Friday, December 08, 2006
This blog will be in essence a rambling about some inspiration I recently received from watching the movie "Finding Forrester." For the most part, this may not be coherent because the idea I would like to convey is not tangible to me at this time. I just can't put my finger on it, but here is a shot.
WARNING: I will be spoiling some of the end of the movie, so do not read if you do not wish to know. The move involves t the end of the movie, there is a quote that basically goes as such: "Men often run away from their dreams for fear of failure, or better yet, for fear of success."
The entire movie, especially that quote, inspires a lot of introspection in me. You see, I don't quite understand my role on impacting this world. And yes, as a Christian, the answer is the Gospel, but I am just not quite satisfied with giving that answer, because I feel that such a simple, trite answer does not even convey the fulness of what that means. It seems stripped of value, waiting for some plaque on the doorway or answer while raising your hand in church but when it comes down to it not an answer for when I am waking up and pursuing my day.
You see, I am an American. And as such I fear that much of my life is being wasted away. When we are younger, we have dreams and aspirations, hopes filled with bright promise. But as I am getting older, I see some seemingly innocent concepts replacing those dreams. What may have been a dream so impact the world, to live my fingerprint on mankind, has now been subty and slowly replaced with the dream of security and stability. I find myself pursuing ends and means of being "successful" in the capitalistic American sense. That is, I want to do whatever it takes to have the assurance that I will be okay in the future, than I can raise a family and purchase a house and be able to set up college funds. I want to know that I can one day retire, that I will not be going from paycheck to paycheck, and while these aspirations are good, I see them replacing the youthful hopes I once had.
America was founded by men of valor, men who sacrificed much for us to live in freedom. They came over in ships, m any of them dying on the way, or while here or starvation, facing tough winters and eventually standing up to a great world power in Britian. And I do not think that in their wildest dreams they would have envisioned us living as we do today. We are entertaining ourselves to death, spending our lives aspiring to have the future set up, all the while grudgingly and often numbly pursuing the present as if it were a task, a chore. Much of this is so we can own a nicer car or be able to wear a certain brand of close. The irony seems unreal to me, and I'm a part of it.
William Forester in the movie had lived in seclusion for decades. He had written the great American novel of the 20th century, and then, after burying his brother, mother and father in a 5 month period, he seperated from life. Not until he met a young 16 year old gifted man who inspired him did he go out and pursue his dreams at the sunset of his life.
This does tie into the Gospel, although the intention of this post was not originally for that purpose. You see, if you are a Christian, you know the answer to the question of the most important thing in the world. So it would seem. But I think our envisioning of this is as far off from the truth as it could be. Because, as Christians, we view the Gospel as an event, soething for those who do not believe. Maybe that we give a tract out in some downtown neighborhood or we have to go to some foreign country and do a puppet show. And all the while everyone around us sees that we are miserable because in whatever we do we do not delight nor enjoy. We pursue our own comfort, fearful of the things we really desire to do. And the sad thing is everyone around us knows it. We can tell them about Christ and what He has done in our lives, but they see right through to our cores, and see that we are as miserable as them. This is not a flaw of the Gospel, it just shows how poor our grasp of it is.
The Gospel is for believers, as well as non-believers. The Gospel should shake the foundations of our lives in such a way that it permeates our approach to our jobs or our schoolwork. What I am not saying is that we should act happy all the time to make others believe what we believe. What I am saying is that we should be so consumed by what Christ has done for us, and so greatful for what He has gifted us with that we should passionately and unashamedly pursue the every passion of our hearts. If you are inspired to write, then write. Or if you have a passion for helping people medically, pursue that. But this is so much more than just your future job, it is a motivation that so few people seem to have. It is rare to see someone who is a passionate pursuer of life. It is something that cannot be trained, or faked.
And so it is not just now that I am at a crossroads, in a time where I am about to go to graduate school and move towards my future. Rather, it is everyday I am place at a crossroads to accept life as a sort of checklist, as a task, looking to some day in the distant future when everything will be right and then I can be happy, or to pursue that day with full, heart-wrenching enthusiasm. That joy and passion for life is what is lacking the Christian today, and that is what keeps us from really feeling satisfied.
Lastly, I just want to make sure I am not mistaken. I am not trying to say that it is wrong to save or to be wise with money. What I am trying to say is that it is wrong to make that the substance of life. Secondly, I am not saying is that you must pursue the job you want. I believe that Christians should pursue joy in all things placed in our lives, even the bad things, because we have Christ and He has provided all things in Him. There are people right now who are unfairly locked away in prisons and are tortured everyday. I do not think they are exempt from pursuing joy. One of the greatest books I have ever read was "Tortured for Christ", written by a believer who had years of his life taken away from him in jail, imprisoned for being a Christian and tortured. He had joy and contentment and passion, much more than us with freedom. We should pursue all such things with the joy of what we have in Christ - what he has provided us in Himself IS our security.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Glorification and Hope
Salvation is a work that is entirely from God to the undeserving sinner. As Christians, we often ask others the questions, "When were you saved?" However, salvation is a work of three parts, namely justification, sanctification, and glorification. This is an easily found doctrine in the Bible, but one verse I read recently does an excellent job in displaying what God has done for us in this. First Corinthians 1:9-10 says, "Yes, we had the sentence of death on ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us."
In justification, we are declared righteous by God. He imputes his righteousness into our account by regenerating us to repentance. Though we are sinful, we have the standing of the righteousness of God. This is a punctuated moment in time. This is God's deliverance from so great a death.
In sanctification, we are continually being made into the image of God. This is a progressive work that goes on throughout the believers life. Some embrace this process more than others do. However, all genuine believers will bear fruit; those who claim to be justified but never bear any fruit are not saved. Christians often seem to focus on the fact that they were saved from the penalty of sin, but not on the fact that we are being saved from sin, namely the power of sin and the hardship it brings.
Glorification is the completion of sanctification. This is what I would like to focus this blog on, and also the hope that comes with it. In sanctification, we are never fully made like Christ, but in glorification, our sinful, immoral bodies are removed and we receive a glorified body. This is the fact that "He will still deliver us."
This brings me to my discussion on the resurrection. As a brief explanation of the background to the passages I will be listing in Paul's letters to the church in Corinth, one must understand that the church at Corinth is under attack by false teachers. These teachers, who attack Paul's integrity and sow seeds of dissension, are also the resurrection of believers. They believed that all matter is evil, and that hence the resurrection wasn't true. (It is interesting to note that this same Gnostic philosophy is even seen in such recent issues as the supposed Gospel of Judas, which teaches that Jesus did good in turning in Jesus because Judas was freeing Jesus from his evil flesh).
Therefore, in both his letters we have to this church Paul spends extensive time on reiterating the resurrection. Paul says, "Now I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:50)." In other words, believers in their current bodies could not inherit an incorrupt heaven. However, he goes on the explain that "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...the dead will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51,52)." This is what Paul is speaking of in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, saying:
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation that is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
Believers in their current tent (body) groan and wait for their glorified bodies. Indeed, we long not to rid ourselves of our bodies, but rather to be further clothed in our incorrupt glorified bodies. Those who God has prepared for this, meaning believers, are given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee and a seal for this future inheritance.
My largest application for this comes within 1 Corinthians 15 (its always good to use context). A very popular verse is found in 1 Corinthians 15:58, saying, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." How is it we can be encouraged during difficult times? How is it that we can be lifted up in ministry when everything seems ineffective, when you feel like you are wasting your time? It is because of our future resurrection! I could not word it better than John MacArthur, who says about this verse, "The hope of resurrection makes all the efforts and sacrifices in the Lord's work worth it...No work done in His name is wasted in light of eternal glory and reward."
If you are feeling down today, or worn out, especially in doing good, pray to God for his Spirit to work in you and open the spiritual eyes of your heart to behold the hope we have in our future glorification! How amazing it will be! How trivial our suffering and hardship and failures on this earth will seem when weighed with the glory we will receive in Christ in our future resurrection! I will close this post with one of the most encouraging passages in scripture, also found in 2 Corinthians, specifically chapter 4 verses 16 and 17.
"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."
Amen.
In justification, we are declared righteous by God. He imputes his righteousness into our account by regenerating us to repentance. Though we are sinful, we have the standing of the righteousness of God. This is a punctuated moment in time. This is God's deliverance from so great a death.
In sanctification, we are continually being made into the image of God. This is a progressive work that goes on throughout the believers life. Some embrace this process more than others do. However, all genuine believers will bear fruit; those who claim to be justified but never bear any fruit are not saved. Christians often seem to focus on the fact that they were saved from the penalty of sin, but not on the fact that we are being saved from sin, namely the power of sin and the hardship it brings.
Glorification is the completion of sanctification. This is what I would like to focus this blog on, and also the hope that comes with it. In sanctification, we are never fully made like Christ, but in glorification, our sinful, immoral bodies are removed and we receive a glorified body. This is the fact that "He will still deliver us."
This brings me to my discussion on the resurrection. As a brief explanation of the background to the passages I will be listing in Paul's letters to the church in Corinth, one must understand that the church at Corinth is under attack by false teachers. These teachers, who attack Paul's integrity and sow seeds of dissension, are also the resurrection of believers. They believed that all matter is evil, and that hence the resurrection wasn't true. (It is interesting to note that this same Gnostic philosophy is even seen in such recent issues as the supposed Gospel of Judas, which teaches that Jesus did good in turning in Jesus because Judas was freeing Jesus from his evil flesh).
Therefore, in both his letters we have to this church Paul spends extensive time on reiterating the resurrection. Paul says, "Now I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:50)." In other words, believers in their current bodies could not inherit an incorrupt heaven. However, he goes on the explain that "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...the dead will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51,52)." This is what Paul is speaking of in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, saying:
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation that is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
Believers in their current tent (body) groan and wait for their glorified bodies. Indeed, we long not to rid ourselves of our bodies, but rather to be further clothed in our incorrupt glorified bodies. Those who God has prepared for this, meaning believers, are given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee and a seal for this future inheritance.
My largest application for this comes within 1 Corinthians 15 (its always good to use context). A very popular verse is found in 1 Corinthians 15:58, saying, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." How is it we can be encouraged during difficult times? How is it that we can be lifted up in ministry when everything seems ineffective, when you feel like you are wasting your time? It is because of our future resurrection! I could not word it better than John MacArthur, who says about this verse, "The hope of resurrection makes all the efforts and sacrifices in the Lord's work worth it...No work done in His name is wasted in light of eternal glory and reward."
If you are feeling down today, or worn out, especially in doing good, pray to God for his Spirit to work in you and open the spiritual eyes of your heart to behold the hope we have in our future glorification! How amazing it will be! How trivial our suffering and hardship and failures on this earth will seem when weighed with the glory we will receive in Christ in our future resurrection! I will close this post with one of the most encouraging passages in scripture, also found in 2 Corinthians, specifically chapter 4 verses 16 and 17.
"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."
Amen.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Lessons from Death
Friday, July 21, 2006
Death is a very diffucult thing to deal with. Its a fact that everyone knows exists and is coming, but we all supress the reality of it daily until it slaps us right in the face and we are forced to encounter it again. I have recently had an encounter such as this in the passing of my grandmother, my last living grandparent and the only one I have really ever known.
I was volunteering at my youth groups junior high camp early this week (from Monday to Wednesday), and I had to come home early because I was working Thursday morning. Exhausted from little sleep and dealing with junior highschoolers, I was about to go to sleep a few minutes after arriving home. However, a phone call came and as soon as I knew it my father, my uncle and I were rushing off to the hospital. About a month ago my grandmother had congestive heart failure, and even though she recovered well and was back at her nursing home across the street, we knew the end was near.
My mother and sister met us there, and we spent the next four or so hours waiting on news and waiting for some tests to be done. My grandmother was put on a respitory system in order to keep her alive during these tests. At around 4am, exhausted and knowing we would know nothing for a few hours, we went home.
At 7am we woke up to go back to the hospital. Nothing could be done and we had to say our goodbyes. We spent a few hours with her, and made arrangements to have a priest come and give my grandmother her last rights and final confession. My grandmother was a nun for thirteen years, and had met with a priest in her nursing home at least once a week. Though I am not Catholic and obviously disagree with much of their theology, due to many conversations my sisters have had with her I believe she is in heaven right now. I was glad we were able to get her these last sacraments as I know she would have wanted them.
The most difficult moment for me was when I had to say goodbye. I requested to have some time alone with my grandmother and staring at her in her hospital bed, holding her hand, I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry I didn't visit more often. I had to apologize for not spending more time together. I said a quick prayer with her and said goodbye and abruptly left the hospital in tears. It wasn't my first encounter with death, and was surely not my most tragic (my close childhood friend passed away when we were 14 after a six year battle with cancer that had even left him paralyzed). However, this loss hurt me more than I expected.
I strongly believe in the sovereignty and justice of God. He is in complete control over things, and he is good in taking us from the earth whether or not it is at 14 or 87. Whereas death often puts doubt into the heart of people, it does not waver me. I also believe strongly that God places suffering and hardship in our lives just as justly. Therefore, I believe it to be a sad thing when we waste this suffering and do not use it learn, to change, and to increase our intimacy with Christ.
It is a shame that I had to apologize to my grandmother about the time we didn't spend together. She lived within a few miles of my house, and yet I saw her maybe once every few months. Our visits were always more ackward for me than anything, as I had never known my grandmother very well before it became more difficult to connect with her (she had trouble remembering a lot of things). In that moment in time, I could have and should have been able to thank her for all the times we had together. There are a lot of other members in my family, my sisters and parents included, to whom I would have to say the same thing. I'm not soley to blame for that, but no one ever is. However, in the end, your forced to look down and see more of what didn't happen than did. I challenge all of you, and myself, to make it so we never have to say that.
Life will end, whether at 87 or 14. There are no mulligans or a rewind button. I think the majority of us may look back at months or years of our lives and see we invested in our TV's and our sleep and our hanging out more than we did our families, and, more importantly (for those readers who believe) the Gospel. In America we worship our comfort more than our Savior.
More of this is my thoughts than a lesson. I know I could quote you all Scriptures and explain how death came into existence and all of this, or give you an exposition on suffering. Thats not really what is on my heart today, though. On my heart is a mixture of regret and hurt mixed with conviction and weight on my life and what I am doing with it. In the end, we need to do all things for the glory of Christ. We should live and die for the glory of Christ. My relationship with my grandma should have reflected that more. I truly will miss her.
In loving memory of Frances Carlson (1918-2006)
Death is a very diffucult thing to deal with. Its a fact that everyone knows exists and is coming, but we all supress the reality of it daily until it slaps us right in the face and we are forced to encounter it again. I have recently had an encounter such as this in the passing of my grandmother, my last living grandparent and the only one I have really ever known.
I was volunteering at my youth groups junior high camp early this week (from Monday to Wednesday), and I had to come home early because I was working Thursday morning. Exhausted from little sleep and dealing with junior highschoolers, I was about to go to sleep a few minutes after arriving home. However, a phone call came and as soon as I knew it my father, my uncle and I were rushing off to the hospital. About a month ago my grandmother had congestive heart failure, and even though she recovered well and was back at her nursing home across the street, we knew the end was near.
My mother and sister met us there, and we spent the next four or so hours waiting on news and waiting for some tests to be done. My grandmother was put on a respitory system in order to keep her alive during these tests. At around 4am, exhausted and knowing we would know nothing for a few hours, we went home.
At 7am we woke up to go back to the hospital. Nothing could be done and we had to say our goodbyes. We spent a few hours with her, and made arrangements to have a priest come and give my grandmother her last rights and final confession. My grandmother was a nun for thirteen years, and had met with a priest in her nursing home at least once a week. Though I am not Catholic and obviously disagree with much of their theology, due to many conversations my sisters have had with her I believe she is in heaven right now. I was glad we were able to get her these last sacraments as I know she would have wanted them.
The most difficult moment for me was when I had to say goodbye. I requested to have some time alone with my grandmother and staring at her in her hospital bed, holding her hand, I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry I didn't visit more often. I had to apologize for not spending more time together. I said a quick prayer with her and said goodbye and abruptly left the hospital in tears. It wasn't my first encounter with death, and was surely not my most tragic (my close childhood friend passed away when we were 14 after a six year battle with cancer that had even left him paralyzed). However, this loss hurt me more than I expected.
I strongly believe in the sovereignty and justice of God. He is in complete control over things, and he is good in taking us from the earth whether or not it is at 14 or 87. Whereas death often puts doubt into the heart of people, it does not waver me. I also believe strongly that God places suffering and hardship in our lives just as justly. Therefore, I believe it to be a sad thing when we waste this suffering and do not use it learn, to change, and to increase our intimacy with Christ.
It is a shame that I had to apologize to my grandmother about the time we didn't spend together. She lived within a few miles of my house, and yet I saw her maybe once every few months. Our visits were always more ackward for me than anything, as I had never known my grandmother very well before it became more difficult to connect with her (she had trouble remembering a lot of things). In that moment in time, I could have and should have been able to thank her for all the times we had together. There are a lot of other members in my family, my sisters and parents included, to whom I would have to say the same thing. I'm not soley to blame for that, but no one ever is. However, in the end, your forced to look down and see more of what didn't happen than did. I challenge all of you, and myself, to make it so we never have to say that.
Life will end, whether at 87 or 14. There are no mulligans or a rewind button. I think the majority of us may look back at months or years of our lives and see we invested in our TV's and our sleep and our hanging out more than we did our families, and, more importantly (for those readers who believe) the Gospel. In America we worship our comfort more than our Savior.
More of this is my thoughts than a lesson. I know I could quote you all Scriptures and explain how death came into existence and all of this, or give you an exposition on suffering. Thats not really what is on my heart today, though. On my heart is a mixture of regret and hurt mixed with conviction and weight on my life and what I am doing with it. In the end, we need to do all things for the glory of Christ. We should live and die for the glory of Christ. My relationship with my grandma should have reflected that more. I truly will miss her.
In loving memory of Frances Carlson (1918-2006)
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