#2- The desires of your heart

As I was reading through Psalm 37 the other day, I came across one of the other verses that is commonly misinterpreted in my opinion. Here is the verse (Ps 37:4):

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Here's an example of how this verse is commonly misinterpreted: "Oh, well I want to get married, so that must mean that God will bring me a wife/husband" or "I really want this job, so I'm going to believe God to provide it for me." I really don't think this is what this verse means at all.

Look at the first part (what is often overlooked in quoting this verse): "Delight yourself in the Lord." What does delighting in the Lord look like? Treasuring God above all else and making Him your ultimate desire. When we truly delight in God, other stuff doesn't matter as much. When life is hard or things don't work out like we'd like to them, we can still be joyful and at peace because we have God.

So, how does that apply to the rest of the verse? Well, I think that sheds some light on what is meant by the "desires of your heart." Are these desires that are spoken of all the desires that we have? I don't think so. Our desires come from a variety of sources- some from God, some from ourselves, some from the world around us, etc. So, which desires are spoken of here?

Let me sidetrack from that question to give some helpful background. The Bible speaks of us receiving new hearts when we become believers in Christ. This new heart produces change within us- we now desire God and want to live lives that honor Him. So, I think we have to keep this in mind when interpreting this verse. God doesn't promise to give us everything that we want. Instead, He promises that as we seek Him above all else, He will give us what we ultimately desire- more of Him. That makes me think of Jesus' teachings about a spring of living water that we can never exhaust- there will always be more of God to desire, delight in and satisfy us like nothing else can.

Now, does this mean that God won't ever grant us things that we want? Of course not. God is infinitely wise and knows which of our desires glorify Him and are ultimately the best for us and which ones aren't. So, we need to trust Him in this. There are certain things that I would like to happen in my life, but I don't know for sure if those are in God's plans for me. What I do know is that God has my best in mind and will bring that about. So, I work each day to trust Him and remember how much He does care for me.

So to sum it up, this verse doesn't mean that God will give us something just because we desire it. Rather, it must fit into His sovereign plan. Accordingly, our responsibility is to trust Him and not get mad when we don't get what we want or be bitter towards God. Second-guessing God is basically a sinful attitude (one I've found myself confessing far too often).

What are your thoughts?

-JRO

A question for the ladies

Since it seems a good portion of my blogging audience is of the opposite sex, I thought I'd pose a question to you. Guys, perhaps this may help us in moving one step closer to understanding the complex infrastructure of the female mind (Relient K lyric); incidentally that's probably doubtful as I think it's a lost cause.

So, here's the deal: I was having lunch with my sister today and in the last 2 days, she's had two random guys just come up out of the blue and ask her out (FYI, she had surgery on her wrist so she isn't able to wear her engagement ring). So, have/would any of you go out with some random guy you didn't know who just came up and asked you out like that?

I have never done that and I don't think that I ever would. It doesn't fit my personality, plus it would seem kind of odd and high-pressure to have to go out with someone you didn't know at all. For all I know, if I did that, I'd end up on a date with a crazy horse girl... bad idea.

So I'm curious to get some female insight into this; what do you think?

-JRO

How radical are we?

This post will be a brief departure from the series that I've been blogging about. But, I have heard this same verse come up in a sermon and book I've been reading lately and it has really struck a chord with me, so I thought I'd pass it along. This is 1 Corinthians 15:19-

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

The point I've heard is this: do our lives as Christians look that much different than the rest of the world that we'd look like fools if there were no Heaven? I'd dare say that for probably the majority of American Christians, the answer is no.

This verse was written by Paul, who chose to embrace a life of great suffering and give up a life as a well-respected, well-to-do member of society so that he could share the hope of the gospel with others. He was hoping in what was to come, which enabled him to look past his present trials and sufferings to see something (or perhaps Someone) who would far outweigh them all. But, how far is that mindset from most American churches? Are we really ready to embrace sacrifice and suffering for the sake of the gospel?

I know this is challenging me to evaluate some things in my life and maybe make some changes. So, something to ponder...

-JRO

Responses to Comments from #1

Thanks to all who read and left your thoughts on my latest blog entry. In this entry, I'll try to respond to the questions raised in those comments.

As Maggie touched on, we are called to pray in order to be at peace about life. Our worrying and trying to figure things out on our own leads to anxiety. Praying and trusting God leads to peace. We can be at peace in a decision or situation, knowing that God is at work and He is accomplishing His purposes in that situation. And no, it's not that easy (at least for me that is). For some reason, I tend to think that I know better than God and I should "help Him out" by worrying or reminding Him how I want things to turn out. Seems like wasted effort.

Now, let me try to deal with the couple of questions Jenn raised. The basic question was: what response should we look for from God in a decision situation or how do we have more confidence in a decision we're making? First off, let's distinguish between 2 types of decisions: sometimes we have a moral decision (one where the Bible gives a clear answer), other times we have a nonmoral decision (one where the Bible does not give a clear answer one way or another). It seems like most decisions we face would be nonmoral decisions. Even though the Bible may not be crystal-clear on something like that, I think we still need to aim to approach them in a God-honoring way. Let me share how I approach decisions like this. I first will spend time in the Word and prayer examining things like my motives and how one alternative or the other alternative would be more glorifying to God. Is it only some type of selfish, non-godly desire (like greed) driving me to a job offering more money or the desire to be better able to provide for my family or support missions? I think wisdom is a key factor too: maybe what I'm thinking of doing isn't prohibited by Scripture, but is it something wise for me to do right now? For example, I have heard someone I know who is married share that he won't do a 1-on-1 lunch meeting with a woman. Is that prohibited by Scripture? No, but he has decided that just isn't wise for him in that situation. Then, I seek advice from some wise godly people to help get some additional perspective. Then, I make a choice! I don't sit around and wait for an inner feeling, I don't ask God for a sign, but I trust in the wisdom He's given me and take a step forward in faith. Waiting for God to show us what to do isn't living by faith; that's unbelief. Faith is being able to take a step when the outcome is unsure and leaning on God's infinite wisdom.

OK, now to try to answer that question: how do we know if we've made the right decision? I think we often approach this from the wrong angle. We worry about whether we picked the "right" job or the "right" person. Instead, if we've made the decision seeking to honor God and with wisdom, we don't really need to worry about missing the mark. Instead, we should aim to do God's will as He's shown us in the Bible. So, instead of worrying if I'm in the right job, I should be seeking to do God's will in that job- there is plenty of Scripture telling us how to live. I heard someone once say that we should be more concerned about the question of how than the question of what. That is, seeking to know and do God's will as the Bible talks about isn't finding some ideal path, but rather, seeking and honoring God in whatever place in life you find yourself. So, I think we approach things incorrectly when we try to make decisions based on an inner feeling of peace or we use that inner feeling of peace (or lack thereof) to confirm whether we've made the right decision.

I think your final question hits the nail on the head: we do just need to have faith that as we are seeking after God and walking in the Spirit, He is changing our desires. We can trust that while we are leaning on Him, our desires and motives become more and more Christlike. Now, of course, we are still open to desires and feelings coming from other places too, which is why it's so critical to weigh these desires and feelings against the Word.

Does this answer questions/ address concerns about this issue?

-JRO

#1- The peace of God

The first thing in this series that we'll be looking at it is the "peace of God," as referred to in Philippians 4:7 (and a few other places in the Bible).

Php 4:7 reads:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, what I've heard from a lot of well-meaning Christians is that this verse implies that when making a decision, we should rely on an inner feeling of peace. So, for example, if I am choosing between 2 job offers, I should consider which job I feel more at peace about. But, it's my opinion that this verse simply doesn't say that in context and it's too big a leap to make from this text. Not only that, but nowhere else in Scripture do we find a command to wait on some inner feeling of peace when making a decision.

But, let's look at this verse in context (it might be helpful if you pull out a Bible or jump over to Bible Gateway). In verse 6, Paul instructs us not to be anxious, but to be prayerful instead. Then, verse 7 simply shows the result of this. So, if we pray about things instead of worrying about them, then we can be at peace about the situation. So, going back to the job example, I should be praying about the situation and be at peace knowing that God is sovereign and He is working in this situation. If I feel more at peace about one job than the other, that really doesn't mean anything. I could be more anxious about one job because it may not be the best choice. But, it could also be because it would involve taking a step of faith that scares me.

So, to summarize, the teaching of relying on an inner feeling of peace in making decisions in something that is not backed up Biblically.

Look into this for yourself and let me know what you think.

-JRO

A blog series

Just a quick plug for what's coming up- I have decided to start a blog series for the next several days. I will be looking at what I consider to be some of the most frequently misinterpreted pieces of Scripture and the bad theology that they lead to. I hope and pray that this will be beneficial to those who read. As always, I encourage you to look into this stuff for yourself and form your own conclusions through the Word; don't just take my word for it. Feel free to ask questions or challenge my interpretation if you come to a different conclusion than I do.

I'll put the first one up later tonight or tomorrow.

-JRO

The Sovereignty of God

That's cool; I got to use a big theological term in the title of this post. After last night's blog, I decided to dig through the Bible to find out what exactly the Bible says about God's authority and control over things in the world. A few selected things I found in my digging:

-God works in the hearts/wills of men to bring about His desired events in history (Joshua 11:20, 1 Ki 12:15).
-Even sinful acts are on some level ordained by God. Of course, James tells us that God doesn't tempt anyone and we know that God cannot sin. But, Scripture shows us examples of how God is sovereign over even sin (story of Joseph, 2 Sam 24:1, the crucifixion).
-God is sovereign over stuff like nature (Jonah 1:4).
-God is sovereign over the salvation of men through election (Romans 9).
-We can lay out plans, but need to ultimately submit to the sovereign will of God when it (James 4:13-17, some of Paul's missionary journeys).

So, after finding all of these examples, I drew some conclusions about how the truth of God's absolute sovereignty should influence the way I live:

1. We need to submit to God's sovereign will. Sometimes we can desire something, pray for it, plan it thoroughly and it just doesn't happen because it's not in God's sovereign will. So, this leads to a humble and submissive attitude before God, realizing that His plan is far greater than those that we try to make. The question I posed to a friend recently was, "If you got everything that you wanted in your life during the past 5 years, where would you be today? Would you really want to be in that place?" I would dare say that for most of us, the answer to that second question is a resounding No.

2. This frees us from fear and worry. We know not only that God is sovereign, but that He exercises His sovereignty in a way that has the best interests of believers in mind (Rom 8:28). I also don't need to worry about making some mistake and causing God's plans to be thwarted. God is sovereign and is going to work in spite of me if necessary. Now, I'm not using that as an excuse to sin. I know that God has laid out His will through the Bible and we are certainly responsible for living according to that.

3. We realize that everything (including hard times, trials, suffering and pain) are from God. Steve Saint (whose father was a martyred missionary) says that he used to think God allowed his dad to be killed, but doesn't believe that anymore. Now, he believes that God planned for his dad to die in that way. We simply can't see God's eternal purposes in what He's doing, but we can cling to the hope in knowing that God doesn't make mistakes, He isn't surprised and not even one sparrow can fall to the ground without his ordaining it (Mt 10:29).

Well, if you've made it this far, I promise I'll make my conclusion short. This seems like an appropriate follow-up to yesterday's entry. It gives me hope keeping in mind God's sovereignty and how He providentially is working in my life. It's not as if he has left me here to figure things out and function without His help. So, I guess He really doesn't need me to "help" by worrying and fretting over the little details of life. One of my own quotes that I thought of one day was: If I can trust God with my very life and eternal destiny, then shoudn't I also be able to trust Him with the little details within this life? After all, eternity is a whole lot longer than the few years we've been given on this earth.

-JRO

Are we wasting our thoughts and worries?

Seeing as though it's already 10:47 PM as I start writing, this is going to be a short entry tonight. But, I really wanted to get one entry in before the weekend was over, so I thought I'd share something I was thinking about earlier.

I was thinking today about how I waste a lot of time thinking and worrying about things that are really insignificant- things like what I'll be doing 2 years from now, what my career future holds, whether or not I'll get married, etc. I find myself devoting way too much time thinking, worrying and talking about this stuff. A part of me would really like a detailed blueprint of what's coming up so things would be all mapped out for me.

But, that's not exactly faith. Living by faith seems to me to be daily seeking after God, being made new and focusing on what really matters. I know that regardless of how all these little details work out, I am called to live in a God-honoring way. So, it makes me wonder why I spend so much time worrying about this stuff. What if instead, I devoted that much time and mental faculty to memorizing and meditating on Scripture or other things like that?

Ultimately, God's will is going to be accomplished in my life and He really doesn't need my worries to help bring it about. So, I'm trying to change my perspective a tad there: however all these details work out, my overall focus and objectives should be the same. Easier said than done, but I would really like to think that I could be more focused by paying less attention to these insignificant things and investing more energies into thinking about things that really ultimately matter so much more.

-JRO

Follow-up from the other day

Thanks to all for your input on my question for reflection from a couple days ago. It seemed as if a lot of what others posted on here hit on some of my thoughts on the topic. I said that I'd come back and give you my thoughts, so that's what I'd like to do in this post.

The question I asked was: "Would you prefer if God made much of us or if He enabled us to make much of Him?" posed by John Piper.

This is something I've been studying, reading, praying and thinking about a lot lately. Our culture (and even some Christian teachers) give us the impression that life is all about us. Do what feels good, do what makes you feel happy. It's okay as long as it doesn't hurt anyone (or, even hurt someone if it makes you feel better about yourself). Just look at the way advertising seems to appeal to a very me-centered outlook on life. The Christian version of this really isn't all that different- God loves you, so you should expect Him to bless you with whatever you want. Forget about stuff like character development and trials, you should expect health, wealth, prosperity and life as you want it. Talk about a distortion of the truth.

The message of the Bible is clear- we were created for God and created to glorify Him. It's really not about me at all. But yet, the Bible is also clear that God loves us and acts in our best interest.

So, here is what I've been learning: God loves us enough to allow us to make much of Him. He had every right to simply look past us all and allow us to go straight to Hell, but instead chose to redeem a people for Himself. He knows that our ultimate happiness rests in nothing short of Himself. If He were to give us everything we wanted when we wanted it and make much of us, then we'd miss the chance at much greater joy. I've found that real lasting joy is only found in God Himself: not His blessings, not His creation, but Him. So, God creating us for His glory and our desire for happiness are not at odds; they meet together in this amazing, mysterious thing called faith.

Is it easy? Not yet... I still find myself struggling when things don't go my way. I'd love to be able to humbly submit to God, but it takes effort. Just recently I felt as though God was blessing me with something new in my life, but things didn't exactly turn out as I had hoped or thought they would. So, it's taken some fighting and reminding myself to keep perspective and realize that it's not all about me. If I have God, then I can be content no matter what else happens because He Himself is our ultimate joy and treasure.

I've found this truth to be incredibly freeing, but at the same time, radical and difficult. For most of my life, I have looked to people and things to find happiness (and have been let down again and again). It's a matter of retraining the way I think and feel and having to lean on God as I seek to embrace this truth. A lot of times it's a matter of using the Bible to remind myself of things, instead of listening to the lies around me and even the ones in my head.

Anyways, probably enough to digest for one post. If this topic interests you, I'll be doing a seminar on it next month at Covenant.

-JRO

Web Site

The web site is finished! I still haven't posted anything under Resources yet- I envision that as a place to post white papers, publications, book reviews, talks/sermons, etc. But everything else is up and running.

For those who appreciate tech stuff, you've got to check out the links page. I have that running off of a database. Essentially, everytime I want to add a link, I insert it into the database. When you visit that page and choose a link category, it queries the database and returns only those links fitting into that category. The title of the page is also generated from a different table that holds the names of each link category.

So, thanks to all for the input into the project. I may actually work on some resources today... maybe a database-driven book list?

-JRO

A question for reflection

OK, now for my theological post of the day:

I was listening to a sermon while running today (John Piper of course) and he asked a very loaded question. So, I thought I would post it here and see what some of my readers think (assuming of course anyone is actually reading this today). Please post your thoughts/comments and I'll post a follow-up in a couple of days with my thoughts.

I'm going to have to paraphrase because I don't remember the exact wording. But here goes:

"Would you prefer if God made much of us or if He enabled us to make much of Him?"

Or perhaps in other words, is the crux of Christianity about improving my self-esteem and self-worth or about living to glorify God?

-JRO

Need marketing help? Ask Apple

I must confess... my opinions of Apple products has been going up quite a bit lately. In my earlier days, I was a die-hard PC guy and detested Macs altogether. I had no interest whatsoever in Macs and thought they were only for graphic designers and granolians. However, over the last few years, my opinions have been changing somewhat.

My dad became an Apple guy a few years ago and has let me play with all of his cool Apple toys. I also got an iPod about a year and a half ago. Mind you, this was MP3 device #3 and has by far been the best in terms of performance, features and reliability. Then, about last December, I inherited an iMac from my dad (he got a much nicer system and I managed to talk him out of this one). So, I have begun to explore the world of Macs.

It seems like in multimedia stuff Apple is absolutely ahead of the curve- between iPods, graphic design, video creation, etc. they have some pretty sweet stuff. Today I ran across a really good ad on their web site, where one guy is a PC guy (nerdy all businss-looking guy) and the other is a Mac guy (supposed to look cool and fun). It seems as though Apple really does lead the way now in PC ads... certainly better than the annoying Dell kid (who incidentally I am a distant relative of through marriage).

So, for the struggling PC companies now... look at Apple and learn from them (kind of like MS has been doing for some time now). I'm starting worry myself; I wonder if the next step for me is to get a G5 instead of the PC on my desk.

My apologies to my readers who care nothing about computers, but periodically I do feel motivated to write about something related to work.

-JRO

Why I'm not on Myspace

Sometimes I feel left behind... even as a computer guy and MIS professor, I'm not on MySpace. Sure, I'm on AIM, I have a blog, I'm on Facebook and have 7 computers at home, but no MySpace. Actually, one time I did setup a very basic account but have not put a profile out there. So, today, I had a message from someone and thought that maybe I'd put a profile up there in hopes of reconnecting with people from high school and college that I never talk to anymore.

So, I log in to see my messages and here's what I'm greeted with: one ad of a girl in a very sketchy bikini, another with a topless girl using her hands to cover herself up and a message advertising some girl's XXX webcam. So, as a result, the MySpace boycott will continue. In fact, I may even turn off images in my browser, go back, and get rid of the basic account that I do have. This world is full of temptations to lust; I really don't need to look at this crap when I'm trying to enjoy a bit of web surfing. Plus, it bothers me to be in a way endorsing a company that allows junk like that on its pages.

But, I realize that many others have no problem with MySpace. That's great; I don't plan to try to convince others why my conviction is right and yours is wrong. I don't recall finding anywhere in the Bible that says not to go on MySpace. So, file this one under the heading of Christian liberty or freedom in Christ... an area that a lot of folks seem to overlook (I.E. Southern Baptist resolution the other day).

Unfortunately, I guess this means my students will have to stick to Facebook and IM as their means of stalking me... no more MySpace.

-JRO

All these boxes make me think of moving

For those who don't know, I'm painting my house this summer. Hopefully all will be finished by the end of the week. So, that means a decent chunk of my possessions are in boxes and piled up on the floor around the house. Gary seemed to think it was a good look for the place, but I don't think I'll be sticking with it for too long.

But, all the boxes have gotten me sorta thinking about something I really hate: moving. To be more precise, I've been reevaluating where I'm headed career-wise and stuff over the next several years. I've gotten to where I really enjoy teaching. Being in front of a class teaching seems to energize me and I really enjoy interacting with students (especially the ones who actually want to learn). Plus, I can really get used to having the summer off and getting to leave work by 4:00 most every day. So, I've been thinking along the lines of making this a long-term career, which of course means more school.

Right now what I'm thinking through is exactly what area I see myself teaching/researching. I have been working in the MIS area since I was in 8th grade and have always enjoyed computers and gadgets. Plus, this is the area I already have 2 degrees and some teaching experience in. It also is a growing field where I wouldn't have any difficulty finding a good job. On the other hand, I've lately been more and more into researching and teaching theology and Biblical doctrine, which has made me wonder if this might be an area to pursue. It's definately something I'm passionate about and want to do; I'm just not sure if that would be vocationally or something to do outside of the workplace.

So, I'm hoping to come to some type of decision in the near future. I've actually entertained the notion of applying to some schools for Fall 07 and just see what happens from there. Thankfully, I've got until about March or April until I have to let ECU know whether or not I want to teach 07-08. So, I'm thinking, praying and considering some of these different options. I have confidence that God will work things out in His timing, so I'm enjoying the ride along the way!

-JRO

A great deal

Just noticed that DG has a really great deal right now on Piper's 3 main books (Desiring God, Pleasures of God, Future Grace). It's basically 50% of all 3 books if you buy them as a package.

Check it out.

-JRO

More convention resolutions...

Well, I was quite happy to hear that our church's stance on homosexuality isn't going to change regardless of what if anything happens with this resolution (see earlier blog post). Basically, the stance is what I hold to be the Biblical position: certainly allow homosexuals and any others living in a sinful lifestyle to come to our church and love them enough to show them Christ and what He has for them. But, the important distinction is at membership- when someone joins a church, they are professing to have a genuine faith in Christ and turn away from sinful lifestyles. So, thankfully, there are still plenty of sound minds out there when it comes to this issue.

On to other convention stuff, though. Apparently, the Southern Baptists have passed a resolution "urging complete abstitence from alcohol." See link for more information. I have a real problem when people try to impose legalistic requirements on others that are not mandated biblically. If I decide to abstain from alcohol because it causes me to struggle or because I think I can be more effective in ministry, then that's great. But, that doesn't give me the right to tell others they should come to that same conclusion. The Bible speaks strongly against drunkeness and acting in a way that causes weaker brothers to stumble. But, nowhere does it mandate that Christians totally abstain from alcohol. It simply falls into the area of believers' freedom (see Romans 14).

John Piper gave a sermon a long time ago at Bethlehem dealing with their stance on it. It is a very interesting take on the issue of drinking. Check it out here. For what it's worth, Piper himself chooses to abstain from alcohol, but opposed a church stance against consumption of alcohol. One particularly good quote:

"Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism because it doesn't look like one."

I personally choose to drink in moderation at times. I feel as though by exercising self-control I can enjoy consuming alcohol and in doing so glorify God. Now, if I noticed tendencies that would make alcohol an idol, lead to drunkeness, or if I were around a weaker brother, I would certainly choose to abstain. But, I don't in any way try to force my convictions on others. I have some Christian brothers & sisters who share my viewpoint and others who don't. What ultimately matters is that we have a clear conscience before God and are seeking to glorify Him in this (as well as all areas) of life.

-JRO

From a concerned church member

In case you may be stumbling across my blog and don't know me, I am a member of a United Methodist Church in North Carolina. The state conference of UM leaders is meeting here in Greenville this week. I actually was at a hotel where some were meeting today. For some reason, it really excites me to be around people planning and trying to catch a vision for what God is doing. I guess it must remind me of the good ol' days at Campus Crusade conferences. It was just so awesome to be surrounded by other believers really seeking after God and seeking to catch a vision to then take home and implement.

But anyways, on to tonight's main topic. One issue up for discussion (should be voted on tomorrow) is whether individual congregations should be allowed to deny membership to someone in an openly homosexual relationship. This follows a pastor in Virginia being reassigned after denying membership to someone living in a homosexual relationship.

This has me very concerned. If someone is living in an openly homoesexual relationship, that shows no sign of repentance for the sin of homosexuality. That seems to contradict the vows of membership where someone claims to turn away from sin and towards God. I have a hard time believing a truly regenerate person could be living in a sinful lifestyle like this with absolutely no repentance or desire to change. I'm not singling out gays here; I'd have the same issue if this was over couple living together outside of marriage, adulterers, etc. The problem here is that the church is supposed to be a Body of believers. If the church is prevented from denying membership to those in openly sinful lifestyles, then the church becomes infused with non-believers and wanders away from its purpose.

So, I'm following this story and hope the leaders make the right (God-honoring decision).

-JRO

The rich paying more in taxes? What?

I came across a link to a story in another blog this morning that I thought was interesting. Investor's Business Daily has a story about how the national deficit may be cut in half far sooner than expected due largely to a surge in tax revenue. It seems as though as people and corporations have made more money, they have contributed more to the tax base.

Interestingly enough, those making more than $200,000 now account for 46.6% of total income taxes paid, an increase of 6.1%. And, iif a couple were making $1 million a year, they are now paying 38 times as much as a couple making $60,000, as opposed to the 33 times they were paying before Bush took office. So, I guess the notion of tax cuts only helping the super-wealthy don't really hold up against the evidence.

Article: http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=5&issue=20060612&view=1

You may also want to check the World Magazine blog (linked on the right) for more information.

-JRO

Wheat & Chaff

After a conversation from last night, I've been kind of wondering along an interesting line. In America, we are so greatly blessed to be able to worship freely and tell people about our faith without fear of persecution. That truly is a blessing, but I've been kind of looking at things from the other side of the coin recently.

The other side is this: people who are not genuine believers are all over our churces. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as they are being exposed to the gospel and the Body of Christ, which hopefully will lead some to Christ. But, this culture gives people the impression that going to church, being raised by Christian parents, or assenting in your head to certain facts about Christianity means that you're saved. Sadly, for some folks, this couldn't be further from the truth. This always reminds me of the parable of the narrow door: people will tell Jesus that they did things in His name (went to church, tithed, tried to live a holy life, etc.) and He'll say that He never knew them. So, my point is this, in countries where persecution does exist, it's a whole lot easier to see who's genuine and who is not. A non-believer isn't going to go to church if he knows he's putting his life on the line.

So, what I've been wondering some lately is how do we tell within this country where persecution doesn't weed people out? Ultimately, we can't know someone else's heart, so we can't fully decipher where someone stands. But, there are some instances where we need to have some idea. We certainly don't want to allow non-believers to take membership vows in a church or especially become leaders in a church. There are of course even ordained pastors who are not yet born again.

So, with this in mind, I was rereading Desiring God by John Piper (side note: a great book that you should read and I do apologize in advance for all the times I'll be quoting this in coming days on this blog). Piper makes an interesting statement that may answer my question. He says: "no one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued tresasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him."

I think this statement does help to shed some good light on this question. In order for someone to be born again, God has to first act in their heart and cause them to desire Him. We can't one day decide that we desire God more than the sinful life we've been living; it must come about as a gift from God (John 6:44, Ephesians 2:8-9). So, to some degree, treasuring or desiring Christ is a key component of coming to faith.

So, now on to the difficult question: How do we tell from the outside? On a daily basis, it's hard to tell. But, I would say that over time, someone's life will show what their real treasure is. If it's God, they will be willing to sacrifice all else for Him. Conversely, if it's money (or a relationship, job, status, or anything else), they're willing to sacrifice their faith for that. Trials also do a good job at proving faith. One who endures a difficult trial and maintains faith shows himself to be of faith (look at Job). Or, one who abandons the faith as soon as hard times come shows himself to have not been a believer in the first place.

Do believers sin? Absolutely. Should sinning (or even going through a difficult time where we may be in a pattern of sin) cause us to question or faith? No Way! It should cause us to hold on to the promise that our sin won't cause God to love us any less and to be thankful that we're forgiven of that sin and move forward.

So to summarize: a believer's life overall should be that of an incurable God-lover. Our lives should show Christ as our ultimate treasure and desire. Of course, I know there have been times in my life when I have allowed other things to take this spot. But, these incidents don't disqualify us or show our faith to be not genuine. It's the overall pattern of our lives, viewed from a wide angle lens. We may have days, weeks, months (or even years) when we feel like we're losing to some sin. But, we don't lose heart, we forget what is behind, keep pressing on and trusting in God's promises.

I'm speaking on the issue of sin Thursday night, so I'll probably be posting some more thoughts on battling sin later this week. Until then, stay strong and don't lose heart.

-JRO

One more quick one before bed...

I was just doing my daily dose of reading other blogs and was really struck by something Justin Taylor posted regarding how little we talk nowadays about our experiences with God and spend more time talking about our service, theology, etc.

Here's the link; check it out.
(it's the entry titled Communion with God)

-JRO

Treasuring Christ

Well, it's been a great (but exhausting) weekend. So, this blog entry may not be as long as some others, but I think it'll still be something thought-inspiring.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that it's easy to be a Christian and trust in God when things are going well. However, I've been wondering in the last couple of days how true this actually is. When things are going well in life, there are so many other things (besides God) that we can treasure or find security in. This seems to almost present more challenges than when God is all we have to turn to.

Psalm 16:2 says: "I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." Wow... this verse blows me away everytime I see it. This is where I aspire to be- where people, things, money, job, praise of others, etc. all take a back seat to God and I see Him alone as my good thing and my treasure. I feel like I'm making progress, but still struggle and fail. I suppose this is what Heaven will ultimately be like: we don't need anything else but God Himself and we struggle in this life to move closer and closer to the eventual reality.

It's definately a daily fight to not allow other things to creep into a position they don't belong. I'm convinced that this battle will wage on for the rest of our days until we're home on Heaven.

-JRO

Web site progress

Thanks to those who provided some input into the web site design quandry. I now have taken some of the best elements from those different designs and put them together into one:

http://www.jamesrorr.com/new/newdesign.htm

I am now continuing to progress on it and hope to have the site finished within a week or ten days, depending on how busy I am with other stuff.

-JRO

Estate Tax

I noticed in this morning's paper that a Republican-backed effort to repeal the estate tax didn't make it through the Senate (Yahoo news story).

Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, had the following to say about it, "This bill has nothing to do with the average American. It is about the wealthiest people in America flexing their muscles and pushing through on Capitol Hill the most outrageous piece of special interest legislation in modern memory."

That is just a continuation of the myth held by so many liberal politicians on this issue. Of course, some of the people that would be helped by this are wealthy. There's no disputing that fact. But the people hurt most by the estate tax are family businesses. The estate tax taxes not only liquid assets, like cash and securities, but also taxes on things like real estate and business property. So, too often, the heirs of a family business owner are left with the decision of either having to come up with an inordinate amount of money to pay estate taxes or having to sell the family business.

Now, keep in mind, that the whole time this business made money and purchased property, they paid income taxes and property taxes. The estate tax amounts to nothing more than unfair double taxation and it amazes me that our lawmakers have allowed it to persist for as long as they have. But, leave it to politicians to try to extract every dime they can from the taxpayers.

Family business research has actually shown that the estate tax has a negative net effect on the economy. Business owners are reluctant to expand and invest in their business out of the fear of potential estate tax burden to their heirs.

I do understand the logic some of these opponents have. We as a country do need to exercise greater fiscal responsibility, especially in a time of war. Few people seemed to pay attention to the compromise offered by Senator John Kyl. He proposed eliminating estate tax on those estates of $5 million and under for a single person or $10 million and under for a married couple. This would seem to offer protection to those family businesses who would be most negatively effected by the tax. This would be a good first step, however, I still think the eventual outcomes needs to be to completely repeal this tax. Just because it seems to mostly hurt the wealthy doesn't make it right: people have already paid income taxes on the money they've made and now we ask them to pay taxes again passing that post-tax money down to their heirs? That just doesn't seem right to me.

-JRO

Some help please

I am working on redoing my personal web page and I'm really stuck trying to figure out a design concept for it. I've put a bunch of hours in and quite frankly, I'm really frustrated at this point. So, I was hoping that those of you who read this could take a few minutes and give me your thoughts on a few of the different things I've thrown together. Feel free to tell me something sucks if it does... it won't hurt my feelings. At this point, don't really pay attention to what is actually on the page; right now I'm just trying to pick a color scheme, nav bar, header, etc. before I worry about the actual content and the layout of the content itself.

Here they are:

http://www.jamesrorr.com/new/

http://www.jamesrorr.com/new/2columns.htm

http://www.jamesrorr.com/new/about.htm

http://www.jamesrorr.com/new/index2.htm

Thanks for the help.

-JRO

Gay Marriage

In case you missed it today, the Senate voted down the amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. See here for the full story.

So, this leads me to the question, as a Christian living in America, what should I think about this? Of course, Scripture is clear about homosexuality being wrong (see 1 Cor 6:9 among other places). So, in my mind practicing homsexuality is wrong; that's not the question. The question is to what degree should we as believer seek to impose our Biblically-derived standards on the rest of the country?

I think that this is one issue where we should seek to influence our country's laws. We see all around us the effects of the demise of the American household. This represents yet another threat to the family, so I think as believers we should stand up and support an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. But, we need to be mindful of how we do it- are we relying primarily on our political system or are we trusting in God? Are we doing it so that we feel like we score a victory of sorts or because we desire to please God? Are we always ready to explain why we have these convictions or are we simply supporting them because that's what conservative Christians are supposed to do?

However, we also need to remember to exercise grace. Someone who is a practicing homosexual is no worse of a sinner than any of us were prior to coming to Christ. They deserve our love, prayers, and friendship just as much as anyone else. We need to be clear in affirming that we love them and want what's best for them- that is a relationship with Christ and the opportunity to treasure Him above all else. As long as they are held captive by a sinful lifestyle, they won't have the opportunity to fully embrace what God has for them. And I want to be clear here- I was/am in need of God's grace as much as someone living in a homosexual lifestyle.

So those are my thoughts on this issue for tonight... perhaps some more tomorrow.

-JRO

One last post on experiences...

Well, before concluding my thoughts on the relevance of experience to our beliefs, I thought I would clarify a little bit on this. Or, more precisely, kind of show what I wasn't trying to say... it seemed as if I may have not spoken very clearly.

I was not trying to say that God doesn't use experiences to teach us lessons or in His overall plan for our lives. I think we can see things in Scripture, like God using trials to refine our faith, grow us up, or teach us some type of lesson (James 1, 1 Peter 1:7). We can also see how God uses certain situations to teach people lessons. I know this has certainly been true in my life. God sovereignly led me through certain situations and experiences as a way to teach me what He was trying to teach me at those times. On a side note, it sure does seem like difficulties and hard times are the best teachers. C.S. Lewis puts it well: "God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pains."

So, I'm all for God using experiences to teach us things. But, the key distinction is to be able to test and approve to make sure that we are drawing the proper conclusions. God will not teach us anything that contradicts Scripture. And there are a lot of other influences out there trying to teach us things as well. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (by being in the Word) and not conform to the World (Rom 12).

-JRO

More on Experiences

Interestingly enough, after yesterday's blog entry, I was reading a book today that touched on some similar sentiments. So, I thought I'd share a couple of quotes (this is from Keep in Step with the Spirit by J.I. Packer):

Experience is a slippery word, and experiences coming to imperfectly sanctified sinners cannot but have dross mixed with their gold. No experience just by happening can authenticate itself as sent by God to further His work of grace. The mere fact that a Christian has an experience does not make it a Christian experience.

By the way, dross means waste or impure material (and yes I admit I did have to look that one up on Dictionary.com).

Can God use experiences to teach us lessons? Sure. But, the problem comes in when I assume that every experience I have should be accepted as from God and to then base my theology on these experiences. Instead, we are to test experiences (and for that matter all else) against Scripture and allow God's revealed Word to be our ultimate measuring stick.

-JRO

Where do we find our theology?

While preparing for this month's theology discussion on the Holy Spirit, I was reminded again of one of my pet peeves when it comes to theology: people basing their theological beliefs on experiences, not Scripture. So many times I've been discussing or debating some theological issue and someone has brought up an experience they or someone they know has had. Certainly experiences can help shed light on certain situations, but are no basis for theological positions. The church and our own beliefs must stand on Scripture alone (one of the major issues of the Reformation), not what we have experienced aside from Scripture.

Experiences can be a very dangerous guide when it comes to theology. In my opinion, this leads to a lot of the bad theology out there. Someone will assume since their friend had a certain experience, then that makes it a theologically sound experience, as opposed to testing all things against Scripture to determine whether or not it is sound. We are commanded in Titus 1:9 to encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. If we have no solid foundation on which to base these beliefs, then how can we be expected to encourage or refute? What is my experience is valid to me, but maybe not to you... that leads down the slippery slope of relativism and away from absolute truth.

Thankfully, God has given us the Bible. So, let's use it- not just to read and listen to it preached but to mold and shape our theology, decisions, lifestyle, politics, relationships, etc. We have the ultimate source of Truth right in front of us... don't be afraid to use it and hold fast to it.

-JRO

NCT Book

For fellow theology buffs, I just noticed that Steve Lehrer of In Depth Studies has started taking orders on his new book about New Covenant Theology. If you aren't familiar with NCT, check out http://solagratia.org/Categories/New_Covenant_Theology.aspx.

I am looking forward to reading this one myself... perhaps we should do one of our Friday night theology studies on the differences between Covenant Theology, NCT and Dispensationalism.

For more on the book, go to: http://www.ids.org/order.html

-JRO

Desiring God

For those who know me well (or even some who don't), you probably know that I am a big fan of John Piper and have benefited greatly from his ministry. I'm sure many of you have also. While reading another blog the other day, I ran across a link to Desiring God and saw that they are in the midst of a couple major projects helping them reach more people and are in need of financial supporters. So, I'm thinking that this would be a great way to give back to a ministry that has really helped me in my walk. Here's a link if you're interested in joining in:

http://www.desiringgod.org/who_is_dgm/website_online_audio_project.html

-JRO

More on this world

After my last entry and some of the stuff that's been on my mind lately, I've been thinking a lot about how a lot of us Christians have fallen into the trap of worldliness. I was actually listening to a sermon by C.J. Mahaney the other day and says that the biggest issue facing the American church is worldliness. Let's face it: persecution even where it does occur in this country isn't anything compared to what our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are facing (just check out persecution.com for some stories). Yet, at the same time, a friend was telling me about a friend who knew perceived a group of us as "too perfect" for them to fit in.

So, how do we as believers remain separate from the world, but relevant to the world and not come across as legalists? I propose that it comes down to what's driving you- if you are truly being led by the Spirit of God (as all genuine believers should be), then your ultimate desire should be for Christ. If we are committed to glorifying Him, then we should desire to move away from the world's value system but at the same time not create an isolated Christian community that doesn't seek to love and reach out to the world. Practically, this means we still live and work among non-Christians, still being able to relate to them, but still looking different from them in our lifestyle, attitudes and motives.

So, the challenge I am asking myself and encourage you to ask yourself is this: Do we as believers look different than the world? Could someone look at our lifestyle, use of resources, way we treat others, etc. and see that we are a Christian? And also, are we using this desire to be free from sin as an excuse to isolate ourselves from non-Christians around us?

-JRO