A Growing Faith Like Gideon's #1

*NOTE: This blog is a follow-up to my message on July 31, "Gideon: Faith That Grows." To understand the blog to its fullest, listen to the message first here.

"Lord, increase our faith!" was the request of the disciples in Luke 17. How does that happen? A look at the full context of this request (vs. 1-19) will show that there are at least three things God asks of us in order to grow our faith.

1. Use What you have (to do what you should)

It’s not the size of our faith that is most important, but the source on whom it is fixed. Even if we have just a little, it is powerful when placed in the solid character of God. Take the faith you have been given by God and simply start obeying him in the smallest areas. Look at what he has given you, and use it in faith to bless others and glorify his name. That’s how faith grows -- when we simply act on what we already know or take what we already have and put action to it. Being faithful in what we already have or to what we already know opens the door for greater faithfulness in larger things later.

In fact, a synonymous phrase for increasing  faith is quicker obedience. Let me illustrate. Two men both have to jump just a foot or two off a ledge and grab hold of a branch over a large canyon, then stand up on the limb below them. What will affect their readiness to jump the most? Not who they are, but what the tree is like. Little tree? Slow jump (if at all!) Big tree with firm roots? Quicker jump? You get the point, right? Even a little confidence in the tree can lead to a big jump. And for sure, delay indicates doubt. After all, it’s one thing to analyze; it’s another to be paralyzed. The common factor to both is the state of the tree.

Remember Peter? He was the first one out of the boat, indicating his faith in Jesus was strong. When did he start to sink? When he took his eyes off the source of his faith and onto the size of the waves. Don’t knock him for sinking. Applaud him for such strong faith that obeyed so quickly and showed he trusted Jesus without reservation.

Gideon did this, too, when he simply used what he had to obey what he knew. He took the ten men and cut down the idol his father had erected. While it was important, it didn’t require things out of his immediate reach. He started with what he had where he was. It was small faith that had a big impact.

The Carrot and the Horse

A brief excerpt from a recent message on Abel and the importance of motives...

Q & A from "By Faith" Series in Hebrews 11

Q: In your recent message on Abel you said that "God came to us." But didn’t we go to him and accept him on his terms?  He is always with us from the time that we are born to the time that we die, right? It is just that we have to accept him, right?

When I speak of God coming to us, I speak, first, of the crucial act of Jesus coming to live among us. God “pitching his tent” in our neighborhood (John 1). Had God not sent Jesus to live among us and die in our place as the atoning substitution for sin, we would forever be lost. We did not (and could not) go to God in heaven and try to reconcile the war between him and us, nor were we (or are we) able to bridge the gap that exists between us and God. It is an eternal predicament that only God can solve. He solved that when he took the step of sending Jesus to us as the sacrifice for our sins and not leaving us in our sin. This was the work of God in coming to us when we could not get to him.

Second, when I speak of God coming to us, I speak of the work of the Holy Spirit upon our lost souls when he opened our eyes to the Gospel (i.e., the truth about Jesus’ finished work on the cross). Ephesians 2 says we are dead; 2 Cor. 4 says our eyes were blinded. But God has shone the light of the Gospel into our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6) so that we could see. He has awakened our hearts from the dead and  given us the faith to believe (Eph. 2:8-9) So it was God who came to us in our lost state and raised us up/regenerated us. Yes, we responded to that and experienced conversion – that moment when we “accepted” the Gospel and took our stand on it. But it was God who came to us and opened our eyes, giving us the spiritual capacity to even see/comprehend the Gospel.

When we speak of God always being with us, we need to be careful to distinguish between God being always with us and God being in us. God is “with” everyone in the sense that he is always aware of where they are and in control of them – lost and saved people alike. He is sovereign! Omniscient and omnipresent! But he chooses to reside in those who believe. This is the role of the Holy Spirit – to indwell believers. This is the presence of God that unbelievers do not have. It is God coming to us in a way that lost people cannot access until they believe.


Q: You also stated that, when it comes to the show of church, "nobody is flasher then us."  What did you mean and why is that so? Is it because we want people to think we’re a “goodie two shoes” bunch?
By “us” I meant, generally, the western American church, and I don’t know why we have this tendency to impress. I don’t think it is wrong to want to put our best foot forward, but there is a fine line between our best foot forward and a false foot forward. Perhaps we do crave the approval of others too much, so we want them to think we’re something we’re not. I’m not sure if I know the WHY question. But I am fully aware of my own failings and tendencies to cover up any sign of weakness or fault, and God warns against that seriously. Perhaps riches and prosperity have trapped us into thinking that we have to at least appear to have it all, all the time. I just don’t know. But I do know this is the battle we all wage: pretense vs. authenticity.

What Faith Is and What Faith Gives

Some have asked for a "reprint" of some of my thoughts/notes from my message in Hebrews 11:1-3 regarding faith -- "What Faith Is and What Faith Gives" (mainly because these comments weren't on the slides behind me and I didn't repeat them much). So here's a brief recapitulation of the highlights.

Faith is confidence in God in light of what I do see and in spite of what I don't see (v 1).

Faith gives a vertical commendation, a horizontal understanding, and an external endurance (v 2-3).

Essentially, through we faith we can relate to God properly, reason about life correctly, and react to trials faithfully. No wonder faith is said to be indispensable ingredient to pleasing God!

SundayStats for June 5

Here's a quick, statistical look at how FFC's YouVersion "live" participants responded to the polls from Sunday's interactive message format on June 5, 2011.

When asked how they think the culture around them generally defines the word faith,

• 48% said they think the culture defines faith as belief in a higher being.
• 26% said they think the culture defines faith as positive thinking.
• 17% said they think the culture defines faiths as a blind leap.
• 9% said they think the culture defines faith as optimism.

When asked when their faith was awakened (i.e., when did God save them), 

• 24% said they were saved between the ages of 21-30
• 24% said they were saved between the ages of 31-40
• 19% said they were saved between the ages of 7-10
• 14% said they were saved between the ages of 11-15
• 10% said they were saved between the ages of 3-6
• 10% said they were saved between the ages of 16-20

Rights or Choices?

I am more convinced than ever that the fundamental strategy of the homosexual community is to equate sexual rights with civil rights. This is how they intend to infiltrate the legal and cultural systems of our country and change things to accommodate their destructive choices. They’ve been at it for decades, and they show no signs of letting up. And with good reason – it’s working.

The latest evidence that this subversive, slow chipping away of the true definition of “rights” is their greatest weapon of attack is found in the most recent edition of ESPN the Magazine. In the column Voices, Steve Buckley, who himself “came out” last January, predicts that the first big-time athlete to announce his homosexuality while actively playing the sport the in which he excels will face the same discrimination and questioning that – here it is! -- Jackie Robinson faced. Wow! Could he be more blatant? I doubt it! In Steve’s world, the barriers of color and sexual orientation are the same.

What’s more astounding is that he offers this up without any type of evidence or support, probably because he knows it is, unfortunately, a generally accepted thought. But the hard reality is that this type of assumption – i.e., sexual orientation is a “rights” issue because we are born with it -- has no scientific foundation, and an even less biological one. (For those who are Christian, a third strike occurs when you realize it has no biblical basis either.) Yet, Steve not only assumes it’s a genetic issue, he asserts this unfounded theory to his readers. Frankly, a discerning and intellectually honest reader, whether Christian or not, would ask, “Where’s the proof that homosexuality is inborn? Where’s the evidence of this 'gay gene?'” But so many people simply read indiscriminately and believe anything without ever thinking, “Is this really true?” (For a good discussion of how they gay gene theory got its start, as well as other insightful, founded information relating to this topic, listen to this talk I gave a few months back, or check out this entry of my blog.)

Notwithstanding, Steve may be correct in his prediction that the effects of “coming out,” whoever the first active athlete is, may be difficult and trying, just as life was for Jackie Robinson. However, Jackie didn’t face it because of his own sinful choices; he faced it because of the sinful choices of others. The first currently-playing gay athlete, though, will possibly have to face this kind of treatment for exactly the opposite reason – his or her own sinful and immoral decisions. You see, the reasons for such treatment are starkly different, not only in the visibility, but in the causality. But such is the goal of the homosexual activists: to make others appear to be the ones thinking and living wrongly when, in reality, they are.

I know I’m probably in the cultural minority, but I’ll stand on this scientifically, biblically, and biologically: It is a large leap with no substantive platform from which to land or take off to parallel one’s color with one’s sexuality. And each time we let this assumption go unchallenged, we do all true minorities a disservice because we’re letting the homosexuals sabotage the real civil rights movement.

SundayStats

Over the last two weeks I've been using YouVersion Live as a bonus feature for our church during the service. Once you have the app on your Web-enabled mobile device, it allows you to follow along with me electronically on that very device while I'm teaching; you can read the texts, take polls, answer questions, jot down notes, and even invite others to join you. Even more intriguing is that the polling data is shared with all who are following along live, so you get to see what others in the room are are thinking right then and there, even while everyone's identity is kept anonymous.

Frankly, I'm enjoying it, and I'm not even participating from a listener aspect. But the data is providing some interesting bits of insightful trivia, and in some cases it provides clues to our current situations and demographics. Plus, it's good seeing how others are taking action in light of what they are learning.

For instance, out of our YouVersion "live" participants...

...34% say the Cosby's were their favorite TV family.
...28% grew up in a family of 4, 31% grew up in a family of 5, and 24% grew up in a family of 6.
...45% will express thanks to their parents in person (and include a hug!) for the investment they made in their life, while another 36% will do it via a phone call. 18% will say thanks through a gift. (Maybe that's one of my kids?!?)
...50% reported that, out of the five offerings in Lev. 1-5, the Burnt Offering was the most interesting and helpful to them. The Grain Offering cane in second with 32%.
...only 31% knew that there were about 55 "one another" verses in the New Testament. Most (38%) thought there were over 75.
...42% indicated that the relational aspects of worship (the Guilt Offering principle) were the areas the Holy Spirit was speaking to them about and about which they desired prayer, while 25% said it was the grateful aspects of worship.

These are fun odds-n-ends for a trivia nerd like me...a little "extra credit" from the weekly joy of preparing and preaching.

Nothing New Under the "Covers"

It’s the same old story told again and again: Success, stardom, then smallville. Hero to zero in 60 months or less. It’s exactly what happened to Samson, and its echo is louder than ever in the current saga of John Edwards (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26edwards.html?_r=1&partne...).

I was commenting to my wife just last Thursday morning, as we were welcoming the day and catching some headlines, how startling it is to watch such a spiraling disintegration. From southern gentleman to Senator to VP/Presidential candidate to … well, the rest goes downhill. And fast. Pretender. Adulterer. Liar. Now thief?

I’m not commenting on his innocence or guilt relating to the most recent charges. I’m simply observing that little things make a big difference. Truly, it’s the small matters, left unattended, that, over the long haul, will turn into monsters that eat you alive. Heroes don’t dive to zeroes overnight; we only find out about it that way. This has been the course for all pseudo-shooting stars since time began. Solomon was correct – there is nothing new under the sun (or the covers).

The cameras don’t show you those small issues; they’re unattractive. And the media won’t tell you about the mundane matters; they’re boring. So they print and write about all your glamour. Your perfection. Your “rightness.” But if you let yourself believe you’re as pretty as the pictures show and as great as the articles say, you’re headed for trouble. One of the biblical writers said it like this: “If you think you’re standing tall, watch out! You’re about to fall.” (paraphrase mine)

That’s why it’s best to have real friends around you, not mere fans. Your friends will tell you the ugly truth so that you will avoid an even uglier future. And they’ll help you do, not deny, the small things that end up making the biggest difference in the end. Like daily prayer when no one is watching. Or regular Bible study even though there’s no message to preach. Or faithful giving when no one is around. Being polite when the camera is off. Consistent exercise after the race is over. Saying ‘no’ to the double scoop even when you’re out of town. Not watching the X-rated pay-per-view movies in the hotel on the business trip. Telling the truth to every question. Giving back the extra change when the clerk has counted it back to you wrongly (even if it’s a penny). Yep, the little things that seem insignificant now can end up being quite important later.

Why? Because they form habits. And habits either make us or break us. Negatively, when sexual lust is a hidden habit, we eventually find a way to act on it. It’s called fornication. Adultery. When financial greed is a hidden habit, we eventually find a way to act on it. It’s called stealing. When anger and resentment is a hidden habit, we eventually find a way to act on it. It’s called revenge. Assault. Murder. These sound unnerving and unsettling. But the whirlwind of evil deeds is usually sown by the wind of evil seeds.

The point? Live today like the little things matter. Because they do.

We're Done with Leviticus, But Not With Holiness

One pastor I enjoy listening to weekly is Kevin DeYoung out of Lansing, MI (University Reforrmed Church). He’s a thought-provoking, theologically-sound teacher of the Word. So when he wrote recently about “The Hole in our Holiness” (http://www.sermoncentral.com/Articles/Article_PrintFriendly.asp?Art...),  my ears perked up, especially since we’ve been in Leviticus these past 20 weeks. And with holiness being mentioned over 80 times in that book alone, his article caught my attention.

As I read it, I kept thinking, not only about God’ call to us in Leviticus, but also about our previous study in 2 Peter, and the emphasis there upon our participation in God’s process of sanctification. There’s just no way around the biblical text – we are to join God’s inevitable work inside us with much effort and energy. As Paul said, we are to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2).

This is, to some degree, the case Kevin makes in his article, and he does a nice job of calling evangelicals, especially our younger ones, to task for avoiding the call  to biblical holiness and purity. He lists five reasons he thinks this happens, all of which will resonate with you, bringing a grin every once in a while as well. Enjoy Kevin’s perspective, and commit with me to following hard after God’s call to purity and holiness for the glory of our Savior.

Not Beyond or Below

Your mind is under attack. Don’t believe me? Just check out your inbox or mailbox.  Ads, books, fliers, speakers, emails, blogs, and articles bombard us constantly. Sure, some are meaningless; others, obvious. Still others are, well, more insidious.

When it comes to discerning what we read and hear, and consequently what we usually end up sharing later, a great discerning rule to use is this: “Does this line up with what the Bible actually says?” Notice the point – what the Bible actually says, not what you wished it said, or what someone else thinks it says. But rather, what does the text of the Bible actually say?

Primarily, this really matters in preaching because if we go beyond the text or below the text, we remove ourselves from our authority. Frankly, we, as preachers, have no authority apart from the Word of God. It is our sole basis for authority. So to have any “legs to stand on” (i.e., credibility), we must stay in line with the written text, always asking ourselves, “Is this what the Bible is actually saying?”

To go beyond the text is to say more than what is really there…to add elements or opinions to the Scripture, without any disclaimer to that end, and acting like it is part of Scripture. This usually happens when someone has a “soapbox” they insist on climbing week in and week out, or when they have an agenda to protect that is more personal than biblical. Conversely, to go below the text is to say less than the text says, usually out of fear of man. We generalize and neutralize the words of Scripture, trying to remove its offense or demands. This is equally as sad as leaves us with whimpy preachers who waste our time.

Secondarily, this really matters to you as a leader and follower of Jesus, for if you are not using what the Bile actually says, you may be easily detoured into believing something that is nothing more than someone’s opinion. Not that opinions are bad; we all have them, right? But we all don’t have the right to pass them off as Scripture! You must be willing – and able – to let the media storm you enter every day be “umbrella-ed” by Scripture. Use God’s Word to inspect, deflect, and reflect upon everything you hear and see, asking yourself constantly, “Is this going beyond or below the actual text of Scripture?”

Incidentally, my informal research, after years of preaching (and listening to preachers), seems to indicate preachers tend to go beyond the text in areas of prophecy and politics. And we usually fall below the text in areas of morality and ministry. Just look around you at the host of books and messages that are thrown at you and you’ll discover that this is generally true. Whether it is in assigning dates and times to Christ’s second coming, painting pictures of heaven and hell with details foreign to the Bible, or giving a pass to any type of sexually deviant appetite, our culture abounds with people doing both – going beyond or below the actual text of God’s holy, authoritative Word.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t provide application. Sure we can; we must! But meaningful application is always rooted in solid interpretation, and that starts with the text – “what does it actually say?” As you interact with others, and as you discern the many messages that come across your life’s “desk” every day, use God’s Word as the final filter. It’s the only way to find out who’s beyond or below. 

Pure Living in a Pagan Culture

Here are helpful links to some of the items I addressed in my message Sunday (3/20/2011) regarding Leviticus 18-22 ...

http://www.mission.org/jesuspeople/thegaygene.htm

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/02/28/how-did-this-happen-why-same-sex-marriage-makes-sense-to-so-many/

http://www.cwfa.org/images/content/bornorbred.pdf

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/1999/apr/99042302

... along with some requested excerpts:

"Essentially, all of their 'to- do’s' were rooted in a single 'I AM.' Truly, God’s sovereignty doesn’t simply suggest obedience; it demands it."

"We see a predominant theme surfacing -- God valued obedience and purity. It was his expectation that they [Israel] would belong to him and him alone, and so he set up ways that they could exhibit their allegiance and loyalty to him. This was one of the primary reasons behind the call to purity."

"Out of all the issues in Lev. 18-22 (physical, ceremonial, moral, etc.), the most common one addressed is sexual. In fact, out of the 151 verses in these five chapters, sexual issues are referenced in approximately 45 of them. That’s about 30% of the 5 chapters. Clearly, God valued sexual purity. And he still does! Frankly, sexual perversion was -- and is -- spiritual adultery. It was -- and is -- a violation of their spiritual marital covenant to Yahweh. But when they lived sexually pure lives physically, it was at least one way to say to God spiritually, 'I’m completely and exclusively yours.'"

"Because sexual perversion is such a devilish and deceptive god, we create all kinds of insidiously wicked ways to bypass God’s clear instructions. Simply put, we want our sex our way. This is why ...

...homosexuality has been geneticized -- we want our sex our way.

...abortion has been legalized -- we want our sex our way.
...divorce for unscriptural grounds has been civilized -- we want our sex our way.
...adultery and fornication has been normalized -- we want our sex our way.
...pornography has been supersized -- we want our sex our way."

"When it comes to sexual desire, a 'my-sex-my-way'' type of attitude leads no where but down. This is the plain and obvious sense of Romans 1 -- continued and increased immorality is the divine consequence to continued and increased idolatry. When you say 'no' to God over and over, don't be surprised if you find yourself saying 'yes' more and more to sexual perversion as well."

"Though homosexuality -- and all other sexual perversion -- is clearly forbidden in Scripture, the good news is it is clearly forgivable through repentance. God loves and wants to forgive those who struggle with sexual sins, whether of a homo or hetero nature. 1 Cor. 6:9-11, in fact, states that the church in Corinth was filled with those God had washed, sanctified, and justified. Included in that list are adulterers, homosexuals, fornicators, thieves, greedy, drunkards, etc. But Jesus made them fit for the kingdom of God through his grace upon their repentance. They, like all of us, had a past marred by sin, but through Jesus they received a future marked by the Savior. That’s why we must embrace and extend the grace of God for all of us. After all, Romans 1-3 teaches that we are all on the same footing in front of God -- condemned -- so it’s grace that we stand in desperate need of! Fortunately, the gospel pours out grace, and for anyone who believes its message, grace will rain down in buckets with a watershed of forgiveness."

Both/And, Not Either/Or

I have read/heard a number of good reviews about Steve Wright's book on youth ministry, ReThink, and after just this brief paragraph from him, I can see why:

"Both the church and its student ministries have biblically assigned purposes: namely, exaltation (celebrate), edification (grow), and evangelism (serve). It is interesting in passages concerning the early church...we see these three purposes functioning in perfect unison. These purposes of the church are different than the purposes of the family, which is why God ordained two institutions rather than one. We cannot listen to the extremists who are attempting to push us to one or the other institution. It's time for the two institutions to step closer together and become partners to rescue this generation."

Amen! A biblically balanced voice really is nice to  hear!

[NOTE: I did add the italicized words in parenthesis just 'cuz I think it's cool how he sees the main functions of the body of Christ in the same vein as we do at FFC).

A Different Kind of Christmas: Aiding

An Old Song, Good Friends, and Sweet Memories

Allow me a moment to reminisce, okay? I ran across an old cassette tape the other day while rummaging through some boxes, and it turned out to be 10 "lost" songs from the acapella (sp?) high school quartet in which I sing back in the early 80's. What a jolt to hear those! I remember well singing with those friends - Steve King, David Adkins, and Mark Siers. We'd practice in stairwells and in gyms, then sing often in church, at school functions, retreats, graduations...just about anywhere anybody would listen.

Don't get me wrong -- we really weren't that good. Listening to it now, I wonder why no one ever told me how flat I sounded sometimes. But we were all 17, loved to harmonize as best we could, and were just trying to use what God gave us to make a difference -- our voices.

I don't know exactly what the other three are doing now, but I thought it fitting during Christmas to put up a couple of the Christmas songs we recorded. So I did the best I could to take the old tape and digitize it. Hang on, it ain't nothing fit for "Sing Off" ... but it does take me back a bit. Bring on the Geritol!

"Silver Bells/White Christmas" (audio only)

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" (audio only)

A Different Kind of Christmas: Risking

Way to Go, Dr. Mo!

As a former youth pastor and current parent of four, I whole-heartedly agree with this post by one of my favorite speakers, Dr. Al Mohler.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/12/08/the-dangerous-worlds-of-analog-parents-with-digital-teens/

A Different Kind of Christmas: Welcoming

What it Means to 'Welcome One Another'

We all have our own ideas of what it means to be welcoming, and usually it centers around physical hospitality. However, Paul takes “welcoming” several feet deeper in Romans 15 and shows us it has further implications than we might expect.

The command to "welcome one another" is to the point (15:7). But understanding what it means is best seen in the six verses preceding the command where it is further and logically explained in five facts that we'll state in a backwards fashion.

a. Welcoming’s goal is to glorify God together with one voice (v 6). Remember - it's unity not uniformity! In a word, harmony (like a beautiful symphony)!

b. God is glorified when there is harmony based around Jesus. (v 5)

c. This kind of harmony takes God’s Word and our work. (v 4)

d. Being selfless is the best way to work at harmony. (vs. 2-3)

e. Selflessness is first the responsibility of the strong. (v 1)

Succinctly, welcoming one another is pursuing peace in the middle of differing preferences.

In the text then, it was cultural and ceremonial; those were the differences in view here (not moral ones that Scripture speaks plainly on).

What we learn today is this -- when it comes to secondary issues, Paul makes it clear that we should strive to be a people of harmony and peace ... a called-out group that, even with our personal differences, genuinely gets along!

As was once wisely stated, in essentials unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.

An10omy

Romans 9 and 10 are two chapters that are equally true. They belong together (with Romans 11 I might add as their capstone), and teach the twin doctrines of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. It is unwise to choose between them, or, worse yet, water down one for the other to try and maintain a little of both. Rather, embrace both fully. Stand upon each completely.

Granted – this is difficult, because Romans 10 brings to the table what appears to be truths that are not consistent with Roman 9 (or vice versa). But, as Norman Geisler says, “They are not incongruous … We apprehend each as true, but can’t comprehend how both are true.”

This is known as an antinomy, and because Romans 10 brings the counter but complementary truth to Romans 9, I have spelled it “an10omy” (notice the ‘10’ for Romans 10). Okay, enough word play. Let’s just be sure we don’t play with the doctrines taught in both chapters. We need them both and believe them both, regardless of our ability to grasp them both.

This an10omy has been debated for centuries, with leaders on  both sides unfortunately urging people to unfortunately choose one or the other, thus ridding themselves of this humanly uncomfortable an10omy. Yet, what has been most beneficial to me is not the massive amount of words of men trying to explain away this an10omy, but rather God’s clear Word declaring it. So without any more ramblings from me, here are a few verses where Romans 9 (sovereignty) and 10 (responsibility) are both proclaimed by God without any divine disclaimers.

Genesis 45:4-8

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Acts 2:22-23

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Acts 4:27-28

…for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Acts 13:48

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Acts  16:14

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

1 Peter 2:8

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Truly, sovereignty + responsibility = mystery! And that’s lighter fluid for genuine worship.

9 from 9

I've been teaching through Romans since the first of the summer -- what a humble delight and learning experience. In fact, every chapter I come to seems to be my favorite!

Here are 9 observations from Romans 9. (By the way, they'll make more sense if you first hear the message, so click here to listen to it or download it sometime after 10/11.)

1. God is the initiator of salvific acts; man is the recipient of, and responder to, salvific acts.

2. God is without blame for man’s rejection, yet solely responsible for man’s redemption.

3. Believing by faith in the message of Christ is our best response when we hear the Gospel.

4. This response, or lack of one, is a real choice with a real consequence.

5. These choices, or responses, do not stem from an absolute free will, but instead from influenced desires, meaning they are the result of and flow from one of two real natures – a depraved one or a regenerated one.

6. Fervent evangelism and a deep love for lost people are rooted in a biblical understanding of God’s sovereign choices and purpose. The reason we are apathetic in our disciple making is not because we have talked about them too much, but rather because we have talked about them too little!

7. Our unwillingness and fear to drown ourselves in the depths of God’s vast sovereignty has dreadfully led us to rob him of glory, see him as “small and barely lifted up,” undermine his justice, mock his grace, and embrace a man-centered view of salvation (a.k.a. Soteriology).

8. But man is not the center of all God’s efforts. He himself is! God’s own glory is the ultimate end of all history, and both ‘good and bad’ are woven together into that final objective.

9. While we wait for the day of maximum glory to God, we do not aim to “figure God out;” rather, we commit to worshipping him and proclaiming him so that all nations will hear the message of Christ and be saved.