Marriage (2) - Francis Chan on Christ-Centered Relationships

Marriage (1) - An apologetic for why I might have anything to say about this

I am not yet married.

But I am going to start blogging about marriage. Specifically, there are two books on the subject that I want to work through. One is a book called What Did You Expect? by Paul Tripp. I have posted a video by Tripp on the use of our words, and I believe he is very good at shedding practical Gospel light on important parts of life... like marriage. He is not a preacher, but a counselor, and his heart for that comes through in the book. Though he is not a preacher, he is deeply Biblical in his advice. This is the book that Nicole and I are currently reading together to help direct us to relevant Biblical truths and prepare our hearts for what we might be able to expect.

The other book is by an author familiar to this blog, John Piper. His book is This Momentary Marriage. Piper is a self-proclaimed Christian Hedonist, and he would describe that this way: seeking our happiness is not wrong; in fact we should seek it with great passion and all our energy, but we should seek it in God alone and not the countless other pathetic idols we chase. We should delight ourselves in God. He is our ultimate end. Piper, under the influence of Jonathan Edwards, asserts that God's ultimate design in the world is to make his glory known; God's glory is ultimate and everything else is penultimate. Piper, speaking as a Christian Hedonist, then concludes (and is often quoted), "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." God's getting glory and my getting joy are not at odds, but rather, by God's all-wise, Christ-glorifying, loving, gracious design, they meet at Christ's blood stained cross. All of Piper's books are really explorations of different parts of life through that God-glorifying lens; this book is the same. How should we think about marriage in light of the gospel? And how should we think about it in light of God's glory and my joy coming together in that gospel?

So there it is - a brief roadmap of what you might expect in the coming months. I am sure it will take three or four months to get through both of these books. I know that I am going to learn quite a lot; I hope you may, too. I now would like to address what might be some objections rising in your mind as to why you should read any of these coming posts.

Tim Keller - Who is the Bible About?

Thanks to Zach Hubbs for passing this along.

Who is the Bible about?
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

A Nugget from Nouwen (1)

Most of my reading recently has been in John Piper's works, and so I believe my blog - my writing - reflects that. I obviously quote from him a lot, especially in the entries that are directly about "Think", his book. More than quoting from him, I can feel myself picking up his manner of speech and thought. He is a very intense writer, much like one of his spiritual heroes, Jonathan Edwards. I definitely feel - and this is not a bad thing necessarily - that many of my most recent entries have been very intense.

I say that as a preface to this: it is good to read from different styles of writers. I picked up "Here and Now" by Henri Nouwen from my shelf, put it in my bag, and read the first twenty pages or so this afternoon when I had some unexpected free time. He strikes me, through his writing, as a gentle friend bidding me to come with him into God's good presence. I am convinced he loves Jesus no less than Piper and Edwards, but his vocabulary and voice are different. I was struck afresh today by how good it is simply to be still, resting in the loving presence of God. I am going to reproduce here a very short chapter from Nouwen's book, and I hope it has the same effect on you as it did on me...

Picking Piper's Brain: Think (5b)

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)

Piper unpacks six observations coming from this text in order to make clearer how human thinking and divine revelation work together in the rise of saving faith.

Picking Piper's Brain: Think (5a)

In a previous entry, on the fourth chapter of John Piper's book "Think", we examined the question of how thinking relates to the rise of faith. This question has not yet been laid to rest by the time we get to Chapter 5. We showed in the previous chapter how our adulterous hearts poison our reasoning abilities, how understanding or not understanding is a significant factor in whether or not the Word takes fruit-bearing root in our hearts, and how understanding is itself a gift of God, but a gift that comes by thinking over what He has said (and not by magic). Whereas Chapter 4 focused more on the nature of thinking (and how it is affected by our hearts), Chapter 5 focuses more on the nature of faith itself for clues as to how thinking is involved.

The kind of faith we will be discussing is not a vague faith, but it is the distinctly Christian kind of faith in God. It is the faith that believes that Jesus, God's own Son, was sent to be crucified for the sins of the world and was resurrected in power. It is the kind of faith that sees us justified; it is the kind of faith that sanctifies; it is the kind of faith that sees us through to glory.

Some Old Revivalists

This video reminds me of Piper's talk at Passion this year when he asked the question, "Do you feel more loved by God because he makes much of you or because he enables you to make much of him?" The world - and God's designs for it - is not mainly about us; it is mainly about God and his glory. Our salvation itself is about God's glory! But oh, how sweet are the rewards for us in his divine design, in which he has chosen to glorify Christ by having us be united to him by his death and resurrection.

Is God the end for you? Or is he the means to some other other end? Is God the means to health, wealth, and prosperity? Or more subtly, is God simply the means to your forgiveness, salvation, joy, and peace? Any good thing, even God's good gifts, can become an idol if it takes the place of God and becomes ultimate in your life; God alone is the ultimate end. God's glory and his grace are seen in this: by Christ's reconciling death, God has become both the means and the end.

The Dangers of Blogging

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:43)

One of my idols is the praise of men. Growing up I was driven with the desire to never be in trouble with anyone. I was the good kid at school, and I didn't speak up too much. I excelled at academics, especially at math, and I loved the attention that came with that. I did not brag too much, but I wanted to be the best, and I wanted to be seen as the best. I believe I achieved that. People in all my spheres of life thought I was incredibly smart. Perhaps it was not always conscious, but I really thirsted for that praise.