Act for the Persecuted

That is what you can do right now. Here's the situation according to J.D. Greer

Sayed Mossa is a new believer in Afghanistan who is in jail in Afghanistan because he decided, of his own free choice, to follow Jesus. In this letter he managed to smuggle out through the hands of a Westerner, he describes daily beatings, torture, and sexual molestation. He stands to be executed for his decision to follow Jesus next week. He has a wife and 6 children, one of whom is disabled.

Please visit this post by J.D. to find out what you can do to help prevent this crisis. And pass the word along.

Seek First the Kingdom of God

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
[34] “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

Anxiety. It’s what Jerry Bridges would call a “respectable sin.” Notes on a planner, the hands of a clock, the nightly news cast all beckon us to it. We attribute anxiety to our noble desire to be responsible and well-organized. Perhaps we even call it love. After all, we are willing to take upon ourselves paralyzing worry in order to ensure good is done to others. But Jesus calls anxiety something else. He calls it faithless. What’s more, Jesus declares, anxiety is an enemy of the kingdom of God. We will not seek Christ’s kingdom so long as we live in anxiety.

Eyes. “Look at the birds of the field,” Ever notice how many times the Gospels describe Jesus as looking, seeing, beholding, or how often he calls his disciples to see what they don’t see. There is so much to see, but anxiety is blindness. One of the greatest advantages of eyes is that unless I am looking into a mirror they must be fixed upon something other than me. They are ever looking out on the world and not in upon myself. But anxiety renders such a gift useless, for it consumes my mind with me. Anxiety blinds us from God’s care over the worry-free flowers and birds. It blinds us because it short circuits the path between eyes and mind. In anxiety I can only see problems without solutions, bills unpaid, the ticking of the clock, the terrors of the future. Everything else my eyes take in fades into oblivion.

The Moment. Anxiety keeps from us the moment. We must think of tomorrow, always tomorrow. And when tomorrow comes we must think of tomorrow. You cannot seek first the kingdom in anxiety because you cannot see what is front of you; you can only see yourself. You cannot act in the moment; you are too consumed with tomorrow. Jesus is not calling us to abstain from food and drink, from our most basic needs, but he does call us to stop worrying about them. Jesus is simply saying, “Are you hungry, thirsty, naked, cold? If yes, then eat, drink, put on a coat. If no, then live for the kingdom.” And if you say, “But what of tomorrow. What happens when I loose my job?” Jesus replies, “What of today? Will you waste the moment for a tomorrow you cannot control, for the tomorrow that I control? Will you not do my work today because you do not trust me with tomorrow?” Besides the answers for tomorrow are quite simple to solve. If you are hungry, eat something and seek the kingdom. If you are thirsty, drink something and do righteousness. If you are cold, put on a coat and love your neighbor.

Abortion and Slavery

Here is a powerful, and for me convicting, article by Thabit Anyabwile on the comparison of the tragedy of abortion to the tragedy of slavery. For those who don't know, Thabiti is a reformed Baptist pastor ministering in the Bahamas.

The Least of These

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)

As I write this a South African pastor has stirred up a heated conversation over his sermon series in which he pronounced that “Jesus had HIV.” Of course, the pastor is not seriously contending that Jesus physically contracted the HI virus, and thus his language is probably misleading. It’s much more proper to say, “Jesus has HIV.”

Many Christians are offended by such language, but it is merely taking what Jesus said seriously. “As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” Where does Jesus say he is? Who does he identify himself with? The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned, the strangers. That is, with the cast offs, the oppressed, the shameful, the least of society. A person infected with HIV gets put into “least of these” category, and to serve them is to serve Jesus.

The gospel of Luke tells us of a sinful women (probably a prostitute) who finds grace and forgiveness in Jesus. Her reaction is to throw herself at his feet, wet his feet with her tears, pour out her her perfume (her most valuable possession) and with her tears wash them. It’s a flesh and blood portrait of the worshipful gratitude all those who come to Christ experience. There is a problem with the portrait, however; Jesus doesn’t sit before us. We can’t weep and wash his feet. Or can we?

According to Jesus, “flesh and blood” worship can begin today. Jesus stands before us everywhere we turn. He is the “least of these.” As we wash the feet of the “least of these,” the poor, the hurting, the shamed, we wash the feet of Jesus. As disciples of Christ and recipients of his extravagant, blood shedding love, every morning we should wake up eager to find Jesus’ feet and start washing. We only need to look in the right places.

Bonhoeffer Says

Bonhoeffer on Christian action (you must put these words in the context of Nazi Germany to get their full power):

If we want to be Christians, we must have some share in Christ's large-heartedness by acting with responsibility and in freedom when the hour of danger comes, and by showing a real sympathy that springs, not from fear, but from the liberating and redeeming love of Christ for all who suffer. Mere waiting and looking is not Christian behavior. The Christian is called to sympathy and action, not in the first place by his own sufferings, but by the sufferings of his brethren, for who sake Christ suffered.

Bonhoeffer on Success:

In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done . . . With a frankness and off-handedness which no other earthly power could permit itself, history appeals in its own cause to the dictum that the end justifies the means. . . . The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard.

Bonhoeffer on Cheap Grace:

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before.

Bonhoeffer on Costly Grace:

It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son . . . and above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.

Bonhoeffer on Marriage (to his fiance from prison):

May God grant us this faith daily. I don't mean the faith that flees the world, but the faith that endures in the world and loves and remains true to that world in spite of all the hardships it brings us. Our marriage must be a "yes" to God's earth. It must strengthen our resolve to do and accomplish something on earth. I fear that Christians who venture to stand on earth on only one leg will stand in heaven on only one leg too.

Nastiest Election Ever

Joe Carter:

Whenever I hear a pundit or politician say—as they do every two years—that this season has seen the nastiest, most negative electoral campaigning in American history, I wonder: “Who was their history teacher?” Because the midterm elections of 2010 ain’t got nothing on the election of 1800.

The Twins of Science and Magic

C.S. Lewis from The Abolition of Man

You will even find people who write about the sixteenth century as if Magic were a medieval survival and Science the new thing that came in to sweep it away. Those who have studied the period know better. There was very little magic in the Middle Ages: the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are the high noon of magic. The serious magical endeavour and the serious scientific endeavour are twins: one was sickly and died, the other strong and throve. But they were twins. They were born of the same impulse. I allow that some (certainly not all) of the early scientists were actuated by a pure love of knowledge. But if we consider the temper of that age as a whole we can discern the impulse of which I speak.

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the wisdom of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious—such as digging up and mutilating the dead.

Amazing Church Plant

Gay Bar and church planting. What do they have in common? Watch this video and find out.

Bonhoeffer Says

I've begun reading Eric Metaxas' excellent biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer's writing is not new to me, but as I now read of his thoughts and life I find my heart increasingly knit to his. Through routes of my own, I have come to share many of his thoughts. Only his convictions run deeper, and he expresses them far better. Here is one quote that hit me.

Every day I am getting to know people, at any rate their circumstances, and sometimes one is able to see through their stories into themselves--and at the same time one thing continues to impress me: here I meet people as they are, far from the masquerade of "the Christian world"; people with passions, criminal types, small people with small aims, small wages and small sins--all in all they are people who feel homeless in both senses, and who begin to thaw when one speaks to them with kindness--real people; I can only say that I have gained the impression that it is just these people who are much more under grace than under wrath, and that it is the Christian world which is more under wrath than grace.

How To Miss Jesus

Dave Dorr at the Resurgence lists some sure fire ways to miss Jesus when you read your Bible

• You read the Bible to reinforce what you believe, not challenge what you believe.
• You imagine yourself as the type of person who believes the things you read about.
• You think the things you read are especially applicable for people you know, but not for you.
• You imagine yourself as the hero of the story, not the person or people who are unbelieving. You frequently ask in your heart, “How could these people be so unbelieving?” For instance, when you read the story of the Israelites wandering in the desert you might say, “How could those Israelites grumble about food and drink when they just saw God part the Red Sea?” But you are completely blind to how you grumble at work or home when you’re afraid of losing something.
• You love the attention garnered from your knowledge of the Bible, but give little thought to how you have applied what you have read.

Being Missional May Kill Your Church

I found this post from the Resurgence strangely comforting.

Bible-Centered or Gospel-Centered

Did you know that you can be Bible-centered without being Gospel-centered? Surprising? Well, it shouldn’t be. You may recall that Jesus repeatedly scolded the Pharisees for not knowing the Scriptures. Did they miss too many Bible studies? Hardly. Those heartless paragons of hypocrisy knew their Scriptures backwards and forwards. No, they knew the Scriptures and yet they didn’t know.

How many times have you read of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan and come away thinking “I should commit more Bible to memory like Jesus if I’m to resist Satan’s attacks” or “I should grow closer to God through prayer and fasting so that I can handle temptation”? How about the story of Jesus‘ healing of the paralytic? Generally applications run something like “We shouldn’t be annoyed by the needy and helpless even if they do a cut hole in our roof!” When you read these passages who are you identifying with? When we put ourselves into the story we are Jesus! Isn’t this what we ought to do? Aren’t we Christ-ians? Jesus is after all our example. To be sure, but Jesus is more than our example. Much more. He is our Savior.

The story of Jesus’ temptation isn’t told primarily to give us tips on our duel with the Prince of darkness. This is a David and Goliath moment. The giant is bigger, stronger, scarier than all of us. But Jesus, our hero, our warrior, our deliverer marches onto the battlefield and slays the beast. He did in the wilderness what Israel failed to do, what we all fail to do. The lesson isn’t tactics on how to cross swords with the great Deceiver. The lesson is Jesus fought and won for me.

When Jesus heals the paralytic, it is quite absurd, nay asinine and arrogant, that we place ourselves in the position of the Healer. There are only two positions we can occupy. Either we are the Pharisees who stand in judgment over Jesus (“We know our Bibles. Let us see if this fellow does it by the Book. Oh, blasphemy! Forgiving sins! Outrageous. Only God does that. Yes, yes the poor, paralyzed wretch is doing jumping jacks. No, I don’t know how that was done, but you’re missing the principle of the matter.) and tragically never realize that they need healing and forgiveness. Or we are the paralytic and his friends desperate for healing, desperate to meet the Healer, desperate to hear those words, “Your sins are forgiven.”

So do you know the Gospel, or are you content to just know the Bible?

The Church Problem is a Man Problem

That's what Darrin Patrick thinks, and I think he presents a compelling case.

Worship Music

Jeremy Pierce just can't stand some worship music. Here's why.

Dancing in the Minefields

Today Jen and I have been married 11 years. They haven't been pure bliss, but they have been the sweetest years of my life. Her beauty seems ever growing, and my heart seems ever more captured. I'm not a huge Andrew Peterson fan, but he does right pretty good lyrics. This song, I think, perfectly fitting for our marriage.

I love you, Jen. As the song says, I gladly dance with you "in the shadowlands until the shadows are no more."