Boring Heaven?

    And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
    “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
        who was and is and is to come!”
(Revelation 4:6-8 ESV)

I have to make a confession.  When I was relatively new to the faith this verse scared me.  It scared me because I pictured heaven as nothing more than us sitting before the Lord and singing the same chorus of the same worship song over and over for all of eternity. 

I had wondered about playing baseball.  Walking on streets of gold.  Asking questions of Moses.  And what about hangin’ with my granny and my faithful dog Giblet.  (And what about finally asking Giblet’s previous owner what in the world they were thinking with a name like Giblet). 

But singing one chorus of one song for all of eternity like these twenty four elders?  That seemed more boring than I could endure.  Surely heaven will not be only this. 

I was an idiot. 

The twenty four elders aren’t singing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” because they signed up for that assignment on the day when the roll was called up yonder.  These twenty four elders are doing this because their vision of the Lord is so grand that it is the only fitting response.  They are doing exactly what they want to do as they are overcome with joy. 

It’s hard to fathom that something…Somebody…could be so magnificent and beautiful and breathtaking that all you would want to do for all of eternity is lie prostrate and never cease saying “Holy, holy, holy”.  Yet, this is the God that we serve.  Heaven is going to be so amazing because we will finally see the Lord for who he is and the only thing coming forth from our lips will be a rendition of the chorus of these twenty four elders. 

Holy, Holy, Holy! 

Why Your Heart May Not Be Satisfied

Statistically speaking, a good number of you will not read this entire quote.  And statistically you are ripping yourself off.  What Tripp identifies here is  an amazingly helpful diagnosis:

“…I am persuaded that the problem with the body of Christ is not that we are dissatisfied with what we do not have, but that we are all too satisfied with what we do have.  We are comfortable with a little bit of holiness, a little bit of ministry, a little bit of sacrifice, a little bit of wisdom, a little bit of satisfying glory that only the grace of Christ is able to give us.  I am deeply persuaded that we must resist with all of our might the kind of self-satisfied spirituality that marks the life of so many believers.  And I am further persuaded that this pseudo-spirituality is one of the cruel deceptions of a wily enemy.

What is the danger of this kind of spirituality?  It never results in truly Christ-centered, grace-driven, God-glorifying, heart-satisfying righteousness.  True righteousness only ever begins when you come to the end of yourself.  Only when God leads you to the place where you begin to abandon your own agenda and false righteousness, does true righteousness take hold.  And only then can a passion for selfless service and true worship grow in your heart.

But the battle is ever-present, and I am afraid that at the same moment we are nibbling at the table of the Lord, we are often stuffing ourselves at the buffet of the world.  No wonder our hearts are not satisfied; we are feasting on food that has no capacity to satisfy.  And no wonder we are addicted; as we feed on what cannot satisfy, we must go back again and again and again.

This is from Paul Tripp’s book Broken Down House.  I would encourage you to check out my review of this book and to buy yourself a copy. 

Depression, Christians, and Medicine Part 5

We have been discussing whether or not a depressed Christian should take medicine.  We have looked at my presuppositions as well as outlined two simplistic (in my opinion) views.  Today I just want to briefly point out what is at stake. 

It is important to understand that most everyone in this particular debate has the same goal.  If we are talking about Christians discussing this issue; I am assuming that they all love Jesus, they all want to see God glorified, and they all want to see God significantly heal people through the gospel.  Nobody wants to detract from God’s glory and nobody wants to harm another person.  But what unifies us is also the core of what is at stake. 

Each side runs the risk of harming another person.  If someone NEEDS medicine and for theological reasons they refuse it—they will be harmed.  If it is true that taking medicine merely masks the deeper problem then they will not be significantly healed.  So this is not something that we can casually approach.

Both sides also can detract from God’s glory and neuter the gospel.  It is possible that medicine could fill an idolatrous role that only God intends to fill.  If someone is distracted from the much greater reality of spiritual battle and this becomes a biological issue, it is possible that “science” can get glory that should belong to the Lord.  And it is also possible that God has redeemed science and medicine and that part of the ripple effects of the Cross is the use of medicine to provide significant healing.  To refuse to use something that Christ purchased is a numbing of the benefits of His redemption.  So in one sense the glory of God is also at stake in this discussion. 

This is the bottom line—helping people for the glory of God.  How best does God say that we do that?  That is THE question in this entire discussion. 

Deadly to Faith

After contemplating on a recent visit from a missionary John Bloom posts these sobering and true reflections:

The New Testament teaches us that whether or not our treasure is really in heaven is most clearly seen when it costs us our earthly treasures in order to obtain it. But American Christians live in the most prosperous nation in world history and the one in which it costs the least to be a Christian.

This environment can be deadly to faith. It allows false faith to masquerade as real very easily. And its power to dissipate zeal and energy and mission-focus and willingness to risk is extraordinary because it doesn't come to us with a whip and a threat. It comes to us with a pillow and a promise of comfort for us and our children. The former makes us desperate for God. The latter robs our sense of desperation.

And it's the lack of a sense of desperation for God that is so deadly. If we don't feel desperate for God, we don't tend to cry out to him. Love for this present world sets in subtly, like a spiritual leprosy, damaging spiritual nerve endings so that we don't feel the erosion and decay happening until it's too late.

Read the rest…

This is either insanely true or truly insane…

“To lose the heavenly warmth and spiritual liveliness of your affections is undoubtedly a far more considerable loss than to lose the wife of your bosom, or the sweetest child that ever a tender parent laid in the grave…It is better for you to bury ten sons, than to remit one degree of love or delight in God.” 

This from John Flavel in Facing Grief.  His counsel is either insanely true or truly insane.  It all depends on how glorious God really is.

God's Great Global Purpose Visualized

1. The chief end of all God’s actions is for the display of His glory.
2. This glory is made visible in Christ.
3. Christ is made visible through the gospel.
4. The gospel gathers individuals into a blood-bought community of redeemed believers, that
a. fosters growth into Christ likeness
b. ignites a passion for mission
5. When these are grounded in a vision of God’s glory it results in our ultimate purpose:
6. Worship: The creation of passionate worshippers that accurately reflects and rejoices in the glory of God.

I have been working on this and I have a 12 page document that goes with this that has a detailed discussion of each point. There is a purpose to it but that does not matter at this point. Without having the detailed discussion in your hand tell me your thoughts. Is it clear? Would you re-word anything? Did I leave something out?

The Inconvenience of Availability

"And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him..."

Isn't it astonishing that a hole in the roof does not move Jesus to anger but rather compassion?

Seriously, imagine yourself in this situation. You have been on a business trip (or preaching tour) for weeks on end. Now you are finally at home. (By the way it's probably not Jesus' actual house--more than likely it is Simon Peter's). But the crowd wants more. You know what that feels like; being totally spent with nothing to give--but people still need more. Not only would the crowd be a little draining (and dare I say annoying) but add to all of this some guys climbing on your roof and tearing a whole through the ceiling. (Again, let's not lose the context--this would have been far more "fixable" in Jesus' day, but nonetheless still potentially annoying).
Would you have been annoyed by someone tearing a hole in your roof or would you have been moved with compassion? I would have probably been at least a little annoyed. But then again maybe not, with such an extreme case.

The point is this--being available (as believers should be) is not always convenient. However, if we are to be like Jesus then we cannot afford to be ticked off by large crowds or holes in our roof. The glory of God and the souls of people have to be more important and be our heart's greater affection, or else we will miss opportunities because of the inconvenience of availability.

How Does a Beggar Glorify a Rich Man

In the sermon from Wednesday night I gave this analogy:

Imagine a beggar. He has no cash. His clothes are tattered and torn. His breath is smelly. His hair is unkempt. His biggest hope is to get a few coins to get a coffee or a beer to drown out his pain. Every afternoon around 3:00 he waits outside a successful law firm, hoping to get a few coins from the wealthy employees.

One day a young businessman exits the law firm. It has been a relatively tough day and his mind is wandering and his heart is betting a little excited about his plans for the evening. Suddenly, he is awakened from his day-slumber. He notices the man. The beggar. The tattered clothes. He reaches in his pocket for a few quarters, but something hits him. Perhaps it was a Sunday school lesson from his childhood, maybe it was the Mexican food he had for lunch. He decides to really bless this beggar. Rather than giving this man a few dollars to get him through the night. The man decides to lavish riches upon the beggar. He stoops down to the old man, and asks him if he would like to go for a ride. Of course, the beggar is a little reluctant, but with a little pleading he follows the man. What happens next is almost unbelievable. The rich lawyer goes to the closest 5th Avenue store and buys the beggar an expensive suit. They get a haircut. He takes the man to get a shower. He takes him out for a really nice dinner. Then at the end of the night he gives the beggar a key chain. On the key chain is a key to his new car, his new house, and to the building of his new office. He has taken the beggar off the street and set him in the lap of luxury.

Now, how does the beggar give gratitude to the rich man? If we can speak this away, how would
the beggar glorify the rich man? How would he magnify the works of the rich man? What could the beggar do to make the rich man shine the brightest? As I stated in the sermon Wednesday night, our answer to that question, will dictate whether or not we understand thanksgiving and gratitude towards God. We are the beggar, God is the "rich man". How are we to give Him thanks for what He has done?