Ex-Thieves, Ex-Murderers, Ex-Atheists Like Us

Russell Moore commenting on the death of Christopher Hitchens:

"I don’t know about Christopher Hitchens, about what happened in those last moments, but I do know that, if he had embraced it, the gospel would be enough for him. I know that because it’s enough for me, and I’m as deserving of hell as he is.

Hell is real and judgment is certain. The gospel comes with a warning that it will one day be too late. But, as long as there is breath, it is not yet too late. Perhaps Christopher Hitchens, like so many before him, persisted in his rebellion to the horror of the very end. But maybe not. Maybe he stopped his polemics and cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

I don’t know. But I do know that the gospel offers forgiveness and mercy right to the edge of death’s door. And I know that the kingdom of God is made up of ex-thieves, and ex-murderers, and ex-atheists like us."

The whole article.

In Your Distress

"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me." Psalm 120:1

When in distress, call to the Lord. Distresses come in all shapes and sizes. Some may be manageable; some may be unmanageable. There is an Almighty God Who stands outside of and beyond Creation and He Who spoke it all into existence can smooth out any distress by a word. (by saying God is outside and beyond, I don't mean to suggest He is removed or detached, but simply that He is greater) Honor Him by calling on Him in times of trouble for He is able enough, good enough, supreme enough to fix it. No one else is.

Where you and I turn in times of trouble reveals who, or what, we consider to be our god.

Resigning Or Embracing?

There is resigning oneself and then, there is embracing. For a while now, I have been resigned to my lot. I think it comes from a pure desire to acknowledge, to praise the Sovereignty of God but, while His sovereignty is indeed praiseworthy I, by my attitude of resignation, have esteemed it as a lesser thing, a thing that is merely endured.

From the Valley of Vision:

Jehovah God,
Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all things,
I cannot escape from thy presence or control, nor do I desire to do so.
My privilege is to be under the agency of omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom, patience, mercy, grace.

The Puritan praying above sees it as a privilege to be under God's control and wisdom. He has not 'resigned' himself to it. To see it as privilege is to 'embrace' it.

"There has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty . . . The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God."  (Jonathan Edwards)

May it be so.

Pearls Lie Deep

 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

 4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

 6 my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

 8 And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

Hear Mr. Spurgeon concerning Psalm 130:
"Out of the depths" is the leading word of it: out of those depths we cry, wait, watch, and hope. In this Psalm we hear of the pearl of redemption, verses 7 and 8: perhaps the sweet singer would never have found that precious thing had he not been cast into the depths. Pearls lie deep."

Encouragement: The Day After

And so, the day after being encouraged by Psalm 130.

I feel better and so the natural tendency is to let up. And it is also natural to want the feelings to come back, too. It has been my experience that, the feelings just cannot be replicated, at least, not in the same manner. God may reach down to touch me again, but not because my performance is right, or because I said the magic words, or because I am remorseful enough. No. I cannot act right and thereby cause the feelings to return. More plainly, you and I cannot make God do anything.

What I can do is earnestly seek Him again because "His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22) I can seek Him again by faith, believing that "He is a rewarder of those who seek Him". (Hebrews 11:6) And if He touches me today, I will know He has come and has given Himself to me, and that will be the reward. God Himself is the reward. But it will not be true because I have some feeling. It would be true because He Himself is near and has let me know it. Then I feel something.

The Valley of Vision

Here is a remarkable prayer from the book "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions."

O Heavenly Father,

Teach me to see

that if Christ has pacified thee and

has satisfied divine justice

he can also deliver me from my sins;

that Christ does not desire me, now justified,

to live in self-confidence in my own strength,

but gives me the law of the Spirit of life

to enable me to obey thee;

that the Spirit and his power are mine

by resting on Christ's death;

that the Spirit of life within answers to

the law without;

that if I sin not I should thank thee for it;

that if I sin I should be humbled daily under it;

that I should mourn for sin more than other

men do,

for when I see I shall die because of sin,

that makes me mourn;

when I see how sin strikes at thee,

that makes me mourn;

when I see that sin caused Christ's death

that makes me mourn;

that sanctification is the evidence of reconciliation,

proving that faith has truly apprehended Christ;

Thou has taught me

that faith is nothing else than receiving thy

kindness;

that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him,

love clinging to him as a branch to the tree

to seek life and vigour from him.

I thank thee for showing me the vast difference

between knowing things by reason,

and knowing them by the spirit of faith.

By reason I see a thing is so;

by faith I know it as it is.

I have seen thee by reason and have not

been amazed,

I have seen thee as thou art in thy Son and have

been ravished to behold thee.

I bless thee that I am thine in my Saviour,

Jesus.

Where Can I Go From His Spirit?

As I went to run this morning, my lovely bride suggested that I think of something to pray about while running. Often, as I'm sure some of you do, things come to mind as you are going about your business and those thoughts turn into a prayer. I said OK and dove into the humidity.

Sure enough, I had things to pray about, especially my attitude concerning people driving cars on my running path.

When I returned Kathy asked me if I thought of things to pray and we talked about that a bit. Then she showed me a passage from a book she's reading and I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd share. The book is Long Wandering Prayer by David Hansen. Here's how Chapter 2 begins:

Prayer comes to us from a people who spent the first thousand years of their existence living in tents. From Abraham to David, the Hebrews were a shepherding, moving folk. They lived out-of-doors easily, though not painlessly. Following the scent of green pastures, they passed through death valleys, ascended passes and crossed rivers. Wandering lay at the core of their psyche from the beginning, and it shaped their life with God.

The night sky fills their prayers. They praised God for heavy dew. They pleaded for deliverance from flash floods. Drought meant death. This caused their more settled cousin peoples, the Canaanites, to worship gods of storm and cloud. But during drought the Hebrews could move, and so they did. They never traveled to a place where Yahweh did not demonstrate His lordship.

Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to the heaven, you are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10)

This comforted and assured me in a great measure today and I trust it will do so for some of you. Happy Lord's Day