News from January 2010
Nothing too complicated for God
Posted on January 27, 2010 by Pastor Tom
Do you ever think that your situation or the challenges you face are too much for God? We probably wouldn’t actually say yes to that if we really thought about it. But I know I sometimes live like this. I run around and try to figure out things to the best of my ability. Then I come to the end of my knowledge or wisdom or ideas. Sometimes, its only then that I turn to God.
I read today about His amazing ability to accomplish His purposes despite man’s attempts to frustrate them. There was a king named Ahab who ruled northern Israel for over 20 years. He led them away from God into Baal worship (pagan stuff; lots of weirdness and crazy dancing before carved stones – not the Rolling Stones but there is crazy dancing before them too – hmm). Ahab decides to go to war against Syria. He wants affirmation so he calls in 400 yes prophets for encouragement.
His ally, Jehoshaphat, listens to the yes men. Then asks “Is there not another prophet of the Lord?” Ahab states flat out “I hate him. He never prophesies good.” But Jehoshaphat convinces Ahab to hear this prophet Micaiah.
The messenger bringing in Micaiah pleads with him to tow the party line. Say yes to the yes men. Micaiah at first plays along. But Ahab sees right through it. “What do you really think?”
Micaiah reveals that Ahab’s army is going to be wiped out and that God ordained the 400 yes men to encourage Ahab to go. You’d think Ahab would be smart enough to stay home. But he’s out to go to war and show God up. So he thinks he has the solution.
He and Jehoshaphat will go into battle. But Ahab will wear a disguise – perhaps just an ordinary soldiers outfit. He tells Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes anyway. (Why did Jehoshaphat agree to this dumb suggestion?) The Syrians only want to get Ahab. But now he’s disguised. Ahab thinks he’s outsmarted God.
How would the Syrians get him? There’s no Google Earth to search for him on his palace grounds. They can’t do a Google image search on “Ahab.” They at first attack Jehoshaphat because he’s the only dude dressed like a king. But they somehow realize its not Ahab.
Then comes 1 Kings 22:34 – “But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate.”
At random! An ordinary archer. He picks out an ordinary looking soldier. The arrow strikes the tiny opening between the armor and breastplate. Ahab dies. God accomplished His ultimate purpose in spite of 400 yes men, a revelation of his plan in advance, a disguise and no Google image.
This is just one of hundreds of examples in Scripture where God accomplishes His purposes despite complex obstacles opposing Him.
So back to your life and mine. Too complex for God? Too challenging? Don’t think so. Know so.
Apology to Engineers and Scientists
Posted on January 22, 2010 by Pastor Tom
Hi everyone: I would like to make a sincere apology to all my engineering and scientific friends who were in attendance last week to hear the message. I said that just like the law of the Spirit and life replaces the law of sin and death, the law of aerodynamics replaces the law of gravity when a plane takes off and reaches a certain speed.
Several engineers and scientists in the crowd visibly twitched. I was later informed that the law of gravity still exists. But the lift force offsets it? Something about Bernouli’s (Bernie Ooley?) principle. So I apologize for causing your internal twitch.
However, I’m not sure I really said the law of aerodynamics “replaces” the law of gravity. I knew in drawing up the illustration that gravity still exists when a plane flies. So I think I said something like “it’s kind of like this.” But the Engineers and Scientists didn’t see it that way or hear it that way. (Or perhaps they were looking for an excuse just to rip me! :))
Anyway, that’s the price you pay for trying to connect Scripture to real life. I hope you still get the bigger point! Ha.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
PT
Going deep with God by having Him carry our loads
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Pastor Tom
This past weekend, my daughter broke her collar bone. This makes the basics of life more complicated (cutting a piece of toast, getting dressed, sleeping sitting up). Then we turn on the news and watch what the people of Haiti are going through. And I have heard of many friends bearing some similar load in their personal, family or professional life.
So please take some time to read, think and pray over this wisdom from John Piper.
Going Deep with God by Having Him Carry Our Loads
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2000/1163_Going_Deep_with_God_by_Having_Him_Carry_Our_Loads/
Download:
By John Piper October 31, 2000
One of the reasons we don’t know God deeply is that we don’t venture much on his pledge to carry things for us. Knowing God with a sense of authentic personal reality, is not merely a matter of study. It is a matter of walking with him through fire and not being burned. It is a matter of not being crushed under a load because he carries it for you at your side. What, then, does he carry?
1. God has carried our sins.
Isaiah 53:11, “By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.” Hebrews 9:28, “Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.” 1 Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.”
Believing this and experiencing its liberating effect is crucial. 1) It is crucial for life now. Guilt feelings do not have the last word! 2) It is crucial for the hour of our dying. The sting of death is sin, but thanks be to God, it was removed. 3) It is crucial for everlasting joy. Christ’s sin-bearing work secures for us never-ending compensation for every so-called “loss” in this life of sacrificial love. This confidence is the foundation of knowing God.
2. God pledges to carry our anxieties.
1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” The only other place this word for “cast on” occurs is in Luke 19:35 where the disciples threw their coats on the colt for Jesus to ride.
What worries does God aim to take from our backs and carry for us? Every kind. For example, anxieties about 1) lacking necessities (Phil. 4:4–7); 2) being useless (Is. 55:11); 3) weakness (2 Cor. 12:9); 4) decisions (Psa. 32:8); 5) opponents (Rom. 8:31); 6) affliction (Psa 34:19; Rom. 5:3–5); 7) aging (Is. 46:4); 8) dying (Rom. 14:7–9); and 9) not persevering (Phil. 1:6; Heb. 7:25).
When George Mueller was asked how he could be so calm in the middle of a hectic day with so many uncertainties in the orphanage, he answered something like, “I rolled sixty things onto the Lord this morning.” When Hudson Taylor was told about missionaries in his charge being in trouble, he was heard soon after whistling his favorite hymn, “Jesus I Am Resting.”
3. God pledges to carry our burdens (= “our lot”).
Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” The word for “burden” here is “lot.” What is your lot in life today? What has providence brought you. This is finally of the Lord. And will carry it for you. It is not meant to crush you or carry you away. It is meant to test your trust in God to carry it for you. (See also Psa. 16:5; 63:8.)
For Amy Carmichael the “lot” was singleness. There were several chances to leave it, and take “the other life.” But she heard the inner voice, No, no, no. As Elisabeth Elliot tells the story in A Chance to Die.
4. God pledges to carry the cause of justice for us.
1 Peter 2:23, “While being reviled, [Jesus] did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept handing over to Him who judges justly.”
In almost every relationship of life you will be treated unjustly. “Jesus never called us to a fair fight” (George Otis). How will you not be embittered? By letting God carry your cause and settle accounts either on the cross or in hell. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19). Leave it to him. Prepare to be treated unjustly, whether it is someone breaking in front of you in line, or bearing false witness at the final trial of your life.
5. God pledges to carry you all your life.
Isaiah 46:3–4, “Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (See also Ex. 19:4; Psa. 18:35; 94:18.)
In the end the Christian life is a life of being carried from beginning to end. We work. But it is not we, but God who works within us (1 Cor. 15:10).
Conclusion
So come to him, all you who labor and are heavy laden and find rest for your soul. Go deep with God and know him better by venturing more on his pledge to carry you and all your concerns.
Carried,
Pastor John
© Desiring God
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
Dad, why did God allow that earthquake in Haiti?
Posted on January 15, 2010 by Pastor Tom
“Dad, why did God allow that earthquake in Haiti,” my son asked while we watched news footage of the devastation. The amount of suffering and devastation on any given story was overwhelming. Then, the question.
How would you answer? Part of the answer is “I don’t know.” It’s not easy to figure out why things happen and we tread on shaky ground when we become amateur prophets. Another part is “to remind us that we’re not in control.” Sometimes we can go on thinking we’ve got the world by the tail. But actually we don’t. Events like this remind the world of that reality. Another part might be to show His amazing ability to bring good out of tragedy. God has done that over and over again in lives, people groups and nations.
But please pray and please give as you see opportunities to do so on the website. And for some deeper pondering on this I recommend this article on why Satan is left on Earth.
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2003/1235_Why_Satan_Is_Left_on_Earth/
Lord bring hope and rescue to my surviving Haitian brothers and sisters.
A New Year - Oh No or Oh Yes!
Posted on January 5, 2010 by Pastor Tom
Back to school, back to work, back to bills, back to “reality.” As I look forward into 2010 I could get my heart rate up to 190 by piling on all I “need” to do or all the uncertainties before me. I then look at the New Year with an “oh no!” attitude.
But that won’t do me or those around me much good. Instead, I need to give this year and all its potential to the Lord. I need to trust Him to lead me. I need to stop and think about Psalm 99:1 – “The Lord reigns.”
Yes Lord. So what does that mean for me? Where do you want me to focus? Lead me and I’ll follow. You know so much better what I really need to do. You will unfold the uncertainties one step at a time. Thanks Lord that I don’t (we don’t) have to go into 2010 alone. A New Year – Oh Yes!