Colossians 1:11
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
This prayer request Paul makes for the Colossians is that they “be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might.” Paul is praying that God, by God’s infinite and mighty power, give the Colossians strength.
This request is no surprise. We all want strength. We all want to be strong, healthy, successful. We want to be able to beat the bad guys, serve our families, and take whatever good opportunities present themselves to us.
But, this is not the kind of strength that Paul prays for the Colossians. Look at the why of Paul’s Prayer for their strength. Paul asks that they be strengthened “for all endurance and patience with joy.” The strength that Paul prays for is not for them to live long, prosper, and get rich with perfect health. No, the strength that Paul prays for the Colossians is strength to endure hardships with patience and joy. Christians, this is what we should pray for ourselves too.
We will suffer hardships. The idea of trusting Christ leading to lives of comfort and ease is not a biblical idea at all. Jesus promised us persecution. The world hated him, and they will hate us too.
John 15:18-21 (ESV)
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
The prayer is not that we would have easy lives, but that God would give us the strength to patiently keep going. When things get hard, we pray that god will give us the faith we need to endure that hardship. And God wants us not only to endure suffering, but to do so with the joy that marks a true child of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus endured the cross, the ultimate of suffering, why? He did so for the joy set before him. When we have hardships, we are to learn from Jesus. There is joy for the child of God who walks through suffering and trusts in God the entire way.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Yes, this world will be hard. Do not ever kid yourself about that. In fact, the world will reject and despise you if you truly try to serve Jesus faithfully. But, also never forget that God is there to strengthen you, keep you, preserve you, and eventually reward you with joy. So pray that God will strengthen you to endure hardships for joy.
Airing Your Own Opinion (Proverbs 18:2)
Proverbs 18:2
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
Hey look, it’s another blog post. By definition, this is one person airing his own opinion. While we can learn much on the Internet, there is a great danger of having many folks, uninformed and foolish, spouting off bad ideas left and right. And, the temptation will be for more of us to join them in that practice than to learn from their mistakes.
It is far better to learn than to speak. Anyone, absolutely anyone, can tell everyone what they think. But not everyone learns.
But wait, it is not simply in the world of blogging that this is a problem. When you are in conversation with others, do you listen or speak? When others are speaking, do you listen to understand their point, or are you always formulating your next line? What about learning from people with whom you totally disagree? Can you listen to the opinion of somebody you can’t stand and still look for the occasional nugget of truth?
I’d say more, but it’s probably better for me to go find something of value to read instead.
Keeping Your Vex in Check (Proverbs 12:16)
Proverbs 12:16
The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
How is your temperament when hurt or insulted? When you are vexed, when you become angry with someone for some reason, how do you react? Does your anger flash out quickly? Do people know the instant you are perturbed? If so, look at the words of Proverbs 12. God says to us that, if we are the kind of people whose tempers flare up and are instantly visible, we are acting like fools.
Remember also that the proverbs constantly talk about the fool as the person who says in his or her own heart that there is no God. Thus, for us to allow our tempers to flare immediately is for us to act like the godless. When we cannot hold our anger in check, not even for a moment, we show that we lack trust that God is there and that God will handle the situation. We say with our flashing anger that we are the deity, that we are the ones most offended, and that it is our justice that must be served. However, none of those thoughts are true. God is God; we are not. God is the one whose justice will always be satisfied in the end. God is the one who is always most insulted when wrong is committed.
Ponder the proverb the next time you are tempted to fly off the handle. When you lose your grip on your anger, you act like one who believes there is no God. However, when you look at your circumstances through a lens that tells you that God is in control, your emotions will remain under control.
Let me say that this is not easy. I need this advice for myself as much as anyone does. Though I’m not one whose anger flashes easily, I am one whose emotions—self pity, doubt, discouragement—can grab my heart far too quickly. Only if I remember God is in control will I have a proper grip on myself.
Conference Call Comedy
My brother tells me this is too realistic.
Wrong Questions about Suffering (Luke 13:1-5)
Luke 13:1-5 (ESV)
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
When we see suffering, we often have questions that we want to ask God. “How could you allow this to happen?” “Why are these specific people suffering?” “did these people do something to cause what has happened to them?” The problem is, we are asking the wrong questions.
One day, Jesus was asked about a group of people who suffered a terrible death at the hands of an evil ruler. The people who asked wanted to know why those men suffered worse than others seem to. Jesus told his inquisitors that they were asking the wrong question and thinking in the wrong way. They wanted to know why God allowed certain people to suffer tragedy. In reality, what Jesus wanted them to do was to understand that all people deserve the wrath of God. Anything less than his wrath that we receive is his mercy.
How do I know that this is Jesus’ point? He tells the people, if they do not repent, they will perish themselves. Jesus wants them to understand that they deserve to have hardship befall them—they deserve God’s wrath. God has the right to allow us to perish. Because of his great love and mercy, he has provided a way for us to live and be forgiven (cf. John 3:16).
What is the way for us to survive and avoid the wrath of God? The word Jesus uses is repentance. If we will willingly turn away from our evil thinking and evil acting and instead place our full trust in God, we will be forgiven. More specifically, again from John 3:16, we must turn from ourselves and place our full trust in Jesus Christ to avoid perishing.
We like to think that nobody deserves to perish, and so something radical and strange has happened when God allows someone to perish. We have forgotten that all have sinned before God and earned death for that sin (cf. Romans 3:23; 6:23). Thus, our entire attitude should have a paradigm shift. When we see how much we deserve to be judged by a holy God, we will be grateful to him for any mercy he has shown us. When we see hardships, we will be reminded of the grace that God has given so many and of our need to repent and turn to God for mercy.
How Can God Forgive Me? (2 Chronicles 33:10-13)
2 Chronicles 33:10-13
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
My wife’s real name is not Mitzi—that’s a nickname—her actual name is Manassah. Her dad named her after one of Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh. The Bible says, “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For he said, ‘God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house’” (Gen 41:51). I, however, like to tease my wife that she was named after King Manasseh, the most wicked king that Judah ever knew (she thinks this less funny than I do).
Manasseh was a bad king. If you read his story in 2 Chronicles 33:1-9, you will see that this guy was just plain nasty. He worshipped idols. He sacrificed his own children to false gods. He set up idols in the temple itself, a great abomination before God. He was the kind of wicked guy that you just pray will get what’s coming to him.
Then we read what I cited above. Manasseh did not listen to God. And we say, “No kidding.” So then God sent an army to drag him off and punish him. And we say, “Yeah baby!” Then the Scripture tells us that Manasseh repented, God heard his cry, and restored him. And we say, in the words of the late Gary Coleman, “What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
How could this be? How could God forgive a guy like Manasseh? How could God let this guy off? How could God not utterly destroy Judah’s most wicked king ever?
My answer to that question is this: God could forgive Manasseh in just the same way that he can forgive a sinner like me or like you. God has always revealed himself to us in his word as the Lord who is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness (c. Exo 34:6). God has shown that he is always forgiving toward those who will turn from their sin and place their trust in him. Without question, God does not forgive everybody. Without question, God has specific requirements for men and women to find forgiveness. But God is very much willing to forgive anyone who will come to him on his terms.
Do you remember John 3:16? God is willing to forgive anyone who will put their trust in Jesus. That means God will forgive the socially good guy who has sinned before God in his pride and it means the socially evil guy who has committed atrocities. God will forgive anybody who will turn away from their sin and place their hope and trust in the completed work of the Lord Jesus.
We must acknowledge that we are sinful before God and without hope on our own. We must believe that Jesus paid the price for our sins in his death and resurrection. Then we put all our hope in Jesus and what he has done, ask God to forgive us, and our lives change so that we follow and worship the Lord.
(If this text intrigues you, It will be the topic of the Sunday morning message at Olney Southern Baptist Church this week—10:00 AM, 205 E Mack Ave, Olney.)
Dangerous Creativity (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)
2 Chronicles 26:16-21
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.
One of the things that we see valued among some groups of believers is being extremely free in worship. Occasionally you will go to a church or conference where the worship leader—well-meaning no doubt—calls you to try worshipping in a new way, to forget about your tradition, and to just let go, be free, and worship. In such a setting, the worship leader is trying to free you from monotony, from meaningless or heartless repetition.
However, there is a danger in overemphasizing human freedom in worship. We see that danger in the life of King Uzziah. This man was a good king over Israel. He did many right things to try to lead the nation toward God. He clearly had a passion to worship. But, uzziah went too far.
As we read above, one day, Uzziah decided that he was going to worship God in a new way for him. He knew that the priests in the temple took censers of smoking incense and burned it before the Lord as an act of worship. Uzziah decided that he too would like to be involved in this practice. The problem was, God had not said that this was something all men could do. God had restricted that task to the priests. Thus, in an attempt to take his worship to a new level, Uzziah dishonored God by doing something that was forbidden him, and God punished Uzziah for it.
Uzziah forgot to treat the Lord his God as holy. He failed to see that God is so perfect that we do not deserve to approach him however we choose. Uzziah failed to recognize that it is for God to decide how we ought to worship him, not for us to make up our own way.
Analyze your own thoughts as you approach worship. Will you do what God has commanded? What if you have done that repeatedly; will you change things up and come up with a new way to worship? God is so good and so gracious. It is gracious of God to allow us to even think of him. Perhaps what we need is not a new style or new creative worship activity, and instead, what we need are new hearts to see how glorious it is that God would let us sing his praises, pray in his name, read his word, and bow before his throne. Truly, all obedience to the commands of God is worship. But we ought to be careful thinking that we will somehow make worship better or more meaningful by reaching out for a new action that we have not done in worship before. Be biblical in your worship and worship with all your heart; in doing so, you will never find worship dull.
Adopted for Life – A Review
Russell Moore has become the go-to voice for issues related to adoption in the Southern Baptist Convention and in evangelicalism in general. Dr. Moore, who serves as dean of the school of theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, is the proud father of four boys, two of whom are adopted from Russia. Perhaps it is these two roles, theology professor and adoptive father, that make Adopted for Life such a powerful wedding of doctrine and family.
Positives
Dr. Moore uses his experience of adopting children to help believers see just how glorious it is that God has adopted us as his very own. Many adoptive parents are saddened when people label their children as “adopted children,” as if such a label makes the children somehow less legitimately theirs. Dr. Moore has seen how adopting his children truly made them his very own children, and he takes that picture along with solid doctrine to show us that God makes us his very own in Christ—even though we could never deserve such loving treatment from our Heavenly Father.
Another of the myriad positives of this book is simply how it will make a couple truly consider adoption. Children all over the globe are in desperate need of parents. Even more importantly, those children are also in desperate need of the gospel. Dr. Moore’s work helps Christian parents to recognize that, by purposefully taking in children from cultures where there is little gospel witness, parents can both save young lives and bring the gospel to the nations.
Dr. Moore realizes that not all couples are going to be able to adopt. He wisely calls for Christians who cannot themselves adopt to pray for and find ways to support other Christians who are trying to adopt. Some ideas for supporting others considering adoption include financial support, prayer support, and even the simple love of baby showers.
Negatives
I struggle to come up with negatives to consider in this work. Perhaps, if a couple wants to adopt, they will wish that this book gave more practical, “how to” steps to let families know what they must do to start the process, to choose the right agency, etc. However, this book was not intended to be a how-to-adopt manual. Dr. Moore wanted his readers to see the beauty of adoption, and thus this negative is not even a strong negative.
Without question, there are places where this book is hard to read. When Dr. Moore tells us of the deplorable conditions in some international orphanages, it can be tough to hear. When he tells us of the horrible life that awaits some orphans who are not adopted, it can be very painful. It is, however, good for us to look the truth of these things in the face in order to see the genuine need for believers to take a call to adoption seriously.
Recommendation
I highly recommend Adopted for Life for any believer of any age. Because the book paints such a beautiful picture of God adopting us, all believers can benefit from the work. For couples who might consider growing their family, this book is a must-read. Dr. Moore has done a great job touching readers’ hearts and their minds with a glorious, Christ-centered picture of adoption.
Audio
I was graciously given an audio copy of this book to review from ChristianAudio.com. The audio is clear an understandable, though I would prefer the words to come a little quicker. Dr. Moore narrates his own work, and this can often be a difficult task for an author to do—Though in defense of Dr. Moore, he does a far better job narrating his own work than does Mark Driscoll.
Carson, Scandalous – A Review
D.A. Carson’s Scandalous surprised me with how enjoyable it was to read and how encouraging it was to my soul. Carson is a name that is synonymous with scholarship in the world of modern Evangelicalism.
A well-known professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the author of numerous books and biblical commentaries, Carson is someone that most evangelicals should read.
Positives
As a pastor, I have worked through a few of Carson’s books. Generally, I found them to be lofty in their language and complex in their argumentation. Thus, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that Scandalous is a very easy-to-read and compelling work. Carson’s language is very accessible in this book. His illustrations are easy to understand, and his humor is surprisingly down-to-earth.
This book is a collection of five looks at five passages relating to Christ’s death and resurrection. In each look, Carson puts forth very helpful thoughts to challenge and encourage Christians. I especially found Carson’s look at the crucifixion and at the resurrection of Lazarus to be the two most interesting and helpful chapters. That said, none of the five chapters left me bored or confused. Each was clear, interesting, and refreshing.
Negative
I have very little negative to say about this work. One small point that did concern me, however, was one of Carson’s choices of illustrations. He made a fine point with an illustration of how a man came to Christ after speaking with Carson about several logical points. However, the illustration also involved a young Christian lady going on dates with the lost man. This is advice that I would not give to any Christian, as the outcome of such relationships is very often not positive. Again, I recognize that Carson was making an entirely different point. I only wish that he had chosen a different illustration there for his point so as not to offer unwilling approval to weak Christians who wish to enter into dating relationships with non-believers.
Recommendation
Without question, I recommend Scandalous very highly. I believe that any Christian can benefit from and be encouraged by Carson’s work. This book would make a fine read for groups who wish to read a chapter per week and meet for discussion and prayer. It would also make a fine springboard for a five-session Bible study. Simply put, this is excellent work by Carson, and I commend it to any believer.
Audio
For this review, I listened to the excellent recording of this work made available to me as part of the reviewers program for ChristianAudio.com. This work is one of the best I have heard for ease of listening from the site. John Haag is my new favorite narrator from ChristianAudio.com.
D.A. Carson. Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
Guilty but Forgiven (Revelation 12:10-11)
Revelation 12:10-11
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
What are we to do with ourselves when we feel guilty? What are we to do when we hear the voice of condemnation in our hearts?
There are many major mistakes that we can make as we respond to guilt. If we act as though we are not guilty and deserving of judgment, we lie. If we act as though we have to do good to earn God’s favor, we become legalists. If we ignore our guilt with a shrug, we clearly devalue the word and the holiness of God.
In the verses above, the victorious saints conquered on the grounds of the blood of their Savior. The key for victory was not to pretend innocence, but to admit guilt while clinging to the infinite worth of the blood of the Son of God.
This thought hit me this morning while reading D.A. Carson’s new book, Scandalous. Carson does a wonderful job of spelling out for us how to respond to our true guilt.
D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 98-99.
“ The great redemptive act that freed them from their sins (1:5) and established their right to reign as priests and kings (5:9) is also what gives them authority over Satan and enables them to overcome Satan and all of his accusations (12:11). Satan accuses Christians day and night. It is not just that he will work on our conscience to make us feel as dirty, guilty, defeated, destroyed, weak, and ugly as he possibly can; it is something worse: his entire ploy in the past is to accuse us before God day and night, bringing charges against us that we know we can never answer before the majesty of God’s holiness. What can we say in response? Will our defense be, “Oh, I’m not that bad!”? You will never beat Satan that way. Never. What you must say is, “Satan, I’m even worse than you think, but God loves me anyway. He has accepted me because of the blood of the Lamb.” “
When I read this from Carson, I also thought of the words of Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress. Christian, being accused of his sin, responds with much the same answer that Carson puts forth.
From Pilgrim’s Progress, the fourth stage,
“All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful, and ready to forgive.“
There is no glory for God if we pretend we are not guilty. There is no glory if we pretend our sin does not matter. But God is greatly glorified if we recognize that our sin is an infinite offense to him which is covered by his glorious, infinitely holy sacrifice.
Pastor Travis Peterson 