Audio Book Review: Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

This audio book review was made possible by the gracious generosity of the christianaudio.com reviewers program which supplied me with the copy for the review. Thanks guys!

This book is the key to knowing God's will for your life! Actually, the Bible is the key for knowing God's will for your life, but Kevin DeYoung displays the truth of this in this book quite well.

Apparently, there are many volumes published on the same subject, but as far as I'm concerned there doesn't need to be another. Seriously. How many times does it have to be demonstrated from God's word what God's straightforward desire for your life is? I mean, really? It seems quite clear that Pastor DeYoung has noticed the clarity with which God has addressed this topic, and I would recommend this book to anyone who has any doubts that it could be so simple.

From the outset, the narrator didn't seem to have enough variance in his voice to do DeYoung's writing style justice, but whether his voice grew on me or if the material itself was just compelling enough to shine through I ended up not in the least bit bothered by it. I think maybe the narrator was enjoying his job, and that may be why it progressively got better. Either way, I believe he did a good enough job to encourage me to listen to this again sometime in the future.

I also HIGHLY recommend this book to non-Calvinists and those who would call themselves Calvinists who don't take enough initiative on their own because of their persuasion that God is so sovereign that they don't really need to get involved in anything. Again, Kevin DeYoung does a superb job of dispelling the misconceptions held by both of these groups. I would be more clear as to how that is done, but that may discourage you from investing in this book and benefiting by it.

So, what are you waiting for? Don't just DO something--click the link and get listening:

CLICK ME!

Ponder this (rejoicing in sufferings):

"...in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16b)

Every one of them "were written" by God.

They were specifically formed "for you."

Do you love the Lord you God? Does He love you? Perhaps you were foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified by God Himself (Romans 8:29-30--notice how they all necessarily flow from the previous?).

By the way, I'm asking if you're saved...

If so, then stop worrying and complaining about anything you might be worrying or complaining about. It has been put there by God Himself in order to burn off the impurities in your faith and make you more like Jesus. So, as I'm telling myself this I hope you can also see the wisdom in rejoicing in your sufferings (Rom. 5:3-5) and the foolishness of you complaints.

May you not have too many slap your forehead moments...

And they say they want EQUAL rights?

Well, James White has again posted another insightful entry on a topic that he has been on top of for a long time. The post has to do with the events happening now in the UK with the "gay rights" activists attempting to have civil union ceremonies performed in churches. He has some good things to add over at his blog HERE. I recommend his post to you.

Dr. White also links to the original article on his page, and I recommend reading that article too.

I have to say, this just seems downright ridiculous. How on earth can a group who is blatantly rebelling against Christianity and its long historical beliefs decide that it wants to storm the doors of these churches in order to have them bless something that they absolutely cannot even accept as valid? Why would this activist group even care what these churches think about their relationships? I would think that they would want to stay away from the churches rather than go to them.

On the other hand, the Bible says that those who reject God's rule over them will be judged in this way. And the judgment is their perverted sexual desires ruling them and causing them to bring more judgment on their own heads. And for those who think I'm merely spouting off bigoted slander, here's the passage in question:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, BECAUSE they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. [NOW WATCH THIS] For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Rom 1:18-32 ESV)

So, the Bible affirms this behavior as being the rebellion of creatures against their creator, and the extended vigor with which they pursue this rebellion is God's judgment upon them.

All this behavior coming from the extreme, radical gay activists is similar to the behavior I see from my children. Unless checked, my children will stomp their feet and deliberately disobey my commands just to spite me. They are naturally rebels. This is why it is so important to keep track of their actions and shepherd them in order that they don't end up rebelling against God and ending up eternally regretting it.

I see some gay people who are so extremely and overtly flamboyant and I wonder why they are so concerned with advertising. What I hope, though, is that we as Christ's ambassadors, who possess the only message of healing and reconciliation (II Cor. 5:20) will be willing to overlook these sinners' rebellion and attempt to befriend them in the hope that we will be given the opportunity to be used of God to pull them out of the fire and introduce them to their Savior. After all, we were all likewise rebellious sinners in need of this soul saving message, and we would be to blame and have blood on our hands if we neglected in any way to hold out this message of reconciliation for any reason--even if the sin we confront in the process makes us feel queasy.

A Failure of Local Churches

I'm reading an amazing book called Dear Timothy. It's a clever concept written by a group of seasoned pastors as a series of letters to a young pastor who is just starting out in his first church. It has some great insights for anyone planning to go into the pastoral ministry, and I highly recommend it.

This post, however, is not meant to be a review.

I wanted to share a paragraph cited in the book from another book written by A.W. Pink. This is from Mark Dever's chapter entitled "Do the Work of an Evangelist" on page 163. Apparently, Pink was writing on a subject that is depressingly still relevant that was going on in Australia (his home?) in the 1920s. Allow me to share:

General religious conditions here are very similar to those which obtain in the USA. The vast majority of the churches are in a sorry state. Those that are out-and-out worldly are at their wits' end to invent new devices for drawing a crowd. Others which still preserve an outward form of godliness provide nothing substantial for the soul; there is little ministering of Christ to the heart and little preaching of "sound doctrine," without which souls cannot be built up and established in the faith. The great majority of the "pastors" summon to their aid some professional "evangelist," who, for two to four weeks, puts on a high-pressure campaign and secures sufficient new "converts" to take the place of those who have "lapsed" since he was last with them. What a farce it all is! What an acknowledgement of their own failure! Imagine C. H. Spurgeon needing some evangelist to preach the Gospel for him for a month each year! Why do not these well-paid "pastors" heed 2 Timothy 4:5 and themselves "do the work of an evangelist," and thus "make full proof of their ministry"?

That's quite a question. I thought nothing of the significance or the error behind the position of a full time evangelist who travels to many churches in order to preach revivals and what not until I was in Bible college. I noticed then that there really is no such office in the NT expressed in the way it is now, and I wondered about the validity of it.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has pondered this, and I think that Pink may have been on to something.

I wonder what makes pastors think that they need to call on some professional "evangelist" when the pastor is to be the one doing the work of an evangelist and training his people to carry on that responsibility into their own lives (Eph 4:11-12). I know that the text in Ephesians names evangelists too, but not in the way that it is now expressed. Maybe it's due to the fact that it's been done for so long. Maybe it's because there are men training for this office and they need somebody to give em some work. I'm not really sure how it has come about, but I (and some godly men too) would like to know why.

I wonder if men leading churches today even care enough to start allowing God's Spirit to work through the faithful preaching of the word and attend to the responsibility of evangelizing people themselves. After all, it's not the visible results that your looking for--it's the faithful obedience that counts (or is it?).

The Benevolent Rich Man

I recently heard a great illustration that I wanted to pass along:

Suppose a rich man knew another extremely poor man who needed a series of surgeries in order to keep himself from dying from an otherwise terminal illness. The surgeries would cost the poor man a total of 10,000,000 dollars over time, but there would be no possibility of that ever happening for him. The rich man, being the benevolent man that he was, decided to offer the poor man the money needed for his surgery to be paid in full and applied at the right time in order to make the future surgeries a guarantee. The poor man realizes his need for the money and ecstatically accepts the money and is made well.

Now, suppose that the rich man not only offered the money to the one poor man in need, but he also offered the money to another poor man in the same financial situation, with the same disease. The only difference in this story is that while the first poor man accepts the gift from the benevolent rich man the second poor man declines the offer. Of course we know that the rich man is not lacking in any benevolence, but what can we say of the second poor man? What is the difference from the one to the other? They both need the money in order to survive, but only one recognizes that need while the other one doesn't. What is wrong with this picture? Is one completely stupid? Is he in denial? What makes the first poor man accept the offer over the other poor man? Is the first poor man smarter than the second? They're in the exact same situation with no advantage over the other, so what gives?

What do you suppose would be the answer?

Why "Roman Catholic" is Accurate, and Merely "Catholic" is Not by James White

I wanted to pass this along because I think it's helpful. We cannot and never should we relinquish the deserving title of "catholic" to the Roman church. This would be inaccurate and irresponsible; but as Dr. White is much better at articulation, see what he has to say:

CLICK ME...

...for Spiritual Growth and Understanding

For quite some time now I've been observing and engaging believers who are excited and motivated to do work for the Lord. I find it refreshing that these folks have gained a heart for the Lord and are anxious to see others come to know Him--as it should be. The thing that I find overwhelmingly disappointing, though, is the lack on the part of some to truly seek to mine the depths of the riches of the knowledge of God that He has approved of us having by giving them to us in the Scriptures. The reason for my disappointment is due to the fact that knowing God is the essence of eternal life (Jn 17:3), and if we don't pursue this knowledge then what on earth are we actually holding forth to the nations?!

I think I should be more precise...

There have been many times in which I have been speaking to friends about theological topics when they express some pious attitude about how they don't think they'll ever know the truth about some particular aspect of who God is or what He's done in this world and among His people. They claim that something is a "paradox" if it seems as though there is some tension between one thing that the Bible says and another thing. If these people are being sincere, then I understand their hesitation, but I would still encourage them not to give up there. If they call something a paradox because they don't want to be in disagreement with someone over something that has been disagreed on for a really long time, they are guilty of letting someone's feelings about them get in the way of their knowledge of God. They are allowing someone to get in the way of their eternal life. There are many explanations of why those apparent contradictions appear to be at odds with one another, and it doesn't have to mean that there is no resolution beside calling it a paradox.

I have an example:

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
(Joh 20:17)

Now, any orthodox Christian would say that Jesus Christ is God, and that God is a triune being. Though this is true, how does this verse fit with that belief? I've had Jehovah's Witnesses confront me with this verse, and it would not do to simply say, "Well, that's what Christians have always believed." No, this, in their minds, is a contradiction to your belief in the Trinity. Is this verse merely a paradoxical one that we just have to accept on the authority of tradition, or is this a verse that fits harmoniously together with those other verses that affirm the fact that Christ is indeed God in the flesh and that demonstrate His preexistence to all creation? We need to be able to affirm things like these, not on the basis of tradition, but on the authority that we believe that the Scriptures have as the authority to equip us for every good work (II Tim. 3:16-17).

Supposing we don't let the doctrine of the Trinity rest on mere tradition, have we satisfied ourselves with a surface level understanding of this truth about God based on a few verses that seem to fit this together for us? Hopefully, we've spent time reading the Bible and putting these things together in a way that truly satisfies our understanding of God because we love Him because of who He is and what He's done in our lives. Hopefully, we've done these things because we value the relationship that we've been given with Him and are pursuing this eternal life.

I have an illustration...

Imagine Tony, a 17 year old boy who sees Tanya, a girl of the same age walking to school every day past his house. Tony likes what Tanya has to offer him in the looks department, so he goes to talk to her, asks her out on a date, and they begin to get more deeply involved with one another. Eventually, their relationship leads to marriage, and they begin their life together.

Do you suppose Tony knows nothing about his wife? Does he know that she looks great, takes great care of the house, and treats him really nice; but he has no idea what her interests or goals are? Doesn't it makes sense that Tony would know the most intimate details about who Tanya is and what makes Tanya Tanya? And why would he know these things? Or why would he have even cared enough to do the hard work it sometimes takes to find these things out? It's because he loves her and he values his relationship with her.

Do you suppose that anyone would believe Tony's claim of loving his wife if he didn't desire to really KNOW his wife (and I'm not talking about King James "know")? Would you believe anyone who said that they loved their wife while not knowing anything about the woman? "Yeah, she looks great and don't bother me too much." Do you think that's love? No one would.

The point I'm trying to make is: if eternal life is knowing God, how much do we value this eternal life that we've been given? If we truly value the privilege of knowing God, can we really be content saying, "I don't want to worry about all those details, I just want to tell people about Him so they can be saved." Why? Why would they want to be saved? So they don't have to go to hell? Is that the real reason they should want to be saved? Is that the end all be all? Why do you want to tell them about Him? What is so great about Him anyways? Is it the fact that He can do this great thing for you? So, it's about what you can get from Him instead of getting HIM?

Somebody help me out here! I know I'm rambling, and I think rightly so! I'm frustrated! How can we call ourselves Christians while neglecting to spend time getting to know this Lover of our souls as we would some beautiful young woman or good-looking young man (if you're a woman)? How insulting to the One who loved us enough to crush and slay His Son in order to bring us close to Him! We would do this with no shame for "the one," so what keeps us from some discomfort in plumbing the depths of the word and discussing these truths and reading things outside of the Bible in order to fully understand (as far as possible in this life) the magnificence of our God?!

As I write this, I can't deny that I fall short in this. I know fully the fact that I should be spending more time in the word desperately seeking to know Him more than I did yesterday. This is something none of us can escape. We need more of God, and we ALL need to take time to understand who He is as far as His word will take us. And we need to do all that we can to understand how He saved us and what He has done in the world and why and every other detail that He has revealed to us in His word; and we should try and try until we have been fully convinced from His word that He has finally answered, "This far and no farther." Don't give up and don't give in. This is the greatest treasure that we have in this life--to know GOD!

Don't end up like the adopted son who gives people a bad impression of his dad. Get to know your Dad in order to represent Him accurately and becomingly. If we work harder at knowing God more fully, we can make an impact in pushing back the tide of error that has marked American Christianity for so many years. We can truly inform people of His love that can be experienced and relished for the rest of this life and on into eternity.

A Practical Plea...

Imagine a young man of 17 being adopted by a man who owns a car dealership that specializes in buying clunkers in order to repair and resell them. Suppose this young man is excited to get down and dirty and work on those clunkers in order to add to his adopted father's success and notoriety. This young man has no earthly clue as to how you change oil, let alone how to replace an engine; but he is so anxious to make his father proud by getting these clunkers road worthy so they can serve his father's purpose.

Little does this adopted son realize, but his new father is more interested in doing business according to a particular method. His father has decided that he wants the best possible parts to be used by people that have been trained to do things according to the specific method that he has developed. The young man's father has arranged things in this way so that he will be regarded with honor and respect as the trustworthy architect of an upright business establishment.

However, the newly adopted son has realized the goodness of his gracious father and has decided to try to bring much more honor to his name by getting as many of his cars on the road as possible--no matter how shoddy the work ends up being in the process. Unfortunately, the son has missed the goal and the method of the father, and he has therefore allowed unworthy representative automobiles onto the road that have actually damaged his father's reputation...

A good "Good Friday" read

I know I haven't been taking the time to post as frequently as I probably should, but my schedule is incredibly hectic. What I have taken the time to do, however, is to read a fitting article for the occasion. This is an article that asks one to ponder Christ's work on the cross and to ask oneself whether the Bible teaches that Christ actually accomplished something there or merely made something possible for all who will add their personal work (John 6:29) to His.

I challenge anyone reading this now to take 20 minutes (or less, depending on how fast you read) and read through this article. If you do, don't waste that time by merely blowing off the arguments made; rather, take the time to think through the challenges given, and think through how you would seriously answer these claims if you disagree with them. Then, do me a favor and take the time to write a short (or long) response to it in the comment box below.

Here's the goods: CLICK ME!

New Years Bible Reading Plan

I was given a Bible reading plan a lil while ago by a wise (not so old) man, and I wanted to share it with everyone. The wise man who gave it to me said that the Lord has just been purging his mind and renewing it as he had been following this plan. When the Scriptures are coming in as much as this plan will accomplish (if followed), the Lord will surely bring Scripture to your mind at the most opportune times in order to give you wisdom, encouragement, or rebuke when needed; and the Spirit will certainly use that to mold you into Christ's image (which I hope is your goal). It'll take you through the Bible in 90 days, which means that you'll be reaping the benefits in very little time. So go get started now:

1.....Genesis 1-5; Job 1-6.....Matthew 1-3
2.....Genesis 6-10; Job 7-12.....Matthew 4-6
3.....Genesis 11-15; Job 13-18.....Matthew 7-9
4.....Genesis 16-20; Job 19-24.....Matthew 10-12
5.....Genesis 21-25; Job 25-30.....Matthew 13-15
6.....Genesis 26-30; Job 31-36.....Matthew 16-18
7.....Genesis 31-35; Job 37-42.....Matthew 19-21
8.....Genesis 36-40; Psalms 1-6.....Matthew 22-24
9.....Genesis 41-45; Psalms 7-12.....Matthew 25-26
10.....Genesis 46-50; Psalms 13-18.....Matthew 27-28
11.....Exodus 1-5; Psalms 19-24.....Mark 1-3
12.....Exodus 6-10; Psalms 25-30.....Mark 4-6
13.....Exodus 11-15; Psalms 31-36.....Mark 7-9
14.....Exodus 16-20; Psalms 37-42.....Mark 10-12
15.....Exodus 21-25; Psalms 43-48.....Mark 13-14
16.....Exodus 26-30; Psalms 49-54.....Mark 15-16
17.....Exodus 31-35; Psalms 55-60.....Luke 1-3
18.....Exodus 36-40; Psalms 61-66.....Luke 4-6
19.....Leviticus 1-5; Psalms 67-72.....Luke 7-9
20.....Leviticus 6-10; Psalms 73-78.....Luke 10-12
21.....Leviticus 11-15; Psalms 79-84.....Luke 13-15
22.....Leviticus 16-19; Psalms 85-90.....Luke 16-18
23.....Leviticus 20-23; Psalms 91-96.....Luke 19-21
24.....Leviticus 24-27; Psalms 97-102.....Luke 22-24
25.....Numbers 1-5; Psalms 103-108.....John 1-3
26.....Numbers 6-10; Psalms 109-114.....John 4-6
27.....Numbers 11-15; Psalms 115-120.....John 7-9
28.....Numbers 16-19; Psalms 121-126.....John 10-12
29.....Numbers 20-23; Psalms 127-132.....John 13-15
30.....Numbers 24-27; Psalms 133-138.....John 16-18
31.....Numbers 28-32; Psalms 139-144.....John 19-21
32.....Numbers 33-36; Psalms 145-150.....Acts 1-3
33.....Deuteronomy 1-5; Proverbs 1-6.....Acts 4-6
34.....Deuteronomy 6-10; Proverbs 7-11.....Acts 7-9
35.....Deuteronomy 11-15; Proverbs 12-16.....Acts 10-12
36.....Deuteronomy 16-20; Proverbs 17-21.....Acts 13-15
37.....Deuteronomy 21-25; Proverbs 22-26.....Acts 16-18
38.....Deuteronomy 26-30; Proverbs 27-31.....Acts 19-21
39.....Deuteronomy 31-34; Ecclesiastes 1-6.....Acts 22-24
40.....Joshua 1-5; Ecclesiastes 7-12.....Acts 25-28
41.....Joshua 6-10; Song of Songs 1-4.....Romans 1-3
42.....Joshua 11-15; Song of Songs 5-8.....Romans 4-6
43.....Joshua 16-20; Isaiah 1-6.....Romans 7-9
44.....Joshua 21-24; Isaiah 7-12.....Romans 10-12
45.....Judges 1-5; Isaiah 13-18.....Romans 13-16
46.....Judges 6-9; Isaiah 19-24.....1 Corinthians 1-3
47.....Judges 10-13; Isaiah 25-30.....1 Corinthians 4-6
48.....Judges 14-17; Isaiah 31-36.....1 Corinthians 7-9
49.....Judges 18-21; Isaiah 37-42.....1 Corinthians 10-12
50.....Ruth 1-4; Isaiah 43-48.....1 Corinthians 13-14
51.....1 Samuel 1-5; Isaiah 49-54.....1 Corinthians 15-16
52.....1 Samuel 6-10; Isaiah 55-60.....2 Corinthians 1-3
53.....1 Samuel 11-15; Isaiah 61-66.....2 Corinthians 4-6
54.....1 Samuel 16-19; Jeremiah 1-6.....2 Corinthians 7-9
55.....1 Samuel 20-23; Jeremiah 7-12.....2 Corinthians 10-11
56.....1 Samuel 24-27; Jeremiah 13-18.....2 Corinthians 12-13
57.....1 Samuel 28-31; Jeremiah 19-24.....Galatians 1-3
58.....2 Samuel 1-5; Jeremiah 25-30.....Galatians 4-6
59.....2 Samuel 6-10; Jeremiah 31-36.....Ephesians 1-3
60.....2 Samuel 11-15; Jeremiah 37-42.....Ephesians 4-6
61.....2 Samuel 16-20; Jeremiah 43-47.....Philippians 1-2
62.....2 Samuel 21-24; Jeremiah 48-52.....Philippians 3-4
63.....1 Kings 1-5; Lamentations 1-5.....Colossians 1-2
64.....1 Kings 6-10; Ezekiel 1-6.....Colossians 3-4
65.....1 Kings 11-14; Ezekiel 7-12.....1 Thessalonians 1-3
66.....1 Kings 15-18; Ezekiel 13-18.....1 Thessalonians 4-5
67.....1 Kings 19-22; Ezekiel 19-24.....2 Thessalonians 1-3
68.....2 Kings 1-5; Ezekiel 25-30.....1 Timothy 1-3
69.....2 Kings 6-10; Ezekiel 31-36.....1 Timothy 4-6
70.....2 Kings 11-15; Ezekiel 37-42.....2 Timothy 1-2
71.....2 Kings 16-20; Ezekiel 43-48.....2 Timothy 34
72.....2 Kings 21-25; Daniel 1-6.....Titus 1-3
73.....1 Chronicles 1-5; Daniel 7-12.....Philemon
74.....1 Chronicles 6-10; Hosea 1-4.....Hebrews 1-4
75.....1 Chronicles 11-15; Hosea 5-8.....Hebrews 5-7
76.....1 Chronicles 16-20; Hosea 9-11.....Hebrews 8-10
77.....1 Chronicles 21-25; Hosea 12-14.....Hebrews 11-13
78.....1 Chronicles 26-29; Joel 1-3.....James 1-3
79.....2 Chronicles 1-6; Amos 1-3.....James 4-5
80.....2 Chronicles 7-12; Amos 4-6.....1 Peter1-3
81.....2 Chronicles 13-18; Amos 7-9.....1 Peter 4-5
82.....2 Chronicles 19-24; Obadiah; Jonah 1-4.....2 Peter 1-3
83.....2 Chronicles 25-30; Micah 1-4.....1 John 1-3
84.....2 Chronicles 31-36; Micah 5-7.....1 John 4-5
85.....Ezra 1-5; Nahum 1-3; Habakkuk 1-3.....2 John; 3 John; Jude
86.....Ezra 6-10; Zephaniah 1-3; Haggai 1-2.....Revelation 1-5
87.....Nehemiah 1-7; Zechariah 1-4.....Revelation 6-10
88.....Nehemiah 8-13; Zechariah 5-9.....Revelation 11-14
89.....Esther 1-5; Zechariah 10-14.....Revelation 15-18
90.....Esther 6-10; Malachi 1-4.....Revelation 19-22

Enjoy!

A Worth-while Pondering

I originally posted this as a note on my Facebook, but I realized that some of the people that see this blog don't necessarily see my Facebook. I think that this is worthy of the blog since this is a very practical theological pondering. Please take a moment to ponder these words and meditate on them and how they may be applied to your own walk with the Lord. If you don't see the validity of them, or if you can't see yourself mustering up the affections necessary for such a pursuit--get on your knees.

Enjoyment is something that we all seek. If we're seeking it in something other than God, we are denying God the rightful place in our lives.

This paragraph is from one of CS. Lewis's sermons entitled "The Weight of Gory." I came across it when listening to the first chapter of Desiring God. I believe that it's an accurate assessment of most people's flawed understanding of what our motives ought to be when seeking to serve God and others. Take a look, and lemme know what you think...

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order to follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half- hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Now, before you deny this as being applicable to you, seriously consider your true motives when seeking to serve others...do you simply deny yourself something and take pleasure in your own piety? Do you exalt yourself in your own mind? Do you rob yourself of your heavenly reward? There is a fine line between seeking joy in serving others and seeking self satisfaction in your own pride. This is truly something to think about. Please prayerfully consider these things, and aim (as I have been seeking to do) toward the pure goal of satisfaction and joy in bringing joy to others and glorifying God in the process.

Think on these things...

I've been listening to Shai Linne again. Oh how edifying! One song I listened to most today was "My Portion" (the other was "Gospel Music" which is incredible!). "My Portion" starts out with this challenging quote from John Piper:

"Would you be satisfied to go to Heaven, have everybody there in your family that you want there, have all the health and restoration of your prime and everything you disliked about yourself fixed, have every recreation you've ever dreamed available to you and have infinite resources of money to spend? Would you be satisfied?...if God weren't there?"

So as I'm honestly thinking through this question I ponder what my speculations about Heaven entail, and I wonder what is it that I am looking forward to in Heaven. I suppose that I assumed that God's children would be forever before His throne praising Him. I believe that that would be most satisfying, but I am not convinced that that will be our only task.

I've been doing a bit of studying in eschatology (I posted my position paper from my Systematic Theology class a few months ago), and I can't help but consider the idea that when God creates the new Heavens and new Earth that He will place His people into those perfect environments. I got to thinking that when we are in our resurrection bodies, not suffering from any sinful thoughts or temptations which would normally take our minds off of our God, walking through the fields and up the paths which God has given us that we will enjoy it and every gift that God has given us for exactly what it is--God's gift to us! We will no longer take a breathe without glorifying God with our gratitude for that breath. We will no longer eat a meal without glorifying God by enjoying it and recognizing who gave us that enjoyment. We will no longer gaze upon the beauty of the creation that God has placed us into without a perfect realization of what we are enjoying and how we have come to be able to partake in it. We will no longer sin in these things or in any other way!

I don't know about you, but I suffer from temptation and sinful lapses daily, and to be able to have God at the forefront of all of my thoughts without Him slipping to the back of my mind would be the most satisfying thing for me. And to not only know what is being enjoyed and Who has given it, but to also be able to communicate with Him personally. I mean IN PERSON!

Well, I bring all this up to hopefully encourage anyone reading this who is in Christ with the hope of Heaven having been laid before you. And if these things are any kind of possibility for our future, then we should be striving in our prayers and in our daily actions to think this way. Everything in your life is a gift from God. I don't care if it's something as seemingly insignificant as the bowl of cereal that you had for breakfast to something all encompassing as a serious injury that keeps you out of work for a year. We, as children of our heavenly Father, should be reminding ourselves and our siblings in Christ that our Father loves us and is accomplishing all of the events in our lives for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory and that we ought to be grateful for every little detail.

Read Romans 8 regularly. As a matter of fact, read Romans 7-8 when you struggle with or fall into sin. Also read I Peter regularly. Remember when reading this book that God has plucked you out of your sinful, hopeless lifestyle, and given you a sure hope in Heaven with Him. He has not only chosen you for that blessing but for the blessings of hardships in order for you to fully realize your dependence on Him and to love Him that much more.

Oh, to have our minds transformed in this way! Let's work on it and pray for God's assistance, without which we will never persevere. And may God be glorified in our enjoyment of Him!

Apologetics and Evangelism: JW's side note

I just wanted to make sure that everyone who reads this is clear on the fact that my goal in studying and practicing apologetics is evangelism. I think that I've been pretty clear on it, but I have received a comment on another post that indicates that others think that I shouldn't believe in evangelizing others based on my theology (the theology that I believe is consistently Biblical).

With that being said, I wanted to ask for some input from some more well rounded readers. While witnessing to the JW's at the Kingdom Hall last week, my focus was to understand what they believed and to approach them in the wisest possible way with the Gospel. I found that they would answer correctly when I asked what it takes to become a part of Jehovah's family and to take part in the life to come (more or less). I decided to approach them by pointing out that they can have a real, solid faith in this one whom they call Jesus Christ, but that if their faith was in the wrong Jesus Christ (they believe that Jesus is the alter-ego of Michael the archangel) they were lost in their sins. I attempted to inform them that for them to say that they believed in a Jesus Christ who is actually Michael the archangel then they are about as well off as I would be if I said my faith was in a Jesus who, in my mind, was actually John Fieck (my friend who just happened to be standing there at the moment).

I know that it's pretty evident by my previous posts that I'm not the most tactful fellow, so I wonder if anyone can contribute a suggestion as to how I can most tactfully inform them of this massive detail. I would like to be able to approach them with these facts without being offensive because the Gospel is offensive enough without my foot-in-mouth syndrome getting in the way of the perfectly pure, Spirit-designed offense. So, would anyone like to inform me of my flawed ways and how you would correct them?