Today is Reformation Day. May the Lord continue to call leaders in His church to engage with our ever-changing culture while remaining faithful to His Word. As we look ahead, may we be inspired by the sixteenth century reformers.
May we be edified by their example, challenged by their courage and encouraged by their eagerness to glorify God.
Semper Reformanda! (Always Reforming)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Prosperity Gospel vs. Habakkuk
Time magazine’s recent cover story about the Prosperity Gospel garnered much attention and discussion. Such teaching is troubling and perplexing. It’s troubling because of the delusion bound to come about when financial riches do not materialize. It’s perplexing that so many are persuaded by teaching completely contrary to the Bible.
Listen to Habakkuk for instance.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produced of the olive fail and the fields yield no good, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength: He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Listen to Habakkuk for instance.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produced of the olive fail and the fields yield no good, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength: He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Sunday, October 22, 2006
To love the Lord
To love the Lord with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the mind, and with all the strength, doth imply the supremacy, ardency, and activity of our love, whereby we choose the Lord, cleave to Him, and delight in Him as our chief good, and employ all the faculties and powers of soul and body in obedience, out of love.”[1]
Thomas Vincent: The Shorter Catechism of Faith Explained From Scripture (1674).
[1] Thomas Vincent, The Shorter Catechism of Faith Explained From Scripture, Edinburgh, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004, p.114.
Thomas Vincent: The Shorter Catechism of Faith Explained From Scripture (1674).
[1] Thomas Vincent, The Shorter Catechism of Faith Explained From Scripture, Edinburgh, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004, p.114.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Sneezing Dog
Our neighbour has two wonderful little dogs. They’re very protective of their masters and immediately rush to the fence and bark whenever one of my family members is in the backyard.
Yesterday was no different (Well, mostly). They rushed to the fence as I carried a bag of leaves through the gate. But before they launched into their barking tirade they stopped and paused. And one of them sneezed. Four times. Then the barking began.
I was immediately reminded of one of the most pressing challenges I grapple with when evangelizing. I love to share my faith and the gospel. But I struggle with how best to turn an interesting but secular conversation into talk soaked in God's mercy. Of course, everything pertains to Christianity, but I sometimes find myself at a loss to make the unregenerate conscious of this. I’m aware the unregenerate are incapable of fully understanding Christianity, but also appreciate that God has implanted an intrinsic sense of Himself into everyone.
Now, back to the barking dog. The dog paused to sneeze before getting down to his business. While certainly not a perfect analogy, the sneezing dog reminded me of how I sometimes stall mentioning Christ in conversations. It’s as if I know that I should (compelled by a desire to glorify God not out of duty) but I stumble to overcome my initial hesitation.
Like the dog, I know what I eventually plan to do, but ‘something else’ like talk about school, or the weather or current affairs gets in the way.
Lord, please instil within me a desire to position Christ more prominently in my conversations that eyes will be opened to your Kingdom and that you will be glorified.
Yesterday was no different (Well, mostly). They rushed to the fence as I carried a bag of leaves through the gate. But before they launched into their barking tirade they stopped and paused. And one of them sneezed. Four times. Then the barking began.
I was immediately reminded of one of the most pressing challenges I grapple with when evangelizing. I love to share my faith and the gospel. But I struggle with how best to turn an interesting but secular conversation into talk soaked in God's mercy. Of course, everything pertains to Christianity, but I sometimes find myself at a loss to make the unregenerate conscious of this. I’m aware the unregenerate are incapable of fully understanding Christianity, but also appreciate that God has implanted an intrinsic sense of Himself into everyone.
Now, back to the barking dog. The dog paused to sneeze before getting down to his business. While certainly not a perfect analogy, the sneezing dog reminded me of how I sometimes stall mentioning Christ in conversations. It’s as if I know that I should (compelled by a desire to glorify God not out of duty) but I stumble to overcome my initial hesitation.
Like the dog, I know what I eventually plan to do, but ‘something else’ like talk about school, or the weather or current affairs gets in the way.
Lord, please instil within me a desire to position Christ more prominently in my conversations that eyes will be opened to your Kingdom and that you will be glorified.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Engaging: The Wilberforce Way
I saw an elderly woman yesterday pushing her cane to clear a sodden pile of leaves from the sewer grate yesterday. She stirred the leaves, which had blocked the water from flowing into the drain, like she might stir a pot of soup. It was a warming sight to behold, for while most of the young people around her were rushing to and fro in the pouring rain she stopped to loosen the pile.
Of course, her efforts were in vain and the leaves she rustled quickly settled again.
I’m listening to John Piper’s wonderful exploration of William Wilberforce. Born into great wealth and a convicted atheist by the time he reached manhood, the Lord converted him while serving Britain as a politician.
He led the movement to abolish the slave trade, worked to enable missionary work in India and helped to found the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was a part of the Suppression of Vice organization and sought to provide children with improved education, personal hygiene and spiritual training.
In sum, he was a man of action who fought against the evils of his age.
It is convicting to learn about William Wilberforce.
I’ve tried to reach out and engage with the marginalized. I’ve volunteered in soup kitchens and prisons and inner-city community centres. I’ve visited the sick in the hospital and the lonely in a nursing home. I’ve tutored new Canadians and sat on a disciplinary student committee.
Yet it all seems so insignificant, so in vain. Especially when I consider my pithy efforts to combat the evils of gambling, abortion, social reengineering of marriage, family abuse, drug abuse, poverty, environmental degradation, theological heresy and so forth.
Yet I’m confident He has and will use what little I’ve done to comfort the destitute and bring glory to Himself.
Lord may I grow in spiritual maturity and compassion to be driven to further action in opposing sin and wickedness, while remaining ever mindful of the depth of my own depravity and vileness. May I emulate William Wilberforce that I too may be a ‘Renewer of Society.’
Of course, her efforts were in vain and the leaves she rustled quickly settled again.
I’m listening to John Piper’s wonderful exploration of William Wilberforce. Born into great wealth and a convicted atheist by the time he reached manhood, the Lord converted him while serving Britain as a politician.
He led the movement to abolish the slave trade, worked to enable missionary work in India and helped to found the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was a part of the Suppression of Vice organization and sought to provide children with improved education, personal hygiene and spiritual training.
In sum, he was a man of action who fought against the evils of his age.
It is convicting to learn about William Wilberforce.
I’ve tried to reach out and engage with the marginalized. I’ve volunteered in soup kitchens and prisons and inner-city community centres. I’ve visited the sick in the hospital and the lonely in a nursing home. I’ve tutored new Canadians and sat on a disciplinary student committee.
Yet it all seems so insignificant, so in vain. Especially when I consider my pithy efforts to combat the evils of gambling, abortion, social reengineering of marriage, family abuse, drug abuse, poverty, environmental degradation, theological heresy and so forth.
Yet I’m confident He has and will use what little I’ve done to comfort the destitute and bring glory to Himself.
Lord may I grow in spiritual maturity and compassion to be driven to further action in opposing sin and wickedness, while remaining ever mindful of the depth of my own depravity and vileness. May I emulate William Wilberforce that I too may be a ‘Renewer of Society.’
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Expressing Emptiness
Last night I visited a website that compiles the myspace profiles of members who have died. It was a heart-wrenching and sorrowful journey viewing the pages crafted by people (mostly teenagers) who have recently passed away. I learned their favourite foods, what music they liked, their dreams and desires.
The cause of death is listed beside each profile. Some killed themselves. Others were killed by ex-boyfriends. Car accidents were common. One young man slipped as he stepped out of a bathtub on the first day of school.
Vince wrote “My dream is to play in the NBA, but that probably won't happen, so I might just keep going to school for a while. Either that or I'll kill myself in a car accident.” He didn’t. He killed himself by jumping off a parking garage on July 12, 2006. Six days earlier he wrote this entry into his blog entitled ‘and all things will end.’
'Thursday, July 06, 2006
and all things will end
a fact of life. tonight i lost one of my best friends. i was depressed and a little hopeful. now i'm numb and hopeless. i feel like i've slipped into a black hole. all things will end. when will i?'
Others are less rhetorical. They post their suicide notes.
Just before visiting the profiles I read John Calvin’s liturgy. It’s beautiful and theologically rich with the wonders of God’s glory and His mercy. It so eloquently expresses the deep yearning of the human soul to cleave to truth and goodness while expressing brokenness before God.
The teenagers who post their comments on the death of a friend on myspace are in general, inarticulate. They use poor grammar. Punctuation is non-existent. They curse. But behind the comments are teenagers, still emerging from childhood, struggling to respond to a situation they never thought possible. Their guilt and sorrow and horror are evident. They’re crushed.
For they truly have come face to face with death.
Many mention their late friends appear in their dreams. God, Jesus and Heaven are often mentioned. So is an overwhelming sense of sadness.
This person’s friend died in a car accident.
“hey sweetie, today has been so hard, im missin you so much, thers just thisemptiness, and it wont go away!!.....i hope your ok, im bk at 6th form btwlol...and i got a puppy, shes called jesse, like jesse james lol...thememories!!...love you baby, and i miss you with all my heart xx x xx x x x xx xx x x x x”
Calvin’s liturgy and the comments posted on myspace may seem to be on completely different spectrums. But I don’t think they are. For both display a deep longing for assurance and peace.
By the time I went to bed it was early Sunday morning. I prayed for the people who would die today. I’ve never done that before. I’ve prayed often for the families and friends struggling to cope with the passing of a loved one. The comments on myspace affirm how desperately they need prayer.
But I prayed that those whose time on earth ends today would, in their final hours, ponder eternity and receive salvation through Jesus Christ. For there is truly no hope apart from Him.
The cause of death is listed beside each profile. Some killed themselves. Others were killed by ex-boyfriends. Car accidents were common. One young man slipped as he stepped out of a bathtub on the first day of school.
Vince wrote “My dream is to play in the NBA, but that probably won't happen, so I might just keep going to school for a while. Either that or I'll kill myself in a car accident.” He didn’t. He killed himself by jumping off a parking garage on July 12, 2006. Six days earlier he wrote this entry into his blog entitled ‘and all things will end.’
'Thursday, July 06, 2006
and all things will end
a fact of life. tonight i lost one of my best friends. i was depressed and a little hopeful. now i'm numb and hopeless. i feel like i've slipped into a black hole. all things will end. when will i?'
Others are less rhetorical. They post their suicide notes.
Just before visiting the profiles I read John Calvin’s liturgy. It’s beautiful and theologically rich with the wonders of God’s glory and His mercy. It so eloquently expresses the deep yearning of the human soul to cleave to truth and goodness while expressing brokenness before God.
The teenagers who post their comments on the death of a friend on myspace are in general, inarticulate. They use poor grammar. Punctuation is non-existent. They curse. But behind the comments are teenagers, still emerging from childhood, struggling to respond to a situation they never thought possible. Their guilt and sorrow and horror are evident. They’re crushed.
For they truly have come face to face with death.
Many mention their late friends appear in their dreams. God, Jesus and Heaven are often mentioned. So is an overwhelming sense of sadness.
This person’s friend died in a car accident.
“hey sweetie, today has been so hard, im missin you so much, thers just thisemptiness, and it wont go away!!.....i hope your ok, im bk at 6th form btwlol...and i got a puppy, shes called jesse, like jesse james lol...thememories!!...love you baby, and i miss you with all my heart xx x xx x x x xx xx x x x x”
Calvin’s liturgy and the comments posted on myspace may seem to be on completely different spectrums. But I don’t think they are. For both display a deep longing for assurance and peace.
By the time I went to bed it was early Sunday morning. I prayed for the people who would die today. I’ve never done that before. I’ve prayed often for the families and friends struggling to cope with the passing of a loved one. The comments on myspace affirm how desperately they need prayer.
But I prayed that those whose time on earth ends today would, in their final hours, ponder eternity and receive salvation through Jesus Christ. For there is truly no hope apart from Him.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Lost: Matthew 18
As I walked to evening worship on Sunday I thought about the people I know who were once active in a church, but have since wandered away from Christian fellowship. The sermon turned out to be on that exact topic and based on Matthew 18.
The pastor explained that Jesus was referring to someone who had dropped out of fellowshipping with other believers in the parable of the lost sheep. The pastor encouraged us to reach out to former church members and welcome them back into the fold.
Lord, may I seek and find those who have wandered away from church and warmly invite them back!
The pastor explained that Jesus was referring to someone who had dropped out of fellowshipping with other believers in the parable of the lost sheep. The pastor encouraged us to reach out to former church members and welcome them back into the fold.
Lord, may I seek and find those who have wandered away from church and warmly invite them back!
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