Casey Anthony and the Cross

Chris Brauns has some great insight on how Christians should respond to the Casey Anthony verdict.  Below are a couple of highlights, but you can read the rest here

• Point people to the Cross. Situations like this are the opportunity for Christians to point to a balanced view of forgiveness that stresses love, justice, and grace. Casey Anthony is not the only one who will stand before her Creator. We are all sinners, and we will all be there. If we don’t know Christ, then the wrath of God abides on us (John 3:36).
• Examine yourself. If you find yourself feeling terribly ungracious towards Casey Anthony, then perhaps it is because you haven’t been thinking enough about God’s grace in your life.  Indeed, this is what happened with the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35. Do you get more energized about the sin or perceived sin of someone else or your own? Consider 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Great Parenting Tips

I am supposed to be asleep right now, but I recently found a great new parenting resource that I can’t get enough of.  It is from Doug Wolter and it called, 10 Teachable Moments as Parents.  They are built upon the principle that “God is parenting me as I parent my kids”One of my favorite ones that I’ve read is far is called, “When Your Kids Keep Whining.”  

“Stop whining!”  I’m sure you’ve said that to your kids at one time or another.  You may have even whined back at them showing them how silly they sounded.  But then all of a sudden it hit you.  You’re just like them.  You’re a whiner, too.

I admit it.  I’m still whining even though I’m 34 years old.  It just looks a little different now.  I may not have the annoying whiny voice, but when I don’t get my way I complain and wonder why God is taking so long to answer me.  I don’t like to wait.  I’d rather whine.  I don’t like to keep knocking on the door of my prayer closet.  I’d rather keep complaining to my spouse at the dinner table.  I forget God’s faithfulness in the past and wonder why he can’t speed up the present.  Instead of waiting, I’m whining.

If anyone had a right to whine it was Jesus. Condescending to us as a poor, humble man destined to die on a cross for selfish rebels like us, he had every right to whine and complain.  Instead he lived a life of submission to his Father and dependence on the Spirit.  Yes he was God.  And yes he was sinless.  But he was also human.  He was tempted.  And He could’ve complained.  But he didn’t.  He waited and relied on his Father.  He trusted and depended on the Spirit.

So the next time your kid whines, stop and remember that you’re a whiner too.  But in Christ you don’t have to whine.  You can submit to your Father’s will and quietly depend on the Spirit to lead you.

 

Christ is deeper still: Acceptable worship

It is good to run from safe, no-risk worship. It is good to worship God with a practical demonstration that He alone is the future our hearts will be happy with.

via Christ is deeper still: Acceptable worship.

Christianity Isn’t a Crutch

Christianity isn’t a crutch for the weak; it’s a stretcher for the dead. The gospel doesn’t claim to help the weak; it claims to make the dead live again.  We reject the notion of the crutch of Christianity because we don’t need something to help us walk along; we need something to make us truly alive.

Via: Michael Kelley

The Crux of Christian Ministry

All who lead others spiritually need to ask themselves these key questions from Glen.

Does our Christian ministry seek to build the appearance of correctness, togetherness, superiority?  How much is dripping in repentance and broken-hearted humility?  Are we just trying to speak out of strength to poor sinners over there?  Or are we beggars showing other beggars where to find Bread?

You can read more here

Fridays are for Fathers

Here is a prayer from Doug Wolter that every parent should pray when children are disobedient and wearing on patience.

“Father, I need your help right now.  I need your Spirit to give me patience and wisdom to talk with my child.  I can’t do it on my own.  I need you and my child needs you.  Without you, Jesus, I can do nothing.  So be with me now as I go.  Open up my heart and my child’s heart to you.”

This is a prayer of dependence, reliance and surrender.  It reminds us that ultimately our parenting is futile without God’s intervention.  You can read more here.

How to come to terms with abortion

The answer is simple.  It is God.  Listen to the testimony of David MacDonald:

I know how to come to terms with it  (abortion). It is God. After many years of trying every self destructive thing to get over it, I found that in the end, it was God who heals, and it starts with fully accepting what we’ve done and then humbly asking God for forgiveness. It’s a lifetime journey. There is help out there. I can help you find it.

We all have sins that we need atonement for and that only way we can be forgiven for our sins is through the cross.  Sin destroys lives and leads to facing God’s eternal wrath unless we repent.  Repentance is only made possibly by taking God at His Word when we believe that Christ work on the cross defeated the power of sin so that we have freedom from the condemnation and enslavement of sin.

A rock so heavy that even God can’t lift

Image courtesy of the Gospel Driven Church http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/

The atheist likes the question like rye like onions.  Jared Wilson has come up with an answer that points to the empty tomb and does not escape the nature of the question.  His response is:

The truth is that God did make a weight so heavy he couldn’t lift it. He did so not by building an immovable force — we did that with our sin — but by incarnating the frailty of humanity and willingly subjecting himself to the force. As one of us, yet still himself, he created the conundrum of the incarnate God, bearing a cross he both ordained yet could not carry by himself, becoming condemned in death and also victorious. And God was crushed according to the plan he himself projected from the foundation of the world.

You can read more at his blog

How is God doing?

When dealing with a friend who is downcast it is much better to ask “How is God doing” instead of “How are you doing?”  Chris Braun takes a look at Psalm 77 and tells us why this is the case.

Here is a hint about how God is doing:  He is glorious, His love is unfailing and he never changes

35 reasons not to sin

Picture courtesy of http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/stories.aspx?id=73897

I got this list of 35 reasons not to sin from Brett and Alex Harris.  Good stuff, read it, meditate on it and be edified by it.

• Because a little sin leads to more sin.
• Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
• Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
• Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
• Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
• Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
• Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
• Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
• Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
• Because my sin saddens the godly.
• Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
• Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
• Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
• Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
• Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
• Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
• Because my sin may influence others to sin.
• Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
• Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
• Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
• Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
• Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
• Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
• Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
• Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
• Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
• Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
• Because my sin is adultery with the world.
• Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
• Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
• Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
• Because to sin is not to love Christ.
• Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
• Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
• Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.