To the Christian Rich - God Favors the Poor

"Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

James 2:5

Remembering Joah Style, and the Mystery of Adoption

My boy, now four, and now mine (and his mother's and his sister's), legally and permanently, for 3 years; I am filled with gratitude. Joah asked to celebrate his Finalization Day at Taco Bell.

Intense about tacos - Cool Ranch, beef and cheese only

Indulging

I have thought a lot about adoption in general, adoption biblically, and my own experience of adoption. And certainly I have considered why it is that God has adopted me and the possible reflection of that motivation in my own adoption of my children. I believe there is one. If asked why I have adopted my daughter and son there are multiple reasons. But chief among them is the most simple, I wanted them. And when asked why He has adopted any of us, God says a similar thing. He says it was for the good pleasure of His own will (Ep 1). He wanted us. Mystery of mysteries.

 

Remember that you should exalt His work. . .

Job 36:24

Prophets Push.

                                                                                                                                                               
Not only do prophets call people back, they push people out. This has always been the case, since Noah, "in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world" (He 11:7); to Joshua's, "Choose this day whom you will serve" (Jsh 24:15); to Samuel who, "warned the people solemnly and let them know what the king who would reign over them would do" (1 Sa 8:9); to Elijah who pressed upon God's people, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 Ki 18:21); to Isaiah declaring, "If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword" (Is 1:19f); to Jeremiah's being ordained "to pluck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow" (Je 1:10); to Ezekiel's proclamation, "He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house" (Ez 3:27); to Hosea's utterance of God's announcement that, "Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Ho 4:6); to the oracle of Amos regarding God's judgment - "Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will spare them no longer" (Am 7:8); to Malachi's message concerning God's choice - "I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness" (Ma 1:2f); to John declaring that, "Christ's winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Mt 3:12); to Jesus preaching that, "No one can serve two masters" (Mt 6:24); to the Apostle Paul telling the Galatians that, "Even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned" (Ga 1:8); etc.

Curse this American sentimentalism, inclusivism, pragmatism, romanticism, and idealism, so much accepted in the Church, and so contrary to the spirit of prophecy (Re 19:10). I don't believe there are prophets today receiving direct revelation from God. I believe the Scriptures are complete. But I do believe in the gift of prophecy, which is a gift for proclamation, not future telling (Ro 12:6; 1 Co 12:10). Even the Old Testament prophets did more preaching than prediction. I do believe there are men and women within the Church with that old prophetic bend toward the truth; a bend that makes them a bit strange, and gets them into repeated troubles as they call folks back to God. May God bless their labors, and throw down their enemies.

Leadership Significance - Lions or Asses?

Perhaps it is generally the case that one is better off with an army of asses led by a lion, than with an army of lions led by an ass. It's simply next to impossible to overcome faulty leadership.

The Idol of Image

"We are hell bent on appearing reasonable 

to our neighbors."

R.C. Sproul Jr.

A good reputation as God defines it, is crucial. But a good reputation as anyone else defines it, is an idol. It's all well and good that not everyone likes us, understands us, and is otherwise for us. Jesus makes this more plain than anyone in history.

An Eternally Interrupted Life

It has become somewhat uncommon for me to blog. But when I do, it is common for me to cite something I've recently read. Here is another one of those, from a book I recommend to any interested in the history of God's Church in general, and/or Martin Luther in particular.

  
 "Because the curse is God's own wrath at sin, and because Christ is God himself, when Christ's cross is preached you become a party to a struggle between God and God--in Christ: 'Therefore the curse clashes with the blessing and wants to damn it and annihilate it. But it cannot. For the blessing is divine and eternal, and therefore the curse must yield to it. For if the blessing in Christ could be conquered, then God Himself would be conquered. . . . But this is impossible,' Luther concluded in his Galatians lectures.
   God's 'alien' will in the cross has been conquered by his 'proper' will 'for you.' God won by losing your game and starting up his own game of forgiving sinners by raising them from the dead--no hide-and-seek being desired or necessary. Once you are raised from the dead by Christ's promise, death can no longer be feared. It lies behind you instead of threatening your future at every turn. The law and its demand becomes a past event, not a present threat or future goal. 'Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?' Paul asked. If Christ is the final judge and he killed killing by being raised from the dead and forgiving his sinners, then what further judgment do you fear? The sting of death is removed because Christ unilaterally forgave and so interrupted your life permanently. Laying your sins on Jesus means they are over and have no more power to slip into your conscience to say, 'What have you done?' Instead, Christ alone sits there calling his sheep by name and freely giving them all they need. Paul confessed that in such a new circumstance nothing (not death, sin, or devil) can 'separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Rom. 8:38-39)." - From Luther for Armchair Theologians, pp 158-59.

The Pain from God

"Satan is not the Lord of suffering. God is."

R.C. Sproul Jr, commenting on Job 1 & 2, and Isaiah 45:1-7, 

concerning common misunderstandings and false beliefs regarding

God's relationship to His people's hardships.