Don’t forget to work on memorizing the verse of the week- 1 Peter 1:3.  In memorizing don’t forget to meditate.  Try taking it apart phrase by phrase as you memorize, dwelling on the significance of each phrase.  This verse is full of rich and sweet truths. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,                                                               -1 Peter 1:3 

Bob Kauflin over at Worshipmatters posted an article this morning on the tendency to pursue self love that shows up in all of us and spews forth in great quanitities from the world around us.  The entire artcle is posted below- enjoy. 

This morning the Washington Post business section ran a column called, “To Me, With Love: Retailers Embrace Valentine’s Day as an Excuse for Singles to Celebrate Themselves.” Among other interesting facts, the article reports that Piperlime, an online shoe store owned by Gap, has a “Be your own Valentine” category. Sales are strong for Valentine’s Day gifts you can give to the person you love the most - yourself.

(more…)

Here is a portion of a helpful meditation on the faithfulness of God that was posted over at the IrishCalvinist.  Enjoy.

^{1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.}

…think with me as to why and how God is faithful even when we are not.

His Character is faithfulness

In this passage in 1 Corinthians we see that God is faithful. Faithful is an adjective accurately representing an abiding description of the Almighty. Our God is trustworthy, reliable, dependable and sure. It is who God is.

The Scripture is replete with examples of God being a God who is worthy of our trust. This glorious description of our God should ignite our hearts with gladness and praise towards our God who is trustworthy.

But why would he be so faithful to me or to you? Is it because of who we are? Do we commend ourselves to God as a meritorious?

Christ is the means of applying faithfulness

Even in this passage of 1 Corinthians we see that God’s own faithfulness as expressed towards believers is expressed in terms of our union with Jesus.

Doesn’t this magnify the Savior?

So as I sit and scratch my head, marveling at God’s faithfulness to me, I should not fall into the heretical theological posture that attributes this divine favor to me as something that I warrant. Instead, I am to sit and marvel and with watery eyes thank my God in Jesus Christ that he has been pleased to call me into the fellowship of his Son. God is faithful unto me through the gospel of his blessed Son.

It is here in my union with Jesus that I experience divine faithfulness. You may rightly say that God is faithful to us in Christ and in Christ God is faithful to us. There is no basis for divine faithfulness to you or me apart from Jesus. This is why all of those passages in the NT where we are labeled as “in Christ” are so glorious. God is loving us in his Son.

As I sit and marvel at divine faithfulness I am graciously driven to the cross to see my Savior lovingly purchase peace, mercy, and faithfulness for a sinner like me. And it is here that I worship with joy inexpressible.

So join me today in magnifying God’s faithfulness to his people through his Son, the Lord Jesus. Thank him for his faithfulness to you in Christ and labor to be more faithful to him.

It seems to me that much of the battle that we fight day to day in the Christian life is fought on the battlefield of the mind.  This battle often rises and falls based on how real the truth is to us as we live our lives.  It is not a matter of knowing or affirming the truth but a matter of truly grasping the realness of it in our world.  The truth never changes but because of our fallen minds and weak faith our awareness of it often does.

How much different are our prayers when we are vividly aware that God is the living God and really does hear us?  How much more thankful are we when we really beleive that all that we have is from God?  How much more joyful are we when we are genuinely convinced in the reality of heaven and all its glories?  How real are the things we believe on a day to day basis?

I read a post yesterday at Foolishblog that highlighted one of the significant differences that truly believing in the realness of hell would carry with it.  Below is the post in its entirety.

The other day I heard that a friend’s relative was dying and would likely die soon.  Later that morning I heard the news that he had died.  He did not believe in Jesus.

As hard as it is to know that someone is suffering physical misery in this life and as much as we may end up desiring that the Lord allow them to die so that they can be relieved of it in the here and now, there is no comparison between the temporal pain experienced here on earth and the eternal horrors of those who are rightfully punished for rejecting the God who made them.  “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ( Hebrews 10:31).

Not only are the tortures of hell horrific, but the future of its inhabitants is hopeless.  There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no bright sunrise following the night, no happy tomorrows that can erase today’s agonies.  Hell has no pleasant surprises.  It is predictable, guaranteed, and inescapable.  Hell is a hopeless place.

Hope gives us strength.  It enables us to persevere in the face of massive and mounting odds.  It gives us a sense of purpose when life seems aimless, a sense of joy when we’re called to labor, and a sense of resignation in our sufferings.  Even in the darkest, blackest night, the candle of Christian hope cannot be fully extinguished.  It will flicker and grow dim, but it will never go out.  But there is none of this in hell.

The ten thousand tomorrows of hell will be as miserable as its ten thousand yesterdays.  Take a Hubble telescope and look as far into hell’s future as you can see.  You will not find a ray of hope.

Look at hell.  Think about it.  Close your eyes and imagine it.  Smell it.  It will expose the emptiness of your gratitude, the thrill of free redemption, and the urgency of making disciples.  I am never more sobered than when I consider hell, and never more awakened than when someone goes there.  It’s hard to think about for long, but it just might be that the less you think about it, the more people will end up there.

Your neighbor is going there.  Your brother is going there.  Your father is going there.  Your co-workers and your friends and your relatives are going there.  Most of us have at least dozens and at most thousands of people in our lives that will be separated from God forever, dying but never dying in what the Bible calls a lake of fire.  They will be hopeless.

This is not the only reason to share Christ, but it is the starkest and the most bleak.  There are many things in life that don’t matter, and a few things that do.  This is one that matters.  Say something.

I recently began reading a blog entitled “Irish Calvinist” by a pastor in Nebraska and would say that it is worth reading if you are into blogs.  It is gospel centered, biblical, practical, and seems to be written with humility and thoughtfulness.

A post I read today struck a chord with me and articulated something that I have thought about before but never really worked through thoroughly- The cross is the ultimate display of God in the glorious splendor of His attributes.

Below is the most significant part of the post although if you want you can read the whole thing here.

The cross of the Jesus is indeed the supreme demonstration of the divine attributes. Where do we find God distinguished as holy more than through the transcendent requirements and achievement of perfection? Surely the priests in Leviticus knew much of God’s holiness, but they merely looked in a glass dimly, but when we see with spiritual lasex, we behold the holiness of God in manifold splendor! We see holiness incarnate nailed to a wooden tree by the demands of divine holiness that he might make unholy men and women holy and blameless. Indeed this is magnificent!

Consider also God’s love. You may say you see God loving in creation or through the giving of life and you are right. However, this pales in comparison to the Son of God, the very object of the Father’s affections, yes even the supreme delight and satisfaction of God, Jesus Christ himself, offered up to redeem rebels. Can you find God’s love more vividly, more beautifully, more heavenly than this?

Consider also God’s righteousness. Oh yes the inflexible divine attribute that is has been plaguing consciences throughout history. God’s righteousness is not seen supremely in the threatenings of the Law or the thunders of Sinai, but rather upon the hill of Calvary. For it is here that we see God’s infinite and unflinching righteousness relentlessly pursuing its vindication in the unleashing of all that is right, good, and just upon the substitute for all that is wrong, bad and filthy. Yes here in the shadow of the cross we see righteousness supremely demonstrated and vindicated. There is nothing like it.

Stand with me in the shadow of the cross and see God’s attributes perfectly illuminated. Tremble at his holiness in the demands of his sacrifice, be convicted and comforted by the unfathomable love that demanded and accomplished Calvary, feel you knees knock as you behold the gasping Son drink dry the eternal vat of condemnation that was due you as he bears all of the burden of divine righteousness.

Stand in the shadow of the cross to learn of God, for it is here where the Son of God was set forth to amplify and supremely demonstrate all of the divine perfections. Stand here and fall in love with this dangerously lovely God and his supremely beautiful Son. Stand here and marvel. Stand here and worship. Stand here and don’t move, you are right where God wants you.

Bob Kauflin at Worship Matters posted today on the question of whether worship in music should be “fun.” His thoughts I think are helpful even as he gets into the question of whether our fun is worship. I have posted the article in its entirety below.

More than once I’ve heard Christians claim that worship should be fun, or act like they had a responsibility to prove that Christians knew how to “party” in church. I’ve always been uncomfortable with that connection, so I started thinking about the place of “fun” in worship, if one even exists. I’d like to address this question by answering it as I posed it, and then considering two other ways it might be phrased.

(more…)

For those of you who read the first entry on this topic Challies has now posted a second and concluding article.  It again seems to be balanced and thought-provoking.  Read it here.

In case you hadn’t realized it yet this Sunday is the Super Bowl. While some people don’t watch it or care about it millions of people in our nation will tune into it.

In our case it might be worth noting that our 5:00 service will fall right in the middle of the game. While the Super Bowl certainly doesn’t compare to the delight of worshiping our Savior with His blood-bought church many of us do see football as a gift given by God’s common grace. In light of this we would encourage you to record the game and invite some people over to watch it with you after service.

Regardless of what your plans are a post at the Family Room blog has some helpful thoughts in viewing the Super Bowl purposefully. I have pasted the entire post below. By the way for #11 you might insert Jarrett Vincent.

86 Million people watched the Super-bowl last year. That’s more than most countries’ entire population. It has historically been the most watched event on television. That is why commercials costs about 2.5 million per spot to run. Incredible!In light of all the hype, how can we as Christians watch this event in a way that pleases God? Sin’s influence has not been filtered out. So how can we sanctify the Superbowl? Here are 11 ideas to sanctify the Superbowl:

1) Cast a Vision

Use the pre-game time to inform your kids why you like football and why sports are a gift from God.

2) Educate your kids

Explain to them that those playing are sinners like each of us. At times players will have sinful attitudes and display their pride or anger. Those times are reminders of the patience of God and his mercy in sending his Son for sinners like us.

3) Consider praying

Consider praying together thanking God for our country and the freedoms we still enjoy.

4) Use the remote

Many watch the Superbowl simply for the commercials. I must admit there are some very humorous ones. However there are many our eyes shouldn’t see. Psalm 101:3 says, “I will not set anything before my eyes that is worthless.” Have your finger ready to switch to C-Span if necessary!

5) Watch it with others

Consider making it a memory, or perhaps a tradition, with your closest friends or family members. 6) Invite the lostSeize the opportunity to invite your neighbors or unsaved friends. This is a non-threatening opportunity to reach out to them. Be mindful of “conducting yourself wisely.” Colossians 4:5,6 7) Plan questionsMake the most of the evening by having meaningful and intentional discussions

9) Plan a game

The half-time show won’t be worth watching. Perhaps you can have a game planned during that time.

10) Consider your wives

For you men whose wives love football, well this isn’t for you. (Enjoy God’s grace.) This is for the majority of us men who have wives who dislike sports in general, football not with-standing. Thank them for watching it with you, snuggle close while watching it, or simply turn it off if it’s a blowout. Marriages are more important than the Superbowl.

11) Root for the Bears

A dear friend of mine, Bryan Korzeniewski, is a true Da Bears lover. If they win he is naming his first son Rex.

Challies posted an article on birth control today.  He has some helpful thoughts and I think his post provides an opportunity to think through a rather complicated issue.  Christians rarely give much thought to this issue and yet it is another aspect of our lives to seek God’s glory in.  The article is below in its entirety- so enjoy and feel free to interact in the comment thread.

Last week I posted a couple of articles dealing with auto-eroticism. I believe there was some useful discussion following those and was glad to hear from people who felt that they benefited from them. Since then I have received a couple of questions regarding my views on birth control (from people who, I suppose, feel that I’m sufficiently brave and/or foolhardy to tackle the tough subjects). I thought it might be interesting to discuss that topic as well and will do so in a pair of articles I’ll post today and tomorrow.

The Bible is silent on any explicit discussion of the subject of birth control. Still, Scripture says so much about sexuality and human life that I feel that we can look to God’s Word to guide us towards principles that will prove useful to us as we wrestle with this topic. We will attempt to see what the Bible says about whether or not Christians can use birth control and, if the Bible does permit it, what methods of birth control are acceptable.

(more…)