Grace

The cost for the recipient of God’s grace is NOTHING—and no price could be higher for arrogant people to pay. Something within me (that feels noble) longs for a religion that requires payment. I may like an occasional free gift, but I cannot bear the loss of pride and swagger that occurs when I give my life and nothing is required. Grace is free, and that is disturbing. –Dan Allender, “Bold Love”

Gospel-Transformation for the Angry Man

One of man’s creation mandates is to rule and subdue the earth, to have dominion. With our sinful bent, this becomes not a call to stewarding what God has given to us and a humble response to Him, but an unruly desire to dominate all of life, whether work or relationships. Instead of a desire to willingly serve God, our desire becomes self-inflamed, we long for control and domination, to succeed and to conquer, to demand from others and raise expectations for ourselves and those we influence and create a world in which we are king.

What happens to many men in the course of their plans and desire for strength and competence, to find beauty and peace, or to convince or control is a regular bout with frustration and disappointment. As the poet Robert Burns put it so well, “the best laid schemes of mice and men, often go a askew.” The result is the angry man, the controlling father, the relentless boss, a stressed out, irritable husband. I recognize this in my own life as I lash out at others when I don’t get my way, when I turn inward and work harder, faster and longer hours than ever.

I desire strength, competence, reputation, the accolade and approval of others in my life, family, ministry and the onlooking world. When these things are threatened, tarnished or unseen I feel angry, I feel a loss and want to grab it back, hold tightly to it and reclaim it. I fear that without this thing, I will be seen as less, weak, broken, incompetent… heaven forbid that I should decrease and He should increase (John 3:30).

Gospel-transformation happens when I repent of my sinful desire for control, and instead, humbly welcome the ways in which God leads me and forms me into the likeness of Christ. My gospel-transformation welcomes the people, places, circumstances even objects of my life as tools in the loving hand of my Dad to transform me, to bring me into spiritual maturity.

He is the master craftsman of my life. Do I trust him?

New Blog I’m Reading…

http://chuckdegroat.com/

the Man in the Mirror

Preaching this weekend on James 1:19-27

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.

I have two shaving mirrors that I use when I travel or workout at the gym. One is a fancy folding mirror made of real glass I bought years ago. The other is a flimsy plastic mirror that is relatively cloudy and scratched. In one mirror I can see all my blemishes and stray whiskers, in the other I can barely discern that I still have a face.

When we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we need to embrace it as a true, reliable, high quality mirror, telling us truth about ourselves, our world and our God. If we don’t trust its accuracy and welcome what it says about several things: 1. our sinful state, 2. our need for the impenetrable love of the Father in Christ through the Spirit, 3. and what true Christian living looks like–we deceive ourselves (and according to James) our religion is useless.

Lesser mirrors like pop psychology, the culture, or our sinful nature will tell us precious little about our truest need and hope, they will merely reveal that we “still have a face.” May this not be true of us, may we look intently into this word of truth—which can save our souls—that it may shape us and form us into Christlikeness.

Experiential Religion

Dane, thank you for posting this from John Owen. Fantastic:

“What am I the better if I can dispute that Christ is God, but have no sense of sweetness in my heart from hence that he is a God in covenant with my soul? What will it avail me to evince (reveal), by testimonies and arguments, that he hath made satisfaction for sin, if through my unbelief, the wrath of God abideth on me, and I have no experience of my own being made the righteousness of God in him–if I find not, in my standing with God, the excellency of having my sins imputed to him and his righteousness imputed to me? Will it be any advantage to me to profess and dispute that God works the conversion of a sinner by the irresistible grace of his Spirit, if I was never acquainted experimentally with the deadness and utter impotency to good, that opposition to the law of God, which is in my own soul by nature, with the efficacy of the exceeding greatness of the power of God in quickening, enlightening, and bringing forth the fruits of obedience in me?

It is the power of truth in the heart alone that will make us cleave unto it indeed in an hour of temptation. Let us, then, not think that we are anything the better for our conviction of the truths of the great doctrines of the gospel, for which we contend with these men, unless we find the power of the truths abiding in our own hearts, and have a continual experience of their necessity and excellency in our standing before God and our communion with him.”

–John Owen, Works, 12:52

Jesus Loves Me, This I’m Learning

I want to fix me and others in my life. I think I know better in regard to them for what they are supposed to do. In regard to me, I want to be fixed so I stop sinning as I hurt others and as I dishonor God. I think I am learning that being fixed is not what we are invited to. In talking with more and more older men, I am realizing that they all still struggle in many ways, they are not fixed, they are still undone. Sometimes the brokenness is the same way they have struggled for years: anger, control, lust, indifference, unbelief and so much more. They are living in the tension of brokenness, being pulled by their sin and their love of God.

I think that dependent middle is what I am realizing that I must embrace. Being dependent on him for all things, for forgiveness, for power to live and love, for conquering and hating sin, and knowing it will never be “finished” this side of heaven. There is always more, one more moment, one more opportunity, another day, another chance to repent of my sin. However, I am not a joyful repenter, most often I am an ashamed and guit-ridden repenter. I have a hard time believing that God welcomes me back after my repeated sins, or where in my experience I don’t feel that I am gaining holy ground (can you hear the perfectionist do-er in me?!).

Then again even as I write I am reminded of how much I want my daughters to repent to me, especially willingly and humbly. I know how ready I am to receive them when they do, and even when they only understand just a portion of their sin. Then I am reminded of Matthew as I look at myself, the broken, sinful dad who knows how to give good gifts to his kids, how much more does God in heaven our perfect Father desire to give us good things? Matthew 7 has been repeating in my mind over and over again these weeks.

God calls me to repeatedly offer forgiveness, 70×7 he says (Matthew 18:22). How could he ask me to do that if he was not willing to do the very same thing on my behalf and toward others with whom I interact? Is he not holy, perfect, loving and willing to forgive over and over again in relation to him?! I can therefore learn to repent quickly and readily, with joy knowing that he offers forgiveness to me instead of repenting ashamedly and with resistance thinking he might not welcome me back this time… and then, in my realtionships with others, I can offer that forgiveness and reconciliation because God has already perfectly done that for me in the person of Jesus.

Praise be to God.

Scapegoat

One of the wonderful and often forgotten or overlooked narratives in the Bible is that of the scapegoat described in Leviticus 16 after the sin offering for the atonement of the people of Israel. It says, “21 [Aaron] is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.” The prophet Isaiah describes this very truth when he writes of Jesus, the Suffering Servant, “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” These sins then, as described in Leviticus, are removed from us, taken away from our presence. Reading Psalm 103:12 we see that our sins are separated from us as far as the east is from the west.

I recognize that my sins are forgiven at the cross, but sometimes I forget that the record of those sins is removed as well. Satan would have me recall the sins of my past and paralyze me with guilt and shame, doubt and fear. In those times I have forgotten God’s own words, “love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor.13:5). In Jesus, my sin offering of atonement is made and the scapegoat carries my sin away–this is true and complete forgiveness through Jesus Christ. This week, call to mind the wonder of our forgiving God, who has offered His own Son to pay the debt of your sin against Him, and to infinitely separate you from the record of those wrongs. There is only worship for a truth so sweet.

SMS

David Crowder – SMS

Send me a sign
A hint, O whisper
Fill me with life
‘Cause I am listening

Come break the quiet
Breathe your awakening
Bring me the light
‘Cause I am fading

Surround me with the rush of angels’ wings

Shine Your light so I can see You
Pull me up, I need to be near You
Hold me, I need to feel loved
Can You overcome this heart that’s overcome?

You sent a sign
The hint, O whisper
Human, divine
Everyone is listening

Death laid low
Quiet in the night is stirring

All around the rush of angels

Shine Your light so I can see You
Pull me up, I need to be near You
Hold me, I need to feel loved
Can You overcome this heart that’s overcome?

O the wonder of the greatest love has come

Shine Your light so all can see it
Lifted up, ’cause the whole world needs it
Love has come, what joy to hear it
He has overcome, He has overcome

Passing Time

Ephesians 6:18a “..praying at all times in the Spirit…”

Recently, Kara and I had the privilege of going to two different weddings, one in Michigan, one in Colorado. Attending weddings are great for Kara and me because they are times that we are able to talk about matters of significance. At weddings we are reminded of our vows to one another, we reminisce the last twelve years, and we celebrate what God has done in our lives.

On these trips, our conversations were very different. In Michigan I asked her what was I doing that was good, what was I doing that was hurtful, as a father, husband, and friend. I know how much she loves me and so I asked her to gently speak into my life. A lot of data moved between us, lots of words, lots of emotion. The trip to Colorado was different, we did not talk so in depth about “stuff”—we simply drove in the car, quietly passing time in each other’s presence.

When we consider prayer, the conversation with God, talking and listening, our prayer times will vary. There will be times of many words, words of frustration, words of rejoicing, words of confession, words of dependence, and sometimes no words at all, just quietly passing time in the presence of One who loves us.

Grandpa

This week I had two blessings (I know, hokey Christian word)…

I had the blessing of friendship this week when one of our dear friends was available to come to the house and watch the kids for a while for me to get over and see my dying grandpa, not knowing whether my visit with him on Monday was my last. When I arrived, he was weak, jaundiced, slumped. He was diagnosed with an infection and very low cardiac output. Sunday he was drowsy, slurring, nearly out of it the whole time.

I put on my gown and gloves I reached out and touched his hand and said, “Grandpa, it’s me, Nate.” He lit up, turned to me and said in a raspy, gurgly voice, “Oh Nate, I am so glad you are here, everyone is here.”

I had the blessing of family this week as well, as we all wept, knowing that this might be the last time we’d all be there together and he was aware of it. We prayed, we read scripture, we sang songs, we told stories. We laughed at each other’s identical open-back robe and glove combo, we teased each other, and even razzed Grandma about her worrying. It was a fun, sobering, wonderful time with family. It was revealing the hope of believers that all of us together, proclaiming faith in Jesus for our salvation did not dread this moment. We embraced it. What love, what joy, what hope we gave to each other that this was one more memory that we’d talk about in heaven…”remember when you were dying grandpa? we all sang and teased Stann and Arnie for their silly robes?!”

Today when I visited he was lively, funny, telling stories, articulate and smiling. We took pictures and laughed, he coughed and napped, got poked and prodded, had apple sauce and ice cream… all the while we made fun of his wiggly toes under the covers. It was peaceful. It was life-giving. I don’t know what it all means for me and for our family; I have lots of questions, but to one question I know the answer:

“Where o death is your victory, where o death is your sting?…thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain.” 1 Cor. 15:55ff