Oh, how patiently He listens…

I wanted to post these lyrics that have greatly lifted up my soul this afternoon.  I don’t have anything else to say.  A great song off a great album. 

 

“In the Secret of His Presence”

Words by Christopher Miner

Lyrics as they are on The Builder and the Architect by Sandra McCracken

 

In the secret of His presence
How my soul delights to hide
Oh how precious are the lessons
That I learn at Jesus’ side

Earthly cares forever vex me
All my trials lay me low
But when Satan comes to tempt me
To that secret place I go -
To that secret place I go.

When my soul is faint and thirsty
‘Neath the shadow of Your wings
There is cool and pleasant shelter
And a fresh and crystal spring

And my Savior rests beside me
As we share communion sweet
If I tried I could not utter
What He says when thus we meet;
What He says when thus we meet.

Only this I know; I tell Him
All my doubts, my griefs, my fears
Oh, how patiently He listens
And my sorrowed soul He cheers

Dare you think he ne’er reproves me
What a false friend He would be
If He never, ever told me
Of the sin which He must see -
Of the sin which He must see.

Would you like to know the sweetness
Of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow
And this shall then be your reward…

And whene’er you leave the silence
Of that happy meeting place
You will surely bear the image
Of the Master in your face;
Of the Master in your face.

Communion with the Triune God, Part 1, Chapter 1

Brief note about the book: Owen split this book into three parts: Part 1 is on communion with God the Father, Part 2 is communion with God the Son, and Part 3 is communion with God the Spirit. The original title Owen gave the book is Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Distinctly; in Love, Grace, and Consolation.

Part 1, Chapter 1:

In this first chapter, Owen lays the groundwork for the idea of communion. Of interest to me was his discussion of our lack of communion apart from Christ. Adam had perfect communion with God, but as soon as sin entered the picture, it was gone. Owen contrasts God’s nature with our nature to show how true communion is impossible. He says, “[God] is light, we darkness; and what communion has light with darkness (2 Cor 6:14)?” He continues, “He is life, we are dead – He is love, we are enmity.”

Even Old Testament believers didn’t have the closeness that we have through Christ. He sights Abraham (Isa 41:8), David (1 Sam 13:14), and Enoch (Gen 5:22) as having close relationships with God, but they did not have “boldness and confidence in that communion” or “freedom and liberty in their access to God” (Heb 9:8-9). These things were made available through Christ, “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:12).

Finally, Owen closes with his definition of communion:

Our communion, then, with God consists in His communication of Himself unto us, with our return unto Him of that which He requires and accepts, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with Him.

Pray for Which Man?

BBC News published a story on today about a “heckler” protesting the first openly gay Anglican bishop during his sermon. In the video (watch it here for better audio), the bishop is saying how it’s a shame that the church is being split because of…then the protestor jumps in, “because of heretics like you, sir!” It’s hard to hear everything he says, but you can very clearly hear him say, “Go back, repent, repent!” several times. While maybe it wasn’t the most loving way to do it, I don’t know if it was inappropriate. It’s not like this English motorcyclist was going to have a chance to meet one-on-one with the American bishop.

The church ends up drowning the man out with singing. The guy leaves, then the bishop continues his “sermon”. He asked the church to “pray for that man.” Then he goes on to say…

This discussion of homosexuality we are having in the Church is not so significant because of what it says about homosexuality, but of what it says about God. When someone stands up and says homosexuality is an abomination, does that make you want to get to know God? …You know, whatever you think makes you unworthy, I don’t think God wants to hear it any more.

These are troubling words for two main reasons:

1) Homosexuality is a sin (Lev 18:22, 20:13; Rom 1:26-27). The only way to get around that is to pick and choose what you want to believe out of the Bible. It’s not that a man has stood up and said homosexuality is an abomination, God’s Word says it explicitly. Leviticus 18:22 says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Those are God’s words. Smarter people have written much more about this, so I’ll stop here.

2) He’s belittling sin and trying to turn God and the Church into people-pleasers. Let’s not mention homosexuality and the fact that it offends God because we may in turn offend men. Let’s not say, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom 3:23). Let’s not say, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell,” (Matt 5:29). People might be offended. And by the way, don’t bother confessing your sin and unworthiness to God. He’s tired of hearing about it.

Sin is serious. Hell is real. Judgment is coming. Christ will return, and God’s wrath will be poured out upon all unrighteousness.

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57

Christ gave himself for our sins. He gave Himself for homosexuals and alcoholics and idolaters and materialists and Worldly Wisemen. He is at present sitting at the right hand of God interceding for the saints. He’ll never ever tire of hearing your confessions and seeing and aiding your repentance. May the Word shape our lives, despite what the world would think.

Pray for this bishop and the Anglican Church.

Communion with the Triune God, Introduction

I’ve decided to blog through Communion with the Triune God by John Owen (1616-1683). Not because I think I have some keen insight to offer, but simply to help me retain what I read a little better. So, this is my first installment – the Introduction, written by co-editor Kelly Kapic.

First, a brief note on the book and edition: The book was first published in 1657, but was born out of a sermon series preached some years earlier at Christ Church, Oxford. Kapic and Justin Taylor have edited the work to make it more friendly to modern readers. It’s not an abridgement. They simply modernized spelling, included definitions of words that are now out of use, and put in footnotes for Scripture references and Latin and Greek terms. Kapic and Taylor did the same thing with The Mortification of Sin in Sin and Temptation. That book has affected my life greatly. I hope for the same out of this book. I’m praying that God will use it to grow my understanding of my fellowship with God, through Christ, by the Spirit.

Introduction:

In the Introduction, Kapic establishes the basics of Owen’s theology of communion with God. Communion is an old word that has largely fallen out of use. Today, Christians might say relationship instead. We have a relationship with God. Pastors will ask you how your relationship is. This is (sort of) the same thing. Webster’s defines communion as “an act or instance of sharing” and “ intimate fellowship.” That’s as far as I’m going to go now as the rest of the book will further unfold the meaning and practice.

There was one thought in the Introduction that was extremely interesting to me; that is, Owen’s distinction between union with God and communion with God. Being “united to Christ in God by the Spirit” is not the same as having communion with God through Christ by the Spirit. Our union is something that was initiated and carried out by God alone. Our union is not dependent on us. Our communion, on the other hand, is a mutual relationship, where God pursues us and we pursue God. Our communion is a response to our union.

Here’s why this matters: Kapic says, “While union with Christ is something that does not ebb and flow, one’s experience of communion with Christ can fluctuate” (pg 21). When I fall into sin, my communion is disrupted, but my union remains unchanged. It’s like when my wife and I get into an argument. For a time, we’re upset and don’t really want to speak to each other. This doesn’t change the fact that we’re united in marriage.

I find this thought very comforting. Just because I sin and feel the separation from my King, it doesn’t mean that He’s left me. It also protects me from this mindset:

…when we have our quiet times for the day, or when we have given a tithe, we are confident of God’s love toward us. But when our days become crowded and personal devotions end up neglected, we start to avoid God, sensing that we are under his wrath and anger. We imagine that God is waiting for us to get ourselves together before we again enter his presence. Such thinking betrays our failure to grasp the security of our union and the depth of God’s love and consequently disrupts our communion with him. (pg 30)

Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter One to come…

Source:
Owen, John. Communion with the Triune God. 1657. Ed. K. Kapic and J. Taylor. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007.

Stand in Wonder

Psalm 65:5-8
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

Some sources are saying that the death toll from the Myanmar cyclone will top 150,000. China’s earthquake has reportedly claimed 80,000, and that number could rise. Over 200,000 dead. All the result of a short earthquake and a relatively short storm.

Several weeks ago I was listening to John Piper preach on evangelism. At one part, he said something like, “Be not amazed that (unbelievers) aren’t saved; rather, be amazed that you are.” [It’s quite possible that someone else said this and I’m confusing them…doesn’t matter.] When I read this passage, this came to mind:

Stand not only in wonder of God’s power shown through these acts of nature; additionally, stand in wonder that God stops them.

He calms the waters. God’s mercy grabbed hold of the earth’s plates and calmed them and stopped the quaking. It’s mercy that any Burmese or Chinese have been left alive. Why were they left?

“So that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at His signs.”

God still has “sheep that are not of this fold.” They must be brought in. Once they are, the quaking and the hurricanes and the hail and waves will not stop. The fire will not be quenched. God’s patient endurance with the sins of this world is fast approaching its end.

Wonder at your Creator and His revealed power in nature.

“Come up here”

Proverbs 25:6-7
Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
I read this yesterday morning and was struck with this thought: God, in His great love and mercy, looked on us with compassion, and sent Jesus to rescue us. Christ then takes off our filthy, bloodstained robes, and covers us with robes of righteousness, and puts a ring on our finger, and says, “Come up here. Be with the King, eat with me, worship me, find joy in me, be satisfied, for you were dead, but are alive again; you were lost, but now are found.” What a wonderful Savior!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Luke 15:11-24

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Mission Network News

Just wanted to share a really cool site I found.  Mission Network News has mission-related news from around the world.  The coolest part, though, is that you can listen to a 4.5 minute audio news round-up of sorts on their site.  It’s around the middle of the page.  Listen to this every day and keep up with what’s going on around the world and learn how to pray for God’s kingdom.  There are also lots of cool links to mission groups, trips, etc.  They also have bulletin inserts and newsletters you can receive.  Anyway, check it out.

Free Song!

Steven Altrogge posted this on his blog…it’s a free song designed to help us memorize scripture.  Pretty cool.

Get it here.

“I want to be on the narrow road.”

Last April, three Christians were killed in Malatya, Turkey.  One was a German.  His wife and children still live in Malatya.  One was an engaged Turk.  His fiance now lives with her Muslim family and is completely isolated from other Christians.  The other, Necati Aydin (neh-JAH-tee), was also a Turk, married with two young children.  His wife and kids moved in with relatives in Western Turkey (i.e. – the other side of the country) for financial reasons.

In a recent article on Christianity Today, Semse, Necati’s wife, said this of dealing with her husband’s death:

“Christ said the road is narrow and difficult.  If you choose this road, it won’t be easy.  If you get too comfortable, it can take your faith.  The hard times can also crush your faith.  I want to be on the narrow road.”

(The CT article has lots of links to related articles and ways you can write to or send money to the martyrs’ families.)

The trial for the five suspects (all 19 and 20 years old) starts January 14.  The Turkish Church is asking for lots of prayer and fasting for this trial.  May God be glorified.

absence

I just wanted to get on here and write a brief note on why I haven’t posted in a few days.  I had planned on doing this earlier, but it got put off.  Then, someone just had to comment and force the issue.  There are three reasons why posting will be less frequent in January.  They are:

1) I’m an accountant and work is really busy right now.

2) I started a month-long reading project that is taking about 2.5 hours a day to do.  This has completely demolished all of the free time I had to think and write.  I want to post, but I haven’t had time to sit down and actually write anything.  I also haven’t had time to read things that I would like to post about (news, books, etc.). 

 3) I’ll be starting grad school next Thursday (1/17).  I don’t know yet how much time this will actually consume, so this might have little to no effect.

I’ll be back posting in February.  In the mean time, I’ll post whenever I can.