weather or not

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I am not much of one for beating around the bush, so here I go...

Whether or not others agree, I have - all winter and spring long - been finding the occasional snow to be quite a treat; whether or not some or all others complain that April is no time for snow and we 'deserve' better weather, I firmly say, "It is God's prerogative to send us whatever weather He so desires. Whatever He deems best is best, and I am not clay to argue with the Potter who formed me."

Last Saturday night, my mother read aloud a most excellent excerpt from Jerry Bridges' book, Trusting God. I am so glad that she felt led to share it with me and my sisters, and I feel led right now to pass along the blessed words to you. Hang on to your hat, unless you find yourself guilty.

"Complaining about the weather seems to be a favorite American pastime. Sadly, we Christians often get caught up in this ungodly habit of our society. But when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather. We are, in fact, sinning against God (see Numbers 11:1).
    Not only do we sin against God when we complain about the weather, we also deprive ourselves of the peace that comes from recognizing our heavenly Father is in control of it. [...] Whether the weather merely disrupts my plans or destroys my home, I need to learn to see God's sovereign and loving hand controlling it.
    The fact is, for most of us, the weather and the effects of nature are usually favorable. The tornado, the drought, even the snowstorm that delays our flight are the exception not the rule. We tend to remember the "bad" weather and take for granted the good. However, when Jesus spoke about the weather, He spoke about the goodness of God: "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45).
    Though God sometimes uses the weather and other expressions of nature as instruments of judgment (see Amos 4:7-9), He most often uses weather as an expression of His gracious provision for His creation. Both saint and sinner alike benefit from God's gracious provision of weather. And, according to Jesus, this provision is not merely the result of certain fixed, inexorable physical laws. God controls those laws. He causes His sun to rise, He sends the rain.
    God has indeed established certain physical laws for the operation of His universe; yet moment by moment those laws operate according to His direct will. Again Alexander Carson put it so well when he said, "The sun and the rain minister to the nourishment and comfort equally of the righteous and the wicked, not from the necessity of general laws, but from the immediate providence of Him who, in the government of the world, wills this result."
    We as Christians need to stop complaining about the weather and instead learn to give thanks for it. God, our heavenly Father, sends us each day what He deems best for all of His creation."

Very good stuff. In fact, I would have written all about this in my own words, but I really could not have said it better myself.

So, whether or not creation is yielding weather to your liking, please choose to be thankful and even praise God for the "bad" weather. He knows best.

Spyro the Dragon

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Dear Readers,

First, I would like to say that I have decided not to post the rest of the series I started on the book 'Respectable Sins' by Jerry Bridges. I get the feeling it wasn't having the effect I had hoped for, but perhaps I'll add little quotes in the future as I still plan on reading the rest of the book.

And now, to the point of this post. I grew up playing a most exciting game called 'Spyro the Dragon'. I've grown to just love that little purple guy! My sister and I have been playing the fifth PlayStation game, 'A Hero's Tail', over the past few days, and I am having... wow... so much fun!

Spyro the Dragon

I don't know what it is about this little guy, but I love him. I even started writing a story about him when I was eleven, which --- although the first draft of which was thrown away a year later because I was by then disgusted with it --- has led to an even bigger project over time. (Yep, the novel I'm writing right now was inspired by Spyro, my childhood hero.)

    The story I wrote started out being a dream I had about the 'A Hero's Tail' game, but oh-ho has it changed! I've got my own antagonist, a new protagonist, and an idea for the conflict inspired by a post-it note I wrote down without any clue about what it was going to turn into. So far, I've only told one person in the world --- who is my best friend, Elaine --- about my story plans, but I promised my mom I'd let her read the first chapter when I get it done. (On the roll I am right now, that shouldn't be too far in the future.)

    Sadly, I wanted to have this story completed by the time I was sixteen so that I could have it published before I became an adult, but I had to tear myself away from that old draft because I knew I hadn't found the right storyline yet. And now, I believe I have.

Sparx the Dragonfly, Spyro's Best Friend

    Yikes, it's frustrating to not be able to tell you any details! I better get it written so that I can finally post it to share with you all, right?

Well, back to the actual game. I've won it about three or four times, so I pretty much know it by heart. I've played it so often because the story (and Spyro) are precious childhood memories I love to visit. This time, my younger sister, Emily, got me started on it again because she was in the mood to play it. We'd been listening to the music for the game online, so naturally, we HAD to play. We're calling this one Emily's game, but I'm helping her out a little, and not letting her end the game until we've completed every little detail.

This is my favorite song from the 'A Hero's Tail' game; it's called 'Stormy Beach':

Although I'm going to finish this particular post just like that, I'm probably going to end up posting more than once about Spyro over time because he's just plain awesome, along with his friends.

Blogs are for writing what you're passionate about, right?

Respectable Sins ... Part One

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Dear Reader,
Herein is the official beginning of this series of 'Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate'. I will be writing about and adding select quotes from the first chapter of the book, titled, 'Ordinary Saints'. (My apologies for not posting it as planned, this past Sunday.)

{May God bless this series and awaken our hearts so that we might gain from it. It is for His glory and honor. Amen.}

And so, we begin.

 {beginning of quote}

The church at Corinth was all messed up, both theologically and morally. They were proud and fractious; they tolerated gross immorality, sued each other in court, flaunted their freedom in Christ, abused the observance of the Lord's Supper, misunderstood the purpose of spiritual gifts, and were confused about the future resurrection of believers. Yet when writing to them, Paul addressed them as "saints" (2 Corinthians 1:1) or as those "called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2).

    The popular meaning of words often changes over time, based on their common usage. So today we wouldn't think of those messed-up Corinthians as saints. We might call them worldly, carnal, or immature, but certainly not saints. In the Romans Catholic tradition, sainthood is conferred posthumously on Christians of exceptionally outstanding character and achievement. I write these words a few months after the death of the greatly admired Pope John Paul II, and already there is a widespread popular sentiment to canonize him as a saint.
    Apparently, over the course of church history, most of the original apostles, including Paul, came to be called saints. My grandfather was a member of St. Paul's Methodist Church. In our city we have St. John's Baptist Church. A Presbyterian friend of mine pastors St. Andrew's Chapel. I have preached in St. Thomas's Anglican Church. Even Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace Judas, gets into the act with with St. Matthias's Church in Sydney, Australia. And, of course, standing above them all in eminence is St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
    Today, outside the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the word saint is seldom used. But when it is, it is most often used to describe a person (usually elderly) of unusually godly character. Someone might say, "If there ever was a saint, it is my grandmother." Upon hearing such a statement, we immediately picture a kind, gracious woman who regularly reads her Bible and prays and who is known for her good deeds toward others.
    How then could the apostle Paul address the messed-up believers at Corinth as saints? In fact, this form of address seems to be a favorite of Paul's. He uses it in several of his letters and frequently refers to believers as saints (see, for example, Romans 1:7; 16:15; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 4:21-22; and Colossians 1:2). How could Paul refer to ordinary believers, even the problem-plagued ones at Corinth, as saints?
    The answer lies in the meaning of the word as it is used in the Bible. The Greek word for saint is hagios, and it refers not to one's character but to a state of being. Its literal meaning is "one who is separated unto God." In this sense, ever believer --- even the most ordinary and the most immature --- is a saint. The actual wording of Paul's address in 1 Corinthians is to "those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (1:2). Here again, we may be surprised with Paul's use of the word sanctified, a word we usually associate with holy living. But the words sanctified and saint both come from the same Greek word family. A saint is simply someone who is sanctified. Although it sounds awkward in English, we could literally rewrite Paul's words as "to those separated in Christ Jesus, called to be separated ones."
    Separated for what? A better question is, Separated for whom? And the answer is, "for God." Every true believer has been separated or set apart by God for God. Paul, in one place, described our Lord Jesus Christ as the One who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (see Titus 2:14). And in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says to us, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." Together, these two passages help us understand the biblical meaning of saint. It is someone whom Christ bought with His own blood on the cross and has separated unto Himself to be His own possession.

{end of quote}

You catch all that? EVERYONE who belongs to Christ is a saint, separated unto God for His glory, regardless of what they have done. Weird, huh? I would have never thought of myself as a saint before I read that!

{beginning of quote}

    What does it mean to be separated, or set apart? A good analogy is to be found at the U.S. Air Force Academy near our home. Entering first-year cadets are treated vastly different from the way [freshmen] entering public or private universities are treated. From the time they get off the bus at the Academy grounds and throughout their first year, they are subjected to extremely rigorous discipline designed to transform them from easygoing American teenagers into well-disciplined cadets preparing to become military officers. Although this discipline is progressively relaxed as the cadets pass through their fours years, it is never completely removed. Even as seniors, they are still subjected to demanding academic and behavioral requirements.

    Why is there this difference between the Academy and a typical university? These young men and women have been in a real sense "set apart" by the U.S. government to become Air Force officers. It costs out government over $300,000 to educate and train each cadet over a four-year period. So the Academy doesn't exist to prepare young people to be schoolteachers or Wall Street bankers. It exists for one purpose: to prepare officers for the U.S. Air Force. And the cadets are "set apart" for that purpose.

    In a way similar to a young person entering the Air Force Academy, every new believer has been set apart by God, separated unto God to be transformed into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. In this sense, every believer is a saint --- a person separated from his old sinful way of life and set apart by God to increasingly glorify God as his life is transformed.
    ... We don't become saints by our action. We are made saints by the immediate supernatural action of the Holy Spirit alone who works this change deep within our inner being so that we do, in fact, become new creations in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). This change of state is described prophetically in Ezekiel 36:26: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone [a dead, unresponsive heart] from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh [a living, responsive heart]."
    It would be nice if we could end the story here, because the last two paragraphs might suggest a saint is someone who no longer sins. Alas, we all know that is not true. Rather, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that nearly ever waking hour, we sin in thought, word, or deed. Even our best deeds are stained with impure (mixed) motives and imperfect performance. And who of us can ever begin to say, "I have loved my neighbor as myself"? And of course, the messed-up Corinthian church stands as Exhibit A that we saints can be quite sinful in our attitudes and actions.
    Why is this true? Why is there a disconnect between what God has seemingly promised and what we experience in our daily lives? The answer is found in such Scriptures as Galatians 5:17, which says, "The desires of the flash are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."
    The guerrilla warfare between the flesh and the Spirit described in Galatians 5:17 is fought daily in the heart of every Christian. That is why, for instance, Peter urges us "to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11). So although 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ezekiel 36:26 speak of a decisive change that always occurs in the heart of every new believer, the outworking of that change is not instantaneous and absolute. Instead it is progressive over time and never complete in this life. However, the awareness of this internal struggle with sin should never be used as an excuse for sinful behavior. Rather, we should always keep in mind that we are saints called to live a life that is set apart for God.
    ... When I was serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy some fifty years ago, there was an expression: "conduct unbecoming an officer." That expression covered anything from minor offenses resulting in a reprimand to major ones requiring a court martial. But the expression was more than a description of aberrant behavior; it was a statement that the conduct  was inconsistent with that expected of a military officer. The officer so described had failed to live up to his responsibility to act as an officer should act.
    Perhaps we might do well to adopt a similar expression for believers: "conduct unbecoming a saint." ... When we gossip or become impatient or get angry, we could remind ourselves that our conduct is unbecoming a saint. We are, in principle, if not in degree, acting like the Corinthians. We are living inconsistently with our calling.
    The Bible has a word for conduct unbecoming a saint. It is sin. And just as "conduct unbecoming and officer" covers a wide range of misconduct, so the word sin covers a wide range of misbehavior. It covers everything from gossip to adultery, from impatience to murder. Obviously, there are degrees of seriousness of sin. But in the final analysis, sin is sin. It is conduct unbecoming a saint.
    One of our problems, however, is that we neither think of ourselves as saints --- with our new state's concurrent responsibility to live as saints --- nor so we think of such actions as our gossip and impatience as sin. Sin is what people outside our Christian communities do. We can readily identify sin in the immoral or unethical conduct of people in society at large. But we often fail to see it in what I call the "acceptable sins of the saints." In effect, we, like society at large, live in denial of our sin."

{end of quote}

So it is left, then, for us to examine ourselves and turn to Christ. There isn't a day that goes by when we do not sin. But though we are weak, God is Almighty. Though we cannot clear away the sin in our lives, He can.

I expected that I would write more and quote less, but I forgot how well Jerry Bridges puts his meaning. {And it is good to have the truth laid out plainly, for then we cannot be confused.} I hope that this has spoken to you immensely. It is truly an eye-opening chapter!

Father, Almighty,

Please do not let what we learned from this to be only added knowledge, but truth that we act on for Your glory. Let it impact our lives and thereby impact others for Your sake. Help us to overcome the sin in our lives --- please sanctify us and make us grow more like Christ. Please give us not just a feeling of obligation to obey You, but the desire. Please be our only source of joy, hope, and satisfaction. May we not stand before You to be awarded meagerly for meagerly serving You, but may our lives truly be poured out for You in faithfulness, love, and long-suffering.

May all things be to Your honor and glory, forever --- and Your will alone be done.

In Jesus Christ's precious name,

Amen.

Respectable Sins ... Prelude

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Dear Reader,

I have decided to begin a series of posts for the glory of God --- a series in which I will be going through a most excellent book by Jerry Bridges; it is called 'Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate'. I haven't even finished reading it yet, and it's already opened my eyes incredibly to the detail of sin. Remember when Christ pointed out that being angry with someone was equal to committing murder? That's exactly like what this book does. We are quite aware of the major sins, but those little ones --- those ones that seem so small that you hardly know they are there --- are what this book helps us see and teaches us where to go to get rid of them.

 

To best prepare you for what to expect in this series, I shall herein insert the preface by the author. If it interests you, I hope that you will gladly return to read more, as I plan on writing one post approximately every week. I hope it convicts and inspires you as greatly or more than it has me.

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7, KJV) Though many scholars today question whether the well-known account of the woman accused of adultery actually belongs in the gospel of John, the expression has become a part of our wider culture, along with a similar one: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1, KJV).
     This book, as the title announces, is about sin --- not the obvious sins of our culture but the subtle sins of believers, the target audience of this book. So let me say up front that I am not without the sins addressed in this book. In fact, you will find that I sometimes use my own sad experiences as examples of some of these sins.
    The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative evangelicals may have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more "refined" or subtle sins.
    While seeking to address these "respectable" sins, however, I also want this to be a book of hope. We are never to wallow hopelessly in our sins. Rather we are to believe that gospel through which God has dealt with both the guilt of our sin and its dominion over us.
    The gospel, though, is only for sinners, for those who recognize their need of it. Many Christians think of the gospel as only for unbelievers. Once we trust in Christ, so the thinking goes, we no longer need the gospel. But, as I seek to bring out in this book, the gospel is a vital gift from God not only for our salvation but also to enable us to deal with the ongoing activity of sin in our lives. So we still need the gospel every day.
    This book by no means covers all the possible subtle sins we face. A number of friends in Christian ministry looked over a lengthy list of sins I had compiled and helped me reduce it to a manageable list of the the more common ones. To those friends I express my deepest thanks for their suggestions.
    ...And above all, to God be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

{end of quote}

 Because this is only the prelude to the series, I'm not going to wait a whole week to post the first official part. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow --- quite fitting for a Sunday, don't you think? ;)

Please come back soon if God has put it on your heart to read more.

God bless! ♥

"The heavenly Potter's design may be thwarted in a number of ways, the most common of which is the toleration of sin in the life. It may be open sin or sin cherished in the imagination. It may be sins of the spirit such as jealousy, pride, covetousness, or sins of speech. Those may seem more respectable than the grosser sins of the flesh, but they are no more acceptable to God. Sin of any kind will mar the vessel."

-Spiritual Discipleship, J. Oswald Sanders