THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART

"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

God spoke these famous words to His prophet Samuel in preparing him to anoint David king over Israel. God knew that Samuel's limited perspective would compromise his objectivity. He was about to make a major decision, which had massive implications, with very limited information. The decision Samuel would make was not just going to affect a specific man, but an entire nation, and in fact the whole world. History itself would be shaped by this decision. And God's kindness to give clear instruction to Samuel indicates that, left to himself, the prophet would have made the wrong decision.

YOUR MARRIAGE MATTERS MORE TODAY

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention sent out a helpful resource yesterday, in light of the Supreme Court decision, ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional. This document offers some clarity on what changes and doesn't change as a result of this ruling, along with some wise insight for churches to consider in how they respond.

Teach your congregation to avoid anger, outrage, or despair.Jesus tells us marriage has existed as a male/female one-flesh union “from the beginning” (Matt. 19:8). This means marriage is resilient, regardless of what any culture does to minimize or redefine it. 

Love your gay and lesbian neighbors.They aren’t part of an evil conspiracy. They are, like, like all of us apart from Christ, seeking a way that seems best to them. Be kind, and respect all persons as image-bearers of God. 

Preach and teach on the integrity of conjugal marriage.Don’t assume your people understand the gospel foundations of marriage. Take this opportunity to point to the formation of healthy, gospel-shaped marriage cultures within your congregation. 

Repent of the ways our congregational cultures have downgraded marriage.If your church hasn’t addressed divorce, cohabitation, or fornication through proclamation and discipline, now is the time to repent and rework. 

Make your marriage convictions clear in your confession of faith.If your church assumes a definition of marriage, your confession of faith is now irrelevant. Defend your religious liberty by making your congregational convictions clear in your statement of faith. 

Stop laissez-faire wedding policies.Your church building is not a public space and your church ministers aren’t justices of the peace. Make clear that you will marry, and host weddings, only for those who have accountability to the people of Christ and to the Word of God.

There should be no posture of resignation on our part is Christians. If you are married, we should instead resolve to make sure our marriages offer a Christ-exalting, glorious picture of the gospel. This should compel us to greater love and affection, selflessness and service, repentance and humility and purity and fidelity within our marriages. This should motivate us all the more to be an open demonstration of the joy and fulfillment that God intended for marriage to produce. There is much talk among Christians and conservatives of the disintegration of marriage in our cultural and political climate. But I would beg you to recognize that your marriage is not less important because of the Supreme Court's ruling. Your marriage is much more important. May God give you and me the grace to tell the story of the gospel through the story of our marriages.

A PRAYER FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

My dad just preached a 2 part sermon series from the book of Haggai on New Beginnings. Here is a prayer offered from The Valley of Vision, a compilation of Puritan prayers.

Incomprehensible, Great, and Glorious God,
I adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,
          a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from the gaze,
my secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
          to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,
          to resign myself to that agency
                 which can deliver me from the bandage of corruption
                 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Thou hast begun a good work in me
          and canst alone continue and complete it.
Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,
          and of my exposure to sin.
Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion,
          its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
          and employ me as thy instrument
                 in blessing others.
Give me to distinguish between the mere form of godliness and its
                           power,
                 between life and a name to live,
                 between guile and truth,
                 between hypocrisy and a religion,
                           that will bear thy eye.
If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;
And may I at last come to thy house in peace. (Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision, 95)

 

MY DADDY LOVES ME

Betsy and I were driving to our first doctor's appointment yesterday since we found she is pregnant with our fifth child. Our three oldest children were at a summer camp and vacation bible school but we had Daniel, our 4-year-old with us. Betsy is in the first trimester and feeling every bit of that. I was reading, trying to redeem some of the time I was losing in the work day. The radio was off and the windows were down. And Daniel started singing a song. He seemed to make it up as he went along, so I guess it was a song flowing from his heart.

The lyrics went something like, "God loves my daddy. My daddy loves my and I love him. My daddy loves me and I love him." He sang this refrain numerous times and Betsy and I smiled and laughed at the cuteness of it. When you draw attention to those moments, they usually end so we kept quiet and enjoyed his singing.

I was thinking about the simple and profound reality of what was happening in that moment. I am certainly a sinful, selfish, and flawed daddy but I do love my sons. And Daniel knows the love he is loved by his daddy. He doesn't question or doubt it. He simply knows that he is loved by his dad. And that simple fact leads to a free, joyful, lightness of heart that produced a song in his heart, which in turn produced delight and gladness in the heart of his father.

Sometimes, we really complicate the truth of the gospel and the nature of our faith. You can talk apologetics, debate theological nuances, discuss ecclesiology and missiology. At the end of the day, the only thing that leads to freedom and joy is be absolutely persuaded that you are loved by the Father. If and when you are convinced of that in the deepest part of your heart, mind and soul, there will be a song in your heart that overflows in ongoing praise which in turns delights and gladdens the heart of your Father.

May we all know His love and the freedom and joy that proceeds from his affection for us. And may the song in our hearts stir others to join the chorus of "My daddy loves me and I love him" in all it's varied forms.

HOW TO START A MOVEMENT

I remember seeing this video a long time ago and then I came across it again yesterday. It really is a goofy yet profound video. I genuinely believe we Christians can learn a lot about how to reignite a gospel movement from this. Enjoy this and laugh at it, but consider the insights offered by Derek Sivers.

LIVING BY THE "SWEAT" OF OUR OWN PERFORMANCE

"My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we've performed well - whatever 'well' is in our opinion - then we expect God to bless us. If we haven't done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the sweat of our own performance.

THE SERIOUSNESS OF SIN

"When Paul speaks of giving ground to the devil in Ephesians 4:27, he is teaching that the habitual practice of sin can lead to an increased involvement of Satan in the life of a believer... 'If I cherish sin in my life, Satan will seek to exploit it'... demons like to pour gasoline on a fire that is already burning. A moral issue that begins with succumbing to the evil influence of the flesh may escalate into a greater spiritual problem. Just as flies and rats are attracted to garbage, unclean spirits are drawn to unclean thoughts and behaviors. This does not mean that everyone who falls into a period of sinful behavior will end up becoming demonized. It does, however, underline the seriousness of sin and the need to get rid of the garbage and extinguish the fires" (Clinton Arnold, 3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare).

CHERISH YOUR CHILDREN

My wife and I experienced some extreme emotional swings this weekend. Our oldest son turned 12-years-old on Friday. We had a friend of his over for a fun-filled weekend, celebrating his life and creating some memories. Friday night was a laid back movie night followed by a morning drive up to Helen, Ga. about an hour and half away to go tubing with some more friends. Because of the recent rains in Georgia the river was the highest it's ever been for us and it moved at a brisk pace. The weather was beautiful and the boys enjoyed every minute of it.

We went home that afternoon. Betsy took a couple of them to a dollar theatre movie that evening while Dylan and I went to the Braves game. Sitting in traffic en route to the game, Betsy called me to share with me that one of our other son's classmate died of leukemia the day before. Josiah is in second grade and his friend missed a large portion of the fall semester due to treatment. He returned for the Spring and seemed to be doing well until he missed the last couple days of school. Josiah mentioned he was gone and was a little concerned but nothing prepares a 7-year-old boy for the news of his friend dying.