Super Bowl--So What?

Last night was the Super Bowl. And whether you're a football fan or not you must agree that the Super Bowl is a big event. Each year about half the nation watches; a big star puts on an incredible halftime show (or as was the case this year, Madonna sang); advertisers paid millions of dollars for commercial time; and there was also a football game. Parties were had, tons of food was eaten--it's a huge event. If you're a Giants fan it was a good game. If you're a Patriots fan, not so much.

But here's a question; is your life any different this morning? By that I mean, did the Super Bowl make an impact on you? Have you been changed as a result of it? Now the answer of course is no. Unless you bet tons of money on the Giants and won big; in which case I'll address your gambling problem in a separate blog. But by and large the Super Bowl makes no difference in our lives. We may go to a fun party, eat great food, laugh at some commercials, be grossed out by Madonna, or even cheer for our favorite team. And when it's all said and done we're still the same people.

Now the purpose of this post isn't to bash the Super Bowl. I love football, I love the commercials, I love the whole deal. But I was reminded this morning of how easily my heart can chase after the wrong things. I can spend all week reading about the matchups, about who's going to win, about what commercials will be shown, all that. And when I stand before Jesus to give an account for my life none of things will matter. Again, I'm not saying it's wrong to watch the game or like football. I'm saying I was reminded that my heart is desperately wicked. I was reminded that even though I'm supposed to set my mind on things above, there are times when I don't.

The Super Bowl can't change my life. It can't make me more holy. It can't make me a better husband or father or pastor. But Jesus can do all those things. He can make me more like He's declared me to be. He can make me the kind of husband who loves my bride like He loves His bride. He can make me the kind of father who is an example of my Heavenly Father. And if He can do all those things, how much more excited about Him should I be? How much more should I look forward to spending time in His word and in His presence? This morning I'm not any different because of the Super Bowl. But I'm eternally different because of Jesus.

Father, thank You for Your love. Thank You for changing me. Help me to passionately run after You, to seek You desperately above all things. Help me to enjoy the good things You've given in this life; time with friends, things that bring laughter, football games that are fun to watch. But help me to find my greatest joy and deepest fulfillment in You. Help me to be more like You. Amen.

The Sin of Unbelief

In Mark 6:5-6 we read, "And He could do no mighty work there (Nazareth), except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled at their unbelief." When Jesus returned to His hometown He wasn't welcomed with parades or banners. No one was proud of the hometown boy. Instead, they were offended by Him. They called Him illegitimate. And worst of all, they didn't believe who He was. They utterly rejected Him.

We don't often consider unbelief to be such a big deal. But J.C. Ryle in his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels points out several truths about this grave wickedness. First, it is the oldest in the world. Adam & Eve's sin in the garden was essentially a sin of unbelief. God had told them that if they ate of the fruit they would die. They didn't believe Him.

Second, it is the most ruinous of all sins because if the consequences of it. Unbelief brought death into the world; unbelief kept Israel out of the promised land for 40 years.

Third, it is the most foolish sin. Unbelief is a choice; a choice that is made in spite of the plainest evidence, in spite of the clear testimony of scripture and the testimony of the Spirit. Ryle says, "It is neither the want of evidence, nor the difficulties of Christian doctrine that make men unbelievers. It is want of will to believe."

Finally, unbelief is the commonest sin. Everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike, wrestle with this sin. Either we commit it with our minds and lips, or we commit it with our lives.

Unbelief is a grave, dangerous sin. Let us guard our hearts against it. Let us, as Ryle exhorts, "...go on watching our hearts, even after we have believed. The root of unbelief is never entirely destroyed."

Who is the Master of Your Fate?

I read a post this morning on facebook. A dear friend wrote, "[I'm] not the master of my fate, nor the captain of my soul. And I'm very, very OK with that!" She also put a smiley face at the end of it because that's how she rolls.

The phrases "master of my fate" and "captain of my soul" come from a poem entitled Invictus, written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley. At the age of 17 Henley's leg was amputated just below his knee. He refused to let this hinder him and lived an active and full life. Invictus, which is Latin for unconquered, is his manifesto, his explanation of his refusal to be defeated by illness. He writes:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

As a follower of Christ I find Henley's words both admirable and heartbreaking. There is much to admire in a man who refuses to be defeated, a man who rises above hardships and tragedies and overcomes them by the sheer force of his will. I want to be a man like that. I want to rise above.

But my life proves to me that I can't. Certainly there are things I can overcome. Certainly there are adversities that I can face and declare that they "shall find me unafraid." But at the end of the day I cannot declare that I am either the master of my fate or the captain of my soul. The reason is that I do not possess an unconquerable soul. My soul was conquered by mankind's greatest enemy--sin. Sin possessed me, overwhelmed me, ruled me and lorded over me. I was born into it and I embraced it. It was my identity, my purpose.

The wonder of my life is that my soul has been conquered once more. Not my by sin but by the One who gave His life to free me from my sin. The One who is truly master of my fate and captain of my soul. King Jesus has conquered me. He has drawn me irresistibly to Himself, He has taken my sin and my shame and my wickedness and my wretchedness on Himself. He has borne the just and right penalty my sin earned. He has taken it away and remembers it no more. Before such love, before such splendor and eternal majesty, I am conquered.

And because of this greatness I can face the "bludgeonings of chance", with my head "bloody but unbowed." I can stand with hope and joy, I can be unafraid to stand before a holy and just God because the One who conquered my soul has cancelled the record of debt that stood against me with its legal demands. He has set it aside, nailing it to the cross.

I am not Invictus; I am not unconquered. And I am very, very okay with that. For I have been baptized into the One who is, the One who conquered my soul with His greatness. I glory, I rest, I exult in the fact that Jesus is the master of my fate. Jesus is the captain of my soul.

The Power of God's Word

This past Sunday I was reminded once again of the power of God's word. We've been working our way through Mark's gospel since May. This week we were to begin chapter 4, where Jesus begins teaching in parables. After the first parable recorded (Parable of the Sower), the disciples asked Jesus why He began teaching with parables. To me, this was a logical place to begin the study of the parables; before we dove into them we needed to understand why Christ used them. To that point He hadn't used parables-why the change? And so we studied Mark 4:10-12.

Now that text may not ring a bell in your mind. It didn't in mine either. I've never preached from that text. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard a sermon preached from it either. Here's what it says: "And when He was alone, those around Him with the 12 asked Him about the parables. And He said to them, 'To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that 'they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'" Not exactly one of those "wow" passage of scripture is it? No, "for God so loved the world", no "for by grace you have been saved", not even "while we were yet sinners". But that was the next portion of scripture so we dug in. We studied why Jesus taught using parables.

And here's the remarkable thing; it was an incredibly well-received sermon. Several people told me they had been blessed, one man told me it was the best sermon he had heard me preach. And I don't say that out of pride or anything like that; I say that because those words completely reaffirmed to me the power of God's word. There was nothing in that text that seemed to leap off the page. There didn't seem to be much there that was useful for teaching, reproof, correction or training in righteousness. But that's precisely what happened. People weren't blessed because of my masterful exegesis or my impressive homiletic skills. People were blessed because the word of God was presented.

There is immeasurable power in God's word. And so often where I fail as a teacher of the word is that I don't lean all my weight on the scriptures. I worry that maybe what I say won't be relevant, that what is said on Sunday won't matter much on Monday. And that's a wretched, wicked sin because it is a declaration of the insufficiency of scripture. God's word is sharper than any two-edged sword, every word of it is inspired and useful. And when I am faithful to present it, people will be blessed.

Fellow teachers/preachers of God's word, may we never stray from the text. My opinions don't matter, my viewpoints don't matter--they can't change hearts and work the work of repentance in the hearts of sinners. But there is supernatural power in God's word. When we are faithful to present it, God is faithful to bless it.

Father, thank You for the incredible blessing of scripture. May I never present what I think to the world; may I never present my opinions. May I only preach Your word; may I ever rest in the sufficiency of it; and my I trust You to give the increase. Amen.

Why Pray?

For the last few weeks, I've taken Sunday evenings at the church I pastor to discuss the idea of defending the Christian faith. The Bible obligates us to be ready to give an answer for the hope we have within us, so it's pretty important that we can do that. We've covered topics such as the reliability of scripture, the existence of God, the divinity of Christ and, most recently, we discussed the problem of the Canaanites, i.e., how could God condone what appears to be cold blooded murder of men, women and children in Joshua 6? We've had some great studies together and the series has been well-received.

A few weeks ago I asked people to submit any questions they had on this topic. Could be questions they've been asked and didn't know how to answer, or it could simply be questions they've wrestled with themselves. One of those questions is the title of this post: Why Pray? It's a great question. If one believes that God is sovereign, that He is going work all things according to the purpose of His will (Eph. 1:11), then why do we pray? Why ask for specific things if He already knows what we need? Why ask Him to do specific things if He already knows what He's going to do? So I listed some reasons why we should pray.

1, We're commanded to. Pray is an obligation. 1 Thess. 5:1 tells us to pray without ceasing. So before anything else, we have to see that prayer is something that we are supposed to do. God expects it of us. But that just sort of moves the discussion back doesn't it? Why does God command us to pray?

2, God works through prayer. Over and over in scripture we see that God works when people pray. Several specific things we can mention, ways that God works when we pray: Matt. 26:41, prayer helps us overcome temptation; Luke 10:2, the kingdom is advanced when we pray; Eph. 6:18, people are blessed when we pray; 2 Thess. 3:1, the gospel goes out and triumphs when we pray.

3, Prayer affirms our relationship with God. Ps. 46:10, God tells us to be still and know/acknowledge that He is God. When we spend time in prayer we are reminded about who God is--and who we are in Christ.

4, Prayer is Fellowship with God. John Piper wrote a book entitled God is the Gospel. His premise is that God is the gospel. So the title was very well chosen. His point is that the purpose of the gospel isn't to obtain things from God; it's to obtain God Himself. The highest treasure, the greatest goal of Christianity is to know God, to be able to experience His presence, to be swept away by His grandeur, His majesty and splendor. When we pray, we are fellowshipping with this great and awesome King.

5, Prayer blesses God. In the OT incense was burned in the temple. It had a sweet aroma that pleased God. In Rev. 5:8 we read that the 24 elders who surround the throne hold golden bowls full of incense in their hands; and that incense is the prayers of the saints. Our prayers are pleasing to God, they bless Him. What an amazing thought! That something I do can bless God!

6, Prayer teaches us God's will. In 2 Cor. 12, we read of Paul's thorn in his flesh. And while we often focus on Paul's declaration that God's grace is sufficient, how did Paul come to this revelation? As he prayed that God would remove it, vs9 says, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Who said that? God did. That means that through prayer, Paul was able to discern God's will regarding this hardship. Prayer teaches us God's word.

7, God answers prayer. We should pray because God answers our prayers. Of course there are times when the answer is no. But there are also times when the answer is yes. Jesus' parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18) reminds us that God, who is loving and faithful to us, will certainly answer the prayers that we offer.

8, We get to. Finally, we should pray because we get to. It's easy to take prayer for granted. It's easy to forget that our sins had separated us from God. It's easy to forget that nothing we could do could bring us back to Him. Eph. 2:13 reminds us that through the blood of Jesus, we who were separated have been brought near. We can go into the presence of God through our Great High Priest, King Jesus.

Father, thank You for the gift of prayer. Help us not to take it for granted, nor forget the exceedingly high cost that was paid in order to secure this great privilege. Make us men and women of prayer, for the glory of Your name. Amen.

My Wife is Awesome

So apparently I haven't blogged in a couple months. And since my inbox and facebook hasn't blown up with people demanding I return there isn't a huge compulsion to do so today. However, I started this thing, darn it, and I need to be consistent.

So here's what's on my mind today. My wife is awesome. I don't mean that in a silly, aw-shucks kind of way. I mean seriously awesome. Mind-blowingly awesome. People often comment on how hard it must be to serve as a pastor--had a guy tell me the other day he would rather be whipped with a switch than have my job, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that (thank you? you're welcome? I was sort of at a loss there)--but let me assure you that the pastor's wife has the hardest job of all. In addition to everything else she has to do, she has to listen to her husband gripe/complain/whine. And let me tell you, my wife is so gracious to let me do all this.

In addition, my wife does an amazing job of taking care of our 3 kids. If you've never spent day after day in your home, tending to several children who daily demonstrate the utter depravity of the unconverted human heart then you have missed a blessing. Kelly handles the stresses of this job with grace and humility.

Something else that makes my wife awesome is that she is way smarter than I am. Anyone who knows us would certainly agree. But this amazingly intelligent woman has chosen to use her intellect, and the previous 10 years of her life, not pursuing a career, not continuing her education--both of which are lofty and noble goals. No, she has laid that aside for a season so she can devote herself to her kids. That, boys and girls, is what we call selfless underappreciated sacrifice.

You know why else she is awesome? Just now she started texting me quotes from Tombstone. Seriously, how awesome is that?

Here's another reason she's awesome. She's so stinking pretty. I mean, look at that picture of her. No kidding, have a look. OK, that's long enough. Quit staring at my wife. Kelly is amazingly beautiful. I'm not sure why she settled for a guy who looks like me but let me tell you, I'm glad she did.

So in summary, let me just state that my wife is awesome. Babe, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for you and so thankful for the last (almost) 13 years. It's been a great start to the rest of our lives. Now come give me a kiss.

Lost, Funerals, and Loving the World

This morning I was listening to K-Love on my way to the office and one of the DJs was talking about some friends who had just gotten the complete series of Lost on DVD. What made it such a neat gift for them was that they had never seen it before. Not a single episode. So apparently I'm not the only person in America who has never seen a single episode. Anyways, they started watching (wait, now I am the only person who's never seen an episode). And they got into it. Really into it. Like watching 2-3 episodes per day every day into it. And talking about nothing but Lost all the time into it. The DJ said, "They were telling me, 'It's all we talk about! When we're at the table, when we get up, we wonder what will happen to Butch and Linda and Gilligan (or whatever the names of the cast were--wasn't there a Jack in there somewhere?) and the rest of the gang.

My first reaction on hearing this was, "How sad." And don't misunderstand-I got no beef with Lost. Seemed to be a great show, lots of people enjoyed it, all that. And I'm thrilled for everybody that got into the smoke monsters and unanswered questions. But I couldn't help but think how sad it is that this couple who professes Christ, who have surrendered their lives to Him, who have sworn their allegiance to the King of Kings are spending all their time talking about something that didn't happen.

And I post this because as soon as I thought about how sad it was that they were doing this, I was immediately reminded that I do the same thing. Maybe I'm not crazy into Lost. But how many times per day do I check my facebook page? "Ooh, I wonder if anyone commented on my witty status? Maybe someone will think I'm cooler now!" How often do I spend time thinking about the things of this world rather than the Savior of this world? What a waste of a life that could be spent pursuing Christ and His glory.

I John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him." Read that again, slowly this time. You don't have to be a theologian to interpret that one. Pretty plain. John says very plainly that we are not to love the world, that if we do love it then the love of the Father is not in Him. Consider the implications of that verse. We can say that we love Jesus, that we've given Him our lives, all that stuff. But if I still love the world with the same fervor then the love of the Father isn't in me. This is why we must constantly guard our hearts, make sure that our joy is in Christ and not in the world. Because when we let the things of the world begin to take hold there's a problem.

I suppose this really stuck with me today because I'm preaching a funeral in a couple hours. And funerals really help bring things into perspective. See, the thing I always remind myself when I'm at a funeral is that one day I'll be the one in the casket. One day, I'll be the one laying there while my family listens to a preacher. And on that day it won't matter how well I understood the plot of Lost, it won't matter how many comments I got on facebook, and it won't matter how well liked I was. All that will matter is what I did with Christ. Did I love Him above everything else? Did I serve Him with gladness? Was Jesus my righteousness and my joy? That's what matters.

Father, thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your salvation. Help me to love You more. Help me to be swept away by You, to be caught up in how amazing You are. Help me to love you so greatly that everything else in my life fades into the background. Amen.