Some years ago – never mind how long precisely – having little ambition and nothing particular to interest me around the house, I thought I would surf about a little upon the Internet.

Through the providence of God, I found a YouTube video of Paul Washer entitled, “Shocking Youth Message.” As I was engaged as a youth Sunday school teacher from time to time, I invested an hour and watched it. I suggest you do the same now if you haven’t seen it already. http://youtu.be/cncEhCvrVgQ.

If you don’t have the time, or if you’ve seen it before, just watch the first minute of this excerpt up until the point that Brother Paul silences the crowd.

Though just into my 40s and a generation removed from Washer’s audience, the Holy Spirit of God convicted me through his words, “I don’t know why you’re clapping. I’m talking about you.” The kids in the audience were in an emotional frenzy, going with their worldly feelings and not letting Washer’s biblical message penetrate their stony hearts. At least that’s what I think was going on inside them, because that was what was going on inside me. I was no different in my life. It took the startling words of a preacher clearly calling me a phony to shock me out of my complacency.

You see, I was a great Pharisee. I went to church every Sunday, I sang in the choir, I read scripture, I taught Sunday school, I attended Bible study, I donated time and money, I maintained the church website, I edited the church newsletter, I was an elder and I was certain that Christianity was something I did very well.

Please don’t miss that last statement: Christianity – was something – I did.

Could this be true of you as well? Is your Christian faith primarily something you do?

Like Nicodemus, I had heard about the things of God and I knew a lot about God, but I didn’t know God at all. Nicodemus was a bible teacher; he sang and read scripture in the temple; his faith was something that he did very well. But he couldn’t see or comprehend the kingdom of God. Nicodemus visited Jesus at night, ashamed to be seen with him in the daylight. In John 3:3, Jesus says to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus doesn’t get it in John 3:4, so Jesus spells it out for him in more detail in John 3:5-8, to which Nicodemus replies in verse 9, “How can these things be?”

It’s almost like Nicodemus is proving Jesus’ point for him. He obviously hasn’t been born again, therefore he doesn’t understand. It’s not that Nicodemus doesn’t want to understand, rather, he is incapable of understanding. His understanding is so tightly wrapped up in his religiosity that the truth cannot penetrate it.

I, too, was insulated from the truth. For me, the first crack in my stony heart (that I was aware of) was made through the words of Brother Paul Washer when I first seriously entertained the possibility that I wasn’t a ‘good Christian’ like I thought I was. Perhaps Jesus’ unexpected response to Nicodemus’ question was a shock to him too. In John 3:10, Jesus says, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Calling a high priest of the Jews a phony tends to have a shocking effect.

Could this be true of you as well? Are you a phony, masquerading as a Christian, wrapped up in religiosity?

I must confess that I still have a tendency to revert back to what comes most naturally to me. My default setting is a desire to earn my way to heaven by doing good works.

By relying on myself and what I do, I diminish Christ and what He did.

Reliance upon the person and work of Jesus through faith alone guarantees me reconciliation with God; reliance upon myself and my tainted works guarantees me a nice hot corner of hell all to myself.

And yet even this exposes yet another form of Pharisee-ism.

Because I know I shouldn’t rely on myself or my works, I sometimes think I’m smarter or more clever than others. Putting my old works into the dustbin (where they belong) are my “new good works.” But these new good works are just as filthy as my old ones, and I am still a Pharisee because I want them to count for something!

Counting nothing to my account should count for something, right?!?

Do you see how insane that is? I can’t get out from underneath it.

But King Jesus can get me out.

Ray Ortlund addresses this paradox better than I could:

With Jesus, we are saved.  Everything is going to be okay.  Without Jesus, we are damned.  Nothing will go right.

Forsake all fraudulent success.  Make Jesus your goal, your arrival, your identity, your comfort, your okayness, and he’ll gladly give himself to you — and on terms of grace.  But reach for anything else, and it will turn into its opposite and betray you.

John doesn’t give us a nicely wrapped-up ending to the encounter with Nicodemus. It just abruptly ends and we don’t hear of old Nic again until after Jesus is killed. In John 3:1-21 he visits Jesus at night so he cannot be seen by anyone. But in John 19:39, Nicodemus buys a load of burial spices and he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, prepares Jesus’ body for burial in the light of day. It seems that he was no longer ashamed to be counted as a servant of Christ.

In the end, I hope this means that Nicodemus was saved; because I need the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ as much as he did.

Could this be true of you as well?

Christianity isn’t about what you do. It’s about what Jesus has already done. Don’t ever lose that focus.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – Phil. 3:8-9

I hear of others just outside of my circle who are afflicted as well. Loss of work and home, debilitating disease, dementia, depression, cancer and suicide are among the sufferings of the people who know people I know.

What makes these problems more heartbreaking is that many of those suffering these things don’t know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They don’t know that God’s grace is sufficient to get them through their struggles (2 Cor. 12:9).

Poetry rarely appeals to me, but this poem by John Piper touches something in me that prose just doesn’t reach. Read it three times and then meditate on the words of Jesus, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

What is God’s sovereign grace?

Not grace to bar what is not bliss
Nor flight from all distress but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

– John Piper

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/not-grace-to-bar-what-is-not-bliss

Even More Linkin!

Linking to noteworthy articles from other blogs and websites.

As everything, He became nothing so that you, as nothing, could have everything. You bring nothing to the table except the unrighteousness that makes Christ’s righteousness necessary.

If Jesus is to remain “the reason for the season,” then churches must be the place continually pointing to Him, especially in our preaching. We must take caution that our Christmas programs, which many times are designed to draw unbelievers, are not so secularized that we obscure the message we are trying to convey.

1. Define yourself by Jesus
2. Speak of the Catholic Church with courtesy
3. Explain biblical concepts and terminology
- – And More – -

Then she said, “Jesus died for me. I love my Jesus.” Sometimes I don’t know what “joy inexpressible and filled with glory” means, but at that moment I did. I had no words. So I just squeezed her hand gently and smiled at her through tears and sat there. That’s what you do in the presence of greatness.

Don’t be surprised if people look at you and say hurtful things like “she is really great with child.” Even more irritating will be the future idea that little Baby “no crying did make” when you know that he is fully human.

Most of the sites are blogs and most are active. As far as I can tell, all these sites are written or maintained by theologically solid Orthodox Christians; no guarantees though.

May your faith be enriched and strengthened by reading them.

9Marks: http://www.9marks.org/blog

Alpha and Omega Ministries – http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/

Biblical Christianity: http://bibchr.blogspot.com/

Challies: http://www.challies.com/

Desiring God: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog

Eddie Eddings (Calvinistic Cartoons): http://calvinisticcartoons.blogspot.com/

Fighting for the Faith: http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/

Gospel Coalition: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/

Heartcry Missionary Society: http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/

Inverted Planet: http://www.invertedplanet.blogspot.com/

John MacArthur: http://www.gty.org/blog

Killer Robot Ninja: http://www.killerrobotninja.com/

Ligonier Ministries: http://www.ligonier.org/blog/

Mohler: http://www.albertmohler.com/category/blog/

New Demonstration: http://newdemonstration.com/

Ordinary Pastor: http://www.ordinarypastor.com/

Pyromanicacs: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/

Questions? http://www.gotquestions.org/

Red Meat for the Soul: http://www.solidfoodmedia.com/blog

Sovereign Grace: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/default.aspx

Truth for Life: http://www.truthforlife.org/

Underdog Theology: http://underdogtheology.blogspot.com/

Village Church: http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/

White Horse Inn: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/

X (Nathan W. Bingham): http://nwbingham.com/

Young, Todd : http://experiencingreformation.blogspot.com/

Take Your Vitamin Z: http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/

Forget about them. Jesus wants you.

Do you think you’re too bad for God to love? Do you think you need to clean up your act before you can get right with God?

Forget about that. Jesus wants you.

He wants you just as you are. He wants you to come to him in honesty and brokenness and tell him you know what you are, a sinner. You’re a mess; God already knows that, and He’s forgiven worse than you. The Bible says He will not break a bruised reed or quench a barely glowing wick. (Matthew 12:20 ESV) Come to him in humility and apologize for the mess you’ve made. Jesus did not condemn a woman caught in adultery; He forgave her and told her to go and sin no more. He promises to do the same for you when you repent and believe.

Christians may look down on you or ignore you, Christ doesn’t.

Churches might make you feel unwelcome, Jesus won’t.

I hope you won’t judge Christ by a church that happens to use His name, or by those who call themselves Christians. The church can’t save your soul and Christians can’t forgive your sins. Jesus can do all that and heal you of whatever sins and griefs you bear.

Jesus wants you. Please, give Him a chance.

About four years ago, I was shopping at a local bookstore and picked up a book by John MacArthur entitled Twelve Ordinary Men. I had never heard of the author before but it looked like an interesting tome, so I bought it. I wasn’t disappointed. It is a fantastic examination of the men Jesus chose to send out into the world and turn it on its head; and they were extraordinarily ordinary men. If you haven’t read the book, I recommend it highly. http://www.gty.org/Shop/Books/451144S_Twelve-Ordinary-Men-Softcover

[Since then, I’ve read The Gospel According to Jesus, The Truth War and am currently in the middle of The Jesus you Can’t Ignore.]

After I read Twelve Ordinary Men, I wanted to learn more about this MacArthur fella, so I went online and found Grace To You. There I found a link to download GTY podcasts and I have been a listener ever since. I particularly like the Tale of Two Sons series which gives insights into Christ’s Prodigal Son parable that I had never heard or considered before. I still like to browse GTY.org and always find something new.

Eventually, I found that the director of GTY was a guy named Phil Johnson who had a website with lots of Christian links on it. It is just what the hungry young believer needs to find everything from milk to meat. I still visit his site regularly.

Not long afterward, I discovered Phil’s blog called Pyromaniacs which included his articles and those of three other people, some obnoxious guy named Frank Turk, a ghost with the nom de guerre Peccadillo and an ordinary man named Dan Phillips. The story is the same here but amplified; I visit Pyromaniacs daily. Recently, I’ve concluded that Frank isn’t obnoxious, Peccadillo really is a ghost and Dan Phillips is anything but ordinary.

Dan’s website is Biblical Christianity and he describes himself as a CalviDispieBaptoGelical; a label that would doubtless confuse the world’s smartest man. In the past year or so, Dan has become my favorite blogger on the Pyromaniacs team and I often find myself digging back through the archives of both sites to read his take on various issues.

Believe it or not, all I really wanted to say when I sat down at the keyboard an hour ago was; you should really read Dan Phillips’ article today on Pyromaniacs: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/01/compassion-parable.html

All the rest is just a strange tale of how God can use things that seem like coincidences to lead a hungry believer to teachers with abundant food for the mind and soul. I give thanks to God for the work these men do in service to their Lord.

Two weeks ago at church, our council of Elders called a man up to the front of the church before the worship service began. They presented him an award for being the most humble Christian at our church. The award was a tiny lapel pin a little smaller than a dime. The man accepted the award with a tearful and red-faced “Thank you all, so much” and returned to his seat. Last Sunday, the man came to church wearing the pin in the lapel of his jacket and the head elder took it away from him because he showed pride by wearing it and didn’t deserve it anymore.

This actually didn’t happen. It is an old joke rephrased. Nevertheless, humility can be a difficult concept to understand. Last week I listened to a two-part sermon preached by John Piper entitled Battling the Unbelief of a Haughty Spirit. You can download it and listen to it yourself here:

Battling the Unbelief of a Haughty Spirit Part 1.mp3

Battling the Unbelief of a Haughty Spirit Part 2.mp3

When I listen to podcast sermons (usually about a dozen each week) I like to take notes on the parts that hit me hard, or speak to my heart. Sometimes I’ll stop the playback and just start writing about instances where I have personally experienced what the preacher is talking about.

Here are the notes that I took while I was listening to the sermons linked above. If you get anything out of this, I encourage you to download and listen to the entire sermon. Not all of what appears below is Piper’s and not all of it is mine.

If you are a Christian and you know anything at all about humility, I am confident that you have encountered this type of pride at least once. Here are two examples: The man who volunteers for the worst task at a church function and then for weeks afterward, brags about doing such a menial job. The woman who helps somebody anonymously and then “lets slip” what she did to one friend who she knows can’t keep her mouth shut. These are examples of a craving that people have for other people to think well of them.

Each of these forms of pride is an example of making much of yourself. As Christians, we should be delighting in Christ alone and in God’s mercy to us.

Isn’t it funny, considering our size and place in the universe, that we humans would struggle with genuine humility?

True humility means casting everything on the Lord. Casting your anxieties on the Lord is humility, because proud people don’t feel that they need help from the Lord. Pride makes people deny their anxieties and want to look like they’ve got it all together. Piper says, “…how easy it is to ‘be made much of’ even for my self-denial.” We have to be such cool customers. God is our LAST refuge instead of our first thought. We are afraid to be vulnerable. We are afraid to look human.

Piper says, “God loves people, but hates pride.” The condition of your heart is of utmost importance. It is almost impossible for anyone to tell the difference between genuine humility and false humility in another person, but it is easy for us to know it in ourselves. This is a skill that we work inwardly on ourselves, not an outward skill that we work on others.