I Can't be Better by Pulling On My Boot Straps!

I have tried my whole life to be better. When I was a kid, I tried to kick bad habits to be better. I started cursing as a very young child. I learned this was wrong, and tried to clean up my mouth to be better. I had a habitual tendency to disobey my parents. I knew this was wrong, and again tried to obey, to be better. I tried to do better in school, in sports, in life in general; just so that I would be a better person. In the moral category, I have shattered every commandment of God throughout my life.

If I were holy, I would definitely be better. I could not become any better than if I were holy. A holy person is the best he could ever be.

What if I had a brother who was holy. Well as the sinful sibling that I am, I would be envious and bitter toward him. I would alway be comparing myself to him and probably have such a hatred in my heart toward him because he is the "holy one" in the family.

Now what if that holy brother was to make me holy? What if, out of love for me, my holy brother found a way to make me, his sinful and envious brother holy. The way for him to make me holy was to suffer a brutal death, take away the guilt and penalty for all of my rebellion, and die in my place. In dying in my place, he "positionally" made me holy.

Meaning, my standing before God was now one of holiness. There was no longer any working to be better. I was made better. My standing before God was not guilty. I would still be "practically" an unholy man here on this earth, but "positionally" I was, and will always be "holy."

Does that sound like good news to you? It sure does to me. Hebrews 13:12 says And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.


Hebrews 2:11 says Both the one who makes men holy (we just learned that this is Jesus) and those who are made holy (that is us) are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.


We have a brother who is holy. He suffered and died in your place and mine in order to satisfy the wrath of God because of your sins. By his wounds you are healed. By his suffering as a holy man, he positionally made you a holy man. And in this life, he sent his Spirit to dwell inside you to practically make to more and more like what you already are.

I love my Brother! He has done amazing things for me! I no longer need to pull myself up by my own boot straps to try to be better. For I am holy, my brother has made me that way.

Drifting Away

(Hebrews 2:1) Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 


I didn't get very far in my Bible reading this morning. I began in Chapter 2 of Hebrews and couldn't get past the first verse. This is a warning for us from God. Thoughts of a beat up old boat, floating down a river towards a devastating water fall are running through my mind. The drifting away from an objet that is firm and fixed, like a strong dock is something we need to think about this morning.

There is a command here, "we must."

"Pay much closer attention" is a phrase that is meant much like the phrase to apply myself, or to attach myself, or to tie myself around, or to adhere or glue myself to something solid and fixed.

I found this language also used in 1 Timothy 4:13-15. The use of looking at the 1 Timothy passage, is that it is helpful for us to know "how" to obey the command in Hebrews 2:1.

1 Timothy tells us to "Practice these things," "Immerse myself in these things," "Keep a close watch on myself and my teaching," and "Persist in these things."
PRACTICE-IMMERSE-WATCH-PERSIST

Lets picture a small boy with his father in a boat. The father secures a rope around a steel eyelet that is bolted to the front of the boat. He then inspects the rope for any tears or blemished spots. Next he attaches the other end of the rope to a fixed point on the dock. He ties the knot in a specific way, and the boy watches. The father unties the knot and shows his son over and over again how to secure the boat to the dock. The boy watches, he pays close attention. He then practices tying the knot. Over and over again he practices. He goes down to the boat again and again, to persist in his knot tying ability. He spend hours a day sitting in the boat inspecting the rope, bolts, and eyelet. His hands have become strong with all of his practice. His eyes have become keen and able to detect even the slightest blemish in the rope. He has been in the boat during calm water and rough. The boy has paid close attention to his father and has learned the skill of securing the boat to the dock, so that he will not drift away.

How will you keep yourself from drifting away in the current of worldliness? There is a strong current that seeks to pull you away from the secure fixed dock of Jesus Christ and His Word. Immerse yourself in the Bible. Persist in your diligence. Practice the things you learn and watch yourself and your teaching, least you drift away towards a destructive and devastating water fall.

But I Don't See My Angel!

I was reading Hebrews this morning and verse 14 of chapter 1 struck me afresh as interesting. It says, (speaking of Angels) Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? So Angels serve Christians.

Psalm 34:7 says The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. It does, at least in my Bible, say Angel, and not angels, but there are other texts I looked at to prove a point.

Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 


Matthew 18:10 speaking of little children, Jesus says See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 


Peter was let loose from jail in Acts 12. Verse 15 tells us that the people gathered together praying for Peter did not believe that Peter was actually standing outside their door knocking. They thought the one knocking was his angel.


Does it not appear that the Bible is teaching that angels are servants of God. God sends out His angels to serve and minister to Christians. It also appears that each person has an angel sent by God. Jesus holding a child spoke of the child's particular angel. And the Christians in Acts 12 believed that Peter had his own angel.

We are to walk by faith and not by sight. Meaning I am to live my life believing the truth laid out for me in the Scriptures even though my eyes tell me otherwise. My eyes do not see a particular angel that is ministering and serving me, yet my Bible says there is.

Discernment

Discernment is one of those things I think about often. It is a subject that I need to come back to again and again. My wife and I became Christians at the same time. The Lord saw fit to open both of our eyes during a specific sermon series we were listening to by John MacArthur. One of the things that became evident very soon after our conversion was that my wife was given an ability by God to be discerning. It was like a light switch that turned on in her mind that enabled her to wield a sword with pinpoint accuracy to separate things into categories of good and evil, true and false, wise from foolish. That of course brought a bit of tension in our marriage, because I was not given this same gift (That may be the topic of another blog).

The word discernment is used in the ESV Bible 7 times. It becomes obvious when you read the texts that God gives discernment, and can take it away at any time (Job 12:20, Isaiah 29:14).

In Tim Challis book, "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment," he defines discernment as THE SKILL OF UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING GODS WORD, WITH THE PURPOSE OF SEPARATING TRUTH FROM ERROR AND RIGHT FROM WRONG.


In thinking about discernment again this morning, some points that seem important to be more discerning are...
1. A knowledge and understanding of the Bible
2. A knowledge and understanding of myself
3. A knowledge and understanding of my surroundings (the world around me)
4. To apply this knowledge of the Scriptures, and the Self, to the World around me

The reason I think it is important to have a knowledge of self, is that when it comes to separating objects and ideas into categories of good and bad, right and wrong, wise and foolish; there are things that are subjective and not objective. What I mean by that is that, say drinking alcohol may not be bad, wrong or foolish; but for me, it is. I can not read the Scriptures and find that alcohol is any of those things, but with a knowledge of myself, I know that it is wrong for me to drink it. Since I know this, it violates my conscience to drink alcohol, and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23b). I am unable to slam down a beer by faith, so for me it is sin.

You may not have been given some wonderful gift of discernment like my wife but there is good news for people like you and me. Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). Keep practicing, and sharpening your swords of discernment; because by constant practice, you will become mature.

I was reading Colossians this morning and was a reminded about the three major views of sanctification. I drew a picture to help illustrate the differences.

The Keswick view says that sometime after salvation, the Christian has some kind of experience which sanctifies the Christian nearly to perfection. The Christian in this new state will still sin, but not nearly as much.

The Wesleyan view says basically the same thing, except after the Christian has this experience, he or she is now perfect. This can be accomplished in this life.

The Reformed view says that the experience is salvation. The point when God gives the sinner a new heart. After salvation the entire life of the Christian is one of sanctification. The Christian will have ups and down, but the flow will be an upward one of putting off sin, not downward, the putting on of more sin. Perfection is something that can only be accomplished after death, and in heaven.

Colossians 1:5b-6 says "the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing-as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth."


Notice how it says that the gospel is bearing fruit since the day they heard and understood the truth of the gospel. Paul is praising God because this gospel is bearing fruit among people groups of the entire world as it did among the Colossians. It started bearing fruit the day each person became a Christian.

I have a Reformed view of sanctification. I have no expectation to be perfect in this life, and believe that the same grace of God which saved me, will also keep and continually sanctify me. It began the day I understood the gospel in 2003.

The Dishonest Manager

The Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1-13)

Yesterday my wife asked me to read about the Dishonest Manager in Luke 16 and explain it to her and the older girls. I read it slowly and carefully and was challenged by it. I thought I would share my thoughts. 

You have this Rich Man who is seemingly powerful. He has a Manager that is managing his estate. The Manager is found out to be wasting his Masters possessions. The Rich man is going to call the Manager before him so that the Manager will have to give an account for his actions. 

The Manager says to himself, "I really have no skills to find a job, and I am NOT going to go and beg; I need to make some friends so that I will have places to stay and people who will care for me when I loose my job." So he calls the people who owe his Master stuff. He says to one, "how much olive oil do you owe my Master?" The person says "800 gallons." The Manager says, "take your bill, scribble it out and write down that you own him only 400 gallons." 

He does this to a couple of people, and they surely would have been thankful and grateful for what the Manager was doing for them. He was making friends with them. 

The Master actually commends the dishonest Manager for acting shrewdly. And he says that we need to be more like that. 

Luke 16:9
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

What does this mean? Well if you look at the cross references, one points out that we are to sell our possessions and give to the poor, then we will have treasures in heaven. (Matt 19:21) And the other, to sell our possessions and give to the needy, which will provide moneybags for ourselves in heaven. (Luke 12:33)

Here are some connections. 
1. The Rich Man is like God
2. The dishonest Manager is like me and you. 
3. All the possessions the Manager cares for are all the things God gives us to steward. All the money we have, all the possessions we have are actually Gods. We are to be good stewards of them. 
4. The Manager makes himself friends with money. We are to use our money to make eternal friends. If I go without, so that I can use that money to give to someone who needs it, and I do this in Jesus name; I am storing up for myself treasures in heaven. I am going without now, so that I can have later. 

This is challenging to me. I remember giving my lunch away to a begger on the street because he told me he was hungry. But did I go without my lunch that day? No, I drove strait to McDonalds and ordered a value meal. 

God made everything in 6 literal days. All the things you see around you are nothing more than re-arranged earth. Even my iPhone that I am typing on is made from earths resources that have been arranged by man into this product. 

God made everything, and God owns everything. He is the Rich Master whom we will be called before one day to give an account. How well do you use the resources He has given you? Do you use them to gather for yourself earthly possessions, or heavenly ones? That my friends, is challenging!

Thanksgiving Day

A Friend shared this with my family. I thought it would be appropriate to share today, to remember what Thanksgiving was intended for. 

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Having a Tamed Monster

I went to bed last night, and woke up this morning thinking about words. Particularly the words that come from our mouths. I opened my Bible to James 3:8 that tells me that no human being can tame the tongue. Yet in the chapter 1:26, James tells us that if I think I am religious and I don't bridle my tongue, my heart is deceived. Which leads me to wonder how I can be expected to bridle my tongue, yet am told that no human being can do this?

So I searched the word tongue in the Bible, and found many instances of the tongue being tamed. First let me explain what taming is. You have seen videos, or have been to a circus and seen a wild lion that has been tamed. This tamed lion not only doesn't kill the spectators in the audience, but does do positive acts that entertain those watching. My point is that to have the tongue tamed means that you don't speak words that you shouldn't. And that you do speak words that you should. This is where I think I fail. I do not speak many words anymore that are foolish or sinful. I do however fail by not speaking the blessing, positive and encouraging words that I should speak. Or I fail to speak of Jesus when I know I should. This is not having a tamed tongue.

Isaiah is given the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak (Isaiah 50:4). Moses is told that God has made man's mouth. He has made the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind. Zachariah's voice is taken away from him during the pregnancy of Elizabeth, and given back to him later on (Luke 1:20, 64). David prays to God and asks Him to deliver him from his own tongue (Psalm 120:2).

I think the command to bridle our tongues is the same as being commanded to be holy as God commands us to be in 1 Peter 1:16. How am I, an unholy man to be holy? How am I, a man who has a wild and unbridled tongue to tame the monster? I think the answer to each question is the same. Gospel grace. Only through the gospel of Jesus Christ am I able to make any progress toward being holy. Only through the gospel of Jesus Christ am I able to tame my tongue, so that it refrains from speaking harsh words, and does speak words of truth and blessing. Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). And the only way a heart changes is by the gospel. 

The Rich Man's Inheritance

I am reading the account of the Rich Young Ruler this morning. If you do not remember the account, it can be found in Mark 10:17-31.

This rich man runs up to Jesus and asks Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Wow, this is a good question. Jesus lays out for the rich man an array of commandments. He does not tell the man to keep the commandments, he merely says to the man, "you know the commandments."

The man is quick to tell Jesus that he has kept every commandment that Jesus quoted, ever since he has been a little boy. But had he? He thinks he has but Jesus knows the heart behind every commandment from God; and He goes there with the man.

"You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

What has Jesus told us that every commandment can be boiled down to? Matt 22:37-40 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." All of the commandments can be boiled down into 2 pots; the love of God, and the love of neighbor.

The Rich Young Ruler said he had never murdered anyone, but had he promoted their life? Meaning, did he use his riches to promote the health and well being of his fellow man? The man said he had never stolen from anybody, but had he given to his fellow man freely to meet their needs? Had he loved God enough to do these things? No, he had not, and Jesus gets at the heart of the matter with the rich man.

The man was not willing to do as Jesus asks, and he goes away without having the inheritance of eternal life. Though he does have an inheritance. The riches he possesses were probably passed down to him by his Father as his inheritance. So which inheritance do you suppose is better?

Who Defines Marriage?

Who defines marriage? Our nation and our world is seeking to redefine marriage. So people get together and decide that it would best for humanity to define marriage as an institution between just two people; no longer between a man and a woman. How do we decide this? We vote on it. Majority wins. This is the way humanity seeks to discover and define what is right and what is wrong.

This way of discovering right from wrong, truth from error permeates our culture. When I just typed in a google search to define a particular word, the first search source came up from Wikipedia. What is Wikipedia? An online dictionary that defines words based on what anybody and everybody decides is the truth. If you want to help define the word, you may with Wikipedia. It used to be we would look to the experts to define words, someone skilled and trained like Noah Webster. Those days seem to be over.

Does anybody have the right to say to the majority, that they are wrong? I believe there is, and His name is Jesus Christ. He is asked a question in Mark 10 about divorce, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? That's a good question, and you'll have to read Mark 10 for yourself to find out the answer. But I want you to note where Jesus goes for His answer.

He goes to Genesis chapter 2 to not only answer the question posed to Him, but to define for them and us, the institution of marriage. "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."


If we as a nation redefine marriage as just between two people independent of what sex they are, is this good for humanity? It is only good if "you believe" that letting the humans race die off one generation after another is good. Is is good, because there are some people who "want" to do it? If I "want" to murder you, it it ok, just because I want to?

Wait a minute, I'm letting you define "good" by what you "believe," is good, or what you "want" to be good. Is this the way we discover what is "good," or did Jesus define goodness as well?

What or Who is the Cause of my Sin?

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
(Mark 9:42-47 ESV)


Who or what is the cause of your sin? What or who tempts you to sin?

This passage is pretty weighty. I just finished reading Mark 9 this morning and feel inadequate to speak much about it. It seems more time and more prayer is required for this text to have the impact it appears to deserve.

I have a few thoughts though, and maybe more will be explored another morning when I have a greater amount of time.

WHO CAUSES ME TO SIN?
It is better for you, if someone kills you, then for you to be the cause for a Christian to sin. That is amazingly frightening. Death is better for me, than if I cause a Christian (one of these little ones who believes in me) to sin. Which gets me thinking about how I could cause another Christian to sin. Do you talk of things that can cause a Christian to sin? Do you cause a Christian to look at things that would cause them to sin? Whether that be external from you, or actually you?

At very minimum (because it is illegal for me to be the one doing the murdering), this implies that I should cut off people from my life that cause me to sin. I should cut off people that cause my children to sin.

This has to be taken with a view of the whole of Scripture though. I can not divorce my wife if she causes me to sin, because the Bible speaks specifically about the situation of marriage. If the Bible speaks in another place of where this would not apply, I am not to cut this person out of my life.

WHAT CAUSES ME TO SIN?
Whatever causes me to sin, I need to cut it off, whether that be a part connected to me, or something external from me. I am reminded of the movie Fire Proof. Kurt Cameron's cause of sin is his computer, he is addicted to internet pornography. There is a scene where he pulls it off his desk, brings it outside and smashes it to bits with a baseball bat. He "cut if off" from his life. He eliminated the temptation.

Now the sin still has roots in his heart that the computer revealed, but the elimination of the temptation is the first step in conquering the sin (combined with prayer). "Watch and pray least ye enter into temptation."

Coming with Eagerness

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11)


My wife and oldest daughter started doing a Bible study this week together. One of the first studies they did mentioned about the necessity of being like the Bereans. The Jews mentioned in the verse above were the Bereans.

This got me thinking about eagerness. Have you ever been eager for some event? My children will wait at the window for people to come over that they love. They will do nothing else but wait eagerly. Now if these people that they love are bringing things that they love (like Birthday presents), my children are really eager.

Do you approach the Scriptures this way? We should. We are coming to a book written by someone that we love. And it is filled with promises that are better than any temporary present.

As you open your Bibles today, open it with eagerness. Anticipate that the One who is good, will teach you something that is good. That will be useful for not only today, but for eternity.

Knowing Myself

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)  

John Calvin starts out his Institutes by saying, "Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves."


I read that a few years ago and confess that I did not understand why the "knowledge of self" would be of any importance at all. I am now reading Volume 6 of John Owens works called Temptation and Sin. Reading Owen has helped me understand why a "knowledge of self" was important to Calvin, and why it should be important to us.

Owen says, "Let him that would not enter into temptation labour to know his own heart, to be acquainted with his own spirit, his natural frame and temper, his lusts and corruptions, his natural, sinful, or spiritual weaknesses, that, finding where his weakness lies, he may be careful to keep at a distance from all occasions of sin."

(This is not my wife)

How much time do you spend mining into your own heart? Digging through your natural weaknesses, finding out where you are prone to wonder, prone to leave the God you profess to love? I am learning, at least for myself that this takes time. My wife is a natural multi-tasker. She can amazingly do one thing (even many things), while thinking about another. I seem to be utterly unable to do this. I can hardly wash dishes and have a conversation with one of my kids at the same time.

(And this is not me)
Incase you were wondering

You may be like my wife and have the ability to ponder the depths of the heart, while folding laundry at the same time. Or maybe you are more like me, who needs to purposely set time aside to ponder the things below the surface.

Whichever way you are, I would encourage you to spend time pondering your own heart. Calvin says this springs forth true wisdom, and Owen says it keeps us from entering into temptation and sin. These seems like good reasons from good and godly men that have gone before us.

Acting Faith on the Promises of God

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
(James 1:5-8 ESV)

I am sure that all of us can remember a movie or tv show they have watched (though I wonder how many can name one, because I can't think of the name of one in particular), where you have a child, boy or girl that is in an orphanage. The child has been there for quite a few years and is still holding on to a promise from their parent that left them there. The promise was that they would pick them up soon. My thoughts are that another parent has come to the orphanage to adopt the child, and even though many years have passed, the child won't let go of the promise. In the end, the delinquent parent never returns, and the child has believed a promise in vain.

The child's faith is worthy of our imitating, but the person who made the promise to the child is not a worthy object to place one's faith in. The parent either didn't have the resources to make good on the promise, or did not have the desire to fulfill the promise.

What does the Christian's faith look like? The Christian lives each day ACTING FAITH ON THE PROMISES OF GOD. We have a book filled with the promises of God. It is as if we have been stranded in this orphanage of life. We have promises to cling to (like the child in my example), but they are made by One who is able to make good on His promises. Our duty, is to tell the other children in the orphanage that there is a great and wonderful Father that will come for each and every one of us who will quit trusting in themselves, or another delinquent father to save them. This Father has a mansion filled with many, many rooms. His Son told me so, and I am acting my faith on His promises. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
(John 14:2-3 ESV)

Your Asking Me To Do What?

My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat. (Psalm 109:24 ESV)


If you have never read Psalm 109 before I would encourage you to do so this morning. I was reading it thinking that I would not want David, or any righteous man praying such things to the Lord about me.

On a different note; fasting for me is not a regular happening. I would guess that I fast 5 or so times a year. I was struck as I read this Psalm, by David's persistence in prayer and fasting. He had fasted to the point of being weak. I have fasted to the point of being very hungry, but not so as I could not walk. David continues fasting to the point of having a gaunt body without any fat.

Holman's Bible Dictionary defines fasting as "Refraining from eating food to know the mind of God, mourn, and/or careless sins." It goes on to say that the Bible describes three main forms of fasting.
1. The normal fast, involving total abstinence from food, but not from water.
2. Abstinence from both food and water for no more than three days.

3. Restriction of diet rather than complete abstinence.

Do you sometimes need the mind of God for a particular thing in your life? Do you need to mourn before God for one reason or another? Are you enslaved by any careless sins?

Maybe today should be the day you and I make a new commitment to persistence in prayer and fasting. Do you wonder how your life would change if you did?

Getting at the Root

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
(James 1:14-15 ESV)


I talked in an earlier post (Tempting Myself With Mister Twister) about the above text. This morning though I was reading Owen and he mentioned something that I thought would be helpful to share.

"When a man is drawn into any sin, he may be sure that he hath entered into temptation. All sin is from temptation. Sin is a fruit that comes only from that root."

He then goes on to explain that a person is not violently surprised in or with any sin, but that it is the temptation of the sin that overtakes the person. A person finds himself in a sin, he despises it and seeks to eliminate the sin from his life. He beats and pulls off the sin, but to no no lasting avail. The reason, says Owen, is that the man never gets at the root of the sin, which the temptation of sin reveals.

What Owen is encouraging us to do is to seek to pull the root out of the ground. He says that "to get conquest over any sin, we must consider the temptation to it, and strike at that root; without deliverance from thence, he will not be healed."

Like when David sinned with Bathsheba; the sin of adultery was already in Davids heart, and the temptation of Bathsheba walking on the roof top revealed it. Or that Judas had the sin of covetousness in him from the beginning; yet he didn't seek to satisfy his desire until the devil entered into him.

I thank the Lord for the wisdom of godly men like John Owen. I thank the Lord this morning, as I ponder my past, that He has surely pulled many roots of sin out of my heart. Yet I fear there are many more seeds that will be revealed to me through some temptation or another. I remember many temptations that led me into sin. Those same temptations come before me from time to time still now, yet I do not run toward, but away from the sin. This is the work of Jesus in me. I love Him so much. He cares enough about me to tend the soil of my heart with the care of a Master Gardner.

Voices from Heaven

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
(Mark 9:7 ESV)


There is a song called "Written on the Wall" by a Christian artist named Todd Agnew. The chorus for the song goes like this...

I wish you still spoke, through burning bushes.
And I wish you still wrote, on blocks of stone.
Cuz the sound of this world's deafening,
And I'm having a hard time listening,
And I wish your will was still written on the wall.

Earlier in my Christian walk I was more charismatic than I am now. I would ask for signs from God. I would want him to do some experiential thing for me so that I would know what he wanted me to do, or maybe just that he loved me and cared for me. I guess I am not really sure why I would ask God for such things. I guess I was much like Gideon.

Anyhow, I was reading the account of the "Transfiguration" in Mark 9 this morning, and something struck me as funny. Imagine in all of my asking God for signs and voices to come to me personally from heaven, God did speak to me. He spoke strait from a cloud in a clear and precise way. His voice said to me, like he said to Peter, James and John, "Jesus is my beloved Son, listen to him."

So here I am, wanting a personal revelation, just for me. And God's voice says to me, "listen to Jesus."

Thankfully this is where I have landed. God has indeed spoken to me from heaven, He has communicated to me through the Prophets, the Apostles, and through His beloved Son Jesus. I still ask God to speak to me, but I am no longer needing to hear a voice other than the words communicated to me through the Scriptures.

If you received a letter from me in the mail, would that form of communication be sufficient for you to know my thoughts? The thoughts I wanted to share anyway? Actually this is the same form of communication I am using to you right now. You are reading my thoughts. I am communicating to you in hopefully a clear and somewhat precise way.

Imagine your great, great, great, grandmother buried a steel box in the ground. The box was found under the place where her house used to be. Inside the box was a letter addressed to "My Beloved Great, Great, Great Grandchild." "The year is 1840. I want to share some thoughts with you that will be helpful for your life." Even though your ancient relative didn't know your name, would you doubt that the words she shared were meant for you?

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

I read an article yesterday that started me thinking about how we know good from evil. The article said that we do not need the Bible to tell us what is morally right and wrong, we already know without needing to read a Bible verse.

To see what the article was saying consider this statement, "Jesus was crucified because the Bible says so." Is the Bible saying so, the cause of Jesus being crucified, or was Jesus's crucifixion the reason the Bible says he was crucified?

So do I, as a Christian say, "murder is wrong because the Bible says it is?" Was murder wrong before the Bible said it was wrong? To answer that question, I was thinking of the first murder recorded in the Bible. It is the account in Genesis chapter 4 where Cain murders his brother Abel.

It says in verse 8 that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" 


Did Cain know where Abel was? Yes he surely did, he was laying dead in the field where Cain left him. So Cain lies to God. Why? If he didn't know what he just did was wrong, why would he lie? Why would he seek to cover up the murder?

As the account progresses, God curses him. And Cain never says to God, "I didn't know that is was wrong to murder, you never told me."

So where did Cain get the knowledge that murder was wrong? Well I think it came during the fall in Genesis chapter 3. There was a tree of the "knowledge of good and evil." Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of it. They did as you know, and with that God cast them out of the Garden of Eden. In verse 22, God said "Behold man has become like Us, to know good and evil."


Man knows good from evil simply by being man. There are passages in the Bible that speak of children being to young to know the difference between good and evil. But as a child grows in maturity, he becomes able to tell the difference. Aware enough that God can judge the Tribesman in some remote place that will be born, live and die without ever hearing of God, Jesus or the Bible. Yet this Tribesman has an innate ability given him by God, to know the difference between killing someone, or promoting their life.

We are so blessed to have the Bible so freely available to us. Yet with that blessing, we will have more accountability before God because of our depth of understanding the difference between sin and righteousness.

Who's Whispering in Your Ear?

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. (Mark 8:31-33 NKJV)

I am reading Mark 8 this morning and noticed something very interesting. You have probably read this account of Peter, not liking the fact that Jesus said he was going to suffer and be killed by the scribes and priests; decide that he should rebuke Jesus (bold move to rebuke God).

But I am noticing Jesus' rebuke to Peter. It is as if Jesus is looking right past Peter to the source of Peters rebuke of Jesus. Jesus speaks to Satan. This is not what struck me this morning though, it is what he said to Satan that is interesting. 

We learn that Satan is NOT mindful of the things of God. But we also learn that Satan IS mindful of things of men. This got me thinking, are we as a Nation mindful of the things of God, or of men? Is my Church mindful of the things or God or of men? Is my family mindful of the things of God or of men? Am I mindful of the things of God, or of men? 

I would have thought Satan was mindful of the things of Satan. Maybe in a round about way he is, but Jesus tells us that Satan is mindful of us. 

Is our Nation more about people, or God? Is your family more about people than God? Are you more about the things and the concerns of you and other people, or are you more about the concerns of God?

I really think this is interesting, and concerning. How many people do you know that are "all about God?" Are you? If you are more concerned about men than you are about God; who is lurking behind your shoulder, and whispering in your ear?

A Prescription for Happiness

Are you a person who needs, or was prescribed to take medicine in order to make you happy? Do I believe that medicine is always wrong? No. But do I believe that the prescription the Bible gives will fill you with a joy that is unfading and lasts forever? Yes. There is a joy that is not dependent upon medicine. There is a joy that has an objective focus that springs from real knowledge. Follow me down a path I walked this morning...

(Proverbs 17:22) A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. Do you feel at times that you have no strength in your bones? You feel dry and unable to find happiness anywhere? Is your spirit broken, and does it need mending? Because a merry heart does good. It does good like medicine. A merry heart will function for you like medicine, if you will let it.

(Ecclesiastes 7:9) Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; For (this is the reason) God has already accepted your works. Really? God has accepted and approved of the works that I do? Does he accept each persons works who may be reading this? Christian or non-Christian?

Peter said (Acts 10:34b-35) that God shown no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. Do you do that? Do you do righteousness? Meaning, do you do what the Bible affirms as righteousness? Do you walk in the fear of God?

Well if you are like me, you are saying to yourself; "I really don't do that perfectly, how well do I have to work righteousness and fear God?"

(Ephesians 1:3-6) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God accepted us in the Beloved! Jesus is the Beloved! God sees the righteous lived life, and the God fearing life of Jesus, as your life. Do you understand that? The perfectly righteous life God requires of you was already lived for you. It was lived some 2000 years ago. The life you have lived, one of unrighteousness and walking in the fear of man; deserved wrath, punishment and dry, parched and unhappy bones. This punishment you deserved was taken for you some 2000 years ago. You were nailed with Jesus on the cross, so now it is no longer you who live, but Christ in you.

Let this truth sink deep down into your soul. The truth of knowing that you are already accepted by God because of what Jesus did. It will produce a joy that is everlasting, unfading, and is reserved in greater measure for you in heaven.

Always Obedient

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
(Romans 6:16 ESV)

Do you know that you are always obedient? Does that seem like good news? Sounds kinda good to me...but wait a minute. I am always obedient, but it is either obedient to sin, or obedient to the commands of God, to righteousness. 

We are never not a slave. Jesus pointed that out to the Pharisees at one point and they didn't like it at all. They said, "we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" (John 8:33) Jesus goes on to say in verse 34, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."

Do you commit sin? If the answer is yes, you are a slave to sin. Sin is your Master. What does it mean to "commit" sin. The word is poieō. It means...
• to make, to produce, to cause, to prepare, to bare, to acquire, to provide, to declare, to do, to carry out, to execute, to celebrate, to keep, and to perform sin. 

Do you commit sin?

Picture yourself in a dark, back alley slave market. Your master Sin leads you to the display table yet again for another bidding for your life. One wicked master comes forth and wants to purchase you for himself to sin. Another more wicked master starts bidding against him. Both are licking their hideous fangs as they anticipate grabbing and chaining you to themselves. 

All bidding ceases as a voice comes from the back of the alley. He bids a price far above what all of the evil Masters combined could offer.  The Man comes forth shining as bright as the sun  and possessing incredible strength and power. Immediately your chains fall off and you are chained with invisible chains of love for your new gracious and wonderful Master. 

We are always obedient. 

Kneeling as a Calvinist

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
(John 17:1-2 ESV)


A few years ago I was reading a book from J.I. Packer, I think it was called, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. I was reminded of something in that book this morning as I am reading Jesus' prayer in John 17. Packer said that there are no Armenians on their knees. All people, on their knees are Calvinists. Really, the very fact that a person prays to God at all in regards to another individual's salvation, gives evidence they believe God is Sovereign.

How about Jesus on his knees? Does he believe God is sovereign over salvation, or does he believe that people choose on their own free will?

Looking back up at the text. Notice God has authority over all flesh. Notice that God gave this authority to Jesus. Notice that this would mean that God made Jesus King. Notice Jesus gives eternal life (salvation) to every person God gives him. Jesus has authority to secure salvation to everyone that God gives him. Notice this is a particular group of people, a group "given him."

Jesus goes on in his prayer in verse 9 to tell the Father, "I am praying for them, I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours."


And as such encouragement to me, Jesus says in verse 20, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,"


This is you and me. If you are a Christian this morning, or if someday, God opens your eyes to believe upon Jesus, it is because Jesus prayed for you. Jesus' prayers are always 100 percent effective.

Do you see that their are two categories of people Jesus is praying about; people in the world, and people who either did believe in Jesus day, and who will believe through the teachings of the Bible. God is sovereign to give Jesus the second group, Jesus is sovereign to keep those individuals. God is sovereign over the first group as well. Which group are you in?  

Christian Self-Control (Part 2)

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)


The last thing on my mind when I was a non-Christian was to be doing something for God's glory. What in the world would this even mean, or look like? There is a dear woman the Lord brought into our lives before my wife and I were saved. She is 88 years old now and a wonderful friend. My wife used to talk to her from time to time. When my wife would try to give her a compliment, Granny would always reflect the compliment away from herself and onto God. She would (and still does) function as a springboard. Not wanting any of the glory to stay and stick on her, she would spring in up to where she knew it belonged. This was very, very odd to us. We had never heard someone talk who was so "glory to God focused." We would be like, "hey I am trying to give YOU a compliment here, not God. Take it, and swim around in the compliment for a while, it feels really good." But our dear friend wanted nothing to do with any praise landing on her.

Though I know sanctification is a process, the Christian begins to see all of life as no longer being about ME anymore, but begins to be about the ONE who made me. We begin to function as springboards that reflect the praise up to the One who alone deserves praise and glory.

My post yesterday spoke on the topic of self-control. I mentioned that there was a difference between being self-controlled, and the fruit of the Spirit, which is self-control. The difference I believe, is that the fruit the Spirit begins to produce in the heart of the Christian, is a self-control with two motives that the non-Christian doesn't have. The Christian is self-contolled in reigning in and restricting oneself according to a new desire (motive) to be obedient to the Scriptures, and a desire to control oneself for the glory of God.

If you would have observed my life, at times, as a non-Christian, it probably would have appeared to you that I was more self-controlled then I am now. I was vigorous in my exercising, and counted calories to the tea. I did indeed restrain and restrict myself in these ways, but in other ways; like my private life and the life of the mind, I gave full vent to indulgence and unconstraint.

As a Christian now, I no longer am as obsessed with my eating and exercising as I was. Mostly that was not so much for health reasons as it was for appearance reasons. But my private life and the life of the mind are now directed by the motives of obedience to the Scriptures and God's glory. The longer I live, the more I will be able to say, "whether I eat or drink, or whatever I am doing, I do it all for the glory of God."

I am in no way on a level of the Apostle Paul. I have so much to learn, and many feet to grow, but before the cross of Christ, we all stand on level ground.

Christian Self-Control

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)

We have all probably watched the Olympics at one point or another. We have seen the chiseled bodies, and heard of the rigorous eating and exercising routines these Olympic hopefuls endure to receive a crown. Why do they do it? Well I would imagine it is for personal glory. So they can be called the best, or their country will be called the best. It is about winning. Paul noted in his letter to the Corinthians, that these Olympians of his day did it for a perishable wreath, the symbol of winning.

I pondered a while ago what the difference between self-control was, and Christian self-control. There are people around me that are not Christians, that seem way more self-controlled than me; especially in the realm of eating. And if self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, and a non-Christian does not have the Spirit; how can they have more self-control than me?

Here is my answer. Christian self-control (the fruit, or evidence of the Spirit) is driven by two motives that the non-Christain does not have. First, the self-control of the Spirit is motivated by obedience to the Word of God. And secondly, the self-control of the Spirit is motivated by the glory of God. The Olympian does not restrain himself so vigorously to the commands of Scripture. And the Olympian does not restrain himself for God's glory, he does it for his own glory. I know this because all of humanity seeks to be the sole master of his own kingdom. It is called Autonomy. All people are slaves to themselves unless Jesus breaks their chains.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Christian is to be a weed puller. I am to strive to pull the weeds of self-indulgence or unconstraint from around the fruit the Spirit planted in my heart so that the fruit of self-control will flourish and spread throughout every part of my life.

The Safest Place To Be

"My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:29-30)

Gardening our Hearts until Joy Grows

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.......(Gal 5:22a)


What does fruit on a tree indicate? Well it indicate whether the tree is healthy or not right? Whether it is a good tree, or a bad tree. The fruit of an apple tree is apples. The fruit of an orange tree is oranges. The fruit indicates the orange-ness, or the apple-ness of the tree. My Dad in the past has given us pots with dirt and a small plant growing out of it. He will tell us that we will have to wait until they grow some and start producing fruit in order to find out what kind of plant he has just given us. The evidence that my Dad has actually planted a good plant or a bad plant, and what kind of plant it is, will become apparent over time.

What will hinder the plants growth? Well one of the things that will hinder the growth of the plant is the kind of soil my Dad placed the plant in. Did he put it in gravel? Pea-rock? Sand? Dirt pulled from a field that already had many weed seeds in it? Or good, rich, weedless black dirt?

I am thankful that he must place the plants in good, weedless soil because the plants do grow and are not choked out by weeds. And it does become evident what type and kind of plant he planted over time.

The fruit of an apple tree is apples. The fruit of the Spirit is JOY.

The evidence that the Spirit lives in a person is that the person has joy. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God dwells inside of you. The measure of joy a Christian has will be dependent upon what kind of soil, and how many weeds are around the plant. The soil is your heart, and the weeds in the soil that grow up around the plant is sin.

If you are a Christian, the list of fruits in Galatians 5 are in you. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All of these are in you. They are the "fruit" of the Spirit, they ARE what the Spirit produces. They are the evidence of the Spirit's presence. But what hinders how high the plants grow, and how many of each kind of fruit each plant has? It is the weeds, which is sin.

We as Christians are to be weed pullers. We are to pull the weeds of sin from around the fruit plants so that they flourish and produce an abundance of good and sustaining fruit.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)


Do you remember the description of Jesus being crucified? We are to be as diligent to pull the weeds in our hearts as the Pharisees were in killing Jesus. They were relentless until his last breath.

Thankful to be Thankful?

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV)


And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, (Romans 8:28a)


Do you ever wonder what God's will is for your life? Have you ever looked in the Scriptures to see what that might be? Well I have good news for you this morning, I know what God's will is for you today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Now, this is not the only place in the Bible that talks about the will of God, but it is one.

God's will for you today is that you be a thankful person. You and I are to give thanks for everything. If you are wondering why: the Romans text gives us a clue. We are to be thankful because God is sovereign over every detail in our lives. And he causes all things to work together for GOOD to those who love God.

Which raises the question, do you love God? Well I think I do. How can I be sure? Well Jesus said in John 14:15, if you love Me, keep My commandments. You see, if my children tell me that they love me, yet are disobedient to every command I give them, where is the evidence of their love? Their love for me will prompt their heart to want to be obedient to my commands.

I am thankful for the reminder this morning that God causes even the hard things in my life to work together for good. And the good, is being conformed more and more into the image of my Savior Jesus.

Are you a thankful person? If you are, have you thanked God today for your thankfulness? If you are not, have you thanked God for revealing to you that you are unthankful?

Small Correction

I just wanted to correct an error in my last post. The year I quit drinking was 1993, not 1995.

Ungodly?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18)


In Jerry Bridges book, Respectable Sins, he makes a distinction between ungodliness and unrighteousness that I think will be fruitful to share. 


     "Ungodliness describes an attitude toward God, while unrighteousness refers to sinful actions in thought, word, or deed."
     "Ungodliness may be defined as living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependance on God."


He also says that most people would say that at the root of every sin is the sin of pride. I think I would have agreed with that before I read his book. Bridges says that "we can think of all our sins, big and small, growing out of the trunk of pride. But that which sustains the life of the tree is the root system, in this case the root of ungodliness. It is ungodliness that ultimately gives life to our more visible sins."


I quit drinking alcohol in the year 1995. This decision was made because I saw that I was not able to handle strong drink. I had gotten in a lot of trouble because of my slavery to the sauce. This decision was a good decision to make. It was a good one, but not a godly one. When I look back at my life before I was a Christian, much is very shameful. But after 1995, I started to make better decisions even though I rejected the fact that God was real. What I see now is that even though I was becoming better, I was actually becoming more ungodly.


You see, the better decisions I was making only increased my pride. I was able to make good decisions without Jesus. So I was having less visibly bad apples growing on my tree of life,  yet the trunk of the tree was increasing daily. The root system below the ground was spreading out as my ungodliness increased. 


After my conversion in 2003, this entirely changed. I was suddenly aware of God's presence. I was conscience of God. I thought about him all of the time. I started making decisions that were based on what the Bible said, not just what others thought was good or bad. I thought in terms of making decisions that were pleasing to God. I was aware that he was listening to my conversations at work. He was with me even though no one else was. I was beginning to walk in the fear of the Lord. 


This distinction between ungodliness and unrighteousness is helpful to me. After 1995, I started to become more righteous, yet more ungodly; hence my actual righteousness became self-righteousness. When you look around, there are plenty of good and moral people; yet is their goodness actual goodness? 


Jerry Bridges points out in his book that all of us still have roots of ungodliness lying under the ground of our lives. If there were not those roots, there would be no sin above ground. When there is no sin above ground in my life, I will be standing before Jesus in heaven. Until then, I pray our great God makes me more and more aware of His ever present Spirit. 

Practicing to Sing

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, (Revelation 19:1 ESV)


Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)


Today is the funeral for my wife's Grandma Dorothy. My girls have been asked to sing a couple of songs in honor of Grandma's life. They have been singing and singing and singing around the house in preparation for the event. And it got me thinking, how much do I practice for the event of being in the presence in Jesus? 


The Psalms are filled full of exhortations to sing. Colossians encourages us to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in each others presence to God with thankfulness. And the great multitude in heaven are crying out Hallelujah!


What kind of music do you listen to? Do you listen to the type and kind of music that is filled with words that would help you to be prepared for being in heaven? When and if the Psalms are sung in heaven, will you know the words? 


The type and style of music we listen to is very important. I shamefully grew up listening to hard core type rap, and heavy metal music. The lyrics from theses songs are still stuck in my head. There are many times, at the least appropriate time, a song pops into my mind that I wish I had never listened to before. None of these songs prepared me for worshipping Jesus. Sadly I was on track to be in the front row of a rock concert of Satan. I would have even paid for a tee shirt. 


I still need to be more discerning in the music I listen to today. Maybe many of the songs even on KTIS are not the most theologically sound songs ever written, but I praise the Lord I won't be at a Danzig, Metallica, or a Two Live Crew concert anytime soon. 


Practice, practice, practice; you don't know the day of tomorrow. 

Your Whipping Boy

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)


In England around the 15th and 16th centuries, the people believed that the Kings were appointed directly by God. Because of this, the Prince (the Kings Son) was only able to be punished by the King himself. Since the King was rarely around, they established a Whipping Boy. The Whipping Boy was a high-born companion to the Prince. He was educated right along side the Prince. He shared many of the same privileges that the Prince himself had. In many cases the Whipping Boy and the Prince became best of friends.

The purpose that the Whipping Boy had was, that he was to be punished in the place of the Prince. Every time the Prince acted in a way unbecoming of a Prince, the Whipping Boy was brought before the Prince and wounded, chastised and crushed for the iniquities of the Prince.

Ponder for a minute what that would feel like to be the Prince. To have as the consequence of your sin, your best friend beat in your place. You deserve the beating, you deserve the punishment. Your friend was innocent, he did nothing wrong, yet he was beaten in place of you.

Jesus Christ is your Whipping Boy. Every sin you have ever committed was punished on the cross. Jesus was innocent, there was never a time when he sinned. He perfectly kept even the least of the smallest commandment. Yet He was wounded and crushed in your place. The punishment you deserve for breaking one of Gods commands was placed on your Whipping Boy.

Oh if we had eyes to see the effect our sin has on our Savior and our God. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:6-7)