Six Four Three

"Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." Luke 24:27

We used this verse to introduce our current Advent+ series because it lays a theological foundation for each of the messages. Jesus, while walking with his disciples, quite possibly did what the following article and my messages do, show how He had been mentioned throughout the Old Testament. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Timothy Keller for first articulating exactly what Jesus might have had in mind. In 2006 I heard Dr. Keller speak at The Resurgence Conference in Seattle and he said this...

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We have heard many pastors and Christian writers over the years lament the fact that Christmas has ceased to be a particularly Christian holiday but has instead morphed into a celebration of all things commercial. I think most of us realize that our country is no longer a Christian one, and so it stands to reason that historically Christian holidays that bear the capability of producing $450B in revenue (last year's estimate) would find some less dogmatic incarnation. I would say that this has certainly been the case.

So instead of a Christmas that is a celebration of the incarnation by the devoted, we have a celebration of purchasing power by the empowered. Case in point, I was watching a rerun of The Office last night with my wife and it just so happened to be the Christmas episode. Boss Michael Scott always has an ingenious, if accidental, way of summing things up perfectly. He said, "Presents are the best way to show someone how much you care. It is like this tangible thing that you can point to and say 'Hey man, I love you this many dollars worth." So instead of a holiday devoted to the reverent celebration of our humble Savior, we are left with a chaotic, self-absorbed free-for-all that makes Santa the Hero, fit to be worshiped as Lord. It seems that during this season "Silent Night" should be replaced with this:

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Today I was sitting in my car in a much coveted but rarely found parking spot close to the admin building at ASU. I was trying to minimize my investment in the meter by waiting until the last moment before dropping my coinage. As I was sitting there I witnessed two blind people obviously disoriented and not heading in the direction they had anticipated. They were getting a little frantic as they were talking in anxious tones about where they were and where they needed to be.

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This article was written by Cal Thomas who, creepy picture of him and his cat aside, is a nationally syndicated columnist and regular contributer for USA Today and Fox News. I like this article because he says very eloquently what I have been saying for years. If we want real change in our world, we need to preach and live a clear Gospel. If we want to offer people real hope we need to speak well and speak often of our Lord and Savior. No man, regardless of party, race or background can bring the hope and change that our world truly needs. So if you are excited about our newest President, I hope that your excitement is tempered by reality. And if you are disappointed, I hope that you will understand that your choice wouldn't have been any better.

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Finally all of the politicking and campaigning is over! You may be celebrating or you may be mourning the recent national election but no one can deny they won’t be happy to stop getting robo-calls that eat up their cell phone minutes one recorded political message at a time. So in the spare silence that the end of this election has brought I would just like to remind both the celebrants and the mourners that God is in control. Below is a link to something written by Pastor Mark Driscoll that reminds us of the importance of remembering who is our Savior and King. Rejoice in the knowledge that God’s plan is moving on just as he has planned!

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Work Part 1

Work ethic is an idea that is often praised in our world but very rarely lived out. In fact, many are describing a rapid decline of the American work ethic in this youngest generation. A recent study showed that 97% of all children in America aged 7-12 play video games and 99% of boys in that age group. So instead of being outside making forts, playing games or sports, most kids are inside for hours on end playing in a alternate reality. Without sounding like an crotchety old man longing for the days of yesteryear (I don’t think you can be crotchety at 29) I think its an alarming trend. This loss of outside playtime is a loss of muscle development and face to face social interaction.

The real problem with this trend is that no one knows what the long term effects are. I had a recent conversation with a guy in our church about the development of the internet and cell phones from non-existent to completely pervasive. Think about this, ten years ago none of you had a cell phone or access to the internet. Ten years! Think about how much our culture has changed during that time, it is truly one of the most unprecedented leaps forward in technology the world has ever seen. The question is, how will this affect our future?

How will this new sedentary lifestyle affect our children? How will it affect their ability to do physical labor? How will it affect their willingness to do physical labor? My guess is that life will go on, but it will be a different life. Technology will replace human labor and our world will be very different.

But an opportunity exists, I think, for those who are willing to work hard to have a real impact on a world that is increasingly unwilling to do so. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 21:25 “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.” One the other hand, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” A good work ethic is a Godly thing and something that we should strive for, to glorify God and to provide for our families.

Reflection:
What kind of work ethic do you have?


What is the value of a strong work ethic?


In what ways are you working for the Kingdom of God?


Application:

Think: about your work from a Biblical perspective

Love: your family by working hard to provide for their needs

Live: out God’s command for all the world to see

Sexual Purity

Sex sells, plain and simple. Our culture is completely saturated with sex and sexual innuendo. From cars to cologne to coffee and even toilet paper, companies are using sex more and more to sell their products. In fact our culture has become so saturated that the Biblical teaching on sex and romance have become completely marginalized and sound completely unreachable. Solomon begs his readers in the Song of Solomon not to “stir up or awaken love until it pleases”. Paul tells Timothy to treat young women as he would his sister and Jesus says that if your eye causes you to sin, you should pluck it out. These extreme passages are examples of what used to be normative in our culture but is now ridiculous.

Examples of sexual immorality are everywhere and because of the extreme nature of some of it, any premarital intimacy that stops short of sexual intercourse is deemed acceptable, even in many churches. Because the “bad stuff” is so extreme, what used to be the “bad stuff” isn’t a big deal anymore. This is a very dangerous direction for our culture to be heading because the slope doesn’t stop. Even now, lifestyles that were once deemed by mental health professionals as a sickness are obtaining Constitutional rights.

It is incredibly important for the young people of our generation to stem the tide and make a move in the other direction. Now is the time to stand up for what the Bible teaches about sex, before its too late and the pain that a misuse of our bodies causes is too great. The importance of this cannot be underestimated, we need to follow the direction of Paul and, “Flee from sexual immorality”.

Reflect:
Why do you think sex has become so pervasive in our culture?


In what ways have you struggled with sexual immorality?


What steps have you taken (or will you take) to overcome the direction that our culture is moving sexually?


Apply:

Think: about how sex is influencing your life

Love: and trust God’s teaching on sexual intimacy

Live: free by fleeing sexual immorality

Parenting

As the father of one nine week old (as I’m writing this) daughter named Lily, I don’t profess to be the most experienced or knowledgeable parent. Thankfully, I don’t intend to give you my opinion on parenting. Instead I give you what I always give you, the Bible’s perspective. Because God made us and made our children, that makes him something on of an expert on how to raise them well. God tells us, in Proverbs 22:6 to, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Now as we have discussed before, this isn’t a promise of something that will always happen. There are far too many good examples of children who were raised well by their parents who did not follow the path that was set before them. But this proverb does give us a general rule for how we are to raise our children.

It is popular in our culture to teach that we shouldn’t impose our values or beliefs on anyone but let each have their own view of the natural and supernatural worlds. This has begun to extend to parenting as well as seen in the “Taking Children Seriously” method of parenting. This method teaches “both praise and punishment as manipulative and harmful to children” and instead “advocates other methods to reach agreement with them”. Have you ever tried to reach an agreement with a two year old? Not an enviable task, and not one that will end well for the parent or the child.

The point is this, Godly parents need to raise Godly children. So how do we do this? The same way we disciple a new believer, by modeling and teaching them the Gospel and its implications. Children need to know that they are loved by God and that loving God means following his instructions and honoring their parents. It is the job of the parent to teach their child God’s Word and to introduce them to the Gospel at an early age. Whether or not they accept Christ at a later age is besides the point. It is the responsibility and duty of a parent to raise their child in the way of the Lord, to teach them the Bible and to respect and obey their parents.

Reflect:
Can you think of other Biblical passages that teach us how to raise our children?


Why do we tend to shy away from discipline and direction?


What are some of the implications of parents not actively instructing and disciplining their children?

Apply:

Think: about how the Bible teaches us to raise our children

Love: your children by leading them

Live: the Gospel by showing grace to your children and modeling the Gospel for them

Wives, respect your husbands

Just before Paul’s directions to husbands in Ephesians 5, we read similar instructions for how wives are to relate to their husbands. Paul told husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, in other words to sacrifice their own needs and desires for the sake of their spouse. For wives, Paul instructs them to respect and follow their husbands. This command has often been looked at as being patriarchal and overbearing. People have accused Paul of being sexist when, in fact, it couldn’t be more opposite. By writing this, Paul was simply restating the order of creation that we find in Genesis chapter 1.

After the fall, one of the punishments that God put on the woman Eve was that she would want to be in charge of her husband and “rule over him”. Thus, from the very beginning sin has caused a power struggle to exist between a man and a woman. In a Godly Christian marriage husbands are called to sacrifice everything for their wives, and wives are called to submit to and follow the lead of their husband. This works beautifully when both are being done. It is pretty easy to love a woman that respects you and shows that respect by honoring your decisions. It is also easier to respect a man who has shown that he puts his family first in the decisions that he makes.

The rub comes when one of the spouses aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. Many times husbands use a wife that’s difficult or quarrelsome as an excuse to not love her or sacrifice for her. This is sin, Paul’s command for husbands isn’t conditional because Christ’s love for his church isn’t conditional. The same goes for the wives, they are not only expected to respect and follow their husbands when they are doing a good job loving them. They must also respect them when they are not being the kinds of husbands they ought to be. Because again, Paul’s command isn’t conditional.

Marriage works best when men are loving their wives and wives are respecting their husbands, but in the real world this doesn’t always happen to perfection, and its by the grace of God that husbands and wives must strive to be who God has called them to be even during the hard times.

Reflect:
What is your gut reaction to Paul’s words in Ephesians 5? Why?


If you are a wife, why is this such a hard command?


If you are a single girl, how does this command affect your choice of husband?


Apply:

Think: about why this is such a hard command for us

Love: your husband by respecting him and following his lead

Live: out God’s Word, if you are single choose a husband wisely and if you are married seek to show respect to your husband in new ways

Husbands, love your wives

Perhaps there is no more profound calling in the life of a man than Paul’s words in Ephesians 5. The calling for a man to love his wife, a calling that is devoid of conditions or circumstances but purely a call for a man to love. This calling is clear to be sure, but incredibly difficult to see through every day. There are times in a man’s life that love comes naturally, even easy. But there are other times, when love is a struggle, when sacrifice is a hardship. These are the times when Paul’s admonition becomes profound.

If Paul had simply told husbands to have love for their wives, this passage wouldn’t be so hard. Love is an ambiguous enough term that we could twist it to mean whatever was convenient at the moment. Unfortunately for husbands, Paul goes on, saying, “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”. This is when the command gets tricky. Paul doesn’t just tell us to love our wives but he goes on to give us an example for how to love them.

Christ’s love for the church and his willingness to die for it is what Paul lays out as the example for husbands. This is a very high ideal and very difficult reality. Paul doesn’t let men off the hook in any way, but rather sets the bar incredibly high. In essence he says that husbands should be ready to die for their wives. In reality few husbands will be presented with such an opportunity so what does this mean for us practically?

It means that each and every husband should sacrifice his own good, his own welfare, his own needs and his own desires for those of his wife, each and every day. This is the calling of a husband. So, if you are married and you find this command to be daunting, good. That means you get it. Pray that God would give you the grace necessary to love your wife this way. If you are single make sure that the woman you choose to marry is one that you know you will lay aside your life for.

Reflect:

Husbands, how are you actively loving your wife?


Have you set aside your desires, needs, or plans for her? When?


What is one thing that you need to give up out of love for your wife?


Apply:

Think: about how you can better love your wife

Love: your wife by intentionally choosing her over yourself

Live: like Jesus and set aside your rights for the good of hers