Being the Church

I love the vision these guys have out in Tacoma, Washington:

Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.

I long to quit going to church, and to start being the church.

What do you talk about most?

D.A. Carson (source: message, "Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?"):

If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.

If the gospel—even when you are orthodox—becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn’t all that important. You won’t be saying that—you won’t even mean that—but that’s what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel.

Make sure that in your own practice and excitement, what you talk about, what you think about, what you pray over, what you exude confidence over, joy over, what you are enthusiastic about is Jesus, the gospel, the cross. And out of that framework, by all means, let the transformed life flow.

Best Basketball Finish Ever

College hoops fans, nothing you'll see tonight in Houston could compare with this ending from a few years back in the Division 2 championship:

Good Question, Good Answer

"Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered" - R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Rob Bell's New Book

The blogosphere is blowing up with talk about Rob Bell's new book Love Wins, which releases tomorrow. I'm hoping to find the time to read this review of the book from Kevin DeYoung.

Functional Blindness

Another reflection from A Shelter in the Time of Storm, this one on Psalm 27:4, "...to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord...":

I would like to think
that others are blind,
but I am not.
I would like to think
that I have
clarity of vision,
a penetrating insight
that lights my way.
I am good
at recognizing
the sight problems of others.
I am skilled
at pointing out
the gaps in their vision
and the blind spots
that alter how they
see
and the way they
respond.
I would like to
believe
that I have 20/20 vision,
but the evidence points
to the sad fact that
I don't.
I have the stunning ability
to look around
and not see You.
I see my
busy schedule
tasks to complete
problems to solve
people to see
demands to be met
things to repair
pressures to face
temptations to fight
pleasures to consume
things to build
things to tear down
plans to make
difficulties to survive
huge responsibilities
and short days.
I gaze at my life
every day
and again and again I fail
to see You.
It is a scary
reality,
humbling to admit.
Though this world
is filled with
Your glory,
I exist
so much of the time
glory blind.
In Your love
You created a world
that is a sight and sound
display
of Your magnificent
glory.
No matter from what perspective
we're looking,
no matter what vista
we're taking in,
no matter
where we're standing
and which way
we're gazing,
Your glory is visible
and evident.
Yet, again and again
I fail to see
your beauty.
So I seek Your
healing
one more time.
Please place Your
powerful hands
on my broken eyes
and give me sight again.
Please place Your
powerful hands
on my wayward heart
and make it seek again.
Don't let me be
so blinded
with me and mine,
that I fail to see
You.
For it's only
when my eyes
see Your
beauty,
and my heart
is filled with Your
glory
that I'll quit
seeking
identity
meaning
satisfaction
purpose
fulfillment
and life,
where it can't be found.
So I would pray
this simple prayer,
"Please touch me by
Your grace
so that there'll never
be a day
where I haven't
somehow
someway
gazed upon
Your beauty."

Humbled

In Job 38, God finally addresses Job after 35 chapters of Job and his friends' speculations about God. God's address unfolds in a series of questions: Have you...? Can you...? Do you know...? Were you there when...?

I think the response God is seeking is pretty clear: No God, I have not. No, I cannot. No, I do not know. No, I was not there. You are God; I am not.

So grant me the grace, Father, to have a heart that is humbled and at rest before You. Give me joy in embracing the reality that I am not God.

Church Membership & Love

Some time in the near future I'm hoping to listen to this sermon by Jonathan Leeman on the subject of church membership and love.

The Goodness of God

Paul Tripp:

Being confident of the goodness of the Lord shouldn't be confused with an assumption that because God is good, he will give me the things I've set my heart on. In his grace, God is freeing you from the small confines of your little definition of what is good so that you can experience the huge and satisfying good that he has planned for you...Grace invites me to good that I could never have imagined, deserved or earned.

So what's your definition of "the good life"?

The Bible is Precious

Thankful to JT for this wonderful reminder. Let's strive with all God's strength to never become numb to the gift of the Scriptures:

Safe

The other day I recommended Paul Tripp's book of meditations on Psalm 27, called A Shelter in the Time of Storm. Here's a sampling, a reflection based on verse 5, "He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble."

I know it's not Scripture, but this might be worth committing to memory, or at least reading on a daily basis. I know my "prone to wander" heart is certainly in constant need of these reminders:

I am safe,
not because I have no
trouble,
or because I never experience
danger.
I am safe,
not because people affirm
me,
or my plans always
work out.
I am safe,
not because I am immune
from disease,
or free of the potential for
poverty.
I am safe,
not because I am protected from
disappointment,
or separated from this
fallen world.
I am safe,
not because I am
wise or strong.
I am safe,
not because I deserve
comfort or have earned my
ease.
I am safe,
not because of
money
or power,
or position,
or intellect,
or who I know,
or where I live.
I am safe because of the glorious mystery of
grace.
I am safe because of the presence of
boundless love.
I am safe because of
divine mercy,
divine wisdom,
divine power,
and divine grace.
I am safe,
not because I never face
danger,
but because You are
with me in it.
You have not given me
a ticket out of danger.
You have not promised me
a life of ease.
You have chosen to place me
in a fallen world.
I am safe
because You have given me
the one thing
that is the
only thing
that will ever keep me safe.
You have given me
You.
I am safe
from my evil heart
and this shattered world,
not because I can escape
them both,
but because in the middle of
temptation and trial,
danger and disappointment,
sickness and want,
You give me everything
I need to
fight temptation
and avoid defeat
and to point others
to the safety
that can be found only
in You.
So, I will wake up tomorrow
and face the anxiety
of not knowing,
the fear of my own weakness,
and the reality of the fall.
I will live with
faith,
courage,
perseverance,
and hope.
And when danger comes,
and it will,
I will whisper to
my weakening heart,
"Emmanuel is your shelter;
you are safe."

For reflection:
1. Where in your life is God exposing the inadequacy and unreliability of the places to which you have looked for safety?
2. Humbly consider if there is a person or thing that you would rather have in your life than the security the Lord has promised you in his care.

Checklist When You Sin

From Fitzpatrick and Johnson's book, Counsel from the Cross:

1. Confess our sins to God (openly and freely), while praying to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit to strive against them.

2. Thank God for our ongoing struggle with sin because, when rightly viewed, it makes us love and appreciate Jesus Christ more.

3. Strive to put off our sin and obey all the moral law in the light of God's ongoing forgiveness, love, and grace.

Do you, like me, find it much easier to practice points 1 & 3 than point 2?

A Shelter in the Storm

Over the past month I've posted a few meditations from Paul's Tripp's book Whiter than Snow, a book of 52 meditations on Psalm 51.

I enjoyed that book so much that I picked up a copy of Tripp's other similar book of meditations on Psalm 27, titled A Shelter in the Time of Storm. Here's a book trailer:



I'm almost halfway through the book, and I'm also finding this one encouraging, penetrating and insightful. Highly recommended!

Fuel for a Preacher's Heart

On average, I probably spend 20 hours preparing for a typical sermon. Last year I preached 32 times. My plan, if the Lord wills, is to do that for the flock of Joy Community Fellowship for around 25 more years, if they'll have me.

That totals 16,000 hours of my time devoted to preparing to preach God's Word. That's a lot of hours. This blog post from Trevin Wax provided some rich encouragement to me that all those hours are a worthwhile investment of time.

Gospel Glimpses

A couple of weeks ago I posted the Youtube clip of Nadin Khoury meeting DeSean Jackson of the Eagles on the view. Today I read this article from Rick Reilly, and especially this quote helped me to grasp why I love this story:

I keep thinking about why I cried that day. I think it's that when the biggest and fiercest and most famous of us takes time to stand up for the smallest of us, it makes me proud to be a sportswriter, proud to cover these athletes, these men.

Who could be the biggest, fiercest, most famous hero than the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ? And who could be more small and defenseless than people like you and me?

DeSean Jackson came and stood up for this young man, and in it we see just a little picture of the Holy Son of God, Jesus Christ, standing up for us as our Advocate.

That's why that little clip on Youtube brings tears to my eyes.