the gate

last night, sonia and i took in our first foster child.  she’s 11 months old and super cute.  it was an emergency placement so we don’t expect her to stay very long with us. 

this morning i woke up and spent some time praying.  i prayed for her and her family, and quickly found myself wondering how to even pray for her.  i don’t even know why she’s in our care, the social workers gave us close to nothing in terms of information.  in fact, we know her name and birthdate and that’s about it.  oh, and a box is checked that tells us she has immunizations…what the heck does that mean?  

of course i prayed for the Gospel to find her when she is ready to hear it.  but beyond that, she’s not only a stanger but doesn’t have complex needs like we have.  she basically only needs food, baby wipes across the booty on occasion, and for her parents to get it together real quick.

i will probably never see her again after she goes back to her folks, and i’ll never know if the Lord answered my prayers for her salvation.  bumbling along i went, not really knowing how to pray for her or what to ask the Lord for.

this morning i came across this post on one of my favorite blogs, the gospel-driven church, and wanted to share it with you guys too.  it was encouraging to me and spoke to me directly, and i hope that it encourages you in your own prayer life.

As a writer and a prideful person, I am always trying to impress people with words. It is a relief, though, that I cannot impress God and that he approves of me in Christ anyway.

“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to—our helplessness—is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own.

Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks as the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.”

—Paul Miller, A Praying Life

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dies at the young age of 50. I kept watching the footage yesterday simply because it was on every channel. Earlier I heard that Farrah had passed away. I heard the host of the radio show say, “Maybe we should watch less T.V. because we don’t know when it’s our last day.” He is right. We should really think about eternity every day. God knows the number of our days. People the fact is they are numbered. So we should live every day being a blessing to others, just as we have been blessed by God.

I learned of MJ’s passing when I got a text from my sister telling me he died. I had heard earlier in the day on the radio that TMZ had reported that Michael Jackson had been transported to the hospital due to heart problems. When you see people interviewed everyone was shocked. One girl said that she thought it’s Michael Jackson, he’s super human. It can’t happen to him. This culture obviously doesn’t read the Bible. The book of James tells us that life is like a vapor, that we are here one moment and then gone the next. We read in the New Testament where the sacred scriptures tell us that it’s appointed for us to die and then the judgment.

Folks I have news for you… we are all going to die. Every beat of our hearts is like a drum beat leading us closer to the day we beat our last. I think that people believe we will live forever. One day it will all be over. The death rate is still one per person, and we are all going to make it. Death should not surprise us because it is a fact of life and a consequence of the fall. It is these times that remind us all of all of our mortalities. No one is invincible and no one can cheat death.

I saw a guy being interviewed say of Michael Jackson, “I hope he’s in a better place.” That statement didn’t sound too hopeful. But I tell you this, that those that trust in Jesus, can know that they have eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Well, do you believe this?

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Nevada has implemented a law that will enable the state to seize the assets of those who are convicted of trafficking underage prostitutes (click here to read story). It will also let judges impose fines of up to $500,000 for trafficking in prostitutes younger than 14, and $100,000 for trafficking in prostitutes ages 14 to 17. Every state should do the same! Perhaps increase the fine for those trafficking 14 to 17-year-olds. Why not if we are serious about stopping this heinous injustice in the U.S.?

Imagine what could be done with the money. These kids could get the help they need to get their lives back. They could receive counseling and education. New group homes could be established. College scholarships could be funded.

Here in California, because there are so many underage kids forced into prostitution, we might even be able to cover some of the gap in our state education and health budgets. (Levy heavy fines against the clients too!)

Sacramento, please take some notes and get such a law on the books!

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“…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6)

Often those who don’t understand the wonderful gospel of Jesus do good things, even religious things, and then ask God to bless them for their good works. Yet God tells us here in Isaiah that our righteous acts (ALL of them, he says) are like filthy rags. Just picture what we’re doing when we offer up our religious deeds and activities to God and ask, expect, or demand that he accept and bless us because of them. We’re holding up a wad of filthy rags and telling God he’s supposed to bless us in exchange for them!

That is not resting in the gospel. That is not Christianity. God’s acceptance of us, even as Christians, is not based on our good works. Does my sin matter to God? You bet it does!

But as Pastor Tim Keller says so well:

To “get the gospel” is to turn from self-justification to rely on Jesus’ record for a relationship with God. The irreligious don’t repent at all, and the religious only repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. (Galatians Study Guide, p. 30)

The good news of the gospel is that our heavenly Father relates to us completely on the basis of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, if we rest solely in the finished work of Christ. Trying to add my works on top of the work of Jesus . . . well, that just won’t work. As for me, I want the blessings Jesus earned! What about you?

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Related post:
Do We Earn God’s Blessings?

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not quite pentecost, but very interesting:

the setup (john chapter 20):  Jesus is crucified -> Jesus’ body getting funky for 3 days -> Jesus comes out of the tomb -> mary sees Jesus and runs back to the disciples to tell them -> the door is locked because they’re scared of the jews - > Jesus comes in anyways :)

and when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side.  the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came in and stood in their midst, and said to them, “peace be with you”.  and when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side.  the disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus therefore said to them again, “peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  and when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “receive the Holy Spirit.”  (john 20:20-22)

we all know about pentecost as it is told to us in acts chapter 2.  but the precursor of pentecost came when Jesus went back to see His disciples, some seven weeks before pentecost.  this is, in some sense, the passing of the mantle from Jesus to the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was not in teacher mode anymore, He was not interested in sitting down with the disciples and saying “see, i told you guys” or even further clarifying any of His statements that they still didn’t understand.  Jesus’ mission was complete.  it was now time for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

that’s it.  just an interesting passage i thought i’d share.  enjoy.

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In his book Knowing God, Dr. J. I. Packer writes,

What is a Christian? The answer can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God for his father.

[. . .]

You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God. (pp. 181-182)

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In the letters of Paul, “thanksgiving was almost a synonym for the Christian life.” (Don Carson quoting Peter O’Brien)

Paul insists that all people everywhere ought to give thanks to God continually, and ought to offer him the praise that is his due. Our failures in this respect mark not only our wilful rebellion but the measure of our alienation and lostness. (Romans 1:21-23)
- from Paul’s Mission and Prayer, by Don Carson

If we understand the gospel, our heart will be filled with thankfulness!

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For Christians the worship service has top priority in the church, but it is not a high priority in the Bible we preach from.  An interesting phenomenon has developed.  In most churches in America, the people are encouraged to join small groups.  These groups are like small spiritual families where all the “one another s” of the New Testament are practiced.  This is indeed the church.  But participating in such groups is usually considered optional, whereas most Christians feel they must attend the Sunday morning worship service.  They think it is the biblical mandate.

The truth is that the New Testament clearly makes mandatory participating in the spiritual family, the small group.  The larger gathering is optional.  This is the very opposite of contemporary practice.  There are many mandates in the New Testament directing people to come together as a church, but it is for service to one another, not a worship service that includes preaching.  We are so immersed in the current forms of ministry that when we read these verses, we read into them an understanding of church that is not contextually accurate.

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Let me be just state it clearly; attending a church service is not the same as being in a church family.  The church, according to the New Testament, means being involved with one another in an open, vulnerable, and interactive relationship.

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I hope that I have been clear in this, I am not against weekly worship or the church.  I am not saying in any way that it is wrong to gather together weekly for worship.  I do question, however, the high value we place on the Sunday morning service, often at the expense of practicing the New Testament “one anothers”, which are indeed the true expression of the church.

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I am not saying that coming together to worship God is wrong or a mistake.  Not at all.  I believe it pleases him when we do, but I also think we can please him as much (if not more) by interacting with one another intimately and personally.

(Neil Cole - Organic Leadership)

** note: i’ll post the “one anothers” in a separate post for more info

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• Love one another (John 13:34)
• Be devoted to one another and give preference to one another (Romans 12:10)
• Be of the same mind with one another (Romans 15:5)
• Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
• Wait for one another before eating (1 Corinthians 11:33)
• Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)
• Greet one another with a holy kiss (2 Corinthians 13:12)
• Tolerate one another (Ephesians 4:2)
• Be kind to one another and forgive each other (Ephesians 4:32)
• Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19)
• Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21)
• Regard one another as more important than oneself (Philippians 2:3)
• Share God’s message and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
• Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
• Encourage and build up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
• Live in peace with one another (1 Thessalonians 5:13)
• Confess sins to one another and pray for one another (James 5:16)
• Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
• Serve one another (1 Peter 4:10)
• Fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7)
• And yes, gather together (Hebrews 10:24-25), but not in the form of a worship service but rather in such a way that we can challenge one another to love and good deeds (v.24). In other words, to live out together all the other mandates given above.

(Neil Cole - Organic Leadership)

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How much wrong has been done in this world because people misunderstand or refuse to follow Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:39?

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (NIV)

C. S. Lewis (the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity) writes:

Insofar as the only relevant factors in the case are an injury to me by my neighbour and a desire on my part to retaliate, then I hold that Christianity commands the absolute mortification of that desire. No place whatever can be given to the voice within us which says, “He’s done it to me, so I’ll do the same to him.” But the moment you introduce other factors, the problem is altered. Does anyone suppose that Our Lord’s hearers understood him to mean that if a homicidal maniac, attempting to murder a third party, tried to knock me out of the way, I must stand aside and let him get his victim? I think it impossible that they could have so understood him.

He then illustrates his point again. Should parents let their child hit them without consequences? Is Jesus saying a child’s violent temper tantrums are OK, and should not be “resisted”?

He continues:

I think the meaning of the words was perfectly clear — “Insofar as you are simply an angry person who has been hurt, control your anger and do not hit back” . . . Indeed, as the audience were private people in a disarmed nation, it seems unlikely that they would have ever supposed Our Lord to be referring to war. The frictions of daily life among villagers were more likely to be in their minds. Any saying is to be taken in the sense it would naturally have borne in the time and place of utterance. (The Weight of Glory, pp. 85-87)

John Stott uses this illustration in reference to Matthew 5:39:

If my house is burgled one night and I catch the thief, it may well be my duty to sit him down and give him something to eat and drink, while at the same time telephoning the police.

I’m thankful for the wisdom of God in addressing the evil of this world. There is no place for personal retaliation (we must show mercy). There is a great need for the government to restrain and punish evildoers (they must bring justice).

I offer this simple prayer:
Lord, help me live by your wisdom; help others live by your wisdom — even the governments of all nations.

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