You Might Be a Calvinist...

"If you have ever purchased 100 or more copies of the same John Piper book to hand out to random people you meet, you just might be a Calvinist.

"If you purchased an MP3 player with the sole purpose of downloading sermons, or

If you were shocked to just discover that some people download MP3 files that are not sermons, or

If you have adjusted the default passage setting at www.biblegateway.org from “NIV” to “ESV”

… you might be a Calvinist.

"If you think a 50-minute sermon is too short, or

If you’ve ever heard a wave of groans sweep through Sunday School when you refer to Romans 9,

…you just might be a Calvinist.

"If you’ve muted a Thanksgiving football game because it’s interfering with your family discussion of Ephesians 1

…you might be a Calvinist.

"If your children argue and you require them to listen to a Piper Sermon as punishment, yes, you might be a Calvinist."

Read them all here.

A Quote on the Necessity of Christian Truth

"Christianity is not just an experience, we need to remember, but it is about truth. The experience of being reconciled to the Father through the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit all happens within a worldview. This worldview is the way God has taught us in his Word to view the world. That is why the Bible begins with Genesis 1:1 and not with John 3:16. It begins by setting out the distinction, as against paganism, between Creator and creation. It then lays out an understanding of God in his nature and redemptive works as well as an understanding of who humans are in their nature and in their fallenness. All of this sets the stage for the coming of Christ, for his incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. It is on this basis that God's wrath is assuaged, our sin is judged, our alienation is overcome, and we who are by nature unrighteous are made righteous in Christ. This happens only because of his grace and only through the empty hand of faith by which all of this is received. A Christian worldview, then, is one that rests upon a biblical understanding of the world, God, ourselves, and work of Christ."

-David Wells, in The Courage to be Protestant, Eerdmans 2008, p. 45-46.

It is hard to overemphasize how important this truth is for Christianity, for the church and, consequently, for the world.

The Millennials

For some reason I watched 60 Minutes the other night. I'm not sure why I avoid it. It's probably because my grandfather watched it religiously (that and logging the weather every day). But I am glad I did. They were doing a story on the "Millennials." These are the 80 million or so people born from 1981-2000. The piece is a fascinating look at how things have changed. And this is especially the case as the Millennials are making up the new work force. Though this is not a scholarly piece, the story does ring true in many regards. Part interesting, part encouraging, part horrifying (I personally watched many students pour over their laptops while downloading music, buying clothing, and reading the latest sports news, all while listening to lectures...in seminary). Watch the clip here:



This is a church blog where we talk about churchly things. And usually, topics like these are brought up so that we can focus on evangelism. So that's what I'll do now. How do we reach out to this generation? There is a much greater chance of coming to Christ when you are younger. So the time is ripe. How do you reach out now? Become a missionary. Missionaries do two things: (1) They try and understand the culture (language, dress, style) and, to some extent, mimic it. (2) They herald the unadulterated message of the Gospel. So the question for us becomes, how do we become "missional" in this new context, reaching out to the Millennials? How do you adapt the dress, style and language of the culture while bringing a message that is true yet understandable?

I say throw an office parade and then talk to them about Jesus.

The Greatest People in the World

I posted a few days back on Yancey's article "The Benefits of Brokenness." I wrote:

"The greatest people in the world know their depravity so intimately that they cannot help but be inwardly and overtly humble. They drink deeply every day from the Gospel of Christ which, in turn, destroys their pride and brings them great joy."

Perhaps that is confusing or even misleading. Calvinism is criticized quite often for being overly negative. And usually this sort of critique is in reference to the "T" in "TULIP," or "Total Depravity." Some would say that focusing on sin too much is a bad thing. And perhaps they are right, at least partially. If you wallow in your sinfulness too much, you do not truly understand what God has done for you. Knowing the depth of your depravity is only helpful insofar as you know the depth of your justification. Paul says in Romans 8:1: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because Christ bore your penalty at the cross, you are now free from sin and death. However, would you be able to know this freedom from condemnation if you did not know--or even better, feel--your past sinful nature? I don't think so. Read David Wells on this subject (From The Courage to be Protestant, Eerdmans 2008):

“But if we begin to see the nature of sin, we are on the road back into reality. We are on our way back into the presence of God through Christ. It is not that the knowledge of sin alone suffices, but rather that it pushes us to seek our deliverance from it. Knowing about sin is therefore vital knowledge. There are none quite so lost as those who know little or nothing of their sin. Knowing about our sin, therefore, is something for which we should be deeply grateful,” (p. 128).

And on the greatest people in the world (those whom, he says, "hold the Word fast"):

“In fact, there is nothing quite so cheering, so invigorating, as to be with people like this. They are people whose eyes are wide open to the shadows and pains of life, but they also live on another plane. They no longer stare in self-pity at their own pain, and no longer run from one preacher to another seeking some therapeutic release from anxiety, fear, confusion, and bewilderment. They are people who are tough-minded, morally sinewy, and infectiously joyful. They are the ones who have done what is necessary. The Word entered not only through the surface of their lives but also the soil beneath it. The tangled roots of the weeds have been pulled out of this soil so that the seed grows into a strong plant,” (p. 90).

So know your sin. But know also your justification. Then you will be among the greatest people in the world.

On Gluttony, the Accepted Sin

Joe Carter wrote an interesting piece today at his blog on gluttony and how it has really become an accepted sin. I have been thinking a lot about this as of late. Perhaps my favorite food ever is a particular dish at the Outback called "Cheese Fries." The fries come covered thickly in cheese and bacon and, if that were not enough, there is also provided ranch "dipping sauce." They might as well hook you up to an IV filled with saturated fat. So I should not have been shocked when Men's Health ranked it the worst food in America (and that probably also means the worst food in the world). If you ate all of these fat soaked fries, you'd bring 2900 calories into your body. Amazing. I can't help but think that Joe is on to something when he writes,

"In stuffing my face, I neglect my spiritual life. I turn to the refrigerator instead of turning to prayer. I pause at the vending machine instead of pausing in meditation. I seek out a piece of bread instead of seeking the Bread of Life. I fill my life with food in order to avoid filling it with God."

Yesterday I had a small victory. When I was at Chicago Uno's yesterday I could have ordered the pepperoni pan pizza. But I quickly recalled that Men's Health ranked this the worst pizza in America. I ordered a salad instead. I'm not sure if I felt closer to God because of it, but perhaps I was.

Speak Boldly About Christ

On how to speak boldly about Christ from, you guessed it, John Piper:



From DG.

Message: David and Saul

Here is the PDF of Steve's sermon on Sunday: David and Saul. There is no audio due to technical difficulties.

Yancey on Brokeness

Please, for goodness sake, read Philip Yancey's latest at CT, "The Benefits of Brokenness." He writes:

"For two problems...no politician dares offer a solution: death and evil. Endemic to the human condition, these two will haunt us all our days. Yet these are the very problems the gospel promises to solve—not through politics or science, but through a reclamation project begun at Golgotha."

Yancey wishes, in part, that he could be an alcoholic. Recovering alcoholics, he says, are usually prone not to self-righteousness but to brokenness:

"It occurred to me that what recovering alcoholics confess every day—personal failure, and the daily need for grace and help from friends and a Higher Power—represent high hurdles for those of us who take pride in our independence and self-sufficiency."

And this is the fertile ground that allows the seed of the gospel to prosper. I am asked on occasion what I think of some of the TV preachers. My main reaction is that they preach the heresy of self-sufficiency. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps," "Your best life is just around the corner if you would only be positive," "If you would only have deeper faith, God will bless you." Though there is nothing wrong with discipline, some teach that this discipline happens outside of God's grace. "As long as I work hard enough," they say, "God will accept me." As Tim Keller would say, this is religion, not Gospel-centered Christianity. How? The only way to get ahead in the world--the only way you'll ever "win"--is by leaning into the great arms of God. The greatest people in the world know their depravity so intimately that they cannot help but be inwardly and overtly humble. They drink deeply every day from the Gospel of Christ which, in turn, destroys their pride and brings them great joy (just read about the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector).

So Yancey is probably right. We should all hope for the brokenness of an alcoholic.

Divorce is Morally Acceptable

Or so say 70% of Americans. According to Gallup, this is an 11-point jump from seven years ago. To call this tragic would be understating it. I can't help but think that the Christian church has done little to stem this tide and, in some ways, has only bolstered this spurious, unbiblical belief.

May we trust not in our self-wrought desires but in a God who loves us and who has sovereignly brought together each marriage for our joy and his glory. If we esteem marriage to the degree God does, we will not only save many marriages but will, in turn, show the world what we truly hope in (especially by fixing those marriages no one thought would succeed). Pray and fight.

Mark 10:9: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

HT: JC

Find People Interesting

Evangelism usually begins with the simplistic technique of listening to people. But deeper than that, you must like them. Most people can tell if you are listening for your own benefit and not theirs. So you must broaden your grace and love to such a degree that you enjoy, in some manner, everyone. This will come in different forms and to different degrees. However, if you humble yourself and love as Christ loves, your heart will be softened to enjoy everyone. I was reminded of this by John Piper. He writes:

"Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don't seem to care about them. People really are interesting. The person you are talking to is an amazing creation of God with a thousand interesting experiences. Remember the words of C. S. Lewis:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. (The Weight of Glory, 14-15)

"Yet, most of us don't think this way. The gods bore us and we return to our video games. Very few people are interested in others. If you really find their story interesting, and care about them, they may open up to you and want to hear your story—Christ's story."

A Quote on an Open Faith

"Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

--Pope Benedict XVI, Speaking to bishops during his visit to the U.S.

Source: CT Quotation Marks

The God-Centered Life

What does it mean to be God-centered? I like to use this phrase to describe my life and ministry. It seems to encapsulate what the Christian life should be. For all roads, as it were, run to and from God. When you love God with your whole heart--when your life comes not from self-wrought, finite objects but from the unending wellspring of life that is God (Jer. 2:12-13)--you learn to center everything you are around Him. How you treat people, how you pray, how you pick jobs, how you drive your car, how you raise your kids, how you deal with extreme tragedy, how you die, etc. If you are God-centered, you will necessarily be centered on all things good and full of light: hope, love, joy, peace, sacrifice. This is the God-centered life. (Note that this phrase is somewhat interchangeable with phrases like "Christ-centered" and "Gospel-centered.")

This is especially the case if you think about what the opposite would be. Self-centered, TV centered, sex-centered, car centered, or even love centered. Outside of the grace of God, even love is destructive and empty. St. Augustine said "He loves thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for thy sake."

John Piper teaches this subject in a different way here.

Maria Chapman Tragedy

Pray for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman this morning. His five-year-old adopted daughter was tragically killed yesterday after being struck by a car near her home. Read the whole story here. The Christian world has benefited greatly not only from Steven's music, but also from his family's dedication to make international adoption a reality for as many families as possible. Weep and pray for them as they are surely in the midst of unceasing grief. Pray as well for their son as he was the driver the of the car that hit her.

Life of David: The Heart of the Matter

Steve's sermon from Sunday on 1 Samuel 16:1-13:

The Case For Civility, the Book

When I wrote the other day on the intolerance of tolerance, I didn't know that one of my favorite authors had just published a book, at least partially, on said topic. It's called The Case for Civility by Os Guiness. I knew of the title of the book but had yet to learn about it's content. I guess it is right in line with the topic I discussed. Here is part of a review on the book from Doug Groothuis:

"Unlike tolerance, civility, on the contrary, requires knowledge and courage. Guinness argues that civility is a higher virtue than mere tolerance, which easily devolves into apathy and indifference. Civility is not the fruit of relativism, which despairs of objective moral knowledge. "

Amen. On a similar note, Os helped draft what is now called "An Evangelical Manifesto" that was released a few weeks back (almost assuredly something done in conjunction with his new book). It got quite a bit of media attention as it tries to reframe and redefine for the public what Evangelicalism is. They write:

"For those who are Evangelicals, the deepest purpose of the Manifesto is a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ."

There has been much positive response in the evangelical community (e.g. see here). But, as is the case with anything that has a pointed opinion, it has some detractors, too (e.g. see here).

Me Monster

A friend recently turned me on to comedian Brain Regan. He's one of the funniest people I have ever seen/heard. He's also, as it turns out, a pretty insightful critic of human nature (as so many comedians are). In one of his YT clips I watched, he talks about the "me monster." Those are the people that constantly talk about themselves and love to one-up the stories other people tell. At first, I immediately thought of other people who do this. But as I watched, I realized that I am prone to this. Watch and, as Regan says, beware of the "Me Monster."

How Do You Love a Porn Star?

This question is the posed in a short essay by Joe Carter. An interesting read, especially because he does not presume to know the answer to his question. He writes:

"How do you befriend someone who relishes what you despise? Can you show someone love while keeping your distance? If not, how do you draw near to someone who wallows in unrepentant sin? We're told to follow the example of Jesus in loving our fellow sinners. However, we are rarely provided with practical advice on how to carry out this duty."

Read the whole thing.

HT: Z

A Quote on Spiritual Gifts

Gordon Fee writes in response to 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 in his commentary on the same book:

"The presence of the Spirit in power and gifts makes it easy for God's people to think of the power and gifts as the real evidence of the Spirit's presence. Not so for Paul. The ultimate criterion of the Spirit's activity is the exaltation of Jesus as Lord. Whatever takes away from that, even if they be legitimate expressions of the Spirit, begins to move away from Christ to a more pagan fascination with spiritual activity as an end in itself."

-The Fist Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 582.

The Intolerance of Tolerance

I'm not sure who came upon this idea first, but I heard D.A. Carson mention it once in a lecture. Most notions of tolerance, he said, inevitably lead to intolerance. This is because the only views that are truly tolerant are ones that do not believe anything dogmatically, but also reject as intolerant any views or beliefs that do. True tolerance means that no idea is better or more "right" than any other idea. Said negatively, any idea or belief system whose fundamentals necessarily exclude or oppose another idea or belief system is inherently intolerant. For example, orthodox Christianity holds that Christ is the "only mediator between God and man" (1 Tim. 2:5). Those who propound such orthodoxy, it is said, are practicing a form of intolerance, for the "path to God" proposed is an exclusive one. Tolerance would dictate that Christianity maintain only its most inclusive beliefs (e.g. "God is love", "He who has no sin should cast the first stone", etc.) and supplant its most exclusive ones (e.g. "Jesus is the only way to God", "There is only one God", etc.). Again, being purely tolerant means that you can't accept any belief that claims to be "right" and another "wrong."

But you can see the problem already. What pure tolerance does is regulate tolerance to such a degree that it really is, in truth, intolerance. This is the logical necessity of such notions. By condemning any belief system because of its fundamentals, one practices exactly what they were trying to avoid. Tolerance, in the end, is a dogmatic, exclusive faith unto itself.

But few would say that those who practice tolerance are wicked. In fact, I suspect most who preach such things do so altruistically. So what are disagreeing parties to do? Ultimately, civility, not tolerance, is the only answer. When you give up trying to make every belief inclusive, it allows for all ideas and belief systems to exist with each other and meet on the common ground of courtesy and respect. And this can occur despite major ideological differences.

I was reminded of this when I read the most recent advice column in Salon Magazine. The title of the column says it all: "The atheist and the creationist: Can't they just get along?" The questioner, an atheist, is livid over a close friend (a Christian) who is going to teach a class at his church on the trueness of young-earth creationism. The questioner calls this sort of teaching "child abuse." Though his position is not classically "tolerant," it definitely leans that way. He thinks he friend should abandon this teaching altogether and is asking for advice on ways he can persuade this friend to abandon the belief he thinks is "crazy." What is really interesting, however, is the response he gets from Carey Tenis, the column's writer. Cary, though in agreement about the substance of the complaint, concludes:

"This is the question that intrigues me: How far are we willing to stretch our inclusion, our embrace of difference? Do we allow only certain categories of difference, or are we willing to go all the way, to embrace our ideological opposites? I turn again and again to William Blake and his idea of spiritual warfare waged against giant systems of thought -- spiritual warfare waged in a spirit of engagement and love."

That is civility. And Christians must practice this always and do so unashamedly. Though we obviously hold some beliefs that put us in logical disagreement with other faiths (including atheism), there is no reason we should not engage with grace and peace. Steve just preached this ("To Reshape") on Sunday, from Colossians 4: "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person," (5-6). That is true biblical civility. And, in truth, no Christian should ever be arrogant about his/her faith. No, none can boast except in the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14), for we have done nothing to warrant the mercy of God (Eph. 2:8-9).

What I am Reading at the Moment

If you're interested, here is what I am reading at the moment (I tend to read a bunch of things at a time):

1. The World is Flat 3.0, by Thomas Friedman: I picked this up in Newburyport amidst the wife's contractions. A fascinating read (the third edition) on the emergence of the new technologies and economic systems that have, for all intent and purposes, flattened the world. He makes macro/world-economics highly understandable and intriguing. If you want to know why the world works the way it does, at least a little bit, read this book.

2. The Reason for God, by Tim Keller: I blogged about this highly anticipated book a while back. Well, after having read through about half of it now, it is even better than I thought it would be. Though Keller had written before in journals and for websites, his writing style left much to be desired; it seemed rushed and, for lack of a better word, 'basic' at times. I guess he was holding out on us. In his new book he makes apologetics not only seem interesting but also feel inherently necessary and doable. Steve recommended it on Sunday. I heartily agree.

3. The Cross of Christ, by John Stott: Beautiful, heavy, amazing.

How to Worship

Here's a video from Bob Kauflin, a worship leader and writer. I am eagerly awaiting his new book that just came out, Worship Matters. Though the video below is intended for worship leaders, its message is really transcendent, speaking to all worshipers, not just the people who stand on church stages.

Chapter 2: To Reshape

Here is Steve Luxa's final message (with Alyssa Holladay) from his series, Chapter 2, called "To Reshape":

The Neural Buddhists

If you've got the time, be sure to read the op-ed in the NY Times today "The Neural Buddhists" by David Brooks. He argues that the debate between those who argue for faith in God and those who argue for strict materialist atheism is shifting to a debate between those who argue for faith in religion and those who propound a sort of sentient relativism, where experiencing God is common, but boxing God into formal religious systems is not. Brooks writes:

"In their arguments with Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the faithful have been defending the existence of God. That was the easy debate. The real challenge is going to come from people who feel the existence of the sacred, but who think that particular religions are just cultural artifacts built on top of universal human traits. It’s going to come from scientists whose beliefs overlap a bit with Buddhism."

He concludes:

"In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation. Orthodox believers are going to have to defend particular doctrines and particular biblical teachings. They’re going to have to defend the idea of a personal God, and explain why specific theologies are true guides for behavior day to day."

Though the debate may be shifting a bit (though it could be argued that this is nothing new), the task of the Christian is the same: make plain the truth of the Bible. It does not really matter what the competing "faith" is. Atheism, neural Buddhism, or something else. Paul said quite plainly, "But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles," (1 Corinthians 23). This means, of course, that all people, outside of the grace of Christ, will not understand or believe the truth that Christ has come to set us free.

So pray that you are given the wisdom to engage all people where they are with a defense of the truth, with grace, and with love. And always pray that they see beyond what is seen and that their eyes fall on what is unseen, the glory of Christ.

Interview with WV on Myanmar

Here's an interview at CT with Laura Bank, an emergency communications officer with World Vision, on the most recent news in Myanmar and how World Vision is bringing aid to the devastated areas.

She said, "As soon as the storm ended, we were able to begin distributing rice, clean water, fuel, rebuilding supplies, and blankets—the basic things that we wanted to get to people as soon as we could. Because we'd been there for so long, we were able to purchase goods locally and in bulk, and try to start some of the relief efforts on a very small scale."

On what they need in terms of giving:

"Based on early estimates (we're still getting the final assessment from our team), we're looking at about $3 million that would help serve close to a quarter of a million people over the next 30 days. So that would be a full-scale humanitarian aid effort in the short term to try to begin taking care of immediate needs. But speaking long term, World Vision has no plans to leave the country. We hope to continue to work in country, as we have for four decades, to help them rebuild after this terrible storm."

And on WV's "child-centric" approach:

"One of the things that makes World Vision unique as an NGO is that we are 'child-centric.' We were founded with the biblical call to work with women and children—to protect them and to be an advocate for them. And we're very concerned about the children that we have.

"We have about 10,000 children in the center of the destruction in the five regions that have been marked as the hardest hit, and we have 42,000 children total in Myanmar. We're concerned for them because in a natural disaster, children in particular are very vulnerable to disease. They're vulnerable to dehydration. And they're also vulnerable to the emotional stress and the toll that takes when a little child has to go through a situation like this."

Again, to give money to help in the aid process, click here.

Give for Myanmar

World Vision has a presence in Myanmar and you can give immediately to help them distribute aid. To give money, go to their donation page.

A Quote on the Contemplation of God

"There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in it's immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, 'Behold I am wise.' But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass's colt; and with solemn exclamation, 'I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.' No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God."

-C.H. Spurgeon, at twenty years old (taken from Knowing God by J.I Packer, p. 17-18)

GracePoint, the Church

If you were in the service on Sunday you know that Grace Chapel officially "let us go," GracePoint Community Church. That means that we are no longer a ministry of Grace Chapel; we are a church unto ourselves. Though it is sad to break from them, it is also terribly exciting. As Steve has said to me over and over, "Look at what we have done." Though by-laws and governance structures and business meetings are not the most riveting things, you all engaged with these things in a way that shows your commitment and passion for GracePoint and, more importantly, your eagerness to continue the task at hand: the spreading of the Gospel. Please check out Steve's last two messages (here and here) and be sure to come this Sunday to hear the conclusion to his series called Chapter 2.

Also, if you were not at church on Sunday, check out the audio of Grace Chapel's presentation to GracePoint. You'll hear from Richard Rhodes, Brian Wilkerson and Bill Burke:

Chapter 2: Being Changed

Here is Steve Luxa's message from Sunday. The scripture passage was Matthew 13:44-46.

How to Respond to the Myanmar Tragedy

It is difficult to know how to respond to major natural disasters like the one in Myanmar, where at least 22,000 people have been killed and 41,000 people are missing. Disasters like these are so horrendous, huge and far away that it is mostly overwhelming to even think about them, let alone do anything to help. John Piper is always helpful when disasters like these come up. Here are his six ways you can react to this tragedy:

1. Be softened to the pain nearby.

The Good Samaritan knew nothing of the calamities in first century Burma, but was commended by the Lord for mercies at hand (Luke 10:25-37).

2. Pray for the followers of Christ in Myanmar:

• That they would be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10; 100:3).
• That they would be awakened from the illusion that this life is long or sure or the main point of eternal existence (James 4:14).
• That they would be given a new vision of the supreme value of Christ who promises his followers that famine, nakedness, and death will not separate them from his love (Romans 8:35).
• That God would meet their needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, so that they might have to give to those in need (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 4:28).

3. Pray for the millions of unbelievers near the calamity and far from it:

• That they would see the helplessness of man before the Power that rules the world and fly to Christ who alone delivers from the final cyclone of God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
• That they would not respond like the people in Revelation (9:20; 16:9, 11) who did not repent at the devastation but cursed God.
• That they would hear the best news in all the world—not the news of health, wealth, and prosperity in this world, but the news that Christ became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) so that in him we can be more than conquerors in every calamity of life (Romans 8:37).

4. Pray for those of us who live in the seeming security and prosperity of America:

• That we would see what is about to break over us in due time—either collectively as God removes the hand of his providential restraint, or individually as one by one we are whisked to the hospital, then wheeled to the nursing home, and then carried to the funeral home (Hebrews 9:27).
• That millions would be made to see this and repent from the adultery of treasuring anything more than Christ (James 4:4).

5. Give money to replenish the coffers of compassion “since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

6. Muster a team from your church, and when the doors are open, be ready to go.

I would only add that you pray that God bring aid quickly to the devastated region. Getting the necessary help to the affected areas has been, and will continue to be, very difficult.

World Demand and Christian Living

Check out this excellent post over at CT by Rob Moll on the struggling American economy and the surging demand of the world. He concludes:

"But how should American Christians react to a world in which those resources we've become used to having mostly for ourselves are suddenly in demand across the globe? Can we learn to share our global resources? Must we see a lower standard of living in our future?

"Many Christian traditions have taught the lessons of simple living. Living simply, and thereby consuming less, does not necessarily correspond to a decrease in living standards. Those skills in simple living, it seems, are more needed these days as billions more people are now competing for a shrinking supply of resources. While some researchers foresee nationalistic competition in a scramble for limited resources, possibly resulting in war, Christians can be leaders not only in wisely exploiting creation but also in justly sharing it."

Sadly, this sort of wisdom isn't always understood or applied by American Christians, even though stewardship is a millennia old tradition and teaching (see the book of Genesis). "Going green" was invented by God, and his purpose is to use it to bring about the complete redemption of the planet.

In college, many of my fellow students believed that Christians were the worst stewards. Because Christians only care about getting raptured and taken to heaven, they would say, they could care less about caring for the earth. Now that is a fundamental misunderstanding of Christian theology. When Christ does return we won't be taken to heaven. Rather, God will fully redeem this planet and we will continue to be its caretakers (see Revelation 21). So "going green" today in some capacity is our responsibility for two reasons: (1) It aligns us with God's plan and will in redeeming the earth, and (2) it will show the world that we are not so self-centered that we care only about ourselves. In fact, it will show that we care precisely about the things they care for. Perhaps this will help lead them to see not just the creation but also the creator.

Fridays are for Quotes (and Babies)

"Elizabeth Lynn Phelps."

How to Spend Your Economic Stimulus Payment

As I'm sure you've heard, the government is giving us some money back. In the next few months a bunch of Americans will be getting an "economic stimulus payment." The hope is that by moving a large chunk of money into the markets, the economy will turn around (at least a little). Obviously, as Christians, we must spend every cent we make wisely (we are God's money managers, as Randy Alcorn has said).

Read these pieces on the topic:

• Tim Challies interviewing David Kotter: Thinking Christianly About Economic Stimulus Payments.
• David Swanson: Money from Heaven.
• John Piper: Economic Stimulus Payment and Christ.