One Of The Best Quotes That I've Read Recently

I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only that I see it, but by it I see everything else.

~ CS Lewis

(HT: Piper on Twitter)

Why Are You Called A Christian?

Why are you called a Christian?

“Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in His anointing, so that I may as prophet confess His Name, as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him, and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all creatures.”

- The Heidelberg Catechism

(HT: Of First Importance)

A Recent "Tweet" From Piper

Here is a line from Piper on Twitter.....

"The reputation of Christianity in the wildly successful first century: “Everywhere it is spoken AGAINST.” (Acts 28:22)."

It's tough to deal with rejection, no doubt, but maybe it's time we have a wildly successful century of Christianity again and be spoken against for the right reasons.

'New Life' To God For Eternity

“The atoning death of Christ, and that alone, has presented sinners as righteous in God’s sight; the Lord Jesus has paid the full penalty of their sins, and clothed them with His perfect righteousness before the judgment seat of God.

But Christ has done for Christians even far more than that. He has given to them not only a new and right relation to God, but a new life in God’s presence for evermore. He has saved them from the power as well as from the guilt of sin.

The New Testament does not end with the death of Christ; it does not end with the triumphant words of Jesus on the Cross, “It is finished.” The death was followed by the resurrection, and the resurrection like the death was for our sakes.

Jesus rose from the dead into a new life of glory and power, and into that life He brings those for whom He died. The Christian, on the basis of Christ’s redeeming work, not only has died unto sin, but also lives unto God.”

~ J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism

(HT: Of First Importance)

A Domesticated Jesus?

I read this on Tullian Tchividjian's blog.....it is taken from Kevin DeYoung's sermon at a recent conference. It's a pretty good take on our 'cultural Jesus'.

"There are a lot of popular versions of Jesus in culture. There’s a Republican Jesus who’s for free-market economics. There’s a Democrat Jesus against Wall Street and Wal-Mart. There’s a therapist Jesus who helps us cope with life’s problems. There’s a Starbucks Jesus who loves fair trade coffee and Apple computers. There’s a touchdown Jesus who helps Christians run faster and jump higher. There’s the martyr Jesus who died so that we could feel sorry for him. There’s nice guy Jesus. There’s spirituality Jesus. There’s good example Jesus.

And then there’s Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter says, “You are the Christ of God.”

Most people have a shrunken, domesticated Christ who is safe, easy and manageable instead of the real Christ. The closer you get to him the more you love him and the more you fear him. God is calling you to stop playing games and to stop making excuses and to open your eyes to see Jesus as the Christ. He is more glorious and loving and gracious and powerful and more wonderfully terrifying that any of us can ever imagine."

The 'Acceptable' Sin--Gossip

Ray Ortlund defines one of the church's most popular and acceptable sins:

Gossip is our dark moral fervor eagerly seeking gratification.

Gossip makes us feel important and needed as we declare our judgments.

It makes us feel included to know the inside scoop.

It makes us feel powerful to cut someone else down to size, especially someone we are jealous of.

It makes us feel righteous, even responsible, to pronounce someone else guilty.

Gossip can feel good in multiple ways. But it is of the flesh, not of the Spirit.

. . . Gossip is a sin rarely disciplined but often more socially destructive than the sensational sins.

Gossip leaves a wide trail of devastation wherever and however it goes – word of mouth, email, blogging, YouTube.

It erodes trust and destroys morale.

It creates a social environment of suspicion where everyone must wonder what is being said behind their backs and whether appearances of friendship are sincere.

It ruins hard-won reputations with cowardly but effective weapons of misrepresentation.

It manipulates people into taking sides when no such action is necessary or beneficial.

It unleashes the dark powers of psychological transference, doing violence to the gossiper, to the one receiving the gossip and to the person being spoken against.

It makes the Body of Christ look like the Body of Antichrist – destroyers rather than healers.

It exhausts the energies we would otherwise devote to positive witness.

It robs our Lord of the Church he deserves.

It exposes the hostility in our hearts and discredits the gospel in the eyes of the world. Then we wonder why we don’t see more conversions, why “the ground is so hard.”

(HT: Justin Taylor)

The Habit Of Enjoying Adversity

The title sounds a little crazy, but this article by Chambers is straight-up God-centered living!

"We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that "the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of "myself" that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, "Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this." Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.

You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30 ). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to "supply all your need" ( Philippians 4:19 ).

Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you."

Wow!

Has God Dealt 'Bountifully' With You? Then Sing!

Psalm 13 is a common Psalm. Here we find the Psalter going before God in a state of being 'overwhelmed with sorrow'.

The reality is we find ourselves discouraged at times. God commanded Joshua not to be discouraged (Joshua 1.9) and the reason is because of God's presence with him. Every time discouragement arises we should quickly seek to repent and then look to God, because He is present. He is a refuge to those who need Him. And I cannot imagine a moment in my life where I am not in need of Him, so therefore He is a constant refuge. His presence delivers us from discouragement and gives us confidence in Him to stand firm in order to face any challenge He sends our way. And with His presence and bountiful blessings comes joyful shouting.....or singing!

Psalm 13 begins with sorrow, but ends with joyful singing....listen to how Albert Barnes describes Psalm 13,

"The psalm closes, therefore, with expressions of joy, thankfulness, triumph. Though it begins with depression and sadness, it ends with joy. This is often observable in the Psalms. In the commencement it often occurs that the mind is overwhelmed with sorrow, and there is earnest pleading with God. Light, under the influence of prayer, breaks in gradually upon the soul. The clouds disperse; the darkness disappears. New views of the goodness and mercy of God are imparted; an assurance of his favor is brought to the soul; confidence in his mercy springs up in the heart; and the psalm that began with sorrowful complaining ends with the language of praise and of joy.

So, too, it is in our own experience. Afflicted, depressed, and sad, we go to God. Everything seems dark. We have no peace - no clear and cheerful views - no joy. As we wait upon God, new views of his character, his mercy, his love, break upon the mind. The clouds open. Light beams upon us. Our souls take hold of the promises of God, and we, who went to His throne sad and desponding, rise from our devotions filled with praise and joy, submissive to the trials which made us so sad, and rejoicing in the belief that all things will work together for our good."

A few hymns to sing...

I know Whom I Have Believed
I Need The Every Hour
Blessed Assurance

The Truth About You Is Glorious!

“Do not worry about what you feel. The truth about you is glorious. If you are in Christ, rise to it ‘o’er sin and care. Take your full salvation and triumph and prevail.”

~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression

(HT: Of First Importance)

Al Mohler On The 'Swine Flu'

I listened to Al Mohler's radio program today and a large part of his show focused in on the current 'swine flu' that has been causing rapid global attention. Some quick facts:

There have been cases reported in Russia, Europe, Mexico and U.S.

There is currently 159 deaths related to the swine flu in Mexico. The Average age is 14.

There is reported about 113 cases of the swine flu world-wide (outside of Mexico).

In the U.S. there have been 64 cases reported.

How many people die from influenza a year in the U.S.? There are 36,000 deaths directly related to influenza, but mostly among the older generation. So to have the average age in Mexico be around 14 may be somewhat alarming.

The reason why I think Al Mohler is really bringing this to the forefront now is not because he is attempting to scare people crazy. He wants Christians to prepare themselves on how they are going to respond if this gets any larger or if it 'hits home'.

So, what do you do if this becomes an epidemic or worse a pandemic? Do you stay home? Do you cut off everyone? Do you begin to look at family, friends, neighbors, as potential threats? What do you say tomorrow when your neighbor asks you, 'what do you think about this 'swine flu'? What do you say when your kids ask you about it? Relatives?

We have been somewhat protected in America with our technology and modern medicine. But this is not something that is new to the church, the body of Christ. The church throughout the ages have long been engaged with such trials. All kinds of viruses, plagues, and epidemics.

Martin Luther said, that if one would leave his neighbors in a time of of their illness, simply because of fear of contagion, then you would leave Christ or His mother laid low by illness....he went on to say that everybody that would be glad to be of service and help for Christ or to his mother and yet they would leave their neighbor....he said, that if you do not wish to care, to serve your neighbor, you can be sure that if Christ lay there instead you would not do so either and you would let him die there. Those are nothing but illusions on your part which puff you up with vain pride, namely, that you would really serve Christ if He were there in person. Those are nothing but lies. Whoever wants to serve Christ in person would surely serve his neighbor as well.

So one of the big questions and issues back in the plague era was, does a priest stay with the community? Does a pastor stay with his church in a time of great trial? Do you go in to minister to someone and care for their soul, if you know that you're likely to get the disease?