Consuming Fire

Today at church the sermon was on Deuteronomy 4:9-31. Several times Moses refers to fire, the most impacting for me was in verses 23-24:

"Take care lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord you God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

Now the obvious implication of this verse is do not set up idols because God is a jealous God and His justice will reign. God will consume you if you transgress His law, for He wants all of your worship directed at Him and only Him. But also this is a description of what the Holy Spirit does for the believer. Here is what I mean: the Holy Spirit burns up all of the idols in your heart. The idols we have set up in our hearts, whether it be our family, work, music, school, ministry, hobbies, or any other variety of thing, are consumed by the zealous, jealous Spirit of God.

This was convicting. Taking an honest look at my heart, there are a lot of things that I have placed on pedestals, of various sizes, that I bow down to with how I use my time and energy. I have spent tons of time entertaining myself with pointless videos, TV shows, and sleep, when I could have used that time to do any number of more noble pursuits, not least of which being reading God's Word and praying. But it has also taken place of things like school-work, and going to classes, which is never good, especially at this point in the semester. The good news is, my papers are almost finished, just a lot of guitar practice on the horizon for the next two weeks.

The fire of God is a dangerous and very serious thing, and it must run rampant through our souls and destroy all the evil. Like gold is refined by the fire, so must our desires and wants. Our worship must be products of difficult life experiences which melts away the idols we are still clinging to in our sin and rebellion against God. Our God is a jealous God. He is God and there is no other. We are His people, and He is a consuming fire.

How oft, alas!

I just came across this hymn by Anne Steele, and was really moved, thought I would share it.

How oft, alas! this wretched heart

Has wandered from the Lord,

How oft my roving thoughts depart,

Forgetful of His Word.

Yet sovereign mercy calls, “Return”;

Dear Lord, and may I come?

My vile ingratitude I mourn;

O take the wanderer home.

And canst Thou, wilt Thou yet forgive,

And bid my crimes remove?

And shall a pardoned rebel live

To speak Thy wondrous love?

Almighty grace, thy healing power

How glorious, how divine!

That can to bliss and life restore

So vile a heart as mine.

Thy pardoning love, so free, so sweet,

Dear Savior, I adore;

O keep me at Thy sacred feet,

And let me rove no more.

Saying Goodbye is Hard

Today was a hard day for me, and many people at North Oldham Baptist Church. Of course we had our normal events on a Sunday, for me at least, worship band rehearsal, Sunday School, the worship service, but then we had a luncheon. Usually everyone is excited for the luncheons at church, but this was a more sad occasion. A family in the church was leaving to do ministry in Maine. Matt was a seminary student, so it was expected that eventually their family would be leaving, but I, and if I can speak for the church, no one else really wanted them too. I have become really close to Matt and Kara, and especially their two kids Gabby who is six, and Luke is three. I play their kids all of the time when we are at church, I don't know what really started it, but I have enjoyed it so much. For some reason those kids have become quite fond of me, and of course I have of them. It has been great because I have a little niece and nephew at home, that I miss so much, and when I get to spend time with Gabby and Luke it was kind of like spending time with my niece and nephew. On top of that, I was becoming embroiled in some difficult issues in the church, and Matt was right there with me. We had been able to talk about those things, and his wife is one of the godliest women I have ever met. Their family have been very dear to me, seeing them raise their children, I have been helped and encouraged by them. But now they are gone, all the way to Maine. I am very happy for them, and I know that it was best for them, but it hurts to lose close friends like that from the church. When you are used to seeing people every week, talking to them and having lunch with them it is hard to stay in touch long distance. But I have to say, my selfish wants cannot override God's will, and His plan and purpose is the most important thing in the world. He obviously has plans for the Parkers to minister to people in Maine, and there is a need for good churches there, and certainly the Parkers are more than qualified to be there and minister. I will miss them, but they have been called to go, as many others in my life will be in the future, and I must begin to learn how to let go of things.

On top of the Parkers leaving, I found out this weekend that one of my professors, who I have had for classes nearly every semester, is leaving to take a church position in Michigan. Dr. Platt is one of the finest men I know, and one of the most influential men in my life. I have not been as close personally to him as some others, but his teaching and passion for worship, and his wisdom has been so beneficial to me. This is hard, but I ahve to say, I have told Dr. Platt before that I think he should be in a church position for a while. he has a passion for worship and for teaching people about worship that he should be in a church, not in a classroom. He has a real gift for preaching the word, and for effectively leading people in genuine worship before the throne of God that he needs to be in a full time church position. I am very happy for him, but it will not be easy to say goodbye to him in the least. He has been a great help in my these times going through college, helping me through my guitar juries and encouraging me to hang in there through sight-singing.

At the end of this weekend, I felt really sad, and disappointed that people very dear to me are leaving or have left, and selfishly I want them to stay. However God is in control and He has big plans for them, and for me. He will lead other godly people into my path to give me advice, be examples to me, to stand with me in the trenches, and to encourage me in the faith.

Psalm 17

My quiet time this morning was in Psalm 17, and I was really encouraged by it, challenged too, but that can be encouraging. I read the Psalm, then read Isaac Watts' version, and Watts, as always blew me away with his ability to not only present a nice English poetic version, but also to read Christ right into it. Of course Christ is already there, but it would be easy to miss him. I wanted to share Watts' version and let you read Psalm 17 from your Bible, and maybe let your heart be encouraged and challenged today. The title is: Psalm 17. The sinner's portion and saint's hope.

Lord, I am thine; but thou wilt prove

My faith, my patience, and my love:

When men of spite against me join,

They are the sword, the hand is thine.

Their hope and portion lies below:

'Tis all the happiness they know,

'Tis all they seek; they take their shares,

And leave the rest among their heirs.

What sinners value I resign;

Lord, 'tis enough that thou art mine:

I shall behold thy blissful face,

And stand complete in righteousness.

This life's a dream, an empty show:

But the bright world to which I go

Hath joys substantial and sincere:

When shall I wake and find me there?

O glorious hour! O bless'd abode!

I shall be near and like my God!

And flesh and sin no more control

The sacred pleasures of the soul.

My flesh shall slumber in the ground

Till the last trumpet's joyful sound;

Then burst the chains with sweet surprise,

And in my Saviour's image rise.

Let's Go

I have been thinking about something lately, something that has been mildly bothering me, and I just need to kind of get it off my chest. I am a Bible school student, going to Seminary when I get done here, and of course I know a lot of people here going into ministry. I have been amazed at how many of the people that come here to study, end up staying here in Louisville at a church.

Now what is wrong with that? Someone comes here and plugs into a church that they really love and the church asks them to come on staff, or circumstances fall into place that they get the pastorate or whatever position they desired. Is that wrong? Well obviously not necessarily, but I think it is a shame that it is such a widespread practice, and I feel this way for a couple of reasons.

First, this city has more good churches than most other cities in the world because of the seminary and seminary professors influence. Many churches here are pastored and/or staffed by seminary and Boyce professors, so why add yourself to an already strong staff. You would think that students would come here to learn and learn how to be good pastors, then leave and go somewhere they need a good solid minister of the gospel. Go where there aren't many if any good churches at all.

Second, I think this can be, not always of course, a way to remain safe and not venture out into the real world. Stay close to a seminary bubble where you can be safe and secure, and have other good godly men to rely on when they can't cut it. That is a somewhat harsh way to say it, but I think it may be true of some people. The environment here at the seminary is very safe, and when you are serving at the church, you know you have a professor, or other seminary students to hold you accountable and look over your shoulder, or even to take the fall when your idea flops. This is a dangerous thing. We need men who have no fear, not of failure, rejection, or especially getting into the real world. We have to become part of our culture and see people in their natural habitat, not in a seminary classroom, or the Christian coffee shop.

Me personally, I love Louisville, it is a great city, and certainly needs the gospel, but I am already ready to leave. I know that mentally and spiritually I have more growth to do, before I can ever venture out to a new city pastor a church, so I will remain and receive my training, but unless the Lord really leads me to a church here, I am going out, somewhere where they need good churches, or where good churches need a good leader and shepherd.

I have been encouraged by a couple in my church, who have now finished seminary and are searching for churches, none of them in the area. They came from Maine, an area where the amount of healthy churches is slim to none, and so they want to go back there and be faithful ministers of the gospel there. That is what this world needs, people who have a heart for a place and are willing to give up some of their luxuries, and their good Christian friends living close, and pour out their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Sin is Not the Solution?

In a previous post entitled Wedding Dress Part 2, I said this: "We are not called to nakedness, for that would be shameful; we are called to beautiful wedding dresses." I didn't realize how true this statement was until recently in thinking through some things. In the course of accountability I was asked what other satisfaction I was getting from some sin other than the obvious. I had to honestly say that I did not know at that time, but that I would think about it and let him know the next week. Upon considering it, I realized it was two-fold, but with a main a foundation of pride. I wanted to be worshipped, I wanted someone to think of me, and show me that I was the greatest thing on earth. I was guilty of the oldest sin in the book, the same that satan fell into, that he lead Adam and Eve into, I was now steeped in, but it was manifested in a way that on the surface didn't look like pride at all. I am not saying what it is, not necessarily out of shame, but because I don't think a blog is a forum to divulge sin, especially that which I am dealing with at present. This reminded me of the verse that says we are so easily entangled in sin, in the sense that, sin is a tangled web which has a beginning, but as it extends out, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish what sin is what. Eventually i rises to the surface and blossoms, but it may take on a completely different form that what it started to be, which in most cases I have found out, is pride. We all really do everything we do with mainly, or only us in mind, save through the grace of Jesus Christ. It also reminded me, as you might have guessed from my quote at the beginning, of not being called to nakedness. It may be easy for me now to breathe a sigh of relief because I now know the root cause of my sin. That would be foolish though, because I am still in bondage to the sin, I just know the cause. I still must apply the work of Jesus to my sin and trust Him to eliminate sin from my heart and soul. I must allow Jesus to provide a wedding dress for me to wear in place of my old garments, and not just take the old garments off, because that would be nudity, and that is not the state of a Christian. We are not called to nakedness, but to beautiful wedding dresses!

Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness

In my previous post I mentioned that I had rediscovered another hymn, which communicated they idea of Jesus being our wedding dress of righteousness, but that I needed more time to think about it. I have done so, and feel it fitting to post the complete text of that hymn, which as you can tell from the title of this post is Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness:

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father’s bosom came,
Who died for me, e’en me to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.

Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Ev’n then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died, for me.

This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue,
The robe of Christ is ever new.

Jesus, the endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me—
For me a full atonement made,
An everlasting ransom paid.

O let the dead now hear Thy voice;
Now bid Thy banished ones rejoice;
Their beauty this, their glorious dress,
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness.

This hymn was written by Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, a German, and was translated by John Wesley, the great preacher and brother of prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley. The hymn is parenthesized with the imagery of Jesus' blood and righteousness as our dress. Now, as should be evident, dress does not overtly describe an actual dress, but refers to clothing in general, regardless though the idea is there. It seems to me that the rest of the content of this hymn is somehow based on this truth. We can stand bold before His throne, we are fully absolved, or since we have believe His blood has atoned for my sin, we are clothed with Christ's righteousness. This is a great hymn, and not just because it supports this analogy, but because it is rich with truth about what Christ has done, and endears Him to my soul through beautiful poetry. Use this for the encouragement of your soul as I have mine these past few days.