KELLER ON BLIND SPOTS

Have you ever met someone that was a long-time Christian with massive character flaws that were obvious to everyone but them? Do you keep experiencing the same frustration and difficulty in relationships and always manage to make it about other people's flaws? This is because we all have blind spots. I read an article by Tim Keller today where he observes the sad reality that "most Christians live with obvious character flaws that ruin both their joy and also their Christian witness." He offers the following helpful explanation of why this is the case and few insights on exposing those blind spots:

RAGAMUFFIN

To this day, my favorite poet and song writer is Rich Mullins. God used his music and lyrics to grip my heart, capture His glory, and bring the Scriptures to life when I was still spiritually dead. Rich's songs were an important part of God's awakening me to faith in Christ. Some of those same songs from 20-25 years ago still being tears to my eyes because of their ability to place you in God's story.

I remember quite vividly the morning Rich Mullins went to be with Jesus. I was driving to school as a 17-year-old high school student when I heard the news on the radio - he had been in a fatal car accident the night before. I drove to school in tears that morning and actually was comforted by talking about his life, music and legacy with a math teacher of mine who shared my love for Rich's work. 

I have continued to listen to those old albums for years. Even tonight as I write this, I am astonished at this man's ability to paint a clearer physical picture with his words than any HD image can offer. I wanted to be a writer when I was young so his poetic imagery and masterful storytelling set the standard as far as I was concerned. He wrote with authenticity and audacity. His lyrics were emotionally raw and they captured the complexities and tensions of human frailty and a life of faith. In an era of easy believism, Rich was real about his struggles, doubts, confusions, fears and sin. He was humble and honest. Bible stories were just stories for me until Rich's songs made them reality... it was through them that I first began to see biblical characters as real people with real experiences that had real significance.  

Even today, I was a little burdened by uncertainty and weighed down by anxiety related to some personal things. I was praying and asking God for wisdom and direction and peace and ultimately wanting to know what I should do to get the outcome I desire. Listening tonight to the penetrating words of "We are not as strong as we think we are" brought conviction, perspective and comfort. That was just today, but I've had hundreds of such moments and experiences with Rich's music.

He has influenced my life profoundly enough that our fourth son, Daniel Mullins Rowell, is named after him. I didn't want to go with the name Rich for cultural reasons and Betsy didn't want him to go by Mullins primarily because she loves him. But she was a good sport and let me give him that middle name because I wanted to honor the legacy of Rich Mullins. So, in a weird way, he is part of our family I guess.  

All this seems probably a bit sentimental and here is why it came up: The trailer for a movie about Rich's life was recently released. The film is called "Ragamuffin" and I watched the preview for the first time tonight and got nostalgic - so here we are. Rich has a song called "Elijah" in which the chorus says "when I leave I wanna go out like Elijah..." When I go I'd be okay going out like Elijah too. But while I am here, I've always wanted to live a little like Rich. Here is a sneak peak... I can only hope the film does his life of faith justice.

BECAUSE YOU NEED TO LAUGH

Enjoy...

SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND GOING ON THE ATTACK

There are times when Christians remind me of "The Empire Strikes Back". We are all young Skywalker's dangling from a weather vane on the outskirts of cloud city, hand severed by Vader, whining in pain and just waiting for it to end. If you are like me, you find yourself rooting for Vader and the Dark Side because they have an awesome soundtrack and Skywalker curling up in a fetal position and sucking his thumb is something less than inspiring.

In a culture that is increasingly disparaging of Christians, many of us assume a defensive posture in the exercise of our faith. We feel enslaved and defeated by our fleshly desires. We are discouraged by and resigned to the moral decline and demise of the world we inhabit. And we have a powerful enemy that has effectively deceived the masses, blinding the eyes of unbelievers and putting the world in bondage to his lies. So we cling to our individual salvation and just hope we don't blow it. We live in fear. We live in defeat. We live with an anemic faith that hopes the gospel is true for us but doubts it has the power to save storm troopers.

HOW OUR FAITH TRANSFORMS OUR WORK

Tim Keller has a recent book out on the impact of Christian faith on "secular" vocations called Every Good Endeavor. If you have never read Keller's work or heard him speak I cannot commend him to you highly enough. He is particularly helpful in this arena of equipping Christians to effectively engage with culture. His talk below is a pretty concise articulation of some of the major themes in his book. If you are in the secular work force, this will broaden your understanding of your work and how to go about it in a distinctly Christian way. If you are in vocational ministry, you will broaden your appreciate for those who are doing "God's work" in the world, and you will be better equipped to use your influence to help them be successful. Take 25 minutes and give it a watch... it's worth every second.

CHANGE IS A COMMUNITY PROJECT

When we are in meaningful relationships with one another, we each bring a unique perspective and experience to our knowledge of Christ's love. One person has been rescued from a menacing addiction. Another has been brought through deep suffering. Still another has been sustained by God's grace in a difficult marriage. The list goes on. When we gather to share our stories, we see a different aspect of the diamond that is the love of Christ. Together, our understanding and experience of God's infinite love becomes fuller, stronger, and deeper. Not only are we strengthened in our individual growth in grace, but the entire body is built up by a fuller sense of the power and hope of God's grace! The Christian life is not less than individual, but it is so much more" (Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp, How People Change, 73).

FROM "WHY REVIVAL TARRIES"

I read this yesterday and was deeply convicted. May I not fall prey to the first, and may I not fail God's people in the second.

"Satan would have us increase even in Bible knowledge, I believe, as long as we keep from prayer, which the exercise of the instruction we have received through the Word. What use is deeper knowledge if we have shallower hearts?" (Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries, 89).

"Sound doctrine has put most believers sound asleep, for the letter is not enough. It must be kindled! It is the letter plus the Spirit which 'giveth life.' A sound sermon in faultless English and flawless interpretation can be as tasteless as a mouthful of sand." (Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries, 106).

THE NEXT GOSNELL?

The media and abortion advocates all over America would have us all believe the Kermit Gosnell's house of horrors was an isolated incident, but evidence has surfaced of a similar situation in Texas. Dr. Douglas Karpen is now under investigation for illegal late-term abortions, in part because of the following testimony of three former employees. The video was filmed 2 weeks ago. After the national media neglected to give much attention to the Gosnell story before pressure came via social media, it will be interesting to see how they cover this story. This story is still fresh but so far, nothing from the major news outlets. You can get to know more about Karpen here.

As in the Gosnell case, some of the content is graphic and viewer discretion is advised.

THE END OF GOSNELL

On Monday of this week, Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of 3 counts of first-degree murder, 1 count of involuntary manslaughter, 21 counts of abortion of the unborn (24 weeks or older, which is the cutoff in Pennsylvania) and 211 counts of informed consent violations. While these convictions move toward justice, they don't even begin to adequately represent the atrocities committed by this man or the negligence of the state in which he committed them.

Joe Carter posted the following in an article on TGC's blog that helpfully summarizes important information on Gosnell and this horrific story. Here are 9 things you should know, including an award winning short film, about this case:

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE

It's been eight days since Jason Collins became the first active male athlete in American team sports history to announce he is gay. A short article was posted on Crosswalk's blog this morning drawing attention to some staggering numbers.

"In the first eight days after NBA player Jason Collins announced he was gay, the news media covered the story in 2,381 places -- but in the first eight days of the trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and his "House of Horrors" facility, the media covered the story in only 115 places, meaning that Collins' "gay" news received more than 1,970 percent more news coverage, CNSNews.com reports. In addition, a search of the news coverage of the Gosnell trial, which started on March 18, shows there have been a total of 1,876 stories, still less than the amount of Collins stories in eight days. Collins, who plays center for the Washington Wizards, announced he was a homosexual in a self-written article for the Sports Illustrated website on April 29. Gosnell is charged with five counts of murder and 263 other criminal offenses related to his abortion business in Philadelphia; the jury is still deliberating."

There is an eery consistency to the priorities reflected in these numbers. Our ultimate value is placed on legitimizing any lifestyle an adult chooses to adopt and maintain while simultaneously legitimizing the denial of any life at all to the most helpless among us. It's a horrifying indictment on the cultural moment we find ourselves in.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU

A great reminder from C.S. Lewis. Jesus living in you will not let you remain faithfully committed to sin and rebellion. The life of Christ does not produce immediate perfection, though it initiates the process of being perfected - a process that brings about ongoing repentance and continual transformation in light of His infinite perfections.

"A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who can never go wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble - because the Christ-life is inside him repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (to some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ himself carried out.  

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good to please God if there is one or - if they think there is not - at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good but that God will make us good because He loves us, just as a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it" (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 64).   

May you be brought to death so that Christ might live in you and through.

MOTHER'S DAY

Our kids like watching this series of videos called Kid Snippets, so with this important day coming up this week, I thought this was worth a watch...

DISTRESS FOR SOULS

Do you ever wonder why your personal Christian witness, or the collective witness of your church or community is not bearing more fruit and leading to the conversion of lost souls? Me too.

In his autobiography, Hudson Taylor tells a story of laboring as a medical missionary in China, being charged with the daily responsibility to dress the gangrened foot of an atheist patient. The condition left the man with little time to live and Taylor was immediately burdened for the man's soul far more than his physical health. The man had a violent temper and angrily resisted prayer and Scripture from a variety of care givers but Taylor silently prayed for him in those early days while tenderly caring for his diseased body. Day after day, Taylor recalls, he pleaded with God, by His Spirit, to save the man. As he grew the courage to speak an occasional word about the Lord, the patient would physically turn away and refuse to listen or respond.

THE COMPLETENESS OF DIVINE MERCY

"Repentance must go with forgiveness for the completeness of divine mercy. That which could forgive the sin and let the sinner continue to live in it would be scant and superficial mercy. It would be unequal and deformed mercy. It would be lame and withered mercy.

Which is the greater privilege: cleansing from the guilt of sin, or deliverance from the power of sin? Both are immeasurably great, and neither would have come to us apart from the precious blood of Jesus... If we were forgiven and were permitted to continue to love sin, to riot in iniquity, and to wallow in lust, we wouldn't really need forgiveness after all. In such a case, forgiveness would turn out to be a "poisoned sweet", which would eventually destroy us. To be washed and then to return to wallow in the mire would be pointless. To be pronounced clean and yet have leprosy would be a mockery of mercy.

Thank God, He forgives our iniquities and heals our diseases. He who washes us from the stains of the past also lifts us up from the foul ways of the present and keeps us from failing in the future" (Charles Spurgeon, All of Grace, 92-93).

WHAT STORY ARE YOU LIVING?

Each of us is living our own story within an overarching narrative. We believe the Bible is God's revelation of the ultimate story that each of us is born into and in which we must continually seek to find our place. At the most basic level, the gospel narrative is God's story about Himself, His creation, our rebellion, and His redemption. The way we enter into that story personally is through recognizing the sinful condition of our hearts, repenting of that sin and receiving the grace and forgiveness of God made available by faith in the work of His Son. We lay hold of salvation through repentance and faith and we work out our salvation by continually walking in repentance and faith.

That's a simplistic and abbreviated look at God's story, but it's important to recognize that the world offers a competing and corrupted narrative. Kevin DeYoung offers a very helpful reading of the very harmful secular narrative that dominates the "enlightened" thinking of our day and drives the wisdom of our "progressive" culture:

The secular salvation story is a derivative and deviant version of the older Christian narrative. It tells the story of self, authenticity, and acceptance.

GRACE-BASED MARRIAGE

"When I got married, I didn't understand grace. I had a principle-istic view of Scripture that caused me to bring a law economy into my marriage. The central focuse of the bible is not a set of practical-life principles. No, the central theme of the Bible is a person, Christ. If all you and I had needed was a knowledge and understanding of a certain set of God-revealed principles for living, Jesus would not have needed to come. I think there are many Christians living in Christless marriages. Without knowing what they have done, they have constructed a law-based rather than a grace-based marriage, and because of this, they are asking the law to do what only grace can accomplish.

"The problem with this is that we are not just people in need of wisdom; we are also people in need of rescue, and the thing that we need to be rescued from is us" (Paul Tripp, What Did You Expect?, 64).