#POTUS, #SOTU, & other acronyms

After spending some time reading twitter updates & facebook statuses (stati?) about last night’s State of the Union speech I’ve got a couple observations of my own. 
If President Obama’s speech left you in the throes of despair, if you’re certain that we’ve finally stepped over the edge and that we are, in fact, heading to hell in a handbasket—take heart. King Jesus is greater than any President, any Premier and any King. He rules and reigns in sovereign splendor over all things. He holds the hearts of kings in His hand and can turn them in whatever direction He so chooses. The nations of the earth are but a drop in the bucket compared to His greatness. Take heart, fellow believer—our King outranks and supersedes all others and He is bringing all things to a conclusion that will brilliantly shine the light of His glory for all eternity. There is nothing—and no one—who can stop that. Rest in the power and rule of Jesus.
If President Obama’s speech left you enraptured and enthralled, if you’re filled with joy at the clear leadership, the obvious compassion and the measured, wise response to the crises that are faced by our nation and by the world—look to King Jesus. Our greatest joy and highest hope is found not in a man but in the Son of Man. Give God thanks and glory for the leader he’s given to our nation but give Him greater thanks and glory for His divine leadership over every area of our lives. Rejoice that in His sovereign goodness and grace He’s blessed us with a compassionate leader, but let your heart swell to the bursting point as you meditate the greater goodness and eternal compassion found in Jesus. Give thanks that God has given us a Solomon—but rejoice that in Jesus a greater than Solomon has come. No matter where you fall in the political spectrum, you can know with confident assurance that Jesus is Lord over all. You can rest in His sovereign care and rule. And you can rejoice knowing that no matter who is in the Oval Office, King Jesus is on the throne. Pray for our leaders, but trust in Jesus. Thank God for good leaders, and thank Him even more for His perfect leadership.

Reading in Psalm 5 this morning, and verse 7 really jumped out. David says, "But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you." David has just spoken of God's judgment of those who live in rebellion against God. In contrast to that, David maps out a different path for himself. 3 things stand out about this path.
First, David Knew Where He Was Going. David had a clearly defined path for his life. Now before you think that this is a post about having a strategy for where you're going in life, complete with 5 year plans and flow charts, understand that if I can plan something two weeks ahead I call it long-term planning. The point isn't having a specific time frame in mind-the point is having a specific destination. For David, that destination was the presence of God. His goal, his aim, his plan was to get into the presence of God. In Psalm 16:11 he would write, "You make known to me the path of life;  in your presence there is fullness of joy;  at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." David's path was set towards the presence of God because he realized that his highest joy and greatest fulfillment would be found not in sin but in God. His joy, his treasure was Christ! Do I recognize Jesus as the treasure of my life? Am I willing to sell everything to gain Him (Matt. 13:44)? Or do I chase after the passing pleasures of sin? As my friend Dylan Watson preached last night, "The fleeting pleasures of sin give us no lasting benefit." Am I wasting my life in the pursuit of that which won't last? Or am I chasing after the only thing, the only One who can offer true fulfillment?
Second, David Knew How He Would Get There. David's heart was to be in God's presence. But there was something that would keep him from God. In verse 4 he says, "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you." This is extraordinarily bad news for people who are guilty of wickedness, who are condemned by their sin as evil people. No matter how badly we want to be with God, our sin keeps us from Him. That's what makes what David says in verse 7 so incredible: 'But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.' David's path was set towards the presence of God-but he acknowledged that the only way he would get there would be the abundance of God's steadfast love. The Bible makes two facts abundantly clear--we are great sinners, and Jesus is a great savior! There is no way we can bridge the gap between our sinfulness and God's holiness. The astoundingly good news of the gospel is that God bridges the gap for us. Jesus has taken our sin on Himself , borne the wrath that our sins deserve, and granted us His righteousness. God's holiness is satisfied and I am forgiven. I can enter God's presence, and I can do so by through the abundance of God's steadfast love to me in Christ.
Thirds, David Knew Why He Was Going. David's desire was to enter God's presence-why? Verse 7 says, "I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you." David's desire to see God was for the purpose of worshipping God. This is a crucially important truth for us. God's desire is not to make much of me! I'm not the aim of the Bible. God is. All of history is being brought to an ordained end. And when that end arrives I will not be at the front of the victory parade. All things are being brought to the end that God has ordained, and that end is the praise of His name for all eternity. As I chase hard after Jesus, may it always be for His glory and not for my own.

I Peter Outline

Last Sunday we began a study through I Peter. Here's the outline of the letter, sort of the map we'll follow as we work our way through this epistle.

I Peter
Peter's first letter can be broken down into five major sections. Each of these sections point to a specific topic that we must properly understand if we are to rightly handle the suffering that is inevitable in the life of every follower of Jesus.
Theme of the letter: The greatness of our salvation and our Savior allows us to endure and overcome suffering. We do this by understanding the following truths
I. Our Salvation 1:1-1:12
Section Theme: Our salvation is of inestimable value and must be the focus of our lives
Our salvation is praiseworthy 1:3
Is due to God's mercy and sovereignty 1:3b
Offers living hope 1:3c
Is eternal and sure 1:4-5
Is greater than our suffering 1:6-7
Causes us to love Jesus 1:8-9
Was prophesied about 1:10-12
Amazes the angels 1:12b
II. Our Sanctification 1:13-2:12
Section Theme: God's work in sanctification is setting us aside for lives that bring Him glory. Our work in sanctification is to live lives that bring Him glory, i.e., living out the truths of our salvation's greatness.
Living the truth individually 1:13-21
Living the truth corporately 1:22-2:12
III. Our Submission 2:13-3:12
Section Theme: We demonstrate the truths of our salvation and our sanctification by walking in submission to others.
To government 2:13-17
In our jobs 2:18-25
In the home 3:1-7
In all of life 3:8-12
IV. Our Suffering 3:13-4:19
Section Theme: As followers of Christ we are called to suffer and are shown how we are to suffer to the glory of God.
Our conduct in suffering 3:13-17
Christ's example in suffering 3:18-4:6
The commands we follow while suffering 4:7-19
V. Our Service 5:1-14
Section Theme: Followers of Christ live within the context and framework of the local church.
For the elders 5:1-4
For others 5:5
For all 5:6-11

Let's pray for God's blessing on this study!

Because of Grace

In I Samuel 12 we see a spectacular reminder of the grace of God. Samuel is reminding the people that they asked for a king so they could be like the other nations. What's the problem with that? They already had a king. The Lord was their king but they rejected him and asked for a man to rule over them. The people realized their sin and asked Samuel to pray for them. Verse 19 says, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king." Samuel replies in verse 20, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart." Samuel doesn't play down their sin; he acknowledges it and the sinfulness of it. At the same time he points them to God's grace. "Yes you've sinned. But keep serving God." Got me thinking about how grace daily impacts my life.
Because of God's grace, I don't die. If there's one result of grace that I rarely consider, it's this one. And to be honest it does sound a bit strange. But that's just evidence of my presuming on God's grace. Isn't God's word pretty clear about the results of our sin? Look at this verse. And this one. And of course Romans 6:23. We focus so much on the end of the verse that we ignore the first. Isn't scripture clear that sin is deserving of death? Isn't the focal point of our faith the cross and the empty tomb? Jesus was born to die for our sins. That's the whole deal. The people understood that. In verse 19 they asked Samuel to pray on their behalf, that God wouldn't strike them down. But how many times a day do I sin and never give it a second thought? The reality is that we've all committed, and continue to commit, capital crimes against the holy nature of God. But in His great grace and mercy we are not consumed. Rather, because Jesus bore the wrath of God on Himself we can walk in God's love.
Because of God's grace I can be honest before God. Isn't it exhausting to try and be something you're not? You try to be one person at work and another person at home. One person at school, another a church, another on the weekends-gets hard to keep track of which one you're supposed to be. And sometimes we even try this with God. We try to sort of mask our failures, put on a veneer of righteousness because we think, "What if He finds out who I really am?" We need to be reminded that He already knows. The people didn't try to run from their sin, they confessed it before God. Because of God's grace I can stop trying to fool Him (which is ridiculous anyway). I can come before Him bare and honest. I don't have to worry about God finding out who I really am because He already knows. Who I really am--sinful, wretched, unholy, selfish, etc.--is who Jesus died for.
Because of God's grace I can keep serving Him. Samuel acknowledged the people's sin. But then he told them to keep following the Lord, to serve Him with all their heart. Because of grace I can continue to serve. I don't have to get discouraged or overwhelmed by my failures. I confess them to God, forsake them, and then get back to serving Him. My sin doesn't disqualify me from serving Jesus. It doesn't mean I lose my place as a member of His family. It reminds me that I need a Savior and that in Jesus I have a perfect Savior. It pushes me back to my knees in repentance and towards the cross in thankfulness. I confess my sins and God is faithful and just to forgive me of sins. He picks me up, dusts me off and puts me back to serving Him.
God never ignores our sin. But in Jesus' death on the cross He has made provision for my sin--grace instead of wrath, mercy instead of condemnation. Let me encourage you today, and everyday, to rest in the grace of God. Glory in the grace of God. And never take God's grace for granted.

Of Shaving and Sin. Or, Why I Shouldn't Shave.

Look at that rugged brute in the photo above. Go ahead, look. Just drink it in. Looks like he's spent the morning chopping down trees using only his fists. This was me back in December. No shave November spilled over into the next month and I heartily embraced my Decem-beard. And for good reason. When I have no whiskers on my ugly mug I look like a fat-faced 12 year old (apologies to any fat-faced 12 year olds out there-you look fine, but I'm 34 and that makes it way less acceptable). But here's the strange thing-even though I much prefer facial hair, even though I'm a rugged brute with it and a kid whose voice still cracks without it (apologies to the boys who have voices that crack-I promise, nobody notices)-even though all these things are true I still sometimes shave. About once a year I decide, "Hey, you know what would be great? If I shaved off all my facial hair and went back to how I looked in middle school. Except with an older face and less hair on my head." And so I do it. And after the cutting is done I rinse my face off, look into the mirror and see this:

Go on, look. Let that image burn itself into your brain. Print it off and use it to keep the birds out of your garden. Post it on the bathroom mirror when you go to bed so the next morning, when your spouse stumbles into the bathroom, half asleep and still dreaming, you can scare the bejeebers out of them. Seriously, compare those two mugs. What was I thinking? The good thing is that it will in fact grow back. I'll only have to sport this look for about a week. So to those who have to deal with this for that time--my bad, guys. My bad.
Now what's the point of my self-deprecation? Glad you asked. As I watched the remnants of my face crown wash down the drain and was confronted with an older, "fuller" version of my middle school face I couldn't help but think about how often I allow sin into my life, with the exact same results.
Think about it, aren't we so stupid for continuing to chase after sins that we know won't satisfy, that we know won't fulfill, that we know are displeasing to Jesus? We know before we sin that it won't satisfy, we know while we are sinning that it won't satisfy and after the sin has been committed, in that moment of clear conviction we are confronted with the inescapable truth that what we've just done was wicked and vile in the sight of our Great King.
Proverbs 26:11 says, "Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly." Pretty disgusting image isn't it? Yet this is what it looks like when we continue to return to our sin. It's just as disgusting, just as revolting to our holy God.
Now the good news is that God doesn't accept us on the basis of what we do. We're accepted on the basis of what Jesus has done. His perfect life, His substitutionary death, and His victorious resurrection are applied to us when we repent and believe in the great exchange we call salvation. He gets all our wickedness and we get all His goodness. We are clothed in His righteousness and stand faultless before the throne. So even when I sin I'm still His child. His grace covers my sin and doesn't separate me from Him.
That's the good news of the gospel. The lesson for me is to put legs on this good news, to apply it to my life. If this is the life I was saved for, called to, recreated to live--then by God's grace may I live that life. May I learn that sin never satisfies, may God stamp eternity on my eyes and help me see that only what's done for Jesus will last. And may I find my fulfillment, my joy and satisfaction not in the passing pleasures of sin but in the one in whose presence is fullness of joy, at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Theology Lessons from the Car Rider Line

Had a nice little experience dropping Lily off at school this morning. The kids all tend to congregate around the drop off spot (or LZ to my military friends). I'm not sure why they do this. Maybe to get a head start on greeting their friends for the day. Since, you know, they'll only get to spend the next 8 hours together. Maybe they're watching to see which moms and dads are still in their pajamas so they can giggle about that for a while. (don't judge me, kid. I'm a grown man and I can wear my pj's if I want. you're in the 5th grade and can't do algebra. so put a sock in it) But this morning as Lily climbed out of the car I heard one of the kids yell, "Hi Lily's dad!" As I smiled and waved I thought about how having children changes your identity. I'm no longer just Randy. Now I'm Lily's dad. And Emma's dad, and Owen's dad. The old Randy doesn't work here anymore. He's been replaced by Lily, Emma & Owen's dad. And Kelly's husband. And The Preacher. And whatever other titles I now proudly carry.
Point is, our identities are often wrapped up in our kids. Introduce yourself to a fellow parent at a TBall game and what do you say? "I'm Owen's dad." Go to parent-teacher conferences and what do you say? "I'm sorry for how my child behaves." Not really. Hopefully. You say, "I'm Emma's dad." Who we are, our identity is wrapped in our children.
As I pulled away from the school I thought about being Lily's dad and how happy that makes me. Then I began to think about how God is our Father, but how different that is from me being Lily's father. I thought about the immensity of God, the greatness of His name and frankly, how silly it would be for us to refer to Him as "Randy's God", or "The God of Beech Street Baptist Church". In my mind I started writing a blog post about the transcendence of God, how He is so much bigger and greater and more amazing than anything we can know and how ridiculous it would be for us to ever even think of Him in those terms.

And then a funny thing happened. I was gently reminded of when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Remember that story? Moses is tending his father-in-law's sheep in the middle of nowhere. He sees a bush that seems to be on fire but it isn't consumed. Curious about this strange sight he went over to investigate. Exodus 3:4-5 tells us what happened next: 

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”  Then he said, “Do not come near;take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 

God has Moses' attention. Notice how He introduces Himself in verse 6:  

And he said,“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." 

Now don't miss this. God introduces Himself not as the Great I Am, not as the eternal Lord of Glory, not as the Triune God, not as the Judge of the Universe-He introduces Himself as Abraham's God, Isaac's God, & Jacob's God. This is a staggering account of divine condescension. God is willing to be identified as the God of His followers rather than just as Himself. Don't miss what's happening here. Of all the titles He could have chosen of all the ways He could have identified Himself, I find it absolutely amazing that He was willing to identify Himself according to His followers.

Now the point of all this isn't so that we get all chummy with God, begin prayers with "Hey Buddy!", or any such nonsense. And we certainly mustn't think that God somehow needed to be identified according to His followers. God is absolutely independent and needs us for nothing. The point is that we fall down in wonder at the great distance that God has traveled in order to come and get us, to stand in trembling wonder at what God is willing to do to bring sinners to repentance. To Moses He revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, i.e., He wrapped His identity in His followers. In Christ He would reveal Himself as Immanuel, God with us, and wrap His identity in the veil of human flesh and be born as a helpless baby. The fact that He's willing to identify Himself to Moses in this way demonstrates how passionately He pursues sinners, and how committed He is to His sovereign plan of redemption. God will stop at nothing in order to bring us back to Him. Jesus laid down His divine rights, His dignity, His very life to secure salvation for all who would receive it. Jesus has broken down that which separates us from God, He has brought us near to the Father. And He brought us near to Him by coming near to us. 
The gospel shows us that God has gone to unspeakable lengths to bring sinners back to Himself. So today, spend some time in awe-inspired delight at the greatness of God, the greatness of your God. And just as He was willing to be identified according to His followers, be willing to be identified as one of His followers.

Worst Trip Ever!

I read today about a guy who went on a mission trip that, while maybe not the worst trip ever, certainly had one of the worst beginnings ever. For starters, the trip began with dissension. This guy had recently completed a successful mission trip with a fellow missionary but when it came time for the new trip there was a huge disagreement about who should be on the mission team. Apparently the other missionary wanted to bring along a guy who hadn't yet proven himself. The disagreement was so sharp that they ended their ministry together and went separate directions, each with his own mission team.
Next, he was denied access to the areas that he wanted to go. There was no legal reason he couldn't go preach there but on two separate occasions, after praying and seeking God's will, he was denied entry into these regions.
Finally, sensing God's will to preach in another location, he arrives and begins to preach. After some initial success the locals get stirred up by his preaching and after falsely accusing and beating him they throw him in jail.
Put yourself in this situation for a moment. The trip starts badly. You're prevented from ministering where you want to, where you think God wants you. And then you end up in jail. How would you respond? The missionary in our story responded in a very strange way--with worship and prayers.
When I read this story I was struck by the dedication of this missionary. With all that had happened to him he didn't question God, he didn't say, "Why are you doing this me after all I've done for you?" Instead he worshipped. His response reminds us of something that's crucial for us to understand; worship has nothing to do with our circumstances. Worship is based on who God is rather than what's happening to me. We don't worship God for what He does, we worship God for who He is. He is worthy of worship. That means he deserves our worship. Not because of what he does but because of who he is. I want to be like this missionary. I want to be able to worship God, to glory in who he is, to drink deeply from Jesus and be satisfied in the greatness of who he is. And I want to be able to do this regardless of what is happening to me. Circumstances change. God doesn't. He is worthy no matter what we face.
By the way-the missionary in our story is Paul. Acts 16 records his second missionary journey and these are some of the highlights (or low lights) that he faced: a sharp disagreement with Barnabas that led to the end of their ministry relationship, being prevented by God from ministering in two specific areas, and being thrown in to jail on false charges. In the face of all this, Paul and Silas responded with praise and prayers. Jesus is worthy of my praise no matter what I face.