Saturday Strands

On By BrianIn Saturday Strands

Here are some loose strands for our growth:

Living From Approval, Not For Approval – Dave Harvey
Let me ask you a question: What do you think God feels about you right now? Irritation over your flaws — that tendency towards gluttony, or your inconsistency to getting up each morning to pray? Does God want to withdraw due to our failures — the impatient word with a wife or child; the angry outburst provoked by someone cutting you off on the freeway? Does he look down with a cosmic frown of disapproval on you, so prone to wander and full of weakness?

Love (All) Your Neighbors: A Surprising Test of True Faith – Scott Hubbard (DG)
So, if you want to see someone’s spiritual sincerity more clearly, don’t mainly watch him in church. Watch him with his children. Watch him at work. Watch him in traffic. Watch him when offended. For you will know him by his neighbor-love.

Can We Forgive When the Offender Doesn’t Repent? – Mike Wittmer (TGC)
Forgiveness means to pardon an offender by paying/absorbing his moral debt. When an offender repents, it’s clear we should both pay and pardon. We absorb the moral cost of being sinned against and assure the offender of our forgiveness. When the offender doesn’t repent for whatever reason—perhaps he’s hard-hearted or has died—we must separate the payment from the pardon. We don’t pardon him (and gloss over his offenses), because he hasn’t repented, yet we still must absorb the moral cost.

The Desecration of Man – Carl Trueman (First Things)
Contra Nietzsche, God is not dead. But we moderns have used Nietzsche’s claim as an excuse for desecrating man, for turning ourselves and others into insignificant, sexualized, animate lumps of meat. Only a reclamation, and a proclamation, of the living God in the vital worship of the Church will consecrate man and bring him back from the brink of a nihilistic, dehumanized abyss.

Flashback: Gentle Discipline
Paul is weary of Corinthians, who are like wayward children, and yet he wants to treat them with gentleness. He doesn’t want to come with a rod, but with gentle love. Notice he doesn’t demand, command, or threaten. But clothed with the gentleness of Christ, he entreats, he urges, he beseechs, he appeals to them. His discipline is gentle.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping God with your local church!

Let Us Ask

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. – I John 5:14-15 (ESV)

We can have confidence toward God, boldness to actively approach God.  We are God’s beloved children and so we approach Him as children approach a loving parent.

When my toddling grandson is hurt, he runs to mommy.  When he is hungry, he runs to mommy.  When he needs help, he runs to mommy.  When he is happy, he runs to mommy. 

In the same way, when we are hurting or hungry or need help or are happy, we should run to God as His children, as instinctively and automatically as my grandson runs to his mommy.

The cosmic conflict is bigger than us.  All the conflicts we see around us are bigger than us.  The conflict you face today is very likely too big for you.  But none of these conflicts are too big for God. God is bigger.  God is stronger.  We can run to Him.

We run to God with confidence – and we ask, and He hears, and we receive.  This is the equation for prayer that John gives us: We ask + He hears = We receive.  Do you believe that?  Do you have that confidence?  Do you grasp that God delights to answer your prayers, delights to give you what is good?

Now we must ask according to His will. He won’t just give us anything we ask for.  Why not?  Because He is a good Father.  If my grandson wants to play in road or play with a stick of dynamite, his daddy is going to say “no” because it is not good for him.  In the same way, we all too often don’t know what is best for us.  But our Father knows what is best for us, and so He screens our requests according to His will.  His will is not against us, but for us.  Do you believe that?  Will you trust Him?

Come to Him and make your request.  He will hear and gives us what is best. 

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 3:7-19

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Beware a hardened heart that rebels
Fixed against God, provoking the Lord
A heart that gripes, against God grumbles
Deceived by sin, turning from the Lord

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Beware a heart always going astray
Refusing to follow in God’s way
Unbelief growing more day by day
May sadly lead you to fall away
(Repeat Chorus)

Of your heart you must each day take care
Exhort each other, from sin repent
See God’s works, hear God’s Word, walk in prayer
Hold firm your confidence to the end
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2022 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

How Long, O Lord?

On By BrianIn Sing A Song, Songs to Sing

Our church is working through some of the Psalms this summer. This Sunday, we come to Psalm 13 with its fourfold “How long?” lament. And this new song goes right along with it. We don’t have many lament songs to sing, so I am excited to introduce it to our church. And perhaps it will meet you where you are too.

The MP3, lyrics, lead sheets, and various music options can be found on the Getty Music website here.

Enabled to Love

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
– I John 4:7-8 (ESV)

How are we able to love one another?  Do we strive to muster up the willpower on our own.  No, that will never work – at least not for long.  Rather, we must be enabled to love. 

Love is from God.  He enables us to love.  How? 

First, because He is love.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a perfect loving relationship for all of eternity.  Love is what characterizes our Triune God.  It is who He is.  And because God is love, He is the source of love.  Love comes from Him.  But how does this love come to us and enable us? 

That brings us to the second point – we have been born of God; that is, born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, connecting us to God.  The Spirit of love connects us to the God of love so that we might love.

A power outlet has power available to run an appliance, but we must plug the appliance into the outlet for the power to run the appliance.  God has all the love needed to enable us to love, but we must be plugged into God in order to love.  And we are!  And so we are without excuse.

You and I are enabled to love by the Holy Spirit living within us, connecting us to the God of love.  May we make use of His enabling.  Let us love one another.

Saturday Strands

On By BrianIn Saturday Strands

Loose strands for our growth:

The Christian’s Keystone Habit – Reagan Rose (RP)
But if you begin by carefully identifying a single keystone habit and focusing all of your attention on that, you’ll discover that other good habits follow it. So, this leads to a very important question: What keystone habit should we begin with?

Hospitality: A Command for Our Joy – Kyleigh Dunn (GCD)
If I hadn’t grown up in a community that loved hospitality, I wouldn’t naturally think of having people over for a meal. I can cook, but most of what I make is not that exciting. I love being with others, but too much social interaction exhausts me. Despite those excuses and the uncertainties children add to the picture, we’ve chosen to prioritize hospitality. This is in part because of the joy it’s brought to our lives but also because Scripture commands us to.

A Deadly Foe of Spiritual Growth – Tim Challies
As we live out the Christian life and cooperate with the Holy Spirit through the precious means of grace, we face a number of foes, a number of enemies that mean to derail us from our pursuit of God. Of all those enemies, none may be more prevalent and none more deadly than complacency.

Everyone Has Their Own Facts Now – Patrick Miller (Endeavor)
Indeed, our very concept of “being informed” is changed by this context. We become misled in our opinions, not because someone lied to us (though plenty of that happens online) but because online information is disjointed, superficial, and contextless. It creates what Postman calls “the illusion knowledge” while leading its consumers further away from actual knowledge. As a result, Postman writes, “we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed.” The problem is that you can correct ignorance. “But what shall we do,” asks Postman, “if we take ignorance to be knowledge?”

Flashback: Gentle Marriage
This is the great test of gentleness. It is easy to put on show in public, but what are we like at home? Are we gentle with each other, or are we harsh, brawling, loud, or manipulative?

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 3:1-6

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Holy brothers, sisters, family
Sharing in a heavenly calling
Citizens of a better country
Gather before the throne of your King

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Consider our High Priest, Apostle
Brings us to God and brings God to us
Though others may fail, He is faithful
Worthy of all glory is Jesus
(Repeat Chorus)

Consider Jesus, to Him hold fast
Faithful to Him, never walk away
Hold fast your confidence to the last
Boast and rejoice in your hope each day
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2022 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

An Equation of Love

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections1 Comment

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
– I John 3:7-8 (ESV)

John gives us a spiritual equation that teaches us about love. 

Goods + Need + Heart + Action = Love

First, I have the world’s goods; that is, the means to help someone in whatever way.  It might be money, time, a skill, or an ability.  It might also be as simple as a word of encouragement, a prayer, a listening ear, even a hug. It is whatever good is necessary to meet the need.

Which brings us to the second part of the equation – I see my brother or sister in Christ in need.  To see the need means I have contact with them, I am around them, I know them.  And so I am able to see the real need; not just symptoms, but the real need. And that may require observation.  It may require some communication.  My first impression, or what I may want to do, may not be what they need.

Third, having the goods and seeing need, I must then refuse to close my heart.  I must not shut off compassion.  I must not slam the door of empathy.  If I do, that is a failure of love. 

Not having the goods is not a failure to love.  Not seeing the need is not a failure of love (though maybe I need to be more observant).  A failure to love is when I close my heart.

Finally, if I have the goods, see the need, and have a compassionate heart, then I must do something.  My heart must lead me to act.  I must actually apply the goods to the need. 

My heart leads me to act to meet the need with the goods that God has given me.  That is real love. 

Goods + Need + Heart + Action = Love