The Promise of Grace in the New Year

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
-Hebrews 10:23

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
- John Newton, Amazing Grace, verse 4

Q. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
- Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question and Answer 36

“We shall bring our Lord much glory if we get from Him much grace. If we have much faith, so that I can take God at His Word…I shall greatly honor my Lord and King.”
- Charles Spurgeon, quoted in John Piper’s Future Grace, p. 9

“In other words, on the basis of the work of Christ, the power of the redeemed future has been released to act in the present in the person of the Holy Spirit.”
- N. Q. Hamilton, The Holy Spirit and Eschatology in Paul, quoted in Anthony Hoekema’s, The Bible and the Future, p.58

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

To say that 2008 was a tumultuous year is a colossal understatement. What can we expect from 2009? Will this next year be more of the same? Will it be better? Or will it be worse? One thing we can be assured of is the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God no matter what this next year holds. For some of us this new year will bring extraordinary trial and for others extraordinary blessing, and for all of us there will be an opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness again and again. The Cross stands as the declaration of God’s intention and commitment to show us His favor. In the brutal death of His Son and the Son’s subsequent resurrection everything that could be used for our harm will only redound to our good. This is not some perverse prosperity theology. Because of the sin-bearing satisfaction of Jesus Christ, God has promised good to us. No matter what comes in 2009 we mustn’t waver, because He who promised is faithful. Listen to the God-exalting, Son-crucifying, grace-magnifying love the Father has for us,

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:32-37)

Expecting an abundance of God-exalting grace in 2009,

Dan

Our Obscure King

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
- Micah 5:2

“And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
- Luke 2:12

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary

And gathered all above

While mortals sleep, the angels keep

Their watch of wondering love

O morning stars together

Proclaim the holy birth

And praises sing to God the King

And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently

The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear His coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still,

The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

Be born to us today

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell

O come to us, abide with us

Our Lord Emmanuel

- O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillip Brooks


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

We received an email this morning from some dear friends in Starbuck, Washington. Starbuck is an obscure little town, barely a spot on the map that is located about forty miles east of Walla Walla. There aren’t very many people in Starbuck. In fact you need to know what you are looking for even to find it. There is one store and a gas station and even those are closed during this winter weather. Most of the folks either work in agriculture, for the government, or they are unemployed. With the latest weather front in the Northwest, Spokane and Portland get all the news. No one knows or cares about Starbuck.

Years ago in an obscure agricultural village something amazing happened. The King of Kings was born in an obscure backwater town named Bethlehem. Consider that the Ruler of all became a newborn baby that was laid in a cattle stall in an obscure agricultural community. There was no fanfare and no press release. The only witnesses were mom and dad and some farm animals. Eventually some shepherds, some traveling magicians, and some angels came to herald the birth, but for now it is only obscurity. As far as the world was concerned it was just another night in an unimportant village.

Many times the glory of the gospel comes to obscure places, and in obscure times, and to obscure people. This is the mystery of the work of the Spirit under the sovereign hand of God. The gospel most often comes without fanfare, press releases, and attention. This gospel often comes to the unlikeliest of people and in the unlikeliest of places. It will not always be this way. The day is coming when this King is recognized and worshipped by all.

It is a joy for me to look back on this past year. I can see where God has been at work without fanfare and in obscurity. Rejoice, the King has come to obscure and needy sinners like you and me.

Rejoicing in our Glorious Savior at Christmas,

Dan

An Encouragement to Us Scrooges from R.C. Sproul

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Friends and Family,

I spent part of yesterday at Target, my all-time least favorite store. I think there’s too much red around and it serves to irritate the customers, at least in my case! Judy and Nathanael were trying to do a bit of Christmas shopping and I ended up in the food court sending a few emails from my Blackberry. If I’m not careful Christmas shopping can bring the Scrooge out in me. This time of year it can be very easy for me to slip into ‘Bah Humbug!’ syndrome. My friend, Mark Lauterbach, who pastors a Sovereign Grace church in San Diego called my attention to this recent post on Ligonier Ministries’ website (http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2008/12/marleys-message-to-scrooge.html). I’ve included it for you below and I’ve already read it several times. I am always provoked by R.C. Sproul and this has helped me in my perspective this Christmas. There is great reason for us to rejoice. In the Incarnation God has met our greatest need.

Scrooge thoughts begone! Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

Dan

Marley's Message to Scrooge
December 8, 2008 @ 7:30 AM Posted By: Tim Challies
by R.C. Sproul
"Bah! Humbug!" These two words are instantly associated with Charles Dickens' immortal fictional anti-hero, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge was the prototype of the Grinch who stole Christmas, the paradigm of all men cynical. We all recognize that Ebenezer Scrooge was a mean person - stingy, insensitive, selfish, and unkind. What we often miss in our understanding of his character is that he was preeminently profane. "Bah! Humbug!" was his Victorian use of profanity. Not that any modern editor would feel the need to delete Scrooge's expletives. His language is not the standard currency of cursing. But it was profane in that Scrooge demeaned what was holy. He trampled on the sanctity of Christmas. He despised the sacred. He was cynical toward the sublime. Christmas is a holiday, indeed the world's most joyous holiday. It is called a "holiday" because the day is holy. It is a day when businesses close, when families gather, when churches are filled, and when soldiers put down their guns for a 24-hour truce. It is a day that differs from every other day. Every generation has its abundance of Scrooges. The church is full of them. We hear endless complaints of commercialism. We are constantly told to put Christ back into Christmas. We hear that the tradition of Santa Claus is a sacrilege. We listen to those acquainted with history murmur that Christmas isn't biblical. The Church invented Christmas to compete with the ancient Roman festival honoring the bull-god Mithras, the nay-sayers complain. Christmas? A mere capitulation to paganism. And so we rain on Jesus' parade and assume an Olympian detachment from the joyous holiday. All this carping is but a modern dose of Scroogeism, our own sanctimonious profanation of the holy. Sure, Christmas is a time of commerce. The department stores are decorated to the hilt, the ad pages of the newspapers swell in size, and we tick off the number of shopping days left until Christmas. But why all the commerce? The high degree of commerce at Christmas is driven by one thing: the buying of gifts for others. To present our friends and families with gifts is not an ugly, ignoble vice. It incarnates the amorphous "spirit of Christmas." The tradition rests ultimately on the supreme gift God has given the world. God so loved the world, the Bible says, that He gave His only begotten Son. The giving of gifts is a marvelous response to the receiving of such a gift. For one day a year at least, we taste the sweetness inherent in the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive. What about putting Christ back into Christmas? It is simply not necessary. Christ has never left Christmas. "Jingle Bells" will never replace "Silent Night." Our holiday once known as Thanksgiving is rapidly becoming known simply as "Turkey Day." But Christmas is still called Christmas. It is not called "Gift Day." Christ is still in Christmas, and for one brief season the secular world broadcasts the message of Christ over every radio station and television channel in the land. Never does the church get as much free air time as during the Christmas season. Not only music but the visual arts are present in abundance, bearing testimony to the historic significance of the birth of Jesus. Christmas displays all remind the world of the sacred Incarnation. Doesn't Santa Claus paganize or at least trivialize Christmas? He's a myth, and his very mythology casts a shadow over the sober historical reality of Jesus. Not at all. Myths are not necessarily bad or harmful. Every society creates myths. They are a peculiar art form invented usually to convey a message that is deemed important by the people. When a myth is passed off as real history, that is fraud. But when it serves a different purpose it can be healthy and virtuous. Kris Kringle is a mythical hero, not a villain. He is pure fiction -- but a fiction used to illustrate a glorious truth. What about the historical origins of Christmas as a substitute for a pagan festival? I can only say, good for the early Christians who had the wisdom to flee from Mithras and direct their zeal to the celebration of the birth of Christ. Who associates Christmas today with Mithras? No one calls it "Mithrasmas." We celebrate Christmas because we cannot eradicate from our consciousness our profound awareness of the difference between the sacred and the profane. Man, in the generic sense, has an incurable propensity for marking sacred space and sacred time. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the ground that was previously common suddenly became uncommon. It was now holy ground - sacred space. When Jacob awoke from his midnight vision of the presence of God, he anointed with oil the rock upon which he had rested his head. It was sacred space. When God touches earth, the place is holy. When God appears in history, the time is holy. There was never a more holy place than the city of Bethlehem, where the Word became flesh. There was never a more holy time than Christmas morning when Emmanuel was born. Christmas is a holiday. It is the holiest of holy days. We must heed the warning of Jacob Marley: "Don't be a Scrooge" at Christmas.

Seeing with Clarity for the First Time

“…the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
-John 3:19-20

“…the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."
-Matthew 4:16b

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

The gospel is good news for darkness-loving sinners. When God gives sight to the blind light dawns where only darkness was known. In the Incarnation God has turned on the light of the gospel for those whose entire world was comprised of darkness. All we knew was blindness accorded by a world of inky blackness. All we knew and loved was the comfortable envelope of blackness. Several years ago I remember reading a National Geographic article about creatures that live in the depths of caverns. A picture showed a salamander whose eyes has become completely blind because its home was in the depths of darkness. This world was all it knew and its eyes had become useless orbs. Day after day after day no light had broken in to bring functionality to the eye. The salamander knew no difference. Blackness was its home and Its world was one of devoid of all light. In the gospel God has brought light to us. We did not see, nor could we see, nor would we see. We had become acclimated to darkness, because it is all we had ever known. This was the environment we knew and loved. And when the first rays of light come we squint and rub our eyes straining to see for the first time. Could it be that we’ve been so blind for so long? It is as if we’ve entered a whole new world. In the Incarnation God brings light into our darkness. For once in our lives we begin to see with clarity, and this is because God brought light into our darkness.

Grateful for the Light that has come in the Incarnation,

Dan

A Slave of Christ

“When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
- Romans 6:20-22

“For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”
-1 Corinthians 7:22-23

"And from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants (douloi = slaves), you who fear him, small and great."
-Revelation 19:5

“There is a sense in which all people are Christ’s possession because he created them and now sustains them; he is the one ‘through whom all things were made and through whom we live’(1 Cor. 8:6). But in every sense believers are his special possession, a people of his very own, because he purchased them as his slaves (1 Cor. 6:19-20, 7:22-23) along with their freedom from all iniquity (Titus 2:14). As a result of that purchase they belong to him totally, and only to him, a comprehensive ownership that his slaves voluntarily embrace. He is their absolute and exclusive Master. His rights over what he purchased are unlimited and he tolerates no rivals to his lordship, for no slave can adequately serve two masters. ‘Proof of purchase’, or the mark of this ownership is the presence and activity of the Spirit in the believer’s life. And that same Spirit is the guarantee that this divine ‘property’ will reach its destination intact.”
- Murray Harris, Slave of Christ, p. 125


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

If you are a Christian you belong to Christ. Because of His mercies to you, you are not your own. You no longer belong to the dominion of self. You are no longer rightfully in charge. You have been ransomed or purchased for Christ as His own possession and for His own purposes. You have been bought at tremendous cost. The metaphors used for the Christian are many…friend, son, daughter, sheep, soldier, and disciple, but rarely do we refer to the Christian as slave. There is something in us that bristles at the thought of being the possession of another. One of the things my brothers and I used to tell one another is, ‘You’re not the boss of me!’ We couldn’t bear the thought of anyone telling us what to do, let alone one another. If we are Christians Christ is the gracious boss of us. He owns us, lock, stock and barrel. We are no longer our own. We belong to Him. To see ourselves as those who have been purchased will help us see things clearly. It will help us as we love and serve one another. It will help us as we determine priorities for our time and finances. It will help us as we interact as husbands and wives, and as we interact with our children. The shadow of the Cross casts long over our ownership. We are not our own, we’ve been bought with a price.

A slave of Christ together with you,

Dan

Gracious Speech

“Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.”
- Proverbs 4:24

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
- Colossians 4:6

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
- James 3:7,8

“It may seem too obvious to say, but Genesis 1 makes it plain that the first words ever spoken were spoken by God. Language is not a human invention to be used in whatever way serves our interests. If God is the first speaker, then language is his creation. This means that our ability to speak was given to us by the Creator and it exists for his glory. Everything we will ever say belongs to him and should be used for his purposes. Words, in short, have a high and holy calling.”
- Tim Lane and Paul Tripp, Relationships, A Mess Worth Making, p. 71

“It is time for many of us to confess that we have not known the way of love. Our words have hindered, not helped, what the Lord is seeking to do. We have been controlled by the passions and desires of the sinful nature and failed to represent Christ’s character. We need to cry out for grace to speak loving words as his ambassadors.”
- Paul Tripp, War of Words, p. 229

“Please forget the words I just blurted out,
It wasn’t me, it was my strange and creeping doubt
It keeps rattling my cage.
And there’s nothing in this world to keep it down.”
- Radiohead, I Can’t

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

When I think about the things I’ve said over the years my knees get weak. James calls the tongue a restless evil that is full of deadly poison. I can still remember hurtful things I’ve said over forty years ago. A sharp word, a critical judgment conveyed to others, a terse argument, gossip designed to form an opinion – these, and more, are in my collection of spoken sins. My tongue is a restless evil. And there is a sinful satisfaction when the tongue does its work. To refrain from evil speech and to ‘tame’ the tongue is no easy task. It is restless, and the sinful heart is not satisfied until the tongue has its way. When we speak we are simply giving verbal expression to the restless evil already formed in the heart. Our speech reveals our heart and for me this is sobering. By our words we have the power of life and death. When I think about my words I am grateful for the thorough and complete work of Christ’s substitutionary work. Christ’s passive obedience, which is that perfect obedience Jesus rendered to the Father in fulfilling all righteousness, has been credited to my account. His perfect speech, sinless tongue, and unsinning heart have been imputed to me. I no longer bear the just judgment God declares against my sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. And yet, God’s sanctifying work is not yet complete in me. I need reminders to speak graciously. I need my speech, even now, to be redeemed. God, as the first speaker, must redeem my words, and He must do this continually by making my heart new. It will do no good to reform my speech with no change to my heart. I’m praying for God to renew my heart day by day and make it evident by the things I say.

Lord, let my mouth be an evidence of your work taking place in my heart.

Dan

A New Children's Book - The Prince's Poison Cup

Theology can be difficult stuff. Have you ever tried to explain multifaceted theological concepts to your children? In fact, ask the average Christian adult to explain substitutionary atonement and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate Ligonier Ministries/Reformation Trust’s efforts at making gospel-focused theology accessible for both parents and children. Judy and I have purchased several children’s books written by R. C. Sproul. The Priest With Dirty Clothes and The Lightlings come to mind and both have been read to our kids and grandkids and we’ve also given them away as gifts. In each of these cases complex theological ideas become understandable and accessible. With the recent release of The Prince’s Poison Cup, Ligonier has done the heavy lifting for Christian parents. This is a great book that brings the grace of God in the bright glory of the gospel to bear in a readable children’s book. Kids will easily relate to Ella in her disdain for medicine and they will be drawn in to the deeper meaning of the story line about the prince who must taste the bitter cup. The illustrations by Justin Gerard are very rich and very good and reflect Ligonier’s attention to detail. But, my favorite part of the book is the discussion section for parents at the end. This section will help both children and parents understand this theme. This book will help Christian parents communicate the gospel to their children. For parents who take this responsibility seriously this is a book that will help us in our task. Ligonier Ministries deserves special thanks for helping us do our job. The Prince’s Poison Cup is available through Ligonier Ministries (http://www.ligonier.org/), Monergism Books (http://www.monergismbooks.com/) or through Christ Our Redeemer Church’s resource table.

- Dan

COR's First Child Dedication and Baptism

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
- Colossians 2:11-12

“The church is generated by the right preaching of the Word; the church is contained and distinguished by the right administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.”
- Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 10

“Baptism is important precisely because it is tied to the gospel, to the saving work that Christ accomplished in his death and resurrection.”
- Thomas Schreiner, Believer’s Baptism, p. 1

“Similarly, when a person is baptized, he takes upon himself the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19): he becomes God’s person, distinguished from all the other families of the earth. And the Lord’s Supper signs and seals the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood, by which we are separated from the world (Matt. 26:28; 1 Cor. 11:25).”
- John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, p. 413


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Last Sunday was a glorious day at Christ Our Redeemer Church. As a new church plant we experienced two ‘firsts’. First, six children were dedicated to the Lord. Jack Bowen, Abraham Gerving, Anaya Hamilton, Ethan and Felix Haugans, and Jason Wakefield came forward to be prayed for and both their parents and the church were given a charge to raise them under the influence of the gospel. This was a very happy occasion. And then following the morning service we went to The Marshall Center in Vancouver for a baptismal service and potluck. At the baptismal service Emma and Paul Hanger, Joey Ellis, and Lydia and Nathanael Morse made public professions of faith and were baptized. It was a wonderful encouragement to hear the testimonies of each person’s love for the Savior. This was another happy occasion.

I thank God for His work in our midst. To see parents with a desire to raise kids that love the Savior, and to see young people eager to make a profession of faith and follow the Savior is a great encouragement and joy. Make God give us many more child dedications and baptisms in the years to come.

I’m thankful to be serving the Savior together with you.

Dan

A Christian Conscience and the Culture of Death

“…then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
- Genesis 2:7

"You shall not murder.”
- Exodus 20:13

“I am the bread of life.”
- John 6:48

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
- John 10:10

“We love our neighbor because we first love God. In His sovereignty, our Creator has put us within this cultural context in order that we may display His glory by preaching the gospel, confronting persons with God’s truth, and serving as agents of salt and light in a dark and fallen world. In other words, love of God leads us to love our neighbor, and love of neighbor requires our participation in culture and in the political process.”
- Al Mohler, Culture Shift, p. 2

“…the biblical injunctions to submit to the state as God means, in our context, that we must take our obligations toward a participatory democracy seriously. This, combined with the moral obligation to ‘do good to the city,’ involves believers matters of government at some level (all the way from voting to influencing government to legislating to governing) in ways impossible for Paul and Luke….”
- D.A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited, p. 196


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

I’ve already voted as I typically vote absentee. If you are able and you meet the legal criteria you must vote. One of our obligations as Christians, at least in the West, is to participate in our democracy. And as we participate in our democracy we must ask the question which candidate(s) best promotes a worldview consonant with biblical values. This is never easy. In a fallen world there are choices to be made that are not ideal. In this election there is a choice to be made that is not ideal. Senator McCain was never my first choice in a field of questionable candidates, but the contrast between he and Senator Obama is stark. Here is a platform position from Senator Obama’s website, “…(Obama) has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President.”[1] Contrast this with this platform position from Senator McCain’s web site, “John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.”[2] A president nominates judges that effect the direction of the Supreme Court for years to come. And in a nation with a death toll nearing 50 million lives taken by abortion your vote matters. A lot can be said about a man when it comes to defending the defenseless and how can someone be a ‘champion’ for abortion rights? Again, this election is not about an ideal choice. It is about a Christian conscience in a culture of death. I’ve already voted, and I hope you will vote also.

I’m grateful to God for placing me in a participatory democracy.

Dan
[1] http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues
[2] http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm

Brokenhearted Affections

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51:17

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite."
-Isaiah 57:15

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
-Isaiah 66:2

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”
- James 3:13

“All gracious affections, that are a sweet odor to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or to men, is a brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires. Their hope is an humble hope, and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory is a humble brokenhearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit, and more like a little child, and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behavior.”
- Jonathan Edwards, quoted by Sam Storms in, Signs of the Spirit, p. 117

“Sheep are the most harmless, quiet, inoffensive creatures that God has made. So should it be with Christians: they should be very humble and lowly-minded, as disciples of Him who said, ‘Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart.’ They should be known as persons of a very gentle and loving spirit, who desire to good to all around them, who would not injure any one by word or deed; who do not seek the great things of this world, but are content to go straightforward on the path of duty and take whatever it shall please God to send them. They ought to show forth in their lives and outward conversation that the Holy Ghost has given them a new nature, has taken away their old corrupt disposition and planted in them godly thoughts, desires and purposes. When, therefore, we see people biting and devouring one another, saying and doing uncharitable things to their neighbors, and passionate and evil-tempered and angry on the slightest occasion; full of envy and strife and bitter speaking, - surely we are justified in saying, ‘Ye do not belong to Christ’s flock; ye have yet to be born again and made new creatures; there must be a mighty change. Profess what you please, at present we can only see in you the mind of the old man, even Adam the first, but nothing of the second Adam, even Christ Jesus the Lord; we can discern the spirit of the wolf, however fair your clothing, and we want instead to discover in you the spirit of the lamb.”
- J.C. Ryle, The True Christian, p. 112


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

God inclines Himself to the humble and the contrite. Humility and contrition are indications of the grace of God at work in the sinner’s heart and true humility and contrition cannot be feigned. They are the work of grace given by God to undeserving sinners. Our Savior was clothed with humility and the Spirit bears the fruit of humility in us. Spirit borne and wrought Christians are characterized by humility. And as such, when we interact with one another humility and contrition ought to characterize both our posture and our conversation. God scatters the proud and brings them low. He is repelled by the arrogant and the proud, but He draws near to the humble and contrite. As those who love the Savior and are called by His name may we be filled with humble, brokenhearted affections for Him and for those around us.

I’m grateful for mercy to undeserving sinners like me and I’m praying that God would work His brokenhearted affections in my life.

Dan

Wrath and Mercy

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
- Romans 3:10-12

“We are stiff-necked, rebellious, and ungrateful. Free, unmerited grace is our only hope to be otherwise.”
- John Piper, Spectacular Sins, p. 93

“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him…”
- Isaiah 53:10a

“Jesus, the servant of whom Isaiah spoke, was crushed for us; therefore, if we believe and turn from our sins, we are not crushed. We have been rescued from deadly peril and endless pain. But as we get farther from the day we were rescued, do we remember what we were saved from? Do we remember that we should have been crushed by God’s wrath? Do we realize that, from our perspective the cross is the greatest injustice there will ever be? The Perfect One crushed in the place of sinners? And do we remember that there will be a divine judgment when God’s wrath will be revealed (Romans 2:5)? Hell teaches us about the fear of the Lord.”
- Edward Welch, When People are Big and God is Small, p. 123-124

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;In all the universe we have no place.Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;We know today what wounds are; have no fear;Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
Edward Shillito (1872-1948), Jesus of the Scars

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Yesterday I had the privilege of listening to D.A. Carson at The Spurgeon Fellowship at Western Seminary (www.thespurgeonfellowship.org). Dr. Carson’s message was on suffering and evil, and since he was speaking primarily to pastors his efforts were aimed at building and reinforcing a pastoral theology of suffering and evil. The question of suffering and evil is a moot point when everything in the world is rosy. As long as things are going our way and the vestiges of a fallen creation are held at bay, then suffering and evil are relatively inconsequential. The rub comes when our world begins to unravel. It’s then we begin the blame and accusation. Several years ago I read John Gerstner’s, The Problem of Pleasure, and found his argument compelling. He turned the classical theodicy argument on its head. Theodicy argues for God’s goodness in spite of the existence of evil. Gerstner (and Chesterton before him) asked why sinful humans experience pleasure in a fallen world. This is a very important question. I’m afraid we have become accustomed to grace. We’ve come to expect God to act in munificence and we’ve forgotten His wrath and judgment rightly directed to sinners. God is graciously withholding His hand of judgment for now, but a day is coming when the full measure of His wrath will be unleashed. A sober assessment of God’s wrath and judgment rightly deserved by sinners will sober us. Understanding wrath helps us understand mercy. Understanding our state outside of Christ will bring deep and pervasive humility. Understanding the righteous judgment God has rightly leveled against us is only averted through Jesus Christ will change how we interact with one another. Dr. Carson urged us pastors to give greater attention to the wrath and judgment of God lest for us mercy and grace become commonplace.

I’m sobered by God’s wrath once directed towards me and grateful for His mercy, averting that wrath, through Christ,

Dan

Our Children and Their Faith

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.1 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
- Ephesians 6:4

“To help our children come to an enduring faith in Christ, we must begin the parenting process with a clear view of their spiritual nature at birth. We must also have a clear view of the final goal of the parenting process as it relates to our children’s ultimate spiritual condition.”
- Parents Passing on the Faith, Carl Spackman, p. 13

“In each generation, the church’s most critical task is to uphold and proclaim the truth as it was delivered to her by her Lord. One important aspect of this task is the diligent preparation of the church’s children to continue to be the support and pillar of the truth in the generation to come.”
- Training Hearts – Teaching Minds, Starr Meade, p. 1

“Reader, if you would train your children wisely, mark well how God the Father trains His. He doeth all things well; the plan which He adopts must be right.”
- J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents


Dear Christ our Redeemer Family and Friends,

As Christians and as parents we have been given a joyful and yet sober responsibility. God’s electing love directed towards sinners is entirely His prerogative and is given freely by His grace, but this does not negate our responsibility to raise our children ‘Christianly’. In other words, with the counsel of Scripture we are to bring instruction to our children that accurately portrays man in his fallen state, God in His acts of redemption (specifically revealed in the gospel), and their need for true repentance and faith. As far as is possible our children must be brought again and again to Christ. We mustn’t assume their conversion if there is no evidence of conversion. We must instruct them, we must appeal to them, we must urge them, we must pray for them and foremost we must live Christian lives before them. Pat’s sermon last Sunday is easily applied to our homes as well. The demonstration of the power and life of Christ must be evident in us for our children to see. The greatest opportunities for discipleship and evangelism exist within our own homes. We must ‘be’ the gospel to our kids. They will never see the validity or the power of it otherwise.

Please pray for the children of COR and please pray that God would make us the godly parents He would have us to be. The next generation at COR will depend upon it.

Praying with you for our children,

Dan

Proto-Evangelism and the Call to the Nations

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
- Isaiah 61:1-3

“God the Father is the author of evangelism. He conceived evangelism in eternity. Likewise in eternity He commissioned the Son to merit salvation for sinners by His substitutionary death on the accursed cross and by His rendering to the Father on behalf of sinners that perfect obedience the reward of which is eternal life.”
- R.B Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism, p. 14

“The Lord of the Scriptures is a missionary God who not only reaches out and gathers the lost but also sends his servants, and particularly His beloved Son, to achieve his gracious saving purposes.”
- Kostenberger and O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, p. 269

“Knowing the desperate plight of men and women under divine judgment and that the gospel was the only hope for deliverance from the wrath to come, those who had once been in this predicament should be wholly involved in bringing it into the hearts and lives of others.”
- P.T. O’Brien, Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul, p. 112

“Never forget that the gospel is good news about the coming of a King.”
- John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord, p. 157


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Evangelism is the glad and grace-filled responsibility God has given to the church, but only because God is Himself an evangelist. His desire is that the nations are gathered to worship Him and in Christ He has issued the world-wide call to repent and believe. Therefore, the mission mandate is derivative. Our call to evangelism comes from God’s call to the nations. Our call to outreach finds its source in the God who has already extended Himself to sinners and when we engage in evangelism we are simply heralding the call already given. Over the last few weeks there has been bad news all around. But this is truly good news - God has called sinners to Himself and in His sovereignty He’s called us to the same task. We are simply echoing the call already given.

This coming Saturday we are holding an evangelism seminar for Christ Our Redeemer Church. We will be meeting at Vista Community Church in Ridgefield from 9am to noon on Saturday. We’ve invited Living Waters Church and Red Sea Church to join us. My dear friend Pat Sczebel will be leading this. If you are able, please make every effort to attend, because this will enable us to more effectively repeat God’s call to the nations, starting with our own neighbors and friends.

Thank you for loving the Savior and desiring to make His name known.

Dan

Notorious Repentance

“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”
- Luke 3:8

“Doing right is not the way into the Kingdom; but it is the way of life in the Kingdom. It is not the condition of regeneration, but it is its inevitable consequence and invariable accompaniment.”
- Sinclair Ferguson, Children of the Living God, p. 69

“But nonexistence of remorse makes repentance impossible, and nonexistence of repentance makes forgiveness impossible.”
- J.I. Packer, Concise Theology, p. 245

“We cannot be saved from sin without recognizing the awful evil of our sin, hating it with our whole soul, and earnestly desiring to be delivered not only from its guilt but also from its power. That is to say, we cannot be saved from sin while we desire and intend to continue in sin. If we are to escape God’s wrath and curse, we must turn from our sins to God.”
- Johannes Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism Commentary, p. 432

“Repentance is not just believing that one is a sinner, or feeling sorry for one’s sin, or even hating them. It is the very act of turning away from them. To turn from sin is to turn to goodness.”
- John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, p. 331

“When a preacher of righteousness has stood in the way of sinners, he should never again open his lips in the great congregation until his repentance is as notorious as his sin.”
- John Angell James, quoted by Charles Spurgeon in Lectures to my Students, p. 9


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

As the 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon stood to exhort young preachers, he warned them to keep watch over both their souls and their lives. He specifically warned them about notorious sins and their effect. Said Spurgeon, there are certain sins which disqualify men from pastoral ministry, but do not discount the importance of reputation. He said, “Alas, the beard of reputation, once shorn is hard to grow again.” His encouragement in this came from another preacher, John Angell James, who said that one’s repentance should became as notorious as one’s sin. These are important and wise words for us. The glory of God in the saving work of Christ is reflected in ’notorious’ repentance. Think of David. Think of Zachaeus. Think of Peter. Think of Nicodemus. Think of Lydia. And think of the Philippian jailer. These saints are recorded in the annals of Holy Scripture by their acts of ‘notorious’ repentance. Their acts of repentance are a demonstration of the powerful and effectual work of the Holy Spirit.

As we consider our own lives may our repentance be pervasive, radical, and notorious. When others think of us may they see the Spirit’s work in vibrancy, and life, and turning from sin in a manner that calls attention to the pervasive, radical and saving nature of God’s work through the gospel. May God keep tepid and shallow repentance far from us. Please pray that our repentance will become as notorious as our sins.

Longing for God to make us a church of notorious repenters,

Dan

The Comfort of Care

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
- Psalm 23:1

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
- Philippians 4:19-20

“Our faithful God is an ever-flowing well of delight, and our fellowship with the Son of God is a river full of joy. Knowing these glorious things, we cannot be discouraged.”
- Charles Spurgeon, All of Grace, p. 125

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
- John Newton, Amazing Grace, verse 4

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

The above John Newton hymn keeps playing in my mind. And my comfort is this - God cares for His own. I’m reminded that the unbreakable bond of God’s love for His people has been sealed for all eternity. God has deigned good for us through an oath of promise and it cannot be broken. God’s mercies endure forever toward us, because they are secured for us by His own dear Son. For those that are in Christ every possible combination of difficulty can only have good at its end, and this because of Christ’s mediating work and God’s unfailing promises toward us through Him. This gives me great hope in difficulty and endears great love for the Savior.

The Lord has promised good to us.

Dan

Crises Reveal the Cracks

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
-1 Peter 1:6-7

“To begin with, the older I get, the less impressed I am with flashy successes and enthusiasms that are not truth-based. Everybody knows that with the right personality, the right music, the right location, and the right schedule you can grow a church without anybody really knowing what doctrinal commitments sustain it, if any. Church-planting specialists generally downplay biblical doctrine in the core values of what makes a church “successful.” The long-term effect of this ethos is a weakening of the church that is concealed as long as the crowds are large, the band is loud, the tragedies are few, and persecution is still at the level of preferences. But more and more this doctrinally-diluted brew of music, drama, life-tips, and marketing seems out of touch with real life in this world - not to mention the next. It tastes like watered-down gruel, not a nourishing meal. It simply isn’t serious enough. It’s too playful and chatty and casual. Its joy just doesn’t feel deep enough or heartbroken or well-rooted. The injustice and persecution and suffering and hellish realities in the world today are so many and so large and so close that I can’t help but think that, deep inside, people are longing for something weighty and massive and rooted and stable and eternal. So it seems to me that the trifling with silly little sketches and breezy welcome-to-the-den styles on Sunday morning are just out of touch with what matters in life. Of course, it works. Sort of. Because, in the name of felt needs, it resonates with people’s impulse to run from what is most serious and weighty and what makes them most human and what might open the depths of God to their souls. The design is noble. Silliness is a stepping-stone to substance. But it’s an odd path. And evidence is not ample that many are willing to move beyond fun and simplicity. So the price of minimizing truth-based joy and maximizing atmosphere-based comfort is high. More and more, it seems to me, the end might be in view. I doubt that a religious ethos with such a feel for entertainment can really survive as Christian can survive for too many more decades. Crises reveal the cracks.”
-John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ, pp. 22-23

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

What we believe and what we treasure are revealed in crisis. When everything around us begins to give way our heart and affections are laid bare. When the scorching heat of trial evaporates all hope the dross becomes apparent. Our God is a consuming fire. Crises reveals the cracks. This is not only true for the Christian, it is true for the church universal, and it is true for Christ Our Redeemer. Crises reveal the cracks, and in spite of what we say we believe God has designed suffering and trial to bring congruity between what we say we believe and what we truly believe. Last Sunday we celebrated our first anniversary as a church plant. It has been a wonderful first year. We have seen the kindness and favor of God multiplied times. In this time of blessing we should be cognizant that difficulties and crises will come. Crises not only reveal cracks, they are the God-appointed means He uses to reveal the dross in our lives and conform us into the image of His Son. While rarely ever pleasant, crises are a means of grace for us and God has appointed them for our good and His glory. To experience suffering and trial is to experience blessing of a different kind. God’s means to help us in the middle of difficulty is a robust and God-honoring theology that finds it’s grounding in the Scriptures. Accurate views of God and accurate views of man will help us when difficulties come. When Satan’s temptation came to Jesus in the stark Galilean wilderness His response was the citation of Scripture. God’s self-revelation through the words of Scripture is our anchor during the storm.

Thanking God for trial that confirms the faithfulness of God and the truthfulness of Scripture,

Dan

A Meditation on Grace

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
- Psalm 86:15

“The word ‘grace’ thus comes to express the thought of God acting in spontaneous goodness to save sinners: God loving the unlovely, making covenant with them, pardoning their sins, accepting their persons, revealing Himself to them, moving them to response, leading them ultimately into full knowledge and enjoyment of Himself, and overcoming all obstacles to the fulfillment of this purpose that at each stage arise.”
- J.I. Packer, The Most Important 18 Words You Will Ever Know, p. 94

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

This past week I’ve been thinking a lot about grace and I was moved by the J.I. Packer quote above. Just think about these things for a moment -

• Grace is - God acting in spontaneous goodness to save us when everything in us was an affront to Him (Romans 5:8).
• Grace is - God loving us when we’re sinful and unlovely (Romans 3:21-26).
• Grace is - God promising His salvation to us by an unbreakable oath (Galatians 3:29).
• Grace is - God pardoning all of our sins- past, present and future (Hebrews 10:12).
• Grace is - God accepting us completely through the thoroughgoing work of His Son (Romans 8:3,4).
• Grace is - God revealing Himself to us by reviving our dead hearts and opening our eyes to His incomparable beauty (Ephesians 2:4-7).
• Grace is - God moving in our hearts so that we might respond to Him (Romans 6:13).
• Grace is - God ultimately leading us into full knowledge of Himself (1 Cor. 13:12).
• Grace is - God ultimately leading us into full enjoyment of Himself (Ephesians 1:7-12).
• Grace is - God fulfilling His purposes for us, no matter the obstacles (Romans 8:38,39).

And as we consider our gracious God, here are some questions for you to think about -

1) How might our deficiencies in understanding grace impede our apprehension of the character and glory of God in our salvation?

2) How might our deficiencies in understanding grace impede our apprehension of the character and glory of God in the salvation of those we live our lives with (family, church, work, etc.)?

3) How might we improve upon our understanding of grace?

4) And how might we anticipate how an improved understanding of grace will affect our lives and and how we live out life with others?

I want to understand and glorify our gracious God more fully.

Dan

Strength for Weakness

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:30

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:9

“God accepts our prayers, though weak, because we are His own children, and they come from his own Spirit; because they are according to his own will; and because they are offered in Christ’s mediation, and he takes them, and mingles them with his own incense.”
- Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed, p. 51

“A weak Christian and a strong Christ shall be able to do all.”
- Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, p. 41

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Christians are people of great weakness. At the end of the day we are plagued by insufficiency, inability, inefficiency, and weakness. As I think about all of the responsibilities of church planting and being a faithful pastor I realize I am incredibly weak. As I think about being an effective father and husband I am aware of terrible shortcoming and weakness. At times I realize my prayers are weak, my zeal is often flagging, my love for the Word is lacking, my care for the lost is tepid, and my love for Christ’s church is not what it should be. At every point I need a strong Savior, mighty to save and mighty to fill every lack for my weakness. Often I ask myself, who is sufficient for these things? The amazing thing is God delights to graciously show Himself strong in our weakness. When discouragement seems to overwhelm me and when my strength is at its lowest ebb, God desires to show Himself mighty. I take courage from other saints that have found themselves to be weak and have found God to supply sufficient grace and strength. It is amazing to see the perspective the testimony of others brings. This week I was reading Jonathan Edwards’ account of David Brainard in John Piper’s, The Hidden Smile of God. Brainard was a missionary to Massachusetts Indians. As a very young man he was zealous to bring the gospel to these people, and at the same time he was dying of tuberculosis. I haven’t read about Brainard for a while, but I remember reading his diary years ago and being moved to tears. In great weakness God provided Brainard with incredible strength and zeal and resolve. As an encouragement, just when you think you’ve reached the end of your rope, read Brainard’s diary. You will see grace given for incredible weakness. I’m afraid that often we give up too soon and we don’t see the strength that God provides for our weakness. The reason for this is to show the incomprehensible power of our mighty God on our behalf. He delights to placard His power and strength in our weakness, so that He is made glorious. We may boast in our weakness, but we’ll boast the more in His overwhelming sufficiency and power.

Grateful for God’s grace and strength for my weakness,

Dan

The Cross and the Crucible

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
- Romans 5:3-5

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ.”
- 2 Timothy 2:3

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
- 1 Peter 1:6-7

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

- C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (HarperCollins, 2002), p. 91

“There is nothing accidental, or fortuitous, or contingent about God’s work. It is all planned and worked out from the beginning right until the end. In our experience it comes to us increasingly, but in the mind and purpose of God, it is already perfect and entire.”
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Why Does God Allow Suffering?, p. 122

“…God wills that the mission of the church advance through storm and suffering.”
- John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, p. 91

“Suffering, for the Christian, is a vocation – we are called to suffer.”
- Dan McCartney, Why Does it Have to Hurt? – The Meaning of Christian Suffering, p. 101


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Here’s a promise - Christians will suffer. In the words of one author, suffering is not a matter of if, but, when. For all of us suffering has already come or is soon coming. In the mystery of God’s wise providence suffering is sent to every true Christian to serve purposes that only God-directed suffering can. We may recoil at the prospect and promise of suffering, but it is precisely in the crucible of affliction that God accomplishes His most enduring work. And though suffering is not salvific (securing redemptive favor with God), it does have a sanctifying effect. With the effectual work of the Spirit, suffering changes us and makes us more like our Savior. God uses the crucible of suffering for our good and His glory.

In reading through a sermon by Puritan John Owen on affliction he commented that suffering and affliction have an effect upon the Christian that nothing else can have. I know that suffering has had this effect in my own life. Some of the suffering Judy and I have experienced I never want to experience again, however, each time I think about these sufferings I thank God for what He has accomplished through them. There have been severe trials that have come that have served God’s purposes far more effectively than anything else imagined. Suffering is not some foul fiend to steer clear of. Suffering is the handmaid of God’s sanctifying purposes. In the Christian suffering is a sure indication of the presence of sanctifying grace.

As Christians, here are a few things to remember about suffering –

1) Suffering is an indication of sonship (Hebrews 12:6-11).
2) Suffering is a sign of Divine love and not Divine abandonment. We only have to look at the Cross to see God’s favor to sinners in the grandest display of suffering (Romans 8:32).
3) Christ is identified with His people and His people are identified with Christ in suffering.
4) All suffering is God-ordained.
5) Suffering is designed to bear good fruit in us.
6) Some suffering will not make sense this side of heaven.
7) All suffering will make sense in heaven.
8) Suffering provokes us to bear with one another, pray for one another, and love and serve one another.
9) Suffering brings God glory and serves our good.
10) There are things God can accomplish in us, both individually and as a church, that come about only in the crucible of suffering.

As God inevitably brings suffering our way may we resolve to embrace it with great gratitude, love for Him, and confidence in His grace-filled purposes.

Dan

Reminding One Another of the Gospel

“…be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,….”
- Ephesians 5:18-19

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,….”
- Ephesians 1:7

“The gospel is the air we breathe in the house of God. To change metaphors, the gospel is the conversation taking place in the house—our Father speaking to us, his children, about the gift of his Son. The gospel is the life-transforming story with a promise for all who hear and believe.”
- Alfred Poirier, The Peacemaking Pastor

“…be on your guard against the neglect of grace.”
- Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone, p. 215


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

We’re very glad to be back from vacation. We had a great time in Canada attending a wedding and visiting friends at Crossway Community Church (http://www.crosswaycc.net/) and then we got plenty of sun as we camped in Central Oregon, but we’re glad to be back home with you all!

Recently I recounted this story to a friend –

A number of years ago Judy and I sat across the table from a wise pastor and his wife. Though Judy and I had been Christians a long time we found ourselves starving for the gospel. I asked this wise pastor to explain the gospel to us, and as we sat with them we wept as he slowly and painstakingly took us through a biblical understanding of man’s total inability, God’s unconditional electing love in Christ, the extent of Christ’s atonement, God’s irresistible grace in drawing sinners to Himself, and God’s ultimate preserving power in the life of the Christian. When he finished I asked him to start over again. I had been a Christian for years and had never heard the simple, straightforward gospel. Up until that point my Christian theology was a muddled mix of legalism, phariseeism, and fear. As I understood it my performance dictated my right-standing with God and though I understood myself to be a Christian my belief was woefully uninformed. It seems that a misunderstanding of the gospel or an inadequate view of the gospel is rampant in these days. Old thought processes and the mind of the legalist die hard. The gospel must be continually fought for in the battleground of our minds. And some of the ways we can do that is by being faithful to continually remind one another of the gospel by speaking, praying and singing the gospel when we’re together, by availing ourselves of the means of grace God provides in baptism and the Lord’s Table, and by gladly hearing the Word of God expounded as the gospel is brought to bear upon us through the Scriptures. Without diligence in these things our inclination is drift away from the gospel. The remedy for drift is reminder. I need you to remind me of the gospel and you need me to remind you of the gospel. Husbands you must remind your wives of the gospel and wives you must remind your husbands of the gospel, and both need to remind your children of the gospel. The gospel alone is the power of God to change the sinner’s heart. Performance, legalism, and the commitment to do better will not change us. We must be renewed by the transformation of our minds through the power of the gospel. Under the efficacious influence of the Holy Spirit the oft-repeated rehearsal of the truth of the gospel will change us. Incrementally, and by degrees, the gospel will work its work in us.

I’m glad to be home and I’m profoundly grateful to be in a community of believers that remind me of the gospel.

Dan

The Church's Proclamation and a Few Thoughts on 'Building Up'

“ If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”
- 1 Corinthians 14:23-26

“When there is a proper apprehension of the value of the truth and a sincere appropriation of the promises of God to ourselves, there will be the desire to acknowledge his goodness and proclaim the truth to others.”
- Charles Hodge, 1 Corinthians, p. 261

“What is mandatory is that everything aim at edification.”
- Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 691

Hi Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

I’ve been thinking…and that’s always a dangerous thing. As I’ve been thinking about COR’s worship I’ve been thinking about everything we do on Sunday morning. I’ve been thinking about the purpose for everything we do in the context of Sunday morning worship. I think there is something significant here that I’ve not paid close attention to, especially as we consider the presence of both believers and unbelievers within the context of COR’s Sunday worship.

In the context of Corinthian worship there was a self-conscious effort given to the elements of worship that pointed to the believer’s relationship with Christ and union with him. In the context of ‘building up’ the church the unbeliever was made aware of his distance from God and what came was conviction of sin. The secrets of his heart were disclosed by those around him by calling attention to the grace of God in a hymn, revelation, tongue, or interpretation. This seems to be amazing - edification or building up the body results in encouragement to the church and conviction of sin for the unbeliever.

I think what this means is that our worship must be more self-consciously God conscious. This comes by building up the church, and this through drawing attention to the gospel and the grace of God shown to us. Too often worship has been self-focused and not God-focused. What this looks like for COR is an intentional magnification of the gospel in everything we do. Worship, proclamation, giving, communion, fellowship, set-up/take-down, all must be done with a self-conscious awareness of the grace of God that has been shown to us in the gospel. May God give us all a strong desire to ‘build up’ the church by drawing attention to the amazing grace of God in our own lives and in the lives of others.

I will miss you all this next weekend as we’re travelling on vacation

Dan

Evidence of a Regenerate Heart

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.”
- 1 John 3:14

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
- 1 John 3:14-16

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
- 1 Peter 1:22-23

“In his Farewell Sermon to the Northhampton congregation, he (Jonathan Edwards) admonished his parishioners not to think of themselves as Christians unless they ‘fervently love all men, of whatever party or opinion, and whether friendly or unkind, just or injurious, to you or your friends, or to the cause and kingdom of Christ.’”
- Quoted by Gerald McDermott in One Holy and Happy Society, p. 109

“Love is the supreme manifestation of the new life, so much so that any one who fails to manifest is shows that he has never entered into the new life; ‘he abides in death’.”
- F.F. Bruce, The Epistles of John, p. 96

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

How do we know that we are a Christian? We know we are a Christian by our trust in Christ alone as the satisfaction for our sins, but is that all? Are there objective criteria pointing to saving faith? To be sure there are certain propositional truths that we must believe, but are there other ways we can perceive the evidences of saving faith? Too often we relegate saving faith to the cerebral. If we just believe these certain propositional truths we have assurance of our salvation, but God’s will revealed through His Word is much more particular. The Apostle John records one way to recognize saving faith is in the evidence of love we have for our brothers and sisters. When the gospel takes hold in our heart our affections are changed from being primarily self-focused to being primarily others-focused. A true Christian loves other Christians and looks for ways to express that love to them. They are members of the same family and there is familial love evident between them. There is a grace-given effusion of love welling up within the Christian that is to be poured out in affection for others. Because the love of God has been poured out upon us in Jesus Christ we have been given new life and a new nature to love one another. The Christian cannot help it; love is part of his new DNA. Love is demonstrative. Love forgives. Love shows mercy. Love meets needs. Love protects. Love doesn’t keep score. Love serves. Love is longsuffering. Love bears burdens. This is the way that everyone knows we belong to Christ; we love one another.

I am grateful to be part of a church where the evidence of regeneration in genuine love is manifest. You are His disciples, because I’ve seen it.

With much affection, Dan

Gender Blending, Marriage Confusion, and Profound Mysteries

“For the first time in its history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of the terms ‘marriage’ and ‘family.’”
- Andreas Kostenberger, God, Marriage, and Family, p. 25

“…Paul saw that when God designed the original marriage He already had Christ and the church in mind. This is one of God’s great purposes in marriage: to picture the relationship between Christ and His redeemed people forever!”
- George Knight, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, p. 176

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
- Genesis 1:27

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
- Romans 1:24-25

‘"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.’
- Ephesians 5:31-32


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

It seems like lately the news is full of controversy regarding the roles of men and women and marriage. There is so much confusion. From polygamist unions to Star Trek’s Sulu’s same-sex union, you simply can’t escape it. Perhaps you’ve seen the recent reports about the ‘man’ in Central Oregon about to give birth. And certainly you’ve heard about the State of California’s recent ruling on same-sex marriage. This week the state has begun issuing same-sex marriage licenses and reportedly there is a back log of same-sex couples slated to be ‘married’. Here’s a legimate question - can a state declare a same-sex union to actually be a marriage? Marriage, as biblically defined, is the God-instituted union between a man and woman. What the state declares is something, but it is not a legitimate marriage. You may call a horse a zebra all day long (And you may even paint white and black stripes on it!), but it remains a horse. And no matter what sort of surgical violation a woman imposes upon her body, she is still a woman. And here’s news to somebody - men simply cannot bear children. We have to change the definition of ‘man’ to make it mean what it doesn’t in order to say that a man has given birth.

God has created both men and women, distinct and complimentary, but equal. No matter what language we use men are men, women are women, and marriage is the joining of one woman to one man. There is an important theological point to be made by affirming the convention of marriage as defined this way. Christ is the intended husband of one wife and she is not the same as he. The roles are distinct and complimentary. The marriage of Christ and His bride is a profound mystery, but this marriage is the model of which all other legitimate marriages are reflective. Men being joined with men and women being joined with women is not reflective of the model and therefore is not true marriage as these roles are not distinct, nor are they complimentary.

In all of the confusion, gospel-centered Christian marriages are important. These are not perfect marriages, but marriages where both men and women recognize the necessity of, and are dependent upon, the grace of God to reflect the model. In these marriages the glory of God is the goal. Within the church our marriages ought to reflect the profound mystery of Christ and the church. Availing ourselves of the grace of God the Christian marriage is a place where men demonstrably love, lead, provide and protect, and women support, influence, and nurture with a posture of loving submission. With all of the confusion around us the church should be the place with the greatest clarity and definition, because we’ve seen the model.

I’m thankful for your love for the church and for your desire for godly marriages that reflect the Savior and His bride. May God give us even greater clarity and desire for these things in the days ahead.

Dan

Proclamational Necessity

“…the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.”

-Mark 6:10

“…they continued to preach the gospel.”

- Acts 14:7

“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

- 1 Corinthians 9:16

“I do it all for the sake of the gospel…”

- 1 Corinthians 9:23

“But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you…”

- 2 Corinthians 10:15-16

“…nothing could be more inconsistent with the nature of faith than that deadness which would lead a man to disregard his brethren, and to keep the light of (gospel) knowledge choked up within his own breast.”

- John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah 2:3

“How many of us believe truly that but for the intervention of God in our lives we would be damned and lost?

- D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Evangelistic Sermons, p. 2

“When we don’t sufficiently consider what God has done for us in Christ – the high cost of it, what it means, and what Christ’s significance is - we lose the heart to evangelize.”

- Mark Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, p. 28



Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

How important is the proclamation of the gospel to the life of the church? Can the church truly be the church without gospel proclamation? As I’ve begun to this recent study in Acts I’ve been amazed at how pervasive the gospel witness through proclamation was in the life of the early church. I’ve known this, but it has been reinforced in these days. Everything revolved around the proclamation of the good news. Both converts and enemies were made, people met from house to house, instruction was given, Stephen was martyred, people sold possessions, others were healed, demons were cast out, missionaries were sent, churches were planted, people were thrown in prison, and all because a message was proclaimed. This message was simple and yet it was like no other. It was a message of reconciliation and a message of incredible consequence. God became a man and was attested to by the miraculous. He lived for 33 years and then was crucified at the hands of wicked men and then He rose from the dead and was seen by hundreds, and He now occupies a place of authority. The gospel proclamation is one of good news resulting in repentance and forgiveness - turn from your sin and believe the good news of the gospel and your many sins will be forgiven. This message is the central message of the Christian faith and as such should be the central message of the church. The church must be the place of proclamation, both within her walls and outside of her walls. This is the only hope for sinful men and women, boys and girls. Where does that leave us? We have the privilege of making the gospel proclamation central and we must be the glad people that make the gospel known. Our lives are to be happily given to recounting and declaring the good-news message in every possible way.

Grateful for the good news proclaimed,

Dan

Baseball and Common Grace

Saturdays on the baseball field
And me afraid of the ball
Just another kid on camera day
When the angels still played in L.A.
I was smiling in living black and white.
Baseball cards and bubblebum
“I think there’s a hole in my glove.”
3-and-2, life and death
Swinging with eyes closed, holding my breath
I was dying on my way to the bench.
But none of it mattered after the game
When my father would find me and call out my name.
A soft drink, a snow cone, a candy bar,
A limousine ride in the family car.
He loved me…no matter how I played.
None of it mattered after the game
When my father would find me and call out my name.
Dreaming of glory the next time out
My father showed me what love was about.
He loved me…no matter how I played.
-Bob Bennett, A Song About Baseball

“That (God) pays any attention to us is entirely the result of his grace.”

- John Calvin, Isaiah III:474

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

- Matthew 5:45b

“…do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

- Romans 2:4


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

I’m writing most of this note from our daughter and son-in-law’s home in Nampa, Idaho. We left after service on Sunday and drove over to spend a couple of days with them. To our surprise and delight the COR family graciously sent us on our way with a gift basket and gift cards for our trip (Thank you for your kindness! We marveled at the mercy of God shown us through our COR family). While we’ve been here we had a day of incredibly beautiful weather on Monday. We went together to the Discovery Center (a fun science lab) in the morning, had a late lunch, and then went to Jackson’s (my grandson) baseball game on Monday evening, and then came back to their home for an incredible meal of rotisserie pork, corn on the cob, green salad and baked potatoes. As I was sitting and watching the game I was looking around at the other parents and grandparents and overhearing the chit-chat of family conversations. I could smell the combination of fresh mown grass, sage and juniper, and I could feel the radiant warmth of the sunshine as I relaxed in a lawn chair. I swung my granddaughter around between innings. It seemed as if everything was right in the world. I found myself thanking God for juniper and sage and sunshine and baseball and rotisserie pork and corn on the cob and family. I thought about the many times events like this had come and gone without my sense of the grace and kindness of God. The question is often asked, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’, when the more appropriate question should be asked, ‘Why do good things happen to bad people?’ Yesterday, at an Idaho ball field there was great grace, not in a special grace or salvific manner, but grace nonetheless in the kindness of God being shown to undeserving sinners. I’m finding myself praying that God would give me eyes to see grace in the ordinary. For me to have sat in the sunshine at a Boise ball field, innumerable and purposeful actions of a gracious God had to take place. Everything from sustaining the sun and the earth by the Word of His mouth, to photosynthesis and chlorophyll in the lawn, to the pungent fragrance of juniper, to the game being played by rules that everyone deemed equitable. Grace was evident. My grandson played well and they won their game. It was icing on the cake. We came back home to a wonderful meal and sat and talked and laughed and remembered God’s grace and kindness. Thank you Lord, for common grace, that really isn’t common at all.

Grateful for Uncommonly Common Grace,

Dan

Wrestling with Sovereignty

“…keep yourselves in the love of God….”
- Jude 20-21

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
–Jude 24-25

“Perseverance is God’s singular gift.”
- John Calvin, Commentary on Ezekiel, I:380

“We are to maintain our allegiance to God until the end and not stray from His love.”
-Thomas Schreiner, The Race Set Before Us, p. 257

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

So which is it…divine sovereignty or human responsibility? Are they opposed to one another? Or are they held in tension with one another? They are both supported biblically. Now let’s be clear; I am a champion of divine sovereignty. God saved me by a sovereign act of His love on my behalf. I was dead in my sin and He alone brought me to life. I had nothing to do with it. Put simply - salvation is monergistic. God is salvation’s Prime Mover. And at the end of the day even my perseverance is a gift of God and He will receive the glory even for my obedience. How is it that the biblical writer Jude was worried about apostasy, and yet many people in the church live like it could never happen? At times grace seems to be misunderstood to the point that really any behavior is excusable and perseverance is unnecessary. For some, the doctrine of election is so air-tight that every possibility of falling away is precluded. The problem is God’s Word warns against falling away. Faithfulness, vigilance, perseverance, and watchfulness are part and parcel to the Christian life and do not stand in opposition to divine sovereignty. While at the same time encouraging his readers to keep themselves in God’s love, Jude affirms God’s sustaining grace on their behalf. We will fall into error if we embrace the one and not the other. May we be absolutely convinced of God’s sovereignty and absolutely convinced of our need to persevere.

Persevering in Grace with you,

Dan