The Key to Change

“The key to change is continually returning to the cross. A changing life is a cross-centered life. At the cross we see our source of sanctification (Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 1:22; Titus 2:14). We find hope, for we see the power of sin broken and the old nature put to death. We see ourselves united to Christ and bought by his blood. We see the glorious grace of God in Jesus Christ, dying for his enemies, the righteous for the unrighteous. We see our hope, our life, our resources, our joy. At the cross we find the grace, power, and delight in God we need to overcome sin. If we don’t come to the cross again and again, we’ll feel distant from God, disconnected from his power, and indifferent to his glory — and that is a recipe for sin.” ~ Tim Chester, You Can Change

HT: Of First Importance

New England Mission Field & Legalism Awareness : )

Through the recent article "Why New England Is the New American Missional Frontier" I discovered a neat pastor, author, and blog, Jared Wilson. Pastor Jared pastors a church in Vermont and has a heart for the New England region. Being a New Englander myself, I am grateful for those who have a heart for New England. I want to see and be part of something great in New England!

Unrelatedly (but possibly loosely related), I found a post on legalism on Pastor Jared's blog The Gospel-Driven Church. I believe legalism to be incredibly oppressive and damaging to Christians and to Christianity and I think it quite a pervasive problem in churches. Therefore, I love articles on legalism (and am considering running a "Legalism Awareness" campaign--anyone interested?) and appreciate it when people speak out against and explain it.

Here's the post. It was written on my birthday!! : ) I also like the comments section of the post--some great points there too.

What Legalism Isn't (and Is)

This is not exhaustive, of course.

Legalism ISN'T equating Christianity with conformity to Christ. But it IS equating Christianity with a particular "brand" within his movement.

Legalism ISN'T any preaching of the Law or of moral exhortations (in their biblical context). But it IS preaching "do's and don't's" as if they are the essential message of Christ or of the Bible.

Legalism ISN'T any expectation of obedience. But it IS an expectation for all Christians of uniformity of conscience and culture.

Legalism ISN'T applying the demands or the spirit of the Law to one's conscience. But it IS extrapolating one's personal conscience out to require the same of another's conscience.

Legalism ISN'T just a preaching of "Don't do this or God will be angry." It IS ALSO a preaching "Do this and God will be happy."

Avoid and rebuke legalism with a dogged insistence on the all-encompassing sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

Wisdom From Above

man has many teachings on wisdom. but Wisdom From Above is...

pure
peace-loving
considerate
open to reason
easy to be entreated
gentle
submissive
willing to yield
full of mercy and good fruit
impartial
sincere
without partiality
without hypocrisy

james 3:17

Amen.

Go and Not Do

When the adulteress was brought to Him, Jesus did not give her something to go and do. Instead, He gave her something to go and not do... to go and sin no more. He came to lift burdens, not increase them. In Matthew 11, we are not told to "come and perform" or "to come and behave", but to come and stop doing, to come and rest. On the cross He did not say, "the work has begun"; He said, “It is finished.”

Accept His grace. Let all that hinders fall away. Enter the narrow way, that few find, which leads to life. Embark upon the path of sanctification, of freedom! For this is the walk of faith.

HT: Quivering Daughters-The Daughters of Patriarchy: Biblical Law, Legalism, and Grace

Faith & Obedience

‎"Before faith and obedience become acts of man they are gifts of God." - R.B. Kuyper

Justice

You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:9

Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" Declares the LORD. Isaiah 22:16

People don't belong on pedestals

Don't put people up on pedestals because (1) they might fall and hurt themselves or (2) they might fall and crush you.

Joyful in hope...

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer... Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse... Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath. Romans 12

Dear Friends and Family at LAOG,

Please forgive me for any expression of resentment or impatience that I may have conveyed to towards any of you regarding this election. The Lord has convicted me of being unloving in this way. Though I felt strongly about my reasons for voting as I did and though I believe the Lord has spoken through this election, I realize that, in spite of my feelings, I must 'make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace'. Further, I realize that the impact of this election has been devastating for many people. I pray that God will bring comfort and peace to their hearts.

I am praying that the Lord will clothe us all in His Love and Righteousness that Jesus Christ purchased, with His own blood, on Calvary.

Sincerely,
Jessica

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:2-6

Human Greatness is Deeply Flawed

Every great man or woman of faith's feet are just clay. 'That is what human greatness is—deeply flawed.

There is one hero, and only one, who will not let you down—Jesus Christ. All other heroes fail us, and the reason they do is to point us to Christ. There is no one more admirable, and more worthy of our praise, than Christ. At the very moment when he looked least praiseworthy, he was achieving the highest triumph of love—his death.'

There are many benefits to reading about great heroes of faith be they biblical or modern. 'And among other great reasons one of them is: admiring and disillusioned I turn to Jesus.'


I had to paraphrase some of this to make it a generic statement (when Piper originally wrote it he was referring to Lincoln) but I think I got the gist of what it's saying. I have been discovering this more and more. Whenever I look to another man or woman for an example to follow I am always disappointed. And it has served a great purpose. It has forced me to look to Christ. No man or woman that has existed or will exist will ever be worthy of praise of admiration. Christ alone is worthy of all adoration and He ALONE deserves to given the title, "HERO".

The Law & The Gospel

“The law requires works of human achievement; the gospel requires faith in Christ’s achievement. The law makes demands and bids us obey; the gospel brings promises and bids us believe.”

(HT: Of First Importance)

Little children, love one another!

I can't remember where I heard this story about John the Apostle but I've been looking for it for a long time and was so happy that I found it!

"There is a church tradition, which says, that when John was evidently an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples. At these meetings, he was accustomed to say no more than, "Little children, love one another!" After a time, the disciples wearied at always hearing the same words, asked, "Master, why do you always say this?" "It is the Lord's command," was his reply. "And if this alone be done, it is enough!""

I just think it's such a sweet picture. This great man of faith, the apostle whom Jesus loved, frail and old being carried out by his disciples to speak 5 little words. "Little children, love one another!" Truly, "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6b, NIV) May God help me by His grace to love more.

(Source: http://www.biblepath.com/john1.html)

Two Things

My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things;
That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.
~John Newton

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my Own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death -- to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from no on to live for him.

What a beautiful truth! I want to read it over and over again! May I always put all my hope in Jesus Christ.

(Heidelberg Catechism)

Righteous!

I must confess I am enamoured with the Gospel. Probably because I have always had a painfully low opinion of myself. (Can you tell I've been reading a bit of Jane Austen lately?) But seriously, resting on the truth of the Gospel has become a such a great comfort. It is Christ's work and not my own that God sees. God has declared me righteous. What a great salvation! The truth in this song by Shane & Shane always moves me. And John Piper's words at the end are so powerful.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God". 2 Corinthians 5:21
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

Do it again!

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

Responsible but Dependent

I love paradoxes. Probably because I don't like to make decisions. Like take, for instance, divine sovereignty verses human responsibility: Though I am actually doing the working of my own salvation, it is actually God who is doing the work in me. So I am responsible but totally dependent at the same time. I've read a few books by Jerry Bridges and a theme he repeats in many of his books is 'dependent responsibility'. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I read stuff like that. Plus, it makes me more grateful for my salvation because not only am I justified before God, but I am also sanctified as well. Salvation means that I am both declared righteous as well as progressively made righteous. And both are by God's grace.

All these thoughts were (re)sparked by a blog post by John Piper. Check it out. You too can "abandon any anti-Bible intellectual baggage you have inherited from planet earth, and recalibrate your brain to embrace the paradoxes of real human choice and decisive divine sway". The comment section is worth reading as well and was very influential in my thoughts.

Valentine's Day Vent

It really shouldn't be this difficult. Why is it so difficult? That's what I want to know. I mean I am probably way too picky (or was) now I know that you need to 'settle' (I suppose) but maybe... I don't EVEN know. But 30, still single, NOTHING on the horizon (that I can see). I always wonder if I'm the problem or if it's God's will. I go back and forth. I'm cool with it if it's God's will--I mean I get impatient but I'm a pro at dealing with impatience by now. But if it's my problem then... what do I do? I can't undo what I didn't (did?) do. It's not like a whole lot of guys were interested anyway. I mean there were a few (I can think of 3, maybe 4)... but maybe I wasn't supposed to marry them... Who even knows? I am happy that I'm not lonely, though, so things like Valentine's Day aren't horrible. In fact I kind of like Valentine's Day. It's all about love anyway, in whatever way you receive it. I mean, what's better than thinking about love all day? Also I'm glad that I don't think I'm a loser because I'm not in a romantic relationship. There are other reasons that make me think I'm a loser (sometimes, like today when I got mad (and, like, really mad) at my brother for the locking the keys in my car while it was running with the spare key IN the car when we were already late for church... yeah) but at least it's not my singleness that makes me feel like a loser! Also I guess there's a lot of things that I'm doing that I most definitely couldn't do if I was married. Ah well.

There I feel better. : )

Israel Rocks

ABC World News ran a segment tonight praising Israel's highly efficient field hospital in Haiti. CNN and Fox News have also run segments on Israel's work in Haiti. The Israeli unit was up and running within 15 hours of arrival and (I believe) operational on Saturday morning. "And Israel came from the other side of the world", one frustrated U.S. physician stated. U.S. medical/surgical facilities hope to be operational by Tuesday morning, a full 72 hours after Israeli facilities.

The Israeli hospital has specialized units, imaging equipment, full surgical capabilities, ventilators, etc. Check out this video to see the comparison between the Israeli facilities and the U.S. facilities.

Other articles on Israil's relief efforts in Haiti: Israel sending relief to Haiti Israel's Haiti field hospital: a microcosm of a country's turmoil Praise for Israeli mission in Haiti: 'Only ones operating' Israeli Hospital, The Most Advanced in Haiti

I visited Israel last year around this time and was so impressed by their highly efficient organizational skills. Seeing these videos and reading the articles make me really want to go there again.

Israeli Defense Forces Search and Rescue

Helping Haiti

The situation in Haiti is desperate. I keep thinking about the people and how horrific it must be for them to be without food, water, and sanitation. To see body parts sticking out from crushed buildings. So much death and despair. And it's probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

A blog entry on 01/17/10 from Doctors without Borders : "We need more space to perform surgeries. We need the inflatable hospital, if it ever arrives. So, it's getting worse. Patients who were not critical only three days ago are now in critical phases. This means that people will die from preventable infections. It's horrible. It's really so terrible that people are begging for help and we can't help them all to save their lives!"

I pray that aid will come quickly to them and that God will turn this desperate situation for good. Here are a few things you can do to help:

1. Don't judge. Don't listen to people like Pat Robertson. His words are unkind, unhelpful, and presumptious. Who are we to speak for God and say why such a tragedy has happened? Instead, I appreciated the following responses and comments to the Haiti earthquake:
Does God Hate Haiti? Al Mohler
Yo, Pat Robertson. What's God got to do with it? Elizabeth Esther
A Compassionate Response to Pat Robertson on Haiti Matt Bell

2. Send money. I chose the following organizations to support: World Vision, Compassion, Convoy of Hope (Assembly of God), Doctors Without Borders, and Mercy Ships. You can also text donations using your cell phone though the donation may not be applied for up to a month or more. Text 'Haiti' to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross or text 'Haiti' to 864833 to donate $5 to the United Way. The donation will show up on your phone bill next month.

3. Pray. Haiti has limited to no infrastructure so aid workers have been having great difficulty obtaining and mobilizing supplies. Pray that there will God will raise up people to organize and administrate the relief efforts. Also pray that God will use the Christian workers to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

"Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:36

Image: FT.com

I think it would really cool to...

... get married on 10/10/10 or 11/11/11. And it would totally work out because 10/10 of this year is a Sunday and 11/11 of 2011 is a holiday (Veteran's Day).

I do have one teeny, tiny problem........ I've got no one to marry! Um, so... any guys out there want to have a REALLY cool anniversary? I'm totally free for either day! : )