Christian Patience

Over the last few days I've been typing out the manuscript for the first sermon that I will ever preach. It's for my introductory preaching class. The text is James 5:7-11. Below is a paragraph from my conclusion. I'm not sure if this will make it in the final cut or not, but I thought I'd post it here. In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul says, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." God has truly ministered to me in the perparation of this sermon. A pastor who faithfully prepares and preaches sermons is uniquely ministered to by his very work. It's been a pleasure to experience this.

Christian patience is radical, and it is radically different from anything that the world would label as patience. What makes us different is our God. If God is sovereign over the time of Christ’s return and the end of history, then he also sovereignly allows all of the suffering which we endure until that day. The ability to be patient is directly related to one’s faith that there is a purpose to the time spent waiting. As pain increases, hope more easily decreases, and impatience easily takes over. To the unbelieving mind, time spent waiting is time wasted. Time spent suffering is certainly wasted, and is meaningless. Consider the logic behind those who support assisted suicide. We hear reasoning like this, “He was in so much pain. Life just wasn’t worth living.” The Christian perspective is incomprehensible to the unregenerate mind. Not only is the end worthwhile, but the present is as well. And we have the promise from God that our pain will never go unmatched by the grace which he provides. God is merciful, he is compassionate, he gives only good things to his children.

Challies post on Evil as Entertainment

Tim Challies posted a blog today entitled Evil as Entertainment. I would highly recommend reading it. For someone who spends at least some time every day reading articles, news, and blogs on the internet, it was convicting for me. Here is an excerpt:

What is the problem with this? Again, Postman answers, “In both oral and typographic cultures, information derives its importance from the possibilities of action.” Telegraphy, television and other forms of electronic media have made the relationship between information and action both abstract and remote. We hear more news than ever which elicits more opinions than ever, but which leave us increasingly impotent, unable to do anything more than offer opinions and bluster about what we might do if we could.

I'm often struck by the productivity of guys who lived hundreds of years ago, without computers, or even modern writing implements. People like Augustine and Jonathan Edwards wrote more books, essays, and sermons that amount to more books than the vast majority of Americans will ever even read. I pray that God will give us wisdom in learning to use modern conveniences for his glory.

Newsweek article on Christianity in America

There's a good article in this week's Newsweek titled The End of Christian America. It's definitely worth reading, and I think rather well written and fair. Here's an excerpt giving some of the statistics that resulted in the article being written:

According to the American Religious Identification Survey that got Mohler's attention, the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 percentage points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. The Jewish population is 1.2 percent; the Muslim, 0.6 percent. A separate Pew Forum poll echoed the ARIS finding, reporting that the percentage of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith has doubled in recent years, to 16 percent; in terms of voting, this group grew from 5 percent in 1988 to 12 percent in 2008—roughly the same percentage of the electorate as African-Americans. (Seventy-five percent of unaffiliated voters chose Barack Obama, a Christian.) Meanwhile, the number of people willing to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has increased about fourfold from 1990 to 2009, from 1 million to about 3.6 million. (That is about double the number of, say, Episcopalians in the United States.)

On his blog, Al Mohler comments on the article and on his conversations with the the author, who is the editor of Newsweek.

In love with Chik fil A

This is hilarious...

Only in China...

(March 12, 2009, AP)
More than 1,200 residents in northeastern China have set a new world karaoke record by singing continuously for 456 hours, two minutes and five seconds. Students, soldiers, and businessmen from Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, sang more than 6,200 songs from February 20 until yesterday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported today. It beat the old Guinness World Record, set by Finns in July, by nearly 10 hours.

Beautiful statement on Perseverance

This statement is Article 23 in the First London Confession of Particular Baptist Churches, 1644. It's one of the most beautiful statements I've seen on the Perseverance of the Saints:

"Those that have this precious faith wrought in them by the Spirit, can never finally nor totally fall away; and though many storms and floods do arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon, but shall be kept by the power of God to salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being formerly engraven upon the palms of God's hands."

Wrestling with God

Over the last 2 years or so, I've met quite a few people who place a significant marker in their lives at the point where they began to understand and accept God's sovereignty in salvation. Did God choose me to believe in him completely apart from my own actions and decisions? Yes. It's offensive on every level, especially to an American. But there's something divinely powerful about a person's yielding to God over issues of predestination and irresistible grace. And it's always a wrestling match, like Jacob wrestling with God. I've yet to meet a person who has truly wrestled with these issues and not been blessed. Humbled like Jacob, but blessed. Humility is one of the greatest gifts that God can give to a man or woman, and one of the greatest joys for a person to receive and experience. What is more humbling than to realize that God chose me to be His before I did anything good or bad? Wasn't I wise enough to accept the offer of salvation when I heard it? Nope. That wisdom was not mine, it was a gift from God.

The difference that I've seen is in people who have truly wrestled with this truth. Many For many years I simply rejected it out of hand. I refused to interact with the Bible over the issue. Part of me thought it was just academic - a fun question for people to ask and speculate about. At the same time, part of me was offended at the idea that some people might be elect and some not. I thought that God would be unjust to elect some people and not others.

There are a lot of questions, mostly philosophical in nature, that can be raised in objection to the doctrine of predestination. I believe that these questions have answers, but that's not my point. My point is the fight. Becoming a Christian is not an easy process. But for many, like myself, for whom it seems as though it was easy, the fight simply comes later on down the road of faith. For me it looked like this, two years ago: on my hands and knees for many mornings in a row, asking God why I could not be joyful in my faith. Why, after asking for many mornings would God not grant this to me? Why can I do nothing to change this situation? How is this fair!? My faith, it seemed, was too small; but then how could I ask for more faith if my very prayers were faithless? After several weeks, God graciously opened my eyes to see that my situation was a drama for the process of salvation. And my conclusion had been correct: I stand completely and utterly at the mercy of God.

I would love to ask any Christian, if I had the opportunity, if they've wrestled with Scripture over God's sovereignty (The book of John is a good place to start). The issue is not periphery, it's at the heart of the gospel. How sinful do you think that you are? What did Jesus mean when he said, "No one is good but God alone." If believing in Christ is "good", then how can a bad person ever do such a good thing? In fact, the best thing!? God is Lord over all things which he created. It's in the very nature of who he is as God to rule over all that he has made, and he will not give this glory to another, certainly not to us.