Quotes from "Gospel-Centered Life" by Michael Horton

There are too many amazing insights in this book to simply right in my status's in Facebook. As I sit here immersed in the gospel proclamation of this book, I realize that the point of the gospel is to take me out of the center of anything, to crush my self-centered ideals and to allow Christ to reign as supreme and sovereign in my life. Here are some quotes that astonished me as I read Horton's book...

First quoting Chesterton's Orthodoxy, he says that "...of all the horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within. Christianity came into the world firstly in order to assert with violence that a man had not only to looks inwards, but to look outwards to behold with astonishment and enthusiasm a divine company and a divine caption. The only fun of being a Christian was that a man was not left alone with the 'inner light', but definitely recognized an outer light, fair as the sun, clear as the been, terrible as an army with banners..." (pg 26)

Furthering on the point of the gospel, Horton says that "It is not a resource for our self-improvement. Rather, it is a dramatic story that unfolds from promise to fulfillment, with Christ as the center. Its focus is God and his action. God is not a supporting actor in our drama; it is the other way around..." "The gospel doesn't depend on anything in me at all; it is an objective, completed work. The gospel is entirely outside of you!..." "The gospel witnesses not to an inner light within the self, but to a Light that came into the world, shining in the darkness and overpowering it (Jn 1:4-9)" (pg 26)

Faith and the draggin' of my feet - Meditations on depression and my daily walk

I was struggling today. I know what I'm struggling with too, and this season in my life has been a new one, a one where I can clearly see God moving me closer to him, to trust him in newer ways. It's also a tough time in my life. Without going into detail about it I am feeling anxious today, restless. And a lot of times people like to see the Christian walk as black and white, and unfortunately I've heard it taught that way as well. "Your anxious?", they will say. "You've been sinning!" Really?!? I cannot see Christ saying that to anyone!

I've been reading this book on depression which I've battled with in my life. It's a book that is causing me to see depression/anxiety in a different way. First of all, depressed people are all too honest about life, which is our problem. And the problem with depressed people is that we allow honesty and reality of life to stop us from walking in faith in spite of the situation before us. When we are discouraged, insulted, unmotivated, we see that and stop walking, stop moving, stop everything - we allow the situation to kill us. When we see the world as evil and people as evil, and so on, we want to stop, we want to throw our hands up and give up. "What's the point?! The world is messed up! The church nowadays is legalistic, uncaring, self-righteous and doesn't know God at all! So we just need to stop going to church!" This is common train of thought of a depressed person. Everything loses it's meaning, everything becomes pointless.

Ed Welch, the author of this book defines depression as "your thoughts [always] turning back on yourself. The self cannot carry that load. The way we were intended to function was to be able to look outward, toward God and other people." So how am I to get past this? As of lately God has been growing me and causing me to see through His eyes, and to truly fulfill the greatest commandment, to love God and love others.

But what about when I'm struggling? What does that say about my faith? I used to be so fatalistic and remorseful over my struggle to walk by faith and not by sight. I saw myself as weak, a man with no faith. And the the cycle of depression becomes two fold. I'm depressed because I'm depressed! Oh wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death! Paul says this in Romans 7, and I would often feel like that.

But Ed Welch put a new spin on faith, which completely changed my view on not just depression but my daily walk in general. Ed Welch says that "contrary to what we might think, God says that strong faith can coexist with emotional highs, lows, and everything in between. It is a myth that faith is always smiling. The truth is that faith often feels like the very ordinary process of dragging one foot in front of the other because we are conscious of God...faith feels many different ways. It can be buoyant; it can be depressed and lifeless. Feelings don't define faith. Instead, faith is simply turning to the Lord...faith is the working of the Spirit of God in our hearts...faith is not the presence of warm religious feelings. It's the knowledge that you walk before God".

And I could go on. But my struggles with whatever do not put a damper on either my faith nor my ability to walk with God. Faith is not being "happy" all the time (what does that mean anyways?), but it is walking with God, pursuing God, and being conscious of God despite the way that you feel. That is true faith. You say you feel depressed and yet still praise God? That is stronger faith than the one who always feels joyful! You say you feel anxious and yet still function in the strength the Spirit provides, that is very strong faith!

Faith is not walking on sunshine, it is draggin' your feet. I will drag my feet, and I will crawl, if only to walk with the Lord

Repentance - Living out truth

I was watching "Shutter Island" with my parents the other night, and I am always reminded of a scripture in John 8 when I watch that movie. Christ, speaking to believers as it says in verse 30, said in 32-33 that "If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the trith, and the truth will set you free". It's strange, most people make this an evangelization passage, but this passage is about believers, therefore it is about sanctification. Christ continues His point by elaborating, saying that believers are set free from sin, for He says that "anyone who committs sin is a slave to sin". So the freedom is from sin. So truth is the means by which you are free from sin. What does this have to do with "Shutter Island" you may ask. Well in the movie, Andrew Laitus was living a lie. He had murdered his wife, and was committed to an asylum, but refused to accept that he was a murderer, and ended up getting so far in denial that he created a whole other reality where he was a detective named Edward. He refused to be the criminal, and made himself a hero. He was living a lie.
This convicted me as I watched this, because this is exatly what Christ is saying - when a Christian is stuck in sin, there is something he refuses to accept, and creates a whole other reality. This is why Christ says the one who sins is a slave to it, sin is a whole other reality. This also means that freedom isnt free par-say, but rather reality itself.
In his first epistle, John writes the same thing but expounded. He says that "if we say that we have fellowship with [God] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice truth...if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sis, He is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrightesouness". John says that what we do is always in accord with what we say and believe by saying that if we say we have no sin that we are deceiving ourselves. This is so true, becuase often when my life gets hard or if I fall into some sin, it is long AFTER I believe some lie about myself, God, or (more often for me) others. I often start believing a lie, and that lie will always affect how I live.
I might get into a disagreement with a friend, and then start believing that that realy arent that great of a friend, then I start believing that about other people, and then all too often I am tempted to believe that about God.
This is why sin can never be repented without a change of perspective on what is actually going on outside of the world that I've created in my mind. I've heard that perspective equals reality. What you think is going on in the thoughts and behind the actions of other people ends up becoming reality, even if it isnt true. So how does one repent of sin? Sin is almost always a product of your own perceptions of things. People get drunk to calm them after a stressful day at work, husbands overeat to give them pleasure after a fight theyve had with their spouse. Fathers yell at their children because they are always interupting their work. In all three instances, they are stressed, frustrated, angry because they think that these certain people are against them. And as I saw this in the movie, I was incredibly convicted about how I fall into different things becauseof the lies that I believe about myself and who I am, and about the world around me. It is time do what Paul says in Romans 12:1, to "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING of your mind".

Contentment in the Moment

I was thinking about a few things today as my professor was going through the book of Lamentations. He was talking about how it was a mourning by the prophet Jeremiah as his whole nation went into enslavery to the nation of Babylon, a punishment from the LORD for their blatent idolatry. He wept as his nation refused to turn to their God, and yet he said something that was incredible to me.
This is perhaps the most clichey scripture, but I think it comes to life when you see the background of the history of Isreal in this scripture. I'm sure everyone remembers the hymn, "Your mercies are new every morning, they are new every morning...!", but it comes to life when you see the background. It's Lamentations 3:20-26, when Jeremiah looks on as Isreal is in chains, under the discipline of God, and says this:
"Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This i recal to my mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him'. The LORD is good to those who wait on Him, to the person qho seeks Him."
In the most devastating time of his country, Jeremiah still has hope in something bigger, in Someone bigger. And I was incredibly convicted. How often do I get insecure when things don't go my way? How many times do I chose to walk by my own wisdom and strength when I feel threatened? And yet I am called to walk by the power of hope, of faith, and by waiting on God's hand to work in my life.

Shalom - The Just Shall Live by Faith - A Lesson from the Book of Habakkuk

The Theme of Shalom
I was listening to a Tim Keller podcast the other day, and he was going through a passage in Jeremiah and Isaiah about injustice in Israel, and the judgment that was coming upon them because of it. And he started talking about the whole OT having this theme of "shalom". Shalom is the Hebrew word for "peace", and for the Isrealites, this word meant alot. In fact their entire life centered on the awaiting of "shalom", or peace. Peace when they had finally gotten ahold of the Promised Land and had established their kingdom on Earth through Messiah. Then there would be peace, there would be rest. This concept of peace for them was all encompassing, meaning it wasn't just a political peace, but a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual peace or rest that they had been waiting for ever since the giving of the Law on Mount Sanai. This peace would come when Messiah would come and right all wrongs, would straighten all that is bent, would make everything work in perfect harmony with God's intended will for the world. This theological concept is called the Kingdom of the Messiah, which was expected when Israel attained and kept the land through obedience to the Mosaic Law. This was their desire, their great expectation! Shalom! Rest! Perfect and utter joy in the land under the rule of Messiah!

But of course they missed something. And as one reads the OT Prophets, you see judgment and condemnation, and wrath, and anger! Why? The people of Israel could not keep the land, and they could not find obedience to the Mosaic Law, therefore they could not attain that peace, but only divine discipline from God! Why? They missed something crucial that Moses tried to teach them, that King David tried to exemplify, that Christ started teaching right from the get go of His ministry - the deceitfulness of the heart (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). They concentrated so much on the external devotion to God, but they never depended on Him, as Christ says, with their heart, mind, soul, and strength. They wanted peace? They could, through faith. And yet, they never found their strength in Him, and the nation ran rampant with idolatry because they trusted in and sought after the sinful desires of their own heart and own understanding rather than finding root in the truth of the Word of God.

The Battle of Faith in Finding Shalom
Habakkuk, an OT prophet sent by God, had to find out the hard way how to find that peace. The time when Habakkuk prophesied was during a horrible part of Israel's history, when they would bow down to foreign gods and participate in sexual promiscuity and child sacrifice. Habakkuk looked around and was in disgust. He cried out to God and asked him two questions, and Habakkuk got two answers that made him tremble in awe before God.
Question #1: Habakkuk asked God this, "God, why are you allowing your people to run rampant in sin and do seemingly nothing about it?" (Hab 1:2-4) This is a great question, and God gave him a great answer as well...
Answer #1: God answered, "I will judge my people and spurn them for their disobedience by the nation of Babylon, and then I'm going to judge them for this action" (Hab 1:5-11)
Now, if you know anything about history, you've probably heard about the nation of Babylon, and they were a wicked nation. Much more wicked than that of Israel. They were the originators of much of the idols that lured Israel away from God, and they were a fierce people that took over and killed many peoples.
This answer completely perplexed Habakkuk, because he was completely outraged that God would use a wicked and idolatrous nation to dicipline Israel. Why would God use an evil people for His purpose? Why would he use a nation that He will inevitably judge (see Nahum)?
Question #2: "Why would You use the nation of Babylon, a wicked nation marked out for judgment, for your purpose?" (Hab 1:12-2:1)
This seemed to be a reasonble question, well, to human standards. But as you read Isaiah 45:1-13, and also Romans 9:19-24, human standards fail in comparison to God's standards and the wisdom of His counsel. And rightfully so Habakkuk, after asking this question, says "I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may be reproved" (Hab 2:1)
Answer #2: "I am God, and I act according to My purpose and My will, and you should act in faith according to My will as well". Not a very pleasing answer, but one that can change one's life in their Christian walk. God says that this is His plan and it is according to His infinite wisdom, to raise up the Babylonians in their wickedness to judge Israel, and then to judge Babylon as well.

God then says the famous verse in 2:4, "as for the proud one [the nation of Babylon], his soul is not right within him; but the righteous shall live by faith".

What does this mean? God speaks of the nation of Babylon as a man, and says that he is proud, and that his soul is not right within him, and that the righteous person lives by faith. The Hebrew word for faith has a different ring to it than one might suspect. In the literal Hebrew it means faithfulness or steadfastness. Namely that the righteous one will react in every situation in dependance to God and obedience to His statutes. Leaning on God's promises, and then acting according to them.
God goes on to describe the proud person in verses 5-15, and describes him as one who takes what is not his, living off of thievery, and depending solely on his own strength. The proud man thinks the world revolves around him, and attributes every good thing to his own strength. This is arrogance, not depending on God, not giving glory to God, and not acting in faithfulness to Him.
But the man of faith is pictured as depending on God in even the most horrible of circumstances, like that of Habakkuk, having to accept God's judgment and live through it in faith of God's promises to His people.
Habakkuk realized that he had to wait on God's judgement and yet depend on God's promises and says, "I have heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Devay enters my bones, and in my placeI tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us". (Hab 3:16)
Habakkuk knows God's plan, and knows that it is according to His will to discipline Israel and bring them to repentance, and depends on God's perfect character and promise of salvation for Israel. He submits to the coming suffering and bows down to God in the midst of it. He doesn't run, he doesn't hide, he doesn't give in to sin or to sorrow, but merely bends the knee.
Now one might read this and say, "How could he submit with peace in knowing God's plan? How could he just sit there and wait? How could Habakkuk ever find peace in just waiting for this invasion? For this death to come upon him?" Habakkuk explains in 3:17-19 the source of his inner peace, the source of his faithfulness to God in the midst of the coming disaster.

His says, "Though the fig tree should notblossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, thought the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hind's feet, and makes me walk on high places"

Now one thing to not is that in the time of Habakkuk, all of these agricultural things that he referred to were the means by which people of that day received both income and food, so this was crucial to survival in their day. And he anticipates that when Babylon invades, they will lose all their security and means of survival. And he says that even though they will lose everything, my hope is in God's character and His promise to bring salvation through the prophesied Messiah. Even if I lose everything, even if I am killed, I have found my security in God's promises, and I will live by faith. That is true faith. In the midst of extreme trials, you can exult in the God that never fails, the God that never gives up on His people and promises for them.

This was the "shalom" that Israel was missing, and this was the "shalom" that they needed. Faith and steadfastness in the midst of the greatest of trials. Israel missed their Messiah by about a foot, the distance between their heart and their brain.

Shalom through Faith in Everyday Life
So the inevitable question that arises is, what is your crisis? What is your trial that God is putting you through right now? Job crisis? Relationship troubles? Whatever it is, you can react by depending on God and His promises through faith in Him. How do we do that? How do we find that shalom that the Israelites so desired? That inner-peace that Paul talks about in Philippians 4?
1) What are you most obsessing over in life? What takes up the most head-space? Identify that as you go through your day, and identify the cause of your worry.

2) Confess to God your self-reliance and pride (cf. Hab 2:4a) and remind yourself of His promises that come from His Word. Promises like the fact that you are declared righteous through your faith in Christ's death and resurrection. Promises like that fact that God loves you and is with you no matter what you go through. Promises like that fact that one day Christ will return and gather you with Him to have everlasting life in heaven. Remind yourself of His perfect character and judgments, of His steadfast patience in your life, and of His great forgiveness.

3) Find places in this particular situation that you need to correct and correct them.

4) Believe that God has His hand in this situation in your life and walk in that truth.

Jeremiah 2:1-3:1: The Beauty of Apparell

I really don't wear jewelry or fancy clothes very much at all. I remember last Christmas my mom got me a new watch, and I'm pretty sure that it's collecting dust in my room somewhere. (sorry Ma). But at the same time i do notice when a woman wheres a beautiful necklace or some fancy bracelets. It just makes her look better. Think about a bride on her wedding day. There's a sense of shock when the groom looks at his bride for the first time in her dress. She looks more beautiful than she ever had in her life most likely. He is stunned at the sight of her. Apperal and jewelry just makes he look different, more beautiful. It is not her, but it is what she is wearing. All of her flaws are lost in the beauty of her dress, her hair, her jewelry. All her faults that he might have noticed in their engagement are gone. Thats the beauty of apparell...

I was reading Jeremiah 2 verse 1 through chapter 3 verse 1 the other day, and during the time that Jeremiah was writing his book, the nation of Judah was in deep idolatry. And most people think of idolatry as worshipping a graven image or making violent sacrifices to this object. And in the time of Jeremiah, that was exactly what they were doing.

The Pattern of Idolatry
But nowadays people don't much think about idolatry. I was reading a book one time about this very subject. The author, Nick Ellen, described an idol as an avenue. And the end result, or the destination is a desire that so grips you in your life that you feel you need it. Let's take biblical times for an example. The nation of Judah was for the most part worshipping the god Baal, which was the god of fertility. In fact every god that was worshipped was the representative of something. So they would worship this god and expect to become...fertile right?
Well we are no different nowadays. We don't carve out wooden images of gods, but we all bow down to something. And most of the time in today's society this something (i.e. food, money, success, friends, acceptance, prestige etc.) gives us significance, a meaning to life, or better yet, an identity. We worship food, business success, money, sex, etc because it gives us significance, a reason to be alive. This was true back of OT times and it's true today.
Well in chapter 2 of Jeremiah, God calls out to Judah and accuses her of idolatry. Bowing down to something that they think will give them significance or value. In fact he likens their idolatry to adultery. In verse two of chapter two (2:2) God likens Judah to a young bride gone astray saying,
"I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest..."
But then in verse 5 (2:5) he cries out saying.
"What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty?"
This accusation goes on for a few chapters, and in chapter 3 God compares Judah in her idolatry to a wild untamed animal (2:20a), a harlot (2:20b), an un-washable stain (2:22), an animal in heat(2:23b; 24), and a caught and embarrased theif (2:26). They had run far away from their God, the God that brought them out of Egypt! Finally Judah sees her harlotry, but is convinced of her guilt and condemnation and says in 2:25b,
"It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will walk."

The Seeming Hopelessness of Guilt
When we see the sin that we walk in it is easy to feel that way. Despair can set in. An easy indicator that we are walking after idols in our own life is depression. I know this first hand, and if you have walked with Christ for any amount of time in your life you know exactly what I'm talking about.
We find that we are walking towards something in our life that is hopeful, that will workout, and then something falls through, or something messes up, and then depression sets in. If we are able to think through the "why" of our depression we will find that it is a sinful hope, a hope that is placed in the things of this world. Let's take the classic example: the break-up. You've been going out with this girl for 6 months now, and one day she calls you up and says, "I think that I just want to be friends". This devistates you. You stop your daily devotions, you stop praying as much as you had, and you feel all around lonely. Lets take another route. You have a job that you love, and you are making a great amount of money, you are moving up in the company, and people tend to love you and your work ethic. You invest all your time, even your hours off the job in different projects to move up and up in your company. Then, a sponteneous slew of events cause the company to go under and you're left without a job...BOOM. You feel useless, without a meaning in life, and you are devistated. These are just a couple examples of modern day idols. And when they stop bringing that significance that you so desire, bring only depression and guilt. Depression is a great sign that you've chased after, as God says, "emptiness and became empty".
It seems almost impossible to get out of those low spots in our walk with Christ. It's really hard, but it's very possible.

The Beauty of Apparell
When Judah had realized her guilt concerning her idolatry, she felt there was no hope, for how could God's bride, after such a resume of adultery get right with Him? They, as many people in today's society, believe that when they chase after vain things, they have to grit their teeth and get back on track. Well, that is very hard to do to a God that is eternal and is perfect in every way. But the funny thing is that God almost gets frustrated with their hopelessness. Sometimes a pious reply to sin is the worst reply in God's eyes. Why is that? As a Christian you become someone totally different in God's eyes, that's why. Wrath is no longer an option between you and God, and Judah had forgotten the Exodus, when God purchased Israel as His bride. They had an identity crisis. They forgot that they were a nation that belonged to God. A nation that was waiting for their Messiah, for their King. God wanted to remind them of who they were. He reminds them in several ways, starting in verse 29 or chapter two (2:29). He told them that he attempted to chasten them as a father would a child (2:30), and tried to guide them as a father would his son (2:31), but they would not appropriate themselves in that way to Him. Then God says something incredible, something so crucial to the life of His people. He says in verse 32 of chapter 2 (2:32),
"Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me..."
Did you catch it? As we talked about at the beginning, when the groom sees his bride, all of her flaws, her faults, wrinkles, scars, cuts, bruises, whatever it may be, are covered by the beauty of her dress and attire. God tells Judah, "YOU'VE FORGOTTEN YOUR WEDDING DRESS!", and better yet, He tells them that HE is their wedding dress. He is the covering of her faults, flaws, cuts, scars, etc. He reminds them that nothing that they do or seek after gives them the identity, the significance, the flawlessness that they so desire. Only God can give them that. God is their covering, God is their significance, their identity. The nation of Judah was so fixed on working their way back to God, when the way they were to get back to God was through putting Him on like a wedding dress. Now some of you may say, that's just weird, what does that even mean?

From Identity Crisis to the Putting on of Righteousness
If you the New Testament epistles, you will find Paul saying alot in his epistles to put on your new self. In Ephesians 4:24, Paul says,
"put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness and truth..."
What is he saying? He's saying that we have a new identity. He's saying that we, the church, are the bride of God. Paul explains this more in 2 Corinthians 5:21 saying,
"He made Him [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God"
What does this mean? It means that when we became Christians, our significance, our value, our whole entire identity changed from being worthless sinners to being the bride of Christ, and a child of God. So, in Jeremiah, this is an incredible forshadowing of the grace to come through Christ. God is saying, stop seeking after vain things! Confess your sin, and be found in My righteousness, in My perfection, for in that is found significance and value, and true identity, a grace identity.

Putting on the Beautiful Apparell
So, there are two things that we learn.
1) Don't place too much hope in anything that is found in this world, but hope in who you are in Christ. This hope is kept through reading God's word regularly, through prayer, and through meaningful, deep fellowship.
2) When we fall into what Jeremiah calls idolatry, don't despair, but remind yourself of who you are and appropriate your actions according to who you are. What does that mean you might say? When you find that you are placing your meaning of life in the things of this world, pray and confess you sins to God, and rely on the fact that God has already forgiven you of that because of Christ's death and resurrection, and then walk in that truth. Don't beat yourself up about it, and don't even think about what you did, but rather walk away from that and rejoice that you are a child of God. This is grace identity...