Mark 1:35

This is a re-post from Mark Driscoll:

This election season which has dominated the cultural conversation for many months has been particularly insightful regarding the incessant gospel thirst that abides deep in the heart of the men and women who bear God’s image. Without endorsing or maligning either political party or their respective presidential candidates, I am hopeful that a few insights from the recent election season are of help, particularly to younger evangelicals.

First, people are longing for a savior who will atone for their sins. In this election, people thirst for a savior who will atone for their economic sins of buying things they did not need with money they did not have. The result is a mountain of credit debt they cannot pay and a desperate yearning that somehow a new president will save them from economic hell.

Second, people are longing for a king who will keep them safe from terror in his kingdom. In the Old Testament the concept of a peaceable kingdom is marked by the word shalom. In shalom there is not only the absence of sin, war, strife, and suffering but also the presence of love, peace, harmony, and health. And, this thirst for shalom is so parched that every election people cannot help but naively believe that if their candidate simply wins shalom is sure to come despite sin and the curse.

The bottom line is obvious to those with gospel eyes. People are longing for Jesus, and tragically left voting for mere presidential candidates. For those whose candidate wins today there will be some months of groundless euphoric faith in that candidate and the atoning salvation that their kingdom will bring. But, in time, their supporters will see that no matter who wins the presidency, they are mere mortals prone to sin, folly, and self-interest just like all the other sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. To help extend naïve false hope as long as possible, a great enemy will be named and demonized as the one who is hindering all of the progress to atone for our sins and usher in our kingdom. If the Democrats win it will be the rich, and if the Republicans win it will be the terrorists. This diversionary trick is as old as Eve who blamed her sin on Satan rather than repenting. The lie is that it’s always someone else’s fault and we’re always the victim of sinners and never the sinner.

Speaking of repentance, sadly, no matter who wins there will be no call to personal repentance of our own personal sins which contributes to cultural suffering and decline such as our pride, gluttony, covetousness, greed, indebtedness, self-righteousness, perversion, and laziness. And, in four years we’ll do it all again and pretend that this time things will be different. Four years after that, we’ll do it yet again. And, we’ll continue driving around this cul de sac until Jesus returns, sets up his throne, and puts an end to folly once and for all.

In the meantime, I would encourage all preachers to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and repentance of personal sin. He alone can truly atone for our sins. He alone can deliver us from a real hell. He alone is our sinless and great King. And, he alone has a Shalom kingdom to offer.

Lastly, for those preachers who have gotten sidetracked for the cause of a false king and a false kingdom by making too much of the election and too little of Jesus, today is a good day to practice repentance in preparation to preach it on Sunday. Just give it some time. The thirst will remain that only Jesus can quench. So, we’ve still got work to do….until we see King Jesus and voting is done once and for all.

Thank you Mark Driscoll for your words today.

Thanks to Shane Waldrop for sharing the link to this video.

You can learn more about John Piper and his ministry here.

P.S. Don't forget to set your clocks back on Saturday night!

In John 5:1-9, a story unfolds before us that is powerful, yet leaves us wondering how and why. Let me explain.

After the feast of the Jews, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. While there he comes to a pool. This apparently was not a regular pool, but a special pool where people could get healed. In v.4 it says that an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons and "stirred" the water. So after the water is stirred, there is apparently a race to the water. First one in gets healed.

Stop and think about this scene. The magnitude of the moment and the incredible drama taking place. There are hundreds (a multitude) of people gathered around the body of water watching and waiting. The waters are stirred and there's a crazy rush towards the pool. In and you win. Too slow and you lose. Wow.

So along comes Jesus. He walks up to this scene and is heading towards the edge of the pool. But with a multitude of the lame and sick, Jesus likely had to make an awkward step by step path to get there.

This is the part that I've missed every other time I've read these verses. Jesus walked past lots of people. Lots that deserved to be healed. People that needed to be healed. People who were sick, blind, lame and withered. But there is no record of Jesus healing those people.

Jesus, in v.5-9, identifies a single man who had been by the pool for 38 years, heals him and sets him free. In v.8 Jesus says, "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk."

Why did Jesus choose that one man and not the others?

What was the selection criteria Jesus used for healing?

Think about this in terms of today.

Sometimes you hear about someone with cancer or some challenging circumstance. They are about to have major surgery. But right before the operation they take one more x-ray or whatever and all of the sudden the person is cancer free or disease free. The family is praising God for a miracle.

That miracle is the guy that has been sitting there for 38 years. That's the guy that Jesus sets free. But that is not the norm.

On the other hand, most of the time the people we know are the multitudes of the sick, blind, lame and withered that do not get healed. They are the ones who do not realize the miracle of instant healing. I'm not saying that God is not involved. He is sovereign and in control. For unexplainable reasons, the miracle of instant healing does not take place.

This is an incredible story about the randomness to life. We can't explain everything that happens around us. We can't fill in the blanks and know how God works. It would be a scary world if we could, because in essence it would make us God, right?

I'm thankful today that I do not need to fully understand God's love to trust it. I'm thankful that God is sovereign and His love never fails.

What do you think about God's "random" acts of kindness in the book of John?

Matt 5:8 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Lord Jesus, thank you for cleansing me of the sin and stain that makes my heart impure. Only through faith in Christ, can I have a pure heart.

Now Lord, continue to show me daily how to live a life worthy of the calling. On my own, my flesh and darkness creep in. So show me how to die daily to myself and to pick up your cross and live for you. I am in awe of your love for me and cannot fathom your perfection. But I rejoice in it and praise you! Amen.

I'm a little perplexed as I read Genesis 2 & 3. In 2:25 is says, "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." But then Adam doesn't show back up again until 3:6.

So the question today men is this, "where was Adam?" What was so important to him that he allowed his wife to become entangled with the serpent? Why wasn't he standing up for his wife and giving her the encouragement and support she needed to endure this trial?

We, as men, have become passive and allow so many things to overtake our families. Much is preventable but we do not have the courage and nobility to stand up for what is right. By the same token, we do not have the courage and nobility to say out loud what is wrong. Passivity has taken over and we need to repent.

Now...I write the facts. But inside I am a deep offender of this information. My lack of courage has caused my marriage to stop progressing at times. It stops by relationship with Christ from progressing.

It also gives satan a foothold where he would not otherwise have the ability to stand. The power of Christ is enough to breakdown that foothold and I call upon the name of Jesus to provide power where I am weak.

Father I love you today and thank you for the example set by Christ. He was never passive and never willing to settle for anything less than God's best for humanity. Amen.

Hebrews 12:29 says, "Our God is a consuming fire."

As I looked over this verse and prayed, I asked myself a couple of questions. First, what does this mean? Is this a warning of God's judgement? Does he cleanse us through trials of fire? I don't really get the fire thing, especially a consuming fire!

Our God as a consuming fire is a good thing. It is a great thing! God wants to purify us by burning away the sin in our life. He wants us to run towards Him and leave behind the burned and charred remains of our life in sin. To fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Are you ready to burn the bridges that connect you to your sin? To your past? To your shame? Let it go and prepare to be swept up in the Consuming Fire!

Jesus, you are a Consuming Fire and I stand in awe of the intensity of your love towards us. Ignite my fire to burn hotter so that everything that is not of you will be burned away. Amen.

Does God speak to us today? It is a question that has been on my mind lately. Here's why...

When reading through God's word, I like to pick a book and then labor over it for a while. Ponder it. Consider it. You know what I mean? So I was praying recently about where to read next in the bible. Anyway, Through prayer, I decided that Jonah would be my next study.

Jonah appears to be a pretty easy read. Four books...no problem! In fact, being an avid Veggie Tales viewer, I kind of feel like I have Jonah nailed! I've seen the movie a dozen times and know every line and every song! Although I've not read anything in the bible about the "pirates who don't do anything"...but I digress.

Jonah 1:1 says, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah..." Wow. One and done. I can’t read further and am stopped in my tracks as I contemplate these words. Does God speak to us today?

I say yes. God hasn't changed, has He? Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus is the same, yesterday and today, yes and forever.” So if He spoke to Jonah then, He should still speak even now.

Personally I can’t ever remember hearing the words of the Lord (part of me really hopes it never happens. Talk about the “Fear of the Lord!”). But he guides my thoughts. He speaks through His people. Through His word…It somehow all comes together to point me in His direction. He speaks to me and I cherish those times.

Lord, may You speak to us today and share Your will and Your desire for our lives so You may be glorified and Your perfect love be felt and realized in our lives.

My drive home from the office is suppose to be a transitional time. Intending to pray and prepare my heart for my time at home, I usually open the sunroof and begin to drive. About 200 yards down the road and realize the sunroof is REALLY noisy and makes the car awfully hot! Then my mind begins to race as I recount the day at work. Did I get this done, or that done? Oh no, I forgot to return those 16 messages...Or how many half done projects did I leave behind on my desk and which ones will I need to complete later that evening? Oh wait, I have to check my blackberry a couple of times in case a super important email was sent to me within the last 15 minutes. I usually end up returning phone calls and pretty soon I am pulling in the driveway.

But sometimes, I get it right. It usually starts with a song. What is it about music that escorts a person into worshipping our God? It is as though the right song has transformational power. Is it the melody, the lyrics? How...why? I love to listen to Christian music. I have listed to the JoyFM for a long time. But now my drives are usually spent enjoying music from my ipod. God knows how to bring the right song across the speakers so my time of worship will make my drive easy and unabated by the traffic, the day, the night.

David knew about this power. In Psalm 7:17 he says, "I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Do you think David had struggles with balance? I imagine it isn't a new problem, so most likely he did. But in the midst of everything he went through, he continued to sing praises to the Lord Most High. Inspiring and motivating! I realize to many of you, this isn’t a new revelation or an inspiring thought. But to me, it is awesome and offers hope and encouragement.

Lord, thank you for the privilege and ability to worship you. May it be a sweet song to you and may I make it a priority today. Amen.

John Chapter 1 is HUGE. What was I thinking asking us to write for 5 minutes or an hour on 51 verses? It would take quite a bit of time to truly dive into this chapter. I only wish I had the time to adequately speak to the awesomeness and depth of this chapter. But I’ll do my best to make some sense of it as a whole and then go a little deeper into a few verses.

I’ve read it five or six times so far. It is a great read and quite deep. It breaks down into some distinct directions (thank you Matthew Henry for your commentary):

* The presentation of Jesus (1-5)
* Jesus as divine and human natures (6-14)
* John the Baptist and his personal testimony (15-18)
* John and other public testimonies (19-36)
* Other testimonies and the calling of the first disciples (37-51)

The first verse is almost poetic. It flows and brings me back to Genesis 1. They both start with, “In the beginning” and flow very poetically. Genesis 1 uses “God” and John 1 uses “Word.” Very interesting how they seem interchangeable. But John never replaces God with Word, they are side by side almost. The first several verses are very deep and really grab my attention.

As I read John 1, I knew I wouldn’t be able to write about the whole chapter. So I read and re-read and then I became stuck on the following verses.

[b]John 1:11-13. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.[/b]

V. 11 - [em]“…those who were His did not receive Him.[/em]” - He came into the world as a human and the human race rejected Him. God the creator of the heavens and earth was walking among the people and the people wanted nothing to do with Him. Mankind, the nation of Israel whom He came to redeem and gift life to…rejected Him.

V. 12 - He says that some did believe - As “many” as received Him. Mark 10:45 says that Jesus gave His life for “many.” So some did believe and they were given [em]“the right to become children of God.”[/em]

V.13 - The children of God were not:

- [em]“born not of blood”[/em] - The “children of God” were not offered salvation through family inheritance or of anything that their parents had done (born of blood).

- [em]“nor of the will of the flesh[/em]” And not because of anything related to themselves or their flesh. Think about Romans 8:6 where it says the mind set on the flesh is death or 8:8 where it says that those in the flesh cannot please God.

- [em]“nor of the will of man”[/em] So the ones called the “children of God” didn’t do a single thing on their own to “earn” this salvation. Without God’s calling and the work of the Holy Spirit, man cannot choose his eternal destiny.

Father, thank you for picking me up out of a life that was leading to Hell. A life that was without fruit and purpose going no where...fast! I now realize that on my own I was on a path of destruction. I also realize that You called me LONG before I accepted you. I see the places in my past where you longed for me and I rejected you. Forgive me for doubting that my life could be better with You. I’m not a doubter anymore as I realize how much better I am when serving You.

Help me today Lord to be the husband and father that you called me to be. I complicate my life so much by injecting my own flesh and want so desperately to surrender to You more and more each day. If you are willing Jesus...help me to do so today.
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