Noise in God's Ears

Some verses in the Bible just scare me plain and simple. I have the privilege of leading worship before Almighty God in High Point, as well as in RUF, the Stanford college fellowship I'm involved with. So when I come across warnings specifically dealing with public assembly and such, like this one from Amos 5, it hits me right between the eyes:

²¹I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The point is that if we come to God in praise and live the rest of the week scorning his name in what we do the rest of the week, God is not pleased. In fact, he hates such assembling, and the sound of our voices is annoying to Him. It would be better if we didn't sing and instead came before Him with fear, trembling, and repentance, pleading for forgiveness. It would be better if we would go show our devotion to Him, rather than hypocritically singing it. So here is my encouragement for you: "let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).

Amos 3:6

This verse, I struggle with, because it seems so uncaring towards those who actually have to endure the suffering of the disaster coming to the city. Nevertheless, the Bible is clear:

Is a trumpet blown in the city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the LORD has not done it?

Now, I don't know about you, but I immediately thought of things like 9-11, the Columbine shootings, the recent shootings in Colorado and Nebraska. What is our response to such things in light of this verse? What should our message be?

One thing we certainly do not do is automatically pronounce judgment on the people killed! They were not killed because they were "worse people" than us. As Jesus says of those on whom the tower of Siloam in Luke 13:4-5:

Do you think that they were worse offenders than the others…? No, I tell you...

So people do not necessarily suffer this "irregular" harm because they're worse than you or me or the other people in the city. So that's certainly not how we approach their suffering. Second, we need to "weep with those who weep" (Rom 12:15). We should have compassion and sympathy for those who have experienced loss. Finally, our message is Christ's, and it comes at the end of Luke 13:5:

…unless you repent, you will likewise perish.

The question is "are you ready?" You don't know when you're going to die, so be ready for it! How do we prepare for such an event? The fearful thing about death is not that I don't know what happens afterwards, but that I know exactly what happens afterwards:

It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. (Heb. 9:27)

But this is only a fearful thing for one whose conscience has not been cleansed by Christ's blood. His sacrifice is central to our answer to death. Do we know the eternal state of those who have died? Why would we look into that? We can only examine ourselves. That is the exhortation we present to those questioning why crazy things like this happen.

Christmas in the City '07

Yesterday was Christmas in the City for High Point. We had a good time singing carols to some elderly folks, passing out cookies, and then spending time at Pier 39, Union Square, and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. Here are a couple things that popped up as favorites in addition to the obvious hanging-out-with-friends aspect of the event: talking to the elderly people after singing and passing out tracts! I was encouraged by this.

Praise God that I and a number of the students (most notably my sister) had a chance to pass out some million-dollar-bill tracts as well as big-money tracts. There seemed to be an unusual abundance of people that weren't interested in taking the tracts from me, so that was discouraging. However, there were always those times when someone came up to me asking for more. I got to meet a guy from Australia who had an Australian version of the million-dollar-bill tracts, and one lady was offering to buy two more off me for a dollar so all her kids could have one! I talked to two police officers for about 15 seconds; literally all I got out was, "Good evening, officers", "Did you get one of these", "I'm spreading the Christian gospel", and "What do you think happens when we die?"

This was the first Christmas in the City I've gone to where I've had more of an evangelistic mindset than a self-centered one. It was a great blessing to work towards fulfilling the great Commission. Talking to the students was encouraging, as well, just to know that they're even willing to process spiritual things! Damien especially was a treat as he had so many questions and I didn't have to try hard to carry on spiritual conversations with him.

There were negative aspects, as well, but I know the Lord is faithful and good. Pray that He will tear the sin out of our lives.

Thrice Holy

This Christmas time I have been burdened about a way to communicate the majesty of the incarnation. I want to do this not only for the benefit of others, but also because I am so susceptible to just saying, "Yea, I get it. Can we talk about something new?" I was convicted of this as I was reading the four sections in my daily reading. I got through the last passage and thought to myself, "Well, that was nice, but there really isn't anything much to write about today." At that point, I knew my heart was wrong. I'm reading my own personal copy of the Word of God to mankind! I had lost sight of the significance of this daily routine that I've gotten myself into. The exact same thing happens at Christmas every year. So I got thinking, based on the fourth chapter of Revelation, which was the last portion of the reading. Here's what I decided: I think that in order to understand how truly amazing the incarnation is, we must understand how glorious and holy God is. That is where this text from Revelation comes in. I'll just post verse 8, but it would certainly behoove you to read the whole chapter:

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!"

Did you catch that? I'll point you to what caught my attention: "Day and night they never cease." These amazing creatures never tire of proclaiming God's holiness. And that to the choir of all choirs! These creatures are in awe of God and they never tire of declaring his praise. Surely the only reason we ever would tire is because God has been removed from the center of our focus.

So what's the difference between us and them? Why do we tire of hearing of the glory of the incarnation, or praising the Lord for His holiness, or standing in wonder at His majesty? The simple answer is that we do not understand it. No one on earth does. Not me; not you; not the newly repentant sinner; not the aged and experienced veteran of the faith. There isn't a soul on earth who grasps the majesty of God. Realizing this is part of what will magnify His glory in your eyes. If you, as an insignificant speck, grasped the majesty of God, I would have to submit that He would not be all that majestic. Can your mind contain the glory of God; or your heart, the fullness of praise He deserves? You cannot do it.

The word awesome is far overused now, which is why I have tended toward words like majestic and glorious; nevertheless, if you can set aside all the puny subjects - like TV shows, good food, and people - that have somehow taken hold of this adjective, then I will say to you: God is awesome. He alone deserves our awe. Stand in wonder at the sight of God's work in the world and in your life. Fear him for the sacrifice He made in becoming man!

The awe of the incarnation comes in realizing that God - Whose glory we cannot grasp, Who overwhelms to the point death all who would look on His true form, the God Who is thrice holy - that this God steps down from His throne and takes on the human flesh that He created, subjects Himself to disobedient ingrates, and suffers under the wrath of the Father. That is truly awesome.

Those Whom I Love

I think it is always vital to keep in mind this precious saying of Christ when dealing with what can at times feel like the "harsh" message of repentance found all over the Bible: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (Rev. 3:19). That's one for the noggin right there. In Christ's zeal for purity and hatred of hypocrisy, He comes through with this precious line of hope. In his exhortation He is for us, if we are His children. This can be awfully confusing when we consider that the church He currently reproves is the one He calls lukewarm! After all, what are we saying? Will You reject those You have received, Lord? Will You vomit up those You clutch tightly in Your hand? I don't think so.

About a year ago, and from a rather unfortunate source, I was pointed to this nevertheless great truth. Paul, in his shipwreck on His way to Rome, is visited by an angel, and promised that all of those on board will survive:

Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you." So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. (Acts 17:22-26)

So Paul has God's good faith promise that those who are with Paul will all be alive at the end of the day. So what in the world is Paul doing telling the centurion 5 verses later that "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved" (Acts 17:31)??? Paul had an understanding of the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. He was no fatalist! You could say that God used this exhortation from Paul as a means to grant His promise.

So don't take Christ's warnings lightly! If you remain lukewarm, He will indeed spit you out of His mouth. But seriously, what Christian redeemed by the blood of Christ from the depths of sin and granted eternal bliss in glorious communion with the Holy Trinity can stay lukewarm in light of his Father's rebuke? Would this even make sense? For those who are Christians, you ought to be encouraged in a sense by the Lord's rebuke. Better to be rebuked by Him than forgotten! Indeed, if you aren't receiving the Lord's chastisement, you aren't a true child (Heb 12:8).

And what is our response to Christ's chastisement? Zealous repentance (Rev 3:19). Pretty consistent, eh?