The Astonishing Waiting of the Thessalonians

In 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10, Paul says, "Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.  They [residents of Macedonia, Achaia, and the surrounding regions] tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (NIV, italics added).  Eugene Peterson puts it this way in the Message: "They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son."  If we are waiting expectantly for Jesus's coming, our mindsets, actions, and words will be very different than those of the world.  In the secular, idol-worshipping Greek world, people were amazed at the faith the Thessalonians had in Jesus's coming back.  May we have the same faith and the same influence on our world.

Strangers In The World

I was reading 1 Peter 1:1 a minute ago, trying to understand what the KJV calls "strangers."  After looking at several translations, I discovered the amazing truth in this verse.  The NIV says, "To God's elect, strangers in the world."  Strangers in the world is a wonderful description of God's elect.  This is not our home.  We are in a foreign land.  The NASB calls us "aliens, the KJV "strangers."  The message is clear.  We must be ambassadors to the world showing the greatness of God's world in the fallen world.

Follow Me

18While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

This is really amazing. Peter, Andrew, James, and John had never heard of Jesus. But when Jesus said to follow him, they did. Why? The Holy Spirit. This is the only answer that makes sense to me. If a wandering preacher ordered me to follow him, I would probably (1) run away, or (2) ignore him. But, it appears the Holy Spirit led Jesus's first disciples to give their lives to His ministry. In the same way, we have been led by the Holy Spirit to follow God.

Bear Fruit

In Matthew 3, verse 8, John the Baptist makes a cutting remark to the Pharisees and Sadducees. He says, "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." He's effectively saying, "I can't tell you've repented, for there is no fruit." The message is clear. True repentance brings about fruit. James writes in James 2: "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." Earlier in the chapter, he says, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" God's message is clear: if you have been saved and repented from your sins, it will show in your works. So, brothers, " let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith."

Hate Your Sin

God hates sin. The word hate is very strong, but this is true. God hates sin.
God killed the entire clan of Korah, banished the Israelites to captivity, and currently damns millions to Hell because of sin.
Our job is to be like Christ. Since Christ is God, and God hates sin, Christ hated sin. Since Christ hated sin, we should hate sin.
Our job is to seek out and destroy sin. This involves meditating on God, his supremacy, and his saving grace.
I see what I have to change. My whole life, I've never given a thought to how much God hates sin. Now, I must change my ways.
I have tried to mortify sin because I didn't like it, but never because God hated it. Now, I will mortify sin because God hates it.

Very Interesting....

I read the initial greetings to epistles all the time, but I never noticed something almost all of them share: a healthy and comprehensive view of Jesus's righteousness. Look at 2 Peter's first verse: 1Simeon[a] Peter, a servant[b] and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

Peter understood (1) that the righteousness of Jesus is essential to salvation and (2) that without it, we would not be saved. "by the righteousness of Jesus Christ" we have reached a standing of righteousness. A metaphor for this would be washing your clothes. If you wash your clothes in dirty water, they will not be cleaned; if they are washed in clean water, they become clean. One of the bloggers I read, Mark Lauterbach, is currently in a series on applying Jesus's righteousness: something we don't often do.

A Counter-Culture?

The Rebelution (www.therebelution.com) is an attempt at exactly what it sounds like, a revolution. But this is no violent upheaval of authorities, it is a cultural revolution. Unlike Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, the Rebelution is an attempt to instill in today's Christian teenagers a heart to change the world. Just as the Russian revolution had Lenin and the American revolution had George Washington and Thomas Paine, the Rebelution has Alex and Brett Harris, the creators of the Rebelution. I encourage you to evaluate our culture and the Rebelution's counter-culture, and decide which is more God-honoring. More on this to come.

Are you readying yourself for the turn?

In his book Money, Possessions and Eternity, Randy Alcorn writes:

"Someday this upside down world will be turned right side up, and nothing in all eternity will turn it back again. If we are wise, we will spend our brief lives on earth positioning ourselves for the turn."

This deserves some attentive thought and application. If this is true, and the world will soon be turning upside down, we should be "standing on our heads" so as to be ready for the flip. Could we "stand on our heads" by following Jesus' commands? Absolutely. Can we forsake the world, spread the Gospel, and love our neighbors for this reason? Of course. And not only can we apply God's Word so as to be storing up reward in heaven; we should be.

Do we really need that?

Lately, while preparing for my LIT talk tomorrow, I've been doing a lot of hard thinking on an even harder topic: Money and Possessions. I've been reading 1 Timothy, and it has one of the most convicting passages in the Bible:

6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

If you have food and clothing, you should be content. How radical is that? Boom. It blows everything you've thought (and bought) to pieces. Even if you're homeless, if you can survive, you should be content. Why? For one, every day thousands of people die of starvation or exposure. If you have a roof over your head, you should be even more thankful to God.

What does this practically mean for us? I believe that we have to completely forsake everything the world teaches us if we want to really follow God's command here. If you're reading this, you obviously have a computer. Do you really need a better computer? Do you have a TV? Do you really need a bigger, better model? And so on and so forth. When it comes down to it, we don't really need anything but what God talks about in 1 Timothy: food and clothing.

Worship: What is it?

This is gonna be more of a discussion-type post. I'm intrigued by various Christian's views on worship, and I'd love to get your input. I myself think worship is a great way to glorify God. I've noticed, though, that some people, especially young people my age and younger, are unimpressed by the importance of worship. The best short treatise on worship, in my opinion, is the Westminster's Catechism's question: What is our purpose? The answer is: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. (Note: I may have not exactly quoted that correctly, it's been awhile since I've read it) "To glorify God and enjoy him forever." What better way of doing that can there be than worship?

I'd appreciate all comments on this post. I think it's a great topic.
ttyl