Adopted for Life: A Video Chat with Russell Moore

This is a must watch video in my opinion! Just for the insights into what it means to be adopted by God alone (not to mention that it may give you a heart to adopt). The video is an interview by Justin Taylor of Russell Moore author of Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches.

Are You a Church or a Club?

Think about it for a bit and apply it.

Christ Crucified: The Foundation of a Church’s Prosperity

From a sermon by Bishop J.C. Ryle, "Christ Crucified":

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the foundation of a Church’s prosperity. No Church will ever be honoured in which Christ crucified is not continually lifted up. Nothing whatever can make up for the want of the cross. Without it all things may be done decently and in order; without it there may be splendid ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous churches, learned ministers, crowded communion tables, huge collections for the poor; but without the cross no good will be done. Dark hearts will not be enlightened, proud hearts will not be humbled, mourning hearts will not be comforted, fainting hearts will not be cheered. Sermons about the catholic church and an apostolic ministry, sermons about baptism and the Lord’s supper, sermons about unity and schism, sermons about fasts and communion, sermons about fathers and saints,-such sermons will never make up for the absence of sermons about the cross of Christ. They may amuse some, they will feed none.

A gorgeous banqueting room, and splendid gold plate on the table, will never make up to a hungry man for the want of food. Christ crucified is God’s grand ordinance for doing good to men. Whenever a Church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a cumberer of the ground, a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watch­man, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to infidels, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.

It depends on what your fundamental is

I love Tim Keller's response to people who claim that all "fundamentalism" is dangerous and creates war and terrorism. This excerpt is from his conversation at the University of Chicago: “Reason for God: Exclusivity of Truth.”:

It was right after 9/11 and all the papers were talking about “this is the problem with fundamentalism.” If you’re a fundamentalist, if you really believe you have the truth, this is what happens… As I tried to show you here, everybody’s a fundamentalist in a way. I mean everybody believes fundamentals. Everybody’s got exclusive truth claims.

I remember Kathy said, “No, that’s not true. Fundamentalist doesn’t necessarily lead to terrorism. It depends on what your fundamental is.” Have you ever seen an Amish terrorist?... So why will there never be Amish terrorists? I’ll tell you why. If your fundamental is a man dying on the cross for his enemies, if the very heart of your self-image and your religion is a man praying for his enemies as he died for them, sacrificing for them, loving them—if that sinks into your heart of hearts, it’s going to produce the kind of life that the early Christians produced. The most inclusive possible life out of the most exclusive possible claim—and that is that this is the truth. But what is the truth? The truth is a God become weak, loving, and dying for the people who opposed him, dying forgiving them. Take that in the center of your heart and you will be at the heart of the solution that we have in this world and that is the divisiveness of exclusive truth claims.

So on this Good Friday, as we contemplate the death of our savior, let that truth penetrate our hearts. Think about what the truth of the cross means for your relationship with God and what it means for your relationship with your family, your friends, your enemies, your church, the world.

Thursday of the Commandment

Here is a post from Maundy Thursday last year by John Piper:

Today is Maundy Thursday. The name comes from the Latin mandatum, the first word in the Latin rendering of John 13:34, “A new commandment (Mandatum novum) I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This commandment was given by the Lord on the Thursday before his crucifixion. So Maundy Thursday is the “Thursday of the Commandment.”

This is the commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” But what about Galatians 5:14? “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” If the whole law is fulfilled in “Love your neighbor as yourself,” what more can “Love one another as Christ loved you” add to the fulfillment of the whole law?

I would say that Jesus did not replace or change the commandment, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” He filled it out and gave it clear illustration. He is saying,

Here is what I mean by “as yourself.” Watch me. I mean: Just as you would want someone to set you free from certain death, so you should set them free from certain death. That is how I am now loving you. My suffering and death is what I mean by ‘as yourself.’ You want life. Live to give others life. At any cost.

So John says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). Was Jesus loving us “as he loved himself”? Listen to Ephesians 5:29-30, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.”

In the horrors of his suffering Christ was sustained “by the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). And that joy was the everlasting gladness of his redeemed people, satisfied in the presence of the risen king.

Therefore, let us see the greatest love in action during these next 24 hours. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). And let us be so moved by this love that it becomes our own. “He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” This is the commandment. This is the Thursday.

That's Easter

THAT'S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.


THAT'S EASTER Death to Life from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Keep the Fast, Keep the Feast

I'm getting a little behind on keeping this blog updated. I planned on writing more on fasting through this Lenten season but this article by Peter Leithart will make up for what I am lacking considering it is one of the best pieces on fasting I have ever read. Here is a little excerpt:

Jesus is the Last Adam because He keeps the fast. He enters a world that is no longer a garden, but a howling waste, and in that wilderness Satan tempts Him to break the fast, to be an Adam: “You’re hungry; eat this now. You deserve the accolades of the crowds; you can have it now if you jump off the temple. You want all authority in heaven and on earth, but your Father won’t give that to you unless you suffer an excruciating, shameful death; you can have it all now, no cross or self-denial required. It’s yours, and you only need to do a bit of bowing. Life, glory, power, everything you want, everything you deserve—you can have it all now.”

Jesus refused, and refused, and then refused again, and in so doing broke the power of Adamic sin. Jesus kept the fast; he waited, labored, suffered, died, and then opened his hand to receive all the life, glory, honor, authority, and dominion that his Father had to give Him. He kept the fast and as a result was admitted to the fullness of the kingdom’s feast—because by that time both it and he were ready. And by resisting the devil, Jesus sets the pattern of true fasting and reveals a Lenten way of life.

You really should read the whole thing.

Don't Let Go Until He Blesses You

Excerpt from a sermon on Genesis 32

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh. (Gen. 32:24-32)

Jacob and the Wrestler went at it for hours. In the dark, it was hard to wrestle. They couldn’t see each others’ arms, legs, or heads. Twisting limbs around limbs, grabbing, pulling, pushing, grappling, holding... The details of this strange event are beyond us; we cannot conceive of them. Jacob met the Angel of the Lord first as an enemy of some kind, perhaps, but later saw Him as the only hope of his life and sought His blessing. Jacob gained the victory. He had struggled with God and with men, and had prevailed. The Angel of God gave him a new name, Israel. “Israel” means “Prince with God.” That’s what Jacob would be for now on, a prince, a king with God; a man of astounding wisdom. Jacob named the place Peniel, which means, “the face of God.” He had seen the Angel of God face to face. “Peniel”: I have seen God and lived to tell it.”

This encounter did result in an injury: Jacob limped. The dislocated hip hampered him for the rest of his life. Now he would really have to depend upon the Lord, and not in his own strength... After this crisis, this terrifying life-and-death struggle with the Angel of God, Jacob, now a man named Israel, became a warrior, and limped his way to great things. He reconciled with his brother Esau. The twins embraced and it turned out well. Israel led his family to settle in Canaan. Later he became the spiritual leader of Egypt under his son Joseph, and he remained the spiritual leader of the chosen people.

Like Jacob, we must seek God’s blessings and work and fight for them without ceasing. Don’t quit. This is a lesson we should learn. If you are doing a good work for the Lord, if you are struggling in a marriage, if you are feeling exhausted in your prayer and Bible-reading, don’t quit. Jacob shows us that it is dumb to quit. A few days ago a 34-year-old husband and father of three lost his house in the housing crisis. He committed suicide. He quit. Think of the pain he has caused his wife and children.

What do you do in times like these? You cling tighter than ever to God and to his promises. All of Jacob’s strength, even his strength to walk, had to be broken down. Sometimes God takes away everything you have in order that you not rely on your own strength and power, but in the strength and power of the Lord. All Jacob could do was cling to God and seek a blessing from Him. Are you going through a struggle? Do what Jacob did.

Another lesson Jacob teaches us is this: life can be tough. When God adopts you into His family, it doesn’t guarantee a comfortable existence. God may assault you in the night, and if that happens, you will pass through a dark night of the soul. Are you ready to wrestle with God? Do you have doubts about God’s goodness and justice? God may seem like an opponent to you. Do you trust Him enough to cling to Him through thick and thin? Jacob endured a life of rejection from his father and brother. He suffered 20 years of cheating and dishonesty from Laban his uncle. He faced the greatest crisis when the Wrestler took him on at Peniel. But he came out of it with the blessing. He emerged a wise and mature man. God will bring you through great crises and trauma to make you wise, mature, and holy. Try to see your trials in terms of what occurred to Jacob.

Lastly, we should link Jacob’s struggle at Peniel with the cross of Jesus. [These last two paragraphs are basically a quote from Iain Duguid’s Living in the Grip of Relentless Grace, pp. 115-6.] On the cross God the Son endured the agonizing assault of God the Father so that grace and blessing might flow out to His people. Having completed His wrestling with man throughout his earthly life, Jesus Christ wrestled with God on our behalf. He wrestled with God in the garden, crying out, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (Mt. 26:39). Jesus wrestled with God on the cross, in that awful moment when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46). The outcome of His wrestling was not merely that He was crippled in the hip; He was wounded and flogged and crucified and burdened down with the whole weight of our transgressions. But Jesus clung to God and would not let Him go unless He received a blessing – not a blessing for Himself but a blessing for us, His people. Through his faithful clinging to the Father, He prevailed over sin and death, and as a result He has been given the name above every name.”

Jesus is the true Israel, the one who has struggled with God and struggled with men and has overcome. You become part of the Israel of God as you are united to Christ, participating in His struggles and suffering as well as in His victory. Jesus struggled on the cross not so that you and I might never have to struggle but so that your struggles might be fruitful, bringing about wisdom, maturity, holiness, making you more like Him (Phil 3:10-11). It is in your struggles and suffering that you are finally taught to abandon your self-dependence and look to the cross, clinging to God alone for blessing. When you fear God, you will have nothing else to fear. Come to him with all your strength, and you will find that He will not let you go.

Wisdom for Raising Children

This much, O God, I want you

I am reading John Piper's book A Hunger for God during this Lenten season and as I read it I plan on sharing some thoughts and quotes from it that might help or encourage those who are fasting. In the introduction he says this:

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

He is careful to clearly affirm that food and other things we fast from are indeed good gifts of God. His point is that good things, when they replace God instead of lead us to God, can become destructive and idolatrous. So it isn't the thing in itself that's the problem- our sinful heart is the problem.

The book is set out to argue that fasting is one way we can expose these subtle idols of the heart and train ourselves to find satisfaction in God rather than in food, or TV, or any other good thing. It is easy to just say we love God above everything else, but we must continually put that love to the test through sacrifice. Fasting is one God given way to examine our hearts. So when we fast we are really training our hearts to say with the psalmist:

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)

Piper closes the introduction with an excellent quote to ponder. He says:

"If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: “This much, O God, I want you.”"