Red Letters over the Red Blood?

I have just begun to read Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds by Tom Davis, president of Children’s HopeChest. I’ll confess that I’ve only read the introduction so far, but I have a few thoughts that should be communicated regarding the premise with which he opens the book: the letters in red (Jesus’ words) point to the red blood (His sacrifice) and, apart from the cross, you have an empty Gospel. What I mean to refer to is this statement from the introduction:

The only gospel worth living is the one that incarnates love. The only gospel worth giving our lives for is the one that elevates the needs of others above our own. that’s what the “good news” is all about (Davis 14).

The reality is, Mr. Davis, that while the Gospel inevitably has social consequences and that all believers are called to fulfill the royal law (James 2) to love our neighbors as ourselves, the social dimensions are not the gospel. The Gospel is the message of redemption: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for the redemption of all creation, to redeem it from sin and death. In the cross - and only in the cross - can change come to a broken, fallen humanity that is groaning under the groaning and burdening of sin. We must minister to the oppressed, the orphan and widow of our age, and we are obligated to show them Christ in our actions, to redeem their lives, but that is because of the Gospel, not because it is the Gospel. So, I urge you all, brothers and sisters, to focus yourselves on the cross, and then go - bring whoever you can outside the gate to the Cross of Christ - just be sure you equip them for the journey (James 2).

More to come as I continue to read…

A Tribute to My Dad

The word “father” occurs over 1,000 times in the Scriptures (don’t believe me? Check this page out) in many contexts: lineage, promises, God’s relationship with His people,  and the human fatherhood that God has ordained in creation for the heads of households and leaders of the Church.  The Apostle Paul makes a point to deal directly with this relationship many times - the most prominent of these being found in Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV):

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The Proverbs of King Solomon the Wise also shed light on this matter, stating:

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.  (Proverbs 15:20, ESV)

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. (Proverbs 17:6, ESV)

Dads are something that God takes very seriously - a role that the Most High Himself has chosen to use as the representation and understanding of His love and grace and how He desires to relate to us.  Dads are designed to be the human demonstration of God’s fatherly character and, in His grace, He has blessed many of us with fathers who raise us, care for us, provide for us and protect us as we mature.  I myself have been blessed by God in this way to have my Dad.

He isn’t like most dads these days, actually  My dad is of the old way of thinking (a way that I myself support on many fronts): working hard to provide for his family and doing work for and with his family at home.  Yard work, house work, office work, car work (we’ve been doing quite a bit of that lately), he is always prepared to “get ‘er done” so things can keep going as they should.

That’s definitely one of the main things I appreciate most about my dad.  For as long as I can remember, he has worked day and night to give us a home, a living and to constantly make sure his family is provided for.  Day after day for years, he has dealt with a particularly stressful occupation (property management for non-profits) to do that.   To top it off, rarely has a weekend gone by when he hasn’t done work around the house or with the car, or maybe helping others in the family, etc. with their needs in that respect too.

It’s an amazing commitment to family, a value that he is teaching me (I’m a slow learner) more and more.  By the grace of God, I have in him an example of committed loyalty to family and to providing for that family - both immediate and extended.  “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family” is a frequent saying of his and I’ll confess that it was often received by me with a sort of resentment at the truth of that fact.  Yet, God has worked in me and in many ways, I’m beginning to see the wisdom of God in choosing both our family and friendships for us - He knows best.

Dad: Thank you for your loyalty, sacrifice, hard work, and demonstrated love time and time again.  I couldn’t ask for a more committed father than the one that God has given me in you.  I love you, Dad.  Happy Father’s Day!

Behold! The Lamb of God!

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29, ESV)

The joy that John the Baptist must have felt upon seeing Jesus pass by him! John’s entire life had been built on waiting for his Lord to come and be revealed to Israel. Had had lived 30 years the life of a Nazirite, never tasting wine, never cutting his hair, never eating certain types of food. For some time, John had been preaching a message of repentance - a message of judgment and fire - that had prepared the way for the coming of Jesus the Messiah. But was John’s joy in the fact that everything he had worked for (by God’s grace) was finally coming to the point of results?

Not at all. In fact, John makes it quite obvious that his joy is in Christ - and in His mission. Who is Christ? The Sacrificial Lamb of God! What does He come to do? To take away the sins of the world! How wonderful that this Lamb’s ministry is not some past event or a future event, but a present event. Even as Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah [49:8, ESV], “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you…” NOW is the day of salvation! Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, that which we who believe have come into, is the present active work of the Lamb, slain before the foundations of the earth were laid.

How great is the love that the Father has lavished upon us! In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10, ESV). What have we to do but be faithfully grateful? What have we to do but faithfully worship? What have we to do but acknowledge how He has faithfully kept us?

Nothing! Emptiness! If we are not living in response to our Lord’s sacrifice, ever-present as it is, then we live for nothing! Abba, let not our hearts seek after vain things. Only let them live faithfully in response to You, for Your glory and honor. Let Your Spirit enable us to bow our knee and confess “Jesus is Lord.” In the Power and Name of Your Son, Whose own blood was spilled for us, amein.

Rabbi Jacob Emden’s Appeal to the Christians…

Rabbi Jacob Emden (d. 1776) was a famous Rabbi for his day and is highly regarded in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, particularly among the Chasidic Jews. This epistle, I think is quite a challenge and a revelation that Christians today (like their predecessors in Europe) need to hear. Read this with and open mind and a heart tuned to the Spirit of God, rather than our own “comfort zone” of theology.

Rabbi Jacob Emden’s Letter (Seder Olam Rabbah Vezuta)

Thoughts on the Mission (a friend’s poem)

Note: A friend of mine wrote this poem.  My understanding is that one of the stanzas contains lyrics from a Christian song, but that the rest is his own work.  Great message, so I wanted to share it with everyone.

Shadowed hollow, darkened stream

It all seems a dreadful dream

But I do not awaken, it turns out to be real

Just out of reach but not to far to feel

Why We Need Chapel Linebackers

I can’t say this is a bad idea, can you?

John Wesley: Chapel Linebacker

 John Wesley: Chapel Linebacker 2

As a Potter He Molds

I am constantly amazed by the work of God in my own life.  His sovereign hand in my spiritual development is humbling: who am I that the King of Creation to concern Himself with me?  As it says in Job 7:17 (ESV), “What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him?”  As a Creator, God is involved with our development from the beginning.  As our Savior, when we come to salvation, He is involved in bringing us to “becoming like Christ.”

Catholic Church Makes Revival Efforts

According to a recent story out of the Washington Post, the Roman Catholic Church - through the growing missions work of the Archdiocese of Krakow - is moving toward the “rechristianization of Europe.” This is not, as it was in medieval times, a political Christianization or en masse conversion of tribes and nations. Rather, through the ordination of ministers and their call to other nations stretching from South America to the Far East, they are making attempts to share the love of Christ to those who do not know it and encourage the faith of those who do.

The Spirit of Timothy: Identity

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.  A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.  He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.  Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.  -Acts 16:1-3 (ESV)

Revive Us, O LORD, Part VI

When to Expect Revival

We have thus far examined the nature of revival as well as when it is desperately needed - which, in fact, should be quite obvious.  Next, Reverend Finney delves into the topic of knowing when revival is coming.  It is not simply a matter of knowing the right songs ("Revival Fire, Fall&quot or praying the right prayers ("Wilt thou not revive us, O LORD?&quot or even so much as going to the right church ("Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments…").  Finney offers seven major instances when we may know that revival is near: