Hope and Change - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

I just visited the official website of one of our presidential candidates. One of the statements on the site said it was 'Powered by Hope'. And of course his political slogan is, 'Change We Can Believe In'.

Unfortunately, those two phrases have been hijacked and the real meanings of 'change' and 'hope' have been made about as clear as mud. And to be honest, the other presidential candidate does not offer real change and real hope either. We're foolish if we think we'll get either one from 'Washington' anytime soon. We need to awaken from our 'spiritual recession' and go to the One who offers hope and change.

'Hope', in the biblical sense (as in Hebrews 11:1), is belief of an absolute certainty of something in the future, regardless of the uncertainty of today. Dr. John MacArthur says in his commentary on this verse, that "Christian hope is belief in God against the world - not belief in the improbable against chance". We have hope (absolute certainty), that God will cause all things to work for our good and for His glory - that is the 'hope' of the Christian. We don't 'hope' that Obama or McCain will pull us through.

'Change', in the biblical sense, is 'repentance'. Repentance is defined as 'a change of heart or change of mind that results in a change in ones behavior'. When we are commanded to 'repent' in scripture (Acts 17:30, and others), God expects us to think differently and consequently act differently, conforming to the image of Christ. THAT is 'change we can believe in'. If people would turn from their sin and embrace righteousness and the forgiveness offered by Christ, that would be the change we so desperately need as a nation - not the counterfeit change that's being dangled in front of us.

Mark

Praise!

I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
- Psalm 145:1-3

In our family worship time today, we read from this Psalm, which is one of my favorite. In the margins of my Bible on that particular page, I have written the following things:

"No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no Psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of hosts" - Charles H. Spurgeon

P - privately and publically
R - reciting the
A - attributes and actions of the
I - invisible
S - sovereign God of
E - eternity

Turning Seven

Well, today I did it. I bought my son the Red Ryder BB gun he's been coveting for the last year or so. We took a road trip to Cabela's in West Virginia to buy something we could have bought 6 miles away. But that's ok, because we have made it a tradition to 'go somewhere' for each of the kids for their birthday.

Tomorrow, our oldest son turns seven. Every kid who has ever shot a gun in the past 50 years probably first squeezed the trigger of a Red Ryder BB gun. Today was my son's turn. He loved every minute of it... and so did I! Happy Birthday Jack! And don't put your eye out...

Blessed Assurance

Blessed Assurance, written by Fanny Crosby has always been a favorite old hymn of mine. I have memories of singing it often in church - the tune and the words just stuck glue in the hymn book of my mind all these years.

I never ever forgot the Biblical truth that this song conveys: that when you are truly saved from the grip of sin - bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ - you not only have assurance... you have Blessed Assurance!

One of the great old voices of truth in the past - it was either Edwards or Spurgeon - said something to this effect (my paraphrase) - "I could swing over the pit of hell on a thread and have no fear of falling in because of the assurance and security I have in Christ Jesus".

The reason he could say that, and the reason we can sing this song, is because of the power of Christ to keep that which is His own (John 10:28; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 24 just to name a couple scriptures - and there are MANY). The doctrines of 'assurance' and 'eternal security' are some of the most comforting doctrines. Many people do not have assurance of salvation and eternal life. There are a variety of reasons for that: 1). they may not actually be saved 2). they may be saved, but holding on to a certain sin. Habitual sins rob people of their assurance. 3). they may be walking in obedience but do not have a firm grasp on the doctrine of eternal security - the fact that if Christ was able to deliver them from sin in the first place then he is certainly able to keep them. Its the argument from the greater to the lesser. If Christ can accomplish the greater thing (salvation), then keeping someone saved is not that hard for him. This is cause for 'praising my Savior all the day long'. Right?

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain: This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
(Refrain)

Ben Franklin's Virtues and Precepts

My kids recently attended Vacation Bible School at our church, where they learned about money... spending it, giving it and saving it. There were many principles that all of us adults in attendance learned too. One night we went home with a small 3x5 card with Ben Franklin's Virtues and Precepts. Take a look at these:

1. TEMPERANCE - Eat not to dullness.
2. SILENCE - Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER - Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION - Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY - Make no expenses but to do good to others or yourself. Waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY - Lose no time; always be employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY - Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE - Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION - Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS - Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILTY - Do not be disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. HUMILTY - Imitate Jesus

Good advice...

Worse Than An Unbeliever

There are all kinds of Bible reading programs. Some get you through the Bible in a year. Some take you through the Bible in a chronological order. Some programs have you reading the same book for 30 straight days. All of the programs obviously have their benefits.

I have a system that works real well for me. I like to read through a book of the Bible as though it were the very first time I have ever read through it.
Sounds unusual, but as many times as we read through... say, the book of Matthew... we can almost recite the birth of Christ or the passion week passages by rote memory. The danger in that is that we often read right past something that God has intended to use to speak to us that day. We already know the ending of the story, and so we cruise right through our daily reading and mark it off of our bible-in-a-year checklist.

Putting the ending of the story out of my mind for the moment and soaking in every sentence, every phrase, every WORD is very helpful in seeing what God has for me.

Today, a verse jumped off the pages of 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 8. I had skimmed over this verse in the past. "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." The context is in regards to taking care of widows... but there are a couple principles here that I believe are important to all 'heads of households'. MacArthur's commentary on this verse states that this person who does not provide for his own hasn't necessarily lost his salvation, but rather has denied the principles of compassion and love that is at the heart of the Christian faith. He goes on to say that the reason they are worse than an unbeliever is that failing to provide for 'his own household' is inexcusable because they have the commandment of God and enablement from God to love. Worse than an unbeliever. That is some powerful, thought-provoking, Holy Spirit convicting language. I am glad I didn't miss that phrase this time through 1 Timothy!

God Bless You?

I hope my office mates aren't reading this blog today. Some of them sneeze louder than the freight train that blows past my office several times a day. The natural reaction of any polite person usually is to respond by saying, "God Bless You!!".

Without even thinking, we invoke God's name. Without even thinking, we pronounce a blessing on someone. The third commandment (Exodus 20:7) makes a prohibition on using the Lord's name in vain, and in our politeness I wonder if we're using God's name in a flippant and unworthy way when we use it so casually as a sneeze response. "God Bless You!", we shout back over the cubical wall. "God Bless You!", we call out... I wonder if we ought to be reserving God's name for a more hallowed situation, such as when we bow our knees in prayer, or worshiping Him in spiritual songs and hymns. I wonder if we ought to be saying "Excuse you" or "pardon you" rather than offending God by the mis-use of His sacred name.

And even if we really are attempting to use His name properly when we say "God Bless You" after a good hearty sneeze, is it really proper to command God to bless someone who might be rejecting Him and His Son? Maybe that person is currently under God's judgment, and calling on a blessing would be the exact opposite that God wants at the time. Not trying to be mean here or parse words... just calling for a re-evaluation of how we use God's name...

Mark

Cocoa Puffs and Second Thessalonians

This morning I was reading in First Timothy. This is Paul's chiefly counsel to the young pastor Timothy encouraging him to fight the good fight and to keep the faith.

Oddly, every time I read this chapter, I think of the incedent I had a few years ago at the breakfast table:

I have a weird kind of thing with my Bible. It is my most prized possession and so I treat it as such - to the n'th degree. When I write in it, there can be no mistakes. When I turn the pages, there can be no dog-earred pages. When someone 'borrows' my Bible to quickly look up something, I almost panic that they won't handle with the same care that I would. I don't put papers, bulletins or pens in it, because that would ruin the spine. I keep it in a canvas Bible cover to protect it from the elements, and I don't leave it lying around just any where.

So... imagine my panic. I pour myself some Cocoa Puffs, loaded down with frozen blueberries, and top it off with skim milk in a bowl half the size of a pickup truck. Chocolate cereal and blueberries make a dangerous color of milk. I sit down to read the very last chapter of 2 Thessalonians (the page of which is on the back of 1 Timothy - what I was reading this morning). For some unknown reason, I reach across the table and not yet being awake, I knock my bowl of puffs over - all over 2 Thessalonians 3. As an interesting side note, several of the verses that fell victim to the brownish-purple milk are about 'eating'. You never saw me move so fast in my whole life, scrambling for paper towels. I didn't care about the table cloth. I didn't care about the floor or the table or the chairs or the bowl. All I cared about was my Bible. I almost cried. The story has a good ending though. The only lasting damage surprizingly was that only that page of 2 Thessalonians/ 1 Timothy has a few wrinkles in it.

This event in my life, as insignificant as it seems, does remind me of an important principle that we find in the letters to Timothy about handling the Word of God. We are to preach sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3; 10-11). We are to pay close attention to our teaching (1 Timothy 4:16). We are to study so that we accurately handle the word of truth (1 Timothy 4:6-8, 2 Timothy 2:15). We are to preach the word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).

Someone teaching from God's Word has the solemn responsibility of doing it right. There is no excuse for doing a shoddy, sloppy, clumsy job. We are required to interpret the Word correctly and communicate exactly what God has said to us, not what we THINK He may be saying. The Christian's responsibility, especially the teacher, must communicate the Word as God has intended - heralding the gospel - and if someone is offended, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may. If we do not handle the Word of God accurately and boldly, then we are guilty of soiling the pages of scripture with our 'Cocoa Puffs' of clumsiness, bumbling around and not paying attention to what we're really doing. It amounts to Biblical vandalism - something I hope I am never guilty of.

Independence? Gospel Thoughts for the Week

As we approach Independence Day, I contemplate what ‘freedom’ really is. In America, we suffer from a false sense of freedom. While I very much appreciate the God-given freedoms I enjoy every day (paid for by the shed blood of countless brave men and women), I also sense that many people who think they are ‘free’ are under the heaviest yoke of slavery.

Yes, in America, we pretty much have the ability to pick and choose what we want to do, go where we want to go, decide who we want to hang out with, buy what we want to buy and vote for what people we want to lead the country. And yet at the same time, we are held in bondage by those same things. We don’t own our houses - our houses own us. We try to impress people we don’t like by buying things we don’t want or need, and so we work too many hours and forfeit family time. We put corrupt people into power and then complain that our taxes are too high and nobody in Washington cares about the burden on the poor and middle class.

The truth is that freedom in its purest sense is not whether or not you live in America. Freedom is only found in being released from the chains of your sin. Someone who has not turned from their sins and put their full trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross is a slave, no matter what kind of house, friends or job they have. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 6:16-18, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." And again in Galatians 5:1, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

Do you see?! The slave becomes free by becoming a slave! The slave of sin confesses and forsakes his sin, and becomes a slave of righteousness, which really is the freedom that he or she had been longing for. For the one who turns from their sin, Independence Day can have a new and infinitely more meaningful view of freedom. For the one that gives his life to the Master, this is the one that has deliverance from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, and the pollution of sin. No document in the National Archives and certainly no bureaucrat in Washington DC can promise THAT kind of freedom.

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. - Romans 6:22

Don't Blink

On the way home from work today I didn't listen to my normal 20 minutes of Sean Hannity. Instead I was flipping through the radio dial and heard this song by Kenny Chesney just as I was thinking about how fast my children are growing... click HERE and listen to this song and watch the video. Life is a vapor, and this song crystalizes that reality very well...

Here are the words:

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said "All I can say is. "Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

I was glued to my tv when it looked like he looked at me and said
"Best start putting first things first."
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

Don't Blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you insteadT
rust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

So I've been tryin' ta slow it down
I've been tryin' ta take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we're livin' in

Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster then you think
So Don't blink
Naw, don't blink
Life Goes Faster Than You Think