genuine religion

A friend and I are currently reading through John Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. Though I am merely through the first few chapters, I am amazed at so much of Calvin's insights and wisdom. Even more so as I consider Calvin was only 27 when he wrote the Institutes and had only been converted for 4 years...

I was re-reading a portion of it just a few moments ago, and I wanted to share it here, hoping that through the typing of these words, they may grain a greater footing in my soul and ring truer in my mind:

"For, first of all, the pious mind does not devise for itself any kind of God, but looks alone to the one true God; nor does it feign for Him any character it pleases, but is contented to have Him in the character in which He manifests Himself always guarding, with the utmost diligences to have him in transgressing His will, and wandering, with daring presumptions from the right path. He by whom God is thus known perceiving how He governs all things, confides in Him as his guardian and protector, and casts himself entirely upon His faithfulness, -- perceiving Him to be the source of every blessing, if he is in any strait or feels any want, he instantly recurs to His protection and trusts to His aid, --persuaded that He is good and merciful, he reclines on Him with sure confidence, and doubts not that, in the divine clemency, a remedy will be provided for his every time of need, --acknowledging him as Father and Lord he considers himself bound to have respect to His authority in all things, to reverence His majesty aim at the advancement of His glory, and obey His commands, --regarding Him as a just judge, armed with severity to punish crimes, he keeps the Judgment-seat always in his view. Standing in awe of it, he curbs himself, and fears to provoke His anger. Nevertheless, he is not so terrified by an apprehension of Judgment as to wish he could withdraw himself, even if the means of escape lay before him; nay he embraces Him not less as the avenger of wickedness than as the rewarder of the righteous; because he perceives that it equally appertains to His glory to store up punishment for the one, and eternal life for the other. Besides, it is not the mere fear of punishment that restrains him from sin. Loving and revering God as his father, honoring Him as master, although there were no hell, he would revolt at the very idea of offending Him.

Such is pure and genuine religion, namely, confidence in God coupled with serious fear-- fear, which both includes in it willing reverence, and brings along with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed by the law. And it ought to be more carefully considered that all men promiscuously do homage to God, but very few truly reverence him. On all hands there is abundance of ostentatious ceremonies, but sincerity of heart is rare." John Calvin, 1539(ish)

   I long to be of this pious mind. I want to recline on God with the sure confidence in the divine clemency of God. I want to live my life cloaked in the righteousness of Christ, such that it is not the mere fear of judgment that prevents my sin, but that it is out of love and reverence for my Lord. I want to live in light of the glory of heaven, not of the fear of hell... I want pure and genuine religion.

I want it for myself, I want it for my family, I want it for my church, I want it for each of my brothers and sisters on this earth... I want to throw off the ostentatious ceremony for the sincere heart of worship. 

  

Welcome

Praying for a team that is soon to be leaving from our church and headed into a small country for the sole purpose of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. As I sit and meditate on it all, I'm awestruck by the realization that right now, wherever they are, whatever they may be doing, there are people counted in the elect of God. Unbeknownst to any one of them is a stirring deep in their soul of the spirit of a lost sheep, longing to hear the call of it's shepherd. They are, likely, fully unaware of miraculous and powerful workings within them as the gardener is tilling and preparing soil for the sowing of seed. These people are just going about their day, oblivious to an intersection and intercession occurring in their midst. No matter who or where they are, physically or spiritually, God is readying them.

In the fullness of His timing and through the work of His immense grace... working through the surrendered and obedient lives of those who are going, the shepherd will call, the seeds will be sown upon the good soil, and light will be brought forth into the darkness. Those who are of God's elect, your spirit will hear the voice of your Shepherd, and you will recognize His voice, and follow Him. Your garden will be perfectly prepped and will receive the seed of the gospel, it will take root, and bear lasting, life-altering fruit, and that light will shine down a path of righteousness.

The process is so assured that we need to, right now, today welcome our new brothers and sisters. Embrace those who have been missing from our Father's table, and celebrate the return of our prodigals. We celebrate in the Kingdom that is both here and not yet, that is visible yet hidden. We trust in the word of God that all those He calls will come, and all who come will be justified, and all who are justified are glorified. All to the praise of His glory.

Welcome to the family, my soon to be brothers and sisters. I'm praying for you.

love your wife

Had a men's breakfast this week... an incredibly encouraging time to come together as the men of our church and seek to go deep into the Word. I nearly didn't make it, I really wanted to make it, I deeply need deeper relationships with men. I made it there, late, but there. Not only did I make it there, but I also managed to sit down at a table full of an incredible, multi-generational mix of men. Listening to a bit of teaching on spiritual leadership of the home and family worship amid a group so dynamic was refreshing and wonderful.

Through all the scriptural references and real-world application, one verse stuck in my mind, and sent me into focusing on one very important aspect of spiritual leadership: our relationship with our wives.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church (Ephesians 5:25-29)

If we read this to be an instruction on how we, as men, are to love/lead our wives, then we should be following the example of Christ. Jesus washed over His bride with the water of His word that she would be without blemish in His sight. Instead of following the example, our culture of men seems to accept the idea that a man is to expect our bride to simply present herself into our presence spotless, wrinkle-free, and beautiful, completely disconnected from our words or actions. Our expectations of who our wife should be, how they should speak, look, act, continue to grow... and yet we do nothing but expect. And we start to wonder why it is that our wife doesn't quite "do it" for us anymore. We don't feel about her the way we used to... our minds (and eventually our eyes) begin to wander. We find ourselves discontent, and we run from our marriages, blaming our wives for just letting themselves go and not caring about themselves like they should. 

Perhaps one giant leap to be made in the turn-around of the abysmal numbers associated with marital struggles in the church, up to and including divorce, would be for us to start actually start heeding the word of God. Perhaps we, as men of the church, need to step into the ordained office we accepted at the moment we chose to enter into the holy union of two becoming one. God's design for marriage includes an inherent need for the husband to be the spiritual leader of the home, and that starts (and primarily remains) in the husbands role to lead his wife. The example of Christ's love for the church includes an exhortation and instruction of how we are to accomplish this leading. We are to wash over our bride with the water of our words, that she would be without blemish in our sight. We should be building our wives up with our words, thoughts, and actions. We need to be praying for her, and praying that we would love her as we love ourselves. A wife who is made to feel and believe that her husband is purifying his bride, that he would be presenting her to himself will feel the nourishment and adoration their husband has for her. Likewise, the husband who earnestly seeks to wash over, cherish, and fulfill the needs of his wife's soul will consistently find her beauty to be without flaw. We should see the promise in the words to the Ephesians that the effort that is invested by a husband into the leading of his wife will return on that investment, as filling and gratifying as loving himself. 

Men, lead your wives. Pray earnestly for their fulfillment and joy, but do not dare to stop at only those prayers, put feet to them, and actively seek to wash over her. Even on the hard days, especially on the hard days. 

saved

God saves sinners. He takes those He foreknew, predestined, elected, and pursues them with a relentless tenacity, and with steadfast assurance that He will find those of His people who are lost. Upon finding them, He carries them back to  His table, seats them at the feast, places royal robes upon them, and welcomes them back into the family.  Those who have been brought to the table, who have felt the pursuit play out in our lives, are the products of unfathomable grace. We did not choose to be pursued, we did not seek the table earnestly, we did nothing to set ourselves apart from those who God has not yet called to Himself. There is no mark on us that distinguished us from them. We did not choose the time or the place of our conversion. We can't be so arrogant as to think that if it weren't for the divine election of our soul in eternity past that we wouldn't be riding the same wide path that leads to eternal, conscious torment in Hell. Instead, for some reason, God has chosen to manifest His glory in us. He has chosen to display the mighty power He has, the power to take utterly destroyed, broken flesh, and restore the wrecked vessels of our lives so that we might behold the beauty of His mercy, and others might see the reflection of His glory in us. Being regenerated through justification and transformed through sanctification, we are testaments of the will of a living God. God then uses His rebuilt people to speak through and shine through that more of His children will return to Him. We become part of the pursuing reach of God. He compels us to speak love, life, truth. We become the mouthpiece through which the Good News of Jesus is proclaimed. We enter into the same lineage of those who came before us....

We become like Jonah, or like Peter... failures if the highest degree, redeemed by amazing grace, and called to proclaim a message. We speak that message, trusting that (as it always has) the Holy Spirit will empower the words of our heart, and will penetrate the hearts of those who have been granted ears to hear and minds to understand. The Spirit will stir an uneasy understanding in the core of those who truly hear the words spoken to them, and the soul will recognize the calling of its Creator. God the pursuer will call them up out of death and darkness. He will pursue them in their rebellious, wicked, evil ways. He will reclaim His lost treasure. Even when our words fail, and sound like garbled trash, the spirit speaks to the soul of those who can hear it... And we know, and trust, that all those God pursues, He will find, and those He finds, He will call, and all those He calls will come, and all who come will call on His name, and all who call on His name will be saved.  

branches

In continuing to facilitate a study through David Platt's "Follow Me", I am again reminded that God is Sovereign in all things.
As the new Discipleship season at our church was approaching I was feeling no leading or guidance in which of the studies to take, assuming I would simply default to which ever study my wife decided to take. Until, one evening I received a phone call asking if I could be available to lead this particular study. Never being one to turn down an opportunity to teach, I agreed. Through 2 weeks now, and I am enjoying the words of David Platt, and his teaching.

In this morning's daily study, Platt writes this:
"When we consider what it means to follow Jesus, we typically think in terms of His leading us where He wants us to go. We think of Jesus out in front and us following behind. In our mind's eye there is always a gap between us and Christ- a separation."

Where do we get this imagery from? Are you like me, and when you think of Jesus and His disciples, do you picture a scene similar to Forrest Gump, running across America? A bearded, dirty, white guy out for a run, and a mass of people running behind him? Do you picture yourself in that pack? Are you running hard, trying to catch up to your "Jesus"? Aren't you exhausted?

The words of Jesus, the imagery given by Him, and the writings of the Apostles all point to a radically different picture. They offer us a Jesus calling to Himself all who are weary, heavy laden... offering rest and peace. We find the offer of a yoke that is light, and an abiding love. We find a Jesus who walks with His disciples, who brings them into and through the storms. Ours is not a Christ who runs to the horizon and yells back at us to keep up, He is a rescuing Shepherd that throws the sheep over His shoulders and will carry us home. We are told that we are united to Christ, co-heirs of the promise. Adopted sons of the Father.

To use Platt's example, we are branches of the vine. We are so intimately connected to the life-vein of Christ that we only grow as an outcropping of His life. As a vine branches, it sends itself into action, bringing forth new life as it grows into a branch. As the branch begins to grow, its core remains the vine, and the new life is created. The branch is cared for, pruned, prepared to produce the fruit for which it is intended to produce. The connection is intimate, the life is no longer the pursuit of a branch looking for a vine, it is a vine that has sprung to life in a branch.

discontent

It has been a rough season.

That phrase, and the many arrangements of it, have been commonplace in conversations around this house lately. Work-hours have been plentiful, and work-tasks have been stressful, time at home has been minimal, and filled with schoolwork. Money has been tight, though needs have been met, wants are amassing. Kids have been growing rapidly, both physically and in feist. Daily battles have been waged against the strong-willed defiance of a son... and while I appreciate the strength he displays, I don't appreciate the tears of my wife as she is often left to fight him alone. The season swirls on, and the path winds... not knowing how, when, where, or why it moves as it does, I have found myself struggling in resilience, tired, and discontent. I have been actively seeking a change in employment for over a year, and every promising lead has ended with a recalling on my lack of experience, or in an exciting offer accompanying a pay-cut. 

I hit the pillow with a desperately painful thud, and give way to the exhaustion of my soul. I long for days spent with my family, and of life spent among the day-dwelling, spirit-energizing friends God has placed in my life. I miss feeling alive. Then, one day last week, wrestling with these feelings, angry at the season, I finished a study of Romans and moved on to 1 Timothy... I have long loved the letters Paul wrote to Timothy. They have long felt like letter written directly to me. And as I read that morning, I was again convicted by the words of Scripture. This time it was 1 Timothy 1:6-10

      

  But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot   take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But  those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful  desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of  evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves  with many pangs.

A common passage, and one that I have read over many times... but on this particular morning, lamenting my current job, hours, status, pay-scale, etc... it struck differently. I definitely did not feel as though I was desiring riches, or anything along those lines, but I can easily say that I was not willing to find contentment in that which I have. I felt the warning of the text, saying that whereas I might not feel as though I was desiring wealth, I was denying the contentment of a life lived under the grace of Christ, and failing to live under the authority of Jesus in every aspect. I was threatening to find myself in love of money. And therefore, dangling myself over the fires of temptation. I saw myself running headlong back toward the path of ruin and destruction... 

No matter the "godliness" of my efforts in my life, and no matter the "righteousness" of my desires for a new job, and for better hours, and better pay... if I fail to live in contentment, accepting the God would have me here, in my current job, my current season, for whatever purpose He may have for me in the future, then I am opening myself to the temptation of the love of money. And willingly walking in that path risks a craving strong enough to lead some away from the faith, and accepting the piercing promised to those who choose to wander away.

I fell asleep in prayer that morning. But the desires of my heart were called on the carpet. I need to rest in the arms of an all-sufficient Savior. I need to trust that the plans He has for me are ultimately to the praise of His glory. I need to know that He will place me where He needs me to accomplish His will through my life. 

   

Of older brothers and anguish

Tonight, we had the second week of our home-based discipleship studies. This week we were reviewing the parable of the Prodigal Son. We are all familiar with the story, but most people have never really taken the time to dive into the deep implications of what Jesus is telling the people.

As we were discussing the response of the older brother in the parable, a hypothetical came up: What would this story look like if the older brother would have reacted with the same grace, mercy, and love as the father did when the younger brother returned home?

The thought that ran through my head were the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:2-5 "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen."

The anguish of Paul over the desire to see his brothers come to saving knowledge of Christ is such that he would give up his own salvation for them. This is the heart of a believer who has been affected by the unfathomable grace of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The full atonement of Jesus' blood and the imputation of His total righteousness should change our hearts. If the older brother had a regenerated heart within him, his response to the return of his younger brother would have been completely different. I picture a scene where the older brother runs out with his father to embrace the younger. When the father declares to the servants to fetch a robe and ring, the brother would have responded, "Father, if you'll permit me, I will let him have my robe, and my ring. Let him have these that are mine, and sit in my place at your table." He would have then turned to his brother, embraced him, lead him to his seat at the table, and washed the dirt off his feet. He would have been willing to give up everything he had that marked him as a son of this same father, so that his formerly lost brother would be recognized as being back in the sonship.
The father would have turned to his elder son, embraced him, be pleased by the willing heart of his son, and told this son that it was not necessary for him to give up his own sonship for his brother, that there was enough room at the table for them all to sit together. They would have then walked together, into the dining hall, embracing one another, and celebrated the return of a lost brother. All those in attendance would have rejoiced, and the father would have received the glory for the reunion of this family.

We should do the same, as children adopted into the family of our Father, and welcomed to His table. When we see our Father rise up, eyes on the horizon, as His endless pursuit of His lost child continues, when we see Him begin to move toward one who is still far off... we too should rise, and run in the steps of our Father and embrace the returned. Our heart should be one of love, and a love that would sacrifice all we have in order to bring our brother back to the table. Because of the degree to which grace has been lavished upon us, we too should lavish grace of those who approach the table.

Be willing to give up everything for the sake of one... be willing to humble yourself that you would not reject one whom God has called to Himself through Christ.