Humility

This New year's Day my family (humbly) gave me a great gift--a few uninterrupted hours to read this book on humility. And by the way, it was excellent. Here is the author's synopsis of the book:

Always

- Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ (MOST CRUCIAL!)

As each day begins

- Acknowledge your dependence on and need of God

- Practise prayer, study of God's Word, worship, at the outset of each day

- Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on the Scriptures

- Cast your cares on him (see 1 Peter 5:6-7)

As each day ends

- Transfer the glory to God for whatever happened that day

- Receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge his purpose for sleep

For special focus

- Study the attributes of God

- Study the doctrines of grace

- Study the doctrine of sin

- Play golf as much as possible (if you play golf, you know why it is good for humility!)

- Laugh often, and often laugh at yourself

Throughout your days and weeks

- Identify evidences of grace in others

- Encourage and serve others every day

- Invite and pursue correction from others

- Respond humbly to trials.

Report of the Watcher

This Sunday we are looking at Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38ff. 50 years ago A.W. Tozer caught the jist of this passage when he wrote,
"Were some watcher or holy one from the bright world above to come among us for a while with the power to diagnose the spiritual ills of church people there is one entry which I am quite sure would appear on the vast majority of his reports: Definite evidence of chronic spiritual lassitude; level of moral enthusiasm extremely low.
"What makes this condition especially significant is that Americans are not naturally an unenthusiastic people. Indeed they have a world-wide reputation for being just the opposite. Visitors to our shores from other countries never cease to marvel at the vigor and energy with which we attack or problems. We live at a fever pitch, and whether we are erecting buildings, laying highways, promoting athletic events, celebrating special days or welcoming returning heroes we always do it with an exaggerated flourish. Our building will be taller, our highway broader, our athletic contest more colorful, our celebration more elaborate and more expensive than would be true anywhere else on earth. We talk faster, drive faster, earn more, spend more, and run a higher blood pressure than any other people in the world.
"In only one field of interest we are slow and apathetic: that is the field of personal religion. There for some strange reason our enthusiasm lags. Church people habitually approach the matter of their personal relation to God in a dull, half-hearted way which is altogether out of keeping with their general temperament and wholly inconsistent with the importance of the subject.It is true that there is a lot of religious activity among us. Interchurch basketball tournaments, religious splash parties followed by devotions, weekend camping trips with a Bible quiz around the fire, Sunday School picnics, building fund drives and ministerial breakfasts are with us in unbelievable numbers, and they are carried on with typical American gusto. It is when we enter the sacred precincts of the heart’s personal religion that we suddenly lose all enthusiasm."

Why Hell?

This may seem a strange time of year to be thinking about hell. But I stumbled upon this excellent article called "The Importance of Hell" by Tim Keller, and wanted to place a link here. I don't know how long this link will be good, so don't wait too long....

Something for a College Student in Your Life

I always look forward to Christmas and summer vacations. That's because college students come home. I don't get to know them the way I would like to--but I wish I could and did. And I enjoy seeing them.
In fact, I am reading a book that is intended for college students, and that I am finding an excellent read. It is written by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., who was once the president of Calvin College (his brother Alvin is one of America's premier philosophers, and an articulate defender of Christianity against its secular philosophical despisers). One of Cornelius's other excellent books you may have heard me mention--Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, which is a powerful book on sin.
So for the college student in your life--if it's too late for Christmas, get it for them for New Year's Day. It's available from http://www.wtsbooks.com/ (good discounts!), among other places.

The Real Tightwads

Many of you will appreciate the unexpected (?) findings by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof found here.

Incarnation

The divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needed to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child…. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. (J.I. Packer)

Our Disinformed Electorate

During the last election cycle I, along with many others, appreciated the web site www.factcheck.org. They tried to sift through the competing claims of campaign advertisements, and find the truth (or lack thereof) therein. For you perusal, here is their post-partum report, titled Our Disinformed Electorate. A worthwhile read--particularly if you thought one side had all the truth and the other side all the falsehood.
I mention this becaue tomorrow we are going to look at Christ, the newborn king, in relation to the wise men from Persia, the wise men in Jerusalem, and the "King of the Jews" Herod. We long for King Jesus. At present his kingdom is spiritual, and we sojourn in earthly kingdoms (and republics, democracies, etc.). None of these earthly kingdoms and their aspiring rulers can deliver. That doesn't mean we should give up on them--they serve the common good at God's appointment (Romans 13:1-7), but we dare not put our ultimate hope in them (Psalm 146:3).

Real Harmony Amidst Apparent Contradiction

I'm studying the Magi in Matthew 2, and here is a marvelous quote from John Calvin about this account:
"A beautiful instance of real harmony, amidst apparent contradiction, is here exhibited. A star from heaven announces that he is a king, to whom a manger, intended for cattle, serves for a throne, because he is refused admittance among the lowest of the people. His majesty shines in the East, while in Judea it is so far from being acknowledged, that it is visited by many marks of dishonor. Why is this? The heavenly Father chose to appoint the star and the Magi as our guides, to lead directly to his Son: while he stripped him of all earthly splendor, for the purpose of informing us that his kingdom is spiritual. This history conveys profitable instruction, not only because God brought the Magi to his Son, as the first-fruits of the Gentiles, but also because he appointed the kingdom of his Son to receive their commendation, and that of the star, for the confirmation of our faith; that the wicked and malignant contempt of his nation might not render him less estimable in our eyes."