Don't Forget to Groan, 3/22

An injured child cries as he sits next to other victims at the site of suicide bombing in the town of Saidu Sharif, in Pakistan's Swat Valley, on March 13. A suicide attacker struck a security checkpoint, killing scores of people and injuring dozens.

(Why should we groan?)

Doubt Your Doubts

Tim Keller, in The Reason for God:

The only way to doubt Christianity rightly and fairly is to discern the alternate belief under each of your doubts and then to ask yourself what reasons you have for believing it. How do you know your belief is true? It would be inconsistent to require more justification for Christian belief than you do for your own, but that is frequently what happens. In fairness, you must doubt your doubts.

My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs -- you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared.

For those of you who have skeptics in your life that you love, this could be a helpful thesis to explore with them. If you've interacted with people who say things like, "There can't be just one true religion," or "If a good, loving God existed, why is there so much suffering in the world," or "Science has disproved the Bible," lovingly encourage such people to doubt their doubts.

Off for the Weekend

I am headed to Virginia to visit some family this weekend, so I likely won't be blogging until Monday.

I'm looking forward to the time visiting with my sister and her fiance, and visiting Sovereign Grace Church in Fairfax.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Are you a Charismatic?

The more I read Dug Down Deep, the more I am enjoying it. It's a thorough, yet accessible, treatment of the most foundational beliefs of Christianity. I am impressed with how well Harris handles subjects like the Church, sanctification and the Holy Spirit in a limited amount of pages.

In particular, Harris' chapter on the Holy Spirit is one I wish every "Charismatic" Christian would read and reflect upon. Harris writes:

When the Holy Spirit is working in our lives, there will be a dynamic quality of holiness, evangelistic boldness, and an otherworldly willingness to play the role of a servant to others.

And again:

You know the Spirit is working if you're more amazed by Jesus, more desirous to serve and obey him, more ready to tell other people about him, more ready to serve the church he loves.

Amen, Josh! May I be that kind of a charismatic!

Current Reads

Right now I'm reading two books that have both been an encouragement to me:

Dug Down Deep by Josh Harris is somewhat of a spiritual autobiography. It focuses on Harris' own journey from a nominal Christian background to the "humble orthodoxy" he now embraces. Chapter 6 on what Jesus did on the cross is probably worth the price of the entire book; but there's lots of other good stuff in there too.

Counsel from the Cross, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson, is written to demonstrate the importance of counselors reminding people of Christ's love revealed in the gospel. All of us counsel people in various ways, whether we regard ourselves as "counselors" or not. And there's no better counsel we can give than to saturate people with the good news of Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension. Readers are reminded of how to consistently apply the truths of the gospel to every area of life.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

Don't Forget to Groan, 3/17

Family members attend the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Kielin T. Dunn of Chesapeake, Va., on March 4 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Dunn was killed during combat operations in Afghanistan.

(Why should we groan?)

Tebow Ad: Update

Last month after the Super Bowl I posed the question of whether the Super Bowl Ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mom was a lot of hoopla over nothing. Would a 30-second ad that didn't even mention abortion or the pro-life cause make any kind of impact?

Based on the testimony in this article, the answer is a resounding "yes"!

Life Lessons from Proverbs 3

Tim Keller shares 5 life lessons from Proverbs 3:3-12. Keller explains that these principles present the major themes of the rest of the book of Proverbs, and provide us a mini-guide to faithful living:

1. Put your heart’s deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart (Prov 3:3-5a)

2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don’t think you know better than God’s word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.

Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov 3:5b-6)

3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov 3:7-8)

4. Be generous with all your possessions, and passionate about justice. Share your time, talent, and treasure with those who have less.

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

5. Accept and learn from difficulties and suffering. Through the gospel, recognize them as not punishment, but a way of refining you.

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. (Prov 3:11-12)

Read the rest here.

A Sports Star Worth Celebrating

Ty Warren of the New England Patriots is not exactly the biggest star in the NFL, but he has won a couple of Super Bowls.

I found this story about him from ESPN's website to be refreshing: Warren passed up a $250,000 off-season workout bonus in order to stay home with his wife and three kids while finishing his college degree from Texas A&M.

In an age of sports stars who think they are invincible because of their athletic prowess, I was encouraged to read about Warren's concern for his family, education and life after football.

I trust there are many stories like this, but unfortunately they don't often make the headlines.

Preach to Yourself

This morning I read Psalm 42, and every time I read that psalm I can't help but think of these words from Martyn Lloyd Jones:

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.

Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.’…

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’– what business have you to be disquieted?

You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.

Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.’”

In my experience at least, it really is true: all my disappointment and unrest of soul is the result of my unwillingness to preach truth to myself about what I know to be true of the great God who has redeemed me and is committed to working all things for my good.

Brutal Honesty

After a challenging sermon yesterday from my friend Anthony Zurlo, I was reminded of this quote from Jerry Bridges.

"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins.

"We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore."

I would only add that the gospel enables us to be brutally honest not only with ourselves and with God, but with other people. We won't be freed to be open about our sin and God's grace with others without the security of knowing Christ's love revealed in the gospel. And so our fellowship with others will be terribly impaired if we are not resting in Christ's grace that has justified the ungodly.

You Can Change

Crossway Books has re-released Tim Chester's book, You Can Change: God's Transforming Power for our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions. It had originally been published by IVP in England.

I recently read this book and found it to be one of the best, concise books I've read on how change happens in the lives of God's people for His glory. It is full of sound principles and helpful illustrations.

If you're looking for a good book on the basics of the nature of biblical change, this is it.

Weekend Reading: Evangelism and Social Action

There is a lot being said and written about today in the evangelical world concerning the connection between evangelism and "social action."

Almost two years ago, Tony Payne wrote three posts on this subject which I found insightful and biblically faithful (though we may have some slight disagreement on 2 Peter 3, I agree with his conclusions in point #3 of post 2). If you have some time on this rainy weekend, check them out and let me know what you think:

Part 1: What is the relationship between evangelism and social action?
Part 2: How does social action relate to the Last Day and the new creation?
Part 3: What does social action look like for the Christian?

Justifying Brad Lidge, and Me

I was listening to the radio this morning and heard that Phillies' pitcher Brad Lidge is feeling healthy and in command of his pitches, which he was not last season. Apparently Lidge said that he did not want to make excuses last year while he was struggling terribly, so he pitched on in a good deal of pain.

As a Phillies fan, I'd prefer if Lidge had made excuses during the season when he could have been removed from the Phillies' roster, instead of making excuses after the season, when nothing can be done about it.

But what I'm more concerned about is this: how would a robust embrace of the gospel free Brad Lidge from feeling the need to make excuses about his performance either during or after the season?

And, more importantly, how would a robust embrace of the gospel empower me to stop with my incessant excuse-making when I'm not "on top of my game" (ie. I'm not getting enough sleep, the kids are driving me crazy, things are really stressful at work, etc.)?

Ah, Brad Lidge. He truly is an instrument of sanctification in my life.

Disobedience, Not Defeat

"When I say I am defeated by some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I am saying something outside of me has defeated me. But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for my sin squarely on me. We may, in fact, be defeated, but the reason we are defeated s because we have chosen to disobey."

Jerry Bridges