Friday Devotional: Our Condition

“To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold the Word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.”—Jeremiah 6:10

Left to ourselves this is our predicament. At one point in our lives, if not now, we were (or still are) unable to listen to the Word of the Lord. It sounded like nonsense, or even the same as the heresy we heard last week at a different church service. We were perishing. We were lost. And the hope of Christ sounded like complete and utter foolishness to us. Now that we are found, we all probably know someone who is still floating in a sea of darkness, separated from God.

This verse should first make us grateful, grateful that we understand it, and the implications of it. But also it should make us grieved. There are many who are still uncircumcised, some of them live under the same roof as us.

It is a reminder that God is the one who circumcises and opens ears. Jeremiah is where God tells us that he will give his people a new heart and make a new covenant with them. We cannot make ourselves hear what we do not even have an ear for. Apart from sovereign grace, the hardness of our own hearts keeps us from taking pleasure in, and even hearing God’s voice.

We must not give up on praying for the lost friends and family who are in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn. The very thing that gives us life and spiritual food is foul to them. God is the only one who can turn the scorn into delight, and give them new eyes.

It’s very easy for me to get angry with people who scorn Christ. I get frustrated with their inability to recognize that which seems so clear to me. But then I am quickly reminded that God put people in my life, (mainly my parents) who did not get frustrated with me when I scorned their Savior. I, too, must do the same.

Is there a person in your life, dear Christian, who needs new eyes to see the beauty of the Savior? Pray for him. Do you have a family member who continuously mocks you for your faith in Christ? Pray for her, that she may seem him as infinitely valuable.

We all were once lost, despising the One who died for us. Praise him that our dreadful condition is no more. And pray for the ones who have yet to come. May the power of the Cross break the chains of death that makes them scorn the very thing that leads to life.

Meet the Waldemar's!

Meet with Waldemar’s. They are urban missionaries with Bethlehem Baptist Church. For a little over a year (I think, I’m not sure exactly), they have been living in the inner city of Minneapolis, just a stone’s throw from the church, building relationships and sharing the Gospel with the urban neighbors around them.

They are a tremendous example of Christ to me, and many others in the Bethlehem community. Not only because of the work that God has done in their family, but also due to their labors for the Gospel in the city. Living for Christ takes on a whole new meaning when you witness a drug deal happen on your door step while your three children are sitting inside, or when you hear the shouts of drunk neighbors at 3 AM and you wonder if this will be the night where you hear the gun shots. City living is never easy, but they do it not to be adventurous, but so the nations will bow the knee and worship Jesus Christ, the Lord of all. They don’t try and dress up the Gospel and make it cool, and they most certainly don’t try and be something that they are not. It is simply pure, fervent, humble Gospel living, and it shows.

For the Waldemar’s, being an urban missionary means eating Afghani pizza and taking food and the Gospel to a homeless person in an abandoned house. I praise God for this family and for the work that they do in Minneapolis. May God be pleased to grant much fruit for his glory and for the joy of the nations!

They also have a blog where they give ministry and family updates. You can visit it here:

http://www.waldemarfamily.blogspot.com/

What is True Greatness?

While flipping through channels the other evening I came across special about celebrity lives on the Entertainment Channel. Though this is not a normal occurrence, I found myself engrossed in the tales of the lives of these celebrities. The commentator took the viewer through the various purchases and extravagances of the rich and famous in a way that seemed to almost normalize them. One woman who owned a famous boutique in Beverly Hills in the middle of her explanation of the star treatment flippantly said, “I drop everything when Paris comes in because she deserves it.”

I was reminded of C.J. Mahaney’s sermon on true greatness. Amidst all of the idol worship around us, he painted a very different picture of what we should ascribe supposed deserved adoration. He pointed to Christ and that what he said and did on our behalf was worthy of the term greatness. He preached from Mark 10: 32:45 and in that message the Lord used him to reveal areas that we as Christians have a distorted understanding of greatness. Consider the words of Jesus, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Our first mistake in recognizing true greatness is believing the people we praise to be the source of their greatness. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, including talent, riches, and beauty. There is nothing that we have that was not given to us by the Creator. We are simply the created. Therefore we must first recover our theology of God, and His Lordship over all, in order to see greatness for what it truly is.

We must also pray for a discerning mind to think like our Christ. He did not count the things of this world as something to be grasped and held to. He came as a servant, therefore when we hear of people talking about “deserving” something, our minds should immediately look to Christ and what he said we are deserving of.

To live as Christians in this post modern world will mean that we must learn to discern true greatness. Instead of being drawn in awe and wonder into the “Lifestyles of the Rich of Famous”, we should be able to recognize it for what it is—darkness. What good does it profit a man to have fifty Roll’s Royce’s in a customized garage if he loses his soul? And what good does it profit a woman to have $500 designer jeans and racks of Jimmy Choo shoes if she, too, loses her soul in the end? Floating around in the sea of ever flowing champagne and cash is the sad reality that this is false greatness that leads to death.

True greatness is not the movie star or the athlete. It is the small town pastor who works three jobs to support his family and preach the Gospel to his people, even when there is no fruit. It is the faithfulness of a mother to raise her children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, even when it is hard. And it is the courage of a missionary to go the poorest of the poor, the despised and lowly, to bring them the Gospel of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Maybe their faces will never grace the cover of Christianity Today and they probably will never have their lives chronicled on a 20/20 special. But the Father knows their name, and he knows their ministries. Their names are written in heaven and their labors will one day be recognized when the last are finally first and they hear “well done, my good and faithful servant.” And that is true greatness.

Friday Devotional: Through Many Tribulations

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”—Acts 14:22

Often when I read this verse I quickly breeze over, barely acknowledging the weight of its meaning. The apostles weren’t merely offering helpful tips to be a Christian. They were giving a definitive statement; tribulation is a given necessity in order to enter the Kingdom. Paul had just been stoned and left for dead, and now he is telling the young Christians that this is how we must live. Surely it must have seemed strange to a new believer that this much suffering be necessary.

You do not have to live long as a believer to either experience suffering in your own life, or witness it in the lives of those around you. Pain is very real. Babies die suddenly. Children rebel and turn away from families. Cancer afflicts little children. Hurricanes wipe away entire villages. My relatively short time on earth reminds me that I cannot postpone the inevitable. It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom. But this is not a morbid text. It is not a death sentence for the repentant sinner. There is a promise attached to the tribulation—we will enter the Kingdom. This momentary affliction of earthly suffering will be made right in the Kingdom of our Christ. We are able to live, serve, and even die freely because we seek the coming Kingdom, the city that is to come.

We may weep and grieve rightly through the “toils and snares” but we can trust that this grace that brought us through will one day lead us safely home to the Savior.

May this truth strengthen you today, dear Christian. Whether you are facing a sunny season in your life or whether the clouds are down, know that the Kingdom is coming. The darkness has been overcome by the Son.

A Whole New Way to Learn About Gender...

Well, sort of. The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood launched their redesigned website over the weekend. It's full of free articles, audio, and back issues of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. They truly have done an amazing job. If you are looking for introductory reading, the Fall 2006 issue of the Journal was by women for women, and I frequently go to it as a very helpful resource.

They are the place to go if you are new to understanding biblical gender, or even if you have a little more knowledge on the subject. There is something for everyone.

So, check it out, add it to your favorites, and let them know what you think!

http://www.cbmw.org/

Who's Afraid of the Dark?

Though there are many things that can be a source of fear (deep water, heights, large crowds, etc.), fear always seems heightened in darkness. As a child, I used to be afraid of the dark. And though it was often used as an excuse to stay up a little later than normal, there were some nights when I would lay in bed, fearful of the unknown darkness of my bedroom. Now that I am an adult, the fear is a little different. This is partly because I can’t go to my parents room when I have a nightmare, and also because I know more about the world. I watch the news and hear of murders and assaults in my neighborhood, sometimes not far from my own home. Falling asleep in an empty house can often bring back feelings reminiscent of childhood.

Psalm 121:3-4 says: “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber or sleep.” This is a reminder to us of how we need much, and how God needs nothing. The created must be guarded by the Creator. But this verse also comforts us. The God who needs no sleep, is never asleep. He never tires. He never grows weary. He never dozes off. He is always watching, always guarding, always holding our sleeping heads in His grip. Which is why we can pray at any time of day, even in the middle of the night after a bad dream, and know that He hears us. This verse serves as a promise to the believer. It is not just that God does not need sleep, it is that He says He will not slumber or sleep, calling us to trust in His Word. Though darkness may feel like the unknown, this darkness is not unknown to the Almighty.

God’s does not sleep so we can. He created us as finite creatures who tire and grow weary. He gives us rest as a gift from our labors. When we neglect it because of anxiety, or busyness, we are slowly rendering ourselves useless for the tasks that He has called us to. Psalm 127:2 says: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” This is a tremendous reality for the believer. There was a period in my life where I was constantly afraid to fall asleep at night. Night after night I would lay in bed while my stomach knotted up in anxiety over being alone in my apartment. There are many verses in the Bible that warn against slothfulness and laziness regarding sleep, but there is another end of the spectrum where we are reminded that sleep is given to us, and commanded, by God. Anxiety is bound up and destroyed underneath the promise that our God never sleeps, which is why we can rest in peace.

And so, when you fall asleep tonight, dear Christian, do not fear. God is protecting you in the slums of Brazil, in the jungles of New Guinea, in the inner-city of Minneapolis, and in the suburbs of America. You can rest knowing that the sleep you receive is a gift from your Heavenly Father, who is not a man that He should need sleep. And if you happen to see Who’s Afraid of the Dark at your local library, trust with confidence that you can no longer say, “I am.”

Confessions of a Recovering Feminist

When we think of a feminist we can all probably think of a person we know, or know of, who typifies the feminist ideology. There are all types of fixtures of feminism ranging from Presidential candidates to evangelical scholars to college students—and I am one of them. Prior to conversion I was the stereotypical Generation Y feminist—anti-marriage, anti-child rearing, and corporate ladder hopeful. After conversion I sang a slightly different tune, although held onto many of my previous ideals regarding marriage and settling down. I simply masked it with a missions/ministry focus, content to be the single girl on a mission to save a third-world country for Christ. What I did not want, or think I needed, was the idea that my changed life meant changed priorities. It was not that I needed to find a husband or chuck any career aspirations, the problem was that I thought feminism was an outside of the church issue, at least the conservative church that I belonged too. I had no notion that my heart, at its core, was fighting against the authority of God in the Scriptures, and still does have a lot of change left to be done to it.

I may have moved out of the militant feminist camp, but I most certainly have been a part of one too many male bashing conversations in a dorm room and coffee shop with my girl friends. What we must understand about feminism is that it did not originate in the wake of the women’s liberation movement of the 1970’s. And the mother of feminism is far older than Ms. Magazine and her friends. Feminism started in a garden in the Middle East thousands of years ago. Feminism is at the very heart of our fallen nature, and manifests itself in many different forms.

Recovering from feminism must first start with an embracing of the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Only then will we see the roots severed because we will be clothed in the humility of Christ, who willingly submitted himself to the Father on our behalf. For older women it will mean embracing and modeling femininity, motherhood, and marriage in a Titus 2 way. For younger women it will mean knowing the godly women in our congregations better than we know the celebrities on late night television.

Feminist ideology is not simply relegated to the brash Gloria Steinem types, or even the female executive with the corner office. Rather, feminism rises up in ordinary women in our congregations, homes, and in the least obvious place, the mirror. Feminism is in the core of our hearts apart from the saving work of the shed blood of Christ, and not simply because we are militant against male authority, but primarily because we are opposed to the greatest authority of all—our Creator. The feminist is not some abstract “out there” woman. She is staring right at us every morning when we put on our make-up.

If we are going to make any headway in the gender discussion, we must first admit that our problem lies much deeper than a woman filling the pulpit on Sunday morning, or stay-at-home dads. Our problem lies in the fact that there is no one righteous and we are all opposed to God—we are all feminists at heart. And we can’t wake up one day and decide to be a Proverbs 31 woman any more than a man can decide to lead like Christ. Instead of seeing our gender differences as mere cultural constructions we must first admit that there was something far greater going on in the Garden than we now realize, and when Creation fell, it was distorted. In creating man and woman differently, God was pointing to the beauty of the Trinitarian relationship, and the relationship between Christ and His Church. The fact that we fight against it reveals our depravity even more.

Many times we are so busy looking for the woman with the hyphenated name that we miss the woman who scoffs at a man for opening the door for her. Both of these actions are products of our feminist heart. My “recovery” from feminism is not about learning how to bake pies or a decision to be more feminine (though these are important and helpful things), it is about repentance. Repentance of my desire to be in control and to raise my fist against God’s created order. Only through repentance and faith in Christ am I, or any one for that matter, able to renounce rebellion and submit to the Lordship of Christ. It also means truly believing that God’s Word regarding gender, and everything else for that matter, is true. Recovery for many of us will mean a reversal of the way we approach women in our congregations. It is no wonder why so many young women don’t desire motherhood when what they often hear from older women is to “get your degree first and live your life,” acting as if marriage and children was the final stamp on the end of your life as you know it.

And when I still feel the judgment rising up in me when I see a young woman joyfully choosing marriage and a family over a college degree, I realize that I have a long way to go before this feminist is fully recovered. As I grow in my walk, there is a great hope in the Holy Spirit’s promise to complete the work that Christ began (Phil. 1:6). From the time the first feminist (Eve) came on the scene, until now, we have been in a cosmic battle against the flesh and Satan because he hates the image of Christ and His Church. We await the final consummation of the good work that was started by King Jesus on Calvary. With the curse came the promise. Feminism was, and will finally be, defeated when the Seed crushes the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). And that’s good news for recovering feminists like you and me.