Some Piper

“Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet and philosopher who died about 100 years ago, wrote a famous essay called “Self-Reliance.” It captured the spirit of the age, and the spirit of our age.

Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string…Discontent is the want of self-reliance. It is infirmity of will.

Ah-ha! Now we see the creed behind the criticism of Christianity as a crutch. The real infirmity of the world, according to Emerson, is lack of self-reliance. And so, to his dismay, along comes Christ, not with a cure for the disease, but a crutch! Christ is a stumbling block and an offense to Emerson and to all the Terry Cole-Whittaker’s of our day—yes, and even to us—because it takes the disease that we hate most, namely, helplessness, and instead of curing it, makes it the doorway to heaven.“

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

John Piper (February 2, 1986)

“Blessed are the Poor in Spirit Who Mourn“

My coworker is rocking out for Jesus

So I’ve met a lot of cool people in St. Charles this past week and a half. In fact, I’ve diversified my circles with more Irish, Spanish, Norwegian, and Russian friends than I could have ever imagined. There was one coworker that I was going to give a gospel track to, but once I facebooked her, I found out she was a former Chinese Christian pop star! With her permission, here’s her music video for the Chinese version of “Shackles” (originally by Mary Mary) Enjoy!:

Lingering

Genesis 19:15

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

Genesis 19:16

But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

But he lingered - When it says that Lot “lingered”, I can’t help but think that a part of him wanted to stay. Even after an incident with the townspeople and after the angels warning about the destruction of the city, Lot is reluctant to leave.

So the men seized him…the LORD being merciful to him – Yet God had mercy on Lot. God pulled him against his will as an act of mercy.

When I read this passage I think about how reluctant I am to listen to the warnings of God. He warns. I rebel. Over and over again. Maybe I just don’t think He means it when I read the warnings – I take them too lightly or something. But even in my ignorance, God’s mercy and grace support me. His Spirit works in me. He doesn’t let go. What an awesome God!

God, guard my heart and shape my desires. Help me see the flaws of my heart. Help me surrender my ambition and lifestyle. And let your amazing love and endless mercy, that I receive through Christ, be my hope and strength. You are my rock, the only one worth living for, and I love You.

Keep on reading =)

Romans 3:23

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:24-26

…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

They would rather follow Jesus

As I was driving towards Lincoln Square Mall, I tuned in to 90.1FM and heard a story about a pastor whose name is Pastor Mohammed. In short, Pastor Mohammed was a former mosque leader who, with 7 other Muslim friends, decided to watch the Jesus film and a film about Islam. They had a discussion and agreed that they would rather follow Jesus and decided to go to church. But on the day they decided to go to church, 6 of the friends backed out and only one accompanied him to the church service. While he was there, members of the mosque knew he was there and began to throw stones at the church. On the same day his wife left him and took their son, whom he has yet to see again. Through the midst of immediate persecution, obstacles, and pain this man still wanted to follow Jesus and teach others to do so as well.

The cost of following Jesus really means something different in countries that persecute Christians (either physically, socially, or culturally). It reminds me of a woman I met in Japan, who was disowned by her family because of her faith. Stories like these really get my heart pumping. I get really excited when people are going against the grain to follow Jesus. But as of right now, these lives are putting two passages in a new perspective for me.

The first is Genesis 12:1-3, the call of Abram. Growing up in Sunday school, I always imagined that the story was really simple: Abram was just sitting around one day, God said “Go”, Abram said “Hmm. OK” and he had faith and he left. I thought he was the “father of faith” because following God was an easy choice. Horribly mistaken.

As I was reading through some background commentary on this passage, these points caught my eye:

By leaving his father’s household, Abram was thus giving up his inheritance and his right to family property. Land, family and inheritance were among the most significant elements in ancient society…He was putting his survival, his identity, his future and his security in the hands of the Lord. (IVP Bible Background Commentary, p.43)

By making a break with his land, his family and his inheritance, Abraham is also breaking all of his religious ties…having left his country he would have no national or city gods; and it was Yahweh who filled this void becoming the ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ (IVP Bible Background Commentary, p.47)

Abram’s initial decision to follow God must have been a hard decision for him to make. He gave up so much more than I originally thought. Despite the risk, despite the cost, he still wanted God more. It then hit me that all over the world, people are making the same decisions. In Japan, China, India, Egypt, Jordan…the list goes on. God is working and calling his followers to do much more than go to church. He’s calling them to do something similar to what Abraham did: make a break with the old and trust in Jesus.

The second passage, Luke 14:25-33, goes further. It’s a familiar passage that ends with:

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (v.33 ESV)

John Piper says this in response:

Coming right after the open invitation to the banquet of the kingdom of God (Luke 14:12-24), the point of these two parables is surely something like this: The banquet hall is big! The food is delicious! The invitation to come is sent to all! But the entrance requirement is that you are more hungry for what God serves than for what the world serves—more hungry for God than for mother or father or spouse or child or siblings or your own earthly life

As a Christian in America I obviously do not face persecution and did not give up much in comparison to others. But the question still stands: “Would I rather follow Jesus?” This question challenges me to do at least three things:

1. Make decisions that challenge my current lifestyle and reflect a hunger for God. There is a lifestyle cost. Let’s face it, about 99% of all my decisions are unredeemed and still in favor of “King Jimmy”. If I want to live for Christ, that number has to go down.
2. Fight to be hungrier for God than anything else. REMINDER: It’s a battle of priorities and desires.
3. Pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.