Monthly Archive for October, 2011

Fear that Leads to Comfort

Published on October 31, 2011 in Acts and Proverbs. 1 Comment

Dan Phillips has written an excellent post on why fear and comfort are a healthy combination.

Wouldn’t you think that “fear” and “comfort” are antonyms, like “love” and “hate,” or “darkness” and “light”?

In a Biblical context, we might most quickly associate the word “fear” with “of the LORD,” or “of Yahweh.” That topic — “the fear of Yahweh” — is a major Biblical theme. Clearly, in Proverbs, it is a literally foundational thought (cf. 1:7; 9:10; 31:30). In the Proverbs book, a chapter of 40+ pages traces the concept its older Old Testament appearances, just so we can begin to understand of Solomon’s use throughout the book of Proverbs. One discovery is that the concept itself frames and must color our understanding of each individual verse within the entire book.

When we develop the concept Biblically, we feel the burden to show that the fear of Yahweh is not (as some might think) an Old Testament concept as opposed to a New Testament concept. Indeed, it is quite literally a pan-Biblical concept.

This stood out to me in a recent daily Bible reading. Acts 9:31 leapt out at me in this context:

Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐκκλησία καθ᾽ ὅλης τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ Γαλιλαίας καὶ Σαμαρείας εἶχεν εἰρήνην οἰκοδομουμένη καὶ πορευομένη τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ τῇ παρακλήσει τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐπληθύνετο.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Read the rest here.

Amazing Pumpkin Carvings

Published on October 29, 2011 in Stupid Stuff. 0 Comments

The Brauns family tried.

But we can’t compete with this:

See the rest here.

HT: The Blazing Center

How can I forgive myself?

Published on October 27, 2011 in Forgiveness. 2 Comments

Dr. Mike Witter recently interacted with whether or not it is appropriate to forgive ourselves. Be encouraged to read Mike’s excellent post.

Here is what I wrote in Unpacking Forgiveness regarding the question, “How can I forgive myself?”

If you are asking, “How can I forgive myself?” it is probably in reference to mistakes you have made in life. You know that your choices have caused yourself and others great pain. You want to know how you can move beyond your regret.

While is a good thing to want to move beyond your mistakes and the consequences they have reaped, there are fundamental problems with even raising this question. As I have stressed throughout this book, forgiveness is something that must occur between two parties. In light of that truth, it makes no more sense to talk about forgiving yourself than it does to talk about shaking your own hand.

More important, our great need in life is not forgiveness from ourselves. Rather, we need God’s forgiveness. When it comes to regrets and lingering guilt, we need to ask God to forgive our sins, knowing that Christ already paid the penalty for sin on the cross. Paul talked about this very point in 2 Corinthians 7:10, when he said that godly grief brings about true repentance which leads to salvation. Nancy Leigh Demoss said, “Forgiveness isn’t something you can give yourself. It is something [God] has purchased for you.”

You might respond, “Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe ‘forgiveness’ is not the word that I want to use. But how do I get past this? How do I move beyond my feelings of regret?” The short answer to that question is that you must be increasingly centered on the cross. You must live in the glory of the Gospel. The more you focus on Christ and the truth of his Gospel, the more you will find joy in your salvation and victory over guilt and bitterness.

The “Princess Bride” Reunion on Good Morning America

Published on October 15, 2011 in Entertainment and Stupid Stuff. 2 Comments

Cast members reflect on a Brauns family favorite.

HT: Denny Burk

A Blogging Break!

Published on October 11, 2011 in Blogging. 5 Comments

My schedule is busy enough these days that I’ve decided to take a blogging break. Thanks to all of you who have been an encouragement one way or another. I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Christians suffer in the delivery room

Published on October 10, 2011 in Romans and suffering. 1 Comment

Our text for Sunday (Romans 8:17), reminded us that we are co-heirs with Christ, “provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

No one enjoys the thought of suffering, but in a post from a couple of years ago, I reminded Christians that our sort of suffering is a fundamentally different kind.

Let me make an analogy between the physical and the spiritual.

Would you not agree that there is a fundamental difference between pain in the cancer ward and agony in the delivery room? One is suffering that brings life; the other is that of death.

As a pastor, I have watched many people struggle with cancer. It is such an awful disease. I think of one friend who went through so much – – lost her hair during chemotherapy — – had her body ravaged by the disease – and then she slowly died. Her hospital room was a place of pain.

The delivery room is also full of pain. If I ever complain about discomfort, my wife who has delivered four babies is happy to remind me that I am not acquainted with real pain. Never the less, the agony of labor is of a different kind than cancer suffering. Labor is pain based on a beautiful hope.

Everyone in this life will suffer. And, if Christ does not come back in our life time, we will all die. But, for a believer, the sufferings of life are those of the delivery room. Romans 8 says that our sufferings are “birth pains” that will one day give way to the sons of God being revealed.

If you are believer with cancer, then you have all the hope of eternity. Remember, our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Soon and very soon, Jesus will come back and we will be eternally with Him.

The Foundation of Putting Sin to Death

Published on October 9, 2011 in Romans. 0 Comments

Tim Challies’ post is a great follow-up to a recent sermon at The Red Brick Church on Romans 8:13.

Challies:

Don’t run away from this blog post just because I’m quoting a Puritan. Yes, Puritans are scary with all their big words and frilly collars, but some of them had remarkable insights into God’s Word and into human hearts. Read on to see an example of that. I am confident that it will be a blessing to you.

Here is the context: Once a month our church has what we call Adult Fellowship. This is a time where we gather as adults and look at a particular topic, working toward application. Over the course of this year we’ll be looking at sanctified sins—sins that we commit but tend to give a pass to. We allow them to be respectable sins. As we do this, I’m offering a brief overview of John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation. What I am trying to do is take one chapter per month and distill it to its essence, while still allowing Owen to speak in his own words.

I’ve now summarized the first two chapters and, in doing so, have been reminded of just how powerful Owen’s book is. Let me share with you the essence of the first chapter which is titled “The Foundation of Mortification.” Mortification, of course, refers simply to killing or destroying or putting to death. When we mortify a sin, we put it to death by the power of the Holy Spirit. As this is only an opening chapter, it touches just briefly on subjects that will be dealt with in more detail a little bit later on.

Owen bases this chapter on Romans 8:13: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death [mortify] the deeds of the body, you will live.” He shows that this verse describes a condition, a means, a duty and a promise.

Read more here.

Thomas Sowell: The Hunger Hoax

Published on October 8, 2011 in Politics. 1 Comment

Thomas Sowell:

Dan Rather opened a CBS Evening News broadcast in 1991 by declaring, “One in eight American children is going hungry tonight.” Newsweek, the Associated Press, and the Boston Globe repeated this statistic, and many others joined the media chorus, with or without that unsubstantiated statistic.

When the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Agriculture examined people from a variety of income levels, however, they found no evidence of malnutrition among those in the lowest income brackets. Nor was there any significant difference in the intake of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from one income level to another.

Read the rest here.

HT: Challies

A woman 29 years old hears her voice for the first time

Published on October 7, 2011 in eschatology. 2 Comments

As Z points outs, this is only the smallest foretaste of what it will be like for Christians on the New Earth when we have resurrection bodies.


HT: Denny Burk

SVHS Football Pictures of the Week: “WE”

Published on October 6, 2011 in SVHS Football Picture of the Week. 0 Comments

Whether it is a hand-off, cheering, or the half-time show, sometimes it’s worth being reminded that what brings joy is experiencing something together. The experience of community is what makes football fun.

Finally, separation of church and state notwithstanding, the SV student cheering section (complete with Charlton Heston) did use a biblical theme to encourage the football team.