Jimmy Johnson is NOT an Athlete & Driving a Car is NOT a Sport

Really? Pressing an accelerator and turning a steering wheel require athletic ability? Seriously? I think NOT.

I'm not sure what to call racing. But I know what not to call it -- a sport. The word sport makes me think of athletes. And athletes are those with an unusual strength, endurance, flexibility, etc; & sometimes speed, quickness (not the same as speed), & accuracy. None of these things are required to win a car race. Now, I imagine that some car racers do possess some of these abilities in some measure. In other words, there may be athletic race car drivers. . . , and golfers, and bowlers, etc. But to say that those who drive cars, swing clubs and roll balls professionally are by definition athletes is just absurd.

I should also say that anyone who wins five consecutive championships in any major competition with his peers is worthy of our recognition. That is a noteworthy accomplishment. But to hear sportscasters talk of Johnson (& Hendrick Motor Sports) as being in the same athletic or team class as the dominant Boston Celtics and New York Yankees is a bit over the top. The Celtics and Yanks are teams of athletes that run, throw, slide, hit, catch, dive, etc. I played baseball, and basketball. And I've driven a car. Not the same sort of activities. The athletes in the ballgames have everything to do with winning and losing. In contrast, while the car driver contributes, the strength of the vehicle engine plays a massive role in the race outcome.

Don't get me wrong; I like to drive fast. I like to swing clubs at stationary balls, and to roll balls at defenseless pins. But I am under no illusion that these activities require athletic ability. To do them consistently well does require an ability, a skill. But not athletic ability. That's OK. Not everyone is an athlete. And even fewer have the gifts to be professional athletes. So let's all be happy to do well what God has given us to do well that we actually are able to do well. And let's call it what it is.

A Beautiful Mess

These are shots of the front of our home refrigerator (The sides are no less crowded). So many stories are represented by them. Marian and I have been married almost 16 years now. And we've had our little Tess for almost three. The shot of the "ALE" spelling is her work. She doesn't know how to spell yet. She did, however, manage to compose this one word. She was playing alone with her magnet letters. When I went in to see her, "ALE" is what she had produced. Of course that gladdened my heart, like a good ale will.

As I consider the memories, I am thankful to God for my wife, my daughter, my parents, siblings and friends. I'm a bit of a loner by nature. I once said to someone that I naturally gravitate to myself. I'm not fueled so much by the company of humans. But I am refined by them. And I need that.

Good Father, thank You for the life you have given, and are giving, me. It all occurs under Your sovereign governance. You work it all for my good; indeed, for my salvation. There is nothing good for me that You will not give me. There is nothing bad for me that You will not withhold. You are always loving me because You have always known me. I belong to You. I exist for You. Help me to believe this with all of my heart, and to embrace suffering as willingly as ease. Make me always glad in your presence. Do it for Your name's sake. Thank You Father. Amen.

The Marriage Secret

During her workout yesterday with her trainer, my bride was asked what the secret is to staying married. She responded correctly by talking about our faith in God. Of course non-Christian couples also stay married for a lifetime. According to the statistics I hear (I don't know where the people get them), the non-Christian marriages, as often as those of believers, last. Yet, I still assert that my wife's answer is correct -- for us. 

I think relationships that last are often the ones in which the parties involved share the same chief love (See 2 Cor 6:14-15). For Marian and me, that's Christ. But for non-Christians, it is certainly something else, maybe the marriage itself. There is a way to stay married that honors God as God and there is a way to stay married that is idolatrous. My love for Christ fuels my love for Marian. If I did not love Jesus, I think there is a strong probability that I couldn't stay married to anyone. I'm too cantankerous, reckless, and selfish. When two sinners are put into a lifetime relationship, in close quarters, with distinct personalities, preferences, and ideas on a variety of issues, well, that is a disaster waiting to happen. But when those same people have the same chief love, the relationship is strengthened ten thousand times over. I have learned from Scripture that I am to lay down my life for my bride; the way Jesus laid down His life for me. I am to crucify my old nature, considering it dead, and be no longer submitting to it. And while I have a desire to do this for my wife, would such a desire suffice if not founded upon the desire to do it for my Savior? I doubt it. I'm not good like that.

This is also true for me as a pastor. I do love my people. But I don't pastor them primarily because I love them, but because I love Him. I would not do pastoral ministry for anyone else. I pastor for Jesus. And if the day comes when I am convinced that He no longer is asking me to pastor, I will quit, promptly. Of course I have no skills, so I might die of starvation. Nevertheless, when Jesus is done with me I'm done with pastoral ministry. I don't think I'm particularly good at it anyway. Having written all of that, I also want to say that there is no other place I'd rather be in ministry than among my church family. What God calls us to, He gives us a heart for. So if my people will let me stay, I think I'll be with them for a long while. As I said, I love them.

Learning Luther, A Follow-Up

Luther's Rose

In way of recommending resources, I suggest the following concerning Reformer Martin Luther, Father of Protestantism, with a little help from his friends.

Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life & Thought by Stephen Nichols. This is an introductory biography that is engaging, informative, and at times entertaining.

Reading the Psalms with Luther. Think with Luther through the Psalms, devotionally. This is not a commentary, but a reader. For each Psalm there is a brief word from Luther, the Psalm itself, and a prayer fueled by the content of the Psalm. Luther believed that each Psalm fit into a category with at least one of the 10 Commandments (Ex 20) and one line of The Model Prayer (Mt 6). Quite insightful. God has used this book in my life to draw me closer to Himself. Each read makes for a wonderful and reverent way to begin a day.

Tabletalk. Luther was full of Christian hospitality. The Luther dinner table was very often surrounded by not only family, but orphans, students, and colleagues. There was music (by the Luther family), beer, and Christ-like love. These evenings were not brief fellowships. During them Luther would discuss life, theology, government, parenting, marriage, and a hundred other things with his guests. His students, not wanting to miss any of it, took turns recording Luther's words. Therefore, this book is an inside look at Luther outside of the pulpit, the classroom, and the councils. His wife, Katharina, was known to say that her husband should have charged tuition for these discussions.

The Shorter Catechism of Martin Luther (Luther's Little Instruction Book). One of Luther's most enduring works written as an abbreviated form of his larger catechism as a means to train children and the "ignorant Christians" (Luther's words), in foundational aspects of Christian living. Still used widely today. Can be downloaded for free at http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/m~luther/mllibook.pdf

The Bondage of the Will. Luther's other most enduring work that records his thoughts on the nature of sin and salvation. Luther's ongoing debate with Erasmus sparked the writing of this work. 

My Reformation Day message called The Power of Gospel Light. It will give you an overview of what shaped Luther and how Luther has shaped Protestantism. It can be found at http://www.friendshipinfredericksburg.org/index.php?option=com_podcast&view=feed&format=raw

Hope this helps.

Rembering Reformation Day -- October 31, 1517

I hope to say more later. But for now, at least I can point us to the instrument of God in His founding of Protestantism, our beloved Martin Luther (1483-1546). I will offer only a very few quotes and a brief comment.

Take away assertions and you take away Christianity.

The plain evidence is that free choice is a pure fiction.

There is nothing easier than sinning.

There is no more terrible disaster with which the wrath of God can afflict man than a famine of the hearing of his Word. But there is no greater mercy than when God sends forth his Word.

The Romanists want to be masters of Holy Scripture, although they never learn a thing from the Bible.

It is not sufficient for anyone, and it does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross . . . For this reason true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ. God can be found only in suffering and the cross.

In searching yesterday for books by or about Luther in the bookstores of my town (3 "Christian" ones, a Borders, & a Joseph Beth), I learned that only one of them had anything, and it is a small work written to children. This is shameful. Not only do we Christians not know how it is that God in His kindness got the gospel to us when it was all but lost, and how much it cost those He employed; we don't seem to care. Stores aren't selling Luther because customers aren't interested in church history in general and the Reformation in particular. This man has so much to do with why any of us are Christians. And, he's hilarious, colorful, witty, engaging, courageous, humble, fearless, etc. Read about Luther. And read Luther. Your efforts will be well rewarded. Resource recommendations to follow in the next post. I hope you have a wonderful Reformation Day. 

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The Prophet Amos, Chapter 5, Verse 24.

It’s election time, again. So shouldn’t our voting be biblically informed? Should we not long to cast our ballots with God’s perspective in mind and His values in our hearts? I will not tell you for whom I believe you should vote. But I will tell you of some of our Lord’s priorities for civil authorities and societies. We may begin with the verse above from the Prophet Amos. This verse is one that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known to quote as he worked for the civil rights of minority races. What he wanted was for our government to treat every citizen the same when it came to the laws of our land. And this is the way we see God operate in His law-giving to Israel. So many today will argue that the wealthy should pay a higher percentage of the taxes because, well, they can afford it. That’s not what God prescribed for His people. He commanded that we all pay the same percentage, which means not all will pay the same amount, which is not a problem for God, and shouldn’t be one for us. This is called equity, or justice. It is not just to legislate that a person with more be over-charged to make up for the person who has less. That’s not equity. That’s like saying, says R.C. Sproul, that it’s OK to steal from someone as long as she is wealthy. I agree. Equity does not demand equal amounts, but equal percentages. Socialists, along with some Democrats and Republicans, believe that true justice only happens when everyone has the same amount, or at least when there are no more poor. This, in their minds, is true equality. And while it is equality, it is not justice. Justice says that we receive what we are due under the law of the land. Work is rewarded. Integrity is rewarded. Civility is rewarded. You get the picture. Now, to Amos.

Amos is prophesying God’s judgment against nations (including Israel & Judah) for the inequity of their civil practices. He points out their sins of greed and bribery (5:10-13). It’s not so much that the wealthy were directly abusing the poor, but that they were influencing the government to abuse them. The rich were putting their riches into the pockets of the law-makers and judges who would then decide in their favor regardless of whether the decision was good for the nation as a whole. For they sell the righteous for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals. These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the helpless also turn aside the way of the humble . . . On garments taken as pledges they stretch out beside every altar, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined (2:6-8). Greed, bribery, and disregard for the poor are disregard for the law of God; They rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept His statues; their lies have also led them astray. . . (v4). He even refers to some of the women as cows (4:1). He rebukes them for oppressing the poor and crushing the needy. They are those who say to their husbands, “Bring now, that we may drink!” The problem is not that there were wealthy people. The problem is how they acquired the wealth and what they did with it. To get it they practiced a kind of dishonesty that oppresses those who don’t have so much. And then when the finer things are acquired, they over-indulge and abuse them, without concern for the poorer of the land. God condemns this, and severely judges those who live like this. Remember Genesis 12:1-3 where God promises to bless Abram so that Abram could bless others. Blessings are for sharing, not hoarding.

So what does this have to say about how we will vote next week? I think it says several things that should help us.

First, it teaches us not to vote with our own interests as the priority. Vote with others in mind. Every law that frees me will likely restrict someone else. A law that prevents me from paying more taxes will demand that someone else pay higher taxes. Our government will not forfeit revenue. We should be careful then for what and whom we vote. Politicians make promises. That’s how they get votes. They promise that if we will vote for them, they will do thus and such for us. They ask us to consider our own self-interests. They do not appeal to us to seek the law of God or the well-being of others. That’s shameful, and should be thundered against. I believe this means that for the Christian, voting for whom we think will best improve our bottom line is sinful. After all, the Bible does not teach that it is the government’s task to create jobs, improve the economy, or provide for the poor (neither does the US Constitution). It doesn’t teach that the government is responsible to provide education and/or educational funding; or a thousand other things of which Americans are convinced the government owes them. We have become a people of entitlement. I have noticed in the presidential elections of my lifetime that so much of what is hotly debated and expected is not truly the work of government, but the work of the private sector and the church.

Second, Amos teaches us that no government is free to do whatever it pleases. It is not free to take a bribe. It is not free to oppress its people. It is not free to spend money it doesn’t have. It is not free to take a higher percentage from some so that it can guarantee a lower percentage to others. The poorest Israelite was required to pay the same percentage as the wealthiest. That’s equity. On another note, I think that Christians sometime assume that the poor are poor all of their own design; that if they would just get themselves together they could make financial progress that would alleviate their distresses. That’s not an accurate assumption. Some are poor because they are lazy; that’s true. But many are poor for other reasons. And many of these live in a society that makes it almost impossible to improve their situation. The Scriptures do not express the expectation that a government parent its citizens. But it does teach that the government should not limit the less influential classes by catering to the wealthy. It’s not right for a government to reward laziness. Neither is it right for it to reward greed. I suggest we vote for those who understand this.

Amos also warns against a nation’s unjustified violence against another nation. He says in chapter 1 that Ammon ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their borders (v13).There is such a thing as just war. But there is also such a thing as a war of greed, and pride, and selfishness. God says that nations that engage in this sort of war will be judged. Before a nation commits to destroying others, it should be sure that the cause is just. This warning also teaches us of the value that God places upon human life. He is concerned for the mothers and their unborn children. If we murder them we incur His wrath. So what should we think about living in a nation that has legalized such violence? Just so you know, I’m a one issue voter. I always vote to protect the helpless, the innocent, and the defenseless; those that have no voice in moral issues disguised as political debates about rights.

Third, Amos teaches us that God is watching. And history teaches us that super-powers are destroyed from within. Our nation is not currently under military threat from another super-power. We do however live daily under the greater threat of the decay of justice and morality. This too Amos preaches against. He says that the truth-tellers of his time were hated; and those that spoke with integrity were abhorred. He says that the transgressions of the government were great; that they distressed the righteous and judged the poor unfairly (5:10-13). He says they silenced the preachers and corrupted the pure (2:12). He also links governmental inequity with personal corruption. The same ones upon whom God pronounces judgment for their inequities, he also condemns for such as this: a man and his father resort to the same girl in order to profane My holy name (2:7). You see, character does matter in politicians and law-makers and judges. If a person will profane his or her own family, and thereby the name of God, he or she will think little of profaning their constituents.

Exhorting you to vote according to the Truth,

Brent

What's In A Name?

And Moses said, "Please show me Your glory." Then God said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."  -- Exodus 33:18-20

During our church's doctrinal intensive on Saturday, we explored why it was the Apostle Paul quoted from the text above when he wanted to defend God's justice in electing some, and not all, to salvation. His answer, from Romans 9, has to do with God's name. The reason, Paul argues, that God is just in His electing choice, is because it is God, and not we, who are free. We, says the Bible, are slaves of sin (Ro 6, 16, 17, 20), dead in sin (Ep 2:1), by nature children of wrath (Ep 2:3), and have hearts that are too twisted to be straightened (Je 17:9). It is the essence of deity however, to be free; radically free; sovereignly free.This is His name. 

When I consider this I think of that scene in Braveheart where Sir William Wallace (Mel Gibson) is laying on the torture table while his entrails are being removed in an effort to have him acknowledge his fault and guilt in leading his people on a quest for liberty in rebellion against the king. William gathers his strength, and with one final act of leadership proclaims with all of his might, FREEDOM!!! It's a wonderful scene.

When God reveals Himself to Moses as YAHWEH -- I AM WHO I AM; and in the above text where He again proclaims His name, He reveals His FREEDOM as an essence of His deity and glory.

God then, says Paul in Ro 9, is not unjust when He chooses Isaac and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau, Israel and not Egypt, the Gentiles and not the Jews; because when God chose He chose in perfect freedom. That means He chose with no consideration to the merits or sins of the ones chosen. His choices, Paul argues, are not made with regard to the chosen, but instead, come completely from within the Chooser. They are choices according to the counsel of His own will, so that His purpose according to election might stand (Ro 9:11). So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy (16). He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens (18).There is no injustice/unrighteousness with God (14)!

One reason this is such GOOD NEWS is because it means that since there are no conditions to be met by us to gain God's electing favor, neither then are we able to sin beyond His electing purpose. No one may rightly say that he or she has so sinned that they cannot be saved. Before the foundation of the world, when God elected His people, He did not consider their worthiness or unworthiness. His reasons in election are His secrets. But what is clear is that God, because He is God, chose freely. That's His name! That's what free justice and righteousness do! So whatever you or I may have done to dishonor God and harm ourselves and others does not put us out of His gracious reach. Anyone who wants Christ more than all others and objects can and will be saved (Jn 3:14-17, 6:37-40, 10:22-30). This is the wisdom of God.

Being elect though does not mean that a person is a Christian. It means he or she is chosen unto salvation. It does not negate the need to repent and believe the gospel, to be converted. A person that dies believing that he or she is elect, and so needs not to turn from sin to Christ in faith will be eternally condemned. While the need for conversion may sound like an elementary idea, it proves to be widely unknown. It seems that most people who believe in Heaven are convinced they will spend eternity there for one reason - they die. Pastor R. C. Sproul refers to this phenomenon as "justification by death". It goes like this: if I die I go to Heaven, period. Apparently, that's where dead people go. Not necessarily. The Bible teaches repeatedly and clearly that it is only the converted elect that spend eternity with Christ in Heaven. And all the elect will be converted. Jesus says so (see above referenced texts). I recently preached the funeral of a stranger. Nothing his family told me about him, or mentioned while talking about him, led me to believe he died a Christian. Nevertheless, it appeared that they and perhaps all of the funeral guests believed that Heaven was exactly where he went. It was an extraordinarily sad occasion. Hoping in the hopeless always is.