Christ be about His business as Prophet... habitually.

So, I'm teaching Sunday School again this year. I'm so glad that our church has decided to use a curriculum created by Children's Desiring God (part of Desiring God ministries), because whenever I plan for a lesson using this SOLID curriculum I feel that I'm even more blessed and amazed at God's grace than the kids are. The curriculum for the class I'm teaching this year is called "How Majestic is Your Name". Every week we discuss a different name of God: what it means, why it applies to God, how God manifests the characteristics of this name in Scripture, how it affects us as God's people, etc. Last week, for example, we talked about Jesus as "The Lamb of God", so we discussed things like sin, blood atonement, temporary vs. perfected sacrifice, etc. Pretty common conversation topics with 10-year-olds, right? Diggity.

The name for this morning's lesson was "High Priest". We talked about the Tabernacle, the separation of the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the role and duties of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, and so on. The discussion got me thinking about the awe-inspiring nature of the fulfillment of the threefold office of the Christ of God: Prophet, Priest and King.

There were three offices to which God appointed men of Israel under the Old Covenant. These three offices fulfilled distinct roles as servants to both God and His elect in that they, respectively, brought God to His people (Prophet), interceded on behalf of the people to God (Priest), and united the people under God (King). In each of these offices, Christ is seen as perfectly and infinitely glorious because He both inherits each office eternally, as well as redeems and completes the glory of the office by fulfilling it to its perfection. I'd like to do a post about each of these offices*, starting with Christ as Prophet.

The prophets of the Old Covenant served as God's voice to His children. God chose specific men to fulfill specific roles as the ones who were to declare the great and glorious "thus says the LORD" to the people of Israel. This is how God revealed His nature and will to His chosen people. However, Jesus has become the final and perfected Prophet of God the Father to His people, as it is written:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

-Hebrews 1:1-2

God spoke to His chosen people in order to reveal Himself to them. In what better way can He choose to do this than by sending His very self to His people to live among them, and die in their midst as an atonement for their sin? There is no greater way, and God has done precisely this:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

-John 1:14

Christ is the very Word of God, the absolute reflection of His character to His people, because Christ is at the same time both fully human and fully God: the perfect communication from God to mankind! Indeed, there is nowhere other than to God the Son that we need look in order to find God the Father:

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

-John 14:8-9

The incarnation of God in the flesh has perfected the ministry of the prophet of God. Because of the revelation and ministry of Jesus on earth, God has now fully revealed to His creation all that is necessary for men to know about their Creator in order to be reconciled to Him. Jesus Himself has shown that the revelation of God's Word in the Old Testament served as a witness to Him (John 5:39-40). Possibly without even knowing it, God's prophets of old were giving glory to Christ and pointing the way to him! And now that Jesus has been revealed to the world, the ministry of the prophet has been fulfilled, since the entirety of the Holy Scriptures, all of God's word that He has chosen to speak to His people, points to Jesus. And Jesus continues to speak to men and women as the final, perfected Prophet through His Spirit, convicting the world of sin and revealing Himself to the sheep of His fold through the Scriptures that have been written about Him.

The revelation of God to mankind began with creation (through Christ), continued with selected dispensation of prophecy (about Christ), has been fulfilled in the revelation of God's Word on earth (in Christ), and now draws men and women to redemption as found in the Gospel (by the Spirit of Christ).

Soli Deo gloria, yo.

*If you want to read more about Christ's roles in the threefold office of Prophet, Priest and King, you can read about John Calvin's thoughts on the matter here. It was Calvin who first brought this idea to a prominent light in Christian doctrine.

God has been broken

I was reading in Ezekiel again today. The first part of the book is talking about God's judgement on the sin and idolatry of Israel. I was particularly struck by a part of chapter 6, verse 9:

"...I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols."

There were three things here which really caught my attention, and kept it throughout the day.

Firstly, God uses some pretty strong language to describe Israel's idolatry: it's whoredom. Promiscuity at its dirtiest and its worst. This is what idolatry is, plain and simple.

Secondly, idolatry breaks God. I don't know what that looks like, for God to be broken, to have His heart crushed. I'm not sure that I can fit that kind of thing into my puny theological framework. But God is saying this about Himself here, so whatever it is, it's true. And it sucks. Idolatry breaks God... and that sucks.

Thirdly, Israel was no worse than I am. Sure, their idols might have been more concrete than mine, but look at the simple language that's used here... a heart that has departed from God?... eyes which turn away from God and onto other things? That's me. That's what I do. That's my M.O., as a sinner. I can easily be a whore, just like Israel was.

...but that's not where the story ends, thanks be to God!

The Lord has already poured out His wrath against my idolatry on His own Son. Because of this sacrifice, He has removed my heart of stone and given me a heart of flesh (11:19), He has become my God (11:20), He has atoned for all that I have done (16:63), He has redeemed me for His name's sake (20:44), and He has put His Spirit in me and raised me from the dead (37:13-14), He has established an everlasting covenant of peace with me (37:26), and He has become my inheritance (44:28).

He is risen indeed... and that actually matters!

Who could have ever possibly guessed that I would do a blog post about the Gospel on Easter Sunday? WHO, I ask, WHO?!

What can I say? I'm predictable.

Easter Sunday is one of 365 days in the year when it is important to remind ourselves and others of the significance of the work, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Lamb of God.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

-1 Corinthians 15:3-5

Paul was a major stud. Along with Luther, I'm definitely going to be buying a beer for this brother after I'm resurrected (You hear me, Martin and Paul? I'll keep the tab open; Brother Martin, you find Jesus; Paul, go grab a table at the back of the pub.). Paul was a stud because, no matter what happened to him, he kept it real. He was focused on one thing after his conversion: preaching the Gospel to whoever was put in his life. The brother preached, and preached, and preached, and he never watered down the message that Christ had given him on the road to Damascus!

Paul received from Jesus Himself, and preached to others, a message of first importance: a Man who had claimed to be God was put to death by the local government, was buried in a tomb, and was then raised back to life. Why was this message so important to Paul? What was it about this bizarre series of events that turned Paul from one of the greatest persecutors of the Body of Christ into one of its most vocal members? He gives his reason just a few verses later:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

-1 Corinthians 15:17-19

For some reason, the resurrection of Christ was a big deal to Paul. Such a big deal, in fact, that he actually believed that the entirety of his religion hinged on this singular event. But why? Why is it necessary for Jesus to literally have been raised from the dead? Wouldn't it be enough for Him to be raised "in our hearts"? Can't it be simply alright that Jesus was a good moral example and leader? Can't this be good enough for Christianity to be the one truth?

NO, IT CAN'T.

That's largest font size Blogger is capable of, by the way, so I don't know how to make this point any clearer: Christ had to be raised from the dead. If He wasn't resurrected then, as Paul said, we are of all people most to be pitied, because our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.

So what's the reason for this? Why did Paul believe that the physical resurrection of Christ was necessary for his faith? Read on:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

-1 Corinthians 15:20-23

Ahhh, I see... it has to do with sin and redemption! The first Adam brought all mankind under the rule of sin and death, but Christ, the second Adam, will one day bring those who belong to Him into eternal life! Christ had to die in order to become sin in our place, so that we might receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). And He had to be raised in order that He might raise us as well when He returns to complete His conquering of sin and death.

Furthermore, the resurrection of Jesus is proof that His atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who belong to Him was actually accepted by God. If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, if Jesus was not God, if Jesus was not sinless, then His sacrifice would have been a pointless death. It would have been pointless because it wouldn't have actually paid for anything: not my sin, not yours, not anyone's. God demanded the sacrifice of a spotless lamb to atone for sin. Jesus was that Spotless Lamb, the final sacrifice for sin. His resurrection on that wonderful Easter morning was proof of this, because it meant that the sacrifice was a good one, that it pleased God, and that it fulfilled the demands of the Law... forever.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! And I thank the Lord that this actually matters.

Creation: like a beautiful book

(From the Belgic Confession)

Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God

First, by the creation, preservation, and government

of the universe,

since that universe is before our eyes

like a beautiful book

in which all creatures,

great and small,

are as letters

to make us ponder

the invisible things of God:

his eternal power

and his divinity,

as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.

All these things are enough to convict men

and to leave them without excuse.

Second, he makes himself known to us more openly

by his holy and divine Word,

as much as we need in this life,

for his glory

and the salvation of his own.

My only comfort

(From the Heidelberg Catechism)

1 Q. What is your only comfort

in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own,

but belong -

body and soul,

in life and in death -

to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way

that not a hair can fall from my head

without the will of my Father in heaven:

in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,

Christ, by his Holy Spirit,

assures me of eternal life

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready

from now on to live for him.

Ahhh... it is so good.

(From the Heidelberg Catechism)

56 Q. What do you believe

concerning "the forgiveness of sins"?

A. I believe that God,

because of Christ's atonement,

will never hold against me,

any of my sins

nor my sinful nature

which I need to struggle against all my life.

Rather, in his grace

God grants me the righteousness of Christ

to free me forever from judgment.

6th century BC, 1st century AD, 21st century AD... let's keep preaching!

Six centuries before the revelation of God in the flesh, the Lord GOD spoke the following words to His prophet Ezekiel:

"And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear or refuse to hear."

-Ezekiel 2:7-8,10-11

Seven centuries later, Paul, "an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus", wrote the following to the evangelist Timothy:

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

-2 Timothy 4:2-4

And yet another two millennia later, I don't believe that anything has changed for the people of God, who are charged with proclaiming the glory of the LORD on His earth, and who will find true joy in nothing else.

There always have been, and always will be people who refuse to listen to the word of God. There always have been, and always will be people who will persecute those who bring that word. There always have been, and always will be seasons when the Gospel of Christ will be received, and others when it will be abhorred.

But we must not forget that there also always has been, and always will be a great and sovereign God whose ultimate ambition is to proclaim His great worth, drawing men and women to experience His everlasting glory. We must not forget that the Gospel of Christ has been sovereignly planned and executed by this glorious God. And we must not forget that the Gospel will go forth, because it is a manifestation of God's glory. The Gospel will not fail, because God cannot fail.

So let us preach the word of God, in season and out of season, whether they hear or refuse to hear. It is God's Gospel that we bring, not our own. He will ultimately sustain it, but He chooses us to be blessed by being the messengers.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

-Romans 1:16a

The Scripture testifies to Jesus

Genesis: He's the One who will crush the serpent's head. He's the Lamb that God provides in the place of Isaac. He's the Joseph who goes down into Egypt and suffers to save the world.

Exodus: He's the Passover Lamb.

Leviticus: He's the Scapegoat who carries away our sins on the Day of Atonement.

Numbers: He's the Star that shall come out of Jacob.

Deuteronomy: He's the Prophet who will arise like Moses.

Joshua: He's... Joshua! He's the second Joshua who will give His people rest.

Judges: He's the One who, like Sampson, will, in His death, deliver His people from their oppressors.

Samuel: He's the Son of David, who will reign forever.

Kings: He's foreshadowed by Elisha's healing ministry.

Isaiah: He's the suffering Servant.

Jeremiah: He's the Lord, Our Righteousness.

Ezekiel: He's the Prince, who inhabits a new temple.

Hosea: He's the Bridegroom.

Jonah: As Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish, so Jesus spent three days in the belly of the earth.

Micah: He's the King who will be born in Bethlehem.

Haggai: He's the Signet Ring.

Zechariah: He's the Priest-King, who builds the church.

Malachi: He's the Lord, who will suddenly come to His temple.

Psalms: He's the Anointed One, who is established on Zion.

Job: He's the Redeemer and the Intercessor.

Proverbs: He's Wisdom.

Ruth: He's the Kinsman Redeemer.

Daniel: He's the One like a Son of Man.

Chronicles: He's the Son of God, who will go up to the temple of the Lord and lead His people home from exile.

(Taken from Mike's sermon today on John 5:31-40)

A good name (or two!)

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

-Proverbs 22:1

A friend asked me tonight what "M" stood for.

It took me a while to realize that she was referring to the "M." of "Christopher M. Carignan", in my email signature, which stands for "Michael". Christopher was the most popular name the year I was born and Michael was the second most popular. But the question itself got me thinking about how much I appreciate what my first and middle names actually mean...

Christopher: From the Late Greek name Χριστοφορος (Christophoros) meaning "bearing Christ", derived from Χριστος (Christos) combined with φερω (phero) "to bear, to carry".

Michael: From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?" This name is commonly misunderstood as meaning "one who is like God". However, the name is actually a rhetorical question, implying that nobody is like God.

I like my names because they remind me of...

• Who I am: I am a redeemed sheep of Christ's flock, whom He has brought back to the fold by the effective call of His voice. The love of Christ shown to me in His atoning sacrifice creates a gratitude in me which is such a compelling force that I cannot help but preach the Gospel, in season and out of season. I am called to be a Christ bearer.

• Who I am not: I am not God. I cannot do the work that only God can do. I may be called to be a Christ bearer, but I recognize that none of my words, none of my logic, none of my convincing can ever turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. It is the Holy Spirit alone, regenerating a person to understand the oral or written proclamation of the Gospel, which can do this. When people believe on this message, they are saved, both instantly and eternally. I am nothing more than a redeemed sheep who is blessed to be a part of this work by bringing the message to those who will listen.

So, thanks, Nina, for the reminder. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me these two awesome names. And thanks, God, for all You have done to give these names meaning!

The EFCA Statement of Faith has it goin' on!

Just got back from a very long, very difficult church meeting. We will be needing guidance from God on some key issues over the next few months, so please pray for our elders and for the rest of our congregation.

I was very encouraged tonight by our ratification of the CEFC church Constitution as per the recent changes to the Evangelical Free Church of America's statement of faith. I am constantly blessed and encouraged that I attend a church which is so biblical in its teaching, and believes whole-heartedly and openly, among other things, the following (taken from the EFCA Statement of Faith):

4.101 God: We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

4.103 The Human Condition: We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God's saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

4.105 The Work of Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

Amen, EFCA. Amen, CEFC. Amen!

Are We Still The Body Of Christ Without The Full Armor of God?

Here's a very good read over at the Sacred Sandwich. A small excerpt:

It is time, therefore, to make no more apologies to the world for Christ and His Gospel and start acting like the Church… the Body of Christ, that Jesus promised would not be overcome by the gates of Hades. We must gladly display our spiritual armor and be prepared to be vilified by the world just as Christ was vilified, and to suffer just as He suffered. Remember, the world is not really directing their attacks against us, they are directing their attacks against Jesus, their Stumbling Stone and Rock of Offense.

Be blessed on this Lord's Day, brethren, fellow members of the Body of Christ. Let us gladly display our spiritual armor, not only individually, but corporally, on this day and all others to come.

I bring near my righteousness

"Remember this and stand firm,

recall it to mind, you transgressors,

remember the former things of old;

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, 'My counsel shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

calling a bird of prey from the east,

the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;

I have purposed, and I will do it.

Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,

you who are far from righteousness:

I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,

and my salvation will not delay;

I will put salvation in Zion,

for Israel my glory."

-Isaiah 46:8-13

There is so much to learn about God in just these 6 verses. One could spend their entire lifetime writing whole volumes of books on the truths to be found here. I, on the other hand, don't have that kind of time... sooooo... here's just a little bit... :o)

The uniqueness of God

The God of Israel, of Abraham and Isaac, of the New and Old Testaments, of the fool-hearty Simon Peter, of the chief of sinners, and of the thief on the cross, stands alone in His holiness. The divine glory of the triunal Godhead is, indeed, not only second to none, but completely unique: God alone is the great I AM, and there is no other.

The infinite glory of God

The unique God of Israel is shown to be glorious in countless ways, including His infinite nature. Having spoken all things into existence, even time itself, God always has been I AM. He has always been I AM, because He has always been. There was never a time when God was not God, and therefore there will never be a time when God will ever not be God. He is unchanging in all of His ways, His character, and His glory.

The sovereignty of God

Since God has created all that is, all that is belongs to God alone. There is nothing that ever has been, currently is, or ever will be, over which God cannot claim sovereign right. God needs nothing, because everything is His. God lacks nothing, because He is everything, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Therefore, when He wills to do something, His council is perfect and blameless. When He wills to do something, it will be done, because all of creation is His creation, and is a manifestation of His own will. When God speaks, God does, because God alone is sovereign.

The sinfulness of man

God is holy, man is not. The effect of sin stretches from Adam to all of his offspring, creating in each of us a stubborn heart which will not, which cannot seek the glory of God. As sure as it is that every person is born into a state of inevitable physical death and decay, we are all also born into a state of spiritual death and decay. As helpless as we are to overcome the death of our body, we are equally unable to save ourselves from the spiritual effects of our fallen race. Man is far from righteousness, every single last one of us.

The graciousness of God

Because of our fallenness, the distance between us and righteousness cannot be covered by our own striving. We, who are unrighteous, cannot become righteous on our own, since we have no righeousness to find within ourselves. "But God, being rich in mercy..." (Ephesians 2:4) "But God! But God!" is the song of the redeemed; there is none other which we can sing! For God has brought His righteousness to us in Christ. The righteousness which God demands from us He gives to us in the Gospel. We are not righteous... but God... has given His righteousness to us in the atoning sacrifice of His Messiah, His Son, His very Self.

The objective of God

Why would the great and holy I AM do the unthinkable? Why would God have mercy on a messy bunch of unrighteous sinners, who have defamed His name and played the whore, turning after every kind of conceivable idol, stealing the glory which the eternal Creator rightly deserves and giving it to things that He has created instead? God has done this not primarily for me, not primarily for you, but primarily for His own glory. "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name..." (Ezekiel 36:22a) God exists eternally to glorify Himself, not to glorify His creation. Worshiping the glorious I AM is the only source of true joy for all created things; for God to glorify anything less than Himself would not be the most loving act. But God, who is love, always has, always is, and always will make it His sovereign prerogative to bless and glorify His own great name.

Sermon Interruptus

Blessings, blessings, blessings.

Thank you, brother, for meeting with me today. It was a blessing and an encouragement, and a good excuse to grab a cup of coffee and share about God's work.

Thank you, Lord, for being who You are and for doing what You do. You never cease to amaze me.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

-2 Corinthians 1:3-5

A time of perspective... God knows what I don't.

It's 2:30 am. I've just finished having two long, very difficult conversations with two good friends. I grieve for both of them, and they know that I will be seeking our Lord on their behalf.

As I prayed with one of them tonight, there are so many times when we simply don't, simply can't understand what God is doing. We don't understand why God allows certain things to pass. We don't understand His reasoning in doing so. We don't understand how any good could come out of these situations. But there is one thing that we understand, and that we cling to in times of hardship: God is good and He is sovereign.

I've been thinking recently about Job (no, not this one). I've been thinking how, at the beginning of all of the trials that he faced, his response was simply "the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (1:21), and "shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:10). But, over time, he seems to turn the focus a bit more on himself, and how he will remain faithful through the tribulations. However, starting in ch.33, Elihu comes along and says, "Dude, Job... hang on, man. It's not about you. It's about God's glory." (paraphrase...)

Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.

-Job 34:12-15

It is good for us to seek the Lord in confusion, doubt, frustration, even sometimes in anger, asking Him why He sovereignly ordains some of the things that He does. It's okay that we don't understand God's will, and it's okay that we run to Him in times of trouble, pressing hard into Him with questions which grieve our souls. But in the end, we have to come to the realization that we're dealing with the Creator of the entire universe, the One who lifts His voice to the clouds, that floods of water may cover the land, and Who can send forth lightnings, which obey His every command (38:34-35). In the end, we have to realize that God is God, and that we are not.

So, I will be praying for my friends. I will be seeking God, asking Him earnestly that He may answer the prayers in the way that I ask them. But, ultimately, I will ask God that His glory may shine forth, and that these situations - no matter their outcome - will turn men and women to Christ, so that the Godhead may be blessed and glorified more fully through these trials. God knows what I don't, and I will trust that this is a good thing.

This is what graduate school does to you.

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What you have just witnessed is me pressing my face against the keyboard a few times... because I don't want to do anything else but exactly that.

This is what graduate school does to you.

Come! Join the mighty chorus!

I'm in a café (surprise, surprise). I should be working on a speech production research scholarship proposal (surprise, surprise). Instead, I'm hyped-up on caffeine (surprise, surprise) and distracted by the music I'm listening to (surprise, surprise), which is currently Charlie Hall's rendition of "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" (awesome, awesome). I'm listening to it on repeat, and I keep smiling every time the song comes to these two lines:

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
Which the morning stars began

It's beautiful to me to think about how the whole of creation is glorifying God even before I wake up, and that I get to have the blessing of joining that worship during the day. It's beautiful because it makes me realize that God doesn't need me to worship Him. All He has to do is be God and make cool stuff (like the entire universe), and everything that He has ever made explodes with worship just by being in existence! But God gives me the mind-blowing blessing of joining in that worship, an act which I wouldn't even be able to do if God hadn't first turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), and the result of which (i.e. giving God glory) is the source of the only true joy I can ever experience in this mortal world, and beyond.

So, when you wake up tomorrow, join the mighty chorus which the morning stars began! And be blessed by doing so.

How do you summarize the beauty of the Gospel in 15 lines?

Sing the 5 lines of the chorus of "I Come by the Blood" three times over, that's how!

I come by the blood, I come by the cross,
where your mercy flows from hands pierced for me.
For I dare not stand on my righteousness.
My every hope rests on what Christ has done,
and I come by the blood.

Unbelievably amazing...

Stop trying to be someone you're not!

I'm beginning to memorize a chunk of Ephesians with a friend from church, and here is the first part that I was working on today:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

-Ephesians 4:17-24 (my emphases)

Paul is writing here to Christians, encouraging them to not go on sinning like they use to do, and like the Gentiles continue to do. But notice how Paul doesn't say, "Stop sinning or else God will disown you!" or, "You'd better stop sinning or else you'll cease to be a Christian and then you'll go to hell!" No, Paul simply says, "Stop being controlled by sin... because that's not who you are anymore."

If you are a Christian, this doesn't mean that you're not still a sinner in a fallen world. What it does mean, however, is that you're no longer a slave to sin:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

-Romans 6:17-18

This freedom from the reigning power of sin is the beginning of the release from sin that Christ's atoning sacrifice purchased for you 2000 years ago. It means that your sin no longer keeps you under God's judgment, because it has been paid for. It also means that God has given you the ability to turn away from sin, to resist temptation, and that He is strengthening that ability in you as He sanctifies you and grows you. One day, when you are finally in the presence of Jesus, the release from sin will be completed, and at that time you will no longer be under any effects of sin. But until that day, remember what the true Gospel is, remember what it has purchased for you, and remember what it has made you: a person free from the reigning power of sin.

If we are people who have been freed from the reigning power of sin, then let's stop letting sin reign over us. Let's stop trying to be people we're not.

Wanna share the Gospel? Then pray.

Very often, we spend so much time trying to figure out how to pray for God's will in certain situations, because we don't know what His will is concerning the matter. And yet we seek Him anyway, asking that His will be done.

However, there's at least one thing in which we can be absolutely certain of His will... but so seldom do we (or, at least, do I) actually pray for it: personal evangelism.

God has been teaching me in the last couple of years the importance of praying for very specific, providentially ordained situations which God would use to allow opportunity to point others to the cross. I started doing this, praying for specific people, that God would use me that month, that week, even that very day to speak to them about Christ.

And you know what? He has.

He's been answering those prayers... in a fury of humbling, awe-inspiring blessing to others and to me.

But the funny thing is that I've actually been kind of surprised by how readily He answers these prayers (literally within hours, in some cases)... yet, I shouldn't be. I know that God wants me to preach the Gospel, because it brings glory to His Son, His very Self. It's not as if He's going to have something better for me to do than to give Him glory, after all... because spreading the glory of God is the greatest activity that we could ever hope to be involved in.

Consider this as an encouragement. Are you feeling stuck? apathetic? discouraged? The atoning sacrifice of Christ at the Cross is the answer to these ails, and telling others of this glorious news will bless you as it blesses them.

So pray for opportunities to proclaim of Christ's work, remembering that it is not of your power to reap the growth, only to sow the seed. But remember as well that God wants to give you opportunities to sow the seed... so just ask Him to give you what He already wants to give, and be blessed, brothers and sisters. Be blessed.

Keep it on Christ, Chris... keep it on Christ.

God has certainly taught me much in the past year... it has been a difficult year, to be sure... but I've understood lately just how much this difficulty was necessary for God to grow me just a bit more.

As many who might read this may already know, my relationship with my ex-girlfriend was ended a little over a year ago. This has been incredibly difficult for me to deal with, because I was moving towards making the relationship a bit more... ehh... permanent, if you will. Yah. Almost bought the ring, yo. Almost bought it.

Having that kind of relationship taken from me rocked me to the core, I have to admit (mostly because she was yet another one of the idols of my idol-factory heart). I was shaken and beaten, and didn't know what to do with myself. I was so sure that marriage was where that relationship was supposed to go. But God has taught me a good thing lately, a thing which - among other things - I'm not sure I would have been able to learn without being shaken so thoroughly (coffee, anyone?).

I have been thinking about my pastor's view on evangelism, which is that the fruit of his ministry isn't really his concern, it's God's. He's always said that, as he preaches the Gospel, if God decides to fill the church with 1000 people, he will praise God. If God decides to fill the church with 10 people, he will praise God. Whatever fruit God decides to bear from his ministry should have no effect on his calling to preach the Gospel and nothing but the Gospel. He keeps it on Christ.

In meditating on this, I have realized that I was focusing so intently on the fruit that I thought would be reaped from being in a Christ-glorifying relationship with a godly woman (namely, marriage), that I completely lost sight of the fact that I had been in a Christ-glorifying relationship with a godly woman. I was part of something which brought glory to the name of the Son of God, and seemed to have forgotten how much of a blessing this was, and how both of us can now glorify Christ more fully and deeply in our separate lives, having been a part of that relationship for a time, than if it had never happened.

Praise God for His faithfulness and goodness, and for His glory! Lamentations 3:37-38, Job 1:21, 2:10.

So, my prayer is that God would continue to remind me of this as He grows me. No matter what the fruit may be that He decides to bring about in my life, that is His business to deal with, not mine. My business is to bring glory to the name of Jesus, by the power of God's Spirit, and to lead others to the foot of the Cross in any and all ways that God will choose to use me to do so. As I do that, I pray that I would remember that anything that comes about in my life as a result is simply God's will unfolding, and that His will is good.

Keep it on Christ, Chris... let God take care of the rest.

Blogging...

...I'd like to do it again.

Yeah.

I think I'll do that.