(Contemplation while starring out into a parking lot with fallen leaves)
Sinners in need of God, created in God’s image, are like beautiful leaves that have fallen from their high estate in Adam. Though fallen, they are nonetheless beautiful and wonderfully made, created after God’s likeness. They spread across the landscape in all color, type, size, and shape. Solitary leaves are chosen to move along the ground by an unseen force while others around them are dead in movement. Certain ones are gathered in a whirlwind and are moved along in a graceful and circular pattern. Others are caught in a forceful gust and are blasted across the pavement at bulk rate. Such is the work of the Holy Spirit as He maneuvers throughout the landscape of history. At times, He lifts solitary individuals and propels them from their deadness to make notice the power of God, enabling them to speed across the scene with fervor, and force up others in their movement. Other Christians are grouped together to spin across the scene of their generation to show the beauty of God in words, song, sermons, deeds and vanish into God’s arms. Others are blown across earth’s timeline and swept up into God’s Sovereign power in giant sweeping revivals. Throughout it all you see the movement of an unseen force lived out on the leaves on which the Son of righteousness shines.
“The wind blows wherever it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
Max strange
Monday, October 09, 2006
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Opinion Worship
Opinion Worship
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.”
1 Samuel 15:23a
All rebellion against God in every type, degree, and facet, no matter how one may look at it, is sin. God often lumps sins of differing degrees together to show that sin is seen by God as wrongdoing and in opposition to His perfection.
In this verse, Samuel, Israel’s faithful high priest brings a word of judgment against Israel’s first king, Saul. Saul did not wait 7 days, as instructed, for Samuel’s return and presumptuously sacrificed sheep and oxen to the LORD. This we know is reserved only for a Levite who is of the priestly order. Saul had rebelled by not devoting the entire community of the Amalekites and all they possessed to destruction, as God commanded, and he presumptuously tried to honor God by his own method. He kept (15:21) “the spoil, the sheep and oxen, the best…to sacrifice to the Lord…” Saul presumed that this would be pleasing to God. Saul’s presumption (guess) cost him the kingship and earthly blessing and it is described in this verse above as equal to iniquity and idolatry! Why?
Mankind is so inclined to worship a god of their own liking and imagination. The worship of a false understanding of God, if not true, is as idolatry. In an age of universalism (all faiths lead to the same God), privatization (God is only for private life), and relativism (what works must be of God), we have multitudes of people attempting to worship and please God as they please by their own private, relative, and uninformed methods. God is to be known, worshipped, and pleased by His prescribed methods and that is according to truth found in God’s Word! Anything less, is the same as Saul’s sin of presumption!
In a men’s study this year, a gentleman said, “For the longest time I had been worshipping my own opinion of God.” What a profound realization! At a worldwide level, presumption of God is at an epidemic level, which clearly displays a rampant zeal without knowledge. So many are following the erroneous piping’s of a self-proclaimed “apostolic” piper who leads them into gross presumption of, unwritten, un-prescribed, euphoric and imaginative error! This is idolatry.
Foundational truths, God’s attributes and character, the Promises of God, and solid skills in Bible interpretation, all wrapped in a life of prayer, is the consistent need of God’s people. The truth of God’s Word, which lays out before all believers God’s prescribed standards as to what please Him, must be followed precisely, carefully, and rigorously. Otherwise, we are no different than anyone else who worships a false god of tradition or of mans fallen imagination. The Father is seeking worshippers to worship Him according to spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). Saul worshipped God his own way and great was the sin. Do you worship your own opinion of God or is it according to the Truth?
"...the LORD our God broke out against us because we did not seek him according to the rule."
1 Chronicles 14:13b
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Faith in its Power
Faith in its Power
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
What is a good definition of faith? Many of us instinctively turn to Hebrews 11:1. But if we examine this verse, we will notice that it is not a definition. Faith, in very simple terms, means to trust or to have reliance. However, this verse does not define Faith itself but it describes Faith in its power. “ It is a description of Faith in one of its great affects. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses—they all treated the hoped-for and the unseen as solid and certain. Faith is reliance, reposed on a trustworthy object and exercised more or less in the dark. The virtue of Faith lies in the virtue of its object.” But here in Hebrews 11:1, we find faith in action. Faith gives surety and certainty in someone or something even when we cannot grasp or attain it. This is a supernatural work by the Spirit, because the object of our Faith is in God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who are supernatural. Faith produces a firm, concrete, and solid hope in the unseen. Though the world places their faith in “stuff” every day without noticing it, Christians have been given a prevailing confidence in God, an unseen reality. If people want to know what faith is, we can surely tell them. If people want to know what faith does…one great example is found in Hebrews 11:1.
Resources: Bishop H.C.G. Moule of England, The Fundamentals: 1909
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
On The Shoulders of Giants
On the Shoulders of Giants
It’s amazing how the church has "evolved", grappling with the great truths of Scripture. It is fascinating that though the Holy Spirit is in the world and in us, we still have yet to attain to a perfect theology. He allows believers to wrestle through it all and this highlights the remarkable testimony to the patience and guidance of God. Heresy, though it has been a plague and foe to the church and will continue to be, serves a positive aspect. Heresy continues to drive the saints back into the Word. It keeps Christians on their toes and active in testing all things and bringing clarity to foggy areas. This process assists us in defining doctrines that need defining and redefining. Church history should be muddled with some early church Fathers differing in opinion and that is precisely what we see. We see the difference because we are dealing with imperfect men (though justified). Many from the past were intentional in their heresies however, I believe most were like us, men & women who are simply trying to grasp and be enlightened in the riches and wealth of God's enternal mind therein the written Word of God. We have come a long way despite the waves of theological liberals, who continually stir the mud of old heresies from the floors of histories theological waters. I would not want to be born at any other time in history provided the wealth of the past and what we now know in the clarity of many sacred doctrines we hold. Reading "The Confessions of St. Augustine" it appears that the climate of his culture was much like ours today. Do we think the bride of Christ is becoming more beautiful or do can we think that as the bride, we are consistently beautiful to Him because of His blood that covers us? If we were second or third century Christians it may be that we would have been erroneous in some of our thinking as true today. We see that church history traces the folly and mess ups of men, but if it wasn't for those errors and heresies of the unbelieving world, godly men would not have fought so stringently for orthodoxy. It is the errors and lies and the half-truths that drive us back to the Scriptures to figure out God's revealed intent. The Holy Spirit is the Great Clarifier and He does so in His own timing when men's hearts and minds are properly cultivated.
John 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
We now have such an abundance and vast wealth of Biblical knowledge that is afforded to us. Church history is grand because it is our history, and we find ourselves on the shoulders of giants such as Ignatius, Polycarp, Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, Huss, Calvin, Zwingli, Spurgeon, Edwards, and the likes...for these are our brothers filled with the identical Sprit of God as we find ourselves today. Though not perfect, I'm pleased to stand upon them and learn from their insights and mistakes. They were men just like us whose hearts were changed by Christ, and all of them sought a heavenly home. Each passed through their generation with insights and depth of wisdom/insight granted by the Holy Spirit and we would be wise to take notice and apply history’s truth’s so diligently sought for. We can see more fully our Savior and have greater clarity and vision if we stand on the shoulders of giants, and be properly prepared for the constant attack of old heresies that resurface their ugly faces.
2 Tim. 2:7 (ESV)
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Written by Jason Strange
Edited by his twin brother Max
Sunday, August 28, 2005
By Way of Illustration
August 28, 2005
By Way of Illustration
Romans 7:1-3 (ESV)
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? [2] Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [3] Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
Paul uses the illustration of Biblical marriage to show the Christian’s new relationship to the Law of Moses. The above illustration does not suggest that we are either the wife or the husband, but simingly both. Lets look at it.
By Way of Illustration
Romans 7:1-3 (ESV)
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? [2] Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [3] Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
Paul uses the illustration of Biblical marriage to show the Christian’s new relationship to the Law of Moses. The above illustration does not suggest that we are either the wife or the husband, but simingly both. Lets look at it.
WE ARE THE WIFE: In Romans 7:1-3, notice that the woman is free to remarry after her husband dies. We could say that we too, are free to remarry another once we are out from under the Law’s condemnation. When Jesus Christ takes the punishment, and we accept that on our behalf, we are free to marry into a new union of grace with Christ. But be careful. If we are married to works (Law) and we try to marry grace at the same time, the illustration says that we are adulterers. If anyone attempts to work to get to heaven and then say it is by grace we are saved, you become a spiritual adulterer in the eyes of God. You are mixing oil and water and polluting the finished work of Christ on your behalf. The Judaizers did the same thing. They said, “Oh, yes, we are Christian, and we are saved by grace but that must be accomplished by circumcision.” So, make sure you have died first to the Law of self-effort and achievement to gain heaven and Christ, in order to marry another, the Law of grace and life.
WE ARE THE HUSBAND: Lastly, note that the husband died. The Scripture also says that we have died like this husband. Colossians 3:13 says:
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
In this illustration, we also can be the husband. The only way the husband can marry another is if he dies and then is resurrected. Ephesians 2:5-6 says:
— by grace you have been saved— [6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
We too have died and are raised up with Christ and have married another, Christ Jesus. Listen, at the very moment we believed and casted aside any hope of earning heaven by good deeds, we died, and in one instant we became widows and widowers. Immediately thereafter, we were married to Christ at conversion, and found to be in the arms of a new lover, legally, spiritually, and married FOREVER.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
A Bruised Reed & A Smoking Flax (wick)
“A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax (wick) he shall not quench…” Matthew 12:20
The smoking flax I conceive to be a backsliding Christian; one who has been a burning and a shining light in his day, but by neglect of the means of grace,…falling into sin, his light is almost gone out—not quite—it can never go out, for Christ saith, “I will not quench it;” but it becomes like a lamp when ill supplied with oil—almost useless. It is not quite extinguished; it smokes; it was a useful lamp once, but now it has become as smoking flax.
And first, the encouragement offered in our text applies to weak ones. What in the world is weaker than the bruised reed, or the smoking flax? A reed that growth in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that comes howling across the river makes it shake to and fro, and well-nigh tears it up by the roots. You can conceive of nothing more frail and brittle, or whose existence depends more upon circumstances than a bruised reed. Then look at smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; or the tears of a maiden quench it in a moment; nothing has a more precarious existence than the little spark hidden iin the smoking flax. Weak things, you see, are here described. Well, Christ says of the, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.”
Some of God’s children, blessed be his name, are made strong to do might works for him; God has his Samson’s here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates, and carry them to the top of the hill’ he has here and there his mighty Gideon’s, who can go to the camp of the Midianites, and overthrow their hosts; he has his might men, who can go into the pit in winter, and slay the lions; but the majority of his people are a timid, weak race. They are like the starlings, that are frightened by every passer by; a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they fall before it; if trial comes, they are overwhelmed by it;….Ah! dear friends, I know I have got hold of some of your hands now, and your hearts too; for you are saying, “Weak! Ah, that I am. Full often I am constrained to say, I would, but can not sing; I would, but can not pray; I would, but can not believe.” You are saying that you can not do any thing; your best resolves are weak and vain; and when you cry, “My strength renew.” You feel weaker than before. You are weak, are you? Bruised reeds and smoking flax? Blessed be God, this text is for you then. I am glad you can come in under the denomination of weak ones, for here is a promise that he will never break nor quench them, but will sustain and hold them up.
Ah, remember Mary Magdalene’s voice in heaven, I imagine, sounds more sweet and liquid than any other; and the voice of that poor thief, who said “Lord, remember me,” if it is a deep bass voice, is more mellow and more sweet than the voice of any other, because he loved much, for he had much forgiven him. This reed may yet be of use. Do not say you are good for nothing; you shall sing up in heaven, yet. Do not say you are worthless; at last you shall stand before the throne among the blood-washed company, and shall sing God’s praise. What good can come from the smoking flax? I will tell you soon. There is a spark in that flax somewhere; it is nearly out, but still a spark remains. Behold the prairie on fire! See you the flames come rolling on? See you stream after stream of hot fire deluging the plain till all the continent is burned and scorched—till heaven is reddened with flame. Old night’s black face is scarred with the burning, and the stars appear affrighted at the conflagration. How was that mass ignited! By a piece of smoking flax dropped by some traveler, fanned by the soft wind, till the whole prairie caught the flame. So one poor man, one ignorant man, one weak man, even one backsliding man, may be the means of the conversion of a whole nation. Who knows but that you who are nothing now, may be of more use than those of us who appear to stand better before God, because we have more gifts and talents? God can make a spark set a world on fire—he can light up a whole nation with the spark of one poor praying soul. You may be useful yet; therefore, be of good cheer. Moss grows upon gravestones; the ivy clings to the moldering pile; the mistletoe grows on the dead branch; and even so shall grace, and piety, and virtue, and holiness, and goodness, come from the smoking flax and bruised reeds. When he says to the backslider that he will not quench him, he means more than that—he means that he will fan him up to a flame. Some of you, I dare say, have gone home from chapel and found that your fire had gone early out; I know how you deal with it; you blow gently at the single spark, if there is one, and lest you should blow to hard, you hold your fingers before it; and if you were alone and had but one match, or one spark in the tinder, how gently would you blow it. So, backslider, Jesus Christ deals with you; he does not put you out; he blows gently; he says. “I will not quench thee;” he means. “I will be very tender, very cautious, and very careful; he will put on dry material, so that by-and-by a little spark shall come to a flame, and blaze up toward heaven, and great shall be the fire thereof.
The smoking flax I conceive to be a backsliding Christian; one who has been a burning and a shining light in his day, but by neglect of the means of grace,…falling into sin, his light is almost gone out—not quite—it can never go out, for Christ saith, “I will not quench it;” but it becomes like a lamp when ill supplied with oil—almost useless. It is not quite extinguished; it smokes; it was a useful lamp once, but now it has become as smoking flax.
And first, the encouragement offered in our text applies to weak ones. What in the world is weaker than the bruised reed, or the smoking flax? A reed that growth in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that comes howling across the river makes it shake to and fro, and well-nigh tears it up by the roots. You can conceive of nothing more frail and brittle, or whose existence depends more upon circumstances than a bruised reed. Then look at smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; or the tears of a maiden quench it in a moment; nothing has a more precarious existence than the little spark hidden iin the smoking flax. Weak things, you see, are here described. Well, Christ says of the, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.”
Some of God’s children, blessed be his name, are made strong to do might works for him; God has his Samson’s here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates, and carry them to the top of the hill’ he has here and there his mighty Gideon’s, who can go to the camp of the Midianites, and overthrow their hosts; he has his might men, who can go into the pit in winter, and slay the lions; but the majority of his people are a timid, weak race. They are like the starlings, that are frightened by every passer by; a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they fall before it; if trial comes, they are overwhelmed by it;….Ah! dear friends, I know I have got hold of some of your hands now, and your hearts too; for you are saying, “Weak! Ah, that I am. Full often I am constrained to say, I would, but can not sing; I would, but can not pray; I would, but can not believe.” You are saying that you can not do any thing; your best resolves are weak and vain; and when you cry, “My strength renew.” You feel weaker than before. You are weak, are you? Bruised reeds and smoking flax? Blessed be God, this text is for you then. I am glad you can come in under the denomination of weak ones, for here is a promise that he will never break nor quench them, but will sustain and hold them up.
Ah, remember Mary Magdalene’s voice in heaven, I imagine, sounds more sweet and liquid than any other; and the voice of that poor thief, who said “Lord, remember me,” if it is a deep bass voice, is more mellow and more sweet than the voice of any other, because he loved much, for he had much forgiven him. This reed may yet be of use. Do not say you are good for nothing; you shall sing up in heaven, yet. Do not say you are worthless; at last you shall stand before the throne among the blood-washed company, and shall sing God’s praise. What good can come from the smoking flax? I will tell you soon. There is a spark in that flax somewhere; it is nearly out, but still a spark remains. Behold the prairie on fire! See you the flames come rolling on? See you stream after stream of hot fire deluging the plain till all the continent is burned and scorched—till heaven is reddened with flame. Old night’s black face is scarred with the burning, and the stars appear affrighted at the conflagration. How was that mass ignited! By a piece of smoking flax dropped by some traveler, fanned by the soft wind, till the whole prairie caught the flame. So one poor man, one ignorant man, one weak man, even one backsliding man, may be the means of the conversion of a whole nation. Who knows but that you who are nothing now, may be of more use than those of us who appear to stand better before God, because we have more gifts and talents? God can make a spark set a world on fire—he can light up a whole nation with the spark of one poor praying soul. You may be useful yet; therefore, be of good cheer. Moss grows upon gravestones; the ivy clings to the moldering pile; the mistletoe grows on the dead branch; and even so shall grace, and piety, and virtue, and holiness, and goodness, come from the smoking flax and bruised reeds. When he says to the backslider that he will not quench him, he means more than that—he means that he will fan him up to a flame. Some of you, I dare say, have gone home from chapel and found that your fire had gone early out; I know how you deal with it; you blow gently at the single spark, if there is one, and lest you should blow to hard, you hold your fingers before it; and if you were alone and had but one match, or one spark in the tinder, how gently would you blow it. So, backslider, Jesus Christ deals with you; he does not put you out; he blows gently; he says. “I will not quench thee;” he means. “I will be very tender, very cautious, and very careful; he will put on dry material, so that by-and-by a little spark shall come to a flame, and blaze up toward heaven, and great shall be the fire thereof.
Charles Spurgeon - Dreary Realms of Unbelief
"There was once an evil hour when once I shipped the anchor of my faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself hard by the coasts of Revelation; I allowed my vessel to drift before the wind; I said to reason, "Be thou my captain;" I said to my own brain, "By thou my rudder," and I started on my mad voyage. Thank God it's all over now. But I will tell you it's brief history. I was one hurried sailing over the tempestuous ocean of free thought. I went on, and as I went, the skies began to darken...As I hurried forward, with an awful speed, I began to doubt my very existence; I doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there was such a thing as myself. I went to the very verge of the dreary realms of unbelief. I went to the very bottom of the seas of Infidelity. I doubted everything. But here the devil foiled himself: for the very extravagance of the doubt, proved its absurdity. Just when I saw the bottom of that sea, there came a voice which said, "And can this doubt be true?" At this very thought I awoke. I started from that death-dream, which, God knows may have dammed my soul, and ruined this, my body, if I had not awoke. When I arose, faith took the helm; from that moment I doubted not. Faith steered me back; faith cried, "Away, away!" I cast my anchor on Calvary; I lifted my eye to God; and here I am, "alive and out of hell." Therefore I speak what I do know. I have sailed that perilous voyage; I have come to safe land. Ask me again to be an infidel! No; I have tried it; it was sweet at first, but bitterness afterwards. Now, lashed to God's gospel more firmly than ever, standing on the a rock of adamant, I defy the arguments of hell to move me, for "I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him."
Monday, March 07, 2005
Tent Cord Plucked Up
Tent Cord Plucked Up
February 28, 2005
“Is not their tent cord plucked up within them…” Job 4:21
The thing that I notice often in my own life and in Christianity is the lack of understanding and grappling of the great truth concerning the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God simply states that all things, whatever they may be, are under divine control and appointment. Christians great and small would do well to understand this attribute as it would adversely affect their entire lives.
I notice many young military men and woman in our Armed Forces who hate their jobs. They complain and do all that they can to find a way out and to break commitment. I would like to speak concerning our generations failure to commit to anything, but that is another quiet time. Yet, when I hear these grievances this flashes through my mind:
“Who is God to you?”
Is God not sustaining the universe by His powerful Word? Does God not uphold our bodies daily, allowing blood to flow to billions of cells, continuing our daily needs, and allowing us to wake up every morning by His power? God does not simply wind-up the watch of the universe and simply let it run down as if He has no control any longer. God is the “Unmoved Mover” of all events. God is the planner of every episode, situation, and circumstance. There are no maverick molecules or atoms running loose without sovereignty letting them run freely through the creation. There are no run-away trains that Christ has not allowed to run-away. Who do you think God is? Is He biting His nails and reacting to mankind? No! He is the cause of the effect and the 1st Cause of the universe and is not distant. He is transcendent and deeply involved with every aspect of His creation, both you and I and all our happenings. Therefore, wherever we may be, it is for our good. When we attempt to change our commitments, we are saying in effect, “God, I can run the show better than you, I can, I should, I will, I want, I desire, I feel,…all above what you want. You run my life like poop! And I need to change it, not seeing or contemplating what God may be doing, what sin He is trying to boil to the surface from the darkened side of your heart.
Yet within our heart we feel as if our tent-cords have been plucked up within. The tent cord was used to hold down the tent, to provide shelter from the sand and the wind and the elements of nature. Yet, in our thinking, we forget and/or are unaware of God’s dealings and actions in the entire realm of our lives. We get angry at coworkers and we curse. We loose our cool because or tents cords have been plucked up within. We loose our stability, our shelter, and our tempers. We are baggy-tent Christians because we have not yet understood the sovereignty of God. We have grounded our knowledge of God in sandy secular grounds of catchphrases like the “Big Man upstairs,” and unrealistic expression like “He’s got my back.” God doesn’t simply have our backs, He has all things and all things are His. He is not the “Big Man Upstairs” as if we should use His name lightly. He is the Sovereign LORD of the universe!
Maybe we all need to pound firmly into our minds the tent-stake of God’s sovereignty. We will all face hardship. Our understanding that God is working all things for good, for those that love Him, by His sovereign purposes, is critical to resting our anxieties and everyday troubles. It is vital to our worship of God as well as we worship Him not only in spirit but in the truth that He is sovereign.
O’ sovereign Lord, let me not have dis’cord’ in my heart to everyday problems. The whirlwinds of life blast against my tent in attempt to pluck up my stability and witness as I sojourn in this world for You. Impress Your sovereignty into the way I view my circumstances thru the saturation of Your Word. Ground my security and shelter in Christ. Take the nails of Christ, who sovereignly went to the cross for me, and hammer them into my tent cord so to rest assure during trial and testing that all things are given to me by your hand. I will exclaim and say as Job, “Shall I receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” All experiences are ours in Christ to become like Him as God sovereignly directs. Whether the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future---all are ours. (Job 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:22).
Blessings everyone.
February 28, 2005
“Is not their tent cord plucked up within them…” Job 4:21
The thing that I notice often in my own life and in Christianity is the lack of understanding and grappling of the great truth concerning the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God simply states that all things, whatever they may be, are under divine control and appointment. Christians great and small would do well to understand this attribute as it would adversely affect their entire lives.
I notice many young military men and woman in our Armed Forces who hate their jobs. They complain and do all that they can to find a way out and to break commitment. I would like to speak concerning our generations failure to commit to anything, but that is another quiet time. Yet, when I hear these grievances this flashes through my mind:
“Who is God to you?”
Is God not sustaining the universe by His powerful Word? Does God not uphold our bodies daily, allowing blood to flow to billions of cells, continuing our daily needs, and allowing us to wake up every morning by His power? God does not simply wind-up the watch of the universe and simply let it run down as if He has no control any longer. God is the “Unmoved Mover” of all events. God is the planner of every episode, situation, and circumstance. There are no maverick molecules or atoms running loose without sovereignty letting them run freely through the creation. There are no run-away trains that Christ has not allowed to run-away. Who do you think God is? Is He biting His nails and reacting to mankind? No! He is the cause of the effect and the 1st Cause of the universe and is not distant. He is transcendent and deeply involved with every aspect of His creation, both you and I and all our happenings. Therefore, wherever we may be, it is for our good. When we attempt to change our commitments, we are saying in effect, “God, I can run the show better than you, I can, I should, I will, I want, I desire, I feel,…all above what you want. You run my life like poop! And I need to change it, not seeing or contemplating what God may be doing, what sin He is trying to boil to the surface from the darkened side of your heart.
Yet within our heart we feel as if our tent-cords have been plucked up within. The tent cord was used to hold down the tent, to provide shelter from the sand and the wind and the elements of nature. Yet, in our thinking, we forget and/or are unaware of God’s dealings and actions in the entire realm of our lives. We get angry at coworkers and we curse. We loose our cool because or tents cords have been plucked up within. We loose our stability, our shelter, and our tempers. We are baggy-tent Christians because we have not yet understood the sovereignty of God. We have grounded our knowledge of God in sandy secular grounds of catchphrases like the “Big Man upstairs,” and unrealistic expression like “He’s got my back.” God doesn’t simply have our backs, He has all things and all things are His. He is not the “Big Man Upstairs” as if we should use His name lightly. He is the Sovereign LORD of the universe!
Maybe we all need to pound firmly into our minds the tent-stake of God’s sovereignty. We will all face hardship. Our understanding that God is working all things for good, for those that love Him, by His sovereign purposes, is critical to resting our anxieties and everyday troubles. It is vital to our worship of God as well as we worship Him not only in spirit but in the truth that He is sovereign.
O’ sovereign Lord, let me not have dis’cord’ in my heart to everyday problems. The whirlwinds of life blast against my tent in attempt to pluck up my stability and witness as I sojourn in this world for You. Impress Your sovereignty into the way I view my circumstances thru the saturation of Your Word. Ground my security and shelter in Christ. Take the nails of Christ, who sovereignly went to the cross for me, and hammer them into my tent cord so to rest assure during trial and testing that all things are given to me by your hand. I will exclaim and say as Job, “Shall I receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” All experiences are ours in Christ to become like Him as God sovereignly directs. Whether the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future---all are ours. (Job 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:22).
Blessings everyone.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
De-Robed & De-Throned
Jonah 3:6
"The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes."
Jonah preached judgment to Nineveh. He walked through the streets of that great city yelling,
"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
Notice the simplicity of the message. I see no fancy words, no beautiful imagery, no story, and no love being preached. This is a simple and straighforward message of justice to come.
Notice the Intensity. Jonah spoke openly, boldly, and without fear. This massive city of well over 120,000 people, had a single stranger sound a call throughout the city. This plain message echoed throughout the city and it quickly reached the kings ears within one day’s time.
Notice the response. Upon hearing such news the king responded by moving from his honored position and shedding his glorious garb and a citywide repentance was inaugurated. This is the effect of God’s Word.
When the Word of the Lord is preached clearly and accurately and authoritatively, repentance will follow. The minister of the word, like Jonah, is only meant to open the cage to the lion den and let the power loose. When the straightforward Gospel is preached, with no additives or preservatives, the mightiest man in the city will be stripped of his robe of pride. The simple message trumpeted lifts a woman from her glorious standing in the community, his royal heritage, and her lofty throne in the workcenter, and seats them all in a lowly ash heap.
Notice the Savior. We must not look over the sweetest part of this text. I have a king who arose from His lofty throne in heaven. He removed His robe of righteousness and has placed it upon me. He has covered Himself in the sackcloth of my affliction, my suffering, and my torment due for my sins. He came down from His heavenly throne and took a throne of ashes for me. I was clothed with rags and all my righteous deeds resembled my filthy works. I was seated in the dust that the cursed vipers traverse through. He has made me holy because of His holiness. I wear the King’s robe and I am seated in a Kingly position because of Christ and His kindness to me.
"The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes."
Jonah preached judgment to Nineveh. He walked through the streets of that great city yelling,
"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
Notice the simplicity of the message. I see no fancy words, no beautiful imagery, no story, and no love being preached. This is a simple and straighforward message of justice to come.
Notice the Intensity. Jonah spoke openly, boldly, and without fear. This massive city of well over 120,000 people, had a single stranger sound a call throughout the city. This plain message echoed throughout the city and it quickly reached the kings ears within one day’s time.
Notice the response. Upon hearing such news the king responded by moving from his honored position and shedding his glorious garb and a citywide repentance was inaugurated. This is the effect of God’s Word.
When the Word of the Lord is preached clearly and accurately and authoritatively, repentance will follow. The minister of the word, like Jonah, is only meant to open the cage to the lion den and let the power loose. When the straightforward Gospel is preached, with no additives or preservatives, the mightiest man in the city will be stripped of his robe of pride. The simple message trumpeted lifts a woman from her glorious standing in the community, his royal heritage, and her lofty throne in the workcenter, and seats them all in a lowly ash heap.
Notice the Savior. We must not look over the sweetest part of this text. I have a king who arose from His lofty throne in heaven. He removed His robe of righteousness and has placed it upon me. He has covered Himself in the sackcloth of my affliction, my suffering, and my torment due for my sins. He came down from His heavenly throne and took a throne of ashes for me. I was clothed with rags and all my righteous deeds resembled my filthy works. I was seated in the dust that the cursed vipers traverse through. He has made me holy because of His holiness. I wear the King’s robe and I am seated in a Kingly position because of Christ and His kindness to me.
Friday, September 10, 2004
OUT, INTO THE NIGHT
1 Samuel 28:3-25
Thousands and thousands of Philistine soldiers prepare for battle. They march out to Shunem (v.4) to begin the intimidation process, and the attempt to destroy Saul and all of Israel. Saul begins to feel the terror for he is only man, and a man now without the Spirit of the Living God.(v.16) Saul knows full well that the Lord has left him. He no longer gives Saul counsel nor speaks to him in dreams. (v.6) His fault: he failed to humble his heart before God.
Saul finally seeks out a spiritist who is able to bring the supposed "Samuel" back from the dead. Whether this is Samuel or the Devil, God uses this spirit as a mouthpiece for a prophetic statement against Saul. Saul soon finds out he and his sons are soon to die. (13-19) This adds to Saul’s dismay. He is to loose the Kingship, Israel will be defeated and given to the hands of the Philistines, and he and his sons are soon to die. After hearing this depressing, heartbreaking, and fearful news, Saul in his exhausted state, eats a meal prepared by the spiritist and he regains his energy. He and his men proceed out into the night. –"Then they arose and went away that night." (v.25) What a dark ending to the reign of Saul. He and his men go out into the night! This is true spiritual darkness and lostness. Saul’s life was once filled with the enormous presence of God and is now only a voided vacuum, a dark hole needing to be filled.
How many of us Christians energize our physical bodies and then head out into the night without spiritual strength? Do we eat dishes prepared by forces of darkness and journey off thinking we have spiritual nourishment? How many of us turn into Saul on a daily basis and fail to humble ourselves before God and then proceed out into the night? I pity the Saul "Christian". How often do we fear the Philistines and march out looking for answers apart from His WORD? How capable am I Lord to become so callused to your ways? If you request that I be Your means to deal out wrath against Amalek, I will. (v.18) If you demand I heed your voice according to your commands, I will. (v.18) But I cannot will unless You will me to. Will me not to proceed out into the night, like Saul, on the nourishment prepared by Satan. I know You will not tear the kingdom from my hands as you did with Saul. You are able to make me stand whether I leave in the night (God forbid!) on my own strength, or in the daytime, in the power of the Holy Spirit. But my heart wants to choose the latter!! Because the former makes me terrified, as Saul must have been, as he left out into the night to his apparent doom.
Thousands and thousands of Philistine soldiers prepare for battle. They march out to Shunem (v.4) to begin the intimidation process, and the attempt to destroy Saul and all of Israel. Saul begins to feel the terror for he is only man, and a man now without the Spirit of the Living God.(v.16) Saul knows full well that the Lord has left him. He no longer gives Saul counsel nor speaks to him in dreams. (v.6) His fault: he failed to humble his heart before God.
Saul finally seeks out a spiritist who is able to bring the supposed "Samuel" back from the dead. Whether this is Samuel or the Devil, God uses this spirit as a mouthpiece for a prophetic statement against Saul. Saul soon finds out he and his sons are soon to die. (13-19) This adds to Saul’s dismay. He is to loose the Kingship, Israel will be defeated and given to the hands of the Philistines, and he and his sons are soon to die. After hearing this depressing, heartbreaking, and fearful news, Saul in his exhausted state, eats a meal prepared by the spiritist and he regains his energy. He and his men proceed out into the night. –"Then they arose and went away that night." (v.25) What a dark ending to the reign of Saul. He and his men go out into the night! This is true spiritual darkness and lostness. Saul’s life was once filled with the enormous presence of God and is now only a voided vacuum, a dark hole needing to be filled.
How many of us Christians energize our physical bodies and then head out into the night without spiritual strength? Do we eat dishes prepared by forces of darkness and journey off thinking we have spiritual nourishment? How many of us turn into Saul on a daily basis and fail to humble ourselves before God and then proceed out into the night? I pity the Saul "Christian". How often do we fear the Philistines and march out looking for answers apart from His WORD? How capable am I Lord to become so callused to your ways? If you request that I be Your means to deal out wrath against Amalek, I will. (v.18) If you demand I heed your voice according to your commands, I will. (v.18) But I cannot will unless You will me to. Will me not to proceed out into the night, like Saul, on the nourishment prepared by Satan. I know You will not tear the kingdom from my hands as you did with Saul. You are able to make me stand whether I leave in the night (God forbid!) on my own strength, or in the daytime, in the power of the Holy Spirit. But my heart wants to choose the latter!! Because the former makes me terrified, as Saul must have been, as he left out into the night to his apparent doom.
Strange Ground
Exodus 3:5 (ESV)
Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
Why such respect and reverence for the ground? Because this floor had been treaded upon the bronze feet of the Savior, the Lord God. Whatever God touches is instantly purified and purged of evil. Moses touched the hallowed ground with his bare creaturely feet that he was born with. God wants us to come to him as we are, without anything between Him and us, but with all things God has made, namely Christ in us. He wants direct contact with us. God wants us to touch the holy and experience His holiness. And we can see God as holy through His Word.
I have been on strange ground since I was born of God. Since my new birth, it is hard to find a Christian brother or sister who shares a similar passion for God’s truth. God shows me things that are too sweet to hold in and I need others of a like-mind to express. God reveals to Me His plans, His purposes, His will, His character, His promises, and His character. It is all very sweet to my soul. I am in contact with the Creator but I desire to share this fire that is locked up in my bones. I am not claiming to have a special knowledge, but sometimes it seems that truth is revealed to me from on high. I walk on ground that has been covered for years by a watery and dangerous gospel, which is no gospel at all. But now the watery teachings of "contemporary" services have parted and like Moses (Exodus 14:29), and I walk on strange ground. This is the ground which kings have fallen upon, which Goliath had toppled upon with a sharp stone sunk within his forehead (1 Samuel 17:49). This is the ground on which the false Philistine idol Dagon fell upon (2 Samuel 12:16). This is the ground on which great drops of blood fell from the inflicted wounds of my Savior (Luke 22:44). This ground shows me the revelation of God Himself and His patient dealings with men like me. Despite all that this ground is, it is something that it shouldn’t be, defiled.
Scripture is not the sole determiner of truth anymore, it is experience, or it is a subjectivity that says, "my truth is what is good for me," or simply that there is no truth. This is post-modernism at its best. And it has creeped into the church and into Christian thought. We are afraid to speak of doctrine and theology. We are not allowed to get upon the spiritual mat with a believer and wrestle with truth until someone says, "uncle." We are afraid to divide or be unloving. But I strongly state that there is unity only in truth. We circle the wagons around the centrality of Christ in the Scriptures and we unify under the same doctrines. Experience is so spastic and so inconsistent that we cannot lock arms on the winds of experience. There is unity only in the truth. And Jesus is…the truth…(John 14:6).
I have met a select few who wish to throw their sandals aside and walk on the holiness of God’s Word and who wish to speak openly about doctrines of God and theology. We are harvesters. We should then plow this holy ground with bare-footed feet allowing the richness of the Word to squeeze between our brothers and sisters in Christ and in doing so, we will have contact with our God and with the body of Christ.
Let us not leave the doctrines of the Word to dry upon the ground like Gideon’s fleece (Judges 6:37). We must diligently seek God on this ground all night, like David, if we have to, as if our only son was dying (2 Samuel 12:16). The serpent is sliding across the surface and we must throw our rods down and swallow up the false teachings of the Deceiver (Exodus 4:3). If we neglect the sound teachings of Scripture and of the Christ filled men who have gone before us, we will be casts into a terrifying wilderness with scorpions and a thirsty ground like the Israelites who wandered, looking for that flinty Rock to draw water from (Deuteronomy 8:15). Let us revere God’s Word and teach sound doctrine and be taught. Let us sit down on the ground and receive the 7 loaves and fish to feed the soul. Let us all take the mustard seed and plant it into the ground to spring upward a glorious Christ-like life well grounded in the doctrines of Christ Jesus.
Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
Why such respect and reverence for the ground? Because this floor had been treaded upon the bronze feet of the Savior, the Lord God. Whatever God touches is instantly purified and purged of evil. Moses touched the hallowed ground with his bare creaturely feet that he was born with. God wants us to come to him as we are, without anything between Him and us, but with all things God has made, namely Christ in us. He wants direct contact with us. God wants us to touch the holy and experience His holiness. And we can see God as holy through His Word.
I have been on strange ground since I was born of God. Since my new birth, it is hard to find a Christian brother or sister who shares a similar passion for God’s truth. God shows me things that are too sweet to hold in and I need others of a like-mind to express. God reveals to Me His plans, His purposes, His will, His character, His promises, and His character. It is all very sweet to my soul. I am in contact with the Creator but I desire to share this fire that is locked up in my bones. I am not claiming to have a special knowledge, but sometimes it seems that truth is revealed to me from on high. I walk on ground that has been covered for years by a watery and dangerous gospel, which is no gospel at all. But now the watery teachings of "contemporary" services have parted and like Moses (Exodus 14:29), and I walk on strange ground. This is the ground which kings have fallen upon, which Goliath had toppled upon with a sharp stone sunk within his forehead (1 Samuel 17:49). This is the ground on which the false Philistine idol Dagon fell upon (2 Samuel 12:16). This is the ground on which great drops of blood fell from the inflicted wounds of my Savior (Luke 22:44). This ground shows me the revelation of God Himself and His patient dealings with men like me. Despite all that this ground is, it is something that it shouldn’t be, defiled.
Scripture is not the sole determiner of truth anymore, it is experience, or it is a subjectivity that says, "my truth is what is good for me," or simply that there is no truth. This is post-modernism at its best. And it has creeped into the church and into Christian thought. We are afraid to speak of doctrine and theology. We are not allowed to get upon the spiritual mat with a believer and wrestle with truth until someone says, "uncle." We are afraid to divide or be unloving. But I strongly state that there is unity only in truth. We circle the wagons around the centrality of Christ in the Scriptures and we unify under the same doctrines. Experience is so spastic and so inconsistent that we cannot lock arms on the winds of experience. There is unity only in the truth. And Jesus is…the truth…(John 14:6).
I have met a select few who wish to throw their sandals aside and walk on the holiness of God’s Word and who wish to speak openly about doctrines of God and theology. We are harvesters. We should then plow this holy ground with bare-footed feet allowing the richness of the Word to squeeze between our brothers and sisters in Christ and in doing so, we will have contact with our God and with the body of Christ.
Let us not leave the doctrines of the Word to dry upon the ground like Gideon’s fleece (Judges 6:37). We must diligently seek God on this ground all night, like David, if we have to, as if our only son was dying (2 Samuel 12:16). The serpent is sliding across the surface and we must throw our rods down and swallow up the false teachings of the Deceiver (Exodus 4:3). If we neglect the sound teachings of Scripture and of the Christ filled men who have gone before us, we will be casts into a terrifying wilderness with scorpions and a thirsty ground like the Israelites who wandered, looking for that flinty Rock to draw water from (Deuteronomy 8:15). Let us revere God’s Word and teach sound doctrine and be taught. Let us sit down on the ground and receive the 7 loaves and fish to feed the soul. Let us all take the mustard seed and plant it into the ground to spring upward a glorious Christ-like life well grounded in the doctrines of Christ Jesus.
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