Brother James Got Perseverence

Do you really understand what it means to endure through whatever God leads you to? Do you really know what it’s like to get through the storm as though it were nothing? This, in fact, is what it means to have God’s strength. Consider the words of James: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). Why endure through hardships? Because it makes you mature and complete.

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Looking Past the Here and Now

1. If you break down the text of this, the same word used to say “trials” in this passage is the same word used to say “temptations” and “tests” in others. So whatever you’re facing – hardships, struggles, anxiety, difficult temptations, addictions, or whatever – you need to look past the here and now and see what’s at the other end: growth, strengthening and perseverance, so that you will become more of the man or woman that God has in mind for you to become.

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Now I know, it will still be difficult, whatever you’re going through. I understand more than you would think what it means to feel as though your life is about to end. Not that you think you’re literally going to die, but whatever it may be – emotional, relational, whatever – I know how it feels to have the only thing that matters to you seem to end. So I would have to ask you: what really matters to you?

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The Lies That Condemnation Tells Us​

2. Is it of any wonder to you why the 3rd leading cause of death in America is suicide? What’s the point of suicide? “Because there’s nothing worth living for.” Because the enemy comes to us at our weakest point and tells us these little lies…and we believe him. Do you wonder why you or someone you know was so self-conscious in school? Do you wonder why so many people you know today are still so worried about it? Because of those little lies that we believe. Have you ever felt that way? Like you had to change or achieve something in order to be acceptable?

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Though it’s very different for men and women, the principal is pretty much the same: “You won’t be cool unless you do this…You won’t be beautiful unless you change this…you won’t be accepted unless you are this…” Do you think God feels the same way about you? Think about this: God formed you from conception (Psalm 139:13-16). He planned who you were to be – what shoes He would have you fill. He, being the most sovereign God, knit you together in intricate detail, so that you would just be…you. Now, if God wanted your skin to be a little darker, or if he wanted your hair or eyes to be a different colour, of if he wanted you to be taller or shorter or bigger or smaller or anything different…wouldn’t he have made you that way?

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Persevering Through Lies and Depression

This, brothers and sisters, is why it is so important to endure through the hardships. No matter how hard it gets, consider God’s perspective: You are still a child of his, and nothing will ever take you away from him. Want an illustration? Listen to how Paul describes you: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble of hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

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“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither death not life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:31-39).

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If You Believe In God, Then Do Not Have Fear​

So let me ask you, do you really love God? Is He really enough for you? Does he really satisfy? Then do not listen to these lies, whoever you may be. They are nothing more than just that. Satan is the best sociologist in the world, and he knows when you’re struggling. But if you truly love God, and you truly believe that he is who he says he is, do not fear, for “nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.” No matter how much the enemy takes from you, and no matter how much you’re struggling, stay strong and endure, for the prize is well worth the struggle.

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-NIC

The Holy Spirit Is My Fight Coach

I own two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, and both of them provide a little entertainment and inspiration whenever my wife is out of the house (she isn't crazy about sports). Some might be offended that I watch the UFC because of the violence or the ring girls or the cussing, but that offense overlooks the main reasons why mixed martial-arts is so attractive to so many serious Christian men: the aspects that we enjoy are the intensity, dedication, and humility involved, and the brotherhood among fighters. These are important aspects in our goal of living a Holy Spirit-driven life. We're flesh and blood people, and we need human examples to show us spiritual truths. So when I see how these fighters train and lean heavily on their coaches I gain an understanding about what it looks like to train in godliness and lean heavily on the Spirit. Although bodily training has limited value, and godliness is of value in every way (1 Timothy 4.8), aspects from one can provide helpful lessons about the other.

The Holy Spirit Is My Coach
First, godliness is a fight, and it is a battle every day when I attempt to take my sinful flesh and fallen nature and train them to live in the image of God (1 Corinthians 9.25-26). In that fight, the Holy Spirit is my coach (John 15.26) whom the Lord Jesus called the Helper who guides us (John 16.13). The contestants on The Ultimate Fighter are constantly listening to directions from their coaches while they are fighting in the octagon, and we are to constantly be led by the Spirit while we fight temptation in our desire to live in holiness (Romans 8.14). This is how He does it: (1) The Holy Spirit coaches us by giving instructions (Nehemiah 9.20); (2) He changes us into men who will better fight the battle for personal godliness (Titus 3.5); (3) He equips us with the tools and skills needed to carry out this fight (1 Corinthians 12.1). The Holy Spirit is my Helper and my Coach in the fight to live in God's image. The guys on The Ultimate Fighter train hard and follow their coaches in order to get a contract and fame, but we train and follow the Holy Spirit for a more eternal crown of victory (James 1.12).

I Struggle To Listen to My Coach

Second, the rough truth is, because God is Spirit (John 4.24) and doesn't have a body (1 Timothy 1.17), it's tough to remember to listen to Him. We have His Word and that's enough - but we refuse to listen to it (Luke 16.31). Our prayers are intimately guided by the Holy Spirit - but we often refuse to pray (Jude 1.20). It would be insane and foolish for a fighter not to listen to his coach while he's in the cage, but I know my biggest struggle is that I get so involved in the fighting -blogging, evangelism, apologetics, life- that I put my head down and completely forget to listen to the Holy Spirit and refuse to let Him coach me. It's an authority problem. Either I'm submitting to Him or I'm not. Either I trust Him to give me good instructions or I don't. The problem is that we're bad at listening to the Holy Spirit and we've got this notion that we can do things ourselves (which is going to get us spiritually killed). The solution is to let Him train us through the Word, and then listen to Him during the daily fight through prayer. There's no other way.

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Getting Into the Octagon With the Spirit

Third, the Holy Spirit trains us to fight with intensity and dedication. These are action-oriented words. The Holy Spirit regenerates us with new desires (Titus 3.5), so we use those new desires to fight for holiness. Dedication is a training word: if you're getting ready for a fight you're going to persevere through cutting weight, practicing your technique, and studying your opponent. As any athlete would tell you, your life will be consumed by training for the sport. The Spirit helps us to dedicate our lives to the fight for personal holiness. He pushes us to memorize Scripture, discipline our bodies, and establish regular habits for our spiritual good. Intensity is both a fight and a training word: fighters don't just lift a little, run a little, or punch a little; they hit those weights with an all-consuming drive and throw haymakers like their lives depend on it. With the Holy Spirit coaching us on we are to live spiritual lives of intensity that cannot be called lukewarm (Revelation 3.16) by anybody, memorizing and evangelizing and conquering sin with a drive that eclipses and shapes everything else around us. The Spirit pushes us and guides us into spiritual lives of intensity and dedication.

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A Brotherhood of Fellow Fighters

Fourth, under a good coach, you'll become part of a group of fighters who represent a particular team or gym. That coach gives you a place to belong and connects you to others fighters through him, a sort of brotherhood of mixed-martial artists. The Holy Spirit does this also. The gifts of the Holy Spirit make us one body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12.13) and we are all connected to God and to each other through the one Holy Spirit (John 17.21). Before Jesus was crucified, He prayed for us all to be one, just as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father (John 17.11). The Holy Spirit makes us all part of one another. Wrapping this all up, the Holy Spirit gives us: (1) guidance and instruction; (2) pushes us in dedication and intensity; (3) and connects us in Him to a brotherhood of fellow Christians.

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A Quick Note On Being All About Morality

As a good Calvinist, I've got to be sensitive about making the Christian life seem like a moral pursuit. It's not. The truth is, the Holy Spirit is not just our coach. He dwells inside of us (Romans 8.9) and helps us in our weakness (Romans 8.26). He regenerates us - that means He takes us as sinful people and does the heavy lifting of changing us so that we can live for God. The message here, as with the Gospel, is not do this, but receive Him. You have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry out to God, "Father!" (Romans 8.15). It's not just about following the rules of the Holy Spirit, it's that He heals us of our wickedness and forms us into the Image of God.

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-Sean

God's Will In Natural Disasters

Any time a disaster like a hurricane or earthquake or tsunami strikes, people begin either thanking, or cursing God. Obviously, I would be one of the former, but I want to challenge those who trust in God to think critically and biblically to understand why we should thank God when disaster "strikes." First, let me get rid of that unbiblical language. Disaster does not "strike" as if disaster was some kind of being that controlled itself, or as if a tornado has power of its own to destroy the houses, stores, and lives. God controls the weather, including hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes: "I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things" (Isaiah 45:7). "I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of My hand," (Deuteronomy 32:39). "They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues" (Revelation 16:7).

There Are Victims, Just Not Innocent Ones

As you can see, a tornado is an act of God. The question remains: Why do we thank God and pray to God during a tornado, and thank Him when we survive, if it is God who caused the tornado to begin with? The reason we should thank God is that we know that He is the one who has the right to take life, just as He gives it, as the verse from Deuteronomy above says. Secondly, if we understand anything about ourselves, we should know, and this is very important, that we are exceedingly sinful and deserve to suffer the wrath of God. And this is true of all of us, for we are all sinners. Jesus said in Luke 13: 4, "those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” In context, what Jesus is saying here is that those 18 people who were killed by a tower falling on them did not do anything to deserve such a tragic death that we do not likewise deserve. In other words, to say that the reason a natural disaster hits and kills some but not others, and not you, is not because those people were worse sinners than everyone else. However, it is not right to say that those people who were taken in the tornado were innocent either. They were guilty sinners, and we too, are guilty sinners. To die in a tornado isn't wrong, God caused it after all. The reason it isn't wrong is because we all deserve it, and I believe God uses these disasters to do several things:

Three Ways That God Uses Natural Disasters

First, God uses natural disasters, and I think God is using some of the more recent natural disasters, to get our attention - to get the attention of Christians to preach the Gospel so that others can be saved by the power of God. To get the attention of those who are not Christians to see their sinfulness and how fleeting and uncertain life is, and that tomorrow is no guarantee, so that they will repent and be saved from the wrath of God and their sin. Second, God uses disasters to show His power. He indeed does control all things, and is far more powerful than any of us. He could wipe us out in an instant. We should stand in awe of the fierceness of God. Third, God uses natural disasters to show His grace and mercy. Even though we deserve the wrath of God, both in this life and the next, the damage that occurs to homes and families gives other believers the chance to show the grace and mercy of God. In other words, we Christians should not merely be addressing physical needs of others in this crisis (that is definitely important), but first and foremost their spiritual needs, which is always, ALWAYS, most important. And we meet spiritual needs by preaching the gospel of course, and that is really what I am trying to do right now.

The Gospel Illustrated Through Natural Disasters

The gospel can be illustrated through the tornado in Sanford like this: You and I deserve the just wrath of God because of our sinfulness. If we got what we deserved, we would all be killed in a tornado or some other like disaster, and then we would suffer for our sins in Hell forever. However, God has offered us His grace and mercy, which we do not deserve. What we do not deserve is salvation from our sins, yet incredibly God has offered it through Jesus Christ, His Son, who is God, and who died on a cross, enduring the very wrath of God for man's sins, and because of Jesus all who repent and trust in this sacrifice and in His payment for their sins will be saved both from hell and from the enslaving power of sin. And to be saved from sin is the most wonderful thing in the world. We were created to honor and glorify God, but we want to honor and glorify self instead. Salvation through Christ saves us from our desire to live for self and gives us the desire to live for God, which again is what we were created to do and what we were created to love and enjoy. Not only that, but because our sins have been paid for by Christ on the cross when He endured God's wrath for our sins, and because Christ was perfectly obedient to God's law and glorified Him, we can be saved through faith in Him. He got the wrath of God we deserved for our sins on the cross, and we, through faith in Christ and His work for us, receive His righteousness (His obedience to God's law), so that we can be viewed by God as innocent of sin and obedient to God through what Christ did for us. And that is the good news of the gospel, that Jesus Christ has lived the life we could not live, and paid the debt for our sins which we owed. Through faith in this, and this alone, we can be completely forgiven and saved from our sins so that we can live as we were meant to live- for God's glory and in obedience to Him.

The Sanford Tornado Was a Work of God

So the Sanford Tornado, like all Tornadoes, is a work of God, which shows His righteous anger and wrath against men and their wickedness, as well as our need for a Savior, to meet both our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. Then, if the gospel is presented, we see that God is not only righteous and just, but also gracious and merciful and indeed has provided a Savior to meet our physical and spiritual needs- none other than His Son Jesus Christ, who died for all who will repent and believe the gospel. So my goal in this post is to ultimately point out God's righteous wrath against us, so that we can see our genuine need to be saved from our sins, so that you and I can live for God as you were made to do. Jesus Christ has already provided our needed salvation, and faith in Christ, and what He did for you, will save you from God's wrath and put you back in the right relationship with God, where you are no longer enemies but friends, and He is your gracious Lord, Savior, and Provider.

-Thomas

Christian, Know Thy Idols

​I have to admit that I have been having a bit of a writer's block lately (so if this post sounds a little bit random or eclectic, forgive me). As of yesterday, August is finally here. This means that summer is almost over and College Football is merely one month away. I make mention of this because a few years back I wrote on my other blog about my deep affection for the Fall, and above all, for listening to sports talk radio. I went on in that post to say how it became an idol in my life, and how it took a massive conscious effort on my part to finally pull myself away from listening to the radio everyday.

Idol-Making Factories
I could be wrong in all of this, but I doubt it. Outside Scripture, I think it was John Calvin who said that "the heart is an idol making factory." I believe he was right. And of course, inside Scripture, the prophet Jeremiah said this very same thing (Jeremiah 17:9). In this post I want to focus on how deceptive idols can be. A few weeks ago at church the sermon was centered on Elijah's face off with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and I wish the pastor would have made the correlation between Israel's idols and our present day idols, because I think we too easily skim over the fact that idols are not just things of the past, but are present and are so easy to defend and not notice if we're not careful. So let's look at a few reasons why idols are deceptive:

• Idols aren't necessarily evil. In fact, they can be morally neutral. Let's take a look at probably the most common potential idol, money. Money isn't bad. We would all agree that we need money to pay bills, buy food, live somewhere, help the economy run, and do fun stuff. But maybe you get money, but ever give it. You don't tithe, you aren't generous with what you have towards others, and you enjoy getting stuff. Beware my friend, for you are flirting with an idol. Where did it come from?

• Idols come from the heart. For as much as Christians try to live in holiness, purity, and humility, ALL idols originate in the heart. I daresay to read the Scriptures and there is not one example of idolatry that does not begin in the heart. That's why I quoted Jeremiah 17:9, and our Lord Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:34 "You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
  

The Solution
It appears that the problem is simple. Your heart is why you are an idol factory. So how does this change? Jesus can and should be the only source of our truest and deepest affection, should he not? The truth is that Christ set us free from all our sin, idols included. John 15 tells us that He is the Vine, and we are the branches. It only makes sense to me that since He is the source, that trusting in anything but Him is foolishness on our part. But this is a lot easier said than done is it not? There's no easy answer for why we have proclivities towards certain idols. Our sinful desires coupled with our human preferences make that a nice combination, huh? But it is through what D.A. Carson calls "grace driven effort" that we can see through the lenses of the Gospel, and honestly and humbly ask for help.

Wrestling with our idols is good. But like Sean spoke about earlier yesterday, we have to kill them. The Puritans called this process mortification. Killing sin so that we would see Christ as the only thing worth everything. I pray that this weighs heavily on us in the days to come.

-ryan

Imago Dei, You've Got Your Father's Image

Good luck trying to live in the image of God if you can't even figure out who He is or what He's like. Take today's topic for example: If God is a Trinity -one being, in three persons- then that means some things for how we live out His image. If there's one God (James 2.19), and the Father and Jesus are both the only God (1 Corinthians 8.6 and 1 John 5.20), and yet they are both different (Matthew 24.36), and on top of that we also have the Holy Spirit thrown in the mix (John 14.16-17 and Acts 5.3-4), then all of that gets played out into what it means to represent God's nature as people who are made in His image. And if Jesus also submits to the Father, even though they're equals, then that really changes some things. What we know about God being three, and at the same time one, gets played out for us in community, in sexuality, and family. God is Yahweh (one) and yet also the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (three). If we can see Him clearly, then we'll begin to understand what it looks like to be a human being -or a human community- fashioned after the holy three-and-one Image of God.

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The Father In Sex, Community, and Family Roles

Can you live the human life without being around other people? No. God didn't create just one person when He spoke the world into existence and formed Adam from the dust; He said 'It is not good for man to be alone' and made a woman to be with him (Genesis 2.18). This is sexuality and family. And it means something. One of the great things about being married has been where Kendra and I realize that we're representing God in a way that we never could have alone: I lead my home and (with mixed success so far) care for Kendra, and I come up with the basic vision of where our lives are going as husband and wife; Kendra, even though she's my equal, trusts me and supports that vision (with mixed success). We're representing the Trinity as a married couple: even though the Father and Jesus Christ are equally and totally God, the Father alone knows the plan for how history is going to unfold and Jesus follows His lead on that (Matthew 24.36). In our marriage, Kendra follows my lead, like Jesus, and I do planning like the Father. And if Kendra and I weren't married, cultural roles would fill the void: all people are made equal, but some are national leaders (Kings) or spiritual leaders (Priests), and even though we're equals we are still under their authority - we submit to them just like Jesus submits to the Father. Submission isn't like a UFC 'I'm tapping because you've got me in a kimura armbar and I've lost' sort of thing, it's just choosing to say 'Hey, I'll follow your lead.' So God the Father is the leader in the Trinity, and we represent Him by stepping up into leadership roles in our communities and families (or, by being like Jesus and following the lead of someone else).

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Papa God Don't Have No Body

The other thing is that we represent the Father by just being visible. He is the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He does not need eyes to see, or ears to hear, or a mouth to speak, or a stomach for digestion, or anatomical structure for the creation of offspring. He is beyond that. There isn't really one specific shape or a body that we can point to and say 'THAT'S what God looks like!' This is why God appears in all sort of different ways in the Old Testament: As a fire in Exodus 3.1-6; as a whirlwind and a pillar of fire in Exodus 13.21-22; or as a shining cloud in Leviticus 16.2. God does not have a physical form because, as Jesus said, "The Father... is spirit" (John 4.24). So when people say, “I think the Image of God means that we look like Him,” there are a lot of problems that come with that. God is infinite and beyond comprehension – and having a body like ours makes Him little more than some kind of ascended human being (which is what the Mormons believe). It takes away from His omnipresence –the teaching that God is everywhere at once- and ties Him to a specific place wherever His body is. Teaching that God has a physical form lowers our view of who He is. We are God's visible image, not because we're filling some kind of gap that God can't fill on His own, but because God can't be reduced to some bodily, visible form.

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What This Means In Everyday Life

Like I have written over the past couple of posts, what we do reflects what kind of God we believe in. If we're visible liars, we show the world that we believe in an invisible God whose character is full of deceit. If we visibly neglect gender roles in our marriages, we show the world that we do not believe the Father leads or cares for the other members of the Trinity. When we go a step beyond that and visibly endorse gay marriages, we show the world that we believe there's no difference between the members of the Trinity at all. But if we accept the roles of parent, husband, king (national leader), and priest (Christian leader), and submit to the people who embody those roles, then we are carrying on in the tradition of God the Father - a tradition that started within the character of Yahweh Himself. If we shirk responsibility and rebel against authority, then we shirk the Image of God and rebel against the Lord who made us. And that's a heavy thing to think about. All this abstract stuff is practical.

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-SeanR.

Also check out
-Imago Dei, the Image of His Nature (we represent God's character)
-Imago Dei, It's All About the Body (our bodies tell us something about God)