As a young man, Jonathan Edwards purposed to order his spiritual life by vowing to live for the glory of God. Such resolve would require him to live with spiritual discipline and a dogged determination in every area of life. He knew that in this pursuit, sin must be forsaken and his tendency to anger resisted. Time must be measured, death must be appraised, and eternity weighed. Life must be lived wholeheartedly. Humility must be shown, and love practiced. In all this, self must be regularly examined.
At the very beginning of his Christian journey, Edwards asked himself: How do i want to live? What is my purpose in life? What type of person do I want to be? His answers to these questions were framed in his “Resolutions.”
No matter where we are in our individual Christian lives, none of us has arrived. There is much spiritual maturity yet to be realized. There is much more that God can do in and through us. Edwards’ approach to the Christian life serves as a strong motivation for each of us to live for the glory of God. May you resolve to live your life not for self but for God.
– Steve Lawson
in “The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards”
In reading this book, I came to this page and just had to share it. It has encouraged and convicted me of my own need for greater discipline in all ares of my life so that I may better pursue godliness, holiness, and sanctification (they all pretty much work together). It points me back to the sermon I preached on resolutions the first Wednesday in January at SIX33 and the 10 Questions.
If you’ve never read all 70 of the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, I encourage you to set aside a few minutes and read through them. They’re very rich and it will definitely be worth the time it takes.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Rob
<><
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Just one more reason...
Much thanks to Milton Vincent for writing "A Gospel Primer." The Primer has impacted my walk with Christ more than any other book outside of the Bible. This came after reading the section "A Heart for the Lost" again a week or so ago:
A Heart for the Lost
The more I meditate on the truths of the Gospel, the more a burden for seeing others saved develops in me. The more I think about what Christ has done for me, the more I want to see others on the receiving end of the grace and mercy of God.
This is what seems to have happened to Paul when he wrote Romans.
Romans 5 - Paul is talking about his standing before God. He talks of how he has been declared righteous. How he was justified.
Romans 6 - speaks of freedom from sin and the effect of the Gospel on a person.
Romans 7 - Paul speaks of the dilemma he faces as a saved person when he still struggles with sin. Sin still plagues him even in his justified state.
Romans 8 - There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Our lives become a work of the Holy Spirit. We must walk in the Spirit. We will walk in the Spirit.
Romans 1-8 is essentially an extensive and beautiful unfolding of the Gospel.
Romans 8:35-39 is a fantastic triumphant climax speaking of the endless love of God which enables believers to be victorious in all things. It says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Meditating on the Gospel had a profound effect on Paul. He obviously felt joy in writing about the Gospel and what it means in not only the lives of all believers, but also in what it meant to him personally.
Romans 9 - Paul really shows us the passion that the Gospel created in him.
“After meditating on a beautiful explanation of the Gospel, Paul’s heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow Jews to experience the saving power of the Gospel.” (M. Vincent)
He undoubtedly had this burden before writing Romans, but this burden only grew as he meditated on the Gospel truths in Romans 5-8 specifically. When we meditate on the Gospel, it should lead our thoughts toward the tragedy of those who are not saved.
If we want to have a ‘Romans 9’ kind of burden for those who are not saved, we must learn to meditate on the Gospel is Paul did in Romans 5-8. Milton Vincent says it well: “Over time, my joy in the Gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief-stained joy will lend a God-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost.”
Do you have a deep desire to see others repent and believe in the Gospel?
Have you recently shared the Gospel with someone? If the answer to both of these questions is not “YES!!!” then may I suggest that you need to return to the Gospel and truly meditate on it and what Christ has done for you, a totally depraved sinner?
Start with Titus 3:3-7, then click here.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Rob
<><
A Heart for the Lost
The more I meditate on the truths of the Gospel, the more a burden for seeing others saved develops in me. The more I think about what Christ has done for me, the more I want to see others on the receiving end of the grace and mercy of God.
This is what seems to have happened to Paul when he wrote Romans.
Romans 5 - Paul is talking about his standing before God. He talks of how he has been declared righteous. How he was justified.
Romans 6 - speaks of freedom from sin and the effect of the Gospel on a person.
Romans 7 - Paul speaks of the dilemma he faces as a saved person when he still struggles with sin. Sin still plagues him even in his justified state.
Romans 8 - There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Our lives become a work of the Holy Spirit. We must walk in the Spirit. We will walk in the Spirit.
Romans 1-8 is essentially an extensive and beautiful unfolding of the Gospel.
Romans 8:35-39 is a fantastic triumphant climax speaking of the endless love of God which enables believers to be victorious in all things. It says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Meditating on the Gospel had a profound effect on Paul. He obviously felt joy in writing about the Gospel and what it means in not only the lives of all believers, but also in what it meant to him personally.
Romans 9 - Paul really shows us the passion that the Gospel created in him.
“After meditating on a beautiful explanation of the Gospel, Paul’s heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow Jews to experience the saving power of the Gospel.” (M. Vincent)
He undoubtedly had this burden before writing Romans, but this burden only grew as he meditated on the Gospel truths in Romans 5-8 specifically. When we meditate on the Gospel, it should lead our thoughts toward the tragedy of those who are not saved.
If we want to have a ‘Romans 9’ kind of burden for those who are not saved, we must learn to meditate on the Gospel is Paul did in Romans 5-8. Milton Vincent says it well: “Over time, my joy in the Gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief-stained joy will lend a God-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost.”
Do you have a deep desire to see others repent and believe in the Gospel?
Have you recently shared the Gospel with someone? If the answer to both of these questions is not “YES!!!” then may I suggest that you need to return to the Gospel and truly meditate on it and what Christ has done for you, a totally depraved sinner?
Start with Titus 3:3-7, then click here.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Rob
<><
Friday, April 9, 2010
A new goal...
So back at the beginning of the year I not only challenged the High School students at Immanuel to set some Resolutions, but set a few myself (most of them are going well). Well yesterday I added a new one. This probably isn't so much a "goal" as it is something to do and work at when I have time.
I've now been to two restaurants in the LA area that have been featured on the Food Network. Those that know me know how much I enjoy good food. Someone once pointed out that all of my facebook posts are either about food or about God. I laughed. There are definitely quite a few about food.
So since I've done a couple of the places, I thought, "Hey! Why not hit up as many of them as I can? After all, I live in Southern California and quite a few of them are out here..."
Enter the new "something to do" scenario. So if you see a place mentioned on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" or another Food Network TV Show, let me know and I'll head out there and give you a report on what I think. If you also live out here, join me!
Here's the basic report on the two I've been to so far:
Nickel Diner (Downtown L.A.) - the Maple Glazed Bacon Donut (Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives). It wasn't at all what I expected. It looked kind of like a Krispy Kreme with sprinkles on it. I expected more of a bacon-y attack. There was definitely a bacon flavor going on, but it wasn't an overwhelming thing. The donut was cakey, but not quite as thick and heavy as a typical cake donut. All in all, definitely worth the trip to the diner. If I'm ever in the area again, I'll definitely get one.
Father's Office (Santa Monica) - I saw this on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Bacon" a few nights ago. Hart to describe this bacon cheeseburger sort of thing. Definitely very good and very different. Father's Office has two locations and the one in Santa Monica is definitely more of a bar than a restaurant. We had to wait to get in, and once we did, made our way up to the bar to order, then had to find a place to sit. It was dark, noisy, and packed. The guy at the door told us it was open seating, so just order and sit anywhere. We did find a place to sit, (definitely a story for another time!) and when the guy brought the burger, it was really good. The bacon is cooked with a bunch of carmelized onions. It was a french roll, meat, spinach instead of lettuce, and this bacony carmelized onion "goop" all over with cheese on top of that. VERY GOOD. Hard to describe, but worth the trip. I recommend going during the day. Definitely not on a weekend night. Thursday night was sketchy enough.
So that's the latest. I'll keep you posted on future adventures in the Food Network Restaurant Search....
I've now been to two restaurants in the LA area that have been featured on the Food Network. Those that know me know how much I enjoy good food. Someone once pointed out that all of my facebook posts are either about food or about God. I laughed. There are definitely quite a few about food.
So since I've done a couple of the places, I thought, "Hey! Why not hit up as many of them as I can? After all, I live in Southern California and quite a few of them are out here..."
Enter the new "something to do" scenario. So if you see a place mentioned on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" or another Food Network TV Show, let me know and I'll head out there and give you a report on what I think. If you also live out here, join me!
Here's the basic report on the two I've been to so far:
Nickel Diner (Downtown L.A.) - the Maple Glazed Bacon Donut (Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives). It wasn't at all what I expected. It looked kind of like a Krispy Kreme with sprinkles on it. I expected more of a bacon-y attack. There was definitely a bacon flavor going on, but it wasn't an overwhelming thing. The donut was cakey, but not quite as thick and heavy as a typical cake donut. All in all, definitely worth the trip to the diner. If I'm ever in the area again, I'll definitely get one.
Father's Office (Santa Monica) - I saw this on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Bacon" a few nights ago. Hart to describe this bacon cheeseburger sort of thing. Definitely very good and very different. Father's Office has two locations and the one in Santa Monica is definitely more of a bar than a restaurant. We had to wait to get in, and once we did, made our way up to the bar to order, then had to find a place to sit. It was dark, noisy, and packed. The guy at the door told us it was open seating, so just order and sit anywhere. We did find a place to sit, (definitely a story for another time!) and when the guy brought the burger, it was really good. The bacon is cooked with a bunch of carmelized onions. It was a french roll, meat, spinach instead of lettuce, and this bacony carmelized onion "goop" all over with cheese on top of that. VERY GOOD. Hard to describe, but worth the trip. I recommend going during the day. Definitely not on a weekend night. Thursday night was sketchy enough.
So that's the latest. I'll keep you posted on future adventures in the Food Network Restaurant Search....
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Proverbial Posting...
So I’m reading through Proverbs this month and making note of a couple of things as I read. One is the “friends” passages. Over and over we see in Proverbs that the people we hang out with and spend time with are critical to who we are.
Additionally, I’ve said many times that we need to be more Biblical in our thinking. I believe it was Charles Spurgeon that said “I want to be so saturated with the Bible that if you were to cut me, I would bleed Scripture.” We need to be more saturated with Scripture so that our thinking is in line with what the Bible teaches.
We live in a culture that saturates us with non-Biblical thinking. Everywhere we turn, the ideas and thought processes that are thrown at us are anti-Biblical. This needs to change. As I’m reading through Proverbs, I’m making notes of all the passages that deal with those we hang out with, our friends and companions, with the goal of putting together a Biblical picture of what our friendship scenario should look like.
I came across this yesterday and it was so clear and well put together, that I had to include it here. It’s from Alex and Brett Harris. Their website, www.therebelution.com is one that I’d heard of but hadn’t really looked at until a couple of days ago. So far, I’m liking what I see. This is a copy/paste from a blog that Alex Harris wrote. I couldn’t say it any better, so here it is in his own words:
__________________________________________
“In Proverbs 13:20 we read, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” The meaning of this verse is clear. To put it plainly, we become like our companions. This is a simple but foundational truth. For us as young people to make our peers our primary source of companionship is to effectively pool our ignorance and foolishness. To walk with the wise is to walk with those who are older, wiser, and godlier than we are.
However, we will not glean the full wisdom of this verse unless we recognize that our companions are not limited to just people. Our companions include, not only our friends and family members, but also the books, magazines, newspapers, and comic books we read, the movies and TV shows we watch, the video games we play, the blogs and websites we surf, and the music, radio shows, and podcasts we listen to.
In today’s information-charged world, many people spend more time with these non-human “companions” than with their peers. According to a study published by Business Week, the average American spends 9.5 hours a day watching TV, going to movies, renting videos, reading magazines, listening to music, and surfing the web. This was in 1998. Since then, Internet use has skyrocketed, DVDs have supplanted VHS, and the iPod has ushered in a new era of isolation from fellow human beings.
The mistake that many young people fall into is this: while we may be careful as to who our human companions may be, we give little to no thought regarding the countless other companions that we constantly allow to influence us. This is why media, of any kind, is such a powerful societal weapon. We do not think of it as a companion.
______________________________________________
If we truly wish to walk with the wise, we must choose the media we read, watch, and listen to, with the same care we apply to the selection of our friends… Because, they are our friends.”
Well said Alex. I couldn’t have put it any better myself.
Rob
<><
Additionally, I’ve said many times that we need to be more Biblical in our thinking. I believe it was Charles Spurgeon that said “I want to be so saturated with the Bible that if you were to cut me, I would bleed Scripture.” We need to be more saturated with Scripture so that our thinking is in line with what the Bible teaches.
We live in a culture that saturates us with non-Biblical thinking. Everywhere we turn, the ideas and thought processes that are thrown at us are anti-Biblical. This needs to change. As I’m reading through Proverbs, I’m making notes of all the passages that deal with those we hang out with, our friends and companions, with the goal of putting together a Biblical picture of what our friendship scenario should look like.
I came across this yesterday and it was so clear and well put together, that I had to include it here. It’s from Alex and Brett Harris. Their website, www.therebelution.com is one that I’d heard of but hadn’t really looked at until a couple of days ago. So far, I’m liking what I see. This is a copy/paste from a blog that Alex Harris wrote. I couldn’t say it any better, so here it is in his own words:
__________________________________________
“In Proverbs 13:20 we read, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” The meaning of this verse is clear. To put it plainly, we become like our companions. This is a simple but foundational truth. For us as young people to make our peers our primary source of companionship is to effectively pool our ignorance and foolishness. To walk with the wise is to walk with those who are older, wiser, and godlier than we are.
However, we will not glean the full wisdom of this verse unless we recognize that our companions are not limited to just people. Our companions include, not only our friends and family members, but also the books, magazines, newspapers, and comic books we read, the movies and TV shows we watch, the video games we play, the blogs and websites we surf, and the music, radio shows, and podcasts we listen to.
In today’s information-charged world, many people spend more time with these non-human “companions” than with their peers. According to a study published by Business Week, the average American spends 9.5 hours a day watching TV, going to movies, renting videos, reading magazines, listening to music, and surfing the web. This was in 1998. Since then, Internet use has skyrocketed, DVDs have supplanted VHS, and the iPod has ushered in a new era of isolation from fellow human beings.
The mistake that many young people fall into is this: while we may be careful as to who our human companions may be, we give little to no thought regarding the countless other companions that we constantly allow to influence us. This is why media, of any kind, is such a powerful societal weapon. We do not think of it as a companion.
______________________________________________
If we truly wish to walk with the wise, we must choose the media we read, watch, and listen to, with the same care we apply to the selection of our friends… Because, they are our friends.”
Well said Alex. I couldn’t have put it any better myself.
Rob
<><
Friday, April 2, 2010
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