They have Jesus. And He is everything.

If you haven’t been following the latest Compassion Bloggers tour, you really should. Molly Piper, Heather Whitaker and Kelly Stamps are sharing their first-hand experiences visiting with Compassion-assisted families and it’s alternately heartbreaking and awe-inspiring.

Molly shares the story of Maricella:

Maricella. Mother of Blanca (picture #1). This is her in her home. She welcomed us there, even though she was nervous. Jesus came and met us there, though. She told us of her history of gang membership and the tattoo on her forehead because of it. And she now can’t find work because she won’t be trusted. Even though in Christ, she is a new creation…. My heart broke for her.

My first day of interacting with people on the receiving end of Compassion has been nothing short of amazing—their stories, their homes, their openness to our presence, their excitement for Compassion and the effects it’s had on their families. My heart is somehow broken and full at the same time. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

A Faith Worth Imitating

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

 

Seven times—in 1 Cor. 4:16 & 11:1, Phil. 3:17, 2 Thess. 3:7, 1 Tim. 4:12, Titus 2:7 and 1 Pet. 5:3—we’re told to follow the example of others who are following Christ’s (imperfect as they may be).

It seems that the Holy Spirit was pretty emphatic on this point when inspiring the Scriptures.

The example of others is a critical part of our growth as Christians.

Of course, this also means that as we follow the example of others, we must be an example worth following.

I guess, then, the question for me becomes:

How am I doing with that?

Is my faith worth imitating? Am I an example that should be followed?

Glorifying God in the Body

First Corinthians 6:19-20 reads:

[D]o you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

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Contextually, these verses are related to sexual purity within the church; because God has purchased us with His blood, we are not our own. Therefore, we should honor Him with our bodies by abstaining from sexual immorality.

This isn’t, however, a post about sexual immorality.

It’s about how I’m learning to apply the principle of stewardship that exists within this passage.

Because our bodies, like everything else, are not our own, we have a responsibility to steward them well.

Growing up, this is a principle that I never understood. Partly because of genetics, but mostly because of poor eating decisions, I was a very, very heavy kid. You know how with babies and toddlers, they get really chubby then grow into it?

I was kind of like that, except 18. When I was 12, I was about 5-ish feet tall and 185 pounds. When I was 18, I was 6 feet tall and… 185 pounds. Except then I stopped growing. So I stayed 6 feet tall, then just grew out.

I touched on this topic back in March in relation to reading the Pursuit of Holiness, so I’m going to try to not rehash too much. Sufficed to say, I’ve always struggled with living a healthy lifestyle in terms of physical fitness.

This week, I was reminded of the necessity of even my physical health as a stewardship issue after our pastor preached through John 3:16-21.

God has chosen to love me, despite my hatred of Him. And because He has shown me pure, unmerited favor, I want to worship Him!

And that includes how I treat my body.

I’m now a week into my new gym membership, and I’ve got to say, I’m very pleased. My physical memory is good. My strength and endurance are already improving. My eating habits are getting better. My weight has even dropped a teeny bit.

But most importantly, it’s an opportunity to glorify God in my body.

God is its owner; I want to steward it well.

Worshipping with the Preached Word

It’s amazing to see how worship in our church flows out of the preached Word.

At Harvest London, the leadership and the people really love the Bible. There is a real hunger, a desire to hear the Bible preached. It’s amazing to, week after week, see roughly 600 people truly engage with the text of Scripture as Pastor Norm preaches with power and conviction. There is a tangible love for the Word as he preaches that is infectious. It’s exciting to see how it affects people.

After this Sunday’s service, I was serving at our book table (a natural fit if there ever was). While there, I had some great opportunities to encourage people in their reading, and I even got to give two college-aged young ladies their first Bible, ever. It might be a small thing, but it’s a great privilege to be a part of that.

And to see how Emily has been affected has been just as exciting. There is a boldness that I see growing in her that I absolutely love, where she’s ”informally” ministering to people in our congregation and outside of it, striking up potential friendships with new women, talking with them, praying with them… She’s even taking advantage of an opportunity to share the gospel—with someone she met only briefly downtown on Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps these seem like small things, but I see a deep love for Christ in our church—and a passion for others to know Him and follow Him.

And it’s all flowing out of the preached Word.

It is powerful.

It is effective.

It’s exciting.

It’s worship.

I love it.

Sunday Shorts (11/08)

Free Audiobook at ChristianAudio.com: Desiring God

This month, Christian Audio is offering John Piper’s classic work, Desiring God, as it’s free-audio book of the month. Use the coupon code NOV2009 when purchasing.

From the publisher’s description:

Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering classic, newly revised and expanded, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly exist: Delight is our duty. Join him as he unveils stunning, life impacting truths you saw in the Bible but never dared to believe.

Prayerlessness is Unbelief

A post well worth reading from Kevin DeYoung:

Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on our Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not. or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side.  We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help.

Introducing 10 Million Words

Christian blogger extraordinaire Tim Challies has started another blog over at The Gospel Coalition. But here’s the twist—Tim will be reading and reviewing every non-fiction hardcover on the New York Times bestseller’s list in 2010. Here’s what Tim had to say:

My wife thinks I’m a little bit crazy, I’m sure of it. During eleven years of marriage I’ve done a lot of things that have led her to roll her eyes and sigh. I guess she is getting used to it, though, because even she is interested in what I am planning to do in 2010. I plan to read all of the New York Times bestselling books over the course of the whole year. Do the math and you’ll see that this will come in at somewhere around 10 million words.

And Introducing…

This week, my wife and I learned some exciting news: We’ll be welcoming another little girl to our family in March/April (depending on when Emily goes into labor). We’ve been keeping the pregnancy somewhat under wraps until now, but I want to introduce you to my soon-to-be-born daughter:

See you soon, Rutabaga Applesauce. (Please pray that we would find the right name for this child.)

In case you missed it

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

Book Review: “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God, reviewing J.I. Packer’s classic defense of the Evangelical view of Scripture

The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent: Temptation, kicking off a new Saturday series representing George Whitefield’s sermon on Genesis 3:15 (the first gospel)

By Grace Alone, telling my story of how I became a Christian

The Gospel-less “Gospel,” looking at Christianity Today’s short documentary on the prosperity “gospel” and it’s impact in Ghana.

The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent: Temptation

Genesis 3:15 — “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” [ESV]

On reading to you these words, I may address you in the language of the holy angels to the shepherds, that were watching their flocks by night: “Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” For this is the first promise that was made of a Savior to the apostate race of Adam. We generally look for Christ only in the New Testament; but Christianity, in one sense, is very near as old as the creation. It is wonderful to observe how gradually God revealed his Son to mankind. He began with the promise in the text, and this the elect lived upon, till the time of Abraham. To him, God made further discoveries of his eternal council concerning man’s redemption. Afterwards, at sundry times, and in divers manners, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets, till at length the Lord Jesus himself was manifested in flesh, and came and tabernacled amongst us.

This first promise must certainly be but dark to our first parents, in comparison of that great light which we enjoy: And yet, dark as it was, we may assure ourselves they built upon it their hopes of everlasting salvation, and by that faith were saved.

How they came to stand in need of this promise, and what is the extent and meaning of it, I intend, God willing, to make the subject-matter of your present meditation.

Concerning The Fall of Man

The fall of man is written in too legible characters not to be understood: Those that deny it, by their denying, prove it.

The Gospel-less “Gospel”

You may have seen this video making the rounds this week, an eight minute film produced by Christianity Today and The Global Conversation:

more about “The Prosperity Gospel“, posted with vodpod

 

The video is exceptional, disturbing and incredibly convicting. Watch the last couple of minutes, starting at 6:14, or read the transcript to see what I mean:

Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah (a pastor who preaches the prosperity “gospel”):
“We were born in poverty. We suffered; we struggled; we almost didn’t get food to eat. We struggled for food. We struggled for space. For love. You might have been born into poverty but you can change the status quo and turn around and  leave a legacy of wealth for your children. You have been born into many difficulties and challenges—but here it starts with you. So for us, preaching prosperity, dreaming prosperity, craving for prosperity, praying for prosperity is non-negotiable. It’s power to break poverty.”

By Grace Alone: My Story

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I tend to shy away from talking about it too much because people might think I’m nuts. Then, I remembered that I worship Jesus and most people think I’m nuts anyway. So, for better or for worse, here’s my story:

A Bit of History

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, or one that really practiced any sort of religious belief (unless watching Star Trek religiously counts). From what I recall, the only time someone said “God” or “Jesus” was when someone was exasperated. I learned a couple years ago that apparently I went to Sunday School a few times when I was about six, but the only thing I remember is making a guitar out of yarn and styrofoam plates.

I suppose that’s an indicator of what I learned there, isn’t it?

Who Would You Be?

A couple nights ago, Emily and I were watching the Vintage Jesus DVDs and we came to this question:

Who would you be if Jesus hadn’t saved you?

It was really interesting for us to sit back and consider this: Who would I be if Jesus hadn’t saved me?

What kind of husband would I be? What kind of father?

Would I be any of these things?

The truth is, I know exactly what kind of guy I’d be.

Jesus saved me from being a lying, adulterous little boy trying to fit into grown-up man pants that I could never wear. From being a sad, pathetic excuse for a man who could never live up to the responsibilities of being a husband and father.

Because, this is where I was heading until Jesus grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and said, “You’re mine! You belong to me.”

I don’t talk about how I became a Christian a lot, because… well, because I am sometimes afraid that people will think I’m nuts. But you know what?

That’s just stupid.

It’s putting people in the place of God, and fearing them instead of fearing Him.

So tomorrow, I’m going to start to tell the story, at least the parts you need to know.

God gives us a story for His glory.

Who would you be?

Book Review: “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God

Title: “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God
Author: J. I. Packer
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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There are certain books that have a very short shelf-life, either because they’re highly topical or they make pop-culture references that no one will get in 15 minutes.

 

This is not one of those books.

“Fundamentalism” and the Word of God was first published 51 years in the midst of the British ”Fundamentalism” controversy of the 1950s—a controversy centering around the authority of Scripture.

At roughly the mid-point of the 20th century, Theological Liberalism gave way to the “Biblical Theology” movement. Rather than completely shuffling off historic faith, “biblical theologians” sought to get to the heart of what the authors intended; to “read the Bible from within,” as it were. A noble goal to be sure.

However, their approach was to study the Bible as an unbeliever so as not to presuppose certain assumptions regarding faith, including disregarding the Bible’s internal witness as the divine revelation of God. The result was that essentially everything was up for grabs.

The validity of the virgin birth, the resurrection, Christ’s divinity, the nature and necessity of the atonement, the Bible’s divine inspiration… Any and all were up for consideration in the name of “biblical criticism.”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?