The Prodigal God

After sitting on my self for about a year, I finally read Tim Keller's The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. Though I'm not fond of the title (because its subject to misunderstanding), this is a good book. Here are a few thoughts:

1. This book is an exposition Jesus' parable commonly known as "The Prodigal Son" in Luke 15. Keller does a fantastic job opening up this parable to show its true meaning. I now have a more robust understanding of this parable. I'm thankful for Keller's careful and vibrant exposition.

2. This book is a helpful gospel presentation. Keller opens up the beauty of what Christ has done from Luke 15.

3. This book does a fantastic job exposing the legalism of the elder brother. Legalism is one of the most serious problems in the church today. Read this book and find yourself loathing your own self-righteousness.

There is also a DVD series of Keller teaching through this parable.

Black Friday: Gift Ideas

Here are a few resources that anyone (well, just about anyone) would benefit from:

1. Majesty in Misery (3 volumes of Spurgeon's sermons on the Cross; if you can only get them one volume, get the 3rd one: Calvary's Mournful Mountain).

2. ESV Study Bible

3. ESV MP3 Bible (everyone should have the Bible loaded on their iPod!)

4. Valley of Vision audio CDs

5. Read the Bible in a Year Calendar (I dare you: give a copy of this to everyone in your office/neighborhood along with a nice card and maybe a box of hot chocolate.)

6. Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Ponder This

OK. Here is an interactive post.
Ponder this quote from a John Newton hymn and comment with some observations and implications.

Our pleasure and our duty,
though opposite before,
since we have seen His beauty
are joined to part no more.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Here's a good book to use as a devotional through the Christmas holidays: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas. Check out the list of contributors.

The Judge is Coming: Encouragement to Endure

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is one of the most pervasive doctrines of the Bible. There are over 300 references to the return of Christ in the New Testament alone.

And the emphasis of the vast majority of the references to Christ’s coming is the way in which Christians should live in hopeful expectation for the return of Christ. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is supposed to make a difference in our everyday lives. We are to live a certain kind of life because we know that our Savior and Lord is coming again.

This truth is so basic yet so neglected. Our Christian culture is fascinated with the end times today. If you want to sell a bunch of books or pack out a conference today, just advertise that you have “secrets of the Second Coming.” Our culture is fixated on the timing of Christ’s coming and the events surrounding Christ’s coming.

Those are certainly important issues that we should discuss. However, the Bible’s emphasis regarding the coming of the Lord in power and great glory is in the sanctifying effect it should have in our lives right now.

Knowledge of Jesus’ return to Earth is meant to be of help to our everyday lives.

In 2 Peter 3, Peter speaks about the certainty of Christ’s coming and then says, “Since all these things are true, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God…Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:11, 14).

In Matthew 24 and Mark 13, Jesus speaks of the certainty of His coming again and then issues this command: “Be on your guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”

The doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming is immensely practical.

And, in James 5, we see that James understood and taught the importance of Jesus’ second Coming. He bases his exhortations here in the fact of Jesus’ coming again.

There are at least 3 commands in James 5:7-12 based on the coming of Christ to judge:
1. The Judge is Coming...therefore, be patient (5:7-8, 10-11).
2. The Judge is Coming...therefore, don't grumble against one another (v. 9).
3. The Judge is Coming...therefore, speak with integrity (v. 12).

• We are not waiting for a particular person to take political office to rescue us from taxes.
• We are not waiting for some military maneuver to free us from the fear of terrorism.
• We are not waiting for our financial portfolio to mature or for the market to bounce back.
• We are not waiting for those who have wronged us to pay us back or for them to get what they deserve from the legal system.
• We are not waiting for the check to be in the mail that will finally solve all our problems.
• We are not waiting for the medical report to give us the news that we are healed.

We are waiting for one thing: we are waiting for the Savior to rescue us from this sin-stained world. We can be patient because we know He is coming and His coming will indeed alleviate all our misery.

I Got My Sailhamer

The Meaning of the Pentateuch by John Sailhamer arrived on the front porch last night. After Piper's hearty recommendation, I just had to get it. When Piper says something will rock my world, I'm signing up.

I'm tempted to bring it on vacation with me but I'm not sure they would let me on an airplane with it. Its big enough to be considered a weapon.

Seeing the Glory of Jesus on a Friday Morning

Nothing in all the universe is as powerful as Jesus.
Jesus is before and behind all things.
Jesus has life in Himself.
The living One died...for our sins.
Jesus rose from the dead and will never die again.
Jesus possess absolute sovereignty over all things.

"Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."

-Revelation 1:17-18

Christmas Presents for Kids

Here are a few suggestions for the children on your Christmas list. All of these are solid resources that we enjoy with our kids.

1. The Big Picture Story Bible

2. The Prince's Poison Cup by RC Sproul

3. Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt

4. Fool Moon Rising (NEW!)

5. The Lightlings by RC Sproul

6. The King Without A Shadow by RC Sproul

7. Big Truths for Little Kids

8. The Gospel for Children

9. Dangerous Journey (Pilgrim's Progress for kids)

10. The Jesus Storybook Bible

11. Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers (4 book set)

The Gospel and Parenting

William Farley gives 7 ways the gospel affects parents in chapter 2 of Gospel-Powered Parenting:

The gospel makes parents effective in seven ways:

1. The gospel teaches Christian parents to fear God.

2. The gospel motivates parents to lead by example.

3. The gospel centers families in their male servant leaders.

4. The gospel teaches and motivates parents to discipline their children.

5. The gospel motivates parents to teach their children.

6. The gospel motivates parents to lavish their children with love and affection.

7. The gospel is the solution for inadequate parents.

Parenting Assumptions

In chapter 1 of Gospel-Powered Parenting, William Farley lays out 5 fundamental parenting assumptions. Powerful stuff!

1. You cannot be a perfect parent. Parenting reminds us of our need for the gospel.
2. God is sovereign but He uses means. You cannot save your kids but God often uses godly parents to lead children to Himself.
3. A good offense is better than defense. Protecting our children from worldly influence is not our fundamental goal. We are to do everything possible to make the gospel attractive. He says, "We change their hearts by teaching the gospel, modeling the gospel, and centering our homes on the gospel."
4. Don't assume the new birth. The new birth is a miracle that creates new affections not slight changes in behavior.
5. Effective parents are not child-centered. In this section, Farley gives a powerful example of a child-centered family as opposed to a God-centered family. We don't worship our kids; we worship God.

The Judge is Coming: Warning to the Wealthy

James 5:1-6 sounds like something out of the mouth of an OT prophet. James preaches against the rich with prophetic zeal. After calling the ungodly rich to weep and mourn in verse 1, James gives at least 3 ways that riches lead to judgment.

1. Money leads to judgment when it is selfishly hoarded (5:2-3).
2. Money leads to judgment when it is gained through injustice (5:4, 6).
3. Money leads to judgment when it is used for self-indulgence (5:5).

I closed Sunday's sermon on this passage with 7 exhortations (you'll have to listen to the sermon to get the context of these words of application):
1. Christ is coming back.
2. Live with the end in view.
3. Don't desire to be rich.
4. Stop worrying that you won't have enough for yourself.
5. Beware of judging others.
6. Lift your eyes from what does not satisfy (riches) to the only One who can satisfy (Jesus).
7. Jesus is the only One who can rescue you from eternal condemnation.

The A to Z of the Christian Life

"The gospel is not just the ABCs of the Christian life, but the A to Z of the Christian life. Our problems arise largely because we don't continually return to the gospel to work it in and live it out."

-Tim Keller, The Prodigal God.

Shout for Joy!

Have you ever thought about the fact that shouting is commanded in Scripture?

Psalm 66:1: "Shout for joy to God, all the earth..."

Shouting is a very undignified thing to do. Important people don't shout. Prideful people let others do the shouting.

What or who do you shout for? A sports team? In anger? To get someone's attention?

Shout in joy for God.

Some Piper Thoughts on Saving and Accumulating

Should I Invest for Retirement?

Preparing for the Future Financially.

What is the Right Way to Be Rich?

Cross Talk for $5

WTS has a 48 hour special on the new book Cross Talk: Where Life and Scripture Meet. Just look at the endorsements for this book and you'll see that it at least deserves a read.

Don't judge a book by its cover, but this one is pretty cool.

This Book Helps Me

A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble by Paul Tripp

Pursuing Greater Humility

How do we cultivate humility and mortify pride?

• We need to spend time thinking about God’s greatness and holiness in comparison to our natural, moral, and moral insignificance.
• We need to think about how much God loves the humble and hates the proud.
• We need to meditate on the way that Christ humbled Himself when He came to earth.
• We need to think seriously on the examples of humility left by the most useful believers who have walked this earth.
• We must consider the example of humility demonstrated by the holy angels.
• We need to carefully reflect on the humility of believers who are now in heaven.
• We need to think about the great imperfections and weakness of our faith, our character, our behavior, our motives, our duties, and our service to God.
• We need to think about the fact that we deserve to experience God’s judgment and wrath because of our sin.
• We need to spend time thinking about the day of judgment.
• We ought to reflect on the pride of Satan and the demons.
• We need to remember that everything that we have or have accomplished comes from God’s hand.
• We must spend time thinking about the sad consequences of pride in other people’s lives.
• We ought to spend time with humble people and avoid as much as possible the company of arrogant people.
• We must spend time in prayer every day, confessing our pride to God and earnestly pleading for greater humility.

Adapted from Wayne Mack's Humility: The Forgotten Virtue.

God's Sovereignty is Sanctifying

God is sovereign,
kind,
and wise.
He has the whole world in His hands
at this very moment.
I can rest.
I can wait.
I can hope.
I can love.
I can obey.
Because nothing is spinning out of control.
Because nothing is outside His grip.

Greedy Miser

John Piper got a new book in the mail today. Here is what he tweeted about it:

"I feel like a greedy miser over a chest of gold."

The book? John Sailhamer's The Meaning of the Pentateuch.

Don't Waste Your Sickness

My family and I have had a case of the stomach bug making its way to each of us over the past few days. My turn came just in time to keep me from preaching God's Word on Sunday.

I don't like being sick and I'm not a very good patient. So, over these past few days I've been thinking about making the most of the sicknesses God brings. Everyone gets sick sooner or later. Here are some big ideas for not wasting this "down" time.

1. Receive sickness as a gift of God meant to humble you. God is kind to remind you of your frailty. Sickness is used of God to make us depend on Him alone. The world still goes on without you. Nothing falls apart. You are not as important as you thought.

2. Pray for God to heal you. Use sickness as a means of believing in the power of God to heal the human body. Yes, it is possible to both receive sickness as a gift of God and to plead with God to remove it.

3. If you can't read, listen. When I'm sick, the hardest thing in the world is to concentrate enough to read. So, listen to God's Word being read. At esv.org you can listen to any passage being read from the ESV.

4. Take the opportunity to pray. Sickness provides an opportunity to spend extended times in prayer. Pray about everything while you are resting.

5. Express gratitude for those who serve you. Allow people to serve you and be sure to express your gratefulness for their help. For those who are married, take the opportunity to remember how blessed you are to have a spouse who is committed to you in "sickness and in health." That your spouse doesn't walk out when you are throwing up is a sweet mercy from God.

6. Rest. This post is not meant to heap guilt on you for sleeping all day. When you are sick, rest, knowing that your Savior is sufficient. He has your life in His hand.

Don't waste your sickness.