Justice and evenhandedness are attributes of God mankind is meant to display. In John 10:34 where Jesus cites Ps. 82 He notes that the Law says “you are gods” in the context of Israel’s leadership having perverted justice while being the recipients of God’s Law. We are meant to be His vice-regents here. And nowhere is that more manifest than in judging right and wrong, based upon God’s own just nature communicated in the rights and wrongs He delineates. Whenever people pervert justice, we openly and graphically deny God. This is true for those apart from Christ – and especially true for those who own Him. Christians above all ought to be concerned with miscarriages of justice in our society – and even more within the Church. (Scroll all the way down to click for the rest.)
Category: Jesus
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Tim Challies over at CHALLIES.COM has written an excellent resource for those wrestling with sexual purity – which in our day can be almost all of us. What is exciting, is that Tim went on to produce this in e-book format, and then posted it – which means you can download it free of charge from his website. You can click on the various links here or on the book image to the left.
If you are struggling in this area, or know someone who is – get this or recommend it to them.
If you are a parent, this ought to be on your own reading list, and made available to both your sons and daughters. Tim has produced something practical, Scriptural, helpful and sound. Everyone of us ought to go through it once. Know it or not, we ARE interacting with folks every day – even in our own homes for whom this is vital. Get it today. TIM CHALLIES.COM
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Two recommendations – A PBS special, and a book on the life of Aonio Paleario. Say what?A few weeks ago, Jack Otto (a friend in our congregation) asked me if I had seen a recent PBS special on Michelangelo? I hadn’t. Its titled “Michelangelo Revealed” and you can watch it on line HERE: (or click the PBS logo).
In any event, thanks to Jack’s largess in securing a DVD copy, I popped it in my player at home and was in for a treat. Without giving everything away (you really do need to watch it for yourself) it appears that Michelangelo became intimate with a group within the Roman Catholic Church called the “Spirituality” – which group had embraced the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and sought to reform the Church from within, even as Luther and others now outside were continuing their efforts at reform. The account is fantastic. One could easily conclude the great artist himself had come to embrace justification by faith before his death.
Now the work of this group – the “Spirituality” included publishing a little book titled “The Benefit of Christ’s Death.” This book clearly articulated justification by faith and may who were involved in its publication and distribution were eventually silenced by the Inquisition. Not the least of these were the book’s author.
I was so intrigued by the PBS special, I began to search out this title. It wasn’t long before I was rewarded with a page from Google Books. I was not disappointed. The salvation message was clear. But now I wanted to know more. My search ended at SOLID GROUND BOOKS and their reprint of this amazing little book, along with a biographical piece on the author – the little known (to us) scholar Aonio Paleario.
The biographical section reads a novel of high intrigue. And then, you get into this obviously ground-floor work wherein the author tries to call his Church back to the centrality of Christ, and the simple gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ alone.
My recommendation – watch the PBS special, and then get to SOLID GROUND BOOKS and order a copy of “The Italian Reformer – The Life and Martyrdom of Aonio Paleario and The Benefit of Christ’s Death.” You won’t be disappointed.
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“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8, ESV)If there is one question I am asked frequently by folks it is this: “How can I get closer to Christ? How can I get more intimacy with Him? How can I know and experience His love better?”
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“Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:32-33, ESV)One issue which has made its appearance of late in Calvinistic circles, is one raised by a friend of mine in a discussion a while back. The basic assertion (as he expressed it) was “I was ALWAYS a sheep, and never a GOAT.”
So I’d like to take some time to unpack that idea, and see what exegetical evidence (if any) there might be for either making or denying such a claim.
Lemme warn ya – its a little long.
Read on.
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Our first grandchild arrived this morning a little before 8 am – 10 pounds 5 ounces and 22″.Sky & I are now officially “Itsy” and “Big Daddy.”
How GOOD our God is!
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” At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”” (Matthew 18:1, ESV)The draw to human greatness in this life is virtually irresistible. No, I don’t mean everyone strives identically to be praised by others. But what is true of everyone of us is that regardless of how anyone else may see us, we still want to think well of ourselves. We still want some small slice of greatness in our own eyes. The proof that this is systemic and universal is the great sadness we experience when we fail, or look foolish, or do something stupid, careless or mock-worthy, even when no one else sees. But oh the blush if someone DOES see. We can do something as innocent as trip, and the first thing we do is look around to see if anyone else saw it. We can deny our pride all we want, but just let us be falsely accused of something or thought ill of or made fun of and we find out just how much we still cling some small bit of greatness inwardly. I can’t fault the Disciples here one whit. The truth is, if I didn’t think I’d be thought ill of for asking it, I’d ask it too. It is only my desire for others to think of me in good terms that would prevent me. And just because my “cancer’ isn’t visible on my skin, doesn’t mean it rages any less below the surface. Secret sin is no less sin because it is invisible.
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” At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”” (Matthew 18:1, ESV)Who indeed is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So far Jesus has told us three things which signal heaven’s kind of greatness. First, those who have no concern for greatness in their own eyes nor in the eyes of men. Second – those who not only avoid seeking greatness in this world, but who violently oppose that tendency in themselves. And third, those who invest their lives in the lives of the humble.
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Matthew 18 (ESV) 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”…10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.1 John 2:16 reminds us that the World has precious little to offer anyone: a. The desires of the flesh (what I can physically experience), b. The desires of the eyes (delight in what things look like only on the surface), c. Pride in possessions (what I have, or do, or think I am in my own estimation or that of others). All three leave the person bankrupt. All three are purely temporal, fleeting, and have no lasting value of any kind. The 3rd one however speaks directly to our topic at hand. How many of us strive after reputation, standing, a name for ourselves in the eyes of others – or just in our own eyes? How many of us, if not openly, at least secretly, yearn for greatness in this life? It is a deadly desire.
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Matthew 18:1-9 (ESV) At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”… 7“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.The Disciples wanted to know WHO would be the greatest, the top person recognized in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answers a very different question. The WHO is not as important as the WHAT. In other words, what is the nature of greatness in this kingdom of heaven? What will that look like in an economy where God immediately rules and reigns? And there is no question that it will be far different than how we look at personal greatness here and now. For one thing (as we saw last time) those reckoned as “great” there, are those who don’t pursue greatness as we know it at all. That is not what they are after. Jesus is about to open this door even wider.
ResponsiveReiding 