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For President-Elect Barack Obama to have confidence that he may consult with God in every challenge he faces, finding mercy and grace as he does so

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
—Hebrews 4:16

O Gracious God, I praise and thank You for the grace You give so freely to all in Your kindness, mercy and love. Thank You for the rich provision of Your Son, Jesus Christ who tore the veil and opened the way for us to approach You with our petitions and concerns.

Bless, O Lord, our new President with a constant awareness that You are present with him and long for him to turn to You, to bring his needs and concerns to You, and to willingly receive Your kind provision and answers. Draw him to Your Word as revealed in the Scriptures and cause him to come to You with his every concern so he will find Your help with confidence and peace. In Your loving name, amen.

This is the latest in the series of prayers led by the Presidential Prayer Team for the new President and for our nation. If you are interested in receiving the email with each day's prayer assignment you can click here and sign up.

Submission To Authority

For Appropriate Submission to Authority

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
—Romans 13:1

Loving Lord God, in Your grace and goodness, You have given us the gift of free will and have mingled it with Your sovereign will and authority. We thank You today for this powerful gift. We open our hearts to trust completely in You—to look to You in every part of our national life, accepting Your will as wise and good.

As we pray for our newly elected President, we ask for grace to see Your hand at work. May we willingly acknowledge that You are the one who establishes all authority, and that those who are lifted up to serve do so at Your good pleasure. We ask You to unite us in that understanding, Lord, that our nation may move forward in Your will. In Your holy name, amen.

This is the latest in the series of prayers led by the Presidential Prayer Team for the new President and for our nation. If you are interested in receiving the email with each day's prayer assignment you can click here and sign up.

PRAISE GOD!!!

California's voters have passed the constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage!!!!

I am also very grateful that the Republicans managed to hold on to enough seats to retain the ability to filibuster. I hope they know how to....

UPDATE: 11/6/08
Arizona and Florida also passed amendments to their state constitutions that define marriage as being the union of a man and a woman. A law was also passed in Arkansas that prevents unwed couples from adopting. Good news in the midst of a pretty bad news sort of day.

Undone

I am utterly undone by this song this morning.

God Is Patient

Each year I attempt to read through the Bible using the One Year Bible. I generally switch translation from year to year to get a different flavor and perhaps increase my understanding of the scripture by reading it from a different translator's perspective.

This year I have been using the New Living Translation, and while I have found it to be very readable, I have also noticed in a number of places that the translators took quite a bit of license with the text. This has soured me somewhat on the translation, but there are still moments where I find that the translation was quite well turned.

One example came up recently as I have been reading through Romans. I really like the way that they rendered verse 4 of chapter 2.

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
Romans 2:4 NLT

As I read this familiar verse in this translation, I began to see why it is that the wicked often seem to go unpunished in this life. God is being kind, tolerant, and patient with them to give them the chance to repent.

Back shortly after I got out of college, I had a debate with a friend over a statement from another friend that I had repeated. I had quoted my friend to say "God is patient with our sin."

My other friend took exception to this and a great debate raged for several weeks over the statement. I wish that I could remember the finer points of his argument now - that has been more years ago than I care to admit - but I come back to my original position after reading this verse.

(As I continue to ponder our debate, as so often is the case in these arguments, our position was basically the same but the argument was over semantics.)

So, I declare that God is patient with our sin. But what does this really mean? Am I saying that it is OK for us to sin because God is patient? As the King James version would say, "God forbid!" That is not what I am saying at all. Am I saying that we shouldn't be concerned about our sin because God is patient? Once again, God forbid!

God is patient with our sin to give us the time to turn from it. His heart's desire is that we repent - make a 180° turn from our sin towards Him. When we do that we receive His forgiveness and the sin is wiped away.

Why would God be patient with our sin? Why would He tolerate it? I believe that one answer to that question is that God knows how dreadful His wrath and judgment are. Anyone who hasn't gotten a grip on what God's judgment would be like would do well to read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God." As Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Consider the physical punishment that Jesus endured for our salvation, and then make it eternal. From what I have read and heard even that doesn't come close to the torment that those in hell suffer. God doesn't want anyone to be thrown into hell. That is why Jesus came, and that is why He suffered as greatly as He did. However, the scriptures clearly teach that while His offer of salvation is available to all, all will not receive salvation. Many will stubbornly continue in their rebellion against God and will receive hell as their reward.

If you read the writings of the prophets in the Bible, you will see God's patience displayed over and over again. God sent Jeremiah to the people of Judah repeatedly - right up to their destruction by Babylon - urging them to repent, knowing that they never would. The message that He gave them was that if they would repent He would forgive - even though their sins were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. Such mercy is astounding to me.

(Please notice, however, that there came a time when that patience was exceeded, and judgment came.)

Many go on blithely sinning, saying, "God doesn't care" or "God doesn't see." They think that because He hasn't acted in His wrath and because He hasn't judged them as the scriptures say that He will that they are OK and that God doesn't have a problem with what they are doing. They couldn't be more wrong. The very next verse in Romans says that they are "storing up wrath for themselves."

Some, whose conscience hasn't been completely seared attempt to justify their sin through partial obedience. I am reminded of the kingdom of Israel after they rebelled against David's dynasty. King Jeroboam built two idols and declared that the people would worship before them instead of returning to Jerusalem to worship at the temple.

In spite of their idolatry the people retained many elements of the law. They still tithed, they still had the festivals, they still did sacrifice. In their minds they were still following the Law, but God saw it quite differently. Their partial obedience did not bring them any favor with God, it merely set into motion the day in which He would execute vengeance on the country.

I believe for many the issue of homosexual marriage is an attempt to do the same thing. They think that if they obey the law on one hand it makes it OK to break it on the other. This is a grievous error - one, I fear, that will bring great judgment.

For those who are Christians, I believe God's patience takes a little different flavor. God knows us so well. He knows exactly why we sin the way we do. He understands the woundings of our soul that cause us to act the way we do, and He will stop at nothing to heal us. God works to heal our wounds and deliver us from our bondage to sin.

What is the correct response to our sin during this time? I think Romans 7:24-25 gives us a pretty good idea. We are to recognize our wretched state and cry out in faith to God for deliverance and mercy.

Are we to make peace with our sin? Never! We are to loathe that which is not holy in us and we should wrestle against it with every ounce of our being until the Lord delivers us from it. Easier said than done, I know. But God never said that it would be easy.

So, in the meantime, I am grateful for God's patience as I struggle with my fears, anger, and perversions, longing for the day when I will finally be healed and set free. And I am grateful for His grace that gives me victory over my flesh. I hope that you will allow God's kindness to lead you to repentance.

A Body Smile

I just watched an incredible testimony of a fellow that had been hooked on meth over at Chris Elrod's blog. One of my favorite parts came when he described the feeling of being born again as being like a body smile. You have to check it out.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

This is the really good news. Not only did Jesus die, taking our sins upon Himself, but He rose again, conquering death and the grave. Now we share this hope of our own victory over death through His death and resurrection. And we now have the power to conquer sin in this present age.

Gone Home...

Perhaps you remember my post a little while ago about Pete? He was a man who came to know Jesus late in a life that had been ravaged by the devil. According to a post on Chris Elrod's blog, Pete got to meet Jesus face to face yesterday.

I think this testimony from an earlier post written by Chris is awesome:

Last week we took a large print Bible to him and he’s been falling asleep with it on his chest every night…he’s been reading it all day…every day. Our visits have mainly consisted of conversations about doctrine, what certain verses mean and what Heaven is going to be like. There was a question he asked me about Scripture that had me stumped…Pete said, “That’s okay…I’ll just ask God in a few weeks when I get there!!!” He’s in a lot of pain…but he still has a joy and sense of humor about him that just lights up the room.

It is astounding to me that God can overcome a life that seems wasted by sin and the destruction of satan and rescue that individual late in life. If that were all it would be shocking. But what is even more amazing to me is that in the very few weeks that this man lived as a Christian, God caused him to even bear fruit.

It is just like Aaron's rod. The stick was completely cut off, identical to all of the other 11 rods, but overnight God caused it to grow leaves, flowers, and almonds. Is there anything God cannot do?

I serve a RADICAL God.

An Extremely Good God...

In my last post I wrote about how God can even forgive a sinner as heinous as an abortionist? Check out this story at Chris Elrod's blog.



Welcome to the family, Pete.

UPDATED:

Check out the follow-up to this story on Chris' Blog.

God Is Good

2007 was a pretty rough year. I spent a lot of it like Elijah, waiting for ravens to come with my provision. As I have crossed into 2008, things haven't changed much to speak of, although God is still sending ravens (figuratively, that is.)

One of the keys that I have been working on for the past 12 months or so is that God is faithful and trustworthy. He won't allow us to go under. I have seen His provision for me over the past months time and time again. Why is it, I wonder, that even after His consistent support I can still become fearful about how my needs will be met? Foolish, foolish, foolish heart!

I can honestly say that I am getting better at dealing with the stress of this lesson, but every so often, I have to run back to Him for grace to overcome the nagging fear. Still, I don't guess there is anything wrong with getting grace. He told us to do it:

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
- Hebrews 4:16

I just think that it is awesome that God has given us a tool to use to help us live holy lives. I call it "grace grenades." Perhaps you are familiar with the armor of God passage that is found in Ephesians 6:10-18? Well, I have found that "grace grenades" complete the ensemble. Sadly, I do not have time to elucidate on this topic tonight. Perhaps I will be able to revisit it in detail soon.

The bottom line is - GOD IS GOOD. He has proven Himself to me many, many times.

Thanks, God!

Migratory Urges

Tomorrow begins the annual fishing haaj to the NC Outer Banks. This year's crew is noticably thinner than the past several years. The older fellows are starting to die off, and the younger fellows are busy.

I am glad to be going, but it hasn't always been so. The first year I went I got so frustrated. There were all these men I didn't know that well and I felt like I had to prove my manhood to them by being proficient at catching fish. Those of you who have fished on the surf know that surf fishing is completely different than pond or river fishing. The same rules just don't apply. So I was pretty frustrated. I wasn't catching fish, my line wouldn't stay down and kept getting tangled in everyone else's lines and to make matters worse, they were catching fish and I wasn't even getting a bite!

My frustration kept mounting until one of the men that I knew pretty well pulled me alongside. His son was there and was feeling some of the same pressure I was. Charles told me, "You know, I told Jeff that the whole reason I come out here is just to hang out with these fellows. If I catch fish, it is just a bonus." Well, those may not be his exact words, but it was something along those lines. It helped me to realize that there wasn't a competition and that I could just relax and enjoy being there. Oddly enough, I did relax and began to catch fish.

How many times in our lives do we let a performance mentality ruin the moment? How often do we let it set unrealistic expectations that end up leaving us feeling disappointed and unfulfilled? I can't count the number of times that I tried so hard not to fail that I ended up doing that exact thing.

It is the same with the Christian walk. We will never walk successfully when we are trying to follow some regimen or stand up to someone's perforance guidelines. This is why Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." By our effort we will never be holy and we will never be more worthy to God. It is His grace that produces sanctification - not our human righteousness.

I know some people now that are so afraid of failing and disappointing God that they are pharisaicly trying to maintain a "Christian" law and are failing at it. The problem is that the law always brings death and failure. Human flesh (fallen human flesh, that is) simply cannot live in holiness by adherance to the law. It is only by living life by the Spirit of God that we are able to achieve holiness - it is a free gift so none can boast.

As we learn to relax and allow the Spirit of God to live through us, we will find that we start to succeed!

So, back to fishing. I am looking forward to our annual migration. It will be a good time spent with my dad and my grandfather and the other men who have become familiar over the past few years. I will get to sit on the beach and smell the salty sea air, watch dolphins and whales swimming beyond the breakers, maybe get a little sun, and maybe, just maybe, catch a few fish. Fish or no fish it is going to be a great trip.