There Are No Songs

There Are No Songs

There are no songs till Springtime comes.
No melodies for voice.
There are no tunes till death has stung
That Easter might rejoice.
There are no words to bring you back,
From your frozen winter's will.
There is no hope the ice will crack,
Till Jesus melts the chill.

For some you say. Perhaps, many ...yes.
But surely not for me.
For I have run from the very best,
How can there mercy be?

Come home, come home my ramblin' child.
Let down your ragged sail.
And steer your heart to the oceans wild,
Where the breath of God prevails.
It's not too late to turn around,
And catch the tender breeze.
That blows you to the holy ground,
You find beneath your knees.

For when has soul, been bound to time,
Or heart too cold to melt.
Or forgiveness too lost to find,
When regret is truly felt.

There's mercy, mercy my little ones.
Mercy without bounds.
For all who simply turn and come
And lay their burden down.
For there's nothing that you've ever done,
That My love can not change.
Unless you choose to finally run,
Away with pride and pain.

There are no words to bring you back,
From your frozen winter's chill.
There is no hope the ice will crack,
Till Jesus melts your will.
~ Michael Kelly Blanchard

This song is not exactly a Christmas song, but I think it is fitting for the Christmas season. A few days ago Christians all across the world celebrated the birth of Jesus. Christmas is a celebration of a God who loves so much that He could not just sit around and be God. He entered time and space as a little child in the lowliest of families. He whispered His way to the cross and died so that there might be "nothing that [we have] ever done that [His] love can not change". He is a lavish God who runs to us, puts a robe on our back, a ring on our finger, kills the fattened calf, and throws a party for us even while we smell like the pigs (Luke 15:11-32). He is a God who will leave the ninety-nine to search for the one and bring him home (Luke 15:1-7). He is a God who will go after the prostitute multiple times even when she continues to return to her old ways (book of Hosea). He is the God who offers "mercy without bounds" and the Christmas season is the perfect time to remember that.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, God, for being born,
You who first invented birth
(Universe, galaxies, the earth).
When your world was tired & worn
You came laughing on the morn.

Thank you, most amazing Word
For your silence in the womb
Where there was so little room
Yet the still small voice was heard
Throughout a planet dark & blurred.

Merry Christmas! Wondrous Day!
Maker of the universe,
You the end, & you the source
Come to share in human clay
And, yourself, to show the Way.
~ Madeleine L’Engle, Most Amazing Word

Merry Christmas! What we have been anticipating in Advent has finally arrived. Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The greatest King born in the humblest of circumstances. Christ did not come with an army, though He could have. He did not take over Herod's kingdom, though He could have. He did not replace Caesar Augustus, though He could have. He was not even born into a wealthy family. He chose an insignificant girl to be His mother. He chose an insignificant man to be His earthly "step-father". He was born next to barn animals. The greatest King born in the humblest of circumstances.

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

That God would take on human flesh defies all logic. That He would take on human flesh in the lowliest of circumstances is even more incredible. Yet He did so that we could know the joy of being in relationship with Him. Merry Christmas!

By His Grace,
Taylor

Fourth Sunday in Advent

"The astounding truth is that in Jesus Christ, humanity encountered God in a real, personal, historical, and tangible way." ~ Kenneth Samples, Without a Doubt

Yesterday was the last Sunday in Advent. The time of anticipation is coming to an end because the celebration is near. When we truly reflect upon what we celebrate in Advent we cannot help but be astounded. Listen to the expressions of wonder from a couple of the greatest minds in Church history:

He by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became flesh at the appointed time. The maker of the sun was made under the sun. He Who fills the world lay in a manger, great in the form of God but tiny in the form of a servant; this was in such a way that neither was His greatness diminished by His tininess, nor was His tininess overcome by His greatness. ~ Augustine, "Sermon 187"

The next thing that I would observe concerning the incarnation of Christ, is the greatness of this event. Christ’s incarnation was a greater and more wonderful thing than ever had yet come to pass. The creation of the world was a very great thing, but not so great as the incarnation of Christ. It was a great thing for God to make the creature, but not so great as the for the Creator himself to become a creature. We have spoken of many great things that were accomplished between the fall of man and the incarnation of Christ: but God becoming man was greater than all. Then the greatest person was born that ever was or ever will be. ~ Jonathan Edwards, "Of Christ's Incarnation" from A History of the Work of Redemption

Soon we will celebrate the birth of the "greatest person... born that ever was or ever will be", God "great in form... but tiny in the form of a servant." It truly is the "season to be jolly", but not because of presents, time off work, or even family celebrations. Those are good things, but they all pale in comparison to the celebration of He who made joy becoming like us so that we could experience joy in Him.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Third Sunday in Advent

  "Go back eighteen centuries before that. Who could have cared about the birth of a baby while the world was watching Rome in all her splendor?... Palestine existed under the crush of Rome's heavy boot. All eyes were on Augustus, the cynical caesar who demanded a census so as to determine a measurement to enlarge taxes.... What could possibly be more important than Caesar's decision in Rome? Who cared about a Jewish baby born in Bethlehem?
  "God did. Without realizing it, mighty Augustus was only an errand boy for the fulfillment of Micah's prediction... a pawn in the hand of Jehovah... a piece of lint on the pages of prophecy. While Rome was busy making history, God arrived. He pitched His fleshly tent in silence on straw... in a stable... under a star. The world didn't even notice. Reeling from the wake of Alexander the Great... Herod the Great... Augustus the Great, the world overlooked Mary's little Lamb." ~ Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (43)

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. The Church continues the age-old tradition of celebrating Advent so that we do not make the same mistake the Romans and Jews made 2,000 years ago. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of Christmas and forget about the reason behind Christmas. There is nothing wrong with celebrations, presents, and family traditions. In fact those are good things, but it is easy to get caught up in them and forget about the good news of Christmas.

Luke 1:31-33:
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Luke 2:10-11:
"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

By His Grace,
Taylor

Update to "Mote of Dust in a Sunbeam"

This is an abnormal post, I know, but I wanted to update a previous post. Back in September I quoted Carl Sagan and then presented a brief series of photos to show just how small we are in the grand scheme of the universe. I ended the photo series with the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) image. I noted that this was the deepest into the universe anyone had ever seen. At the time I would have argued that this image was the most important image in astronomical history. Now, however, that has changed. With its new Wide Field Camera 3, the Hubble recently recorded an even deeper image of the universe that required a much shorter exposure time (only 4 days as opposed to 11 for the HUDF). This new camera allows the Hubble to catch light nearer the infrared region of the spectrum. That may not sound like anything special but because of the expansion of the universe light from great distances is "reddened", which means that the wavelength of the light is stretched out as space expands pushing the light towards the infrared region. Since this new camera can detect light nearer the infrared it can catch the light from objects farther away than before. Below is what I call the NEW Ultra Deep Field image from the Hubble:
More amazing discoveries will come when the James Webb Space telescope launches in 2014. Then we will get an even better idea of how small we really are. That is okay though because, as I said in the previous post, God holds all this in His hands and He likes me a whole lot.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Second Sunday in Advent

"When we open the package of Christmas we find that God has given us many gifts--vulnerability for intimacy, comfort for suffering, passion for justice, and power over prejudice... In the gift of Christmas, the unassailable, omnipotent God became a baby giving us the ultimate example of letting our defenses down... There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. And Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile. God became someone we could hurt. Why? To get us back." ~ Tim Keller, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas (36-38)

Yesterday was the second Sunday in Advent. If you attended a church in almost any Christian tradition you probably saw the second candle of the Advent Wreath lit and heard one of the prophecies about the coming Messiah read. Many of us who have been "churched" for most of our lives have heard these before so it is sometimes difficult to remember how incredible the subject of Advent is. The "unassailable, omnipotent God became a baby". "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1, 14a) The Word that was God became flesh. When we really stop and think about it that is an incredible. The sovereign God became a vulnerable baby. Why? "To get us back." To redeem the relationship. That is the celebration we anticipate with Advent.

By His Grace,
Taylor

First Sunday in Advent

"The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross." ~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God

Today is the first Sunday of the Advent season. The season begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent tradition has its roots deep in Christian history that can be traced as far back as the 6th century AD with certainty (possibly as far back as the 4th with some question). It is marked with anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of the Messiah. It is anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the coming of "hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory" that came with Christ.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

We are entering a time where we celebrate the coming of the Messiah who did establish and uphold His kingdom "with justice and righteousness." The justice was God's wrath poured out on Christ on our behalf. The righteousness is Christ's righteousness that is imputed to us by grace through faith. Both come from God and both are necessary so that "He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:26)

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Arts II

"The passion for encouraging the arts is understandable and in large part commendable. Not only does the Church have a long history of commissioning art, but the Bible speaks highly of those with gifts of artistry and craftsmanship... And let’s be honest, many of our churches are not exactly a haven for the artsy crowd... I think a renewed emphasis on the arts in our churches can be a very good thing or a very bad thing. It all depends on whether the 'art is the answer' crowd and the 'art is weird' crowd can find some common ground around some common sense." ~ Kevin DeYoung, "The Church and the Arts: Some Common Ground and Some Common Sense"

This article showed up on my Google Reader today (thanks Nathan for sharing it). I have written about the arts before because I think it is an important issue that the modern Church needs to think about more. I think the Church today (as a general rule) has done a poor job of supporting, contributing to, and critically thinking about the arts. By doing so it has lost touch with much of the postmodern culture and does not know how to express the truth it bears to said culture. DeYoung gives several good theses in the above article about Church-artists relations:

1. Allow art to be art and see the value it has in its beauty and ability to display different areas of truth (not just gospel truth).
   
2. Art is valuable but do not overstate the matter and try to make it the most valuable avenue of truth.
3. Do not try to make art do more than it can.
   
4. Worship should strive for artistic excellence, but never forget that the goal of worship is to edify the congregation and magnify God in our hearts.
   
5. Churches should learn to welcome artists, but artists should not expect the church to be an art gallery.
6. Artists can help us see our idols through their art, but artistic expression can be an idol too.

I would recommend the book Eyes Wide Open by Bill Romanowski for anyone wanting to get a good (in my opinion) biblical perspective on thoughtfully engaging the artistic part of popular culture. In it he wisely states, "The absence of a critical perspective makes people more vulnerable to the effects of the popular arts. The critic’s quest is to arrive at a 'place of wakefulness and clarity'... a place in which perspective can be applied to understanding and evaluating the popular artwork." (138)

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advice

"Never solicit advice about any difficult matter from anyone who does not agree that the matter is difficult." ~ Dr. Steve Brown

This does not mean that you should not solicit advice from someone you consider an expert in the matter--you want to get good advice. If you try to get advice, however, from someone who thinks what you need advice about is a proverbial "piece of cake" you will often times end up being frustrated. Generally when someone thinks something is very easy they have a hard time explaining it. It is not for lack of trying, but when something comes so naturally to someone explaining how to do it can often prove to be difficult for that person. So, as Dr. Brown suggests, if you can, get advice from someone who knows how difficult the task is.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Self-Coherence

"Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.... An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.... To get a man's soul and give him nothing in return--that's what really gladdens our Father's heart." ~ Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis

When reading this quote from this Lewis' classic we have to remember that "the Enemy" is God and "our Father" is satan since this is written from the perspective of an veteran demon writing to a rookie demon. The main thrust of this quote is that desire and pleasure come from God, but when they get out of order they become sin. I love how Lewis points out that all satan can do is temp/encourage humanity to crave and experience those God-given pleasures in ways they were not designed for. It is encouraging to remember that His design is for these pleasures to truly be healthy and satisfying. The NT agrees with Lewis' determination here. When it speaks of wrongful desires it most often uses the Greek word epithumia, which means "over desire" or "inordinate desire".

It is also interesting to note that Plato wrote something very similar in The Republic in about 380 BC. He thought that "self-control" was a contradiction because if one was his own master then he would also be his own slave. Plato held that "self-coherence" was a more accurate word because it implied that the desires in the self were not out of control but cohered to what the self was really looking for.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Mote of Dust in a Sunbeam

"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives... lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." ~ Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan said this when observing a photo taken by Voyager in 1990 as it exited our solar system, nearly four billion miles away. "Mote of dust" however, makes the earth sound far too large in the grand scheme of the universe. Shall we take a look?

This is Earth as seen from the moon, taken by the Apollo astronauts. Looks fairly large still:

This is Earth compared to our Sun, a small and fairly insignificant star when compared to most:

This is the image that Carl Sagan was commenting on when he said the above. This is Earth from about 4 billion miles away, a tiny spec of light in a sunbeam (it is the pale blue spec between the two lines):

If that does not make it look small enough, consider this size comparison. The Milky Way contains about 100 billion stars (of which our Sun is only one, a small one) and they are nothing but specs of light that make up the galaxy. Below is an image of the Pinwheel Galaxy, a galaxy not too dissimilar from our own. I have marked with a red dot where our solar system would be if this was our galaxy. The dot is not to scale, of course, if it were you would not be able to see it:

Finally, in 2004 the Hubble Space telescope stared for 11 days at a rather boring patch of sky, collecting light. The image it recorded, however, is anything but boring. It recorded what is known as the Ultra Deep Field image. It is the farthest ever seen into the universe. In this image there are more than 10,000 galaxies, some larger than ours and some smaller. Each dot in the image is a galaxy, each galaxy contains billions of stars:

See what I mean when I say that "mote of dust" makes Earth sound too large in the grand scheme of the universe? The universe's radius is 46 billion light-years. That is 2.7×10²³ miles. Makes me feel kind of small when I think about it. Fortunately, God holds all this in His hand and He likes me a lot.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Humility

"Humility senses that humility is a gift beyond our reach. If humility is the product of reaching, then we will instinctively feel proud about our successful reach. Humility is the gift that receives all things as gift. It is the fruit not of our achievement but of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is the fruit of the gospel—knowing and feeling that we are desperate sinners and that Christ is a great and undeserved Savior.

Humility is the one grace in all our graces that, if we gaze on it, becomes something else. It flourishes when the gaze is elsewhere—on the greatness of the grace of God in Christ" ~ John Piper, Lewis and Edwards on the Layers of Self-Admiration

I have written on humility before, but I really wanted to share this quote. Piper hits on a key point when it comes to humility: once gazed upon it immediately becomes something else. When we think about our humility we cannot help but be proud of the fact that we are humble, thus damaging the humility. Tim Keller calls true humility "blessed self-forgetfulness" because it is only when our focus is lifted from ourselves to something else (to Christ, as Piper points out) that true humility can be developed. C. S. Lewis affirms this in Mere Christianity: "Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a bit envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."

By His Grace,
Taylor

Unchanging

Thou great I AM,
  Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at the thought of a Being
    with whom one day is as a thousand years,
    and a thousand years is as one day,
A Mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,
  and the revolutions of empires,
  feels no variableness,
  but is glorious in immortality.
May I rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives;
  that, while all creatures are broken reeds,
    empty cisterns,
    fading flowers,
    withering grass,
  He is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain
    of living waters.
~ "The Infinite and the Finite", The Valley of Vision

This is a piece of a prayer from The Valley of Vision, which is a book of Puritan prayers. I like it because it reminds me of God's immutability. This is probably my favorite of all of God's perfections. It would be inaccurate to consider one perfection of God to be "better" than another since they are all an equal part of His being, but I do not think it is wrong to enjoy one more or take greater comfort in one than another. I take great comfort in His immutability because by it I know that all He has said is certain and secure. He cannot go back on His word or change His promises. He cannot get "better" or "worse" but has been, is, and always will be perfect. I think what I find most comforting in His immutability is that I know when He says, "Child, I love you perfectly" there is nothing I can do to alter that. It reminds me that when I have messed up big time and come to Him thinking, "The best you can hope for is to be a slave in His house", He loves me like a son.

By His Grace,
Taylor

John Calvin 500 Today

Today is John Calvin's 500th birthday. I find while reading the blogs on John Calvin that we end up praising the man more than God who worked through the man, which would have displeased Calvin greatly. That being said, I cannot let the day go by without sharing some of my favorite quotes by Calvin. Just know that in these quotes we should not praise the genius of the man but the Maker that endowed him with that genius and uses it for His glory.

"However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts." ~ Commentary on Ephesians 3

"For prayer was not ordained that we should be haughtily puffed up before God, or greatly esteem anything of ours, but that, having confessed our guilt, we should deplore our distresses before Him, as children unburden their troubles on their parents." The Institutes of Christian Religion

"We ought to bear in mind, that our happiness consists in this, that his hand is stretched forth to govern us, that we live under his shadow, and that his providence keeps watch and ward over our welfare. Although, therefore, we have abundance of all temporal good things, yet let us be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God vouchsafe to reckon us among the number of his flock. Besides, we then only attribute to God the office of a Shepherd with due and rightful honor, when we are persuaded that his providence alone is sufficient to supply all our necessities. As those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their shepherd; so it is beyond all doubt that those whom he has taken under his charge shall not want a full abundance of all good things." Commentary on Psalm 23

"Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain." The Institutes of Christian Religion

"In one word, those who are bound by the yoke of the law are like servants who have certain tasks daily assigned them by their masters. Such servants think that nought has been done; and they dare not come into the presence of their masters until the exact amount of labour has been performed. But sons who are treated in a more candid and liberal manner by their parents, hesitate not to offer them works that are only begun or half finished, or even with something faulty in them, trusting that their obedience and readiness of mind will be accepted, although the performance be less exact than was wished." Of Christian Liberty

"Joy and thanksgiving expressed in prayer and praise according to the Word of God are the heart of the Church’s worship." Worship

"For God’s will is so much the highest rule of righteousness that whatever He wills, by the very fact that He wills it, must be considered righteous. When, therefore, one asks why God has so willed one is seeking something greater and higher than God’s will, which cannot be found." Institutes of Christian Religion

By His Grace,
Taylor

Sin Boldly

"Therefore let us arm our hearts with these and similar statements of Scripture so that, when the devil accuses us by saying:
'You are a sinner; therefore you are damned',
we can reply: 'The very fact that you say I am a sinner makes me want to be just and saved.'
'Nay, you will be damned', says the devil.
'Indeed not,' I reply, 'for I take refuge in Christ, who gave Himself for my sins. Therefore you will accomplish nothing, Satan, by trying to frighten me by setting the greatness of my sins before me and thus seducing me to sadness, doubt, despair, hatred, contempt, and blasphemy of God. Indeed, by calling me a sinner you are supplying me with weapons against yourself so that I can slay and destroy you with your own sword; for Christ died for sinners. Furthermore, you yourself proclaim the glory of God to me; you remind me of God's paternal love for me, a miserable and lost sinner; for He so loved the world that He gave His Son. Again, whenever you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you revive in my memory the blessing of Christ, my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins; for "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" and "for the transgression of His people was He stricken" (Is. 53:6-8). Therefore when you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you are not terrifying me; you are comforting me beyond measure.'" ~ Martin Luther

What a great reminder of how to turn the accusations of satan back on to him. It is this kind of confidence in Christ's work and God's love that led Luther to say in a letter to Melanchthon, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world." Luther was not advocating cheap grace or free license to sin, but what he was doing was fighting against the tendency of believers to either let guilt or underestimation of sin keep them from running to Christ and letting Him fix it. It is our underestimation of sin that makes us self-righteous and our wallowing in guilt that makes us afraid. Both keep us from going to a savior who would forgive us and change us. Steve Brown comments, "Sinning isn't the worst thing you can do. The worst thing you can do is pretending that you don't. Repentance is the bridge which leads to a loving and gracious God. When you burn the bridge... you burn the bridge to the only hope you've got. So if you sin, sin boldly then go to Him and let Him fix it. He won't be angry, He'll be pleased with your coming." When we sin if we say, "Fine, I sinned, it was a big one, and I feel really bad about it, but Christ's work paid for that one too so take that, satan!" and then run to God, He will work on us and change us in His time. If we try to cover it up or let guilt overtake us then nothing will change.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Idolatry in Desire

In one of Piper's recent articles he discussed 12 signs that desire is becoming idolatry. I thought I would share his wise insights.

1. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is forbidden by God.
2. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is disproportionate to the worth of what is desired.
3. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is not permeated with gratitude.
4. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it does not see in God’s gift that God himself is more to be desired than the gift.
5. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is starting to feel like a right, and our delight is becoming a demand.
6. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it draws us away from our duties.
7. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it awakens a sense of pride that we can experience this delight while others can’t.
8. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is oblivious or callous to the needs and desires of others.
9. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it does not desire that Christ be magnified as supremely desirable through the enjoyment.
10. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is not working a deeper capacity for holy delight.
11. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when its loss ruins our trust in the goodness of God.
12. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when its loss paralyzes us emotionally so that we can’t relate lovingly to other people.

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Arts

"Christians cannot abdicate the arts to secular society. We must consume, study, and participate in the arts if we are to have a seat at the table. Whether it has a religious theme or strikes us as irreligious, we must be patrons if we are to have an impact on how the world interprets and responds to the arts. We cannot be wary, we cannot be afraid, we cannot be self-righteous. Christians must look, listen, read, and experience the arts if we are to lead our culture to renewal." ~ Tim Keller

I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Keller's statement (found in sermon "Engaging The Renewed Imagination"). I think the Church today as a whole has done a poor job of supporting and contributing to the arts. By doing so it has lost touch with much of the postmodern culture and does not know how to express the truth it bears to said culture.

Contrary to the more liberal view of art, it cannot solve the deepest problems of the human race, only Christ can. However, contrary to conservative view of art, it is not merely a luxury. Art is a great representation of the culture it is produced in. It should therefore be especially important to Christians because of the postmodern direction of culture. When we understand what postmodern artists are producing we can better understand the direction of postmodern culture and how to interact with it effectively. One thing that art shows us is that postmoderns doubt the possibility of truth and instead desire to bring significance to the personal stories they find themselves living in. There is a great story, a true story, that Christians have to tell, which can bring context and significance to the human race. With much of postmodern society this story will be most readily received and understood through artistic expression.

If we truly believe that we are made in the image of the Creator, then we human beings are to be creative ourselves. It will bring us joy just as it brought the Creator joy. Why not join the culture in its creativity? Perhaps through this we can express more clearly the beauty of Christ to a culture in need of His grace and to ourselves by seeing His beauty in a whole new way.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Servants

"Foot washing was surprising for a real King but for His servants it is appropriate." ~ Steve Brown

I do not have a lot to say about this one because it is pretty self-explanatory. I just wanted to throw it out there because I really like it.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Social Networking

"The great paradox of 'social networking' is that it uses narcissism as the glue for 'community.' Being online means being alone, and being in an online community means being alone together. The community is purely symbolic, a pixellated simulation conjured up by software to feed the modern self's bottomless hunger... As I walk down the street with thin white cords hanging from my ears, as I look at the display of khakis in the window of the Gap, as I sit in a Starbucks sipping a chai served up by a barista, I can't quite bring myself to believe that I'm real. But if I send out to a theoretical audience of my peers 140 characters of text saying that I'm walking down the street, looking in a shop window, drinking tea, suddenly I become real. I have a voice. I exist, if only as a symbol speaking of symbols to other symbols." ~ Nicholas Carr, "Twitter dot dash"

I think I agree with Carr for the most part. Why do we like these sites that allow us to broadcast to everyone on our friends list what we are doing? We can take the most minute parts of our life and broadcast them to the world as a headline. It is kind of narcissistic to let everyone know what we are doing at any moment in time. That becomes even more clear when we get a comment by a peer on said headlines, that means someone read it and thought about us! I confess, I get that feeling if someone comments on my Facebook status.

Is it harmful? I do not think it has to be. I think the social networking sites can be a great avenue for keeping in touch with friends and family and just having fun. Can it be harmful? If we take it too far it can. It can feed our egos because it allows us to make the minute moments a headline. Also, as Carr says above, when we are online we are actually alone. The online "community" might be satisfying for a time, but it is not replacement for real world relationships and if we let it become that it will leave us empty people with exaggerated ideas of our own importance.

You know what is ironic about this blog entry? It is going to show up on my Facebook page as a Facebook Note since they are linked...

By His Grace,
Taylor

Easter Devotions

Today we celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death, a victory that His Church shares because of our union with Him. We can celebrate what Hosea prophesied, "[Christ] will ransom them from the power of the grave; [Christ] will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" Hosea 13:14

In The Valley of Vision (a collection of Puritan prayers) there are a few prayers that I would like to share that express well what we celebrate on this day.

Love lustres at Calvary (pg. 76)
My Father,
   Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,
   open my lips,
   supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres
      at Calvary.’
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them
      on thy Son,
   made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of Thy justice smote the man,
      Thy fellow;
There Thy infinite attributes were magnified,
   and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
   and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
   cast off that I might be brought in,
   trodden down as an enemy
      that I might be welcomed as a friend,
   surrendered to hell’s worst
      that I might attain heaven’s best,
   stripped that I might be clothed,
   wounded that I might be healed,
   athirst that I might drink,
   tormented that I might be comforted,
   made a shame that I might inherit glory,
   entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped
      from my eyes,
   groaned that I might have endless song,
   endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
   bore a thorny crown that I might have
      a glory-diadem,
   bowed His head that I might uplift mine,
   experienced reproach that I might receive
      welcome,
   closed His eyes in death that I might gaze
      on unclouded brightness,
   expired that I might for ever live.
O Father, who spared not Thine only Son that Thou
      mightest spare me,
All this transfer Thy love designed and
      accomplished;
Help me to adore Thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
   my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my
      enemies crushed,
   satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
   sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
   hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me
   the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

Resurrection (pg. 86)
Great was the joy of Israel's sons,
   when Egypt died upon the shore,
   Far greater joy
   when the Redeemer's foe lay crushed
   in the dust.
Jesus strides forth as the Victor,
   conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing
      might;
He bursts the bands of death,
   tramples the powers of darkness down,
   and lives for ever.
He, my gracious surety,
   apprehended for payment of my debt,
   comes forth from the prison house of the grave
   free, and triumphant over sin, satan, and death.
Show me herein the proof that His vicarious offering is accepted,
   that the claims of justice are satisfied,
   that the devil's scepter is shivered,
   that his wrongful throne is leveled.
Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,
   in Him I rose,
   in His life I live, in His victory I triumph,
   in His ascension I shall be glorified.
Adorable Redeemer,
   Thou who wast lifted up upon a cross
   art ascended to the highest heaven.
Thou, who as Man of sorrows
   wast crowned with thorns,
   art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.
Once, no shame more deep than Thing,
   no agony more bitter,
   no death more cruel.
Now, no exaltation more high,
   no life more glorious,
   no advocate more effective.
Thou art in the triumph car leading the captive
   Thine enemies behind Thee.
What more could be done than Thou has done!
   Thy death is my life,
   Thy resurrection my peace,
   Thy ascension my hope,
   Thy prayers my comfort.

May these words from saints of old bless your heart on this glorious day. May we all remember that His death is our life and His resurrection our peace.

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Effects of Love

"When Jesus saw... the disciple whom he loved standing nearby..." ~ John 19:26

The "disciple whom [Jesus] loved" is generally agreed to be the apostle John. He was one of the inner three disciples who enjoyed a special relationship with Jesus. When Jesus saw John in the above verse He was hanging on the cross. I think it is interesting that he was the only disciple who did not flee when Jesus was arrested and he refers to himself as "the disciple whom [Jesus] loved". Did John think that Jesus did not love the other disciples? I doubt it. Did the other disciples not know that Jesus loved them? Probably not. However, it seems that John understood the love of Jesus much more deeply than the rest of the disciples and it affected him greatly. It gave him the courage to stand at the foot of the cross when most others had fled.

It is a good week to think about this love and the powerful effect it has. May we all be compelled by such "perfect love" that "drives out fear" (I John 4:18).

By His Grace,
Taylor

Silence

"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me." ~ Blaise Pascal, Pensees

Pensees is a collection of thoughts that Pascal wrote while he was planning his Apology of Christian Religion, which he died before completing. There are many good quotes in Pascal's Pensees, but I like this one in particular because I think it sheds light on why we humans have a love of busyness. I do believe we are frightened by the deep silences. I think that is because when we are faced with such silences we are forced to look at ourselves for who we really are and looking that deep frightens us. We are afraid we will see something we will not like and once it is seen it cannot be unseen. I think this is why we stay so busy for then our minds are never breached by such silences. Sure we may have down times but they are still filled with active imaginations, thoughts of the day's activities, or longings for the future. How many of us really sit in silence and allow that silence to quiet our thoughts until we face nothing but ourselves? I know I do not. I think that is because deep down I know that if I do I will be shocked by what I see.

Fortunately there is an upside to seeing the truth in the silence. We may be far far more sinful than we could ever imagine, but that makes grace far far sweeter than we could ever dream and we can then see that we are loved far far more than we ever thought possible.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Just This Once?

"It is easy to tell a lie but hard to tell only one." ~ Sissela Bok, Lying

What a true statement. How easy is it for us to justify "white lies" by saying, "Just this once because I am afraid of what might happen" or "Just this once because I do not want to look bad"? The problem is that once we tell one lie (which is already pretty easy) it is a little easier to tell the next lie and then the next lie, so on and so forth. Soon our attitude snowballs and it is nearly impossible to stop.

Why do we lie? I would argue that we lie either our of fear or pride--fear of some type of consequence or pride in thinking that we deserve something be it an object or glory.

Fortunately the gospel offers a remedy. First, we are united to Christ and Christ is the truth (John 14:6). When you are united to the Truth and have His fullness that gives you "grace upon grace" it is impossible not to be changed by it. Second, when the King of the universe has set His intensive love upon you fear is driven out and pride is destroyed. How can we be prideful when we know who we are before God and what He had to do to bring us back to Him? How can we be afraid when the God of the universe has set His love upon us and promised to be with us always? This, of course, does not mean that the moment we become Christians we stop lying, not at all. I believe that successes and failures directly relate to how much or little we really believe the truth of the gospel. Some days it is in our hearts and in our minds and we can easily say, "I do not need to lie about this." Other days our belief falters and likewise go our actions. This is why Jonathan Edwards said, "The key to the Christian life is letting the gospel work its way down into our lives both rationally and experientially." Fortunately on all days we can always come to our Father and know that nothing can be done to make Him love us any more or any less. His love is constantly and infinitely intensive on His children.

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Problem With a Good God

"The terrible thing is that a perfectly good God is in this matter hardly less formidable than a Cosmic Sadist. The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed - might grow tired of his vile sport - might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good. The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For no even moderately good Being could possibly inflict or permit them if they weren’t. Either way, we’re in for it.” ~ C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

I think we often miss this when we consider what a "good God" would be like. We want to believe that a truly "good God" would not discipline us or allow us to take a path that will hurt us. We try to fit God into a box where His goodness is subject to our desires. Is that good though? Is a parent who does not discipline their child doing that child a favor? It is painful to have a broken bone set, but if the medic acquiesced to the pleas to stop before the bone was set would that be good? In each case the child or the injured individual may be thankful at the time, but in the long run they would be hurt a great deal more. Thankfully we have a wise and a good God who knows better than to stop before He is finished. Though it is also kind of frightening to believe in such a God because we then have to come to grips with the reality that He may do something for our good that is extremely unpleasant. There are times when we may wish that He would be subject to bribes like some kind of "Cosmic Sadist". Many of us have been through such times, however, and can now say, "While the cuts were deep and the wounds took a long time to heal, I would not go back and change it for God did use it for the good."

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Hunt

"Many Christians think of finding God's will as if it were an Easter egg hunt. God isn't in the business of keeping His will from you... The Bible is clear that some things are always God's will... and some things are never God's will... If you want to do God's will do what He says to do and don't do what He says not to do... Aside from that do whatever your hand finds to do with all of your might, that's Ecclesiastes 9:10. If He wants you to do something else He'll let you know through circumstance, through Bible study, through your brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible says I Thessalonians 4:3 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification.' In other words God's perfectly capable of moving you anywhere He wants, of bringing forth any circumstances, of giving you any relationship, that's His business." ~ Steve Brown

I like this statement, especially the part about thinking of God's will like it is an Easter egg to be found. So often we fret over what "God's will for my life" is. We stress about whether or not we are making the "right decision" or if we are going to "mess up God's plan". We complicate things too much. First, we cannot mess up God's plan. God is sovereign and His plans are certain, there is nothing we can do to change that. Second, we worry so much about making the "right decisions" when really God's will for us as Christians is not as much about what we do specifically, but who we are as His children. As Steve quoted above, I Thessalonians 4:3 specifically states that the will of God is that we be sanctified in Him. Psalms 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." How can God promise to give us the desires of our hearts? Well if we are delighting ourselves in Him, following Him, and making Him the center of our lives He will make His desires our desires as He sanctifies us. We are then free to follow those desires that He has given us.

How do we make this practical? A few things: First, to delight ourselves in God we have to know Him and what His general will for creation is. To do this we must study His Word, listen to it rightly preached, and commune with Him in prayer. Through this He becomes our joy and we begin to see what His plans (in general) for the Kingdom are. Second, God has given us community for many reasons and one is so we can draw from the wisdom of the collective body. We need to seek the advice of the friends that know us best and the older, wiser godly individuals in our lives. Finally, if we are doing all of the above we can follow our hearts' desires trusting that God will make His desires our desires.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Economical Numbers

"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers." ~ Richard Feynman

No real deep thoughts here though, this one is just for fun--a great quote from one of the most brilliant physicists of our time. Considering the recent spending this is even more true now than it was when Feynman penned these words about 30 years ago. The most recent bailout bill is 7.9 million times greater than the diameter of our galaxy (in light-years) or 315,000 times greater than the distance to the our neighbor galaxy Andromeda (in light-years). I think we should create a bailout scale. We could then say the known universe is only 0.2 bailout-light-years in diameter. Does not sound too big then...

By His Grace,
Taylor

His Heart

"If you can't trace God's hand trust His heart." ~ Charles Spurgeon

I was reminded of this quote recently and I thought it would be something relevant to share considering the times we are in. Many today are having a hard time finding a job, worried about keeping a job, worried about paying bills, worried about retirement, or at least know someone in one of these states. It is tough to be able to see any reasons for what is going on, especially when you are right in the middle of it. This is, of course, the point of what Spurgeon is saying here. We often cannot see the reasons for why God does what He does, but we can choose to say, "God, I do not know what You are doing, but I know Your love for me never changes so it must be good for me. Help me to trust that. Help me to believe that."

One more thing, saying the above does not mean we do not ask God why in the hopes that we will one day see the reasons. I get more than a little frustrated with the people who say, "I never ask God why." I sometimes want to smack them to bring them back to reality. Even Jesus asked God why! Sure He was in the darkest place one could ever be and it was His human frailty crying out, but if it was not a sin for His humanity to cry out to God then it is not a sin for us to do the same. God knows our frame and knows that we are dust (Psalm 103:14). He understands. There is nothing wrong with asking God why. We certainly cannot demand answers from Him, but we can humbly ask the question as a child would ask his father. The worst that can happen is He will respond, "My child, you would not understand. Just know that I love you and am carrying you the whole way."

By His Grace,
Taylor

Weakness

"I'm not good enough to be a saint, but I could be a martyr if they kill me fast... I'm not all together happy about dying but I think I could do that if it was quick... the problem is living... in obedience to Christ..." ~ Steve Brown

I am not sure about other Christians, but I think that from time to time. Some people say that dying for Christ is the ultimate test of faith, but I disagree. I agree with Steve, the problem is living for Christ. I am pretty sure I could face death for Him and I can deal with physical pain. However, living for Him among my peers (some of whom think religion is silly or believing in God is tantamount to believing in fairies) is the tough part. I struggle with lack of confidence, pride, obedience, believing in my union with Christ, and especially compassion.

Fortunately, the story does not end there. Paul says, "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'...For when I am weak, then I am strong." (II Corinthians 12:9-10) If this really is true then in death or in life God has it worked out. In living we will not be perfect (or even close) but God even uses that for His glory and has promised to finish the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6). In dying we will be completed in Him and live with Him for all eternity.

By His Grace,
Taylor