A View From the Porch

Recently my wife and I went on a vacation.  It was a whirlwind trip through Georgia and Tennessee; spending time with family and friends.  The last leg of our vacation was spent in Tennessee at the home of my mother-in-law.  It is a beautiful place in the foothills of the great Smokey Mountains. 

Her home has a porch complete with rocking chairs where you can relax, reflect and well rock.  One day I happened to have an hour or so alone on the porch staring across a green pasture and into an evergreen and hardwood hillside; a peaceful view.  It was one of life’s simple pleasures.

This was a needed vacation (yes, I need another one).  Overwhelmed with work and church and life and the list goes on; I was feeling weak and seemingly doing so much and not doing it well.  The more I did the weaker I was feeling and as I reflected upon this an amazing song by Chris Lizotte entitled “Power in Weakness” came on.  At the same time I was finishing the book Defiant Grace by Dane Ortlund and came upon a beautiful description and thought of just how fantastically good and overwhelmingly great Christ is. 

He links the discussion to the book of John and states that in John’s Gospel we can clearly see the divinity of Christ, His greatness, but that we can also see the goodness; that Jesus is there for needy sinners like me.  It is just an amazing union of “greatness and goodness, might and mercy, strength and salvation.”

Ortlund completes this description stating; “In Jesus Christ, believers have a Lord and a Savior.  He is over us and He is next to us.  Jesus is a King to represent God to us as well as a Priest to represent us to God.” Amen!

So as I sat there or better yet rocked there and contemplated this idea, as I thought about this as it relates to my weak attempts to do stuff, as I relate this all to my worries, job, economy, service, church another song by Chris Lizotte; “Peace in the Middle of a Storm” came on.  As I rocked, as I observed the beauty of the hills and as I took in this view from the porch there was great peace and tremendous joy.

I know this was probably not some great theological moment, but it sure was a great spiritual moment.  It brought to mind Matthew 11:28-29 and the words of our Lord and Savior:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.   Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Lord Jesus, as I find your power in my weakness; as I find rest for my soul in the middle of the storm, I say humbly and simply, thank you.

Grace and Peace!

A Most Extraordinary and Amazing Affair

Have you ever really thought, thought deeply about the incarnation of Christ?  On my clear days, days when I can focus, days when I can think deeply, days when I can meditate; on one of those days as I focus on the incarnation of Christ I am in awe.  That God would become man for our salvation, so that we might be saved by grace is absolutely astounding to me. 

  

Of the incarnation Tim Keller once said; 

"As great as it is, God did not simply send us the bible, a message through the communication medium of writing. If that was all he could do for us, salvation would ultimately be in our hands —it would have been up to us to follow his instructions. But instead, God also came himself, in the flesh, to be fully present to us in Jesus Christ. It is only through his being fully present with us that we could be saved by grace." 

I love the fact that Christ is fully present with us that we might be saved by grace.  It is amazing as is the workings of God.  It brings to mind Hebrews 1;

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."

Christ truly is the radiance of God's glory - what an image!  Recently I came across something the Puritan John Gill wrote concerning the incarnation.  Gill states;

"The incarnation of Christ is a most extraordinary and amazing affair.  It is wonderful indeed, that the eternal Son of God should become man; that he should be born of a virgin...and all this in order to effect the most wonderful work that ever was done in the world, the redemption and salvation of men..."

You know it truly is a most extraordinary and amazing affair!  Thank you Jesus!

Grace and Peace!

The Joy of the Lord

I remember a time that we had several of our daughter’s friends over.  We were going to cook out, fish off the dock and just have a great time of fellowship.  As some of our guests were fishing they noticed the mullet jumping and if you been around mullet they jump quite often and you regularly see this.  One friend says to the other, “why do mullet jump?”  The other friend said, “because they have the joy of the Lord in their hearts.” 

Now when I heard it I found it amusing, but it might be a great picture of what it is like to have the joy of the Lord in our hearts.  To my knowledge science has not proven why mullet jump and that is really not the point here.  The point is we, as believers shouldn't we have the joy of the Lord in our hearts. 

So when we stop and think about it, when we think of the grace extended us, when we think that we can love Jesus, because he first loved us, when we think of the blessings and mercy; shouldn’t we be joyful?

I am reminded of Psalm 28:6-7:

Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.   The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Hearts leaping for joy…Amen!

Grace and Peace!

The Mark of a Christian

The other day I saw several Christian bumper stickers, I saw a van with the Fish symbol, I saw several cars with a window sticker from local Christian radio station, I saw a cross on the dash board of another car and it made me think.  Are these signs effective?  I started to dwell on this and wonder if all Christians should express their faith in this manner.  As I continued this thinking I came across a book from  1970 written by Francis Schaeffer titled “The Mark of a Christian”.  In it Schaeffer writes:

 “Through the centuries men have displayed many different symbols to show that they are Christians. They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, even had special haircuts. 

   Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of this, if one feels it is his calling. But there is a much better sign — a mark that has not been thought up just as a matter of expediency for use on some special occasion or in some specific era. It is a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back. 

   What is this mark? 

   At the close of his ministry, Jesus looks forward to his death on the cross, the open tomb and the ascension. Knowing that he is about to leave, Jesus prepares his disciples for what is to come. It is here that he makes clear what will be the distinguishing mark of the Christian: 

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:33-35) 

This passage reveals the mark that Jesus gives to label a Christian not just in one era or in one locality but at all times and all places until Jesus returns. 

   Notice that what he says here is not a description of a fact. It is a command which includes a condition: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." An if is involved. If you obey, you will wear the badge Christ gave. But since this is a command, it can be violated. 

   The point is that it is possible to be a Christian without showing the mark, but if we expect non-Christians to know that we are Christians, we must show the mark.”

Expressing our faith through love…doesn't that just sound right?

Grace and Peace!