Chritians are Satisfied in Vanity Fair

Carl Trueman writes this a penetrating article about how evangelicals tend to domesticate our radicals, referring specifically to Jesus, but spending most of his time on C.S. Lewis and John Bunyan--very interesting!

At the end of the article, he explains the sinful reasons why we tend to domesticate our radicals in this very insightful paragraph:

"Given the way in which evangelical culture in America is so deeply embedded in the systems, practices and aspirations of American culture in general–-from its colleges and seminaries to its publishing houses to its relentless vision of `big is best’ to its personality cults of celebrity theologians to its mega-ministries to its amazing ability to transform anyone – even the patrician Anglican C S Lewis and the radical tinker John Bunyan – into friendly evangelical allies, the outlook is not bright. To put it bluntly, we live in Vanity Fair, and we seem to be quite happy there."

People, pastors and churches that don't address this reality will have a very difficult time experiencing sanctification while being so unknowingly and satisfyingly embedded in the sin-driven culture that we tend to love so much.

Witnessing To Mormons (Pt 1)

For my personal studies I decided that among other things I'd devote the first six months of the year to a cult and the last six to a world religion. Mormonism is my cult until July 1st, and I just finished reading the truly excellent Mormonism 101. Click here to read why I think it's so good.

In my first installment of witnessing tactics gleaned from Mormonism 101 I give you this famous quote from Brigham Young:

"Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test. The doctrine that we preach is the doctrine of the Bible, it is the doctrine the Lord has revealed for the salvation of the children of God, and when men, who have once obeyed it, deny it, they deny it with their eyes wide open, and knowing that they deny the truth and set at naught the counsels of the Almighty" (Discourses of Brigham Young, 126).

Ask the Mormon if they've followed this command from their prophet. Ask them to demonstrate whether what he says here is actually true. Ask them to demonstrate how what they believe about God, Jesus, sin, the gospel and salvation compare with what the Bible says about these critical topics.

If they avoid this, and punt to their "burning in the bosom" or some other supernatural "experience" for proof that Mormonism is truth, should they even be listened to at the outset?

Chapter 1: Why I Wrote This Book (Pt 2)

Dr. Piper wrote this book to answer the questions "How do you get a desire [for God that] you don't have and can't create?" or "How to you turn the spark into a flame?" (15). And, I'm not going to lie, that's why I wanted to read this book.

I am not interested in superficial, wishy-washy, half-in half-out, luke warm devotion to God. I'm just not and when I think and feel and live that way I hate myself. I really want God to use this book as a catalyst to begin something deep and lasting and real in my soul.

I want so badly to be the person Jonathan Edwards describes who sets no limit on his religious appetites and endeavors "by all possible ways to inflame their desires and to obtain more spiritual pleasures" because one's hungering for the Trinity and holiness "can't be too great for the value of these things, for they are things of infinite value" (17). When it comes to desiring God, balance, or as Edwards puts it "temperance," is not a virtue.

Chapter 1: Why I Wrote This Book (Pt 1)

Honestly, we're reading this book because we don't desire God like we should, and we don't feel good about it.

We're convinced God is the object most to be desired because He is infinitely desirable, but in my most honest moments, I don't think about Him that way, I don't feel about Him that way and I don't act that way towards Him. I join my name to the list of those who do not desire "God with the passion he demands" (13).

This gets worse because God the Most Desirable does not leave the finding of joy in Him as an option I can take or leave. "Rejoice in the Lord always" is a command!

But between me and my full satisfaction in God stands my indwelling sin "by making other things look more desirable" and "by making me think I am pursuing joy in God, when, in fact, I am in love with his gifts" (14).

As a result, I agree with Piper that in light of this almost insurmountable struggle a "manageable, duty-driven, decision-oriented, willpower Christianity now seem[s] easy, and real Christianity ha[s] become impossible" (14).

Sadly, if I'm honest with myself I want knowledge and status and comfort and security more than God. And, I not only feel like I don't have a desire for God, but I feel like I don't have the power to give it to myself.

This is a very real reality for me. One I recognize and struggle with, and desperately want changed. That's why I'm looking so forward to reading this book. Piper says he wrote it "to be of help to believers and unbelievers who are seeing some of the radical heart-changes demanded by the Bible in the Christian life--especially that we must desire God more than anything" (15).

Thankfully, this struggle is "almost insurmountable," and it's almost because we serve a God for whom "all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). In this reality is my only hope. Heart transformation is God's sovereign, gracious work, and one that I remember saying "Pray all night if you don't have it."

Praying for Non-Christians

Do you pray for specific unbelievers to be saved?

After reading a short section of Augustine's Confession, I was struck with these words that I hope to incorporate into my prayers for unbelievers (if you like, read it in context here ch. 8, para. 12):

"It was pleasing in Your sight to reform my deformity, and by inward stings You didst disturb me so that I was impatient until You were made clear to my inward sight."

I want God to "disturb" the unbelievers I pray for, along with convicting them of "sin, righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8) and putting gospel-sharing believers around them so that He will be made clear to their inward sight, something I think only happens after salvation (cf. Romans 1:18-23, 8:5-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 4:17-18).

Augustine on Pride

In the midst of his wrestling with God in his Confessions, Augustine makes this priceless statement about pride:

"By my swelling pride I was separated from You, and my bloated cheeks blinded my eyes" (VII.11).

Can't you just picture an obese man who's eyes squint under the pressure coming up from his inflated cheeks?

Pride not only separates a person from God, but it blinds him to God, blinds him to the separation and blinds him from the fact that it's precisely his pride that has caused this separation.

John Piper's When I Don't Desire God

The next book we're going to read through as well as blog through is John Piper's When I Don't Desire God.

My friend's wife agrees with John Piper himself that if you're going to read one book this is the one to read (Piper said this in this interview).

We decided to do it because a lot of our conversations while reading through Lundgaard's The Enemy Within revolved around why our Christian lives are so difficult and dull and just plain blah compared to when we were first saved. We concluded that God gives a special grace to new believers, and that it's lost overtime for various reasons and needs to be sought after and regained.

I'm sure we're both praying that God will use this book to confront and convict us of our sins as well as reinvigorate our spiritual lives.

Sin, Death and Joseph (Gen 38, 39)

I made the following observations about sin and death, and sin's consequences while reading Genesis 37-39 today.

Concerning sin and death, the Bible says people die because of their sin:

"Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life" (Gen 38:7).

Onan "was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also" (Gen 38:10).

Now, this is not the only reason people die, but this is one of the reasons. And, this is not just the Old Testament as 1 Corinthians 11:30 and 1 John 5:16 say the same thing: God, the One who "puts to death and gives life" (Deut 32:39), kills people because of their sin.

And, concerning sin, it's consequences and how to fight it, remind yourself of Joseph and Potiphar's wife:

"Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, 'Lie with me.' But he refused and said to his master's wife, 'Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?' As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her" (Gen 37:6-10).

Joseph fought sin by filling his mind with what sin is (namely, a "great evil"), who its against (horizontally Potiphar, and vertically God), and it's consequences (vv. 8-9, also horizontal and vertical). As a result, he kept himself from being anywhere near where this sin could take place (v. 10). The truths of verses 8-9 motivated him to take the action he did in verse 10.

Also, despite being aware of the horizontal benefits Potiphar showed him, the bottom line for Joseph was he refused to sin because he'd be sinning against God. Sadly, I don't think of that reality until after I've sinned.

Clear Your Schedule & Listen

While passing out flyers today for my dad's business I've been walking from house to house listening to the message below by Dr. Paul Tripp (author of Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands) from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary's 2007 Theology Driven Ministry Conference.

I told my friend just now that listening to them has been like having someone cut open my chest to allow the light of God's Word to shine on my heart and I've been getting filleted.

1. Your Walk with God is a Community Project (Tripp)
2. Progressive Sanctification and the Anti-Social Nature of Sin (Tripp)
3. The Pastor's Role in Sanctification (Ferguson)
4. Colossians 3:1-17 (Ferguson)
5. Sanctification in the Middle of the Messiness of Relationships (Tripp)
6. Looking in the Mirror: James 1 (Ferguson)
7. Playing in the Box: Romans 7 (Tripp)

If you click on the message's name you can listen instantly, and if you press Control and click your mouse on the link (or Right click if you have a PC), you should be able to start downloading it (if it doesn't, let me know). If that doesn't work, click here to subscribe to the podcast, or click here and scroll down to March 26th and you'll see the conference audio.

I've listened to the first two of Dr. Tripp's four messages so far, and I've also included the messages from Dr. Sinclair Ferguson to have the full conference. The last two were given in the same venue at the same time, but for a reason I don't know they weren't part of the conference.

I hope you're as challenged and rebuked and encouraged and grateful for the Savior as a result of these as I have been.