I don’t have much to say that wouldn’t trigger another round of “I’m leaving and never coming back” emails.

Christianity as I know it is being publicly co opted by religious nationalists and I just can’t and won’t fly that flag.

People now are being defined by political classifications instead of by denominational affiliation and you’re either either Fox News or MSNBC.

I ain’t playing.

““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.””
(Luke 4:18–19 ESV)

Sounds like a liberal to me…he obviously hasn’t been watching Fox News.

Never trust people who talk about the poor or the oppressed all the time…they have an agenda.

My agenda is to align my agenda as close to Jesus as possible and I don’t give a rats rear end how other people define me as long as He defines me as faithful.

My God is not subject to the whims of politicians or pundits, He lifts them up and He takes them down.

All power and authority is in Him and He will do as He see’s fit…and nothing can stay His hand.

“¶     Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
¶     Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
¶     To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
¶     Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”
(Isaiah 40:21–31 ESV)

I have personal access to God’s office and I have His ear…so forgive me if I bypass the grasshopper wars.

John Stackhouse is one of my favorite Christian thinkers and he has written two excellent blog articles on the issue of the “Ground Zero” Mosque.

He boils the whole thing down very quickly.

“But it seems to me that this is not a difficult matter to understand or decide. In fact, it comes down to an utterly simple question. Either we think all Muslims are somehow implicated in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, or we don’t.

If all Muslims are thus implicated, then of course they shouldn’t be allowed to build near Ground Zero. Nor should they be allowed to build near anything else that matters to the rest of us. In fact, they should all be rounded up and exiled as the clear and present dangers that they are.

If we don’t think all Muslims are implicated in the attack, then of course they should be allowed to build a mosque or community centre or whatever the heck they want to build wherever the zoning and funding will allow—just like any other citizens.”

He’s right, in my opinion.

The problem is that I know which one of those solutions I’m supposed to choose…and which one I want to.

They’re not the same.

To be blunt, I agree with my Reformed fathers who believed that Islam was part of the anti- Christ system that was bringing the age to a close.

Their track record historically and currently scares the hell out of me.

However, I live in a country where if freedom of any religion is compromised… mine will be next.

I find this to be a very difficult moral and spiritual issue…one that I have no easy answers for.

Do you agree with Stackhouses analysis?

Dr. William Alnor has the first post up on his new website.

I look forward to seeing how a moderate voice is received and engaged in the ODM community…

9Marks has an ejournal up on the subject of hell.

They don’t mention that it involves being unemployed and listening to Glenn Beck for eternity…

The daily body count is updated, three kids among the 10 victims yesterday…

Shaun King with a potentially provocative post on President Obama and how some Christians are referencing him. Brad Greenberg looks at the perception of Obama as a Muslim. Becky Garrison asks what constitutes sacred space at Ground Zero.

Maryellen Stipe on the Jesus People and an upcoming reunion in Denver.

J.R. Briggs on what pastors’ conferences should be like (HT: Bill Kinnon).

Jordon Cooper on losing his religion.

Matt Redman on the need to be careful about language used in worship (HT: Mark Lamprecht).

Teens becoming ‘fake’ Christians? (HT: lots of people, including Jason Clark)

Erik Raymond and William Black on Glenn Beck.

Rob Moll on the connection between atheism and Christianity (HT: Gene Vieth).

David Foster: “You should be mature enough to restrain your freedom so you can represent those around you well.”

Frank Viola discusses Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s Why We Love the Church.

Scott Williams on the seven potholes of Twitter.

Becky Garrison on finding faith in the margins.

Doug Wolter: Work out your salvation in community.

Rachel Held Evans at Jason Boyett’s blog on works-based salvation.

Frank Turk on science.

Internet Monk reintroduces the Liturgical Gangstas, who discuss what is the gospel.

Tim Challies on the need to be “very, very careful about moving from the book to the e-book”.

Russell Moore on Glenn Beck.

John Samson to Glenn Beck: “I cannot join you”

Jon Busch: Glenn Beck and white privilege.

John Pattison on the American Patriot’s Bible.

Michael Patton: Beware of professional weaker bretheren.

Carl Trueman on pastors knowing their people. (HT: Ray Van Neste)

Donald Miller: Why the Bible is a tough book for Americans.

Two professional megachurch pastors talk to a former professional megachurch pastor

Frank Viola analyzes Jim Belcher’s Deep Church.

Keith and Kristyn Getty have started a blog (HT: Jim Hamilton).

I was just getting ready to lay down for the night when his mom called.

“We’re at the ER…it looks like he broke his elbow. He’s fine though and he doesn’t want you to come”.

What?

Of course, I threw on my clothes and flew to the hospital.

“He thinks you’re going to be angry”.

I had lectured constantly on the importance of wearing his pads…how I didn’t want to see him hurt and how I couldn’t afford the hospital bills if he was.

The last thing I was at the moment was angry… I was scared and hurt for him…and hurt that he would think my rules were more important than his pain.

We resolved that, but it brought to mind how we are much the same way with our Father.

We blow it…and then we hide from Him because we fear His anger and rejection.

So we keep blowing it and keep hiding and we drown under the weight of unconfessed sin and fear.

He’s not angry…all His anger was poured out on your Savior and He waits for you to come and receive grace and forgiveness and comfort.

If you have been hiding from Dad go…go now…He loves you…no matter what you’ve done.

Immigration has become a matter of national division and political haymaking.

It is my opinion that because I am a Christian before I am an American my opinions on any social issue must be drawn from the pages of Scripture.

I will attempt to do that with this issue today.

The discussion has been dishonestly framed by many…either you are in favor of a strongly controlled border or you are in favor of open borders and amnesty.

The Bible frames it differently…it respects national borders while commanding mercy for the aliens among us.

With the exception of the commandment to worship only the one true God, the most often repeated commandment in the Old Testament is some variation of welcoming the stranger or as we would say, the alien or immigrant.

The New Testament love of love is to love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself.

Dare you ask, “who is my neighbor”?

The following is excerpted from the website for “Welcoming The Stranger” an excellent book that lays out this complex issue with clarity, facts, and Biblical exegesis.

“God tells us throughout the Scriptures that he loves and has a special concern for the alien (Deut 10:18, Ps 146:9), and he commands his people to do the same (Lev 19:33-34). God commanded the Israelites to treat the foreign born
the same as they treated native-born Israelites (Ex 12:49), but he also instituted special provisions for immigrants,along with other vulnerable groups such as orphans and widows (Deut 24:19-21, Mal 3:5).
In the New Testament, Jesus, who as a child was forced to flee as a refugee to Egypt, makes clear in the parable of the Good Samaritan that God’s command to love our neighbor includes, specifically, migrants in need (Lk 10:25-37). He instructs us to welcome the stranger, for in doing so we are welcoming Christ himself (Matt 25:31-46).”

But what about the fact that these people broke the law?

“Romans 13:1-4 makes very clear that Christ-followers are to submit to the governmental authorities that God has established. While there may be situations when “we must obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29), we should not lightly brush aside this biblical command. However, we can uphold the importance of the rule of law without necessarily deporting 12 million people; we could insist upon other penalties, such as a significant fine, for entering or overstaying a visa unlawfully.
It is also important to recognize that there is no conflict between the submission to authority mandated in Romans 13 and serving undocumented immigrants: we can minister to immigrants’ physical needs, help to teach them English, share the good news of the gospel, and advocate for just policies that would better their situation—all without violating the law. In most states, the only area where a church could potentially violate the law would be to employ an undocumented immigrant for compensation.
Since we live in a democracy, we can advocate for immigration policies that are both welcoming of immigrants and maintain the importance of the rule of law.”

Here is the bottom line.

We are to love and look after the well being of the immigrant,of the refugee, of our neighbor.

That is our biblical duty…it is our calling.

The Christian cannot frame this as a political issue, it is a biblical one that politics can either embrace or reject with laws and policies…but our duty is clear.

We have an opportunity to act as the people of God, not just citizens of an earthly nation.

We can respond in faith, hope, and love or we can react in fear and more division.

I’m praying for the former…it’s what made us a great nation.

More important than that…it’s the heart of God.

The clouds are grey and heavy this afternoon in Nashville as I try to pull together some thoughts, hoping to draw us in a certain direction. The clouds match my mood. This has been a very difficult year, filled with unexpected challenges. We have watched flood waters rise and sweep away the physical security of our city, and specifically of Steve’s folks. We have lost a relative who died alone in her home, and we’ve felt the pain of realizing we had missed many opportunities to be as Jesus to her. Throughout the days we have watched the claw of our fallen state close on the mind of one of the strongest personalities you would ever meet.

These things begin to add upon each other. We, like  you, have walked through these things while hearing of the fear surrounding our economy. Fear surrounding how we will provide for our needs. Fear about our president. Fear about our healthcare.

Fear. Fear. Fear.

The what-if’s begin easily for me. Just like the clouds outside, they begin to press down and I can feel myself tightening and wondering. What if the cartel sets up shop in New Mexico and the safety of those I love is in jeopardy. Clouds gathering. What if the Muslims are closing ranks in our country…what if they are led by our president. Breathing a little heavier. What if the economy crashes more and the life I know, and my children know, is lost. Clouds are here, starting to press in.

It is easy, it seems, to stir fear. Point to the things that are out of our control and remind us that what we are in control of is insufficient.

Are you feeling that fear? In the midst of our recent discussions I asked our pastors to speak words to counter the fear and the anger we were hearing. Speak words that remind us that we belong to Another. Speak words that stir peace and hope instead of fear. What are you speaking? How do you counter this spiral we sometimes find ourselves in? How do I?

The other night at church we began a study in Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life and I heard an answer…

Plant gardens.

In times when I find myself spiraling and filled with fear and what if’s, I will sometimes remind myself that this is not the worst the world has seen. This is not the worst the believers have seen. There are others who have walked, or even now are walking, through terrors and have found God faithful even there. Holocaust (read Diet Eman’s Things We Couldn’t Say), the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression.

How about being dragged out of your country by a conquering power and taken into Exile in a foreign land where they despise your God? What would God say?

Plant gardens. Build houses and live in them.

Take wives and have children. Let your children marry that they may have children.

Seek the welfare of the city…..where God has sent you into exile.

Pray to the LORD on its behalf.

-Jeremiah 29:4-7

I actually let out a sigh of relief when I heard this the other night. We don’t live in physical exile under the oppressive hand of a feared ruler. We may some day. I have no idea. We do live in cities though, and I believe God has us where He intends us to be.

Seek the good of the city.

This deeply struck me. I know that I have not been carried away to live somewhere else…in a land I hate…I can’t even imagine seeking the good of that city. How much more does this advice apply to our more peaceful, if tenuous, time.

We are called to walk the fine balance of seeking the good, and being immersed in the city, while at the same time retaining our identity and spiritual integrity. We are to pray for our city and seek God in our city. Often I am caught in wanting my city and country to be a certain way, and when it is not I whine and stomp my feet and complain. Then I usually get apathetic and just ignore it all.

We are called, all over Scripture, to live radically different than the world.  Our ultimate peace rests in a different city…and that means we can walk in this earthly city extending grace because we do not fear the physical. I’m not there yet, but oh I desire to be…to truly not fear the physical. We plant our gardens because we know that ultimately our “fate” is not up to us. We seek the good of those around us, even as we are exiles in a land that seeks to conquer us…because God loves those around us just as He loves us.

Plant gardens. Love your neighbor. Seek the good of the city.

Is there still a lot to fear and be worried about? There is for those with no hope. There is for those whose home is simply here. We are called to show that there is a hope, and there is one who rescues us. You may be called to do more than that in the realm of politics, or in some role in your city…but let’s start with seeking the good of the city.

I ran across this quotation from Bonhoeffer. His situation was far worse than mine. The fear and terror in those prison cells must have been so deep. I know that we are not in a prison cell, but this quotation still spoke to me…and especially to the situation of those in Juarez and other out-of-control places:

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.”

Do not be overwhelmed. God is God…He is the Living God who has conquered the grave.

Speak peace to each other…don’t stir the fear.

“¶     As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
¶     Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation
and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
¶     Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.”
(Psalms 42:1–11 ESV)

What did you teach?

What did you learn?

Did you hear the Gospel?

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter VII

Of God’s Covenant with Man

I. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant.[1]

II. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works,[2] wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity,[3] upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.[4]

III. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second,[5] commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein He freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved,[6] and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.[7]

IV. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the Testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.[8]

V. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the Gospel:[9] under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come;[10] which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah,[11] by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the Old Testament.[12]

VI. Under the Gospel, when Christ, the substance,[13] was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:[14] which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity, and less outward glory, yet, in them, it is held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy,[15] to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles;[16] and is called the New Testament.[17] There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.[18]

II. I ask whether you pray, because there is no duty in religion so neglected as private prayer.

We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more places of public worship now than there ever were before. There are more persons attending them than there ever have been since England was a nation. And yet, in spite of all this public religion, I believe there is a vast neglect of private prayer.

I should not have said so a few years ago. I once thought in my ignorance that most people said their prayers, and many people prayed. I have lived to think differently. I have come to the conclusion that the great majority of professing Christians do not pray at all.

I know this sounds very shocking, and will startle many. But I am satisfied that prayer is just one of those things which is thought a “matter of course,” and like many matters of course is shamefully neglected. It is “everybody’s business,” and as it often happens in such cases, is a business carried on by very few. It is one of those private transactions between God and our souls which no eye sees, and therefore one which there is every temptation to pass over and leave undone.

I believe that thousands never say a word of prayer at all. They eat. They drink. They sleep. They rise. They go forth to their labour. They return to their homes. They breathe God’s air. They see God’s sun. They walk on God’s earth. They enjoy God’s mercies. They have dying bodies. They have judgment and eternity before them. But they never speak to God. They live like the beasts that perish. They behave like creatures without souls. They have not a word to say to Him in whose hand are their life, and breath, and all things, and from whose mouth they must one day receive their everlasting sentence. How dreadful this seems! But if the secrets of men were only known, how common!

I believe there are tens of thousands whose prayers are nothing but a mere form,—a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought about their meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up in the nursery when they were children. Some content themselves with repeating the belief, forgetting that there is not a request in it. Some add the Lord’s Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its solemn petitions may be granted. Some among the poor even at this day repeat the old Popish lines:— “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Bless the bed that I lie on.”

Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over after they have got into bed, or scramble over them while they wash or dress in the morning. Men may think what they please, but they may depend that in the sight of God this is not praying. Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drumbeating of the poor heathen before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be lip-work and tongue-work, but there is nothing that God listens to,—there is no prayer. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not till his heart was broken that the Lord said, “he prayeth.”

Reader, does this surprise you? Listen to me and I will show you that I am not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I will soon show you that I am only telling you the truth.

Have you forgotten that it is not natural to anyone to pray? The carnal mind is enmity against God. The desire of man’s heart is to get far away from God, and have nothing to do with Him. His feeling toward Him is not love but fear. Why then should a man pray when he has no real sense of sin, no real feeling of spiritual wants, no thorough belief in unseen things, no desire after holiness and heaven? Of all these things the vast majority of men know and feel nothing. The multitude walk in the broad way. I cannot forget this. Therefore I say boldly, I believe that few pray.

Have you forgotten that it is not fashionable to pray? It is just one of the things that many would be rather ashamed to own. There are hundreds who would sooner storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope, than confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are thousands who, if obliged by chance to sleep in the same room with a stranger, would lie down in bed without a prayer. To ride well, to shoot well, to dress well, to go to theatres, to be thought clever and agreeable,—all this is fashionable, but not to pray. I cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is common which so many seem ashamed to own. I believe that few pray.

Have you forgotten the lives that many live? Can we really suppose that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them plunging right into it? Can we suppose they pray against the world, when they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we think they really ask God for grace to serve Him, when they do not show the slightest desire to serve Him at all? Oh! no! it is plain as daylight that the great majority of men either ask nothing of God, or do not mean what they say when they do ask,—which is just the same thing. Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look at men’s lives. I believe that few pray.

Have you forgotten the deaths that many die? How many, when they draw near death, seem entirely strangers to God. Not only are they sadly ignorant of His Gospel, but sadly wanting in the power of speaking to Him. There is a terrible awkwardness, and shyness, and newness, and rawness, in their endeavours to approach Him. They seem to be taking up a fresh thing. They appear as if they wanted an introduction to God, and as if they had never talked with Him before. I remember having heard of a lady who was anxious to have a minister to visit her in her last illness. She desired that he would pray with her. He asked her what he should pray for. She did not know and could not tell. She was utterly unable to name any one thing which she wished him to ask God for her soul. All she seemed to want was the form of a minister’s prayers. I can quite understand this. Death-beds are great revealers of secrets. I cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people. This also leads me to believe that few pray.

Reader, I cannot see your heart. I do not know your private history in spiritual things. But from what I see in the Bible and in the world, I am certain I cannot ask you a more necessary question than that before you,-DO YOU PRAY?

J.C. Ryle

Cartoon found here…