God Moves In A Mysterious Way

1. God moves in a mysterious way
   His wonders to perform;
   He plants His footsteps in the sea
   And rides upon the storm.
2. Deep in unfathomable mines
   Of never failing skill
   He treasures up His bright designs
   And works His sov’reign will.
3. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
   The clouds ye so much dread
   Are big with mercy and shall break
   In blessings on your head.
4. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
   But trust Him for His grace;
   Behind a frowning providence
   He hides a smiling face.
5. His purposes will ripen fast,
   Unfolding every hour;
   The bud may have a bitter taste,
   But sweet will be the flow’r.
6. Blind unbelief is sure to err
   And scan His work in vain;
   God is His own interpreter,
   And He will make it plain.

- William Cowper, 1774

Two Ways To Receive Criticism

Criticism is inevitable. You can’t avoid it. Make a friend, get a job, get married, take on a leadership role, or have children. How you respond to it will tell you whether you are striving to earn God’s approval (religion) or whether you are resting in His approval in Christ (gospel).

The following is adapted from Tim Keller:

Religion

When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self image must be destroyed at all costs.

Gospel

When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. My identity is not built on my record or my performance, but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism. That’s how I became a Christian.

To criticize is to indicate someone’s fault. The cross of Christ criticizes you and me. To become a Christian is to receive God’s criticism.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once walked in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  Ephesian 2:1-3

But it is also means that we receive His approval. No longer do we need to overly concern ourselves with any human disapproval.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The gospel gives us new eyes to handle criticism. We no longer see the need to maintain a ‘good’ self image or feel threatened when someone criticizes us because God has told us that we are dead, children of wrath apart from Christ and at the same time He has accepted us in Christ. Our new identity far surpasses any good self image we might try to put forth.

We also no longer need to disregard all criticism as a threat to our self image because in Christ we have been both criticized and accepted by God himself. Criticism now becomes a means to grow. As John Piper says, “I try to receive all criticism—from friend or foe—with the assumption that there is almost certainly some truth in it that I can benefit from.”

How are you handling criticism?

I’m Not As Honest As You

Tonight, as the boys were getting their pajamas on, Ralph asked me if I knew why he had been crying today at school. Of course I knew because he had already told me once earlier today and Kimberly had explained the situation to me. The short of it is that he and another classmate had been playing inside a trash bag. The teacher called for them to get out of it and explained to them the danger of suffocating inside of it. “Not be able to breath” was the phrase she used I think. Well, Ralph took her words to mean that he had almost died. So, he began to cry.

Ralph talks a lot about dying and death. I speculate that something has affected him in such a way that at his young age he knows it’s coming and is afraid of it. So, tonight as he asked me once again if I knew why he was crying at school and rehearsed to me what happened, our conversation went like this:

“Ralph, are you afraid to die?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why are you afraid to die?”

“Because, I don’t want to go live with Jesus. I just want to live with you.”

His response stunned me. I didn’t know what else to say. It ended there. I wish we could have talked more about it. Conversations with Ralph are like that. He will ask a very insightful question or say something that makes you dive into a conversation with him like he’s 8 or 10 years old. But, it’s not long before he’s distracted and  you remember that he’s 4.

The truth is, I identified with him. Although I may confess and even feel at times that “to live is Christ and to die is gain”, I still hold too tightly to this life and relationships around me. Oh, I would never say I don’t want to go live with Jesus. But, hearing that come from Ralph was for me a glance in the mirror. A moment where my son, although he didn’t intend it, said out loud what my actions reflect when my heart is satisfied with the cisterns of convenience, comfort or entertainment.

The Discipline Of The Lord

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV)

Our 4 year old has had a pretty rough week at school. This morning while we were eating muffins, we were chatting together and I put my coffee mug on top of the muffin holder. Of course, he followed suit and put his cup of milk on top as well. After I told him to be careful and not knock his cup off of the holder, he did it anyway. It was one of those moments where we were enjoying one another’s company and it was hard for me to be consistent and discipline him.

Of course, if I didn’t discipline him, I would be misrepresenting my Father as a father. It’s also hard not to look at him as ‘worse’ than his brother, because this week he has received so much discipline and instruction.

The Lord brought the above verses to my mind this morning. My son isn’t ultimately receiving so much discipline and instruction because he is worse than his brother or because he is a bad kid. Ultimately, he is disciplined because his mommy and I love him.

It’s the same with God our Father. Through Christ and because of Christ, he disciplines us and treats us as His own because He loves us. Yes, we are sinners and that is precisely why He allows us to suffer like our older brother, because He is holy and He won’t leave us like we were. If He did and there is no process of change in our minds, hearts and lives to love and look like Him, then we are illegitimate children, children of wrath just like the rest of mankind.

Love. That is why He disciplines His kids and why we should as well.

Dr. King on the Church in the Deep South

“There was a time when the church was very powerful–in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.”‘ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
taken from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” 16 April 1963

God’s Dream

The title of this post and the following excerpt is from the book, The One Factor: How One Changes Everything, by Doug Sauder

 

…no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

- The apostle Paul, quoting the prophet Isaiah

For abused and abandoned children, when life is the nightmare, dreams can serve as an escape. Imagination provides a brief intermission from the reality of a life filled with pain, rejection, and loneliness. For the modern-day orphan, a happy childhood may be beyond their grasp…but not beyond their imagination.

What do these children of sorrow dream about?

Some dream of a house, a family, and a full stomach.

Some dream of a birthday party where, for just a moment in time, they are the center of attention.

These dreams shout, “You matter to us.”

But will these dreams ever become reality?

Across town, another group dreams. This group dreams of making a difference in the world.

They dream of leaving their legacies by helping the lost boys and girls of this world.

They dream of being a Big Brother or Big Sister to a child who has never had one.

They dream of filling their empty bedrooms with the stories, clutter, and the contagious laughter of children-children who will hug and kiss them and call them mom and dad, transforming them both in the process.

Where do these dreams come from ?

They come from the Dream Giver, God Almighty. He uses these dreams to give us a glimpse into His divine imagination. In God’s dream, the lonely, rejected, and abandoned children of this world are restored. They feast at great tables and cry no more tears. They find a place of perfect protection, uninterrupted acceptance, and unspeakable joy. It is a place where those who extend themselves to serve the needy find great reward.

This has been our Father’s dream since before the beginning of time. It is the place where all things become new.

It is a place called heaven.

But this God of dreams is not satisfied to wait until heaven. Throughout the pages of His Book, we see He has made provision for the present reality.

God calls himself a Father to the fatherless. Until heaven, His provision for the fatherless is amazingly simple. It is nothing mystical, nothing mysterious:

“God sets the lonely in families.” Psalm 68:6

A family is God’s answer to a lonely child’s prayer

Every day God is making dreams come alive and nightmares fade as He matches those searching for lasting purpose with those who need love and acceptance. Tomorrow another orphan will pray the Lord’s prayer-”your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”-and God will make this desperate plea a reality.

God is inviting you into His dream.

 

 

 

Piper on Marriage

“The most ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God. Now we see how: Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to the church. And therefore the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married.

Staying married, therefore, is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant. “Till death do us part,” or, “As long as we both shall live” is sacred covenant promise—the same kind Jesus made with his bride when he died for her. Therefore, what makes divorce and remarriage so horrific in God’s eyes is not merely that it involves covenant breaking to the spouse, but that it involves misrepresenting Christ and his covenant. Christ will never leave his wife. Ever. There may be times of painful distance and tragic backsliding on our part. But Christ keeps his covenant forever. Marriage is a display of that! That is the most ultimate thing we can say about it.”

- John Piper, from the sermon “Staying Married Is Not About Staying in Love Part 1″.

 

Gifts For Foster and Adoptive Families

As some of our readers know, Kimberly and I are planning to foster and adopt two young boys, ages 3 and 4.  I am very hesitant to right now to share more details online due to the fact that we are still in an early stage of the transition from their foster home to our home.  As thing progress, we will hopefully share much more.

Since this has begun, we have been blessed with friends and family who have blessed us with gifts and plan to throw showers for the occasion.  We are very grateful that people want to be apart of this and look forward to the day when they will permanently be apart of our lives and theirs.  The hard part for us in this regard is that we started out not having a clue as to what we needed and were/are constantly learning as we go what we will need for two boys ages 3 and 4, who already have A LOT of toys.  So, thank you to those of you who have helped us in this regard.

On the subject of help in this area, I have been listening to the Foster Parenting Podcast which is ran by a couple who have two girls about the same ages as our boys.  I would like to share an episode in which they offer helpful advice on giving gifts to foster and adoptive families.  Some of this you may already know, but at the least I hope it will be insightful as to what is really needed.  You can listen it here.

An Observation…

Kimberly observed today the peculiar difference in responses people give when you tell them that you are adopting rather than having a baby.  Typically, when you tell someone you are having a baby, the response is:

“Congratulations!”  ”Children are such a blessing.”  ”You guys are so lucky.”  ”There is no greater joy.”  ”You never know how much you can love someone until you have your own child.”

In these statements the focus of the blessing is that of the child to the parents.  When you tell someone your adopting, the response is typically:

“That’s so awesome.”  ”Those children will be blessed to have you as parents.”  ”You guys are doing a great thing.”  ”At least those children will have good parents.”

In these statements the focus of the blessing is that of the parent to the children.  Interesting.  Why is that?

Patton by Agostino von Hassell

This is the life story of General George S. Patton Jr. The author takes you through his story from boyhood to the Battle of the Bulge and beyond. It is an examination of a man: what influenced him, drove him, his fears, failures, hopes and legacy. This book seeks to introduce you to him.

I’ve always enjoyed biography and this is good biography. The author does a good job taking an objective look at Patton. He starts with his childhood, moves through his years at military college, his involvement with the Olympics, and finally his military career. It was neat to see how everything in Patton’s life prepared him for his mark in history and how he left his mark on the U.S. military. You will walk away feeling like you walked with Patton. You may or may not identify with Patton’s fears, failures or convictions. But one this is for sure, Patton was an interesting man. He was disciplined yet disorderly at times, courageous yet feared being a coward. If you want to get to know the hero of the Battle of the Bulge, I recommend this book, primarily because it’s the only one I’ve read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”