A Road With Many Curves

         It is true what they say about teenagers and college freshman, "They don't know what they don't know."  I just graduated from California Baptist University (CBU) last week and recognize that during the past four years I have learned much, but also learned that I don't know much.  This is just the beginning.  Both the acquisition of knowledge and the recognition of my ignorance come from the Lord and the godly scholars at CBU.  But really it is I who is wiser to my need, and it extends far beyond book knowledge.
         I am relieved that I graduated.  I say relieved because the last two years were harder for me than the first two.  I did not graduate because I was smart and definitely not because I had a good work ethic or was disciplined.  I graduated because I have a praying, gracious, and patient wife, and because I had a praying, gracious, and caring group of professors.  But before all of that, I graduated because God's grace and his calling are fixed in the heavens and active in the lives of needy Christ followers.  Each time I get ahead of myself, God's timely and loving discipline reminds me of his holiness, his grace, and my inability.  Without him I really would be in hell--living and eternal.  God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble and I have suffered much opposition these past few years because of my pride.
         I have seen the feast that God offers and I have seen the feast that sin offers.  I pray that my eyes will continually be illumined by God's Spirit so that the deceitfulness of sin and the call to its feast will be easily recognized and thwarted; that the glory of Christ will be increasingly seen in my life and that my heart may have an increasing desire to feast with the bridegroom in daily prayer and in constant, life-changing trust in his word--all in hope of the coming wedding feast where we will see his face.  I hope that the knowledge of my need will drive me closer to the cross for I know that there are many more curves ahead.  I pray for grace in those times; and grace for my brothers and sisters as well.

Obedience as the Pathway to Understanding Theology

I was reading Andy Naselli's blog on why John Piper does not own a T.V. and found this snippet mixed in:

John Piper, “By This Time You Ought to be Teachers,” September 29, 1996:

The startling truth is that, if you stumble over Melchizedek, it may be because you watch questionable TV programs. If you stumble over the doctrine of election, it may be because you still use some shady business practices. If you stumble over the God-centered work of Christ in the cross, it may be because you love money and spend too much and give too little. The pathway to maturity and to solid Biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person. What you do with alcohol and sex and money and leisure and food and computer have more to do with your capacity for solid food than with where you go to school or what books you read.

 I read something similar in Bruce Waltke's "An Old Testament Theology".  He distinguishes between the Greek concept of theology as an I/it relationship and the Hebrew concept of "the knowledge of the LORD" as an I/Thou relationship.  Because I am in an I/Thou relationship with God the truth I know about him is in connection to my devotion and obedience to him (my right relationship to a holy God).  As in any personal relationship, what I know about God affects my thoughts and actions toward him and reciprocally, my understanding of his thoughts and actions toward me.  A fuller illumination/revelation of his glory demands that I behold and reflect that in my life since I was made in his image to reflect him. In the grandeur of his wisdom he displays his  glorious grace in his love toward us in Christ and simultaneously this love, glory, and grace works out for our good as his creatures--the knowledge of Christ becomes our all-satisfying joy (which by the way brings God glory).
In other words, our knowledge of God is inextricably connected to ethics.  If there is sin or idolatry in our lives it will blind us from knowledge of the true God because we are wholistic persons whose hearts and intellects are connected.  We disbelieve on purpose and deny the knowledge of the holy by way of human reason or outright rejection of the truth.  We exchange the truth about God for a lie (Rom. 1:25).   The real irony is that sin and idolatry blinds us to grace and its healing balm.  It may even distort our view of grace leading to further downward spiraling.  This is why we need to be constantly be bombarded with the gospel.  It is the gospel that unmasks our idolatry and motivates us to joyfully obey the merciful King and Redeemer of captive sinners.  This obedience can then become the upward spiral of sanctification that lead to a fuller revelation of the knowledge of Christ in our lives and in our churches.

Pointing the Shamed to Christ—Feet First | CCEF

Pointing the Shamed to Christ—Feet First | CCEF

An Interview with Lecrae and Trip Lee

Check this out on JT's blog: his interview with Trip Lee and Lecrae; including their conversion stories and how that led to them expressing theology and the Christian Life through hip-hop. In their words, providing a "soundtrack" to their philosophy of ministry and activities in ReachLife.

An Interview with Lecrae and Trip Lee

Ed Welch - Did Bipolar Make Me Do It?

Dr. Russell Moore on "Christful Peace"

On the 19th of this month Dr. Moore reminded us that sometimes in our talk of "peace" we are not thinking of a biblical peace but a worldly peace.  In other words, there is such thing as a "Satanic peace" in contrast to a "Christful peace".  In his blog post provocatively titled "Christlessness is Peace" Dr. Moore comments:

"I find that, too often, I want a satanic peace, the kind that comes with Christlessness. I just want tranquility, to be left alone with the path in which I want to go. That’s the kind of peace that comes with slavery, and it’s attractive (Gal. 4:9). After all, peace with Pharaoh simply means making more stray bricks. Peace with the flesh simply means watching out for your own tribal loyalties. Peace with Satan simply means marching in rhythm with your desires toward a bloody grave (Eph. 2:1-3).

You can have a Christless pseudo-peace, for a little while.

But true shalom doesn’t leave us alone, as though we were orphans (Heb. 12:8). Christful peace prompts us to struggle (Heb. 12:4), to scream out for deliverance (Rom. 8:15), to be nailed down in execution (Mt. 10:38)."

Great thoughts from Dr. Moore.  A Christian's peace, true peace, is found by means of war; war on the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride in possessions (including tranquil, undisturbed, lonely peace). 

Reflections on Micah 7:8-10: Christians, the Indignation of God toward Sinners, and the Gospel of Victory

Micah 7:8-10:
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
like the mire of the streets.


Concerning the Micah 7:8-9, I believe that we can relate to Micah in the seriousness of our sin, the judgment it incurs from God, and faith in God's character to vindicate the covenant people while judging the unrighteous.  Micah did not lose hope because he knew that God had indignation toward him but instead had faith that God would deal with it justly and also plead his case and vindicate him.  He took sin seriously before God and also reveled in his mercy that he would bring him from the darkness into the light.  God would raise him up and he would be victorious over his enemies.
John Piper explains it this way in relating it as a fight for joy,

In the battle for joy, the difference between Micah's gusty guilt and "cheap grace" is that Micah takes sin so seriously.  There was a reprehensible fall.  There is real and terrible indignation from God.  There is a time of awful darkness.  There is brokenness, contrition, and remorse as we bear patiently the chastisement of our God.  But in the ashes of our regret, the flame of boldness never goes out.  It may flicker.  But when self or Satan taunts us that we are finished, we lay hold on Micah's faith--indeed we lay hold on Christ and his righteousness--and say, 'Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me...He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.  He will bring me out to the light.' (When I Don't Desire God p.91)

I guess what I wanted to emphasize is that our sins really grieve God and he is righteously indignant toward us because of them (in the sense that we connect ourselves to sin and Satan instead of sitting under his gracious rule).  We have real, experiential guilt toward him, and we in our sin/disobedience are cut off from experiencing life with him.  In fact, he opposes the proud (and we are proud in our sin). Yet like Micah, we lay hold of his righteous character instead of running from it, knowing that he is faithful to his people and his promises to save them (culminating for Micah and us in Christ; his death, burial, and resurrection).  He will bring us out of the darkness into his light. He gives grace to the humble.


There is no room in Micah's theology for the thought that because we are justified by God's free grace and not works that sin isn't that serious.  Or even that because Christ bore the wrath of God for our sin (a wonderful truth) that our post-Christian sins are not serious before God (Yes, he still hates them).  This is taking God's grace for granted, "cheap grace".  Some Jews in Jesus’ time also presumed on God’s grace, believing that because they were related to Abraham they were in the covenant, therefore safe, instead of exercising faith, repentance, and obedience to their covenant God (Luke 3:8; John 8:31-46).  We can do the same when we say, "Oh, were in the New Covenant...don't worry about it, Christ paid for that sin", while we don't take it seriously in our lives.  God's promise never relinquishes us from obedience to his word.  Satan would have us believe that sin isn't that serious though, as he says, "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:4).  But you will die...for God's word is so (Gen. 2:17).  Sin is that serious.  For Micah it is deadly serious, which is why he dwells in darkness (death) but God will bring him out to the light (life).


Yes, we are justified before God by faith alone in Christ alone (thank God because we are sinners), but using this as a half-truth to promote a view that sin/disobedience is not that serious because we are justified by faith is demonic.  Yes, were sin abounds grace abounds all the more (thank God again) but shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?  MAY IT NEVER BE! (Rom. 6:2) As Martin Luther said, "We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."


Now, to be clear, I understand that objectively were are declared 'not guilty' before God based on Christ's work, but we cannot believe that from that we do not experience guilt that affects our fellowship with God when we continually give ourselves over to sin.  Our sin affects our experience of God's joy, grace, mercy, and peace.  I do not want to leave the impression that sin objectively condemns us at the same time (and in the same sense) God declares us right based on Christ's obedience.  But I did want to draw the tension out...to feel it...so that we desire to kill sin because God hates it and to marvel and be encouraged by his grace when we sin.


Let us take sin seriously and make war on it.  Let us say agree with Micah that we will bear the indignation and chastisement of God toward us in our sin and place our faith in his righteousness (ultimately in Christ).  God will rescue and restore his people from the clutches of sin (as I bear witness to you today).  He will raise us up, vindicate us, make us victorious over our enemies (sin and Satan), and make us to see his righteousness.