Passion Points

On November 3, 2012March 21, 2015 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

In Evil Long I Took Delight – John Newton (via Trevin Wax)
In evil long I took delight, Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight, And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree, In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood…

Why Are You Afraid of Humility? – Chrysostom (via Trevin Wax)
Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him.
After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him.

Free Me From My Need To Exalt Myself – Prayers For Today (via Trevin Wax)
Lord, free me from my need to exalt myself.
Where I am prone to seek things for myself,
help me to seek the best things for You and others…

John Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer – Joel Beeke (via Ligonier)
For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, “Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” He goes on to prescribe several rules to guide believers in offering effectual, fervent prayer…

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day humbly worshiping our great Savior!

Why We Rest

On November 2, 2012April 15, 2017 By BrianIn PASSION Reflections1 Comment

A couple of days ago I looked at why we work. But we need to balance our work with rest. So today I want to consider why we rest:

To follow the creation pattern. Genesis 1-2 tells us that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh. He also created day (when we work) and night (when we rest). Built into the very fabric of creation is this pattern of work and rest.
To recharge. God wasn’t tired when he rested on the seventh day. But we get tired. Work is toilsome, and we need time to recharge. Every day, we spend about eight hours sleeping because we need to recharge. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually we get tired. So we need to rest to recharge.
To rejoice in our work. After creation, God looked at all he had made and he deemed it very good (Genesis 1:31). He found pleasure in it. We should follow his example and stop working long enough to find joy in what we have accomplished.
To refocus our trust. If we are trusting in ourselves or our work, we will find it difficult to rest. There is always more to be done. But if we trust in God, we can stop and rest, remembering that he will take care of us. Psalm 127:2 tells us: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” We need not be anxious about our work. If we trust God, we can lay down at night and sleep. We can rest.
To grow in relationships. If we love God and people, we will rest from our work so we can focus on God and people. We will rest so we can spend time with God in His Word, and prayer, and praise. We will rest so we can spend time with family and friends talking, and laughing, and sharing, and playing together. We need to rest to have time to build loving relationships.

There are lots of tired frazzled people in our world. But Christians should be different. God calls us to take time to rest.

Why Our Country’s Moral System Is Decaying

On November 1, 2012 By BrianIn PASSION Quotes1 Comment

The fatal habit of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian doctrines insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of Christianity went
more and more out of sight, and as might naturally have been expected,
the moral system itself also began to wither and decay,
being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutriment.
– William Wilberforce

Why We Work

On October 31, 2012March 30, 2019 By BrianIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

Most of us spend much of lives working. So why do we work? The Bible gives us several reasons to work:

To fulfill our purpose. God created us to work. God made Adam and gave him the task of working and keeping the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Part of why we are here is to do the work God created for us to do. We work to fulfill our purpose.
To provide for ourselves. II Thessalonians 3:10-12 says each of us should earn our own living, and that if we don’t work, we shouldn’t eat. So we work to provide for ourselves so we can live and eat and stay warm. By extension, we work to provide for our families so they too can live and eat and stay warm. We work to provide for ourselves.
To help those in need. Ephesians 4:28 tells us to labor so that we may have something to share with those in need. Based on the passage under the last point, I don’t think it is talking about lazy people who won’t work (and hence shouldn’t eat). Rather, I take those in need to be people who can’t work due perhaps to a disability, health, or age. Or someone who has lost a job or a source of income, and though they are trying to provide for themselves, it isn’t currently enough. All that to say, we need discernment to know who is really in need. And we need to recognize that one reason God gives many of us the health and ability to work is so we can help those who can’t. We work to help those in need.
To love God. Work is an important application of the Great Command. If I love God with all of my mind and strength, I will use the mind and strength God has given me to do the work he has given me to do. Wasting my mind and strength does not show love to God. We work to show our love for God.
To love people. Work is also an important application to the second great command. If I love my family, I will work to provide for them. If I love those in need I will work to help them. If I love my employer, I will serve him faithfully. If I love the customers and clients, I will provide the products and services they need. If I love my family, I will do the necessary chores around the house. We work to show our love for people.

The Bible gives us many reasons to work. Why do you work? Are you working to fulfill your purpose, provide for yourself, help those in need, and show love to God and people?

Quotes to Ponder

On October 30, 2012 By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Work is always healthier for us than idleness;
it is always better to wear out shoes than sheets.
— C.H. Spurgeon

If we are so impoverished that we have nothing to reveal but small talk,
then we need to struggle for more richness of soul.
– Frank Laubach

The time of every man’s death has been fixed by God.
We are safe from all risk until God is pleased to call us away.
— John Calvin

Every time you draw your breath, you suck in mercy.
—Thomas Watson

Declaring the Glory

On October 29, 2012 By BrianIn Declaring the Glory

Crashing waves on Lake Superior in Michigan’s U.P.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Passion Points

On October 27, 2012December 6, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Tomorrow I am preaching about work and rest. Here are some good related posts for your weekend reading:

The Purpose of Work – Gene Edward Veith (via Gospel Coalition)
According to Luther, the purpose of every vocation is to love and serve one’s neighbor. The farmer tills the ground to provide food to sustain his neighbor’s life. The craftsman, the teacher, the lawyer—indeed, everyone who occupies a place in the division of labor—is providing goods and services that neighbors need. This is God’s providential ordering of society. But for a Christian, the service rendered can become animated with love.

Is the Sabbath Still Relevant – Ray Ortlund
If we did set apart one day each week for rejuvenation in God, we would immediately add to every year over seven weeks of vacation. And not for doing nothing but for worship, for friends, for mercy, for an afternoon nap, for reading and thinking, for lingering around the dinner table and sharing good jokes and tender words and personal prayers.

Helpless Sacks of Sand – Tim Challies
It came to me that the fundamental reality of sleep is that it assures us that we are not God. Apparently we all need the ongoing reminder. Psalm 127:2 says “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” We need sleep, and peaceful sleep is a good gift of a good God. Meanwhile, Psalm 121 says “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” We need sleep; God does not. Rather, the unsleeping God grants sleep to the people he loves, the people who need it so badly.

Enjoying Rest, Now and in the Life to Come – Randy Alcorn
What feels better than putting your head on the pillow after a hard day’s work? (How about what it will feel like after a hard life’s work?) It’s good to sit back and have a glass of iced tea, feel the sun on your face, or tilt back in your recliner and close your eyes. It’s good to have nothing to do but read a good book or take your dog for a walk or listen to your favorite music and tell God how grateful you are for his kindness. Rest is good. So good that God built it into his creation and his law.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day gathering with your local church to worship our Lord, and resting from a good week of work!

Embracing God’s Sexual Boundaries

On October 26, 2012 By BrianIn Family/Single Life

In Genesis 2 and Matthew 19, God defines marriage as being between a man and a woman who leave their parents, join together, and become one flesh. This becoming one flesh is understood to be directly related to the act of sex. I Corinthians 6:15-16 make this clear. In this passage, Paul tells the Christians not to participate with a prostitute, because in doing so they become one flesh with her. Sex, or becoming one flesh with another, is to occur only in marriage. This is God’s sexual boundary.

Paul goes on in verse 18 to tell the Christians to flee sexual immorality; that is, any sex outside of God’s boundary. And he gives three reasons to flee: sexual immorality desecrates the body of Christ (v15-16), degrades one’s own body (v18), and in doing so desecrates God’s temple (v19-20). We need to take this seriously.

None of this should need to be said. But we need to be reminded because we live in a world where people hitch up for one night stands, dating couples sleep together, and unmarried couples live together. But God has called Christians to be different. We are to be holy as he is holy. We are to hold to his boundaries.

And that means more than just abstinence. Colossians 3:5 tells us:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

God’s boundaries mean we don’t want to possess another person (covet them). It means we don’t lust after them (evil desires and passions). It means we don’t act on those lusts (impurity). All of these things, as well as sexual immorality, must be put to death.

That means single people must guard their minds and hearts from coveting and lust. They must say no to these temptations. Rather than see how close to the edge they can get without committing sexual immorality, they must put it to death long before it gets to that point. They must embrace God’s sexual boundaries. They must keep themselves pure.

That means people with homosexual tendencies must guard their minds and hearts from coveting and lust. They too must say no to these temptations, as well as temptations further down the path. They must embrace God’s sexual boundaries. They must keep themselves pure.

That means that married people must guard their minds and hearts. Should their eye or mind or heart start to drift toward someone other than their spouse, they must put that temptation to death. They too must embrace God’s sexual boundaries. They must keep themselves pure.

No matter what position in life we find ourselves, we must flee sexual immorality. We must embrace God’s sexual boundaries. We must be holy as God is holy.

Passion News

On October 26, 2012 By BrianIn Current Collection

The debate on homosexuality is huge in our country today. Here are some helpful perspectives:

When Even Joel Osteen Is Treated as a Bigot – Justin Taylor

How I Wish the Homosexuality Debate Would Go – Trevin Wax

Homosexual Parents Study: Summary of Findings – Peter Sprigg

The New Sexual Identity Crisis – Jeff Buchanan

The Unique Struggle of Same-Sex Attraction – Haydn Sennitt

Vaughan Roberts on Same-Sex Attraction – Justin Taylor

Embrace God’s Definition of Marriage

On October 24, 2012 By BrianIn Family/Single Life1 Comment

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
– Genesis 2:24

At the very beginning, God the Creator defines marriage as one man and one woman who leave their parents, hold fast to each other, and become one flesh. In Matthew 19:5, Jesus reaffirms this definition.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years, you know that there is a growing movement to redefine marriage as being between any two people, including two men or two women. Other countries have legalized so called same sex marriage. Certain states in our own country have done so, and other states are considering it at the next election. Many believe the Supreme Court will take up the issue in their next term.

As we consider the possibility that our country may soon legally define marriage as between any two people, it is important for us to recognize three distinctions:

Legal vs. Right – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is right…and wrong. So if our government should legalize so called same sex marriage, that still won’t make it right.
Legal vs Real – Again our government determines what is legal, but God defines what is real. He created reality and he defines it. He defines reality so that if I hold my pen in the air and let it go, my pen will drop. I can reject the law of gravity, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it. He defined real marriage between a man and a woman. I can reject his definition, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it.
Legal vs True – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is true – that which agrees with reality. I have a cat. I can call it a dog, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality. We can call two men or two women married, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality.

As Christians we need to hold to God’s definition of marriage. No matter what our culture or government thinks, we must hold to the teachings of our Savior. We must hold to the definition of our Creator. We must hold to Biblical truth. We must hold to what is right, real, and true. We must believe it and live it, no matter how unpopular it may be.

Some will say that this position is not loving. But we must remember that love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (I Corinthians 13:6). It is not loving to legalize something that is not right. It is not loving to create a legal fiction and tell people they are married when they really aren’t. If we love people, we must hold to the God’s definition of marriage, the only right, real, and true definition there is.