Spirit Filled Puritan

This is not an isolated story.  There are many references in the Bible about money.  Yet they all tell much the same story.   Its given by God for our use on Earth, for His glory. 

So if this is the case, what is the right response to money?

Life is not about the accumulation of “stuff”.  It’s also not about a journey of discovery.  It’s about relationship with the Giver of not only money, but life itself.  Its about coming to grips with who you are, why you are here, what is wrong with the world and how can what’s wrong, be made right.  It’s all about your response to these 4 questions (1).   Why?  Because your response to these 4 questions will dictate your response towards money.

I would encourage you to read this book, with your Bible in hand, and then respond to these 4 questions.  No “Big Money” needed, you can read it free here.  Or if you want a hard copy, you can get one here.

(1) Credit to Voddie Baucham, for beautifully articulating these 4 questions in the book,  The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, by John Piper and Justin Taylor.  Crossway Publishers

Stephen Altrogge in his blog last week wrote a short post on the perspective of the Gospels.  In it, he made the point that “we’re not the main point of the Gospels”, Jesus is. 

All too often we read the Gospels looking for something in us or for us, rather than desiring to learn more about who Jesus is.  “The Gospels portray Jesus in order to elicit our faith and worship, not primarily in order to show us how he can meet our needs.”

He suggests asking three questions (courtesy of Jeff Purswell):

• What is there in these verses that causes me to stand in awe of Christ?

• What is there in these verses that causes me to love Christ more?

• What is there in these verses that demonstrates the all-sufficiency of Christ for a particular area in my life?

This is an excellent reminder for me to “reposition” both my heart and perspective as I study God’s Word.

This is a great, easy to read book that is accessible by athletes or sports fans of any age.  It’s filled with personal stories and practical application of biblical principles related to athletics in general.  It’s not a book about the requirements and benefits of  good sportsmanship, although those topics are addressed.  Rather, it’s a book about joy, celebration and glorifying God whether you’re a first round draft pick or the arm chair quarterback.  It’s aimed at those who take their sports seriously in one aspect and not so seriously in another.   In it, Stephen Altrogge speaks to star athletes, weekend athletes, armchair athletes, parents of athletes, idolizers of athletes, coaches and officials.  If you’re into sports, you’re in here!

Knowing Stephen and type of man he  is, this book is true to heart.  He is a very humble and godly guy.  I didn’t need to even read it to know what he was going to say.  However, what impressed me the most was not what was said, but how it was said.  In a special way, Stephen cuts to the heart of issues with sports that we tend to overlook or justify as “just being part of the game”.  Sports are a window into our heart and they can clearly demonstrate our sinful nature even in our recreational pursuits.   The book is an eye-opening look at one’s heart and motivations; a sort of John Owen for the sports nut. 

My favorite chapter is the one on Winners and Losers.  Whether your sport is on the field, court, course, the kitchen table or in the stands, the book brings to light the temptations we all face along with practical ways to rightly address the sinful nature that causes these motivations and behaviors. 

Stephen also reminds us that one day we will give an account for our lives before  the judgement seat of Jesus.  This not only includes our vocational and spiritual pursuits but also includes the time we spend playing or watching sports.  While this is a humbling fact, the ultimate conclusion is not that sports are, by nature, wrong or to be avoided.  The book’s view is one that’s full of joy, hope and grace knowing that God has a purpose for the lives of His children which includes sports and recreation.  Sports like all things we experience, are a gift from God.  But as in all the things , we should be thankful, glorifying the giver;  not ourselves.  Sports and its associated behavior can be an evidence of grace and an avenue for the proclamation of the Gospel.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves games, sports or competition in any form.   Pre-teens through adults can easily read and benefit from it.  I think it’s especially valuable for the parents of athletes or wannabe athletes.  There is practical advice on establishing godly priorities and experiencing the grace of God in both their children’s and their own personal pursuits.  Parents can also distill the principles in it, helping translate the book for younger athletes.    Get it here and read it before your next big game.  You’ll have a whole new perspective on what it means to be an athlete, official or a fan.

While this may be somewhat off topic, I think its relevant for the times we live in and the growing “worry” over the financial markets.

It’s very easy to get depressed, carried away or even scared by reading the Bloomberg financial page each day.  Let me give you a run down of today’s financial news…

• Stocks in US slide as Bank Lending Seizes Up Following AIG Bailout
• Morgan Stanley and Goldman Shares Plunge
• Russia Pours Cash Into Banks, Halts Stock Trading to Stem Financial Crisis
• AIG Slumps as US Takeover Seen Wiping Out Investors’ Stakes
• Pelosi, Frank Want Bigger Role for Congress in Resolving Financial Crisis

You don’t need an MBA or Financial Advisor to tell you that things aren’t good in the world of money.  While you may think this is just bad for the rich and powerful, you’re wrong.  What’s bad for Wall Street ultimately becomes bad for everyone.

This blog is not the platform for voicing an opinion on how we should best solve this crisis or which one of the presidential candidates is best suited to solve all our problems.  Honesty, I don’t think any one person, government or Central Bank can solve it.  However, it is good to get a handle on what exactly is happening.

My old Economics professor used to quote former Federal Reserve Chairman William McChesney Martin Jr. and his famous line “the role of the Fed is to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going.”  Well the party’s been going on for a while now however in an ironic twist, it’s the Fed and their surrogates on Wall Street who were drunk and buying their spiked punch on credit.  They didn’t have the where-with-all to stop the party until they realized the liquor store had run dry!  Now they are feeling the effects of their partying like a bad hangover the day after and everyone is looking for someone to blame.

Rather than piling on or reacting to the current crisis by stocking up on food and ammo and heading to Montana with the dog, we should be looking towards the one who brings peace in turmoil.  Paul the Apostle cautioned Timothy (1 Tim 6:17) that the rich were not to place their hopes in money, but in God.  What naturally follows is that we should not imitate the rich and place our hope in either the rich men who control the money or riches we accumulate.  Ultimately they crumble.  Just ask the former employees of failed Wall Street firms.   Entire lives of work and energy were rendered worthless  in seconds.  401K’s are now worth less than the paper statements they are printed on.

John Piper said this years ago and it stuck with me.

“There are hundreds of you – who don’t care whether you make a lasting difference for something great, you just want people to like you. If people would just like you, you’d be satisfied. Or if you could just have good job with a good wife or husband and a couple good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, good health, a fun retirement, and quick and easy death and no hell – if you could have that (minus God) – you’d be satisfied. THAT is a tragedy in the making….And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. DON’T BUY IT!”

Many are and more will be, waking up to a reality that laying up treasure here is not the root of happiness and joy.  The tragedy is not that people are losing their retirements and savings, its the fact they pursued the accumulation of wealth at great cost to themselves, their families and their God.  They wasted precious time that can never be redeemed.

A few years back, this book changed my outlook on life.  In it, I saw that I was called to consider Philippians 3:7-14, not just as good advice from Paul or the domain of super-human Christians,  but as a defining statement of who I am in Christ.  These verses were the filter through which I was to see the world and be the guiding principles for everything I  do.

In reality, I did waste much of my life.  I can’t help the time that was wasted before I was awakened by the Gospel.   However, what is more sobering is the reality that I continued to waste my life as a Christian by pursing worldly desires for peace and security.

Don’t waste your life accumulating wealth or prosperity.  Don’t place your hopes in your efforts or your broker’s efforts.  Don’t define your worth by your 401K.  Read this book and get your Bible to follow along.

“The un-wasted life is the life in which everything you do put’s Christ on display, as supremely valuable.  You have been given life by God for this one main reason…to make Christ look great!  I count everything as loss, money as loss, food as loss, looks as loss, friends as loss, family as loss, job and success as loss, in comparison with the treasure that Christ has become for me”  – John Piper in applying Philippians 1:20-21 and 3:7-14 in life.

Saturday evening, the church where I attend hosted a prophetic ministry team from Covenant Fellowship Church of Glen Mills PA.  CovFel is a sister church in the Sovereign Grace Ministries family.  The team was led by Mark Prater, a pastor at CovFel.

The evening was divided into two parts.  The first part was a time of teaching on what is New Testament Prophesy and the second part was a time of ministry.  At Sovereign Grace Church of Central PA, New Testament prophesy is an integral component within the church and as such it is earnestly sought and prayed for during Sunday meetings or other times of corporate gathering.  It was a great encouragement to see many people blessed with this gift, ministering to people in our church, my wife and I included.

New Testament Prophesy was new to my family when we were introduced to Sovereign Grace Ministries about 2 years ago.  However from our first encounter with people who have this gift, we knew it was a special ministry from the Holy Spirit to the church. 

Mark Prater spent time explaining New Testament Prophesy, and its role and governance within the church.  Here are few highlights of what he said.

Prophesy is a gift given to some believers by the Holy Spirit.  It is a report of a revelation from God.  It is not new revelation but a word or impression from God that is meant to edify or build up the church.   It is a sign of God’s care for his children.  As such, it is a tool of the Gospel. 

Prophesy is never to be given the same authority as scripture but in all, it is to be governed by and tested against scripture.  It is meant to encourage believers or confirm the Godly desires of one’s heart; not to set direction or for decision making. 

Many people were ministered to Saturday evening.  My wife and I received words of encouragement that we sincerely believe were from God and spoken by the Holy Spirit through the team.  Others were encouraged publicly which further encouraged us.  Our Pastor and his wife were encouraged in their pastoral service.  As further encouragement, on Sunday, a man whom I just walked up to on the street 3 months ago, with whom I  shared the Gospel showed up at church for worship.  He drove 40 miles to come that day!

I would say that Saturday and Sunday were certainly days where the Holy Spirit was moving in Altoona PA.

Here is an edited version of the talk by Mark Prater on August 23.  It contains portions of the teaching he led on 1 Corinthians 14. New Testament Prophesy MP3

One of the two main goals my wife and I have this year in our homeschool program is the idea of integrating a multigenerational vision of faithfulness.   (The other is Family Worship which I will be writing on shortly)  Now that’s a mouthful.   What do I mean by this?

While I may have a slightly different view of some on this topic, the idea of multigenerational vision of faithfulness is a concept based on the God’s commands to Old Testament Israel regarding family, life and nation.  It is most fully developed in Deuteronomy 6 and 7.  Israel as the chosen people of God were always only one generation from extinction.  It was only by the grace of God they were kept them from that extinction in the face of their constant disobedience.  Yet the faithful ones always had a vision for God’s glory through the spiritual health of their family that included a “bigger picture”.  That bigger picture as the preservation of the nation.  They knew that Messiah would come to the nation and that the consequences of their actions would impact the nation.

Christians today are heirs to the same tendencies and we are under the same terms of extinction.  Likewise only by the grace of God are preserved from extinction.  Christian’s are called to the same vision of a “bigger picture”.  Yet sadly, we are repeating OT Israel’s mistake by not heeding this. 

Why is this important?  According to the people who track trends, there is not much distinction between the world and church in terms of social problems.  Most church families tend to outsource spiritual training to Sunday School teachers, Christian school teachers, youth group or the youth pastor.   Many families who are dedicated to the “in-house” idea of spiritual training still tend to focus solely on themselves or just their children.  To some parents, “getting them saved” is the goal.  Some hope their children “catch” their faith.  For others the focus is on preparation to resist peer pressure in school.  To others its the idea of investing as much as you can before they leave home.  All these goals tend to be defensive and tactical rather than offensive and strategic.    For most, parental involvement tends to end abruptly at age 18, right when children are facing adulthood for the first time.

The overall results of these efforts overall don’t fare well.  According to the SBC, 90% of  High School teens who leave for college never come back to church.    Their faith is weak or non-existent.  Whatever faith and training they had doesn’t hold up under worldly pressure.

Advocates of the multigenerational vision believe this is due in-part to the common belief today that Christianity is a solely a “personal” context, rather than having both a “personal” and  “corporate” context.  We end to express ourselves in terms such as personal savior, personal faith, personal beliefs, etc.  The people of OT Israel had a different view.  They knew who they were both individually and corporately.  They were the “Son or Daughter of someone” but they also knew they were not just part of a nation but that they “were” Israel.  Even the terms they used to describe themselves created a multi-generational connection to both past and future.  They also lived in a expectancy of blessing in the promises of God.  They trusted in the one who had promised Messiah and lived life expecting their children or their children’s children would see that day.  God by his grace and through the prophets constantly reminded them of both contexts.  The faithful listened and responded.  They could not escape the fact that their lives were part of something larger than themselves.

The multigenerational vision really just takes the common biblical model of  Proverbs 22:6 and places it back within God’s larger corporate context.   By doing this, it removes the emphasis on self and places it back on God as the one we must obey and the only one who can sustain us.  This is why it is so important to have a high view of the church.  What do I mean by a high view?  I define the church as the body of believers, chosen before the foundation of the world, and gathered by God, for His glory, united through the Gospel, through which He will accomplish His purpose on earth.   The vision doesn’t translate if your view of the church is some sort of  new and unforeseen organization, serving only some temporary purpose, and has no connection to the “εκκλησία” (a common name for called out or assembled believers from the LXX Septuagint) of the OT.   The vision doesn’t connect if your view of the future is pessimistic.  You also can’t embrace this vision for the future if you believe that Christians can choose to live life undistinguishable from that of an unbeliever or that sanctification and obedience are optional.  In these cases, a future vision is unnecessary since all decisions are made in and for the “here and now”.  Decisions such as these are commonly seen as only impacting the  “personal believer” and are divorced from the context of the church.  Yet the Bible tells us otherwise.  Members of the body who are weak, weaken the entire body.  Unaddressed sin in the life of a church member, impacts the corporate body.  The church is a living body, not collection of disjointed, optional or unrelated members.

However, those people, called by God, in grace, through faith in Messiah, to worship and serve Him are His eternal people. They were in Him before time began and will be forever.  Through the cross of Jesus, their identity is in God.   I like the way my pastor once put it…Church is not something you do or somewhere you go, it is who you are.

Many people talk about having dreams for their children.  We now have a “vision” for our children and their children.  It is no longer just a wish or hope but a decisive plan to instill Biblically based truths,  sound doctrine and a world-view that is focused not only on this generation.  Yet, in this vision we must realize that we can only trust in the efforts of Jesus work on the cross.  It is only by the grace of God, through Christ,  that we are preserved and it will be by His grace that the Gospel will be victorious.  We ought not be hoping the end will come in our lifetime, absolving us of our future responsibilities.  We are called to action through obedience and faithfulness.  God will accomplish His goals on his time schedule,  by graciously including us in the process.

I’m sharing this new concept in our family’s life as an encouragement to other families who are interested in patterning a more biblical view of the family, spiritual leadership and education.  I have more questions than answers.  So as we start the new school year, I’ll fill in our experience as we move through the learning process, trusting in God and his grace.

After getting my MP3 player a few years back , (I must confess it is not an iPod) I began to use it for listening to sermons and messages from various sources.  Piper, MacArthur, Discoll, Azurdia, Duncan and Ferguson were all played in heavy rotation.  Added to this was a few of the professors at seminary Gamble, Prutow and O’Neill.  The podcast was my best friend.  I listened while at work, walking the dog, even cutting the lawn.  I bought one of those little FM transmitters so I could listen to the messages in my car.  I listened so much that my wife told me she thought I had regressed 25 years and become a teenager.  The white earbuds  almost became permanently attached to my ears.   Add to this my veracious appetite for good books.  Not only was I studying Greek at seminary but I was reading books from Carson, Piper, Dever, Spoul, and my all-time favorites, the Puritan paperbacks from Banner of Truth. 

But for all the good that I was getting out of these resources, messages and books had become an idol.  In all of this I was learning new ideas and perspectives but they were coming at the expense of my spiritual disciplines, especially individual scripture study.  Not that I was not in the Bible, my studies at school “required” that.  But I was not searching and wrestling with the text in my personal devotions.  This fact was lovingly pointed out by my wife.  

So in order “kill” this sin, the MP3 player was put away and as much as it killed me to do so, I decided to read no other book but the Bible for 6 months.  This post happens to be the 6 month anniversary of that decision.   Did I make it through?  Yes, but not with the temptation to fall back.  Most notably, having attended Together for the Gospel in April 2008, I received a year’s worth of reading materials from authors like Piper, Mohler, Dever,  and others. 

I did read one complete book, Carson’s The Cross and Christian Ministry which my pastor asked the men on our church’s leadership team to read as part of our discipling process.  I also read portions of books (about 40) for reference in my seminary paper for the book of Acts.  I did also listen to a few messages.  However, the result of this 6 month process was a deep examination of my heart. 

This AM, the Holy Spirit encouraged me with an article from The Briefing, an evangelical monthly magazine from Australia.  In it on the last page was an article by Nathan Walker entitled,  iPod, iSermon, iRighteous?.  In it he cautioned readers to avoid the sin I had waded into.  The encouragement was that the Holy Spirit had shown him there was such a danger and by God’s grace, through the magazine, this danger would be pointed out to others.  As Paul the Apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13  “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (ESV)  I walked through this temptation and the associated sin and it was only by God’s grace through my wife that it was pointed it out.  Now Walker  has encouraged thousands of readers about this temptation and it is my prayer that others would see the temptation, heed this advice  and avoid the sin that can come from this temptation.  Discernment provides the way of escape.

So here is the application of God’s grace in my life regarding what I learned.  I hope it is an encouragement to you.  Good books and messages should be read and listened to.  However they should not  supplant one’s own personal devotions and study.  Be on guard if you make statements like “Well according to {insert favorite preacher or author here}…” more than statements like  “According to God’s word…”

One other thing.  Read The Briefing from Matthias Media.  It is filled with challenging articles that are not purely informational or theological.  The articles are informative, hard hitting and convicting, yet written in a conversational style and always pointing your back to God’s word and Gospel application.  Its well worth the $40 ($30 for an e-copy).  I love Modern Reformation magazine for its information on modern culture and ecclesiastical issues but I equally love The Briefing  for it’s focus on application.

Honestly I was expecting a softball game at tonight’s Saddleback Church Civil Forum.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised.  Rick Warren asked some really great questions.  He really got to the heart of many issues and the answers of both Barak Obama and John McCain showed their clear differences.

A few years ago I lived in Northeast Philadelphia, an area of the city known for it’s growing Russian population.  At the local Sunoco station station I always stuck up a conversation with the local immigrants who I had assumed to be Russian.  I was to find out that they were Georgian. 
Well that changed things.  Georgian politics was a whole different animal especially in light of the Rose Revolution in 2003. 

Over the last week we’ve seen this radical difference played out in the Russian invasion of South Ossetia and Georgia.  The roots of this war go deep.  Nationalism, ethnicity, pride and geo-politics, all play a role. 

In each of us a similar war is being waged.  It’s a war of who we are, to whom do we pledge allegiance, how do we see ourselves and how do we want to be seen.  It’s the war that’s mentioned several times in the New Testament in Romans 7:23, 2Cor 10:3, Hebrews 11:34, James 4:1 and 1Pet 2:11. 

Yet for those whom God has saved through faith in Jesus Christ, the war is over.  Romans 5:1 says those whom God justified have peace with him.  Yet in God’s economy we live in a state of  “the already and the not yet”.  The end result is assured but the skirmishes continue.  Arturo Azurdia, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Western Seminary,  gives us a great example of this concept.  In his 80+ part series on Revelation, he likened this victory to the final days of World War Two.  With the successful invasion of Normandy on D-Day and subsequent Allied victories, the German’s knew the war was over.  I was not over in terms of a formal surrender or at that very minute, but with blow after crushing blow, the reality of shrinking German territory confirmed it was only a matter of time before the Allies won. 

Thus it is like this in our lives after redemption.  We live in the present, battling the flesh yet we persevere in light of the victory that Christ won on the cross and the confidence in the Gospel’s triumphant march towards the eschaton.

So how should we respond? 

Earthly war is an effect of our depraved humanity, love of self and hate of God.  In  every conflict large or small; local or global, we should hate evil.  Psalm 97:10 says those who love the Lord should hate evil.  Proverbs 28:5 says that evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely. In effect we should respond the way God responded to our war with him- grace, mercy, peace and justice. 

We must pray for our leaders and not respond sinfully, becoming caught up in the political frenzy.  The Spirit provide us with discernment and the ability to act Godly, though we don’t always use it or act appropriately.   We must remember that peace is not the absence of armed conflict but the result of a change in heart.  As the late Alexander Solzhenitsyn said “gradually it was discerned to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either–but right through every human heart.”  That change can only be wrought by God. 

Ultimately the answer to world peace is the Gospel.  While I am here living in the tension of the “already and the not yet” I will experience the effects of sin but I know that my sovereign God, the Lord of history is in complete control and that His glorious Gospel will triumph. 

Remember Milli Vanilli?  They were the pop group from Germany who were rising stars in the late 1990’s and won a Grammy only to have it stripped when it was discovered they were lip synching someone else’s voice.  The two guys looked very cool.  The problem was, they couldn’t sing.

Well today the Olympic media is reporting that the Chinese pulled a Milli Vanilli of their own during the opening ceremonies.   According to the press, 7 year old, Yang Peiyi had the perfect voice, but was not as pretty as Lin Miaoke, the little girl who we all saw on TV.  Come to find out Lin lip synched little Yang’s recorded voice.    The Chinese music director is reported to have justified this decision by saying that "The reason for this is that we must put our country’s interest first.”

This story causes me to ask several questions.

• Is it OK to deceive if someone is seeking a greater good? 
• Can a nation’s “interests” be defined as a greater good?
• Is deceit OK if it is limited to purely entertainment?
• How should I respond to deceit?

I think the answer lies in our motivations.  But it’s an answer that many of us don’t want to hear.

A review of God’s word shows that deceit in all its forms is never good.  There are numerous examples in the Old Testament that point to the fact that Israel’s interests were not served by deceit.  Also, Jesus clearly condemns the presentation of outward appearance that in contrary to the inward (Matt 23:27-28 and the Scribes and Pharisees) as hypocrisy.  Deceit is also part of the human condition.  It is an evidence of our depravity (Jer 17:9).   Likewise, in our depravity we tend to worship deceit; choosing ourselves over God.

In contrast to us,  Jesus stands as the ultimate revealer and healer of the deceitful.  The story of Zacheus comes to mind.  My story comes to mind.

I think the response to deceit needs to be one of pointing the deceiver, and the deceived to the truth of the Gospel.  For it is through the Gospel that absolute truth is revealed.  It is also through the Gospel that our deceitful heart and its fruits are exposed.  Finally it is through the Gospel that the grace of God is purposefully bestowed, sanctifying the believer through a process of revealing and healing.