we are and how powerful God is; how empty we are and how wonderful God is. "We may dislike giving our attention to God's wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God's nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace" (pg. 183). We should, at the same time, both fear His holiness and

yearn for it; knowing that only His holiness can save us from the consequences of our unholiness.
The lives of many professed Christians seem so tiresome and dull. They see nothing exciting about being a Christian and worshipping the sovereign King of the universe. Often these people fall away, revealing they never truly knew who God is (1 John 2:19). "It is difficult for many people to find worship a thrilling and moving experience. We note here, when God appeared in the temple, the doors and the thresholds were moved. The inert matter of doorposts, the inanimate thresholds, the wood and metal that could neither hear nor speak had the good sense to be moved by the presence of God." (pg. 26) "People do not normally feel [overwhelmed] in church. There is no sense of awe, no sense of being in the presence of One who makes us tremble. People in awe never complain that church is boring." (pg. 137) The Holiness of God will be a book that will bring a sense of awe into your relationship with your Savior.

When People Are Big and God is Small - Review

The fear of man is a lot larger reality in our lives that we believe. "If you want to know whether or not you fear God, note your reaction when good things are taken from you." (pg. 114) "Fear of man is such a part of our human fabric that we should check for a pulse if someone denies it.' (pg 17) Do you want to see the fear of man rear its head? Start talking to people about evangelism. In our culture it is often labeled by other names; peer pressure, people-pleasing, codependency, pride, introversion, self-pity, etc. Edward T. Welch writes in When People Are Big and God is Small that we all have a fear of man and explains that freedom from it has three parts: a biblically informed knowledge of God, other people, and ourselves. He breaks down these three into steps that help reveal the sinful fear of others in our lives and replace it with a godly fear.

Rightfully, Edward Welch begins and spends much of the book describing the amazing attributes of God explaining, "The most radical treatment for the fear of man is the fear of the Lord" (pg. 19). God is a lot bigger than we can even begin to imagine. "Scripture speaks of unimaginable love alongside holy anger. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love, but he also does not leave the guilty unpunished" (pg. 103) We need to understand all sides of God's holiness; His grace, love, and mercy, balanced with justice, anger, and wrath. God is awesome, powerful, beautiful and His handiwork is displayed everywhere. Many of today's sermons in America feed into self-centered thinking by providing self-help sermons. "The result [of too many application sermons] is that our goal can be self-improvement rather than the glory of the Holy God. We need more sermons that leave us trembling." (pg. 96) "A growing knowledge of God displaces the fear of people, and it casts out our tendency to be casual with our secret sins." (pg. 107)

Another step in overcoming the fear of man is having a biblical understanding of ourselves and others. It is important for us to realize how sinful we are and that our dependency is on God not on others. Welch says we ascribe too often God's attributes to other people, "People are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as ones who have God-like exposing gazes or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect, and other psychological desires" (pg. 45). He states that too often we worry that other people will think we are fanatics, that we are stupid, or that they won't respond to us the way we want (fear of people), instead of being more concerned about our own sin and obeying God (fear of God). We then begin to make excuses for our fear of man, calling our sins "shortcomings," saying we are only human, or appealing to the majority for decisions. Instead of living godly we give in because we fear others. In reference to this, Edward Welch makes this convicting statement, "Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for Him." (pg. 39) He declares that "what we fear shows our allegiances. It shows where we put our trust. It shows who is big in our lives." (pg. 47)

When People Are Big and God is Small is a great book that dives into the excuses we make for the fear of man and the remedies for them. The heart of the book is the gospel message, which Welch digs deep into and reveals a better understanding of the gospel than a basic 'Romans Road' presentation describes. He says, "The good news of Jesus is not intended to make us feel good about ourselves. Instead, the good news humbles us" (pg. 146). Throughout the book we find out that we are more sinful than "all fall short" leads us to believe. We take every second of blessing from God and lace it with sin (boasting, self-pity, lies, fear, worry, lust, coveting, etc.). We are idol factories, exaggerating the power of people over us and ascribing them the ability to fulfill our desires. We "stretch the truth" to make ourselves more comfortable in a situation and justify it by saying we are only human or others just don't understand the situation. We create a perceived need in our eyes (more accurately a lust), and make justifications for desiring something God hasn't granted us. When discussing the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the good news of Christ's death and resurrections the author states, "When the fear of the Lord matures in you, Christ becomes irresistible" (pg. 123).

In the book, Welch gets right to the root of these issues, lays out God's wonderful news of His love and transforming power, and offers practical advice on steadily overcoming the fear of others. "THE problem is clear: People are too big in our lives and God is too small. The answer is straightforward: We must learn to know that our God is more loving and more powerful than we ever imagined." (pg. 113)

God is a Just Judge

Proverbs 17:15 - He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

Listening to a sermon on justification I was presented with this verse and asked the question: How can God be just and at the same time justify the wicked? Scripture says explicitly that a person that simply forgives a guilty person is an abomination. This is quite a heavy thought that is misunderstood by most of the world, and sadly by many who call themselves Christian.

When sharing the gospel with people I often am able to get them to admit that they have broken God’s laws. They have no problem saying that they would be guilty just like everyone else; after all, nobody’s perfect. But an interesting thing occurs when I ask how they believe they will make it into heaven. They say, “Because God is forgiving.” While this is a true statement, if this is what they are putting their hope in they will hear those frightening words from Christ, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

Think about it this way: you broken many laws, are arrested and brought to court. A large fine (more money than you can imagine) or jail time is your punishment and you say to the judge, “I know you are a good man and very forgiving, so I feel you will let me go.” If the judge were to let the guilty lawbreaker go, he would be a corrupt judge, not a good man. Similarly, God is not corrupt and must punish sin wherever it is found.

Take a look into the mirror of God’s law. How will you answer to God for your lies, for the things you have taken that didn’t belong to you, for the hateful and lustful thoughts that He sees as murder and adultery? How will you respond to God when He asks you why you didn’t thank Him for every gift in your life, when you didn’t honor His name above all things? Will you say, “God, I know you are forgiving and you will let me go.”? That won’t satisfy justice. Neither will he be bribed by your supposed good works. God doesn’t simply forgive us, He does something even more remarkable.

God became a man (Jesus Christ), lived a perfect life, and was killed on the cross taking the punishment for our sins. This is how we have been set free; an innocent person paid the fine for our sins. This however made me wonder about the second phrase in the Proverb; he who condemns the righteous is also an abomination. This is getting confusing now! But that is why the term imputed is so important. It simply means that all of our sins were laid on Christ and all of His righteousness was given to us. Not that we are righteous, but that at the judgment, God sees us as righteous. Not that Christ is sinful, but paying for our sins, God saw Him as sinful.

We are allowed to enter heaven because God sees Christ’s perfect righteousness and not a drop of our wickedness. All that is required is that we recognize how filthy we are, call upon God for mercy to change us, and trust in Christ for righteousness. What an amazing gift! We deserve eternal punishment in Hell apart from the Holiness of God, but he takes the punishment for us, gives us His righteousness, transforms our hearts to follow Him, and welcomes us into His kingdom forever.

Consider what all other religions offer. Perhaps if you pray enough times in one day, or keep the Sabbath day and other ordinances, obey certain rules, meditate, or “be a good person” you will be able to bribe God into letting you into heaven. On the other hand, only true Christianity answers the question of how God can be just while justifying the wicked. The gods of all other religions are corrupt if they let lawbreakers go free without penalty. Thank God for His goodness, mercy, and His justice.

Acts 17:30,31 says that God is being patient, giving us all time to repent and trust Him, because He has set aside a day of judgment to judge in righteousness. Hebrews 9:27 says we are all appointed a day of judgment upon our death. How will you do on that day? How will you respond when God asks you about your sins? Christ has offered His righteousness. Have you trusted Him?

Stewardship of Souls - Consider Your Own

I really enjoyed Kevin’s sermon on Sunday on the Stewardship of Souls. It was both convicting and encouraging. Afterwards, Molly (my wife) and I were talking for a while on the application and impact of such thoughts. If you were in attendance, you will remember a couple of points he made that I have been pondering on a bit lately: we don’t really care about lost souls the way we should, and a person must understand their sin before they can understand God’s love.

I simply want to emphasize the importance of these two points. First, we must really understand our sin before we understand God’s love. Everyone knows John 3:16, “God loved the world in this way; He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” Consider also Romans 5:8, “God showed His love toward is, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And look at 1 John 3:16a and 1 John 4:9, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us”; “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” Our love has nothing to do with God liking something so much in us that He just had to do something to help us. He loves us because He is love, despite the fact that we are the complete opposite. We have done nothing in our lives to merit His attention, yet he pours His grace on us by the second. Scripture says that He doesn't show His love by giving us a warm fuzzy feeling or by giving us better lives now, but He showed His love for us by dying on the cross in our place, rising from the dead, and offering us eternal life in His presence if we turn from our sin and trust in His sacrifice for righteousness.

The more you understand how desperately wicked your heart is, the more you will praise God for saving you despite your heart. My brother once told me he is uncomfortable at churches where people hold their hands up in the air while they sing with their eyes closed. He said he thinks it’s weird and doesn’t understand why they do it. I told him that many of those people are so full of joy because they have been redeemed so much. I said to him that these are people who know they deserve eternal punishment for their sin, but instead have been given eternal life, and they are exceedingly joyful. He didn’t think his sin was that bad (if we are honest we must all admit we don’t see our sin as God does), so he had no reason to see how wonderful God’s love is.

Many people today misunderstand the love of God (shown in much of contemporary Christian music), and believe that God sees some great potential in us and He wants to give us a hug to make us feel better. While the love of God does give us joy, it doesn’t solve all problems in this life (Jesus actually promised that it will cause division and bring persecution) and our immediate happiness isn't the reason Christ died for us. We must understand that when Scripture speaks of the love of God, it always refers to sending a Savior to people who don’t deserve it (who actually deserve the condemnation they stand under).

This I believe is the root of why we don’t care about lost souls enough to be more faithful in reaching them with the gospel. We don’t see our own sin as so evil and wicked that it angers God, that it deserves a just punishment of hell. We aren’t weeping over the sin in our own lives, so why would we care about the sin in other peoples lives. We should see how sin has dismantled God’s creation and have great sorrow, causing us to reach out to sinners in pity. They (as we once were) are in bondage to sin and sit under the wrath of God. All they know how to do is sin and they are so blind to it they don’t want to know how to get out of it. This should move our hearts (if not our eyes) to tears and our feet to action.

Listen to this testimony from a man named Paul Washer. Listen to him weep as he agnoizes over his sin and praises God for saving him from it.

He weeps over his sin because he knows how much God saved him from it. He gives God all the glory for pulling him from the wreck that was called his life. Is your testimony like this? When you tell others about what Christ did to you, do you tell them about the wickedness that God saved you from? Do you tell them Christ transformed you and made you a new creature that desires holiness and righteousness? Is your testimony about the love of Christ changing your sinful heart or about some guy named Jesus who makes your life more fun?

When you look at your life, do you see it as littered with sin that offends an infinite, holy God. Maybe you prayed a prayer and admitted, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but do you know that your lies deserve punishment. Your lustful thoughts are adultery and deserve hell. Thoughts of hate are seen by God as murder. When you say, “Well I don’t think God is that way. I think God is this way,” you are making an idol in your mind. Sure we may say that we understand that the Bible says we are sinners, but do we truly believe it? Do you hate sin? Is it an ugly stain on your soul that tears you apart inside knowing that it offends God?

Why aren’t we better at evangelism? Because we don’t hate our own sin enough and we don’t weep over others who are caught in sin. May God make us weep over our own sin and make us humble in our evangelism because we recognize how much we have been saved from the wickedness of our own hearts.