Do you think of God like St. Nick? You may have a different answer to that question after watching this video.
Resource
Anti-Santy Ranty from 10ofthose.com on Vimeo.
Tag: christianity
A Man After God’s Own Heart: Connecting the Cross to 1 Samuel
I have been reading through 1 Samuel this last week. When I came to chapter 13, something struck me while reading the discourse between Samuel and Saul. Let me give you some background information before jumping into their discourse.
Narrative
Saul was set to again fight against the Philistines after Jonathan had initial defeated them at Geba. After their defeat, the Philistines came out strong with thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops. The text says, “They were like the sand on the seashore in multitude” (1 Samuel 13:5). This caused the Hebrews to be afraid, some crossed over the Jordan, others hid, and the men who were Saul at Gilgal trembled. This was obviously a tense time for the nation of Israel and their leader Saul. There newly installed king had won a military victory once against the Ammonites and his son Jonathan had defeated the Philistines, but Jonathan’s victory seemed only to anger the Philistines, causing them to come out against the Israelites even stronger.
Apparently, Samuel had told Saul to wait at Gilgal for seven days (1 Samuel 10:8), but Samuel did not show up in the allotted time (1 Samuel 13:8). As a result, the people following Saul began to leave. Instead of waiting for Samuel, the prophet of God, Saul decides to proceed without him in offering sacrifices to the Lord. Just as Saul had finished offering burnt offerings, Samuel shows up and asks, “What have you done?” Sauls response is telling of his heart. He says,
“When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:11-12).
Samuel responds by telling Saul that he has not obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and, as a result, the kingdom will be taken from him. Immediately afterward he tells him,
“The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:14).
Later on in Chapter 15 we read about another instance when Saul rejected the commandments of the Lord and did what the people wanted. There he did not kill all the Amalekites or destroy all their livestock, instead he spared their king, Agag, and sought to sacrifice the livestock to God because that is what the people wanted to do.
Common Thread
The common thread that is running through these narratives is Saul’s lack of obedience to the Lord and his desire to please his people.
- Instead of waiting for Samuel to come to Gilgal, he offered sacrifices to the Lord when the people started to leave.
- Instead of killing all the Amalekites and devoting all their livestock to destruction like he was commanded by the Lord, he listened to the people and kept the livestock to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord.
The result, is that Saul was to be removed as king over Israel (1 Samuel 13:14), and God regretted making him a king (1 Samuel 15:10-11).
Man After God’s Own Heart
Saul was not a man after God’s own heart; rather, he sought his own fame and glory by pleasing those he was ruling over. As I read about Saul, I saw a little of myself in him, but I also learned a valuable lesson.
If I want to be a man after God’s own heart, I need to obey God’s commandments even when it is not popular. Even when others will shun me, walk away from my leadership, or outright persecute me, I need to obey the commandments of the Lord because that is to what I have been called.
A man after God’s own heart obeys the Lord rather than people. He seeks the will of God rather than his own will.
Our Example
David becomes our immediate example of a man after God’s own heart, but he failed from time to time, seeking his own will instead of God’s.
Even though he represents a man after God’s own heart in the immediate context, it is not until we get to Jesus do we see someone who perfectly exhibits what that means. Jesus lived a perfect life and was even obedient to the point of death, accomplishing the Father’s will instead of seeking to glorify Himself (Philippians 2: 6-11).
Salvation Before Obedience
Jesus is our example, but He must be our Savior first. Try as we might, we can never hope to live as Jesus did without first being raised from the dead. We are inherently sinful people, who want nothing more than to accomplish our own will and please ourselves.
If we ever hope to obey God’s commandments and live an obedient life like Christ, a life we will never fully live this side of eternity, we must believe that Christ is our Savior. When we do, will be made a child of God, given a new heart, and the Holy Spirit will indwell us. With our new heart and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, we will be better able to obey the commandments of the Lord.
Questions for Reflection
- Can you restate what it means to be a man/woman after God’s own heart?
- Do you understand why you must be regenerated before you can live as a person after God’s own heart?
- Do you ever seek others approval rather than living for the Lord?
- What is the chief end of man?
What is Does it Mean to Repent?
If someone where to ask you, what is true repentance, how would you answer?
You might say, “True Repentance is being grieved over our sin so much that we turn away from sin and turn toward God.”
You might continue by saying what one commentator has said, “True repentance is to return to God, to His covenant, and to loyalty and obedience.”
That is a pretty heavy definition, so let’s break it down into manageable parts.
True Repentance Means we are Grieved Over Sin
We see in the first place that repentance is more than just being sorry for what we have done. It is to be grieved over our sin.
One day, when I was young I was doing something I should not do with the neighborhood kids. I don’t remember what it was, but I knew my mom did not want me to do it, but I did it anyway. Some how my mom knew I did what she did not want me to do. I don’t know how she knew, or how she found out. Mom’s seem to have that keen ability to just know when their kids disobey.
Later that day, she asked me about it. Instead of telling the truth, I decided I would lie to see if I could get away with it, but my mom knew I was lying. And because I disobeyed her and lied to her, I was punished for it.
I remember as I sat in my room, I was grieved, not just because I had gotten caught, and now I could not go out and play with my friends, but because I offended my mom.
Repentance is similar. It is an understanding that we as sinners offend a Holy God, and in realizing that, we are truly grieved over our sin. Not just because we will be punished one day, but because we offend God.
True Repentance Involves the Entire Person, Loyalty and Obedience to God
We also learn that repentance involves more than just grief. It involves radical transformation of the entire person – our mind, our heart, and our will.
Many of you have seen the movie the Matrix. At the beginning of the movie, the main character, Nero, is offered a choice between two pills, a red pill and a blue pill. The blue pill allows him to carry on life as if he had never even met Morpheus and learned the truth. The red pill allows him to be plunged into the Matrix fully learning all of what Morpheus and his crew know.
As he stares at those two pills he has a choice. Keep living like nothing happened. Or change everything. We all know that Nero chooses the red pill and is plunged into the Matrix with Morpheus‘ and his crew. When he chose that red pill, he turned away from the life he once knew and embarked on a new journey.
That is also apart of what it means to repent of our sins. It is a complete turning away from our old way of life to a new way of life in Christ. We can’t just do this intellectually. When Nero decided to take that red pill, his whole being was involved.
Similarly, when we repent of our sins, we don’t just do so intellectually. Our whole being is involved. Our mind, our will, our heart all turn from sin toward God. When we do that, we submit ourselves to God, to His rule, and to what He wants for our lives, just like Nero submitted himself to the Matrix, it’s rule, and what it wanted for his life.
So when we repent of our sins, we are saying that we will be loyal to God and obedient to Him, and our loyalty involves more than just our mind, it involves our whole being.
Challenge
We have to ask ourselves, given this definition of repentance, have we really repented?
- Are you grieved knowing you have offended a Holy God because you are a sinner?
- Have you turned to God from your sin, allowing Him to be the Lord of your life?
- Are you loyal to God and God alone?
- Are you obedient to God’s commands?
If we are truly repentant, these things will be evident in our life. I pray they are evident in your life.
Resource
Who is Sitting on the Throne in Your Life?
Yesterday, I started a new book I received recently, Gospel-Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson. It is a great book! I would highly recommend it. In the first chapter, Dodson defines discipleship from a gospel-centered perspective. After which, he moves to talk about Jesus being the Lord of our lives.
Jesus is supposed to be our Lord
Have you ever thought about that? Jesus is supposed to be our Lord? Yes, He sure is supposed to be our Lord. But what does that imply about how we are to live? Dodson helps us to think through the implications.
Think, for a moment, about the implications of Jesus’s divine lordship. If Jesus is Lord, then he doesn’t merely rescue sinners from judgment, but he also brings disciples under his divine authority. Translation: when we become Jesus’s disciples, we also become his servants. Disciples are servants who take up their cross and follow him (Luke 9:23). When we turn to Jesus, we turn everything over to him. When we confess Jesus as Lord, we embrace his authority over every aspect of our lives. This is precisely why Bonhoeffer can say: “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him to come and die.”
When Jesus is Lord, we give up on our old life (a sort of death) in order to live a new life. When we put our faith in Jesus as Lord, we surrender self-rule in order to come under God’s wise, gracious, and all-powerful rule. We submit to his reign and join his mission. This life-altering truth forms Jesus’s preface to the Gospel Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). This new, expansive, awe-inspiring authority orders the life of a disciple to learn the gospel, relate in the gospel, and communicate the gospel in glad submission to King Jesus. As a result, we grow in the gospel as his servants, relate in the gospel as part of his family, and communicate the gospel as his ambassador-missionaries
Challenge
Now that Dodson has set us straight, let me ask a few question:
- Is Jesus your Lord?
- Do you submit to His authority over your life?
- Have you turned everything over to Him, even your life?
- Have you joined Jesus’ mission?
These are all questions we need to ask ourselves as we consider what it means for Jesus to be the Lord over our life. I pray that you will give them serious thought, knowing Jesus is not just our Savior who rescues us from the bondage of sin and Satan, giving us eternal life, but He is also our Lord. A Lord who calls us to serve Him and His mission here on this earth.
Resources
Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, 42-43.
Book Recommendation: Every Good Endeavor
Just yesterday Timothy Keller’s new book Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work was released. You can pick up a copy here.
Before the release, the guys over at Desiring God had Keller on their podcast Authors on the Line. Here is what they had to say about the interview:
We put Dr. Keller on the line to ask him about the 9 to 5 labors into which we invest so much of our lives. So what is the purpose of our work? What if we get stuck in a job we don’t enjoy? And why does it seem the church has such a hard time getting its arms around vocation in the first place?
Their interview was helpful and informative. I recommend you take the time to listen to their discussion and pick up a copy of Keller’s new book.
God’s Work and Ours: An Interview with Timothy Keller (17 minutes)
Reach the City w/ the Gospel | Part 3
In my last post in this series, I presented a Modified Romans Road method. It centered around the idea of bad news and good news. Today, I will briefly discuss the Way of the Master.
The Way of the Master
The Way of the Master is used and taught by Kurt Cameron and Ray Comfort. It is a method that works best in cultures where its members desire to be considered a good person. The Bible Belt, for instance, is one such culture. That is not to say The Way of the Master would not be useful outside the Bible Belt. It is just that those in the Bible Belt often gravitate toward a desire to be considered a good person, whereas those outside of it have typically rejected this idea and don’t care about being considered good. Those are sweeping judgments and are not backed up by hard facts, so give this method a try wherever you live.
The Purpose
The point of The Way of the Master is to show those who desire to be good that they are not as good as they thought, but that they are actually sinners. By using this method, we can hopefully cause people to see where they stand with God.
The Method
The Way of the Master takes the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount and combines them.
For instance, you may ask someone a question like one of the following:
(1) Have ever committed adultery?
Now, most people have not actually committed the act, but Jesus heightens the expectation in His Sermon by telling us that those who have looked at a women with lust have committed adultery in their heart.
(2) Have ever murdered someone?
Now most people have never physically murdered anyone, but Jesus again heightens the expectation in His Sermon by telling us that those who hate are guilty of murder.
How does a thought relate to the physical act?
The idea is that if there were no outward restraints – social, legal, etc – we would commit the physical act. Since there are outward restraints, we typically refrain from committing the actual act. Instead, we think about doing it. Jesus tells us that those thoughts are equal to the actual act.
Why does that make us sinners?
Jesus is measuring our heart, not whether or not we have the ability to exercise physical restraint. In doing so, Jesus is showing us that our heart is corrupt, and we are inherently sinful.
What does our sin do?
Our sin is what separates us from God. God cannot have a relationship with a sinner because He is holy. In order for God to have a relationship with us, we must be perfect, but we are not perfect. Our sinful actions prove that we are not perfect. So then, no matter how many good things we do, we can never be good enough to mend our own relationship with God because those who are not perfect can never make themselves perfect.
Think about it like this: I attended the University of Georgia for my undergrad. They calculated GPA on a 4.0 system. Those who had a 4.0 never made below an A in any of their classes, they were perfect students.
If you happened to slip up and make a B in just one class, you would never be able to bring your GPA back up to a 4.0 no matter how many A’s you made. The best you could hope for was a 3.99. Even though you were close to that perfect 4.0, you could never attain it. No matter how hard you worked, it was always just out of reach.
Our relationship is like that with God. No matter how good we try to be, our relationship with Him will always be out of reach because we are not perfect and we can never be perfect. Not just because we have committed a sin once in our life, but because we, as humans, are inherently sinful. In other words, we are born imperfect. Sinners from our mother’s womb we come.
Wrap Up
Without going to much further, I hope you get the picture that this technique is meant to help you show others that they are not as good as they thought. They are not good because they are sinners. The reason they sin is because they are inherently sinful. It is their sin that separates them from God. Sin they cannot get rid of on their own no matter how hard they try because it is part of our nature. Only Jesus Christ can cover our sin with His blood. Thus, restoring our relationship with the Father.
Questions for Reflection
- Can you walk someone through a gospel presentation using the method outlined above?
- Is there anyway I can help you understand this method better?
Christianity Matters 