Tried With Fire

A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. Isaiah 42:3 Bruised reeds aren't cool. They aren't tough and strong. They are often needy and require reassurance, support, and a listening ear. They take time. But they give something, too. They give a reason for many of the "one anothers" in the Bible. If everyone had it all together, would we need patience and compassion? How would we learn listening first and talking second if no one had any emotional needs? And what about being stretched in our love for others? How many verses would be unnecessary if we could meet the fictitious expectations of the ideal Christian life that are floating out there? And there are plenty of them. As I write this, I also hear a voice (not audible) in the back of my head saying, "But what about people taking advantage?" But there is a difference between coddling and compassion. Throwing a bruised...

I am slowly working my way through Forbearance: A Theological Ethic for a Disagreeable Church . This is such a good book about a very difficult subject. I would probably disagree with the author about quite a number of doctrinal points, but his book has challenged me in how I handle those disagreement. I have every reason to believe he is a brother in Christ and that we agree on how one becomes a Christian. So the question is how willing an I learn from him or another brother or sister in Christ whom I disagree with? And in real life, there's an additional question - how willing am I to invest in that relationship? In our families, we have to deal with disagreements all the time. No one expects perfect harmony between spouses, siblings, or parents and children. That's just being realistic regarding human nature and the process of sanctification. But those disagreements must be talked out for there to be peace and because we love one another . So for the sake of fighting ...

When I read Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert , I was moved by Rosaria Butterfield's conversion story, but I also fell in love with Ken and Floy Smith. If there ever was an example of friendship evangelism, this is it. This Presbyterian pastor and his wife became Rosaria's friends. They were honest with her about their faith and where they disagreed with her, but they loved her. They debated, but they didn't bully or pressure her into believing. They didn't pull a Charles Finney and manipulate her emotions through fear-mongering. The Smiths saw her as another human being made in God's image, not just a project. They believed it was the Holy Spirit who did the saving, not them, and he did. As I considered their example, it struck me how opposite they were from the cage-stage. If you have never heard the term, it's a period of intense enthusiasm over the newly discovered Five Points of Calvinism that may result in tactless and even ungracious behavior (iron...

Yesterday Pastor Ryan preached on 1 Corinthians 13 . Yes, it's the obligatory passage read at many weddings, but it is much more than that. I probably heard this text preached in the context of the book for the first time . Paul didn't just have "a slew of weddings to perform." He was getting to the root of the problems the Corinthian church were struggling with. They were lacking love, and it showed. Just read the first 12 chapters. "Gifts to the nth degree and service to the nth degree are nothing without love." As I was sitting in the pew yesterday, I was wishing that this sermon would be mandatory listening for Christians on social media. Reformed Twitter, I am specifically thinking of you because there's been a lot more heat than light, a lot more snark than love, and more unwillingness than willingness to listening and respectively disagree. And I'm not just pointing a finger out there. I need to hear this word too. I love the doctrines o...

There has been a lot of virtual ink spilled ever since the recent TGC conference on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. I still stand by my desire to take these conversations out of e-space and bring them face-to-face. I affirm that there is a single human race that fell in Adam and has been redeemed through the work of Christ. I affirm that He is the source of our unity and that He fully paid for the sins that divide. While I agree that race is a social construct, God has providentially created us with roots in different countries and cultures. This a wonderful thing for which we should thank Him. Thus the church is not the Borg. Unity is not colorblind nor ethnic blind. Neither is it gender blind. Yet I'm still discouraged by what I've seen on social media. The visceral response to events like MLK50 and David Platt's talk at T4G seems to indicate that there is something unstable below the surface.  Amy Mantravadi describes it as a ...

[E]xtra degrees of charity and empathy are necessary in public discussion and debate. At the moment, what we have instead are extra degrees of anger and contempt. David French This quote is from an article by David French at National Review on the gun control debate that is raging after the  school shooting in Florida last week. He writes that if we cannot stop demonizing one another, this could tear our nation apart. I agree. The animosity towards one's opposing side has only grown since the 2016 election. I've seen this on social media in general and among those who profess Christ's name, which grieves me even more. Does strong disagreement justify this behavior? Would we use the same language and attitude toward a fellow Christian face-to-face as we would to a stranger on Twitter? If this is a fellow believer, we are called to love them as someone for whom Christ has died. For the unbeliever, he/she is our neighbor. If we won't acknowledge that, we are called to ...

It is hard to watch people I love going through times of suffering. It's especially hard when I haven't been through it myself, so I don't know what to say. In an effort to try to relate, I may search my experience database to see if there is any commonality, but even if that is the case, situations are so nuanced that it probably isn't wise to project my experience onto someone else. In an effort to break the silence, it's tempting to say "This reminds me of ..." which may not be helpful at all. But why is silence even a problem? Job's friends gave their best comfort when they sat quietly with him and mourned. Keeping their mouths shut would have saved him a lot of additional pain. But maybe what matters isn't about how closely I can relate or even give advice. When one member of the body suffers, we all suffer. Then isn't it enough to weep with those who weep because we love them even if we don't fully understand? A simple, "I don...

“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34, 35 The love which Christ commands His followers to have towards one another is not the ordinary love of man to man as such, but the love of the new-born man to the new-born man. Let us who love the Lord, love each other fervently in that sense. This is a love which arises out of a totally new union. A man who is a Christian belongs to a very special family. That family circle does not comprehend the whole human race—it is a family inside the larger human family, yet separated from it by an inner spiritual life. What if I say that the distance between the saved and the unsaved is like a great gulf? It is true that by the almighty Grace of God, there is a way across that gulf and many pass over it—still, the gulf is very deep and broad. But the moment a man is born unto God he e...

When folks talk about reliving their youth, I have no desire to go back, especially to my teen years. I was part of the out-crowd, so even if I tried to fit in, it was a lost cause. However, it was eye-opening to see the change in my friends when we made the jump to high school. In class, they seemed the same, but I later learned about the drinking, smoking, and who knows what else. But I don't think it was the booze or tobacco alone that was the draw. By living on the edge, they were admitted to a new circle of friends. They were suddenly noticed by older boys. These things were means to a desired end - acceptance and attention. If we're honest, we've all done this to a certain degree. "I want abc , and xyz will give it to me or help in me in my pursuit so I'll do  xyz  . " For teen girls it could look like: Dress like this and guys will give you a second look, which may lead to a date, which may lead to a relationship because true happiness is found whe...

My friend, Becky, has written a thought-provoking post  regarding our phobias to certain words like religion , contemplate , and meditate , to name a few.  These words have been wrested from their original meaning, in some cases, and have become part of the vocabulary of questionable teaching. But rather than making a point to use them correctly, their usage or lack of can become a litmus test for a person's theology. This post hit a nerve, because l freely admit to strong gut reactions with certain words and phrases. Words have power and consequences, and my reception to them is anything but neutral. I  bring my own assumptions as to why the writer/speaker would use a certain word. I also bring a boatload of associations based on past experiences, even if I desire to respond based on what the Word says alone. So what to do?  How do I disarm the gut reaction? Here are few things that came to mind: - Make the point of digging a little deeper to fi...

Our small group has been reading Love or Di e by Alexander Strauch, which deals with the loss of first love. In Revelation 2: 5, Jesus gives a command to the church in Ephesus to repent, and Strauch breaks this down very specifically (pgs. 21-22): "Through repentance, the church in Ephesus, would demonstrate that it accepts Christ's evaluation of its fallen condition, that it has judged itself according to Christ's Word to be sinful and deserving of divine discipline (1 Cor. 11:31-32), that it grieves over its loss of love and displeasure to Christ (2 Cor. 7:8-10), that it is turning away from sin and returning to its past life of love, that it will, by God's grace, take appropriate action (2 Cor. 7:8-12)." Repentance is not a vague acknowledgment but ownership of sin and a change of heart and mind that manifests itself in changed behavior. It's an imperative, not a suggestion.

My daughter and I had a very interesting discussion yesterday about objections to unconditional election and limited atonement because they violated man's "free" will.  This is a paraphrase of her a few of her comments: The Biblical (and Calvinist) view of love is if you love someone that you want what is best for them, which is Christ, not necessarily what they think they need or want.  You told me when I was little that you won't give me whatever I want because you love me.   People say that God loves them so much He won't violate their free will.  But when you think about it, a "God" who won't violate your free will is not very loving.  "He" lets us have our own way, not what's best for us.  Is that really love?  Do we really know what is best for ourselves? Sure in the garden, Adam had the will to choose but he chose wrong before sin came in.  Do we really think with sin in us that we would be able to choose better than Adam? 

How can we love a holy God?  The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can't.  Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power.  The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands.  Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him.  He is the One who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we can do nothing of righteousness.  Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can love Him only because He first loved us.  To love a holy God requires grace, grace strong enough to pierce our hardened hearts and awaken our moribund souls. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, Ligonier, page 221-222.

Love is the Queen of the Christian graces. It is a holy disposition given to us when we are born again by God. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. True spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet it is vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh. We must be careful not to confuse human sentimentality, carnal pleasantries, human amiability and affability with true spiritual love. The love God commands, first to Himself and then to others, is not human love. It is not the indulgent, self-seeking love which is in us by nature. If we indulgently allow our children to grow up with little or, no Scriptural discipline, Proverbs plainly says we do not love them, regardless of the human sentimentality and affection we may feel for them. Love is not a sentimental pampering of one another with a loose indifference as to our walk and obedience before the Lord. Glossing over one another's faults to ingratiate ourselves in the...

I have been reading Psalm 119 very slowly. I've been thinking about why the psalmist says he loves, delights, and cherishes the law. What is it about the law of God that draws this love from the psalmist? I've had exposure to the laws governing homeschooling and more recently the laws governing divorce. I can't imagine my attorney or the presiding judge saying, "I love the legal code of Virginia." Maybe I don't understand this sentiment (for lack of a better word because it's not sentimental) because I am basically lawless at heart. I have viewed the law as nothing more than rules and regulations stipulating what I can and cannot do. But what if the law of God is really about God Himself and not merely a set of rules and regulations? Maybe the psalmist loved God's law because he saw the law as the revelation of God's holiness and character?

- "[B]ut the truth that if you actually love you will actually suffer is something we Christians should know best." This quote is from a great post by Frank Turk on TeamPyro. This hit home because the church is getting to ready to embark on small groups. There is a lot of excitement because so many people have been visiting and joining in the last 6 months. In July 2008, there may have been 30 on a good Sunday. Now, all the pews are starting to get filled. Right now we're all smiling, nice, and congenial but are we or rather am I willing to get beyond the smiley, nice, warm fuzzies and be willing to be hurt for the sake of loving my brethren in Christ? It's scary to be vulnerable, letting my sin be exposed and open to correction, possible conflicts in the future, etc. But what's worse is the thought that everyone will go on being nice, congenial, and safe but without any impact on each other or those in the community around us. It's easy for me to measure out...