Grace

What is your understanding of Grace? Does it absolutely humble you? Have you completely bent your knee under the understanding that you do not deserve the grace that has been dealt you?

Grace is given so we can magnify Christ's goodness. It is not given so we can decide what we think fair is. We do not want to ask for fair. We wouldn't want fair... we deserve eternal damnation for our willing rebellion against our good God. So getting what we deserve is not what I am after... I am after a deeper appreciation of grace. Let me point to a couple scriptures that help me to understand this:

"it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:5-8).

"he did this [namely extended grace] to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory- even us, whom he also called..." (Romans 9:23-24).

"then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the lamb, who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" 

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, singing:

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!""

All of eternity we are going to look on The Lamb who was slain because of our sin and we are going to worship Him because He so graciously set His affections on us and made a way. We will not boast in heaven save the cross of Christ. There will be no ground to stand on save the ground of the Cross. The only boast and the only praise will be so intimately tied to the work of the Cross that to boast on your own achievements would be to emulate the Great Serpent. We are going to sing the song of the slaughtered Lamb that conquered death and stands! If that doesn't make your heart leap for joy then beg God that he would open your blind eyes to see the beauty and beg him to fibrillate your dull heart. When grace conquers it fills with joy and praise. Are you experiencing the riches of his kindness and magnification of the One who is Worthy because he had mercy on someone so unfit for mercy... you and I. Lord, I am a sinner. Lord have mercy on me. Let grace dwell in me deeply.

The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.

God help us to marvel at the King of Grace. Help us to appreciate what He achieved for us at great cost on Calvary. Prepare us for our role of eternal celebration. Cultivate in us a spirit of gratitude.

Emmanuel's Land: The Sands of Time are Sinking

Here is a Hymn of the Rev. Samuel Rutherford and it is so beautiful that I have to share it with you. I love the fourth portion of this!

1. The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for -
The fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark had been the midnight
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

2. The king there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen:
It were a well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land

3. O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted
More deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

4. The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.

5. O I am my Beloved’s
And my Beloved is mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His house of wine
I stand upon His merit -
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel’s land.

My Bad

There is a little thing that I often forget to do: Pray. I know that sounds dumb and in fact, I am embarrassed even as I type this, that I am a youth pastor that neglects prayer. Yesterday, I was working on the message for the jr high youth group and I was beating my head against the text. It is a difficult one (2 Thess 2). I took tons of notes, wrote the entire chapter out by hand, tried to determine themes, wrote out some outlines, determined the thrust of the text, wrestled with what some of it means, and came up with what I thought would be a good treatment of the chapter.

As I began to preach it, I realized that nothing was happening. I was talking but the kids weren't engaged at all. Actually, they were more engaged with a student and leader scuffle that was taking place on one side of the room. The concepts that I was trying to preach seemed to be disjointed. My thoughts and words were failing me and I don't think Christ was magnified like he deserves. I struggled through and droned on the one verse that had any effect on me in preparation: "The Lord Jesus will overcome by the breath of his mouth and will destroy by the splendor of his coming" (2 Thess 2:8). I probably said that verse like 10 times. In fact, I didn't have much else to say. As I finished I had the wonderful feeling like finishing ministry. Anyone who preaches can probably relate. It is the feeling that it would be nice to clean toilettes for a living. 

Here is what I thought about on my way home last night. "[The apostles] devoted themselves to the ministry of the Word" (Acts 6:4). I left out an important word: Prayer. [The apostles] devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word"(Acts 6:4). Without the word prayer I wonder if we succeed in being Pharisees. Lovers of the law and completely reliant on our own strengths. "Scoot over God I've got this." No wonder sometimes God humbles me. I am bold enough to leave God out of the equation and it should not be surprising that He would leave me to myself to show my inadequacies... But, praise God that He doesn't entirely leave me to myself. Even though I neglect Him he does not neglect me or His ministry. "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (2 Tim 2:13). Regardless of my neglect of Him He still uses my weakness to demonstrate His might! He takes a message that hardly makes sense and maybe, by His grace, uses it to transform students.

Here is the point... we should pray much more. I know that is such a cliche saying. But it is absolutely true. If spent more time in prayer then I would radiate the glory of God because I sat in His presence, I would be more fit to teach others of Him, I would be more empowered to do what I do not have the skills to accomplish, and lives would be rescued for the glory of God.

Awe Man!?

So I was just convicted... I am reading a book by T. David Gordon titled Why Johnny Can't Preach (PS terrible idea to read a book on bad preaching when you have to preach that night). I will just quote him at length as he makes observations about what the content of the sermon should be made up of and he illustrates a few negative tendencies. Here is a negative tendency that he points out and I display regularly:

"Some of the neo-Puritans have apparently determined  that the purpose and essence of Christian preaching is to persuade people that they do not, in fact, believe. The subtitle of each of their sermons could accurately be: "I Know You Think You Are a Christian, but You Are Not." This brand of preaching constantly suggests that if a person does not always love attending church, always look forward to reading the Bible, or family worship, or prayer, then the person is probably not a believer. To the outsider, it appears patently curious to take an opportunity to promote faith as an opportunity to declare its nonexistence; but to the insider, this doesn't appear foolish at all, and people routinely do it.

The hearer falls into one of two categories: one category of listener assumes that the minister is talking about someone else, and he rejoices (as did the Pharisee over the tax collector) to hear "the other guy" getting straightened out. Another category of listener eventually capitulates and says: "Okay, I'm not a believer; have it your way. I'm just a horrible, terrible person who's going to hell." But since the sermon mentions Christ only in passing (if at all), the sermon says nothing of the adequacy of Christ as Redeemer, and therefore does nothing to nourish or build faith in him. So true unbelievers are given nothing that might make believers of them, and many true believers are persuaded they are not believers, and the consolations of Christian faith are taken from them" (Why Johnny Can't Preach, pg 83).

What to do with Sin?

Kill it. 

"There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed on; and it will be so whilst we live in this world"... in short: Be killing sin or it will be killing you. - John Owen from The Mortification of Sin

The method is two fold:

1) Love God

"The love of God is the cure for sin." -Richard Baxter

Do everything within your ability to love God more than sin! He is greater and better than any momentary sin (ps. they have eternal consequences if not forgiven). This leads to my next suggestion:

 
2) Use your sword: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17).

Know and love your bible. Use it to see the glory of God in the face of Christ(2 Cor 4:6). It will swell your heart with love for Christ and make sin seem what it is... a plunging of a spear into the side of your Savior. 

Quote the word in the face of temptation. If the Son of God used this as His strategy for the temptation of the Devil, how much more desperately do we need to employ this strategy?!

"Sins will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, disquieting, but if let alone, if not continually mortified, it will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, soul-destroying sins." -John Owen

So... what sins have you killed today? If it takes you a minute to think of any that you killed or even can think of, then the subtle killers are probably killing you subtly.

Memoirs

Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor by D.A. Carson

This is a superb book that I almost forgot to recommend and that would have been a mistake on my part and if you didn't hear about it from anywhere else you would be robbed of a great read. Well, the timing of reading this book was priceless for me. I have been on a Spurgeon kick lately. He is a hero of mine and his counsel to the students at his pastors college which can be found in All Around Ministry, Lectures to My Students, or the first six chapters of The Soul Winner, is incredible! I just finished a biography on him and it was superb but I couldn't help but feel like Spurgeon is a little too good. He is one of a kind and God's anointing on him was special. So, for an ordinary youth pastor it was refreshing to read about an ordinary pastor! 

This leads me to an observation that I have been aware of since my last trip to Africa; most faithful ministers go unnoticed. They don't write books, they don't pastor mega churches, and they don't have the glitz and glamour that draws attention to them. They are faithful gospel ministers. And for the most part they are ordinary. So, it was a breath of fresh air for me to read about Tom Carson. He is spectacular in his own right but it wasn't because he marketed himself or pastored a big church or even saw lots of conversions every year. In fact, his ministry might appear depressing. But, he was faithful and I know he has a bigger reward than most now that he is in glory. So read and be blessed. Not everyone lives a missionary life or a mega church pastor life, but we are all called to lead a faithful life.

What others are saying:

“How can the application of a Bible-saturated mind (Don’s) to a Bible-saturated life (Tom’s) produce an even more helpful story to encourage pastors? Let the ‘mind’ be carried on a river of love because the ‘life’ is his father’s. Then add a kind of narrative creativity. That’s how.”
John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

“A rare and precious gift from one of evangelicalism’s greatest scholars. How generous of Dr. Carson to bequeath his father’s quiet legacy to us all.”
C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

“Carson strikes at the heart of what’s wrong when we forget that, as servants, we were meant to live ordinarily under the gospel of grace. Read this book. You will be deeply encouraged in your life and ministry.”
Michel Lemaire, Pastor of Eglise Baptiste de la Foi, Drummondville, 1984-2005

“This personal testimony is a healthy reminder of heavenly priorities in the pastorate and Christian ministry.”
Pierre Constant, Associate Pastor, Eglise Baptiste Montclair de Hull, 1982-1997

“Read this book and be strengthened. You hold in your hands history, humor, and an amazing amount of wisdom for the Christian life (especially for pastors!).”
Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Acts 13: Worship, Prayer, and Fasting The Road to Greatness

What is your take on prayer? Francis Chan, Pastor and author, says of his staff, "if you're not praying at least one hour a day, let me know and I'll find someone else who will." What if you spent an hour in undistracted prayer each day? Would that be a waste of time? For the rest of the world this sort of 'inactivity' would be considered a waste... but for the Christian there is nothing more essential and more productive than sitting at the mercy seat.

Prayer is the power horse of the Christian life. That's what was happening in Acts 13. "While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting... after they fasted and prayed, [the believers] placed their hands on [Paul and Silas] and sent them off" (Acts 13:1-3). So we see a few things happening that led to their send off. First, they were worshiping. They were gathered together praising God. Secondly, they were fasting. Fasting is a purposeful refusal of something to get something greater. Fasting is a forsaking of things to gain a supremely valuable thing... Christ. And they prayed. I can't imagine this being a canned prayer. I bet there were tears. I bet there was meditation. I bet there was guidance and direction from on high. 

Those were the precursors to the greatest missionaries being sent out. Worship, praying, and fasting led to 14 of the most productive years in history where Paul was preaching Christ crucified to as many as possible so that he might win as many as possible. This little paragraph in the bible is the beginning of a send off, it is the fire that sparked in the heart of my hero the Apostle Paul. And, the result of these few lines in the text is a colossal life of suffering, rejoicing, ministry, and the gospel. 

Do not neglect these items: worship, fasting, and prayer. It is through these things that God might be enlisting you to greatness. And it is by these things that you might recieve training and equipping for a service you can't perform on your own.

The Outcome

So after our long day of planning each of our respective areas of ministry came up with a statement for what we are trying to achieve by the grace of God. Here is what student ministry at Central is trying to accomplish:

To develop experiences that transform students [into Christlikeness], and to mobilize them to change the world.

That is our statement in its preliminary form. But our goal is simple. The first part could be explained by looking at Colossians 1:28;

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

So the experiences that we desire to create are marked by a proclamation of Christ and a teaching about him. We also admonish the students. Admonish has two elements that apply 1.) A warning against sin and 2.) an urging to a duty, namely loving Christ. With the goal ultimately being that at the end we present students complete or perfect in Christ. Those are the experiences we want to create at youth group.

The second half of the statement; "...and to mobilize them to change the world" aims to create a gospel community of young people that love and serve and display Christ to the world. 

At the end of the day, if we accomplish our goal by the grace of God, I am sure God will be pleased and we will be faithful gospel workers.

Planning

Our team is going to do a little brain storming today... it is a great idea to think through strategy.

Proverbs 14:22
Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Unfashionable

Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian

Have you ever noticed that some Christians are indistinguishable from the rest of the world? Or on the other end of the spectrum have you noticed that some completely seperate themselves? In this book Tullian Tchividjian sets out to navigate the readers through the murky waters of interacting with culture and the world. All Christians need to think through this critical issue. Tullian does a great job of clearly explaining from the bible what it means to be in the world but not of the world. This is a great resource for anyone that claims they are a christian and interacts with the world... (all of us).

Here is what others are saying:

D. A. Carson: "It is not easy to stand athwart the tides of the culture and challenge them without sounding either terribly prissy or hopelessly out of date. How can a thoughtful Christian be genuinely contemporary while never succumbing to the merely faddish and temporary? The challenges are enormous - but they are also tied to the most elementary tenets of Christian faithfulness. Tullian Tchividjian is a helpful and engaging guide through these troubled waters."

J. I. Packer: "Plainly, powerfully, and pastorally, Unfashionable gives a birds-eye view of the real Christian life - Christ-centered, church-committed, kingdom-contoured, future-focused, and counter-cultural all the way. It makes for a truly nutritious read."

Acts 12- Deflecting Praise

How do you deal with praise? What happens in your soul when someone says something great about you? Herod gives us a great example of what not to do... "On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died" (Acts 12:21-23). 

What can we make of this? The first thing that I want to say is that there is a parallel between this text and the text of Isaiah 14:12-14 where Satan was cast down because he thought he will ascend to heaven and his throne will be above the stars of God. Pride. It is the deadliest of sins. It blinds us of our need for God and robs God of His godness. It places yourself on the throne and is absolute tyranny of the King of Kings. 

When Herod received the praise of man for his god-like stature, you have to read into the text the sin of pride. "He did not give praise to God, [therefore] an angel of the Lord struck him down (vs. 23). So, Herod enjoyed the praise. He took it to heart. He ascribed to himself the stature that he obtained. Herod, in fact, was quite the leader. He did accomplish many things with his life. He had built infrastructures that we still marvel at in the twenty-first century. He even constructed a mountain!? So he must have felt that he in some degree was a god. He did accomplish so much that maybe the people were right... wrong! So he was layed low.

This is a serious text. Because, if we are honest, we all climb on the throne. It is my favorite past time. Sitting on the throne and addressing people as the authority in my life is natural. I do a lot of great stuff, I deserve praise, I'm the king. Be honest, you do this too. So, why is the real king so gracious to us?

What is astonishing about this text is that I am not dead yet. That Herod got what he deserved but I haven't. I am a tyrant. I am a rebel against the King and yet he is so patient and gracious towards me. That is why the Bible tells us that His loving kindness draws us to Him (Jeremiah 31:3). When we see our rebellion and know that our offense is punishable by death, it makes us realize that His dealings with us are totally unfair and unwarranted. He does the opposite of what we would expect. He loves us, forgives us, redeems us, and clothes us with honor. That's why we praise Him. He is so upside down and backwards. 

So, next time you receive praise, think about that every good gift is from above, everything you have every experienced that is good has been a grace to you. You know the King and He is so loving and gracious. So, worship Him and deflect all praise to Him, the One who is worthy.

Lord Let None of My Words Fall

When I talk to serious Christians and nudge them towards leaving their profession and pursuing full-time ministry usually their response is something like, "NO WAY!" And then they go on to explain that it is too heavy a responsibility. That it would be easy to lead people astray and they do not want that responsibility.

I understand their concern... I write blogs semi regularly, I speak at least twice a week, and beyond that I counsel people. So, that is a lot of words... a lot of words that I hope are right! I hope that I am not doing a poor job of explaining the Book to others. I hope I am rightly dividing the Word so that I don't have any need to be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). But I admit it can be a heavy task.

As I was reading the Bible in my devotional time I saw something that stood out to me. "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground... The Lord continued to reveal himself to Samuel through his word" (1 Samuel 3:19,21) So, for Samuel their was a revealing of the Lord through the Word of the Lord and then there was a speaking that did not fall to the ground. Verse 20 says that everyone perceived Samuel to be a prophet. God was using this young Samuel to communicate God's own truths to people. And, God did not let a word of Samuel fall to the ground... What does that mean? Could it mean that God mastered Samuel's tongue so that he never spoke an out of place word? Could it mean that God guarded Samuel's tongue to help him always speak truthfully? I desperately want this in my life. I want God's mastering power to rule my tongue. So that when I speak the words are true and faithful to the Word of words, the Bible. 

James teaches us this:

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. (James 3:1-2)

So let me end by praying that God would guard my tongue. That he would so master my heart that I wouldn't speak any word that lead people astray. Lord keep my words from falling to the ground. Gaurd the hearts and minds of the students from anything I say or do that is not inline with your Word. Amen.

What is Hell Like?

Ashley was in town yesterday and we went to our usual hangout locale where we can get great coffee and great food. We were talking about the students and about youth group on Sunday. She asked a brilliant question, "do you think they understand hell?" I told her that I thought so and that I make it a point to be real honest about hell and my understanding of it. But then Ash talked about how her dad explained it to her when she was younger... it was profound and I will do my best to re hash what she said.

Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). That means that laughter and friendships and relationships and joy and smiling and everything that you love comes from our heavenly Father. To be in hell means to be eternally separated from Him and His good gifts. Imagine for eternity never smiling, never having a moment of joy, never experiencing the feeling of being right with God, never having someone ask you how your day is going, never being able to laugh, or even feel comfortable. Never ever for a moment experiencing any of the joys that you have come to know in your lifetime. It sounds horrible. It sounds absolutely terrible.

That is why when Jesus explains it in Luke 16 the man in hell is in torment and begs for even just a drop of water(vs. 24). And he pleads that they could warn his brothers so they too will not come to 'this place of torment' (vs. 28). 

Friends, hell is misery. It is a separation from your loving Father and everything good you have ever experienced. Think of hell often and let your knowledge of hell and your love and awareness of the Giver of all good gifts be a motivation to share the news of salvation.

Devotional

Valley of Vision

I wanted to inform you of a great book that I recently started reading as a devotional. It is a collection of prayers from the Puritans and it is phenomenal... If you don't believe me then let me just share one of the prayers with you and see if it doesn't stir your soul to a deeper conviction of sin and greater love for God:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

   hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

   thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

   that the way down is the way up,

   that to be low is to be high,

   that the broken heart is the healed heart,

   that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

   that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

   that to have nothing is to possess all,

   that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

   that to give is to receive,

   that the valley is the place of vision.

 

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

   deepest wells,

   and the deeper the wells the brighter

   thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

   Thy life in my death,

   that every good work or thought found in me

   thy joy in my sorrow,

   thy grace in my sin,

   thy riches in my poverty

   thy glory in my valley.