"..and it's been a while..."

Indeed it has -- four months by my count.  Whereas I was at one time blogging every couple of weeks (and at least once a month), it's been four months.  Two recent life events have led to this reality: First, I've begun seminary work towards a Masters in Theological Studies.  While I only am taking nine hours this Winter quarter, I took twelve in the Fall, which involved reading thousands of pages, and writing many.  It has been grueling thus far (as all Masters work is), but well worth it.  I have outstanding professors and have made friends with countless godly men and women (well, not countless -- it's a small seminary).  Secondly, the last couple of months I've undergone a difficult ministry transition.  I've left one church and moved on to another in the same city, which has involved the severing of some relationships and the magnifying of some others.  This is the kind of stuff Bible college (or seminary for that matter) can't train one for.  It can only be experienced with fear and trembling, prayerfully aiming to take every thought captive for obedience to Christ. 

Trials Promised

Certainly the Scripture teaches that all of those in Christ Jesus will experience trials.  One could argue that the Bible's two favorite topics are the holiness of God and the trials of those walking in His light by His Word.  "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19); "through many trials we must enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22); "(we are) heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17). 

Often the greatest struggle of our trials is our inability to organize/file the circumstances and our emotions rightly.  For example, "how this situation went down, was that person wrong or was I...or both?", or "is my anger justified, or is it self-pity?"  It's hard to know whether we're thinking rightly, dealing rightly, etc.  Anyone who has been through difficult trials of any kind knows this struggle well.  This is an important step in trials because often, even if we've been wronged, we ourselves do need to change.  This is truly what separates the men from the boys when it comes to Christian faith (or the girls from the women) -- the willingness to face our need for repentance.  This is why afflictions are many for the righteous, and trials for those entering the Kingdom as fellow heirs with Christ.

And yet, while the Psalm 34 passage above promises many afflictions to the righteous, the rest of the verse reads, "..but the Lord delivers them out of them all".  There is no room, during Christian trials, for fear that "this" will never end.  It will, because the same verse that promises what you're experiencing now (the trial), also promises deliverance.  Our God is faithful, strong, powerful, wise, and with us.  Jesus' blood was not shed in vain or without a purpose.  It was shed so that death would be defeated, and that the sinful tendencies in us that, in the midst of trial, would easily hamstring us away from Christ, would be made impotent.  The sin is always there, the flesh making war on the Spirit.  But for those who walk by the Spirit (which begins with receiving Christ crucified with faith -- Galatians 3:1-3) the battle is already won, because the grave is empty and Jesus is alive!  So all things work for good for us who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  Of course this sounds foolish to the world, but it is the wisdom of God which makes foolish the so-called wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 1:18-24). 

Blessing From Trials Promised

That being said, recent trials have brought me into a sweeter fellowship with my Lord.  I'm under no illusion that you reading find the discipline of prayer and meditation any easier than I do.  I'm not talking about praying throughout the day as you're going from here to there (which every Christian does).  I'm talking about getting into your prayer closet, closing the door, and spending time fixing your eyes on your Father, as our Lord commanded (Matthew 6:6-8).  The promise in the passage is a great reward from God, as it has always been promised in the Scripture to those who humble themselves and approach their Father with reverence and awe (2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 1, 18:27; Isaiah 66:2).  I've always struggled with prayer and meditation, and I'm sure you have as well.  But recent months has driven me to the Word and prayer, and the Lord has met me.  It isn't that I've recently received a greater power than before or that I'm happier.  It's that Christ has been seen clearer and this has brought greater joy.  When you see clearer Him who made an end of all your sin and death, you rejoice to even suffer the loss of all things for His sake, if only fellowship with Him and His Father is attainable. 

Prayer has a way of doing this.  I'm convinced that my prayers don't change Gods mind any more than a mothers mind changes when her son asks her to make a certain dish for dinner, and she says "yes", already having planned to, sensitive to his wants and needs.  God hears my prayers when they're according to His will (1 John 5:14), and if His will is primarily my holiness and thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:18), then something must happen for me to have these as my primary requests.  Since the carnal mind naturally isn't thankful (Romans 1:20-23) or desirous of holiness (Romans 8:7-8), how can I be?  God must give repentance to my heart, and what other way does He, but through the humbling of my heart in circumstantial trials, which drives me to prayer and Bible study, focusing my attention on what He wants and desires?  My prayers don't change Gods mind, but when prayer focuses me on His mind, it changes me. 

 Gods Greater Story

The last several months have me preaching through Genesis.  Genesis is really an incredible book, because every core doctrine in the Bible finds its beginning there, and practical application for every Biblical command is witnessed in the lives of Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  Whether the command to trust God's Word, follow His call, or keep His ordinances, Genesis has it.  Whether the point of the story is Gods transcendent holiness, Gods love for His chosen people, or His sovereign power to turn peoples' hearts wherever He wants to, it's there. 

But you will only appreciate Genesis if you want your story to be a part of Gods greater, more important story. 

The natural mind takes his or her self too seriously, because "you only live once".  Since YOLO we are responsible to make every moment, every decision, every conversation, every action, count.  So nothing could be important than making right choices, experiencing all we can, and leaving a legacy.  But what kind of pressure does this create?  Too much.  And you will go one of two ways -- either you'll self-righteously think you've succeeded, and your heart will harden into pridefully thinking you're god (which makes you insensitive and unloving), or you'll feel your failure and lapse into the deep darkness of Camus' search for meaning in the midst of meaninglessness (which also makes you insensitive and unloving, and depressingly so). 

But if you receive the invitation into a greater story -- God's -- where He promises to love you, accept you, keep you, sustain you, and make all things new one day, you will get meaning, purpose, and the love and sensitivity you wish everyone else had anyway.  And most importantly you'll get God and eternal life in a redeemed and glorious city (Revelation 21:1-4, 22:1-5). 

So the command is to receive Jesus' Kingdom by faith, with the promise that one day His Kingdom will receive you by grace.  For the joy set before Him (a full Kingdom) He endured the cross (suffered).  Our call in the mean is to fix our eyes on Christ until we believe, are filled with His Spirit, and find ourselves full of a joy that can't be expressed (1 Peter 1:8).  And often it takes trials to bring us to the poverty of spirit necessary to receive it by faith.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs (Jesus' Kingdom is their Kingdom) is (presently) the Kingdom of heaven".  Nothing else can give this to you.  So lets together stop our foolish pursuits thinking they will. 

Justifying Job

My personal Bible studies have landed me in the book of Job recently.  Job is a 'fan-favorite' because he famously suffered, and everyone feels that they suffer in similar ways.  Job was a "blameless and upright man" (1:1), and yet because of a wager between God and the fallen angel Satan, his family was killed, his possessions were lost, and all that was left for him was an unsupportive wife, and some friends who were as useless as they were ruthless.  I read how Jobs friends responded to Job's complaints with (an attempt) at theological correction, and when Job pushed back and they sheepishly didn't have anything further to say, I think to myself, "these guys would make excellent pastoral staff in a church today"!

Job spends much of the book (which is perhaps the earliest written book of the Bible) searching for answers regarding his plight.  He questions God and rebukes his friends when they fail to counsel him in a godly way, but all is wrapped up right before God sends a prophet in 32:1-2 with the story-teller telling us "these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes...(and) he justified himself rather than God". 

To Justify

Justified is a word that we don't typically use in Western culture today, but it is one that must be understood if you'd be a student of the Bible.  It has a couple of different meanings in Scripture (depending on context), but the most oft-used meaning is "to declare right".  It's a statement of judgment, where one is judged to be in the right--when a judge is presiding over a case, all the evidence is laid out before him, he hears the witnesses and arguments, and then he will execute justice based on what he declares to be right.  He will either justify the defendant or the plaintiff as in the right.  It's a declaration, and a sentence based on the declaration.

Job justified himself, and not God.  He considered himself to be in the right, and God to be in the wrong.  For how many of us is this the case with our suffering or hardships!  (Apparently this has been mans' battle for a long time).  Even after his friends' counsel, they found their selves at a loss because Job just wasn't having any counsel from them.  After all, Job was "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" (1:1), right?  But we have to remember that God often makes judgment calls in Scripture based on the generation of the person he's talking about. For example, Noah was "a righteous man, blameless in his generation" (Genesis6:9), but later he proved to be a drunk in 9:20.  He was good compared to everyone else, but compared to a holy God, the judgment would be pronounced a little different. 
I believe Job to be similar to his judgment of Noah for two reasons:
        a) although he had a solid theology at the first part of the suffering (see 1:21 and 2:10), as the suffering continued he found himself questioning God, justifying himself and not God, and "multiplying words without knowledge" (35:16) to the point that at God's rebuke, he repents for having "uttered what I did not understand" (42:3), despising himself and repenting in dust and ashes (42:6).  When the heat got hotter, he was just as weak as the next person.  And later he repented, despising himself.  Sounds like he was convicted because he had a lot to be convicted of!  And...
        b) 22:6-9 and 34:7-9 show ways in which Job was involved in ungodly activity even before the suffering and testing came on him: he took part in unfair deals towards weaker people, was no help to the poor and needy, scoffs at the things of God, etc.
Again, how much is this like many of us!  We like to think we're pretty righteous, but if we were laid on a just balance, we'd be found wanting in many areas of our lives.  We put up blinders to our own sin so that we can't see how we're wrong, though we're experts in how others...especially God...are wrong. 

Justifying Self vs. Justifying God

After Job is done singing the blues and his friends sissy out, a young man by the name of Elihu shows up, and he's a prophet sent by God before God himself shows up (Elihu is kind of like John the Baptizer, preparing the way).  Elihu arrives furious at Job's fickle faith and the friends' Jello backbones, and his mission ("I'm full of words...my belly is like wineskins with no vent...ready to burst--33:18-19) is very similar to the prophet Jeremiah, for whom the Word of God had become like "a fire in my bones...I'm weary of holding it in, and I can not" (Jeremiah20:9).  He proceeds to preach hard truth about the sovereignty of God and His eternal purpose in a not so gentle way, which is often what's needed when men are too busy feeling sorry for themselves to listen to truth. 

In the midst of this, Elihu tells Job, "I desire to justify you" (33:32), which is remarkable to me, because Job's problem is that he's been justifying himself!  Why does Elihu say this?  Because in getting a correct view of God, we will see ourselves correctly in the light of His Lordship and purpose.  When God is justified, Job will be justified; but if Job is defending himself, he'll get neither.  This could be helpful for you--if you'd stop defending yourself to God, and come up underneath His grace and mercy in Christ, you'd find that you have Him as your defense (and no one can speak a word against Him).  But as long as you keep fighting God, it's going to be a constant war that never ends. 

In Luke 10:29, after Jesus has been teaching of the need to love your neighbor, a man "desiring to justify himself" asks Jesus, "who is my neighbor?"  Do you see why he's saying this?  It's because he hasn't loved and doesn't want to, and so the easiest way to wiggle off the conviction hook is to throw your arms in the air and say "I don't know who my neighbor is, so I don't have to!"  That's self-justification.  Jesus later tells the Pharisees, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your heart" (16:15).  Since no one else can see your heart, you can make excuses and get by with it, and most of us do (we're such liars!).  Man's heart is deceitful above all things...but God searches the heart! (Jeremiah 17:9-10).  Job is in a similar boat, making excuses before his friends, and they believe him, because they can't see his heart.  But Elihu is sent to prepare the way for God--as a prophet, God has put His words in his mouth, and God sees Job's heart clearly. 

When talking about what true justification (being really justified before God) looks like, Luke gives us two pillar truths:
      a) You being justified comes from humbling yourself and crying out for mercy (18:13-14), which is to assume that God owes you nothing but even with your suffering has richly blessed you with life, provision, loved ones, food, etc. (even if you are rebelling in your faith right now); Jesus says that if you humble yourself and cry out for mercy from the Living God, you will be counted right in God's eyes right on the spot.
      b) Accepting the purpose of God is to "declare God just" (7:29-30--"when the people heard this, they declared God just...but the Pharisees and tax-collectors rejected the purpose of God). Job justified himself, and not God, when God is perfectly just in all He does.  To declare Him just is to accept His purpose without needing every answer.

Elihu tells Job in 33:19-30 that God gives hard times as a way to  to shake us up and awaken us out of our comfortable slumber where we are lord of our own lives while God the genie is kept in his bottle on our table (ie, a dusty Bible).  "God does these things twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted from the light of life" (33:29-30).

Do you think this was cold comfort for Job?  Do you think it's cold comfort, period?  Maybe it is.  But maybe it's the truth.  Maybe when the testing comes and that which is good is taken from us, our doubt and anger arises from our forgetting that the good He took from us was all a gift in the first place anyway!  Job lost not only properties, livestock, etc...but he also lost family members (2:18-19).  And yet, it's true.  Our problem is often that important things become ultimate things in our hearts, while God (the most important) remains trapped in his genie bottle.  His will is our having a correct view of Him so we can have a correct view of all else, and so that's why He tests us and tries our faith to bring us to that point.  But until that realization, we'll continually reject God's good purposes and struggle with whether or not He loves us.

All Things For Good

Paul famously writes in Romans 8:28 that all things work for good for those love God, who are called according to His purpose.  All things.  For good.  Do you believe that?  Maybe the problem with Job was that he loved God, given certain circumstances.  His theology weakened as the story-arc travels down.  The real tragedy in the Job storyline isn't the loss of his stuff, but the loss of his faith and the rise of his self-righteous rejection of Gods purpose.  Are you in the same boat?

Elihu's point in chapter 33 is that there is a purpose in this.  And you know what this is.  Maybe you're going through this.  But remember, if you love Him and if you are connected to the Father through the Mediation of His Son alone, even this is working for your good!  Surely Joseph struggled with believing this when his brothers sold him to slavery and he was naked and alone.  But later it was clear that God was at work.  The secret is not listening to your heart, but remembering His.  His heart is to minister to you and make you godly.  Often it hurts, but it is meant to be effective, and there will be a harvest of righteousness for those who endure. 

A similar experience happened in Paul's life.  After experiencing incredible affliction and discomfort in a ministry experience among haters, Paul can say, "We felt that we had received the sentence of death.  But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead" (2Corinthians1:9).  Hindsight is 20/20, but remember that one day this will be hindsight!  So cling to Christ and stand fast through faith.  God will not let fall by the wayside that which He began.  It was for the joy set before Him that Christ endured the cross for us...so you endure through this, knowing there is joy on the other side.  And the key is to continually declare God just, remembering His perfect purpose.  Like Abraham, don't waver in faith, but give God the glory, and you'll grow stronger in faith, "fully convinced He's able to accomplish that which He promises" (Romans4:20-21). 

You may doubt, question, shake your fists at God, etc.  But the grace of God is that because you are called according to His purpose, He will send His Spirit of Truth to bring you under conviction by remembering His purpose.  Job is a perfect example of this.  Even though his faith was tried and found wanting, the grace of God overflowed for him with truth.  God told Satan, "Job will endure", and then He sent the grace and truth necessary for him to endure.  Christian, you will endure, because His grace is never in vain.

Good Books, part 3

Well now is the time for the last post in my "good books" series.  Today I'll be showing my list of recommended reading regarding both Marriage and Ministry.  There is no shortage of either Christian marriage or Church ministry books, so these will be shorter lists (as it's difficult to narrow down to just a few).
 
When I say "marriage" what I don't mean is that which is discussed continuously today as a moral and political conversation (ie, what is marriage?).  What I do mean is books on how married couples can build a God-honoring and Christ-exalting marriage from day one, on the principals their Creator designed for them to flourish.

Marriage

-John Piper's This Momentary Marriage--this book is simply the best I've read on the Christian view of marriage.  Anyone who's read Piper knows that his pages are saturated with Scripture, not in a forced way, but in a way that shows he only sees the world through the lens of the Bible.  The best books are those where the writer writes on a topic with the intent of simply showing what God's Word says about it.  The title suggests Piper's main point throughout: marriage is intended to be a temporary covenant to be enjoyed while preparing us for the final Marriage of Christ with His Church.  Being a Reformed Baptist, Piper has many opponents, but I would encourage everyone to give this title a try.  I use it for premarital counseling.  It's short and accessible.  Each chapter begins with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which is always a treat). 
-Tim and Kathy Keller's The Meaning of Marriage--a little larger in size than Piper's, the Manhattan pastor and his wife wrote this together to provide the theology (the Biblical definition) behind a healthy marriage.  I don't own this title, but I've read much of it at bookstores and recommend it anyway.  Keller is known for writing in an engaging way that communicates deep truths to the post-modern mind that not used to going deep.
-Les and Leslie Parrott's Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts--this was the book I read in my pre-marital counseling.  I liked it because the book is written answering 7 important questions that every marriage "candidate" should ask themselves before tying the knot.  The questions are pointed at the individual before the married couple (ie, relating to the marriage myths, communication, commitment, etc.).
-Eric Mason's Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole--I know this seems like an odd choice, but it actually was an obvious one for me.  Most often the problem with marriage is men having lost a sense of what it means to be a man as God defines it (if they ever had it begin).  Surely marriage is between two sinners in need of grace, but we all know us men need more of it a) because we're stupid, and b) because we're called to rise up, lead, and represent God as husbands/fathers.  Mason (in this his first book) deals very well with the Bible's definition of manhood, and Manhood will help any marriage almost as much as any marriage book.
                    -(for other helpful "manhood" titles, see also John Eldredge's Wild at Heart, Stephen Arterburn's Every Mans Battle series, Darrin Patrick's The Dude's Guide to Manhood, and Piper and Wayne Grudem's Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.)

Ministry

-Mark Dever's 9 Marks of a Healthy Church--this book changed my whole thought-process regarding what Christian ministry is.  The title itself almost turned me away (as it sounded cliche and sales-driven), but through wise counsel from a good friend, I started reading, and my whole paradigm was shattered, with a new one set in its place.  Dever (rightly) assumes that one's theology drives their ministry, and so one must have a proper understanding of God, man, sin, Christ, the Church, the Kingdom, repentance, etc. in order to be a minister of the Gospel.  This is why "Mark 1" is "Expository Preaching"--the preaching of the pages of Scripture, verse-by-verse. He even says in this first chapter, "if you only read one chapter in this book, make this the one, and the rest will follow".  This is because if a church has the Bible open, not skipping over any verses (ie, ones that may be difficult to swallow), the same Word of God that created all things and calls sinners to Christ will build the Church healthy on a solid foundation.  Almost every "mark" is theological in nature (Biblical conversion, Biblical theology, Biblical eldership, Biblical Church membership, etc.).  Like Piper, as a Reformed Baptist, Dever has many opponents, and he doesn't pull any punches with his theology in 9 Marks (which incidently has become the name of His inter-church organization). 
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together--as with many other readers, this book brought me an incredibly richer understanding of the communal aspect of the Church (and by that I mean the communal nature of the Church--it is communal).  This was written to crush any notion of individual stardom among Christians in community, save that which belongs to Christ.  The rest of us are to exercise mercy, truthfulness, and grace, as He does with us (and this communal commitment is often the means through which Christ gives it to us).  One could argue that this was the best book Bonhoeffer wrote.  Short and concise, I've given this book away countless times (okay, maybe like 4 times).
-Kevin Deyoung and Greg Gilbert's What is the Mission of the Church?--as the Western world continues to shift cultures, the new definitions of the Church's mission actually aren't new at all, but the dividing lines drawn by them are making it more and more difficult to discern what exactly is the Church's true mission.  Deyoung and Gilbert masterfully write to show from Scripture that the mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to Jesus' Kingdom, period.  This doesn't exclude ministries of mercy, age-focused ministries, etc., but rather this defines what the end of those endeavors should be: the Gospel and repentance into Christ.  All that the Church does is to be focused on bringing people to know Christ (or else our endeavors will only be helping people into acquiring, at best, perishable riches).
-Alexander Strauch's Biblical Eldership--the New Testament makes clear at several points that each Church body is to be led by qualified men who take it upon themselves to shepherd, oversee, and serve first.  Strauch wrote his book to define what an elder is, what ministry in the Church is, and how the first fits into the context of the second, and vice-versa.  The reason I include this in my "ministry" list is that a Church body needs to know what God's Word says about leadership, because "when there is no vision, the people cast off restraint" (Proverbs 29:18).  Many churches don't have "elders" per se, and many denominations don't adhere to that model.  While I do know that Jesus builds His Church and does bless these churches and denominations, I believe individual church eldership to be Biblical and a true mark of health without which much fruit can (and will) be missed.

Thank you for reading!  Grace and peace in Christ
Scott

Good Books, pt2

Continuing my book list from lat week, these lists are books on apologetics (reasoning for the faith), and emotional health.  Again, these are not exhaustive lists, as I don't have the time or patience to read "everything" written on a subject.  But this is a start.  I hope this is helpful for you (especially the emotional health section for those who need help in this area).

Apologetics

-Francis Schaeffer's "How Should We Then Live?"--a classic from the Presbyterian minister who founded the L'abri Institute.  Schaeffer here follows the train of philosophical reasoning from ancient times to the somewhat-present (written several decades ago, as he's now deceased).  Schaeffer masterfully shows how the Gospel meets the needs world history shows we all have.
-Schaeffer's "Escape from Reason"--this is a somewhat abridged "version" of the title above, where he follows art, politics, and philosophy from ancient times to show how it's shaped our thinking today, and how knowing Jesus corrects the error.  I read this in one night, as it's 125 short pages.
-CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity"--arguably the best apologetic of the last several hundred years.  Lewis, a former atheist, aims to communicate the Gospel to a skeptical world starting with the moral law embedded on everyone's hearts, ending with unity to the one true God through Christ.  The middle section of the book, dealing with the Christian virtues, includes some of the best reasoning for such in print.  It's worth the price of the book.
-Tim Keller's "The Reason for God"--Keller, a pastor in Manhattan, has an exceptional gift of understanding the cultural questions (calling them 'Defeater Beliefs'--ie, "why does God allow suffering?", "why are many Christians hypocrites?", "isn't Christianity a strait-jacket?"), and answering them by dealing with the question underneath the question.  For example, the question about suffering really contains an assumption that suffering is bad and shouldn't be happening--but where did this assumption come from, if not from a God who created us for joy and peace?  Buy this book.  He's an intellectual, but being a preacher, this NYT Bestseller is accessible, and I try to give a copy to most of my friends with questions.
-Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ", "The Case for a Creator", and "The Case for the Real Jesus" --Strobel is a former atheist who, having been converted through seeing the deception in much of the post-modern skeptical viewpoint,  has given his life to bringing the deception to light.  His books are full of interviews with leading apologists such as Edwin Yamauchi and William Lane Craig, and, being a journalist, he commits these conversations to writing in an accessible way.  This is why many of his books are bestsellers.  Being convinced that the Jesus conversation (his existence, the reliability of the Biblical account of Him, His bodily resurrection, etc.) is the most important conversation of all, I found "The Case for the Real Jesus" especially helpful (especially his conversation with Messianic Jew Michael Brown).

Emotional Health

--Paul Trip and Tim Lane's "How People Change"--this is an exceptional book by former pastors-turned-counselors on what happens emotionally and psychologically when a person with baggage entrusts it to Christ.  Change takes time and grace, but it happens when Jesus is Lord, and His work is received in faith.  I give this to people who are struggling emotionally.
-Ed Welch's "Depression: a Stubborn Darkness"--I read this book in my "dark night" of depression in college.  It seemed to be the only beam of light I saw during that time, as its pages were saturated with the Word of God and the hope of the Gospel.  God lifted me through it, and while I'm still a jar of clay (and will be until Christ returns or I go to sleep), Welch helped me see that Jesus' resurrection can bring me back to life.  He grew up in a home with a dad who struggled with depression and anxiety, so he has a personal sensitivity to it.
-Peter Scazzero's "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality"--I've not read all the way through this, but a student in my church has read it and found it helpful, and from the little I have read of it, I agree.  I read Scazzero' "Emotionally Healthy Church" years ago, and "Spirituality" seems to get right to the source of the emotional health just like "Church" does in the congregational context.
-Tim Keller's "Counterfeit Gods"--this book was incredibly important in my dealing with emotional problems, as Keller aims to show that much of our emotional problems have to do with idols of the heart.  The idols are the source, and we don't kill the emotional baggage until we begin killing the source.  I can't recommend this book enough.
-Psalms, 1 Peter, John's Gospel, and Romans 8--of course, the Bible is the primary Book from which to glean wisdom from God and salvation.  But these four specific books have proven to be most helpful in my times of darkness.  That's because they all hinge on defining basic reality (which is what's threatened in anxiety and worry) and communicating the promises of God (which tell us that there is something even in this that God is doing, for our good).  It's through His promises that we "put on the divine nature" (2Peter1:4) meaning that the promises, received and believed by God's grace and the Spirit's power, connect us directly to God, and, drawing on Christ's power (John15:5), we can change. Many of our emotional problems result from lies being told us and believed on, so the solution is bringing truth into the fold, and letting it speak louder than the lies.  In this, God gets the glory and we get the joy and peace.

Next week, Ministry and Marriage.

Good Books For the Christian

I've been asked several times over the last couple of months what are some of my favorite books.  I don't think it's because people respect my opinions as much as it's because people hear me preach and teach a lot and they want to know where in the world I got the kool-aid I'm drinking.  And that's cool, too.

Jesus wants us to read His Word and listen to His voice through it.  He is a Shepherd who calls us to come follow Him and learn from Him (John 10:27, Matthew 11:28).  He is alive today just like He was in Palestine 2000 years ago.  The differences are that a final sacrifice for sin has been made, He's fulfilled the Scriptural promises made about Him, and now He's risen, ruling, and reigning, seated in Heaven at God's right hand advocating for His people (Hebrews 1:4, 1 John 2:1-2), sure to return one day like He came the first time.  So the call is still the same as back then: "Follow me".  This is why Paul many times spoke of "the obedience of faith" (Romans 1:6, 6:17, 16:26): to believe in the Gospel (as Jesus commanded) is to obey Christ.  And obedience to Christ brings about new and eternal life (see John 3:36, Hebrews 5:9).
To bring this about, He has sent men and women with the message of "good news".  Just like God serves us in His creation from behind the veil of His creation, He calls us to himself through His Gospel preached by those who know and love Him. "For this I was made a preacher and apostle" Paul said (1 Timothy 2:7), and so "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Isaiah 52:7).  In this vein, Jesus has given "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12).  It's His will that people write books and articles, preach sermons, and speak about Jesus in conversation. 

Every book's truth claims should always be tested against the Scripture's truth claims.  If someone's writing something contrary to what the Holy Spirit wrote, don't buy it.  But a real Christian book is one that takes truth from Scripture and unpacks it in an accessible way, pointing the reader to the real good Book. There is no substitute for learning the Word of God directly from the source.  And with that in mind, it is good to get help, because God's blessed us with much of it.

I grew up hating to read.  I'd pick the books to read for school that had movies so I could watch the movies and avoid the book.  I'm a natural cheat.  But in Christ I'm being made new, and books have been a major part of that.  I didn't like to read in college either (yeah, in Bible college).  But as I've been in ministry, it's forced me to read more.  Often we come across books that help shape us when we're least expecting it, because we don't really think we need shaped.  Then we read something that forces us to think, and we're never the same.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but one that hopefully helps you as it's helped me too. I'm going to have two categories below, and then later this week I'll post two more, and then after that two more.  Most of these can be found at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other book distributor (and many for cheaper than retail).

Understanding the Bible and the God of the Bible

-JI Packers "Knowing God"--this book is a biblical study on God's nature and character.  It changed my life, and is considered to be a modern classic.  Roughly 300 pages, it's well written, and accessible, regardless of your reading level or theological foundation.
-AW Tozers "The Knowledge of the Holy"--Tozer was a pastor in Chicago in the early-mid 20th century.  He wrote short books (roughly 100-150 pages), and they are incredibly deep.  This book unpacks God's attributes and character in a way I've hardly read anywhere.  Clear, Biblical, and deep.
-Arthur Pinks "The Attributes of God"--Pink is polarizing: a Calvinist largely hated by non-Calvinists (which is ironic), but largely treasured by Calvinists.  His book is similar to Tozer's in length, but is written more from a theologian's perspective.  Some will have a hard time agreeing with him on every attribute, but one can't argue that he lifts his conclusions straight from the pages of the Bible in a way that makes sense.
-JI Packers "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God"--this little book is a classic and must-read for anyone serious about understanding the Bible and doing ministry.  If one reads the Bible, they see two undeniable truths that appear contradictory: God loves us and wants us to know Him, and God is the One who saves the lost sinner by sovereign grace.  Instead of "picking a side" with this conundrum (as most do), Packer masterfully shows how these two truths are not contradictory but rather complimentary.
-Wayne Grudems "Systematic Theology"--Systematic theologies are typically extremely long treatises written to deal with one particular subject at a time, building on itself  to create one massive system of thought about the Bible.  These books are often 600-1000 pages long.  Grudem is a Reformed (Calvinistic) Charismatic who (while you won't agree with all his conclusions) masterfully unpacks the Scriptures in an easy-to-read, accessible way.  I think it's the best systematic theology there is.
-RC Sprouls "the Holiness of God"--this book changed my life as well.  Sproul is a master communicator, and this book shows the holy and righteous character of the God of the Bible.  An incredible read (and rather short, too).
-John Macarthurs "The Gospel According to Jesus"--Macarthur shoots straight.  He is polarizing.  But I've found his teaching on the Bible and Jesus' Gospel to be invaluable.  He has an entire New Testament commentary set that is unparalleled in recent church history, and this book will help you make sense of the differences in Jesus' tone between the four Gospels (ie, why do the parables sound so different than Jesus' teaching in John's Gospel?). 
-Jonathan Edwards' "The End For Which God Created the World"--Edwards lived in the 1700s and this is a difficult read.  But a good friend gave it to me once, and the second half of it (of two) was worth reading through what is a difficult first part.  In the first part Edwards masterfully answers philosophically what is possible the most important question we could ask, "Why?", and in the second, he masterfully answers the same question from Scripture, using thousands of citations.
-Jameison, Fauset, and Brown Commentary Critical, Experimental, and Practical--this is an old commentary from the 1800s written by (I think) 3 men with different ministry credentials.  It is out of print and hard to come by, but if you ever do, it's worth whatever you have to spend to get it for its historical analysis and exegetical notes alone.
-Mark Driscolls "A Book You'll Actually Read On the Old Testament" and "...On the New Testament"--these less-than-100-page booklets are excellent for the person with questions regarding whether or not we can trust the Bible.  Driscoll speaks clearly and helpfully on why we can.

Discipleship

-Dietrich Bonhoeffers "The Cost of Discipleship"--Bonhoeffer needs no introduction, but this book does. His concept of "cheap grace vs. costly grace" has indebted many a reader.  I honestly don't think I ever understood what it meant to follow Jesus as a disciple in a non-Christian world until I read this book.  If read carefully, this is a paradigm-shattering read, and you'll find yourself with a cross on your back at the end.
-Richard Fosters "Celebration of Discipline"--a modern classic on the discipline it takes to walk with Jesus, faithful to the Scripture.  While the yoke is easy walking with Jesus (because He bears it with you), the road is hard (because it's difficult in this world).  One must understand the call from the outset, and be ready to change.
-AW Tozers "The Pursuit of God"--considered by many to be one of the top 10 Christian books of the 20th century, this book calls Christians to follow Jesus with reckless abandon.  Tozer is forthright, honest, and clear about the call to discipleship.  It's short, too (only about 120 small pages).
-Shane Claibornes "Irresistible Revolution"--I read this little book in college, and it forced me to think about how fake my discipleship was.  I wasn't really trying to follow Jesus, and I wasn't really trying to serve and love others.  Claiborne challenged me when I needed it.  While I don't agree with him on many theological fronts, I did appreciate this books radical call to obedience.
-Donald Millers "Blue Like Jazz"--this is another book I read a long time ago.  Miller isn't necessarily orthodox in his theological views (from what I can tell), but he's an incredible writer, loves Jesus, and is honest about his feelings and thoughts.  While today I would recommend something from the first list before I would this title, this is still one that I'd endorse as being accessible, clear, and inviting to a non-believer.

Coming next week, Apologetics (reasoning for the faith) and Emotional Health.

When Old You Becomes New You's

"You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God...and this word is the good news that was preached to you"  
1 Peter 1:23,25

Peter knew something about revival and rebirth--he certainly didn't know the mechanics of how God makes a person new by the hearing of Jesus' Gospel (it is sovereign and mysterious).  But he had witnessed the fruit of it countless times by the time he wrote this letter which would eventually be accepted as divinely-inspired revelation from God.

It was him preaching the first Christian sermon where 3000 people made decisions for Jesus.  Of course, we don't know if all 3000 of those who received his sermon and were baptized really did continue on in the faith, but we know that Jesus began a revival from that point forward.  Jesus' Name became famous, and Peter was the main speaker for it.  It was he who repeatedly defended his miraculous healing of the lame beggar saying it was Jesus' Name and Jesus' power that did it.  It was he who spoke truth to the liars Ananias and Sapphira, after which they dropped dead for lying to the life-giving and life-sustaining God the Holy Spirit.  It was he who took the Gospel message to non-Jews, telling them that Jesus will judge them all, but that He died for them so that faith in Him would assure their forgiveness--and many more people came to faith.  And it was he who stood over the council of Jerusalem and said that God cleanses mens' hearts by faith, and that that faith is faith in being saved "through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 15:9,11).  Surely Peter knows a little something about the power of God's Word to make a person into a new person.  But what does it look like practically?

Searching Leads to Finding

If you've ever been bored with your usual music playlist, you know how refreshing it is to come upon a new artist or band that meets the need and fills the void.  Any fan of music knows what I mean.  You've been missing something, you've felt the miss, and some new sound has met you where you are to give you a jolt of energy. 
While this is a poor illustration, it certainly has parallels to what happens when one is born again.  They've been either empty, broken, or at the very least missing.  Perhaps they've been questioning God, or man, or both.  They've struggled with the important questions (ie, why are we here?, where does right and wrong come from?, did the cosmos just happen or was it created?, why is the Gospel so good but the people who believe it such hypocrites?), and they've not found sufficient answers.

At this very point, which seems dark and fearful, Jesus' words from 2000 years ago--"Come all you are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)--comes to them in a personal and powerful way.  To their joy, they realize that while they were slipping out of darkness's grip, it was because Jesus was pulling them into His.  The Father was teaching them and drawing them to Him so that they could have new life in His Name (John 6:44-45, 63), and just like all along He had been serving them rain, sunshine, and food from behind the veil of His creation (Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17, 17:25), He has now served them through the life-giving truth of His Word.

The Map

Sometimes it happens through solid preaching from a pastor, sometimes through reading authors such as CS Lewis or John Piper, and sometimes through simple Bible reading.  But it always coincides with Jesus' Words being on a collision course with the hard questions, and it always leads to a radical change in perspective whereby one who was skeptical of "God said" is now saying, "yes he did, and I can't help but believe it".

This is what Peter means when he says you were born "not of imperishable seed..." (ie, human cunning, wisdom, decision, etc.), but of "imperishable" (the grace and kindness of a loving God, who has a Father's heart and wills that all would be saved through His powerful Word).  God can't die and God can't lie, and so He continues on eternally, giving a never-ending salvation to those who draw near to Him through His Son (Hebrews 5:9, 7:24-25). 

Home

In a culture marked by opinions flying through the air like bullets in a militia battle (most missing their intended targets), everyone is looking for truth.  And truth exists.  And truth doesn't change.  But most would rather run from the God who created them, even after He pursued them. 
This is why the Word has to be powerful enough to overcome their rebellion.  And while there is certainly never a "forcing", there is certainly a transformation that can't be explained in human terms.  One awakes and sees that the One they ran from in hopes of finding truth had the truth all along, and they ran because they were unsatisfied by it.  Now they are satisfied.  And it's sweet, and it's joyful, and it answers the big questions while leaving the little ones "to be continued...".  But it's also line-drawing, and so "freedom" has new boundaries.  But these boundaries are even good, because the "freedom" the person had before wasn't really freedom after all--it was rebellion.  And one can rebel and rebel and rebel, but eventually one must land and call it "home".  And having landed in Jesus' truth, out of darkness and into light, one finds that they have turned from "one" into "two"--their self, and the life of Jesus in them.

And this is why Paul writes, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).  Paul believed that Jesus really did die for him, and really did put His life inside of him.  Paul certainly isn't Jesus (nor is anyone but Jesus), but Paul is "in Jesus" (3:28), and this unity has made him new, as it has for anyone who has "put on the imperishable" (1 Corinthians 15:54).

This new home is temporary, but it contains in it the reminder that an eternal one is coming.  One where truth will be fully unveiled to every eye, where justice will be fully carried out by He who alone can carry it out, and where there will be no more longing because all that can be had will be.  This is why Peter said earlier in His letter that the Father has "caused us to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1:3).  This is a hope that becomes the center of one's gravity.  Whereby one assumed before that hope exists to orbit around them, they now find themselves orbiting around it.  And this is the way it should have been all along. 

Kingdom, week 7: Heaven-Mindedness and True Rest

"Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven...do not be anxious about tomorrow...seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew6:20, 34, 33).

Worry Roots

Our natural tendency to worry flows from several different avenues, but its primary root is a lack of acknowledgment of the Living God.  Our minds are set on comfort, satisfaction, and happiness from worldly and natural things (money, affirmation, possessions, power, family and friends idolatry, etc.), and because none of these things are guaranteed, we find ourselves in a constant struggle against anxiety.  It always feels like we're out of oxygen and ocean waves are crashing over us.  It's not that we don't believe in God...most of us do.  It's just that we function like we're God, and our narrative is the right one.  Because of this, we never find ourselves truly at rest and peace.

I remember being a younger man (not that long ago), and struggling with excruciating depression.  It was an extremely dark time that lasted several years and it never seemed it would let up.  I remember finding solace in reading the Psalms (especially 33, 42-43, 77), because the writers were brutally honest in communicating their anxieties and frustrations with God.  The reason I connected with that so well was because I saw myself the victim and God the mean "big man upstairs" who was withholding blessing from me and not giving me what I wanted.  No affirmation, no true fellowship, not a lot of success in the things which marked my livelihood (music, sports).  When it began to sink in that it wasn't going to work out for me, the darkness set in, and it didn't seem it would ever lift.
As I studied the Scriptures and came to ask Jesus about my struggles, I began to see that the reason I was so sad and angry was because I had allowed the world/culture to define "success" and "joy" for me, and since I couldn't measure up to that narrative, I was mad at everyone, including myself and God.  Instead of seeking out what God says is best for me, I was defining that myself, and getting upset at Him for not giving it to me.  I viewed God as a genie who was there to give me my wishes.  I remember writing songs and blog posts talking about how I was "waiting on God" and trusting Him, but it wasn't true.  I was really just upset with Him and trying to impress others with how "spiritual" and "patient" I was.  I was a poser, and Jesus knew it best, even if no one else (including myself) did.

Shifting Focus

Then things began to change.  When I moved back to my home state after college, I was in a church ministry capacity to teens.  It always seemed to me that the ministry of the Church was to teach the Bible.  As I studied it to get better at my "craft" (whoa to me for thinking ministry was my. craft.), I began to be enlightened.  I began to see that my hostility towards God was because I hadn't honored him or thanked Him, and in return, He had withdrawn His restraining hands and told me, "fine, let THY will be done" (Romans1:18-24).  I the creature was under judgment for not honoring Him the Creator.  I saw that not only was this the root of my sin, but that I was enslaved to it (John8:34), and that I had as much chance at changing myself as a leopard has at changing his spots (Jeremiah13:23). 
But then I saw that Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1Tim1:15), calling lost people to forsake their self and follow Him (Luke19:10), and that if they'd stop trying to protect their self, He would start protecting them and never stop (Matthew16:24, 2Timothy2:12).  I learned that Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived, but instead of seeking glory on earth, He died for sinners to draw them back to God.  I saw myself as a sinner who needed Him, and He brought me to faith by His powerful Word (John6:44-45, 63).  I also saw that I had never truly believed this before because I was seeking glory from other people, and this hamstringed me from submitting to Him (John5:44, 1Cor2:14).
This is what happens to true disciples.  At first, their minds are set on mans' things, but then they begin to see God's things.  It's painful, and it often takes time, but it brings them to child-like faith, which is necessary, because without it, they'll never make to heaven (Matthew18:3). 
Peter rebuked Jesus for Jesus' saying He would be killed, and then Jesus told him he was being selfish (Matt16:22-23).  Then Peter denied knowing Jesus three times in Jesus' greatest hour of need (Matt26:69-75).  Then after Jesus rose, Peter was still comparing himself to others (John21:20-23). 
But Jesus loved him.  And He patiently broke down Peter's hard-heartedness.  Eventually Peter led a movement in Jesus' name for Jesus' glory...one that's still continuing today.

Resting

Once one has been taken through this rebirth process, they see Jesus not only as God who's worthy of worship, but as a friend who has loved them and always will.  They read that He has all authority (Matt28:18), that He is seated at God's right hand interceding to Holy God for them (Hebrews1:4), that He's returning one day to take them to their true home (1Cor15:22-24), and that He has promised to love them and protect them and always be with them (John10:28, Matt28:20) even through the hard stuff, because He is actually alive inside of them (Galatians2:20, Colossians3:4). 
Not only do they read these things, but they actually believe them!  He has become to them not only the King who sits upon the throne of their hearts, but the Shepherd who holds them in His arms and makes them lie down and rest.  "I'm not perfect...but I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own" (Philippians3:12). 
"We who have believed enter that rest" (Hebrews4:3), one said about disciples' present reality of the future Kingdom which will come when Christ return.  It's a Kingdom of rest, because one has been brought to see their self subject to God (not man), and Christ has given them a permanent right-standing with God.  "There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus" (Romans8:1), and "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (8:31).

There are surely moments of weakness and unbelief.  Temptation will come, and men will fail their Lord.  But He won't.  He'll convict them and bring them to repentance.  They'll grieve over their sin and confess, sure to be forgiven (1John1:9).
There's no greater way for a leader to gain the allegiance of those in his charge than to make them know he loves them and will go to the end of himself for them.  Jesus is the King of God's eternal Kingdom, and He has gained His peoples' allegiance by having born their sins and sorrows on the execution stake, and risen again to tell them about it.  They live in the world, but their King is the One who has always been King.  And He will continue as such until He returns and makes a new world.