I'm pretty sure God ordained the "Fall of Man" so we could cook some animals in a mean chili recipe

Normally my posts are more theologically based but I decided to branch out.
This recipe won me the chili cook off at Halloween time. Secret ingredients = beer and chocolate. I wish I could call it a Sixsmith original but I stole it. The recipe book it came from said it won a $20,000 prize.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb. lean chuck, ground
1 lb. lean pork, ground
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 oz. hunt's tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can beer (12 oz.)
3 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons instant beef bouillon (or 6 cubes)
2 Tablespoons cumin, ground
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon coriander, ground
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon warm water


Directions:

1. In a large saucepan brown 1 1/4 pounds of the ground meat (the beef and the pork), drain the fat.

2. Remove meat (the beef and the pork). Brown the rest of the ground meat, drain all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.

3. Add the garlic and onion, cook and stir until tender.

4. Add the other half of the meat and the tomato sauce, water, beer, chili powder, bouillon, cumin, paprika, oregano, sugar, coriander, cocoa, and hot sauce. Mix well.

5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered , for 2 hours.

6. In a small bowl, stir together the cornmeal and flour, then add the warm water and mix well.

7. Stir into chili and cook, covered, for an additional 20 minutes.

The Christian life is not a performance, rather it is an indulgence

Sinclair Ferguson:
"from the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about itself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ."

"Tis the Season to Be Polite

Of course we know that “Merry Christmas” is offensive and that even “Happy Holidays” is religious because it conveys that certain days are holy-days and therefore needs to be omitted for political correctness. But let’s not stop there when there’s still so much to be offended about. “Season’s Greetings” is ofensive in so much as we only use this phrase during the winter season, which implies the other seasons are not a worthy time for greetings or making general acquaintances. The “End of the Year Party” theme needs to be thrown out because it offends all those who may not use the Gregorian Calendar. If you think about it, should we really be sending out such a metaphorical slap-in-the-face to those who prefer the Chinese calendar or some other indigenous form of time tracking? And what about the tribal folk who use no calendar at all? Any mention of winter or a season or a holy day is nothing less than an insensitive disregard to their unfettered sense of timelessness.
But hold on, I’m not finished.
You may at least think you can say “Happy Day” at this point but then you’ve managed to insult those who may not be happy. Think about how insensitive that reference to happiness is to those who are terminally ill or are stuck in slave labor or are starving to death.
At this point you’re probably holding onto the audacious idea that it’s safe to say “Day” to someone. Shame on you. Why should “Day” get all the credit? What about “Night?”
I’m sorry, but your best bet is to remain at your domestic residence, avoid greeting anyone, and avoid the habit of merchandise exchange that is common during this time of year because slave labor makes up a significant percentage of retail items.

Monkey Business is the Heart of the Matter

There's been an 800 lb. gorilla roaming the chambers of my heart that I've barely even noticed until recently. He can feed off of most anything. He spends most of the time throwing away all that is good and right and chewing on the imperfections that are left. His name is Judgmental Attitude, and he's quite skilled at putting the gracious little monkey in my heart, Bold Adventure, under lock and key. You see, Bold Adventure is eager to please the Lord in faithful obedience, venturing out into new and deeper territories of relationships in order to communicate the Gospel. Judgmental Attitude is heavy and fairly immobile. The pursuit of new and deeper relationships seem like hard work and because he feeds on all that is wrong, anything that requires exertion comes close to giving him a heart attack.

Thankfully the Spirit of God has sent a helper to Bold Adventure, a helper to liberate him from the chains that Judgmental Attitude seeks to keep him in. This helper is Charitable Judgment.

Church Motives

Commitment and transformation are results of a Christian faith growing out of God's revelation. Those who are Christians are part of the Church. One of the main motives a Christian goes to church is to grow in the knowledge of God (which can only come by God's revelation) by witnessing the work that God is doing in the lives of fellow believers. This desire is essential to a biblically based community. This is what gathers believers together in humility, wonder, and joy. The church is where we celebrate revelation.

So why do you go to church? Is it just a religious routine? Are you trying to impress and win the approval of others? Do you gather for validation of your social opinions, political views, parenting skills? Is the church a place for you to create business contacts or catch up with people with the similiar hobbies? Or do you gather with others who revel in the revelation of Christ's work done unto and through the members of His body? Is the Gospel the common denominator that draws your church together for worship or is there another common factor among your fellow congregants? Is church a self-affirming experience for you or a humbling one?


Are your church habits more like the wise lamb who humbly looks to safety in the flock that stays close to the Shepherd or are you the proud goat that relies on your own cleverness that allows you to explore and wander wherever you please, wandering in and out of flocks and herds, constantly looking to create an opening in the fence other than the gate?

The opposite of revelation speculation. Our relationship with God begins with Him revealing Himself to us, opening our eyes and ears so that we may know Him. Those who have no revelation are seperated from truth, they see and know nothing. They speculate on what they hope a god might be like. in their blindness they cannot see beyond themselves and therefore see themselves and their opinions and speculations as the center of the universe. Only the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified, a Gospel that comes not just with words but with power, the Holy Spirit and deep conviction (1 Thessalonians 1:5) can give sight to the blind and ears so that they may hear the revelation of the Good News.


Thirsty for more? Doctrine

Plow Forward

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Jesus Christ, Luke 9:62


It helps to think a little about plowing to better understand this passage. If my heart is fixed on what is not straight forward then my eyes are always looking back. If I was to plow while looking back I'd never plow in a straight direction forward. Many religious people claim to "plow" while their hearts are fixed on a god (and christ) of their own making. They plow in vain because their hearts have not been turned towards the true Christ and are therefore blind to the kingdom of God which is the straight and narrow path directly ahead. If Christ is in us then we plow with eyes and heart forward. Perfectly? No. But ultimately? Yes. (parallel passage Psalm 127:1 "Except the Lord build the house, the builders labor in vain.") Philippians 1:5-6 " because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

also this verse from Luke 9 is a response from Christ from those who claim they want to follow Christ but have other priorities to take care of first. Basically these people are saying they'll follow Christ as long as they can still have other god's before Him (a violation of the First Commandment) or that they'll seek the kingdom of God as long as they don't have to "seek it first" (Matt.6:33). Like many people today they're willing to "hang out" with Jesus, go through some motions and offer up some lip service, but they're not ready to make Him Lord of their lives... they're not ready for an eternity of worship.

To borrow from a quote of Driscoll's book, DOCTRINE, Tim Keller explains worship as such: "To glorify something or someone is to praise, enjoy, and delight in them. When something is useful you are attracted to it for what it can bring you ...or do for you. But if it is beautiful, then you enjoy it simply for what it is. Just being in its presence is its own reward. To glorify someone is also to serve or defer to him or her. Instead of sacrificing their interests to make yourself happy, you sacrifice your interests to make them happy. Why? Your ultimate joy is to see them in joy."

"The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

Are you ready to plow forward?

The Core of Christianity, and the Crust

A most profound article written by Kevin DeYoung...

"If we are to be fruitful and godly Christians we need to have a theological core without being theologically crusty.

In desiring a theological core I don’t mean that all Christians must be bookish and given to intellectual contemplation. I mean that every Christian must be shaped from the inside out by a set of convictions about who God is and what he has accomplished in Jesus Christ. As Christians we should be animated (given life) and motivated (compelled to action) by a core of doctrinal truths–truths like God is loving, sovereign, and holy; God created the world and created it good; as a result of Adam’s sin humans are bent toward evil; Jesus Christ was God’s Son, begotten not created; Jesus suffered and died on the cross for sins and rose again on the third day; the Holy Spirit is God and fills us with power, enables us to believe, equips us with gifts, and bears fruit in our lives; the Bible is God’s word; Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and justification is by faith alone.

These truths need to be more than a set of beliefs we assume. They should be the lens through which we look at ourselves and the world. There are many Christians and churches that don’t deny any cardinal doctrine of Christian faith, but they still don’t have a theological core. They have, instead, a musty statement of faith they barely understand and hardly believe and wouldn’t dare preach. They are animated and motivated by politics, church growth, relational concerns and the like, but the gospel is merely assumed. “Yes, yes–of course we believe in the Virgin Birth, and the atonement, and the resurrection, and heaven and hell,” they say. But its all periphery, not core. It’s all assumed, not all-consuming. Theologically hollow congregations and pastors may like to think they will bequeath a gospel legacy to the next generation, but the truth is we only pass on what is our passion. New converts and new kids won’t think and live and love like mature Christians, let alone be able to articulate the Christian story, if our beliefs rest in a pamphlet and not in our hearts.

I make no apologies for having a theological church. The church ought to be about the business of the gospel, and the gospel is a message of historical fact plus God-given interpretation. That’s theology. I hope we never feel like we have the “theology thing” down at URC just because we have solid book studies and long, meaty sermons. The “theology thing” is a lifelong project of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We want to be thinking Christians who know what we believe, why we believe it, and live and die in the comfort of these beliefs.

Having a theological core means, among other thing, that our unity is theological. Of course we want to be united in love and purpose too. But whatever actions and affections we share in unison ought to radiate from a theological core. There is so much talk around the broader church about being missional Christians that it’s easy to think the church should be missional-centric. And in one sense, mission is certainly at the center of what we do. But mission itself is not what ties us together or fires us up. It’s only when the mission is defined and it’s genesis is proclaimed that we can rally around mission.

What I mean is that we should be, first of all, Christocentric; that is, centered on the cross of Christ. Christ is our identity, our passion, and our hope. And because of this identity, passion, and hope we pray, and evangelize, and do missions. But missions is not the center. Christ is–which shapes, defines, and launches us into mission. It’s like John Piper’s famous line: “Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.” Being missional is not a sufficient basis for unity. One, because I’m never quite sure what missional means. Two, because the blazing hot center of Christian identity, passion, and hope is not that we are all doing things in Jesus name. Of course, we should be doing things in Jesus’ name. But the blazing hot center is what God has already done for us in Christ. This must always be explained and rejoiced in, not merely assumed.

Which brings me back to the main point. We desperately need Christians and pastors and missionaries and churches and denominations and movements and institutions which are theological to the core, where doctrines are not simply items to be checked off the dogmatic grocery list or statements to be dusted off out of the ecclesiastical attic. We must all be theological because being a Christians means we embrace a message about who Jesus is and the victory he won for us. And that’s theology.

So, core, yes. Crust? No.

Please, don’t skip the last part of this post, especially if you really liked the first part. Because you may just be a crusty Christian if you’re not careful.

What makes a Christian crusty? A number of things. For starters, it’s an attitude. It’s a demeanor where being Calvinist or paedobaptist or inerrantist (three things I am gladly) are put on like armor or wielded like weapons, when they are meant to be the warm glow of a Christian whose core radiates with love for Christ and the gospel. I believe in theological distinctives–I believe in them and I believe it is good to have them–but if the distinctives are not manifestly the flower of gospel root, the buds aren’t worth the blooming.

A second mark of crusty Christians is approachability, as in, not having any. There is a sizing up-ness that makes some theological types unnecessarily prickly. They are bright and opinionated and quickly analytical. As a result, knowingly or unknowingly, they emit a vibe which communicates something between “You Max Lucado reading moron!” and “I wish R.C. Sproul were here to teach you a thing or two!” Crusty Christians are hard to be around. They are intimidating instead of engaging and growling instead of gracious. They are too willing to share their opinions on everything and unable to put any doctrine in any category not marked “absolutely essential.”

When theology is more crust than core, it’s not so much that we care about good theology too much, we just don’t care about some other hugely important things in the same proportion. So we end up largely skeptical of a prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted, godly, Arminian leaning pastor. Now, I might think such a pastor is prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted and godly despite too much emphasis on libertarian free will, but I sure hope to be mighty thankful for all his prayerfulness, fruitfulness, and warm-hearted godliness. Some Christians allow evangelism to trump all other considerations, others size up fellow Christians by their attention to social justice concerns, but a lot of us do our judging with theology. If the theology fits, the lack of mission, prayer, and compassion doesn’t matter much. But if a few theological pieces are misplaced in the puzzle, see you later and don’t let Hymenaeus and Philetus door hit you on the way out.

Striking the balance is not easy. But let’s try hard to be discerning and grounded without always looking for the next theological misstep in our friends, our family, or the songs we sing. And let’s be able to tell the difference between wandering sheep and false teachers. We must delineate between a slightly ill-informed wording of a phrase and a purposeful rejection of truth. We must pursue a passion for fidelity to Scripture and a winsomeness that sweetens the already honey-like drippings of the word of God. Let us be more like a chocolate covered raisin, likeable on the outside and surprisingly good for you on the inside, and less like a tootsie roll pop with its brittle, crunchy exterior that must be broken through before anyone can get to the good stuff. Our theological heart, if it is worth anything, will pulse throughout our spiritual bodies, making us into someone more prayerful, more godly, and more passionate about the Bible, the lost, and the world around us. We will be theologically solid to the core, without the unnecessary crust."

I Need to Take Politics More Seriously

Years ago I used to be on the conservative political bandwagon. Then I fell off. I didn't switch sides, just realizd with some help from scripture that the Gospel is not co-dependent on fair political weather.
But now I see the need to be more politically responsible without elevating political ideology into a necessity. So I'm taking my stand this Fall and fighting for a worthy cause.

KF POLITICAL ...ARS.mp3

Quiet Time

PRAYER
Lord, let my heart and mind be awestruck by the wonder and majesty that is You. As I enter your throne room in prayer remind me of the signs of your omnipotence and perfect genius working through your creation. I am but a man, unworthy of any good gift from above, but in your great mercy and steadfast righteousness you have chosen to bring me into communion with You by your Son's perfect sacrifice. Help me to delight more and more in You, my Savior.
Keep my eyes on your Kingdom from moment to moment, because my flesh pulls at my heart, deceiving it to put confidence in the temporary, feeble pleasures of worldliness. I am prone to wander, in my pride, like a foolish lamb with no sense. My haughty eyes turn so quickly from gazing at your glory; they do not see the snares this world has set before me. Grant me a repentant heart that I may not stray from You, my good Shepherd. Let my every thought come under submission to your will.
Thank you for your undeserved mercy and kindness; for your patience in the gentle restoration project of a broken man such as myself. Only by Your will might I have the gift of breathing my next breath. Thank you for the Body of Christ that seeks your will. I pray that we walk together towards you, in fellowship in this life and in Worship for all eternity.
Righteous in Christ & preserved by the Spirit,
Jason

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING HIGHLIGHTS
Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3 Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
Daniel 2:20 "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;

WORSHIP SONG
All I Have Is Christ
I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI), by Jordan Kauflin

In a Perfect World

As human beings we often struggle with daydreams of how easy and wonderful life could be in a more perfect world. But as we spend more time through Scripture we find that even though this is not a perfect world it is a world operating according to the design of a perfect heavenly Father.

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."


"When you scan the biblical story you can’t help concluding that following God brings a life of surprises. Whatever plans God’s people made and however they tried to figure out God’s plans, they were constantly greeted with surprises. They faced turns in the story that they never would have anticipated. God’s plan again and again included things that would not have been included in the story if his people had been doing the planning.

One of the reasons for this is that we human beings tend to focus on outcomes. We simply want things to go well and turn out right. God surely does care about the end of all things, but he is graciously at work in the process as well.

The surprises along the way are God’s surprises. He is never caught off guard or unprepared. He calls us to follow him beyond the boundaries of our wisdom, strength and character. The waiting we have to do and the surprises that we face are meant by him to be tools of grace. They are designed to release us from our self-reliance and the hold our dreams for our lives have on us.

In those moments of surprise, it is important to remember that you may be confused, but God isn’t. In this moment when you are not sure what is going on, you haven’t been abandoned. No, the opposite is true: you are being rescued. But living this way is hard for us.

As pseudo-sovereigns, we hate waiting, disappointment, obstacles, and failure. We struggle to accept the fact that these things exist in a world that is under the wisest and most benevolent rule possible. C. S. Lewis comments that a hardy belief in the truths of Christianity actually makes your experience of pain more painful. It is bad enough to have to endure pain, but as a believer you must say that it was not an accident and that it was sent by a God who declares himself to be good!

To us, often God's order looks like disorder, and his wisdom looks like foolishness. God's lovingkindness often seems to be anything but loving, and definitely not kind. All of this has to do with one humbling thing that we all have to admit: as sinners, we want our own way. We want life to work according to our plan. We don’t want to have to face the unexpected or deal with disappointment. We want life to be smooth and predictable. And we want all of this because we are more concerned about our comfort and ease than we are about the processes of grace that are at work in us.

It is hard to rest in the rulership of the King when our hearts and minds are so preoccupied with the success of our own little kingdoms.

Life surprises us with the reality of who is king and how different his will and way are from ours. We have lived day after day, month after month and year after year in the world of our needs, our wants, and our dreams. We have nurtured the illusion that if God really does love us, he will give the things that we have determined are good to us.

We have convinced ourselves that if we obey, God will keep his part of the bargain and send “the good life” our way. We thought that if we parented well, then all of our children would turn out the way we hoped. We thought that if we worked faithfully then we would harvest the seeds of our investments in our later years. We thought that if we kept our bodies under subjection then the Lord would bless us with good health. We thought that if we followed the Lord in personal devotion and public worship and ministry, then our lives would be spiritually rich.

Remember, you are not alone, God's people have always struggled with the shock of his rule. The kingdom of darkness is being destroyed by the kingdom of light, and none of us can escape being affected by the carnage.

Deep beneath every struggle of doubt and confusion is a collision of kingdoms. The theology of God’s unshakable sovereignty is easier to verbalize than it is to live. The truth that a God of relentless grace is after the total transformation of our hearts, is easier to conceptualize than it is to rest in at street level.

Require yourself to be brutally honest in this moment. What is it that you really want out of life? What is it that you want from God’s hand? What is the true dream for which you have been working? What are the joys that captivate your eyes and control your heart? What is your, "If I only had , then I would be happy?"

How much have your dreams been personal, earthbound, physical, and here-and-now? Have you been motivated by your kingdom more than God's Kingdom? How is your present discouragement, disappointment, confusion or grief a window on what has actually captured your heart? Have you really wanted God to be your wise and loving Father who brings into your life what he considers best, or have you wanted him to be a divine waiter, the all-powerful deliverer of your dreams?

Could it be that you have prayed for grace, but that you don’t really like the grace that you have been given? Divine grace doesn’t always make your life simple or your pathway clear. God’s grace doesn’t always provide you with release or relief. God’s grace often brings you hardship, confusion, and surprises. These things are sent to you, not by a God who is messing with you because he’s more powerful than you, but from the hand of a God a glorious grace, who is exercising his power for the purpose of your transformation.

So, the next time God surprises you, don’t doubt his goodness, faithfulness, and love. No, lift your hands to the heavens and celebrate. You are being rescued. You are being loved. You are being delivered. You are being transformed. And be thankful that since nothing can separate you from his love, there are more gracious surprises to come!" ~Paul Tripp

A very important message

This is a message that untwists the diminished view of God that today's evangelical church is suffering from.

Happy Dependence Day

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God; Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (1CO 10:31; 1PE 4:11; REV 1:6; 2PE 3:1; EPH 3:21; REV 7:12; ROM 11:36)

"A life spent in the service of Christ is the happiest life a man can spend on earth." ~Philip Henry

In Through The Out Door

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Matthew 5:4

Sadly much of the church tries to explain away these words of Christ. But this is not a call for Christians to eradicate the mourning of this world. This is a blessing to engage in such mourning. For this world is a sinking ship and we who follow the Lord suffer no illusions of fulfillment in the temporal diversions of this life. While our hope and joy is for our future life and Christ we weep for being in the midst of those created in His image who resist His call. Everyday the masses chase after the things that lead to death, dismissing our beloved Gospel. A disciple of Christ cannot enjoy the ever multiplying holidays and festivities that celebrate man in all his blindness. And so the true Christians are unwelcome strangers rejected by the world, not because of misanthropy but quite the opposite. We grieve the devil's diversions and siren songs that lead away the ones Christ told us to love. An earnest community of believers welcomes sorrow and shoulders it as a part of our cross to bear in this life. The mark of mature faith is not necessarily the gregarious persona or the soma induced perma-smile but rather the heavy brow that deeply understands there is no sustaining comfort from this world for their comfort is in the cross and the Comforter who waits patiently to take them home.

The High Cost of Free Grace

"These men without possession or power, these strangers on earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast, and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honor to shield him, and take his shame upon themselves. In order that they may be merciful they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honour. For the only honour and dignity they know is their Lord’s own mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives."

When I first read these words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship I wept. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was a combination of much of my life falling well short of this as well as noting the poetic beauty of a life lived in constant worship of Christ; a life thoroughly Christian.
No doubt many of us have come across inspiring messages from ministers, martyrs, and Mel Gibson movies that illustrate a radical Christian life. Something stirs in us for a while but the culture (even much church culture) gives us a "reality check" telling us to "bring our expectations back down to earth." But the truth is radical Christian living is the only type of call God commands of us.
In the gospel letters we see time and time again many people willing to follow Christ in some light sense of the word. As long as he passed out free loaves and fishes, performed miracle healings, or was going to shake up the political landscape people would pursue Him. But every time he acquired a crowd He put them to the test. He always challenged the would-be followers to die to everything in this world they clinged to and the overwhelming response He received ranged from the dispersing of crowds to people wanting to stone Him to death.
At the end of Luke 9, three men approach Jesus interested in following Him. The first said, "I will follow you wherever you go." Christ's answer, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" showed that this volunteer had not considered the high cost of free grace. The next two men to approach Jesus spoke of their willingness to follow Him after taking care of some loose ends but Christ said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Through three years of ministry Christ proved very succesful at persuading men not to follow Him. Indeed the costly call of grace is offensive to the natural man.
To those of us who are new creatures in Christ we have a ministry and calling that is no less radical in divine nature than the calling of those who followed Christ during His time on earth. The call of discipleship is a gift of grace and is therefore inseperable from grace. Either a man is on fire for Christ or he is just blowing smoke.

The Christian in Politics (a manifesto in progress)

'WWJD?' is an excellent question for those of us who follow Christ. To answer that question in broad strokes I'd defer to Matthew 5:38-42:
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

The eye for an eye reference is to the Old Testament and the nation of Israel where personal rights were protected by a divinely established system of retribution. The purpose of God's appointment of "retribution politics" to the community was to eradicate evil among the chosen nation.
What Jesus now establishes is a freedom for those who follow Him. A freedom from such personal rights and trying to cleave to both the Cross and ideologies that hope for what is in this life. In this saying of Christ we see that the commitment of the Church is not within the sphere of politics and law, but rather a community of believers who must submit to and honor the evil authorities of this world (1 Peter 2:17), willing to suffer and endure evil for the sake of the Cross. For Christ showed us that evil is not conquered with legislation but rather living out the Gospel. To suffer in actively loving our enemies is perhaps the most visible distinction between a true follower of Jesus and the broadly religious types. If we are to be despised by the world let it not be because we wave a conservative political banner, rather let us be hated by our clear representation of Christ who gave up every right and entitlement unto death for the love of those who hated Him.
We simply cannot legislate people into the body of Christ nor can we legislate away evil. Or as Pastor Dan might say, "Politics cannot fill a Gospel shaped hole." (Pastor Dan's political views may not necessarily fit my own.)

"If Christ is our hope in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people." 1 Cor. 15:19

Adherence to the Law

Matt.5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

"There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God, and no communion with God apart from fulfilment of the law. To forget the first condition was the mistake of the Jews, and to forget the second the temptation of the disciples...
But the disciple had the advantage over the Pharisee in that his doing of the law is in fact perfect. How is that possible? Because between the disciples and the law stands one who has perfectly fulfilled it, one with whom they live in communion. They are faced not with a law which has never yet been fulfilled, but with one whose demands have already been satisfied. The righteousness it demands is already there, the righteousness of Jesus which submits to the cross because that is what the law demands. This righteousness is therefore not a duty owed, but a perfect and truly personal communion with God, and Jesus not only possesses this righteousness, but is himself the personal embodiment of it. He is the righteousness of the disciples. By calling them he has admitted them to partnership with himself, and made them partakers of his righteousness in its fullness...
This is where the righteousness of the disciple exceeds that of the Pharisees; it is grounded solely upon the call to fellowship with him alone who fulfils the law. Their righteousness is righteousness indeed, for from henceforth they do the will of God and fulfil the law themselves." ~D. Bonhoeffer, Ch.8 - The Righteousness of Christ, The Cost of Discipleship

“… the secret of the gospel is that we actually do more when we hear less about all we need to do for God and hear more about all that God has already done for us.” ~ Kevin DeYoung, DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed

The Secret of Joyful Giving (notes)

Matthew 13:44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot

To what future are we investing the money that God has given stewardship over? Are we hording up material things in this life, weighing ourselves down with excess; or are we liberating ourselves from the worries of care and maintenance of things that do not last "where moth and rust destroys" by investing in our eternal rewards? Why play the fool and invest in things that do not last?
Proverbs 23:5 "Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle."

In Randy Alcorn's book, The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn illuminates the signifigance of the joy of giving that is a constant topic throughout scripture.
Treasure Principle #1: God owns everything. I'm His money manager. (Psalm 24:1, Haggai 2:8, Deuteronomy 8:18, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Treasure Principle #2: My heart always goes where I put God's money. (Revelation 21:1-6, Matthew 6:21, Luke 16:9, Philippians 4:17, Luke 14:12-14)
Treasure Principle #3: Heaven not earth, is my home. (luke 12:15, Hebrews 11:13, Philippians 3:20)
Randy Alcorn relates our time on earth to a short stay in a hotel room. We're just visiting and we can't take anything back with us. So why should we invest much in the hotel room? Who decks out their temporary stay at a hotel room with expensive furniture, artwork, and exotic sculptures?
Our time on earth is but a dot, but our time in heaven is a continuos line. Are we investing more in the "dot" than the "line"?
There is a modern day plague of materialism that a PBS television program covered with the titled Affluenza. The program claims:
- The average American shops 6 hours a week while spending 40 minutes playing with children.
- By age twenty, we've seen one million commercials.
- Recently, more Americans declared bankruptcythan graduated from college.
- In 90 percent of divorce cases, arguments about money played a prominent role.

Now listen to some of the wealthiest people of their day:
- The care of $2 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it. ~W.H. Vanderbilt
- I am the most miserable man on earth. ~John Jacob Astor
- I have made millions, but they have brought me no happiness. ~Rockefeller
- Millionaires seldom smile. ~Andrew Carnegie
"The less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become." ~Hudson Taylor (missionary)
"I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess." ~Martin Luther
"Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart." ~John Wesley
Edison's favorite piece of poetry was stanza nine from Thomas Gray's Elegy To A Country-Churchyard:
"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour:
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

So where does one start? A tithe is a good starting block to the race of giving. To those who start with less, God is being robbed. If we commit to give 5% we are still robbing God of half. If Christ is our joy then our wallets will prove that out. It's one of the fundamental evidences of a person's faith.

"According to Plan, The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible" by Graeme Goldsworthy

I just finished this book by Goldsworthy last night and I must say I found it helpful galvanizing, in my mind, the unity of Scripture.
The first two sections are more of a Christianity 101, ntro. to the Bible. The main address is how the canon of Scripture has been assembled and inspired, essentially providing solid apologetics for the authority of Scripture. The second section, which makes up the bulk of the text, is an overview of the entirety of the Bible illuminating the unfolding revelation of the Gospel as the underlying, overarching central theme. I found while reading through this section that the book was particularly hard to put down as it showed how connected all the separate books of Scripture are. The last section is a few brief pages on practical application of the stressed themes of this book such as knowing God's will.
Given its proper emphasis on Biblical themes I'd recommend this book for new believers as it gives such an excellent and concise bird's eye view of Scripture.

Moses' Writings, The Foundational Template For Scripture

Moses wrote the first five books of our Bible, laying the foundation of all Christian theology. We trust the authority of the Law of Moses because a nation of nearly a million Israelites followed and witnessed God doing extraordinary things through him, making Moses the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. Through Moses God brought devastating plagues upon the most powerful nation of the time (Egypt), walked out of the country with several hundred thousand slaves, took a short cut through a large body of water, protected the people of Israel with a large pillar of fire and smoke, sustained them through a 40 year camping trip in the desert (with water flowing from rocks, manna that showed up every morning, and oodles of quail), gave these campers victory in war over established nations with armies and fortified cities, and along the exodus journey established a far more civil government than the world had ever known... just to name a few things.
The question is; can we trust the witness of nearly a million people who give eye-witness testimony of Moses being lead and counseled "face to face" with God (complete with historical & archaeological evidence)? Do we say, "Maybe this God of Moses who has not only declared an intolerance to all the other gods (and subsequently laid waste to those who would follow after those little gods, trying to pollute His chosen people with their idolatry) is the one true living God and Creator of all whom I should call Lord and seek after"?

Or... do we turn to another foundational writer of another faith who asks us to trust in his teachings although he has no witnesses to his "revelations" or "signs and wonders" from his god/gods/the force/karma/Elvis/etc.?

How Awesome Is Our God

Look upon the following verses and meditate on them. Know that Christ's coming and sacrifice was not a "Plan B." Our God is not some small, reactionary god who is shaped by the decisions of man.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

"His saving work in the world was not an afterthought because of sin, but was the eternal purpose of God. It was the plan of God before creation and from all eternity. Upon this plan God created all things. If we can imagine God drawing up the plans for the universe before he created it, and if we could examine these plans, we would not see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus Christ in the gospel." Graeme Goldsworthy, According To Plan, pg. 60.


Yes, all things were created with wisdom and foreknowledge. Sadly, many today have such a diminished view of what foreknowledge is. They think to foreknow is simply to know the facts beforehand (omniscience).

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Look at "foreknew" in relation to "predestined." We know that not all people are becoming conformed to the image of Christ and yet an all knowing (omniscient) God certainly is aware of every person He has created. Therefore "foreknowledge" must mean something more than merely "an awareness of events to come." Nowhere in Scripture do we see that God "foreknew" those that are not among the elect.

The intimacy of knowing:
The root of foreknowledge is know. In scripture, to know someone denotes a particular intimacy.
Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain,...
Now either Adam stood around pointing at Eve, identifying her until she bore him a son or there was something more intimate going on in the business of knowing.
Matthew 7: 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Either Christ had no awareness of these workers of iniquity (even though He was addressing them and identifying them as workers of iniquity) or the knowledge represents a particular intimacy.


Further study: For a more scholarly biblical exegesis (with the original Greek) of understanding foreknowledge click here.