More Friday Thoughts From Spurgeon

Here are some words from C.H. Spurgeon on praise, thanksgiving, and life with Jesus:

Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth's gratitude rises when the sun of heaven's love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise him as long as thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life. Deny not a song to him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart. To be silent over God's mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it is to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been cured of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing Lord. To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith.

It is a healthful and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his Master's service. To bless God for mercies received is also the way to benefit our fellow-men; "the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." Others who have been in like circumstances shall take comfort if we can say, "Oh! magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together; this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." Weak hearts will be strengthened, and drooping saints will be revived as they listen to our "songs of deliverance." Their doubts and fears will be rebuked, as we teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They too shall "sing in the ways of the Lord," when they hear us magnify his holy name. Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, "Worthy is the Lamb."


From "Morning&Evening" by C.H. Spurgeon

The gospel is always what we need.

Here is what Martin Luther says about our need to continually engage the truth of the gospel:

People don't earn God's approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they've done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God's kindness through Christ. There is no other way.

Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure — free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God's approval through God's kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn't know what he's talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.

The people who truly understand that they receive God's approval by faith and put this into practice don't brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can't comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth.

--Martin Luther

Friday Thoughts From Spurgeon

Here are some important words from Charles Spurgeon:

"Able to keep you from falling."

Jude 24
In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is beset with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace be absent), and down we go. What a slippery path is that which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, "My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped." If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves, how weak we are! In the best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble can wound us; we are mere children tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, "Glory be to him, who is able to keep us from falling." We have many foes who try to push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and he is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence,

"Against me earth and hell combine,

But on my side is power divine;

Jesus is all, and he is mine!"

From "Morning&Evening" by C.H. Spurgeon

Come Ye Sinners

This past week, as I was reading and praying through James 1:27, which says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world," I was reminded and convicted of the pollution of my own heart - my pride, my lust for comfort and pleasure, my complacency, and my seemingly relentless pursuit of approval and acceptance in the eyes of others. At the same time, as I was preparing for the class I am teaching on Wednesday nights, I was also reminded of God's unconditional, sovereign love for me - extended to me by grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone; I am accepted by God through faith in Who He is and what He alone has done to atone for my sin - I have not earned God's acceptance because of who I am, not on the basis of what I have done or not done, not because of how well or how poorly I preach, not because of how engaged or disengaged I am as a parent or husband. I think Tim Keller says is best:

When my own personal grasp of the gospel was very weak, my self-view swung wildly between two poles. When I was performing up to my standards - in academic work, professional achievement, or relationships - I felt confident but not humble. I was likely to be proud or unsympathetic to failing people. When I was not living up to standards, I felt humble but not confident, a failure. I discovered, however, that the gospel contained the resources to build a unique identity. In Christ I could know that I was accepted by grace not only despite my flaws, but because I was willing to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved that Jesus was willing to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less. I don't need to notice myself - how I'm doing, how I'm being regarded - so often.

Here are a few lines from one of my favorite hymns, which speak of Christ's gracious work of redemption:

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready, stands to save you, full of pity love and pow'r.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome, God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh.

Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all.

I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms

Fix Our Eyes On Jesus.

This fall, I am teaching a class on Wednesday nights called "genuineJESUS" (the title and most of the content are adaptations of Mark Driscoll's book and sermon series Vintage Jesus). In the class, we are looking deeply into the what the Bible says about who Jesus genuinely is, what Jesus genuinely has done, is doing, and will do, and what Jesus genuinely taught, modeled, and prayed for, during His earthly ministry.

One key idea and discipline I encourage the class to engage in each day is, "fixing our eyes upon Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2). To "fix our eyes on Jesus," means to consistently focus and re-focus our minds and hearts on what Scripture tells us about Who Jesus is, what He has done, is doing, and will one day do, and who we are, by grace, through faith in Him as a result. I have become convinced that we cannot over-utilize this practice - Jesus is infinitely beautiful, majestic, and wonderful; He is genuinely capable of captivating our thoughts, emotions, and affections.

Here is a great word-picture of Who Jesus is and what He has done, is doing and will do, and how we should respond:

Christ Jesus was God's dear Son. He made all things - sun, moon, and stars, men and angels. he was from all eternity in the bosom of the Father, and yet He came into the world. He did not say, "I will keep my throne and my happiness, and leave sinners to die and perish in their sins." No; "He came into the world." He became "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." He bore our sins upon His own body on the tree. While we were sinners, "Christ died for us." Why did He do all this? Ah! it was to save sinners. Not to save good people - not to save angels - but sinners. Perhaps you will say, "But I am too bad a sinner;" but Paul says, "of whom I am the chief." Paul was the chief of sinners, and yet he was saved by Christ. So Christ is willing and able to save you, though you were the chief sinner on the face of the earth.

Have you not lived long enough in pleasure? Come and try the pleasures of Christ - forgiveness and a new heart...the feeling that God loves me - that Christ has washed - and in feeling that I should be in heaven... - Robert Murray M'Cheyne.

Come, try the pleasures of Christ - fix your "eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him, who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:2-3)

A Full Confession.

This weekend, I preached from 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul gives the church at Corinth some important directions regarding the Lord's Supper. During the middle portion of the sermon, I camped out on verses 27-32, which challenge us to carefully examine our lives before we receive the bread and the cup. As I preached, I tried to draw our focus to the importance of consistently and honestly examining our lives, humbly confessing our sins to our gracious God, and turning in repentance away from our sin and towards our Savior, Jesus. I challenged our congregation to do this on a daily basis - not only as we prepared to receive the communion meal, but as an ongoing, sometimes minute-by-minute part of our life with Jesus.

This morning, I read this encompassing prayer of confession from the puritan prayer book, The Valley of Vision. These words, along with 1 John 1:8-9, stirred my heart and led me into a time of personal confession - I pray that as you read these words, that the Holy Spirit would convict your heart, lead you to honestly and humbly confess your sins to Jesus, and graciously enable you to turn away your sin and turn more fully towards Jesus.

Sins

Merciful Lord,

Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life, sins of early, middle and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of morose, peevish and angry tempers,
of lip, life and walk,
of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride,
of want of bold decision in the cause of Christ,
of deficiency in outspoken zeal for his glory,
of bringing dishonor upon thy great name,
of deception, injustice, untruthfulness in my dealings with others,
of impurity in thought, word, and deed,
of covetousness, which is idolatry,
of substance unduly hoarded, improvidently squandered,
not consecrated to the glory of thee, the great Giver;
sins in private and in the family,
in study and recreation, in the busy haunts of men,
in the study of thy Word and the neglect of it,
in prayer irreverently offered and coldly withheld,
in time misspent,
in yielding to Satan's wiles,
in opening my heart to his temptations,
in being unwatchful when I know him nigh,
in quenching the Holy Spirit;
sins against light and knowledge,
against conscience and the restraints of thy Spirit,
against the law of eternal love.

Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered or forgotten.
Good Lord, hear; and hearing, forgive.

May Your church, by Your grace and Your enabling power, daily embrace and live out Your Words in 1 John 1:8-9:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Amen.

re:entry

As you can see, by briefly looking through the short history of this bloglet (not a mature blog – more of an infant blog, like an infant pig: a piglet - or as I prefer, a hoglet), I often begin new things (a New Year’s exercise program, early morning family devotions, diets, new ministries, etc.) like a bit of a human pop-bottle rocket. In the early days, I sizzle out of the gate, practicing my new hobby, habit, or activity with intensity, consistency, and vigor. As the days wear on, however, like my firework friend, I experience a fleeting peak, and then return to earth with an equally furious fizzle. This is neither a good trend nor a desirable character trait and I am ever recognizing my need for ongoing, God-centered revival and reformation in my own heart and life.

The good news for a human pop-bottle rocket like me, is that God, in His incredible grace, has regularly seen fit to bless me with timely and much needed doses of conviction, correction, redirection, and encouragement – often, this occurs through the powerful combination of the still-small nudging of the Holy Spirit and the God-inspired words of Scripture. He has also graciously redirected me through the Spirit filled, Spirit led counsel of several close friends and mentors. Over the past couple of years, one of those mentors has been Robert Murray M’Cheynne. Many mornings, God has used the counsel of this 19th Century, Scottish pastor, to gently re-acquaint me with my heart’s deceitful tendencies and Christ’s glorious beauty. Here are a few words I read this morning, which reignited a fizzled flame in my heart – may they be as encouraging to all my fellow pop-bottle rockets as they were to me.

Learn much of your own heart; and when you have learned all you can, remember you have seen but a few yards into a pit that is unfathomable. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 19:9) Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look you take at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief! Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in His beams. Feel His all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and repose in His almighty arms.

Cry after divine knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding. Seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasure, according to the word in Proverbs 2:4. See that verse 10 be fulfilled in you. Let wisdom enter into your hearts, and knowledge be pleasant to thy soul; so you will be delivered from the snares mentioned in the following verses. Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him. Let the Holy Spirit fill every chamber of your heart; and so there will be no room for folly, or the world, or Satan, or the flesh. I must now commend you all to God and the word of His grace.

The Glory of the Cross

Here are some important Good Friday thoughts from Jerry Bridges' book, The Gospel For Real Life:

Herein lies the glory of the cross. Justice and mercy are reconciled; wrath and love are both given full expression - and all of this so that we might experience the unsearchable riches of Christ.

What great humility and gratitude this should produce in us; humility that we were the cause of our Savior's unimaginable suffering, and gratitude that He so willingly and lovingly experienced God's wrath that we might not suffer it ourselves. When I think of Christ's great work of propitiation, I am compelled to sing those grand old words of Isaac Watts:

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride" (p. 56).

My Incredible Wife

Check out these convicting and challenging words of truth, from my incredible wife, Kelly's recent blog post:

It's EASTER! Unfortunately, I suspect, like most American children instead of being excited about the NEW HOPE given to us by our Lord & Savior-JESUS dying for OUR SINS & raising to new LIFE-we'll be disgruntled about what we did or did not get in our Easter basket. I'm way too hard on my kids. I know it-I feel it even now as I type this. 3 of our 5 children have just recently heard the name JESUS. I cannot expect them to understand the huge significance of this week. Do I understand it? Truly?

Yeah-I could spout off 3 significant things that Jesus did for me but do I GET IT? Do I truly get it? I mean, look at my life, do I glow from all my encounters with God? Of course not, I'm too busy being distracted by everything that everyone else is doing wrong. The plank in my eye is so big-yet it doesn't even hurt. So crazy.

Tonight, once Dan gets home from the church service we're going to re watch the Passion of the Christ. I'm so terrified of that movie-we watched in the theater when it came out & I cannot stomach it again. But I need to. I need to get out of my glamorized, Americanized, self-righteous, PROUD, PROUD, PROUD view of Christianity & get my sights set back on JESUS!!!

Amen. These coming days are an important time for all of us to refocus our eyes on the Cross, our ears on the message of the Gospel, our minds on the redemptive truths of Scripture, and our hearts in the gracious and merciful love of God. I am so thankful for the many ways in which God's grace is working in Kelly's heart, and through her, in the lives of my children and in the heart of her husband.

Who God Wants Us To Become

Today, as I was sitting in a local, satellite campus of the Cathedral of St. Arbucks, I spent a bit of time thinking about who God wants us to become as His Kingdom people. As I have read the Scriptures and reflected specifically on the teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, the Holy Spirit has led me towards an active rest in, and an obedient pursuit of, greater personal embodiment of the picture painted in this brief working summary: 

I believe God wants to transform me into:

• A man who truly knows and fully loves Jesus; adoring and treasuring Him with every part of who I am; loving Him with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength; being sanctified by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to become more like Him in my motivations, attitudes, thoughts, emotions, pursuits and actions.

• A man who deeply and sacrificially loves my family, my friends, and my neighbors; practicing generous hospitality and consistently looking for, and tangibly meeting, other’s needs as they arise.

• A man who embraces and lives out God’s gospel mission of restoring all that has been fractured and distorted by sin; serving the least, loving the lost, proclaiming and living the gospel in my home, neighborhood, and city.
  

A Great Vacation

Last week, Kelly, the kids, and I, took a trip to the little-known, spring break hot-spot of southeast South Dakota. I think most spring break analysts, if they were completely honest, would have to rate South Dakota a close third behind South Padre Island and Cancun. Despite traveling 1400 miles in a mini-van, which seemed to become more "mini" than "van" by the minute, we had a great trip. We were able to spend a few days with Kelly's parents on the farm, enjoy a few days in a pool-side room at the luxurious Kelly Inn (in Yankton, South Dakota), and relax for a few days with my parents in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

For Jasmine, Brian, and Shamie (our three adopted children), we think this may have been their first trip out of the metro area and definitely their first experience with life on the farm. They really enjoyed seeing all the baby calves, playing in the endless supply of mud and puddles, riding in the tractor for chores with Grandpa Don and Uncle Rick, feeding apples to the horses, and exploring the nooks and crannies of Grandpa and Grandma's expansive farm house.

For Kelly and I, perhaps the best part of the trip was watching our extended families warmly embrace and actively love our adopted kiddos. For me, it was an opportunity to think deeply about, and attempt to adequately give thanks for, God's pursuing, embracing, active love for me through Jesus. More often than I would like to admit, it is so easy for me to lose track of how passionately and wildly my Heavenly Father moves towards me, embraces me, and serves me.

As I watched our extended families demonstrate intentional love and affection towards our kids, who nine months ago were complete strangers, I was reminded of God's gracious, spiritual adoption of us, through the redeeming and reconcilling work of Christ, which Paul describes in the first two chapters of Ephesians:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

"Adoption," as John Piper once said, "is truly greater than the universe." And the Father's love for us, as the great hymn says, "is vast beyond all measure."

A Big Day For Our Family

As many of you know, for the past 8 months, our family has been navigating through the difficult and wonderful process of foster-adoption. Last July, Jasmine (6yrs), Brian (4yrs), and Shamie 3 (yrs) moved into the already chaotic land of the Freng house, and joined with (collided with may be a better phrase) Noah (7yrs), Isaac (3yrs), Dan (31yrs) and Kelly (31yrs) to form a new and expanded family. For those of you who have not visited Kelly's blog, I highly recommend you taking some time to read through some of her posts. I have posted the link (Life As a Party of 7) on the "Blogs I Read" section of this blog. Kelly is a great writer and has done a wonderful job of honestly and humorously (sometimes with a healthy dose of sarcasm) chronicling this journey.

Here is an excerpt from the most recent post from her blog, which shares the exciting news of an awesome event that will happen this Friday:

The end is in sight.

On Monday we received word that we would be finalizing our adoptions of Jasmine & Brian this Friday. We are super excited. We then leave for Spring Break in the new vacation HOT SPOT-South Dakota. When we get back we will finalize our adoption of Shamie.

It is a very confusing process-the easy way to "get it" is that the kids are followed by two different counties based on where their parents were living when the kids were originally removed. Make sense!?! No, not to us either. It's a crazy process that we are glad to be bringing to a close. The real work will begin when the adoptions are finalized. We won't have caseworkers, guardian ad litem's (GAL's), and every other person on the planet coming to our house every month. At the same time, we won't have as many people to call if we are having "problems". Our support staff will reduce drastically. It will all be worth it though.

Keep us in your prayers for this huge event in our lives, our travel with 5 little beings (praise God we are NOT bringing the dog this time), and for our general well being. History has shown us that transitions, changes, and "big" events tend to trigger some behaviors & frustrations. I have to remember that while this is awesome and amazingly exciting (for us), it is the final slamming shut of that small window of possibility that the kids will be reunited with their birth parents. For us, this is obviously a blessing. For the kids-or at least Jasmine-this could be tumultuous. When you are a kid-your parents are your parents. Even if they do NOTHING right-they are still your parents & you love them. You don't know better & you don't know it any other way. Please pray specifically for Jasmine that she would be comforted during this confusing time in her life.

Thank you all for all of you care, support, and prayers as we have moved along through this process. Please continue to pray for us and don't be afraid to give us a call or swing by the Casa de Freng to enjoy a bit of time in the whirlwind we call home.

Success In Ministry

In one of my first classes at seminary, the professor teaching the class began the semester by asking us two very probing and convicting questions: (1) "How should we measure success in ministry;" and (2) "How does God measure success in ministry?" Because the class was comprised mostly of anxious and insecure, first-year seminarians, no hands went up. After a few pregnant moments of silence, the professor threw out a few commonly held answers to the first question - answers that no one in our class wanted to share publicly, but had, at one time or another, most likely embraced and pursued personally.

"Ultimate success in ministry, for too many pastors, is measured by increasing church membership numbers, growing budget dollars, excellent ministry programming, and widespread notoriety and influence in the larger Christian community," he said. "Unfortunately," he continued, "I think it is possible to achieve all of these things and still fall short of God's standard for successful ministry; which, I believe, He measures by two standards: consistent faithfulness in ministering under the authority of Scripture and ongoing obedience in following the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit."

That day in class, God used my professor to help me begin to understand the reality that large crowds can be gathered and big budgets can be assembled in a way that draws the attention and praise of men, but fails to honor and please the heart of God. Successful Kingdom ministry is best gauged by faithfulness and obedience to Christ.

Last week, during a mentor-team meeting at Denver Seminary, I was blessed with an opportunity to spend an hour with one of the most faithful and obedient servants of Jesus I have ever met - Dr. Vernon Grounds. For more than fifty years, Dr. Grounds has served faithfully and obediently (in several leadership roles) in equipping leaders at Denver Seminary. Now in his nineties, Dr. Grounds continues to serve the seminary community as Chancellor - meeting often with current students, alumni, faculty, and ministry leaders from around the world. By God's grace, through the outworking of the Holy Spirit, Dr. Grounds has been blessed with the rare combination of a profoundly brilliant mind and a deeply compassionate heart. I pray that Dr. Grounds' legacy of holistic, Gospel-centered, faithful and obedient ministry will continue to shape Denver Seminary many years after he hears Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

After the mentor-team meeting ended, on my way out of Dr. Grounds' office, my friend Betsy, who is Dr. Grounds administrative assistant, handed me a piece of paper with a short poem printed on it. As she handed me the paper, she whispered, "I am pretty sure Dr. Grounds wrote this." Here are the words to the poem, which is anonymously authored in V.R Edman's book, Disciplines of Life:

When God wants to skill a man,
and drill a man,
and thrill a man;
when God wants to mold a man
to play the noblest part;
when He yearns with all His heart
to create so great and bold a man
that all the world will be amazed,
watch His methods - watch His ways -
how He ruthlessly perfects
whom He royally elects;
how He hammers him
and hurts him
and with mighty blows converts him
into trial shapes of clay which only God understands.

When man's tortured heart is bleeding
and he lifts beseeching hands,
how God bends,
but never breaks,
when His good he undertakes;
how He uses those He chooses
and by every purpose fuses him,
by every act induces him
to try His splendour out.

God knows what He is about.

Indeed, God does know what He is about - molding us, shaping us, and leading us into greater faithfulness and more radical obedience to Him in mission and ministry.

A Picture of Living the Gospel

Check out this video - Kelly posted the link on her blog and I thought I would put the video here as well. Straton's life is a powerful example of living obediently and ministering faithfully in the way of Jesus. Listen to some of the questions he raises and think through what it might look like to imitate Straton (as he imitates Jesus) in your own context.

James: Living a God-Saturated Life

For those of you who may not attend Levi's House, or South Suburban Christian Church, I thought I would post the introduction to the study guide we have put together for our current sermon series in the book of James. We have titled the series, "Saturated," which comes from the idea that in James we encounter clear, direct teaching on what it "looks like" to live a life completely saturated with Jesus. Here is the intro:

Imagine for a moment, a sponge - a sponge so completely filled with water, that if you so much as brush your finger across it's edge, water will immediately spill out onto your finger and flood whatever surface the sponge happens to be resting on - such a sponge is saturated with water. In similar fashion, the Letter of James paints for us a vivid picture of authentic Christian faith. Authentic faith, according to James, results in God-saturated living - an everyday life so full of God, that Who He is and what He says permeates and transforms every part of who we are. The Letter of James exposes us to the core message of the Gospel of grace and challenges us to seek God's wisdom and guidance in faithfully living as agents of gracious restoration. Our prayer is that God will use this sermon series along with our daily Bible reading, to increasingly shape us into a God-saturated community of people, who are passionately pursuing Jesus, being transformed by His grace, and transforming the world for His glory.

This week we will be digging into James 1:12-18, a passage that focuses in on temptation, sin, and God as the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Check out this link to our online sermons to listen in: http://www.southsuburban.com/audio.html.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

For the past year, I have been moving very slowly through the biography of the 19th century, Scottish pastor, Robert Murray M'Cheyne. The book, Memoir & Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, includes a short biography and a collection of M'Cheyne's letters, sermons, and published writings. Though M'Cheyne struggled with physical maladies most of his life and died just shy of 30 years of age, his memoir, letters, sermons, and devotional writings present an uncommon devotion to Jesus, timeless wisdom, and a unique expression of Christian maturity. His life and thought consistently encourage and challenge me as a young and growing pastor.

Here is a brief description of Mr. M'Cheyne from the preface to the biography:

All who knew him not only saw in him a burning and shining light, but felt also the breathing of the hidden life of God; and there is no narrative that can fully express this peculiarity of the living man. (p.vi)

What an incredible picture of living and ministering faithfully in the way of Jesus! I am so inspired by this brief description of the young pastor - he was a man who lived with vibrant passion and influence for Christ in a way so readily palpable that others would "feel" it and describe him as "breathing the hidden life of God." Though he died over 150 years ago, Mr. M'Cheyne has mentored me through his life and writing.

Over the weekend, I read these words from a letter M'Cheyne wrote to a member of his congregation, who was suffering from a physical illness. His words and questions really tie in to much of what I have been learning as I have been studying James, joy, and suffering. I think the questions he lists are worthy of ongoing, honest, prayerful consideration as we move through hardship and suffering. The title of the letter is "How cares and troubles sanctify."

All His doings are wonderful. It is, indeed, amazing how He makes use of affliction to make us feel His love more...You cannot love trouble for its own sake; bitter must always be bitter and pain must always be pain. God knows you cannot love trouble. Yet for the blessings that it brings, He can make you pray for it. Does trouble work patience in you? Does it lead you closer to the Lord Jesus - to hide deeper in the rock? Does it make you lie passive in His hand, and know no will but His? Thus does patience work experience - an experimental acquaintence with Jesus. Does it bring you a fuller taste of of His sweetness, so that you know Whom you have believed? And does this experience give you a further hope of glory - another anchor cast within the veil? And does this hope give you a heart that cannot be ashamed, because convinced that God has loved you, and will love you to the end? Ah! then you have got the improvement of trouble, if it has led you thus. (p. 278)

1 Peter 1:6-7 speaks similarly of the "improvement of trouble:"

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer many kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of more worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (NIV)

Lord Jesus, help me to embrace and rejoice in trials, hardships and suffering - not in some sadistic, masochistic, or even fatalistic way; rather, through deeply trusting Your promise that You will use adversity to purify my faith - burning away the dross and leaving behind that which is authentic, genuine, and pleasing in Your sight. Amen.

Some Thoughts on Suffering, Joy, and Transformation

At church we are working through a 12 week sermon series in James. Yesterday, I preached from James 1:2-11 - an incredible text, where we, as followers of Christ, are challenged (literally commanded) to respond to hardship, adversity, and suffering with pure joy.  The main idea I tried to communicate yesterday is that we should respond to hardship and suffering with joy, because God uses trials to increase our capacity for Him and transform us spiritually.  As I was preparing to preach last week, I came across several great thoughts on joy, transformation, and a Gospel-centered response to suffering - 

• On the nature of true joy:

Joy is a settled contentment in every situation, or an unnatural reaction of deep, steady, unadulterated and thankful trust in God.   - Derek Tidball

Joy is a pervasive sense of well being.  It is not the same as pleasure, though it is pleasant.  It is deeper and broader than any pleasure. Pleasure and pain are always specific to some particular object or condition, such as eating something you really like (pleasure) or recalling some really foolish thing you did (pain).  But for joy, all is well, even in the midst of suffering and loss.  - Dallas Willard

• On spiritual transformation:

All change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart.  Faith in the gospel restructures our motivation, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world.  Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting.        - Tim Keller

• A gospel-centered response to suffering:

The goal of the gospel is not the gifts that God gives, but rather, God as the gift given to us by grace.  The gospel sees hardship in life as sanctifying affliction that reminds us of Jesus' sufferings and is used by God in love to make us more like Jesus.  - Mark Driscoll

I am so excited to see how the Holy Spirit might possibly use this sermon series from James to further transform the hearts, minds, and lives of our people, their pastors, their neighborhoods, and our community for God's greater glory and for our greater good.

Closing Out The Day With Eugene

This week, I started reading through Eugene Peterson's book, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity.  Enough friends and other pastors have mentioned this book in passing, or on their blogs, for me to finally catch the hint that this is a pretty important read.  Here is a stinging excerpt from the introduction:

For a long time, I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses.

Course I: Creative Plagiarism.  I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom.

Course II: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling.  We would develop your own distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation that conveys and unmistakable aura of sanctity.

Course III: Efficient Office Management.  There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively.  If we return all phone calls within twenty-four hours, answer all the letters within a week, distributing enough carbons to key people so that they know we are on top of things, and have just the right amount of clutter on our desk - not too much, or we appear inefficient, not too little or we appear underemployed - we quickly get the reputation for efficiency that is far more important than anything that we actually do.

Course IV:  Image Projection. Here we would master the half-dozen well-known and easily implemented devices that that create the impression that we are  terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people in the community.  A one-week refresher course each year would introduce new phrases that would convince our parishioners that we are bold innovators on the cutting edge of the megatrends and at the same time solidly rooted in all the traditional values of our sainted ancestors.

(I have been laughing for several years over this trade school training with which I plan to make my fortune.  Recently, though, the joke has backfired on me.  I keep seeing advertisements for institutes and workshops all over the country that invite pastors to sign up for this exact curriculum.  The advertised course offerings are not quite as honestly labeled as mine, but the content appears to be identical - a curriculum that trains pastors to satisfy the current consumer tastes in religion.  I'm not laughing anymore.)  (pp. 7-8)

Neither am I - ouch!  Thanks Eugene - for being a faithful, godly, obedient pastor, who is not enthralled with novelty, driven by popularity, or consumed by consumeristic Christianity.  

The Cross of Christ

During Lent this year, I have decided to read John Stott's book, The Cross of Christ.  This book is on my "Top 10 Books I Frequently Recommend, But Have Never Actually Read" list (I will most likely post the other 9 books on the list sometime soon).  In preparation for several different sermons and a systematic theology class I taught last fall,  I read and referred to pertinent sections of the book, but I have never actually read the entire thing from front to back.  I am excited to read and pray through this great work and share thoughts and reflections on this blog as I move through the coming weeks of Lent.  To that end, here are a couple of great thoughts worth reflecting on : 

"...the cross transforms everything.  It gives us a new, worshipping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering." (p. 17) 

"In daring to write (and read) a book about the cross, there is of course a great danger of presumption.  This is partly because what actually happened  when "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ" is a mystery whose depths we shall spend eternity plumbing; and partly because it would be most unseemly to feign a cool detachment as we contemplate Christ's cross.  For, whether we like it or not, we are involved.  Our sins put him there.  So, far from offering us flattery, the cross undermines our self-righteousness.  We can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit.  And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service." (p. 18)

I pray that as I reflect on the cross this Lenten season, that the Holy Spirit would move powerfully in my heart and fill me with overflowing gratitude and passion to live my own life in Jesus' service.

Morning With The Puritans

This morning, as is the case on many mornings, I began my day reading and praying a few words from my favorite prayer book, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.  Today, I was blessed by the prayer titled, "Fourth Day Morning: True Christianity." Here are a few lines from the latter half of the prayer:

"Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus

makes other interests a shadow and a dream.

Keep us from intermittent attention

to eternal things;

Save us from the delusion of those

who fail to go far in religion,

who are concerned but not converted,

who have another heart but not a new one,

who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ.

Let us judge our Christianity,

not only by our dependence on Jesus,

but by our love to him

our conformity to him,

our knowledge of him.

Give us a religion that is both real,

and progressive,

that holds on its way and grows stronger,

that lives and works in the Spirit,

that profits by every correction,

and is injured by no carnal indulgence."

After reading these words, I prayed earnestly that God would keep me ever mindful of my proclivity to judge my own followership of Jesus by metrics other than increased dependence, love, conformity, and knowledge of Jesus, His finished work on the cross, and the salvation He has graciously offered me.  I prayed that the Holy Spirit would empower me to return daily, in humility, to a fresh, heart level consideration of these truths.  

As I closed out my morning prayer time, I prayed also that the Holy Spirit would move mightily in the church I serve, that individually and corporately, our community would be delivered from the delusions of "being concerned but not converted, having other hearts but not new ones, having light, zeal and confidence, but not having Christ," that, with hearts bowed low in conviction and repentance, we might more fully honor our Father and in greater measure, experience the joy of finding our ultimate identity and satisfaction in Him.  

Gospel Longings

This afternoon, as I spent a bit of time basking in the warmth of a March Tuesday in Colorado, nourishing my caffiene addiction with a tall cup of St. Arbucks' finest, I wrote down a few thoughts on the riches of God's grace and the profundity of the Gospel. These words were originally offered to Jesus, through a written prayer of thanksgiving and adoration in my Moleskine journal - I am not sure how well they will translate into this format, but I will give it a shot.

More and more, as I spend time reading the Scriptures, I find myself captivated by the simple profundity of the Gospel and by the unceasing riches of God's grace. At times, the far-reaching ends of each seem well beyond my capacity to grasp intellectually, live in practically, and minister out of faithfully. These simple phrases: Christ came, Christ died, Christ was raised, Christ will come again contain an abundant, treasure-store of life and eternity-changing truth - truth, which has fostered a series of "Gospel-longings" within me:

I long for God to bless me with sufficient wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to truly "know Christ and Him crucified." I long for the Holy Spirit to fill me and lead me in greater measure, that I might more fully work in and live out the Gospel - that I might, in greater measure, become more like Jesus in my thoughts, attitudes, motivations, and actions. I long to more fully understand, embrace, and rest in "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus." I long to more fully live, love and minister out of the reality that I have been graciously accepted by my Heavenly Father - not because of who I am, or because of what I have done, or have managed not to do - but because of Who Jesus is, and what He has done on my behalf on the cross.

I long for these truths to bury themselves deep within the core of who I am and work in a miraculously, transformative way - I long for a Holy Spirit driven, inside-out, restoration project of my heart, life, and ministry.