The gospel is so simple that simple children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.Charles Hodge
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
quotpourri
Friday, May 21, 2010
misunderstanding
So, I've been wrestling with this thought for several weeks but (until now?) have not been able to come up with the concise expression I wanted. The idea is this: I've been a believer for a long time now, and while God has brought me a long way from the mire that was my life without Him, He is showing me areas of my life where I thought I had improved (whatever that means) but haven't, at least not as much as I might like. To illustrate, let me pick on some great passages of Scripture.
I've long known that if one stands on the street corner in downtown America and asks various people, "Do you know a verse from the Bible?" the answer will often be "yes," and frequently the known verse will be John 3:16. Many can recite it, but therein lies a frustration: It rolls off the tongue with little or no thought as to the enormity of what is being expressed. Even (or maybe especially) the first six words: "For God so loved the world..." Because we can so easily say it without hearing what we are saying, when I want to share God's love with someone, I like to point them to Romans 5:6-10, and expecially verse 8, which expresses basically the same idea as that fabulous verse in the Gospel of John.
One can get to know something (or someone) so well that it is taken for granted, not appreciated or no longer valued as it should be.
Now, consider another well-known passage of Scripture:
I have known and loved these verses for a long, long, long, long time now, but recently it came to me just how much I do lean on my understanding in so many things. To lean on one's own understanding (may I say, knowledge) lies in opposition to the walk of faith which is pleasing to God. As Henri Nouwen said,
I need Him to show me where the value and pursuit of knowledge necessarily ends (or better, yields to) the heart-felt faith and trust which is the basis for living dependently on Him.
Understanding and control are sought-after commodities in this world; we think that they are our best, or perhaps only, defense against the myriad problems and trials that characterize life on this earth. Always, the world is upside down from God's plan and way; "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways." (Isaiah 55:8) He may not calm the storm (although He can,) but he can calm my heart and fears and anxiety in the midst of any storm. "But I need help, not platitudes!" As has been said, let go and let God.
I've long known that if one stands on the street corner in downtown America and asks various people, "Do you know a verse from the Bible?" the answer will often be "yes," and frequently the known verse will be John 3:16. Many can recite it, but therein lies a frustration: It rolls off the tongue with little or no thought as to the enormity of what is being expressed. Even (or maybe especially) the first six words: "For God so loved the world..." Because we can so easily say it without hearing what we are saying, when I want to share God's love with someone, I like to point them to Romans 5:6-10, and expecially verse 8, which expresses basically the same idea as that fabulous verse in the Gospel of John.
One can get to know something (or someone) so well that it is taken for granted, not appreciated or no longer valued as it should be.
Now, consider another well-known passage of Scripture:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5,6 (NASB)
I have known and loved these verses for a long, long, long, long time now, but recently it came to me just how much I do lean on my understanding in so many things. To lean on one's own understanding (may I say, knowledge) lies in opposition to the walk of faith which is pleasing to God. As Henri Nouwen said,
I often wonder if my knowledge about God has not become my greatest stumbling block to my knowledge of God.
I need Him to show me where the value and pursuit of knowledge necessarily ends (or better, yields to) the heart-felt faith and trust which is the basis for living dependently on Him.
Understanding and control are sought-after commodities in this world; we think that they are our best, or perhaps only, defense against the myriad problems and trials that characterize life on this earth. Always, the world is upside down from God's plan and way; "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways." (Isaiah 55:8) He may not calm the storm (although He can,) but he can calm my heart and fears and anxiety in the midst of any storm. "But I need help, not platitudes!" As has been said, let go and let God.
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.
Augustine
Sunday, May 9, 2010
mom's the word
I just felt like I wanted to say "Happy Mother's Day," not only to my wife, the mother of my children, but to others as well. My own mother went home to be with the Lord in 1986; I do miss her. My wife's mother lives next door to us, and she is a dear lady--one more way that I consider myself so blessed.
An old Jewish proverb goes:
Erroneous theology, but hey, I love the sentiment! So, Happy Mother's Day!
An old Jewish proverb goes:
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
Erroneous theology, but hey, I love the sentiment! So, Happy Mother's Day!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
more sand
Sometimes I amaze myself. What I mean by that is despite whatever I've learned (or re-learned) or how much I've grown (or better, how much God has grown me,) I still encounter amazing pockets of foolishness and even stupidity within myself. Sometimes I think that the only real improvement is in more quickly recognizing and acknowledging these things.
Recently I've come to recognize more clearly the erroneous dependencies I have on people around me. Resumption of writing this blog has been one of the big eye-openers; also, the behavior of some that I have had high regard for, and my associated reactions, has been unsettling. The ongoing change at my church has also served to highlight some of this for me. As I have written, I believe that this is an inevitable result of not keeping or having our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Anyway, here is another quote relevant to this subtle selfishness.
Recently I've come to recognize more clearly the erroneous dependencies I have on people around me. Resumption of writing this blog has been one of the big eye-openers; also, the behavior of some that I have had high regard for, and my associated reactions, has been unsettling. The ongoing change at my church has also served to highlight some of this for me. As I have written, I believe that this is an inevitable result of not keeping or having our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Anyway, here is another quote relevant to this subtle selfishness.
You must not lose confidence in God because you lost confidence in your pastor. If our confidence in God had to depend upon our confidence in any human person, we would be on shifting sand.
Francis Schaeffer
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
if you please
You know, lately I've had several things washing around in the back of my mind as potential blog topics. This morning, the following quote appeared on one of the quotes websites that I watch.
I had asked the Lord to lay on my heart what to write about next. Thank you, Lord!
Last week, a friend and I were having coffee, and our discussion arrived at the acknowledgment that almost every believer, regardless of goal or claim, still cares a great deal about what other people think. I certainly include myself in this (to my chagrin,) as I alluded to in one of last week's posts. Before we come to know Jesus, it is people we look to for [perfect] love and acceptance, a habit that is difficult at best to break. These attentions we give to others manifest themselves in amazing ways--how we dress, what kind of car one drives, the movies we say we like...
What we say we believe.
Several times in Scripture, the apostle Paul (in context) draws a distinction between pleasing men and pleasing God. For example, in Galatians 1:10, we read "... If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." I think that even as our mindset changes (Romans 12:2) we tend to confuse serving people (love your neighbor as yourself) with pleasing people. It is easy to confuse loving a person (seeking what is in that person's best interest) with making that person happy; very often the two do not overlap at all. When I take my eyes off of Jesus, I'm in grave danger of catering to the reaction, i.e. acting to make someone happy, rather than letting Christ live through me to love and serve that person. But it takes God in Christ growing me to know the difference, even though it might seem so simple. Trusting God to grow me and live His life through me is the basis of a life pleasing to Him (Hebrews 11:6.)
Cure yourself of the condition of bothering about how you look to other people. Be concerned only . . . with the idea God has of you.
Miguel de Unamuno
I had asked the Lord to lay on my heart what to write about next. Thank you, Lord!
Last week, a friend and I were having coffee, and our discussion arrived at the acknowledgment that almost every believer, regardless of goal or claim, still cares a great deal about what other people think. I certainly include myself in this (to my chagrin,) as I alluded to in one of last week's posts. Before we come to know Jesus, it is people we look to for [perfect] love and acceptance, a habit that is difficult at best to break. These attentions we give to others manifest themselves in amazing ways--how we dress, what kind of car one drives, the movies we say we like...
What we say we believe.
Several times in Scripture, the apostle Paul (in context) draws a distinction between pleasing men and pleasing God. For example, in Galatians 1:10, we read "... If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." I think that even as our mindset changes (Romans 12:2) we tend to confuse serving people (love your neighbor as yourself) with pleasing people. It is easy to confuse loving a person (seeking what is in that person's best interest) with making that person happy; very often the two do not overlap at all. When I take my eyes off of Jesus, I'm in grave danger of catering to the reaction, i.e. acting to make someone happy, rather than letting Christ live through me to love and serve that person. But it takes God in Christ growing me to know the difference, even though it might seem so simple. Trusting God to grow me and live His life through me is the basis of a life pleasing to Him (Hebrews 11:6.)
Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.
C. S. Lewis
We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.
John Stott
Sunday, April 25, 2010
quotpourri
Why do so many people have struggles when it comes to prayer? ... Men and women were originally created to desire communion with God. But the effects of sin have dulled most of that original human desire. Sin turned a natural activity into an unnatural funciton.
Gordon McDonald
Thursday, April 22, 2010
prayer
I noticed today that my friend Mike, in the context of a recent post, made the comment, "One thing I've been thinking about is how much I need time for prayer. I think I need it more now than I ever have." As I have shared in the past, I breakfast with several men weekly for Bible study and fellowship, and [coincidentally] this morning we read Luke 6:12-19. Verse 12 says, "It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God." Wow. We spent time discussing this, and when I later read Mike's post, what conviction was brought to bear on me!
Last year I read George Müller's autobiography, and one of my reactions to it was the notion that I don't know how to pray at all; prayer was central and primary in Müller's life. I wonder if the disciple who asked of Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1) also felt as I do sometimes. What an encouragement to read in Romans where the apostle Paul reminds us that we do not know how to pray as we should, and he goes on to say that the Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. As John Bunyan said,
As for more time for prayer, I've always felt that the scriptural exhortation to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17) underscored the fact that I'm never ever alone--the risen Jesus by His Spirit is always present within me. Even so, the expressed desire for more time for prayer, and the scripture relating how Jesus prayed all night, reminded me of this comment from Martin Luther:
It's not unusual for me to not know how (or what) to pray, but neither have I grown to the point where prayer is as natural in my life as breathing. Lord Jesus, teach me to pray...
Last year I read George Müller's autobiography, and one of my reactions to it was the notion that I don't know how to pray at all; prayer was central and primary in Müller's life. I wonder if the disciple who asked of Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1) also felt as I do sometimes. What an encouragement to read in Romans where the apostle Paul reminds us that we do not know how to pray as we should, and he goes on to say that the Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. As John Bunyan said,
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
As for more time for prayer, I've always felt that the scriptural exhortation to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17) underscored the fact that I'm never ever alone--the risen Jesus by His Spirit is always present within me. Even so, the expressed desire for more time for prayer, and the scripture relating how Jesus prayed all night, reminded me of this comment from Martin Luther:
I have so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.
It's not unusual for me to not know how (or what) to pray, but neither have I grown to the point where prayer is as natural in my life as breathing. Lord Jesus, teach me to pray...
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