The Blazing Center

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2008-03-09T08:18:00.002-04:00

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The Blazing Center Has Moved

2008-03-07T19:35:00.001-05:00

The Blazing Center is now officially located at:

www.TheBlazingCenter.com

Thanks!

Site Maintenance

2008-03-07T11:03:00.004-05:00

Hey Friends,

We're going to be performing some site updates this weekend so the site could be down for a bit.

There is one crucial thing you must know:

You won't be able to get to the blog anymore from http://blazingcenter.blogspot.com

The only address that will work is www.theblazingcenter.com

Thanks for your patience!

In case of rapture, car will be driverless

2008-03-07T08:00:00.008-05:00

I’m not a big fan of Christian bumper stickers. I do have a sticker on my car that says PrayforIan.com, and I’d encourage you to check out that website. But often I think Christian bumper stickers may do more harm than good.

For example, what is the law-abiding unbeliever to think when you pass him at 90 miles an hour in a school zone and he reads on the back of your car, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”? Or what would he think if you had this – honest, I’m not kidding, real bumper sticker – “Get behind me Satan”. Wow, I didn’t know I was the devil!

Maybe this would encourage a non-Christian to get saved: “What section of the afterlife will you be in: smoking or nonsmoking?” (Again, actual bumper sticker). That reminds me of a sticker I saw on the car of a man happily puffing his cigarette: “At least I can still smoke in my car.”

And if the driver behind you doesn’t get saved from reading the following, what hope does she have?

“Go to Church. Don’t wait for the hearse to take you”
“Without the Bread of Life you’re toast”

I don’t know about you, but just reading them makes me want to get saved all over again.

Then there are Rapture stickers. These genius slogans are designed to strike terror into the heart of the unbeliever, especially when the rapture occurs and millions of Christians on earth mysteriously disappear, leaving cars without drivers, electric razors dangling and running, and whole sets of clothes mysteriously lying all over the earth.

“In case of rapture, car will be driverless.” “After the rapture, give this car to my mother-in-law” (I guess your mother-in-law's a pagan, since she’ll be left behind to take your car).

Whole generations of skateboarders will probably saved by this one: “Dude, Make the Change” - What change? Do I need a new kind of board? Have Vans come out with a new shoe?

And let’s not forget the whole bumper sticker evolution debate. It began with the “fish” symbol, with the word “Jesus” inside it. Then some irate evolutionist puts all the Christians down with the clever fish with feet with the word “Darwin” inside it. Then the even-more-clever creationists smack down the pesky evolutionists with an even bigger fish with the word “Truth” inside it eating the Darwin fish. If that’s not irrefutable proof of Christianity, I don’t know what is. A more subtle creationist bumper sticker reads: "King Kong is not my grandpa”. You might have to think about that one for a while. Try not to veer off the road as you’re musing on it.

Years ago, I saw a car in a church parking lot with both these stickers on the same bumper:

Abortion Kills
Rush is Right

Just what I thought, says the unbeliever - Christians are all a bunch of right-wing conservatives.

A few years ago, someone asked me to put a campaign sign in my front yard for a conservative political candidate. A friend of mine wisely said that though it’s not wrong to put a sign in one’s yard, he didn’t want his neighbors to identify him as a conservative or a liberal but as a Christian. I declined the sign. I want my neighbors to know I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, not a Republican or Democrat.

The problem with so many bumper stickers and political signs is that they can distract us from “The Main Thing” as CJ Mahaney says. The Main Thing is not the rapture or evolution or politics, but the good news of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself as a substitute for sinners to bring them to God. Let’s focus on the gospel. And in case of the rapture, please unplug my razor.

John Lennon, Julian Altrogge

2008-03-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. - Mark 10:44-45

Yesterday my dad told you about two men, Heath Ledger and Jim Elliot. Today I'm going to tell you about two more men.

John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940. As one of the founding members of The Beatles, Lennon wrote songs that became anthems for an entire generation. Any event featuring The Beatles was a guaranteed to be a smash hit, and crowds filled stadiums to overflowing just to hear The Beatles in concert. He was adored by the masses, respected by millions, and considered to be an edgy, peace-loving activist. Shortly after Lennon was killed, approximately 100,000 people gathered in Central Park to mourn the death of their beloved singer. In 2002 he was voted number 8 on the "100 Greatest Britons" list, and Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him at number 38 on its list of "The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time". The Beatles were ranked number one on that list. John Lennon was great in the eyes of the world.

Julian Altrogge was born on November 11, 1918. He never wrote a hit song, never appeared on national television, and never gave any famous speeches. His claim to fame is that he wrote a small pamphlet on the subject of baseball that was given to several thousand Little Leaguers in the state of Oklahoma. Approximately ten years ago, my grandma, Jonalee, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a wicked disease that slowly destroys both the brain and the body, sucking the life and personality from its victim. Over the next five years my grandpa faithfully cared for my grandma as she descended into dementia. He took her on walks at the mall when she got antzy from her medication. He patiently had the same conversations with her over and over. When things got really bad he fed her, clothed her, and helped her stay clean. Finally, after five years of agonizing decline, my grandma went to be with Jesus.

But that didn't stop my grandpa from serving. For many years he visited a blind man every week, spending time with him and helping him take care of things around the house. Every year he paints hundreds (literally) of birthday cards by hand for members of our church. Many folks in our church have the cards mounted throughout their houses. He leads Bible studies at nursing homes and comes to church every single Sunday.

Everybody knows John Lennon, very few people know Julian Altrogge. Which one of these men is great in God's eyes?

Heath Ledger, Jim Elliot

2008-03-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) was an Academy Award-nominated Australian film actor. …He appeared in nearly twenty films, including 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale, and Brokeback Mountain. For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger was nominated for a 2005 Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and won awards from the British Academy and the Australian Film Institute, as well as two MTV Movie Awards. He had completed filming on the role of the Joker in the forthcoming movie The Dark Knight shortly before dying from an accidental prescription drug overdose at age 28 (Wikipedia).

Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) professed faith in Jesus Christ at age 6. His acting ability led some of his high school teachers to suggest that he pursue acting as a career. But instead of acting, he pursued missionary work. He and four other missionaries, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and their pilot, Nate Saint, went to Ecuador to evangelize the Huaorani Indians. Initially they made contact from an airplane using a loudspeaker and dropping gifts down to the Indians with a basket. After a few months they established a base a short distance from the Indians’ village. They were approached by a small group of the Indians who were initially friendly. But on January 8, 1956 a group of 10 men killed Jim and his four friends, piercing them with spears and mutilating them with machetes. Like Heath Ledger, Jim Elliot was 28 years old when he died.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mk 8:34-36)

Both Heath Ledger and Jim Elliot were 28 when they died. It would seem that Heath Ledger had gained the world. I know nothing about his spiritual life. If he did not know Jesus Christ, I hope he cried out to him for salvation in his final moments.

From a worldly viewpoint, Jim Elliot’s life would be a tragic loss. He certainly didn’t gain the world. And he lost his life trying to reach an obscure tribe of violent Indians.

Jim Elliot’s journal entry for October 28, 1949, contains his now famous quotation, expressing his belief that serving Jesus was more important than his life:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

What would Heath Ledger say to us today? Would he say that all his accolades, success and wealth were worth it?

What would Jim Elliot say? I think I know. He’d say, “Follow Jesus Christ with all your heart. Give yourself to serving him, even if it costs you everything you have, even your life. Believe me, it’s worth it.”

Maybe your calling is to serve your family as a wife and mother of small children. You’re not pierced by spears, but your sleep is pierced by the cries of your baby at 3 a.m. You’re not hacked by machetes, but you’ve never been so physically and mentally drained as you are now in seeking to glorify Jesus as a mom. Maybe you’re a high school student. You’re not murdered by Indians, just looked down on by others for sitting with the odd student no one else will sit with.

Wherever Jesus Christ has placed you, lose your life in serving him with all your heart. Jim Elliot would say you are no fool.

The Cubicle of Death

2008-03-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

There's a well known saying that, "The grass is always greener when you dump lots of manure on it." So true indeed. There's another, lesser known saying that goes something like, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Also very true. In fact, I'm living proof.

When I was in high school, I couldn't wait until college. Then I got to college and realized that spending your weekends writing ten page papers wasn't ranked real high in the fun category, somewhere close to cleaning public restrooms or scraping roadkill off from the highway. So I couldn't wait to get out of college and into the real world, the working world. But then I got a real job working in a real cubicle for a real eight hours a day, wearing a real shirt and tie, and coming home really tired every night. So that wasn't so cool either. But at least I still had the weekends! The corporate vampire could suck the life out of me five days a week, but it couldn't steal the glorious weekend. Saturday and Sunday were mine, all mine!

But weekends never really panned out either. One minute it would Friday night, and approximately thirty seconds later it would be Monday morning, and there I would be, stepping back into my sensory deprivation chamber (a.k.a. cubicle - credit Dilbert for that one). It all seemed so mundane, so "turn your mind into tapioca pudding" boring! I never was content. During the week I wanted the weekends. During the weekends I dreaded the week.

A man named Jim Elliot spoke to people like me. He said, "Wherever you are — be there 100%" Well, that stings a bit. More importantly, scripture spoke to people like me. In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul said, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

God calls us to serve him wholeheartedly in whatever situation he has placed us. That was my big problem. I was at work, but I usually wasn't there with all my heart. I was in high school, but I wanted to be in college. I always was looking for bigger, and better things, rather than simply serving the Lord 100% where he currently had me. I went to class, but I wasn't there 100%.

I want to emulate Jim Elliot, and obey the scriptures, by working heartily for the Lord in whatever circumstances he places me. I want to serve as a husband, and a dad, and pastoral intern, with all my heart. Why? Because ultimately I'm working for the Lord, and I'll receive my reward from the Lord.

What "mundane" circumstances has God placed you in? Mom's, does it seem like all you do all day every day is change diapers and clean up baby vomit? Do it with all your heart, for the Lord! You'll be richly rewarded if you do. College students, does the thought of one more term paper tempt you to hurl your laptop out the window? It shouldn't, if you realize that you are working for the Lord. Throw yourself into your studies. Husbands, are you sick of your job? Remember who you're working for. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is your boss. Your work for him, and he's the one who will reward you.

Lord, teach us to cherish each season of life as a gift from you. Help us to work heartily for you, rather than men. Teach us to glorify you in the mundane!

photo by Kyle and Kelly Adams

What to Do With a Crust of Bread

2008-03-03T08:00:00.009-05:00

It doesn't take much to expose my wicked heart. God doesn't need to toss me into prison or break my fibula to reveal the discontentment that lurks in my inner recesses. Sometimes all it takes is my wife Kristi telling me what's for dinner when I get home from work. "I thought we'd have leftovers tonight," she says on rare occasions. I sigh, and offer up a barely audible "great,” mustering as much excitement as if she'd told me we were having roadkill.

Why am I so ungrateful at times? Discontentment reveals that I am taking delight in something other than Jesus Christ. It shows that I'm looking to my circumstances for my joy, not to the God of my salvation.

This is just the opposite of a woman Charles Spurgeon spoke of:

"I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, "What! All this, and Christ too?"

This woman realized that Jesus Christ was her all in all. He was her bread of life, her spring of living water. Jesus was her treasure and all her joy was in him. That's why she could rejoice in a crust of bread and a little water. Her joy came from Jesus, not her circumstances.

When we look to the things of this world to provide our joy we will always be disappointed, for we have been designed to find our satisfaction in God alone:

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food" (Isaiah 55:1-2).

God tells us not to spend our money for that which is not bread – in other words, don’t live for the things of this world. They are like plastic fruit, which might look tasty, but won’t satisfy. But pursue him who truly satisfies, Jesus Christ, the bread of life. If we have Jesus then we don't need anything else. If we have Jesus, then all other blessings are just extras - icing on the cake.

If the poor woman Spurgeon mentioned could rejoice over a crust of bread, how much more should we be thankful who have Christ plus a thousand other blessings in our lives. How about you? Can you say this about your life today - “What! All this, and Christ too?”

I resolve by God's grace, that the next time Kristi informs me that we are having leftovers, I will lift up my hands and joyfully declare, "What! All this, and Christ too?"

More Announcements By Mark Altrogge

2008-03-01T12:06:00.002-05:00

Here are some more announcements by my dad from the WorshipGod 06 conference. He will be back this year! Click here to go to the Worship God conference website.

Gerry Can Finally Leave Town

2008-02-29T08:00:00.030-05:00

We’d lost touch with each other over the years.

Gerry had one of the first Beatle haircuts in town and was in “The Legends.” I was in a rival band, “The Signets.” Both were blue-eyed soul bands. The Legends once played a 2-chord instrumental for 3 hours straight on a friend’s front porch. That had to be a Guinness record – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the longest song known to man, was only 17 minutes long and they had gone 3 hours! I think that qualifies for canonization. Gerry had one of the nicest guitars of anyone I knew, a blonde Epiphone Casino like John Lennon’s. We were friends in college, drinking beer together and wasting time in the Student Union drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. After college, my life went downhill until Jesus apprehended me. Gerry’s life took a downward turn as well, and he developed agoraphobia. He would have a panic attack every time he’d attempt to leave town. So from sometime in the 70’s, he became a prisoner of our town. He never left again.

Along the way, Gerry and I both got married, had children, and our lives took different directions. A few years later I heard that he got divorced.

Fast forward 25+ years. One day I see him from a distance in Wal-mart. The Lord prompts me to give him a call. I tell him I'd seen him and wondered if he like to get together for coffee. He’s glad to hear from me and anxious to hook up. So we meet at Starbucks a couple days later, two fifty-something guys getting reacquainted after being out of touch for far too long.

I start off by telling Gerry my favorite memory of him. It was the time a friend and I were supposed to meet him at a campus apartment, but we show up an hour late. When we come in, Gerry is sitting at the kitchen table, studying a beer bottle. He looks up at us, takes a drag on his Kool filter and says, “This is the famous Budweiser beer, brewed with the finest hops and malts….” While waiting for us, he has memorized the entire label on a bottle of Bud. That snapshot pretty much captures our lives back then.

Gerry tells me he has cancer. I wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but he tells me that 2 years ago the doctors gave him 2 years after discovering a large tumor in his intestines. He tells me he’s been reading the Bible for a year, which leads to talking about Jesus and his death as a substitute for us. God does something significant that day in our lives. We reestablish our friendship.

For the next year, Gerry and I get together regularly. He comes to our church and some other former friends renew their relationship with him. He meets new friends. Frank becomes a faithful bible study partner, as do Dennis and Tim. Each week they call Gerry and talk about a bible passage. Every Sunday Gerry comes to our church and stands in the back listening to me preach – he’s pretty sick - often in so much pain he can't sit, but he usually makes it through the message before he has to go home and back to bed.

We go out to lunch once a week – I get the salad bar and load up my plate, but all he can eat is a few fries with gravy. He often treats me. Week after week, we talk of Jesus, as Gerry grows more thin and frail. He tells me that he and Frank are reading 1 John and that Jesus has convicted him that he needs to love people. He tells me that for years he has hated many people but now he has decided to forgive everyone who has ever wronged him. He wants to devote his life to Jesus, doing all he can to please him for the rest of his days. He wants to do as much good to as many people as he can.

In these days of suffering, God gives Gerry a gift – painting pictures. He paints every day. Landscapes, boats and Mediterranean seaport scenes. And he gives his paintings away. One hangs in my office.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday evening. I call and his dad answers. “How is your son?” I ask. “We’re in a death watch. Come over and see Gerry.” I get there and see him, lying in the special bed they'd set up for him in the family room. Gerry’s eyes are open, his breathing is shallow, a “death rattle”. I don’t know if he can hear me, but I hold his hand and tell him Jesus loves him, and thank him for being such a good friend. I tell him that nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus, and pray for him.

Gerry’s dad and mom are there, grieving, watching their son’s last moments. Then his mom says, “Gerry can finally leave town now.” His agoraphobia is over. He’s leaving town – for heaven. For a face to face appointment with his Savior. I tell Gerry goodbye. “I love you, Gerry. See you soon.”

Gerry left town yesterday at 1 in the morning. I can’t wait to see him again.

Pride and Arrogance 101

2008-02-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

Good morning class, my name is Stephen Altrogge and I'll be your instructor this semester in 'Pride and Arrogance 101'. What qualifies me to teach this class? Well, to put it simply, I've written the book on pride and arrogance. Actually, I did write a book called I'm Better Than You, Deal With It but the publishers couldn't see its brilliance. Fools.

Anyway, you may call me 'Professor Altrogge', or by one of my three nicknames (depending on which country you're from): Sir Incredible, Senior Brilliance, or Monsieur Magnific. I am the country's leading expert on pride and arrogance and I speak out of my vast experience. You should count it a privilege to look up to me. Today we'll be examining the three basic laws of pride and arrogance. Once we master these, we'll move on to bigger and greater things.

The Law of Always Being Right

Law number one is that you are always right on every subject. You must believe this at all times and at all costs, even when there is a vast amount of evidence to the contrary. The simple truth is, you are always right. You know that, and I know that, but not everyone around you knows that. And so you must labor to convince your peers that you hold the correct perspective on every subject. You must win every argument. Don't let your opponents end a discussion believing that they're right. Husbands, if you get into an argument with your wife, don't back down. It's crucial that you establish your position as right and hers as wrong. Don't let silly things like cold, hard, evidence distract you from your main task of being right. Don't let your mind even consider her ideas for a moment, because they're obviously wrong. Take the high road, the 'right' road, if you get my drift (wink, wink). Once you believe that you're always right, you're on the road to excelling in pride and arrogance.

The Law of Criticism

If you're always right, than it's only natural that you regularly criticize those around you. As you can clearly see, any ideas other than your own are absolute rubbish, and worthy of the harshest criticism. Teenagers, don't like the way your parents do things? I can understand why. After all, you've been alive for fifteen years and have a wealth of experience to draw upon. Remember, you're right, no matter how much wisdom and life experience your parents have. So what should you do? Criticize them. If you're going to excel in pride and arrogance, you simply must grow in criticism.

In addition, you must use extra care not to encourage anyone. This may mean turning a blind eye to some of the actions of those around you that would be classified as 'admirable' by lesser folk. If you're going to be proud and arrogant, you must always be looking at and admiring yourself. You simply don't have time to be pointing out nice stuff in other people. Which leads me to my third law of pride and arrogance.

The Law of Self-Admiration

If you're going to be a pride and arrogance expert like me, you must start admiring yourself much more. How does one do this? Simple. Take a few moments and ponder any recent successes you've had. Then take credit for each success. Done well on the job? Played well in a basketball game? Gotten good grades? Seize hold of those and take credit for them. Does it matter that you were born with a brain that does well in school, or a body that can play sports? Of course not! You must take ALL the credit. If you do this, you'll be well on your way to becoming an expert in the field of pride and arrogance.

Unfortunately that's all we've got time for today. I'll be holding office hours from 10-12 if you have anything you would like to talk about. I'm sure we'll agree.

photo by Sarah Jane

What To Do When You’re Robbed

2008-02-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

Puritan writer Matthew Henry was once robbed by thieves and recorded in his journal:

"Let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before; second, although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not someone else."

How could Matthew Henry rejoice after being hijacked? Because he didn’t derive his joy from his circumstances, but he took joy in the God of his salvation.

Paul and Silas freed a slave girl from a spirit of divination that had kept her in bondage for a long time. Deprived of their cash cow, her owners dragged Paul and Silas before the local magistrates and riled up a mob who proceeded to give Paul and Silas a fine Philippian pounding. Then they tossed them into prison, in the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…(Acts 16:22-25)

Paul and Silas are chained up in a filthy Philippian prison and they’re singing!

I’ve never been stripped, beaten, thrown into prison and fastened in stocks. But if I were, I don't know if my first inclination would be to sing “I Just Want to Thank You.” That's not usually the first thought that comes to my mind when the kids put a dent in the car or the back porch ceiling starts leaking.

The reason Paul and Silas could worship in the blockhouse was because they didn’t derive their joy from their circumstances, but took joy in the God of their salvation.

For believers in Christ, the source of our joy is Jesus himself. He's our fountain of life, our chosen portion, our beautiful inheritance. He's our meat and drink. And he never changes, no matter how much our circumstances fluctuate. I once flew from Pittsburgh to Toronto. It was overcast and snowing in Pittsburgh, but when the plane rose above the clouds, the sun was blazing in all its glory. When we descended in Toronto it was grey and snowing again. I had a flash of revelation (that’s right folks, it had never dawned on me until that very moment) – no matter what it’s like “down here” in our circumstances, God is still shining like the sun above the clouds. He’s blazing with goodness and kindness and power and love for us. He hasn’t changed any more than the sun changes when it’s raining.

So where does your joy come from? Does it come from your spouse or your children? Does it come from having a nice home or good job? Do you derive your joy from your health or possessions? What if you should lose them all? Would you be able to rejoice?

If you have not yet called upon the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, and give you eternal life, I urge you to do so right now. If you do know Jesus, be glad and sing praises, no matter what’s happening “down here” in your life. Rejoice in the God of your salvation.

The Secret Order of the Hidden Servants

2008-02-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

I've come to an interesting, and rather disturbing conclusion regarding myself: I'm not a real big fan of serving in private. I don't want to do acts of service that nobody is going to see. I want to be up front, in the public eye, serving heroically for all to see. I want to be "Mr. Servant Leader Man", who is admired by thousands for his selfless sacrificial serving (try saying that over and over). I don't want to be the guy who is quietly painting a back room in the church, or the guy who faithfully prepares the church budget year after year, or the guy who patiently teaches third graders every Sunday. I want the attention, the glory, the fame of...serving.

At this point some of you are thinking, what a sad little man, and making a mental note to never ask for my help with anything. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? Actually, it's shameful. In my sinful pride, I want to be recognized for my acts of service. I'm not really interested in God's glory, I'm interested in my own glory. But I want to change. I want to be like John Thornton. Never heard of him? Not surprising. He was a member of "The Secret Order of the Hidden Servants".

Thornton lived from 1720 to 1790, and was absolutely loaded with cash. He was the type of guy who could have done his shopping from the Neiman Marcus catalog, and then actually bought Neiman Marcus. But Thornton refused to live an extravagant life, instead living in a "...simple manner of life [which] left a large surplus out of his income, the chief part of which constantly flowed into the channel[s] of his beneficence." (from William Wilberforce: A Hero For Humanity) In other words, Thornton lived simply so that he could pour money into God-honoring causes.

Thornton paid for Bibles to be printed, and then used his own company ships to send them throughout the world. He gave John Newton an annual allowance of 200 pounds (worth approx. $50,000 today) so that Newton would be free to write songs, books, and be a pastor. He was described as being "plain, frugal, and self-denying in all matters of private expense; and yet liberal in supplying the want of others..."

Do you think many people knew about John Thornton's sacrificial giving? I doubt it. Yet think of the great good that he accomplished. Because of his secret giving, thousands of Bibles went forth throughout the world. Because of his secret support of John Newton, Newton in turn affected the lives of thousands. Thornton was a secret servant whom God used to accomplish great things. Thornton will receive a glorious reward from the Savior on the final day for his acts of secret service.

What about you? Are you content to serve quietly, secretly, and without anyone knowing? Are you happy to serve wherever there's a need, even if you don't get any recognition? I want to be like John Thornton, a happy, quiet, secret servant.

I'm going to sign up to join "The Secret Order of the Hidden Servants".

photo by Peter Morgan

What To Do When Your Fig Tree Fails

2008-02-25T08:00:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine was saved in his twenties. One day as he was driving through the city where he lived, he happened to see a pretty girl walking down the street (she would later become his wife). He was momentarily distracted and slammed into a parked car. I hate that when that happens! He got out of his car to assess the damage. Inspecting the dents, instead of cursing or complaining he began to say, "So what -- I'm saved! Praise God, I'm saved! I just smashed my car up, but so what -- I'm saved!"

How about you? Do you have the joy of your salvation? If we could only keep our minds on the God of our salvation and the stupendous reality of all he’s done for us we would be celebrating like my friend all day long.

Think about it -- Jesus saved us for an eternity of delighting in his glory and majesty. He saved us to know and enjoy him forever in heaven. He spared us from an eternity of misery in hell. He rescued us from the guilt, punishment, and bondage of sin. He delivered us from fear of judgment and condemnation and seated us with himself in heavenly places. He made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation to proclaim his excellencies. And because he saved us, he will keep us to the end and transform us into his own image.

So ultimately, whatever happens to us in this life doesn't really matter that much because - we're saved.

Habakkuk expressed this beautifully:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
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. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

In Habakkuk's day, if you were a farmer, your whole life depended on your crops and herds. He describes a worst-case scenario: all his crops fail, all his flocks and herds die. Yet he says, even if all this befalls him, "I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." In other words, so what -- I'm saved!

How this honors God! How it blesses him when we say "Lord, even if you don't bless me in any other way, you alone are enough for me. You have saved me to bring me to yourself. Your glory is all I need. I rejoice in you."

So when the mechanic tells you that you need a new transmission, say, “So what -- I'm saved.” Depending on how well you know him, you might want to consider saying it to yourself quietly. When the children break your favorite Ming Dynasty vase say, "I will rejoice in the Lord." When you come downstairs in the morning to discover that Sparky the Wonder Dog left a little surprise in the middle of the living room carpet, you know what to say. And should you be facing something really serious, I would still encourage you to say along with Habakkuk, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation."

Highlight Reel Updated

2008-02-24T16:05:00.001-05:00

The Blazing Center Highlight Reel is a feature of this blog that lets you explore previous posts that you might not have read. Each of these posts is designed to encourage your faith and point you to the Lord, so if you haven't read these, check them out.

The Permanent Ink of Heaven

Me Versus Paul - Cage Match

4 Symptoms of a Discontented Heart

The Scream of the Damned

How Not to Waste Your Efforts

Announcements By Mark Altrogge

2008-02-23T07:13:00.006-05:00

Over the past several years my dad has had the privilege of giving announcements at the Sovereign Grace Ministries WorshipGod conferences. My dad is perhaps the greatest announcement giver of all time, but unfortunately he often abuses his powers, such as in this video when he bashes Bob Kauflin.

Things That Give Me A Bad Feeling

2008-02-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

I get a bad feeling when I:

_See the flashing lights of a police car behind me

_Hear a dentist or barber say "woops"

_Hear someone call me by my first, middle, and last name

_Realize I'm watching a movie that features any of the following actors: Keanu Reeves, Bob Saget, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah, or anyone that has ever had a part in "Star Trek".

_Receive a phone call from a friend asking, "Where are you?"

I particularly don't like the last one. Why? Because it means that I've let a friend down. I've told someone that I would be somewhere, and then forgot about it. I haven't kept my word. I've made a promise, and then broken it. To all of you that have called me, asking, "Where are you?", I apologize.

I'm so grateful that God isn't like me. He never breaks a promise, and never fails to follow through on His word. His promises are so sure that we can fully rely on them. Listen to the words of Charles Spurgeon:

Our duty to God demands that we accept His promise and act upon it. Every honest man has a right to credence, and much more does the God of truth deserve it. We ought to treat the promise as in itself the substance of the thing promised, just as we look upon a man's check or IOU as an actual payment. God Promises You

It's not enough to just accept the promises of God, we must act upon them. The words of God are so trustworthy that we can stake our very lives upon them. They are worthy of our full and wholehearted trust.

So let's ask ourselves, are we fully trusting the promises of God? Are we acting upon the promises by placing all our faith in the promises? For example:

_God promises to meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). Do we believe that God is going to meet every need that we have, including every spiritual and physical need? Do we exercise faith in this promise even when it seems like there isn't a spare cent in the budget?

_God promises that sin will not be our master (Rom 6:14). Do we fully believe that God is going give us the power to overcome our sin, or do we believe that lie that we'll never grow in godliness?

_God promises to forgive our sins the moment we repent (1 John 1:9). Do we believe that God is eager and willing to forgive our sins, or do we wallow in condemnation?

The promises of God are sure, and they require us to act upon them. We must believe every one with all of our hearts. It's not enough to just know the promises of God. We must act.

I think I hear my phone ringing...

The Apple of His Eye

2008-02-21T08:00:00.006-05:00

When Christ scans the peoples of the earth, his eyes light up with delight when they rest upon certain people.

Is it the movie stars, or the athletes, or the kings and queens of the earth that thrill Christ’s heart? Is it the successful, the glamorous, the brilliant? John Owen, who definitely would not have made the cover of People Magazine, gives us a clue:

“There is not the meanest (lowliest), the weakest, the poorest believer on earth that Christ does not value more highly than all the world besides” (Communion with God).

The homeliest Christian living in obscurity and poverty is more delightful to Jesus than all the stars of Hollywood or heaven. A toothless, crippled, Christian in a hovel in Sri Lanka is more appealing to Christ than a non-Christian king in a palace. My friend who called upon the Savior last year who now lies on his bed ravaged by cancer, with sunken eyes and cheeks and legs swollen from the tumor in his back is more beautiful to Jesus than a thousand sunsets. More than all the beauty in the world.

Why are believers, even the lowliest, so attractive to Christ? Not because we’re good enough, smart enough, and doggone it God likes us. No, there is nothing in us who are sinful to appeal to God. We who have called on Christ are lovely to him because God has chosen us and given us to Jesus, and Christ has purchased us with his own life. The Father has made us the apple of his eye and his treasured possession because he’s washed us with the blood of Christ, joined us to Christ, clothed us with the righteousness of Christ, and is transforming us into the image of Christ.

We are delightful to Christ because we’re his bride. Even the most stunning seraphim in heaven aren’t clothed in the radiance of Christ the way the poorest believer is.

C.S. Lewis says "It is a serious thing, to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.” – Weight of Glory

Someday believers will be like Christ, for we shall see him as he is (1 JN 3:2). Our new heavenly bodies will be as different from these bodies as a tree is from a seed (1 CO 15:35ff). We simply can’t imagine the beauty of our heavenly bodies. Imagine if you had never seen a tree in your life and I showed you an acorn and said that someday this tiny seed would be majestic, spreading out, and full of thousands of green leaves. You couldn’t imagine it. Paul compares these earthly bodies to seeds that will someday be more glorious than we can imagine.

We’ll look at each other “when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 TH 1:10), and we’ll see the glory of Christ shining through each other.

So take a second look at your fellow-believer. Even if he or she appears to you to be the dullest and most uninteresting person in the world, remember Christ values them more than all the world. And even if you consider yourself to be insignificant, remember, you are his treasured possession, the apple of his eye.

Mysterious Promises

2008-02-20T08:00:00.005-05:00

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises... 2 Peter 1:3-4

The promises of God. We say those words all the time. We've got promise books and promise boxes (what exactly is a promise box anyway?). We've got Bible covers with an eagle embroidered on one side and a promise on the other (never was a big fan of Bible covers). But when was the last time you really thought about what it means that "God has promised"?

Have you ever wondered why God gives us promises? God doesn't owe us a single thing. He's the almighty, all-knowing Creator of the universe. He's completely happy in himself, and doesn't need anything or anyone. Our very breath comes from God. And as our creator, God doesn't owe us anything.

In addition to being our creator, God is also our judge. We've rebelled against our creator. We've sinned against God, committing spiritual treason on a cosmic scale. Jeremiah 2:12-13 says, "Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." Our treason against God is so perverted that even the heavens are shocked and appalled. Actually, God does owe us something. He owes us wrath.

But in the pages of scripture we find something utterly astonishing: God has promised to do us good. God has promised forgiveness to any who appeal for mercy. God has promised to put his spirit into us, and promised to help us overcome our sin. He has promised to work all things for the good of those who love him, and has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. In making these promises God has bound himself to do good on our behalf.

Why would God do this? Why would God make unbreakable promises to do good things for me? I've done nothing to deserve such lavish promises. I deserve blistering wrath, instead I receive precious promises. Only a God that is rich in mercy and love would do such a thing.

Let me close with the words of Charles Spurgeon:

Surely it is a wonderful thing that the eternal God would make promises to His own creatures. Before He pledged His word, He was free to do as it pleased Him. After He has made a promise, His truth and honor bind Him to do as He has said.

Giving Blood

2008-02-19T08:00:00.004-05:00

Dear Diary,

Gave blood today for little Jack T. Lots of people from the church are there serving, giving blood, chatting, laughing. First I fill out a questionnaire about the purity of my blood. Have I taken this drug or that drug, been exposed to AIDS, etc. One question is “Have you ever been born in: Mexico, South America or Central America?” I don’t think I ever was, but I might have been.

After filling out the form, a pleasant lady reviews my questionnaire then leads me to what reminds me of a padded lounge chair with an arm rest. A professional young woman swabs my arm with a brown liquid to sterilize the area where they will insert the needle. Then she removes a new syringe from a package. I’m slightly nervous, but I see an elderly lady giving blood a few feet from me and she seems fine, so I figure if she can do it I can do it. I just don’t want to start screaming like a woman or pass out in front of everybody.

“Little pinch” says the girl and sticks the needle in my arm. It’s definitely more than a pinch, but only lasts about 2 seconds. I lie there comfortably. Mary B. takes a photo of me and others come and poke fun at me, asking if I’m going to make it. After 15 minutes, a young man carefully removes the needle, applies a bandage, seals up the bag of my blood, and instructs me not to have any coffee for the rest of the day. Right. I’m heading to Starbucks as soon as I leave.

Gary D. escorts me to the snack room, ready to catch me should I faint. I cap off my ordeal with a couple glasses of orange juice, a sloppy joe and some kettle-cooked potato chips. Becky, Jack’s mom, thanks me, as do numerous others, and I congratulate myself for my incredible act of heroism.

Dear Diary,

Gave blood today for all those the Father has given me. First, Judas turns me over to angry mob with swords and spears. The disciples all run away. Dragged into a kangaroo court, where false witnesses lie about me, twisting things I’ve said. Hauled before Pilate and Herod, then handed over to Roman soldiers who tie me to a post and whip me over and over with the infamous cat o’ nine tails, with its leather thongs embedded with pieces of bone and metal. My back is completely shredded and my sides, arms, and the backs of my legs are torn to pieces. My face is black and blue and puffy from the soldiers’ fists.

They make a crown from a thorn bush and press it onto my head. Draping a purple cape over my shoulders, they pay mock homage, bowing before me, spitting on me and smacking the crown with reeds, driving it in deeper. Tiring of their fun, they lead me staggering out into the streets carrying a cross.

Noisy crowds, pushing, yelling. I lose my footing and fall beneath the crushing weight of the cross. After a couple falls, I can’t get up. The soldiers force a bystander to carry my cross and they push me through the crowds.

On a hill outside the city, the soldiers stretch me out on the cross and pound spikes into my hands and feet. I think I might pass out from the pain, but I don’t cry out. They lift the cross and it slides into its hole with a terrific jolt - pain shoots through my arms like lightning. I hang there for 6 hours, convulsing with racking pain. My lips are cracked and my throat burns with thirst. I’m suffocating. I push up on the nails in my feet for a few seconds to catch a breath of air, until the pain becomes unbearable in my feet, then I slump down and hang by the nails in my hands and begin suffocating again. People all around are cursing me, laughing at me, shaking their heads.

Worse than all the physical pain - I’m under my Father’s curse – his infinite wrath descends upon me. I’m abandoned by God and man. Desolate. Alone. Infinite misery, despair, grief, sorrow. I plunge into total darkness of soul, the darkness of utter abandonment. I hang between heaven and earth, all alone, for what seems like an eternity, until I’ve no more blood left. A spear pierces my side and a trickle of blood and water drains out. It is finished. I’ve purchased my beloved ones.

Does God Care About Exercise?

2008-02-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

Exercise is one of those subjects that seems to divide people into three groups. First, there's the health nuts, whose idea of a good time is strapping on a backpack full of bricks and doing wind sprints up steep hills. Then there's the couch potatoes, whose idea of a good time is a bag of chips, an industrial sized tub of French onion dip, and a king sized Slurpee. Then there's the rest of us, who know we should exercise, and even own several pieces of exercise equipment, but never quite find the time to do it.

Everywhere you look, people are telling us we should exercise. But does God care about exercise? Does it really matter to God if I step onto my treadmill?

Nowhere in the Bible will you find a scripture that says, "You must exercise three times a week ( and make sure one of those days is a good cardio work out)." But we do read in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Every minute of our lives is to be lived for the glory of God, and exercise is a wonderful means of helping us live for the glory of God. How? By extending our years of service to God, and by making us more effective in serving the Lord.

Exercise Extends Our Years of Serving God

Have you ever considered that exercise could be the difference between serving God for 60 years or serving God for 75 years? Think about this for a moment. Maintaining a healthy body could result in God giving you many additional years to care for your spouse. Staying in good shape could result in God allowing you to share the gospel with hundreds of additional people. Those endless miles on the treadmill could result in many additional years of faithfully serving your church. Yes, I understand that God has numbered our days. In his sovereignty, God knows exactly how many days we will live upon this earth. But God uses means, and exercise is a means of adding years of fruitful labor to our lives.

Exercise Makes Us More Effective In Serving The Lord

Not only does exercise extend our years of serving the Lord, it also makes us more effective in serving the Lord. The truth is, an unhealthy body can limit our capacity to serve the Lord. Being unhealthy leads to less energy and less stamina, which ultimately limits our service for the Lord. Those who exercise regularly and are in good health are able to serve the Lord and others consistently, and for longer periods of time.

Charles Spurgeon said, "A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best"

These truths should dramatically affect our approach to exercise! We don't ultimately exercise for the purpose of losing weight or so that we look good. We exercise for the glory of God. We lace up our running shoes and pound the pavement so that we can serve God effectively for years to come. We lift weights so that at age 65 we can share the gospel with our grandchildren. We go to the gym so that we can lovingly care for our spouse for many years.

So let me encourage you to exercise. Not because it's a good thing to do, but because God's glory is at stake. Think of the future as you go out and jog today.

photo by kk+

Highlight Reel Updated

2008-02-16T08:30:00.003-05:00

The Blazing Center Highlight Reel is a feature of this blog that lets you explore previous posts that you might not have read. Each of these posts is designed to encourage your faith and point you to the Lord, so if you haven't read these, check them out.

How To Survive An Elephant Stampede

Waiting In Pain

Never Feel Condemned

Does God Hear My Baby?

God, The Stars, and Your Hair

Hope for Sin-stained Worshipers

2008-02-15T08:00:00.004-05:00

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5

Scenario 1: Sunday morning you come into the meeting to sing to the Lord together with the saints. You've already had a conflict with your wife, spoken harshly to your kids and complained about the pothole in the parking lot. And when you get to your usual row there's a college kid with azure blue hair sitting in your seat.

The first song begins and you begin to clap, noticing the worship leader is wearing tennis shoes and his shirt is untucked. Didn't that kid's father teach him anything about how to dress on Sunday? And he's leading us in worship!

You begin to sing "Sing praise to the Lord, our God and King, his love endures forever..." and a few drops of joy begin to trickle into your heart. You close your eyes and lift your hands. God is so good and loving.

Then your 13-year old son walks in front of you and heads toward the back of the room. You whisper to your wife, "Where's he going?" "To the bathroom," she answers. A wave of irritation washes over you. "Why didn't he go at home?"

Suddenly you realize you haven't been singing for the last 2 minutes. You try to get back into it, but, wow are those drums loud! Can't they do anything about that? Oh Lord, forgive me, now where was I? "His love endures forever..."

Sound familiar?

Scenario 2: Doreen, the skinny, unkempt, tooth-missing, slightly smelly lady who's always asking you for money runs into you at the store and asks if you can help her out. You knew this was coming when you saw her. So pulling out a $20 bill, you place it, half sincerely, half reluctantly, into her greasy hand. You'd like to give freely as unto the Lord, but you know your heart isn't 100% into it. Suddenly, Bill from church walks by, spying you slipping the bill into Doreen's hand. You whisper a secret "Yes!" as you imagine Bill telling others, "What a guy he is - I saw him giving that poor woman money." You imagine your photo on the cover of "Godly People" Magazine, with the caption, "The Most Generous Man Alive" next to your face.

Romans 12 tells us that for believers in Christ, everything we do is an offering of worship to God, whether we're doing something we would think of as "spiritual," like praying or serving in Children's Ministry, or cooking dinner or working on a spread sheet. But our spiritual sacrifices are so pathetic, so blighted by sin - how can the Lord accept them? Our praying and singing is often distracted. Our acts of service and mercy are often flavored with self-glorification.

So how can our sacrifices be acceptable to God?

The key is that our acts of worship are "acceptable to God THROUGH Jesus." He is the Mediator between God and man, our great High Priest. This means that Jesus takes our flawed and sin-stained offerings, washes them with his blood, and presents them to the Father as perfect.

Without our Mediator our sacrifices wouldn't be fit for an angel, let alone the Holy One whose eyes are too pure to look upon sin. But through Christ, the Father receives our acts of worship with pleasure and delight.

Let's praise God today for his glorious Son! Let's offer him our lives today as his priests made holy by the blood of Christ. And thank God for the kid with the blue hair.

C.J. Mahaney Asks If You Spin Plates

2008-02-14T19:20:00.006-05:00

As part of the C.J. Mahaney project, I'm attempting to listen to all of C.J's messages that are available online and pull out the humorous illustrations. As I've noted before, C.J. uses humor to wonderfully illustrate the points in his message. In this hilarious story, C.J. Mahaney compares a legalist to someone that is constantly spinning plates. To download the story click here. You can download the sermon by clicking here.

3 Things That Make Me Happy On Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

Today we join the world in celebrating the holiday of love. Cards with messages like, "You melt my heart like a box of chocolates left in a trunk on a hot summer's day," will be exchanged. Young couples will sit across from each other in fancy restaurants and call each other sweet nicknames like "shnooky wookums", and "oogly bear". Young men will take out small loans to purchase a dozen roses for their sweethearts, and old men will put their teeth back in to kiss their wives. Today is Valentine's Day.

At this point you're probably wondering if there is any point to this post. I assure you, I have not overdosed on Russell Stover chocolates - there is a point. So without any sort of smooth transition, I will bring you immediately to the point: Our relationship with God is the foundation for a happy Valentine's Day.

As I consider Valentine's Day, I'm grateful for three things:

God Is My Joy, Not People

In the world's eyes, Valentine's Day is all about celebrating a special relationship with a special someone. Those that don't have a special someone are left out in the cold to feel sorry for themselves. According to the world, you can't be happy if you're single.

But the glorious news of the Bible is that people don't bring us true joy. Our satisfaction is found in knowing and delighting in God Himself. If you are looking for true joy outside of your relationship with Christ, you're chasing the wind.

As one who was recently married, let me speak to those who are single. Being married will never satisfy you. I love my wife Jen with all my heart. I love being married to her and can't imagine life without her. But she doesn't ultimately satisfy me, and I don't satisfy her. Why? Because we were made to be satisfied in God. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Fullness of joy is found in loving God and delighting in his presence. Today, will you find your joy in God?

I'm Grateful For the Gospel

The gospel is what makes joyful, God-glorifying relationships possible. Apart from the transforming power of the gospel, my marriage wouldn't make it. I'm too selfish and too proud to love Jen as Christ loved the church. I love my own comfort too much to lay my life down for her. Titus 3:3 says, "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another." Apart from the gospel I would be a mess.

But the power of God is now at work in me, slowly shaping me into a godly husband and Jen into a godly wife. Yes, I still have miles to go when it comes to being a godly husband. I'm still very selfish. I still love my own comfort. I haven't quite mastered that mysterious thing called "communication". But I have great hope for my marriage, not because of my power, but because of God's power. The gospel is what makes a happy relationship possible. Today, thank God for the gospel!

I'm Grateful For My Wife

Without a doubt, I have the best wife in the universe. Proverbs 31:10 says, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." Jen is the crown jewels of the Altrogge household. She serves me tirelessly, cares for our daughter joyfully, and brings me great joy. She truly is a gift from God to me. To say that I am blessed is a colossal understatement. I'm a rich man.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some chocolate to eat.

Strong Hand God

2008-02-13T08:00:00.010-05:00

EX 13.14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

It is no easy thing to save a sinner in his rebellion against God.

Think of all that the Lord must overcome when he draws us:

Satan: Until we’re born again, the prince of the powers of the air holds us captive. Though we are not necessarily “possessed,” we are slaves of Satan. Jesus described the devil as a strong man guarding his palace, who fights tooth-and-nail to keep his prisoners. Only a Stronger Man is able to overcome Satan’s deception and enslaving power to set the captives free.

Sin: We are born “in sin,” infected with the moral disease inherited from Adam. Sin incites us to commit sins, enslaves our wills and is far too strong for any of us to escape on our own, no matter how many times we tell ourselves I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me. God must not only break our slavery to sin but our love of it.

Our flesh: Our fallen human nature apart from God. The Bible says our flesh cannot please God, has no taste for God, and is at enmity with God. Our flesh resists God at every turn – it produces doubts, excuses and reasons to reject God faster than Apple puts out iPods. And our flesh loves and craves everything but God.

Unbelief: Until God gives us the gift of faith, we will never on our own believe in Christ. We love darkness. Our unbelief is willful and stubborn.

Blindness: Before we're born again we can’t see God's kingdom or Christ's beauty.

Spiritual deadness: Before Christ we’re not just sick, but dead - flat-lined - no spiritual heartbeat.

No fear of the Lord: We tell ourselves either there is no God, or he doesn't see or doesn't care about our sins.

Defective consciences: Sin, like a monkey wrench thrown into a machine, distorts our consciences. Before Christ, I knew it was wrong to steal. Yet I lusted, lied, got drunk and did drugs with no compunction. My conscience didn't fire on all cylinders. I even swore when I prayed.

What power God exerted to bring us to himself! Salvation is humanly impossible. We could no more have overcome Satan, sin, our flesh, blindness, dead hearts, unbelief and God-hate than squeeze a camel through a needle's eye. We could never have created in ourselves a love and delight in Christ. God removed our hearts of stone and gave us hearts of flesh. He changed us from garbage-lovers to Jesus-relishers. Revelation’s Warrior came conquering and made us trophies of his grace.

How mighty is God's strong hand! How unstoppable his grace! Praise God, for by this same strong hand he will transform us into his own likeness and keep us to the end. No one will snatch us out of Christ's strong hand. If he so powerfully saved us he will surely strengthen, protect and deliver us. Put your hope in Heaven's Warrior to fight for you. Put your hope in our Strong Hand God.

7 Tough Questions To Ask Your Friends

2008-02-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I wrote a post saying that godly friends ask tough, heart-exposing questions of each other for the purpose of pointing each other towards Christ. In that post I gave a few examples of what these questions might look like.

One reader asked if I had a list of other tough questions to ask your friends. Unfortunately, I don't have a set list of probing, heart-exposing questions that I ask my friends, but I can give you suggestions for questions you might ask. This is not an exhaustive list, it's simply meant to get you started in the right direction. And I must point out, these questions aren't one-sided. You should be inviting your friends to ask these same questions of you. So without further ado, here's my "awkward questions" list.

_Have you been consistently pursuing the Lord through scripture reading and prayer?

Above anything else, I want to make sure that my friends are faithfully pursuing the Lord. If there is a deficiency in reading scripture and prayer, there will be a deficiency in their relationship with the Lord.

_Have you diligently pursued your wife/husband this week?

This questions applies to married folks only. Our relationship with our spouse is our second most important relationship after the Lord. If I'm not diligently investing in my relationship with my wife, there's a problem.

_Have you seen any persistent patterns of sin in your life recently?

Sin usually isn't an isolated event. The same sin usually occurs multiple times in different contexts. It's crucial that we help each other identify patterns of sin.

_Last week you confessed struggling with [insert sin]. Have you taken steps to fight it this week?

It's not enough to just confess sin. We want to help each other actively fight against the sin that we confess.

_When you gave into [insert sin], what were you believing about God in that moment? What were you believing about yourself?

Sin is the result of believing lies about God and about ourselves. We sin in worry because we believe that God isn't taking care of us. We sin in lust because we believe that it will satisfy us more than God. We sin in anger because we feel that our "rights" have been violated. Sin is the result of believing lies.

_What is the truth that you need to believe in this situation?

We fight against the lies of sin by believing scriptural truth. We must help each other see how scripture applies to every area of our lives.

_When you had the conflict with [insert person], what were you craving at that moment?

Scripture tells that conflict is the result of cravings. James 4:1-2 says, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel." Cravings underlie conflict.

Hopefully these questions get you going in the right direction. Let there be awkward questions!

Another Free Scripture Song

2008-02-12T07:58:00.001-05:00

Well folks, it's that time of week again. Time for yet another free scripture song. Our board of directors says that we're crazy for giving away all this stuff, but we don't listen. We were born to be wild.

So we now present you with 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 for your listening pleasure. Click here to download the song.

As usual, please pass this along to all your friends!

In case you missed the other downloads, you can get them here.

Update: Just for clarification, we don't really have a board of directors! In fact, we're not interested in running a high profit business, we just want people to love scripture. Enjoy the free download!

Bitter to Sweet

2008-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love how the Lord provides for his people in unexpected ways.

Peter doesn't know where the cash will come from to pay the temple tax, so Jesus tells him to go fishing. He pulls out a fish with a gold coin in its mouth. Another time the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowds away so they can go into the local towns and grab some food. But Jesus comes out of left field again and turns a few fish and rolls into a picnic for thousands.

Three days after the Israelites watch God split the Red Sea and engulf the Egyptian army, they come to a place called Marah (Ex 15:22). Three days and they have yet to find any water. Their lips are cracked and their throats parched. So when they see desert sun glinting on water their hopes soar. But when they run to taste it, it's brackish. It's obviously Moses' fault. He should have done a Google search for the nearest pure watering hole before leaving Egypt. "Hey miracle man, what are we going to drink?" they gripe. They were obviously suffering short term memory loss. Hadn't God miraculously saved them from Pharaoh just 3 days earlier? How often our first response to any trial is to grumble and plunge into instant unbelief.

Moses does the wisest thing to do when in trouble - he cries out to the Lord. Immediately, God shows Moses a log, or tree (ESV footnote). Moses takes the tree, tosses it into the filthy water, and it becomes not merely drinkable, but sweet!

Approximately 1500 years later God again unexpectedly provides for his people by a tree. When our lives are bitter and brackish with sin, when there is no earthly way to cleanse our putrid souls, God takes his sinless Son and nails him to a tree. A Roman cross, drenched in the blood of Jesus, makes our bitter lives sweet.

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'” (Ga. 3:13).

Obviously, it isn't the Roman cross that sweetened our lives, but the One nailed to the tree, taking our bitter curse so he could give us his sweet forgiveness and peace. Praise God for his unsearchable wisdom and unexpected salvation! Praise Jesus for immersing himself in our polluted world and by his death giving us life and sweetness and light.

Highlight Reel Updated

2008-02-09T17:30:00.000-05:00

The Blazing Center Highlight Reel gives you a chance to read old posts that you might have missed. Each post is designed to point your heart to God, so check these posts out if you haven't read them before.

What To Do When You Cast Out A Demon

I Thought My Bladder Might Explode

When God Doesn't Dry My Tears

The Secret That Will Change Your Life

The Dying Trust The Dying

My Friends Are So Awkward

2008-02-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

On most Friday mornings my alarm rips me out of my golden slumbers at approximately 6:03 A.M. I stumble out of bed, get dressed in complete darkness, and emerge from my bedroom wearing an outfit that makes it look as though a thumb-less monkey dressed me. I then make the sleepy drive over to Starbucks, where I meet several of the guys from my small group. We then spend the next ninety minutes asking each other painfully awkward questions, such as:

_Have you had any conflicts with your wife lately?
_Have you been diligent in your pursuit of the Lord?
_What has been your biggest struggle lately?

What would lead any sane person to take part in such a fun early-morning activity? The truth that godly friends ask tough questions.

Hebrews 3:13 says, " But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Godly friends exhort one another to pursue godliness. They ask tough, awkward, probing questions that dig deep into the heart and expose sinful desires. Truly godly friends aren't afraid to get down and dirty.

Why do godly friends exhort each other? Why do my godly friends ask me tough questions about my struggles with sin? Because they care for me, and they don't want me to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is deceitful, and many times we fail to see our sin accurately. For example, I recently confessed to the guys in my small group that I had been struggling with worry. Thanks to their insightful, and awkward questions, they were able to help me see that my sin went deeper than just worry. I was failing to trust God, and I was being self-sufficient. Their exhortation helped me to see my sin as it truly was. Godly friends help each other see their sin accurately by asking tough questions.

Are you a godly friend? Do you ask your friends about their struggles with sin? Do you exhort them towards godliness? On the flip side, do you invite your friends to ask you the awkward questions? Be a godly friend and ask the tough questions.

Saturn was Singing

2008-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

Christ is the heir of all things, and to the praise of his glory, he uses all he possesses, including the heavens, to do good to us. He uses the glories of the skies to reveal his majesty for our astonishment and enjoyment.

My son Jonathan has a pretty decent telescope. One night not long ago he called me over to look at a tiny twinkling light in the sky he'd focused on. When I looked into the telescope, to my astonishment there was Saturn. A perfectly clear white ball with white rings encircling it. I was stunned. I wasn't looking at a picture of Saturn - I was looking at Saturn itself hanging there in firmament.

Being a full-service blog, we provide the following facts about Saturn for your amazement:

--Saturn's equatorial diameter is 74,130 miles. Earth's is 7,926 miles.

--It takes 29.5 Earth years for Saturn to revolve around the Sun. This means in my entire lifetime Saturn has only been around the Sun once (well, it's getting close to twice).

--Saturn's mass is 95.2 times that of Earth, yet it rotates on it's axis approximately every 10 hours and 15 minutes - it's spinning more than twice as fast as we are.

--Saturn's minimum distance from Earth is 746 million miles - that means Saturn is more than 7 times further away from us than the sun (the Sun is a mere 91 million miles from the earth).

--The average surface temperature is -300F. Think about this next time you have to start the car on a frigid morning - you could be on Saturn.

--750 Earths could fit inside a hollowed-out Saturn - that's right - 750, and 1600 Saturns could fit into the Sun.

--The rings of Saturn are composed of particles of ice but may include ice-covered rock particles. The size of the particles ranges from the width of a paper clip to a yard to some possibly 6 city blocks long.

I was gazing across 750 million miles of space at a ball that would hold 750 earths, surrounded by perfect rings composed of ice chunks. Saturn was singing to me of the glory of God. Saturn was singing "How majestic is my Creator! How glorious and astounding and marvelous are all his works." Saturn was singing, "Look at me! God created me and my rings and hung us in the sky. All he had to do was speak and I stood forth. And Christ is still upholding me and Jupiter and The Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way and the earth by his powerful Word. How awesome is God!"

When I gazed at Saturn, I caught a tiny glimpse of the glory of God. And all I could do was praise him. The heavens declare his glory. Next time you're out on a clear star-studded night, look up. And worship God for his glory.

photo: NASA

When My Friends Wound Me

2008-02-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." - Proverbs 27:6

I've never been a big fan of Proverbs 27:6. Now, before any of you readers go Phineas on me (see Numbers 25) and ram a spear through my stomach, let me explain.

Correction has never been something I've particularly enjoyed. If you come up to me and say, "Stephen, I think you might have sinned in this area," you're not going to see me leap into the air and click my heels for joy (is it actually possible to 'click' your heels?). Correction is painful for me. I don't like it when my friends point out areas of sin in my life. I don't get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when someone asks me, "Stephen, it seemed like you were angry on the basketball court. What was going on there?" When my friends correct me, it really does feel like a wound of sorts.

But the truth is, I desperately need the correction of my friends. I need the 'faithful wounds' of those around me. Why? Because I'm blind to my sin. There are pockets of sin in my life that I simply won't see apart from the correction of others. Sanctification is a group project, and I need the input of others into my life.

Have you ever started to switch lanes while driving, only to notice at the last second that a car is lurking in your blind spot? Yeah, you know the feeling. It takes everything in you not to let out a high-pitched, banshee-like scream of terror. We've got blind spiritual blind spots as well, and we need the faithful correction of friends to open our eyes.

This means that godly friends will correct one another. If you truly care about your friends, you will gently correct them when they fall into sin. Correcting someone isn't pleasant, but it's essential. If we are help others grow in godliness, we will gently correct them when they sin.

This also means that we should invite correction. We desperately need the correction of our godly friends. We simply won't grow as God intends apart from the faithful wounds of our friends. We must invite the correction of others.

Do you need to gently correct a friend that has fallen into sin? Or, do you need to invite the correction of others? Be a faithful friend - go out and wound someone.

Expand Your Prayer Life (6) Crouching at Your Door

2008-02-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

When I was 23, I worked in an art gallery in Philadelphia. I lived in an apartment in the corner of the dimly lit cockroach-infested bowels of a large, old apartment building. The only other apartment near me was occupied by a small time thug who occasionally asked me if I'd like a new (stolen) TV, or if I'd mind keeping his gun in my place for a few days (no thanks). When coming home to my apartment, I was always afraid that someone would lurch out of the shadows in the basement and stab me.

I had 3 locks on my door.

One evening after work, when I opened the door my blood ran cold. There on top of my couch sat a gigantic cat. It leapt from the couch like a banshee and rocketed past me into the shadows of the basement. Heart pounding, I locked the door behind me. How did this demonic specter get into my apartment?

The next morning after unlatching my 3 locks, I opened the inside door and was about to open the outer door, which had slats, much like a window shutter. Glancing down I saw a dark shape the size of a large groundhog. It was the tomcat, crouching, patiently waiting to dart in when I opened the door...

Sin and temptation are always lurking at the door, waiting for an opportunity to pounce on us. God told Cain "...sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." (Genesis 4:7)

That's why Jesus told us to pray regularly, "Lead us not into temptation" (Luke 11:4).

When we pray this, we are confessing our weakness to God. We are saying, "Father, I am so prone to sin, I’m asking that you would spare me from being tempted. You know how weak I am. Please don't even let me be exposed to temptation. Please keep me from falling into sin. Please deliver me from the snares of the enemy.”

Don't ever underestimate the power of sin to tempt and entrap you. Don't ever think you are incapable of falling into certain sins. Don’t ever look down on someone else who has fallen into sin and say I would never do that. Apart from God’s grace, we are all capable of any sin. We are prone to wander.

Adam and Eve had no sin nature, no inward tendency to sin, yet they gave in to Satan's enticements. The great serpent has been studying the human race for thousands of years. He knows every trick in the book. He knows every chink in our armor and where we are most prone to sin. Do you think you are smarter than him?

The hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing aptly describes our vulnerability to sin:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

We are prone to wander from the God we love. So we must regularly pray "lead us not into temptation."

But not only should we pray for ourselves, but for others. Jesus used the plural in his teaching: "Lead US not into temptation." So pray for others. If you're married, ask the Lord to deliver your spouse and children from temptation and sin. Ask God to deliver your pastors from temptation. Ask him to keep them humble and pure. Pray for fellow believers.

In case you are wondering what happened to the cat...

I went to the kitchen, got a large glass of water, then pitched it through the slats of the outer door, drenching him. He screeched like the Wicked Witch of the West, then tore off. But he was back again the next morning, crouching, waiting. After about 4 days of cold showers, I didn't see him again. But from then on, I always checked for him before opening the door.

Are You A Godly Friend?

2008-02-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

There's a bumper sticker that says "Friends don't let friends buy Starbucks". Let me just say from the outset that I consider this to be utter nonsense, equivalent to giving Keanu Reeves an Oscar. If you are my friend you will buy me Starbucks. You don't need to buy me anything fancy, like a half-caf, double-soy, triple shot latte - just a cup of coffee. Friends do let friends buy Starbucks.

Unfortunately I can't back this statement up from scripture, much as I want to. But the Bible is very clear about what friends should do for each other. In scripture we find a clear picture of what it means to be a godly friend. So this week we're going to try to answer the question, "What is a godly friend?" By God's grace, our fellowship will deepen and our friendships will honor the Lord.

Friends Encourage One Another
Today we're going to look at just one aspect of godly friendships - encouragement. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." The point of this passage is pretty simple. A godly friend is one who encourages others.

I find it much easier to criticize people than encourage them. In my sinful pride, I criticize far more than I encourage. This is our natural, sinful tendency, and our culture only encourages this tendency. Have you ever noticed how many "critics" there are? We have movie critics, food critics, wine critics, sports critics, and politics critics. When was the last time you heard of a "movie encourager"? The sad fact is, we love to criticize others.

But scripture makes it clear that a godly friend is one who encourages others. We're told that our speech should build others up, and give grace to those who hear. Ponder this truth with me for a minute. Our words can be used by God to impart supernatural grace to others. Our words can be used by God to build someone up in their faith. The words that we speak are immensely significant. They can either corrupt or build up. We must speak words that build others up. We must encourage.

What does it look like to encourage others? Speech that builds others up is speech that highlights where God is at work. In other words, to encourage others is to point out the fruit of the spirit in others. It's to encourage John, who humbly serves in children's ministry week after week, or Carol, who joyfully cares for her aging mother. It's to encourage your wife when she is patient with your son, even after he pounded 117 nails into the coffee table. To encourage is to highlight the fruit of the Spirit in someone.

Are you a godly friend? Do you encourage others? When was the last time you encouraged someone? This is an area I desperately need to grow in. By God's grace, let us resolve to encourage someone today.

I've Been Tagged

2008-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so there's this thing in the blog world called "tagging" people with a "meme". Now first of all, I have no idea what a meme is. Does it mean "me me", as in I'm supposed to tell you all about me? I think it must because the point of the "meme" is that I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself. So without further ado, here are seven things you should know about me. Buckle your seat belts folks cause this is going to be a wild ride.

Numero Uno (Spanish for number one) - If you look in the Guinness Book of World Records under "The Best Wife Ever" you'll find a picture of my wife Jen. I've been married to Jen since November 4, 2006, and it has been the best year and a half of my life. She is a gift from God to me, and I can't imagine my life without her. If you look under "Cutest Baby Ever" you'll find a picture of my daughter Charis. Charis is almost five months old, and she melts your heart.

Number Two (English for number two) - I like coffee. Well, that's actually a bit of an understatement. I love coffee. I drink coffee because it tastes like a small piece of heaven, and it gives you that extra boost of energy when you need it the most. I believe that a biblical case can be made that coffee is the only thing on earth not affected by the fall.

Letter C - I like video games. Yes, I realize that this makes me sound like a massive dork who wears the same t-shirt for three months and lives with his parents. But that's not true. I change my shirt at least once a week. Here's a shout out to all of you who know what the following words really mean: covenant, spartan, Master Chief, flood. Who's the dork now?

Number 4 - I like to write songs. I've written songs that have been on a variety of Sovereign Grace Music projects, and I recently had the privilege of recording an album with my dad. I've written a few songs that you might recognize, such as "Feliz Navidad", "The Alphabet Song", "Beat It", and "Handel's Messiah".

Fiver - I'm a big sports fan. The Pittsburgh Steelers are my team. We like to wave our "Terrible Towels" and talk about the big game that "we" won, and how "we" are the best. And we don't like Tom Brady...at all.

6. I recently created my first Facebook profile. What does one do with a Facebook profile? I have no idea. I think you're supposed to send messages to your friends like "Hey man, what's up?", and "Hey we should get together sometime." Oh yeah, and you're supposed to always update your status so that people know what you're doing. Any help on this one?

Ocho (That's Spanish for eig...hey wait a minute) - I secretly wish that I was Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. Or Gandalf. Let's just say that I would be the center of attention at most parties.

Alright, that's enough from me. You now know far more about me than you ever wanted. Visit my Facebook profile and send me a deep, thoughtful, and profound message.

Expand Your prayer life (5): The Path to Joy

2008-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last week one of my sons didn't clean up his room. So I kicked him out of the family.

"Get out, and don't come back!" I shouted as I slammed the door. "That's the last time you'll skip your chores around here!" I fumed.

Just kidding. Please don't call the authorities and have me arrested.

When my children fail in some way or sin against me, I don't eject them from the family. That will never happen. But their offenses can strain our fellowship until they ask forgiveness. That's why Jesus taught us in "The Lord's Prayer" that we should pray: "And forgive us our sins..."(Luke 11:4).

But didn't Christ pay for all believers' sins on the cross? Yes, but he still tells us we should regularly ask our Father to forgive us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

God has adopted us who come to Him through Christ into his family and will never cast us out. But sin mars our fellowship with him. When we confess our sins, God cleanses us afresh by the blood of Christ and removes all unrighteousness, thus restoring our fellowship. Sin is like bugs and dirt on our windshield – it hinders our vision. When we confess our sins, God wipes the windshield clean and we can see him more clearly.

Not only did Jesus instruct us to ask our Father to forgive us, he commands that we forgive others as well: "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke 11:4).

Have you ever been offended at anyone? You know how it is when someone insults you or treats you unjustly. Sometimes you can't stop your mind from churning and rehearsing and replaying the event. "I should have said this. I should have done that. I'm going to buy a book of insulting comebacks. I'm going to study Winston Churchill's witty put downs. Next time I see them I'll say, "Oh yeah? In your face!"

But Jesus said, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiving others, even our enemies, is not an option.

Why? Because God has forgiven us our sins against him, which are worse than anyone's sins against us. He's forgiven us a million dollar debt, so we should forgive the one who owes us $5. If we don’t have a heart to forgive others, why should we expect God to forgive us?

But what if someone commits an enormous sin against me?

What helps me is to remember that I murdered Christ. I spit in the face of the infinitely Holy God. I rejected my loving Creator. For my sins to be forgiven it required God's Son to be bloodied and beaten. My sins brought God's wrath upon Jesus' head. No one’s sins against me are that bad.
I deserve to be sinned against, then go to hell for eternity. No matter what anyone does to me, I’ve done worse to God.

So when you are praying and you remember someone has sinned against you, forgive them. You may need to ask God for grace to do this. But you have no other option. Though that person's crime against you returns every 5 minutes like a deer fly buzzing around your head, affirm your forgiveness. Pray again, "Father, in Jesus' name I forgive them! " Even if you have forgive 50 times a day, keep forgiving.

Has someone offended you? Do you need to forgive someone? Ask God to forgive them right now. It's the path to Christ's joy.

How To Meditate On God's Word

2008-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

The word 'meditation' is a pretty cool word these days. Everybody is in to meditation. A lot of productivity websites say that when you feel burned out it's really helpful to take a 'meditation break'. Recently on the Oprah Winfrey Show (yeah, yeah I was watching Oprah) a guy named Dr. Oz (no relation to the wizard) said that meditation can significantly lengthen your life. Meditation isn't just for Tibetan monks wearing burlap robes that chafe their armpits. No, everybody loves meditation.

The truth is, the Bible is big on meditation as well. Psalm 1:2 says of the godly man, "... his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." Which brings me to the question: what exactly is meditation? According to our culture, meditation is the relaxation of the mind to the point where little or no thought occurs. But according to scripture, meditation is the increased focus of the mind with much deep thought occurring. The goal of secular meditation is to empty the mind, the goal of godly meditation is to fill the mind with God's truth. To put it in a succinct definition, godly meditation is the practice of filling the mind with God's word for the purpose of applying God's word.

So how do we meditate on God's word? What does this look like practically? Here's just a few suggestions.

Meditate Prayerfully
When we read the Bible, we're not just reading a book - we're reading the sacred word of God. The Bible is the very words of God, given to us that we might know him, love him, and obey him. Which means that we simply can't understand the Bible apart from the enlightening power of God's spirit. We must have God open our eyes to understand and apply the glorious truths that we read in scripture. Apart from the spirit of God our devotional times will be dry, listless, and fruitless. Before you read God's word, pray that God would give you understanding.

Meditate Quietly
It's difficult to give deep, concentrated thought to a passage of scripture if you're surrounded by distractions. I realize that this isn't the case for everyone, but for most of us effective meditation on God's word occurs in quiet places. If you're trying to do your devotional time in the middle of Starbuck's, you might be selling yourself short. I find that my most effective times of biblical meditation come in the quiet of the early morning, before my day is rolling. Psalm 131:2 says, "But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." Effective meditation usually happens in the stillness.

Meditate Vocally
Just because you're in a quiet place doesn't mean that you need to be quiet. God speaks to us when we read scripture and it's often appropriate to respond vocally to God's promptings. Take for example, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." When I read this verse, I want to respond out loud to God with rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving. Scripture isn't a dry textbook, it's the living word of God. We must interact with scripture, responding to it's commands, rejoicing in it's promises, and delighting in its revelations.

Meditate With Pen In Hand
I first heard of this from John Piper, who said the following:

"A pastor will not be able to feed his flock rich and challenging insight into God's word unless he becomes a disciplined thinker. But almost none of us does this by nature. We must train ourselves to do it. And one of the best ways to train ourselves to think about what we read is to read with pen in hand and to write down a train of thought that comes to mind. Without this, we simply cannot sustain a sequence of questions and answers long enough to come to penetrating conclusions"

The practice of writing down my thoughts as I read my Bible has had a transforming effect on my devotional times. Writing forces me to think through each verse, and to trace the logic of each passage. It helps me to fight distraction and to focus all my attention on the words before me. Go out and get yourself a Moleskine journal and start writing as you read.

What about you? What helps you to meditate on God's word? What suggestions can you give to others who are seeking to grow in meditating on God's word?

Expand Your Prayer Life (4): Truck Caps and Daily Bread

2008-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

I used to think that God was so busy managing the cosmos, he didn't have time for my peewee concerns.

I thought that if I asked him for money to pay the bills, he'd shout down at me, "Can't you see I'm directing the destinies of nations? Away with you and your petty requests."

Jesus taught us that when we pray we should make our Father's honor and kingdom our first concerns. But our Father who is both rich and generous also wants us to bring our daily needs to him.

In Luke 11:3 Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us each day our daily bread". What could be more down to earth than bread?

R. Kent Hughes says, “We are not to use the Niemann Marcus catalog as our daily devotional guide. One of the sweet realities of our prayer life is that God cares about the simple, day-to-day needs of life. He cares whether his children are warm, fed, and housed. He is concerned for our well-being, including those things necessary to maintain a whole, happy family.”

God doesn’t limit us to praying for big things – he invites us to ask him for a new coat or new tires, money for groceries or tuition or vacation.

Here is an amazing truth: God gets glory by meeting our smallest needs. God's sign reads: "No job too big, no job too small."

My friend Bob bought a "new" used truck. His previous truck bed was 7 feet long but the new one was 6. This rendered his 7-foot truck cap 1 foot too long for his new truck. So he prayed about the situation. The audacity - praying about a truck cap. Doesn't God have enough on his mind without being bothered about Bob's truck cap? One day Bob saw a truck pull into the parking lot where he works. He noticed that the cap on that truck's 7-foot bed was a foot too short. So Bob approached the man, whom he'd never met, to ask him if he'd be interested in a swap. Amazingly, both Bob's cap and this man's cap were the same brand and both fairly new. They were able to trade caps and each fit perfectly.

One of the ladies at a "Caring Sisters" party in our church shared how the Lord used her sister in Christ to give her very specific gifts that she had secretly desired, but could not afford. Among them: a pair of earrings on the day she came to church with none on; a new watch when she hoped for one; and a spoon rest after a fleeting desire for one had crossed her mind in her kitchen that week. God gave her a spoon rest! How specifically and tenderly the Lord cares for us! And if he provides these material things, think how eager He is to meet us in our souls. (Thanks to Sarah B for sharing this).

We need daily provisions of wisdom, strength, joy. God invites us to make our requests known to him and bring our needs to him. So seek first God's glory and his kingdom, then ask him for whatever you need each day. And watch him provide!

When God Applies Bandages

2008-01-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

In Psalm 147:3-4 we read, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names."

I have to admit, when I read these verses I was astonished. This was a picture of God I hadn't encountered before. The stark contrast between the two verses astonished me. Think about these verses for a moment with me.

Verse 4 tells us that God determines the number of the stars. There are billions of galaxies spread across the universe and within each of these galaxies there are billions of stars. Each of these stars is blazing with brilliant light and blazing heat. We are tiny and weak compared to a star. And there are billions upon billions of stars.

Yet God knows the exact number of stars, and He gives to each star a name. Ponder this truth. God knows each star individually, and He gives a name to each star. How great is our God! Most studies show that humans can only hold between five and seven things in their mind at one time. God holds all the stars in His mind, and He gives each one a name. Do you feel the greatness of God? When you look at the night sky, do you feel the immensity of God?

But we don't just serve a great God, we serve a tender God. The Psalmist tells us that God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. God cares about those who are brokenhearted. Our great, infinite, awesome God, cares about our sadness. This is astonishing. The God who keeps the planets in orbit is the one who binds up our wounds. God is infinitely great, and God is infinitely tender.

Let us worship God for his greatness and love him for his tenderness. He is the one who heals our sadness and repairs our broken hearts. Our almighty God is the one who gently binds our wounds. How can we not love such a God? How can we not find all our joy in such a God? Today let us worship our great and tender God.

Expand Your Prayer Life (3): Bring Your Rule

2008-01-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

When we pray, we're tempted to start dumping our needs on God, like a scene from the movie "What About Bob" - "Gimme, gimme, gimme, I need, I need, I need." I'm glad that our Father isn't like the movie's Dr. Leo Marvin, always trying to get rid of us. Our Father, who is both rich and generous, invites us to bring our needs and desires to him.

When Jesus taught the "Lord's Prayer", he encouraged us to seek God's interests first, instead of always beginning with our laundry list of requests. Jesus instructed us to begin by "hallowing" or honoring our Father's Name - to worship him for all that he is and does - and pray that his name be glorified in all the earth. And one of the primary ways God is glorified is by the coming of his kingdom.

That's why Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come." (Luke 11:2). As God's kingdom comes, he is seen as great, powerful, merciful and glorious.

God's kingdom is his rule. When we pray for his kingdom to come we pray that our Father would bring his rule into the world, particularly into people's hearts and lives. When God saves us, he begins to rule us. And as he rules us, he transforms us into the likeness of Christ, and he is glorified.

Let's pray that the gospel will spread and multitudes of sinners will be saved. Let's ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers. Let's pray for the salvation of our family members and friends. And pray that our Lord will rescue thousands in our localities.

Let's pray that God will bring an end to the wickedness of the wicked. Pray that he will remove governments and leaders that persecute his people and replace them with those favorable to the gospel.

Let's pray for the persecuted church. Pray that God will cause many of his saints to find favor in their captors' eyes and get to return to their families. Pray that our Father will give those who continue to suffer strength, joy, hope and the grace to love their persecutors.

When we pray for these things we are praying for God's kingdom rule to come.

Put God's interests first and he will provide for you.

Jesus said, "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33).

If we put God and his rule first, he'll take care of our needs like food and clothing. I always figure that if I spend time praying for God's concerns and don't get around to mine, my Father will take care of me. And he's always been faithful.

Links For Your Pleasure

2008-01-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

In my various wanderings about the WWW (that's shorthand for the World Wide Web), I've come across the following interesting links.

A company called Compass Cinema has put out a DVD Bible study tool called Modern Parables, which attempt to bring the parables of Jesus into today's world. These DVD's were reviewed very positively by Carolyn McCulley, Justin Taylor, and Tim Challies. You can check out their website by clicking here.

Sovereign Grace Ministries has announced that for the month of February all their CD's are six bucks and have free shipping. For the price of a Big Mac value meal you can get music that will feed your soul. Check out the details on Bob Kauflin's blog.

The Billy Graham Association has a great article on how John Piper's son, Abraham, came to the Lord after years of rebellion. Click here to read it.

Winter is the time for sledding, and this do it yourself website tells you how to make the ultimate sled. Learn how by clicking here.

Got a camera phone but have no idea what to do with it? Here are some interesting uses for your camera cell phone.

Quick Spiritual Fixes

2008-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

I like quick fixes. When something breaks in my house I do two things. First, I decide if we really needed the item in the first place. If not, I toss it. Quick fix. If this item really was of some importance, such as a large piece of furniture, a stove, or a kitchen table, I determine if the item can be repaired using duct tape. I have been known to use upwards of two hundred yards of duct tape on home repair projects. Quick fix number two. If it can't be fixed using duct tape I call in the pros.

I like quick spiritual fixes as well. When I'm struggling with a sin, I want someone to tell me how to get over it, right now. Give me a scripture verse that will solve my problem, or a book that will lay out a precise twelve-step plan for overcoming sin in three weeks. I'm not a big fan of going to my accountability group on Friday mornings and confessing the same sin that I've confessed for the last 17 weeks. I want change, and I want it now. I'm sure you can relate.

This desire for change is good, and God-honoring, but I think we often forget that sanctification is a slow process. Becoming like Christ doesn't happen in days, it happens over decades. I recently read a quote that reminded me of both the slow nature of change, and the necessity of regularly reading scripture for the purpose of change. In his book Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, Don Whitney quotes a man named Geoffrey Thomas. Thomas says:

So do not expect always to get an emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you read the Bible. By the grace of God, you may expect that to be a frequent experience, but often you will get no emotional response at all. Let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these.

I love this quote! Growth in godliness is the result of consistently letting the Word of God "break over your heart". Our hearts are like stones and the Word of God is like the ocean surf. We must regularly let the "surf" of God's word break over our hearts and erode away our sinful thoughts, attitudes, and desires. That's why regular devotional times are so crucial. Apart from regular time in the Word of God we simply won't grow in godliness. It's that simple. If you want to grow in your love for Christ, you must spend time sitting at his feet, hearing his words. There is no substitute.

Are you letting the Word of God shape your heart? Are you regularly spending time in the Word of God? The grace of God flows through his word, like water through a channel. We just need to stand in the channel.

Another Free Scripture Song

2008-01-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

The reviews are in and the critics are raving about the free scripture songs we've been giving away.

Jonny Tsunami of Rolling Stone says, "We haven't seen anything like this since Hanson released their smash single 'Mmmmmbop'."

Siskel and Roper say, "Look out Hannah Montana, there's some new competition on the block."

Bono of U2 says, "What are we talking about?"

And now we're giving away another one. In all seriousness, we really believe that these scripture songs can really help you grow in scripture memorization. So we want to keep feeding your iPod with the word of God. Today we're giving away 1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV).

To download the free scripture song click here.

The CD's from which these songs came can be purchased at Forever Grateful Music.

In case you missed the other scripture free scripture songs, you can download them here:

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
Psalm 30:4-5

Please pass these scripture songs on to as many people as possible!

Expand Your Prayer Life (pt. 2): The Aim of Prayer

2008-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our Tuesday post said that we can expand our prayer lives by using the pattern Jesus gave us for prayer, the Lord's prayer.

Each section of the Lord's prayer is like a peg to hang our prayers on. R. Kent Hughes points out that prayer has a vertical aspect and a horizontal aspect. The vertical has to do with God and his concerns, the horizontal with us and our concerns. In Luke 11, Jesus tells us to focus first on God with the revolutionary address, "Father."

Believers are adopted into God's family through Christ's life, death and resurrection. If you have trusted in Jesus for salvation, God is now your Father. And he is eager and willing for you to come to him.

The aim of prayer: God’s glory

Jesus instructs us to pray, “Hallowed be your name.”

God’s name stands for who he is and all that he is. He is infinitely holy, glorious, majestic, just, sovereign, mighty, loving and wise.

When we pray “Hallowed be your name” we are saying: Father, let your name be held holy and treated with reverence in every place. In other words, Father, let your name be honored and worshipped in all the earth. Let everyone on earth see what a glorious God you are. We are asking God to fulfill Habakkuk 2:14: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." So when we pray "Hallowed be your name" we are praying Father, let the knowledge that you are glorious fill the earth. Let all people know what you are like - infinite in beauty, righteousness, goodness and strength.

God’s glory is infinitely more important than any of our personal needs. So before bringing our own concerns to the table, we should pray that God would fulfill his greatest concern – that his name be glorified for the enjoyment of all people. If we make God's concerns our top priority, he will surely look to our concerns.

Imagine a son who always comes to his father asking for things: "Dad, can I have $5? Can I borrow the car? Can I use your camera? Dad, I need a new ball glove." Most fathers would probably want to bless their sons with these things. But how different it would be if a son came and said, "Dad, what would you desire today? Is there anything on your heart I could go after? Anything I can do for you?" Imagine how pleased that father would be and how eager to bless his son.

So when we pray, let us come to our loving Father, who is rich and eager to bless us. Let us first worship and adore him and seek the advancement of his glory. Then let us ask God to meet our needs and supply our daily bread.

Make God's glory the aim of your prayers today!

Have You Forgotten?

2008-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Psalm 103
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits...

I'm a forgetful man. I forget to take out the trash. I forget to return phone calls. My dad's birthday was last week (he turned 117). Sure enough, I forgot. But more seriously, I forget the blessings of God, which is why I so appreciate Psalm 103. The Psalmist knows that we're quick to forget the many blessings of God and so he reminds us to "forget not all his benefits". We must daily call to mind the many lavish ways that God has blessed us or we're doomed to forget them. What are some of these blessings?

who forgives all your iniquity...

How merciful God has been to us! He's forgiven ALL of our iniquities. Ponder the glories of this truth for a moment. Every sin I've ever committed has been forgiven by God. My "little" sins, and my great perversities. Gone. Forever. Washed away in that great crimson flood that flowed from the cross. Jesus was crushed beneath the awful weight of my iniquities so that God could extend the hand of forgiveness.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

who heals all your diseases...

In addition to having my sins forgiven, I've been healed of the disease of sin. I was once a slave to sin, ruled by my sinful passions, unable to love what was truly good. I was a miserable, hopeless, helpless slave of sin, and I had no hope of escape. Apart from divine intervention, I was doomed to a life of increasing misery and an eternity. But God intervened! He turned my heart of stone to a heart of flesh, and now I have the vibrant, pulsing, joy-giving life of God within me.

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy...

Because I am God's child, my life is now full of the love and mercy of God. Each morning I awake to new mercies. What a wondrous thought! Each day I am guaranteed the extravagant mercy of God. I can get out of bed each morning, knowing that I will soon be encountering the mercies of God. God has been so kind to me.

What about you? Have you forgotten the many mercies of God? Have you forgotten his innumerable blessings? If you lack joy, it's likely that you've forgotten the many blessings of God. As you go about your day, remember the specific blessings that God has shown to you. Recall your salvation. Recall the many kindnesses you've experienced from the hand of God. Experience fresh joy today by remembering.

Expand your Prayer Life

2008-01-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you get distracted when you are praying? Or do you find that after 5 minutes you’re out of things to pray about?

If you’d like to expand your prayer life, try using the Lord’s prayer as a pattern. Jesus never intended this prayer to be memorized and spouted off word for word in rote fashion. We know this because the version in Matthew 6 is worded slightly differently than in Luke 11. Jesus gave this “prayer” to us as a pattern or outline. You can think of each section as a peg to hang your prayers on. I once heard a man suggest to view each section like a marker in a cross-country race. When you pass each marker, you move into a different theme.

The Lord’s prayer has 2 dimensions – a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension (R.K. Hughes). The vertical dimension has to do with God and his concerns - his glory, his kingdom. The horizontal dimension has to do with us and our concerns - for food, forgiveness, and strength.

Today we’ll start looking at the vertical dimension.

Who we pray to: Father

And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father…” (Luke 11:2. Compare to Matthew 6 – “Our Father”)

A revolutionary concept

Though the idea of God as Father is in the Old Testament, OT believers didn’t address God directly as “Father”. In all of the Psalms, there is not a single prayer to God as Father. The Psalmists address God as “O Lord,” “O My God,” “O God,” “O Most High.” Even David, the man after God’s own heart, didn’t pray to God as his Father. King David himself didn’t have the intimate relationship with God as Father that we can have through Christ.

Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has brought believers into a relationship with God as Father! Through Christ, God adopts us as his own children. We’re in the family!

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15-17).

Jesus mission was to live and die to redeem sinners, but it also included revealing God as Father.

What a privilege! To know and come to God as our Father!

How close and intimate God desires to be to his children. Although it is appropriate to pray to God as “O Most High,” that doesn’t convey the same sense as “Father”. Before Jesus saved me, I would pray to “God” but he seemed far off and distant. I’m so grateful that Jesus shed his blood to bring me to God as my Father.

As our Father, God is full of tender compassion to us. He is eager for us to come to him. He delights to fellowship with his children and to bless us with good things. As a loving Father he cares for our well-being and desires to hear our requests and meet our needs.

Are you suffering today? Do you need help overcoming sin? Do you desire to be filled with God’s Spirit and joy and strength? Do you need wisdom? Come to your loving Father with all your requests, casting all your cares upon him because he cares for you.

Will My Daughter Be Saved?

2008-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm going to begin by making a statement that will resonate with some and disturb others: I love reformed theology. I delight in the doctrines of grace. I love the unconditional election of God, the irresistible grace of God, and the perseverance of the saints. I don't love them because they were associated with John Calvin, or because they are advocated by guys like John Piper. I love them because they are thoroughly biblical. The doctrines of grace are everywhere in scripture.

I don't believe that I chose God, or would have ever chosen God, but that he chose me. I believe that he irresistibly drew me with his grace and that he will keep me to the end. These truths warm my heart with affection for God.

But it's when I look at my four-month old daughter Charis, that the rubber really hits the road for my theology. She is so beautiful, so precious, so innocent looking. I love her with an intense love, and care for her with all my heart. Yet scripture tells me that she is spiritually dead and an enemy of God (Eph 2:1-3). Scripture also tells me that she was born under the wrath of God. These are difficult things for me to swallow, but I believe that they're true.

Scripture also tells me however, that God is loving and merciful, not desiring that any should perish. Scripture tells me that God wants to save my daughter. And scripture tells me that God responds to the prayers of the righteous. I don't understand how the sovereignty of God and prayer work together, but the Bible teaches both and I believe in both.

And so I pray intensely that God would save my daughter. I appeal to God, asking him to open her eyes to the gospel at a young age. I ask him to draw her to himself by irresistible grace. I ask him to open her blind eyes to see Jesus Christ as her savior. Before I place her in her crib each night, I hold her close, kiss her on the head, and lift my voice to God in prayer.

I believe God will save my daughter. Why? Because God is full of mercy. He sovereignly gave her a mommy and daddy who pray for her every day. He placed her in a church that preaches the saving gospel of Christ week after week. I believe that God ordained these things to lead her to Christ.

I also find great comfort in knowing that it's God who saves. Why? Because there is no way that I could ever 'convince' Charis to trust in Jesus. I know that I simply don't have the ability to open her eyes to the gospel. God must put spiritual life in her, and because he is good, I believe that he will.

I believe that someday Charis will trust in Jesus as her savior, not because of the persuasive preaching of her dad, but because of the loving kindness of her God. That's my only hope. What's yours?

Open Your Eyes

2008-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Imagine waking up one morning to find yourself surrounded by a swat team of thousands about to storm your house. It happened to Elisha and his servant. One morning the servant wakes up and figures he’ll get some coffee going then read the morning papyrus. But as he looks out the kitchen window, he sees the glint of sun on spearhead. They're surrounded by the great Syrian army, whose assignment is to take out Elisha. A stab of fear pierces the servant's heart.

“How’s that coffee coming?” asks Elisha as he stumbles into the kitchen in his bathrobe. “I hope it's good and strong. Why are you just standing there with your mouth open? What’s wrong, did you spill the coffee? Or did you accidentally serve me Maxwell House? Come on, why the terrified look?”

The servant stammers, ““Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (They said “Alas” a lot back then. It basically means "Yikes" or "Aaaaaargh").

"Do about what?", says Elisha as he slowly pours his coffee, squinting out the kitchen window. “Ahhh, it's those pesky Syrians again. Hey, where'd you put the Sweet 'n Low?"

The servant whines, “How can you think about Sweet 'n Low at a time like this? Master, Alas, alas, alas! We’re cooked - dead meat - Syrian fodder.”

Elisha puts a scoop of sweetener into his steaming mug, blows across the top, then takes a careful sip. Then he says, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

The servant runs again to the back window, looking left and right. He doesn’t see anything except Syrian banners, spears, chariots, and campfires. “Pardon me master, and I might add one more ‘alas,’ but, where might be ‘those who are with us?’”

Elisha says, "How is a man supposed to enjoy his morning coffee with all these questions, boy?" Then Elijah prays, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”

“So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17).

“Now, boy," says Elisha, "can I please drink my coffee?”

HEB 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

When we are faced with challenging circumstances, what will we do? Will we look at what we can see with our natural eyes, or will we be convinced of the spiritual reality of things that we can only see with the eyes of faith?

Elisha saw into the spiritual realm with the eyes of faith. We must continually open our eyes to spiritual realities. No matter what situation we find ourselves in today, believers in Christ are not alone. Jesus is in us and with us through the Spirit. The angel of the Lord is encamped around us. God’s gracious hand is upon us. Our heavenly Father is directing all things for his glory and our good. His ear is attentive to us and his hand is open to us.

It may appear that we have been forsaken or that things are out of control. It may appear that the enemy has the upper hand. It may look bad on the surface. That's why we must open our faith eyes to see spiritual realities.

See what God’s word has to say about the truth of your situation. See what promises God has made concerning you. Believe God's word today, not your circumstances. And enjoy your coffee.

10 Reasons the U.S.A. Could Beat Up Canada

2008-01-17T20:40:00.001-05:00

In my previous post I made the offhand remark that the United States could probably beat up Canada. Apparently this remark didn't sit so well with some of my Canadian friends, who felt compelled to vigorously defend both their country and their honor.

So, to settle the question once and for all, I put together this exhaustive, comprehensive, all-inclusive list, citing 10 reasons that the US of A could beat up Canada. Before I say any more, it should be noted that in the summer of 2003 I actually spent three months living in Canada, which practically makes me an expert on the country. So, without any further ado, here are my 10 reasons that the United States could put a beating on Canada.

1. The front of our one dollar bill shows a picture of our fearless first president, George Washington, who gave the British a royal beat down. The front of the Canadian one dollar coin shows a picture of a duck. Actually it's a loon, which is why the coin is called a "loonie". Need I say any more?

2. Two words: Chuck Norris

3. Canada is ruled by a queen. We on the other hand have a guy from Texas who likes to eat his meat raw. AND, our vice president is known for shooting people. I'll take W over Queen Elizabeth in a cage match any day.

4. We have Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer, and Rocky. Canada has...mounties? You'd think they could at least come up with a better name.

5. The Canadian military currently has approximately 65,000 troops. The US has approximately 1.3 million. Of course our troops aren't called "mounties", which does make a significant difference.

6. A significant portion of our population enjoys watching race cars go in circles at 200 mph for up to 500 laps. That says dedication. This same population enjoys shooting things.

7. We invented the Big Mac, the Whopper, the Super Size, and the 64 oz Slurpee. Of course this is also why we need privatized health care, but that's besides the point.

8. Unlike Canada, and the rest of the world, we refuse to go metric. We don't want to use a system where everything divides nicely into 10's, 100's, and 1000's. No, we would rather remember figures like 5,280 feet and 16 oz.

9. Our national anthem is entitled "The Star Spangled Banner", a stirring title that evokes patriotism and pride from even the most cynical heart. The Canadians managed to come up with the creative title "O Canada" for their national anthem.

10. Us Christians carry around large, oversized study Bibles, that weigh somewhere between 50 and 300 pounds (not kilos). If necessary, these could be used as weapons (in a loving and gentle way).

Well, I think that settles it once and for all. A careful examination of the evidence clearly indicates that the United States could beat the bacon out of Canada if necessary. But we love our Canadian friends and only wish them the best. Just stay away from our Big Macs...

Never Feel Condemned

2008-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Psalm 103:12 "...as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."

Several years ago I took a trip with my family across the United States, starting in my hometown of Indiana, PA and ending up somewhere in the middle of Colorado. I learned several things on this trip. First, Kansas is the most boring state in the United States, hands down. If you are from Kansas, I'm deeply sorry. If I had to characterize Kansas in one word it would be "flat". If I was given a few other words I might add "mind-numbing", "more boring than watching C-SPAN", and "if I see one more wheat field I'm going to scream". The highlight of our trip through Kansas was when we came to a bend in the highway. You get my drift.

I also learned that the United States is a huge country (we could probably beat up Canada). It took us two days of all day driving just to get out to Colorado. We drove thousands of miles west to get from Pennsylvania to Colorado, and at that point we were only 2/3 of the way across the country. The distance between the east coast and the west coast is absolutely enormous.

I think this is a small picture of how far God removes our sins from us when we come to Him for salvation. Listen to the words of Jerry Bridges commenting on Psalm 103:

What is the significance of the expression "as far as the east is from the west"? Probably it was a cultural idiom signifying as great a distance as human vocabulary can express. Practically, it expresses an infinite distance. This is what God has done with our sin. Jesus not only bore our sins on the cross, He carried them away an infinite distance. He removed them from the presence of God and from us forever. The Gospel For Real Life

Do you feel the glorious truths of Psalm 103? God has taken all of our sins away from us, as far as the east is from the west. Think of the worst sin you have committed. That sin is completely and totally removed from you by the blood of Christ. Think of the great number of sins that you have committed in your life. All those sins are removed an infinite distance from you by the blood of Jesus Christ.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because Jesus has taken our sins upon his back and carried them away an infinite distance. If you have trusted in Christ then your sins are gone, completely, totally, and forever, never to be seen again. God doesn't remember them, because he took them away. And if God doesn't remember them, then neither should you.

Open Your Mouth

2008-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

My friends Tony and Maria adopted an orphan named Saah from Liberia this past July*. Saah had a head injury and a disabled hand. To adopt him, Tony and Maria had to pay thousands of dollars, and Tony had to fly to Liberia and stay for 2-1/2 weeks at the orphanage with him, then fight with the authorities who were refusing to let Saah leave the country. Finally, Tony and the child were able to fly back to the United States.

Saah is 14 years old, but has not enjoyed the advantages of an education, and cultural differences have made his adjustment incredibly challenging. For weeks after their return, Tony and Maria have worked with Saah hours a day just to be able to teach him things we take for granted such as the difference between a penny, a nickel, and a dime. They've taken him to countless physical therapy and doctors’ appointments and stayed in the hospital when he had surgery on his head. All this is just the tip of the iceberg of the huge investment Tony and Maria have made in Saah.

After all Tony and Maria have done for him, how do you think it would make them feel if Saah doubted their love? How would they feel if Saah didn’t believe they’d buy him shoes or give him lunch money?

The people of Israel continually doubted God’s faithfulness and goodness, despite all he'd done for them. So God tells them in Psalm 81:10, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." In other words, “Israel, have you forgotten who I am and all I've done for you? I’m the one who smacked down Pharaoh and brought mighty Egypt to its knees. I snatched you out of slavery with a mighty hand. Do you think I'd do all that then fail to give you bread? Open your mouth wide and I will fill it."

We too should have faith that if God went to the extreme lengths of sending and crushing his only Son to bring us out of our slavery, will he not give us his Spirit? Won't he give us groceries or a car or wisdom or strength? Will he not help us change? Will he not fill us with his joy and gladness? Open your mouth wide - in prayer and in faith. Ask your gracious and loving Heavenly Father for your daily bread. He is glorified in displaying his goodness to us.

*Tony and Maria gave me permission to share this

Our Cursing God

2008-01-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

We tend to associate curses with sorcery, Halloween, witchcraft, Harry Potter, and the like. In these contexts, a curse is usually some horrible supernatural jinx that will bring death and destruction into someone's life. We've all seen images of wizards raising their wands, uttering some odd phrase like, "Salama Meatbell", and then shooting a lightning bolt into some helpless victim. Most of it is just a bunch of Hollywood hocus pocus.

But the truth is, God really does curse people, and you and I were under that curse. In Galatians 3:10 Paul said, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." What a frightening thought. Because of our rebellion against God, we truly were under the horrible curse of the almighty, omnipotent God. The curse of God makes all other curses look like nothing more than child's play. The curse of God really does bring utter destruction, misery, and horror to those it falls upon. And the frightening truth is, right now there are some in hell who are experiencing the curse of God as we speak.

But we also serve a God who is full of mercy! He provided a way for us to escape the curse that hung over our heads, like a sword ready to fall upon us. God cursed his own son instead of us. As Jesus hung on the cross in our place, God placed the full curse upon his precious son. God cursed Christ instead of you! Galatians 3:13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."

Our God is so kind! We were under the curse of God because of the wicked deeds that we had done. We deserved to be cursed by God. Yet he cursed Jesus instead of me. I received mercy, Jesus was cursed. Why would God curse Christ instead of me? Only the love of God could move Him to do such a thing.

Let us marvel anew at the mercy of God! Let our hearts be filled with joy and our mouths be filled with praise today. We are no longer under the curse of God, we are under his mercy. This is sweet news indeed.

You Have More Faith than You Realize

2008-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation (Ps 13:5)

Believers in Jesus Christ will ever be finding themselves in situations where they must trust God. Our whole relationship with God is one of trust from start to finish. We are saved by trusting in Jesus and all he accomplished in his life and death for us. We continue to trust him every day of our lives by believing his Word.

Often we can find it hard to trust God. It’s hard to trust God when the answers to our prayers delay. Will we have enough to pay our bills? Will my child ever begin to believe in Christ? Will I ever change?

Maybe you'd say your faith is weak. But you probably have more than you realize.

For example, we trust in people and institutions every day – airlines, restaurants, doctors, stores, and banks. When you go to the grocery store, do you ask the cashier, “Is this food safe for me to consume? Has this meat been properly checked and packaged? Was this milk correctly pasteurized? Is this ibuprofen really 200 mg? Are there really 12 ounces of Cocoa Puffs in this box?”

When the doctor prescribes medicine for you, do you ask, “Are you sure this is the best one? Are you keeping up to date on medicines? Do you really have my best interests in mind? Are you giving me a sugar pill? Is this some kind of poison?”

When I get on a plane, I don’t ask the flight attendant, “Who built this plane? Are they qualified to build planes? Is this thing regularly inspected? Did they remember to put in the gas and check the oil? Are all the bolts in the wings tight? Can I see the pilot’s credentials? Does he really know what all those switches do? He hasn’t been drinking today has he?”

Every day we entrust our lives into the hands of people we don’t know, and many we’ve never even seen. Every day we put our faith in human beings who are fallible and forgetful, who make mistakes and miscalculations. We couldn’t live in this world without a large measure of faith in people. What is ironic is that though we put faith in people all the time, we’re often reluctant to trust in God.

Shouldn’t we trust our loving, faithful, all-wise, all-powerful God? Shouldn’t we believe the One who upholds the galaxies? We have more faith than you realize. Let's put more of it in Jesus Christ.

You Killed Jesus, and So Did I

2008-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard someone say, "If you were the only person on earth God would have still sent Jesus to die for you, that's how much you're worth to God."? The next time you hear someone say that, do the following:

_Look them directly in the eyes and smile politely

_Place one hand on their shoulder in a warm, caring way

_Slap them across the face several times and shout, "That's not it at all!"

Just kidding about the last one...sort of. We need to remember that Christ's death doesn't prove our worth, it proves our utter sinfulness and depravity. Hear the words of Jerry Bridges:

Furthermore, even a deep, penetrating sense of our sinfulness does not do justice to the reality of our predicament. Our need is not to be measured by our own sense of need, but by what God had to do to meet that need. Our situation was so desperate that only the death of His own Son on a cruel and shameful cross was sufficient to resolve the problem. The Gospel For Real Life

We were so wicked and so perverse that it took the death of God Himself to save us. Our sin was so great, that only the infinitely precious blood of the Son of God could wash us clean. I know that I'm a proud man, a selfish man, a greedy man, an anxious man, a thoroughly sinful man. But I rarely see the true depths of my sin. My sin was so heinous, so perverse, so utterly disgusting, that only remedy was for God to kill his own son in my place.

Which brings me to the question that I'll be asking for all eternity: why would God bother with me? Why would God save such a wicked sinner as me? I didn't give a rip about God or his ways. In fact, I hated God. And yet God gave His son to rescue me. What extravagant mercy!

The death of Jesus doesn't prove my worth, it proves my wickedness. And it also proves how deeply God loves me. Enjoy the love of God today.

C.J. Mahaney and Laptops

2008-01-10T17:53:00.000-05:00

As part of my C.J. Mahaney Project, I'm attempting to listen to all 70 Mahaney messages from the Sovereign Grace Ministries website and then extract the humorous illustrations used during the message. By God's grace I will laugh and I will change as I listen to these messages.

In this story, told in The Main Thing (Part 1), C.J. tells the story of him spilling coffee on his laptop, his sinful reaction after spilling coffee, and then the condemnation he felt after sinning. C.J. uses this illustration to help us understand how to overcome condemnation.

You can listen to or download the story by clicking here.

The Lord has a Day

2008-01-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

"The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." EX 12:40-41

The Lord has a day for his children. Israel groaned under Egyptian slavery for 430 years until the "very day" God determined their bondage would end. And "on that very day" the people of Israel walked out of Egypt.

God had a day for Jesus to enter the world - he was born in the "fullness of time" (Galatians 4:4). He had a day for Jesus to die and a day to rise from the dead. And he has a day when Jesus will return - "the Day of the Lord."

God had a "very day" for you.

He had a day for you to be born into this world. He also had a day for you to hear the gospel, and a day to open your eyes to the glory of Christ and be born again.

God has many a "very day" in our lives.

He has specific days planned for us to meet a person or hear a message that will change our lives forever. He's planned days when we will touch people for Christ. He has specific days when he'll bring incredible and surprising blessings into our lives.. He created good works for us to walk in and knows the very day we will walk in each of them. Who knows what God may do in your life today?

If you're suffering, take comfort in this - God knew the day your trial began and he has a day for your suffering to end, just like he did with Israel. God knows the exact length of your affliction down to the hour and minute. Who knows? Your misery could end this morning. Today could be the last day of your distress. But even though you don't know how long you must endure, rejoice that God knows. Your grief won't last one minute more than he wills.

Don't give up.

Keep asking God for all you need and trust the timing to him. Keep asking him to help you, change you, heal you, deliver you. He has a day for you.

God Loves You, But Does He Like You?

2008-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered if God really likes you? Because you're a John 3:16-believing Christian you know that God loves you, but does he like you? We all have people in our lives that we "love" but that we struggle to like. You know the sort I'm talking about. Maybe it's that relative who always has horrendous breath and insists on carrying on a conversation six inches from your face. Maybe it's that person in the church who feels compelled to offer "constructive criticism" on everything you do. Maybe it's a young punk in the church like me who likes to listen to their music at ear-bleeding decibel levels. All of us have people that we love as Christians, yet struggle to like.

At times we often wonder if God feels the same way about us. Of course we know he loves us, because, after all, God is love. But does he really like us? Does he enjoy it when we come to him in prayer? Is he really glad that he saved us? Or does he just put up with us?

Zephaniah 3:17 speaks very clearly to this. It says, "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." Do you realize that God is singing over you? He so delights in you, so loves, so "likes" you, that he's singing a song over you. God is singing a loud, joyful, cheerful, happy song over you. God doesn't just tolerate you, he REJOICES over you! He's glad that he saved you. The moment you came to Christ, all of heaven burst into celebration.

God loves you, and he likes you. Why does God love you? Because he sees you clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. When God looks at you, he doesn't see your sinful wickedness, he sees Jesus' righteousness. And when he sees you wrapped in these robes of righteousness, it causes him to sing.

As you go about your day, remember that there's a soundtrack to your life. God is loudly singing over you because he loves you - and he also likes you.

Free Scripture Memory Song

2008-01-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

In a previous post I said that we would be giving away some scripture memory songs to help you grow in memorizing scripture. Today we're making good on our promise and giving away another scripture song. Today's verse is Psalm 30:4-5.

Click here to download the song.

We would like to give this away to as many people as possible, so please pass the word around!

Is Anybody Home?

2008-01-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

When the storms of life strike with fury it can seem like God has turned on his answering machine and dozed off.

We can doubt if he hears our prayers. Does God really know how bad we have it? We may think Hey, we're suffering down here - is there anybody up there?

The Israelites probably felt like that. They groaned under the whip of Egyptian thugs and cried out to God for rescue. But they received no answer. The heavens must have seemed like brass. Could God see them suffering? Was he off running the universe with no time for them? Was anybody home?

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. Exodus 2:23-25

This passage tells us 4 things to remember in our trials.

First of all, God heard.

Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to him. He heard their prayers. He wasn't tuned out, listening to his iPod. He wasn't distant and uninterested, but nearby and attentive. Not only did God hear their cries, he heard their groaning. What a wonderful God we have - he hears not only our prayers, but our sighs and inarticulate groans. Just as a father hears the groans of his suffering child and has compassion, so does God hear our groans with pity. We should never think God doesn't listen to our prayers. The God who heard Jonah's cry from the whale's belly and Israel's cry in Egyptian slavery hears us. The Lord who collects our tears in his bottle hears our every whispered request.

Secondly, God remembered.

He remembered his covenant. Not that God had forgotten it. But he remembered his covenant with intent to act upon it. God remembers his covenant that he made with his children through Christ. He remembers his promises to never stop doing good to us. He recalls his promise to work all things for our good. He remembers his promise to never leave us nor forsake us. If Christ has saved you, never ever think that God has forgotten you.

Third, God saw.

He saw the Egyptian bullies beating his children. If I saw someone picking on one of my kids, I'd be on it like a hawk on a field mouse. Nothing in all creation is hidden from his gaze. God has his eye on your suffering and has compassion on you. He's not asleep. He sees the sparrows in your back yard. How much more does he see you, the apple of his eye, his child through Christ.

Lastly, God knew.

He knew what was happening. And he knew what he was going to do. He knew he would bring Egypt to its knees and deliver Israel with a mighty hand. God looks at you and knows. He knows what you're facing in infinite detail. And he knows exactly how he's going to help you. He knows the second your troubles began and the second he will stop them.

God hears, remembers, sees and knows. Cry out to him today. He's waiting to help.

I'm In Serious Trouble

2008-01-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've recently been reading the book The Gospel For Real Life by Jerry Bridges and have found my heart stirred with fresh love for God. Listen to this quote:

Have you ever thought about what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? I don't think any of us can fully plumb the depths of that commandment, but here are some obvious aspects:

_Your love for God transcends all other desires (see Exodus 20:3)

_Like David, you long to gaze upon His beauty and seek fellowship with Him (see Psalm 27:4)

_You rejoice in meditating on His Word, and like Jesus, you rise early to pray (see Psalm 119:97, Mark 1:35)

_You always delight to do His will, regardless of how difficult it may be (see Psalm 40:8)

_A regard for His glory governs and motivates everything you do - your eating and drinking, your working and playing, your buying and selling, your reading and speaking, and, dare I mention it, even your driving (see 1 Corinthians 10:31)

_You are never discouraged or frustrated by adverse circumstances because you are confident God is working all things together for your good (see Romans 8:28)

_You recognize His sovereignty in every event of your life and consequently receive both success and failure from His hand (see 1 Samuel 2:7, Psalm 75:6-7)

_You are always content because you know He will never leave you or forsake you (see Hebrews 13:5)

_The first petition in the Lord's prayer, "hallowed be your name," is the most important prayer you pray (see Matthew 6:9)

After reading this I was freshly made aware of one very serious fact: There's no way I could ever get to God based on my obedience. Have I ever obeyed the first and greatest command of God for even thirty seconds? Have I ever loved God with every ounce of energy and passion in my soul? I don't think so. Even my best spiritual moments are distracted and half-hearted at best. I've incurred a spiritual debt to God that I'll never be able to pay. I owe God perfect obedience, yet I've never even payed Him one cent of what I owe. I'm in desperate need of a savior.

How grateful I am for Jesus Christ, who paid every last bit of my spiritual debt! Today I'm free from this debt because Jesus did love God with all his heart, soul, and mind. He's my only hope, my only salvation. Which brings to mind the words:

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

The C.J. Mahaney Project

2008-01-04T09:06:00.000-05:00

C.J. Mahaney is one of my favorite preachers. In addition to being a phenomenal speaker, he is also a hilarious storyteller. In light of this, I recently downloaded all 70 C.J. Mahaney messages from the Sovereign Grace Ministries website in an effort to find the funniest of C.J.'s stories. I then hope to bring all the stories together into one simple location. Here's a story I found yesterday in a message entitled The Idol Factory.

You can listen to or download the story by clicking here.

UPDATE: I received this very insightful email from Bob Kauflin (who has worked very closely with C.J. for years) regarding C.J.'s use of humor in sermons.

Just saw your post on putting CJ’s funny stories together. What a great idea! I thought it might be helpful though if you emphasized that CJ isn’t just funny to be funny. He uses humor selectively to build rapport with those who are listening, humble himself, and especially to illustrate a particular point of the passage. He doesn’t use it as much as he used to so that his humor doesn’t detract from the text. I think those are important points that could help people understand WHY he chooses to use humor. Then the illustrations become a teaching tool. CJ’s use of humor also helps people apply truth to their lives and grow in their discernment. So different from the way humor is often used!

Excellent points indeed. Keep these in mind as you listen to C.J. tell hilarious stories.

Why We Shouldn't Quit Praying

2008-01-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Puritan preacher John Flavel says that it is exceedingly pleasant to see God's providential answers to prayer that come long after we have given up any hope or expectation of an answer (though we should never give up). Job had given up any expectation of better days. Jacob had given up any expectation of ever seeing Joseph again, yet God providentially answered their prayers which they had given up hoping for.

"Cast your bread on the waters, for you shall find it after many days." Ecclesiastes 11:1.

It may be many days before our bread comes back to us - it may be many days before our prayers are answered. But God encourages us to keeping casting our bread on the waters. The promise is that we SHALL FIND IT. And we shall find it AFTER MANY DAYS. So keep casting your prayers upon God. Don't' quit hoping for an answer. It may take a long time, but God will be faithful.

My mother had rheumatoid arthritis for 16 years. We prayed fervently for her in the beginning, laying hands on her and anointing her with oil. But I must sadly admit that after a while, I grew less expectant and less frequent in my prayers for her.

One day Mom became so ill her doctor sent her to the hospital, her potassium levels completely out of whack. He told her she would have to go off all her medications, including those she was taking for rheumatoid arthritis, until they got her stabilized. She was fearful about stopping but had no other choice. After a few days the doctors finally got Mom's potassium levels back to normal. By that time she was feeling so good she decided not to resume her arthritis medication. She never had to take it again. God healed her. Her doctor told her that she was in remission - he wouldn't call it a healing - but he did say that it was rare for a woman in her 70's with rheumatoid arthritis to suddenly go into remission. God answered our prayers that we had prayed 16 years earlier but had given up hope of ever seeing answered.

Don't stop casting your bread on the waters, for you SHALL find it after many days. Don't quit praying for God's kingdom to come. Don't stop praying for your children, relatives and friends to be saved. Never cease interceding for persecuted saints. Don't stop asking God to heal people. Don't stop casting your cares upon the Lord, for he cares for you.

The more bread we cast on the waters, the more will eventually return to us. The more prayers we lift to the Lord, the more he will eventually answer. It may be many days, or many years, but somehow, every crumb we cast on the waters will come back to us. That's God's promise.

Making A Spiritual Plan

2008-01-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

I said on Tuesday that my goal for 2008 was to share the gospel with more people than I did in 2007. Easier said than done. I've made these types of resolutions in the past and haven't always followed through with them. After hearing a convicting sermon on the importance of evangelism I get myself all ramped up to go out and start a small revival in my town. I envision myself confidently sharing the gospel with strangers and them falling at my feet crying out, "What must I do to be saved?" I imagine myself walking into Starbuck's and hearing one employee say to another, "Boy, I wish someone could tell me how to get to heaven." But it never works out this way. Evangelism is hard, and the constant presence of the fear of man and selfishness doesn't make it any easier. That's why I need a plan of attack. My plan for 2008 has two parts:

Plan to pray

The simple truth is, I'm never going to change apart from the supernatural help of God. I can't change on my own. I'm too weak, too sinful, to easily discouraged. I need the power of God Himself. And so I plan on praying regularly that God would do two things. First, I'll be praying that He gives me opportunities to share the gospel. I'll be praying that God opens many doors for me to proclaim the message of salvation. Second, and perhaps even more important, I'll be praying for courage to take those opportunities. I'll be pleading with God for Spurgeon-like boldness to share the gospel. I need doors, and I need courage to step through those doors.

Plan to plan

Sharing the gospel also takes a certain amount of strategic planning. If I'm going to grow in evangelism, I need to plan on spending time with non-Christians. This planning isn't anything fancy. I won't be going out to Staples and purchasing a new PDA to help me with this strategic planning. All I need is a cellphone and a calendar. I'll pick up my cellphone, call a non-Christian friend, and ask him if he wants to go to lunch. When he says yes, I'll then write down the date in my calendar. Then I'll return to step one, and plan to pray. Evangelism requires a plan.

I'm glad I've got a plan, but my hope for change isn't ultimately in my plan. It's in God Himself. God is eager to help me change. He's eager to help me grow evangelism. He wants to see sinners saved even more than I do. So my hope rests not in the plan, but in God. May He receive all the glory.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some phone calls to make.

Deal Biblically with Regrets

2008-01-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

There are places I remember

All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
--In My Life by the Beatles

These lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney capture the poignancy of looking back over the years and fondly reminiscing. The beginning of a new year often finds me replaying scenes from my life. Sometimes I can experience a pang of regret over past sins, failures and mistakes. Ever happen to you? Praise God who has given his children a biblical way to deal with regrets.

First of all, the Cross covers all our sins and failures

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

God knew about every sin we'd commit before he created us. And he sent his Son to pay for every one of these offenses on the cross. Because God punished all our sins in Christ, no punishment remains for believers. So if you feel condemnation for sins in your past, you must regularly remind yourself that Jesus Christ took that condemnation and there's none left for you.

Think of Peter. He denied Jesus 3 times. He could have struggled with regret and condemnation for the rest of his life. Then there's Paul. He stood by and approved of Stephen’s murder. He sanctioned other murders. He yanked Christians out of their homes and threw them in jail. Yet Paul said there's no condemnation.

If God doesn't condemn us, then we must not condemn ourselves. Maybe you say, "I know that God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself." This is an insult to God. Do you have a higher standard than God? Was the blood of Jesus not enough to take care of your sins? If God doesn't condemn us, then who are we to condemn ourselves? Despite the way we feel, we must stand on God's word not our feelings. If God says I'm not condemned, I'm not, no matter how I feel.

Secondly, God is sovereign over all our sins and mistakes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

God works ALL things together for good, including our sins. God is in no way responsible for our sins, for he's not the author of sin. But God is sovereign over all our sins and failures. Somehow even these fall under the umbrella of his plan for our lives. Not even our sins can thwart his good intention for us. Joseph's boasting of his dreams to his brothers was immature and unwise, but it was part of God's strategy to get him to Egypt. Joseph even recognized how God used his brothers' sins to accomplish his purpose. He said to them:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20).

David committed adultery with Bathsheba.Their first child died, but their second son, the son of a marriage that began with adultery, was Solomon, one of Israel's greatest kings. Excessive regret is an insult to God’s sovereignty, because by it we are saying that our sins are too hard for God to turn to good. So instead of dwelling on your regrets, praise God for his mighty power to work all things for good.

Thirdly, forget the past and press on

...one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

If anyone could have looked back with regret, it was Paul, for he had hated Christ and persecuted the church. Yet he constantly put the past behind and looked to Christ. Constantly looking back with regret will not change anything. Forget the past, unless it motivates you to change in the present. Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.

In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, a master demon advises his pupil to preoccupy his "temptee" either with the past or the future, but never the present. Satan would have us live in sadness for the past or fear and anxiety about the future - anything but focusing on Christ and his will for us today. The past is gone and most of our worries about the future won't happen, so focus on knowing, loving and obeying Jesus now.

Deal biblically with your regrets. Reject condemnation, rejoice in God's sovereignty, and press on, trusting Christ for the grace for this day.

My New Year's Resolution

2008-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

Okay, I think I've figured out my New Year's resolution. Actually, 'resolution' isn't the right word. It's more like, my 2008 spiritual goal. My goal for the year 2008 is (cue drum roll and semi-angelic sounding choir in the background): hang out with Christians less!

I need to explain this one. I've noticed that I hang out almost exclusively with Christians. I go to church with Christians. After church I play basketball with fellow Christian jocks. I go out for lunch with Christians, watch movies with Christians, and write blog posts to help Christians. Rarely do I find myself in the company of non-Christians. In fact, I don't even like hanging out with non-Christians that much. I would much rather hang out in my comfortable little Christian bubble, where everybody smiles and music by Steven Curtis Chapman is always on in the background. I'm a selfish Christian.

This really needs to change. I've been changed, radically changed, by the message of the gospel. God found me, saved me, changed me, cleansed me, freed me, and is sanctifying me by the power of the gospel. I must share this glorious, life-changing, soul-saving, God-glorifying message with others. I can't be silent when millions of people around me are on the fast-track to a blistering eternity in hell. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. It's a powerful, explosive, life-changing message. Oh how I want to share that power with others!

And so by God's grace I'll share the gospel with more people in 2008 than I did in 2007. By God's grace I'll spend less time hanging out with Christians and more time hanging out with those who don't know Jesus.

I like Steven Curtis Chapman, but I'm ready for a different soundtrack this year. It's time to bust my bubble.

What's your spiritual goal for 2008?

My Favorite New Year's Lists

2007-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Have you made your list of New Year's Resolutions yet?

Here's my list: To consume massive quantities of potato chips and junk food. To eliminate physical activity altogether. To watch at least 40 hours of TV a week, concentrating on professional wrestling. Please do not try these things at home - they're best left to experts like me.

The death list

One list I find interesting is the list of celebrities and notable people who died the past year. Here is a list of some well-known people who died in 2007. A couple of these people might only be of interest to former rock stars like me. A few were well-known Christians. But all stepped into eternity in 2007.

January 8 - Yvonne De Carlo, actress (Lily, the mother on the "Munsters"). I loved this show as a kid.
Jan 19 - Denny Doherty, founding member and lead singer of The Mamas and the Papas. They had great harmonies.
Feb 13 - Bruce Metzger, Bible scholar and translator who supervised the 1990 New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
March 9 - Brad Delp, lead singer of band Boston ("More Than a Feeling")
March 31 - Liz Claiborne, fashion designer
April 23 - Boris Yeltsin, former Russian President
May 15 - Rev. Jerry Falwell, Founder and Chancellor of Liberty University
May 17 - Lloyd Alexander, writer of fantasy novels "The Chronicles of Prydain"
June 14 - Ruth Graham, wife of Rev. Billy Graham
June 21 - Bob Evans, founder of Bob Evans Restaurant chain
July 11 - Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, former First Lady of the United States 1963-1969
July 20 - Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner, fomer wife of TV preacher Jim Bakker
July 30 - Bill Walsh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers
August 12 - Merv Griffin, talk show host, creator of TV game shows "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune"
September 6 - Luciano Pavoratti, Italian tenor
September 6 - Madeleine L'Engle, author of children's fiction, notably, A Wrinkle in Time
September 22 - Marcel Marceau, well-known mime
November 27 - Sean Taylor, safety for the Washington Redskins, age 24
November 30 - Evil Knievel, famous motorcycle daredevil
December 12 - Ike Turner, former husband of Tina Turner, who sang "Proud Mary" with her

Jonathan Edwards' list

Jonathan Edwards made a list of 70 resolutions. They are worth reading. Here's one of them:

Resolution #9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

You may be thinking, Hey, what's up with all the talk about dying? Happy New Year to you too, Mark. Can we think about something less morbid? Actually, the Bible tells us it's good to think about dying.

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Contemplating our finiteness produces wisdom and humility. Psalm 90 contrasts puny man to the Infinite Ageless One. How can we not be humbled when we compare ourselves who are like grass of the field to the Timeless One, to whom a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years like a day?

A list of things you'd like people to say about you at your funeral

Contemplating our death brings into sharp focus what is truly important in life. I once read that when setting goals for your life you should write a list of things you'd like people to say about you at your funeral. Now that's a good list. I've written that list from time to time. What would I like my wife Kristi to say about me at my funeral? What do I hope my children will say? What would I want my Christian brothers and sisters to say?

I have a list of about 20 things I hope my family and friends will say about me at my funeral party. I hope they celebrate, because I'll be celebrating before the throne of my Savior! Anyway, my list does NOT include anything about what I accomplished in life or any talents I had. I don't want my kids to say, "My dad sure was successful" (I don't think that's likely) or Kristi to say, "Mark was incredible at home maintenance" (no chance of that). I hope my kids will say things like, "My dad really loved Jesus." Or, "My dad sure was a lot of fun." I hope Kristi can say things like, "Mark was a humble man." I hope.

When you think about dying, it helps you focus on what's truly important. What really matters is glorifying God. I encourage you to write your own list of things you'd like people to say about you at your funeral. May it stir you to godliness. Happy New Year!

Changes to The Blazing Center

2007-12-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is a public service announcement, informing you of several changes to The Blazing Center.

_Our web address has officially been changed to www.theblazingcenter.com. For those of you who have linked to us using our old address of http://blazingcenter.blogspot.com, DO NOT BE ALARMED. The old link will work as well.

_We've added a Blazing Center highlight reel to our sidebar. Each week the highlight reel will feature five past posts. This will allow you to find older posts that might encourage you in your faith.

Thank you for your time. This has been a public service announcement.

How To Make New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well folks, it's about that time of year when we start making our New Year's resolutions. We promise ourselves that this is the year that we're going to start exercising, quit eating junk food, watch less TV, read more, eat more fruit, get in shape, run a marathon, write a book, get our pilot's license, learn German, stop eating salami at 2 a.m., and learn how to play the tuba. Or, on a deeper level, we vow to read our Bible more, pray more, and memorize at least fifty scripture verses. But we all know how these resolutions go. On January 1st we're going strong, starting off the day with a brisk run and a long devotional time. On January second we run sort of briskly and have a semi-distracted devotional time. On January 3rd we walk once around the block and don't have any time for devotions because we slept in. Why did we sleep in? Salami at 2 a.m.

So how do we make and keep New Year's resolutions? More importantly, how do we make and keep New Year's resolutions in a way that pleases God? Here's a few ways:

1. Make Them Prayerfully

If we're going to change for the glory of God, it must be by the power of God. Without God's supernatural power at work within us, all change will be superficial and pointless. We need God to help us identify the areas where change is necessary, and then give us the power to change. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." God has prepared good works for us to walk in. Let's ask Him to lead us into these good works this year.

2. Check Your Motives

1 Corinthians 10:35 says, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." The ultimate goal of all New Year's resolutions should be the glory of God. When considering areas of change, ask yourself, "Why do I want to change in this area?" When I was younger I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Was it so I could serve the church by leading worship? Nope. So I could be in a kickin' rock band and be adored by hordes of screaming fans who desperately wanted my autograph. You might say my motives weren't 100% pure. If we're to please God, our New Year's resolutions must be made for His glory.

3. Involve Others

God-honoring growth happens in the context of community. Hebrews 3:13 says, "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." If we're going to grow spiritually we need others to exhort and encourage us. Get other people involved in your New Year's resolutions. Ask those close to you to point out the areas you need to grow, and then have them hold you accountable in those areas. Growth is a community project.

4. Remember The Savior

Our spiritual growth contributes absolutely nothing to our salvation. We are saved once and for all by the perfect life and sacrificial death of Christ. God won't love me any more if I memorize 100 scriptures or share the gospel with all my neighbors. I am secure in the love of God because Jesus Christ died in my place. Deserving has nothing to do with it. As you make your New Year's resolutions, remember Jesus Christ.

This list is by no means exhaustive. If you have any more thoughts on how to make New Year's resolutions for the glory of God, please share them.

You May be Surprised

2007-12-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Who knows what surprises a year may hold?

I just reviewed my journals from this past year and I could never have imagined some of the things God did in my life in 2007. At the end of 2006 I had no inkling of the blessings and challenges 2007 would hold for me. Here are a few of the surprises God sprang on me:

My first grandchild, Charis was born on September 4. I sure didn't expect to become a grandpa this past year! This would have been blessing enough, but God did more:

Sovereign Grace Music unexpectedly blessed my son Stephen and me by having us record a CD of our songs. I suppose Sovereign Grace figured that if Bob Dylan could make it with his voice, maybe there was hope for me.

God connected me with a friend I hadn't seen in 20 years. My friend told me he'd been battling cancer and had begun reading the Bible. This year he gave his life to the Lord and is now running hard after Christ. I had the privilege of baptizing him earlier this month.

God gave me the opportunity to pray with the brother of one of our secretaries to receive the Lord on his deathbed.

The Lord had me meet a graduate student from Japan in a local coffeeshop. He knew little about Christ, but was interested in meeting weekly to read through the gospel of John together. We've met 4 times so far.

These are just a few ways God surprised me in 2007. There were also some unexpected sad and painful trials too. But in both sunshine and rain, God has been faithful and good to me.

Who knows what a year may hold? God does.

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Isaiah 46:9-10)

God knows the end from the beginning. From ancient times he knew what he would accomplish in 2007. He knows what he has in store for his children this coming year. Nothing surprises him, for he is working all of history and all the details of our lives for his glory. God will use both blessings and trials to make us more like Christ.

No one can thwart God's good plans for us. No one can throw our Heavenly Father a curve ball. His counsel will stand and he will accomplish all he has purposed.

Christ has many wonderful surprises in store for us. He has bags and bags of grace he's waiting to lavish upon us. We should look forward to 2008 with anticipation. If God wills and we live, we have another year to get to know Christ more, to taste and see his goodness. Another year to serve, bless, and encourage others. Another year to seek to advance the gospel. Another year to bear fruit and become more like Christ.

And should this be the year the Lord calls us home, what could be better than being with him and seeing him face to face?

Praise God who holds 2008 in his hands!

photo by Beth Altrogge

Altrogge Family Christmas

2007-12-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

What happens during the Altrogge family Christmas? Here's the inside scoop, including exclusive photos. We'll start on Christmas Eve and make our way to Christmas day.

Christmas Eve

_Jen and I woke up at the leisurely hour of 8:00 am. I, of course, immediately began making industrial strength coffee.

_While drinking our coffee, we read Psalm 103 together, which helped us to remember God's extraordinary kindness to us. We then spent time thanking God for all the ways He's blessed us.

_After devotional time was Boggle time. Jen and I love playing Boggle against each other on the computer. In one 3 minute round I set a world record, finding 48 words. I'm considering going pro. If you would like to sponsor me please email me.

_At one o'clock in the afternoon we went and saw a movie with my family, which is a longstanding Altrogge tradition. We saw the movie 'National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets'. If you liked the first one, you might like this one, because they're exactly the same. Nicholas Cage solves more historical puzzles, gets chased by more blood-thirsty bad-guys, finds another really big treasure, and delivers his lines with all the personality of a piece of bark.

_Christmas Eve dinner was at my parents house, and let me say, it was one for the ages. We went a little non-traditional this year and had steak. Best decision my parents ever made. It might have been my favorite Christmas Eve dinner ever (except for the one we ate at McDonald's)

_Presents were exchanged between Altrogge family members. Jen and I made out like bandits. Highlight of the night: when my younger brother Jonny gave us his really nice digital camera.

Christmas Day:

_Woke at 8 am, made coffee. Instead of filling each other's stockings with candy, Jen and I gave each other letters this year.

_After the letters we moved in on the presents. Jen gave me a suh-weet hat that has lumberjack written all over it. She also gave me a book, a small accessory for my XBox, and a beautiful calendar filled with pictures she had taken of our family over the past year. I gave her some slippers, a Starbuck's mug, a new bag, and a Willow Tree figure. It was a great Christmas.

_We went over to Jen's parents for a fantabulous (a word meaning both fantastic and fabulous simultaneously) Christmas lunch, and some more wonderful gifts from her parents. Both of us have such generous parents!

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. Here's some pictures:

What if Christ Had Never Been Born?

2007-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching "It's a Wonderful Life."
It's one of my favorite movies. At one point, the protagonist, George Bailey wishes he'd never been born and an "angel", Clarence, grants him that wish. George gets the opportunity to see how much good he'd done in his life, how many people he'd touched, and how different his town would be had he never existed.

What if Christ had never been born?

If Christ had never been born, the light of the world would never have come - we'd all still be walking in darkness, without God and without hope in the world. There would be no gospel, no good news. Jesus would not have died on the cross. There would be no forgiveness of sins, no justification by grace. There would be no Mediator between God and man. There would be no Great High Priest interceding for us. We'd still be enslaved to our passions and lusts, hating and being hated. We'd still be dead in our sins. And millions who are now in heaven would be in hell.

There would be no Christianity. There would be no Church. No books by Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards or C.S. Lewis. No Puritans to encourage us. No Billy Graham, Hudson Taylor or Amy Carmichael. No teachings from John Piper, R.C. Sproul, or C.J. Mahaney. No pastors to care for our souls. No brothers and sisters to encourage us.

There would have been no William Wilberforce to fight against slavery in England. No Randy Alcorn to speak out against abortion.

There would be no hymns or worship songs to sing. No songs by Isaac Watts or John Newton. No "Amazing Grace," no "Mighty Fortress", no "Crown Him with Many Crowns." No Christmas songs - no "Joy to the World" or "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." There would be no worship songs by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Paul Baloche or Tim Hughes. Nothing by Starfield, Indelible Grace, or Phil Wickham.

There would be no Covenant Mercies, Compassion or Samaritan's Purse. Hundreds of Christian charitable organizations wouldn't exist. Thousands of orphanages would never have been built. There would be no Salvation Army. No Open Doors or Voice of the Martyrs.

And how different would your life be had Christ never been born? Oh, I am so thankful Jesus came to earth. I'm so thankful he lived and died and rescued me from my sins. Why not take a moment right now to praise our Heavenly Father for sending his One and only Son into the world.

Merry Christmas!

Beating The Post-Christmas Blues

2007-12-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever come down with a nasty case of the post-Christmas blues? You know the kind I'm talking about. It's two o'clock on Christmas day, you're sitting in your living room surrounded by approximately 2.4 miles of wrapping paper, and you start to get this sinking feeling. You slowly begin to realize that Christmas wasn't all you thought it was going to be. You got some nice gifts, ate some suh-weet food, and got a slight tear in your eye when you watched "It's a Wonderful Life", although you never would acknowledge that you were actually crying. But in spite of all this it seems like a let-down.

Christmas is the season of hype. At 12:01 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving, malls put up Christmas decorations, radio stations begin playing Christmas carols, and Old Navy begins selling jeans for 70% off. Everywhere you look somebody is telling you that they can satisfy you. Get an HD TV and you'll be happy. Get your wife diamond earrings and she'll love you forever (or until next Christmas). Get a new cellphone that makes phone calls, plays music, makes espresso, and acts as a personal trainer and you'll finally find some satisfaction.

But when Christmas day comes and goes and all the gifts are unwrapped, it feels really hollow. Why? Because it is really hollow. Empty, shallow, a facade, whatever you want to call it. We get the Christmas blues when we place our hope and joy in these things.

So how do you give the Christmas blues a big kick in the pants? Follow the advice of the Psalmist. In Psalm 43:4 we read, "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you..." Do you want to avoid feeling deflated after Christmas? Go to God your exceeding joy. Be very intentional about finding your deepest and sweetest joy in God himself. Don't look for joy in family, friends, presents, Christmas dinner, or anything else. Find your joy in God.

How do you do this? Here's one practical suggestion. At some point on Christmas, spend time with God, your exceeding joy. If you can, spend some personal time reading God's word and praying. As you spend time with God, you'll find yourself refreshed and filled with the joy that only God can give.

Don't let the Christmas blues rule you on Christmas. Go to God, your exceeding joy, and find true satisfaction.

What to Do with Your Unsaved Relatives this Christmas

2007-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Many of us have unsaved relatives that we see infrequently, or only once a year at Christmas.

What if they're not open to the gospel? Maybe they're downright opposed to Christ. What if God has yet to open a door to share the good news with them? What's a believer to do? Here are some suggestions.

1. Pray

Before they come, pray that the Lord would open doors for the gospel and give you an opportunity to share it with them. Ask the Lord for a sincere love for them, the grace serve them and that they would see Christ in you.

2. Serve

I can easily sink into a selfish malaise at family gatherings, especially after meals. I find myself lying on the couch drifting into oblivion or staring comatose-like at the television. By God's grace, what I try to do is to look for opportunities to serve. It may be something as simple as clearing the table or doing dishes. Unbelievers are watching us. Let our goal be to show them Christ, who did not come to be served but to serve and give his life for others.

3. Serve their Children

Before family get-togethers I have often told my kids that our goal for the evening is to try to make sure our relatives have the best time they possibly can, especially their children. Serve your relatives' children, and encourage your children to serve their children. For many years after our Thanksgiving meal with relatives, I would do a Christmas craft with all the kids. We'd make Christmas ornaments with Play Dough or 3-d Christmas trees out of construction paper, glitter and beads.

Remember, Jesus welcomed children, blessed them, and said that when we receive a child in his name we receive him.

4. Take an Interest in Them

Seek to take a sincere interest in your relatives. Ask them about their jobs, hobbies and interests. Ask them what kind of Christmas traditions they had as kids. Ask them about their favorite childhood Christmas presents or memories. Ask them about their health if you are aware of any problems. You could offer to pray for them if it seems appropriate.

Look to the interests of others as Christ looked to our interests.

Let your light shine

The whole goal is to "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 5:16). Perhaps God will give you the opportunity to share the gospel with them. If not this Christmas, maybe next. Keep praying for their salvation. Who knows, God may do something in the future that will make them open to the good news of Jesus Christ.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or ways that you have found to love, bless and show Christ to your relatives. Thanks.

Taking A Blessings Inventory

2007-12-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

When was the last time you took a blessings inventory? I recently found myself sitting in my living room, feeling sorry for myself because of some unexpected expenses which were going to cramp my Christmas style. In other words, I wasn't going to be able to buy and get as much stuff this year. And then I took a look around my living room and realized what a pudding-headed blockhead I was, and sadly, how ungrateful I was. I was sitting in the lap of luxury, surrounded by countless, undeserved blessings, and I was feeling sorry for myself. It was time to do a blessings inventory. Here's some of the things I came up with:

Salvation:
The sweetest of all blessings, the deepest of all mercies. I was once an enemy of God, now I'm His child. He has sought me out and drawn me to Himself. He has washed me in the blood of His precious Son and clothed me in robes of righteousness. I'm forgiven and free. I've been brought into a soul-satisfying relationship with the Creator of the universe. What else do I need to be happy?

My wife Jen:
I have the most wonderful wife in the universe. She loves Jesus and serves Him with all her heart. She cares for me, and cares for our daughter with the deepest affection. She's full of joy and always willing to laugh at my utterly stupid jokes. She beats me at Boggle...sometimes. I don't deserve her.

My daughter Charis:
Not only do I have the most wonderful wife, I also have the sweetest daughter. She's three month's old, bald, cuter than the cutest thing you can think of, and smiles a lot. She makes my heart happy. Undeserved blessing.

My job:
I can go to work every single day and make sums of money that would make 2/3 of the world jealous. My job allows me to provide food and clothes for my family. My job allows me to get good health care, and to buy coffee at Starbuck's. I don't deserve a job.

My health:
By God's grace, I'm a pretty healthy guy. The illnesses I deal with are nothing compared to what many people endure. I deal with colds, they deal with cancer. I deal with a sore back, they deal with paralysis. I deal with allergies, they deal with blindness. I deserve terrible health, but instead God has given me good health.

My house:
I live in a house that's full of furniture, has a comfortable bed, and has a large television. I stay warm in the winter. I take hot showers and watch football games. I invite friends over to play XBox 360. I deserve to be on the streets with no home, no warmth, and no friends. Instead I find myself living in luxury.

This list could go on, and should include my church, my friends, my family, coffee, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Christmas Trees, email, and a thousand other blessings. Even if there wasn't a single present under my tree this year, I should be happy. I'm blessed beyond measure. God has been good to this wicked sinner.

When was the last time you took a blessings inventory? If you find yourself feeling ungrateful, now's the time to do it.

If I Became a Garden Slug

2007-12-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

When you say Incarnation think humiliation.

Christmas is about Christ humbling himself to rescue sinners. The Infinite One clothed himself in dust. The Mighty One wrapped himself in weakness.

I don't like to be humbled. Which is why CJ Mahaney says it's good to play golf - it humbles most of us.

Once a number of my friends and I went golfing on a rainy day. I'm not a golfer - I went to hang out with my buddies. I did terribly all day. I think my friends quit keeping my score on the second hole. By the last hole I was exasperated. I said, "I'm going to smash this ball as hard as I can. It's going the whole way to the hole in one stroke."

I ratcheted the club back farther and farther, discs in my back popping. Then I swung. The club hummed louder and louder as it cut through the air, finally breaking the sound barrier. Then the head of the club plowed into the turf a full foot in front of the ball, launching a basketball-sized divot into the atmosphere. The powerful torque generated by my aborted swing sent my feet arcing into the air. I hung there suspended between heaven and earth for a full minute, then came crashing down in the wet grass on my back, my arms and legs flailing like a tipped cow. My friends erupted into wild shrieks of laughter, squealing like stuck pigs. "I wish I had a video camera," one howled, "I'd be $10,000 richer." Any vestiges of pride, honor and dignity that I had were stripped away in one humiliating moment.

Christ's humiliation was infinite.

Christ's humiliation is vastly different from any humiliation we experience. When we're humbled, we really don't have all that far to fall. If I became a garden slug, it wouldn't compare to Christ's humiliation because he was infinitely exalted above all his creation.

Christ's humiliation was willing.

I don't gravitate toward humiliation. I don't wake up saying, "I hope something humiliating happens to me today." Jesus chose humiliation because it was his Father's will. In Hebrews 10:7 Jesus says, "Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book."

The Father's will was for Jesus to take on flesh and be subject to human parents. The Father's will was for Jesus to be misunderstood, mocked and rejected. The Father's will was to crush Jesus (Is 53:10). Jesus delighted in all his Father's will. He said "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." He "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant...he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Php 2.7-8).

Christ took on a human body subject to hunger, thirst, and weariness. He readily embraced the whip, the crown of thorns, the nails, and the wrath of God. He didn't run the other way like Jonah. He didn't try to excuse himself like Moses. He didn't try to protect himself like Peter. He was eager and willing to be humiliated.

I want to imitate Christ.

I want to willingly take on lowly tasks for the Lord. I want to eagerly serve when it's inconvenient. If Christ willingly humbled himself, I want to willingly humble myself for him.

Free Scripture Memory Resource

2007-12-19T07:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we gave away a free scripture song as a tool for memorizing scripture. The link to this free song will be available in the links section of the site. Look for more of these free giveaways in the upcoming weeks.

If you are interested in getting the CD that this song came from, you can go to www.ForeverGratefulMusic.com

3 Reasons To Memorize Scripture

2007-12-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

If the spiritual disciplines were personal hygiene, then scripture memorization would be like flossing. We know we should do it, we know it's good for us, but we still don't do it. Why don't we memorize scripture? Here's my guess: because it's work. It takes some serious effort to get those words off the index card and into our rather dense brains. So why should we even bother memorizing scripture? If it's so much work, why make the effort. Here's why:

1. For our holiness

Psalm 119:11 says, " I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." The word of God is a sin-killing sword. The Holy Spirit uses scripture to help us put our sin to death and overcome temptation. However, it's very rare that I have my Bible sitting next to me when temptation comes my way. And so I must memorize scripture for the purpose of holiness. I must fight the promises of sin with the superior promises of God - promises like Psalm 16:11, which says, "...in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." The Holy Spirit uses scriptures we've hidden in our hearts to help us overcome sin.

2. For our happiness

Each day we will face some degree of trouble. Some days the troubles will be minor, like a flat tire, or a bad performance review at work, or an unexpected bill. Other days the trouble will be massive, like the death of a parent, or the discovery of cancer, or a major marital conflict. The word of God is what sustains us, and gives us joy and peace in the midst of trouble. If we want to honor God in our trials, we must memorize promises like Romans 8:28, which says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." You will face troubles, I promise you that. Ready yourself for the storm by memorizing God's word.

3. For our prayers

The promises of God are fuel for passionate prayers. When we pray we should in a sense argue with God, presenting to Him the promises He's given as ground for our prayers. For example, when I pray for someone to be saved, I can plead 2 Peter 3:9, which says that God is patient, "...not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." God Himself has told me that He does not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I can plead this verse to God, presenting it to Him as a reason for saving an unbeliever. No one I know models this better than my dad. His prayers are laced with the faith-building promises of God. Why? Because he's hidden the word of God in his heart.

So now we get to the tough part. How do we memorize scripture? I've tried a number of different methods in the past and one has worked far better then all the rest: mixing scripture with music. Music empowers the memory. God has created music in such a way that it gets stuck in our head. We hear a burger jingle and walk around humming it for the rest of the day. Music sticks.

Over the years my dad has taken hundreds of scriptures and put them to music, for the purpose of helping people memorize scripture. We want you to memorize scripture so much that we're going to be giving away some of these for free. To get today's free scripture (1 Thess. 5:9-10 ESV) song, simply click here.

I would suggest that you do two things. First, burn this song to a CD and put it in your car. Listen to it as you're driving around. Second, write the scripture out on an index card and spend 5 minutes every day memorizing it during your devotional time. If you're like me, you'll find that the combo of music and the index card makes memorizing scripture much easier.

Now it's your turn. How do you memorize scripture? What has helped you hide God's word in your heart?

Christmas, a Celebration of Humiliation

2007-12-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

"A leading researcher on humiliation, Dr. Evelin Lindner, defines humiliation as 'the enforced lowering of a person or group, a process of subjugation that damages or strips away their pride, honor or dignity.' Further, humiliation means to be placed, against ones will, in a situation where one is made to feel inferior. 'One of the defining characteristics of humiliation as a process is that the victim is forced into passivity, acted upon, made helpless.' Johan Galtung, a leading practitioner, agrees with Lindner that the infliction of humiliation is a profoundly violent psychological act that leaves the victim with a deep wound to the psyche." (Beyondintractability.org)

Christmas celebrates the humiliation of Christ.

The Incarnation was the humbling of the King of the universe, the stripping away of his honor and dignity. The Creator of all is born a helpless babe. The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills is born in poverty. The One who directs the stars in their courses is laid in a trough, dependent on the care of his mother and father. The One who sends the rain cries out in hunger and thirst. The King of glory becomes a speck of dust.

No human being has ever been humiliated like Christ. Because Christ is God Most High, his descent was an infinite descent.

A.W. Tozer says, "We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God. This would be to grant God eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough; we must grant Him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word."

"Forever God stands apart, in light unapproachable. He is as high above an archangel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite. The caterpillar and the archangel, though far removed from each other in the scale of created things, are nevertheless one in that they are alike created. They both belong in the category of that-which-is-not-God and are separated from God by infinitude itself." (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy)

The infinitely transcendant God becomes lower than the angels. Infinite humiliation.

Jesus' death was the ultimate humiliation. The Holy One was made to be sin. The Blessed One was made a curse. The Sinless One drank the cup of wrath. The Majestic One hung naked on a cross. The Innocent One died a criminal's death. The Beautiful One was marred beyond recognition.

The amazing thing about Jesus' humiliation is that it was voluntary. Christ's humiliation was not an "enforced lowering of a person". He was not placed, against his will, in a situation where he was made to feel inferior. He was not a "victim" who was "forced into passivity, acted upon, made helpless." Jesus "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Php 2:7-8).

The Incarnation was the self-humbling of Christ. Let's worship the Humble One, the Glorious One, the Exalted One.

Would You Kill Your Son?

2007-12-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Can you name the verse? Probably. John 3:16, one of the most well known, oft-quoted verses in the Bible. We see it plastered everywhere. Bumper stickers, greeting cards, bracelets, and some guy who seems to be at every major sporting event holding a large sign that says "3:16". Most of us learned this verse at an early age in Sunday school and can still recite some version of it by heart. Unfortunately, in our familiarity we often overlook the profundity of these words.

In studying this passage recently I was deeply affected by the words "...gave his only Son." September 4, 2007 was one of the happiest days of my life. On that day a little girl named Charis Marie Altrogge made her debut in life. From the moment she was born my heart was filled with an intense, fatherly affection for her. She is a joy and a delight to me. I love being with her, and seeing her smile, and hearing her coo, and watching her try to roll over. I would never give her up for anything or anybody, and I'll protect her at all costs. She is my only, precious daughter.

John 3:16 tells me that God gave His only, precious Son to save me. Ponder for a moment what it means that God gave His Son for you. God gave His son to be brutally beaten, tortured, humiliated, and nailed to a cross. Then God crushed Jesus, His precious son, under His furious wrath. He poured out all His fury and hatred towards sin upon His son, His beloved. God placed my sins upon the Savior, and then unleashed His mighty fury upon the son. O the grief that must have filled God's heart as He crushed His precious son. What sorrow must have filled the Father's heart as He brutally punished His son for my sins.

Can you feel the love of God pulsing from this passage? God gave up His beloved, precious son for wicked sinners like you and me? Would you ever give up your son or daughter to die? Never. Would you give up your son or daughter to die in place of a death-row murderer? Not in a million years. Yet that's what God has done for us. He gave up His son to die for those that hated Him. What incredible love! As Sinclair Ferguson says, "We should almost think God loved us more than He loves His Son."

What a loving God we serve. Let's rejoice in His great love for us today.

Somebody call the Waaaaambulance

2007-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

When my friend Steve’s boys were younger and got hurt, they’d come running to their dad wailing, tears streaming down their cheeks. Steve would never baby them, but would joke around with them and try to make them laugh. A skinned knee would elicit something like, “Did you get any blood on your pants? Oh no, your leg’s falling off. I think we might have to amputate.” Most of the time, after a few minutes, they’d start laughing and get distracted from the pain they were experiencing as their leg actually was falling off. I’d usually wince a bit when he “comforted” his boys like this, but they grew up fine. They limp and twitch some, but they’re probably tougher than my kids.

When you’re suffering, how do you think God responds to you? Do you imagine him saying something like:

“Hey buck up. It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“Somebody call the Waaaaambulance”
“Come on, you big baby, shake it off. Get over it.”

Our heavenly Father is filled with compassion for his blood-bought children. He has more sympathy than any human parent. Our God is not stoic and unaffected, but is touched by our afflictions. And we who have trusted in Christ can come to our Father and unburden our hearts to him. He longs for us to do this and he’s eager to help.

When David suffered he said things to God like, “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping” (Ps 6:6), and “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Ps 13.1-2).

How audacious these prayers sound to my timid ears. Yet we believers can come boldly to our Father and tell it like it is. God knows exactly what we’re going through. We’re not going to surprise him. Listen to how Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher from the 1800s, describes how he appealed to his heavenly Father’s compassion:

“I have found it a blessed thing, in my own experience, to plead before God that I am his child. When, some months ago, I was wracked with pain to an extreme degree, so that I could no longer bear it without crying out, I asked all to go from the room, and leave me alone; and then I had nothing I could say to God but this, "Thou art my Father, and I am Thy child; and Thou, as a Father, art tender and full of mercy. I could not bear to see my child suffer as Thou makest me suffer; and if I saw him tormented as I am now, I would do what I could to help him and put my arms under him to sustain him. Wilt Thou hide Thy face from me, my Father? Wilt Thou still lay on me Thy heavy hand, and not give me a smile from Thy countenance?" I talked to the Lord as Luther would have done, and pleaded his Fatherhood in real earnest. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." If He be a Father, let Him show Himself a Father -- so I pleaded; and I venture to say, when they came back who watched me, "I shall never have such agony again from this moment, for God has heard my prayer." I bless God that ease came, and the wracking pain never returned." -- Charles Spurgeon, The Full Harvest, 197

Spurgeon’s prayer provokes me. I want to pray with more boldness, fervency and faith in my Father’s tender compassion. I want to pour out my heart to my Father like Spurgeon did. I pray that Spurgeon's example will provoke you to plead God’s Fatherhood as well.

Special Thanks

2007-12-12T16:11:00.001-05:00

Special thanks to my brother David for designing the new header for our blog. David is an excellent graphic designer, and runs his own business, Vinegar Hill Pictures. Check out his website by clicking here.

Rising Early To Meet God

2007-12-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not one of those people that loves to get up early. I don't spring out of bed at the first 'beep' of the alarm, alert and ready to tackle the day. When my alarm goes off, I slap it silent, and then spend several minutes lying in bed, trying to muster enough strength to drag my body out from under the covers. During this time my mind is presenting reason after logical reason why I should go back to sleep. But after a few minutes of this mind wrestling I usually manage to slither out from under the covers and drag my sorry carcass into the shower. After the shower I go downstairs and make myself a cup of wake-up juice, otherwise known as high-octane coffee. Finally I sit down to spend some time reading the Bible and praying.

To tell you the truth, there are many days when I would rather turn off the alarm and drift back into the netherworld of sleep. But I'm provoked by the example of men like Jed Dickerson. Jed defines the word passion.

On May 31, 2003, Jed caught a 21 pound 11.2 ounce largemouth bass, the fourth largest in history. The catch was the result of Jed's passion, no obsession, for catching monstrous large mouth bass. After catching his first big bass in 2001, Jed became obsessed with fishing. According to the book Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest For the World Record Largemouth Bass:

He [Jed] started keep a journal of his days on the water, on a wall calendar, with certain promising days circled in dark black ink...He adjusted his work schedule, asking for the 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. shift, so he could maximize his time at the lake. He was exhausted all the time, catching only catnaps at home and during breaks at work. "I can't tell you how many times I've pulled a drifter on the way home from the lake," Jed says, referring to falling asleep at the wheel of his car. But he remained focused on his goal.

Oh that I would be like Jed Dickerson in my pursuit of Jesus Christ! In Philippians 3:12 Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul passionately pressed on towards the goal of knowing Jesus Christ. Notice the words he used: press on, straining. You can hear the vein-popping, muscle-straining effort in Paul's voice. He resolved that he would spend all his energies in the pursuit of Jesus Christ.

I want to emulate Paul. I want my energy and passion to be poured into my pursuit of Christ. If Jed Dickerson is willing to throw himself wholeheartedly into fishing, how much more should I throw myself wholeheartedly into the pursuit of Jesus? And so I desire to rise early to read my Bible and spend time praying. I want to pour myself into loving my wife as Christ loved the church, and raising my daughter in the fear of the Lord. I want to go about my work passionately, working for the Lord rather than for men. I want to serve my church with zeal, giving both my time and energy. I want to press on towards the goal of knowing Jesus Christ.

What about you? What is one area you want to see your passion for God increase? What is one practical step you can take to make that happen? Care to comment?

That Thing You Did

2007-12-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

She hung her head in shame as she made her way toward the offering box, hoping no one would notice her.

The temple treasury was crowded with richly robed people, and she was embarrassed at her own pitiful rags. The wealthy worshipers were dropping huge offerings in the box, and onlookers jaws were dropping at their largess. Oohs and ahhs of admiration could be heard as gold coins cascaded out of the donors' bags into the box. How humiliated the widow felt clutching her two small coins. Suddenly she saw an opportunity to slip up to the box, toss in her offering, then steal away unnoticed. She was relieved that no one had observed her. Well, almost no one...

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:42-44

Jesus sees even the smallest acts of obedience and kindness believers do in his Name. He noticed the widow’s penny. He promises to reward us if we give even a cup of water to one of his disciples. On judgment day we’ll say, "Lord, when did we feed you when you were hungry or clothe you when you were poor or visit you when you were sick?” And he'll say, "Every time you did it to the least of my children, you did it to me."

He doesn't miss a thing

God has numbered the very hairs on our heads. Not a sparrow falls apart from our Father. The God who hears the raven’s cry catches every prayer we breathe in secret. The God who stores up our individual tears in his bottle heard that word of encouragement to your brother last week and remembers the classes you taught in Children's Ministry ten years ago. He caught you slipping that sister a $20 bill for food last month.

Joy in heaven

Can you imagine our joy in heaven when Jesus brings out all the things we did for him that we've completely forgotten about? Can you imagine the widow’s joy when Jesus brings out the mountain of rewards her two copper coins produced? Let's be faithful to sow our “pennies”, and do as much as we can by his grace and for his glory.

Obsessed For The Glory Of God

2007-12-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you out there think you're good Scrabble players. You play the letter 'X' on a triple letter score, rack up 250 points in a game, and walk away feeling pretty good about yourself. Let me tell you straight up, you stink at Scrabble. Joel Sherman is good at Scrabble.

Sherman is a self-proclaimed professional Scrabble player, a man whose very existence revolves around playing and winning Scrabble. He has no job other than playing Scrabble. Joel lives off of disability, which allows him to devote all his waking time to playing, studying, and mastering the game of Scrabble. For several years he studied word lists on his computer for 1-2 hours a day, four days a week, so that he could master the game of Scrabble. Joel is obsessed with the game of Scrabble. In his own words, Scrabble, "...basically validates my existence."

Joel Sherman doesn't play Scrabble, he dominates Scrabble. Listen to this short excerpt from the book Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players. In this excerpt Joel is relaying how he won a particular game:

"Joel breathlessly explains how he worked his way though a troubling opening rack in the 603-point game, why he kept the three vowels IIO to go with a blank, how he saw that he would be able to turn the word BICES into IBICES (the plural of IBEX), how he drew the second blank and was able to play VICHIES for 100 points."

Joel's obsession with Scrabble challenges me. All of his thought, and creativity, and energy are poured into a board game. I want to obsessed with pursuing the Lord like Joel is obsessed with the game of Scrabble. I want to study scripture like Joel Sherman studies word lists. It shames me that an unbeliever would love the game of Scrabble more than I love the God who died for me. If a non-Christian can be that passionate about a game, I should be infinitely more passionate about pursuing Christ, the source of all joy and satisfaction. I want all my thought, and energy, and devotion to be given to my Savior. I want to be obsessed for the glory of God.

Give me one pure and holy passion / give me one magnificent obsession / Jesus give me one glorious ambition for my life / to know and follow hard after you

An Excellent Use of Ten Dollars

2007-12-08T10:22:00.000-05:00

I listen to a lot of music. A whole lot. I have a subscription to Yahoo! Music Unlimited, which for a flat yearly fee allows me to download as much music as my happy little heart can handle. So over the course of a year I hear buckets of new tunes. Some of the music is good, some is mediocre, and some is nauseating.

I evaluate Christian songs on two criteria. First, are the lyrics God-centered and sound in doctrine? I want songs that are jimmy-jam packed with rich truths about God. Second, is the music any good? A song can be chock full of great lyrics and have a really lame melody. I want songs that combine glorious, God-exalting truths with heart-moving melodies.

The album You and You Alone by Pat and Joel Sczebel is loaded with songs that bring together deep truths and sweet grooves. As part of the Sovereign Grace Ministries "Overflow" series, this album was produced on a much smaller budget than a normal Sovereign Grace Music project - but you wouldn't know it.

The album starts with the electric guitar-driven song Trust in You, a passionate proclamation of God's sovereign reign over all things and our trust in Him as ruler. If the band "Sanctus Real" wrote excellent worship songs they might sound like this.

The second song, Over All, is what I like to call a suh-weet groove. The drums and guitar lay down a beat that makes you want to bob your head, and the words make you want to thrust your hands into the air in worship. Similar to the previous song, this song declares that God graciously rules over all things, including every trial and tribulation. Favorite lines?

Over all afflictions /And every storm of life / In the midst of suffering Almighty,
You reign

The fourth song, The Greatest of All, is a beauty. It's got an Isaac Watts meets Kirk Franklin feel - hymn meets black gospel. The words are outstanding as well, rejoicing in the glorious redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The first line of the chorus is, "Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it." That's how I want to respond to the glories of gospel!

The seventh song, You Are Good, is my favorite on the album. If the band "Snow Patrol" became Christians they would write worship songs like this. As the title says, this song is a joyful celebration of the goodness of God, in both salvation and in every day life. We just introduced this song on Sunday and it worked really well. You can download this song from the New Attitude website by clicking here.

The final song on the album, Jesus, You Are Beautiful, is a great example of how this album combines sound doctrine with passionate love for Jesus. The first verse tells of how Jesus opened our blind eyes to see Him. The chorus then responds to this by saying, "Jesus, You are beautiful." These are well crafted words meant to help us worship our Savior.

This album really is worth buying. It will stir your heart and move your feet. You can get it for 9.99 on the Sovereign Grace Music website by clicking here.

Did God Forget my Mom?

2007-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark (Genesis 8:1).

It had been raining for 150 days and Noah & company were drifting on a featureless sea. For five dreary months they had been cooped up in the ark with no word from God. It must have seemed like an eternity. Noah must have wondered at times if God had forgotten them.

But God remembered Noah. Did God suddenly wake up with a start exclaiming, "Oh no! I can't believe it -- I forgot about Noah. I hope he's okay"? No. God hadn't forgotten about Noah for a nanosecond. But from Noah's perspective, after five long months, God now remembered him and came to his aid, sending a wind to dry up the waters.

Has God forgotten you?

Do you ever feel like you're on a tiny raft on a vast ocean and all the rescue crews have given up looking for you? Do you ever feel like you’ve dropped off God’s radar screen?

God has promised never to forget his blood-bought children. He's engraved us on his hands and written our names on his heart. He never slumbers nor sleeps as he watches over us. He knows our rising up and our lying down, our going out and coming in. He never leaves us or forsakes us. If we fly to the sunrise or sink in the sea, he'll be there. He can't forget us because we've been joined to Christ. When he looks at Christ he sees us. Oh yes, God remembers us.

God remembered Mom

The last 7 years of her life, Alzheimer's disease whittled away my mom’s memory and life. In the early stages Mom would say to me, “Mark, I just hope I never forget Jesus and I never forget my family.” I'd reply, “Mom, even if you forget Jesus, Jesus will never forget you. And even if you forget us, we will never forget you.” And Jesus did keep my Mom. She was joyful even as her mind deteriorated. She never became belligerent or depressed as many Alzheimer's sufferers do. As her mind gradually drained away, all that remained was the sweetness of who she'd become in Jesus Christ. Though Mom lost her ability to read and remember Scripture, though she eventually lost most of her memory of Jesus, Jesus never forgot Mom. He was with her till her final breath. How glorious it must have been the moment she awakened to see the face of her Savior. How glorious it must have been when all Mom's memories of Jesus and his work in her life came flooding back.

God remembered Noah. God remembered Mom. God remembers you.

Bible Boost Part II

2007-12-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a few more practical suggestions for giving your Bible reading a kick in the pants. These have been very helpful for me over the years.

1. Pray as you're reading

This has been extraordinarily helpful for me over the years. Rather than segmenting my devotional time into reading and then prayer, I bring the two together. As I ponder the word of God, the Holy Spirit moves upon my heart, which then leads me to prayer, praise, thanksgiving, or adoration. For example, I recently read Colossians 4:3-4, which says, "At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak." As I read this I was moved to pray that God would open doors for me to proclaim the gospel. Respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you read.

2. Apply one bit of truth

As you read, apply one bit of truth to one part of your life. Ask yourself, "How do I apply these verses to one area of my life?" This ties in closely with the previous point. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction and clarity as you read scripture. Seize these moments as opportunities to pray that God would help you apply His word to one area of your life.

3. Read your Bible in the morning

Obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule. It's not always possible to read scripture in the morning, given the various circumstances of life. But if possible, I believe it's wise to meet with God before meeting the day. In Mark 1:35 we see Jesus rising "very early" in the morning to spend time in prayer. Meeting with God in the morning prepares us to meet the day's troubles. I don't want to venture out into a temptation-filled world with a sin-filled heart without first asking God for strength. Jonathan Edwards said, "I think Christ has recommended rising early in the morning, by his rising from the grave very early."

4. Write while you're reading

In this respect I do things a little differently than my dad. He likes to pick out one key verse and write his thoughts on it. I like to write my thoughts on each verse or section of verses as I'm reading them. This sharpens my concentration and helps me think through the logic and argument of the passage. John Piper exhorts pastors to read with pen in hand, and I think the same applies to all Christians:

"A pastor will not be able to feed his flock rich and challenging insight into God's word unless he becomes a disciplined thinker. But almost none of us does this by nature. We must train ourselves to do it. And one of the best ways to train ourselves to think about what we read is to read with pen in hand and to write down a train of thought that comes to mind. Without this, we simply cannot sustain a sequence of questions and answers long enough to come to penetrating conclusions"

I hope you find these helpful. May God give you rich times in His word.

Relentless Kindness

2007-12-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

What if I told you that from the moment you wake up tomorrow only good things will happen to you for the rest of your life? Not one single bad thing will ever happen to you again. You’ll be stalked by kindness and blessings. Would that put a little zip in your step?

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. Jeremiah 32:40

What an astounding promise. God has made a covenant to never cease doing good to his redeemed children. And Jesus Christ has instituted and sealed this covenant with his blood.

No expiration date

God’s promise doesn’t have a limited warranty. There’s no expiration date. God doesn’t do us good until we’re tough enough to take him doing some bad to us. His covenant will continue throughout the ages. God will do us good all day today, tomorrow, next week, next year, and from age to age.

This means that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, God is relentlessly blessing us who have called on Christ to save us. He’s blessing us while we’re munching on our morning toast and sitting in rush hour traffic. He's heaping good on us while we’re feeding the kids and sweeping up the Cheerios around the baby’s high chair. He's lavishing grace on us as we lug the millionth basket of laundry up the stairs for the week or plunge out the kids’ tissue-clogged toilet. He even does us good as we slumber in our beds each night. While we are blissfully snoring away, God is providentially orchestrating his universe to bring us good - directing his angels, moving nations and world events, shifting the weather, working in both righteous and evil people, and causing even the demons’ evil schemes to bring us blessing.

Bound and determined

God never tires of blessing us. He doesn’t take a break or change his mind. Nothing turns him away, not even our sins, failures and weakness. His kindness is not contingent on our performance but on his grace. He is unflinching, dogged, bound and determined to shower his love on us.

A couple years ago I visited Niagara Falls. 35 million gallons of water cascade over the edge every minute. No one could possibly resist the sheer force and volume of this deluge. Blood-bought believers stand beneath the torrent of God's goodness every moment. We can't turn his goodness away any more than we could turn Niagara Falls away.

Heavenly bounty hunter

If you have trusted in Jesus Christ, God’s kindness and mercy are chasing you like some kind of heavenly bounty hunter. They're going to find you. God will not be thwarted. He’ll never deviate or desist from persistently blessing you. He’s stubborn in his goodness. God even designs the seemingly “bad” things that happen to us for our ultimate good. While Joseph’s brothers intended to harm him, God intended to bless him through their sinful actions. Ultimately, nothing bad can happen to you who belong to Christ, because God is covenant-bound and determined to do you good day after day, moment by moment.

Believe it, and give him abounding thanks.

God Answered My Prayer Within Hours

2007-12-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the truth: I stink at evangelism. I know some people that are really gifted in evangelism, people that are able to share the gospel with anyone at any time. They share the gospel with Starbuck's Baristas, Wal-Mart cashiers, doctors, car mechanics, and anyone else that happens to cross their path. They have unnatural, God-given boldness. They don't fear rejection, or the awkward silence that follows telling someone about Jesus.

I'm not like this at all. I'm timid and I hate awkward situations. I'm not a big fan of rejection. I would be more comfortable inviting a Starbuck's Barista to a manure shoveling party than to church. But I desperately want to grow. I hate my fear of man that keeps me from proclaiming the glories of Christ crucified to a dying and desperate world. I hate my sinful timidity. I want God-given, unnatural, gospel-preaching boldness.

Which brings me to this past Sunday. The sermon was on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, and one of the application points was that the Holy Spirit gives us boldness to proclaim the gospel. When these words were spoken I felt my heart stir within me. After the sermon I asked one of the small group leaders in the church to pray for me that God would increase my boldness and help me to grow in sharing the gospel.

Fast forward approximately 4 hours. I've just finished playing basketball with a number of guys from church, plus two guys I don't know. After the game, I walk over to one of the guys and start talking to him. We make small talk for a while, discussing college, the business world, and wearing a shirt and tie everyday. Then I ask him about church. He doesn't do church too much he tells me. At this point I would normally end the conversation with a half-hearted invitation to the church. But things keep going.

We talk about what it means to have a personal faith in Jesus, and I'm able to share about how God has changed my life. I'm also able to share a portion of the gospel with him, explaining that I'm a sinner before God, and that I need Jesus in my life. He listens while I talk. Doesn't argue, doesn't put up any smoke screens. Just listens. Then we go our separate ways.

I went home rejoicing! God had answered my prayer for boldness, giving me both the opportunity and the courage to share the gospel. How grateful I am to God.

And so now I hereby proclaim this "International Share The Gospel" week. Ask God for two things today. First, ask for the courage to share the gospel. Second, ask Him for the opportunity to share the gospel. These are prayers that God loves to answer.

After you share the gospel with someone this week, tell us about it via comment. I can't wait to hear the stories.

8 Ways to Get More out of Your Bible

2007-12-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Are you discouraged with your Bible reading? Find it hard to be consistent? Want to get more out of the Word? Here are a few tips that have helped me to be more consistent and enjoy my devotions more over the years.

1. Prepare the night before

Every night before going to bed, I grind some coffee, put a filter in my Aeropress coffee maker, put my coffee cup on the counter and fill my Hot Shot with water, so all I need to do is push a button to heat the water for my morning cup o’ joe. I make sure everything I need – Bible, marker, journal, Kleenex - is on the stand next to the couch in the den. This saves me having to scramble around wasting time in the morning and I can get reading more quickly.

2. Pray

I usually spend a couple minutes praying before I read. I thank my Father for his love and the gift of sleep, and for protecting my family and me during the night. I also thank him for his gracious invitation for me to enter boldly into his presence through the merits and blood of Jesus. Then I often pray John Piper’s I-O-U'S: “Incline my heart to your testimonies”, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” “Unite my heart to fear your name,” and “Satisfy me with your love."

3. Same time, same place every day.

Find your best time, when you can concentrate and have the least number of distractions. For me, it’s first thing in the morning. The house is quiet and no one else is up. If I start in on projects or reading the news, I never get to reading the Bible. In the evening I’m too distracted and tired. For some, evening is their best time. The important thing is to find a time when you are least distracted and can concentrate.

I read in the same place every day. As I said earlier, I keep my Bible, marker, journal and prayer notebook on the end-table next to the couch in the den. That way I don’t have to waste time searching through the house for things before I read.

4. Keep track of what you read

After reading, in the back of my journal I write the day, date and the passage I read. That way I don’t have to try to remember where I left off the day before. You can use a bookmark as long as it doesn’t fall out and you lose your place.

5. Write in your Bible

Don’t hesitate to underline, write in the margins, or circle words. Underlining and writing helps us concentrate more on what we’re reading. My favorite marker is a light blue Sanford China Marker. You can underline lightly or darker and it never bleeds through the page.

6. Read consecutively

Don’t skip around or play Bible Roulette. Finish one book before going to another. One way to consistently read through the Bible is to read through Matthew, then Genesis. Then Mark, then Exodus and so on. If you are keeping track of what you’ve read, you’ll eventually work through the whole Bible. Nothing is more discouraging than picking up the Bible and reading at random every day.

7. Use a journal

I’ve used journals for years in my devotions. I like Moleskine lined journals. As you read, write down any verses that stand out to you or any thoughts you have about the passage. Writing slows you down and helps you focus. I usually try to look for one key verse or passage that stands out to me from that day’s reading to record in my journal.

8. Respond to what you’ve read

After recording one key verse or passage in my journal, I usually write a prayer in response. This prayer will sometimes be worship and praise to God for the truth I’ve just read about him or it may be supplication for him to change me to conform with his word. I keep the prayer to one, maybe two pages at the most. It takes me about ten minutes and propels me into my prayer time.

Whether you use these approaches or you have your own, try to build consistent habits of reading the Bible. There’s no better way to fellowship with Jesus and delight in him.

How about you? What have you found that helps you read the Bible more consistently or effectively? We'd love to hear. Thanks!

Stephen Dancing With His Daughter

2007-11-30T22:08:00.001-05:00

Here's a little glimpse into my home life. This is me dancing with my two and a half month old daughter. You can't teach moves like this...

Joy In The Morning

2007-11-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

How does your morning routine start? Mine proceeds according to the following steps:

- Alarm sounds at approximately 6:30 am, jerking me out of my peaceful slumber.

- Lay in bed for 3 to 5 minutes, wondering if I was hit by a large vehicle at some point during the night.

- Crawl out of bed and stumble my way into the shower.

- Begin internal monologue as I review the previous day and ponder the upcoming day. Anxiety, fear, or frustration set in as I remember all the troubles of yesterday and all the problems of the upcoming day.

- Make large cup of industrial strength coffee.

Do you notice the problem with this picture? Let me point it out for you: I begin my day by listening to myself instead of talking to myself. From the moment I fall out of bed in the morning my mind is churning. I think about unfinished projects at work, people I need to call, ways I sinned the previous day, ways I failed to care for my wife, upcoming events that I need to organize, strategies for improving my fantasy football team, and 10,000 other anxiety-inducing subjects. By the time I step out of the shower I'm already burdened by worry. I'm starting my day by listening to myself.

I should begin my day by reminding myself of God's truth, and responding to those truths in praise to God. I want my day to start with gratefulness to God. Here's what I want my morning to look like:

Lord thank you for sustaining me through the night. Thank you for the precious blood of Jesus, which makes me your child this morning. Thank you that I wake this morning, not under your wrath, but under your mercy. Thank you that you have new mercies for me this morning!

I praise your for your sovereignty. I praise you that today you are working all things for my good. I praise you that nothing can separate me from your deep, intense, abiding love. You have ordained all that happens today, and I will rejoice in whatever you bring my way.

Lord thank you for this hot shower, and for hot coffee, and for my wonderful house, and my job. These are all undeserved blessings. Fill me with gratefulness today. Let all I do today be for your glory.

How does your day start? Do you begin your day by listening to yourself or by reminding yourself of God's truth? Does your day start with anxiety or thanksgiving? Do you speak truth to your soul, or do you let your thoughts run free? Joy is found in meditating on and rejoicing in God's truth. Let's start our day with a good dose of truth. And a good dose of coffee.

Napoleon Dynamite and the Faithfulness of God

2007-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

There are certain things that I can't change about myself. I need a solid 7 hours of sleep each night if I'm going to function at a semi-conscious level during the day. I believe the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and New York Yankees are a result of the fall. I like drinking coffee that's strong enough to double as paint stripper. I thoroughly enjoy the movie "Napoleon Dynamite". I always fold my pizza in half, length-wise, before I eat it. I'm slightly obsessive compulsive when it comes to brushing my teeth. I will never wear a Josh Groban t-shirt, or purchase a Josh Groban album. I'm sorry, that's just the way I am, and I don't plan on changing any time soon.

But there are many things about myself that I want to change. I'm arrogant and proud. I share the gospel infrequently at best. I crave the approval of others. I'm selfish, lazy, and self-centered. I'm a sinner who needs to change.

The problem is, it often feels like I'm never going to change. My sin seems like a vast, unconquerable mountain, or a virus that simply can't be killed. When I find myself sinning in pride for the 327th time this week, I can be tempted to despair. "I'm never going to change," says my heart. "I'm doomed to struggle with this sin for the rest of my life. I'll never make progress."

It's at these moments that I need to passionately proclaim the truth to myself. In Philippians 1:6 we read, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." What a sweet promise from God. I can be assured that I will be changed into the image of Jesus Christ, not because of anything I'm doing, but because God will finish the work He began in me. God isn't like us. He doesn't let His projects go unfinished. He is a master architect who always finishes what He starts. God will finish the good work He began in me. By His grace I will overcome my pride, and selfishness, and laziness.

We must take this promise and use it as a hammer to smash despair. When it seems like change is impossible, we must preach Philippians 1:6 to our souls. We cannot allow despair and discouragement to rule us. We must fight to believe this verse until we really, truly believe it. God is at work, changing us, shaping us, and conforming us to Christ.

What's one area of your life where it seems like you will never change? Take Philippians 1:6 and apply it to that area. God will change you! He will help you overcome your sin. Why? Because God always finishes His projects.

My Frightening Future

2007-11-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I don't watch the news. I don't watch local news because it is mind-numbingly boring. I really don't care about the local woman who owns a cat named "Mr. Snuffy Wuffy", or about the elderly gentleman who won 2.3 trillion dollars in the Pennsylvania Lottery and decided to spend it all on beef jerky and Coca-Cola. I don't watch the national news because it's depressing, and sometimes quite scary. I don't enjoy hearing that North Korea has built up enough nuclear firepower to wipe out the Western hemisphere, or that Iran has decided to attack the United States and will be firing missiles at the White House sometime in the next few days. There's always a prophet of doom on the news, saying that our economic future is bleak, and that within a few short years all of us will be forced to wear nothing but burlap sacks. The news makes the future sound frightening.

I don't watch the news because I struggle with enough fear about the future. Will I have enough money to pay the bills? Will my little girl be healthy? Will I do well at my job? Each season of our lives is filled with opportunities to worry. We worry about getting into the right college, and getting good grades in college, and marrying the right person, and getting a decent job, and being good parents, and having healthy kids, and paying bills, and retiring, and finally dying. Worry is a temptation each of us face on a regular basis.

It's when we're worried that we must forcefully remind ourselves of God's truth. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

What a sweet promise for the Christian! Our future is bright and full of hope, and we can rest secure in God's plans for us. We must fight to believe this when we're tempted to worry about the future. When the finances aren't there,we must remind ourselves that God promises a future and a hope. When illness is our constant companion, we must thank God for our hope-filled future. When it seems like we're never going to get married and we're sinking into despair, we must shout this promise at our soul until it's power warms our heart. Don't let worry rule you. Fight the good fight of faith by clinging to these precious truths.

What's one area of life that you're currently worried about? As you go about your day, meditate on how Jeremiah 29:11 applies to that one area of your life. Be transformed by the power of God's word as you speak the truth to your soul.

Dental Condemnation

2007-11-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

I hate dental visits. In fact, dentists frighten me (no offense to any dentists), and are ranked number three on my frightening people list, just behind car salesman and mimes (don't ask). A trip to the dentist's office is a trip into the land of pain. First they jab your teeth with their little pick axe. Then they go in with their high-powered roto-tiller toothbrush, determined to turn your grimy yellows into pearly whites. Finally they whip out the dental floss, invading every nook and cranny of your mouth with that ghastly piece of string, causing small trickles of blood to flow between your teeth. And of course your mouth is hanging open during this whole process, yet you can't swallow, resulting in large pools of spit collecting in the back of your throat.

But the worst part is the interrogation that takes place after the cleaning. They always ask if you floss regularly (I believe the ADA recommends flossing between 16 and 18 times a day), which we don't. I floss approximately three times per year, and it's always after I eat corn on the cob. At no other point will you see floss enter my mouth. And so we walk away from the dental office feeling like a complete dental failure. We've failed to meet the standard set by our dentist.

Unfortunately there are many times when I bring my dentist mentality into my relationship with God. As a Christian, I must live by God's standards. I seek to read my Bible and pray on a regular basis. I fight to kill the sinful desires that are within my heart. I make every effort to love and serve my wife. I try to be humble and teachable.

But the painful truth is, I fail to keep God's standards. In fact, I'm not even close. Instead of rising early to read my Bible, I decide to sleep and extra 30 minutes. Instead of serving my wife, I serve myself. Instead of pursuing humility, I give in to pride and arrogance. I don't just miss the mark, I completely miss the target.

When I fail to meet God's standard, I feel condemned. I feel like God is just barely tolerating me, like He's cold towards me, like He doesn't particularly like me anymore. This condemnation weighs me down, stealing my joy and robbing me of my peace.

It's in these moments that I need to speak the truth of the gospel to myself. I need to grab my soul by the ears and remind it of 1 Timothy 1:15, which says, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." I can't allow myself to wallow in condemnation and discouragement. I must fight for faith in the truth that Christ Jesus died for all my sins, and that God delights in me because of the cross. I must speak this truth to myself, and thank God for this truth, and rejoice in this truth until my heart believes every word of it. The gospel is the antidote to condemnation.

Do you experience condemnation when you fail to meet God's standards? If so, you need to preach the gospel to yourself. Preach it until you believe it with both your head and your heart. Don't allow condemnation to rule you. Fight the good fight of faith by believing the gospel.

Interrogating Your Soul

2007-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I see a man around town from time to time who is always talking to himself. Unfortunately, I believe this man suffers from mental illness, and it's a strange, sad sight to see him pacing back and forth on the street corner, with an intense look on his face, muttering words under his breath. I'm not sure if he's talking to himself, or to some imaginary companion, and I don't know if he hears the other side of the conversation. Either way, it's an odd sight. But I've come to a realization: I want to be more like the street corner man.

The Psalmist was a little bit like street corner man too. In Psalm 42:5 we read, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation."

Do you notice what's going on in this verse? The Psalmist is discouraged and feels turmoil within his soul. The difficulties of life are weighing him down, like a great weight upon his chest, depressing his soul and sucking the joy from him. He was down in the dumps. I can relate to this, and I think you can too.

But the Psalmist isn't content to wallow in his discouragement. He won't allow his feelings, and fears, and doubts to steal his joy. And so he begins to interrogate his soul. Can you hear him talking out loud to himself? Can you hear him performing his soul interrogation? "Hey Soul, why are you so down? What's the deal? What are you so discouraged about?"

Notice though that the Psalmist doesn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out why he feels discouraged. Instead he starts talking to himself, addressing his soul. He begins to speak the truth of God to himself. He says, "Hey Soul, hope in God. Enough of this discouragement. I'm not going to listen to you anymore. We are now going to hope in God, because we will praise Him." The Psalmist refuses to listen to his discouraging thoughts, and instead speaks truth to himself.

I want to be like the Psalmist. My tendency is to listen to myself far more than I talk to myself. I listen to my discouraging thoughts, and fears, and doubts. What I should be doing is reminding myself of God's truth. A good dose of truth is the antidote to discouragement.

What's one area of your life where you feel discouraged? What is one truth about God that you can speak to yourself when you feel discouraged? As you go about your day, ponder these questions, and ask God to help you be like the man on the corner.