Archive Page 4
what are we made of?
Take the time to think through this. You won’t regret it.
You are made of cells. I am made of cells. My cells are built on molecules. My molecules make use of atoms. My atoms are mostly space, but the bits that aren’t are called quarks…
Here is the moment of my amaze. The olive that I hold in my hand along with its friendly minced pimento, this olive that I now taste and eat, that former olive was, on some level, made out of something… not made from anything…
There is another word for not anything. The word is nothing. At some point, that is the answer to the question. What is it made of? What is it made of?
Nothing. And yet… it is…
Kick a stone. There are no tricks here. There are no props, no prefabbed white rabbits. The magic is real, and I stand blinking on the stage because of it. I’m real. I’m heavy. I’m matter. Cut me and I’ll bleed. But I’m not made out of anything, and if the Magician, the Poet, the Word, the Singer were to stop His voice, I would simply cease to be.
- re-ordered quotes from N.D. Wilson, Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl (from pages 21-24)
In some sense the most benevolent generous person in the world, seeks his own happiness in doing good to others; because he places his happiness in their good. His mind is so enlarged as to take them, as it were, into himself. Thus when they are happy he feels it, he partakes with them, and is happy in their happiness.
- Jonathan Edwards, Concerning The End For Which God Created the World
John Piper’s recent sermon at Mars Hill in Seattle for Resurgence will make you wrestle, think, and hopefully worship. I highly recommend that you listen to it. Here are some of the self-examining questions that are posed in this sermon:
- Is my discovery that God made me in his image and undertaken extraordinary lengths at the price of his own son to rescue me for himself, the thing that is finally and fully satisfying to me? Or, is it that God himself is finally and fully satisfying to me?
- Do I feel more loved by God because he makes much of me, or, because at great cost to himself he frees me to enjoy making much of him?
- In making much of God am I really aiming to make much of myself, because I am, at core, still the idol of my own heart?
- Am I glad to have God as my highest treasure because I believe I am his highest treasure? And therefore, in reality is it me, or is it God that is my ultimate treasure?
Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win 1 of 4 excellent books in the 2mites.com Easter Giveaway!
encourage and rebuke
Ezekiel 13:2-3, 22-23:
“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!… Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.”
Chapter 13 of Ezekiel is one of many chapters where God condemns the work of false prophets. We learn here that a false prophet fails to do the two-fold work of a true minister of God. True ministers of God: 1. Encourage those who are trusting and following God not to loose heart. 2. Rebuke the wicked so that they may turn to God in repentance and faith, and so be spared the judgment of God. False prophets do precisely the opposite, discouraging the true Christian and encouraging those that are going astray.
The true Christian minister must stay ever so near to the scriptures in his declaration of the mind of God. The minister of the Word must accurately paint a picture of the kind of heart that God is pleased with, as well as painting a picture of the kind of heart that God is displeased with. This is no easy task and must be done with much care, for by doing this, God’s sheep will be helped in seeing the fruit of the Spirit in their life, giving evidence to the genuine work of God. Not only this, but those who are not yet in the fold of God will see the diseased state of their heart before God, and being unable to find a cure outside of the work of Christ they will, by grace alone, joyfully find refuge in him. False prophets and teachers are enemies of this gospel work – they are wolves to be routed and sent packing before the faithful declaration of the Word of God.
What does the bible say about the eternal destiny of those who never have an opportunity to hear the gospel? Recent confusion over how to answer this question has effectively decentralized missions and evangelism from the evangelical church. Pre-order Piper’s newest book, Jesus: the only way to God – Must you hear the gospel to be saved? here.
2mites Easter Giveaway!
In honor of my favorite holiday, here is a chance to win one of four great books.
This is what you must do to enter. (Make sure not to skip step 3 so I know to enter you into the drawing!):
1. For a single entry subscribe to this blog via either:
- Email (click here)
- Your RSS Blog Reader (click here)
2. For an additional entry (doubling your chances to win) share about this giveaway via blog, twitter, or facebook.
3. To confirm your entry, email me at 2mitesGiveaway@gmail.com. If you are eligible for the additional entry, make sure to mention it in the body of the message.
There will be four winners who will each win one of the following books:
- Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl, by N.D. Wilson – The best book I have read all year. I see and feel different after reading this book. It was so helpful for my heart that I plan to read it again this summer! A truly refreshing, deep, beautiful, God-encountering read that will help you feel the ground beneath your feet.
- The Meaning of the Pentateuch, by John Sailhamer – I’m working my way through this book in the midst of a very rigorous school semester… on the side. It’s that good! An extremely helpful resource for anyone who longs to understand the first 5 books of the bible. 632 pages of Pentateuchal bliss!
- John Calvin: A Heart For Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology, edited by Burk Parsons – Here is a great compilation of approachable and insightful essays from gifted reformed authors and scholars on Calvin’s life and doctrine.
- Finally Alive, by John Piper – This is an eye opening devotional and theological read about what it means to “be born again.”
The winners will be announced on Saturday April 3rd, 2010 (the day before Easter).
Ezekiel 11:17-21
Therefore say, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.
This passage shows both the conditional and the unconditional nature of biblical salvation. We have a condition. God says that those who will be saved “walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.” Likewise God says “those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads.” Yet this conditional salvation, based on a heart of obedience, is far from the end of the story. Underneath the obedient or disobedient heart there is a determining factor that is far more decisive. For some sinners, God will unconditionally “remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” a heart that expresses a love for God in what they do. For others, God will leave to their own detestable things, and they will receive due recompense for what they have done.
There are conditions which must be met in order for one to be saved. We would be foolish, in light of litanies of biblical passages, to deny conditionality. However, it is also clear that we are unable, in ourselves, to meet any of the necessary conditions. The only way any conditions for salvation can be met, is if they are given to us unconditionally by the volition of God, through the work of Christ in the gospel.
The reason why almost all men, and those that seem to be very miserable, love life: because they cannot bear to lose the sight of such a beautiful and lovely world – the ideas, that every moment whilst we live have a beauty that we take not distinct notice of, but bring a pleasure that, when we come to the trial, we had rather live in much pain and misery than lose.
-Jonathan Edwards, Beauty of the World
God is by definition Sovereign
every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens-that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphis over the rosebud is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He that believes in a God must believe this truth. There is no standing point between this and atheism. There is no half way between a mighty God that worketh all things by the sovereign counsel of his will and no God at all. A God that cannot do as he pleases-a God whose will is frustrated, is not a God, and cannot be a God. I could not believe in a God like that.
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon, God’s Providence, Sermons, Vol. 54.
