Praying for the Chandlers.

Let's all pray for Matt Chandler, the head pastor at the Village Church in Texas, who suffered a seizure last Thursday. Let's also pray for his family. May he recover.

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/

"Why does God let bad things happen to good people?"

It's a good question, but I think it's misguided. Jesus says it quite bluntly to the rich ruler...

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-except God alone..."
Luke 18:18-19

This is the opposite of what people think of most of the people that they know. Not one of us is good except God. Jesus gets into more detail about the evil of humans at other times...

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person..."
Matthew 15:19

Your heart and my heart were described there. He says further...

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13

So there are no good people. This changes the question from "Why do bad things happen to good people," to, "Why do good things happen to bad people like us?" We can't fully understand God's grace and love for us despite how much we sin against Him, but Christ's death on the cross is the perfect example and assurance of his great love for us.

Recommended Reading (pt. 9)

Evangelism in the Early Church by Michael Green

This is a history book used for classes in Seminary. Doesn't sound too exciting for most people, but I'm glad that I was introduced to this book and able to read it. Anyone interested in the ancient history of the early Christian church will learn a lot here. This book is specifically on early church evangelism. How did the church go about evangelizing to the Jews? To the Gentiles? What were the things that helped them do this? What things made it difficult? What was it that motivated them to evangelize? What made evangelism work? What made it not work? What made people believe in the message? What kept them from believing it? What kind of people did it? All of these things are addressed and looked into deeply. I learned a lot of neat history and was deeply convicted by the bravery and assurance of truth that people back then had. I highly recommend it for people who are willing to read this kind of stuff.

Puritan's Work Ethic.

A good article on Wall Street about the work ethics of the Puritan church.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704431804574541403268485712-lMyQjAxMDA5MDIwMDEyNDAyWj.html

An understanding look at Pro-Life advocates by a Pro-Choicer.

A Pro-Choice man who has gained an understanding of the Pro-Life groups. Nice to see.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2009/11/abortion-politics-and-its-discontents.html

"Toward an Evangelical Understanding of Postmodernism and Mission"

Ravi Zacharias gives a speech on Postmodernism. Good speech as usual.

http://www.henrycenter.org/media/?id=200&type=video

Recommended Reading (pt. 8)

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

Success, money, true love, and the life you've always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness. The recent economic breakdown has cast a harsh new light on these pursuits. In a matter of months, fortunes, marriages, careers, and a secure retirement have disappeared for millions of people. No wonder so many of us feel lost, alone, disenchanted, and resentful. But the truth is that we made counterfeit gods of these good things- gods that can't give us what we really need. There is only one God who can wholly satisfy our cravings- and now is the perfect time to meet Him again, or for the first time.

In Counterfeit Gods, Keller shows how the Bible reveals the unvarnished truth about our faith and our hearts' desires. This powerful and inspiring message will cement Keller's reputation as a critical thinker and pastor, and comes at a crucial time- for both the faithful and the skeptical.

The college ministry that I am apart of, Veritas, has chosen a good book to have a discussion on with its members. College students are in a time in their life where they are interested in love and sex- perhaps thinking about their future marriage- and working their way up towards careers that involve making money and gaining power. Timothy Keller's book gives us a good look of how people in this world make idols out of those things and more, why they don't work, and why we need God for true fulfillment. He uses people in the Bible as examples for this, revealing them in a light and giving me a deep perspective of them that I would have never seen myself. His writing style is simple and easy to read, but profound and thought provoking. I learned a lot by reading this book, like I do with all of them. This is a great book for all of those who want to get a perspective on the idols in their lives and how to replace the idols with the true love and hope of Jesus Christ.

Deny Yourselves

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Luke 9:23

I've mentioned in an earlier post (somewhere) that God commands us to do certain things and to live a certain way because it is a reflection of His holy character. We're commanded to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 11:44). If this is so, why does God ask us to deny ourselves? "If we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself," (2 Timothy 2:13). If God cannot deny Himself, why are we asked to? The reason is because man is fallen, God is not. Because of the sin in us we are not true to ourselves, we are not holy, nor are we completely good like God is. We have to deny our sinful natures and live for God. We have to deny ourselves and submit ourselves fully to God in order to be who we were truly meant to be. God, however, has nothing to deny. He is completely good, holy, and perfectly true to Himself. In this way God isn't commanding us to be something opposite of Him. By commanding us to deny ourselves, He's commanding us to be more like Him: holy, pure, and completely true to ourselves.