Archive for Personal Reflection
October 22, 2008 at 9:35 am · Filed under Personal Reflection
As you are my friends you know that it is not in my personality to desire to offend and yet I am compelled to risk offense (even of friends) rather than remain silent at the continued death of well over one million unborn children per year.
Please understand that a vote for almost any democrat candidate (with the blessed exception of a few) at every level of government including a vote for Barack Obama is almost guaranteed to lead to the greater availability and likelihood of the killing of unborn children.
Therefore, to vote for a pro-choice candidate and specifically for Barack Obama is to become complicit in the death of millions. That is the nature of the democratic process. When you and I vote it is a vote by the people for the people therefore we each share in any guilt brought upon our nations by our elected officials. And make no mistake I am aware that there is plenty of guilt to go around.
Specifically as it relates to the election of Barack Obama there is no way to rationalize his promise to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act with a desire to reduce the number of abortions.
“The FOCA establishes the right to an abortion as a fundamental right, ensuring that abortion rights would remain in force even if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned. The act would also repeal provisions that limit federal funding of abortion, strip doctors of “conscience clauses” that allow them not to perform abortions, and nullify state provisions that allow for waiting periods, counseling, and parental notification when a minor is involved.”
– Albert Mohler –
Most of you, my friends, are fellow disciples of Jesus Christ. I cannot make my conviction any more clear than this. I cannot fathom that a vote for a candidate who wants to further codify into law the right to destroy the unborn is in any way faithful following of the way or the kingdom of Christ. Is the a salvation issue? No. Is this an issue of faithful discipleship? Absolutely.
Thank you for allowing me to speak. May God have mercy upon the unborn in American and may God grant conviction within His people as we approach the end of this election season.
The Lord Bless You & Keep You,
Your friend, Jeremiah Fyffe
August 27, 2008 at 9:57 am · Filed under Personal Reflection
I have worked with youth for about nine years and one comment that I have often noticed is that we should be careful not to go too deep with the kids or it will just go over their heads and they will lose interest.
It seems that by saying that we don’t want to go too deep with our youth group kids means that we are giving them just enough of the gospel to inoculate them. Rather we want to give them the fullness of the gospel so that they can see that they have been given a deep pool of grace, the depths of which will take them the rest of their lives (even eternity) to plumb. Even that in any and every circumstance they will be able to dive into grace and find genuine salve for every wound.
Ask a kid what it means to be saved and he will likely respond, “Jesus forgives me of my sins.” And yet the kid observes that church, and especially youth group, seems to be about what God says to do and what God says not to do. How are these two basic teachings of the church compatible? How is it that God seems to demand so much, but forgives so easily? It almost seems like two different religions are being taught. One says that if we follow God we will avoid destructive behaviors. The other says that it doesn’t matter what you do God will forgive you. All you have to do is ask.
The confusion and lack of depth leads to all kinds of mess for graduates. They realize that they just can’t keep up with all of God’s demands and it seems like everyone has a different take on what those demands are anyway. And God forgives in the end so what does it matter? Christianity as a practiced religion becomes irrelevant. In the end what the youth group has produced is a youth that is morally ambivalent and to whom God has become a contradictory side show. The youth may not be willing to become an atheist due to core convictions that there must be a God; therefore, God is placated by minor religious activity and the youth continues to live in a moral and spiritual tension that stands as wall barring genuine reconciliation and relationship with his creator.
It seems that greater depth of understanding and teaching by leaders among youth is the only antidote to the inoculation above. The leaders must ask questions not only of the morality and forgiven status of the youth, but also of his depth of understanding the workings of redemption. Redemption is purchase of pardon, reconciliation, the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believer, escape from wrath with Christ as the substitute, and so much more. Think of what happens to the tension above if the youth can see salvation does not mean sin is no big deal so God just forgives it, but rather that God has utter wrath and hatred of sin and that the cross is the perfect place to see God’s wrath upon sin.
We must guard against the shallow teaching that the gospel is the launch pad to a positive moral life. The gospel is basis of regeneration. The gospel is the sustenance of our daily life. The gospel our reconciliation to God. The gospel is the depth out of which flows our daily worship. Plumb the gospel for our youth. Plumb the gospel with our youth.
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The best way that I can think of to “plumb the gospel” is to find a passage of scripture that specifically summarizes some aspect of the work of Jesus in either His life, His death, or His reign (and they are all of the whole of scripture) and:
1) Read it
2) Dwell on it.
3) Sing songs that relate to it.
4) Ask questions about exactly how this redemption thing works.
5) Ask how this relates both to the beginning of the Christian life and the sustaining of the Christian life.
6) Let the youth ask questions of the text.
7) Begin to enjoy and appreciate all of what Christ has done.
Just a couple of scriptures: Philippians 2; The various divisions of Hebrews 9-10; John 3; Genesis 12 and many, many more.
July 8, 2008 at 4:31 pm · Filed under Personal Reflection
I’ve been asked the question, “What is it that a pastor does all day?” enough times that it has led me to ask myself what exactly I am doing.
Well, I read a lot. And it seems that most of my reading just leads to more questions and thus more books. But is reading the end of what a pastor does? Ok, I write sermons and practice preaching them. But are sermons the end of what a pastor does? I visit people in their homes and in the hospital and in funeral visitation lines. Maybe I’m just a professional “kind person” and listening ear who reads a lot and talks about what he has learned.
And then there is the Great Commission to “make disciples”. Ok, maybe I’m a disciple maker. But have you ever really tried that? The problem with having your product be disciples is that disciples are persons. It is really hard, dare I say impossible, to make people do much of anything.
I can tell you a few other things that I do: I lead Bible studies, I pray with people, I meet a lot of people for breakfast or lunch, I have people over to my home, I meet with a lot of people in my office … Really, it seems that most of what I do is either with people or in preparation for being with people.
But again, people can’t possibly be my product because I just don’t have that kind of control over the shape and decisions of people. It sure would be nice sometimes if I could say that I’m in the book business … I make books. Or, I’m in the carpentry business … I make houses. But I can’t say I’m in the people business because I can’t make people do or become much of anything.
And then it hit me. While it may seem like I’m in the people business I really am simply in the obedience business. I’m in the business of obeying God by creating opportunity. The Bible and Christian tradition calls this proclamation. Proclamation is my product. I study the truth so that I can present the truth to people, thus creating opportunity for the person to respond.
Let me explain what I mean by proclaiming, as you might have the image of my suddenly jumping up on a chair and starting to shout the Romans Road.
I can’t make any person do anything. But I can understand the purpose for which each person is made; that is, to glorify their God by reflecting back to Him the beauty of His own image in increasing holiness. My final product isn’t a Holy Image Reflector or even a disciple. The pastor’s final product is simply an opportunity. I open up doors of invitation. I speak the truth in love and wait knowing that I’ve done my job. I am completely ignorant of what the Holy Spirit is doing in this sacred moment in the heart of a friend, or a congregant, or a stranger after he has heard the gospel, but I know when the opportunity is well-received because it is met with repentance and belief. I can’t see the inner workings of the Holy Spirit in sanctification, but I know when my efforts at providing opportunity for discipleship are met with the Holy Spirit’s work when the believer begins to bear the fruit of holy living.
Again, I don’t make repentance. Repentance is not my product. I don’t create belief. And I don’t grow believers even when they show their first signs of new life. I simply study the truth, speak the truth, and hold before persons and myself the call of holiness.
“So, pastor, what do you do all day? Are you in the people business?”
No, not really. I’m more in the business of obedience. I obey God by studying His truth, knowing His truth, practicing His truth, and holding up His truth. What people do with my business isn’t my business (though I admit that it is my great concern). It’s their business to be taken up between the Holy Spirit and their eternal soul.
May 14, 2008 at 10:09 am · Filed under Personal Reflection
The second half of Ephesians 5 gives direct instructions to husbands ands wives as to their respective responsibilities to each other. It also offers the setting and purpose of these responsibilities as the great living metaphor of the relationship between Christ and the church. And yet this passage while giving instructions to husbands and wives is not about either of them.
This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)
Ephesians 5 is about Christ and the church. It is about husbands and wives living forth the image of Christ and the church.
I have grown to love and appreciate verse 28, “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” As John Piper has illustrated in his chapter on marriage in Desiring God this means that the happiness of the husband is wrapped up in, even wedded to, his pursuit of the happiness of his wife. I love this truth and have long let it speak to me about my relationship with my wife.
And then comes verse 29, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” This is the kicker. This is the rising glory to be found in this passage. Here we see Christ forever wedding His own joy in the joy of His bride. And He pursues this joy with all the passion of Song of Songs’ Lover for His Beloved.
Charles Spurgeon in is Morning by Morning (May 14) reflects on this reality this way:
He deems His happiness completed by His people sharing it. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them (John 17:22).” “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11).” The smiles of His Father are all the sweeter to Him because His people share them. The honors of His kingdom are more pleasing because His people appear with Him in glory. More valuable to Him are His conquests since they have taught His people to overcome. He delights in His throne because on it there is a place for them. He rejoices in His royal robes since they cover His people. He delights all the more in His joy because He calls them to enter into it.
Just look at what our God has done! How sure is my joy! My happiness is forever resting on the surety of the eternal bliss of my redeemer.
May 13, 2008 at 3:31 pm · Filed under Personal Reflection
Yesterday I was reading a review of The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne at challies.com. I have not yet read the book, but after reading the review one quote from the book struck me given an experience that I had just hours after reading the reivew.
I could see God in their eyes. … I began to understand what it meant when the curtain of the temple was torn open as Jesus died on the cross. Not only was God redeeming that which was profane but God was settling all that was sacred free. Now God dwelled not behind the veil in the temple but in the eyes of the dying and the poor, in the ordinary and mundane, in things like bread and wine, or chai and samosas. … As I looked into the eyes of the dying, I felt like I was meeting God. It was as if I were entering the Holy of Holies of the temple—sacred, mystical.
About two hours after reading this quote about looking into the eyes of the dying I received a call from the nursing home that shares my church’s parking lot. There was a lady in the home that needed a pastor because she was in the midst of kidney failure and in a great deal of pain. When I arrived she was repeatedly crying in her pain, “Please, help me. It hurts. Please, help me.” I held her hand, rubbed her shoulder, and prayed.
Did I “see God in her eyes”? This is the first time that I had met this woman. As I saw her failing flesh and her pain I saw one who was formed by the hands of God, who had the breath of life breathed into her by God, and bears the marred image of God. But did I see God in the dying?
I had been told that part of the reason she was so frantic was that she has always been afraid to die. I saw one who needed to hear Psalm 145, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” But at the front of my mind was the truth that these words are reserved for the Lord’s redeemed. With the intensity of her pain and her sense of fear she could not hear these words.
What did I see when I looked into her eyes as she pleaded with me for relief? I saw intensified and condensed into that moment what I see in the eyes of every stranger I meet. I saw the wrath of a holy God upon the failing flesh of His creation. I saw the crying of one desperate and unable to heal herself. I saw one whose need goes beyond the kindness and love that I can offer. This is the case every time I have held the hand of the dying: from the oldest saint, to the youngest child, to the stranger. And my care is the same … I pour out tenderness and compassion, the comfort of the gospel, and prayer for God’s mercy upon “the least of these”.
What do we see in the eyes of the dying? If we have no confidence of their salvation and no evidence of their redemption we must see what they also see. We must see what we all deserve. Yes, it is God; and it is wrath. Joseph Conrad in the Heart of Darkness describes death without sentimentality.
He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision — he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath — “The horror! The horror!”
Do I feel like I am entering the “Holy of Holies” when I look in to the eyes of the dying? Only if I am the priest who is not covered and cleansed by the blood of the lamb.
Lord, have mercy. Lamb who was slain cover me that I may enter the Holy of Holies. Humble me to look at a Holy God, slain that at my death I might not cry, “The horror! The horror!”, but cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” As I see the Lord I am undone. I am unclean. And the Lord has made me clean. I dwell among sinners and the Lord has called us redeemed. Lord, have mercy. Give me eyes to see the universe as the Holy God has ordered it. Give me holy eyes to see your wrath upon sin and your redemption of sinners. Lord, have mercy upon the dying, even upon me.
April 26, 2008 at 3:53 am · Filed under Personal Reflection
Late on Wednesday night, April 16, I called a friend from my church to simply share with him that I was overwhelmed. I had just spent the evening at the Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, KY, glorying in the atonement; that “Christ became sin for us; Took the blame, bore the wrath” that we might “stand forgiven at the cross.”
Some have asked how my time was at the conference and I want to respond simply by bringing home a song.
—
Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.
Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.
CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.
Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.
FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend