Two More Resources

The appearance of new and helpful resources regarding "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is happening probably by the minute on the internet. So I will attempt to refrain from offering daily updates. However, two additional resources came to my attention today that I think are helpful:

• "Tales From the Crypt: Do we have the bones of Jesus?" Written by Kerby Anderson, the analysis is helpful, concise and perceptive."
  
• "Eight Reasons Why I Believe That Jesus Rose from the Dead." Written by John Piper, this article addresses my fundamental concern: rather than merely addressing the week arguments set forth by Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, we also need to positively remind believers of the truth of the resurrection and why we believe and defend it so vigorously. Piper does that well.

.mp3 audio

I have a small .mp3 player (512 MB) that I keep loaded with sermons only (and one music album for when my daughters are in the car with me). And I listen to several of those sermons (usually 5-8) per week. Even with a short commute (12-15 minutes), with the commute and lunch and various other appointments and 4 exercise times per week, I can usually listen to that many full length sermons with ease. So I'm always on the lookout for sermons on the web.

Last week I was telling a friend what I do, and in doing so ended up talking him into purchasing a similar kind of .mp3 player. So then he emailed me, "Can you send me some links of where you go to get messages?" So I did. And thought it might be of interest to others. This is what I emailed him —

Glad you're enjoying your .mp3 player. I have used mine probably hundreds of hours; it has been well worth the time. Now for some links: I listen to Piper every week, and receive his messages as a podcast in itunes (and then I just drag the message to my player). I have a few other podcasts in itunes, though I pick and choose what I download. I also like to look for conferences (Shepherds Conference, Resolved Conference, various Desiring God conferences), etc... I also look for interviews and lectures that are sometimes easier to listen to than sermons while I'm exercising (it's sometimes difficult to follow an expositional argument when I'm gasping for breath!). So here are some places I find sermons:

• John Piper — something like 2500 Piper sermons and conference addresses, like the pastor's conference, which I'm just starting to listen to.
• Mark Dever — I don't often listen to the sermons here (though I am challenged and encouraged by Dever's preaching very much), but I love and listen to all the Nine Marks Interviews and Henry Forum lectures. I just finished Al Mohler's series "Naked and Not Ashamed" and it was excellent.
• Resolved Conference — the audio from this year's conference is free; other years are $2.
• Shepherd's Conference — these aren't free, but they are good!
  
• Master's Seminary Chapel
  
• Dallas Theological Seminary chapel — I have particularly appreciated the DTS Dialogue podcasts
• Southern Seminary Chapel and special addresses — they have lots of resources here; I generally just look at the chapel messages.
• Al Mohler audio — perhaps the most insightful and Biblical commentator on the cultural condition today
  
• Justin Taylor — this is not an audio site, but it is one of the few blogs I regularly read, and he often references audio resources on the web, so I will often find resources that way.
• Mars Hill Audition — you won't agree with everything on these, but they are thought provoking.
• Tommy Nelson — They have just added a podcast feature to this sight, making even more of his material available.
  
• Steve Lawson — I've heard him several times at the Shepherd's Conference, and he's excellent.
• I also update what I'm listening to every Sunday or Monday on my blog ("on my .mp3 player this week"), providing links that are usually directly downloadable from my site.

That ought to get you started....

May these messages glorify God in your heart by deepening your understanding of and affection for Him.

Thoughts on "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"

If it is close to Easter, it must be time for an attack on Christ, the cross, or the resurrection.

And so it is. This Sunday, Discovery Channel is airing "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" in which the claim is made that a tomb in Jerusalem has been discovered in which the bones of Jesus may have resided, along with His mother and father, his wife Mary Magdalene, and His children. (Where have we heard a similar story recently? That one was well-addressed too: audio, notes, power point.)

Numerous websites and articles have provided helpful insight into this issue as well. See, for instance:

• Darrell Bock ("Hollywood Hype" and "No Need to Yell")
• Nathan Busenitz
• Ben Witherington
• Al Mohler (Larry King Live and Al Mohler's radio program)

For a growing list of other helpful sites, please also see Justin Taylor or The Shepherd's Fellowship. All of these authors point to truth that makes our faith defendable. We have a reason for the hope within us, and we have a literal and credible object of faith — Jesus Christ.

Given that so many are saying so many right, good and true things in analysis of this television show, I do not feel compelled to add my voice to that part of the chorus.

There is something else that must be added to the song being sung, however. And it is a voice of encouragement to the church to be vigilant in defending the faith. Maybe this event will pass with only a small measure of impact on the culture and the church. And maybe not. The case has been made that The DaVinci Code came and went with little influence on the church. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

As I reflect on over 15 years of pastoral ministry and nearly 40 years in the faith, it appears to these eyes that the attacks on the credibility of Christ and the Christian faith are becoming more frequent and more brazen, yet with a lower inflammatory impact, both in the church and the culture. The general attitude is a shrug of the shoulder, and a "what's new?" as if Christ's resurrection is of little importance.

It is of great importance.

Paul says the resurrection is of first importance. Was this hyperbole? Hardly.

• The resurrection of Christ is of first importance because if there is no resurrection, there is no salvation.
  
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, ministry and preaching is a waste of time and effort.
  
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, there is still accountability for sin (there is no forgiveness!).
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, there is no life for anyone.
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, life is pitiful for those who say they are followers of Christ.
  

The resurrection of Christ is a central doctrine and tenet of the faith — it is an issue worth defending (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12ff and 2 Tim. 2:16-19 to see what Paul thought about those who distorted Christ's resurrection) and an issue for which we will die, if necessary.

Why would men be so compelled to vigorously attack the resurrection of Christ? What's in it for them? Lawlessness and sin. If Christ is denied, if the resurrection is desecrated, then the authority of Christ is removed and sin is allowed to reign. This is Christ's word: "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold" (Mt. 24:10-12). There you have it from the lips of Christ: if truth is removed, sin is allowed to reign, and people can "enjoy" hearts that are cold to Christ without the conviction of their consciences. The conscience is dead.

Further, a denial of the resurrection of Christ is a Satanic attack on the truth, designed to keep those who are blind to the gospel in that condition (2 Cor. 4:4). Wherever there is an assault on the truth, you can be sure that it is initiated by the one whose very name means "deceiver." His work is to deceive people, making his lies appear attractive and like the truth so that they will believe and follow him instead of the glorious Creator (2 Cor. 11:13-14). His destiny is eternal hell, and his desire is to keep as many as possible from being satisfied in Christ and joining him in his assured destiny.

And even more tragically, attacks on the truth are also designed to upset the faith of believers. During the week preceding His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus taught His disciples that at the end of time, there would be "false Christ's and false prophets [who] will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect" (Mt. 24:24; my emphasis). This attack on the resurrection of Christ is not merely to confirm the blind in their blindness. It is to confuse the seeing so that they too will be blinded.

Attacks like this distort the truth and upset the faith of believers (2 Tim. 2:16-19). And that is the greatest tragedy of all. People who earnestly seek the truth and the Savior are dissuaded from following Him because of a horrid lie perpetrated by the Deceiver.

Will this attack pass? Perhaps (though I am skeptical that it will pass). But the truth of the resurrection is worth defending; it must be defended. It is of first importance. If we will not defend Christ's resurrection, we will defend nothing. And that will be to the spiritual detriment of Christ's chosen and elected people — perhaps even ourselves. It's time to sing the song of truth in defense of the faith.

Sunday Leftovers (2/25/07)

I have been deeply encouraged as I have prepared for communion and the sermon this week. I have read and perused more books and articles than I normally do, and have found many Biblical encouragements.

For instance, I found myself thumbing through J. I. Packer's Knowing God (it's been far too long since I picked it up), and came across these words:

On the cross Jesus lost all the good that He had before: all sense of his Father's presence and love, all sense of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, all enjoyment of God and of created things, all ease and solace of friendship, were taken from Him, and in their place was nothing but loneliness, pain, a killing sense of human malice and callousness, and a horror of great spiritual darkness. The physical pain, though great (for crucifixion was the cruellest form of judicial execution the world has ever known), was yet only a small part of the story; Jesus's chief sufferings were mental and spiritual, and what was packed into less than four hundred minutes was an eternity of agony — agony such that each minute was an eternity in itself, as mental sufferers know that individual minutes can be.

I also appreciated J. Dwight Pentecost's concise summary of justification in Things Which Become Sound Doctrine:

1. God is the source of justification (Rom. 8:30)
2. Blood is the ground of justification (Rom. 3:24-26).
3. Faith is the instrument of justification (Rom. 3:28; 4:5).
4. Grace is the essence of justification (Rom. 3:24).
5. The Spirit is the instrument of justification (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
6. Works are the evidence of justification (James 2:21, 24-25).
7. Christ is the position of the justified one (2 Cor. 5:21).
   

As I read, I was reminded again of the value of reading good writers who love God and honor the Scriptures (1 Cor. 11:1). I am always on the lookout for books on the cross that will deepen my faith and enlarge my understanding of the work of Christ on the cross. One of the works mentioned on this morning's outline would be a great place to start if you would like to add to your own library.

One more thought: A simple concordance search of the words "justify," "justified," and "justification" will yield a rich treasure of the work of God on behalf of those who have faith in Christ. Do the search, look up and meditate on the verses. It will encourage and enrich your soul.

Amazing Grace, Newton and Wilberforce

My family and I rarely go to see movies in the theater; we may make an exception in the next week or two. Today "Amazing Grace," the story of William Wilberforce is opening in theaters nationwide. If you are interested in knowing about the philosophy of the filmmaker, read the speech given by Michael Flaherty, the President of Walden Media, producers of this movie (and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, among others).

In addition, John Piper has written a brief (80 pp.) biographical book about Wilberforce's life. Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce can be purchased or read online. He has also written about the life of John Newton (redeemed slave-trader, hymn-writer and pastor), who significantly influenced Wilberforce. The book (which also includes an account of Charles Simeon and a more condensed biography of Wilberforce) is based on a sermon he preached at the Bethlehem Pastor's Conference.

These Inward Trials

These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He'd answer my request,
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

'Lord, why is this?' I trembling cried,
'Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?'
' 'Tis in this way,' the Lord replied,
'I answer prayer for grace and faith.

'These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may'st seek thy all in me.'

— John Newton


(HT: J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 229)

Listening to the Giants

When I purchased my first good camera in college (35mm film and everything), I determined that if I could get one or two, or perhaps three excellent pictures from each roll of film that it would be money well spent.

I've taken a somewhat similar approach to books — if I can find two or three really excellent ideas, quotes, thought-provoking or life-changing exhortations, it is worth the hours I invested in reading the book.

So having concluded Warren Wiersbe's Listening to the Giants last night, I would call it a worthwhile book. The book contains brief biographical sketches of 15-18 pastors and Christian leaders from the past 3 centuries, along with a number of other pastoral encouragements. Probably the most compelling chapter was the last one, "Marks of Maturity in the Ministry" — a chapter that will make it to my filing cabinet.

Other compelling thoughts in the book:

• a helpful definition of worship: "to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God." [William Temple]
• the advice of W. H. Griffith Thomas to preachers: "Think yourself empty, read yourself full, write yourself clear, pray yourself keen — then enter the pulpit and let yourself go!"
• and an oft-paraphrased and seldom-sourced quotation: "Henry Varley would have been a famous man had he never met Dwight L. Moody. But for some reason people remember Varley most for telling the evangelist: 'The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.'"

Why Sing Hymns?

Over the past generation, many churches have left behind the singing of hymns. Some have asked whether hymns are still appropriate or relevant for today. Yet at the same time, there are new hymns being written that honor the tradition of the ancient, Biblical hymns of the faith. Among these hymn writers are Keith Getty and Stuart Townend (e.g., "In Christ Alone").

Getty gave a very helpful summary of why he writes hymns and a theology of music at a recent conference. You may listen to it here.

Abortion and Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Al Mohler's analysis of Time magazine's current cover story ("The Grassroots Abortion War") on Crisis Pregnancy Centers is helpful and illuminating. Read it here.

More Dying and Living

What does a man think and write as he faces imminent death?

Read the words of grace penned by Al Groves prior to his death, as he anticipated that death. The letter was read at his memorial service.

Sunday Leftovers (2/18/07)

People are clueless about Christ (if they are unbelievers) and the power of Christ in their daily activities (if they are believers) because they do not want Him to intrude on their lives. They want trivial happinesses and self-indulgent pleasures (and lack of pain) without the transforming work of Christ in their hearts.

Jesus said it so simply and penetratingly: "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching…" (Jn. 7:17). Stated positively, if anyone wants to want to obey Christ, he will have Christ. Stated negatively, if anyone has no desire to do God's desires, he will not have Christ. The reason people have a dynamic walk with Christ is that they have a desire for Him. And the reason that others have no genuine life with Christ is that they don't want Him.

There are numerous examples of this in the life and ministry of Christ. Consider the parable of Jesus in Mt. 22:1ff, and Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37). And the crowd in Jn. 6:66 which has no desire to heed Christ's words about belief, so it leaves (in contrast with the disciples, who want Christ, so they stay; Jn. 6:67). And the church of Thyatira also repudiated the word of Christ because it had no desire to repent of immorality (Rev. 2:21).

The "poster child" of those who do not want to want God's will is the "faithful" son of the waiting Father in Christ's parable in Luke 15. He didn't get what he wanted from his Father, so he was unwilling to go into the party celebrating the return of his repentant prodigal brother.

These examples are related to God's repeated refrain in the Old Testament, "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hos. 6:6). God wants more than just outward conformity to His ordinances; He longs for people that follow Him joyfully — out of a desire for His fellowship (see also Acts 7:39 for another of many OT examples).

By contrast is the plea of the praying tax collector, who demonstrated his desire to know God and follow God by petitioning God with the simple prayer, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" This is the prayer of the one who wants to want to do the will of God — he prays for God's mercy and grace to provide it for him (cf. also Rom. 7:24-25; 9:16).

John Piper said it well in a sermon four years ago:

…to you who say, you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers. Have you ever looked up? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever admired anything? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever tasted sexual desire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good? Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say. You have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

And the best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. "We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away. God made you to know his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else.

So this is a worthy prayer for us today: "Lord, kindle afresh our hearts not only to be obedient to you, but to take delight in obeying you. Give us a passion to want you and to want to do Your will. Intrude into our lives to change our passions into godly desires — so Christ might be glorified (revealed) in us."

Help for Marriages

I regularly read books and magazines and journals and websites and have conversations with people that remind me that many marriages are in desperate need of God's grace to intervene and save them from self-implosion.

I also listen to several audio sermons each week to stimulate my own heart to joyful obedience to Christ. And one pastor that has consistently stimulated my heart to joy in Christ is John Piper. I am drawn to his preaching because he makes me long to know and experience the glory of God like no one else apart from Scripture itself has ever done for me. The glory of God is not just a theological topic that is divorced (I use that word intentionally) from reality, as his current series on marriage is demonstrating.

In his most recent message, he articulated the theme of the series in one brief sentence: “You cannot say to often that marriage is a model of Christ and the church.”

His sermons are providing the reasons why he says that: 1) This lifts marriage out of the sordid sitcom images and gives it the magnificent meaning God meant it to have; 2) this gives marriage a solid basis in grace, since Christ obtained and sustains his bride by grace alone; and 3) this shows that the husband’s headship and the wife’s submission are crucial and crucified. That is, they are woven into the very meaning of marriage as a display of Christ and the church, but they are both defined by Christ’s self-denying work on the cross so that their pride and slavishness are cancelled.

Three messages have been preached already. More are on the way. Listen to them here (manuscripts for each message are also available on the DG website):

• Staying Married Is Not About Staying in Love, Part 1
  
• Staying Married Is Not About Staying in Love, Part 2
• Marriage: God's Showcase of Covenant-Keeping Grace
  

Sola Scriptura

The audio from the recent Sola Scriptura conference hosted by Countryside Bible Church has now been posted. There are six messages in all, two each by Steve Lawson, Bruce Ware, and Don Whitney. I could only attend one evening, but have downloaded the rest of the messages and am looking forward to listening to all of them over the coming weeks.

I Like Leftovers...

I like leftovers.

It hasn’t always been that way.

Mom always had a meal schedule. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but it was something like, Sunday is turkey legs, Monday is chicken, Tuesday is pork, Wednesday is ground beef, and so on. And periodically there would be a surprise “clean out the refrigerator of leftovers.” I did not care for those days (Mom taught me not to say “hate,” but my disdain for leftovers was pretty high).

Then I moved out and survived on my own cooking, which began with ramman noodles (10 for a dollar!) and five for a dollar frozen burritos (I usually remembered to thaw before eating). All of a sudden Mom’s leftovers looked really good. And now having eaten a fairly high number of sandwiches in my life, I much prefer taking leftovers when I take my lunch to the office. Just because I didn’t finish a piece of steak or a bowl of soup the night before doesn’t mean that it suddenly became tasteless after a night in the refrigerator. In fact, some things taste better the second time around as the flavors have time to meld together.

That is true spiritually as well. Even though we may eat a delightful spiritual meal on a particular passage, there may still be more food to feed our faith and stimulate our godly desires in that same passage the next day. In fact, it is often only as we ruminate (see Ps. 1:2) on a passage over an extended period of time that its deeper meanings are comprehended and applied.

This is one of the reasons that Scripture often says to remember the things that have already been spoken. Discipleship is often not the impartation of new truth, but a reminder of the things that are already known and believed (2 Pt. 3:1-2). An effective means of stimulating one another to love and good deeds is simply to remind each other of the truths we believe and exhort each other to hold on and keep on (1 Thess. 4:1). This is what a parent does, and this is what a parent in the faith does (1 Thess. 2:11).

And this is also what a pastor endeavors to do (in part) every Sunday morning. Yet some things (believe it or not) get left on the “editing room floor.” Perhaps there are tangents suggested by the passage that get left out as the message is written on Friday morning, simply because they would be too distracting to the overall flow of the message. Or perhaps they are left out as the message is preached because of time considerations or because of the dynamic of communicating the passage unfolds while preaching. Regardless, the pastor regularly leaves the pulpit having provided a sufficient meal, with leftovers in hand.

What is done with those leftovers? If there are enough, they become a sermon the next week or on another occasion. But usually they just end up tucked away in the recesses of his own mind for his own meditation, or buried in a file folder in a cabinet.

Or they end up on a website blog the next morning. Often after fielding questions following the worship service or after my own further reflection, I realize that a point was inadequately explained or that something may have been edited that needed amplification, or there was another quote that would have provided further insight. What to do with those things?

Just a few years ago, there was nothing to do with those thoughts. But now with the Internet there is. So as a means of redeeming technology and as stimulant to my own soul to remember the truth just preached and as a foundation for a “spiritual midnight snack,” you will regularly find posted on my blog “Sunday Leftovers” — short thoughts, quotes, applications and expansions of the message from that morning. Use them to deepen your understanding of the grace of Christ and as a stimulant to a greater delight in Christ.

Family Worship

It is a common occurrence that a man struggles with how to provide spiritual leadership to his wife and children. Why is that? Perhaps it is because —

Laying aside all flattering words, I may say plainly that I regard the neglect of family worship as springing from lukewarmness and worldliness in religion. [J. W. Alexander]

Is there anything that can be done to have a heart change? In a concise (28 pp.) booklet entitled Family Worship, Don Whitney offers gentle and wise counsel about providing that leadership, surveying the biblical teaching on family worship, how it has been done throughout church history, and briefly some simple how-to's of family worship. The booklet is based on a two-part sermon series he preached last summer (audio 1 | audio 2).

Sunday Leftovers (2/11/07)

Proximity to Christ does not guarantee faith in Christ.

This was the reality of the half-brothers of Jesus prior to His resurrection (though they later trusted in Him; cf. Gal. 1:19; Jude 1).

It makes you wonder, doesn't it, how they could be so close to Christ — seeing His lack of sin day after day for years, hearing His speech that was so different even as a young man (cf. Lk. 2:41-52), and then seeing His public ministry of preaching and teaching — and yet dismiss His claims and reject faith in Him.

Jesus tells them (and us) why they rejected Him (and why people continue to reject Him): because they loved the world and its enticements more than they loved Christ. The world hated Christ, wanted to kill Christ and rid itself of the ministry of Christ, but the world did not hate the brothers of Christ (Jn. 7:7). There is only one reason that the world will not hate someone — if that person is part of the world system and loves the world (Jn. 15:19). The brothers had succumbed to the attraction of temporal delights and pleasures called worldliness and rejected Christ.

We don't use that word "worldliness" too much anymore. It sounds quaint to our "modern" ears. Old-fashioned. Even legalistic. But it was destructive in the time of Christ and it is destructive today.

What is meant by this term worldliness? David Wells offered a helpful discussion of it in a recent interview:

Worldliness is that system of values in any given culture that makes sin look normal and which makes righteousness look strange or alien. It’s what gives public affirmation, public credence, public approval to fallen human life. It’s what comes out in poll when someone says, "Well, everyone is doing it." That is worldliness. That is where you get public sign-off on what is wrong, and it exerts enormous coercive power because people feel as if they’re odd or strange if they don’t go along with a certain way of looking at life or living life or having certain things or doing certain things or being certain people. That’s worldliness.

He also adds that there is a temptation in addressing worldliness to deal with trivialities. But worldliness is about competing loyalties — you cannot love the world and be a friend of God. (You might read the last part of the last sentence again.) This is John's message as well — worldliness is comprised of fleshly lusts (don't think that just means illicit sex; it's much more than that), hedonistic (self-indulgent) and lusty desires, and arrogant pride. In short it is anything which does not and cannot originate with the Father (1 Jn. 2:15-17). It is, as Iain Murray wrote, "departing from God. It is a man-centered way of thinking."

We (like the brothers of Jesus probably did), think that the influence on us is not so terribly dangerous. (How else will pastors be able to justify watching profane television shows and movies and listening to heretical music and be able to call it "relevance" instead of impurity and unholiness?) Yet in Scripture "world" refers to that which has been warped by sin and tormented by beliefs and desires that are uncontrollable. It is hostile to God (sometimes openly, often subtly) and is that from which believers have been delivered from, not that to which we have been delivered (1 Pt. 2:9).

Two final words are helpful — one old and one recent —

The world is too much with us; late and soon
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! [William Wordsworth]

Most of us recognize the danger of exposing ourselves to sinful content, so we tend to set arbitrary limits based on how much we think we can "handle." When a movie or TV show presents us with mild or infrequent profanity, and occasional adulterous affair, or a limited amount of gratuitous violence, we sort of weigh the danger level. We act as if we each have a "sin threshold" beyond which we dare not go. We might as well ask how much of a poison pill we can swallow before it kills us. [Josh Harris, "Christians and Media."]

Worldly desires will delude us into thinking two dangerous thoughts (as Jesus' own brothers did for a time) — our sin is inconsequential and Christ is insignificant. Beware of worldly desires. With them, you may be near in proximity to Christ, but in reality you will remain far, far away.

Sex and Marriage

I have a book in my library that always makes a friend of mine laugh when he sees it on my shelf. The book is Lauren Winner's recent release, Real Sex: the Naked Truth About Chastity. He laughs because the spine simply reads, "Real Sex Winner."

Yet (while I don't agree with everything in the book) it really is a winner because it forces us to think critically about sex and fidelity and the forces that attempt to distract us from thinking truly about our sexuality. Winner recently addressed Calvin College in it's January series on the topic: "The Truth About Married Sex." Her talk is an expansion of a topic in the aforementioned book, and well worth a listen. Below is a quotation from the book that will give you a flavor of the lecture:

Premarital Sex: It Teaches You that Sex Is Thrilling

The main story our society tells about non-marital sex is that it's exciting. Indeed, "exciting" and "thrilling" are among the adjectives our popular culture most frequently attaches to sex. And premarital sex can be exciting. Folks who are in the dating pool cannot assume they are going to have sex every night, or every week. Sex isn't regular. It isn't ordinary. To the contrary, it is dramatic. Sometimes it is dramatic because it is bound up with the thrill of the chase-this is the drama of the much-touted college "hook-up." You get all gussied up and go to a party and you have a goal: to attract that cute man with the long eyelashes. Flirting is exciting. Knowing someone finds you attractive feels good. Not knowing the outcome — Will he or won't he? Does she or doesn't she? — can be thrilling.

Sometimes premarital sex feels dramatic because, by definition, it is part of a relationship that is itself not wholly stable. Even when you've been dating someone for a year, the lack of" permanence that fundamentally characterizes your relationship can add a certain frisson to everything you do with that person, from going on a Saturday hike to smooching on the sofa. Everything in your relationship gets some of its charge from the uncertainty, the unknown: put negatively, it gets its charge from the instability; put more generously, it gets its charge from the possibility.

This may be the single most significant way that married sex differs from unmarried sex. Married sex does not derive its thrill from the possibility of the unknown. Married sex is a given. It is solemnized and marked in ritual. It is established. It is governed by vows. It becomes a ritual in itself; it becomes a routine.

The sex of blind dates and fraternity parties, even of relatively long-standing dating relationships, has, simply, no normal qualities. Based principally on mutual desire, it dispenses with the ordinary rhythms of marital sex, trading them for a seemingly thrilling but ultimately false story. This may be the way that the sin of premarital sex sticks with us most lastingly; it may be the twisted lesson it teaches us most convincingly: that sex is exciting. That sex derives its thrill from instability and drama. In fact, the opposite is true: the dramas of married sex are smaller and more intimate, and indeed it is the stability of marriage that allows sex to be what it is.…

[So] There's nothing inherently wrong with married couples fostering a little romance. There's nothing wrong with the husband who buys his wife some lingerie or lights a few candles in the bedroom. The problem comes before that-it comes in a set of premarital sexual experiences that foster the expectation that sex will be constantly exciting, that it will be thrilling the way instability is almost always thrilling, the way walking on a rope bridge across a gorge can be thrilling. The problem comes when we learn to define excitement by instability's terms, to connect sexuality and desire with that instability, instead of teaching us to find it in the stable, daily-and yes, occasionally dull-rhythms of marriage. [pp. 118-20.]

Thoughts on Dying and Living

Generally we say, "living and dying." Life comes first, then death. Yet for the believer, the order is reversed. There is death, and then there is life eternal in all its fullness.

I thought of that as I read the blog accounts of the passing of J. Alan Groves. I was unaware of the life or ministry of Professor Groves until I read of it online. His wife's account of the final hours of his life on earth and his passage to eternity was moving, even to one who did not know him. We do well to think often of the shortness of life on earth and the reality of our eternal destiny. This account will help you do that. It's well worth a read, as is the more extended account.


(HT: Justin Taylor)

Questions to Sanctify Your Life

In this morning's devotional, Oswald Sanders asks a number of helpful questions to stimulate sanctification in our lives:

When we pray to be sanctified, are we prepared to face the standard of these verses? We take the term sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared for what sanctification will cost? It will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth, and an immense broadening of all our interests in God. Sanctification means intense concentration on God's point of view. It means every power of body, soul and spirit chained and kept for God's purpose only. Are we prepared for God to do in us all that He separated us for? And then after His work is done in us, are we prepared to separate ourselves to God even as Jesus did? "For their sakes I sanctify Myself." The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God's standpoint. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the disposition that ruled Him will rule us. Are we prepared for what that will cost? It will cost everything that is not of God in us.

Are we prepared to be caught up into the swing of this prayer of the apostle Paul's? Are we prepared to say - "Lord, make me as holy as You can make a sinner saved by grace"? Jesus has prayed that we might be one with Him as He is one with the Father. The one and only characteristic of the Holy Ghost in a man is a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, and freedom from everything that is unlike Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit's ministrations in us?

Final Thoughts from Adophe Monod

I just finished reading Adolphe Monod's Living in the Hope of Glory this morning. Several statements stood out as I completed the book:

"We have no idea of what we would be able to do if we were completely lost in such total harmony with God; if we would seek no other will than his. We have no idea of what we would be able to do if every word in our mouth, every beat of our heart, every thought of our minds, every movement of our spirit and body were oriented toward him to wait for him in the spirit of Samuel: 'Speak, for your servant is listening' (1 Sam. 3:10)." [p. 135.]

"Oh, how can we surround [Scripture] with enough attention and respect?…Most read [the Scriptures] superficially and content themselves with a few great general truths when they could be probing ever deeper and becoming aware (as much as they can) of all that is there, as it is written, 'The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever' (Deut. 29:29)." [p. 141.]

"Without the Word, prayer is nothing, having no source of nourishment. Without prayer, the Word is powerless and does not penetrate into the heart." [p. 154.]

I had no knowledge of Monod prior to purchasing this book, and only bought it because I trusted the publisher. What a sweet treasure this book has been for the past month or so of devotional readings.

Sunday Leftovers (2/4/07)

A comment made by David Wells in his book God in the Wasteland resonates in my mind as I think about discipleship and the state of the church: "God rests too lightly — too inconsequentially on His church." That is, too many believers follow God too superficially. And too often, He is followed weakly because the cost of following Him is too high or the desires we have for Him are misplaced (we want what He gives rather than desiring Him).

Three brief comments from others address this topic in different and provocative ways:

"…there must be a hearty reliance upon God, and a childlike confidence in him. I would recommend you either believe in God up to the hilt, or not at all. Believe this Book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing-place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith, and is not good for much. Oh, I pray you, do believe in God, and his omnipotence." [C. H. Spurgeon, "Is God in the Camp?"]

"You will become like those with whom you 'walk' or spend time. If you spend much of your discretionary hours with foolish or worldly people — including those on TV shows and commercials — you'll grow more foolish and worldly. But if you become one 'who walks with wise men [you'll] be wise.'" [Don Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life.]

"If there are so many Christians in the U.S., why aren't we affecting our world? I believe it's because…we treat our faith like a section of the newspaper or an item on our 'Things to Do Today' list. We file religion in our schedules between relatives and running. It's just one of the many concerns competing for our attention.…if Christianity is true — then it cannot be simply a file drawer in our crowded lives. It must be the central truth from which all our behavior, relationships, and philosophy flow." [Charles Colson, Against the Night.]