Be on time.
“People count up the faults of those who keep them waiting.” French Proverb
Monthly Archive for January, 2009
Page 2 of 3
First, I don’t think I am on the short list (or any list) of those who will be asked to pray at an inauguration.
Still, Dan Phillips of Pyromaniacs asked several Christian leaders (including me) whether or not they would pray at the inauguration of President Obama.
Prayer #1, John Frame, read here.
Prayer #2, Thabiti Anyabwile, read here.
Prayer #3- Chris Brauns, read here.
Update: Prayer #4-Phil Johnson, read here. Phil says he would decline.
Al Mohler recently indicated that he does not think he could accept the invitation to pray at the inauguration. (See here). He makes some good points.
However, I am inclined to say that I would accept, provided that there not be any conditions that would insist that I downplay my allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true King.
Would you pray at the inauguration? What do you think?
Psalm 133 reads:
“. . . How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore (Ps 133).”
This Psalm reminds us of the sweetness of unity for God’s people. David sings that unity is good: delicious, sweet, pure, clean, cheerful and happy. And, it is pleasant: beautiful, lovely. Unity is a perfect temperature and pure sunshine.
David continues in verse 2 to give us two pictures which illustrate how wonderful it is to be unified. This begins the first point on your outline. The picture of an anointing tells us that unified believers are lavishly commissioned. A unified church is set apart to do God’s work in a special way.
In the second picture, David uses the simile of water. Now remember, water was a very precious commodity in that time. The point is that if we are unified, then we will be blessed and refreshed by God.
I am Pastor Chris Brauns from the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley. Unity is never, never easy in a local church. But, it is a treasure to be pursued. It is worth giving up your preferences, and even your legitimate rights like Jesus did, in order to find unity. Psalm 133 is so true. Unity is good and pleasant. God commissions unified believers to do His work. And, God gives a special drink of cool water to those who unselfishly unify in doing His work.
Stephen Altrogge’s blog, The Blazing Center, is giving away books this year. I am, perhaps, a bit biased, but I like his selection. See here to enter.
Our eleven year old son, Ben, who has a flair for the dramatic, woke up today saying he didn’t know if he felt like playing his league basketball game.
Fortunately, I have my ear to the ground and know what is going on with America’s youth. I’m reading, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. (See also a recent Owen Strachan post). Bauerlein concludes:
“The youth of America occupy a point in history like every other generation did and will, and their time will end. But, the effects of their habits will outlast them, and if things do not change they will be remembered as the fortunate ones who were unworthy of the privileges they inherited. They may even be recalled as the generation that lost their great American heritage, forever.
So, I told Ben, “Son, you are playing basketball today.” The rest of the country may let their kids stay home and play video games. In my house, we’re going to toughen up and be fit.
Epilogue
Turns out Ben was serious. White as a sheet, he bolted out the door during warm-ups and violently hurled in a trash. He is the talk of the league.
As I write, Ben is downstairs watching his brother play a video game. It was a victory for Ben’s generation today. I intend to keep fighting.
For his part, Ben will use this against his heartless parents for years to come.
I heartily recommend Herbert London’s book, America’s Secular Challenge: The Rise of a New National Religion.
London writes:
Robert Frost once said that a liberal was someone who refused to take his own side in an argument. Radical secularism, bolstered by the relativistic teachings of multiculturalism, elevates that foible into a philosophy of life.
And,
Culture matters. Decency, sacrifice, and hedonism do not emerge spontaneously, and a great nation cannot retain its greatness while wallowing in a depraved culture.
While the Internet makes a great deal of reading material available, Sally Thomas argues we are losing our taste for anything with real content – - what Thomas calls “oranges.”
“In the digital age, the Apples have trumped the oranges and rendered them obsolete, and already Johnny can’t remember what an orange tastes like.”
Read the whole thing here.
HT: Owen Strachan
wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.
Would any of you actually be willing to do this?
HT: Vitamin Z who concludes that it’s “insane in the membrane.”
People in our culture aren’t much good at waiting. We honk in traffic and are impatient at the doctor’s office. Personally, I get tired of waiting on my computer to boot.
But, the hardest kind of waiting may be waiting on God. If you’re anxious to hear news about an illness, or if someone is causing you pain in life, or if you miss a loved one, answers may seem like forever in coming.
If you struggle waiting on God, you are not alone. In Psalm 13, David cried out, “How long O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” In the New Testament, Peter noticed that some scoffers questioned whether or not God would ever come back. They had no patience to wait upon the Lord.
If today, you’re struggling to wait upon the Lord you can find many passages of Scripture to encourage you. Read Psalm 37 carefully. David sang, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; in just a little while the wicked will be no more. . . but, the meek shall inherit the land.”
And, in one of my all time favorite passages Isaiah wrote,
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.(Is 40:28-31).”
Be confident. God, in His timing, will accomplish His purposes. Very soon, the waiting of all Christians will be over forever. Christ is all.
Kurt Goff recently interviewed me for SOS radio of Las Vegas about my book, Unpacking Forgiveness. You can listen to the interview here.
