Contrite Courageous Confidence

I like this phrase from John Piper. (see title)

He says, "The mark of God's people is not incapacitating fear, but rather contrite courageous confidence in God. That's the main point of Isaiah 41:14."

Isaiah 41:14

Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Living for Christ

I pray this for myself and fellow Christians.

"That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs."

- From A Challenge to Women by John Piper

Why do I want to enter full-time ministry? Because 'billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day'. Life is short and nothing matters more than making Christ known, even as I know Him myself.

Something to keep in mind

I couldn't resist lifting this from the Desiring God blog...

"You can be so interested in great theological and intellectual and philosophical problems that you tend to forget that you are going to die." - Martin Lloyd Jones, Preaching and Preachers, p. 193

Ouch. A good thing to keep in mind.

Why God wills WORK

I have got to read this. Regularly.

"If we can discover how God conceives of work and why he wills it, then that huge portion of our lives that may seem so separate from religion and faith can be just as God-focused as our more religious acts."

There are four other articles by John Piper related to this one:

• Do not labor for the food which perishes
• Don't steal, work and give!
• Don't eat the bread of anxious toil
• Your job as ministry

Atlas Shrugged Fifty Years Later

John Piper read Ayn Rand. In fact, he says he went on an "Ayn Rand craze" back in the seventies, and even sent her an essay (critique) 3 years before her death. Rand is still so popular that I hadn't realized she lived nearly a century before me.

for parents!

I found an excellent article by Abraham Piper called "12 ways to love your wayward child". I'm NOT a parent (;p), but I loved Piper's treatment of the subject. I like this short article far better than the ~30-hour seminar on basic life principles I'm currently attending, but that's another story. Though no one will understand this comment, I'm learning to appreciate people like Pastor Gary Gilley a lot better because of the seminar. (Thank You, God.)

Back to the article, its best feature is its blatant God-centeredness, for which I greatly rejoice! This is characteristic of most, if not all, Piper resources, and is the reason why I visit desiringgod.org regularly and love John Piper so much. Oops, I forgot to mention, Abraham is John Piper's son. :)

I especially liked insight #4 "Don't expect them to be Christ-like". Quote: " If your son is not a Christian, he’s not going to act like one." So true -not only of non-Christian sons and daughters, but also of non-Christian parents, friends, colleagues and so on.

I've printed out copies of this article to give to Christian parents I know. It presents a very timely reminder about the whole point of reaching out to your wayward child:

"It’s not so that they will be good kids again; it’s not so that they’ll get their hair cut and start taking showers; it’s not so that they’ll like classical music instead of deathcore; it’s not so that you can stop being embarrassed at your weekly Bible study; it’s not so that they’ll vote conservative again by the next election; it’s not even so that you can sleep at night, knowing they’re not going to hell.

The only ultimate reason to pray for them, welcome them, plead with them, email them, eat with them, or take an interest in their interests is so that their eyes will be opened to Christ.

And not only is He the only point—He’s the only hope. When they see the wonder of Jesus, satisfaction will be redefined. He will replace the pathetic vanity of money, or the praise of man, or the high, or the orgasm that they are staking their eternities on right now. Only His grace can draw them from their perilous pursuits and bind them safely to Himself—captive, but satisfied."

Tragedy

Before writing this post, I asked God to give me an example of what the world usually calls a tragedy.

Margaret Wilson died a violent death by drowning at age 18. Her life ended because she would not recant her faith in Jesus. *

Tragic?

A wasted life is a tragedy. But was Margaret Wilson’s life wasted?

John Piper writes, "I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy." (Piper, Don't waste your life, 2003)

Is it evil to enjoy your life? A vague question, but the simplest answer is no. But is enjoying your life and having as good a time as possible while you're alive all there is to life? If it is so, the couple who retired early to a life of easy luxury would have been completely justified. If it is so. But it isn’t.

Life on earth is a journey away or towards God. In this life, we either decide to stand with God forever or to fall to hell without Him. If we live our lives for any other purpose than to seek God, find Him, glorify Him and point others to Him, no matter how accomplished we seem by worldly standards, we have lived in vain.

John Piper doesn't watch TV!

neither do his wife and kids. says Piper, "you can raise five culturally sensitive and Biblically informed children without it. They never complained about it. In fact they often wondered out loud how people found the time to watch as much (television) as they do."

A chapter from the book 'Pierced by the Word' has this heading:

You have one precious life

Is TV too big a part of it?

My mind struggled with extra-defensive arguments about positive things to be gained from watching TV as I read Piper's ardently written case against it. Being a highly enthusiastic Korean drama fan, I am guilty of watching TV for hours and hours on end even when pressing issues demand my attention. I don't know how many drama series I've finished this past year alone. (Note: One drama series can be anywhere from 16-75 hours long.) Sometimes I'd have a huge exam (or two) the next morning but the evening prior would find me lying on the couch telling my mom "I can afford to watch another one," and decisively inserting the next CD into our tired video player. Every time I wondered whether God wanted me to slacken my zeal in this area or stop watching k-dramas altogether, I denied the thought further entry and vomited it out of my mind by overeating on trite justifications. When I overindulged myself and felt terrible afterwards, I just told myself to forget about it and remember all the other times I'd had such fun watching TV. I was closing my eyes to the truth that fantasy was taking more of my time than reality. I was hardly living, really. I just kept watching and watching and watching, while my own life sped by me.

It was during the youth camp last May that God changed my perspective of things. That one week in Baguio was fun. It was relaxing. It challenged my old way of thinking and reawakened my passion for things of God. I discovered my life's calling there. My whole life began to make sense - everything that had ever happened to me, my greatest triumphs and most devastating experiences, appeared exceedingly pleasant as I realized that they were all part of a perfect plan that no one and no thing could ever thwart. I learned countless lessons; I prayed many prayers; I laughed and lived; I cried and found comfort; I made important decisions; I experienced God; I made new friends; I raised my stock of precious memories... and there was no TV, not even a minute of it, all throughout those 7 days. It was then that God granted me the wisdom to see the folly of my alibis and the truth of my excesses. I came back home renewed, determined to stay away from anything that kept me from loving God with all my heart and all my soul. My TV hours declined significantly. It felt exceedingly good to know that I was obeying God. I was praying more, reading more, gaining more and loving more. Those were the sweetest days.

I shouldn't have thought it would be so easy. I couldn't go cold turkey on TV. I encountered a particularly good program and my old addiction was roused from its comatose. After days of devotion to the fantastic fictional story radiating from the TV, the story ended, as all similar stories do. I was left empty, listless and disappointed (not because the story didn't end well but because it ended, period.). I definitely shouldn't have thought it would be easy. The Bible teaches us to always be on our toes especially when we think we are standing firm. But then again, I don't regret believing that it would be perfectly easy for the Spirit to conquer all my weaknesses. I still believe that God can and will bring me to the designated end in His mind, no matter how many times I seemingly backtrack to square one.

And hey, God is good. He is there to catch you when you fall. If I learned anything from this experience, it is that nothing satisfies like Jesus Christ. I thank my God that He is consistently there, a neverending source of joy, fulfillment and satisfaction. Neverending doesn't mean 75 episodes or 20 seasons - it means forever, without stopping, without running out, not even for a moment. What a comfort to know that God will never cease to be real in my life, that I will never run out of reasons to delight in Him, and that He will always be...

On the side, I almost bought a computer game last week while reminiscing about my King's Quest days, but then I realized that I didn't want to dig a pit for myself to fall into. Knowing how addicting these games could be (just like korean dramas), I wasn't willing to be consumed with thoughts and dreams of them anymore. I turned my back to the store and walked away, knowing that I was making the right decision. TV is enough of a snare. Why add to it?

That TV is all bad is probably not true. But we have to ask ourselves whether we are getting the good from it, coz for all we know, we could be soaking up only the bad. And what is bad? Whatever drives your thoughts away from God and His word, whatever makes you form selfish ambitions in your mind, whatever deceives you into thinking that this present life is all that matters, whatever keeps you from worshipping the Lord with reverence and fear, whatever you like so much that your love for God is diluted...

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Romans 13:14 NASB

Do you have saving faith?

I totally agree with what Charles Spurgeon is saying in his sermon. It took me many months, a lot of soul-searching and even more Scripture reading, before I could stand up from the fall caused by doubts about my salvation years after I started professing (to be a Christian). Now I do not, in fact cannot, doubt the fact (my salvation), for I cannot doubt my Saviour. I fear Him too much and trust in His works too fully to be afraid of my own lack of merits and my abundance of faults; I believe, and I am saved. As Spurgeon declares,

"Be assured that the gospel of your salvation as a believer, with a simple confidence in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead, will save your soul, a simple and undiluted reliance upon the life and death, and resurrection, and merit, and person of Jesus Christ, will ensure to you everlasting life. Let nothing move you from this confidence: it hath great recompense of reward. Heaven and earth may pass away, but from this grand fundamental truth not one jot or tittle shall ever be moved. "He that believeth in him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Son of God."

But what of James's letter? What of James 2:17 which says that faith without deeds is dead, and the rest of the chapter, which commands us to do good works in keeping with our faith, a chapter often used by the Catholic church to tell us that faith and good works together commend us to God? (I still remember the passionate lecture my Catholic professor gave on this.) I pause for a quote,

"for us to talk of salvation by merit, by our own works, is worse than vanity; it is an impertinence which God will never endure."

Spurgeon does a great job explaining what this passage means for salvation. If you have faith, you are saved, but a there is a certain kind of faith which saves, and this is not just any kind of believing - certainly not plain intellectual affirmation. Surely, the devils also believe that Jesus is the Son of God after all they suffered in His hands, and yet, they certainly are not saved! So what is saving faith and what happens when you have it? You are saved by grace and saved through faith, eternally secure in the Father's hands, but what do these truths imply? One thing they are not meant to be- they are not to be used as excuses for complacency and sin! James' letter tells us what saving faith is and isn't, and this enables us to be sure of what we possess or more appropriately, rebuked and convicted of what we probably do not possess! "It is a miserable thing to find a person discovering that his profession (that he is a Christian and has saving faith) has been a lie." I don't ask you to renounce your 'Christian-ness' in view of all that you now realize your faith is lacking. If you suffer the same miseries I did because you're afraid to think that you have never truly been washed by the blood of the Lamb, does that not prove your genuine desire to be wholly God's and your fear otherwise? God has already begun to transform you, and He is faithful; He will bring us, who truly believe, to the end He has in mind - which is why He seeks to bring you to a better understanding of the nature of saving faith.

We don't need to doubt that Christ's finished work on the cross cleanses us from ALL sin, or that God has mercy on the worst of sinners, but we do need to be mindful about the authenticity and nature of our faith. "By their fruits you shall know them," and by your fruits you shall know yourself! If you want to be assured of your salvation, don't look to the time you prayed the "prayer of acceptance" or first heard the Gospel and cried to God for redemption. Look to the cross, look to the Christ who said "It is finished!" and with faith in the One who began a good work in You, rend your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to make His fruits evident in your life - grieve Him no further and He will surely do so, for He is the God who keeps all His promises and sanctifies you through and through.

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

For more about the assurance of salvation, read Piper's article.

Let your passion be single

(See Special Programs, "Let Your Passion Be Single")

I heard John Piper preach for the first time tonight. I decided to listen to the sermon because I was struck by the title: "let your passion be single". Whispering a prayer in my heart for the Lord to unite my heart to fear His name, I proceeded to listen to the audio stream. It's more or less an introduction to "Christian Hedonism", and some of the lines/quotes/illustrations in the sermon are also in his books "Desiring God" and "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ". I was happy to hear familiar words and was further established in my belief that God is the Gospel.

"The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them." (Jonathan Edwards)

Taste and see that the Lord is good... (Psalm 34 NIV)