Why do you want to go to Heaven?

This is the question asked by John Piper: "if you could have everything about Heaven — forgiveness, fellowship, absence of sin and pain and death, etc. — but God is not there, would you still want it?"

The question is addressing the heart of the gospel. Do we want the gospel for our own self-exalting ends and purposes, or for the delight of the glory of God for which we were created?

A generation ago, Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked the same question in a different manner:

"What are you looking for and hoping for in Heaven? Let me ask you a question that perhaps should come before that. Do you ever look forward to being in Heaven?…The person who looks forward to death simply wants to get out of life because of his troubles. That is not Christian; that is pagan. The Christian has a positive desire for Heaven, and therefore I ask: Do you look forward to being in Heaven? But, more than this, what do we look forward to when we get to Heaven? What is it we are desiring? Is it the rest of Heaven? Is it to be free from troubles and tribulations? Is it the peace of Heaven? Is it the joy of Heaven? All those things are to be found there, thank God; but that is not the thing to look forward to in Heaven. It is the face of God. 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God'…to stand in the very presence of God — 'To gaze and gaze on thee.' Do we long for that? Is that Heaven to us? Is that the thing we want above everything else?" [quoted by Donald Whitney.]

Sunday Leftovers (8/26/07)

"If we understood Hell even the slightest bit, none of us would ever say, 'Go to Hell.' It's far too easy to go to Hell. It requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. It is nothing to take lightly — Hell is the single greatest tragedy in the universe." [Randy Alcorn, Heaven.]

It has been statements like that that have caused me to contemplate the reality of hell far more in recent months. Few people like to think of death in general, and fewer still are willing to give serious consideration of hell's realities. And when most people do, they think of it in unreal terms, as Ted Turner did several years ago when he said, "Heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that's perfect? Boring, boring. [In hell] we'll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess."

Is that really a possibility? What will hell be like?

• In Hell (Alcorn suggests capitalizing Heaven and Hell as one would any proper noun, since they are literal places), the restraining influence of God the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and believers will be fully removed, resulting in a fullness of sin. All sin will be "fully mature," so that there will be no rest from it. All sin in all its forms (think of any sin and it will apply — anger, fear, hatred, anxiousness, selfishness) will be unrelenting and unceasing and never abated.
• In Hell, there will be the complete absence of anything good. The capacity to perform even the simplest act of kindness is a result of the common grace of God. Such grace from God will not exist in Hell, so there will be no ability to perform even the tiniest modicum of goodness. There will be no friendship (only hatred), no fellowship (only selfishness), no peace (only anger), and no comfort (only unrest and regret).
• In Hell, there will be eternal (i.e., they will always know it) knowledge of the reality of God and Heaven. It seems possible that not only will there be an understanding that God and Heaven exist, but that in some measure and form, it will even be able to be seen (cf. Lk. 16:22ff). Yet they will never be able to cross over from Hell to Heaven. Which leads to my last observation…
• In Hell, there will be no opportunities to ever change a decision made on earth. They are eternally condemned. (Think on that for a time.) In Hell, there will be full awareness of guilt, full awareness of sin, full awareness that Christ was rejected, full submission to Christ, with no opportunity to ever repent. I've made more than one decision that I've regretted. But none with the same kind of eternal implication. This will be the great anguish and horror of hell.
  

Hell is and will be a terror which we have no scale to measure. And people we know and love have gone, are going, and will go there. Which means two things for parents (which is what this sermon was about):

1. We must train our children to have a compassion for those who are lost that spills over into clear gospel articulations to the lost. May the training of our children produce in them grief and sadness for those who are unregenerate and headed for Hell, rather than haughty criticism.
2. We must train our children to exist in the world (be influencers for Christ in the world), while at the same time maintaining hearts that are separate from and unstained by the philosophy of the world.
   

Hell is terrible and eternal. Train your children to understand its deadliness. And train them also to have compassion for those who are going there.

30-3

When you are a baseball fan and the greatest claim to fame your team can make is a 1-9 post-season record, two no-hitters by a 40-something hall-of-famer who did most of his outstanding work prior to arriving on your team, and the worst contract in the history of baseball (cost to team approximately 3 years, $150 million), you have to celebrate every small victory. Especially when they are not small victories.



An ugly game to some; a beauty to others.

Books and transformation

In a recent post, Bob Kauflin wrote,

"I once heard someone say that books don't change people — sentences do. If I glean two or three sentences from a book that affect the way I think and the way I live, that's time well invested. So I read."

I find it virtually impossible to read without a highlighter and pencil in hand — highlighting the key ideas, starring key ideas, and writing down interactive thoughts, marking the outline, and noting passages and sentences to place in my quotation file.

Sometimes I stop immediately and jot down a sentence of comment on a file card. As I did yesterday. The sentence that has been transforming me over the past 30 hours or so is from Joel Beeke in Reforming Pastoral Ministry:

"Pray in response to the least impulse to do so."

I know. It's not particularly erudite but it is a godly and Biblical exhortation. One I needed and need to hear and heed.

(HT: Challies)

God, sin and sovereignty

One of the repeated questions people (both those who believe in Christ and those who do not) have about God is the relationship between sin and suffering, and God who is sovereign over all things. How can those seemingly contradictory statements co-exist and God still be God?

In his most recent sermon, John Piper addresses that question and after building an extensive argument, says,

I conclude, therefore, that God permitted Satan’s fall, not because he was helpless to stop it, but because he had a purpose for it. Since God is never taken off guard, his permissions are always purposeful. If he chooses to permit something, he does so for a reason — an infinitely wise reason. How the sin arises in Satan’s heart, we do not know. God has not told us. What we do know is that God is sovereign over Satan, and therefore Satan’s will does not move without God’s permission. And therefore every move of Satan is part of God’s overall purpose and plan. And this is true in such a way that God never sins. God is infinitely holy, and God is infinitely mighty. Satan is evil, and Satan is under the all-governing wisdom of God.

The important sentence there is, "If [God] chooses to permit something, he does so for a reason — an infinitely wise reason." There is a purpose in all of God's dealings with all men — even when sin intrudes into our lives. And that purpose could be stated succinctly as, "His purpose in His dealings with unbelievers is to bring them to Christ (1 Tim. 1:15-16; 2:6; 2 Pet. 3:9 — or to leave them without excuse for their rejection of Christ; Rom. 1:20); and His purpose in His dealings with believers is to conform them to the image of Christ (e.g., Rom. 8:28)."

So, when confronted with evil, we should respond in these ways, Piper notes:

How then should we relate to evil? How should we think and feel and act about Satanic evil — the death of little Zach at the attack of a pit bull? The deaths of three more miners trying to save their buddies? Five hundred dead in the Peru earthquake? The evil you confront in your own lives? Here is my summary answer. Eight things to do with evil. Four things never to do.

1. Expect evil. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
2. Endure evil. “Love bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7; cf. Mark 13:13).
3. Give thanks for the refining effect of evil that comes against you. “Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Romans 5:3-5).
4. Hate evil. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
5. Pray for escape from evil. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).
6. Expose evil. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
7. Overcome evil with good. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
8. Resist evil. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But, on the other hand:

1. Never despair that this evil world is out of God’s control. “[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).
2. Never give in to the sense that because of random evil life is absurd and meaningless. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! . . . For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Romans 11:33, 36).
3. Never yield to the thought that God sins, or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways.” (Psalm 145:17).
4. Never doubt that God is totally for you in Christ. If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ. Never doubt that all the evil that befalls you—even if it takes your life—is God’s loving, purifying, saving, fatherly discipline. It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath. That fell on Jesus Christ our substitute. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6).

While listening to this sermon this morning, I thought back to one of his sermons that made a great impact on me, his exposition of Rom. 9:19-23, "How God Makes Known the Riches of His Glory to the Vessels of Mercy." Both of these sermons are helpful in understanding God's sovereign and glorious purposes in allowing sin into the world in general, and into our lives in particular.

Better (Teenage) Saints

How shall we parent and shepherd our teens so that they will walk faithfully with God?

In his most recent "Taste and See" column, John Piper interacts with two recent books and draws the conclusion that "Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints." A sample statement:

"…even though growing a church by serious teaching of biblical truth may be harder and slower, it does bear more radical fruit than less doctrinally serious strategies of growth."

Sunday Leftovers (8/19/07)

In the last few years, I have heard an increasing number of times, "I love _____, but I don't like him/her..." Such a notion is a completely foreign concept in Scripture. To love someone is, by definition, to be both a friend and friendly to that person.

No where should that be more evident than in a marriage. A stable marriage relationship also produces deep friendship and fellowship. What does that friendship look like? (Meditating on the implications of these statements for the marriage relationship will be time well-spent.)

• There are no circumstances that can remove a friend's love for his friend (Prov. 17:17).
• A friend is always a defender and protector of his friend (Prov. 18:24).
• A friend stimulates his friend spiritually (Prov. 27:17).
• A friend will tell the truth to his friend rather than deceitfully flatter him (Prov. 27:6).
  

Now the temptation will often be, "where can I find someone to do that for me?" or, "how can I get my spouse to do that for me?" Yet the focus of a marriage relationship is not, "what is that person supposed to do for me," but "what is my joyful obligation to my marriage partner?" So when considering the fellowship of friendship within marriage, the joyful responsibility and privilege is to be the kind of friend to my wife that I myself would desire to have — regardless of whether she ever reciprocates or not.

Be steadfast…abounding in God's work

The other day I found myself having a little whine to my wife — "I'm weary…" was the general tone of the conversation.

Ever had thoughts like that? Sure you have. It is easy to forget two complementary truths from Scripture: that as believers, are lives are given to Christ to be used (up) by Him for His purposes and glory. As someone once said, "being tired may not be a sign that you are doing something wrong, but that you are doing something right." And secondly, even in our weariness, Christ is our sufficiency and adequacy.

So it was good that I thought of this verse:

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord" [1 Cor. 15:58]

And it was good that a read this statement this morning in Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students. The quote is a little extended, but it is a worthwhile encouragement:

…measure your work in the light of God. Are you God’s servant or not? If you are, how can your heart be cold? Are you sent by a dying Savior to proclaim his love and win the reward of his wounds, or are you not? If you are, how can you flag? Is the Spirit of God upon you? Has the Lord anointed you to preach glad tidings to the poor? If he has not, do not pretend to it. If he has, go in this thy might, and the Lord shall be thy strength. Yours is not a trade, or a profession. Assuredly if you measure it by the tradesman’s measure it is the poorest business on the face of the earth. Consider it as a profession: who would not prefer any other, so far as golden gains or worldly honors are concerned? But if it be a divine calling, and you a miracle-worker, dwelling in the supernatural, and working not for time but for eternity, then you belong to a nobler guild, and to a higher fraternity than any that spring of earth and deal with time. Look at it aright;, and you will own that it is a grand, thing to be as poor as your Lord, if, like him, you may make many rich; you will feel that it is a glorious thing to be as unknown and despised as were your Lord’s first followers, because you are making him known, whom to know is life eternal. You will be satisfied to be anything or to be nothing, and the thought of self will not enter your mind, or only cross it to be scouted as a meanness not to be tolerated by a consecrated man. There is the point. Measure your work as it should be measured, and I am not afraid that your earnestness will be diminished. Gaze upon it by the light of the judgment day, and in view of the eternal rewards of faithfulness. Oh, brethren, the present joy of having saved a soul is overwhelmingly delightful; you have felt it, I trust, and know it now. To save a soul from going down to perdition brings to us a little heaven below, but what must it be at the day of judgment to meet spirits redeemed by Christ, who learned the news of their redemption from our lips! We look forward to a blissful heaven in communion with our Master, but we shall also know the added joy of meeting those loved ones whom we led to Jesus by our ministry. Let us endure every cross, and despise all shame, for the joy which Jesus sets before us of winning men for him.

The high cost of sexual sin

In preparation for Sunday's sermon, I came across this statement by Derek Kidner about the Biblical reality of what sexual sin is. [All the references are from Proverbs.]

…sexual sin is presented in the darkest colours. It is a squandering of powers that were designed for the founding of a true family that should be one’s own, and close-knit, and divinely blessed (5:9-23). It is an exchange of true intimacy for its parody (5:19, 20), a parting with one’s honour (5:9, 6:33) and liberty (23:27, 28). It is to throw away one’s best years (5:9, 11) and possibly one’s last possessions (29:3; 6:26…). It is to court physical danger and social disgrace (6:26, 32-35); and this is not all. Those who think to explore life this way are flirting with death. It is no mere detour from the best path but, in the fullest sense, a dead-end: ‘for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the shades; none who go to her come back nor do they regain the paths of life’ (2:18, 19, RSV). To change the figure, it is a sin which sears the sinner inescapably: ‘Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?’ (see 6:27-29, 33b).

This is a sobering reminder — another of the kinds of truths that must be our meditation and preoccupation of our hearts as we battle against temptation in its many forms.

Consumerism and idolatry

In an article for Leadership Journal last year, Skye Jethani makes an important distinction between consumption and consumerism —

Christian critiques of consumerism usually focus on the dangers of idolatry—the temptation to make material goods the center of life rather than God. This, however, misses the real threat consumerism poses. My concern is not materialism, strictly speaking, or even the consumption of goods—as contingent beings, we must consume resources to survive. The problem is not consuming to live, but rather living to consume.

The rest of the article is worth reading as he not only points out that a natural product of living to consume is living to shop — the number one leisure activity of Americans. And that priority then overflows into another favored pasttime for American Christians — shopping for church. It's an article worth reading as we consider the implications of our attraction to money and possessions.

Book Review: The Truth of the Cross

In the past few years, I have found myself increasingly gravitating to books on the cross of Christ.

One reason is that since I lead our church through communion each month, I need to read things that keep the truth of the cross fresh and exciting to me. But the most significant reason is that we are people of the cross. We have no message apart from the cross. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving? There is no meaning for any of those holidays apart from the cross. Sunday? No meaning without the cross. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday? All senseless without the cross.

So when I go to the bookstore or find a new book catalog, one place I always go is the Christology section. Will there be something new that will stimulate my mind and move my heart into greater Christlikeness and love for Christ?

And that is why I was intrigued to see a new book by R. C. Sproul on the cross.

The Truth of the Cross has just been released and it is another helpful book by Sproul. It is shorter (167 pp.), in a smaller format, and more conversational in its tone than some of his other writings — making it more accessible to a wider audience.

The book has ten chapters, all centered around the great themes of the cross. Among the chapter titles are:

• The Necessity of an Atonement
• The Just God
• Debtors, Enemies, and Criminals
• The Saving Substitute
• A Secure Faith

I am drawn to this book for a number of reasons:

• the simple and clear explanations of the intricacies of the cross. The cross is simple enough a child can understand it; yet that simplicity should not be confused with a lack of depth and richness. This book elucidates that richness.
• the use of exposition to explain these truth throughout the book (he not only provides theological arguments, but also Biblical arguments and explanations).
• concise definitions of theological terms, multiple extended illustrations in virtually each chapter, making the truths come alive for the reader. So an extended explanation of expiation and propitiation helps the reader understand that while related in that they both look to the ransom paid on the cross, expiation refers to the act of ransom, and propitiation refers to the one who receives the ransom and His attitude towards the ransomed person.
  
• the "quotability" of the book. In each chapter, I marked several sections to copy and place in my illustration files, meaning my "communion" file is now expanded by at least a couple dozen more concise statements about the cross.
  
• the repeated affirmations of the importance of the cross. For instance, "if you take away the substitutionary atonement, you empty the cross of its meaning and drain all the significance out of the passion of our Lord Himself. If you do that, you take away Christianity itself" [p. 81].
• the relationship of each chapter to the others, demonstrating how the various truths are linked to one another.

Of particular help in this last regard was the chapter, "Debtors, Enemies, and Criminals." Of all the reasons that people don't respond to the cross and the gospel, perhaps the most significant is that they do not understand their need for salvation. I've often said to a friend, "that person has to get lost before he can get saved," meaning that the person in question still refuses to understand the depth of his sinfulness and his utter inability to offer anything commendable to God to produce God's satisfaction. He is dependent on God for salvation, but he doesn't know it. This chapter expounds that doctrine wonderfully and fully. At the beginning of the chapter Sproul writes this:

"Sin is cosmic treason." With those words, I [am] trying to communicate the seriousness of human sin. We rarely take the time to think through the ramifications of our sin. We fail to realize that in even the slightest sins we commit, such as little white lies or other peccadilloes, we are violating the law of the Creator of the universe. In the smallest sin we defy God’s right to rule and to reign over His creation. Instead, we seek to usurp for ourselves the authority and the power that belong properly to God. Even the slightest sin does violence to His holiness, to His glory, and to His righteousness. Every sin, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is truly an act of treason against the cosmic King. [p. 32]

There remain two detractions to this book. The first of these is actually more of a desire than a detraction. Upon completing the book, I was left wanting more. Like a good roller coaster or ice cream cone, I wanted one more turn and one more bite — "give me more," was my desire.

The second significant detraction relates to the chapter, "A Secure Faith," his explanation of limited atonement. The weakness of that chapter is the lack of Biblical exegesis and exposition to support his thesis, which is (ironically) a strength of the rest of the book. He relies too heavily in the final chapter on his theological system and places too great of an emphasis on limited atonement. Even Wayne Grudem notes,

Although Reformed people have sometimes made belief in particular redemption a test of doctrinal orthodoxy, it would be healthy to realize that Scripture itself never singles this out as a doctrine of major importance, nor does it once make it the subject of any explicit theological discussion. Our knowledge of the issue comes only from incidental references to it in passages whose concern is with other doctrinal or practical matters. In fact, this is really a question that probes into the inner counsels of the Trinity and does so in an area in which there is very little direct scriptural testimony — a fact that should cause us to be cautious. [p. 603]

Additionally, I was left wondering, "is this really one of the most significant aspects of the cross? Was there not some other aspect of the cross that deserved more significant explanation than this topic?"

That being said, this is a book that I will read and use repeatedly. It is probably not my favorite book on the cross, but it is one I am glad to own.

Sunday Leftovers (8/12/07)

In "How Much is Enough?" Al Mohler demonstrates the cultural bias towards a preoccupation with and dependence on material goods and wealth as god. That theology constantly bombards our souls and is dangerous for both us and our children.

So, here are some random thoughts as I reflect on yesterday's sermon and think about how to shepherd our children through such a twisted web of thinking:

• Like all temptation, material goods and wealth make a "promise" of the good life which they are wholly unable to provide.
• Better to give to much than too little.
• Not only can material goods not be taken into glory, but moths and rust will destroy most of what we possess long before we even get to glory.
• When making purchases, learn to ask, "If I purchase this, will I possess it, or will it possess (control) me?"
• Having money is not an intrinsic evidence of God's blessing (and neither is not having money).
• It is just as possible to be poor and greedy as rich and greedy.
• Biblically, debt is only that obligation which I cannot repay; however, even debt that is within our means to repay will generally be an impairment to joy and the ministry of giving.
• Give God your life before you give Him your money (2 Cor. 8:5).
  

The priority of corporate worship

Reflecting on Revelation 4-5 as a means of instructing the church about the nature of worship, Art Azurdia in his sermon "Bible Ministry" (Part 1) says this:

“In heaven, worship is undeniably corporate in essence. In fact, of all the worship scenes in heaven recorded for us in the Revelation, can you think of one, friends, can you think of just one, that shows the worship of God on the part of any one single individual or angel? Why is this the case? Because public glory brings more glory than private glory. Now please appreciate what I’m saying: I’m not suggesting that the Revelation records for us every possible kind of worship expression. I’m saying that in what it does record, there is nothing done in private, nothing done in secret, nothing done individualistically; all worship is public, corporate, congregational, No soloists singing independent of all the others, only choirs in symphonic praise.

“Now why do I draw this to your attention? My sense of things inclines me to believe that most evangelicals regard the corporate worship of the congregation as more of an aid to their own private worship experience rather than regarding their own private worship experience as an aid to the more important worship of the congregation. Which is why, then, it becomes increasingly easy and convenient to say, ‘Well, I’m going to stay at home this Lord’s day morning, because after all I can worship God all by myself. I can worship God in the garden, thank you very much. I can worship God on the ski slopes.’

“One writer has said it like this,

‘Congregational worship can be enhanced by private worship. However, corporate worship can never be replaced by private worship. Correctly understood, the two are complementary to each other, not unrelated competitors. Each supports, contributes to and draws from the other. But the push of Christian discipleship is always toward fellowship rather than away from it. Authentic worship on the part of an individual inevitably moves that person toward compassionate involvement in a community and conscientious participation in public worship. Within Christianity, congregational worship is primary.’

…We are first and foremost His community of saints. Yet failure to understand this has plagued the church with an evangelical narcissism. So that many of our people esteem their own individual selves are more elevated than the community. Which is why, then, so much of our singing when we gather on the Lord’s Day is in the first person singular — ‘I’ — rather than the first person plural — ‘we.’ We have our services of worship on the Lord’s Day, friends, not to service a bunch of isolated individuals with a privatized worship experience, but to provide the people of God with an opportunity to express their corporate hallelujahs. Individual Christians gather together to be part of the choir because public glory brings more glory than private glory.” [my emphasis]

Those final two sentences are worth reading again (and again) as we prepare our hearts for Sunday morning(s).

Sunday Leftovers (8/5/07)

"To the physician," writes, Chuck Swindoll, "it's merely a two-ounce slab of mucous membrane…But the tongue is as volatile as it is vital…[It is ] verbal cyanide. A lethal, relentless, flaming missile which assaults with hellish power, blistering and destroying at will."

This is the testimony of many Scriptures — Jesus, James, and Proverbs speak significantly about the danger of the tongue.

Yet the tongue is also beneficial, for by it we encourage, exhort, comfort, and train in righteousness.

So, because the tongue is both a help and a hindrance in communication, we are wise to be careful who has our ear — who we listen to for counsel and instruction, and we are wise to be diligent in truthfulness.

Be wise in who you heed as a counselor is an admonition repeated several times in Proverbs:

• A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (18:24)
• Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. (27:6)
• Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away. (27:9-10)

We do well to remember that these words were spoken by Solomon to his son(s) — they were his warning about both the kind and quantity of friends and confidants his son should select. He should select friends that are spiritually perceptive enough to be able to see through the veneer of his life and rebuke and exhort him to righteousness. These friends should not be men who would only affirm what he wants to hear. And he and they should have a reciprocally faithful relationship to each other — the friendship is not easily lost!

Given the pointed way that Solomon addresses his son, we must also recognize the validity and wisdom in being proactive in helping our children select their friends — helping them choose friends that will stimulate them in godly ways and not ungodly relationships. I am reminded of the wise words of E. V. Hill when he spoke of his children's friends and dating relationships: "Some of these relationships need to be broken up!" Solomon would agree.

But not only should children be wise in how they select as friends, but they should also be scrupulous in truthfulness. Truthfulness is important because lies and deceit are an abomination to God [the following list is expanded from a list by Gordon Lewis in Focal Point (Summer, 1995)]:

• Lies are antithetical to the character of God (Num. 23:19)
• Lies are contrary to God's revealed will (Lev. 6:1-7)
• Lies sabatoge one's integrity (1 Tim. 4:2)
• Lies do damage to others (Prov. 14:25)
• Lies do not conform to reality, they twist and pervert it (Prov. 12:5)
• Lies have their source in Satan, our sworn enemy (Mt. 5:37; Jn. 8:44)
• Lies are at odds with a primary function of the church (1 Tim. 3:15)
• Lies break our fellowship with God (1 Jn. 1:6-10)

John Piper summarizes the importance of truth well in his book, God's Passion for His Glory:

"To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God-centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God. What is false is anti-God. Indifference to the truth is indifference to the mind of God.…Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God. And all this is rooted in God's concern with God, or God's passion for the glory of God."

So as you shepherd your children, lead them to choose friends who will speak godly truth to them, and train them to speak godly truth to others. It is, after all, for the glory of God.

Things worth reading and praying when a bridge collapses

How do you respond when a bridge collapses (or a tower falls)? What are you to think? What do you tell your children or young believers (or unbelievers) about God in such a situation?

Three writers (one "old," and two contemporary), help us answer these questions in a biblical framework:

• Oswald Chambers
• Al Mohler
• John Piper ("Where is God?" and "Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed")

And some "Lessons Remembered" also relate to this situation as well…

Audio worth hearing

I was first introduced to Arturo Azurdia by The Master's Seminary chapel audio. Then, while on vacation the last couple of weeks, I listened to several more of his sermons. He is clear, compelling, convicting, and faithful to the text in his exposition. His sermons are well worth hearing, because he listens to God (chapter 4).

Lessons Remembered After a Midnight Phone Call

When the phone rings at midnight, awakening you from a deep and hard sleep, it rarely rings with happy news.

"Mr. Enns? This is Pastor ________. Your daughter is ok, but she's been in an accident at camp and has been hurt…We're getting ready to take her to the emergency room…"

With those words last night, our rejuvenating sleep was transformed to hours of unrestful waiting. Long story short, she's ok and will be able to finish the week at camp. But those first few hours too many questions raced through our minds to allow us any kind of useful sleep. We were more than 600 miles away and helpless to help.

As I reflected today on my light night of sleep, here are some spiritual lessons I knew but found myself encouraged by as I remembered them (much of our Biblical encouragement comes not from learning new truth, but remembering and practicing already known truth):

• It is possible, and it is good, to give thanks in all circumstances. Around 3:00 a.m., as the phone calls had finished for the night and I was thinking on Scripture and praying, I realized that while I was able to express gratitude for this testing of my faith, there were numerous other testings for which I had to this point only grumbled. So began a time of expressing to God various expressions of gratitude for all the circumstances of my life.
• God really is sovereign — and that is a good gift. What He does may be hard, but it come from His goodness and love and power, and He is trustworthy — and that means, as James Boice noted (my paraphrase from my memory) when he announced to his congregation the presence of cancer within his body that would usher him into glory within weeks, "if we were able to change what God has done, no matter what He has done, it wouldn't be as good…" Broken teeth don't undo the sovereignty of God — they make us to embrace that sovereignty in all its fullness and goodness.
• In the face of testings, sin is ugly. That may not be readily apparent. But when Christ is loved and trials arrive, presentations of sin are starkly exposed as the hideous temptations they are to lure us into deadly traps. Trials make truth and error clear and distinct, compelling the Christ-lover to despise the vileness of sin all the more. Trials make death appear darker and life appear brighter. That's good for our souls.
• Just because there are testings in one part of life does not preclude God from presenting us with other ministry opportunities in other areas of life. In the midst of awaiting some phone calls this morning, Raye Jeanne and I saw an unrecognized car pull into the driveway. "Who's that?" I asked. "I don't know…Oh, that's some Jehovah's Witnesses…" she replied. And up they marched to the door. In our brief conversation, I was sadly reminded that the exclusive claims of Christ are divisive, and the god of this world will use many means to delude many people to believing they are "close" to Christ by keeping them away from the reality of the true Christ. The parting image in my mind is of two women quickly walking away from me, a dismissive wave of the hands and the words "Don't bother — we don't want it," to my promise to pray for them to come to understand and know Christ. It is the image of two women believing they have the truth, marching resolutely towards eternity in hell. And my heart grieved.
• The body of Christ is a gift of Christ's grace. How can you train a child that God will provide His sustaining grace even if Dad and Mom aren't present? That's a lesson that's hard to orchestrate. Or, how can you train a child to see that the church is God's instrument by which He often manifests that grace to His people? For us, this week, that lesson was taught by means of our daughter being 600 miles from home and experiencing the grace of many of Christ's people sacrificing for her as an expression of their love for Christ.
• My trial or test is about more than just me. I've said it for years, God obviously uses my pain to deepen my faith in Him; but He also uses my pain to stimulate others to love and good deeds. "Consider my servant Job" (Job 1:8; cf. also Js. 5:11) means another's pain is sometimes woven into my life to transform me into greater Christlikeness.
• "Pray without ceasing" can be graciously kick-started by unexpected phone calls. And the quality and depth of one's prayer life is clarifyingly revealed by those same calls.

It all began with what seemed an untimely phone call. And it ended with the demonstration of God's grace in manifold ways — both for a young lady and her parents — and a host of timely memories. I thank God for minds to know and hearts to remember Him — both in and out of times of trial.