How glorious is it that we even heard!
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Driscoll on Humility
Who Are You?
Identity precedes instruction.
This is the context of ethical commands in the Bible. It is seen explicitly in the book of Ephesians. Paul discusses the wonder of Christ’s work in creating the church. The picture is glorious. Then he gives the divine command for us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling (4-6). Reminiscent of Galatians 2:14, the whole idea of walking in step with the truth of the gospel. Ethics are not shackles, some mere list of do’s and don’ts. The commands of God are not burdensome. They are good. They are the walking in the reality of what is–of what Christ has done.
Before we are told what to do, we are told who we are. Moreover, we are told who God is and what He has done by grace through Jesus Christ to make His enemies become His children. He calls me, a sinner, His own. The object of His mercy, a recipient of His immeasurable grace.
And may everything we do in life testify to that glorious truth. He has made me His.
Traitors in Our Hearts
John Owen changed my life a few years ago. This copy & paste from my last paper in college may cue you in.
There are traitors in our hearts, ready to take part, to close and side with every temptation, and to give up all to them; yea, to solicit and bribe temptations to do the work, as traitors to incite the enemy. Do not flatter yourselves what you should hold out; there are secret lusts that lie lurking in your hearts, which perhaps now stir not, which, as soon as any temptation befalls you, will rise, tumultuate, cry, disquiet, seduce, and never give over until they are either killed or satisfied.[1]
[1] John Owen, “Of Temptation: the nature and power of it, the danger of entering into it, and the means of preventing that danger,” in Overcoming Sin and Temptation, ed. Kelly A. Kapic and Justin Taylor (Wheaton: Crossway, 2006), 171.
Children Dying All Around the World
Every single minute 24 children from around the world die from preventible diseases.
1 minute, 24 children dead, preventible diseases
What does this mean to you?
Stop, wait. Are you checking out now?
Do you ignore it?
Is it someone else’s problem?
Please, don’t click away just yet.
There is no guilt trip here. I am not trying to wound you. I just want us to think, “What do I do?!” And the answers will not be the same. But I am sure that the answer will never be to bury your head in the sand.
God’s Delight in Repenting Sinners
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7)
The same idea is repeated two more times (15:10, 32). God rejoices over sinners who repent. I think often these parables are read to juxtapose the two categories of saved and unsaved. The repentance part is taken to mean conversion and we are told to celebrate with God because the guy up front just prayed to receive Christ. Or at least this is where I’ve been.
But notice the categories that Luke spells out. Jesus is talking to an audience of two types: 1) sinners in v. 1, and 2) Pharisees in v. 2. The two categories are simply that: sinners and Pharisees.
The question is which one of these do we identify ourselves with. Luke wants to be obvious. He tells us which one delights the Father. And we should find ourselves there. This is not merely about sinners being converted, it is about sinners repenting. And sinners repenting is who we should be, everyday.
So when you pray, does God rejoice?
10 Reasons Why I Really Love My Wife…
- She really loves Jesus
- She loves people in a deeply sincere way
- She is very different from me, often the realist who balances my idealism
- She is a terrific mom
- She likes sports and can throw a football really well
- She became a St. Louis Cardinals fan and because of her baseball became romantic for me
- She introduced me to George Herbert
- She is funny
- She is beautiful
- She is a Calvinist
