When Creation Sings...

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time in my own personal sanctuary a.k.a my back porch that overlooks Cort's grandfather's pasture. I spend time reading and thinking, and then the sunset catches my eye. In moments like these my reading and thinking seems to move to the back of my mind and in the forefront it is replaced by a very simple, effortless worship. This morning (for clarification--mostly for my dad--I reflected on what I had seen the night before), I even wrote my own personal "psalm" about the beauty of God's creation and how it reflects the beauty of our great God, who created it all. One of the lines in the song is, "When creation sings it sets a mind to wandering. How can you have love for one like me?" In these sunset moments, I feel so small. When I think about the vastness of the stars and skies, the sun and moon, the entirety of the universe, I am overwhelmed with praise because God is still mindful of wretches like me. When creation sings, my heart echoes the song.

Moderately Christian

C.S. Lewis said, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." The Scriptures address the issues of casual Christianity numerous times, and elaborate on the strong consequences of one who claims Christ but follows self. We see examples in Revelation in the letter written to the church at Laodicia, also in the Gospels when Christ presumably turns away potential followers on multiple occasions by making them count the cost of following Him. Now, think about Lewis' statement...there is no casual Christianity. To be casually Christian is to be fully hypocritical. This is the danger in selling Christianity like a high-pressure time-share. We offer this awesome vacation next to a crystal sea and golden roads if we will just 'accept Jesus right now'. I am a Southern Baptist, and this is a very hot topic right now. David Platt brought this to light, and I tend to agree with him for the most part. I fear we are selling people a faith built on sinking sand rather than a solid foundation. Let me summarize this post...IF YOU ARE CASUALLY CHRISTIAN...RETHINK YOUR SO-CALLED FAITH.

Content in Christ

A few years ago, a sunset was merely a sunset and nothing more. Tonight, I walked through my new yard hand in hand with my beautiful pregnant wife and looked at the sunset. In that brief moment, I did a quick reflection on my life. I used to think that like was about how many treasures I stored up here. It's funny how God works sometimes...this morning I taught 1 Timothy 5&6 in Sunday School. In 1 Timothy 6, the Word says...
     "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
    But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness."

God has blessed me so richly in my life. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and clothing. He has blessed me with an amazing Godly family and in-laws. I have been given a beautiful, loving wife and a beautiful soon-to-be born daughter. Most of all, I have been given the greatest gift of all--the grace that comes from Christ Jesus. Because it is God that has blessed me so much, I am going to pursue God.

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

This is the only way to live with perfect contentment.

Reflections of Romans- Chapter 1

 ROMANS 1

  Writer: Paul

Audience: The Believers in Rome

Things to Remember while reading: Paul was both Jewish and a Roman Citizen. 

Purpose in writing: He is longing to visit those believers in Rome because he has heard of their faith, so until that comes about, he writes them a letter reiterating their true faith.

Analysis: Here is a quick analysis/outline of Romans. You can break it down in two ways. The first way is in two parts. Verses 1-7 are considered the salutation, while 8-32 are the introduction to the entire book of Romans. You can also break chapter 1 down in three parts: 1-7 is WHY we tell, 8-15 is WHO we tell, and 16-32 is WHAT we tell.

EXPOSITION:

V1: "Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God..." 

     First of all, this is Paul we are talking about here. This is the same man that approx. 25 years earlier met Jesus on the road to Damascus while he was on his way to execute genocide on followers of the way. Paul thought that he was doing what God wanted him to do, but then he came face to face with the gospel that he was trying to silence. Jesus asked him, "Paul why do you persecute me?" Paul inquired, "Who are you, Lord?" That is when the truth was revealed to Paul and from that time on, he would serve God exclusively. 

     Paul calls himself a bondservant of Christ Jesus. What does this mean? If he is now free in Christ how, then, is he a bondservant or slave? Apart from Christ, we are slaves to our sinful passions and desires. Christ, with his blood, bought us for a price...we are no longer our own. We are free because, thanks to God's perfect atonement, we are no longer slaves to our sin.  

    Called to be an apostle. Apostle simply means "one who is sent, or missionary." Paul is called to be an instrument of the gospel. He is called to be set apart for the gospel. There is some interesting undertones in this phrase set apart. There is the obvious meaning of set apart, which is also the same meaning as Holy. We are called to be set apart from the world while we are here. Furthermore, set apart also has a literal definition meaning horizon. This could mean that he was called to have an entire field of view that radiates the gospel. 

V2: Christ is the focal point of prophecy, and has been since God promised it beforehand. Christ is God's plan for the restoration of His original relationship with man.

V3: This shows that Jesus was fully human since he was physically descended from David.

V4: This shows that Jesus was also fully God which is proved at the Resurrection which shows that the chief end of human life has no power over Him.

V5-6: It is Christ who has saved us and sent us for the sake of being obedient and spreading His name to the nations. (Matthew 28:19)

V7: Final Salutation to the Roman believers...

V8-10: This is a beautiful picture of how we should treat other believers. We should spend time in prayer for them, asking God to use them in a mighty way for His glory. Instead of trying to convince people to live another church to come to ours, we should be in prayer for them and that church, so that they may also further the Kingdom. Paul is longing to go to Rome.

V11-12: He is dying to visit the Romans, but he knows that it must be in God's timing. When he says, "I long to impart to you some spiritual gift...," this does not mean that he is trying to place a gift in them...in fact,he explains himself. He wants to encourage them and be mutually encouraged. 


V13: He reiterates his longing to visit the Romans. He wants to reap harvest among the Gentiles, which at this time was unusual and a pretty big deal. 


V14-15: The gospel is for ALL who will call on the name of Christ. So, Paul realizes the urgency of the gospel and the need for the discipleship of everyone we meet.


V16: This is the key verse of Romans in my personal opinion. This is the very definition of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Notice, it is not simply for everyone. If one does not believe, then they do not reap the results of believing in Christ.The view that God gives everyone a second chance after death is not found in scripture.

V17: God calls us to be righteous.

V18-32: This will be a quick summary of this section. Basically, God has revealed what he requires of man in order to be saved. He also has established the law for the purpose of letting us know that we sin. Man rejected it, so he let man become slaves of the flesh. Therefore, man must recognize their helplessness, and that only God can save them. This will be a theme that is running all the way through that will be added onto.

   

Genuine Worship- Part 2 & 3- Who God is and What He has done...living accordingly

...So when we realize who we are and what we have done...there should be this sense of brokenness. We have sinned against God. Perhaps, I should have reversed these two aspects of worship, because when we realize who God is and what He has done, there would be genuine brokenness over who we are and what we have done. Nevertheless, this is who God is and what He has done.

When we give in to temptation and cave...when we try to cover our sin and lose our faithfulness, there is one thing that remains faithful...God sees and knows it all.

2 Samuel 12
1. God already knows
     David has seemingly escaped consequence without a hitch. He has successfully rid himself of key witnesses by disposing of them. He has made his relationship with Bathsheba legitimate while making it look heroic to the public. David is probably feeling relieved. He forgot, however, that God knows already. God sends Nathan to David. Nathan tells a story to David about a man who killed another man's beloved sheep. This story was actually an analogy to the sin that David was engrossed in. David was angered by the story and pronounced a judgment on the man in the form of a death sentence. Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" Now, David has more choices...He can realize what he has done and repent or he can kill Nathan for accusing the King. God has just reminded David how he became King in the first place and has reminded him exactly who He (God) is.

2. God desires repentance
     David made the right choice and repented. The consequence (which still exists) was that the child dies. David however did not count this as unfair or unjust. He did not get angry with God. Instead, he does the right thing and gives praise to God in the midst of this huge storm. During this, he wrote Psalm 51 where we learn the next section...

3. God washes us clean (forgives)
Read Psalm 51
David realized who he was and what he had done, and now he is beginning to realize who God is. This is the same God who destroyed Sodom, but also the same God who is faithful and just to forgive. David has now surrendered his life and is begging forgiveness. Our God, who is full of love, grace, and mercy, forgives David and washes him clean from all unrighteousness. This is the same God that is faithful and just to forgive us. God desires that our relationship with Him be restored. That is the whole point of the gospel. We sinned and God wants to restore our relationship. Think of it in the sense of adultery. We are the bride of Christ and we have chased other lovers. God, however, does not long to divorce us, he wants to restore the true relationship. God will forgive you for your sin. God forgives me for my sin. All we need to do is come humbly before God and beg forgiveness and He will do it, according to the Word. This is who God is (the Holy God who is perfect in every way) and what He has done (sent His son to die for our sins so that our relationship can be restored).

As a result, we who claim to follow Christ should live each day, each second, as a display of praise to God. Dr. Pete Sanchez Jr. told my class one time that worship is "Praising God for all that He is with all that we are." That is worship. We realize that we are sinners and not worthy of forgiveness, yet God in his infinite mercy forgives us, therefore we should live our lives as a bondservant of Christ because we do owe our lives to Him. Not to earn salvation...we do not work to earn salvation. We have been saved, therefore we work.

Worship is realizing who we are and what we have done, who God is and what He has done, and living accordingly.

Quick post in response to a question...

Q: How do you forgive someone who know that what they did was wrong and was not sorry for it?

A: Forgiveness is ultimately an act of obedience to God. It is true that people will wrong you (or someone close to you) and refuse to apologize. However, our duty as believers...our allegiance is ultimately to God. Therefore, we should strive to obey God, not strive to change that person. Only God can truly change a person. So, if we forgive them (and let them know that we forgive them) the hope is that they will see the glory of God through the act of forgiveness. In summary, we forgive because we were forgiven. We show grace because grace was shown to us. We have mercy because Christ had mercy. We love because Christ first loved us.
SIDE NOTE: It does take time...just pray for God to reveal His heart to you through the situation.

Genuine Worship- Part 1- Who We are and What We've Done...

    I shared this thought/message in the form of a sermon one Sunday night. To give it a little introduction, I was contemplating worship and I wanted to give it a personal definition to where I could really grasp what it is. Weeks went by, and I was preaching through a series with the youth entitled "Blueprint" where we covered the foundations of our faith, and the time came for "worship." So, I sat down and contemplated what worship is. The first draft of the definition was "When we realize who we are and what we have done, and then realize who God is and what He has done." It wasn't a bad definition...but still something was missing. Later, I was on the phone with my best friend, Jared Carter, and I told him the definition. Then we brainstormed and added a little more to the definition which, I feel, gave a strong ending to the definition. The revised definition was, "When we realize who we are and what we have done, who God is and what He has done, and we live accordingly." Then I wrote it down, and preached from 2 Samuel 11 & 12, which is the story of David and Bathsheba. This is a summarized version.

  GENUINE WORSHIP
     ''When we realize who we are and what we have done...'', what does that truly mean? This means that we must come face to face with our complete helplessness. Look at 2 Samuel 11:1...and I think we will see an example of just how sin can overtake our lives.

11:1     In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

That phrase, but David remained at Jerusalem. What does this tell us? David was not where he should have been.  The Kings were off at war fighting with the soldiers, but David remained in Jerusalem.

1. David was not where he should have been.
Often times, sin will overtake us because we are simply not where we should be...whether that be spiritually or physically.

2. David dwelt on temptation.
In verse two we see the temptation of the Enemy creep in.

11:2   It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful...David has a choice at this point. Bathsheba bathing on a roof was not an attempt on her part to lead the King into temptation, but rather she was simply taking a shower. This was not an uncommon practice in this time. David should have looked away and retreated. He had the choice to flee from sin, but instead we have verse 3...

11:3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

So David, being King, could have multiple wives...it is not a suggested thing at this time, but it is also not forbidden. He certainly had the means to support them. David is not desiring to sin at this point, it was common for a King to seek a wife. We see that sin was not his desire because he did inquire as to whether she was married or not. Then they tell him that she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite. This should have been where David dropped it. He should have said, "Ok," and walked away...but no. He chose to dwell on the temptation. Instead of taking Bathsheba as a wife, he now desired to simply take Bathsheba.

3. David caved to temptation.
We cannot control temptation...temptation will come. We can however choose to resist it by not dwelling on it. If we don't dwell on it and instead we seek God, then surely we will not cave to temptation. David, however, did the opposite. He dwelt on his temptation, therefore he caved.

11:4-5  So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

4. Sin has consequences.
In my own experience, I have seen and felt the consequences of my sin. I have felt the broken heart, the contrite spirit. I have seen hearts that I have broken because of my actions. I have been to the pit of despair. These experiences have served to teach me that my sin has repercussions. There is two ways to go about the consequences. 1.) Man up or 2.) Cover up. David has yet another choice. There is a great consequence to his sin in the form of a child. David can either say, "Yes. I had an affair. She is pregnant. I was wrong. I beg forgiveness. Now, I will raise this child," or he can say go with option 2 which is, "The baby is not mine. I am not the father. I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

THE COVER-UP
David knows he's in for some serious consequences, so he decides with the cowardly second choice. He calls in Uriah from the battlefield and tries to get him to have intercourse with his wife so that the conception will seem to be his. (This is a summary of verses 6-26). What David did not expect was that Uriah would be a man of character and integrity. He was a man who was not only loyal to his soldier-brethren and his nation, but also to his King, David. He would not, even while intoxicated, sleep with his wife while the other men were out fighting. David sent a death sentence (by way of Uriah, mind you) to the commander. The commander did as was told and withdrew soldiers and left not only Uriah, but other good soldiers, in harm's way. There Uriah perished along with other men.

5. Your Sin affects others
This is not longer David's secret sin. Men have now died. Bathsheba is mourning the loss of her husband. Now, before we begin to judge Bathsheba, remember that she could have been killed for refusing to have sex with David (yes...she could have refused...I got that). So she is mourning, the family of the other soldiers are mourning...and David still covers up. He takes her to be his wife quickly. Was this genuine or an attempt to look good to the public eye? We are not 100% sure, but it adds to his cover up. He did not reveal the truth.

We, like David, have fallen to the temptations of sin. We have caved just like Him. The first step in true worship is realizing who we are (fallen man) and what we have done (sinned against God).

PART TWO COMING LATER TONIGHT... WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE!
READ 2 SAMUEL 12
 

The Pretentious Church

     I wrote in an earlier post on one downfall of the American Church--distraction. Through the reading of the Scriptures, specifically Jeremiah, I have come to the realization of yet another issue of faith within the American Church. This is not a fresh idea by any means, it is simply that God has revealed to me something that I, too, need to improve upon by growing in faith and in the Word. Jeremiah is boldly proclaiming a prophetic word from God to Israel, and then he addresses for a moment the state of Judah. He speaks of them, "...Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD." I was floored at the reading of this. Where down the line did we fall away from the true faith and decide to follow in pretense only? This brings me back to my current chief argument of the believer and the government. Those who claim conservatism say that they represent the values of our founding fathers, correct? They even go so far as to claim that the founding fathers were Christians, and that everything that they represent is founded on scripture. So, likewise, the conservatives are trying to preserve Biblical authority when it comes to the Constitution. Ok. Cool. My issue is not over the moral standards of a nation, but rather how we go about preserving moral values. If we say we are going to uphold a Biblical standard, then every aspect of our lives should reflect that. The way that many Conservative spokesmen present this argument of Biblical standard is unbiblical. How do they go about doing this? They slander. The quarrel. They gossip. They are rebellious and disrespectful. They say things such as, "He's not my president." They have simply done, as some fathers of our nation did, and taken parts of scripture and followed them, while dismissing others as not applying. They are obedient to God on the things that make them look good, but reject the Word when it comes to the spiritual integrity and discipline that should be reflected in their own lives. Not to be confusing, I am a moderate who leans more toward conservatism...if I must define myself by a party. I am simply saying, first and foremost, I am a follower of Christ, and if we are going to push Christian standard, then atleast follow them. When we take parts of scripture and apply them, and then reject others, we are simply following in pretense, not whole-heartedly.
     There are some who have claimed that I am merely paying lip service to God when I speak against the slandering of our leaders. To them, I say that if I speak with my vote (which I intend to do) then God knows my heart and therefore I am not paying lip service. Somehow, the remedy for lip service has become speaking loudly and angrily...and if that is the remedy for lip service, then Christ paid the Father lip service--which is a claim I would never dare to make. I am not saying that if the government decided to infiltrate their way into the church that we allow for that to happen. I am saying that until the time the government decides to regulate how the Church operates, we should respect them because as Romans 13 says, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities, resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." The early Christians, under the reign of Caesar, refused to hail Caesar as LORD. Had they done so, they could have worshipped as they pleased. This, however, was a cutting line where they had to refuse to place anything higher than God. Until we reach this point (which very well could happen one day), we must submit and give respect. I must reiterate my point on respect, in Titus, Paul reminds him, "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (boldness added) But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. as for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self condemned." This is a big deal. Now comes to the point of true examination of our hearts.
     Are we merely pushing Biblical standard to impress people and somehow impress God? Or are we truly following whole-heartedly. I dare to say that if we were truly following, and truly following the American way as some claim, then we would spend less time slandering and more time praying for our nation. We would talk less and let our vote speak for us. The old saying is true that actions speak louder than words. I am, with a slight strain of selfishness, ready for those who claim to be defenders of the faith to start living their lives according to Scripture. It is about spiritual integrity not politics. My fear is that the Church in America has, like Judah, begun to follow Christ only in pretense. Pray for our leaders. Bless our leaders. Respect our leaders. This pleases God (according to Scripture).

Theological Integrity/Sound Doctrine

I fear that we, the American Church, have begun to weaken in the cause of sound doctrine. This is not merely credited to Liberal Christians, but the Conservative as well. On the one hand, there is moral decay and a lack of Godly expectation for believers. On the other hand, there is staunch legalism that is reminiscent of the Pharisees of old, who would add to the Law things that were not black-and-white, but gray areas. This is a charge to the Church (as well as myself)...be of sound doctrine. There are those that think that doctrine is not important...that it is all about how you live your life. While the way that we live our life is of the utmost importance, without sound doctrine, what impact can we truly make? If we are an inch off of sound doctrine today, then we will be miles away in a years' time. We need to first make sure that this life we live is in concordance with the doctrine of the Scriptures. We need to live a life that maintains theological integrity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction." C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, "Every­one has warned me not to tell you what I am going to tell you in this last book. They all say ‘the ordi­nary reader does not want The­ol­ogy; give him plain prac­ti­cal reli­gion’. I have rejected their advice. I do not think the ordi­nary reader is such a fool. The­ol­ogy means ‘the sci­ence of God,’ and I think any man who wants to think about God at all would like to have the clear­est and most accu­rate ideas about Him which are avail­able. You are not chil­dren: why should you be treated like children?" We need to be weaned off of the spiritual milk that we have been drowning on for years, and begin to feed on the meat that is sound doctrine.
-Heath
Soli Deo Gloria