a nontechnical haiku before bed:
work of God
new old cold renewed
smells like rain
in this way mr. K will challenge the world
I have been looking (not that hard) for an actual blog name, heretofore, unsuccessfully. But while listening to the 1st or second greatest album of all time it came to me.
a letter from a servant
The author of the Epistle of James is James, the brother of Jesus and yet he designates himself as a “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”. This is a rather unique greeting in the New Testament (although it is comparable to Jude and probably for similar reasons). Being the Lord’s brother, a leader in the Jerusalem church (he is listed often and prominently in the book of Acts), James had the credentials to simply announce his authority and get on with the matter at hand, but he does something quite different…
James is writing to Christians who have divided hearts and minds; are angry, “religious”, worldly; show partiality to the rich while abusing the poor; live fragmented lives; Christians who are bitter, jealous, selfish, proud, presumptuous and a host of other things.
James writes to these Christians in order to establish their hearts for the coming of the Lord. (James 5:8) He exhorts them to be patient in suffering and with one another; to be prayerful and praiseful as they wait on the Lord.
…so what does James do…
James sets the tone for his epistle in the very first verse: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:”
Their hearts and ours are established for living in this world and loving one another rightly in these first words of the epistle. It is simply an understanding who we are with respect to who God is and what he has done. James, truly a pillar of the New Testament Church, brother of the Lord Jesus; sees himself as a humble servant of the Lord. This sheds light on James instructions to the poor and rich throughout his letter. Each must not let their circumstances shape their view of life and the world, rather they must see themselves in light of their relationship to the Lord Jesus. The poor must boast in their exaltation, the rich in their humiliation. What is James point? Is he choosing sides? Not at all. James is admonishing these Christians to see themselves not from the world’s perspective, but from God’s. This is precisely what James is doing in his greeting.
He goes on to identify the Christians to whom he is writing as the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. The primary function of this designation is not to locate them geographically or identify them racially or nationalistically. James wants them thinking about these things biblically and spiritually. They are the people of God, citizens of heaven, but away from home. They are on a pilgrim journey. The rest of the epistle teaches them and us how to live faithfully throughout this sojourn.
Thankful to be on this journey with you,
Kendall
Just a reminder: the youth class is currently studying the Epistle of James on Sundays at 11:15am upstairs in the youth lounge.
Old School
“My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise.” (Proverbs 24:21)
For the past few years I have enjoyed the writing of Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist, cultural commentator and gadfly! I am currently reading his Romancing Opiates: Pharmacological Lies and the Addiction Bureaucracy. I won’t get into the premise of the book (though its pretty well contained in the subtitle), but in Romancing Opiates there is great illustration of the Biblical/Proverbial truth:
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Proverbs 13:20
Speaking of a Heroin addict’s explanation of his condition as a matter of falling in with the wrong crowd, Dalrymple says this, “it is odd how I meet people who fell in with the wrong crowd, but I never under any circumstances meet any member of the wrong crowd itself…”.
Now on the surface this seems to suggest that Solomon didn’t get it quite right, at least according to Dalrymple. Is there a wrong or bad crowd that people fall into and are then led to do bad things? Sure, but there is something simpler in view here in the proverb that I think Dalrymple touches on. It is wisdom to walk with the wise, it is foolish to walk with a fool. In other words the choice of companions itself is an indication of where the chooser is in his or her thinking. Dalrymple puts it this way,
A man who says that he is easily led (a second order excuse of those who fell in with the wrong crowd) never uses this characteristic to explain his good deeds, good characteristics, or positive achievements. A man never claims to have been easily led to higher mathematics, the subjunctives of foreign languages, or unpaid work among the poor. People are influenced by the people they admire and wish to emulate: the admiration and the desire for emulation precede the influence.
A fool walks with fools and becomes even more foolish. It is a downward spiral. And we should say as well that it is certainly wise to choose companions who are wise and in so doing you will become wiser still.
A special note to our youth group:
The point of all this is simple. Be careful and prayerful in choosing companions. Your choices in friendship give you a clue not only about where you are headed, but where you might already be. And in keep in mind that companions are not just your flesh and blood friends, but your ipod, your Facebook and…well you get the point.
I am praying for you, especially as you begin a new school year, that God would bless you with friends that point you to Christ and that you would be that kind of friend too.
Fathers & Sons
The father and son relationship is one of the defining relationships in the universe.
In fact, before there was a universe, there was the eternal Father who loved the eternal Son. We should not be surprised, therefore, that Satan has reserved his most fiery darts to alienate Christian fathers from their sons.
from Vision Forum Ministries
Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego
I had the privilege of teaching a couple of days during VBS; one of my assignments was to teach from Daniel 3, which is the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image, the Fiery Furnace and the Faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
There were many things that struck me about this familiar text. One very simple thing that came to my mind about this story is that it is a true story. It isnʼt folklore, myth, fable or tall-tale. To view it as such is to find yourself on the wrong side of the Lord Jesus who believed the stories of Jonah, Sodom and Gomorrah and Moses and the Burning Bush were true. Jesus believed that these stories were true and that in them was life. (Matthew 4:4)
These stories are life-giving because they teach us about the life-giver. They teach us about the nature and character of God.
These stories are true and the primary truth to which they testify is the reality of the person and work of Christ.
These stories are meant to shape your story. The stories tell you who you are, because they tell you who God is.
Listen to the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
How did they know God was able to deliver them from the Fiery Furnace? Because the story of the Exodus and all of Godʼs dealings with his people shaped their own view of life. They had allowed Revelation (Scripture) to trump everything else, to shape their decisions and responses. Long before Nebuchadnezzar made his ridiculous decree, the Word of God had already carved out the path in which Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego walked. Their stories (interpretation of life) were shaped by the story of the one who ultimately did rescue them from the Fiery Furnace, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Discussion Questions for Parents & Students:
What shapes your view of life? money? sex? power? fun?
How should the Word of God function in our lives?
Where do we go from here? What are some things we can change and work on together?
Renewing Your Mind
Romans 12:1-2
Every Christian is called to live for the glory of God in every sphere of life. Marriage and Childrearing, Work and Play, we are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. Jesus is Lord over all these things and everything in between.
But, the kind of robust living and discipleship we are called to will not exist without a vigorous life of the mind. In the passage referenced above, the apostle Paul commands Christians not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds that by testing we might discern the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. The phrase “by testing you may discern” means learning the usefulness or profitability of something by doing it. But notice that the necessary condition that precedes this is the transformation that comes by the renewal of our minds. In this way we are no longer conformed to the world, but to the image of Christ.
The primary way our minds are renewed is by the regenerating work of the Spirit and the Word of God. There is no substitute for reading and reflecting on God’s Word. When (not if) everything else fades and passes the Word of the Lord remains forever.
And it is a fruit of a true encounter with Scripture that leads us to seek out God-honoring resources that expound the Word of God and remind us of the place of the Scripture in the disciple’s life.
With these things in mind I want to share a few resources for your edification. First I am excited to tell you about a new blog “Mere Anglicanism Fort Worth” written by Dr. Dickson, Dean McKeachie and Dr. Jason Runnels. In addition to regular posts we will be archiving each of their Messenger articles on this blog giving you an ever expanding, fully searchable and rich resource.
We have also added a new media player to our website (just click on the “Media” tab). You will now be able to view titles and texts of all sermons making it much easier to search specific topics or texts you are interested in. Downloading/importing to iTunes, etc, is also easier.
Finally I want to recommend a resources for our patens and students. We are currently studying basic Christian doctrines in our Sunday morning bible class and one of the books I have been using as a reference is Doctrine: What Every Christian Believes by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. It is an excellent overview of systematic theology with an emphasis on practical application; great beginner to intermediate resource.
Each of these resources are useful and profitable because they will point you Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
mereanglicanism.wordpress.com
Good Shepherd Sunday
Note: this message was fairly extemporaneous so the notes are a little light.
GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY
John 10:1-10
Invocation:
Psalm 28:8-9, The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.
Hebrews 4:7, …again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
The gospels emphasize listening to Jesus, hearing his voice, hearing his words.
In John 5:24, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
And in 8:47, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Biblical listening is not simply hearing, nor is it just understanding, nor is it only believing. Biblical listening is effected by a changed heart that leads to a transformed life.
In Luke 4, Jesus says, 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
And finally, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:1-10
While this parable or figure of speech may or may not be chronologically related to the story with which all of the preceding chapter is concerned, the Apostle John relates them theologically.
John 9
As we mentioned before, the gospels emphasize hearing and consequently doing the words of Jesus. A very important passage that we did not mention is found in Luke 9:28-35.
The irony is that the Pharisees claim to be disciples of Moses, who was faithful in God’s house as a servant pointing to Jesus. If they were disciples of Moses they would recognize the voice of Jesus, they would listen to him and follow him.
Those who recognize the voice of Jesus, listen to him, that is they enter through Jesus, who himself is the gate that leads to life. There is no other gate or way or means. The provision of God is in the God-man Jesus Chris who himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Those who come to Jesus find salvation, security and satisfaction. John 10:9, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Those who come to the Good Shepherd find real life. John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John Calvin comments on this verse, “he declares that life is continually increased and strengthened in those who do not revolt from him. And indeed, the greater progress that any man makes in faith, the more nearly does he approach to fulness of life, because the Spirit, who is life, grows in him. John Calvin, Gospel According to John, p.402.
Benediction:
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25
Good Friday 2011 part two
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. Psalm 22:14-15
Fifth Word: John 19:28
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
Meditation:
Humankind is haunted by the question of evil and suffering. Violence and war, tsunamis and hurricanes, pain and disease. We cry out to God in the midst of all these things wondering with the psalmists and the prophets both, “how long O, Lord?”?
Scripture answers these questions in a few ways, all of them surprising. The 5th word recorded in the gospel of John only answer this question where this same gospel account begins. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
The answer of human suffering in a sin-shattered world is that God steps inside of our suffering, inside of our pain, not as God (although he can and does) but as a man. Jesus is not less than God and he is not less than Man. He is the eternal Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.
In these two words, “I thirst”, John reminds us that Jesus was truly a man, who suffered in life and in death, who endured the pain of the cross, the pain of rejection and loss, both physical and spiritual and in this last word from the cross declares the completion of his work as the second Adam.
Something else we should consider is that as the apostle John says, to fulfill the Scripture Jesus said I thirst. Psalm 69:21, They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” Jesus lived and died at the very center of the will of God. His intent was to fulfill all that the Father had for him to do in the work of redemption. To the very last Jesus submitted his will and committed his life to the Father and that for God’s glory and our joy.
In all of this Jesus shows us a new way to be human. He shows us living at the center of God’s will is the only way to live. That the answer to the question of human pain and suffering and death is found in the good news of the God-man that suffered with us, conquering death that we through him would live forever.
imago dei
This past Tuesday I had the privilege of attending the Hold Fast Tour with Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, at Will Rogers Memorial Center. Bishop Nazir-Ali is making an urgent call to the Western Church to hold fast to a biblical and Christian view of the world in the face of secularism, multi-culturalism and Islamic extremism. One of the Bishop’s main points was that the West (indeed the world) needs to realize that it is manifestly untrue that all religions support or teach the value of equality, that every human being has dignity, that every soul has worth and significance. He masterfully explained how the worldviews that undergird Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islamism are incapable of providing a basis for true human dignity and value for all people.
It is the Judeo-Christian worldview alone that grounds the worth of the individual; of all individuals, at the very root of human existence. The individual soul’s significance is grounded in the reality that we are created in the likeness and image of God. Murder is wrong because God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9:6) Murder isn’t wrong because enough people agree that it is, nor is it right when enough people agree that it’s right. The heart of the evil of murder is that we are destroying the work of God who created us to bear his image in truth and love. Murder is an attack on the image of God; it is an attack on God himself. This is a uniquely biblical and Christian worldview and it is in the end, the only foundation for making a case for human dignity.
Western politicians must jettison the notion that the worth of the individual could be built on the foundation of any other worldview; secular, Islamist; anything other than a Christian worldview. Not to do so, is to suspend these values in midair – they will eventually fall.
I believe all this to be true and I am grateful for the Bishop’s ministry to god’s people. I would like to take Dr. Nazir-Ali’s main presupposition and apply it to another issue.
The West, particularly America, must realize that the right rage against the evils of radical Islamism should at some point be redirected at our own attack on the image of God in man; abortion. Since 1973, Americans have killed nearly 54 million children in the womb. Or to say it another way a number equal to the total combined populations of Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
As pastor and author Douglas Wilson has said, “abortion…is the destruction of one body, the desecration of another, and the defilement of a third.”
Abortion is a denial of the worth and value not of specific individuals, but all individuals. It is a denial of human dignity and significance at its very source = the creative and redemptive purposes of God in our world and in our lives.
