You have wearied the Lord with your words.

You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking "Where is the God of justice?"

Malachai 2:17

Passages like this remind me that there is no new sin under the sun.  This was written about 2500 years ago, but it feels like it could have been written yesterday.  

Malachi writes that the Lord is wearied by people saying things like, 

"Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them."  Doesn't this sound familiar?  Our society has come to tolerate, even embrace, every form of sin.  And many so called pastors have follow society into this sin (and maybe they have even led us into it) by claiming that God delights in so many who live in open rebellion to Him.

The second statement rings true as well.  It is not common these days to hear people say "Where was God when ___?"  Fill in the blank with "my dad was killed in a car accident", "the 9/11 attacks happened" or some other horrible tragedy.  People don't think that God is real (or if he is, that he is not just) because he allows bad things to happen, seemingly unpunished.  However, the Bible makes it clear that God is sovereign over all things, good AND bad, and that all evil will judged one day (though not always in our timing).

Be careful not to follow our society in making these kind of statements about God.  Words like these weary the Lord, and "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God"  (Heb. 10:31).

Thought on the coming persecution

Friday's supreme court decision has really thrown me for a loop.  Not because it was unexpected (it wasn't) but because it has really gotten me to think about persecution.  And for as much good as I logically know persecution does for the individual and the Church, I'll be honest, it scares me.

In the coming years, we are going to see two things happen: churches who preach against homosexuality will be in danger of losing their 501(c)3 status and speaking against this sin will become a hate crime.  The first will cripple many churches financially, and the second will cause many faithful Christians to be sent to jail.

But the government will be generous.  If only a church will refuse to preach the whole counsel of God and bow instead to government regulation, they will be allowed to continue on.

This reminds me of Christianity in China.  Churches can either be government registered, and have to follow government rules about what they can do and teach, or they can be independent (and therefore, illegal) and worship God without government regulation.  Pastors of illegal churches are often thrown in jail.  Meetings have to be secret and there is always the thread of intrusion by authorities.  You see, the Chinese Government wants to be god.  And churches that dare bow only to the True God and not to the Chinese god feel the wrath of this human institution.

Even more, this reminds me of early Christianity.  Early Christians were persecuted in large part not because they worshiped a different God (the Romans had a whole pantheon of gods and didn't mind adding one more) but because they refused to worship the god of the Roman government: Caesar, the one god they were required to worship.

Reading in Daniel this morning, I was struck by two verses.  The context is an uprising by a major enemy of God.

"He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder" (11:32-33)

And what is the final end of this enemy of God and his people?

"And he shall come pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him." (11:45)

So let us stand firm on the Word of God and not fear.  Let us not be man-pleasers and conform the Bible to what is currently popular and accepted.  In the end, there is only God.  The US government, and all governments will have their end in time, but He will not.

Sorry SCOTUS, nice try thinking that you have the power to define marriage.  There is only One Creator of marriage, and He created it to be for one man and one woman.

Materialism and Asceticism

I can't stop thinking about this blog post I read today.  I recommend reading it, but to sum up the author says that she was concerned about materialism in her two daughters and after getting fed up with their toys, she took them all away.  As a result she has seen more contentment in her daughters' lives.

On one hand I totally get where she is coming from.  When we first became parents, we went from 0 to 4 kids in two weeks, all of them under age four (they were a foster sibling set).  We were incredibly blessed that many people stepped up to give us hand me down clothes and toys for our kiddos.  In fact, within a few weeks we had 4 full bins of toys!  I tried my best to rotate these toys but they always managed to take over the house.  When the kids were reunited with their mom, we sent the vast majority of the toys with them.  Since then I have continually been reducing the number of toys we own, and keeping fewer toys out at a time when we do toy rotations (or at least I try... sometimes the number of toys around the house seem to multiply despite my best efforts).  Having fewer toys around helps keep me sane and the kids really don't seem to notice (especially when I do a good job of rotating).

BUT.

There is one thing that concerns me about this idea.  Taking away your kids toys is not going to stop them from being greedy.

"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." Colossians 2:20-23 (emph. mine)

So taking away your kids' toys to help them be less materialistic?  Maybe if they don't have toys they appear less materialistic and more content.  But setting up these regulations in their lives will not stop the indulgence of the flesh.  Only the Holy Spirit can change your children from the inside out.

Pray for His mercy and soul cleansing work in your children.

And maybe you should take away their toy or at least get rid of a good number of them.  But don't expect that to save or sanctify them.

Raising the Bar for Your Children

Recently we have started teaching Esther catechism questions and answers.  I figured it was better to start sooner than later but I have been amazed at how quickly she has picked up on them.  It has made me think that we really should have started sooner, but glad that we have at least started now (she is three).

There are two things that have really been impressed on me in the past few years regarding teaching young children.  First of all, that they are really sponges for facts.  Since young kids can't think abstractly yet, their brain is like a huge filing cabinet where all day long they are filing away facts.  The more facts that you can help them to file away now, the better their abstract thinking will become in the future.

The second thing I have been learning is that most parents have way too low of expectations for their children in many areas (including especially behavior) but in this case academically/intellectually.  Esther may not understand all of these questions and answers, but she has the capability of memorizing them, which will help her in the future when she can think more deeply of questions about God and life.

I was looking on YouTube for recordings of these question and answers for us to listen to as another way of helping her to learn it.  This video of a two year old answering the first 12 catechism questions is a good reminder that even little children can be expected to learn much more than we usually expect of them.

This video of another two year old is even more impressive, as she does the first 20 questions with great clarity and annunciation.  I can't get the video to come up for some reason so I can only link to it.

Now, if it sounds like you would need to be some kind of drill sergeant to have your 2 or 3 year old memorize all of these questions, let me assure you that its not at all like that.  All it takes is lots of repetition.  We work on these questions for about 5 minutes per day, usually at lunch time.  I read the questions over and over, and then start leaving words blank for Esther to fill in.  After just over a week of this, Esther has about ten answers memorized.  Not only does she find it fun, but she often asks to practice at other times.  "Let's do questions, Mom!" I hear several times each day, and I'll ask her a few of the ones she knows.  Not only does she enjoy it but I can tell she feels a sense of accomplishment for what she has learned.  This is a satisfying feeling that I hope will spur her on to continue to challenge herself in many areas throughout her life.

Relatedly, small children are also sponges for scripture memory.  Just as with catechism questions, repetition is key.  I try to recite verses while doing menial tasks with the kiddos, like changing diapers and brushing teeth.  Esther can recite most of Psalm 1 because of this method.

Making scripture and spiritual teachings the topic of convesation throughout the day like this is one of the ways to be obedient to this command:

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul... You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied..." Deuteronomy 11:18-21

I love the promise at the end... that "the days of your children may be multiplied".  What good parent doesn't want that for their children?

So, where is the bar set for your children?  Maybe your New Year's resolution for this year should be to set higher goals for them and take the initiative as a parent to make it happen.

6 Reasons Why Revelation is My Favorite Book of The Bible

Many people find the book of Revelation confusing, scary and hard to read.  Not me.  Ever since I read it deeply for the first time it has been my favorite book of the Bible.

This is not to say that I understand 100% of the content.  Indeed, I still haven't chosen a position on my view of the time frame of Revelation or of the Millenium (mentioned in Revelation 20) even after a great deal of thought and research over the past 6 years.  But you don't need to know exactly what each detail means to get an incredible amount of insight and encouragement from this book.  Here are six reasons why Revelation is my favorite book of the Bible.

The Descriptions of Jesus
 "The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze" Revelation 2:18
"The First and the Last, who died and came to life" Revelation 2:8
"The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation" Revelation 3:14
"A lamb standing, as though it had been slain" Revelation 5:6 (Jesus WAS slain but IS standing!)
"He is clothed in a robe dipped in Blood... From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.  He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords." 19:13, 15-16
"[He] is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war" 19:11

Does this sound like a long haired, skirt wearing, hippie Jesus? No, Jesus' character is so much deeper and wider than he is commonly portrayed these days.  That's why I love the mind-blowing descriptions of him in Revelation.

The Descriptions of God
"And he who sat there [on the throne] had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald... from the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder..." 4:3, 5
"And one of the four living creatures gave to the seen angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary of God until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished" 15:7-8

And these don't even do the real thing justice... they are just the closest John could come using human language.

God's Victory Over Evil
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth." 11:17-18
"Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for his judgements are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants." 19:1-2

When I see all the evil in the world and am tempted to be discouraged, I always go back to Revelation, and remember that on the day he has appointed, God will destroy all the destroyers of the earth. Praise Him!

The Descriptions of Believers
"And they have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death" 12:11
"Here is the call for the endurance of the Saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus" 14:12
"They loved not their lives even unto death." 12:11
"The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.  I will confess him name before my Father and before his angels." 3:5

This isn't somebody who "prayed a prayer".  These are people who take the commands of God seriously, whose lives have been changed permanently, to a course where they don't even love their lives, they have been given up to following Jesus even if it means to death.  And the reward is eternal.

The Prayers Directed Towards God
"Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you
for your righteous acts have been revealed." 15:3-4
"Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created." 4:11
"Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed a people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth." 5:9-10

How many churches sing praise and worship songs that sound like this?  This is powerful stuff.

Descriptions of Non-Believers 
[after seeing incredible plagues of God being poured out upon the earth] "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hand nor give up worshipping demons and and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts" 9:20-21
"And all who dwell on the earth worship will worship it [the Beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." 13:8
"They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues.  They did not repent or give him glory." 16:9
"People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores.  They did not repent of their deeds." 16:10-11
"And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the hail was so severe" 16:21

These verses make it clear that there is a kind of belief in God, belief without repentance, that does not save.  It also shows that God can make himself very obvious and people still choose not to trust in Him.

Best Biblical Advice for Newlyweds

"When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken." Deuteronomy 24:5

© 2006 Jeff Belmonte, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

As far as I am aware, this is the only Bible verse that has a direct command to newlyweds (feel free to correct me in the comments if I am wrong!).  Though this verse was intended specifically to be directed to the Israelites and how they should run their society, the principles of this verse are instructive to modern-day believers as well.

Commentators say that there are likely two main reasons for this command.  First, so that newly wed couples could have time to develop their relationship without distraction.  Secondly, so that they would have time to conceive and bear a child early on.  Many newlyweds would do much better in their relationship if they would heed this advice.

Take time to develop your relationship.  When you first get married, it is important to continue pursing building your relationship.  Indeed this should be happening during the entirety of your marriage, but to do so in the first year is laying a good foundation for your future years together.  Make it a priority to go on regular dates, weekly or every other week at least.  Look for things to do together; it is not enough to simply live together under the same roof, but it if important to really live life together.

It is also important to avoid major changes and other things that can put strain on this foundational year of marriage building.  Many couples marry and then move right away to start a new job or grad school.  It is very difficult to lay a healthy foundation for marriage while also trying to find a new church, make new friends, and figure out a new city.  It is worth putting off a job or grad school for a year to stay put in your familiar area to make sure you can focus on your marriage.

Make babies.  Early (and often!) God tells us to be fruitful and multiply and that children are a blessing.  Couples who reject the modern philosophy of children being a burden and choose to obey this will receive God's blessing for obedience.  Having children makes a marriage stronger as it gives husband and wife something to work on as partners: a ministry that involves their whole lives together.  Having children is also incredibly sanctifying, which has the added benefit of making a marriage stronger as man and wife are humbled before God and seek him more and more for godly character and help to be good parents.

It is important to remember that the advice to wait to have children is coming from a society that kills 1.3 million babies per year, doesn't honor God and has an incredibly high divorce rate.  Believers choose to follow God and do things differently, because we know that the ways of God are higher and better than the ways of man.  This includes seeing children as a blessing ALWAYS (not just when they are convenient), which practically means having children early and often while the world says wait and stop.

When thinking about this verse, I realized that ALL of the Christian couples I know who are already divorced chose not to have children in the early years of their marriage.  On the other hand, most of the couples I know who have mature walks with God and good marriages had children very early on in their marriage.  I know that this is not a scientific study, and that correlation is not causation, but it is interesting to note that I have seen in practice how this does affect a relationship.

The Post Modern 10 Commandments

The Bible tells Christians not to love the things of the world.  Many people rightfully acknowledge that this includes the material items that are rampant in our country: cars, clothes, houses, etc.  But just as important (maybe even more important) is that we do not love the world's systems, the world's philopsophies (Romans 12:2, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 5:1-5).

There are many philosophies that are popular in our world today.  But the dominant one in our country is post-modernism.  And while followers of Post Modern philosophy say to ignore the "oppressive" commands of the Bible, they lay out their own oppressive commands.  These rules stand in direct opposition to God, whose commands are actually freeing, not enslaving.

To help you identify and flee from these worldly values, I have compiled a list of the 10 Post Modern Commandments

© 2010 John Taylor, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

1. Thou shalt not judge.  You may not tell other people what to do or judge them for what they are doing, no matter what.  There are a few exceptions though.  One is if they are doing something that goes against your personal pet issues, like not recycling, not breastfeeding, driving a big car, having too many kids or not eating organic food.  Then you can judge them.

Another exception if they fall into a class of people whom you look down upon (usually, someone less educated).  For example, you may condemn and judge the sexual perversions of the red neck who loves his sister, but you will adamantly stand by the "right" of the educated upper middle class man tempted by homosexuality to "choose whom he loves".

2. Thou shalt tolerate thy neighbor.  You need not love your neighbor, because loving your neighbor sometimes involves sacrifice or having hard conversations if they are doing something to destroy their life.  You should let them live their own life and do whatever they want without comment from yourself.  In other words, thou shalt ignore thy neighbor, but that doesn't sound as nice as tolerate.

3.  Thou shalt not take responsibility.  Don't worry about it, someone else will take care of it.  Sign up for $100,000 of college loans and then blame every one else for your debt (clearly it was unavoidable and you were making a wise decision to do so).  And then if you don't feel like facing the music, sign up for grad school and complain about how much that costs too.  If you conceive a child at an inconvenient time, just kill the baby or abandon the mother, but don't take responsibility for the life you created if it doesn't fit into your plan for your life at the moment.  If you lose your job, it is because your boss hated you, not because you were a poor worker.  If you fail your class, its because of your professor's funny accent, not because you didn't do the reading.

4.  Thou shalt be a victim.  The world is out to get you.  Make sure everyone knows how hard your life is and how you've been victimized by sexism, racism, classism, poverty, riches, your parents, your boss, your significant other, "the system", your genetic make up, etc.  Its much easier to evade responsibility if you can pinpoint all of the ways that other people have caused your life to be hard, therefore making it impossible to succeed.

5.  Thou shalt not obey authority.  Everyone in a position of authority is corrupt.  Their aim is to victimize you.  You have a much better idea of how to run your life.

6. Thou shalt feel entitled. The world owes you something, if not everything.  You do not need to work hard or provide for yourself, or take responsibility.  The world needs to pay back the debt of your victimhood, so sit around and complain until they pay up.

7.  Thou shalt not believe in truth.  There is no one real truth, so follow your feelings.  Feelings will never cease to guide you to the right path for your life. If someone breaks the first commandment and dares to challenge you on something in your life, then talk about your feelings and how hard everything is.

8. Thou shalt do what seems right in thine own eyes.  The world would be a much smoother and well run place if everyone did their own thing.  Clearly, each person is the best judge of what is right for their own life, and need not even bend an inch to live up to some higher standard.  So go ahead, plow forth in your own direction, heeding not those you trample on in your way.

9. Thou shalt not feel conviction for sin.  Don't feel bad for what you did.  You were doing the best you could at that time.  Ignore or stuff down any feelings of guilt.  Remember that you make the rules for your own life.  Everything will feel better if you just don't think about your wrongdoings.  Kinda.

10.  Thou shalt honor thy educated people (of choice).  It is clear that educated people are without sin, so you should honor and heed all that they say (if it fits in line with what you already feel on a certain subject).  If you are a university professor, you must be right.  Educated people never have underlying motives, never seek to justify their preconceived notions in their research, never have any selfishness. If the educated individual is a woman or minority, s/he is even more right.  They are seeking the greater good of the world and should always be honored as such.

Waiting in the Life of a Believer

In this season of waiting, I have been reflecting on the purpose of waiting in the life of a believer.

You see, in 21st century America, we are taught that we should not have to wait, that we don't deserve to wait, that waiting is uncomfortable and therefore bad.  And if you have enough money or power, you don't have to wait for a lot of things.

But God says, "No, things will happen in My time".  And I think He (in love) brings seasons of waiting into the lives of believers to bring about many good things.

Here is a list (certainly not exhaustive) of the benefits of waiting in the life of a believer.

Waiting gives us an eternal perspective.  When we get exactly what we want when we want it, it is easy to keep our focus on earthly matters.  But waiting causes us to lift our eyes to God, and in so doing he reminds us of eternity.  Our time on earth is very, very short.  Our time in eternity is very, very long. It is far better to live for eternity than to live for now (especially when you have no idea how many more years or days you have left on Earth).

"According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials" 1 Peter 1:3, 6

Waiting for temporal things reminds us that we are really waiting for the return of Christ.  Just as the hunger we feel while fasting is a reminder of our deeper hunger for Christ, the pain of waiting for earthly things reminds us of our deeper pain of waiting for Christ to return.  Life is hard because Jesus hasn't returned yet.

"And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" Romans 8:23

Waiting renews our strength.  When things are going as we want them to, we can easily start to rely on our own strength (which is actually weakness).  Waiting reminds us of how powerless we are, and how powerful God is, and helps us to depend on Him.

"They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; 
they shall mount up on wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Waiting is humbling.  Waiting is a humbling reminder of how little we can do and accomplish on our own.  Being humbled is not fun.  But it is by far the best place for us to be, and much better than the opposite.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6



So, let us wait well in seasons of waiting.  Let us wait with joy, knowing that God is working so much good through our wait.

Wicked vs. Righteous [Meditations on Psalm 37]

Before reading this I highly encourage you to read Psalm 37 in its entirety.

Wicked... and righteous... these are two of the most used words in this psalm.  Wicked is used at least 15 times by my count, and righteous at least 7.  In addition, there are many synonyms to these two words, such as evildoers, cursed, wrongdoers, saints, blameless, and blessed.

What does Psalm 37 say about the wicked?  The wicked are like grass, and will wither away.  They will be cut off from the Lord.  They plot against the righteous and borrow without repaying, but God laughs at the wicked, because he sees that his day is coming.

What about the righteous?  The righteous will never be moved.  They will delight in abundant peace.  They are never forsaken by their God.  They are delivered from the wicked by God.  They are known by God.  They will live forever.

In which category do you fit?  Maybe you would say that its not black and white; that you have some evil and some good in you.  But this is not a category the Bible lays out.  The Bible says that every person is either wicked OR righteous with no grey area in between.

And to make it even more challenging, the Bible also says,

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

“Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

in their paths are ruin and misery,

and the way of peace they have not known.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18, ESV)

 This means that all of us are born into wickedness and enmity with God.  We turn away from his love repeatedly and reject him from being king over us, and rightly deserve his punishment and curse.  Because God is holy, perfect and just, we have no way to earn or work our way towards the blessings and favor from God that Psalm 37 lays out.

But God...

These are possibly the two most important words in the Bible.  Let me show you:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:1-6

Every person is born into wickedness... but God can and does choose to save some.  He died for the punishment that we deserve.  By paying our debt, cleansing us from the inside, and causing us to be reborn, he has transferred believers from the category of wicked to the category of righteous, from cursed to blessed.  And it it is not because of our righteousness, but because he generously bestows on us his righteousness.  This is amazing.  This is grace.

So if this applies to you, bask in the truths of Psalm 37.  Rejoice that God will not forsake you, his saint.  Moreover, rejoice that you did not earn his favor (nor could you) but that God was rich in mercy and love and has made us alive, made us his.

As Pslam 37 says in verse 39, "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble."

Little vs. Abundance [Meditations on Psalm 37]

"Better is the little that the righteous has,

than the abundance of many wicked" Psalm 37:16

These verses are amazingly true, and have been comforting in my life.

I would say that we are in a season of having a little right now.  And its because of the choices that we have made to follow Jesus.  

Living in expensive Southern California, and choosing to live off of one salary so that I can invest full time into discipling our children and choosing to live in a house (rather than a smaller apartment) so that we have enough room to be foster parents, and choosing to care for widows and orphans and choosing to support many missionaries and choosing to open our home for our missional community and other church activities and choosing to serve faithfully at church and choosing to have children rather than the ease of the "child-free" life... all of these decisions are because we follow Jesus.  But these decisions also mean that we have very little time, energy and money to spend on ourselves.  Much of it is being poured out to others.  

And sometimes I get jealous.  Sometimes I want to grab it all back, and stop giving away the best of my time and energy and possessions to other people.  But in those moments of selfishness, God is gracious to patiently remind me that it is better that I serve him faithfully and have only a little left for myself (and get all of Him), than to not know Him and get to keep it all to myself (and have none of Him).  After all, Jesus himself said "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

However, it is important to remember that the believer does in fact have abundance, even if it is not always in material goods.

"But the meek shall inherit the land, 

and delight themselves in abundant peace." v. 11

"[the righteous] are not put to shame in evil times,

in the days of famine they have abundance"

Believers are offered abundant peace from God and are protected from his judgement (thus His provision for them in the midst of famine that is a result of evil).  This reminds me of the widow who offered to give Elijah the last her her flour and oil to make bread, and God blessed her step of faith by renewing her oil and flour day by day until the famine ceased.

The point is, God is not stingy with his children.  We need not think that his hand is too small or that his arm is too short to give his children what we need.  He provides exactly what we need when we need it, and the fact that he does not always give us our desires is his mercy.

Fret not yourself [Meditations on Psalm 37]

Psalm 37 is one of my favorite psalms.  I find myself running to it over and over in hard times.  Over the next few weeks, I am going to write out some of the themes that I see and cherish in this chapter, in hopes that you come to love this psalm as I have.

Before reading this meditation, I would encourage you to read the whole chapter of Psalm 37.

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers." v. 1a

"Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices" v. 7b, c

"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil" v. 8b

Fret not yourself.  This phrase is repeated three times in a matter of less than 10 verses.  What is it referring to?

First of all, the who.  Fret not yourself over evildoers.  It is easy to look around in the world and see all the people who oppose God but are doing very well for themselves.  Their life looks so easy, they have all that they need.  Maybe you fall prey to comparing your life to a celebrity, a co-worker, a neighbor or a friend.   If you are like me, there are times in your walk with God that following Him is so difficult that you almost wish that you could not follow Him in order to have an easy life.  If you weren't following Jesus, you could live by the mentality "Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die" (1 Corinthians 15:32) and life would be so carefree.

Or would it?  We see the folly of the wicked person's thinking in verse 13.  "The Lord laughs at the wicked for he sees that his day is coming".  As believers, we are living for a Day and that day is not today.  The Day we live for is the day when God will look at our life and determine our rewards based on our faithfulness in this life.  And if our faithfulness in this life necessitates hardship (as the Bible almost certainly guarantees it will) then all the more reason to look forward to that Day and not worry about today.  We may have few carefree days in this mist of a life, but in our eternal life, every day will be carefree.

Another important question about this theme.  Why not fret ourselves?  Because it tends only to evil (v. 8).  If we are fretting about evildoers, we are probably sinfully judging them (believers are only to judge other believers, 1 Corinthians 5:12), lacking trust in God and keeping our minds from what is "true, noble, right, pure, lovely", etc (Phil. 4:8).

So what if we are fretting about evildoers?  What is the solution?

Repent of this sin.  Admit it before God, and thank him for already taking the punishment for it and forgiving you of it.  Ask him to fill you with his Spirit and to give you the ability to think only of what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8).  He delights to answer such a prayer.

Our Two Most Favorite Storybook Bibles

We have two different storybook Bibles.  We love both, but for different reasons.


The Big Picture Story Bible

This storybook Bible is unique in that it doesn't break the bible down into individual stories (such as Daniel and the lion's den, David and Goliath, etc) but each chapter of the book covers many chapters (or even many books) of the Bible.  The book as a whole does a great job of portraying the creation-fall-redemption narrative of the Bible.  A major theme touched on throughout the book is God's people, God's place, God's rescuer and God's blessing, and how these themes played out through each time period of the Old and New Testament (and the fulfillment of all these things in Jesus).  I appreciate that when appropriate, the stories in this book quote the Bible in a seamless manner.

Each page has just a few sentences, which makes it a great story bible for the youngest of kiddos who will sit down and listen to a book.  We have been reading this book with Esther since she turned one (but, as the pages are paper and not cardboard, you will need to keep it out of reach of little hands!).  However, it is not just a book for young kids.  The concepts are still valid for older kids, and I think that children up to 7 or 8 would still enjoy this book, especially to help them understand the larger narrative of the Bible.

This bible comes with a CD but we have never listened to it (probably because right now we don't have a working CD player in our house or car!).  I know families who listen to the CD while in the car, which is a great way to help your kiddos learn truth even during mundane activities like driving.  You could also use the CD to help children learn how to have a personal time with the Bible each day, even before they are able to read (as they can listen to the CD while looking at the book).

The Jesus Storybook Bible

I also love this story Bible.  The writing is high quality and the pictures are even better (though I do suspect the drawings are the kind of art that will be seen as really outdated in 20 years, but we'll see.)

This story Bible is along the lines of other story Bibles, where various accounts from the Bible are retold in a story format.  The subtitle of the book is "every story whispers his name" and this is definitely a theme throughout  the whole book, how every story points to Jesus as the Main Story of the whole Bible.  I appreciate that below the title of each chapter are the chapter references where the original account from the Bible can be found.  I find that I am often even struck by the stories, convicted of sin or worshipping God for his goodness.

The one downside that I see to these retellings of Bible stories is that it is definitely written for a post-modern crowd as stories are very feelings-based and talk a lot about God's "heart" and how God is feeling.  These things make this a more culturally-conditioned Bible storybook in my opinion (although of course all retellings of Bible stories will be culturally conditioned in some way, but this book seems strongly so).  Some would also point out that the Bible was written to be understandable to the everyday person (as it was written in Koine Greek), so this could be part of the motivation of why this book is clearly aimed at a post-modern audience.  It could be that this is the best way for a child that grows up in this type of society to be introduced to these stories, but I personally am always a bit hesitant when I see too much of culture seeping into something like this.

This story Bible is definitely for an older crowd.  I read it sometimes to Esther (more because I like it than her, ha) but she gets bored pretty fast.  The stories are long, and there are many words on each page, so I would say that four is the minimum age that kids can start getting something out of this book.  This also means its usefulness extends higher as well, to at least age 8 or 9.

This book also comes with a CD, which we also have never listened to (see above) but I have heard a few of the recordings which have been made into YouTube videos, and the reading is high-quality.  If I remember correctly, the reader is a fairly well known British actor.  Here is an example of one of the videos that I mentioned, which will give you an idea of the writing style and illustrations:

If I had to recommend one of these two books over the other, I couldn't (unless the judgement was based solely on the age of the child).  There is no reason to limit the number of quality Bible story books, so I recommend owning both, especially since each fits a different niche.  Since neither book is the actual Bible, owning a few helps kids to see that these stories are retellings of the real stories, each of which might draw out different features or highlight different points.

the unamerican parable

"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

-jesus, in luke 17:7-10

this is one of my favorite parables. its hard to exactly describe why, but i just love it because its so counter to american christianity where everyone thinks that they are the center of God's universe.

we should be serving God in realization of our own unworthiness, without demanding our service be recognized.   our continual thought should be "we are unworthy.  praise Him, praise Him."   

praise Him because he doesn't need us, praise Him because he invites us to participate in his mission to the world.

--from the archives 

church discipline

disciplining your children is not popular in our culture.  there is a stream of thought that says you can just love your child into being good without ever having to enact any consequences for their actions.

this line of thinking has bled over into the church.  because discipline is hard and painful at the moment,  churches often fail to look forward with faith to what discipline can accomplish (see hebrews 12:11).  in so doing, they ignore sin and allow it to spread like cancer through our churches.  and we wonder why so many american christians are weak and lukewarm.

here is a great story of a young man who experienced church discipline in his family, and the fruit it yielded in his life:

"One Sunday after our church service, the senior pastor extended his hand to greet my dad, one of his fellow elders. Yanking his hand away, my dad jetted past him. I sometimes question why God let that instance from six years ago sear my memory. Frankly, I don’t know.

But I do know that like this memory, God used my dad’s excommunication for good. I hope this testimony shows that. I hope it encourages churches to not shirk what God requires for their good and, most importantly, for his name’s sake (see Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5).

I suspect many pastors fear obeying Jesus’ command in this area because they dread the strife that could result. Judging by what happened with my dad and the reactions from my church, my family and myself, I understand that fear. But I hope this testimony will help you overturn that fear and embrace faithful obedience to Jesus’ commands..."

Click here to read more... 

Real manhood

this blog is devoted to biblical femininity.  most of my readers (i'm guessing) are women.  so why would i write a post about biblical manhood?  because far too many women don't understand biblical manhood.  biblical womanhood cannot be practiced well without the complementary role of biblical manhood.  furthermore, a misunderstanding of biblical manhood by women leads to unbiblical expectations in marriage and settling for dating and marrying weak men, as well as the desire to take over when men aren't leading in the home or church.

a basic place to start in understanding biblical manhood is with the acronym "R.E.A.L. manhood" and explain how jesus perfectly embodied these things and how men should (by God's grace) live these things out.

a real man...

rejects passivity.  jesus actively pursues his bride, the church.  he is not passive, waiting for others to act.  he initiates salvation, he actively paid the price through his death on the cross so that we can be saved.

passivity was the first sin that the first man committed.  adam sat idly by while he let his wife eat the forbidden fruit.  he did not protect her or try to stop her from sinning.

real men imitate jesus when they reject passivity.  they don't sit around and wait for their wife to discipline the kids, they take the initiative and do it without hesitation.  real men initiate the pursuit of women they are interested in, not waiting to be asked out by her (or even waiting for her to "give signals").

embraces integrity jesus was perfectly holy and committed no sin.  he always chose to do good.

real men choose holiness over sin.  real men never lie to their wives or girlfriends.  real men live a life worthy of being imitated by others.  real men work hard and never put halfway effort into something important.  real men are faithful to their wives.

accepts responsibility  jesus took responsibility for his bride, the church.  he did not cause her to sin, but took responsibility to pay for that sin and rescue her.  he also gladly takes on the burden of leading and empowering the church to do his will.

real men shoulder the burden they are given and don't try to heap those responsibilities onto others.  real men accept the responsibility to provide for their family, serve in the church and grow in their relationship with God. real men joyfully and humbly serve in even the smallest ways at church. real men do not let women take over roles in the church and family they weren't designed to take.  they work hard at this with joy and without complaining.

leads courageously jesus leads his bride the church without fear.  he forages ahead in the face of hardship.  he looked squarely ahead when he faced the cross and didn't look back.  he never lets his bride lead, but leads her perfectly, tenderly and courageously.

real men lead courageously in church and at home.  real men lead out in difficult family decisions, including the wife on the decision process but not leaving her to do it herself.  real men know that they were designed to fulfill leadership roles at church and gladly serve in this way.  real men lead the family in seeking God.



the men in your life will fail in some of these areas, because they are sinful, just as you women reading this will also fail at times in fulfilling your biblical role as a woman (and praise God that there is forgiveness in jesus when we repent of this sin and bring it to him).  my hope in writing this is that women will have a better understanding of biblical manhood so that they can pray for and encourage (and not nag) the men in their lives.  moreover, this is especially applicable to single women, so that you choose to marry a real man and not just someone who goes to church and maybe even reads the bible sometimes.

did God actually say...

the first temptation to sin started with four simple words:  "did God actually say..."

God created adam and eve and gave them just one rule.  only one; not that hard to remember!  and it just took four words from satan to begin unraveling their faith in God.  not only did he question God's word, he also twisted it.  whereas God said not to eat of the fruit of that one tree, Satan changed God's words: "did God actually say 'you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'".

it is easy for me to read this story and laugh or be saddened by adam and eve's folly.  we might even be temped to think "if i only had one rule to follow for my whole life, i could easily do it!"

but sisters, we fall into the same lie all of the time.  we might not question God's word about eating the fruit, but we'll question it in just about every other area.  we are temped to think that we are so modern, smart and advanced that God's word doesn't apply to us anymore (chronological snobbery).  or we wonder if the scriptural writer actually meant to say it that way (some scholars will obscure God's word by saying, "well in the original greek it really means this".  funny how the original greek happens to change so easily to fit what is upheld and popular in our current culture, even if Christians have been doing it differently for thousands of years.)

often, satan adds to God's perfect and freeing law (james 1:25) so that it becomes imperfect and stifling.

here are scriptures that i am tempted to question (or are commonly questioned in our culture)

"do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (matthew 6:19)

satan says:  "did God actually say that you aren't even allowed to have a savings account? what if something bad happens?  maybe that worked back then, but these days you can't possibly live a secure life without health insurance, a 401K, a big savings account, life insurance, property insurance, owning your own home, a diversified portfolio, banking your baby's umbilical cord, a college savings account for your kids, a trust fund..."

"wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord" (ephesians 5:22)

satan says: "did God actually say that women are to submit to all men?  that wives should accept physical and verbal abuse from their husbands?  that women shouldn't have any ideas or thoughts of their own?  so sad that paul was such a misogynist, so unenlightened back then.  anyways, this was written so long ago, we can't know what paul actually meant by this, so don't even bother trying to follow it."


"whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery" (matthew 19:9)

satan says: "did God really say that no one should get divorced.  how quaint!  but this is the 21st century.  try hard at your marriage, but if it doesn't work out, don't feel bad, lots of people get divorced!"

"do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  (james 4:4)

satan says "did God really say that living in the world will make you an enemy of God?  surely not.  a little internet time, a little bit of "the today show", a little bit more food than you need at dinner, a little time flipping through that magazine, a little bit of staring at that hot guy without a shirt, a little bit of time gossiping with your neighbor (after all, you are trying to reach out to her)... they are all so little.  they won't take your eyes off of God and cause you to befriend the world."

"young women [are] to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled" (titus 2:4-5)

satan says: "did God actually say that women are never to leave their house?  surely God wants women to do something more significant than to just love their husbands and children.  i mean, you have so many talents.  you went to college!  you are so enlighted and smart, don't waste your talents on your children.  the world needs you more than they do."


i will say it again.  God's law is perfect and freeing (james 1:25).  but satan wants to enslave and kill us (2 peter 2:19).  dig down deep, seek to know, understand, love and follow scripture and you will feel that freedom.

are you living like an orphan?

"i will not leave you as orphans.  i will come to you."

-Jesus, in john 14:18


can you imagine something in the world more lonely than being an orphan?  i think it must be just about the scariest and most lonesome thing.

no one to care if you don't get breakfast (or lunch...  or dinner).  no one to protect you from sexual predators.  no one who will snuggle with you when you need to cry.  no one to pull a blanket over you when you shiver at night.

jesus promises that he will not leave his followers as orphans.  moreover, he will come to us (not vice versa).

that means we DO have someone who desires to provide for us and protect us.  and that is a promise more sure than anything you will ever hear.


the world does not have this promise.  but as believers, we do.  are you living like it?

are you living in light of good friday or resurrection sunday?

last night, i was getting bogged down by some sin, namely worry and anxiety.  motherhood brings a whole new onslaught of things to worry about, but the reality is that worry has been a theme of my life for years.

in my head, i know that worry has no place in my heart, since i am a child of God, who is my loving, generous Father.  he promises to give me wisdom when i need it (james 1:6).  he promises to provide for me, and i know that he can provide exactly what i need (matthew 6:33).  he can even provide something from nothing, as he did with the israelites in the desert, proving water from a rock and manna for them to eat.

but sometimes this is just head knowledge.  and that is where the defeat comes in: the anxiety continues (albeit less and less as i grow in my faith).  why am i enslaved to this worry?  ironically, i worry about my worry and am anxious about my anxiety.

as these thoughts were tumbling about in my head, God put an interesting and beautiful picture in my head.  i am stuck on good friday when resurrection sunday (easter) is the reality.

good friday was a day of seeming defeat.  jesus was stripped, wounded, mocked and executed. more painful than anything else, though, was the fact that God the Father turned his back on him.  all of this was a result of sin (ours, not jesus', as he had none).  and if the story ended there, it would be a story of defeat.

but a few days later, that following sunday, jesus came back to life, conquering satan, sin and death forever.  and the implications are massive: he was stripped that i might be clothed in righteousness.  he was wounded that i may be healed of my sin patterns.  he was mocked that i might be welcomed in.  he died so that i might be given new life.

my focus is wrong: i have been focusing on my old life of sin, while ignoring the future and current reality of new life.

and that is a great reason to rejoice this resurrection sunday!

happy easter!  i am joyful for a hope that is miles deeper than bunnies and chicks!

removing evil and partial conversion: thoughts on luke 11:24-26

[jesus speaking] “when the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘i will return to my house from which i came.’ and when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. and the last state of that person is worse than the first.” luke 11:24-26

photo credit: "sweeping house" by fotobird1 on flickr

one of the important lessons from this passage is that evil cannot simply be removed, it must be replaced with good.

one example of how this plays out is in the christian's thought life.  many women (myself included) struggle with their thought lives.  my thoughts often revolve around worry about the future, fear of the unknown or double-thinking.  in my attempt to battle thoughts that don't honor God, this passage is helpful in reminding me that i cant just remove the untrue/dishonorable thoughts ("stop thinking about bad things!").  they instead must be replaced with good, true, christ-centered thoughts.  paul teaches on this, putting it this way:

"rejoice in the Lord always; again i will say, rejoice. let your reasonableness be known to everyone. the Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." philippians 4:4-8 

it is not happenstance that these verses stand next to one another in paul's letter.  it is clear that paul sees a link between rejoicing, defeating anxiety, prayer and God-centered thoughts.  it is important to note too, that we don't bring about the peace that paul teaches of: it is the gift of God, which is why we seek God for it; it is not something we bring about ourselves.

this principle of good replacing evil also plays out in a person's decision to follow Christ.

this passage is one of the few places that the new testament speaks of partial conversion.  one of the saddest things for me to see as a christian is people who seem to become christians embrace the gospel, the bible and God's people enthusiastically for a time, then fall away and cease to follow jesus.

partial conversion happens when a person comes to have a positive view of or experience with christianity and christ, but they never repent of their sin and the Holy Spirit does not come to live in them and they do not experience the necessary rebirth from death to life (see john 3).  their outward life starts to look very "christian" but inwardly they have not been cleansed and changed by God.

this is very common in our country since christians teachings are looked at in a positive light by many people who are not christians.  as a result, many people decide to start living a "christian" life, but this is not a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.  so, they may get rid of the evil and metaphorically sweep out their house, but since the Holy Spirit has not replaced the evil that was in their life, they leave themselves open to being overpowered by evil once again.

there is a temptation that i see among christians to preach morality instead of christ.  we want our friends who dont know jesus to stop sleeping with their boyfriends, to stop lying, to stop being depressed, to stop getting drunk every weekend.  even if we are successful in getting them to change their lives (which is unlikely anyways), we are making them "twice the sons of hell" (matthew 23:25) if this is accomplished without jesus.  the gospel, the good news that jesus saves sinners and changes lives, must be at the center of what we preach.

but how can we make sure that conversion is true and that the Holy Spirit lives in those who seem to become christians?  the truth is that it is by God's grace (gift) that the Holy Spirit dwells in anyone.  we cannot force His hand.

but he does give us the gift of prayer: we can and should pray for those who seem to be exploring christianity (or have seemed to come to know jesus).  furthermore, if you are a christian, examine your heart to make sure that you have truly repented and trusted Christ fully with your life (in line with hebrews 6).

[thanks to d.a. carson's "for the love of God" for sparking and molding my thoughts on this passage]