finding a good thing

He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the Lord.           ~Proverbs 18:22

Allow me to introduce you to my "good thing" come the summer of 2014...

It is safe to say my heart and soul are filled with much rejoicing!

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!       ~Psalm 135:3

love in wrath?

When speaking of God, Christ, and the cross many get tripped up over notion of God's wrath. It sounds harsh. It makes many uncomfortable. It seems easier to avoid (as one denomination chose to do by removing "In Christ Alone" from their hymn book this past month for its inclusion of God's wrath). It suggests a stark contrast to the love of God.

However, wrath and love are not on opposite ends of the spectrum. They can (and do) go together, and perfectly, at that, when it comes to God. God's wrath is an expression of His love.

In King's Cross Tim Keller describes it using the following depiction,

If you don't believe in a God of wrath, you have no idea of your value. Here's what I mean. A god without wrath has no need to go the cross and suffer incredible agony and die in order to save you. Picture on the left a god who pays nothing in order to love you, and picture on the right the God of the Bible, who, because he's angry at evil, must go to the cross, absorb the debt, pay the ransom, and suffer immense torment. How do you know how much the "free love" god loves you or how valuable you are to him? Well, his love is just a concept. You don't know at all. This god pays no price in order to love you. How valuable are you to the God of the Bible? Valuable enough that he would go to these depths for you...Your conception of God's love-and of your value in His sight-will only be a big as your understanding of his wrath. (177-178)

God's wrath was poured out on Christ on the cross. And by doing so, God was beginning to reverse the reign and curse of sin, the object of His wrath. Because of His love for us, God was destroying the very things (sin and death), which had destroyed His good creation. Through the pouring out of His wrath, God was demonstrating His great love for us.

And that is love unlike any other.

whose agenda?

I actually read a book for pleasure during my vacation to the Lake in August. It was the first time I had willingly picked up a book since the semester ended back in May.

The book was King's Cross by Tim Keller. It focuses on Mark's Gospel account which presents Jesus as the true King eternally destined to bring His kingdom through the weakness and suffering of the cross.

When talking about Peter's rebuke at the news that Jesus would suffer, Keller focuses on Peter projecting his personal agenda upon Jesus the King.

We are no different than Peter. Keller keys in on this when he says,

If your agenda is the end, then Jesus is just the means; you're using him. But if Jesus is the King, you cannot make him a means to your end. You can't come to a king negotiating. You lay your sword at a king's feet and say, "Command me." If you try to negotiate instead, if you say, "I will obey you if...," you aren't recognizing him as a king. But don't forget this: Jesus is not just a king; he's a king of a cross. If he were only a king on a throne, you'd submit to him just because you have to. But he's king who went to the cross for you. Therefore you can submit to him out of love and trust...Taking up your cross means for you to die to self-determination, die to control of your own life, die to using him for your agenda. (106-107)

Am I more interested in using Jesus for my gain and glory? Or am I willing to sacrifice all of that for His?

the psalms

Back in April I had the privilege of preaching Psalm 6 and Psalm 103. Since then, I have remained in the psalms reading one each day. It has been both a joy and blessing.

The psalms are honest, raw, emotional, and packed full. In them we get a glimpse of the highest of highs as well as the lowest of lows. As a more emotional person, this is right in my wheel-house (to borrow the baseball term). Through the psalms, I have found much teaching on how to grieve/wrestle and rejoice in a worshipful way.

Take Psalm 77 (and note the way it easily breaks down, which adds to the beauty of the psalms)...

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

Rarely am I as diligent as the psalmist is in crying out to God. I'll give maybe one loud shout, and then move on. This guy shows it is acceptable to be persistent. He continues crying out until he hears an answer. As long as his grief remains, his crying will last.

You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

Not only does the psalmist cry out, but he wrestles. He wonders whether God has abandoned him. He despairs over the feeling of loneliness surrounding him. And he is actively searching into whether or not this could actually be the case. I tend to doubt and wrestle, but I fail to search like this guy. It is because of his searching that he is able to do what follows.

Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

In the midst of his despair, the psalmist goes back to what he knows: the faithful testimony of God through the ages. He recalls the love, grace, mercy, kindness, power, and wonder of God. He retells the Exodus, God's great salvation of Israel, to himself. It stands in the face of his doubt and despair. It rejuvenates his soul. All the comfort my soul needs is displayed on the cross, the fulfillment of God's great and eternal plan of redemption. It reveals the depths of His love, grace, mercy, kindness, power, and wonder. If I search long and hard into this, I will be able to respond like this psalmist.

When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The psalmist ends his cry with the specifics of God's actions. As he reflects on what he has seen/heard God do, he cannot help but find renewed faith. He ends with a declaration of faith that God's leading Israel will mean God's leading in his own trial.

This is why I love the psalms. They show we can be honest in the midst of our trials and joys, and that we can maintain a heart of worship despite the pain and jubilation. We do not have to be stoic robots with no emotion. We have been created with emotion and feeling in order to worship the God who gave them to us.

a hopeless wanderer

Summer is almost over [sigh], and I have written a grand total of 6 posts! My plan was to be far more active. However, each time I sat down to write my creative tank was found empty. The few times I attempted to work through the void, the writing process was painful with the product severely lacking. Therefore, I pretty much abandoned all my efforts...

...until today!

But hold me fast, hold me fast
'Cause I'm a hopeless wanderer
And I will learn, I will learn to love the skies I'm under

I have this song included in my running mix. It is a fitting song for that exercise seeing as on many of my runs I feel like a hopeless wanderer. I run around a track over and over again without every getting anywhere. As such, my mind tends to wander often times to the skies over my head. On Monday I loved the skies for they were blue and cool. Today I did not like the skies for they were hot and humid. The song just fits.

The song also speaks to much more than my running excursions.

I go through many of my days living as a hopeless wanderer. I wander from one thing to the next looking for something. It may be fulfillment, pleasure, belonging, joy, acceptance, or a variety of other things. However, each thing leaves me feeling more and more like the hopeless wanderer I am.

I do not know who the song writer is singing to when he says hold me fast. It could be a lover, friend, God/divine being, or something else. For me (and everyone else), I am no longer a hopeless wanderer when I am held fast by Jesus Christ. For in Him, I find all the fulfillment, pleasure, belonging, joy, acceptance, etc. that my heart has and will ever desire. Because of who He is and what He has done, there is nothing I need or desire that stands outside of Him.

In light of this reality, I learn to love the skies I am under. Whether they are dark and gloomy or bright and blue, I have all I need. I am not dependent upon my circumstances. They will merely drive me closer and deeper into the arms of my Savior who endured every kind of sky imaginable.

Right now I thank God my skies are blue. However, the blue skies are not what overcome my hopeless wandering. It is the God behind those blue skies who continues to hold me fast.

the end of an era

The intense heat wave two weeks ago put the final nail in the coffin of a very special relationship.

I bought "baby" when I was sixteen years old. My brother looked her over first, but I swooped in the moment he passed her by. She had roughly 90,000 miles to her name to which I added another 80,000. I could not have asked for more out of my first car. Baby was worth every nickel.

Over the years we shared a numbers of trips together, some of which I never made it to my intended destination. She was not the most reliable nor was she ever a sight to behold. As high school and college friends quickly started burying their old cars, I held on to Baby for both sentimental and financial reasons. When we would get together, they would either ask when I was replacing her or shake their heads. However, one of the senior ladies at church would always smile and praise my car whenever I picked her up on Sunday mornings. She liked the automatic seat belts and homely feeling.

But alas all good things must come to an end. Baby still sits on the street as I await her grand exit. Replacing her is easy because she had become completely unreliable and a great headache. However, as a friend brought to my attention, replacing her is like the ending of an era. The days of my youth (talking high school and college because I am still young) have been behind me for a while, but Baby was always my reminder of those days gone by.

Everyone I talk to always remembers their first car. I know I will follow suit, and I will be able to look back fondly of the great adventures we had together.

Now for some new adventures...

(and it's a stick-shift so right now hills, red-lights, and stop signs are the mountains I must climb)