Today in Blogworld 11.06.12

Eating Disorders and the Power of Christ

Kristen Gilles chronicles her battle with an eating disorder and relates it to the battle with idolatry that we all face. 

Brothers, We Should Stink

I love the way that Thabiti Anyabwile words things.  Here he talks about the down and dirty of pastoral ministry: “But, brothers, we are not professional models or entertainers hawking the world’s airbrushed version of “the good life” from the lofty heights and flashing lights of public adulation. Brothers, we are shepherds down in the fields of life — and we should stink.”

Two Big Questions for Bible Reading

What it means.  And why it matters.  Jonathan Parnell explains.

A Couple Sweet eDeals

Spectacular Sins by John Piper is only $3.99
Lit! by Tony Reinke only $3.99 (GREAT BOOK)
Histories and Fallacies by Carl Trueman only $3.03

Uncle Drew-Episode 2.  I love these:

A Marriage God Hates

    “When you come to appear before me,
        who has required of you
        this trampling of my courts?
    Bring no more vain offerings;
        incense is an abomination to me.
    New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
        I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
    Your new moons and your appointed feasts
        my soul hates;
    they have become a burden to me;
        I am weary of bearing them.
    When you spread out your hands,
        I will hide my eyes from you;
    even though you make many prayers,
        I will not listen;
        your hands are full of blood.
(Isaiah 1:12-15 ESV)

The Lord created marriage.  He loves marriage.  Yet, there is a marriage that the Lord abhors; the marriage of Mr. Iniquity and Ms. Solemn-Assembly.  The Lord cannot endure such a union.  Apart from the hypocrisy and insult of the thing one reason the Lord hates such a union is because of what it does to both parties involved.  It deceives and destroys Mr. Iniquity and it ruins Ms. Solemn-Assembly

The human heart has a tremendous way of deceiving itself.  Worse yet the human heart will go to great lengths to self-justify and perpetuate this blindness.  That seems to be what is happening with the people spoken of here in Isaiah 1.  They are hiding behind their religiosity and refusing to repent.  They are using their religious rituals to convince their deceived hearts that they are doing their part. 

I have been awakened to this sick cycle in my own life.  As a believer, whenever I sin the Spirit of God graciously convicts me of it.  The aim of His conviction is that I would take my sin and accompanying guilt and shame to Christ and find restoration.  Yet, at times I do the opposite.  When convicted I run away from the work of Christ and go through a rigorous process of self-atonement.  The deceptiveness of sin encourages me to wear the fig leaves of religiosity to cover my guilt. 

Yet in all my religiosity sin continues to rot away at my soul.  But from the outside and even to my own deceived eyes I am doing everything I need to do to rid myself of this feeling of guilt.  I’m going to church.  I’m reading Scripture.  I’m giving away possessions.  I’m doing ministry.  I’m passionately singing worship songs.  I’m studying.  I’m writing.  I’m praying.  I’m pleading with the Lord.  I’m doing everything I can…

Almost. 

It is in this almost that we discover one of the reasons the Lord hates the marriage of solemn assembly and iniquity.  This marriage allows Mr. Iniquity to hide behind the beauty of his bride.  At the end of the day Mr. Iniquity enters into false rest because he thinks that he has married his savior.  So he never deals with the reality of his family name.    

Eventually Ms. Solemn Assembly turns into Mrs. Iniquity.  Their union gives birth to Hypocrisy, Apathy, Pride, and eventually Despair.  After a period of time Mr. Iniquity decides that Ms. Solemn Assembly is not working out for him.  She hasn’t helped him.  He’s still feeling the pain of his family name and his deceit causes him to blame his bride. 

It’s not her fault.  She cannot flourish unless she is married to Mr. Repentance.  Until Mr. Iniquity surrenders his pride and his identity and becomes Mr. Repentance he will never find healing and redemption.  Yet he keeps trying and trying and trying and wondering why his marriage to Ms. Solemn Assembly is not working.  All the while the problem lies in him. 

And this is why the Lord hates this marriage.  Solemn Assembly has stunning and breathtaking beauty.  She is meant to lead people to awe and wonder at Her Maker.  Yet, she only flourishes when she is married to Mr. Repentance.  Anything else will tarnish her beauty and cause her to merely be used as a cover and a shield.  She is not created to bear such a load. 

Brothers and sisters, if sin is the problem the only cure is repentance.  You cannot marry yourself to solemn assembly and hope that somehow your religiosity will cover your shame and take away the rotting effect of sin.  She cannot do that.  She is meant for basking not for covering up.  You haven’t “tried everything” until you’ve engaged in heartfelt repentance. 

Mr. Iniquity don’t blame your failed marriage on Ms. Solemn Assembly.  Blame it on your family name.  Humble yourself and get a new name; Mr. Repentance.  You’ve got a very merciful Judge that shed His own blood to secure that new name. 

A Prayer for Election Day

Heavenly Father,

You have have commanded us to pray for those in authority over us so that we might live peaceful and quiet lives being dignified in everything we do. You have revealed to us that our prayers for our leaders are pleasing to you and our commitment to place those in authority over us into your hands is good in your eyes.

You have spoken in your Word that you desire to see people saved and your Word commands us to be the instruments of gospel proclamation and gospel living in everything we do.

Father, you tell us that you have ordained every government that exists. This reminds us that in our nation you have placed the final, earthly authority of who will lead in the hands of those who vote. On Tuesday, we are the ones 'in authority' in our land. So Lord, we rightly and Biblically pray for us, for your people to exercise their God-given authority in this election.

As your children, may your Spirit lead us not to surrender to the despair and political cynicism of our age. Give us faith to trust in the form of government you have ordained for us. Give us faith to know that you have given us, as Christian citizens, the responsibility to exercise the authority placed on us to cast our ballots according to the unbending, Biblical standards that apply to all of life.

Father, we know that no person serves perfectly according to your way, but let us not use that as an excuse to ignore your standards for our nation, for any nation, for every nation as we choose who to place in office.

Let none of us shirk the responsibility you have placed on us to vote wisely, to vote well, to vote to place those in office who seek to follow your standards for all human behavior. May we elect those who respect the dignity of human life from conception to the grave knowing that all humans are made in your image. May we elect those who respect your standards for the home, for marriage, and for the compassionate care of the widow, the orphan, the alien (immigrant), and the poor.

Lord, we are called to live for Christ Jesus and stand firm upon your Word in every aspect of our lives. May we do just that this Tuesday and every day. Help us to remember that voting is only the beginning. As men and women are placed into office, we have the responsibility to hold their feet to the fire every day. As you give us life and breath for every day, may every avenue of our lives be pleasing in your sight.


Amen

Thereness

Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!”  I was trying to chew on that last phrase for a little while today.  I thought about how it relates to God’s omnipresence.  How do I seek his presence?  It’s not like there is ever a spot where He is not and that Psalm 105 is telling me that I need to play hide and seek and find my Lord behind a bush somewhere.  No, I’m not to seek knowledge of His omnipresence. 

This text is telling me to seek His good presence.  His favor.  His countenance.  It’s telling me to be like my children as they demand my presence.  “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!  Look!  Look!  Do you like my book I made?”

My son, Isaiah, is in a drawing and cutting things out of a notebook phase.  He also found our stapler the other day and is in the business of “makin’ books”.  He’ll staple together a few pages, write a couple of the words that he knows how to spell, and then squiggly lines for the rest.  But the book isn’t complete until daddy “reads” it.  He is seeking my presence, my approval, my thereness. 

That is what Psalm 105:4 is calling us to do continually.  Psalm 105 is calling us to tug on the Lord’s robe and say, “hey daddy, dad, daddy, dad, hey dad!  Do you like my drawing?”  Such a heart is precious.  It refuses to be satisfied until the object of its affection is present in complete thereness.  That snowflake that you cut out isn’t complete in its awesomeness until its also enjoyed by daddy. 

Christ makes the presence of the LORD our delight.  Though he is mighty beyond description and “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes to whom we must give account”, even still because of Christ we are able to “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace”.  His thereness is no longer a terror, it’s a joy. 

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Of course there is also the other side to this that as we continually seek the presence of the LORD we become less concerned about our awesome snowflakes and more concerned with joining daddy in what He is doing.  But I needed to really meditate on this side of presence of the Lord today. 

Would Jesus Play “Gotcha”?

No.  I’m not asking whether or not Jesus would play the Dutch funk band Gotcha! on his iPod.  Although that is a solid question.  What I am referring to is the new game that seems to be sweeping our nation.  It is a game that is played as frequently by believers as unbelievers.  It can be played anywhere that opposing viewpoints can be found.  Social media sites serve as a massive playing field for intense games of “gotcha”.  Many blogs excel in the game.  Some pastors have even been known to play the game with their congregations. 

What is “gotcha” you ask? 

“Gotcha” is the art of proving your awesomeness and superiority at the expense of someone else’s folly—whether perceived or real.  And there is also the more popular variety of “Group Gotcha” wherein pawns (like you) expose the idiocy and lameness of the other teams leaders, thereby showing that your team is far superior. 

In order to win “gotcha” you do not have to actually accumulate any points of your own.  You win by shaming the other person or group into submission (even if temporary).  Points are accumulated by following a difficult equation.  The equation is as follows:

Number of Facebook shares and likes
+ Number of RT’s on Twitter
- Number of Google +1’s  (plus 1’s exposes your own lameness)
x Buckets of tears by opposition
x pointless and unproven zingers
+ angry and even more meaningless responses from opposition
- FWD’s generated (grandma points do not count)
+ seconds the opposition pauses like a deer in headlights
/ Number of people in the world
= Gotcha Points

It seems like a very complicated game but judging by my television and Facebook feeds it is a riot.  And apparently it distracts us from actually having to worry about real people or to take any responsibility ourselves.  I am trying to get many of my friends to play the game.

As I am thinking about people to invite, I have to wonder whether or not Jesus would play the game.  Seems to me like “Gotcha” might have been a game that the Pharisees played a little more than our Lord.  Looks like Jesus will just have to miss out on all the fun. 

Be sure to share this post as I’m hoping to get a bunch of “gotcha” points off of it.