Blog Alert

I've just discovered Coram Deo Blog. It's run by the leadership team at Coram Deo Church in Omaha, where the lead pastor is Bob Thune. Really, really good stuff there.

Concerning Wisdom and the Fear of God

Prov 3:2-5

My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord.

Now, what I am about to say is completely speculative, but it seems to me that "fear of the Lord" is something that sets in--or at least is likely to set in--when understanding fails. In other words, in my seeking of wisdom I eventually come up against what I cannot know; it is vast, and it is beyond my grasp. To recognize this is perhaps the beginning of wisdom. To come up against mystery, to come up against the limits of our own understanding, is to come against the transcendent Lord, and to begin to "understand the fear of the Lord."

Or to put it another way: to understand our own lack of understanding is to begin to recognize God's awesomeness (as per Job, for example); our smallness and God's greatness, our poverty and God's riches, our emptiness and God's fullness, our sinfulness and God's righteousness; these attributes of God are thing we "understand" only in so far as we understand that they are truly far beyond our understanding, and we know them in the form of the stirrings of the fear of God.

United with Christ

If you want to know what the phrase "united with Christ" means, you will make a good start toward understanding if you read the this post over at Tony Reinke's blog.

Got wisdom?

I've been thinking about "wisdom" lately. What is it? What are the characteristics of wisdom? Here is one passage of Scripture that has helped. It's from Proverbs 3:

13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.

19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
23 Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Reminder: The Lord is Near, or Answer the Door

I was wondering about the Bible passages that say "the Lord is near" (or "at hand"), or where the Lord says, "I am with you." Look here for a compilation of these "I am with you" statements of the Lord. The characteristic refrain is, "Fear not, for I am with you." It's a remarkable list, taken together. The resounding sense is, "Don't be afraid. The Lord is with you, fighting for you, protecting you, and guiding you." How's that for a confidence-builder.

Now, just for good measure, here are a couple of "the Lord is near" verses:

• The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Ps. 34:18
• The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Ps. 145:18

And as for "The Lord is at hand":

• Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.... Phil. 4:5

By the way, the Greek word translated "reasonableness" in the ESV is "gentleness" in the NIV. You might also say moderation, or patience. These words describe something that comes with the understanding that "the Lord is near." By the way, the same Greek word appears in the following verse, and here the ESV translates the same word as "gentle":

• But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. James 3:17

Reasonableness, gentleness, moderation, patience, this is a realm of words that describe the emotional/spiritual climate of the Christian life. You can't get it unless it is given to you "from above." It is "wisdom from above." Which reminds me:

• Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” Eph. 4:8

Such wisdom as is marked by remarkable gentlesness, patience, and reasonableness; all this must be a gift from God, and it is based on Jesus having ascended victoriously to the Father's right hand. If we are not experiencing these gifts, if we need more of that "climate," perhaps it is because we need to hear what Jesus is saying to the church at Laodicea:

• Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Rev. 3:20

Note: reading these verses in their context will do nothing but improve your understanding. I just thought I'd share.

Philippians 4:4-7 Paraphrase

I spent some time yesterday meditating on Philippians 4:4-7:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Here's my run-on paraphrase:

Rejoice in the Lord all the time, since He's near. Take pleasure in the Lord continually, since, after all, He's with you, He's at hand. If that's so, it's the only reasonable thing to do. Therefore, nothing need make you anxious or stressed-out. I mean, if the Lord is near at hand, why are you letting your boss stress you out? Just make your request concerning the issue to God (who is near), giving him thanks for being a nearby, listening God, and you know what? Peace is going to replace the stress and worry. This goes beyond reason, beyond understanding. It's supernatural. It will make you patient, gentle (ESV: reasonable). Peace! And this peace will protect your heart and mind. The thing that was a danger to your heart (the stress caused by the situation with your boss, which provoked in you a heart-response like anger or even hatred), this supernatural peace will protect your heart from this--that is, from its own fleshly conditioning. And it will also protect your mind, because the the same stress provokes in you thoughts that are a danger to you. Perhaps thoughts of self-contempt, or a constant going over in your mind of the same ground again and again as you defend yourself against this self-contempt, trying to justify yourself. Dangerous, that. But this peace of God will protect your heart and mind from the network of thoughts and feelings that arise from the worry, the anxiety, to which your flesh is prone, and which events in the world around you are continually provoking. Bottom line, God is in that world too, and he's near. Near!

Final point. Big point. Most important point. This peace of God which protects your heart and mind, does so "in Christ Jesus." This phrase opens the whole passage up into something big but also very specific. What's it all about? I can't easily paraphrase it. It's really a "mystery" (Col 1:26-27). In Christ Jesus. Our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, know his nearness and grateful for it (thus, "thanksgiving"); so deeply, profoudnly grateful for it, so glad he's near and glad for the peace that nearness gives, that you can reasonably be expected to rejoice all the time. Amazing!

I break for jam

I think Eric Clapton is probably responsible for more great music over the years than any musician of the rock era. I also think Steve Winwood is one of the great singers of that era. Here's a great rendition of their old Blind Faith song:



I've got a day off from work, and I'm taking a break from digging up the garden. Naturally, I break for jam:

Viola on "the embodiment of all spiritual things"

I'm looking forward to reading Frank Viola's From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God. Viola posted the books afterward at Shapevine. There's he details the successive Christian bandwagons he'd jumped onto in the early years of his faith (in his case, in very rapid succession, it seems). I can relate to a lot of this, but in any case Christian-bandwagon-ism is a sorry thing, especially when it comes with a self-justifying theological/Biblical gloss, and Viola's description of his own passage through various Christian trends is wonderful. His conclusion:

All of the churches and movements I was involved in had effectively preached to me an it. Evangelism is an it. The power of God is an it. Eschatology is an it. Christian theology is an it. Christian doctrine is an it. Faith is an it. Apologetics is an it.

I made the striking discovery that I don’t need an it. I have never needed an it. And I will never need an it. Christian its, no matter how good or true, eventually wear out, run dry, and become tiresome.

I don’t need an it, I need a Him.

And so do you.

We do not need things. We need Jesus Christ.

Viola proceeds to flesh out the implications of this realization. Pretty brilliantly, too.

Upon reflection, it seems that many Christians regard salvation, evangelism, peace, power, holiness, joy, service, church practice, ministry, and doctrine as simply Divine “things”, all detached from the living Person of Christ and made something in and of themselves.

But God never gives us spiritual things. He never gives us virtues, gifts, graces, and truths to acquire. Instead, He only gives us His Son. He gives us Christ to be all things for us.

Consequently, Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all spiritual things. He is the substance of all Divine realities. He is the incarnation of all spiritual virtues, graces, gifts, and truths. In short, God has vested all of His fullness into His Son.

But Viola's ultimate concern here is with ecclesiology -- the church. The last portion of this afterward is titled, Toward the Reality of the Church.

To put it candidly, you will never have an authentic experience of the body of Christ unless your foundation is blindly and singularly Jesus Christ. Authentic church life is born when a group of people are intoxicated with a glorious unveiling of their Lord.

The chief task of a Christian leader, therefore, is to present a Christ to God’s people that they have never known, dreamed, or imagined. A breathtaking Christ whom they can know intimately and love passionately. The calling of every Christian servant is to build the ekklesia upon an overmastering revelation of the Son of God. A revelation that burns in the fiber of their being and leaves God’s people breathless, overwhelmed, and awash in the glories of Jesus.

All in all, this one of the best things I've read in the Christian blogosphere, ever. You really should read it. As I say, I can't wait to get the book.

Guess who

Which renowned theologian said this?

One of the unhealthiest features of Protestant theology today is its preoccupation with faith....

Read the rest of the quote here.

The conversation continues . . .

over at Mount Jesus.

Here's a sample of the latest contribution:

What Jesus gives us in the Sermon on the Mount, if we use our five senses and not just our intellect, is a picture of himself. Knowing Jesus, the Son of Man, is unlike grasping any sort of doctrine or truth(even the "in your heart" kind). It's more like touching someone, hearing his voice, and eating supper with him.

Read the whole post here.

The river's gonna Run

Saturday Three

1. Interesting post here from Trevin Wax. This plum is ripe for picking:

Evangelistic presentations are a sign of failure. They show that Christians no longer talk about their faith in their everyday life. If a Christian has believed the gospel, why would they not know what to say if asked about it?

Wish I'd said that. [HT: Dash House]

2. Great quote on sanctification from Anti-Itch Meditation.

3. Since I'm an infinitive-splitting fool, I'm gratified to find this out:

The Chicago Manual of Style [5.106, 5.160] says it is “now widely acknowledged that adverbs sometimes justifiably separate the to from the principal verb.”

That's good enough for me! [HT: Justin Taylor]

Bonus Track: Justin Childers presents 10 Reasons We Need to Be Reminded of the Gospel Everyday. [HT: Already Not Yet]

Scalpel Time

I want all my readers to go over to The Jesus Paradign and read How Jesus Really Did Have Something To Do With The Communal Church in Acts 2. He's working with the passage about the early church "having all things in common."

Every time I've ever heard this passage preached, the preacher tries very hard to undermine the challenge that it presents to us: the challenge to care about one another far more than we care about our things. The Bible, it is often said, does surgery on the human heart, undermining our idols, but for this one passage preachers would like to take the scalpel out of the Spirit's hand. Nate explains how that often happens, and goes on to ask the key question: What does Jesus have to do with it when people radically share their stuff, as in the 1st century church?

Nate says:

Well, what happens when Jesus transforms someone into a new creation and gives them a new mind is they value things differently? They value, for instance, Jesus. Himself. They value him so much that they think the XBox over which they had a fist-fight with another Wal-Mart customer the day after Thanksgiving is.....optional. They also value the things Jesus values. Like people. I mean real people, the people in front of them, not the people on Dancing With the Stars. They actually, by some devil-magic, find themselves willing to lose in the practical matter in order to win in terms of sacrificing for someone else's good. That kind of stuff happens. It really does.

By all means read the whole thing!

End Times Talking

"The millennium is a thousand years of peace that people like to fight about." Doug Wilson

I'm listening to this conversation about eschatalogy between John Piper, Sam Storms, Doug Wilson, and Jim Hamilton. It's two hours long, and I'm only part way through (I'll have to listen to the rest of it tomorrow), but I can say this much: it's a fascinating and important conversation.

Freeborn Man

I hope to be back later today with some serious posting, but for now, start your day with some bluegrass virtuosity:

The Dark Side of Bible Reading

Excerpt:

I am concerned about those who approach the text with their own issues and preoccupations already in mind and ask the Word to magically speak to those issues. I am irritated with an attitude (usually well-meaning and unintentional, by the way) that sounds like: "That's a nice story Jesus, but can you please address my problem with __________?" Or, after reading Paul's monumental Letter to the Romans saying, "Wow, Paul, that was some deep stuff! Can we talk about me now?" And a thousand other variations.

Jesus Creed

Preach It!

...when we depend on anything smaller than Jesus for justification, love, mercy, cleansing, a new beginning, approval, acceptance, righteousness, and rescue we consign ourselves to “the restless futility of bewilderment” because nothing and no one but Jesus can provide those things we long for most.

Tullian Tchividjian

Saturday Odds & Ends

A few things I just wanted to say:

• I'm not over this blogging thing. I know I haven't done much of it lately, but there have been reasons. For one, I've been under the weather (but the weather is better now). Also, I've needed to work out some time-management issues (when do I fit this in?), and think I'm all set now.
• Similarly, and for the same reasons, I haven't been working on my B.I.P. lately (Book-in-Progress), which I'm doing for Milton Stanley's Transforming Publishing. But I'm getting right back on that horse! Whoa, Nelly!
• Last night in our new small group a lady named Brenda told us how she'd been walking her English Setter, Ivy, on the beach at Pine Point (coast of Maine) that very afternoon. The dog was chasing the shore birds (dogs and kids like to do this). Well, the dog jumped into the surf and went swimming after some birds a little farther out. Then a little farther. The dog kept swimming. Maybe she sort of lost her bearings, or maybe there were more birds farther out, but after a while Ivy was so far out her head was just a dot bobbing on the waves. The dog's owner came to our group not knowing if Ivy had turned around or not. You might want to pray for Ivy and for Brenda.
• Did you see Jared's post, Why I Downplay the "Practical" in my Preaching. Good stuff. I wish preachers would just challenge people to work out the application piece themselves (not alone, but in conversation with fellow believers). "Application" is definitely a moving target for everyone, let alone a large group of diverse people. I know, I know, you were taught in "preachin' 101" to always include practical application in your sermon. But I say, don't underestimate the power of simply telling a story effectively (the Bible story, that is), and let your listeners walk away with the story percolating in their hearts, mulling over the application for themselves. Challenge them to do so, and trust the Spirit in others.
• My son Tim is getting married next year (to the lovely Jessica) in Nashville, Indiana. I'm totally jazzed about that. Can't wait. But anyway, when I told my Indiana-born-and-bred Mom about about this, she said, "Nashville! Hey, that's right near Gnaw Bone, where I went to a one-room schoolhouse as a little girl." Gnaw Bone? Who names a town Gnaw Bone, wonders I. So I looked it up. According to Wikipedia:

  One story says that many years ago some one was looking for a certain man and was told, "I seed him over at the Hawkins place a' gnawin' on a bone."

  I love it. Oh, ad I love being the son of a Southern Indiana hillbilly Mama!
• I had some Porkslap Ale on my birthday. Good stuff. I'm thinking I want to have a Porkslap in Gnaw Bone, just for the way it sounds.

Poor Elijah

Happy B'Day to me!

Yes, I do plan to get back in the swing of things here. I've been under the weather for a few weeks now, but am back "over the weather" now. In the meantime, I need to start my birthday (today, yeah!) with some music: