"The Inn of Mercy"

Charles Spurgeon writes,

Pardon must be for the guilty. Forgiveness must be for the sinful...When men are not playing with words, or calling themselves 'miserable sinners,' out of mere compliment, I feel overjoyed to meet with them. I would be glad to talk all night to bona fide sinners. The inn of mercy never closes its doors upon such, neither weekdays nor Sunday. Our Lord Jesus did not die for imaginary sins, but His heart's blood was spilt to wash out deep crimson stains, which nothing else can remove. (All of Grace, 17)

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Sinners. We qualify! And salvation - this is our need!

May we never close the door that God has opened in Christ. May we come to God for mercy, through Jesus.

busy = good, right?

7:15 am: Get up, get ready for class, work
7:45 am: Drive to class, work - educational radio going, or perhaps earphones in, studying Hebrew paradigms and grammar.
8:00 am - noon: Work, study, go to class
noon - 12:30 pm: Eat, and might as well study or get some extra work done while chewing. Save some time, get more done.
12:30 - 4:30 pm: work, class, study. Walk fast, get things done. "Time is money, and a penny saved is a penny earned." Doing well. Bustle.
4:30 pm: Drive back from work, class. Make some calls (thank goodness for cell phones), arrangements, schedule that meeting (where's my calendar?).
5:00 pm: Devotions! Didn't have time this morning. Ok. Two chapters - check. Pray - check. Read a few pages of that recent book on how to live right. Ok, accomplished.
...

What connection—or contrast—is there between utter busyness and living for the glory of God? I have used a full schedule as an attempted testament to others - and myself - that I must be serving well, that I must be living life well, that I’m “carpe-ing the diem.” Could this be a lie…?

Is there any reason that, just because I am rushing from one activity to another, I am living in a way that is pleasing to God? Isn’t it all too possible to go through a whole day of jumping from one (good or wholesome) activity to another, and come to the end of the day - realizing that I hardly approached any of those activities truly in reference to God? We think of “devotions” as something we do—but have we forgotten the lifestyle of true devotion: a lifestyle oriented to God and lived in worship? Perhaps the one mindset—obsession with activity nearly for its own sake—has eclipsed the life of worship.

I never want to have a chosen pattern of life that is too busy to allow me to be interrupted. To drop everything and be fully present in that unexpected conversation, that moment to encourage another, or that time of uninterrupted and unmeasured prayer, confession, gratitude, appreciation. To simply stand and drink in the richness of the scent of fall leaves; to pause and truly pray for someone without simply formulaic and efficient words rushed out while mind already has jumped to the next daily task; to truly contemplate Christ as our treasure, even when we stand before God, stripped of all activity and bustle.

Thanks to Calvin College's chaplain for expanding on these thoughts in one of my classes, especially as related to the use of technology and its effect on our lives—harming our ability to truly be still and silent.

Buffet Boot Camp: A Poem

Buffet Boot Camp

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs…

-2 Timothy 2:4

Full bellies—“Bread and circus”—while the battle rages

and souls are dying.

An all-you-can-eat, buffet boot camp:

“Eat ‘til you’re full” –and then some.

Where are those beating, buffeting their bodies

to make them serve the King...?

Outright war breeds

either fear and flight, or

awakening to action, training to fight

Scattered congregant yawns

lazily

wind

their

way

around a dormant parish.

Fidget.

“Quarter ‘til.”

Tick...tock…

The preacher’s words, and a circling bottlefly—

Hardly a contest for a child’s—and parents’—attention.

“Will it land? Where?—place your bets.”

“Amen.”

“Oh—he’s done.

Time for lunch.”

Wheat Kernels and Suffering Saints

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book Spiritual Maturity (The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1962), writes of the presence and purpose of suffering and trials in the Christian's life. Here he is speaking of the unique nature of these trials for each believer:

The farmer has regard to the nature of the seed as well as its value and adapts his threshing technique accordingly. To treat each seed alike would irreparably damage some or leave others unseparated from the husk. He must apply exactly the correct length of time to achieve the end in view. Gentle tapping with a rod is sufficient for the dill but the wheat requires the tribulum, a heavy threshing-sledge. His intelligence and experience prevents the farmer from excess in his threshing method. As soon as the seed is separated from the restricting husk, the threshing process ceases. (p. 40)

Here we see that the trials God allows for each believer may be distinct, specific to the individual. God can be trusted to not give us more than we can bear, or, to continue Sanders' analogy, to not crush the kernel of wheat or the dill in this process, but to apply what is necessary for our growth in Christ.

One of the questions I have been considering recently follows on this topic. Considering again the role of suffering in the Christian life, to what extent are we to seek out suffering--rather than simply accepting the suffering that God grants us? Or perhaps, if we simply walk in obedience, will the necessary suffering come through that?

We live in a culture in which we expend a wealth of energy and resources to escape from and alleviate suffering and discomfort. To what extent might we be trying to escape at all costs the very thing that God is using for our growth in Him?

Soccer Balls and Stubbornness

Last week, after playing in a local pick-up soccer game, I was sitting by the field watching as others continued to play. Several others were also watching, two of whom were a mother and her toddler son. He was toddling around by the field, and despite his mother's repeated warnings, he wandered close to the sideline and ultimately was hit by a stray soccer ball. Though shaken and in tears, he wasn't hurt.

One of my first thoughts as I saw this situation pan out was something like "How stubborn and disobedient! He won't even listen to his mother..." In thinking this, I was placing myself in the position of the observer who knows that it is stupid to not listen and obey.

And then I realized that I am all too often far more like this disobedient toddler, than like a child who heeds his mother's warnings and stays where he should be. Though God tells me the result of disobedience, I still all too often pursue it stupidly and stubbornly. I block my ears to His words and persist in my own way until I get hurt.

I - who am 24, who have been to college, who read my Bible, who should know the consequences of behaviors - still stubbornly wander away from where I should be, and all too close to those things that God warns me about. The toddler may well have more cause to judge me than I him.

But one final thing to remember: when the toddler who was hit by the soccer ball realized his mistake, he came back to his mother. Something to remember for those of us who - even despite being hurt by going our own way despite God's warnings - may still stubbornly may try to keep going that same direction. Let's learn from this toddler, and come back to God. And hopefully learn to better hear and obey, so that we won't be knocked down by a soccer ball again.

Late Repentance (November 6, 2009)

J.C. Ryle, in his book Thoughts for Young Men, pleads with his readers not to count on a "late repentance" - the notion that we will serve ourselves and our pleasures when young, and then turn to God when we are older. He says,

I grant you that true repentance is never too late, but I warn you at the same time, late repentance is seldom true. I grant you, one penitent thief was converted in his last hours, that no man might despair; but I warn you, only one was converted, that no man might presume (see Luke 23:39-43). (J.C. Ryle, 1996. Calvary Press: Amityville, NY. Thoughts for Young Men, p. 11.)

Ryle continues, illustrating the course that sin so often takes if we always count on a late repentance (We might add our own excuses here: "Perhaps tomorrow...just this time...maybe when I have different friends...maybe when I'm past this stage in life..."): "Habits are like stones rolling down hill, the further they roll, the faster and more uncontrollable is their course. Habits, like trees, are strengthened by age." (p. 12)

I would urge us all - including myself, as I know my tendency to use these excuses - to discard these deceptive promises that we will fulfill "later," and rather do so now by the grace of God! When we sense the conviction and the tug of the Holy Spirit, let us respond in that moment, and continue responding.

"Today, if you hear his voice, / do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah..." (Psalm 95:7b-8a; see also Hebrews 3:7 ff.)

Wisdom for a Lifetime (November 6, 2009)

I was talking with an older friend/mentor a couple years ago, and asked him what he would say to me if he could say only one thing. His words have stick with me ever since:

"Cultivate gratitude."