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Jesus: Too Dynamic to be Safe

The Gospel Coalition: Bay Area. Christ, Sex, & The City Conference

I’m excited about what’s happening with The Gospel Coalition: Bay Area. My fellow TGC: Bay Area board members (Jeff Louie. Travis Marsh. Toby Kurth) and I have been working hard towards putting on our second regional conference. Below is all the information. I hope you can join us. Pastors/church leaders, I hope you can join us for the pre-conference. Get more information about this conference and about what we’re doing in the Bay Area at The Gospel Coalition Website.

Christ, Sex, and The City
Discussing the Vital Relationship Between Jesus Christ, Sex, and Our Cities

Psalm 3: Learning How to Process & Approach Life

Psalm 3 is one of my favorites. Today’s reading (I’m praying through the Psalms in 2 month cycles this year) brought me to Psalm 3 again. I love this psalm because its structure brings order to my often disordered life. I want to process and approach life the way Psalm 3 teaches me to do it.

Maybe it would help you to think and pray through Psalm 3 with me today? Below are the names I give to the different parts of the psalm and a few reflections.

SIGHT

1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
there is no salvation for him in God.

David begins with sight. David the psalmist begins this prayer with what’s right in front of him–with what he can see, his circumstances, with what hurts and threatens. David doesn’t pretend. David reports. David is honest before God about the pressure, pain, and fear. David has enemies. And these enemies are “many.” Three times the text repeats the “many-ness” of the threat David faces.

David is in trouble. This is what David sees in front of him. This is where David starts. David pours out his trouble to the LORD.

What do you see? What enemies, what troubles, surround and threaten you? Start there. Tell God all about it. Avoid the temptation of processing and navigating the trouble by yourself. This Psalm calls you out of your self-sufficiency. The opposite of the Christian life is the self-sufficient life.

BELIEF

3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.

David starts his prayer with the circumstances he sees and feels, but this is just the start. This is just verses 1 and 2. We have 6 more verses.

Verse 3. Now David interrupts sight with belief. David quickly transitions from what he sees to re-confessing the belief he’s built his life upon. David knows when to insert a “But.” “Life is very hard. But…”

David’s “But..” leads to belief. David’s “But…” leads not to belief in a creed, but belief in a Person. David is talking to the LORD. He knows the LORD. There is a relationship here. David tells the LORD (and reminds himself) who he believes the LORD to be. David speaks 3 images of who he believes the LORD to be: “shield,” “my glory,” “the lifter of my head.”

David’s enemies are “many, many, many.” But David’s God is “shield, glory, lifter.”

What do you believe? What do you believe about the LORD? Have you applied that belief to the trouble you see and face today, or are you keeping that belief on a separate shelf? Remember the relationship you have!

The LORD is your shield. He’s not your shield in theory. You have a relationship with a shield that shows up and protects you in the midst of today’s battle. Do you believe this? The LORD is also your glory. He’s also the lifter of your head. Belief is being able to see through your circumstances to a deeper reality. Do you believe the LORD can lift your head, even today? Do you believe resolved circumstances are the lifter of your head, or is the LORD the lifter of your head? If no enemies and perfect circumstances are the lifter of your head, you’ll be looking down most of your life. If the LORD is the lifter of your head, you can face anything.

REMEMBRANCE

4 I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill.

5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

Now David remembers. Remembrance changes everything. David remembers the enemies he faced in the past, the prayers he prayed in the past, and the help God gave in the past. He remembers how his Shield worked in his life in the past. He remembers protection that enabled him to sleep soundly.

David remembered the many Goliath’s God had delivered him from in the past. David remembered that this same God was the one hearing these new prayers and cries.

What do you remember? Remind yourself today of how you cried to God in seasons of desperation in the past and of how he answered and took care of you. God hasn’t changed. Your circumstances and cries and have changed, but God is still God. God hasn’t forgotten you. He remembered you in the past. He remembers you today. Will you remember Him today? Build your faith through remembrance.

And will you remember this tonight when you stumble into bed? Will tonight be another night of sleeping in fear, or will you sleep like a Christian?

RESOLVE

6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

Sight–>Belief–>Remembrance–>Resolve. This is David’s movement as he teaches us how to process and approach life in this world.

David couldn’t have moved directly from verse 2 to verse 6. If all we had were verses 1 and 2, David should be very afraid. But verses 3-5 changed everything. Now David is operating from a different center. Now David is surrounded by a shield, he’s enjoying a glory that he can’t lose, his head has been lifted high, he remembers God’s track record, he knows a good night of sleep awaits him.

So, David resolves. David makes a decision. David considers the evidence of his circumstances and the evidence of his God and he makes a decision to not be afraid. The word “many” shows up again. It doesn’t matter anymore. Even if he has to face “many thousands” of enemies who have set themselves against him “all around,” David knows the LORD his shield surrounds him all around.

This is faith. Faith is resolve. Faith is making a decision. Faith is being able to take a long look at your circumstances and a long look at your God and deciding that God is bigger.

What did you decide this morning? What was your resolve? Either you decided that because God is bigger than your troubles you would not be afraid, or you decided to once again let your circumstances, problems, and enemies decide how much fear you will feel today. David decided to say “I will not fear” because he decided to believe in God more than he believed in his enemies. Who do you believe in more? What “I will not fear…” sentence do you need to write today?

PRAYER

7 Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

Now David prays. He’s been praying the whole time, but now he makes requests of God for the first time. David makes two requests: “Arise…” and “Save me.”

As I’ve been reading the Psalms recently I’ve concluded that all the prayer requests in the Psalms boil down to one word: Help! This is what David is saying here. “Help! God, help me! LORD, do something! Help me! I can’t help myself. Arise! Stand up. Take action. Only you can do this. Save me!”

David’s prayer request isn’t fancy. Nor is it shy. David just shouts: Help!

What are your prayer requests today? Jesus calls his people to live life with childlike faith. Childlike faith isn’t fancy. Childlike faith isn’t shy. Childlike faith simply says, often and loudly: Help! The older I get, the more troubles I face, and the more Bible I read, I’m finding that the word that comes out of my mouth most often to God is: “Help.”

PRAISE/ASSURANCE

8 Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people!

David ends his prayer with praise and assurance. David proclaims that salvation (victory/deliverance) belongs to God and that blessing is sure to come from God. The whole situation that started this prayer, verses 1-2, David leaves in the LORD’s hands. The praise that David gives God (“Salvation belongs to the LORD”) is one and the same with the assurance he gives himself (“Salvation belongs to the LORD”).

Who will you let salvation (victory/deliverance) belong to today? Is it up to you? Do you really want to carry that burden? Or will you realize and rest in the reality that salvation belongs to the LORD? He sees your verses 1-2. He knows what He is doing.

Psalm 3 gives us a grid for processing and approaching life in this world: Sight–>Belief–>Remembrance–>Resolve–>Prayer–>Praise/Assurance.

I want Psalm 3 to mark my life. Wouldn’t it be great if our approach to each new day looked like 2 verses of Sight and 6 verses of Belief, Remembrance, Resolve, Prayer, and Praise centered on the LORD?

Tullian and the Gospel: Christian Growth Doesn’t Happen By Working Hard to Get Something You Don’t Have

I enjoyed three days with my friend Tullian Tchividjian who spoke at our men’s retreat this weekend. Tullian’s Sunday morning message on Colossians 1:9-14 deeply moved many of our men. I will look into posting the audio. For now, here are three paragraphs (pulled from an earlier version of the same message) that helped us better understand the gospel and how it works in our life. Ponder these paragraphs.

Tullian is a great guy. We had a blast together this weekend. Our friendship really grew. Please pray for Tullian as he leads his church and serves as an important voice for the gospel in our generation.

It’s important to note that in these verses Paul doesn’t pray for something the Colossian Christians don’t have. Rather, he prays they will grow in their awareness and understanding of what they do have. Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. Christian growth happens by working hard to live in the reality of what you do have.

I used to think that when the Bible tells us to work out our salvation, it meant go out and get what you don’t have-get more patience, get more strength, get more joy, get more love, and so on. But after reading the Bible more carefully I now understand that real gospel fruit happens, not as we “work harder” but only as we continually rediscover the gospel. You could put it this way: rediscovering the gospel is the hard work we’re called to.

You see, the secret of the gospel is that we become more spiritually mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and focus more on all that God has already done for us. The irony of the gospel is that we actually perform better as we grow in our understanding that our relationship with God is based on Christ’s performance for us, not our performance for him.

Against Self-Pity

A great post from Justin Taylor, making me thankful for Martin Luther-like friends in my life:

All of us need a Martin Luther in our lives now and then—a friend who is not afraid to stand on gospel promises and get in our face with gospel truth when we would rather wallow in self-pity.

Here is a portion of a letter from Luther to his friend Philip Melachnton (June 27, 1530):

Those great cares by which you say you are consumed I vehemently hate; they rule your heart not on account of the greatness of the cause but by reason of the greatness of your unbelief. . . .

If our cause is great, its author and champion is great also, for it is not ours. Why are you therefore always tormenting yourself?

If our cause is false, let us recant; if it is true, why should we make him a liar who commands us to be of untroubled heart?

Cast your burden on the Lord, he says. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him with a broken heart. Does he speak in vain or to beasts? . . .

What good can you do by your vain anxiety?

What can the devil do more than slay us? What after that?

I beg you, so pugnacious in all else, fight against yourself, your own worst enemy, who furnish Satan with arms against yourself. . . .

I pray for you earnestly and am deeply pained that you keep sucking up cares like a leech and thus rendering my prayers vain.

Christ knows whether it is stupidity or bravery, but I am not much disturbed, rather of better courage than I had hoped.

God who is able to raise the dead is also able to uphold a falling cause, or to raise a fallen one and make it strong.

If we are not worthy instruments to accomplish his purpose, he will find others.

If we are not strengthened by his promises, to whom else in all the world can they pertain?

But saying more would be pouring water into the sea.

HT: David Sunday

Stop Tinkering

Stop tinkering with your soul and look away to the perfect One.

-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Quit Looking at Yourself

While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves — blessed riddance.  The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the Perfect One.

-A.W. Tozer

HT: Mark Lauterbach

The Gospel is Advancing Around the World

I’ve just returned from a ministry trip in Guam and the Philippines. My one great observation/conclusion from the trip: God’s gospel is advancing around the world. Over the coming weeks I plan to write a series of posts reflecting on how, halfway around the world from where I live, I found reason upon reason to rejoice over how God’s kingdom is breaking new ground.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. Colossians 1:6 (NIV)

What Stands in the Way of Us Experiencing Joy?

One of my favorite reads in 2008 was Mike Mason’s book on joy, Champagne for the Soul (I refer to it here). In agreement with Mark, I’d nuance some things differently, but Mason is very helpful on joy. In an interview from earlier this year (it’s worth reading the whole thing), Mason answers an important question with great insight:

What stands in the way of us experiencing joy?

One thing: forgetting the gospel. The gospel is the most wonderful thing in the world. If you know it, and believe it, you will be joyful. You can’t help it. So if you’re not joyful, you’re not believing the gospel. You’ve lost touch with its amazing power. You’ve forgotten why you came to Jesus in the first place—because He, and He alone, has the words of life that set you free. He alone loves you not for anything you do…Everyone who gives their life to Jesus does so with great joy, because this news is so electrifying. The gospel is simple, but you’ll never encounter anything else like it. Over and over in my experiment I discovered great joy in a simple return to the gospel. It gave me the permission to keep stripping away from my life everything that doesn’t really work, everything that doesn’t truly bring deep, satisfying joy. My thought life, the way I prayed, my relationships, my work—everything was overhauled for the pure sake of joy and love. Only the gospel gives a person such radical freedom.

Gospel Growth Conference

I’ve been slowing listening to audio from The Gospel Growth Conference. So far I’ve found David Helm’s two messages quite helpful.