This is such a great quote I hesitate to set apart any of it with italics or bold; it must be taken as a whole - a challenge to pastors and to the expectations of his people.
"The Word will not abide within us if we are in a hurry. We pastors deceive ourselves when we are so busy doing good things that we snatch a text and a prayer on the run and think that we will be mighty men of God and bear spiritual fruit. To be very specific, Glenn, so that you will remember it, almost no minister of the gospel will be a spiritually fruitful person if he is spending less that two hours a day in prayer and meditation in addition to his sermon preparation. Holy, powerful, life-changing spiritual men of God are not made on the run. There are so few people who believe that, Glen, that the expectations laid on you in the service will probably be a constant threat to your spiritual power and fruitfulness. But Christ has appointed you to go and bear fruit. So resist those expectations with boldness."
-John Piper, I Chose You to Bear Fruit (John 15), Ordination of Glen Bloomstrom, 1981.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The Perpetual Love of God
"But a question is put, How did Christ die for friends since we 'were his enemies, before he reconciled us', (Romans 5:10) for, by expiating our sins through the sacrifice of his death, he destroyed the enmity that was between God and us? The answer to this question will be found under the third chapter [of John], where we said that, in reference to us, there is a state of variance between us and God, till our sins are blotted out by the death of Christ; but that the cause of this grace, which has been manifested in Christ, was the perpetual love of God, with which he loved even those who were his enemies."
- John Calvin, Commentary on John 15:13
- John Calvin, Commentary on John 15:13
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
God and Donkeys: Expanding Our View of God’s Providence in 2009
The man wiped his brow, weary from the journey of looking for his family’s lost donkeys. Both he and his servant were tired of looking and ready to return to their home. Surely they were both quite annoyed at this point and would rather have been doing something else. Perhaps they were mumbling under their breath about these donkeys that had wondered away. After all, they had other things they needed to be doing. This had been quite the interruption to their normal schedule.
These lost donkeys, however, were no accident. Their wanderings were not undirected. We find Saul the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, in 1 Samuel 9 being sent by his father to find their family’s donkeys. And, in verse 16 of that same chapter God tells Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.” The Benjaminite to whom the Lord is referring is Saul. And, what Saul thinks is a search for randomly wandering donkeys is in fact God’s providential leading of Saul to Samuel. It’s all a matter of perspective; what was wandering to Saul was being sent to Samuel.
God is a God of means. In this situation he chose to cause Kish’s donkeys to walk away. How often have we grumbled and complained when God is using means in our lives to accomplish his purposes? Of course, the difficult part of trusting God with the interruptions to our lives is that we don’t know the outcome. When we read 1 Samuel we have the advantage of knowing how the story ends. In our lives we may never know why things happen to us. And, it would often be a mistake to speculate. But, the one thing we must do is trust that God has his good purposes for all things that happen in our lives, even what we would call annoying interruptions (Rom. 8:28).
When our plans change by circumstances out of our control, God would call us to trust that they are perfectly in his control. The long line at the checkout, the fender bender on the way home, the lost keys that make you late for your appointment are all for the good. It could be that the house your car broke down in front of has been waiting for the gospel to reach their ears. It becomes difficult to think on such things if we’re kicking our tires and screaming on the telephone.
Instead, let us resolve to trust God’s providence in our lives in 2009. Let us trust that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God’s goodness to us was bought on the cross. Let us look to the gospel in 2009.
God intends to teach us this and much more about himself as we look into 1 Samuel in Adult Bible Study on Sunday mornings. I am excited about what God will do in our lives together in 2009 through the teaching of his Word.
These lost donkeys, however, were no accident. Their wanderings were not undirected. We find Saul the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, in 1 Samuel 9 being sent by his father to find their family’s donkeys. And, in verse 16 of that same chapter God tells Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.” The Benjaminite to whom the Lord is referring is Saul. And, what Saul thinks is a search for randomly wandering donkeys is in fact God’s providential leading of Saul to Samuel. It’s all a matter of perspective; what was wandering to Saul was being sent to Samuel.
God is a God of means. In this situation he chose to cause Kish’s donkeys to walk away. How often have we grumbled and complained when God is using means in our lives to accomplish his purposes? Of course, the difficult part of trusting God with the interruptions to our lives is that we don’t know the outcome. When we read 1 Samuel we have the advantage of knowing how the story ends. In our lives we may never know why things happen to us. And, it would often be a mistake to speculate. But, the one thing we must do is trust that God has his good purposes for all things that happen in our lives, even what we would call annoying interruptions (Rom. 8:28).
When our plans change by circumstances out of our control, God would call us to trust that they are perfectly in his control. The long line at the checkout, the fender bender on the way home, the lost keys that make you late for your appointment are all for the good. It could be that the house your car broke down in front of has been waiting for the gospel to reach their ears. It becomes difficult to think on such things if we’re kicking our tires and screaming on the telephone.
Instead, let us resolve to trust God’s providence in our lives in 2009. Let us trust that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God’s goodness to us was bought on the cross. Let us look to the gospel in 2009.
God intends to teach us this and much more about himself as we look into 1 Samuel in Adult Bible Study on Sunday mornings. I am excited about what God will do in our lives together in 2009 through the teaching of his Word.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Forgiveness and Marriage (Newsletter Article)
Here is an expanded version of an earlier post I did on the application of Luke 17:4 to marriage for our church's newsletter:
“Familiarity breeds contempt.” We hear this phrase often. While I don’t believe familiarity in general breeds contempt, it certainly can in the context of relationships. We find it much easier to forgive people for whom we can make excuses, or from whom we can remove ourselves. If someone you seldom interact with, like a co-worker in a different department or the guy at the grocery store, does something to offend you, then you can simply move on. You’re not likely to see them again, you say to yourself. Or, you think better of them and assume they’re just be having a bad day. You’re willing to forgive them. It’s not really an issue. That kind of forgiveness is easy.
Marriages, and other close relationships, don’t have that luxury. It is much more difficult to forgive your spouse because you see the worst of them; and, you see it every day. As a result, justification of their actions becomes a lot harder to come by. We get tired of our spouses doing the same thing. So, we get angry a lot easier the next time the same thing happens. We find it more difficult to move on. We find it more difficult to forgive. This is why marriages need Luke 17:4, “If he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times, saying, "I repent," you must forgive him.”
Luke 17:4 quiets the mouth of excuse. There is never a reason not to forgive. There is never a reason in your marriage to harbor bitterness and anger. Jesus said, “we must forgive.” So, if we apply Luke 17:4 to our marriages I think we should start a new phrase, “Familiarity breeds gospel proclamation.” When you are left without the opportunity to escape a conflict or make excuses for a person, reconciliation only comes through true forgiveness. There are not other options.
So, we have a choice to make in our marriages. Will they be arenas of bitterness, bringing up the past, brooding, and revenge; or, will they be a glorious arena of forgiveness. How we treat our spouses when they offend us says something about what we believe about the gospel. Do we believe that through the cross Jesus forgives our sin, even the same one seventy times seven? Are we willing to forgive as we have been forgiven? Do we see our spouses as forgiven saints through the cross of Jesus Christ?
This creates harmony in relationships in two ways. First, the offended party is eager to forgive. Second, when the one who offended knows he/she will find forgiveness, repentance comes much quicker. Oh, what comfort and love would exists in a marriage where a spouse knows that they will be forgiven.
Let the gospel of Jesus Christ reign in your marriages and other close relationships. While familiarity has great potential to cause contempt, it also provides a canvas on which we can paint the glories of the gospel to a watching world.
“Familiarity breeds contempt.” We hear this phrase often. While I don’t believe familiarity in general breeds contempt, it certainly can in the context of relationships. We find it much easier to forgive people for whom we can make excuses, or from whom we can remove ourselves. If someone you seldom interact with, like a co-worker in a different department or the guy at the grocery store, does something to offend you, then you can simply move on. You’re not likely to see them again, you say to yourself. Or, you think better of them and assume they’re just be having a bad day. You’re willing to forgive them. It’s not really an issue. That kind of forgiveness is easy.
Marriages, and other close relationships, don’t have that luxury. It is much more difficult to forgive your spouse because you see the worst of them; and, you see it every day. As a result, justification of their actions becomes a lot harder to come by. We get tired of our spouses doing the same thing. So, we get angry a lot easier the next time the same thing happens. We find it more difficult to move on. We find it more difficult to forgive. This is why marriages need Luke 17:4, “If he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times, saying, "I repent," you must forgive him.”
Luke 17:4 quiets the mouth of excuse. There is never a reason not to forgive. There is never a reason in your marriage to harbor bitterness and anger. Jesus said, “we must forgive.” So, if we apply Luke 17:4 to our marriages I think we should start a new phrase, “Familiarity breeds gospel proclamation.” When you are left without the opportunity to escape a conflict or make excuses for a person, reconciliation only comes through true forgiveness. There are not other options.
So, we have a choice to make in our marriages. Will they be arenas of bitterness, bringing up the past, brooding, and revenge; or, will they be a glorious arena of forgiveness. How we treat our spouses when they offend us says something about what we believe about the gospel. Do we believe that through the cross Jesus forgives our sin, even the same one seventy times seven? Are we willing to forgive as we have been forgiven? Do we see our spouses as forgiven saints through the cross of Jesus Christ?
This creates harmony in relationships in two ways. First, the offended party is eager to forgive. Second, when the one who offended knows he/she will find forgiveness, repentance comes much quicker. Oh, what comfort and love would exists in a marriage where a spouse knows that they will be forgiven.
Let the gospel of Jesus Christ reign in your marriages and other close relationships. While familiarity has great potential to cause contempt, it also provides a canvas on which we can paint the glories of the gospel to a watching world.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sinner Envy is Sin
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day” –Proverbs 23:17
Advertising agencies hate this verse. OK, not really. Most probably don’t know this verse exists. But, the reality is that their entire purpose in life, their business model, is to get you to envy sinners. They want you to covet what someone else has that you don’t. They use celebrities because they know that you want to be like them.
Now, I want to be careful here. I don’t mean to single out celebrities as sinners and pretend that I am not included in that universal group, save one, called sinners. There is, however, a lifestyle of waste and luxury that doesn’t bode well with sacrificing for the Kingdom of God. Of course, I am sure that I live more laviously than I ought and there are many more sacrifices that I need to make. Perhaps it’s because I’m too busy envying sinners instead of fearing God.
Advertising agencies hate this verse. OK, not really. Most probably don’t know this verse exists. But, the reality is that their entire purpose in life, their business model, is to get you to envy sinners. They want you to covet what someone else has that you don’t. They use celebrities because they know that you want to be like them.
Now, I want to be careful here. I don’t mean to single out celebrities as sinners and pretend that I am not included in that universal group, save one, called sinners. There is, however, a lifestyle of waste and luxury that doesn’t bode well with sacrificing for the Kingdom of God. Of course, I am sure that I live more laviously than I ought and there are many more sacrifices that I need to make. Perhaps it’s because I’m too busy envying sinners instead of fearing God.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Forgiveness and Marriage
"If he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times, saying, "I repent," you must forgive him" (Luke 17:4)
Marriages need Luke 17:4. I need this verse in my marriage. I need my wife to be able to forgive me because I am a dreadfully sinful person; and, my wife needs to know that if she comes to me with repentance that I will be quick to forgive. I need both the humility to repent and the humility to forgive. Often pride prevents both.
If a husband and wife knew that each fully accepted that their sins as forgiven on the cross both repentance and forgiveness would come quickly. Let us put this verse into practice with our spouses. Forgiveness in marriage will breed repentance and paint a beautiful picture of the gospel.
Marriages need Luke 17:4. I need this verse in my marriage. I need my wife to be able to forgive me because I am a dreadfully sinful person; and, my wife needs to know that if she comes to me with repentance that I will be quick to forgive. I need both the humility to repent and the humility to forgive. Often pride prevents both.
If a husband and wife knew that each fully accepted that their sins as forgiven on the cross both repentance and forgiveness would come quickly. Let us put this verse into practice with our spouses. Forgiveness in marriage will breed repentance and paint a beautiful picture of the gospel.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Be Careful What We Exalt
"For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15b).
What a powerful truth to meditate. Those things which we, in our sin, see as worthy of exaltation are hated by God. We must examine our hearts and ensure that we are not sharing in the exaltation of what is an abomination. We must ask ourselves if what we are participating in holds in high regard what God despises. Are we holding up with our finances those things that God would destroy?
What a powerful truth to meditate. Those things which we, in our sin, see as worthy of exaltation are hated by God. We must examine our hearts and ensure that we are not sharing in the exaltation of what is an abomination. We must ask ourselves if what we are participating in holds in high regard what God despises. Are we holding up with our finances those things that God would destroy?
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