Gospel centred prayers.

When you read Paul's prayer for the Philippians you see that it is a Gospel centred prayer. Here is the prayer:
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9 - 11
Notice that he prays that they will abound more and more in knowledge. Now this is not general knowledge like knowing more mathematics (I am a mathematician by training and I do like to continue to grow in my knowledge of mathematics) but a particular knowledge about God Himself. He also prays that they won't be satisfied with mediocrity but rather that they will be able to discern what is best and strive for that. All of this should be prayed for the glory of God.
So how do we pray for those suffering and dieing of cancer, or the one who is having marital problem or for our children? Is there room for that type of prayer? Most certainly there is but too often it becomes our primary prayer focus and we add "to the glory of God" as a postscript. Lord teach us to pray.

Friendship or fellowship.

Quick, what is the difference between friendship and fellowship? If you have people over after church for tea then it is fellowship but if you have people over after a ball game it may be friendship if those friends are non-Christian or fellowship if they are Christians. Now the conversation may be exactly the same, the refreshments may be exactly the same but if they are Christians we call it fellowship instead of friendship.
Fellowship is much more than Christian friends. Fellowship is partners in the Gospel. Fellowship is much more like a partnership than a friendship.
Look at what Paul says about fellowship. "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3 - 6

Keeping the main thing the main thing.

Our pastor in Thunder Bay had a sign on the door of his study which said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
So what is the main thing? Put the Gospel of Jesus Christ centre. It is almost redundant to say the Gospel of Jesus Christ as there is no Gospel without Him. What is at the centre holds everything else together like the hub of a wheel holds the spokes, the rim from flying off. We run into heresy when we make something else the centre. If we make the effects of the Gospel centre then we are in danger of losing other things.

What do you live for?

Paul says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21 There are many people who live for things that will pass. They may say that sports, or fame, or money, or power, or relationships, or family, or whatever is their life. But what happens when they die? It certainly isn't gain. If temporal things however good is your life then what happens when you die? Paul wanted to live as long as he was doing what God had called him to do but he knew that death would bring him to the one he loved. What do you live for? Will it be gain or loss when you die?

Photo of the Day

Three years ago today I started taking a photo of the day. Each day for the past three years I have taken photos and have put one in a file as the photo of the day. Shortly after I started someone broke into my car and stole my camera so that even though I have taken a photo each day there are three days without photos. One thing about taking a photo a day is that you have to look at things differently.
When you are studying Scripture you also have to take time to look at it differently than you have always read it. Many times that doesn't change anything but there are times that you get fresh insights.
The picture below is four pictures that I took of the same scene.

Skunks and the Gospel Coalition

Today I attended a wonderful and inspiring conference, the Ontario regional conference of the Gospel Coalition. The two main speakers were Mike Bullmore and Don Carson. Lots of fuel for coming lessons.
Don Carson came to our home for Sunday dinner when we lived in Thunder Bay. At that time we were having difficulty with skunks raiding our garden so our number three son took to trapping the skunks. As we sat around the dinner table the conversation turned to skunks. Our oldest son was mortified that we had one of the leading theologians of our time at our table and we talked about skunks. Maybe, just maybe, that was a refreshing change for Dr. Carson. Let me tell you it is one visit I have not forgotten.

Why are evangelicals concerned about marriage?

To many people in the world they do not understand why evangelicals get so concerned about the definition of marriage. They believe that we are following an ancient tradition and in doing so we are against human rights. I sometimes think that Evangelicals do not get the reason for marriage right. Marriage is a picture of Christ and His church. The church is His bride. That is why marriage is sacred to the Christian. Christians are not against human rights but human rights do not trump the Gospel.
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." Hebrews 13:4. Christians are to honour marriage as we honour the relationship we have with our Saviour.

Inside, Outside

Hebrews tells us that we can be inside the veil, the way into God's presence has been made available through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
But it also tells us that we are outside, outside the camp. We are told that we are to go out to Him (not for Him). Jesus was crucified outside the city. Going to Him outside the camp is to identify with the shame that He bore.
I was reading in Numbers 5 today and it struck me how both aspects of inside and outside are given to us in the books of Moses. The veil in the Tabernacle said "keep out". Failing to be clean was to be sent out of the camp. Jesus took our sins, became unclean so that we can enter through the veil.

Keep on keeping on!

One reason why the book of Hebrews was written was so that we would continue on in the Christian life. We press on to the prize that is ours in Christ Jesus. To do this the author tells us to keep looking unto Jesus.

So how do we grow in our faith?

First there is fellowship. We are told in Hebrews 10:25 that we are to keep meeting together so that we will encourage each other. We may come to Christ as individuals but there is no growth without one another.

Second there is the Word of God. In Hebrews 4:12 we are told that the Word judges our thoughts and intents. We must read the Word, study the Word, meditate on the Word, hear the Word read and hear the Word preached. The Word should be central to our teaching and our worship.

Third there is prayer. The way has been opened for us so that according to Hebrews 4:16 we can come with confidence to the throne of grace.

Finally, we must keep looking onto Jesus. That is why when we come to church we want to see Jesus lifted up and glorified.

Growing in Love.

I remember when my wife and I attended the orientation course for our term with Overseas Missions Fellowship. Richard, the Canadian director for OMF, was working on his doctorate in cross cultural studies. One evening he asked us about the importance of understanding culture in our host country. One of the candidates said that she wasn’t concerned about knowing the culture because she was just going to love the people. Richard pointed out that we had to have understanding before we could really love the people. For instance, smiling at strangers could be very inappropriate in some cultures while waving your eyebrows says hello in others. Sometimes our attempt to love others can be misinterpreted.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to “keep on loving one another has brothers” but what does that look like in the church? He mentions a number of ways that this is lived out in the life of the church. In the first ten verses he mentions seven ways this brotherly love is shown in the church:

1. Hospitality (v. 2)
2. Sympathy (v. 3)
3. Personal purity (v. 4)
4. Contentment (v. 5)
5. Confidence (v. 6)
6. Intercession (v. 7)
7. Stability (v. 9)

He then goes on to show us how to grow in this love. First, there is separation from the world (v. 13). That is, we must be willing to go where the Son of God went and to suffer reproach as He did. Separation from the world means that we do not live by the world’s values but we have Biblical values.

Second, we are to have a personal testimony, the sacrifice of praise. That is much more than walking around singing praise choruses but every aspect of our lives is to bring praise to our Saviour.

Finally, there is prayer. The author says, “Pray for us” (v. 18). The goal of our prayer should be that “the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Angels

When my mother was in the hospital our pastor and I went to visit her. As she talked to us she asked us if we had seen two children leave her room. Now she was on a floor that did not allow children to visit and children are never allowed to visit without parents on any floor of the hospital. She told us that they had just left and we should have seen them. Now we knew that they were not real children so our pastor asked mom about the children. Did they talk? No. Were you afraid of them? No. Did they bring you comfort? Yes. At that point we both sensed that these were angels disguised as children who came to my mother's room to bring her comfort. Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

The Anchor of our Souls

Hope is the anchor of our souls. But what do we mean by hope. Hope rests in the promises of God. Do we rest in His promises? It is interesting that faith moves from the promise to the fulfillment and then from the fulfillment to the promise. By faith we believe in the promises of God and we see that God fulfills those promises. Then we know that because God has fulfilled the promises that we can believe that the promises of God are firm and secure.

Holiness

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14
So how does a person be holy so that they will see the Lord? Certainly that holiness cannot come from what we do as we are incapable of keeping the Law of God. That holiness is not even what God has done in us but it is Christ Himself. We cannot depend upon what has been done in us even by God Himself. Our life and holiness depends entirely upon the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you John Piper for teaching us that at T4G.

T4G

I will be attending the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky this week so I probably won't have time to post. I am looking forward to the conference but the bonus is that I will be spending time with my son from California.
As I was studying Hebrews 12 the author admonishes us to live in harmony with one another whenever possible. John Piper has reached out to Rick Warren and invited him to the Pastor's conference in Minneapolis. Some on the evangelical right see this as a sell out by John Piper but if you know Dr. Piper's heart it is not that at all but his way of reaching out to men like Rick Warren and helping them stay true to the Gospel. I may disagree with Rick Warren on many issues but we will be together for eternity (I trust).

Bitterness

Our family had friends who had lost a son in infancy. They never got over the loss. Now I have never had to suffer such a loss but I could see in them how it changed their outlook. They never seemed to be happy and their other child seemed to reflect that as well.
I have other friends who lost a daughter by murder when she was a student away from home. Again the bitterness remained and it is reflected in their other children.
Hebrews warns against bitterness. Bitterness robs the one who refuses to forgive of joy in their life. It really is a form of idolatry choosing to hang onto their bitterness rather than release it to God.
Don't let bitterness take root in your life.

Unity

In Hebrews 12:12 - 17 we are exhorted to
1. not to become discouraged
2. to live in unity
3. to live in holiness
4. to walk in grace
5. to remain undefiled.
I volunteer at an interdenominational mission work known as Bibles for Missions. Most of the volunteers are from the Christian Reformed background. Now it would be easy to focus on why we are part of another denomination but that doesn't seem to matter as much as what unites us. We are united because we believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross; the infallibility of the word of God; the importance of missions and much more. If we differed on the essentials of the Gospel then we could not work together but as fellow believers in Jesus Christ we can put aside those differences. Yes, on Sundays we worship in different churches but we worship the same Saviour.

Discipline

When our kids were growing up they often needed disciplining but so did the two boys who lived down the street. There were times I felt like disciplining them but they were not my children. I disciplined my boys because they were my children and I loved them.
So it is with us. We are disciplined because we are God's children and He loves us. Discipline can be for both correction and training. I wanted our children to have unacceptable behaviour corrected but I also wanted them to be trained into Godly men and women.

Esperanza Cristiana

Esperanza Cristiana es la del cristiano fiel a su llamamiento y vocación celestial.
Desde Abel y todos los demás héroes de la fe; la esperanza fue el fundamento para vivir, servir y agradar a Dios en el transcurso de sus vidas cortas o largas.
La esperanza cristiana de manera específica, le permitió a Abraham obedecer el llamado de Dios y partir hacia lo desconocido. Dice la palabra de Dios en Hebreos 11:8; salió sin saber a donde iba. Las siguientes generaciones y; hasta nuestros días, todos conocemos los efectos de ese camino de fe tomado con fundamento en la esperanza cristiana. Dice Hebreos 11:10; porque “esperaba” la ciudad que tiene fundamentos cuyo arquitecto y constructor es Dios. San Pablo Apóstol, hablando acerca de la firmeza en la gracia de Jesús; dice: y nos gloriamos en la esperanza de la gloria de Dios. Es decir: En la gracia de Jesús hay y habrá esperanza que traspasa todos los límites de lo conocido y lo desconocido.
Conocí a Jesucristo en mi niñez por medio del mensaje evangélico que misioneros de diferentes nacionalidades- incluso canadienses; llevaron a nuestra patria (Colombia). Vivimos años de persistente persecución religiosa por haber abandonado la religión oficial del país. Mi madre nos cantaba un himno que entre otras bellas frases; una decía: La biblia es el sol que irradia esperanza, y; luna de esperanza tu serás-; refiriéndose a Jesús o Dios. Sobrepasamos los años de persecución, fundamentados en la esperanza que cada día teníamos. Esperanza para el tiempo presente aquí en este planeta y para el futuro cercano, lejano o eterno.
Cuando pienso en los tantos mártires de la fe cristiana; entiendo que la única razón por la cual los cristianos que murieron destrozados por leones hambrientos en los circos romanos mientras se abrazaban y cantaban; fue la esperanza. E igual los que murieron bajo el poder de la inquisición solo pudieron permanecer firmes hasta el final; porque estaban profundamente convencidos de la esperanza viva de gloria.
Aquí en la tierra tenemos muchas esperanzas que animan nuestra fe. Un mejor trabajo, una loable oportunidad de ser útiles, una solución especial para cada situación de la vida cotidiana, una meta realizada y en general un crecimiento en todo sentido y toda área física, espiritual y material. Todo ello es maravilloso pero termina aquí mismo en este mundo. Pero la esperanza bienaventurada de estar con Dios por siempre en el misterio infinito de la eternidad; nos debe animar a caminar cada día siguiendo los pasos de Jesús y entregarnos en sacrificio vivo y agradable a Dios.

My friend from Columbia wrote the above article on Christian hope.

What is Hebrews about?

If God is so committed to our joy then why is life so hard? Hebrews points out that life is a journey; a journey from weariness to rest; a journey from alienation to the presence of God; a journey from isolation into the city of God. That is why the only way to keep on the journey is to keep our eyes on Christ. Hebrews 12:1 - 2 are the key to the book of Hebrews. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Lead me to the cross

Our church did a dinner theatre for Easter. Here is the promotional video.

Why I am not Pre-trib.

Now before you think I am a heretic or that I do not take a high view of Scripture let me explain what I mean. The pre-tribulation return of Jesus Christ may be true but the Scriptures do not give us that information. Much of the information about the return of Jesus Christ deals with the certainty of that return not the time.
The reason I cannot be dogmatic about the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture is that it seems to come from a fear of going through the tribulation as to our willingness to suffer for the Gospel. I read Hebrews 11 and I realize that these people would have loved to have avoided the tribulation they went through but they died not having obtained the promise.
Now I may be wrong and I hope I am but this is not a doctrine to die for. Let us pray that we will avoid tribulation but we know that those who believe in the Gospel will suffer for Christ's sake.