Living for experiences is like chasing vapors...

Here's a great quote from Michael Horton on seeking experiences vs. lived experience in light of truth...

"... manufactured and prepackaged "experiences" are incredibly short-lived. I cannot remember most movies I have seen. For whatever brief moments or even hours that I am wrapped in the cocoon of a space ride at Disneyland or am overwhelmed with intense emotion at a concert, the experience leaves as quickly as it came. However, my most enduring experiences are identified with events in which the goal was something other than having an experience. I will never forget hearing the minister say, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." Just words, right? They are words that change our life. "You have cancer." "We got all of the cancer - you're free and clear." "You're pregnant." "You got the job." Reports grounded in objective facts - outside of us and our experience - are the most significant experience generators in our lives.

"Each week, as I join my brothers and sisters in a public confession of sin and our particular sins to God in silence, Christ's ambassador declares that I am forgiven in Christ's name and on the authority of his Word. Regardless of what I feel inside, God's external Word assures me that I have peace with God in his Son. This is not a subjective experience - a peaceful, easy feeling - but an objective announcement. And precisely because of its objectivity - the fact that it is announced to me even when I am not overwhelmed by it emotionally - I get the experience of forgiveness thrown in as well. Living for experiences is like chasing vapors. It is sunsets, not "the sunset experience"; actual expressions of love, not "the love experience"; the Triune God, and not "the worship experience," that turn out to deliver the most important and lasting experiences."

- The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World, p. 224

[HT: routundus]

Can believers please God? Can we displease Him?

Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting this very helpful response to the question, "Does God get disappointed in believers when we disbelieve or disobey."


Dr. David Powlison - Does God get upset when we disobey? from CCEF on Vimeo.

I've been saying this for years. Glad to see David Powlison taking the issue on and speaking with clarity.

Also, for further study, you may want to see the chapter "Pleasing God by Our Obedience: A Neglected New Testament Teaching" by Wayne Grudem in For the Fame of God's Name.

Blogging through JE's resolutions

My peruvian amigo, Francisco, is blogging (in excellent English, I might add) through the resolutions of my favorite American philosopher & theologian, Jonathan Edwards.  It would be well worth the time to think through Edwards' resolutions with Francisco...

He's completed the first 10:

• intro
• one
• two 
• three
• four
• five
• six
• seven
• eight
• nine
• ten

Get your game face on, but don't waste your sports

Game day.   God.  Do they have anything to do with one another?  

I love sports.  I can't imagine the world without sports.  I'm so thankful that God has created us a culture builders, and one of the ways in which we build culture is by sports.   Granted, as with anything in creation, we can twist it for our own selfish ends, worship it giving it too much significance, and we can use it to abuse others.   


But, sports is inherently a good thing because it's part of created life.   From the grace of a "Hail Mary" pass caught in perfect stride, to the complex performance of a high platform diver, to the strength and elegance of a race horse, sports is at once a highlight of humanity's abilities and potentials, and an excuse to give God glory.  Eric Liddell, the Scottish Olympic runner immortalized in Chariots of Fire, knew this well when he said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."


Is it possible to "feel God's pleasure" while enjoying sports?  I believe the answer is not simply "yes," but a resounding "YES!"  

Christianity addresses all areas of life, including our sports lives.   

Below is a list of resources--books, videos, articles--that are helpful in thinking through sports to the glory of God. 


*  Don't Waste Your Sports, by CJ Mahaney (book | website)
*  Game Day for the Glory of God, by Stephen Altrogge (amazon | google | article)
*  The Reason for Sports: A Christian Fanifesto, by Ted Kluck (amazon)

*  A Theology of Sports, by James Spiegel

•  Part One 
•  Part Two 
•  Part Three 
•  Part Four
  

Video:
CJ Mahaney's "Thanking God for Sports"


CJ Mahaney's, "Don't Waste Your Sports"

Don't Waste Your Sports from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Stephen Altrogge: Victory (1:23)


Stephen Altrogge: Defeat (1:43)


Stephen Altrogge: Sidelines (0:50)


Get your game face on, but don't waste your sports.

Joshua Harris: Hold That Thought, God. Need to Check My Email

Filed under: "Note to Self"
-----
Joshua Harris: "I think a lot of us we could rephrase the words of Proverbs 24:33-34 about the sluggard and say, "A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around the smart phone and spiritual poverty will come upon you like a robber."

Good Read: "A Lot of Lattés"

I came across this interesting observation,

Overheard countless times in the last two months: “I am concerned about the poor performance of my investments and savings.”

Not heard even one time in the last two decades: “I am concerned about my poor performance in laying up treasure in heaven.”

On a similar note, I borrowed a recent edition of Books & Culture from a friend and read this interesting review entitled "A Lot of Lattés." In it, Ron Sider reviews Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money.

Chapter 1 hits the reader like a ton of bricks, spelling out in detail what American Christians could accomplish if they would tithe. If just the "committed Christians" (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess to be "strong" or "very strong" Christians) would tithe, there would be an extra 46 billion dollars a year available for kingdom work. To make that figure more concrete, the authors suggest dozens of different things that $46 billion would fund each year: for example, 150,000 new indigenous missionaries; 50,000 additional theological students in the developing world; 5 million more micro loans to poor entrepreneurs; the food, clothing and shelter for all 6,500,000 current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; all the money for a global campaign to prevent and treat malaria; resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide. Their conclusion is surely right: "Reasonably generous financial giving of ordinary American Christians would generate staggering amounts of money that could literally change the world."

Two more paragraphs worth quoting...

Chapter 2 outlines the dismal reality of what American Christians actually give. Twenty percent of American Christians (19 percent of Protestants; 28 percent of Catholics) give nothing to the church. Among Protestants, 10 percent of evangelicals, 28 percent of mainline folk, 33 percent of fundamentalists, and 40 percent of liberal Protestants give nothing. The vast majority of American Christians give very little—the mean average is 2.9 percent. Only 12 percent of Protestants and 4 percent of Catholics tithe.

A small minority of American Christians give most of the total donated. Twenty percent of all Christians give 86.4 percent of the total. The most generous five percent give well over half (59.6 percent) of all contributions. But higher-income American Christians give less as a percentage of household income than poorer American Christians. In the course of the 20th century, as our personal disposable income quadrupled, the percentage donated by American Christians actually declined.

Are we willing to do anything about this?

Read the whole article here.

Too busy to serve? Bridges says, "Think again."

"The reason most of us do not see opportunities to serve is that we are continually thinking about ourselves instead of others."

-Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring

[HT]

Unshared Joy & Joylessness Both Can Kill The Soul Slowly

"So this I find, that both unshared joy and joylessness are capable of killing the soul slowly. Therefore I must share my joy in God with others or else my soul will wither when the morning dawns on me."

These words were written by my friend, Francisco, who lives in Lima, Peru. He received his Ph.D. in engineering from Texas A&M. We actually overlapped a bit at TAMU, but we didn't know each other. He visited my home church, Westminster, after we left, and some folks told him that we were down in Trujillo, Peru. When he returned, he looked us up and came for a visit in Trujillo. He has a great heart for the Lord, has just recently joined the presbyterian church in Lima pastored by MTW missionary, Mark Barry, and I'm excited for the help Francisco will be to the future of Christ's kingdom here in Peru.

Francisco, thanks for all the great conversations! And thanks for sharing your joy with me.

Be sure to check out his blog.

Great Find During Bout with Insomnia

This probably goes without saying (as noted from my previous post), I don't need any help with my cynicism, especially regarding silly stuff my evangelical brothers & sisters do. Couple that with the fact that I'm a recovering pessimist.
Last night, during a bout of insomnia, I came across this funny website: Stuff Christians Like. Its a slightly irreverent commentary on the world of evangelicals.

Think of it as the local court jester who can say what needs to be said with impunity.

Note to self #1: I think that every session/ board of elders should have a court jester. As Wikipedia says, "In societies where the Freedom of Speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester - precisely because anything he said was by definition "a jest" and "the uttering of a fool" - could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for, and monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side."

I think a court jester could have prevented the "You spin me right round, Jesus, right round" ________ [insert descriptive noun of choice] from occurring in the first place.

Note to self #2: I have often thought my friend, Andrew Brunone, would serve well in this position. Run the idea by him for our church plants in Calgary. We could use a "Session Jester."

Note to self #3: Run it by his wife first. Get Heather to talk with her.

But I digress...where was I...oh yeah.

Like I said, this site is probably not good for me. But it makes for some great night-time-insomnia reading.

I think I'll add it to my Google reader.

I am a Christian...Somehow

Filed under: "Note to Self"
-----
"When I Say I Am a Christian" by Carol Wimmer

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received Gods grace, somehow!!

Evidently, there are several different versions of this floating around and attributed to different people. Snopes is helping clarify the air (thanks James!).