For the men
March 9, 2010 | Comments Off
The men’s retreat is coming up (April 30-May 1; sign up in the hallway and/or see Matt Greco if you’re interested), and it has us thinking about ministry to the men in the body.
This video is a very helpful conversation between two very godly men discussing what it means to be a man of God. They cover training up young men into godliness, growing in leadership and service in the home, and developing deeper fellowship with other men, including how to invite and receive criticism.
Watch with a view to how you can change and grow in your role as a man, no matter what that role may be.
Q&A on Biblical Masculinity from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.
HT: Justin Taylor
The Way of Forgiveness and Snares of My Own Arrogance
December 29, 2009 | Comments Off
FCC Family:
If you did not hear Pastor Tim’s sermon Sunday 12/27/09 entitled, “The Way of Forgiveness,” it’s a must! Here is an article I wrote regarding arrogance as a follow to that sermon.
- Jack Colwell
“Snares of My Own Arrogance”
I automatically and continually think in one of two ways that are snares of my own arrogance.
I convince myself that I am able to save myself by working hard and being good. This usually means pushing me above others, obsessing about others’ deficiencies and demanding total conformity to my personal standards from them. It can also mean falsely reconciling God’s standard to my life. “I am obviously OK, so God must be like me, and His standards must be like mine.”
Ironically, I can also catch myself in a snare of arrogance by feeling utterly overwhelmed by defeat and discouragement over my sinfulness; for example, when my behavior falls below my expectations for myself. As a result, I battle hopelessness and despair.
My first tactic is distraction, the second is despair – these tactics are the foundation of life in a fallen world. That is to say they arise instinctively and unthinkingly from within me (Jer. 17:9, Rom. 1:18-21) and are classic satanic discourse (Gen. 3:4, John 8:44, Rev. 12:10).
Stating the above number one and two another way -
1. I arrogantly create my own restorative process by:
Blaming / accusing others or ‘choking’ them – (Matt. 18:28, John 8:7, Rom. 2: 1-4)
·Self- justifying comparative judgment, making my standards as good, or even better than God’s standards – (Gen. 3: 6-7, 4: 1-8, Luke 15: 28-30, 18:11-17) to include self-blinding comparative judgment – (Matt. 7:1-6)
·Blinding immersion in worldly distractions to include work, possessions and family (Luke 12:16-20, 14: 16-23)
Which results in death, but I feel good about myself on the way because I elevated self as the ultimate lawmaker, judge and executioner of all others, including God – (Gen. 3:5, 4:1-9, James 4:11-12).
As Pastor John Piper puts it, “Concealed sin keeps us from seeing the light of Christ. Sin is like spiritual leprosy. It deadens your spiritual senses so that you rip your [and others] soul to shreds and don’t even feel it.”[1]
2. I arrogantly snub the Lord’s restoration process by:
Being remorseful over my own sin, rather than repenting – (Ps. 32, 2 Cor. 7:10) Implying that I know a superior or more effectual sacrifice than Christ - (Heb. 10:11-31)
This also results in death, but I feel miserable about myself on the way – (Matt. 27:3-5). Despairing of my own sin is as opposite to faith as suffocating is to breathing.
The fact is, awareness of my own wretchedness is my only access to Christ and should compel me to come to Him (John 6:29). His work is to forgive MY sin; my work is faith in Him expressed primarily by thankfully loving God and forgivingly loving others (Matt. 22: 37-40). I cannot love those I harbor bitterness toward (Matt. 18: 21-35). Bitterness toward others means I do not love God (1 John 4: 19-21).
Yes but…(insert whatever excuse I generate this moment) and then consider C.S. Lewis: “Anyone who makes excuses is not really seeking forgiveness”
Those times when I most need forgiveness of my sin, are the very times I can least comprehend my need, or His forgiveness. Only Christ can rescue me from this body of death (Rom. 7:21-25), I access Him through repentance and faith. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3: 19-21, NASU).
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[1] Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Multnomah (Chapter 3, Emphasis added)
Thoughts from WorshipGod 09 part 2: The God of Worship
August 11, 2009 | Comments Off
John Piper preached the first two sessions of the conference, and it was a great privilege to sit under his ministry. His first sermon rang the notes at the center of his theology–that the glory of God, and our joy in that glory, are what the Gospel is all about. It is in the Gospel where God’s character is revealed most clearly and vindicated most definitively.
Romans 3:21-26 is a central passage to this understanding of God and the Gospel. A key to understanding this passage is understanding the grave problem that results when God passes over sin: If God is just, then how can He possibly overlook sin? If sin really is as serious as the Bible claims it is, then it is scandalous for the One who is to judge sin to pass over it freely!
But in this passage, we see how it is that God’s glory is shown forth and vindicated in passing over sin: how He is proved both just and the Justifier. Jesus is the propitiation–the One who satisfies the wrath and justice of God, the One who receives the judgment incurred by our sin so that God is perfectly righteous in passing over our sin. With His wrath satisfied by Christ, God is free to show mercy and grace to His people.
In this way, the Gospel is the vindication of God’s glory in the sight of the world, and in this way it becomes clear that the magnification of God’s glory is also the manifestation of God’s love for us. It is not egomaniacal for God to seek His own glory; rather, since the magnification of His glory is accomplished in the Gospel, and the Gospel brings us to God, the true Satisfaction of our souls, then seeking His own glory is the most loving thing God can do for us!
This raises the question for us: Why do we rejoice in the Gospel? Do we rejoice because in the Gospel God makes much of us? Do we see the Gospel as primarily about winning benefits for us? Or do we rejoice in the Gospel because it is through the Gospel that we are set free to join in making much of God?
Which brings to mind a question posed in something I read recently–Do the songs we sing together focus primarily on the many benefits we get from the Gospel, or do we sing more of the glory of God as displayed in the Gospel? Of course, we get benefits from the Gospel; but the chief benefit is to join in the story of redemption as the glory of God is magnified through what He has accomplished. We are cheating ourselves–and potentially creating idols–if we focus on ourselves as recipients of God’s benefits rather than focusing on God as worthy of highest glory and honor.
This God is supremely worthy of worship, and it is He who we join together to magnify each time we gather. May our hearts be captivated with the greatness of His glory this Sunday.
I’d encourage you to take the time to listen to Piper’s sermon here.
He who is faithful in small things…
February 27, 2008 | Comments Off
The child of God must be willing to be a channel through which God’s abundant blessings flow. This channel is narrow and shallow at first, yet some of the waters of God’s bounty can pass through. If we cheerfully yield ourselves to this purpose, the channel becomes wider and deeper, allowing more of the bounty of God to pass through. We cannot limit the extent to which God may use us as instruments in communicating blessing if we are willing to yield ourselves to Him and are careful to give Him all the glory.
- George Muller, The Autobiography of George Muller
Look!
January 30, 2008 | Comments Off
These words from Charles Spurgeon on Isaiah 45:22 have been been of great comfort to me:
“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other!” - Isaiah 45:22
But thou sayest sin will not let thee look. I tell thee, sin will be removed the moment thou dost look. “But I dare not; He will condemn me; I fear to look.” He will condemn thee more, if thou dost not look. Fear, then, and look; but do not let thy fearing keep thee from looking. “But He will cast me out.” Try Him. “But I cannot see Him.” I tell you, it is not seeing, but looking. “But my eyes are so fixed on the earth, so earthly, so worldly.” Ah! but, poor soul, He giveth power to look and live. He saith - “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”