Yet I will rejoice

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of the deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

For Better, For Worse

Thank you, John Piper for your wonderful and compelling article: Married or Single: For Better or Worse.

I don’t know which holds out more joys and more hardships. There is not way to know ahead of time, it seems to me. We Christians don’t make our choices that way anyway. This would be clear if all singles not only heard the wedding vows, “For better or for worse,” but also heard the same words written over singleness: “For better or for worse.” Marriage may prove to be gloriously happy, or painfully disappointing. Singleness may prove to be gloriously satisfying or painfully disappointing. Only God knows which it will be for you.

So in the end, your heart really matters. Objectively, we cannot know ahead of time whether marriage or singleness will sanctify us more or honor God more. Does the internal reality of our heart lean us into the designs of marriage or the designs of singleness? That is a huge question and one that only the heart can answer. But it should be a heart well-formed with much Bible and much prayer and much maturity through life and counsel of friends and family.

That’s my best effort. Thanks for caring about being devoted to Christ above all.

Pastor John

He writes with such wisdom and such a pastoral heart; I am so thankful to live in a generation blessed by the likes of men like him.

Character Blemishes and Idols

I saw this list of character blemishes posted by Tim Keller on his Vision blog archive - see Sept 22nd:

A. Read the following paraphrase of John Newton’s “Some Blemishes in Christian Character”.

“Austerus” is inflexibly and invariably true to her principles, but there is a harshness in manner that makes her more admired than loved. Her intimate friends know that she is no stranger to humility, but those friends are few. Others think her proud, dogmatic and self-important, with a cynical air.

“Humanus” is generous and benevolent, but if you entrust him with a secret, you put it in possession of the public. Also, though in matters of great importance he has regard for the truth, in the smaller matters of common life, he often exaggerates for effect, or speaks surely when he is not sure, or says that which is very inappropriate for the occasion.

“Prudens” is very thrifty, and though she would not grossly wrong or injure another, yet the things that she will do to save or gain money is to her discredit. She is herself very punctual and conscientious in fulfilling obligations, but is hard, strict, and suspicious in making bargains. Beneath her severity is a heart that worries too much about what could go wrong.

“Volatilis” is sincere in all his promises at the time of making them, but for lack of discipline, he is always in a hurry, always too late, and always has an engagement on his hands with which it is impossible to comply. He accepts with insufficient thought proposals that are incompatible with each other. No one expects him until they see him. He excuses himself chiefly by alleging that the things in which he fails are not of the greatest consequence.

“Cessator” is not (like Prudens) buried in the cares of the world. Rather, she lives as if she had been sent into the world only to read, pray, hear sermons, and to talk to people about Jesus. She does not know that the means of grace were designed to shape and strengthen us for the duties of civil life, career, and society. She thanks God she is not worldly-minded, but this is an excuse for avoiding the hard work and discipline of being a full member of society.

“Curiosus” has a desire of knowing everybody's business, and then enjoys dropping hints about how much he knows. He constantly finds fault in others and thus leads those who know him to be constantly on their guard and to treat him with reserve. If he would notice the cold and evasive answers he so often receives, and the looks that accompany them, he might learn that he is considered a gossip and a critical spirit.


B. Read the following outline of ‘heart idols.’

Idol: COMFORT (Privacy, lack of stress, freedom)

Price We Will Pay: Reduced productivity
Greatest Nightmare: Stress, demands
Others Often Feel: Hurt
Problem Emotion: Boredom

Idol: APPROVAL (Affirmation, love, relationship)

Price We Will Pay: Less independence
Greatest Nightmare: Rejection
Others Often Feel: Smothered
Problem Emotion: Cowardice

Idol: CONTROL (Self-discipline, certainty, standards)

Price We Will Pay: Loneliness; spontaneity
Greatest Nightmare: Uncertainty
Others Often Feel: Condemned
Problem Emotion: Worry

Idol: POWER (Success, winning, influence)

Price We Will Pay: Burdened; responsibility
Greatest Nightmare: Humiliation
Others Often Feel: Used
Problem Emotion: Anger

Discussion questions:

1. Which of the heart-idols underlies each character flaw?
2. Which of Newton’s characters do you resemble? Why?

---

I think I have all these character flaws and idols. Some more than others, and some crops up more than others, but ... they're all there. (maybe the idol of power is less present, but I feel like I'm going to say that and then it's going to appear in my life). How incredibly frightening to look inside your own heart and see all the taintedness.

Lord, when I am overwhelmed by my own sinfulness, help me to turn to Your Son, Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of my faith. Help me to find assurance and rest in Him and Him alone. Transform my heart so that I will sin less as You sanctify me in Your Spirit.


(HT: A.C.)

Submission and Marriage (2)

I've been waiting for this sermon for three weeks now! John Piper just preached on biblical femininity and submission from the text, 1 Peter 3:1-7. You can find the text, audio, and video as well as short excerpts at the Desiring God website.

From listening, I jotted down some notes. This may be helpful if you don't want to listen to or read the whole thing.

1. The deepest root of biblical submission is hope in God. (v. 5)
   Proverbs 31:25 - she laughs at the time to come, because she believes in the promises of a sovereign God.
   
2. Hope in God yields fearlessness. (v. 6)
   They fight against fear in their hearts. Yet they are not naive about what's coming to them, 1 Peter speaks about being persecuted for righteousness' sake.
3. Focus on internal adornment (v 3-4)
   Adornment is not external, but that doesn't mean women are to neglect their outward appearance. just that your mind does not focus on the hair, clothes, jewelry, the externals. these all perish.
   Investing in the heart does not perish, and the Lord looks upon it in approval
   adornment is tranquility - peaceful, gentle, quiet spirit.
4. Biblical submission is the fruit that grows out of the root of hope in God, fearlessness and internal adornment.
   You can't have the fruit without the rest of the tree, that's not real submission.
   
1. What Submission is NOT (vv 1-6)
   
1. not just agreeing with everything your husband says. remember that Peter is speaking to women who are married to unbelieving husbands.
   
2. it doesn't mean leaving your brain and will at the wedding altar.
3. it doesn't mean avoiding every effort to change a husband. this whole text is about changing a husband! 'submit to him that he may be won over to Christ!'
4. it doesn't mean putting the will of the husband greater than the will of Christ.
   Sarah calls her husband 'lord', kind of like a throwaway phrase, "m'lord" but her LORD is Christ. Christ is Lord, all other authorities fall under Christ (gov't, husband, etc)
5. it doesn't mean that a wife gets her personal spiritual strength primarily through her husband.
   husband is supposed to be a strength for the wife though
6. doesn't mean that a wife acts out of fear
   "do not fear anything that is frightening"
   your submission is free, not out of fear.
   
2. What Submission IS
   Submission is to honor and affirm her husband's leadership and help carry it through with her gifts.
   it is a disposition to follow the husband's authority and an inclination to yield to his leadership. matters of the heart, not just action. these can be there when a wife disagrees with the direction that the husband is going. honor his leadership but request that he reconsider when you disagree with it.
5. Marriage is like Christ's relationship to the church - to bring His bride to everlasting holy joy.

great sermon. Piper delivers, as usual. I particularly benefited from his illustration of submission as fruit growing out from a deep rooted tree. It doesn't merely come out of nowhere, but from the root of hoping in God, and growing from that, fearlessness. And then as if the tree branches out - to husband and wife, such that the husband is lionhearted and lamblike, and the wife is tranquil, submitting with "strength and dignity." It's beautiful. Just as the Lord made it.

Submission and Marriage

Spring break is here! Time to post on the blog! It's been long overdue, and there have been many planned posts that have been ditched due to insufficient time. But here we are, with a lightened load, so I'm posting on the most recent topic to cross my mind: Marriage and Submission.

Recently, a friend (perhaps a reader of this blog) asked me about what kind of man I would like to marry. It was none of that silly teenage girl stuff, "what color hair? what height? shack, mansion, or apartment or house?" Definitely not. I believe the original question was "Would you want to have theological discussions and debates with your future husband?" and the conversation went towards the lines of "what kind of Christian (specifically, with what kind of theology) would you like to marry?"

It was a most interesting conversation, one which I have never had without another, but on a topic which I have given thought to prior to the conversation. One thing that I did mention is that I'm willing to submit to my husband in secondary matters of the Christian faith, provided that his convictions be grounded in the unadulterated interpretation of the Word of God. I use the word 'unadulterated' instead of 'accurate' because I recognize that genuine, bible-believing Christians can certainly differ from each other in non-primary tenets of the Christian faith. For example, having differing eschatological views, baptism, or the spiritual gifts would not prevent me from fellowshipping with another Christian, though I may hesitate before joining their church. I must also point out that different people place varying degrees of importance on these 'secondary doctrines:' John MacArthur claims that every self-respecting Calvinist should be a premillenialist, and Mark Dever won't let someone who has been baptized as an infant join his church because he believes that is not a true baptism. It is often a very hard line to draw.

However, regarding marriage and submission: wives are commanded in to submit to their husbands as to the Lord:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

What does this mean in terms of theological issues? Clearly, since the authority of the husband in the marriage relationship comes from the Lord (all authority in all the world is given by the Lord - ) so where the husband clearly is disobeying God's commands, the wife, being personally responsible for her own sin, is not to follow into sinfulness. Therefore, I would never marry a man who differed with the history reformed faith in terms of the doctrine of the Triune God, depravity of man, justification by faith, the sovereignty of God in salvation and in all other matters, the atonement of Christ, double imputation, preservation of the saints, and the glory of God being the supreme goal of all things. (I'm sure I forgot some, and if I think of more, I'll add it to my list of theological interview questions to ask potential suitors. "Do you believe in double predestination?" haha. I'm being mostly facetious here.)

Aside from the central tenets of the Christian faith from which a true Christian should never waver, I would be willing to submit to the leadership of my husband in the secondary matters. Ideally, after studying the Word together, we would see eye to eye on all the issues, but if not, then it is the call for every Christian wife to submit to the spiritual leadership of her husband. If the husband were to want to baptize the children as infants, and the wife were to disagree on the issue of infant baptism, it is her duty to lovingly, willingly and joyfully submit to his leadership. If the husband thought it is more faithful to scripture to home-school their children, then the wife should (again, joyfully) submit, even if it means quitting her job in order to do so. And vice versa, with believer baptism or public schooling.

It seems like such a hard line to draw, so black and white, but isn't that what the nature of submission is? It's not that we can choose when and where to submit to our husbands, and in all other areas, we revolt and go off in our own directions. We must lovingly and joyfully submit, and encourage, and affirm, and support our husbands, just as the Lord commands us. For since the husband's authority comes from the Lord, the wives' submission to her husband is her submission to the Lord. If we do not, we sin. If we cannot, we must pray - with unceasing fervency, that God, in His abounding grace, will grant us hearts that will love, affirm, encourage, and submit, even when our flesh desires it not. For we can do everything through the Lord who strengthens us.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name. -

More often than not, the wives' struggle is not with husbands who have firm convictions that differ from theirs, but rather the struggle lies with passive husbands, apathetic and vapid, who would rather read the newspaper (or endlessly surf blogs...) or watch ESPN than lead and guide the household. John Piper in his recent sermons, "Lionhearted and Lamblike: The Christian Husband as Head" (Part 1, Part 2) addresses this problem quite poignantly. Wives, he says, are to pray - unceasingly, for their husbands. Pray that your husbands may lead! Pray, and pray, that's all you can do. Manipulation and demands only serve to worsen the situation and make it impossible for him to lead. Piper says,

The caution is to women. You cannot demand that your husband take leadership. For several reasons: 1) Demanding is contradictory to the very thing for which you long. It is out of character. If you become the demander, he’s not the leader. 2) Demanding will be counterproductive because if he had any impulse to try harder, your demanding will take the heart out of it, because it won’t feel like leading any more; it will feel like acquiescence. 3) It has to come from inside him worked by the word of God and the Spirit of God.

Oh Lord, give us women grace to submit, even when the men do not lead. Lord, teach us singles how to submit to our parents and to the church. Teach us to submit to your Word. Lord, teach us to love, affirm and encourage others around us. Above all, teach us to wait in hope for the day when we can gaze upon the Lord in glory, when marriage will fade but the glory of the Lord remains forevermore. Αμεν.

Oh, the anguish!

The apostle Paul says in the beginning of Romans 9, verses 1-3:

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

It's a rare moment for the Apostle Paul, who is expressing his anguish over the Jews, who are accursed, cut off from Christ, lost, condemned because of their unbelief. Oh, that they may believe! I remember hearing a sermon by John Piper on this subject that really struck my heart. Here are two excerpts:

Verses 2-3: "I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren." Notice the translation here: "I could wish" to be accursed. The point is that Paul’s grief is so great over the lostness of Israel that he stands on the brink of damnation, ready to throw himself in, if it were possible. But it is not possible. That’s why it says, "I could wish." The reason it’s not possible is found four verses earlier in Romans 8:38-39 – Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate God’s elect, Paul included, from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In other words, God has not designed a world where a person can be damned because of Christ-exalting love. If there were such a world, then the Biblical standards of the world that exists would not apply, and Paul stands ready to take Israel’s place in hell. But he can’t. God does not send people to hell because they love others enough to sacrifice for them. So Paul cannot take the place of Israel; he can only grieve.

Oh, that we would have more of Paul’s spirit here! Do you grieve? Do you feel sorrow and anguish over your kinsmen, that they are accursed and cut off from Christ? I know that hundreds of you do. That’s good. Nurture that grief with Biblical truth. And remember, Jesus said that we should love not only those who love us, but also our enemies (Matt. 5:43-44). So may Bethlehem be a place of tears as well as joy. May we be Biblical Christian hedonists! As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:10, "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."

I find this in Romans 10:1, "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation." The fruit of Paul’s anguish for his kinsmen who are accursed and cut off from Christ is to desire their salvation and to pray for them to be saved. Again, I say, don’t follow the reasonings of skeptical men here. Don’t say: There is no reason to pray for sinners if God is sovereign to save. Say instead, Because God is sovereign to save, I will pray for sinners with hope. Because Paul prayed for their salvation, I will pray. Because Christ prayed on the cross for their salvation, I will pray. Because I have grief and anguish in my heart, I will pray. And as it says in 2 Timothy 2:25, "God may perhaps grant them repentance." To that end let us pray for Israel and for the nations and for our kinsmen that they might be saved.

May we always be praying. May we be on our knees, pleading with God for the lost.

Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love and power.

Come ye weary, heavy-laden,
lost and ruined by the fall;
if you tarry till you're better,
You will never come at all.

View Him prostrate in the garden;
on the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?

Lo! The incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.

Spiritual Community

Food for thought:

How can other people see our community and see the cross of Christ?

And no, I'm not talking about programs. In no way should we become the "program-driven Church"... rather, it should be the cross-centered, Christ-exalting church. But the question remains - in our fellowship, on our campuses, how can other people look at us and see the Cross?