Babbelog

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl-A review, sort of

2009-07-11T12:05:00.006-05:00

Just finished reading Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson. Wow.

I am not sure what to say about the book, where to start, how to review.

Let's start with the bad news and we'll move on. The book is so good I am not sure that the cover design and the title give it justice. I am sure it will be reprinted often. I hope it gets a face lift. My opinion. I think the old adage, you can't judge a book by its cover, is fitting here.

Now the good news: The rest of the book is unbelievably good. Is it a philosophy book? Theology? Practical Christian living? For adults? Crazy people?

I heard a country song I sort of like. The refrain goes like this, "God is great. Beer is good. And people are crazy." Somehow, I think that would be a fitting review of Nate's book.

You just have to read this book. It's schooled me, got me an education I was lacking. Knowledge? Not so much that, although there are some really cool observations about the working of God's world. Wonder? Yes. Life. That, too. Hope.

The book is an apologetic but not like one you'd expect, so forget I wrote that. I guess the more I look at the cover, it makes me dizzy and the book did, too. Maybe the cover is not so bad afterall?

This book reminds me of Lewis, Tolkein, Chesterton, and Wodehouse but with a gospel hope for the future that all of them were incapable of.

Try swallowing all the reductios of your skeptic friends. Bitter? Nate swallows them with laughter. It's not a bad morsel. You should try it.

I'd say this was one of the best books I've ever read but you wouldn't believe me.

The book left me strangely emotional and still has that effect as I sit here and think about it. There is the sadness of the reality of the roughness of the world but it is mixed with the laughter of God's story. I think we can call that Christian joy.

The main effect the book had on me was to wake me up. I have been feeling a bit dreary and sleepy lately, sleepy about life. But this book has woken me up. Remember the Ents?

I think y'all should get this book and just wake up.

Woe is Me

2009-07-10T10:01:00.003-05:00

I've been gone for awhile, both in body and mind. It takes two to tango.

I was put in my place today, again, as if I needed it. I saw an old woman, broken, probably by multiple strokes, pushing her cart past BB&T. I'd hate for her to see me write about her thus but she'll never see this blog anyway. To say she's an inspiration falls short. She does more than inspire. She shames. She humiliates. She scorns. She jests. She scoffs. She jokes and laughs lives.

I've been gone for awhile, in body and mind, because I've a body that doesn't mind.

She has a body that doesn't mind, either. It's way more broken than mine. Her arm doesn't work. Her legs barely do their duty. Part of her mouth looks like it has trouble with it's designed function. But she's there, shuffling along, shaming all the whole bodies, slightly broken. She is not complaining. She lives. I don't know her. Maybe she does complain. Maybe she'd like somebody to drive her somewhere. But she walks through my life, a constant reminder that things can always get worse and when they do, what do we do?, we live.

I know this sounds a bit twisted but I see it as grace. God is watching me and her. He smiles at one and shakes His head at the other. Guess which is which? But His head shaking is not disgust, at least I hope not because I am the recipient of the gesture. It's more like a father shaking his head at his son when he tries to his ride his big sister's bike but is too small and too stupid to get it done. He thinks he's big stuff but he's not even big stuff enough to be like his older, and still stupid, sister. The head shaking will end one day and smiles will follow.

Anyway, I did a bit of reading while I was away. Some good, some not so and giving my goneness in body and mind, not sure if I benefited much. But I do think that I am the better for it all. God as my witness.

I promise I'll try to live better.

Communion Meditation-Sabbath

2009-04-30T10:15:00.001-05:00

Sabbath is rest. Christ is Sabbath.
Communion is Christ. Communion is Sabbath.

There are many ways to rest. And there are an equal and even multi-numerous ways to not rest. Of course, one way to rest is sleep. If you sleep and if your sleep is sweet, then sleep is a great picture of Sabbath. No worries. No troubles. At least until tomorrow morning. But some cannot sleep. And some, even if they do sleep, sleep in fits and starts with the worries of the world crashing upon them at each waking moment. That is not rest. That is not Sabbath.

So, how do we Sabbath when awake? How can we Sabbath on this day that seems almost as troublesome as every other day. We have to get up and get to church. We have to put on church clothes and church faces and attend in Sunday best with a fitting Sunday attitude. For some, that is exactly the opposite of rest. The day that ought to be the most restful, turns out to be a day of more frantic rushing about.

Well, it starts here at the Lord’s Table. You have been invited to eat with Jesus. Will you turn down such an invitation by Jesus? Will you not eat with the Lord who created heaven and earth? Will you not dine with the Spirit who hovered over the face of the waters in the beginning? Who would make excuses?

We have to work. We have trouble to deal with. We have kids to raise. We have a job that needs oversight.

Stop all that. Jesus has invited you to eat with Him. What could possibly be more important than that? Are you going to bag out on an invitation to eat food with God?

Stop. Change your priorities. Cancel all your engagements. Clear your brain. Say a prayer. Look around at the guests. You don’t have anything else to do. Just sit here and eat with Jesus. That is rest. That is Sabbath.

Exhortation-Sabbath Rest

2009-04-30T10:12:00.002-05:00

Today is the Lord’s Day, Resurrection Day, the day of the Christian Sabbath. What does Sabbath mean to us? Sabbath was one of the central confrontational issues in the New Testament. Jesus was always causing problems on the Sabbath. Or, I should more accurately say that Jesus was pointing out problems on the Sabbath and problems about the Sabbath. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus fed His disciples on the Sabbath. Jesus walked through the fields and picked grain on the Sabbath. The establishment did not like this.

We need to learn how to rest. We need to learn Sabbath. Now, part of what I mean by this is abstaining from your busy desires on the Lord’s Day. You need to put aside your work, your busy emails, your striving and driving to get ahead in the world. Getting ahead on this day means putting your trust in the Lord. Do you do that?

But even if we don’t work to make money, or do our normal jobs, say of being a student and studying on the Lord’s Day, Sundays still require work. We have to get up and get ready for church. We often have guests over for food and we all know that good food and a fine table is a lot of work. We have all of these kids to take care of and that is work, too. So, where is our Sabbath, among all this hustle and hurry?

Well, that is the point, isn’t it? Stop a minute. Slow down. Take a breath. We should ask, not only, “How do I practice Sabbath, but Who is my Sabbath?” Jesus is Sabbath. Jesus is rest. You need to learn to rest in Jesus all the time. We should have entered a continuing Sabbath but that takes practice.

The Lord’s Day is a good day to practice Sabbath. Stop doing so much. That’s good. But also learn that in any doing that is left, and some of it is necessary, that the rest continues in Jesus.

Sabbath is about peace with God. Sabbath is about thinking God’s thoughts after Him. Sabbath is about forgiveness. Sabbath is about hope. Sabbath is about resurrection. It takes some planning and slowing down to see all of this but you can see this even in the work you do on the Lord’s Day. So, rest in Jesus today. Rest from your labors. Rest from your striving. Rest in God’s promises. Rest in Christ.

Things I Never Noticed in the Bible

2009-04-30T10:00:00.004-05:00

Luke 23:40-42 40But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

Of course, we have all read and remembered, to some degree, of the faith of the thief on the cross. We have expressly related this story to those who have little hope for their loved ones as they grow old or near death in sickness. We remind them that even at the last hour a vile sinner can repent and be saved. That's all true and amen.

But have you ever noticed the FAITH of the thief on the cross?! Think about it. Even after the resurrection and Jesus's appearance to some, the disciples on the road to Emmaus have a hard time believing. They say, 'but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." You see, they thought it WAS he. They HAD faith but the faith was gone. Becuase Jesus died, they no longer believed that Jesus would redeem Israel. Their faith died with Jesus on the cross.

How much more glorious the faith of the thief? He was dying on the cross with Jesus dying on the cross. What does he say? Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom!

For most (all?) of the other disciples, Jesus was loosing every opportunity at coming into His kingdom by dying on the cross. But for thief dying on the cross, Jesus was coming into His kingdom. He embraced Christ and thus, while dying, was made to live. What FAITH!

SABBATH Rest-The Rest of God

2009-04-23T15:34:00.003-05:00

Just finished reading, The Rest of God-Restoring Your Soul by Restoring SABBATH, by Mark Buchanan. I am what you would call a Sabbatarian. That is, I believe the Lord's Day, Sunday, is the Christian Sabbath. Mark Buchanan believes this as well. However, this book is not a theological apologetic for the Lord's Day as Sabbath. It is much more practical and thus, theological, than that. The book is about resting in God, resting in the rest of God. He has a very balanced view. The book itself is restful and enjoyable. It is an invitation to slow down, to breathe, to notice the world that God has made and.....to rest.

These are good words for our time.

MRI

2009-04-23T15:30:00.002-05:00

Ever tried reading an MRI? Have no idea what I am looking at, even after looking at instructional pics on the internet. I'll find out next week but looks like meniscus and maybe ACL tears. I'll need surgery as I cannot straighten my leg. Something is stuck in the joint. If you are over 40 and thinking of doing some big jumps, don't!

Things I Never Noticed in the Bible-Mark 5

2009-04-16T11:14:00.002-05:00

Mark 5:5-9
5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Who is worshipping?

I suppose I had always read this that the Gadarene was worshipping Jesus. He was, in fact, worshipping Jesus. It was his body. However, when Jesus speaks to him, the Gadarene is nowhere to be found. He is lost somewhere among a legion of demons. He is so lost that he is not even able to speak to Jesus. The demons who are in control of his body and his speech speak to Jesus.

Here's the part I never noticed. It is weird. The Gadarene was not worshipping Jesus. The demons were. This was a worship of obeisance but not of love. They were afraid of Jesus and so they gave Him homage. But these were not His willing subjects. They did not love the Lord.

Not sure what theological ramifications this has but it must have some. I'll have to think more about that. But suffice to say, demons can worship the Lord.

Just a Blog

2009-04-15T13:45:00.003-05:00

Since my squirrel scribble I guess I'm in the mood to blog. I don't do straight blogging much and I fear it is somewhat of a disease that needs eradicating. But here goes.

I saw something else today that I am almost embarrassed to relate to you but it effected me so that I want to pass it on. Someone may need to examine my ID, because it is that sort of thing.

Have you heard of Susan Boyle? Try watching this and tell me if you get all choked up. You might think I am joking at first but keep watching. It really is amazing.

I nearly wept. Can't really say why, but there it is. Anybody else?

I'm 44 now and have the boldness to say I cried watching Britain's Got Talent. Who says I'm not sensitive, vulnerable and transparent? There you have it.

Davidbird and Goliath

2009-04-15T13:35:00.002-05:00

The world is a strange place. It is more than strange, it is magical beyond our wildest imaginations. In fact, our imaginations are never so wild as reality is. Reality mocks our imaginations as too plain, too simple, too unimaginative. Take the giraffe, for instance.

Now, back to Goliath.

Never before had I thought of a grey squirrel as Goliath but today I did. It was only fleeting, barely noticed and if I hadn't been daydreaming, I might never have noticed, at all. But I saw a blackbird chasing a squirrel today and it struck me as quite preposterous. Little black David chased him down the trunk and out onto a limb, down to the ground and out into the road. I am sure the bird was hoping a truck would zoom by and throw one of five smooth stones at the squirrels head. It probably happened but my light turned green and I hurried away.

Easter Exhortation

2009-04-15T13:33:00.001-05:00

There is hardly room for sadness on this day. We can hardly find in ourselves the need to repent for so great is our joy. Jesus is risen and sins are forgiven. But we can confess our unbelief. We can confess that we, like the disciples, cannot comprehend that the God of the universe, in the person, in the man, of Jesus, must suffer, die and rise again. But He has done so.

Let us take joy and in everything that we know, let us learn Christ, suffering, dying, rising, reigning. Let us learn the glories of Resurrection so that we take hope in each of our sufferings and deaths. The Christian life is about life but it is about life through death to life.

We confess that we are prone to death and dying, at times unable to see the glory of the dying bloom because we do not comprehend the seed of life that must spring from that death. But our Lord Jesus died with suffering, shame , sadness and despair. But this day, this day above all days, our hope is rekindled and death, despair, even suffering and sorrow, are mocked for all their supposed strength. For nothing is more powerful than Christ risen.

Book Recommend-What He Must Be

2009-04-15T13:22:00.003-05:00

Just finished reading What He Must Be...if he wants to marry my daughter, by Voddie Braucham, Jr.

This is an excellent book. Braucham challenges much of the prevailing evangelical culture surrounding families and especially fathers. In our own circles, we are familiar with these arguments for male headship and for the father participating in his daughter's courtship. So, we are not much surprised by what we find here. However, it is refreshing to hear someone outside of our immediate CRECish circles saying the same things that we are saying.

Furthermore, Braucham is a Reformed Baptist and sounds very covenantal in his thinking. This, too, is refreshing. He has many quotes from Luther and Calvin. Can't go wrong there.

I highly recommend this book to fathers thinking about what to do with daughters, sons and suitors, as your children approach marriagable age. Actually, you need to read this book, even if your children are very small. You need to think very long term in the way you raise your children so that when they grow into teens your way of leading and teachng them towards courtship is the way it has always been. If you wait until they are teenagers and then try to go down this path, you will have a rebellion on your hands.

I would love to see a Douglas Wilson/Voddie Braucham, Jr. courtship and marriage conference.

Easter Poem

2009-04-15T13:19:00.000-05:00

Not the dead Jesus but the living, we hold!
The Lord of glory this mystery told.
That those who believe would see greater things.
Jesus the victor, King of all Kings.

Death could not hold Jesus’s breath.
He died, He rose.
And dealt a death blow to death.

Jesus is risen! Hallelujah, Amen.
Jesus is risen, Sing praise unto Him.
Jesus is risen and sin is unseated.
Jesus is risen and death is defeated.

The Supper of the Lamb

2009-04-08T14:59:00.003-05:00

I just finished Robert Capon's, The Supper of the Lamb, A Culinary Reflection. I gave it four stars of four, only because it would seem dishonest to give it four and one half or five of four. That doesn't quite make sense, does it?

This book is really superb. I think it is a necessary antidote to incessant wrigglings and wigglings about stuff. American Christianity needs a good dose, no a great wallop upside the head, about the goodness of things. Capon does that well.

Why do we have such guilty consciences about participating in all that God calls good? Food to the full, wine by the glassfuls and joy overflowing in the heart of man. If anything is from the devil, it is the insistance that our stuff is not really good after all. And then, we find that we like stuff so much, beautiful things and ugly things alike, that we have to trip over ourselves to make that which we think is not good, somehow good. We analyze, philosphize and symbolize until the good stuff is anything but itself, or good.

But God made it all and called it good. So ought we. Capon says it much better than I do, so I suggest that you go out and buy this book, and after that, some pots and pans, a bottle of wine, a probably a gallon of Sherry (does it come in gallons?), a good batch of cigars, and start to relish in this world that God has made. Until we learn that God's Earth is good, we will never learn what or where Heaven is.

Communion Meditation- Jesus Gives

2009-03-13T11:05:00.001-05:00

Of course, the counter to stealing is giving. Thieves break in and steal but the Lord breaks the bread of His body and gives it to us. The Lord could have come to the earth and like other Kings taken us for Himself and used us up to advance His own glory. Instead, He gave Himself for us and gave us His glory in His Holy Spirit.

The nature of thievery is taking. The nature of godliness is giving. The Lord gave Himself for our sins. The Lord gave His Holy Spirit to us. The Lord gave us, who are the meek, the earth to inherit. The Lord gave us the waters of baptism, the bread of His body, the wine of His blood, the Holy Spirit to make it all alive with the fire of God. He gave us the promise of His covenant with us, to be our God and to claim us for His people. He gave us the Church. He gave us each other because it is not good for us to dwell alone. He gave us blessing upon blessing and promises of greater things to come, of eternal life, of perfect bodies, of victory over sin and death.

The Lord gives to us and we should learn to give to Him and to one another. That is what we do here as we break and eat the bread and wine, given for you.

Exhortation-Eighth Commandment

2009-03-13T11:02:00.002-05:00

Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

There are many ways to steal things. My hope is that you Christians would not outright steal from anybody. You won’t steal money, or anything from a store, or some possession from your employer because you think you are underappreciated or under paid. You children will not take things that don’t belong to you, candy or toys. That is stealing. You should be extremely honest about other people’s property.

But we Christians sometimes steal in other ways that can lead to the destruction of our character and make a thief out of us in the long run. I am thinking of two specific areas where we steal time and money.

The first is the Lord’s Day. God requires that we spend one day in seven at His house in worship and attending to our own rest from our work and seeking after our own desires. We should set aside this day specifically for worship and for gathering with the saints and not pursuing things that keep us away from or distract us from these blessed and restful duties.

Another area where we steal is in tithing. The Lord’s portion is one tenth of our increase. If you do not give one tenth of your increase to the Lord then you are stealing from Him.

Since the Lord is the dispenser of all good gifts, it should not surprise you that if you steal from the Lord on the Lord’s Day in time or money, the tithe or your duty of rest and worship, it should not surprise you, if you are short of time and money.

Furthermore, I warn you that if you take light your duty to the Lord in these areas that you will bear the fruit of your behavior as other sins latch on to these two in your own life or in the lives of your family members.

Judas was a petty thief, pilfering from the money, box but in the end he was the monster that betrayed our Lord.

Communion Meditation- Fidelity

2009-03-13T10:58:00.001-05:00

You shall be ever faithful. You shall give all fidelity to Christ and to His Church. As we come before the Lord each Lord’s Day, we affirm our commitment to Christ and renew our vows to Him. This is something akin to a married couple renewing their wedding vows. Or perhaps, on their yearly anniversary, remembering where they have come from and where they are going, together. Or even as they make a regular monthly or weekly date, affirming that they would date no other, seeking love nowhere else. And though I hesitate to say such things at church, this is like those sweet and tender things that lovers say to each other at the most intimate times.

It is in all of these places that love is remembered and rekindled, that prior commitments to one another are embraced and renewed, that the safety of the relationship is established, that jealousies and fears are abolished.

This meal is the meal of the faithful. God is faithful to us in Christ and through His Holy Spirit. We are faithful to Him, coming to Him by no other name except that great name of Jesus Christ, in whom all of our prior sins and prior infidelities are washed away. So, God receives us as faithful and makes us ever more faithful by washing us in the blood of Christ and the renewing and sanctifying work of His Holy Spirit.

Exhortation-Seventh Commandment

2009-03-13T10:56:00.001-05:00

Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

All through Scripture, spiritual unfaithfulness is called adultery and idolatry. The two are closely related. It is no wonder that when the hinges have come off of the church regarding basic Christian understandings of Scripture, proper worship and obedience to Christ in the fundamentals of the faith, that the doors of spiritual and physical protection also fall off. We seem to be in such times. The Church does not know the Word of God nor heed that which she knows. When the Church loses her first love, she goes after the second. That is idolatry. That is adultery. And when we speak of such so-called spiritual sins, we must understand that our spirituality always manifests itself in the flesh.

So, we must repent. We must turn to the Word of God. We must seek to walk in the power of the Spirit. We must worship God as if our lives and our marriages depended on it.

If your love grows cold; if your thoughts wander; if your first love waxes old, then you must examine your heart. Are you faithful to Christ? Do you love the Lord by doing what He says? Is your worship robust and sincere? Are you feeding on Christ in the Supper and growing in strength?

If we do this, then we can expect our love for our spouses to be consistent with our love for the Bridegroom of the Church. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her. Wives, reverence Your husband, and respect them, even as the Church is to submit to the Lord Jesus.

Do this and you will be faithful in thought, in word and in deed.

Communion Meditation- Brotherly Love

2009-03-13T10:53:00.001-05:00

Thou shalt not kill. Anger with your brother has been the problem from the beginning. It started when Cain killed Abel. There was enmity between Isaac and Ishmael, between Jacob and Esau, between Joseph and his brothers, between Moses and Aaron and their sister, too. David had trouble with his brothers and Absolam murdered his own brother. Jesus, Himself, had envious brothers and the Apostles, brothers in the Lord, envied one another and were seeking the places of honor. Judas betrayed his brothers and by his betrayal killed his spiritual elder brother, the Lord of glory.

But we are here at the Lord’s table, gathered as the children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, friends of our elder brother, the Lord Jesus. There is no place for envy here. We do not seek to put ourselves above our brother Jesus, nor above His friends to our left and to our right. We esteem others higher than ourselves, seeking rather to wash their feet than to rise up above them. The old way of enmity between brothers has been killed and therefore, we shall not kill with word or deed, with tongue or thought. But we shall love and serve, for love covers a multitude of sins.

The old ways are gone and behold all things are new in Christ Jesus. We are set free to be one with our brothers and sisters. This is what we declare here in this meal.

Exhortation-Sixth Commandment

2009-03-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

We often tend to think that others commit egregious sins and our sins are small and therefore worthy of grace. But we do not earn grace by being the least of sinners. We receive unmerited grace because we are sinners in great need of that grace. No Christian should be a murderer. We know that murderers do not inherit the kingdom of God. And Jesus reminds us that the murdering mindset is in the heart of all that envy their brothers and harbor hatred in their hearts.

Mathew 5:21-24 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, RacaRaca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

We trust that none of you would be so angry and bitter as to actually kill another person. But remember that the anger and hatred that rages in the heart of the murderer began as a flickering flame in the bosom of an ordinary sinner. Do not feed that flame. Do not give yourself reason to stay angry. Do not hold grudges. Do not refuse forgiveness. Do not envy your brothers and sisters in Christ, comparing yourselves one to another. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

But rather, bless those who curse you. Bless and curse not. Turn the other cheek. Just as you have been forgiven, so also forgive. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gifts to God.

Money Wisdom From Proverbs

2009-03-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

I have titled these entries, Money Wisdom From Proverbs, but like all wisdom it is multi-faceted and applies in many areas of our lives. This one certainly does.

The sluggard wants and is never fulfilled. Part of this wanting is a desire for people and things to serve him. Because he is a sluggard, he thinks that the world exists to give him pleasure, to make him happy, to build his self-esteem, to cater to his every want. We live in a world that is intent on developing more sluggards. Because we have so much excess, even after the recent market declines, we are prone to getting anything we want, and also of giving anything they want to our children. This is a great mistake and will only produce people who are never satisfied.

However, there is another kind of man, the diligent man. He is one who works hard because he does not feel that he is owed a living. He makes a living and more. He works hard to provide for himself and those around him. Such a man is a good husband, a giving father, a neighbor indeed. This diligent man gives of himself and finds that the more he gives, the more he has to give. The sluggard, on the other hand, finds that the more he takes, the less he has to give.

To him who has shall more be given. To him who has not, even what he does have shall be taken from him.

And what of these men’s souls? The giver is fat, the taker is lean. And while it is good for our bodies to be lean, we really ought to have fat souls.

Communion Meditation-Trust in the Lord

2009-03-12T11:56:00.000-05:00

We put our trust in the Lord. This is what we do when we come to Him in this meal. We are declaring our allegiance to Him and to His people. He welcomes us, having judged that we are worthy partakers of this meal. We are worthy through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Having said that we are worthy through Jesus, we should be reminded that we are indeed worthy. We do not come to this table as unworthy, vile sinners. We come to this table as cleansed, worthy, righteous saints.

This ought not to make us haughty, as if we deserved His favor. It should make us humble because we know that we have received the unmerited favor of God. But there it is, we are in the favor of God, through Christ and His Spirit. We are here, blessed and favored of God. He takes us for His own and we take Him for our own. He owns us and we own Him. He has not failed us. We are not disappointed but both pleased and blessed because we put our trust in the Lord.

Exhortation-Fifth Commandment

2009-03-12T11:52:00.001-05:00

Exodus 20:12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

This commandment has far reaching implications. I believe that sinning against God in this way is the fountainhead of a multitude of other sins. The sins of the entire second table of the law flow from the failure to honor father and mother.

If we honor our father and mother, then we will not kill, commit adultery, steal, perjure, or covet. Children, and you are all children, you need to do what your parents would have you do. Of course, that is not universal or absolute. Some of your parents might teach you to covet wealth or power or worldliness. But that is the exception in Christian homes, rather than the rule. Every godly Christian parent wants his children to be moral, godly and industrious. So, children, heed God and heed your parents. Or, shall I say, obey God by obeying your parents.

If you submit yourselves to your parents, and desire to please them with honor, you will also be honoring God and your neighbor. If you refuse to honor your parents, it will be impossible for you to honor God and therefore impossible for you to honor your neighbor. And I think it fits to simply replace love for the word honor here. You cannot love God without loving your parents. You cannot love your neighbor without loving God. You cannot love your neighbor without loving your parents.

For you adult children, this may look a little different. Giving honor may not mean strictly obeying them. You have now established your own households. It is okay that you go to a different church and believe some different doctrines and practices. But those doctrines and practices should be fully consistent with honoring your parents. So, do not use your different views as a means to dishonor them. If you think you have a deeper faith and better practices, then that faith and practice should produce more honor, not less. If you are unable to honor your parents, then your understanding of your faith and practice is dramatically misplaced. Confession and repentance are in order.

Communion Meditation-Sabbath Rest

2009-03-12T11:48:00.002-05:00

We are told by the Lord to remember the Sabbath Day. It is not merely the day that the Lord wants us to remember. He wants us to remember Him in the day. He wants us to come to Him, stay a while, meditate on His goodness, remember what He has done for us, thank Him, seek His face, honor Him with gifts, receive the Word of God from Him, be absolved of our sins, rejoice in His grace and mercy, see His people, love them as we love Him, gather before Him honestly, humbly and boldly, partake of Christ to the fullest, eat the bread, drink the wine, be filled with His Holy Spirit, overflow with thanksgiving, resting in our Savior, Jesus.

This sets the stage for everything else that we do as God’s people. By serving Him in this way, we see that God is really serving us. This produces more humility, more joy, more love for God and His people. When we remember the Sabbath, God blesses us far beyond our expectations. Who would neglect so great a salvation? Who would neglect so great a blessing? Our God is good, let us remember Him and give Him thanks.

Exhortation-Fourth Commandment

2009-03-12T11:42:00.002-05:00

Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

It interesting that in the Ten Commandments there are only two strictly positive commands of things that we should do. Granted, all of the commands are about how we should love God and love our neighbor. But as they are given, only two are things we should do. The rest are things that we should not do.

It is also interesting to me that in the New Covenant era when we ought to be enabled to more fully do what God requires us to do and be able to more fully resist what God tells us not to do, the two most neglected commands are the ones that were positive commands in the Old Covenant, the fourth and fifth commandments.

We are told to Remember the Sabbath and to Honor our father and mother.

Today we are dealing with Remembering the Sabbath. Why do New Testament Christians readily sign up for 9 of the 10 commandments? What is this resistance to honoring the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath?

In the New Covenant, we should desire to serve God more, not less. We should give Him all of our days because all of our days are His. So it should be no problem to set aside one whole day as a Sabbath of rest in the Lord Jesus. It is not just going to church, although that is a most important element. We should cease from our regular labors of making money and striving in the world. We should focus our minds heavenward so that the rest of our week can have the right focus, too. We should prepare ourselves to rest, which is work, and we should learn the glory of what rest in Christ is.

Until we learn to Remember the Lord’s Day as our Christian Sabbath, we should not expect to get along very far in our walk with Christ. This is not the end all of our faith in Christ but it is a basic principle in which all the rest of our growth in grace is strictly dependent.