How the Super Bowl makes me pray: “Your Kingdom Come!”

Each time I watch a Super Bowl it seems like the hype, the intensity, the excitement just grows from previous years. So in terms of an event, it is great.

For the Christian who is praying for the Kingdom of God to come and the Son of God to receive his due worship, the Super Bowl is a bit of a providential peep into a prophetic keyhole. When I see tens of thousands of men and woman at the stadium joined by another fifty million homes, chanting, shouting, and completed engaged with the action on the field I begin to see a bit of an admittedly rudimentary picture of what we will see when Christ comes again as the reigning King.

Consider with me the reality of countless worshipers gathering together to see the preeminent One exalted and to join in his exaltation. There will be no competition or rivalry to Jesus, for he alone will be distinguished as worthy, adored as perfect, honored as King, cherished as Savior, revered as King, and loved as a friend.

Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.

There is no doubt that humanity was made as passionate and worshiping beings. The great perversion of the fall births all sorts of idolatrous mutations of this. But rejoice with anxious anticipation when you see men and woman display their inward affections outwardly through face painting, silly costumes, and all of the team gear, for one day men and women will stand regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit of God with undivided attentions or affections before the One who alone is worthy to receive the title supreme and to be the object of worship.

And it is this reason that we pray as our Lord instructed us:

Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Personally, I cannot wait!!

Imagine the music. It will all be theologically correct and all Christ-exalting.

Consider your affections, completely riveted on Jesus without earthly distractions or prideful tugs of your fallen heart to worship yourself.

Consider the duration, constant worship and enjoyment of the Savior.

Consider the Savior, enthroned and exalted, nodding his head in hearty acceptance of the worship that he purchased with his own blood. How sweet and how heavenly is this worship?!

O’ for this day to hasten here that we might shed these earthly tents which are plagued by sin to stand before Jesus with hearts, voices, and affections united in unmitigated and unhindered worship of him, for he is indeed, “the only one”.

The Cure for Cold Religion

So encouraging to know the neither the problem nor the solution has changed in the last 350 years:

The reason our affections are so chilled and cold in religion—is that we do not warm them with thoughts of God. Hold a magnifying glass to the sun, and the glass burns that which is near to it. So when our thoughts are lifted up to Christ, the Sun of righteousness, our affections are set on fire. No sooner had the spouse been thinking upon her Savior’s beauty—but she fell into love-sickness. (Song of Sol. 5:8). O saints, do but let your thoughts dwell upon the love of Christ, who passed by angels and thought of you; who was wounded that, out of his wounds, the balm of Gilead might come to heal you; who leaped into the sea of his Father’s wrath, to save you from drowning in the lake of fire! Think of this unparalleled love, which sets the angels wondering—and see if it will not affect your hearts and cause tears to flow forth! — Thomas Watson (The Great Gain of Godliness), p. 87

Cut Again by the Blades of Mercy

“Our Father in heaven…” Matthew 6.9a

You cannot say ‘Our Father’ without being cut deep and quick with the blades of mercy.

Apart from the successful work of God’s Son, we would address God as “my enemy” and he would likewise address us as “my enemy.” (Rom. 5.10)  But through the perfect doing and dying of Jesus we may say, “Our Father.” And he says, “My beloved sons and daughters.” You must begin to see something of the value of Christ your mediator to so affect your standing before God as to transform you from a sworn enemy to a beloved and welcomed child.

Motivation to Run to God in Prayer

Three things may give boldness in prayer. We have a Father to pray to, and the Spirit to help us to pray, and an Advocate to present our prayers.

God’s children should in all their troubles run to their heavenly Father, as the sick child in 2 Kings 4: 19: ‘He said unto his father, My head, my head.’ So pour out thy complaint to God in prayer. ‘Father, my heart, my heart; my dead heart, quicken it; my hard heart, soften it in Christ’s blood. Father, my heart, my heart.’ Surely God, who hears the cry of ravens, will hear the cry of his children! –Thomas Watson (The Lord’s Prayer), p.21

Some Much Needed Down Time

The crickets will be chirping here on Irish Calvinist as I will be on vacation…be back in about a week.

The Preacher Must Impersonate the Gospel

The preacher must impersonate the gospel. Its divine, most distinctive features must be embodied in him. The constraining power of love must be in the preacher as a projecting, eccentric, an all-commanding, self-oblivious force. The energy of self-denial must be his being, his heart and blood and bones. He must go forth as a man among men, clothed with humility, abiding in meekness, wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove; the bonds of a servant with the spirit of a king, a king in high, royal, in dependent bearing, with the simplicity and sweetness of a child.

The preacher must throw himself, with all the abandon of a perfect, self-emptying faith and a self-consuming zeal, into his work for the salvation of men. Hearty, heroic, compassionate, fearless martyrs must the men be who take hold of and shape a generation for God. If they be timid time servers, place seekers, if they be men pleasers or men fearers, if their faith has a weak hold on God or his Word, if their denial be broken by any phase of self or the world, they cannot take hold of the Church nor the world for God. –E.M. Bounds Power through Prayer

How American Express Helps Us to Smile Upon God’s Work

Like most, I am drawn in by the creativity of these commercials. American Express has done a great job making you laugh, smile, and (most importantly for them) think positively about their brand.

As I watch the commercials I can’t help but see the gospel parallels.

The camera finds smiley faces everywhere. At first it is pretty easy to spot, but by the end of the one minute spot you are seeing smiley faces in places you might not ordinarily see. You are being ‘trained’ so to speak, to see the smiles.

Think with me about the renewed mind of the Christian. You have been given eyes to see the glory of God in creation and in real time events. You are to spot God’s the smiling work of God’s glorious creation and providence as you encounter life.

We are to see him in the sunrise. We see him in the mirror as we consider creation and redemption. We see his glory in time with our children, as we consider that they are a gift from him. We see his glory in our conversations with our spouse. We see it in the lives of unbelievers as they even communicate something of God’s image and glory in their lives and vocations. We see his glory in the created world around us. We see it in the food we eat and our taste buds that communicate its flavor. We see his glory when talk to others and realize that God is graciously showing them more of his Son, and conforming them into his image. And on and on the list could go.

You may rightly say that everything and everyone is sovereignly trademarked with the brand ‘Soli Deo Gloria‘ or ‘The Glory of God alone.’ Everything and everyone were made by God and for God. He is the chief end.

As Christians we should learn from the creative passion of American Express and find ourselves looking upon everything with the question, “How does this communicate the glory of God?”

This practice will not doubtless prove to be both refreshing and rewarding.

When Parents Begin to Take Prayer Seriously

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately and specifically with regard to parenting/shepherding. Here is a pithy quote from a very helpful book on prayer. I think he nails it here:

Until you are convinced that you can’t change your child’s heart, you will not take prayer seriously. –Paul Miller A Praying Life, p. 167

How Athletes Should Act When things don’t go their way

After getting hurt and then loosing to Alabama in the National Title Game Texas quarterback Colt McCoy shows that he is a class act. We often hear of athletes’ faith and wonder how it coincides with things not going their way. In this case we see McCoy show an encouraging degree of Christian maturity in his acceptance of God’s sovereign and good will. Good stuff for young kids (and grown men) to watch.

Here is another one from McCoy…good to see his mindset before such injuries too.

(ht: FCA Nebraska)

Praying for Our Children

Here in Omaha we have gotten absolutely buried with snow this winter. As a result I have found myself, depending upon which day it is, staring at either a perfect blanket of fresh snow or a lot of little footprints due to my kids’ traffic. These contrasting images have served me well in thinking about prayer for my children.

Think of each day when you wake up as a fresh snow. There are no tracks. All is quiet. Then you get up and bring your petitions to God for your children. You pray for their salvation. You pray for them to honor Christ. You pray for their studies. You pray for their potential spouses. You pray for them to serve in Christ’s church. You pray for them to grow in their understanding and love for Christ. You pray for them to be faithful. You pray for God to supply a rich gospel legacy. And so on.

Think of such praying as making tracks in the fresh, undisturbed snow. You are, as their parent, bringing your petitions to the throne of grace. You are interceding for them. You are begging God that you would not do anything that would hinder their love for and faithfulness to Jesus. You are making a lot of tracks.

And here is the thought that troubled me so. Consider with me if we get lazy as parents. We don’t pray. We don’t care for our children’s souls. Think about what the snow looks like in front of your child’s ‘house’ so to speak. It is smooth. It is undisturbed. It is picturesque. It is indicting.

In a verse that should be on every parents’ mind comes from Samuel who felt the burden of spiritual growth, understanding and fidelity:

(1Sa 12.23) Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

If Pops and Momma are not going to carry their children to God’s bosom for care, then who will?

We may rightly impugn those who neglect their children’s most basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, time, development, etc). However, how indicting is it Christians if we remain mute at the bench of petition and not utter our child’s name and their good at the feet of Jehovah?

I am so thankful that God hears our prayers through the merit of Jesus. I am thankful that he is gracious to imperfect parents like me. And I am thankful that he is Sovereign and Good; whatever he has decreed will come to pass. Therefore, I pray and mess up the snow.

The ‘Manning Up’ Conference

We are having a men’s conference at Omaha Bible Church next month. The focus will be on the priority of demonstrating faithful Christian leadership. The intention is to take and chase down how the reality of the gospel so profoundly impacts & informs the life and service of the Christian man. There are indeed requirements. There are duties. There are responsibilities that flow out of our new life in Christ.

Furthermore there is little secret that since the fall of man these responsibilities have been ignored, abused, and perverted by some. Hence the need for the conference.

We were looking to make things a little edgy. So here is our marketing attempt:

Now the logic is this: just as this fat guy in a sun dress is out of place and offensive so too is the spiritual cross dressing of men who don’t act like men. Too many guys in churches are shamelessly prancing around in their spiritual sun dresses and mascara. On the other extreme there are many guys who think that leadership is being a jerk and suppressing people like a tyrant. In either case men need a biblical calibration. The conference aims to, like a loving friend, intervene and instruct in the practice of Christian masculinity.

So if you are an OBC guy then you need to be there. And if you are not, but are local, feel free to join us. Check the website for more details.

Keep your heart, O believer, much beneath the cross

Keep your heart, O believer, much beneath the cross, your conscience in frequent and close contact with the blood, and the slightest touch of sin will make you restless and unhappy until you have confessed, and God has forgiven.

This is the secret—which, alas! few see, or care to know—of preserving the garments white amid pollution, the mind serene amid turmoil, the heart happy amid sorrow, the life radiant and transparent as the sun, and the spirit, temper, and carriage Christ-loving, and Christ-like.

Oh the wonders of the precious blood of Christ! Who can exalt it too highly, adore it too profoundly, love, magnify, and honor it too deeply and exclusively? Will it not constitute the theme of our study, the burden of our song, and the source of our bliss as ages roll on, and never cease to roll?

Beloved, the surprise then will be, that here below we should have prized it so little, traveled to it so infrequently, and glorified it so imperfectly, and have regarded it with an affection so fickle and so cold! (The Precious Things of God, Octavius Winslow)

Is it Healthy to Adopt Edwards’ Resolutions for the New Year?

With us on the eve of New Year’s Resolutions, I figured it would be helpful to revisit the topic of the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. Many people are cutting and pasting Edwards’ resolutions into their journals and therefore their lives as their aim for living the Christian life. A quick reading of the resolutions will doubtless provide conviction, motivation, and refreshment for the Christian. Here is an example:

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

Here  is my question: Are these types of resolutions helpful for believers to cut and paste into their own lives? Is it spiritually healthy to try to emulate the resolutions of this giant?

I really firmly believe that Edwards understood and regularly marinated his mind in the refreshing truth of the gospel. When you read him you see that his joy is inextricably linked to what God has done in and through Christ.

We Like Measurable Standards
However, (and here is my concern) the propensity of the human heart to attach itself to rules and regulations for righteousness is an ever intimidating and sobering reality. We want to be active doing– so that we feel like we are– something. And the scary thing for me as both a pastor and someone who wants to pursue holiness is that we see the rules and don’t see the gospel. In other words we are so in awe of a guy like Edwards and his radical commitment to Christ that we miss the joy producing, life transforming power of Christ himself and his radical commitment to sinners like us.

This is a devastating error. We end up trying to be like Edwards instead of Jesus and we are depressed and dejected when we don’t measure up.

Furthermore, we may also elevate Edwards’ resolutions to some sort of righteousness standard. After all, we love rules. Don’t we? If we can acquire some sort of universally accepted standard of godliness then we can just aim for it. And if we achieve it then we may feel better. We may begin to feel righteous.

In this case we may just cut and paste these resolutions into our lives instead of the OT Law. We would line up behind Paul in passionately repudiating those who would aim to be justified by works of the Law. However, we may also be leaders in the line that aims to establish a new law that measures godliness, and (ostensibly) provides righteousness.

Do you see how dangerous this is?

Using Edwards is Idolatry
We could end up using Edwards to eclipse the very thing that he gave his life to. Edwards was (and remains) a puritanical megaphone for the infinite merit of Christ. You can barely go two pages in his writings without him showcases the glory of Christ in the gospel. What a tragedy it would be then for us today to gather fruit from a tree firmly planted on gospel banks and use it as nourishment on our journey to Sinai?!

Using Edwards is Helpful
So what do we do? Do we pitch Edwards? Do we disparage those who love to read him? Of course not. Instead, we need to keep him in context. We could certainly could learn a lot from Edwards in context…stare long at Christ, his person and work, and then dip you pen in the inexhaustible fountain of grace and respond to it with a Christ-centered, cross-boasting, pride-smashing, personal resolution to live for the glory of God…because it is right and he is worth it.

Infinitely Merciful to Some but Necessarily Just to All

I am REALLY enjoying Craig Biehl’s instructive tour through Jonathan Edwards’ theology of Christ’s obedience. It is really that good.

…in the redemptive work of the Son, in His satisfaction and perfect obedience according to the terms of the covenant of redemption, ‘God has found out a way for making the freedom of grace consistent with the honour of his holiness, justice, majesty, and authority.’ Moreover, He has done so to particular individuals in accordance with His equitable justice, as He is infinitely merciful to some, ‘but he is necessarily just to all.’ (The Infinite Merit of Christ, Craig Biehl),  p.77

Christ Obtains his Elect Spouse by Conquest

Christ has done greater things than to create the world, in order to obtain his bride and the joy of his espousals with her: for he became man for this end; which was a greater thing than his creating the world.

For the Creator to make the creature was a great thing; but for him to become a creature was a greater thing.

And he did a much greater thing still to obtain this joy; in that for this he laid down his life, and suffered even the death of the cross: for this he poured out his soul unto death; and he that is the Lord of the universe, God over all, blessed for evermore, offered up himself a sacrifice, in both body and soul, in the flames of divine wrath.

Christ obtains his elect spouse by conquest: for she was captive in the hands of dreadful enemies; and her Redeemer came into the world to conquer these enemies, and rescue her out of their hands, that she might be his bride.

And he came and encountered these enemies in the greatest battle that ever was beheld by men or angels: he fought with principalities and powers; he fought alone with the powers of darkness, and all the armies of hell; yea, he conflicted with the infinitely more dreadful wrath of God, and overcame in this great battle; and thus he obtained his spouse.

Let us consider at how great a price Christ purchased this spouse: he did not redeem her with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with his own precious blood; yea, he gave himself for her. –Jonathan Edwards, The Church’s Marriage to Her Sons, and to Her God (As quoted in: The Infinite Merit of Christ, p. 45)

Packer Slams the Blog Culture…But does he have a point?

J.I. Packer has been right about a lot of things and he has be wrong about a few things. Here he gives a somewhat scathing rebuke to the culture of blogging and even the ever emerging culture of Twitter. My question is, in this case is he right or wrong. What do you think?

“I’m amazed at the amount of time people spend on the internet. I’m not against technology, but all tools should be used to their best advantage. We should be spending our time on things that have staying power, instead of on the latest thought of the latest blogger—and then moving on quickly to the next blogger. That makes us more superficial, not more thoughtful.” (From World Magazine article on Packer, Patriarch).

Matt Chandler: 7 Miles

I enjoyed this video via the guys at Sermon Jam with Matt Chandler’s preaching:

(ht: mxbx)

A Billion Jacobs Engraved on His Breastplate

(Isa 53.9) and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Neither my mind nor my heart can fathom the polemical collision that occurred when Jesus, in his holy humanity, suffered the ill treatment, abuse and fermented scorn of his executioners. There really are no earthly comparisons or illustrations to faithfully communicate the injustice incurred at the hands of evil men as they shrouded the perfect and honorable one with abuse and shame.

But as I sat an chewed on this passage the word deceit jumped out at me. As I think about deceit I immediately think of Jacob. Who himself was a cunning deceiver. He tricked Isaac, Esau, Laban & others. He is the type of Bible hero that portrays a need for a redeemer. Shamefully, I can relate to this Jewish Patriarch.

And this is one of the amazing facets of the cross. Not only did Jesus endure such injustice from sinners but he did it for sinners.

Here he is absolutely free from sin. But at the same time he is shrouded with sin. He is, as 2 Cor. 5.21 says, made to be sin on our behalf. This he does while maintaining the integrity of his holy humanity. However, he is shrouded in the sewer clothes of our iniquity.

Therefore we can rightly say that while there was no deceit in his mouth, there was indeed deceivers on his mind, deceit on his back! There were a billion Jacobs engraved on his breastplate as this high priest went in to make atonement for the sins of his people.

And in this and for this we rejoice!

You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

There is a lot of (necessary) talk these days about preaching the gospel to yourself. This is truly a great need for every Christian. We all found ourselves slouching back to the self-promoting, self-worshiping default position of our hearts. That is, we forget the gospel.

But let’s be very clear about what it means to forget. We are not simply talking about forgetting facts or Bible verses. It is not like we somehow can’t remember the definition of substitutionary atonement or that Jesus came to save sinners. No, no, it is much bigger than this.

The Issue is Our Satisfied Delight
When we talk about forgetting the gospel we are talking about forgetting to see the glory of Christ in the gospel. That is, we forget to see the infinite value of Jesus as the redeemer. In this we see our infinite sinfulness, hopelessness, idolatry, and separation from God. The only thing we have to do with God apart from Jesus is to be on the wrong side of his barrel of divine wrath. So in seeing the beautiful sufficiency in Jesus, both his person and his work, we begin to delight in him as our Savior.

In other words, what we don’t just forget facts, but rather to delight in the glorious God behind the facts! Christ and his work is both historical and personal. That is, it happened in time and it happened for sinners like me and you! And the fact that it is successful and available for a rebel like me causes me to be amazed, humbled, refreshed and happy as I bask in the illuminating beams of the glory of Christ through the gospel.

More than an Upload of Data
Preaching the gospel to yourself is not just a mind exercise. You are not to be just reciting facts without the engagement of your heart. The gospel is to stir our minds with theological truth but that stirring also is like a divine oar in the water of our hearts, as it stirs us with rich gospel happiness.

In the gospel we are seeing the glory of Christ in his condescension for us; we see his infinite stooping to rescue infinite sinners and provide eternal righteousness. And then, one day, we’ll see his perfect righteousness and preserving power and unfailing love on full display as we, his bride, the church is wonderfully presented to him as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. This is all done through his work as the husband par excellence washing us, his bride with his word (Eph. 5.25-27)

So yes, preach the gospel to yourself everyday, even multiple times a day. But do not treat it like you just need an upload of data. Because, in reality, you need much more than that. You need divine help through the Spirit to happily see the glory of Christ in the gospel that you might be transformed into his own image (2 Cor. 3.18)

Dropping the False Saviors by Finding Sufficiency and Delight in Jesus

As a follow up to yesterday’s post, here is a helpful quote from Keller about needing to find sufficiency and delight in Jesus and his work. Great stuff:

“If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed. We stop trying to make others into saviors, because we have a Savior.” (Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods) p. 45

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