On the Desiring God website, which I have commended earlier in my blog, there is a resource area that include John Piper's short answers to all manner of different questions. He certainly is a fallible man, but I trust him as wise because he has lived a life committed to the principles and teachings of Scripture. Life, of course, requires a deep knowledge of Scripture, but most of what we face we do not find an explicit answer therein. We are to be shaped, by the Spirit through his Word, into the kind of people who can spontaneously - and in faith - respond to the different challenges of life. It is into these details and questions of life that these videos go.
I still plan on getting into the nitty gritty of the books by Piper and Tripp on marriage, but this might prove to be a fruitful tangent. I have collected some of Piper's short answers to questions that seemed to be related to marriage and career in some way. (These are a small subsection of literally hundreds of questions.) I hope these are thought-provoking and helpful to you.
“Is it important to have a parent’s blessing on your marriage?”
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
International Arts Movement (IAM)
I want to introduce you to a movement called the International Arts Movement. Here is a link. Here is what they say they are about... and keep going to see their videos at the end.
The world is not as it ought to be. We long for meaningful existence and involvement in our culture - to be part of a story greater than ourselves. But too often our reality is a broken and fragmented story in which dignity and value are stripped from humanity.
Art, as a universal language, can begin to address this dehumanization. The world needs artists and visionaries to lead the way in seeing beyond the trivial to the transcendent, bringing synthesis to fragmentation and hope to despair.
International Arts Movement is a non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization acting as a catalyst to inspire people to engage culture’s spheres of influence. IAM presents lectures, performances, exhibitions, screenings, projects, and workshops. Our programming and resources equip the creative community to generate good, true, and beautiful cultural artifacts: sign-posts pointing toward the “world that ought to be.” Through understanding the culture that is and looking toward what could be, we hope to rehumanize our world.
We are guided by the belief that the Judeo-Christian story of creation and restoration is a narrative in which all humanity participates and is the foundation by which we flourish. We look to these scriptures as our framework for wrestling with the questions "why art?” and "what does it mean to truly be human?"
I have done some reading of Francis Schaeffer (active around 1960-1980) lately, and he is quite an incisive observer of culture; he makes some significant statements about how we have, as a society, gotten to where we are today. I know that what immediately follows here may be a gross oversimplification of his argument from "The God Who is There", but I will risk it...
The world is not as it ought to be. We long for meaningful existence and involvement in our culture - to be part of a story greater than ourselves. But too often our reality is a broken and fragmented story in which dignity and value are stripped from humanity.
Art, as a universal language, can begin to address this dehumanization. The world needs artists and visionaries to lead the way in seeing beyond the trivial to the transcendent, bringing synthesis to fragmentation and hope to despair.
International Arts Movement is a non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization acting as a catalyst to inspire people to engage culture’s spheres of influence. IAM presents lectures, performances, exhibitions, screenings, projects, and workshops. Our programming and resources equip the creative community to generate good, true, and beautiful cultural artifacts: sign-posts pointing toward the “world that ought to be.” Through understanding the culture that is and looking toward what could be, we hope to rehumanize our world.
We are guided by the belief that the Judeo-Christian story of creation and restoration is a narrative in which all humanity participates and is the foundation by which we flourish. We look to these scriptures as our framework for wrestling with the questions "why art?” and "what does it mean to truly be human?"
I have done some reading of Francis Schaeffer (active around 1960-1980) lately, and he is quite an incisive observer of culture; he makes some significant statements about how we have, as a society, gotten to where we are today. I know that what immediately follows here may be a gross oversimplification of his argument from "The God Who is There", but I will risk it...
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Quotes
My friend Kurt Teasley started a book of good quotes, an idea I would like to imitate here. I loved it; he would get so pumped up about one, and he has been known to wield those quotes like conversational grenades. Oh, how fun it is to talk deeply about important things, and oh, how helpful are those older, wiser men and women who have distilled truth with such clarity. Go first to Scripture to have your mind renewed, but don't hesitate to sometimes wander by this page, too, to see if any new thought-provokers have been added. Enjoy. I begin with the four quotes I probably use most often use...
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. (Flannery
O'Connor)
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. (John Piper)
What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. (AW Tozer)
Be killing sin, or it will be killing you. (John Owen)
Marriage (4) - Sex (1)
Sex is a good gift from God given within the context of marriage. There is much muddy thinking on it in society, but it is a very important topic. Yet, the church is often slow to talk about it. What a shame. I do not want to exclude it from this thread on marriage. In addition to having some entries on the topic of sex, I will also probably do another sub-thread on what God teaches about money, and there are probably other things that will strike me as we go along. There are so many things I need to learn more about, especially as I actually approach marriage.
In the future I will find some resources that present a holistic, Biblical picture of all that the bible teaches about sex. That is not my main aim here. The following videos are two resources for those who have known the guilt and shame of sexual sin. The first is from the "I Am Second" series and is a short testimony of a sex addict's recovery, and the second is John Piper's Passion video from 2007. In that video he teaches on how the Gospel trains us to fight despair and sexual temptation with what he terms "gutsy guilt"; it is a very frank and thoroughly Gospel-centered exposition on a topic that too many in the church are slow to address.
Some of you may feel distant from God because of sexual sin. You may be in despair. There is much to benefit you in the videos to follow, but what may be most helpful for you is to hear and believe this blood-bought promise of God: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) God is glorified in our sanctification, not when we resist in our own power, but when we, by the Spirit, hear and believe the promises of God. In that way Jesus is made to look supremely good!
The following video is actually the entire Passion session, so if you only want to listen to the message you may need to do some fast forwarding, to about 47 1/2 minutes into the video.
I am having some trouble getting that video to play, at least on my computer, but here is the link to the video... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3987744665485182246#
In the future I will find some resources that present a holistic, Biblical picture of all that the bible teaches about sex. That is not my main aim here. The following videos are two resources for those who have known the guilt and shame of sexual sin. The first is from the "I Am Second" series and is a short testimony of a sex addict's recovery, and the second is John Piper's Passion video from 2007. In that video he teaches on how the Gospel trains us to fight despair and sexual temptation with what he terms "gutsy guilt"; it is a very frank and thoroughly Gospel-centered exposition on a topic that too many in the church are slow to address.
Some of you may feel distant from God because of sexual sin. You may be in despair. There is much to benefit you in the videos to follow, but what may be most helpful for you is to hear and believe this blood-bought promise of God: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) God is glorified in our sanctification, not when we resist in our own power, but when we, by the Spirit, hear and believe the promises of God. In that way Jesus is made to look supremely good!
The following video is actually the entire Passion session, so if you only want to listen to the message you may need to do some fast forwarding, to about 47 1/2 minutes into the video.
I am having some trouble getting that video to play, at least on my computer, but here is the link to the video... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3987744665485182246#
A Simple Encouragement
Paul Park, my little brother from my fraternity, wrote a quick facebook status the other day. It basically said that praying without ceasing is difficult, but it is worth it.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 gives us this short three word imperative: Pray without ceasing.
My day today has benefited from this very brief practical encouragement, and so it is my joy to pass it along. I am saddened for the amount of time that passes me in which I have little regard for God, times when I fail to pray. But Christ forgives my past, including my prayerlessness; Christ is in control of my future, so I need not worry; the only time in which I can do anything is this moment, and in this moment I can offer my heart up to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 gives us this short three word imperative: Pray without ceasing.
My day today has benefited from this very brief practical encouragement, and so it is my joy to pass it along. I am saddened for the amount of time that passes me in which I have little regard for God, times when I fail to pray. But Christ forgives my past, including my prayerlessness; Christ is in control of my future, so I need not worry; the only time in which I can do anything is this moment, and in this moment I can offer my heart up to God.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Miscellany
Here are a handful of relatively short and interesting videos.
Thought provoking on being missional...
Thought provoking on being missional...
Thoughts on Rope Theory
My good friend Chris Cassidy posted a series of blog entries on what he calls Rope Theory. It is a creative theory posited to explain different aspects of relationships. Chris solicited my feedback, and I must admit that he did so after I had spent some time reading Edwards on "The Nature of True Virtue". I can feel Edwards thoughts guiding my interpretation. I read the first two entries in his series and composed some thoughts for him prior to the release of his last three entries on the subject. These thoughts were probably more extensive than he expected or wanted. I provide here a link to his blog on Rope Theory with the warning that none of this entry will make any sense at all if you do not read his stuff first. And it may not make any sense anyway. This entry is my email response to him, and while it is not really devotional material, it may provide you with a good, quick philosophical diversion.
Marriage (3)
I ran across the following in one of my friend's facebook statuses. It was powerful enough that I think it deserves its own entry within this series on marriage.
"When Paul says that a husband must embrace self-sacrifice for the sake of his wife's well-being, this of course includes her physical safety. But the main threat against which a man must protect his wife is his own sin. A friend once expressed his awakening to this truth in these words: 'I used to think that if a man came into my house to attack my wife, I would certainly stand up to him. But then I came to realize that the man who enters my house and assaults my wife every day is me, through my anger, my harsh words, my complaints, and my indifference. As a Christian, I came to realize that the man I needed to kill in order to protect my wife is myself as a sinner.'" - Pastor Richard D. Phillips
Also, "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you." (John Owen) Grace be with you.
"When Paul says that a husband must embrace self-sacrifice for the sake of his wife's well-being, this of course includes her physical safety. But the main threat against which a man must protect his wife is his own sin. A friend once expressed his awakening to this truth in these words: 'I used to think that if a man came into my house to attack my wife, I would certainly stand up to him. But then I came to realize that the man who enters my house and assaults my wife every day is me, through my anger, my harsh words, my complaints, and my indifference. As a Christian, I came to realize that the man I needed to kill in order to protect my wife is myself as a sinner.'" - Pastor Richard D. Phillips
Also, "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you." (John Owen) Grace be with you.
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