The Biggest Problem in the Universe

I was fortunate to have been in attendance when John Piper delivered this message at the 2009 Worship God conference. I absolutely love this clip:

The Passing Over of Sins from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Getting Practical

From David Mathis's introduction to With Calvin in the Theater of God:

Calvin's big, biblical vision of God changes every day life. If you really want to be practical, don't reach for gimmicks, checklists, and self-helps, but come with Calvin to the Bible and get to know the most important realities in the universe: God, creation, sin, heaven, hell, Jesus, his cross and resurrection, the Holy Spirit. The biblical vision of the glory of God in Christ is the most practical reality in the universe.

You can read the introduction, and the rest of the book, online for free here. I'll have more to say about this book next week.

Why God Makes Much of Us

I'm posting this mainly for my own reference, but maybe some of you will find it edifying as well:

We Need Truth

John Piper:

"When there is no truth that deserves assent from everybody, the only arbiter in our competing desires is power. Where truth doesn’t define what’s right, might makes right. And where might makes right, weak people pay with their lives. When the universal claim of truth disappears, what you get is not peaceful pluralism or loving relationships; what you get is concentration camps and gulags."

What's Wrong with the World?

Christians believe that the simple answer to that question is: sin. But sometimes we are a bit fuzzy on how to explain or define sin. And especially in our culture, which stresses personal autonomy and independence, the Christian doctrine of sin, and the broader Christian worldview of which that doctrine is a part, is very unpopular.

It is harder to grasp and treasure the riches of Christ's redemption without a firm grasp of sin. So for a primer on sin that will help you understand and explain what is wrong with the world, I'd recommend this essay by Cornelius Plantinga called Sin: Not the Way It's Supposed to Be (you can also view it as a 23-page PDF file).

It is basically a condensed version of Plantinga's book by the same title. But this essay gets to the heart of the book's content in a shorter and more accessible form. It may seem morbid or unnecessary to read 23 pages on what sin is, but I found this essay well worth the investment of time.

You've got 2/5 of a second...play your part well

Francis Chan:

Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you....maybe. But no one else will realize it's you. Even if you tell them, they won't care.

Let's take it a step farther. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come and see the new movie about you? People will say, 'You're an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?'

Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I've been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us...

But it's not. Life is not about you, or me. It's about God. Chan continues:

We have only our two-fifths of a second long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God. "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. That is what each of our two-fifths of a second is about.

Play your part well today; do everything to call attention to the loveliness of Christ, not yourself.

Well, at least he's honest

Richard Lewontin is a committed Darwinist, which means his basic worldview is that of materialism: matter alone constitutes ultimate reality, and everything that exists is the product of strict physical laws and blind random chance.

Not much room for God in that kind of worldview. But look at how Lewontin arrives at his worldview (and thus drives God out of the picture):

"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.

"It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."

So basically, materialism is true because it must be true, even though it seems absurd and counter-intuitive. Because if it's not true, we might have to include God in the equation. And this guy works at Harvard.

I don't know; if this is the foundation that my worldview was built on, I'd probably look for a different worldview.

Yet God is mighty to save even Richard Lewontin. Only God's grace has made me to differ, and the same grace that redeemed me can melt even the stoniest atheists' heart.

Take a minute as you read this and pray for him.

Tolerance

Washington Post writer Michael Gerson, on the Brit Hume/Tiger Woods ordeal:

True tolerance consists in engaging deep disagreements respectfully — through persuasion — not in banning certain categories of argument and belief from public debate.

In this controversy, we are presented with two models of discourse. Hume, in an angry sea of loss and tragedy — his son’s death in 1998 — found a life preserver in faith. He offered that life preserver to another drowning man. Whatever your view of Hume’s beliefs, he could have no motive other than concern for Woods himself.

The other model has come from critics such as Shales, in a spittle-flinging rage at the mention of religion in public, comparing Hume to “Mary Poppins on the joys of a tidy room, or Ron Popeil on the glories of some amazing potato peeler.” Shales, of course, is engaged in proselytism of his own — for a secular fundamentalism that trivializes and banishes all other faiths. He distributes the sacrament of the sneer.

Who in this picture is more intolerant?

Man: the Glory and Garbage of the Universe

In Graham Cole's book, God the Peacemaker, he quotes Blaise Pascal speaking on the paradoxical wonder that is every human being:

"What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, glory and refuse of the universe!"

Because all people are made in God's image, human beings are the glory of the universe and are capable of incredible things. But because of the Fall, humans are the garbage of the universe, with corruption and rottenness staining all we do. If we forget that man is in the image of God, we might be too pessimistic about humanity. But if we forget that man is fallen, we will surely be too optimistic.

Holding both truths seems to me to be the most healthy way to think about mankind. We are both the glory and garbage of the universe, a wonderful mystery indeed.

(By the way, for anyone interested in reading more about this, I'd recommend Anthony Hoekema's book, Created in God's Image.)

What God-rejectors fail to realize

A wise insight from Randy Alcorn:

God-rejectors can maintain the illusion life is good without him only because in his kindness he’s not withdrawn all his good gifts.

The Biggest Mystery in the Universe

When those with a man-centered worldview see pictures like this (of Typhoon Morakot, which has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and taken many lives), they ask:

How could a good God treat people like this? (see comment #111 at the above link for an example)

But that is not the biggest mystery in the universe. Those with a God-centered worldview ask a totally different question:

How could a good God not treat all people like this?

For those who are thinking God's thoughts, this is the biggest mystery in the universe. If you've never been perplexed by this, you've not thought seriously enough about God or yourself.

For those who are curious, The Apostle Paul answers the riddle in Romans 3:25-26.

I thought Einstein was a pretty smart dude, so he couldn't have said this

This morning my family went out to Einstein Bagels to celebrate Halle's 2nd birthday. While enjoying our meal together, I noticed this quote on the wall:

People are like bagels: many varieties, but basically they are all good.

This may be a fine description of a bagel, but a quote like this makes you wonder what world the person who said this is living in. Can anyone watch the evening news for 5 minutes and honestly conclude that all people are basically good?

Einstein does make some pretty good bagels. But I'd suggest they stick to bagel-making, and leave philosophizing about human nature to someone else.

It's all about perspective

Yesterday in my sermon I shared this illustration, which I had originally heard from C.J. Mahaney's sermon Grace and the Adventure of Leadership, one of the most helpful sermons I've ever listened to.

Imagine you are a parent who receives this letter in the mail:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Since I left for college, I have been remiss in writing and I’m sorry about my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I’ll bring you up to date, but before I do, are you sitting down? Please sit down. It’s imperative that you sit down before reading any farther. I’m getting along pretty well now that the scull fracture and concussion I got when I jumped out of my dorm window after the room caught on fire is pretty well healed. I only get splitting headaches a couple of times a day. But fortunately my jump from the window was witnessed by a gas station attendant, who took me to the hospital and continued to visit me there.

When I got out of the hospital I had nowhere to live because of the fire, so he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment. It’s small but cute, and he’s a fine young man and we have fallen deeply in love and plan to get married. We haven’t set the date, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the same care you gave to me when I was a child.

In conclusion, now that I’ve brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire. I did not have a scull fracture, I was not in the hospital, I’m not pregnant, and there is no boyfriend. However, I have failed history and science…and I wanted you to see these results in their proper perspective.

Your attitude about a particular person or situation really can be changed by having the right perspective, a divine perspective.

'Funny' isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind....

The lyrics to Dave Matthews Band's newest single captures the very same theme that actually inspired the title of this blog, Redemption Groanings. The song is all about how this world is not the way it's supposed to be; it's called Funny the Way it Is:

Lying in the park on a beautiful day
The sunshine in the grass
And the children play
Sirens passing fire engine red
Someone's house is burning down
On a day like this

The evening comes and we're hanging out
On a front step and a car goes by
With the windows rolled down
And that war song is playing
Why can't we be friends
Someone is screaming and crying
In the apartment upstairs

Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
Somebodies going hungry
And someone else is eating out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
Somebodies heart is broken
And it becomes your favorite song

The way your mouth feels in your lover's kiss
Like a pretty bird on the breeze
Or water to a fish
The bomb blast brings the building crashing to the floor
Hear the laughter
While the children play war

Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
An others dropping out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
A soldiers last breath
His babies being born

Standing on a bridge
Watch the water passing underneath
It must have been much harder
When there was no bridge just water
Now the world is small
Compared to how it use to be
With mountains and oceans
And winters and rivers and stars

Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
An others dropping out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
A soldiers last breath
His babies being born

Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
Somebodies broken heart
And it becomes your favorite song
Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
Another's dropping out

There is something very right about this song, and yet at the same time something terribly wrong. How can Matthews possibly say, 'Funny the way it is/not right or wrong, On a soldier's last breath/His baby's being born' That's not funny, Dave, it's wrong! It's not the way things ought to be!

But what a great joy it is to ponder that our Redeemer is coming, who will one day make all things new. How I wish I had an hour with Dave Matthews to tell him that it's okay to see something wicked and declare it 'wrong,' not 'funny', and to share the great hope of redemption with him!

Love and Free Will

In Paul Young's The Shack, the author puts these words in the mouth of Jesus:

"To force my will on you," Jesus replied, "is exactly what love does not do. Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy."

This is a common argument among theologians and scholars, who claim that in order for God to genuinely love His created people, He must never impose His will on them but must always preserve their freedom to either embrace or reject His love. But this seems to me untrue, both on the grounds of Scripture (John 6:44, for instance) and common sense.

Imagine you are this child's parent. You have expressly told him NEVER to go near the street without an adult, but there he is. How do you respond? What does real love and a genuine relationship with your son compel you to do in this moment? Do you say, 'Well, since love must allow you freedom of will even when your choices are not helpful or healthy, I guess I must let you venture out in front of that car coming to end your life.'

No loving parent would do such a thing. If this were your child, you would impose your will on that child and forcibly remove him from the road, so as to save his life. That is what genuine love does with rebellious children.

I am glad that is how God has loved me. Instead of allowing me to destroy myself for the sake of preserving my autonomy, He sovereignly, decisively moved upon my will and drew me to Himself, opening my eyes to see glory in the face of Jesus Christ, when once He looked foolish and ugly.

O how precious is the sovereign, omnipotent love of Jesus Christ! Without it there would be only everlasting torment and misery.

Don't Forget to Groan

This blog is called Redemption Groanings because so many in the world are forced to live like this:

The carpe diem, 'eat, drink and be merry' mentality is strong only in places and hearts of people who try to insulate themselves from the way most people in this world have to live.

Yes, There is Real Evil

On Monday I read this article on Fox News about a Polish engineer beheaded by the Taliban in Pakistan. My heart grieves for the victim of this tragedy and his family in mourning. As I thought about this story, I wondered how I as a Christian ought to respond to such a story. Surely many such stories happen every day, not to mention the larger scale acts such as 9/11.

There are many ways for a Christian to respond, but the one that stood out to me as I pondered this story was that affirmation that evil is real and horrible. Just about everyone in our society can see this. Hardly anyone would read a story like this one out of Pakistan and say, 'Well, those killers were doing what felt right for them, and there is no point in trying to impose our view of morality on them. What they did was right for them.' No one talks like that! Instead they say, 'This was a horrible act of evil; it should be stopped, and those men should be punished.'

This is a very important insight to keep in mind as we interact with people who do not share our beliefs and worldview. In our postmodern world it is common to hear people say that moral absolutes are relative, and it is foolish and unloving to try to make someone else conform to our particular view of morality. But the people who say such things do not really live that way. Instead, when a polish man is beheaded in Pakistan, they say 'This is evil!'

Thus, these grievous, horrible acts of wickedness around the world may actually serve to give us an opportunity to expose to others the shallowness of their worldview when they say things like, 'It is narrow-minded and bigoted to say that your way of living or your view of truth is the right way.' If that is true, then nothing evil happened in Pakistan the other day, and nothing evil happened on 9/11.

Let us affirm and impart to others that evil is real and horrible. Because only when we see the horror of evil will we be able to marvel at the glory of Jesus Christ, who will one day heal the world of all its misery, evil and corruption.