Needed: Friends!

The Old Testament book Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon near the end of his life. Solomon is about to pass off the scene, so he passes on words of wisdom to help others avoid the same mistakes he made.

The teaching of Ecclesiastes essentially is this: Any life not centered on God is a waste. Without God, wisdom is a waste, work is a waste, riches are a waste, pleasure is a waste. Without God, these things aren’t worth a lick! They serve no point! They are absolutely meaningless!

But that’s not all that’s meaningless. Consider what Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 4:7-12:

Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless— a miserable business!
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Here is the picture of a man who has no friend. He continues to pile up profits, but there is no one with which to share the rewards of his labor. Friendlessness makes life futile. How much better it is to have a partner and friend who can assist (v.10), warm (v.11), and protect (v.12). Three friends together form an even stronger bond (v.12).

Of course Jesus Christ is the greatest Friend of all. And the more we imitate Him, the better friends we’ll be to others. It has been said that the best vitamin for making friends is "B1."
In his book, Acts of Love, David Jeremiah shares F. W. Borham’s analogy of friendship – one of the best I’ve ever read:

The highest art in dominoes lies in matching your companion’s pieces. Is he glad? It’s a great thing to be able to rejoice with those who rejoice. Is he sad? It’s a great thing to be able to weep with those who weep. It means, of course, that if you answer the challenge every time, it won’t be long before your dominoes are gone. But it is worth remembering that victory in dominoes does not lie in accumulation, but in exhaustion. The player who is left with empty hands wins everything.

As a pastor, I am truly thankful for those in our church who truly befriend others with the love of Christ. There is no way I could possibly meet the spiritual, emotional, and relational needs of everyone in our congregation. But I know men and women who, often behind the scenes, write that encouraging note ... make that extra meal ... run that helpful errand ... give that needed hug ... offer that needed prayer.

This is what the body of Christ is all about. As Bill and Gloria Gaither exclaimed, "I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God!"

The Blessing of Being Forgiven

Today's blog comes in response to a conversation I had with one Christian brother following this past Sunday's sermon on sexual purity.(To see the manuscript, go to http://www.fbcweymouth.org/images/10000/1000/383/user/PleaForPurity2.pdf. It does not include a few of the anecdotes I included in the audio version of the sermon, but it gives the gist of the sermon.) This brother shared with me that some believers might be overcome with guilt in relation to sexual sin -- that even though they've repented of it, they fall back into it, or at least emotionally they can't seem to "forgive themselves."

I understand this dilemma and realize that many believers have struggled with it. At the Sunday night prayer meeting, I told those who were gathered that nowhere in Scripture do we find any command to forgive ourselves. God forgives sinners, and we forgive others, but there is no verse that talks about us forgiving ourselves. My guess is that the real issue for people who are truly repentant is that they have failed to grasp the awesome wonder of God's forgiveness. For such folks I offer three points of encouragement regarding forgiveness, each point being taken from the second half of 1 John 1:7: "The blood of Jesus Christ [God's] Son cleanses us from all sin."

1. The Cost of Our Forgiveness

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." Our sin cost the Son of God His very life, for "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The sacrifice had to be without spot and without blemish; therefore Jesus is the only One who qualified (see Hebrews 10:1-4, 11-14). Like the old hymn says:
What can wash away my sin? – Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again? – Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know – Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

2. The Continuance of Our Forgiveness

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." The text does not say "did cleanse" or "shall cleanse," but "cleanses." The forgiveness we have in Christ isn’t a past experience or future hope; it is a present reality, a privilege that is ours today; a joy that is ours this very hour! The moment a sinner trusts in Jesus, he is fully forgiven. Daily sins need to be confessed for the sake of our fellowship with Christ, but not our abiding relationship with Him. Why is this? Because our forgiveness rests on His work, not ours ... His righteousness, not ours ... His grace, not our goodness. This leads us to a third and final point to consider:

3. The Completeness of Our Forgiveness

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." The great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said: "The blood of Jesus Christ is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgressions of blaspheming Peter as for the shortcomings of loving John; our iniquity is gone at once, and all gone forever. Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon. . . ." – While I was praying through this text (1 John 1:7), I heard on my CD the tune to the words:
My sin--O the bliss of this glorious thought--my sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bare it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
If you have truly repented of any known sin and are still experiencing guilt, give it to God. Remind yourself from Scripture that His grace is greater than your sin. (We must never minimize our sin or the depth of our depravity. Rather, we should acknowledge and rejoice over the wonder of God's love and grace.) Trust the unchanging facts of God's Word over your own ever-shifting feelings.

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity." -- Psalm 32:2

Yearning for Genuine Spirituality

In John 4:24, Jesus said that the Father is seeking true worshipers, those who worship Him "in spirit and truth." Finding Christians and churches that incorporate both elements into their worship experience is becoming an increasingly greater challenge. It seems that people have a "zeal but not according to knowledge," or they have full heads with cold, unfeeling hearts. Yet God wants us to love Him with all our soul and with all our mind (not to mention with all our heart and strength) -- i.e., the totality of our being!
Joel Beeke has written an excellent article on the essence of true "experiential Christianity." It bears the title that appears at the top of this blog posting, and I print the article here for your consideration and edification. . . .

Spirituality is a subject much on the minds of people today. With its prevailing secularism and materialism, modern culture has failed to satisfy its consumers. Many are coming to realize the truth of what Moses said to the children of Israel, “Man doth not live by bread only” (Deut. 8:3). With Christ in His Sermon on the Mount, they ask, “Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?” (Matt. 6:25). The result is a new interest in discovering and nurturing the inward, spiritual dimensions of human life.

The cultivation of a spiritual life has been addressed in different ways by different Christian traditions. Roman Catholicism has offered a spirituality of ritualism and sacramental administration, and, alternatively, the disciplines of monastic life and the pursuits of mysticism. The Wesleyan Methodist tradition, the Holiness movement, and, more recently, Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement have offered a spirituality with less ceremonial or intellectual content and a great deal more emotion and subjectivism.

The problem with much spirituality today is that it is not closely moored in Scripture and too often degenerates into unbiblical mysticism. In contrast, Reformed Christianity has followed a path of its own, largely determined by its concern to test all things by Scripture and to develop a spiritual life shaped by its teachings and directives, which, in turn, is buttressed by biblical doctrinal standards. Reformed spirituality is the outworking of the conviction that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). In dependence on the Holy Spirit, it aims to achieve what John Murray called “intelligent piety,” wedding scriptural-doctrinal knowledge and heartfelt piety. Of the preachers, scholars, and writers who fostered this kind of biblical spirituality, none have excelled the English Puritans and their contemporaries in Scotland and the Netherlands. Their legacy excels in basing all spirituality, experience, and affections on the Bible and supporting confessional standards.

The dual emphasis of nurturing both the mind and the heart is sorely needed today. On the one hand, we confront the problem of dry Reformed orthodoxy, which has correct doctrinal teaching but lacks vibrant, godly living. The result is that people bow before the doctrine of God without a vital, spiritual union with the God of doctrine. On the other hand, Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity offers emotionalism in protest against a formal, lifeless Christianity, but it is not rooted solidly in Scripture. The result is that people bow before human feeling rather than before the Triune God.

The best of Reformed spirituality emphasizes the experimental side of faith. Because experimental faith has to do with the actual process of conversion, it is a great help both to understanding the process itself and in determining just where an individual person may be in that process. It also helps put more emphasis on the fact that conversion involves a daily encounter with God through His Word and providence and is not limited to a one-time experience. Experimental faith helps explain, in terms of biblical truth, how matters do go (Rom. 7:14-25) and how they ought to go (Rom. 8) in the Christian life. Such faith applies to all the experience of the believer – as an individual and in all of his relationships in the family, church, and the world (Col. 2:6-7).

By publishing and distributing Puritan and Reformed writings that consider the experiential side of Christianity, we hope that a vibrant Reformed spirituality will make greater progress among the people of God.

P.S. You can check out the publications referred to by Beeke at www.heritagebooks.org.

Imagine the Pain

Last month, five young Muslim Turks entered a Christian publishing office in Malatya, the southeastern province of Turkey, and murdered three Protestant Christians, who were found tied hand and foot to chairs. Their throats had been cut and their bodies marred by multiple stab wounds.

One of the victims was a 36-year-old man named Necati Aydin, a Turkish convert from Islam. He left behind his wife Shemza and their two children -- a son and a daughter, ages 3 and 7 respectively.

When Shemza was asked during an interview, "What do you most remember about your husband?" she responded, "What I most remember is that he was full of love and he was a holy person. He loved us so much and made us happy. He was a close friend of my spirit, body, and soul. It’s torture for me to live without him. There are times that I miss him most. For example, yesterday my son Elisha fell down and hit his head. He began to cry. In that moment, I pictured what Necati must have suffered. Because I saw his body twice after he died, I know they beat him badly on his head. When Elisha cried I imagined Necati’s pain too.” (Resource: FoxNews.com)

Consider again the words of this widow: "I pictured what Necati must have suffered.... When Elisha cried I imagined Necati's pain too." How many times do we imagine the pain that Christ endured for us when we see a Christian brother or sister endure some affliction for following Jesus? In reference to his own suffering, the apostle Paul spoke of filling up in his flesh what was "lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col. 1:24). The author of Hebrews exhorts us to "go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13:13).

What amazes me is how Christ Himself identifies with the suffering of His people. Remember when Jesus appeared to Saul (before he became Paul) on the road to Damascus and said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Saul had been persecuting the church, but by doing so he was persecuting Christ Himself, because Jesus identifies with the pain of His people.

Do we, in turn, identify with the suffering of our Lord? When we encounter pain or see a fellow Christian endure some form of suffering, do we imagine the pain our Bridegroom endured for us even as Shemza imagined the pain her husband endured for Christ?

Alas! and did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee, -- 'Tis all that I can do.

Farewell to Falwell

Yesterday one of the most prominent figures in evangelicalism -- Dr. Jerry Falwell -- went home to be with his Lord. Here is the official announcement that was posted on his ministry website www.falwell.com:

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, Founder and Chancellor of Liberty University and Founder and Pastor of the historic Thomas Road Baptist Church, died May 15, 2007. He was 73.
Rev. Falwell was found unconscious in his office around 11:30 a.m. by members of his staff and received immediate resuscitation efforts there, again in the ambulance and at Lynchburg General Hospital. He was officially pronounced dead at 12:40 p.m.
Rev. Falwell’s family, including his wife Macel and sons Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, were with him at the hospital at the time of his death.
Ministry officials called a special 2:00 p.m. meeting in the Thomas Road Baptist Church auditorium and on less than an hour's notice over 6,000 faculty, staff, students and church members attended the announcement of the passing of their Pastor and Chancellor.
Rev. Falwell established the Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956 where he pastored for over 50 years. He founded Liberty University in 1971 and oversaw its rise to prominence as the largest evangelical University in America.

I remember Vance Havner saying that we should not make someone larger in death than they were in life. Dr. Falwell was by no means perfect. Like the apostle Peter, he sometimes spoke before thinking, but that same voice was also a bold witness for Jesus Christ and did the world alot of good. Unlike many church leaders, Dr. Falwell not only started well, but he also ended well. His life and ministry were marked by integrity and intense love for the Lord and for people. This is the legacy that he has left us, and "though he is dead, he still speaks" (Heb. 11:4).

Hats off to all our hard-working moms!

Certainly every day should be one in which we "honor" our mothers (Eph. 6:2). But Mother's Day affords us the opportunity to show Mom in a special way just how much she means to us. We who have been blessed with godly mothers can think of many things about them that make us thankful. But one I'd like to focus on particularly is a mother's hard work.
A godly mother plays a very key and constructive role in the home. According to Scripture, this requires at least three things:

1. The Lord
Psalm 127:1 reminds us, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." In building her home, a godly woman relies first and foremost on the Lord's strength and not her own. Thus she ends up being a conduit of God's power to her husband and children.
Note carefully what Proverbs 14:1 says: "The wisest of women builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands." I think there are two significant things worth noting. The first is the phrase "with her hands." The verse doesn’t say she builds her house with her hands, but it does say that she "pulls it down with her hands." That’s because anything good that’s built is owing to God’s hands but whatever is pulled down is owing to our hands. And we pull down what God would love to build through us when we rely on our strength instead of His.
The second thing worth noting is that there’s no neutral ground, no effort of non-effect. Mothers--and people in general-- are either builder-uppers or a tearer-downers. Which are you?
Read Proverbs 31, and you will be amazed at the strength, energy, and productivity of the virtuous woman described there. But that’s nothing that you and I can’t have, for if we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have His Holy Spirit indwelling us. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:7).

2. Labor
Again, this woman in Proverbs 14:1 is by no means passive in the building process. Because God is the One who is at work within her, she gives it all she’s got! "She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness" (Prov. 31:27).
For Mother’s Day, two little kids put their money together and presented their mom with a houseplant. Of course she was touched by their token of love. The older one then said with a sad face, "We wanted to give you a nice bouquet that we saw at the flower shop, but we couldn’t afford it. It had a really neat message on it that we thought would be perfect for Mother’s Day. It said, "Rest in peace."
-- Godly mothering is hard work! So what keeps a mom motivated in all the good that she does for her family? . . .

3. Love
This is certainly a prerequisite for building anything that’s of eternal value. First Corinthians 16:14 commands us, "Let all that you do be done in love." All the labor in the world doesn’t amount to anything if it’s not motivated by love. Paul said as much in 1 Cor. 13. The great thing about love is that it "never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8a). Why? Because "God is love" (1 John 4:8) "And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7b). And so whatever is built out of love will last.
So, we tip our hat and say "Thanks!" to all those hard-working moms that love and serve their families to the glory of God. "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates" (Prov. 31:31).

"Be Thankful to Him, and Bless His Name"

One of the first chapters of Scripture I ever memorized is Psalm 100, and it is still one of my favorite portions of Scripture, because it extols the greatness of God and why He is worthy of our praise. While I would encourage you to read it -- and even memorize it -- in its entirety (it's only five verses), consider for now the simple exhortation in the second half of verse 4: "Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."
Scripture informs us that mankind in general is becoming increasingly unthankful, among other things (see 2 Timothy 3:1-5). Although we live in a thankless generation, ingratitude is not to be the mark of a Christian. God’s Word tells us, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18).
In addition to thanking the Lord, we are also to "bless His name." The Hebrew word translated "bless" literally means "to kneel." The idea is to show honor and pay homage to God, acknowledging that His name is higher than any name on earth.
The Masai tribe in West Africa have an unusual way of saying thank-you. Whenever the Masai express thanks, they bow, put their foreheads on the ground, and say, "My head is in the dirt." When members of another African tribe want to express gratitude, they sit for a long time in front of the hut of the person who did the favor and literally say, "I sit on the ground before you." – These Africans understand well the essence of thankfulness and why it comes so hard to us: Because thanksgiving, at its very core, is an act of humility. It is acknowledging that, apart from God, we can do nothing. To lift up high the name of the Lord, we must lower our opinion of ourselves! We must "not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think" (Rom. 12:3). Then, and only then, will our worship be genuine and pleasing to the Lord.
May the Lord fill each of us with His joy as we "thank" and "bless" Him for who He is and all that He has done for us through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Pull, Buddy, Pull!"

An out-of-towner drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area.
Fortunately, a local farmer came to help with his big strong horse named Buddy.
He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, "Pull, Nellie, pull!"
Buddy didn't move. Then the farmer hollered, "Pull, Buster, pull!"
Buddy didn't respond.
Once more the farmer commanded, "Pull, Coco, pull!" Nothing...
Then the farmer nonchalantly said, "Pull, Buddy, pull!" And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch.
The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times.
The farmer said, "Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn't even try!"

Never underestimate the power of teamwork! God certainly doesn't! Think of the Trinity -- the "Tri-unity" of God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together in perfect harmony to accomplish God's eternal purposes. In the very first chapter of the Bible, where we find the divine record of creation, God says, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. . ." (Gen. 1:26; emphasis mine).

Or think of God's work of re-creation, that is, His saving His people from their sins and giving them a new heart through faith in Christ. The Bible teaches that God the Father planned our salvation (Eph. 1:3-6), God the Son purchased our salvation (John 10:11; 1 Peter 1:18-19), and God the Holy Spirit personalized our salvation through His work of regeneration in our hearts (Titus 3:5). Truly, this is "amazing grace" in three-part harmony!

The cooperative work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our salvation reveals not only the unity and oneness of the Godhead, but also the unity and oneness that we have as the body of Christ (Eph. 4; Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12). The ordinance of communion celebrates not only our oneness with Christ through the cross, but also our unity with one another in the Lord. The body of Christ gets built up and becomes all the more beautiful as each member does its part, doing its share.

If a blind horse like Buddy can understand and appreciate the value of teamwork, how much more the body of Christ!

Virtual Christianity?

Much of the American populace is mesmerized with "virtual reality" -- a technology that affords people the opportunity to interact with a computer-simulated environment. This technology is becoming so sophisticated, that it's hard to distinguish what's real from what's not. For instance, computer simulations are used for pilot and combat training. Amazing! What's more, these simulations are safe, cost-effective, and so close to real life, that those being trained by it can't tell the difference.

Back when I was a kid (which wasn't that long ago!), I wasn't aware of such technology. For the most part, even VR games weren't in existence. Atari was "cutting edge" back then, and we didn't own a video system anyway! We had to rely on our imagination! One day, while watching us kids play, my dad made a connection between our "virtual reality" and the sad state of so many people when it comes to spiritual matters. The poem is entitled Make Believe and conveys spiritual truths and poignant questions worthy of careful reflection. . .

I often watch my children play,
And how amazed am I that they
Are occupied for hours on end
With games that start with "Let’s pretend."

They play at "house", they play at "store";
They play at "school", they play at "war".
They play at "cops and robbers", too;
There’s nothing little minds can’t do.

Yes, "let’s pretend" contributes joy
To every little girl and boy;
And drab and dull would childhood be,
If it were not for fantasy.

The thought that weighs upon my mind
Is: Some don’t leave those years behind.
Concerning things "beyond the veil",
They still let fantasy prevail.

They make believe religion saves,
And scorn the thought that sin depraves;
And so delude themselves within,
That God is dead or winks at sin.

They make believe there is no hell;
They make believe their souls are well;
They reason, under false pretense,
That works will be their sure defense.

Behold, the final, fearful end
Of those, like babes, who still pretend!
For in eternal things, you see,
There is no room for fantasy.

For fantasy oft times conflicts
With that which God on high edicts;
And fiction from the days of youth
Must not displace the written truth.

Because the Bible doth reveal
That mankind’s need for Christ is real.
Imagination has a role,
But not in matters of the soul.

And what of you, good Christian friend?
Do you serve God, or just pretend?
Do you the Holy Spirit grieve,
By service only "make believe"?

Are you sacrificing your kids to the sports god?

"Is it just a New England thing, or is this happening everywhere?" That's the question I asked myself as I saw more and more families skipping church for their kids' sporting events. Well, apparently this trend is not unique to New England. According to the Fall 2006 edition of Leadership Journal, the overall busyness of families (which includes, but is not limited to, sports events), is keeping them away from church. Of the 490 pastors surveyed, 76 percent said that "the scale tipped toward family activities. This contrasts with the perception of 62 percent of respondents that a generation ago, free time was more likely to be spent on church commitments. The balance has shifted." In fact, 83 percent of the pastors surveyed said they are aware of situations where people routinely choose family events over church commitments!

What types of activities are families opting for over church? According to Leadership's survey, the most common reasons families give to their pastors for missing church are "kids' activities and weekend trips." Nine in ten pastors hear this frequently.

Hmm. Does this suggest a problem to you? What are we to think when Sunday sports or other children's activities take precedence over worship on the Lord's Day? I have to agree with R. Albert Mohler, who said on his own blog regarding this issue: "... When Christian parents take their kids to Little League games rather than worship on the Lord's Day, these parents teach their children that team sports are more important than the worship of God.

"Every kid has a 'thing' going on virtually all the time. That is the condition of life today, it seems. But when that 'thing' keeps the child -- or the whole family -- away from church, we need to name that thing what it is . . . at best a snare, at worst an idol."

Do you think that assessment too harsh? Then consider the command of Hebrews 10:24-25: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (NASV, emphasis mine). Worship is both a public and a private duty. People who say, "We haven't been in church because of our kids' crazy sports schedule, but spiritually we've never been better!" are self-deluded. They have deceived themselves into thinking that the second commandment supercedes and is greater than the first commandment. Scripturally, our first priority is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Every other priority and value flows from our worship of God.

The word "worship" comes from the Saxon word weorthscype, which later became worthship. As Don Whitney notes in his book, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life, "To worship God is to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify His worthiness of praise. . . ." When we take our kids to a sports game instead of the weekly worship service, we tell them that their game is more important than God. Plain and simple. We can try to rationalize, philosophize, and theologize all we want, but that's the message we're driving home to them. Then we wonder why our children show little to no interest in things of the Lord when they leave home.

Granted, it is possible for one to attend church and not have his mind and heart focused on the things of God. That's another type of problem that I'll save for another blog posting! But for now let's deal with the issue on the table. Ask yourself the question, "What do I want most for my kids? What is my highest goal?" If you are a Christian parent, your answer will be that what you want most for your children -- more than a good education or job, more than a loving mate or healthy children (which are all good goals) -- is a heart for God (see Psalm 27:4; 84:1-4, 10).

To see this goal become a reality, we must develop a heart for God by modeling it in the home. They must see it as a priority in our own lives as parents and in our life as a family. But if our love for God is displaced by our love for other things, than our children will inevitably cultivate a greater love for the world than for our heavenly Father (1 John 2:15). They will worship and serve created things (e.g., sports, recreation, etc.) rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25).

In his excellent book, Age of Opportunity, Paul David Tripp states, "We have failed our children if we don't do everything we can to have them leave our homes with a sense of awe over God and the glories of his grace. . . . We need to recognize humbly that one reason we have not passed this on to them is because we may have lost it ourselves."

Whatever god is keeping you and your kids away from corporate worship, repent of it and get rid of it. For it is only as we seek first His kingdom, making the pursuit of Jesus Christ our highest priority, that we become conduits of God's grace to our kids and allow Him to instill in them, through us, a heart for Him.

Oh where, oh where, is private prayer?

Lately I've been convicted about my lack of private prayer. Taking in God's word is no problem for me, but spending time in prayer often is. What bothers me most about my lack of prayer is that it reflects a spirit of self-sufficiency, pride, and lack of dependence on Almighty God for all things.

Yet I praise God for His Holy Spirit, who convicts me of all this and impels me to pray -- who makes me realize that "my flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Ps. 73:26). So this morning, I bowed myself before my heavenly Father, asked His forgiveness for my negligence in private prayer, and proceeded to enjoy sweet communion with my Lord once again.

Near the start of my prayer time, I reached for The Valley of Vision, a precious collection of anonymous Puritan prayers. I opened to where I had last left off, and as God would have it, I read the following words, which expressed well the sentiment of my own heart. Perhaps it articulates your own pangs of conviction regarding prayerlessness in your life. If so, pray it even now with total sincerity, knowing that God hears the prayers of His children:

O LORD OF GRACE,
I have been hasty and short in private prayer,
O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,
to bewail this ingratitude;
My first sin of the day leads into others,
and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw thy presence
from one who waited carelessly on thee.
Keep me at all times from robbing thee,
and from depriving my soul of thy due worship;
Let me never forget that I have an eternal duty
to love, honor, and obey thee,
that thou art infinitely worthy of such;
that if I fail to glorify thee
I am guilty of infinite evil that merits eternal punishment,
for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.
O forgive me if I have dishonoured thee,
Melt my heart, heal my backslidings,
and open an intercourse of love.
When the fire of thy compassion warms my inward man,
and the outpourings of thy Spirit fill my soul,
then I feelingly wonder at my own depravity,
and deeply abhor myself;
then thy grace is a powerful incentive to repentance,
and an irresistible motive toward inner holiness.
May I never forget that thou hast my heart in thy hands.
Apply to it the merits of Christ's atoning blood whenever I sin.
Let thy mercies draw me to thyself.
Wean me from all evil, mortify me to the world,
and make me ready for my departure hence
animated by the humiliations of penitential love.
My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin's miry clay;
Mount it on eagle's wings
and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

No Easy Way Out

Is there any cross in your Christianity? This question, posed by J.C. Ryle in his classic, Holiness, came to me at a critical time -- right on the heels of my reading Proverbs 24:10, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."

Christianity -- real Christianity, that is -- is by no means easy. As Ryle says, "Flesh and blood naturally shrink from pain. It is in us all to do so. We draw back by a kind of instinct from suffering, and avoid it if we can. If two courses of action are set before us, which both seem right, we generally take that which is the least disagreeable to flesh and blood."

That is so true, isn't it? We're always looking for the easy way out. This tendency is reflected in virtually every area of our lives. But for the sake of this brief discussion, let's take just one area. (I'd rather shoot with a rifle than a shotgun.) Let's consider the matter of confrontation. It's hard enough to overcome temptation ourselves. But what do we do when we see another Christian brother or sister caught in a trespass, overcome by temptation, perhaps persisting in sin?

Let's be honest. Our natural tendency is to do nothing -- to let it go, to ignore it. After all, who needs to borrow trouble? Better to say a silent prayer and go on our way, letting the Holy Spirit handle it! But what saith the Scripture? Scripture tells us to go to that person in a spirit of humility and gentleness, with the intention of restoring them. We are to go to them privately about their sin in the hopes of winning them over, of leading them to repentance and restoration. Yes, the Holy Spirit does the work, but we are the agents He uses!

I'm convinced that the reason we don't lovingly confront one another more often about our sin is because we love ourselves too much, and we love God and others too little. We are more concerned with what others think of us than what they think of God, what God thinks of their sin, or what the world thinks of God.

This problem is nothing new. Scripture's indictment of the religious leaders of Jesus' day (the religious leaders, mind you!), that "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:43). Paul the apostle, who had been in that very boat when he was Saul the persecutor, said rather pointedly: "Do I seek to please men? If I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10).

When it comes to dealing with sin, there's no easy way out. Sin must be confronted, first in our lives, and then in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (1 Pet. 4:17).

What fellow believer has God placed in your path who needs to be restored to fellowship with Him? Do you love him or her enough to pursue them in love? You could be the very agent God uses to bring them to repentance and renewal. Remember, "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue."
-- Proverbs 27:5-6; 28:23

Live Like You're Dying

... because you are. "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity..." (Eph. 5:15-16a).

Over the desk of my study hangs a large, framed quote by Charles Spurgeon, that my wife Ruthie gave to me. Daily it reminds me of how precious a commodity time is, and that the only life worth living is that which is lived out one hundred percent for Jesus Christ. Here's the quote:

"As long as there is breath in our bodies let us serve Christ; as long as we can think, as long as we can speak, as long as we can work, let us serve Him. Let us even serve Him with our last gasp. And if it be possible, let us try to set some work going that will glorify Him when we are dead and gone. Let us scatter some seed that may spring up when we are sleeping beneath the hillock in the cemetery."

Amen. "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Ps. 90:12).