Beholding the Beloved

Friday, March 25, 2011

Philippians 1:21

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

We do not think like that, but we should.

What happens when we run up against a hard truth of Scripture? Do we ignore it? Do we tame it down? Do we make excuses for Scripture's assertions? Do we nullify it by self-identifying as sinners and saying it is simply impossible? Do we suppress it? Do we exchange the truth about God for a lie in order to worship and serve, not God, but something he has created? Do we even think in terms of truth when we come to Scripture or only in terms of the vibes we get? Or do these hard truths serve to keep us away from Scripture in the first place?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Reverse Thinking

Thanks to one of my old friends from GHP for this link. This is one of the coolest, most creative things I have seen.

Thou, Oh Lord!

Praise the LORD!
   Praise God in his sanctuary;
   praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
   praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
   praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
   praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
   praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
     (Psalm 150)

No matter where you are in life right now, no matter what you are suffering, no matter the sins you've committed, no matter the highs or lows, I know this: There is a God who is really there, who really loves you, whose Son died and rose to bring you into the family. He stand ready to welcome you no matter where you are. His arms are open. As GK Chesterton says, "Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair." There is sweet forgiveness in God if you will only humble yourself and accept that forgiveness. God is madly, deeply, truly, sacrificially in love with you.

Our hearts were made for God, and they were not made simply to see that he is there. They were made to rejoice in him. They were made for worship. God is glorified in our worship. How many of our sins would be killed and our worries recede if only we would see and savor God, our hearts delighting in his glory! Let your heart and soul be caught up in praise...

This is a good one right here.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ministry of Reconciliation

I do some preaching here following the music. God, protect me from error in this teaching. Soli Deo gloria!

Marriage (6) - Sex (2)

This is a frank Biblical talk on sex by Matt Chandler that looks at what the Bible teaches on the subject. Be forewarned that it is frank. Matt also will warn you at the beginning of this message. It lasts close to two hours.

http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/200910161900HWC21ATAAA_MattChandler_CultureAndTheology-GodAndSex.mp3

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Knowing the Word

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

I feel sort of like David in the Psalms - in earnest and a little bit schizophrenic. He's all over the place, from mountains to valleys. I hope that even a fraction of what was said of him might be true for me - that I would be a man after God's own heart.

I blogged close to a month ago about the dangers of blogging. Go back and find it if you wish. Those dangers still exist. What I am pressed with now is the disconnect between my stated presuppositions - my convictions - and my own practice. If you read my blog for long, you can tell that ideologically I take a high view of Scripture. And yet I find myself neglecting it far too much; it is time for the rubber to meet the road, and it is time for me to go with God into his Word to be changed. My heart is new, but wickedness would rise up in me to swallow the new man, and I feel that even my desire to be productive on this blog may be taking some time away from me simply spending time with God. And so I plan to leave it alone for awhile...

But in the spirit of this undertaking I want to leave you with a resource that will certainly last you a good long while if indeed you have found any help from this blog. I have gone all over the place, from discussions of Harry Potter to sex to the role of the mind in loving God. But in the end, the thing that I hope you get most out of my communications is a desire to know God in his Word, and I hope you are practically helped toward that end. This last entry - at least for awhile - is meant to be something of an education in treasuring, understanding, and rightly dividing the Word.

The first section of videos come from a seminar that John Piper did at his church on why we believe the Bible. The gospel will seem flimsy and questionable in our lives until we are convinced in the Spirit that the Bible speaks truly of a God who is really there. Have you ever thought about why you believe the Bible, or do you simply swear a blind allegiance to it?

The second, third, and fourth sections of videos all belong to Secret Church. I previously posted a Secret Church resource on the Holy Spirit. The second section gives a survey of the Old Testament. The third section gives a survey of the New Testament. The final section deals with how we should study the Bible. Basically this blog entry, if worked through, will help to provide a firm foundation by looking at why we believe the Bible, what is basically in it, and how we should study it. Honestly, I post these together in the same place for my own benefit, and perhaps you will find this organization of videos helpful as well. May God bless you whether you watch these or not, and though I post these videos, they are no substitute for just digging into the Word yourself.

Why We Believe the Bible (Part 1)

Why We Believe the Bible (Part 2)