Puritan Musings: Declaring His Works for His Honor

I am currently reading through Michael A.G. Haykin's book "To honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell" for one of my classes at seminary. Each week throughout the semester, I am supposed to read a portion of this book, which is a collection of Cromwell's writings, and have a small reflection upon something that he says. Therefore, I have decided to share these "Puritan Musings" with you. They won't be very long, but I hope that perhaps someone may get something from them.
 

I am currently in Timothy Beougher’s Personal Evangelism class at Southern Baptist Seminary, and in that class, we talk about our motivations for the spreading of the Gospel, among other things related to evangelism. After all, the entire class is about sharing the Gospel with those who need it. Today, as I read Oliver Cromwell’s letter to his cousin Mrs. St. John, I was struck by a phrase: “Yet, to honour my God by declaring what he hath done for my soul, in this I am confident, and I will be so” (pg. 47). 

How often do we ponder on how we may honor God? How often do we view evangelism, or conversation in general, or anything we do in our day-to-day lives as being for His honor and glory? That is our primary focus, as Cromwell was right in stating, so why are we not more confident in doing so? Why I am not? What more motivation do I need to share the truth (or you could say “declare!”) than to do so for His honor? What a noble task the Christian has! It is our job to proclaim and declare the glory of the God of the universe, our Lord and Savior!

My hope is that I may grow in this manner. I pray that I become more confident in my purpose of bringing Him glory and honor, and that an out-pouring of that is that I would boldly declare His name whenever He prompts. I pray that I might tell of what He has done for my soul.

No Bad Days

As I rode in my car on the way to Louisville today, I was in a fantastic mood. As in, one of those irrationally good moods. Music was blaring, I was dancing, the sunroof was down, the skies were clear, my smoothie was refreshing and temperatures were up from the past few days. As one of my friends loves to say, “things were going my way.” Even when the gas pump wouldn’t work quite right, and when the clouds rolled in, and when traffic began to back up, I was not to be deterred, as my mantra over the past few days has been “No Bad Days.” 

 I don’t mean that in the obnoxious “happy Christian” sentiment, where many of my brothers and sisters seem to believe that the only way to be a good witness is to always have a smile on your face and not let the world see you down. They might even say that a person that isn’t happy isn’t close to God. I would, only somewhat respectfully, disagree. David wrote some pretty sad psalms to be a “happy Christian,” and they called him the “man after God’s own heart.” Paul wept for his nation, Nehemiah pulled his beard out in sorrow and Jesus Himself wept. If Jesus weeps, then he’s either a bad Christian or it’s ok for Christians to have an emotion beyond “happy.”

Instead, we pursue joy and contentment. We don’t always have to be a little ray of bubbling sunshine, like I was this morning. Instead, when I say “No Bad Days,” I mean that I am seeking to find some sort of positivity, some kind of trace of my good God and loving Savior's grace in the midst of even the worst days. Philippians 3-4 preaches a message of contentment and the pursuit of joy. This is the Christian's goal.

A particular Scripture of meditation on this topic is Philippians 4:13, which has become a real foothold in my walk with Jesus. A few years ago, when mom had cancer, the fourth chapter of Philippians became a real lifesaver for me. I repeated turned back to this chapter of God’s Word for encouragement during that time, and it gave me a much truer appreciation of this famous verse. So many people assume that this verse is all about pulling ourselves up from our bootstraps and becoming all we can be, either in the office or on the football field (sorry Tim Tebow). However, this could not be further from the truth.

Rather, Philippians 4:13 is the culmination of these two chapters of encouragement from Paul to what could have been his most beloved of church plants. The previous thirteen verses in chapter four, specifically, all speak of putting aside worry and praying, all in the name of fostering a deeper trust in Him, not in us. When the storms of life hit us (see Matthew 7:24-27), we need a solid foundation. We get our content and peace and security from others (Philippians 4:10) and from learning how to deal with stuff (v.11-12), but it is ultimately (even in those three verses) the Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives us a foothold when life tries to sweep us away in the currents of strife and hardship.

So, with all of this said, let's have No Bad Days. Not in a ridiculous, unbiblical manner that ignores the pains in our lives. We will certainly have some very rough, painful, cripplingly-awful days. However, let's not lose track of Him in the darkness. Don't get so focused on the water swelling around you that you forget who your Savior is. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he called out to Him, asking if he could walk out to Jesus. When he actually hopped out of the boat and began towards Him, though, Peter realized that the waters were thrashing about him and that if he fell in, he'd probably die. So he lost track of what was in front of him (Jesus) and instead was swallowed up by the seas. Don't be swallowed up. Instead, look for Jesus in even the most violent of waters. He's there; walk towards Him.

Like a Child

Yesterday, I read Matthew 18:1-9 and 19:13-15. Both of these passages feature Jesus speaking about how to inherit or enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Take a look:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
² Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. ³ “I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
⁶ “But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea! ⁷ Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes. ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire. -Matthew 18:1-9

Then children were brought to Him so He might put His hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ Then Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this.” ¹⁵ After putting His hands on them, He went on from there. -Matthew 19:13-15

You see, He claims that we must come to Him like a small child to enter the Kingdom of God. We must have the trust and faith in God and in Jesus that a small child has in his/her father. We are completely dependent, relying on Him for everything and having ever-flowing love for Him. 

But, we often times are not like this. Our dependence and love for Jesus can be muffled by many things, including earthly possessions. I don't think it is a coincidence that in Matthew 19:16-22 we find the story of the rich young ruler. He claimed that he wanted to follow Jesus, but could not let go of his money. He was not able to part from possessions:

 Just then someone came up and asked Him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”
¹⁷ “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” He said to him. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
¹⁸ “Which ones?” he asked Him. Jesus answered:

Do not murder;
do not commit adultery;
do not steal;
do not bear false witness;
¹⁹ honor your father and your mother;
and love your neighbor as yourself.

²⁰ “I have kept all these,” the young man told Him. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
²² When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. -Matthew 19:16-22

Money brings safety and security, so we trust Him less. Money brings distraction and entertainment, which sucks away from our love for God. This is why Matthew 19:23-25 is such a somber passage:

²³ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?” -Matthew 19:23-25

 The good news is that there is a flipside. In verse 26, Jesus says that all things are possible with God. That is then followed up with a quick back-and-forth between Jesus and Peter: 

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
²⁷ Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?”
²⁸ Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first. -Matthew 19:26-30

You see, we as Christians are called to be completely devoted to Jesus. We are willing to leave it all and be totally dependent on God, relying on Him day-by-day, step-by-step. We must walk by faith, trusting that we will be held tight by our Father and that the One who loves us won't let us go.

We can be confident in that because He loved us so much that He gave up His Son on the cross, and it was through that act that the impossible happened. The ones who were far from God, separated from Him by sin, were brought close. We were impossibly separated from God until God made it possible for us to draw near to Him.

So, it is no longer impossible for us to trust Him, walk with Him, love Him, be with Him and depend on Him in all things. It is no longer impossible for us to give up all we have to follow Him. It is no longer impossible to come to Him like a small child, and it is no longer impossible for us to inherit eternal life. The Kingdom is ours.

Dirty Love: It Ain't Easy to Love Like Jesus, But We Kinda Need To.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for people to tell us about a problem that they are having. After all, they are either griping and grumbling or they have a legitimate dilemma in their life. In the event of having a legitimate problem, they need someone to be there by their side. Yet, in our culture, we are often too busy to give people that support.

Christians are called to live in a sacrificial manner, loving people in a way that is anything but beneficial from the Earthly viewpoint. Would loving that person inconvenience you? Would it make you late for something? Would you lose productivity? If you can answer yes to any of those, then you probably should go ahead and do what you can to show love. Love is dirty and difficult.

So, what are some ways to show love to people? Perhaps you'd like to know how and simply cannot think of a way. Well, here's a quick list of things that I thought of. There are many more, but I hope this gets you thinking!

1. Say nice things. When someone is having a hard time, or even just trying to get through a normal day (which is hard enough, amiright?!), they could almost always use a word of encouragement. Job was not having a good time of things when he lost all of his possessions, children and own personal health. It appeared that God had completely abandoned him, and he could have used a little bit of cheer. Instead, his friends opted to shame him and try to get him to confess whatever sin he had committed to make God do this. Job even calls them out on it in chapter 16, calling them "miserable comforters." How often are we miserable comforters, either failing to support at all or filling their lives with all of our "advice" about how they can get out of their situation?

Rarely does the person going through a breakup, battling a health issue or failing a class need more advice, especially not in the midst of their darkest hour. What people need more than anything is support and love, letting them know that we are there for them. If there is a sin problem causing their issue, it should be addressed, but not in the form of a brutal chastisement. Think about how you'd feel in their shoes, and respond with love.

So send someone a little note. Say they look cute (in a non-creepy way...) or notice their new hair. Compliment their Tervis tumbler (those are still popular, right?). You never know how far that brief word of positivity can go.

[Side bar: someone who really understands this is Hannah Brencher, the founder/starting blogger at www.moreloveletters.com. Go check out their work. It's officially one of my favorite things right now.]

2. Do something nice. Sometimes people just need to know you are thinking of them. When Jesus saw the crowds hungry in Mark 6:34, the Bible says that He "had compassion on them." He then proceeded to give them a simply dinner of fish and bread (for 5,000 people!). Now, this does not mean that we must feed crowds of people, but it does mean that we have compassion for people in need and be willing to go out of our way to do a little something for them.

Bring them coffee on a cold morning. Surprise them with a little gift that they mentioned in conversation a while ago. Drop some food over at a friend's room during finals. Scrape the snow off their car. Pay a drive-thru meal behind you, or maybe even just give someone a ride home when they need one. It's the little things, y'all.

3. Spend time with them. People get lonely, and that can actually increase during the holiday season. Be willing to make time in your schedule for the people in your life that need you. You and I are likely surrounded by a group of people that could use a little bit of our time. So what if you're busy? I get it, that is usually my excuse, too. But Jesus, ruler of all, stepped out of His eternal rule of all things that exist, have existed and will ever exist in order to walk around Israel for a few years, spend time with some rather dense individuals and ultimately die on a cross and rise again for our benefit. If He made time for the people that deserved His least (note: that's us), then we can give up an hour (or afternoon!) somewhere in our schedule for people that need us.

Go grab lunch or tea. Give them a call and talk about life. Watch basketball with the kids. Drink hot cocoa with your elderly grandparents. Help someone fix their car (unless you're more likely to break it more, and in that case go with them to get it fixed). Show that your schedule is not as important as the people around you.

People need love. Simple as that. Our lives should not be so pristine, and I know that mine has been far too clean for far too long. Love is dirty and difficult, and loving people the right way (the Jesus way) is hard work. So be willing to put in the time and effort to do it. It can be as cheap as a hug or a little smiley face on an index card stuck between the keys of their keyboard. It ain't easy, but it is necessary for the Christian. No efforts are perfect, but all efforts are better than the one that doesn't happen!

Go out, and by the end of the week, I want you to do one thing for somebody, and then shoot me an email at thefreedbug@gmail.com. Lemme know how it went. After all, I could use some more ideas on how to love people myself. :)

Who Are Our Brothers and Sisters?

Do we think about the importance of our church families? When was the last time that you thought to yourself, "man, I would be distraught if I lost contact with one of them"? Have you ever really thought about the importance of being in the family of the Church? Have you thought about the fact that we say "brothers and sisters" about our fellow church members, and what that should mean in regards to how we approach these relationships? Today, let's briefly look at what Jesus had to say about the family of God and how important it should be in our lives.

While Jesus was preaching one day, his mom and siblings came to wherever He was preaching and wanted to speak with Him. One of people around, probably a disciple, came up to Jesus at a break point and said "Hey, your mom and brothers are here and wanna talk to you (Luke 8:20, Bryan Watts Paraphrase)."

Now, before I tell you Jesus' response, I want to remind you of some context here. Jesus has been at home in Nazareth, with His family, until He was thirty. This is a guy who had helped around the family business, spent years in town, etc. Jesus wasn't the kid that turned 18 and bolted for the furthest college that He could go to; He was with His family until He was thirty. Then, upon turning thirty, He proceeded to start His ministry, traveling all about the countryside, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom.

He probably hasn't seen His family for some time. They probably miss Him. My guess is that they had made a special trip to wherever He was in order to see Him. His response?

"My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God." -Luke 8:21, HCSB

What the what, Jesus?! Doesn't this seem insensitive? Doesn't this seem uncaring? Is He rejecting His family?

What I believe we are seeing here is not a commentary on how much Jesus loved His Earthly family, because I believe He loved them very much. Instead, I believe we see how much more He loves His spiritual family, the Church, and by extension, how much we should love them.

Christ died on behalf of His people. He longs for us to be in relationship with Him. His desire is for us to be with Him in glory and reign alongside Him for eternity, He as the Groom and the Church as His bride. That's us. He loves us that much.

Yet, despite how much our Savior loves us, how often do we disregard our family of faith? Names like "brothers" and "mother" are familial terms! We're the body of Christ, His beloved Bride, and we spend so much time ignoring our relationship with one another! We wouldn't ignore and disregard our families like that, would we? We are to be a family, even more so than our Earthly families. We're a body, made of many important, indispensable members, and it is crucial that we stay together.

Our church needs us and we need our churches. Be there for them. Love them. Appreciate them. Help them. Be active for them. Serve them. It is your calling, Christian. Don't neglect her; if she is loved enough by Christ that He died for her, then we should love her in a similar fashion.

Today, reach out to a part of the local body you belong to. Say hello, check in on them, do something kind for them. If you are not a member of a local church, find one. get involved in Christ's church; it is absolutely a must for the Christian to be in the body of Christ.

Let's stop neglecting our brothers and sisters. Christ died to make the family of God what it is; don't reject His work on the cross to bring us together by ignoring His bride.

Rest in the Midst of Your Burdens

Man, I am swamped these days. I recently started attending seminary in Louisville, while working at my home church in Lexington, all while balancing family and friends and interests and such. Life is crazy. My days and nights consist of reading about church history and Old Testament scholarship, writing papers on Hittite treaties, organizing and guiding and leading and preaching in growing, active student ministry, leading a small group, discipling a couple of guys and being discipled myself.

It has been during this past week, about three weeks into the semester, when I have realized that I am burning out already. So, I took much of this past weekend off and have been scaling back some things.

Alas, here it is. Monday. And I am reaping the consequences of my weekend of minimal work. And that's OK.

It is good to appreciate little things and relax a bit. I spent Friday night watching the first live MMA fights that I have watched in quite some time. It was a blast. Then, on Saturday, I spent much of the day with my family and some friends, eating jambalaya and watching LSU football. I accomplished a bit yesterday afternoon, but ended up spending last night in front of a Quentin Tarantino movie. All of this is going through my mind as I sit at my desk on a cool, autumn-esque morn, reading the Psalms.

If you have followed my blog any length of time, you're probably aware that I spend quite a bit of time in the Psalms. David, who wrote much of the Psalms, is my boy, and we think rather similarly (that is to say, we're both rather dramatic). So, as I read Psalm 35:27-28, I resonate well with his sentiment there.

"Let those who want my vindication shout for joy and be glad; let them continually say, 'the Lord be exalted, who wants His servant's well-being.' And my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness, Your praise all day long." -Psalm 35:27-28, HCSB

Now, the context of this passage is David, praying for victory over those who were oppressing him. Knowing his life story, I feel safe to assume they probably wanted him dead. I do not think anyone wants me dead. However, I believe there is something to be said here for anyone feeling some strain in life.

David writes that the Lord "wants His servant's well-being." God truly does want the best for His people. Romans 8 is a beautiful chapter on that front. While it may seem that we are overwhelmed, God has given us much in those moments. He is working for our good and is here alongside us, strengthening us through the work and truth of the Gospel (Philippians 4:10-13). This is why David proclaims at the end that he will proclaim "[His] righteousness, [His] praise all day long."

Our God is a loving God, and He wants our well-being. He wants His people to pursue Him with all they have and find joy/praise in Him. As a continuation of that, He wants us to cut out what keeps us from doing so.

So don't be afraid to take a night off. Yes, we work hard. Yes, we pursue excellence. However, it is not God's desire for us to be miserable, either. He has given us good things (such as friends, family, Cajun food and SEC football) to enjoy in His name. Don't spend your life worrying and stressing over everything all the time. He's got this. Our job is to shout for joy, be glad, exalt Him, proclaim His righteousness and praise Him all the day long. None of that involves letting the minutiae kill you.

Yes, this is a bit of a rambling post, so let me sum it up as such: David spends verses 1-8 and 11-26 ranting and rambling about his struggles, much like I did to start this post. Yet, he stops in verses 9-10, as well as verses 27-28, to rest in Him and praise God's goodness. Let's follow that example.

I challenge you: rest in Him at some point today. It's Monday, after all. We're all ramping up for the work week and diving in. Therefore, you're likely stressing already about your workload and deadlines and outside difficulties and such. Take some time off, at some point today, and rest in Him. Take a walk. Smell a flower. See a movie. Eat lunch with your phone turned off. Do something you enjoy that allows you to rest in the good, loving things He gives you and let the struggles disappear for a bit. Read through Psalm 35 and make the resting verses, the praises of Him be your refrain today. May our bones say "Lord, who is like You, rescuing the poor from one too strong for him, the poor or the needy from one who robs him?" today!

What is Your Vision?

We all have things that drive us. We all have goals and pursuits, morals and guidelines in our lives. The problem is that we rarely focus on them. We abstractly think about values such as "hard work" or "honor," but how often to we think practically about how we can apply them to our lives? How often do we ponder about what our personal and professional goals are, and then try to figure out how best to accomplish them?

It's similar to driving on vacation. Let's say I am going out of town and I hop in the car and head toward the beach. Where am I going? Based off of what I just said, I don't truly know. I just vaguely am headed to "the beach." Similarly, we often want "success" or "better relationships," but do not actually know where we are going with it.

What we need is a plan. If I were going to the beach, I wouldn't just go (although that may be fun once in a while!). Instead, I would plan to go to a certain beach and then plug it into my phone so I would know how to get there. For instance, if I were headed to Ormond Beach, Florida, I would start on I-75, then go to I-275, and so on until I ended up on Highway 1, headed south along the Atlantic coast. I have a desired location (Ormond Beach, FL) with direct steps to help me achieve that (directions, knowledge of gas stations and food along the way, etc.).

Our personal lives should have this kind of structure, as well. How will we ever improve and grow as a person and as a follower of Christ without some sort of plan. We may have a vague idea of where to go, but it is much harder to pull that off without a plan. This plan is what is known as a vision.

A vision is a plan, but more than just a stale plan. There are several other things that must coincide with our vision to make it more than a plan and help us live our lives based upon it:

• Passion: what excites you? If your vision doesn't excite you, you will never follow through. If I made a vision for myself based upon living a life that focused on math, it would be a pointless vision. I would never actually want to live a life that was focused on math. I hate it. I am not passionate about mathematics in any way, shape or form. Thus, our vision must reflect what we are passionate about.
• Motivation: what drives you? Often our passion ends up motivating us, but they are not the same in all cases. Where passion is what excites us about a vision, motivation is what makes us push harder into a vision. It may be providing for your family, growing as a person or honoring God, for example. Motivation is the thing that makes us get up and get to work when nothing else does.
• Direction: where are you headed? If you don't know where you are headed, you'll likely never get there. In order to develop a true vision, you must have some sort of heading to aim for. 

 What is your passion? What is your motivation? What is your direction? Before we can really dive into your specific vision, let's figure out these three things first. What excites and drives you, and where do these things make you want to head for? Where do you want to be in a week, a month, a year or more from now? What do you want to improve on and what is it that you want to accomplish?

Once you get these three things finished, you'll be better able to start figuring out your vision. The next step is to determine your overarching mission or purpose. That, my friends, is what we will explore next week.

*This post is heavily influenced by the teaching of Jason Cummins. Look him up. Dude is awesome.