Karma v. Grace

So at the end of last summer I was in the middle of a 6 foot trench shoveling dirt with the passion of a landslide when a major revelation came upon me. Not the 'Gabriel in the hole in the side of a mountain' type of revelation, because we all know those are bunk. I was working with the most self-righteous, stoned out of his mind all the time, relativistic, self contradictory, spring loaded in the pissed off position, 220lb construction guy. He definitely needed to smoke pot, otherwise he would of gone postal, more than once leaving a trail of dead bodies and broken machinery in his wake. He contributed to this because he was so ridiculously contradictory and driven by caveman like logic to get the job done while destroying all persons in the way. This forced me to analyze him and see why he was such a hypocrite in action and speech. And come to think of it, it was more of an illumination than a revelation. This is because it was a new light on an old truth. This illumination meandered into my conscience along the river course of experience like this, "Karma does not give me enough Justice, this world is way too screwed up for that idea to work." Essentially this world is too evil to have it all repayed in a thousand lifetimes. And secondly it gives no good definition of 'where' good comes from. Like to say that fathers loving their sons, nuns binding up the wounds of aids victims in Africa, or US Marines doing humanitarian aid in southeast Asia is from some non-sensical, ominous, pseudo light power being above all and in all things at all times even when they are evil(I don't think that made much sense, but that's how it comes across). But in contradistinction the God of the Bible is supremely good and ordains evil that He might become more and more glorious at all times. The reason I'm writing this is to get you to read this interview with Bono from U2 where he picks up on kind of the same thing. Its really good.

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"Oh, if you have the hearts of Christians or of men in you, let them yearn towards your poor ignorant, ungodly neighbours. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell; many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever.

Have you hearts of rock, that cannot pity men in such a case as this? If you believe not the Word of God, and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned, so you be saved? If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace. . . .

Dost thou live close by them, or meet them in the streets, or labour with them, or travel with them, or sit and talk with them, and say nothing to them of their souls, or the life to come? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help them; and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell?" -Richard Baxter


(Cited in I. D. E. Thomas, A Puritan Golden Treasury [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], 92–93)

Post Taken From The Pulpit Magazine

Short Term Vacations?

Ever go on a short term mission trip? I have, and this article scared me.

The Last Days of the Doctor

To see a saint not fade out early into the twilight hours of his faith, is something beyond incredible to say the least. How many of us have currently travailed to heed the call to, "stand fast" against this world even to the last of our Days. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was this man. He preached up until he could not physically do it. His mind was sharper than the most, never loosing his memory even to the last. He spoke the following words at the end of his life, in the last of his sermons, dying...he worshiped.

Here is a quote from a sermon from Psalm 2:
“Do you still believe in the wrath of God? There are people in England-evangelicals- who think modern man needs entertainment. There is a mania for singing, for drama, for mime. ‘People cannot take preaching,’ it is said, ‘Give them singing. Teach them how to dance…’ In the name of God I say that is to do violence to Scripture. The church is not here to entertain. It is here to call people to ‘be wise’, to ‘be instructed’ (v10). It is not just an appeal to ‘come to Jesus’ – they are to be ‘instructed’, taught. People are dying through lack of knowledge. We are not here to be popular, but to tell the naked truth: ‘Serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling…’ (v11).”

and

“Our greatest trouble is that we really don’t believe the Bible and exactly what it says. We think we know it but do we really appropriate it and actually believe it is true for us? That is Christianity to me. ‘Our short, uncertain life’ is the most difficult thing to realize. We do not put the emphasis as the New Testament does. We are not mean to despise this life but we are certainly mean to keep it in proportion –‘our light affliction, which is but a moment’ (2 Cor 4:17). We have to take these statements literally. They are facts, not merely ideas. That is what I feel you people have got to emphasize more and more…”

Be strong oh beloved of the Lord, lift up your eyes, your redemption draws nigh. Praise him in this world while ye still can. Be not left unto silence for the longer we live, the more Glory He is due.

"But the most impressive statement of all, the perfect summary of this entire argument, is provided by the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, beginning at verse eighteen and going on to the end of the first chapter. He says that as nations and peoples in supposed ‘wisdom’ have turned their backs upon God the Creator, they have always become fools - ‘Imagining themselves to be wise, they became fools’. Then he proceeds to give an account of their terrible moral degradation, the perversions and obscenities into which they fell. ‘Ah,’ says our modern lecturer, ‘the Church must speak specifically about sex . . .’ Very well, the Church does so! If you want to know what she has to say, read the second half of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and you will find an account of all the modern perversions, all the foulnesses that are disgracing life at the present time. They have occurred many times before. But when has that happened? It is always when man in his supposed wisdom has turned from the Creator and has given his worship to the creature. The whole history of the human race substantiates what the Apostle claims. Before Christ ever came into the world everything else had had its opportunity. The Greek philosophers had flourished, the greatest of them had already taught their beliefs. But they could not deal with the problem of sin; their teaching was not adequate and had already failed. There was also the great Roman Empire with its system of law; but there was a canker at the very heart of the Empire; and it finally collapsed, not because of the superior prowess of the Goths and the Vandals and the Barbarians, but because of the moral rot at its very heart. That was the cause of the ‘Decline and Fall’ of the great Roman Empire, as is admitted by all. In other words, history substantiates the Apostle’s teaching." -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Only Way, Sermon on Ephesians 6:10,11.

Old White Guys talk about Art and Writing

So I just finished listening to the Panel Discussion with Piper, Taylor, Tripp, and Kauflin, from this years Desiring God 2008 National Conference called 'The Power of God and the Wonder of Words', and it was amazingly helpful. This morning I first listened to a message by Dan Taylor about how the idea of a story relates to the bible. And then in the Panel discussion they talked about depression, stories and literature, and art. I know I have been really confused on this subject before. Definitely worth checking it out. Dan Taylor's was incredibly worth the hour and twenty minutes.

The Specific Will of God for Our Lives.

Times of absolute turmoil assail our minds when we are on the cusp of the fork in the road for our lives. In knowing that we are, 'not our own, but we were bought at a price' (1 Cor 7:23) we must take into consideration the will of another, namely that of the Lord we profess. For if he is Lord, then he is to be obeyed (Luke 6:46). So we are under divine mandate to 'consider him who endured so much' (Heb 12:3) when we are at the crossroads of our lives.

I have struggled immensely in my life in trying to discern the specific will of God for me. Looking back to entire epochs of my life, under the urging of the Spirit, through the new illumination of the Word of God, I was cut unto repenting for years of serving him in arrogant ignorance. I realized that in the things concerning God I had been, '...brutish and ignorant;' (Ps 73:22) because I had used the word of God to justify my own actions. I was calling myself a Christian, but doing what I wanted, and defining 'ministry' in my own terms, not those of God(Matt 16:18). I picked and choose the passages of scripture that I fancied, like picking good and bad fruit from a tree, while ignoring Gods way of the Christian life (Rom 12:1,2; Eph 6:6; 1 Thes 4:3, 5:18). I did not, 'turn my feet to your testimonies;'(Ps 119:59) and thus fully and completely live for his glory.
This view upon the past valleys that I have trekked comes clear when I consider 'how' I have gone about trying to understand the will of God for my life. To this error I give the following advice by Martin Lloyd-Jones. If you struggle with trying to find out his will. If know nothing of the light and easy yoke of our so merciful savior, then heed the following words by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. They will be a comfort to your soul as God comes into the dark night of your life and illuminates His own worth.
Some would say, "We dont need the words of man, we have the words of God. Dont elevate this mans word to the position of God. And to this I respond: I dont elevate MLJ to this position in my heart, but I know that I am week and need the guidance of others to the path of Christ. I want to feast upon the wisdom of the ages so as to cease from wandering in the desert of my own ambition. Do what he says, not what I have done. Follow not yourself but the kind merciful shepherd. Follow him as he follows Christ.

“The one vital, all-important thing is to know the will of God. It is not as easy as it sometimes sounds. I was for over two years in a state of uncertainty and indecision before leaving medicine for the pulpit. But in the end it was made perfectly clear and mainly by means of things which God did.
These are the rules which I would advice you to observe:
1. Never speak to anyone about it. Don’t tell people what you are feeling and discuss it and ask for advice. That always leads to still more uncertainty and confusion. Make an absolute rule of this at all costs. Say nothing until you are absolutely certain, because we are all subject to self suggestion.
2. Do not even think about it and discuss the pros and cons with yourself. Once more this leads to auto suggestion and confusion.
3. In meetings, ect. do not start with the thought in your mind, ‘I wonder whether this is going to throw light on my questions or help in any way?’
4. In other words, you must not try to anticipate God’s leading. Believing as I do that God does ‘call’ very definitely, and in a distinct and definite doctrine of a call, and a vocation is distinct from ‘the need is the call’ idea, I believe that God will always make His will and His way plain and clear. With reverence, therefore I say leave it to God entirely as regards purpose, time and all else.
All you have to do is to tell God that you are content to do His will whatever it may be and, more, that you will rejoice to do His will. Surrender yourself, your life, your future entirely to Him and leave it at that…You must not go on asking God to show you His way. Leave it to Him and refuse to consider it until He makes it impossible for you not to do so.” –Murray, Iain, The Fight of Faith, Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, p. 177.

"I am not advocating that people spend all their time reading, but there is a great need of more familiarity with the Scriptures and their teaching in order that we may be crushed to our knees with a sense of humility and be made to cry to God that He would visit us again." -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Fight of Faith, by Iain Murray, p.353.

"We are meant to talk to people about the Lord Jesus Christ and to tell them he is the Son of God and that he has come into this world in order to save men and women... We are meant to tell men exactly why the world is as it is; we are meanet to tell them about sin in the human heart and that nobody and nothing can deal with it save the Son of God... We are ready to talk about our doctors, and to praise the man who cured us when so many failed; we talk about some business which is better than others, or about films and plays and actors and actresses, and a thousand and one other things. We are always glorifying people, the world is full of it, and the Christian is meant to be praising and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ" -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

“Dr. Lloyd-Jones told them… ‘While I am a great advocate of looking to the past, I would warn anybody against living in the past. The only justification for looking to the past is that we may learn great lessons from it and apply them.’ Arguing that, ‘the gospel is literally the only hope for the world today’, he showed how the gospel always makes a powerful effect upon the world after there has first been a distinct quickening in the life of the church. The modern church was bypassing her primary need. She was adopting ‘methods of big business and advertising’ instead of praying for a visitation of God. As the Belfast press reported his words: ‘The Church has never tried so hard to deal with the situation as she has tried in this century. We have never had so many organizations, we have never worked so hard, but we are not touching the situation.’ –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Fight of Faith, Iain Murray, p. 371