JOLLYBLOGGER

We Live the Given Life, not the Planned

A quote from Wendell Berry:

We live the given life, not the planned.

Reminds me of the pithy little saying - "Man plans, God laughs."   Both of those quotes comport well with divine sovereignty and the doctrine of vocation.  Could change the way we look at life.

Better to be 500 Years Behind than 5 Minutes Behind

I found the following quote attributed to Joseph Sobran.  The "quote-r" doesn't reference the original source and I'm not familiar with Sobran so if anyone knows the original source please do chime in.  Sobran said he

"had rather be in a church that is 500 years behind the times tha one that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing, trying to catch up."

Thanks to commenter DT for below for setting me straight.   What I had quoted above is apparently a bit off - maybe done from the reader's memory.  Here's the actual quote:

"It can be exalting to belong to a church that is five hundred years behind the times and sublimely indifferent to fashion; it is mortifying to belong to a church that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing to catch up."

Also, DT gave the original source for the quote - an article called "Notes for the Reactionary of Tomorrow."  I started reading that article and it is long, but very profound, especially for those who want an insight into the nature of conservatism.

The Old Things are New

This quote from G. K. Chesterton hits home on so many levels. 

WHATEVER makes men feel old is mean -- an empire or a skin-flint shop. Whatever makes men feel young is great -- a great war or a love-story. And in the darkest of the books of God there is written a truth that is also a riddle. It is of the new things that men tire - of fashions and proposals and improvements and change.  It is the old things that startle and intoxicate.  It is the old things that are young.  There is no sceptic who does not feel that many have doubted before.  There is no rich and fickle man who does not feel that all his novelties are ancient.  There is no worshipper of change who does not feel upon his neck the vast weight of the weariness of the universe.  But who who do the old things are fed by nature with a perpetual infancy.  No man who is in love thinks that any one has been in love before.  No woman who has a child thinks that there have been such things as children.  No people that fight for their own city are haunted with the burden of broken empires.  Yes, O dark voice, the world is always the same, for it is always unexpected. 

G. K. Chesterton, The Napolean of Notting Hill, p. 157

 

The Curse of Individualism in the Church

Sometimes I feel rather Shakespearean in my posts, although in all the wrong ways.  As a committed individualist I approached my Christian life, for most of my Christian life in individualistic terms.  I never gave thought to how my pursuit of my own spiritual growth negatively affected others.  Now, as a pastor I see myself all too often.  So, I feel Shakespearean in the "methinks the lady doth protest too loudly" sense.  But protest I will.   Just because damaged the cause doesn't mean I can't help others avoid my folly. 

Came across the following words in Mike Horton's book Made In America. 

The Puritan was concerned that even his calling served the neighborhood or commonwealth rather than himself.  He hardly doted on himself.  Even religious activities were not to be done from selfish motives.  God has justified him, having punished Christ in his place.  Acceptance had been freely given, not achieved.  Therefore, even developing one's personal relationship with Christ at the expense of the community was viewed as antisocial and, consequently, anti-Christian behavior.  

An Apologetic for Using the Means of Grace

Yesterday, I blogged about my friend Bill's struggle to be faithful to his quiet times and if you read the post you will see that I tried to divert his attention from himself, his performance and his failures to follow the law of the quiet time to think on the merits of Christ on his behalf.  My hope in that dialogue was to free Bill from the sense of guilt he brings with him to the reading of the Word of God and prayer, so that he could bask in the goodness of God and hopefully develop a desire to read the Word and pray instead of being driven by some kind of performance objectives he needs to live up to, or conversely, fear that if he fails to have quiet times that God is going to get him. 

Having said that, I left an incomplete picture in that post.  The truth is that all of the things I shared with Bill to try to alleviate his guilt and show him the grace of Christ, all came from the Word of God.  I would not have those things to share with him had I not received them from the Word of God.  It is essential that we be in and under the Word of God at all times if we are to know and experience the grace of God.  Prayer, based upon the Word of God is a wonderful means of access to and communication with the God of the Word. 

So in what follows I am offering an apologetic, or reason for getting into the Word of God and prayer under the heading of using the means of grace.  As I wrote the words below it became too wordy and I'll split it up into another post.  As I wrote the words below the post kind of evolved into an apologetic for hearing the Word of God and I think I'll just go ahead and let it stand on that.  We get very wrapped up in the private reading of the Word and private prayer, when the big deal is public worship, preaching and corporate prayer. The public use of the means of grace sets the stage for the private use of those means so I hope that what follows helps you understand and appreciate the most important aspect of the means of grace.  Tomorrow or next week I'll go ahead and let this flow into some more thoughts on the private use of the means of grace. 

1. The Word of God and Prayer are gifts, graces, not law.

As Scott Clark says here " The private devotional life is not a law, it is a grace. It is not a metaphorical whip with which to prod Christians to godliness, it is the natural outgrowth of union with Christ."  

Is the gospel of any use to the Christian?

I have a concern/fear/worry that most professing Christians don't understand the significance of the gospel for their lives nor do they appreciate all that Jesus has accomplished on their behalf.  That concern is mainly driven by the fact that the "they" in the last sentence has been me for most of my Christian life. 

Which is not to say that I've got all of this figured out.  But I have been given a season of weakness where I have had to come to grips with the fact that I have nothing to offer to God.  In truth I never had anything to offer to God and neither do any of us, it's just that I thought I did.

It seems to me now that almost all of us have embraced a mode of Christian living where we come into the faith via the gospel then set it aside as we seek to grow in Christ.  It seems to me that our mode of Christian living is usually the pursuit of self-improvement or getting better. 

Here's a paraphrase of a couple of conversations I had recently with a dear friend that illustrates this.  The name has been changed here, but I'll say up front that "Bill" is a true Christian who loves the gospel but who stuggles with guilt and feelings of condemnation over his failures to be all that God wants them to be.  I've known him long enough to know this is a long term problem, and I've also known myself and other Christians long enough to know that this is a common struggle.  Let me also say that I have a close enough relationship with "Bill" that I felt comfortable being more direct than usual in these conversations and I'll also mention that "Bill" has given me permission to share all of this.

Bill: Do you have a regular quiet time?

Me: Not really.  (I know that is probably shocking, but see here and here for a more biblical perspective on the "law of the quiet time").

Where is our attention focused?

The old Chinese proverb, which may in fact be a curse, says "may you live in interesting times."  I am living in interesting times, interesting to me, and maybe me alone.  I am in the midst of a great battle for my health which at times discourages and deflates me, yet in my weakness the grace of Christ has become more and more manifest and dear to me than ever.

For the most part I have little energy with which to engage the tasks I am called to do, but I am in a season right now where I do have a bit more energy and am busy trying to do some things I haven't been able to do for over a year.

Our church has had several families leave in the last year, yet we are also seeing several new families joining with us because they have found a place which gives them the gospel in it's fulness and the undiluted Word of God. 

So, it's ups and downs, ups and downs.  But here is what I find the most - the ups come when we turn our attention to what Christ has done for us, the downs come when we turn our attention to all we must do for Him.

When I am physially weak and unable to perform the tasks that come with my calling as a preacher I am down, especially when I look at all that goes undone.  Now that I have a bit of energy I am getting some of those things done. Yet, the thought occurs to me that Jesus' love for me and the value of His atoning work on my behalf is the same on days when things are done and undone.  My performance may go up and down, but the value of His work on my behalf never wanes, so which will I focus on and which will I take comfort from?

With our church, when people leave or complain the reason is almost always some variation on the theme of what we as a body have failed to do or be for Christ.  When people join us and show enthusiasm for who we are and what we are doing it is almost always some variation on the theme that they have heard from us the good news of all that Christ has done for them, and they can rejoice in this good news.

To me it all comes down to where our attention lies, where our focus is and where is our source of delight.  Zechariah 3:1-5 shows the different kinds of attention, or foci, of different kinds of beings:

 ¹Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ²And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" ³Now  Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. ⁴And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." ⁵And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

Satan's attention will always be drawn to the filth in the lives of the people of God, as individuals and as the church.  Satan will always accuse and will always publicize, privately and publicly, the filth.  It's all he can see.  The Lord and His angels will see the covering.

The odd thing here is that, though Satan is the father of lies, in this case he was not lying - Joshua was filthy and worthy of the accusation.  Yet God did not let the accusations stand, He removed them and covered them.  This is a wonderful picture of the atoning work of Christ.

It's a wonderful insight into the way we view the church and our fellow believers.  Do we see our churches and fellow believers with the eyes of Satan or with the eyes of God.

What is the most apparent thing when you look at me - are my disease, compromised productivity for the kingdom of God and failure to live up to my potential as a Christian and a pastor the things that are most apparent?  Or, is there something I have done in my life which you might consider good?  To see those things are to see me with the eyes of Satan.  But the eyes of God see how Christ has given grace for my weakness, accomplishment by His work on the cross for my failures in service and forgiveness for my sins.

What is most apparent when you look at your church - is it the church's failure to be what Christ has called that church to be?  Conversely, are you proud of all that your church has accomplished for Christ?   To be disappointed with your church's failures or to be proud of it's accomplishments for the Kingdom are both evidences of seeing with the eyes of Satan.  To see your church with the eyes of God is to see a community of people who are marked by atonement, not accomplishment, and to rejoice for and with them that they are always recipients of the forgivenss of Christ.

What is most apparent when you look at yourself?  And here I am speaking to Christians in particular.  Do you mostly see your filthy garments and do you spend your life trying to wash yourself clean?  Or, are you driven by a feeling that there is something you must do for God or be for God?  When you look at your life do you see nothing but failure in being who God has called you to be?  Or, when you look at your life do you see someone who has offered and performed some valuable services to God and His kingdom.  All of this is to see yourself through the eyes of Satan.  Hopefully you see yourself as a sinner and can see the filthy garments on yourself.  If you don't see that then Satan has blinded you.  But do you see yourself as a sinner in need of atonement, or covering from Christ, or do you see yourself as a sinner in need of self-improvement, who needs to be a better Christian.  To see yourself as a sinner in need of atonement at all times is to see yourself with the eyes of Christ, to see yourself as someone who needs to improve or get better is to see yourself with the eyes of Satan.  And by the way, if you see yourself as a sinner always in need of atonement, can you see that the atonement is always there, the blood of Christ is always covering your sin and failure?

In short, is Christ and His work at the forefront of your attention in this world or is your performance and the performance of others at the forefront of your attention.  To see the first is to see the world through the eyes of God, to see the latter is to see with the eyes of Satan.

Question on a couple of curriculums

Hi everyone, I have a question.  This is mostly for church and ministry leaders but any input would be welcome.

I have just come across a recommendation from a trusted source for two curriculums on training for missional ministry.

One is called "The Tangible Kingdom."  There is a book by that title, a "Tangible Kingdom Primer," and a website devoted to training this stuff. 

The other is the Acts29 Kit by the Navigators.  Please note that is not affiliated with Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill - Seattle or the Acts29 Network.

Just looking for info on these - has anyone tried them?  What's your experience? 

I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone from a confessional tradition, but any feedback would be appreciated.

A Two Handed Grip on the Sword of the Spirit

Hi friends and neighbors.   I've had a few folks ask me about the blog lately and I think I'm going to ty re-up it.  Back in the day when I had a wide readership I was writing kind of to proces and express my own thoughts and I was also always sticking my nose in major theological and ecclesiastical issues of the day.  I developed a wide readership but not many of those were members of my church.

As I try to re-up the blog I'm going to try to self-consciously focus on topics of utmost relevance to my church, the local one, not the universal one.  At the same time I hope that these kinds of topics will still be of interest to the wider church. I won't try to conduct church business here on the blog but will blog on biblical and theological topics relevant to things we are dealing with.  One thing I'd like to do - and this will help build continuity with what I used to blog - is offer some sermon related material.  Often, a preacher prepares more during his study during the week than he is able to share in the sermon and a good deal gets left on the cutting room floor. So, I'll share some of that.

For now I'll mention that I am doing a series on the law of God and I'm taking the old tack that sees the law and gospel as the two parts of the Word of God, both needing to be preached together.  The older and more conservative Lutherans are the most noted for this approach, but this is also a foundational matter in the Reformed tradition.

I mentioned today that, as disciples of Christ, we are apprentices of Christ who are called to learn to use the tools of the trade.  Our main tool of the trade is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and I offered a word picture of thinking of the law and gospel as the two hands by which we grip the sword, the Word of God.  To properly handle the Word of God we must be able to distinguish the hand of the law which contains commands, prohibitions, and threats, from the gospel which contains words of promise, provision and redemption.

Since I'm just using this as a kick-off post to help get me back in the groove of blogging I'll stop there, except to emphasize that law and gospel must be properly distinguished and noted if we are to apply the Word of God to our lives. For now here's a couple of links which may be helpful. I'm working my way through these first two books:

C. F. W. Walther - The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel - a traditonal Lutheran treatise, maybe the magnum opus from the Lutheran tradition on the law and gospel. 

Edward Fisher - The Marrow of Modern Divinity - a reformed treatise, combating the errors of legalism and antinomianism.

Quotes on Law and Gospel - this is a compilation from Scott Clark at Westminster West of quotes from Calvin and others in the reformed tradition on the law-gospel distinction.   This is part of Scott Clark's ongoing defense of the law-gospel distinction in the reformed tradition, showing that this is not only a Lutheran distinctive.

Every Christian Delights in Even the Smallest Point of Doctrine

Well, both Dan Phillips and my wife have told me I need to blog more.  It's understandable when someone like Dan Phillips would say you need to blog more, but with all of that old talk we used to have of "blog widows" its unusual when the wifey says you should blog.  So, anyway, if it's Dan and my wife that can only be a sign from God that I need to blog more.

Assuming I get back on track on this blogging thing I'll try to pick up on my last post with some more thoughts about healing and the like.  For now I'll give you a quick update on my health and share something I read today which I think is important.

As to my health, it's good.  There's no real change in the long term prognosis, but I am doing well and responding well to the chemo.  The tumors are still shrinking so that's a good sign.  Basically, the doc says that they want me to stay on this regimen of chemo as long as it is working.  I am handling this regimen of chemo better than last year's.  I did have a couple of episodes of stomach trouble a month or so ago but for the most part fatigue is my biggest problem, so I sleep a lot.  I will definitely win sloth of the year award and the door on its hinges award.  But the good news is that, as long as I get my sleep I'm able to function pretty well for several hours a day. 

Some people will ask me from time to time if I am in good spirits and the answer to that is that I am in great spirits.  I've already walked this earth about 15 years longer than Jesus did, so I've been in the bonus round for quite some time now.  I am surrounded by a loving and fun family, a terrific church family and my temporal needs are being met.  To be sure I have some sober and somber moments but as a Christian I lack for nothing and whether I live or die I am pursued and live in the realm of goodness and mercy every day of my life.

So, 'nuff bout me.  I'm reading Walther's Law and Gospel, and I came across these good words today:

A person may pretend to be a Christian though in reality he is not.  As long as he in this condition he is quite content with his knowledge of the mere outlines of Christian doctrine.  Everything beyond that, he says, is for pastors and theologians.  To understand as clearly as possible everything that God has revealed - all of that is irrelevant for non-Christians.  However, the moment someone becomes a Christian, there arises in him a keen desire for the doctrine of Christ.  If they have not yet been converted, at the moment of their conversion even the most uncultured peasants are suddenly awakened and begin to reflect on God and heaven, salvation and damnation, etc..  They start to wonder about the deepest problems of human life.

Just take the Jews who flocked to Christ - or the apostles.  All those people heard Christ with great joy and were astonished because He preached with authority - in contrast to the scribes.  But the majority of those hearers never advanced beyond a certain feeling of delight and admiration.  The apostles too, were uneducated people, but they acted differently.  They did not stop where the rest stopped but posed all kinds of questions to Christ.  After hearing one of His parables, they said, "Explain to us the parable" (Matthew 13:36).  The conduct of the Bereans who searched the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) was similar.  It is, therefore, quite true what the Apology says: "Men of good conscience are crying for the truth and proper instruction from the Word of God.  Even death is not as bitter to them as when they find themselves in doubt regarding this matter or that.  Accordingly, they must seek where they can find instruction" (Muller, p.191.)

Striving to obtain truth and divine assurance is a necessary requirement even of an ordinary Christian.  However, with a theologian this is even more so the case.  A theologian who does not have the greatest interest in Christian doctrines would be unthinkable.  Even someone with only a budding faith in his heart regards even the smallest point as of great importance.  To such a one every doctrine is as precious as gold, silver, or gems.  God grant that this may be true for you too!