Back from Greece

Kim and I had a wonderful time in Greece. Highlights? Either taking communion in Ancient Corinth while reading about it in 1 Corinthians... or the breath-taking vistas of the Greek Islands. Traveling is wonderful, coming home is better.

While away.... my new best friend John Newton helped me out on something.... How can I KNOW so much about faith/holiness/etc. AND LIVE SO LITTLE?! Maybe he'll help you too.

That which has been a frequent theme of my heart of late...I mean the remarkable and humbling difference which I suppose all who know themselves may observe, between their acquired and their experimental knowledge, or, in other words, between their judgement and their practice. --John Newton,

Basically, Newton says that God allows these gaps so that:
1.) We learn that it is all of grace
2.) We learn to be patient & tender with broken folk
3.) We learn to long for heaven when our struggle with sin shall be gone

read the letter here

Keller, One Thing, and Heart Idolatry

"My fears are directly proportional to the vulnerability of the things that are my greatest joys."
--Tim Keller

"Anything but God and His will is vulnerable." --TK


Again, this passage makes us ask--what are our idols? What are good things that we've let become our ONE thing.

There is a book coming out this summer which promises to be very helpful. Written by Dan Allender & Tremper Longman... Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
"This book uses the category of 'idols' as a creative way to understand not only a difficult biblical book (Ecclesiastes) but also the very way our hearts work. It brings a great deal of clarity where there has been confusion. Recommended."

—Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City


Table of Contents
Introduction: Searching for Meaning

1. Chasing After Power: "I Can Control My World"
2. Chasing After Relationships: "Relationships Bring Me Fulfillment"
3. Chasing After Work and Money: "Money Gives Me Freedom"
4. Chasing After Pleasure: "Pleasure Satisfies Me"
5. Chasing After Wisdom: "Knowledge Will Put Me on Top"
6. Chasing After Spirituality: "My Spiritual Life Will Save Me"
7. Chasing After Immortality: "I Will Have a Long Life if I Take Care of My Body"

Conclusion: Finding Abundant Life

The Center for Parent & Youth Understanding

Their latest newsletter is available online. Good stuff

Luther on Psalms

"The Psalms are a little bible, a summary of the Old Testament."

No bargaining with God

The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues is that we fail. If there was any idea that God had set up a sort of exam and that we might get good marks by deserving them, that has to be wiped out. If there was any idea of a sort of bargain—any idea that we could perform our side of the contract and thus put God in our debt so that it was up to Him to perform His side—that has to be wiped out. -- C S Lewis Mere Christianity

Report from Va. Tech Minister

this is from an email Jenna Lammers sent out today.....
Steve's old college friends from Clemson RUF days (Eliza and JR Foster...used to be at Florida State doing RUF) are the RUF leaders at Virginia Tech. Wanted to share part of Eliza's email to me today so you can pray and hear some of what the campus Christian community is dealing with.

" Our students are in shock, I think. Many of them knew someone who knew someone, but honestly we are still waiting on names and reports. We do have one student who was in one of the rooms in Norris Hall...he was the only one not killed in that French class...he played dead. JR spend time with him last night. Please pray for him and his dealing with this awful experience."

" Pray for him (JR getting lots of calls by media for interviews from all over the world)...for bold proclamation of the gospel, for wise decisions about how to spend his time, for peace. Please pray for our RUF students...for their sharing of the gospel and holding out life to those around them, for their wrestling with this tragedy. Pray for other students and faculty to be brought to saving faith. Pray for me as I support JR, talk with studnets, and answer my children's questions...I just want to shelter them and yet it's such an opportunity...hard to now what to tell them."

a little help for my friends

some guys from Faith Presbyterian asked me to plug this:

Faith’s Men in the Church (MIC) is sponsoring a golf tournament on Saturday, April 21st, at Turkey Creek Golf Club with tee off planned for 7:24 AM. This was a good time by those who attended last Fall and we would really be encouraged to have you out there Saturday. We will be hacking around and enjoying each other’s fellowship. Please call the church office (377-5482) if you are interested in playing. The cost for the tournament will be approximately $25; Dutch treat lunch afterward at Conestogas in “beautiful downtown Alachua.” For more details, contact Dan Sutton, 273-1011. Come, bring a friend, and enjoy good fellowship.

What solemn tidings reach our ears!

Went to a funeral today. So amazing to be present at the mournful joy of a Christian's funeral. I've done funerals where I think I might be the only Christian in the room... and it is hard, though Christ is always faithful to show up and preach His gospel of hope. Anyway, sitting in the funeral an old hymn came to mind. One I love... it is about a Christian receiving the news that another Christian has passed over through death. He wrestles with his "envy" of the resting Christian... yet rejoices in the security of the promise of God.

What solemn tidings reach our ears!
How awful. How grand!
A brother landed safe from fears,
On Canaan's happy land.

No clouds obstruct his son.
All be life and peace.
With him tis ever ever new,
Nor can his joy decrease.

Refrain
He's gone in endless bliss to dwell,
And I am left below,
To struggle with the powers of hell,
Till Jesus bids me go.

Though he's more happy I'm secure.
God's promise cannot fail;
O may I patiently endure,
My heavenly Father's will.

The counsel of the Lord shall stand,
And all his will be done;
I'll therefore wait in Meshech's land,
Until he fetch me home.

virginia tech... where is God?

questions people ask

Summer Psalms

This summer Christ Community church will read the Psalter! Chipper Flanikan put together a very helpful reading plan that calls for--on average--2 psalms per day. One in private and one with family or roommates? That might be a way to do it. I will also be preaching through the readings. So, when you have read Psalms 1 thru 11 in a week, my sermon will be from one of those psalms.

This is a great followup to Journey of Faith, which really showed us how helpful & healthy it is to do church-wide projects.

Quick, what is the Bible about?

How do you boil down the Scriptures? In seeking to grow in my understanding....AND...
In thinking through how to help people get a grasp on the whole of the Bible, I came across a lecture that I'm about half-way finished with. It is almost 4 hours. Yes, 4. But if you took an hour a month to listen, you'd finish in 4 months. How does that compare what you've done in the last four months to grasp the message of the Bible? The lecture is by David Jackman (no relation to Hugh--i don't think), who is a UK friend of Tim Keller's. He's a good teacher and the accent is always cool. Link is here

link to John Newton Letters for purchase

Several folks have asked about how to get hold of the Letters of John Newton .... they are available from amazon

Clara Driebe's Dad is Home

Yesterday Clara Driebe's father passed into the presence of his Father. Kim & I had the privilege of spending some time Sunday evening with Clara and her mother. I'll write on this later, so encouraging it was.
For now I want to inform y'all of these events:
5-7pm today (Monday 16th) Visitation held at Milam Funeral Home on Main Street in Gainesville
11am Tuesday Funeral at 1st Presbyterian Church d'town gainesville

quiet time guide

Very helpful and very brief guide to sanity in the "Quiet Time" discussion...

The Quiet Time Series, by Joe Thorn:
1. Not a Cleansing Rite
2. Defined
3. My Failure
4. What is it Good For?
5. Advice
Read them all here

People do not drift toward holiness.

Preparing to lead us into a series called, "Rivers of Grace: How God Nourishes Our Seeking Heart"....

Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. - D. A. Carson, For the Love of God

Your Beloved Needs You Now

I've been reading alot of Psalms lately... and realizing how raw the relationships were that the writers had with God. Then, today I came across a song from some modern writers that seem to be lifted exactly from the pages of the Psalter:

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
--Bebo Norman & Jason Ingram

How Temptations Show Us Christ

Temptations, by giving us a painful sensibility of the weakness of our graces, and the strength of our inward corruptions, tend to mortify the evil principles of self-dependence and self-righteousness, which are so deeply rooted in our fallen nature; to make Christ, in all his relations, offices, and characters, more precious to us; and to convince us, that without Him we can do nothing. --John Newton (read more of this letter here)

Off to Presbytery

Matthews and I are in Jax today at presbytery meeting

Burdened by sin, rest in Christ

This is a portion of a hymn on prayer, written by John Newton:

With my burden I begin:

Lord, remove this load of sin;

Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,

Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to Thee for rest,

Take possession of my breast;

There Thy blood-bought right maintain,

And without a rival reign.

Vivid images and metaphors are what can make hymns so helpful to our souls. Jesus' blood-bought right to our hearts is gripping.
rest of hymn is here

What is Meditative Prayer?

“Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God...It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.” (Packer, J I: Knowing God)

"To meditate in God’s word is to discourse (discuss with God in prayer) concerning the great things contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of thought, till we be suitably affected with those things and experience the savour and power of them in our hearts."...

"Meditation is screwing the truth of God into our hearts until it catches fire." --Tim Keller

What does Christian growth look like?

I will venture to assure you, that though you will possess a more stable peace, in proportion as the Lord enables you to live more simply upon the blood, righteousness, and grace of the Mediator, you will never grow into a better opinion of yourself than you have at present. The nearer you are brought to Him, the quicker sense you will have of your continual need of Him, and thereby your admiration of His power, love, and compassion will increase likewise from year to year. --John Newton

Letters from an old friend, strength in trials

When I was in Mississippi recently I stole, er borrowed, a book of letters from my brother in law. They were written by John Newton. Wise counsel indeed:

All shall work together for good; everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds. Be content to bear the cross; others have borne it before you. You have need of patience; and if you ask, the Lord will give it: but there can be no settled peace till our will is in a measure subdued. Hide yourself under the shadow of His wings; rely upon His care and power; look upon Him as a physician who has graciously undertaken to heal your soul of the worst of sicknesses, sin. Yield to His prescriptions, and fight against every thought that would represent it as desirable to be permitted to choose for yourself. When you cannot see your way, be satisfied that He is your leader. When your spirit is overwhelmed within you, He knows your path; He will not leave you to sink. He has appointed seasons of refreshment, and you shall find He does not forget you. Above all, keep close to the throne of grace. If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw near Him we may be sure we shall get none by keeping away from Him. ---John Newton, 1775

A Life Less Petty

Sunday we begin a 3 week study we're calling "Streams of Grace". The idea is to take a look at ways God nourishes our souls, strengthening them in the gospel. Avenues God uses to secure us, envision us, and send us out... Historically, the church has called these the "means of grace" and listed them in 3 broad categories... Prayer, Word, Sacrament. Sunday we will look at Psalm 1 as we focus on prayer. Specifically, prayer that nourishes the soul. Prayer that advances God's kingdom has often been called meditation, because it involves God's word. Look at the tremendous metaphor given to describe the effect that meditative prayer can bring...

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.

Former Felon comments on Resurrection

just saw this interesting quote from a Watergate participant

I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. -- Charles Colson

Make a Playdough Mountain

Here is a great idea to do with the kiddies for Easter!

To put it bluntly

To put it bluntly and plainly, if Christ is not my Substitute, I still occupy the place of a condemned sinner. If my sins and my guilt are not transferred to Him, if he did not take them upon Himself, then surely they remain with me. If He did not deal with my sins, I must face their consequences. If my penalty was not borne by Him, it still hangs over me. There is no other possibility.

--The Cross in the New Testament by Leon Morris

quotes on cross & acceptance by God

Man is alienated from God by sin and God is alienated from man by wrath. It is in the substitutionary death of Christ that sin is overcome and wrath averted, so that God can look on man without displeasure and man can look on God without fear. Sin is removed and God's wrath is satisfied. --David Wells

It is impossible for us to face Christ's cross with integrity and not to feel ashamed of ourselves.
--John Stott

What a cleansing power in his blood to take away sin such as ours! and what glory in his righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved! Mark, believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since it is in him! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received his merit, you cannot be unaccepted. Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah's gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though he sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when he looks at you through Christ, he sees no sin. You are always accepted in Christ, are always blessed and dear to the Father's heart. Therefore lift up a song! --Charles Spurgeon

Easter Sunday Details

Wanted to make sure you had all the skinny on Sunday...

Chris Hiatt and I have designed a 60 minute service that should be very helpful in helping you celebrate the resurrection of Christ and explaining to our guests why His death & resurrection are so central.

This 60 minute service will be offered at two times; 9:00am and 10:30am

What else is happening Sunday? Here is the program for both services

Age 4 and below Childcare offered throughout the 9am & 10:30 services
Age 5 thru 2nd grade; dismissed from service to Children's church prior to Rob's message
3rd grade thru age 94.... the aforementioned 60 minute service in the theater.

always more info at church website

The cross of Jesus, the spring of our happiness

When we tremble under a sense of our sins, the terrors of the Judge and the curses of the Law, let us look upon a crucified Christ, the remedy to all our miseries. His Cross has procured a crown. His passion [death] has expiated our transgressions. His death has disarmed the Law. His blood has washed a believers soul. This death is the destruction of our enemies, the spring of our happiness, the eternal testimony of divine love. We have good reason, as well as the apostle Paul, to determine with ourselves to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and especially him crucified. --Stephen Charnock (1684)

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.