by: John Park, May 31st, 2011
Okay, so the title was a cheap way to get all two of your guys’ attention. But Tim Challies has two very helpful blog posts in which he gives us a clearer perspective on what it means to have a relationship with God. Too often times, we see our relationship with God as so different than our human relationships. And Challies rightly corrects this misconception. Here’s an excerpt from one of the posts:
…what if we are missing the point? What if the point of devotions is less about learning about God and more about spending time with God? What if it’s less about Bible study and more about building relational intimacy? What would change about our devotions if instead of trying to learn about God, we focused instead on spending time with God, time spent hearing from him through his Word and speaking to him through prayer? If this is the case it doesn’t much matter what we remember at the end of it because the joy has been in the moment, the value has been in the time spent together. The joy of dating isn’t in the aftermath but in the moment. And I think the same can be true with our devotions.
Then in part two of this series, he gives some helpful, practical tips at how to go about pursuing this relationship with God.
- We spend time
- We tell stories
- We ask questions
Again, click here (part 1) and here (part 2) to read the rest.
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by: John Park, March 21st, 2011
Quote from King’s Cross by Tim Keller
Available here at Amazon.com.
This man asks Jesus, “Would you heal my son?” And Jesus say, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” That is, “I can do it if you can believe.” The father responds, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” – that is, “I’m trying but I’m full of doubts.”
Then Jesus heals the mans’s son. This is very good news. Through Jesus we don’t need perfect righteousness, just repentant helplessness, to access the presence of God.
Jesus could have told the man, “I am the glory of God in human form. Purify your heart, confess all your sins, get rid of all your doubts and your double-mindedness. Once you have surrendered to me totally and can come before me with a pure heart, then you can ask for the healing you need.”
But Jesus doesn’t say that – not at all.
The boy’s father says, “I’m not faithful, I am riddled with doubts, and I cannot muster the strength necessary to meet my moral and spiritual challenges. But help me.” That’s saving faith – faith in Jesus instead of in oneself. Perfect righteousness is impossible for us, and if you wait for that, you will never come into the presence of God. You must admit that you are not righteous, and that you need help. When you can say that, you are approaching God to worship.”
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by: John Park, February 10th, 2011
Recently, I was reading Jonathan Edwards’s essay, “Thoughts on the Revival” and came across this quote. He was commenting on the First Great Awakening and some peoples’ objections to it because of the “violent” physical convulsions some people were experiencing as a result of the revival:
“Let us rationally consider what we profess to believe of the infinite greatness of divine wrath; divine glory, the divine infinite love and grace in Jesus Christ, and the infinite importance of eternal things; and then how reasonable it is to suppose, that if God a little withdraw the veil, to let light into the soul – and give a view of the great things of another world in their transcendent and infinite greatness – that human nature, which is as the grass, a shaking leaf, a weak withering flower, should totter under such a discovery!” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1)
Reading this piece makes me desire to be a part of another great awakening.
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by: John Park, February 9th, 2011
Justin Buzzard:
Most of us live life feeling our way towards an action, rather than acting our way towards a feeling. We have it backwards.
Instead, we ought to act our way towards a feeling, trusting that healthy emotions will follow healthy belief and action.
There is no more important arena for exercising this action-precedes-feelings order than in the talking/preaching you do to yourself and others.
The great John Wesley wrestled with this dynamic at a crucial juncture in his ministry. Wesley had come to believe the biblical gospel, to believe the staggering good news of justification by faith alone. This was the gospel he was preaching to himself and to the crowds. His brain believed this gospel, but he wasn’t feeling it and so he doubted whether it would be authentic of him to continue preaching the gospel while lacking the accompanying emotions of joy and feelings of freedom. Fortunately, John Wesley had a friend who gave him a single sentence of counsel that set him free. Below is their historic conversation.
John Wesley: “I see it clearly with my head but I do not feel it, and I had better stop preaching it until I feel it.”
Peter Bohler: “Do not stop preaching it, but go on preaching it until you do feel it.”
Peter Bohler’s ancient counsel to Wesley is my counsel to you, especially when it comes to the discipline of preaching the gospel to yourself and to others.
DO NOT STOP PREACHING IT, BUT GO ON PREACHING IT UNTIL YOU DO FEEL IT!
Today, don’t feel yourself towards an action, act your way towards a feeling. Don’t wait for the joy in order to act, go get the joy! Preach more gospel to yourself. Speak more gospel to others. Do not stop preaching it, but go on preaching it until you do feel it.
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by: John Park, January 26th, 2011
Paul Tripp, in this article on Desiring God, provides helpful insight on what we, as believers, are to do (or more precisely, what not to do) when we go through times in which God seems distant.
It’s so easy to question your belief system when you are not sure what God is doing. It’s so easy to give way to doubt when you are being called to wait. It’s so easy to forsake good habits and to take up habits of unfaith that weaken the muscles of the heart. Let me suggest some habits of unfaith that cause waiting to be a time of increasing weakness rather than of building strength. These are bad habits that all of us are tempted to give way to.
Tripp then described a few of these “bad habits”:
Giving way to doubt.
Giving way to anger.
Giving way to discouragement.
Giving way to envy.
Giving way to inactivity.
Click here to read the descriptions of each and what to do about them.
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