Penuel

I have a dream that one day my children will be judged, not by the content of their character but by the character of Jesus Christ.

Today our nation reflects on the horrors of racism. Our forefathers brutally oppressed an entire race. Educated people of “advanced” societies thought nothing of ripping children from their parents arms and selling them to the highest bidder so that they could continue to live a life of ease and luxury.

But thank God the story doesn’t end there. Today, through a marvelous series of events we live in a country where the majority race elected to Commander and Chief a person from the very minority race they oppressed just 50 years ago.

Parents are dreamers. We dream about our kids. We dream that one day they will rise up and be successful. We dream that they will have sterling character. We pray they don’t make the same idiotic mistakes we made. And now parents of all races in America know that  their children will not be judged based on the color of their skin. Race no longer determines how far a person can go in society, the work place, or the political office.

But we should be deeply troubled by what our forefathers did and what it says about us. It demonstrates that humans, regardless of education, have no depth of depravity they have not descended to.  Left to our own devices, and by our very nature, we all have a deep rooted desire to make the rules and be the ruler, to be the legislator and the judge.  I see this in my life and now in my children’s life. The desire to usurp authority and cease control.

One day our children will be judged not on the basis of race, but on the content of their character. The judge will be Holy, Absolutely Righteous and will execute judgement based on if we have lived for ourselves and our glory or for him and his glory. The problem is we are all guilty of high treason for attempting to overthrow the rules and authority of God and we are deserving to live out the reality of our character under the wrath of almighty God for all eternity.

But God has provided a way of escape that if we repent and turn to Christ and trust him to be our righteousness that God will credit to our account his own sons character.

Therefore my only hope, my greatest dream, the highest aspiration is that one day my children will be judged, not by the content of their character but by the character of Jesus Christ.

Man of Sorrows

Man of sorrows what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Halleluiah what a savior

Bearing shame and scoffing rude
In my place condemned He stood
Sealed my pardon with His blood
Halleluiah what a savior

Guilty, vile and helpless we
Spotless lamb of God was He
Full atonement can it be
Halleluiah what a savior

Lifted up was He to die
It is finished was His cry
Now in heaven exalted high

Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord

When He comes our glorious king
All his ransomed home to bring
Then anew this song we’ll sing
Halleluiah Halleluiah
Halleluiah what a savior

As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it….”
—Ezekiel 16:44-50

1. Pride
2. Gluttony
3. Love of ease
4. Lack of love for the poor and needy
5. Haughty
6. Committed abominations

More here http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/06/the-real-sins-of-sodom.html

This is from Matt Chandler on the topic “Missional” which is a hugely popular term that has in the last year almost died the death of a thousand definitions. Somehow the term seems a bit trendy and I do wander if it’s derived from Pipers “Wartime lifestyle” doctrine? Anyways for a fascinating few minutes investigate Missional searches from google trends.

The following from Matt’s blog gives a very clear definition of what it means.

A great start is by discussing with other believers how you can use your daily routines for the gospel. In the book “Total Church” (which I recommend to anyone who is a Home Group or Small Group leader), Steve Timmis and Tim Chester encourage people to imagine that they are a part of a church planting team in a cross-cultural situation in some other part of the world and answer the following questions:

* What criteria would you use to decide where to live?

* How would you approach secular employment?

* What standard of living would you expect as a pioneer missionary?

* What would you spend your time doing?

* What opportunities to share the gospel would you be looking for?

* What would your prayers be like?

* What would you be trying to do with your new friends?

* What kind of team would you want around you?

* How would you conduct your meetings together?

Their point is that we tend to think of missional living as something that just missionaries in foreign countries do instead of what we should all be doing. Spend time answering these questions, and I’ll see you this weekend.

via The Village Church : From Our Pastors.

…All the calls to “reclaim America for Christ” leave me cold. Our real need is to reclaim the church for Christ. When Christ is exalted in His church, when He is loved and revered and cherished with passion by those who bear His Name–in other words, when the church starts living like the church–then His body cannot help but make an impact on culture.

— Tom Ascol

via The Gospel-Driven Church.

Some fascinating polls have recently been conducted in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Is there a correlation?

The First Poll was conducted by LifeWay of SBC Pastors. Here are the results.

Paul’s Pastoral Epistles explain how the church should prioritize ministries.

¹ I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Paul’s Primary and Final Charge to Timothy is “Preach the Word” This is followed up with “do the work of an evangelist”. But the order and emphasise is clearly on preaching.

The Book of Acts is a historical book that shows how the early church behaved. In chapter 6 the Apostles are starting to be overwhelmed with ministry obligations so they appoint men to take care of “Community Ministry” so they will be able to devote themselves to “prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

It seems the most important means of grace for the church are the Preaching and Prayers of the pastors. These are rated dead last  by SBC pastors. Lets look at how a low view of proclamation of the gospel and prayer has effected the church.

Last week LifeWay President and CEO Thomas Rainer did an informal survey. He specifcially asked “What do you think when you hear ‘Southern Baptist’?

This was then put into a wordled by Tony Kummer Here are the results.

When you look at the cross:

Do you love the cross because it makes much of you?
Or
Because it enables you, an ungodly person, to enjoy making much of God?

–Piper Passion ’98