The Christian life is not a playground

The Christian life is not a playground! It is a battlefield!   Sin is destructive. Halfway measures in dealing with sin will not do!  You have to sever the head of sin, gouge it out of your life, hack it to pieces!  We will never be victorious in this battle if we pamper our sin.  We have to put it to death!  When the temptation comes, especially to our besetting sins, whether that be anger,  greed, lust or some other addiction, we have to fling it aside decisively and immediately.  Dillydallying with sin and temptation is deadly.  Vacillating will kill you ever sin.  You need to be killing sin or it will be killing you.  Shadow-boxing won’t do!

“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ ” (Mark 9:43–48, ESV)

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Love or die?

My daughter Camille heard Alexander Strauch at the Truth for Life Conference at the Master’s College in January 2011.  They gave each of the students his book Love or Die which she has recently read.  She has posted about it here and provided a lot of challenging quotes from the book.

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The use of the Law

Last evening we watched a docu-drama on The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.  We viewed the scenes in the Interpreter’s House including the dusty parlor which symbolized the heart of man that was never sanctified by the sweet grace of the gospel.  The dust in the room is our sin. A man enters and starts sweeping the dust on the floor and creates quite the mess. He represents the Law.  But then a woman comes in and sprinkles the floor with water which represents the gospel.

The commentator Mark Keilar reminded us that God did not give the law as something to keep, but the purpose of the law was that we could see it and compare it to our lives and see that we haven’t kept it and thus flee to God for mercy.

Earlier this week I listened to an in-depth message on this subject by Dr. Albert Mohler entitled “So I Really Do Need the Law?” Toward the end he presented the following purposes of the Law of God that I found helpful in their summary.

1. To show us God loves us.
2. To define and preserve human flourishing.
3. To restrain evil in a fallen world.
4. To show us our need of Christ.
5. To instruct us in righteousness.
6. To show us the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
7. To make us yearn for glory.

To the last point, Dr. Mohler reminded us that there will be no copy of the Ten Commandments posted in heaven.  How true–for then we shall be perfect!

This message will soon be posted at resolved.org.  I will update post when it is available.

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I Asked the Lord and . . . .

John Newton:

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

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The world changed last week

A must-read article by Albert Mohler on the impact of New York state legalizing so-called “same-sex marriage.”

His conclusion:

In the end, it is difficult to know how one can exaggerate the importance of New York’s shift on marriage. New York is not merely a highly populous state — it also includes the nation’s most significant city in terms of economics, business, and cultural influence.

The legalization of same-sex marriage represents nothing less than a moral revolution, for what the law allows and recognizes, it also approves. Last Friday was a sad day for marriage and, if the advocates of same-sex marriage are right, it was also a sign of things to come.

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How to think Christianly about recurrent miscarriages

David Powlison, a biblical counselor with Christian Counseling and Education Foundation, offers some biblical wisdom in this answer to one of life’s hard questions. Perhaps this grief has affected you personally or you know someone who would benefit from this counsel.

Even if you haven’t experienced miscarriage in your immediate family, this is worth watching for two reasons:  1) to watch how Dr. Powlision deals compassionately with life issues and 2) to be reminded that Scripture is a book of hope to those full of grief and groaning.

[vimeo 20478923]

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Preparation of a place and of us

Click to enlarge.

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The Bible and gender-neutral children?

What are we as Christians to think about all this talk about people wanting to change their gender?  Of people thinking they are really a man in a woman’s body?  Now there is all kinds of talk about raising “gender-free” children.

I preached from Mark 10:1-12 this past Sunday on the issue of marriage and divorce and remarriage.  But I also commented briefly on the issue of gender and how it is part of the God’s design for human beings.  Jesus quotes from Genesis which states,

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ” (Genesis 1:27)

“Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. ” (Genesis 5:2)

There was gender and there was gender identity. Jesus teaches that maleness and femaleness was rooted in God’s creative design. Ther was no gender identity crisis.  People weren’t confused about their gender.  Maleness and femaleness were implemented from God!  Scripture is clear; man is the one who is confused today.

This gender confusion is being taken to a new level in some pre-schools. Read about it here. An excerpt

STOCKHOLM – At the “Egalia” preschool, staff avoid using words like “him” or “her” and address the 33 kids as “friends” rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don’t fall into gender stereotypes.

“Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. “Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden’s efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

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Ten difficult, but really important words

“Many words in the English language are difficult. In fact, there’s even a Dictionary of Difficult Words. But none are more difficult than these: “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Will you please forgive me?”

Keep reading as Michael Hyatt explains why these words are so important–in your marriage, in your parenting, in your other relationships.

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Saying good-bye before your spouse dies

If you knew your spouse was going to die shortly, what would you say to him or her?

What if you knew that your spouse was going to die as a martyr tomorrow?

Well, you won’t be able to read this letter without  being moved–a letter that Mary Love wrote to her husband Christopher before he went to get his head chopped off in England back 350 years ago.

What an example of a godly perspective on suffering, loss and God’s grace.

Here’s an excerpt but read the rest.

 

“And though it may seem something bitter, that by the hands of men we are parted a little sooner than otherwise we might have been, yet let us consider that it is the decree and will of our Father, and it will not be long ere we shall enjoy one another in heaven again.  Let us comfort one another with these sayings.  Be comforted, my dear heart.  It is but a little stroke and thou shalt be there where the weary shall be at rest and where the wicked shall cease from troubling.  Remember that thou mayest eat thy dinner with bitter herbs, yet thou shalt have a sweet supper with Christ that night.  My dear, by what I write unto thee, I do not hereby undertake to teach thee; for these comforts I have received from the Lord by thee.”

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