Seeing Jesus

"Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."  (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Piper's thoughts: We See Him Through the Word of God

How does it happen? How does this kind of seeing happen? It happens through the Word of God. When the gospel of Christ is preached, we can see Christ more clearly for who he really is than many could see in his own lifetime. If you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, with openness to Christ, you can see the true glory of Christ far more clearly than most of the people who knew him on earth could see him—Nicodemus, the Syrophoenician woman, the Centurion, the widow of Nain, Zacchaeus, the thief on the cross, the thronging crowds. They saw a snatch here and a snatch there. But in the gospels you get four complementary portraits of Christ inspired by God and covering the whole range of his teaching and his ministry.

The gospels are better than being there. You are taken into the inner circle of the apostolic band where you never could have gone. You go with him through Gethsemane and the trial and the crucifixion and the resurrection and the meetings after the resurrection. You hear whole sermons and long discourses—not in isolated snatches on hillsides but in rich God-inspired contexts that take you deeper than you ever could have gone as a perplexed peasant in Galilee. You see the whole range of his character and power which nobody on earth saw as fully as you can now see in the gospels: you see his freedom from anxiety with no place to lay his head, his courage in the face of opposition, his unanswerable wisdom, his honoring women, his tenderness with children, his compassion toward lepers, his meekness in suffering, his patience with Peter, his tears over Jerusalem, his blessing those who cursed him, his heart for the nations, his love for the glory of God, his simplicity and devotion, his power to still storms and heal the sick and multiply bread and cast out demons."

Candy's thoughts: What an amazing privilege for those of us who live on this side of the cross! As Piper points out, we can 'See Jesus' even better than those who walked beside him because his Word describes his life, his teachings, his love, and his devotion to his Father, not just glimpses by those who followed him occasionally. May we then take up and read the Scriptures with great thanksgiving for the great gift of the salvation of our souls.

Making The Invisible Kingdom Visible

 

Here is an article sent to me by our good friend Kurt. It is time well-spent to read and contemplate on its many possible applications. I have some thoughts at the end of the page as well. "On November 6, 2010, the Hallmark Channel aired a made-for-television movie entitled “A Family Thanksgiving” about an unmarried lawyer and a “genie [who] comes along and changes the whole situation.” Though I doubt anyone back then thought this would launch a television phenomenon, Hallmark’s annual “Countdown to Christmas” is, for many, an annual tradition. Now in its tenth season, the 232-and counting-movies may not be exact clones of a “A Family Thanksgiving,” but they’re pretty close. If you’ve seen one of these movies, you’ve seen them all. The sappiness of “Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas” triggers a Pavlovian snark response for many of us. None of these movies are, shall we say, “critically acclaimed.” Still, what these movies lack in Oscar nominations, they make up for in something that those creating and distributing edgier flicks would kill for: millions and millions of viewers. A typical “Countdown to Christmas” movie premiere attracts between three and five percent of all viewers during its time slot. In other words, these are the most-viewed non-sports and news shows on cable television. In no way am I suggesting that “popular” is the same thing as “good” or even “worth your time,” but it’s clear that “Countdown to Christmas” has struck a nerve with an audience. Why? Part of the answer is probably sentimentality, but I think that “Countdown to Christmas” is also tapping into people’s sense of longing. Specifically, the longing for an alternative to modern society and culture. For example, I wonder if many viewers long for a world in which “boy meets girl” doesn’t have to include “boy and girl have sex.” In stark contrast to what hits the tube and silver screen these days, in Hallmark Channel movies said “boy” and said “girl” often don’t even appear tempted by the idea. I also wonder if people today are longing for the sort of world that is the setting for these movies, a place my colleague has dubbed “Hallmark Town.” In “Hallmark Town,” people are friendly, cheerful, and neighborly. Families are close and also prepared to welcome strangers into their homes and lives. In “Hallmark Town,” no broke, single mother facing Christmas in a cheap hotel with her kids needs to worry. Some group of people will always be there to make sure she has a job, a home, a tree, and presents for her kids by Christmas, even if it is (spoiler alert) just in the nick of time. Given the hyper-individualism, selfishness, loneliness, isolation, and family chaos that characterizes our modern culture, who wouldn’t want to live in “Hallmark Town”? Unfortunately, “Hallmark Town” just doesn’t exist. The Kingdom of God, however, does exist, having been inaugurated two millennia ago. The church, as Chuck Colson often said, is tasked with making this invisible kingdom visible. John Stott called the church “God’s New Society” and, when functioning well, it’s far better than “Hallmark Town.” We aren’t motivated by some vague “spirit of Christmas.” The kindness the church can display is a tangible reflection of what St. Paul called the “kindness of God our savior.” This kindness saved us from the sin, malice, envy, and hate that marked our lives. Not only did God’s kindness deliver us from our broken and misguided passions and from constantly pursuing but never actually gaining a pleasure that can satisfy our souls, it freed us to live for the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. When Christians do that, it blesses and serves others. In a world where people seek to escape and take refuge in made-for-television movies, the potential if the church would be the church is amazing. In fact, the gates of hell couldn’t stand against it." Candy's thoughts: Breakpoint is making a very good point. There is a longing, for Christians AND unbelievers, to view movies without the excessive profanity, violence, and immorality that is common in our present "Hollywood" culture. But an even better endeavor is for "The Church" to proclaim the Christian hope that we have in the Scriptures. That hope is not only about the future, it changes the way we live in the present. We can be a mirror into a world of genuine love and service to others if we are willing to follow the plan that Jesus has for the church even now.

A Prayer About Being Too Easily Annoyed

"Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult."  (Prov. 12:16)

Yesterday during our two Women's Bible Study classes I read the following prayer written by Scotty Smith and published in Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith. As our friend Ruth pointed out after we were done praying, this prayer made us both laugh and cringe. Smith really convicted me by his very first example: merging cars on a road.  😆😧

Anyway, enough people asked me to send it to them personally that I thought I would just post here for everyone to see. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts in the comments below or by email.


"Jesus, of all the prayer-worthy things I can think of, "annoyance" has never made it onto my supplication list until now. Through the pastoral pestering of your Spirit,  I see and grieve that I'm too easily annoyed. Have mercy on me, Prince of Peace. Free my foolish, fretful, fitful spirit. How can I possibly reveal the magnificence of the gospel when I'm showcasing the arrogance of my annoyance?

I'm annoyed by the guy who races me when two lanes are becoming one. I'm annoyed when the bar code reading machines in the self-checkout lanes can't read my items. I'm annoyed when the gas pump trickles way too slowly. I'm annoyed by waiters who fish for a bigger tip. I'm annoyed by fish that won't bite. I'm annoyed by humidity when I want to jog.

I'm annoyed by low talkers and loud talkers. I'm annoyed at people easily annoyed. I'm annoyed when I have to repeat myself, I'm annoyed at whiners, so much that I start whining. I'm annoyed when people use way too many words and way too big of words to say something way simple, as though that's not me too.

I'm annoyed at ever having to wait in line for anything. I'm annoyed by the color orange. I'm annoyed at any box that has the words "requires some assembly" written on it. Oh, Jesus, if only those were the only things that annoy me!

My prayer? Gentle my heart with your kindness and grace. Grant me much quicker repentances. Help me to slow...way...down. Help me to live in the moment and not simply live to get somewhere on time or get something done. Let me see people with your eyes and respond to them with your heart. There are no ordinary people around me. Everybody matters. Everybody has stories of heartache, foolishness, fear, and longing, just like me. Jesus, thank you that you died for all of my sins, including my "annoyability." I love being loved by you. I have no greater hope than knowing one day I will love like you love. I pray in your gracious and patient name. Amen."

'Alone' is a Redemptive Impossibility

"If you're God's child, don't ever tell yourself that you are alone - for you, 'alone' is a redemptive impossibility."  Paul David Tripp

Tripp's thoughts: "Walking away from the funeral of a loved one, you can feel very alone. Dealing with long-term sickness is a very lonely experience. Facing financial difficulties that you have no means to solve can make you feel very weak and alone. It's a lonely experience to deal with the personal rejection of a loved one. Standing for what is right in a culture that mocks the morals you hold dear can make you fearful and alone. Assessing that you don't have what it takes to face what you cannot escape can make you feel unprepared and alone. Loneliness of some kind is the universal experience of people living this side of eternity. Sin brought alienation and separation into the world. It first broke the fellowship between God and man, and because it did, it also shattered the fellowship between people and their family members, friends, and neighbors. This aloneness is spiritual, emotional, relational, and cultural. It's nearly impossible to escape.

The drama of human aloneness is captured by the apostle Paul in Eph. 2:11-12, but there is more. He also captures how the grace of Jesus Christ reconciles us to God and, in so doing, reconciles us to one another so that we will never again be alone.

Let these words sink in: from "having no hope and without God in the world" to "reconciled... to God" and "being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." What is the movement of grace? We have gone from being hopeless and alone to being reconciled and inhabited by God, and therefore never alone again! Don't forget to remind yourself again today that as God's child you simply cannot be alone, no matter what you feel."

Candy's thoughts: Isn't it counter-intuitive to think that we can feel more alone in a crowded room of people than when we are actually by ourselves with no one else nearby? I have certainly felt that way in many situations in the past, and I have to admit that thinking of God 'being with me' is not the first thought that pops into my mind. Mostly I have wanted to escape the situation and flee to a more comfortable place. But understanding how we got to this "universal experience" of loneliness (think Genesis 3) to where we are going (think heaven) might aid us when feeling abandoned by the world that threatens to undo us. God has graciously provided the means by which we can move from isolation to eternal belonging. We are not alone.

Eternity on the Ropes

Many years ago I saw the video posted below and it has never left my memory. Later I would read Forever: Why You Can't Live Without It by Paul David Tripp and recognized the same basic theme. In a July 16th, 2018 blogpost (Read here) I wrote a summary of Tripp's book, in which he coins the term "eternity amnesia." This refers to the state of mind that each one of us experiences when we get caught up in the busyness of daily living and regrettably forget the biblical goal set before us: eternity. Here is a memorable illustration of this point by Francis Chan. I welcome your comments on this 4 minute video.

Click Here to See video