The Point of the Gospel

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. --Galatians 4:5f.

Why did Jesus die? To save you? To take your sin? To give you eternal life? Here's an idea: none of those things are the true point of the Gospel. Redemption is a means, not an end. God gave us righteousness so He could give us something even greater: adoption.

Adoption. Consider that. The all-consuming Fire, the sovereign Creator, the Lord of all wants to make you His son or daughter. He desires to adopt you so much that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem you.

If we get stuck on redemption alone, we miss the point. God wants to be your Father! Never get stuck on redemption and lose sight of this, the greatest grace in the universe, the point of the Gospel.

Jackson Hole! Part 4

Goodbye, Jackson Hole. I have had perhaps the best week of my life here these past days. Chopping wood, giving it away, moving furniture, and all of this work for Jesus has changed my outlook on life to a Kingdom-centered view of my life. I am God's child, Jesus' sheep, the Holy Spirit's temple. I have no right to my own life. My whole life ought to be filled with work for the Kingdom of God. I came to Jackson Hole to teach its residents how they ought to follow God, and instead learned how I ought to follow my Lord. Praise be to God, the Infinite, Preexistent, Preeminent, Glorious, Eternal, Sovereign, Mighty, Benevolent, Gracious, and Just King.

Jackson Hole! Part 3

Hello everyone, sorry I missed last night. We spent all yesterday chopping and stacking wood for our wood giveaway, then helped set up for a relationships class sponsored by Cornerstone Church. Today, we woke up early and headed off to Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world. It was an amazing time that can't be expressed in words, so here are some pictures.

Jackson Hole! Part 2

Snow. It never happens in Orange County, so I love it. So, imagine my delight when I woke up to a yard covered in snow. We were supposed to drive into Idaho to chop wood for another church, but the snow on the road there was too slippery to drive. Instead, we chopped wood at the Davises' house for most of the day. It's hard work, but very little is more satisfying than the crunch a log makes when it splits correctly. Tonight, we're having dinner at a Cornerstone member's house, then getting our much-needed rest.

Jackson Hole! Part 1

On Friday (10/2), a team of The Master's College students and I drove through the night to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jackson Hole is a tourist hot spot not far from Idaho in the We're here to support Cornerstone Church, a church plant led by a Master's Seminary graduate named Eric Davis. I'll try to post about our doings on this blog every night that I can.

Saturday, we took a short break after driving, then headed straight off to the forests to fell trees and chop wood. In between chainsawing forty-foot lodgepole pines and hauling multiple cords of bucked (cut to size) pieces, we shot clay pigeons with a shot gun and admired the view of the Grand Tetons.

Today, we had a great opportunity to show the love of Jesus to the community here in The West Bank, a section of Jackson Hole. Cornerstone sponsored a "Community Day" where anyone in the community could request the church to send workers for manual labor or other tasks. I got to spend three or four hours cutting and chopping wood for a neighbor of the Davises, my host family. As we were splitting wood, I had the thought "This is the gospel's best apologetic." Doubt that the gospel is true? You can't deny that there are three men in your yard working for free on a Sunday morning that could be more enjoyably spent on the sofa. Jesus' salvation continues to touch nonbelievers personally every day through the works of His people. And these works cannot be scoffed at or disbelieved. Our love for others proves God's love for sinners.

The Spiritual Secret of Life. . . Just Kidding

Oftentimes, I have wished that there was one spiritual secret which would be all I needed to revitalize my walk with God. In addition, many sermons and books will either explicitly state or implicitly connote that the Biblical truth they teach is "the one". These claims sound both convenient and logical: for example, "just remember that Jesus is returning" or "just make sure you're always praying" or "Love God, love people." Can one truth really be the center of our spiritual walks? As I've matured, I've found more and more truths that tempt me to center on them: those already mentioned and others.

We ought to give up our search for one "golden rule." There is only one thing which should be the center of our life: and it is not a truth. It is a Person: God, the Triune, the Creator, the Sovereign, the Redeemer. Centering one's life on God is not simple: this actually makes your life much more complex, busy, and full of duties to remember. A short list: pray always, commune with God, exalt Him in your life, humble yourself before Him, love others as yourself, love God with all your self, read God's word, be filled with God's Spirit, love and serve God's church, spread God's good news, and so on and so on. My point is this: Stop looking to one truth or duty to give you life. Allow God's demands on you to be many, and follow Him as hard as you can with your whole life.

For the Master at The Master's College

I've been silent for a while now, but no, unfortunately for my readers, I am not dead. I spent the summer relaxing and taking it easy--memorizing Colossians 1 and 2 may be the only lasting activity I did.

However, my long vacation is over. I am currently sitting in the lounge at Waldock Hall, my new dorm at The Master's College. I'm beginning my freshman year of studying Biblical Studies next week. Hopefully, I can post more frequently while I'm here at the college.

Anyways, keep your eyes peeled for more posts coming soon. Peace. . . .

A Note to Readers

Dear Reader,

First of all, thank you for reading A Man in a Box. You are a special person [literally, you're probably one of four who read this :-) ].I have found this blog to be very helpful in organizing my thoughts and I hope that you have profited some small amount from listening to my random musings. Now, however, I have two small favors to ask of you. (1) Comment! It may sound vain, but I'd like to know how many people read my blog, and I'd also like to have more meaningful debate over my posts. If you love a post, say so. If you think I've gone completely crazy, tell me so. "Rate it even if you hate it." (2) If you wouldn't mind, please inform me when you find a typo. Nothing distracts me as much from a blog post as finding a typo. If it does the same to you, you can join forces with me in my typo-sweeping endeavours and eradicate typos in this end of the blogosphere. Once again, thanks for reading and may God bless you!

Colin Moore

Our First Duty

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. . . -- 1 Timothy 2:1-3 (ESV--italics added)

First and Second Timothy are personal letters from an older mentor (Paul) to a young pastor (Timothy). Just before our text above, Paul has called on Timothy to "wage the good warfare" (1 Tim. 1:18). How is Timothy to do this? Paul says very clearly the most important thing Timothy can do is pray. Look at Paul's language: "first of all." Out of all of Timothy's duties, prayer is the priority. Paul puts prayer even before preaching.

Paul does not desire just a Lord's Prayer tossed up to heaven before bedtime--Paul urges Timothy to thank God and pray "for all people." This is an intense duty. In fact, this is "warfare." This is the most important thing you as a Christian can do to further God's kingdom. If Paul's (God-breathed) urging is not enough to make you pray, look at the result of prayer. If I went to all Christians in the world and offered them "a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way" in exchange for money; every one would jump at the chance. But God does not desire money, he makes this the result of prayer. Let us not ignore the opportunity God is giving us in prayer. As James puts it so bluntly, "You do not have, because you do not ask" (James 4:2).

This, however, is not easy to apply. How can we pray and thank God for all people? That would take all our time, right? Exactly. I've often struggled with the command to "pray without ceasing" because I simply don't have that many things to pray about. But there are always people in need of prayer around us. Here's my plan for applying this text to my life: pray for the people who I am with. At work each day, I interact with hundreds of people--most of whom are most likely not saved. They need God's salvation or they will suffer God's judgment. They need conversion more than they need air. And, in Jesus, I have God's ear (so to speak). I can pray for each one of my coworkers and customers as I interact with them and after I see them. Outside of work, I see many other people, all for whom I should thank God and intercede. This is just my way to apply this; take it or leave it, but by all means, follow Paul's urging and and "first of all" pray.

Double Life-Debts, Already Paid

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,

the world and all who live in it." -- Psalm 24:1 (NIV)

"You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -- 1 Cor. 6:19b-20 (ESV)

Who owns you? The Bible puts it simply: God owns you. If you're breathing right now, it is only because God is giving you breath (Daniel 5:23). He made each one of us individually (Psalm 139). Because He made us and sustains us, we owe Him everything: every thought, every moment, every word, every action.

But. But we rebelled. But we sinned and devoted ourselves to false gods and, worse, to ourselves. We were breaking our clear moral obligation, but God in His great mercy did not immediately condemn us to Hell. Instead, He sent His Son to take His wrath for our sin and to give us a new power to love Him.

So now "we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh" (Romans 8:12). We, if we are Christians, owe God doubly for our lives. We have, in effect, two infinite life debts to pay. We have been and are and always will be the recipients of amazing grace from the Lord. We are morally required to praise Him.

Yet we cannot praise Him enough: what are we to do? We must remember the Gospel: that God has not bypassed moral requirements but has instead satisfied them in Christ. We owe God and we should continue to live our whole lives in praise to Him. But we may do this secure in the knowledge that God's grace not only makes us morally responsible, but also satisfies the responsibility. Praise be to the Lord!