When it looks like God is snoozing...

CF family,

I hope you're considering God's beauty this week in light of Sunday's message.  We have much to enjoy, from recent cool mornings to spectacular sunsets at the end of 1570.....and the good standing we have with our Creator because of Christ's work.  Definitely a great and lovely thing showing up in an expected way. 

Even as you're enjoying His beauty this week, I suspect there are times when you feel like God is completely disconnected from whatever you might be going through.  I feel that way at times.  But we need to go back to "beautiful" moments in our bibles when we see God in His time and on His terms and for His glory do something great and lovely in a setting where it's completely unexpected.  Going to those stories, like the one in Acts 3, encourage us and sustain us with the realization that God is up to a glory plan ALWAYS.  He does in fact work all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. 

This afternoon I read the account of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4.  If you've ever been in a small boat in a big body of water you can imagine how vulnerable the disciples must have felt as the tempest rolled in.  They were in a serious mess and from all indications God was snoozin in the back of the boat.  I love what they said to Him as they woke Him "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"  That's not a question....it's an accusation!!  "Jesus, you don't care that we're perishing!!" is really what they meant I think.  That's the way it can feel at times when you're in the throes of something difficult and God seems distant and unresponsive.  It's cool that Jesus didn't even answer their "question"......instead He just rebuked the wind and sea with "Peace, Be still!"  

I want to encourage you if you're lying asking for alms under the Gate Beautiful.  If you're in the tempest and God seems asleep......know that God isn't uncaring and disconnected.  He knows and is working a beautiful plan for His glory.  Be patient.  Be thankful He's at the helm.  Trust Him.  He SO "cares that you're perishing"....enough to take on flesh and do battle (and win) with your greatest tempest so that you can enjoy peace with God.   

I love y'all and hope you have a beautiful week,

Ben

The Word and our Children

Yesterday as we dug into Hebrews 4:11-13, we looked at the Word and its purpose.  Living.  Active.  Sharp.  Piercing.  Penetrating.  Surgical.  Discerning.  Judge.  These truths aren’t just for grown-ups!  Think of this text in light of your parenting.

Throughout Scripture, parents are called to teach our children the Life-giving Word of God as we walk along the way.  Before having children of my own, I envisioned this happening in very special moments as we all sat down and they listened intently to the wisdom that I had to bestow upon them.  Now, I know this sounds crazy, but that’s not exactly how it plays out around here.  In fact, I’ve found that the times that I can be the most frustrated by their little sinful hearts are the exact times that I desperately NEED to speak the Life-giving Word to them.

So, as any aspiring mom, I worked through my frustration at their sin so that I could speak the Word directly and at opportune times.  I equipped myself with timely scripture and resources to help in my efforts.  Recently, God began to show me what my sinful heart has done in this process.

You see, I have attempted to take God off His throne and put myself at the center.  I saw that the Word is able to pierce and discern, so I began to use it for my own desires.  My idol became obedient children.  You know the kind:  Those children who are nice, quiet, tidy, and quick to obey (especially in public).  That’s what I wanted.  My means: Nothing short of God’s Word plus a little bit of guilt.

This is the anti-gospel.  I was suffocating my children with law, law, law.  I was smothering them with rules they couldn’t obey and then asking why they couldn’t do it.  All the while, I failed constantly to obey God’s law myself.  I failed to show my children the BUT GOD (Ephesians 2:4) in scripture that I was enjoying.

The law is our tutor.  It is our big arrow to point us directly to our Savior.  I had failed to give my children grace because I had attempted to be the “thought and intentions facilitator”.  I was dispensing scripture that would make them quiet, quick to obey, and tidy little children outwardly.  But I can’t do what God’s Word promises it will:

For the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12

Here is what God has shown me, and what I pray He continues to remind me of:  My words are not sharper than any two-edged sword.  My words are not piercing to the division of soul and spirit.  My words are not discerning the thoughts and intentions of my children’s thoughts.  It’s not up to me.  I can’t create this in my children.  I can’t even fabricate it in myself.

BUT GOD.  God’s Word is sufficient to do it.  We do not need to guilt our children into outward obedience.  We need to speak God’s Word into their little ears and minds.  We need to encourage them with the Life-giving Word of God.  We need to show them grace.  We need to cover them with the gospel.  Then we need to step back as God’s Word discerns the thoughts and intentions of their little hearts.

Annie

God doesn't need us...

......to catch fish.  If you remember from Sunday I shared with you the story of Luke's first fishing trip.  At the end of his B-Paw's dock in Louisiana, he sat in my lap with baited hook and tiny hands with white-knuckles gripping a bamboo pole.  There we waited together until the bobber bobbed (which he couldn't see by the way) and I pulled a nice little bream from the water as he shouted "I CAUGHT A FIS?!?!"

Now, imagine yourself sitting outside Jericho looking at a big wall.  You can be one of three people.  You can be the guy who looks at it and says plainly "I can't conquer those guys. That's a big wall.  I'm out!"  Or you can be a second guy who says "God can conquer those guys and I'll sit here idle till He gets it done."  Or you can be a third guy.....ideally the third guy.....who knows full well he CAN'T conquer ANYTHING without God......and he knows full well God CAN conquer ANYTHING without him.  But he does what God says and wraps white knuckles around a pole he can't carry and looks toward a bobber he can't see.........WHILE He trusts His Father to ultimately get the job done.

I've thought this week about why God would involve us in the process......when He could easily catch a fish (conquer Jericho) without us.  I realized if God gives us ANY glimpse of the love He has for us in the love a father has for his son, then the whole fishing trip/conquest is about relationship with our God.  He involves us in the work so we'll be with Him in His big lap trusting and hopeful while we take on stuff that's bigger than us....and all for His glory. 

We have a REALLY good God, Crosspoint Family.  I hope you're enjoying Him today.

Ben

Forgiveness Follow-Up

Crosspoint,

Some months back, we preached through a series from 2 Chronicles 6 called “A House Dedicated”. In that series we addressed forgiveness. Within the last few weeks I have had a handful of questions on the issue, and thought it might be helpful to send out a little follow-up.

Most of the questions that I have heard are in regard to the Biblical concept of forgiving the repentant. A paradigm that many of us have grown up with is that you forgive unconditionally. So limiting the granting of forgiveness to those who are repentant, makes Biblical forgiveness CONDITIONAL, not unconditional. Herein lies some of the confusion...

Our text was 2 Chronicles 6:36-39. In short, the text says, “If they sin against you... and you are angry with them... if they repent with all of their mind and with all of their heart... then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you...”

Colossians 3:13 says to forgive as the Lord has forgiven. So when I forgive I want to make sure that I am bearing the image of God, and not misrepresenting Him.

So, the logical conclusion is that if we forgive the way that God forgives, we must be careful not to grant forgiveness to an unrepentant person, and just as careful not to withhold forgiveness from a truly repentant person.

Following are a few thoughts that I have put together based on some questions that I have heard from some within the body...

1.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT withholding love. Love is unconditional. Forgiveness is conditional. Luke 6:35-36 says, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

2.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT holding a grudge. Christians aren’t allowed to hold grudges, EVER! Hebrews says that bitterness is a root that runs deep. And when it springs up it defiles MANY. Bitterness is the inevitable product of holding a grudge. The opposite of holding a grudge is being poised, ready, and even eager to forgive. Some might refer to this as having a "spirit of forgiveness". James 3 calls it being "full of mercy". We should be ready to lavish that person and broken relationship with what has been so amply offered to us in Christ.

3.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT a means of exercising personal vengeance. Romans makes it clear to us that vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to us. Again, when someone is truly repentant, Scripture says that you MUST forgive them!

4.) Granting forgiveness when there is no repentance is not necessarily a sin. I address this because the concept of EVER withholding forgiveness is foreign to many of us. So in our thinking, previously, if it was a sin to ever withhold forgiveness, now, am I a sinner because I didn't withhold??? One illustration to consider is infant baptism... It is not nothing (double negative used for emphasis)...  but from our perspective (of confessional baptists), it is not what is best. We would NOT say that those who were baptized as infants were sinning in their baptism. We would however say that it is more obedient to the Word to put your baptism on the right side of your confession; to proclaim before the church your faith in Christ, and to be immersed/ dunked/ baptized in accordance. So... if you look back on your journey of faith, and you remember granting forgiveness to the unrepentant, you have not automatically committed sins that need repenting of. But in light of the text, we would say that it is more obedient to put your forgiveness on the right side of repentance. However, granting forgiveness when there is no repentance is DEFINITELY a sin if you are doing so because you value your relationship with the person, more than you value that person’s relationship with God.

5.) If one individual sins against another individual, their sin is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS first a sin against God. And if it isn’t a sin against God, it may merely be a difference of opinion between the two people... maybe even different beliefs within the same faith (see Romans 14). At that point you are called to reason together and persevere with one another steadfastly, making sure not to break the bond of peace over negotiable issues.

How wonderfully remarkable it is that in Christ, we have forgiveness from God, and the power and privilege to forgive one another as we have been forgiven!

J. Scott Sutton

Purah

CF family,

Judges 7:10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.  11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.

Do you remember this guy?  Purah?  I can't get him out of my head since Sunday.  Remember the context........Gideon, though a "mighty man of valor" (eye roll), was fearful about nearly every step of God's plan to defeat the Midianites.  So, here they are with the Israelite army whittled down to 300 slobs.  The Midianite army, like locusts in abundance, were encamped by the hill of Moreh.  Then God sends Gideon under the cover of darkness to within earshot of the Midianite camp.  Showing us the kind of God He is, he tells Gideon to take Purah with him in case he was a scaredy cat. 

We'd be negligent if we read these stories without looking for the kind of God we have.....to give Gideon a Purah.  Seems like a small thing maybe, but the whole battle hinged on Gideon's trust in God......and God helped him trust Him.  So it made me think of my "Purah's".  It made me think of those God has given me to encourage me......to give me company when I'm doing scary stuff.  It made me think too, I want to be a "Purah" to someone else.....to give them company when they're going through a dark night. 

I'm thankful for my "Purah's" and I'm thankful for a good and gracious God who gives them to us. 

Ben

And I saw it no more...

CF family,

I hope/pray you're having a good week.....working AND resting.  As you go about the rest of the week, please consider these wonderful thoughts from Mark 2, John 5 and John 9.  See yourselves as "hungry" and "in need" (Mk 2:25).....see yourself as "an invalid for thirty-eight years" (John 5:5)......see yourselves as "blind from birth" (John 9:1).  BUT then see Jesus as "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mk 2:28) WORKING (John 5:17), "working the works of Him who sent him" (John 9:4).......accomplishing what we couldn't do.  See Him providing for the "hungry" and "needy".  See Him raising the "lame".  See Him giving sight to the "blind", opening the eyes our hearts so that He could become our rest!!

Matthew 11:28-30 says "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Through Christ's Sabbath gleaning and healings He says:

I’ll work so you can feast

I’ll work so you can walk

I’ll work so you can see

I’ll work where you aren't able

I’ll accomplish what you couldn’t

I’ll be…..your rest

If you're laboring and heavy laden with sin.......like Christian of Pilgrim's Progress you're a "poor burdened sinner".......join Christian in his place of deliverance.  "So he ran until he came to a place somewhat elevated.  Upon that place stood a Cross, and below at the bottom there was a Tomb.......just as Christian came up to the Cross, his burden came loose from his shoulders and fell off his back.  It began to tumble and continued to do so until it came to the mouth of the Tomb.  It then fell into the Tomb, and I saw it no more."

And.....I saw it no more.  :)

Ben

It would be this sermon

CF family,

Consider these passages:

Gen. 5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”

Matt. 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Sunday we considered together One who truly brought us “relief from our work” and from the “painful toil of our hands” in the New and Better Noah, Jesus Christ.   There are no more arks to build…….no more altars…… no more tabernacles…….no more temples…….. no more sacrifices to prepare……no more blood to shed……..no more priests offering day after day after day after day payment for the worshipper’s sin and their own sins………no more efforts to cover or pay for our own sin.  For that work is indeed….FINISHED……completed and accomplished through His cross.  Can you feel that “relief”?  Do your souls “find rest” there?

I can’t remember if there has been a more important sermon in ten years than this last Sunday’s message.  I urge you and even beg you to listen to it if you didn’t.  And know that though it may sound self-serving to say “listen to my sermon” there’s nothing in this request serving me.  In fact, I don’t feel like the delivery was all that great (complete with embarrassing ugly cry)……..it was the CONTENT though that was/is the greatest news we can ever hear or tell.  If I could point to one sermon that best represents the gospel I want to walk in and serve in and rest in, it would be this one.

Please listen.

Ben