Eternal Praise

Revelation 4:8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

8 καὶ τὰ τέσσαρα ζῷα, ἓν καθ᾽ ἓν αὐτῶν ἔχων ἀνὰ πτέρυγας ἕξ, κυκλόθεν καὶ ἔσωθεν γέμουσιν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς λέγοντες· ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος.

When I read this I immediately think of Isaiah 6:3. I am fairly certain that this describes the same thing. Apparently God created beings whose sole purpose is to spend eternity worshiping Him. Not that here they are seen in worship of Christ. How can we be sure that it is Christ? Verse 11 tells us:  for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. This should remind you of Colossians 1:16 where we see that everything was created by Christ and for Christ.


So what do we make of this? There are some who consider this to be a very boring picture of heaven. Basically, these are the folks who want for heaven to be like a really ideal version of earth. Imagine your best day ever. Now multiply that for eternity. For some that may be an eternity of eating chicken wings while watching your favorite team win the Super Bowl. For others that may be an eternity of hiking in perfect weather and finding an idyllic scene with a waterfall. These sound great, don't they?


The problem is that they all fall short. I maintain that the greatest days we have here on earth are made greater because they are not eternal. It's no fun to see your team win the big game every year unless they lose periodically. Being trapped in a cubicle farm under artificial light during the week makes that hike in the woods that much nicer. There needs to be tension before there can be release. Read any good story and you will see that. 


Why are we like that? Everything goes back to Genesis 3. Thanks to the Fall we live under tension all the time. Our nature is now such that we need the bad to enjoy the good. But heaven won't be like that. Heaven will be ideal all the time. 


What does that look like? Unceasing worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We will be in the presence of God. And as we come into the presence of God the pressing cares of this world will fade away. As humans we read this passage and think that these seraphim got a bad deal. They remind us of the animatronic show at Chuck E Cheese that can do nothing but sound like a broken record. But what we don't realize in our fallen state is that they have the best job imaginable. They get to exist in the presence of the Lord and worship Him as He deserves.


If that still sounds boring to you, please let me know. We need to talk about who God is.

No Alternative

John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."


68 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Σίμων Πέτρος· κύριε, πρὸς τίνα ἀπελευσόμεθα; ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχεις, 69  καὶ ἡμεῖς πεπιστεύκαμεν καὶ ἐγνώκαμεν ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ.

We went from people following Jesus as a mobile Jack In the Box and MASH unit to them walking away when He called them to commitment. Jesus then asked His disciples if they too wanted to leave and this was Peter's response.

I admit that I have times of doubt. I wonder if following Christ is really worth it. I wonder if it is all true. I have several personal apologetics that I go through that help me when I have those times of doubt. Ultimately it comes down to this statement. Jesus has words ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου. I have come to know that He is the Holy One of God. What else is there?

Sure we could follow Allah. We could follow the god of the Jehovah's Witnesses. We could follow the god of Joseph Smith. We could follow our hearts like Oprah tells us to. We could pay homage to nature like the Wiccans. We could worship a myriad of gods like the Hindus. There are other options out there.

But who else has the words of eternal life? Only Jesus. Therefore, let's draw near to God through faith to Him.

MASH Unit

John 6:2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.



2 ἠκολούθει δὲ αὐτῷ ὄχλος πολύς, ὅτι ἐθεώρουν τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσθενούντων.

Jesus did a great job of attracting crowds through His ministry because He dealt with their needs. He helped them in practical ways such as healing them. Later in John 6 we will see how Jesus fed 5000 with a kid's sack lunch. This got to their base desires. After all, who doesn't want to be fed and made well?

The thing is that they were following Him for the wrong reasons. There is a school of thought in the evangelical world that we should attract people based on their physical needs. Or at the very least we should do it based no their felt needs. If they feel like they need help with their marriages then we should preach a series on marriage and challenge them to have sex for a certain number of consecutive days. If they are having financial problems then we should preach a message on stewardship, along with some Scripture-twisting to convince them that 10% is the minimum that a New Testament saint should give. And so on.

Jesus met people's needs, but that was not why His true disciples followed Him. They followed Him because He met their deepest needs. He filled their hearts as in John 4. This is what people need rather than a MASH Unit.

Why are you following Jesus, if you are? Certainly we should enjoy the fact that He does meet our needs, but hopefully we follow Him because He is God.

Screaming Stones

Luke 19:40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."


40 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν οὗτοι σιωπήσουσιν, οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν.

This is Jesus' response to the Pharisees' request to quiet His disciples. They didn't think much of all the shouting that was going on for the triumphal entry. They certainly didn't like shouting that smacked of blasphemy to their ears.

I tend to very quickly gloss over this verse, but reading it in Greek forced me to slow down a bit. What do you think of when you think of stones taking on life? I think of the "living stones" that Peter describes in 1 Peter 2. I also think of how in Matthew 3:9 John the Baptizer told the Pharisees that God would make sons of Abraham out of the stones found there. There seems to be this idea that if the folks who should recognize and worship Jesus refuse to then God will make disciples out of basically nothing.

I am one of these. I am one of οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν.  This verb is in the future indicative, but you should take it the way the ESV translates it. The construct with ἐὰν indicates a third-class condition, which means not certain, but probable. This is why you get the translation of "the very stones would cry out." It shows that if the disciples were silent then something would have to praise Him.

I get to be one of these. The question then becomes what I do with this. Am I going to keep crying out praise to Him? Or am I going to become silent like one of the Pharisees that should have known better? It's an awesome privilege to be a dead stone made alive to worship the Lord. I hate to waste that privilege.

Taking for Granted

Luke 17:17 Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?



17 ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· οὐχὶ οἱ δέκα ἐκαθαρίσθησαν; οἱ δὲ ἐννέα ποῦ;

This is at the end of the narrative where Jesus heals ten lepers. Only one returns to thank Him and, remarkably, that one is a Samaritan. There are two things here that would seem amazing to the first-century Jew and we likely don't catch it. First, the fact that Jesus cleansed lepers was incredible. Leprosy was a term for all kinds of skin diseases and was even used to describe an infestation of mold in a house. There was no cure for it, so if you had it you were forced to live outside the camp. If you had to go near anyone you were forced to shout "Unclean! Unclean!" so that people could scatter.

The second amazing thing is that this was a Samaritan. It's hard to describe just how much the Jews hated the Samaritans. I'm not sure if there is any way for an American to really appreciate this. Red Sox and Yankees might be close. Ohio State and Michigan is in the ballpark. However, I think Korean and Japanese is a much more apt comparison. The thought of a Samaritan as the hero in a story was just unthinkable to the Jews. And yet here we had a Samaritan as the hero once again. The parable of the good Samaritan is of course another example.

These are interesting facts, but so what? One point of application is that we see the appropriate response to Jesus touching our lives. When I look at my life before knowing Christ I can recognize that I was just as vile and unclean as a leprous Samaritan. Yet Jesus touched me and made me clean. How else can I respond but to worship Him?

Also, this is another example of Jesus breaking down class distinctions. Paul picks up on this in both Galatians and Colossians when he emphasizes that there is no Greek or Jew, but we are all one in Christ Jesus. There is no place for racism in the Kingdom of God. We must certainly hate sin, but there is no reason to hate anyone just because of where they are from or who their parents happen to be. This is of course doubly true for those who are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Consider this as you go about your Christian walk. Do you worship the One who made you clean? Do you give Him all the glory? Do you see class distinctions or racial distinctions? It's all good food for thought for me.

Being Fulfilled

Luke 4:21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."


21 ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν.

Jesus had just finished reading from Isaiah in the temple.  He quoted the commission He had to free the captives, give sight to the blind, etc.  Then He hit them with this statement.  He tells them that πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ.  The verb πεπλήρωται is a perfect passive indicative.  This means that the fulfilling is done.  It has been completed.

You have to be careful when you read about things being "fulfilled" in the gospels.  In fact, I wrote a whole paper on Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1.  That is one example where the term is quite puzzling.  But here it is quite clear.  Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies.  He was the one for whom they were looking.

What does this mean for us?  It means that when we have doubts we can look at the record and see that Jesus is who He says He is.  He is trustworthy and true.  He is the focus of history.  Everything in the past lead up to Him and everything will ultimately be about Him.

What can we do but worship Him?

Unworthy to Untie

Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.


11 Ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμᾶς βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι εἰς μετάνοιαν, ὁ δὲ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἰσχυρότερός μού ἐστιν, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς τὰ ὑποδήματα βαστάσαι· αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί·

This is one of those verses that is strange for a native English speaker to read in Greek.  The phrase ἰσχυρότερός μού ἐστιν is translated "mightier than I."  But quite literally you have "mighty is me."  This is because Greek does its comparative adjectives differently than English.  Greek doesn't do "good, better, best, " or more regularly, "strong, stronger, strongest."  Again, you can trust your translators here.

While that is an interesting linguistic note, I think that John's statement is worthy of reflection.  Later on Jesus will say that no man born of woman was greater than John the Baptizer.  And yet here we have John's statement.  He did not consider himself worthy to do the most menial servant work for Jesus.  John understood his place before the Lord.

Do we?  Here in America we try to turn Jesus into a vending machine or a cosmic genie.  We want Him to give us the lives that we want.  Yet this verse makes it clear that we are always going to be subordinate to Him.  If John the Baptizer was not worthy to carry Jesus' sandals, where does that leave us?  It is true that Jesus is that "friend who stays closer than a brother," but He is also God.  We say that He is worthy of praise and honor and glory, etc.  But do we act like we believe that?

This verse helps me remember just who He is.  Let's respond accordingly, amen?

More Worship

Revelation 7:12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

12 λέγοντες· ἀμήν, ἡ εὐλογία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ σοφία καὶ ἡ εὐχαριστία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

This is likely a favorite chapter for more hardcore dispensationalists because of the reference to the great tribulation.  I don't want to go there now because I don't have the time or expertise to dive deeply into it.  But what I do know is that I like for this blog to be more devotional.  This is a great verse to ponder as I go about my day.

Here John quotes angels that are around the scene with the central throne, the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures.  The multitude of 144,000 from the twelve tribes (though I'm not sure what's up with mentioning Joseph since he didn't have a tribe) shout about how salvation is from the Lord and this is the response of the angels.

Do you really believe that salvation is from the Lord?  Or do you think that He just provides a means of salvation and we need to take it?  The image of God I get so far from this book is of an omnipotent, sovereign God.  He saves people.  He doesn't just make them able to be saved.  He actually does the saving.  What an awesome God!

And do you really believe that all these things are ascribed to Him?  If so, how does that change the way you live?  Do you operate in a state of awe of this incredible God we serve?  Or do you try to relegate Him to a part of your life while the rest of your life is spent on other pursuits?

God will not be put on a shelf.  It's clear that if we are in Christ then we have an eternity of worship to look forward to.  If that doesn't sound appealing then perhaps you don't know Him after all.

He is Worthy

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

9 καὶ ᾄδουσιν ᾠδὴν καινὴν λέγοντες· ἄξιος εἶ λαβεῖν τὸ βιβλίον καὶ ἀνοῖξαι τὰς σφραγῖδας αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐσφάγης καὶ ἠγόρασας τῷ θεῷ ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου ἐκ πάσης φυλῆς καὶ γλώσσης καὶ λαοῦ καὶ ἔθνους 10  καὶ ἐποίησας αὐτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν βασιλείαν καὶ ἱερεῖς, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.

We're starting to get into the visions now.  I don't claim to know what they all mean beyond what John interprets for us, but I do know that there are plenty of doxological passages in here.  This is one of them.  John has a vision of a scroll with seven seals.  The problem is that no one can open the seals.  This grieves John because he desperately wants to know what is in the book.

Fortunately, there is one worthy to open the seals.  He is the one seated on the throne.  Based on the description here, this person can only be Jesus.  Or, if you prefer, King Jesus.

I really don't have any profound truths to draw from this.  I think the proper response is the same as the living creatures and the 24 elders.  All we can do is bow in reverent awe of who He is.  Jesus alone is the one worthy to break the seals.  Jesus alone is able to set us free from our sins.  Jesus is the reigning Lord on His throne right now (see Ephesians).  He is the beginning and the end.  Everything in history points to Him.  Everything in the future points to Him.

Yes, He is worthy of our praise.  In fact, only He is worthy of our praise.  What or who else are you praising?  My list is too long to count sometimes.  Let's give Him the praise only He deserves, amen?

I Don't Have to Imagine

Revelation 4:9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

9 Καὶ ὅταν δώσουσιν τὰ ζῷα δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ τῷ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, 10  πεσοῦνται οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι ἐνώπιον τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν τῷ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων καὶ βαλοῦσιν τοὺς στεφάνους αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου λέγοντες· 11  ἄξιος εἶ, ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, λαβεῖν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.

This chapter has to be one of the greatest doxological chapters in all of Scripture.  As you read about these τὰ ζῷα or living ones, you can't help but think of the living creatures in Isaiah 6.  It seems that these have a similar role in that their whole existence is dedicated to praising the glory of the Lord.  What a job!

Earlier in the chapter we saw 24 elders on thrones around the main throne.  They have gold crowns on their heads, so they are clearly not just random people.  The gold crowns symbolize authority.  What do they do when they are before the throne?  βαλοῦσιν τοὺς στεφάνους αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου.  They recognize that they are not God and, therefore, need to bow before the throne.

There was a song a few years ago called "I Can Only Imagine."  It's pretty catchy and became a hit on stations like K-Love.  It even got covered by at least one country singer.  In the chorus the singer wonders what he will do when he gets to heaven and is surrounded by God's glory.  Will he dance?  Will he in awe be still?  Will he stand in His presence?  Will he fall to his knees?  Will he sing hallelujah?  Will he even be able to speak at all?  He can only imagine how he will react.

I can only imagine that the writer of that song never read Revelation 4, Isaiah 6, or many other passages where someone has a theophany.  It's pretty clear what happens when we're in the presence of the divine.  We fall down and worship.  There can be no other reaction.

Now you may think that is fine for the future, but what about right now?  We're not standing in the physical presence of the Lord in the sense described here or in Isaiah 6.  Yet if we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ we have come as close to this as we can while here on earth.  To suggest that we can have any reaction besides worship is preposterous.  To call Jesus one's Savior and not Lord is a contradiction in terms.  To say that is to say that we do not understand who Jesus is.

Offering Worship

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

28 Διὸ βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες ἔχωμεν χάριν, δι᾽ ἧς λατρεύωμεν εὐαρέστως τῷ θεῷ μετὰ εὐλαβείας καὶ δέους· 29  καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον.

This concludes an incredible chapter.  The author of Hebrews contrasts the experience that the Jews had on Sinai with our experience in Christ.  Sinai was so holy that anyone or anything that touched it had to be stoned.  Yet we can now come to Christ.  We have access to the living God.

Do you realize how incredible this is?  Are you moved in awesome wonder at this truth?  The God of the universe who made everything has given us access to Him through the shed blood of Christ.  This is the God who is sovereign.  All of nature bends to His will.  Have you ever experienced a hurricane?  It only goes where it does because of His will.  Ever been in an earthquake?  Those do not happen apart from His will.  I'm not going into the theology of the effects of natural disasters, but the point is that if you've ever experienced the awesome power of a hurricane or earthquake you have just a tiny sense of how powerful God is.

This is the same God that gives us access to Him through the shed blood of Christ.  And yet we waste our time with trifles like video games, sports, sex, and the pursuit of money (just thinking of my life).  There can certainly be a godliness in recreation time and in fact God mandates it.  However, where are our idols?  Why bother with any of that other junk?

This passage in particular speaks to how we should approach God.  Yes, we have access, but it is not a flippant thing to approach God.  He is a πῦρ καταναλίσκον.  The word καταναλίσκον is a present active participle.  I don't think that we are to literally think of God as a ball of fire like in "The Ten Commandments," but there is a metaphor for how God operates.  Have you ever watched how a fire consumes fuel?  It is unceasing as long as it has fuel.  It just keeps on consuming.

As we approach God we need to be prepared to be like fuel on the fire.  He takes over.  He is a present reality that overwhelms us.  That is who God is, yet I fear that too many American evangelicals try to keep God at arm's length.  I don't think it works that way.  If you are worshiping you will be consumed.

I feel like I could keep writing and thinking about this all morning, but I have to get moving.  What are your thoughts on this?

Reverence

Zechariah 2:13

(13) Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

This verse comes at the end of a vision about the Lord's judgment. The vision shows just how powerful He is and what He is able to do. This verse is a logical consequence of seeing the Lord's power.

How are you doing with this command? As for me, I could improve on this. I am great at doing, but not so much at being silent. The closest I come is when I go running in the mornings. Even then my mind wanders to trivial things like today's football game or some other matter.

The Lord has indeed roused Himself from His holy dwelling. He became a man, lived a perfect life, and died as an atonement for our sin. That should certainly lead to praise and to holy living, but it should also lead to quiet reverence at His majesty, amen?

Worship the Creator

Amos 5:8-9

(8) He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name;

(9) who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

There is a similar passage earlier in Amos 4 that mentions how He made the mountains as well. According to my ESV Study Bible notes, this stands in contrast to the beliefs of some people that there were gods in the mountains or that the constellations were gods. While the passages both certainly stand on their own in describing God's great power and majesty, I think the background information adds a little texture.

The point is that we are faced with the same choice every day. Do we worship the Creator or His created? It's a lot easier to worship the created and we seem to do it very naturally. We worship sex, money, power, fame, comfort, etc. After all, these things are right in front of us and they do demand our attention. We decide whether they will get it or not.

Worshiping the Creator is a bit more difficult. He reveals Himself to us through His creation, but we cannot ever fully grasp who He really is. All we have are analogies. We can compare His greatness to finite things that we can understand, but none of them fully capture just who He is.

There are many folks who say that studying theology is a waste of time. Why do I need to worry about details when I just want to worship? The answer is because we cannot trust ourselves. We need to get focused on the object of worship if we are to worship correctly. That's why studying theology is important. That's also why I update this blog regularly with my findings in Scripture about who God is. I need to work this out and make the connections as much as anyone.

Destroying the Destroyer

Jeremiah 50:2-3
(2) "Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.'
(3) "For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.

The circle finally closes on Babylon. God had used Babylon to punish Israel and Judah, but there still had to be a reckoning for their sin. Their time had come and God was going to use Persia to punish them.

I may have mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating. Just because someone or some organization seems successful we should not leap to the conclusion that they are doing the right things. If we measured success that way we would be inclined to follow the gods of Babylon. After all, they had the upper hand. Their kingdom was incredibly prosperous.

However, in the end they still had to face the true God's wrath. There had to be justice for how they worshiped. Their success was fleeting only because they were instruments in God's hands.

This is why we must use the Bible as our standard for judging ministry. Obviously it leaves some things up to personal preference. I don't think God cares if we use pianos, organs, or guitars in singing our songs. I don't think he cares if we wear suits or skater jackets. What He does care about is the true proclamation of the gospel done by humble leaders who know Him and love Him. That's the kind of place where I want to worship and where I would want to lead if I end up going the pastoral route.

20/20 Conference

I had the pleasure of attending the 20/20 Conference at Southeastern. It started Friday evening and went on all day yesterday. The highlight was definitely hearing Mark Driscoll speak twice. C.J. Mahaney's talk was excellent as well. The fourth plenary was with Bill Brown, who is the president of Cedarville University. The last was from Danny Akin who is the president of Southeastern. His was OK, but not nearly as good as the first four. Then again, being the anchor is tough.

I attended a few good breakout sessions as well. Here are some things I gleaned from them:

• The Bible is about Jesus. It is not about you nor is it really about the history of Israel.
  
• There is a "grand inclusio" in the Bible. Note the setting of Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22.
  
• We can make a biblical case for a limited government whose primary job is to protect us from criminals both within and without. That should govern how we handle the political realm.
• Churches should not be in the business of endorsing candidates.
• When we read literature we should look for the truth and excellence in it. We are not necessarily bound by authorial intent. For example, we could use the Beatles' "Let It Be" to discuss God's sovereignty, though that is not what they intended. I'm still mulling this one over.

Driscoll's sessions were especially challenging and funny, as you might imagine. I'd say the most profound thing I took from the first is that politics reflects our culture. In other words, we don't want to use politics to change culture, but we need to affect culture as far upstream as possible to change our politics. There are only a few real culture-makers in society and those are the folks that need to hear the gospel. Of course, everyone needs to hear the gospel, but the point is that real societal change doesn't happen from a church with 3000 Joe Blows.

His other session was about worship. I've heard some of it before from other messages of his. It was all very good. We all have idols in our lives. A great way to identify them is to examine where you make sacrifices. For example, do you sacrifice going to church so you can play sports?

I look forward to next year's conference. I'm not sure if Amanda does though, since she had the kids. One thing I can say is that being there made me feel very, very old indeed.

A People Set Free

Psalms 102:18-22 ESV
(18) Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
(19) that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
(20) to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,
(21) that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise,
(22) when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

If you are a Gentile and you know Jesus then this passage is for you. We are the people yet to be created. Yet God in His mercy chose us to worship Him.

This is a reminder that I would do well to meditate upon. I was a prisoner in a variety of ways. At the most basic level, I was dead to my sins in an Ephesians 2:1-10 way. I was also dead in the specific sins of gluttony, laziness, and lust. Yet God set me free so that I might worship Him. I certainly couldn't worship Him before He set me free. I could go through the motions, but it was definitely not coming from my heart.

Free for Everyone

Acts 11:15-18 ESV
(15) As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
(16) And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
(17) If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"
(18) When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."

I think it is hard for American Christians to get our minds around this. The offer of the gospel to the Gentiles was completely mind-boggling to the early church. How could God save anyone besides a Jew? Yet that is what we see in Acts 10 and 11. Peter fought it at first, but God compelled him. Here we see his testimony of what happened after the Gentiles believed.

I do believe in the doctrine of limited atonement. However, I also recognize that it is not limited by people groups. Christ's death tore the curtain in two so that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation might have access to the holy of holies.

This is something I want to meditate on as I worship this morning.

Confession

I had lunch with a friend from church today. He is younger than me and is one of my few links to the generation with whom I have no real connection. I don't really speak their language and don't really understand the cultural stuff they do. Perhaps part of it is that they were the first generation to have the internet in their house while they were in high school.

At any rate, we were talking about the music in church. I confessed that yesterday I was thinking about sports while we were singing "How Great is Our God". That is a fantastic song and in fact I think that it won a Dove award, for whatever that is worth. However, my mind was just wandering. I was thinking about how Ohio State dismantled Northwestern and Bill's dream of OSU slipping into a National Championship under the radar like they did in 2002. I was thinking of how the Indians needed just one more win to clinch the AL Central Division. Basically my mind was far from what we were singing.

Why does this happen? Sometimes I think that I can't really deal with what we sing in church. Some of these songs are so rich that I will just break down if I really consider what it means. But then again, I don't do nearly enough contemplation of God's greatness besides, so isn't that what the singing time in church should partly be?

He agreed that happens to him sometimes too. He has an interesting dilemma where he says that Jesus is often more a character in a story than a real person that he can truly identify with and give his troubles to. I know that I can relate to that. Sometimes I'm so busy making sure I have the right theology that I miss the forest for the trees.

I will say that we sang "Jesus Paid It All" afterwards and I couldn't sing it because my voice kept cracking. That hymn got me through my initial battle with sexual sin. It is a song that I need to remember more often. The modern version was from one of the Passion CDs. I really like the drums after each chorus as well as the bridge. Check it out on iTunes.

End of the Beginning

I finished my second book for my Missions and Evangelism class, Let the Nations be Glad. There are a ton of profound truths brought out in this book. As with my Missiology texbook, I finish the book with the sense that I am not doing nearly enough to further the command of the Great Commission. Yet, of course, I know that I do serve. It is just good to get challenged by these books and see if there is something else I can do. I certainly can pray with more fervor.

Piper of course very much identifies with the Puritans and has been very much shaped by Jonathan Edwards in the development of his own theology. The more I read about the Puritans the more I like them. One thing that I read in this book is that the Puritans kept their churches very simple and just called them "Meeting Houses" because they wanted the focus to be on the Lord and not on the building. This is of course in stark contrast to some of the incredible cathedrals that you can find in the world, both Catholic and Protestant.

For them it seems to come down to enjoying God for being God. They didn't make God into some kind of cosmic genie beholden to them because of their faithfulness. This is the kind of thinking that gets you through trials and tribulations. We may call God sovereign, but if we expect rewards for our faithfulness then we can't really handle His sovereignty in the midst of serious trials.

Piper had a great quote from C.S. Lewis in his final chapter. The premise of this book is that Missions are a result of our worship. Piper defines worship as delighting in God, which is the cornerstone of his ministry. Where does praise fit in? The quote I liked says that praise is the ultimate consummation of enjoyment. In other words, it's not enough just to enjoy something, but we also must praise it. We have no problems with doing this when it comes to food, art, vacations, children, etc. I can think of times when I see something enjoyable at a sporting event and have to share the experience with someone. Somehow talking about it closes the loop on the event.

Praising God is the same way. We need to praise Him if we really delight in Him. I can think of times when I got back from various conferences and just been bursting at the seams to tell my wife about the experience. Frankly, I miss having that feeling. This tells me that I need to increase my delight in God. How can I not delight in Him?

Running Light

I've been working on increasing my distance on my Saturday runs. I was content to do just a little under 3.5 miles for my "long" run and did that for a long time. Then one night on the way home from class I wondered how long it was to downtown Cary from my house. Turns out that it's almost exactly 2.5 miles. I thought it would be good to have a little variety from the 3 runs that I do, so I decided to work up to that. It took me a few weeks, but I did it 2 weeks ago. Last week I did 4.6 miles because I knew the extra work I'd have carrying Lily around the airshow.

Today I did 5.1 again, but with much more hills. I was excited to see that I did it in 8:08 miles. This was no small feat for me. The last mile is brutal as it is almost all uphill. There is one long break after the first climb, but then only a very short break after another long climb. It ends with a short, steep climb, 0.1 miles of slight downhill, and finally 0.1 miles of slight uphill. It definitely gets the heart and lungs going!

The key I've found through all of this is that I need to give God all the glory and praise for being able to run. I posted a photo of my old self at the height of my gluttony. Not a pretty sight. Only God could take that tub of goo and turn it into something that can run up and down hills. I want to make sure that I keep the focus in the right place.

While going up that marathon last mile I tend to think of songs in my head. "It is You," "Blessed be Your Name," "Not to Us," and "Heart of Worship" all got me through today. It was not a lot of fun, but it sure feels good to have finished!