“Only Those Who Obey…”

I preached this week from James 2:14-26 about the necessity of our obedience to God which evidences the reality of our true faith.  Brian Wells mentioned this brief article from World Magazine which encourages us along similar lines…thanks Brian!

Søren Kierkegaard wrote:

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer then offered:

“Doubt and reflection take the place of spontaneous obedience. … It is a retreat from the reality of God to the speculations of men, from faith to doubt. [The rich young man of Matthew 19] had hoped to avoid committing himself to any definite moral obligations by forcing Jesus to discuss his spiritual problems. … Keep on posing problems, and you will escape the necessity of obedience.”

With more like 70 percent certainty than 100 percent, recently I forged ahead and took action in a matter I thought God was leading me to. This was after weeks of reflecting and dithering. Up until the very minute I committed the act I was not sure, but it seemed to be what the Bible commanded. It was only after the deed was done that I received both inner and outer confirmation of its rightness—and a mysterious strengthening of faith.

We like to think that only he who believes can obey. But I believe Bonhoeffer was profoundly right: “Only he who is obedient can believe.”

 

Will Yours Be An Empire Of Dirt?

I didn’t realize until after I watched this video, that today marks 5 years since Johnny Cash died.  David Young mentioned this video of Johnny Cash’s song Hurt to me a few days ago…a song where Johnny Cash sings about the futility of earthly fame and worldly success, and how as an old man he considers it nothing more than an “empire of of dirt”…bringing nothing but hurt and pain.  I hear Ecclesiastes all through the song.  Powerful!

It is wise for us to learn from the older men and women and their reflections on their lives.  As younger people we can deceive ourselves by saying that somehow it will be different for us.  But the only way this is truly possible, to live a life not wasted, is to live for that which is eternal.  Only the life lived for the glory and renown for Jesus Christ and His mission will be a life not wasted.

Make sure you watch the whole video, and the second time is better than the first. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go (embedding this video was blocked).

 

Is being with Christ better by far?

What if the hour of the trumpet was now, and we would be departing from this earth as we know it?  What if the Bridegroom was now at hand to beckon us to come to Him and abandon all else?  What are the thoughts that go through our minds at the thought of this life being over?  Are there pursuits, pleasures or people which you would longingly look back to…reluctant and saddened to leave?  Would there be things yet undone (relationships, marriage, kids, vacations, accomplishments…life) which we would be saddened for not having done them.  Is the thought of departing to be with Christ eclipsed by what would no longer be with you or yours to enjoy anymore here on this earth? 

 

 

Where our minds go to things in this life, we are living like Lot’s wife (Genesis 19) where she revealed what she loved most as she looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah as God destroyed them…and was turned to a pillar of salt  She revealed there were things she loved more than God.  God commands, “Have no gods before me,” but we can do by loving other things when contemplating departing from all and having Him only.  “Do not love the world or the things of the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.” 

 

 

For most of us, our hearts are mixed.  We must repent where we have loved this world (even if they are blessings) more than Christ.  We must cast down the idols in our hearts.  Be vigilant and radical…our souls are at stake.  Let us fight in prayer for Christ to truly be everything to us.  Let us pray, that we would with Paul, count everything as worthless compared to knowing Him.  God will give grace to the humble!

 

let it continue…via blog

There are several of us here at Grace (Church) who will from time to time have little email “flare ups” where we go back and forth with discussions of the Christian life…theology, doctrine, practical issues, humor, etc..  This blog is an encouragement to letting those conversations continue, as well as making them accessable to whoever would like to join in. 

Hebrews 10:24, which is this blog’s theme verse, says Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…  The goal of this blog is to encourage and spur one another on in the faith through Scripture, meditations, provocations, thoughts, questions, ideas, etc.

In addition to me, (David) there will also be others from here at Grace putting up posts on this blog…and not everything posted is necessarily the same viewpoint of the rest…which means the comments and following dialogue are going to be important.    All posts and comments are open to responses…dialogue is the whole point.  Love and humility must be the attitude, but truth will matter here…to use the phrase, “humble orthodoxy” should be the atmosphere.