Why Love is So Important

1. Jesus taught that "the great and first commandment" is to love God completely, totally, and unreservedly-- with all one's heart, with all one's soul, and with all one's mind (Matthew 22:37-38; Mark 12:28-34). The sum of all God's commandments and all religious service is love for God.
   
   
2. Jesus declared the second commandment is like the first: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Jesus makes love for God and neighbor inseparable companions.
   
   
3. True discipleship requires denying self and loving him above all other (Matthew 10:37-38).
   
   
4. Jesus left his followers a new commandment: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.. By this all people will know that you are my disciples" (John 13:34). To neglect the new commandment would render the Christian life as "nothing" -- as not Christian.
   
   
5. John, the beloved disciple of Christ, declared that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16)
   
   
6. Paul called love the "more excellent way" of living. Love is the chief virtue that should govern all we do and say in the Christian life (1 Corinthians 12:31).
   
   

From Love or Die: Christ's Wake-Up Call to the Church by Alexander Strauch

Belief and Behavior

What we believe about God-- who He is and what He is like-- will determine our behavior. If we believe God is sovereign, holy, and involved in creation, we will live obedient, surrendered lives. If we believe God is not sovereign, or he is holy is only some areas, or if he is not really involved in creation, we will live pretty much how we want to live.

Our beliefs always determine our behavior. But our behavior reveals what we really believe.

Read Through the Bible in a Year

Every year, I strongly encourage my church family to read through the Bible in a year. It is not that I particularly care if they or I read through the Bible in a set amount of time. I am much more interested that we 1) read the Bible daily and 2) read the Bible thoroughly.

The Christian needs to hear God through is word daily as much as we need to eat daily. You may skip a few days, but before too long you are weak and sickly. A daily diet of regular intake of Scripture is a key to Spiritual health.

It is also important to read the whole Bible-- not just parts we like or don't like. Leviticus is just as inspired as John. Ezekiel is as import as Romans. All Scripture-- every book, every page, every line-- is inspired by God and is useful for our Spiritual development and growth. By having a plan to read through the Bible in a year (or half year or ninety days or two years or whatever), you work your way through parts you normally would not choose to spend time in. I think you will be surprised how rich and rewarding the neglected parts of Scripture can be.

The plan I am recommended to the LMBC family is the M'Cheyne Daily Reading Calendar (it is available in the ESV online here or you can order a hard copy of the calendar here). It has four passages (usually four chapters) divided into personal readings and family readings. I like the plan because it encourages family worship time in addition to private devotions (although you can read the whole day's reading alone if need be). This plan will take you through the Old Testament once, Psalms twice, and the New Testament twice. The reading can be completed in about twenty minutes a day.

I'll send a free copy of the calendar to anyone who asks for one in the comments section, or if you come by the church, you can pick one up.

If you have never read through the Bible cover to cover, you ought to. If you don't read the Bible daily, yous should make the commitment and do it. You will not regret it.

Win Great Books

One of my favorite blogs is giving away a stack of books for Christmas. Go to trevinwax.com for details.

People not Expereinces, Relationships not Events

Looking back over my entry from yesterday, it dawned on me that I wrote more about the events and experiences I had rather than the relationships and people. Granted, the events and experiences are filled with others, but it is possible to miss what makes an event and experience so important.

For example, have you noticed that watching a comedy like The Office is so much funnier when you watch it with someone than when you watch it all alone? Sarah and I watch this show every week and even own the show on DVD (I think she has watched every season we own about 5 times during the course of ironing clothes). We watch it and always laugh. But what makes the office so funny to me is sharing the experience of watching it with her. We laugh together, we quote lines to each other, we muse about the episodes together.

My life has been rich and full because of the people I've shared my experiences with. Experience and events are merely the backdrop of life. Third grade is so prominent in my mind because of the relationships I had with Mrs. Simmons, Brian Cundiff, Jeremy Engel, and others. College at Ouachita was such a powerful experience in my life because of the people that populated my life at that time. Mark, Brian, Jaycob, Andi, Shannon, Pam, Cristina, Jimmy, the Watsons, the Runyans, the Garlins, the Poes, the Calhouns, and so many more.

My life is rich and full today because of the relationships I have. My incredibly awesome wife Sarah, my amazingly fun and funny kids Abby and Matthew, my family, church family, and friends. They all make my life what it is.

Of course my most important relationship is with the One True Triune God. God is my Father, Christ is my Savior, the Holy Spirit is my ever-present Helper. I am who I am because of my relationship with Him.

Experiences and events are the staging of life. Relationships, good and bad, are what life is made of. To ignore the relationships and focus only on the events is like going to Hamlet or MacBeth, looking at the stage props and walking about before a single charater enters the stage. If you do that, you've missed the whole point. And to focus just on the events and not the people in life is to miss the whole point of life.

33 Years

Today is my birthday. I began my journey in this life 33 years ago at Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

33 years has gone by fast. I have a lot of memories today.

I remember my first day of kindergarten.

I remember telling my parents I needed to talk to them alone after church, going into their room, getting down on my knees next to their bed and praying for salvation.

I remember Mrs. Simmons' third grade class and making a construction paper telephone one rainy school day.

I remember Laurie Vaughn who told the principal I was cussing on the school bus when I told her she was going to hell if she didn't 'get saved.'

I remember going fishing with grandpa and grandma. I remember being at the hospital the night grandpa died. The morning of his funeral we ate at McDonalds. It was Christmas Eve.

I remember the night I knew I wanted to commit my life to full-time vocational ministry.

I remember the last fight my parents had and a few days later a deputy sheriff sitting in the driveway of our trailerhouse to serve my dad papers.

I remembering wrecking my mom's 1987 Honda Accord she dearly loved.

I remember driving by myself and staying with some friends in Sheridan, Arkansas so I could check out Ouachita Baptist University.

I remember the very last day of high school having a small water gun I used to squirt Jason Martin with confiscated by the principle- one of my most openly rebellious and definant acts I ever committed as a high school student.

I remember packing up my car and my mom's car and loading up me, mom, my brother and sister to move to Arkadelphia.

I remember the first time I went to the MBSF Center in Arkadelphia. I remember playing some intense foosball games there.

I remember playing cards at the Quad in Arkadelphia.

I remember walking the railroad trussell looking for the Gurdon Light.

I remember my first real youth ministry job and how lousy I was.

I remember late nights at the DeGray Dam Spillway.

I remember my junior year of college meeting Sarah in the Garrison Center at Henderson State University.

I remember deciding to give up on ever having a serious girlfriend, right before I started dating Sarah.

I remember the day I met her parents, sister and her future husband... and the story Amanda told about a $10 refund from the registrar.

I remember Reunion Tower in Dallas where I asked Sarah to marry me.

I remember looking at her as she walked down the aisle on January 2, 1999 and being totally stunned and wowed. For the record, I still am.

I remember sitting in the middle of OBU campus the day before graduation just to soak it in before I left for the last time.

I remember moving to Texas, trusting God by faith.

I remember becoming the interim pastor of Longview Missionary Baptist Church and the sermon I preached that first Sunday- Depending on God.

I remember coming home on a Wednesday night and Sarah telling me we were going to have a baby. I remember the delivery and seeing my baby girl for the first time.

I remember the day of my seminary graduation and the family and friends who were there with me.

I remember going to the hosptial and waiting for what seemed like forever before they called me into the delivery room where my son was to be delivered.

I remember so many good, wonderful, blessed, happy, joyous things.

I am grateful to God for 33 years.

I will remember today. Today was a good birthday. It started with Sarah screaming "The oven is on fire!" And it was- the heating coil shorted out and was arcing. It looked like a fuse slowly burning. This is my first birthday to have fireworks and firetrucks. We took some family pictures that turned out great. I was able to minister to and pray with several church members. I spent a little time studying Scripture. We had birthday dinner at Carino's where I had Italian Chili and Chicken Scaloppini. We went to Lifeway where I spend a gift card and then to Target for some Christmas shopping. We then made it home for birthday cake. It has been a very good day.

I don't know how many more years I have left on this earth. For whatever God gives me, I will be grateful. I pray that I will devote and use my life for His Glory and His Kingdom work. May he be pleased to use me as He sees fit.

I am so thankful for how He has blessed me and shown kindness to me. I deserve none of it and deserve nothing more. But, knowing the Lord like I do, I know He will continually bless. And for that, I am continually and eternally thankful to Him.

Reading the Classics: CS Lewis' Mere Christianity- Book One

Mere Christianity is a collection of talks Lewis gave over the radio in London during the Second World War. The larger book is divided into four sections or books. Book One is plainly titled "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe." It has five chapters. I'll briefly comment on each one.

Chapter 1: The Law of Human Nature
Lewis argues that everyone in the world has a sense of right and wrong. There is general agreement on what is good and what is bad. He then makes the point that we do not follow this sense of right and wrong (he calls it a Law of Nature and later calls it Moral Law and other things).

As I read this chapter, I thought of Romans 2:14-16 which reminds us that though there may be those who do not have God's written law and know it explicitly, because we are created in the image of God, His law is pressed into our consciences. A very good place to begin an argument for basic Christianity-- no one can argue that there is a fundamental right and wrong, no matter how hard they try. If they do, simply violate or do violence toward them, and they will immediately cry out for justice. Moral relativists are moral relativists only so long as relativism works for them and not against them.

Chapter 2: Some Objections
Moral relativists will object to any notion of a universal right and wrong. This chapter deals with that objection.

Chapter 3: The Reality of the Law
Lewis makes a very good point that while all people instinctively know the law of moral behavior, no one keeps it perfectly. I think this is a great jumping off point to show that all people are corrupt and, in theological terms, depraved. And because we don't keep it perfectly and yet it still remains, Lewis argues the Moral Law is something that exists outside of us-- it is not something we create. In other words, the reality of right and wrong, good and evil is transcendent above us.

Chapter 4: What Lies Behind the Law
Lewis argues there are two views for the origin of the universe. The first is the materialist view which says that everything has simply existed and everything has happened through evolutionary processes. The other view is the religious view that holds something caused and directed creation. This fits perfectly with the truth in Hebrews 11:1-3. Whichever view you hold, either a materialist view or a religious view, you are taking by faith. And since the Moral Law really exists, it points to a religious view of the origin of all things. SOMETHING (or SOMEONE) has made us and has impressed in our consciences a sense of what is really right and what is really wrong.

Lewis is quick to point out, probably to help unbelievers from ignoring the rest of what he had to say, that this belief in SOMETHING or SOMEONE is not the same thing as believing in the Christian God. I think this is a really outstanding point. Many people are religious. They know there is something or someone out there. But they don't know what or who it is. They have some vague notion and call it "God." They believe in a "god" but not THE GOD of Scripture. There is a huge difference. This explains why so many people claim to believe in God and even in Jesus, but their lives do not reflect such belief.

At the end of this chapter, Lewis offers a note that there is a middle view between materialism and religion. He calls it Life-Force Philosophy or Creative Evolution or Emergent Evolution. I'm not sure, but this view could be similar to Deism. Lewis writes,

"One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences... The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you."

This is the "god" most people worship. They want a god to make them feel good, a god who will fix things, but never a god they must give an account to. This is the wimpy no-god of many religious secularists.

Chapter 5: We Have a Cause to be Uneasy
Despite the desire to have a tame god, the reality is, if God really exists and if God really pressed into our consciences the Moral Law, then we have much to fear. Again, Lewis writes:

The Moral Law does not give us any grounds for thinking that God is 'good' in the sense of being indulgent, or soft, or sympathetic. There is nothing indulgent about the Moral Law. It is as hard as nails. It tells you to do the straight thing and it does not seem to care how painful, or dangerous, or difficult it is to do. If God is like the Moral Law, then He is not soft.

He goes on to write,

If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts in the long run are hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies.

Lewis has spent five chapters building and laying the foundation to get to this point. He argues that instinctively we know there is a god because we know there is good and evil and the Moral Law. And we know we are in trouble because we don't keep the moral law. We now know we have a serious problem and Christianity is now poised to show us what needs to happen.

These section is properly called "pre-evangelism." Lewis has not yet outlined Biblical revelation or the Christian Gospel. But he has shown us that:

1) There is a God, even though He has not yet shown us who that God is.

2) We know there is a God because we know there is a Moral Law.

3) No one perfectly keeps the moral law and so therefore we are all in some kind of trouble.

I'm looking forward to Book Two-- What Christians Believe. But for now, I think Lewis provides a helpful way of doing "pre-evangelism." One of the biggest problems in evangelistic work is "getting people lost." If people do not know or understand there is a problem, why would they look for a solution. The Christian Gospel begins with repentance and forgiveness. Until we help people understand why this is important, they never will repent nor will they seek forgiveness.

Our Amazing God

"God's power can bring life out of death, something out of nothing; resurrection and creation are easy to him."
~ Thomas Manton, from a sermon on Romans 4:18-20

5 Favorite Board Games

For something fun and frivolous, here are my five favorite board games:

1. Risk and Risk 2210 AD -- Awesome strategy games that make for hours of fun. Unfortunately, Sarah hates Risk, so I don't get to play very often. So, let me know if you want to play!

2. Checkers -- Yes, the simple, classic game. I played checkers with my grandparents all the time. I love it.

3. Pente -- My sister gave this game to me several years ago. It is a lot of fun and I like playing it.

4. Trivial Pursuit -- Because I am a nerd and love the trivial. Except Arts and Entertainment. I hate those questions.

5. Yatzee and Farkel -- Technically not board games, but still a lot of fun. Luck and strategy play a part in these dice games.

EDIT: How could I forget Monopoly? It's like Risk, but with money.

Sin and Pleasing God

I'm reading R.C. Sproul's book Pleasing God and finding it very encouraging and helpful.

Here are two quotes I especially appreciate:

As an accuser of God's people, Satan can disguise himself as the Holy Spirit and bury us in a quagmire of moral confusion. He can make us feel good when we should feel guilty and make us feel guilt when we should be at peace. (p. 103)

........

We please God when we resist temptation and do not sin. Certainly part of our maturing in the Lord is to do this more and more. But we do sin, again and again, and as we grow in the Lord we become even more conscious of how many ways we can find to sin against God and others. But part of our growth is becoming more and more sure of God's acceptance of us. He does not save us because of our spotless lives, but because we are clothed in Christ's righteous garments. Our awareness of our sin is painful indeed, but it is a sweet pain that drives us into the arms of the loving Father. We please Him when we do not leave His side, as Satan the tempter would have us do. We also please Him when we return to Him, something Satan the accuser does his best to prevent. When Satan whispers to the believe, "You, with all your sin, can't be pleasing to God," the believer replies, "Ah, but I am. To God be the glory." (p. 110)

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Lord willing, tomorrow I will preach from Luke 1:26-38 on the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ. As I am preparing for this message, I am struck by how important this doctrine is on a practical level.

If you believe that the Virgin Birth is true:

1. You are affirming that God really can do anything.
   
2. You are affirming that you believe the Bible is true and trustworthy.
3. You are affirming that God personally and physically entered human history.

If you deny the doctrine of the Virgin Birth:

1. You are denying that God can do anything.
2. You are denying the truthfulness and veracity of Scripture.
3. You are denying God personally and physically entered human history.

If you believe in the Virgin Birth, you probably believe in the Resurrection.

If you deny the Virgin Birth, you probably deny the Resurrection.

Is it any wonder the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was labeled as an essential, "fundamental" doctrine of authentic Christianity?

10 Ways to Discourage Your Husband in Ministry

10. Keep your home messy (or frighteningly neat!).
9. Gossip with him.
8. Don't tell him how much you appreciate him. Instead, complain.
7. Criticize him.
6. Don't forgive him.
5. Don't help him.
4. Never submit without a fight.
3. Keep him celibate.
2. Commit adultery.
1. Fall away from the faith.

(from Matthias Media magazine, The Briefing, November 2008 issue)

Reading the Classics: C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity- Preface and Forward

I've decided to participate in the "Reading the Classics Together" discussion over at challies.com. We are reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. MC is certainly a modern classic and considered to be one of the most popular works of Christian apologetics. It is consistently regarded as one of the most important books for Christians to read.

I'll not summarize the contents of the book. I'll leave that for Challies. Go there, read his summary. Or, better yet, pick of MC and read it along with us. Let's talk about it.

1. Lewis notes this book was originally a series of radio talks given during World War II. When he first put the book together, he tried to retain some of the sound of the talks in print form by using contractions and italics. He realized that it didn’t work and made the point that the art of speaking and the art of writing are very different. A talker should sound like he is talking and a writer should sound like he is writing. This is interesting to me because I spent about a year trying to write manuscripts of my sermons in a way to be read instead of spoken. This caused a disconnect between me and my hearers and some of the force of the message was lost. I’ve since abandoned trying to fully write out my sermons and have outlined them to be spoken. It is much more successful and effective.

2. Lewis’ aim is not to discuss the intricate details of theology or the finer points of doctrine. His aim is to help people understand and believe the simplest, most basic form of Christianity. He does not deny that the particular doctrinal stands of various denominations are not important. But for unbelievers, those points should be kept in-house with other believers. He is looking for the absolute minimum of what it means to be a Christian. One question I hope he answers in the book is, is this really enough? Is a reductionist approach to the Christian faith good or even healthy? I think I understand his goal, but I am not sure if it really works that way.

3. Lewis does note in passing that the Virgin Birth of Christ is an element of mere Christianity. If Lewis does affirm the necessity of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, that puts him light-years ahead of Emergent Church guys like Rob Bell who believe the Virgin Birth, while true, really isn’t important at all.

4. Lewis informs us that he is reluctant to say much about temptations which he himself has not experienced. He goes on to defend this decision because he does not have a pastoral office which obligates him from doing so. I think Lewis is right. For those who are not the teachers or leaders of the church, taking up issues which they have no real understanding or knowledge of and then seeking to instruct others is probably wise. Unfortunately, as a pastor, I don’t have that liberty. I am to preach the whole counsel of God. Though I have not murdered, I much preach against murder. Though I am not tempted with drunkenness, I should preach against drunkenness. But when I do preach on those sins and temptations which I am not, by the grace of God, as acquainted with, I need to do so with humility and caution. I must preach the whole counsel of God, but I need to be tender with my brothers and sisters who may be struggling with something I don’t understand. How might this approach to preaching on sin and temptation affect the way we deal with those who struggle with sins like homosexuality and abortion (two sins I am not tempted with)?

5. At the end of the preface, Lewis makes two great points. First, his desire is not to make “mere Christians” but to help people who are not yet Christians become Christians and then later devote themselves to the truth of a particular system of theology. When choosing which church to be a part of, he warns us not to make on selection based on superficial matters, such as whether or not we like the services or not. Instead, we should look for truth and holiness. This really resonates with me as a pastor who struggles with those who want to “test drive” churches and look for the nice features and amenities. They are not concerned with doctrine and truth as much as they are having their personal likes satisfied.

6. The final point he makes is that while there are differences among the Christian denominations, we should be kind to those who differ from us who are in the household of Christianity. I like this call for charity. We don’t have to ignore or disregard doctrinal convictions when we interact with other denominations, but we don’t have to be jerks.

7. In the Forward, written by Kathleen Norris, I get the feeling that “Mere Christianity” may be moralism rather than authentic faith. I also got the feeling that Mere Christianity may lead toward a kind of doctrinal pragmatism. I’ll be looking in the rest of the book to see if this is an accurate perception. Since Lewis did not write the Forward, it would be unfair to charge him with moralism and pragmatism at this point. Just something to look for.

Question of the Day: Laziness

CJ Mahaney makes some great (convicting) comments on laziness. He quotes from Derek Kidner's commentary on Proverbs:

“The sluggard in Proverbs is a figure of tragi-comedy, with his sheer animal laziness (he is more than anchored to his bed: he is hinged to it, 26:14), his preposterous excuses (“there is a lion outside!” 26:13; 22:13) and his final helplessness.

(1) He will not begin things. When we ask him (6:9, 10) “How long…?” “When…?”, we are being too definite for him. He doesn’t know. All he knows is his delicious drowsiness; all he asks is a little respite: “a little…a little…a little…”. He does not commit himself to a refusal, but deceives himself by the smallness of his surrenders. So, by inches and minutes, his opportunity slips away.

(2) He will not finish things. The rare effort of beginning has been too much; the impulse dies. So his quarry goes bad on him (12:27) and his meal goes cold on him (19:24; 26:15).

(3) He will not face things. He comes to believe his own excuses (perhaps there is a lion out there, 22:13), and to rationalize his laziness; for he is “wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (26:16). Because he makes a habit of the soft choice (he “will not plow by reason of the cold,” 20:4) his character suffers as much as his business, so that he is implied in 15:19 to be fundamentally dishonest…

(4) Consequently he is restless (13:4; 21:25, 26) with unsatisfied desire; helpless in face of the tangle of his affairs, which are like a “hedge of thorns” (15:19); and useless—expensively (18:9) and exasperatingly (10:26)—to any who must employ him…

The wise man will learn while there is time. He knows that the sluggard is no freak, but, as often as not, an ordinary man who has made too many excuses, too many refusals and too many postponements. It has all been as imperceptible, and as pleasant, as falling asleep.”

-Derek Kidner, Proverbs (IVP, 1964), pp. 42–43.

My question to you: How does a lazy person stop being lazy?

5 Books On My Christmas Wish List

1. The UBS Greek New Testament: A Readers Edition
2. Justification and Variegated Nomism, Vol. 2: The Paradoxes of Paul edited by D.A. Carson
3. New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ by Thomas Schreiner
4. ESV Pitt Minion Reference Bible in Brown Goatskin Leather
5. Teach Us to Pray: Prayer in the Bible and the World edited by D.A. Carson

Feel free to send me any one of these :-)

5 Books You Should Put on Your Christmas Wish List

1. The ESV Study Bible
2. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
3. Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ by John Piper
4. Crazy Love by Francis Chan
5. What Is a Healthy Church Member? by Thabiti Anyabwile

I've read all these books and HIGHLY recommend them.