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.

 

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Published on October 5, 2011 in death. 0 Comments

Justin Taylor considers what may be said with certainty regarding Steve Jobs:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.”

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

“Death . . . is Life’s change agent.”

—Steve Jobs, Commencement Address at Stanford University (June 12, 2005)

Much will be said tonight and in the days ahead about this entrepreneurial genius. . .

Read the rest here.

How should Christian parents educate their children?

Published on October 5, 2011 in Parenting. 7 Comments

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Get The World-Tilting Gospel Free

Published on October 4, 2011 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Last week I recommended Dan Phillips’ book, The World-Tilting Gospel. For a limited time, it is available for free download on the Kindle. See here.

Justin Taylor interviews Tony Reinke about reading Literature

Published on October 4, 2011 in Recommended Reading. 0 Comments

Justin Taylor Interviews Tony Reinke about his new book “Lit!” from Crossway on Vimeo.

More here.

Why having my children upset with me is a “small thing” in my world

Published on October 3, 2011 in Parenting. 1 Comment

Do you love your children enough to die for them?  Most of us do.

But, there is a better question than, “Do you love your children enough to die for them?” The better question is, “Do you love your children enough to say ‘no’ to them?”

There have been times as a father that I have said “no” to something one of our children wanted to do in order to protect him or her.  On a few occasions, that child would  let me know that he or she was not pleased with me for denying the request.

At such times here is what I tell my children.  My goal is to protect you.  If protecting you means having you upset with me, so be it.  I love you enough to die for you; you being upset with me is a relatively small thing in my world.

Proverbs 13:24 says, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him (Proverbs 13:24).”  Truly loving your children means saying  “no” even though they may not want to hear it.