The Morning I Heard the Voice of God

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2007/2021_The_Morning_I_Heard_the_Voice_of_God/

who are your peers?

it would be a grave, common mistake to compare your life only with those immediately around you.

when examining your life, it may be possible to elevate yourself to the level of "okay," "average" or even "pretty good" when your line of sight is no further than your culture or even your time in history.

do not limit yourself by the maturity and passion and dreams of your peers.

do not limit yourself by the current culture's expectations of a "good" life, or the American "dream."

make friends with Charles Spurgeon, George Mueller, Martin Luther, Jonathon Edwards.

examine your life with a peer-group of William Wilberforce, William Carey, and the apostle Paul.

then test your holiness, test your passion, test the works of your life against those God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated lives.

the life of Spurgeon and Mueller have convicted me to the core and left my longing for that kind of faith, that sort of indwelling of His Spirit, that deep of a passion for His supremacy in all things for the joy of all people.

so i would recommend reading biographies.

why i love donald miller...

from his website biography:

Of his new book, Don says: “It might be the greatest book ever written. I
don’t think anybody is going to read a book again after they read my new one. I
think God is proud of me. I am going to make a killing off this thing and I’m
going to use the money to go to space.”

this pretty much made my whole day better...

Testing God

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the
floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room
enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in
your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the
nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the
LORD Almighty.

--Malachi 3:10-12

"You can't outgive Me! The more you give, the more lavishly I will bless you."

It's like a raging waterfall pouring into a flask... close the flask, and store your 20 ounces all to yourself, or open the flask and allow the rushing downpour to unceasingly fill the flask, and splash over onto all those around...

Safe and stupid: "Ooh! My flask is full! I'd better protect what's mine! Who knows when the water might stop running!" (as soon as the flask closes off from the waterfall, it is cut off from the infinite source and limited its own finite supply)

Jesus: poured out.

Blessings are given to those who do not cling tightly to them. Or positively stated, blessings are given to those with open hands.

Safe and stupid is... stupid.

Test God.

What Paris Hilton, Jennifer Aniston and I all have in common

Paris Hilton just dropped $280,000 for a diamond encrusted dashboard for her Bentley...

Jennifer Aniston unloaded $50 grand for a month of $2,000 haircuts...

Does this make your stomach sick?

It should.

We are *really* good at pointing out sin in others' lives and then feeling alot better about ourselves. I dared to browse through the comments, and amid the usual "OMG F OBAMA STUPID PREISADENT GOD WIL JDGEU US KNOW!!11!1!@" comments, I found a rather insightful and convicting statement:

"for the people who are complaining about other people losing jobs and that she
should have given the money to poor people in Africa... ...maybe you should
think about giving up that Ipod, or plasma TV, or extra pair of high heels you
were going to splurge on and give the money to charity. In all honesty, I'm sure
starving children would probably look at us with our materialistic lifestyle in
the way we are looking at Paris Hilton with all her diamonds right now."

Instead of ranting about others' materialism, self-absorbtion and apathetic avoidance of their neighbors, I want to realize that *I* am the problem.

Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.

If I look at my credit card statement, I *really* think that my standard of living is more important than others living.

I skated by the homeless on the Mon River Trail and dropped $12 bucks on dinner last night. Had I driven five more miles, I could have eaten at home for less than $5. What happened? I *really* wanted chinese. I *deserve* it. I've *earned* it. Right?

I. I. *I*. My tastes, my entitlement, my life, my kingdom.

That's what I was created for, right? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

God calls us to lay down our lives for His Kingdom...

... sometimes I can't even lay down my taste for Chinese food.

Paris Hilton, Jennifer Aniston, and I all love our lives, our kingdoms, our happiness.

He who loves his life in this world, will lose it (John 12:25).

Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Matthew 25:45)

How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. (Luke 18:24)

Jesus have mercy on us.

May we trade our selfish desires and materialism for the all-satisfying sufficiency of Christ. May we *live* sacrificially and *give* lavishly.

I do not want to stand before the Creator of the Universe, who emptied himself in humility and gave his love, his riches, his life, his all for his children with nothing but Chinese food receipts.

Christ & Crossroads in the Dominican Republic

Remember Reggie from "Lady in the Water?" This guy devoted all of his time to working out... but only his right arm. His right arm looked like "Ah-nold," but his left arm was a stick. Twenty members of the body of Christ at Crossroads are embarking on a mission trip to break ground on our first of many feeding centers in the Dominican Republic. This blog is a challenge for the rest of us. The question is "as 1/5 of our body is sent out on this great mission to grow in strength and service, what is our responsibility?" What is *our* mission? I would like to challenge you to pick one person on the Crossroad's Dominican Missions team and pray and fast for them for the entire week they are gone.


Pray...
Pray that God disturbs their hearts, changes their lives, and brings back a passion that grows like wildfire in Morgantown. Pray for Christ to be made much of in Dominican Republic. Pray against satan, demons, and temptation in their life. Pray that the way they serve will show Christ as supremely valuable. Pray for the kids they will impact and the families they will serve. Pray for Francesco and the other Pastors serving in Dominican to bring the Kingdom of God. Those are just some ideas to get you started.

Fast...

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

--God, Isaiah 58:6-7

I challenge you to take $32 out of your food budget for the week (for many of us this will not be more than giving up two dinners during the week) and sponsor a child living in the Dominican Republic through compassion.com. If you can give more; do it. I don't know what it will look like for you to fast radically. It may be 2 dinners this week, it may be seven dinners, or it may be seven days completely.

$32 will provide a child with food, water, medical treatment, education, and the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ. This is not a nebulus, disconnected act of giving. This is a relationship. You will receive pictures and notes from the child you support, and be able to send them notes of encouragement, prayers, and greetings.

Crossroads' goal is to ultimately eradicate extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic. This vision has begun with the feeding center. Let's make it personal. Let's change the Dominican with one child at a time.

God *will* take care of the poor. He *will* feed his children. His Kingdom *is* coming through His body. The question is: will *you* be a part of it? We are the Body of Christ, and Jesus should *not* look like Reggie.

p.s. I recommend reading all of Isaiah 58, it's some soul-rending stuff.

p.p.s. this is just a suggestion for a bare minimum way we can grow and serve together. Service and love are the defining characteristics of a Christian (1 John, yes, the whole book). Buy some pizzas after church Sunday and go share your dinner and your story with the homeless, volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters, take a cooler of sodas to the kids at the skatepark, offer free chauffering for crazy-drunk, frat guys on Friday night, baby-sit for a single-mom, spring clean for the elderly or tutor some kids in their homework... be creative, and pray about what God wants you to do to serve, but whatever you do, let's DO something. (James 4:17)

...the right way to be rich

All the airplane magazines say, "You've earned it! Buy a La-Z-Boy!"

What does that mean? It means that the chair you sit in should look like what you make. And my answer is, "No it shouldn't. No it shouldn't. It should look like Jesus is valuable, more valuable than chairs. That's what it should look like."

So you say to rich people, "Be rich in good deeds (1 Timothy 6:18)," which means you start doing as many good deeds as you can and on the way there you live a kind of life that would make Jesus look like your treasure.

Now on the other end, should you ever want to go there (and Paul is just crystal clear), "Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into many senseless and hurtful temptations that bring the soul into ruin" (1 Timothy 6:9). Wanting to be rich is dangerous.

--Excerpt from The Right Way to Be Rich, yesterday's "Ask Pastor John"

it's safer to bleed through the pen of another man's words

How long, my Lord, how long must we sing this song?

...quotable

The problem with a lot of attractional churches is not their missiology, but their ecclesiology. Church is seen as a meeting. Attracting means attracting people to an event or even a performance. But biblical mission is about a community life, ordinary life, lived under God’s Word that attracts people to God.

--Tim Chester, from today's Resurgence Blog

Making sense of Bob Marley, Mother Teresa, and God’s redemptive plan in history…

Jesus was explaining in his metaphorical, parabolic way, the Kingdom of God to his disciples. He tells them the Kingdom "...is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

I ignored this passage at best for many years, then as God reupholstered my understanding of Him two years ago, I began to scour the words and life of Jesus, seeking to develop an authentic relationship with Him and in turn, His Father. During this time the passage perplexed me.

As I began to understand God’s heart for the poor and the oppressed, the words of Mother Teresa began to inform my thinking and my ambitions, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

Through this lens, Jesus words about the Kingdom came to life with vibrant passion. Without delving into too much eschatology—for the sake of brevity--Isaiah 65:17-25 & Revelation 21:1-4 share a piece of what we are seeking when we pray “Your Kingdom Come,” no hunger, no tears, perfect justice, perfect shalom with God, each other, the earth, and ourselves…

As we fervently pray for this Kingdom to come, we arduously labor to make His Kingdom a present reality.

As we pass by a homeless man starving in the cold, we feed him, because in the Kingdom, no one will be hungry. And the Kingdom of God crashes into earth through the Body of Christ, being broken and poured out on behalf of others for the glory of the Father.

As we pray with a hurting father mourning his delinquent son, and healing comes, heaven crashes into earth, and the Kingdom of God comes through the body of Christ, being broken and poured out on behalf of others, for the glory of the Father.

As we repent of our sin, and receive a new heart, in the Kingdom, God is worshiped alone, all our idols fall away, supremely, eternally, as the sole object of our affection, the treasure which we give up everything in our great joy to obtain. And heaven crashes into earth, through the Body of Christ, bringing glory to the Father.

The Kingdom comes through the Body of Christ, bringing about redemption and resurrection, in the smallest of ways
through the greatest of love—to lay your life down, for others (John 15:13).

The starving homeless man, the single mom, the hurting father, they are all waiting for Jesus to pass by. For the Body of Christ to pass by.

People look at the suffering in the world and ask “where is God?” One child every 13 seconds will die today from starvation, where is God? Somewhere, at your school, there is an awkward teenager, ridden with insecurity, bullied and abused, questioning whether life is worth living any longer, where is God? Innumerable homeless children and adults are freezing to death tonight, where is God? An abusive, alcoholic father is screaming at his children, where is God? And God, looks at the church and says: Where. Are. YOU? (Isaiah 1:17)

WE. Are. HIS. Body.

Allow that to sink in.

When the incarnate body of Christ passed by, what happened?

The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is within us (Ephesians 1:18-20) to empower us to love the way he loved us, to serve the way he served, to give the way he gave (John 14:12)… Christ’s body was broken and poured out for the healing of the nations, for the salvation of His people, for the healing of the sick, for the liberation of the captive, for the freedom of the oppressed…

It is through the body of Christ, broken and poured out, that redemption comes. As we, His Body, take on the same mind that was in Christ, and humble ourselves, becoming broken and poured out, on behalf of others, God raises us up and produces the fruit of the Kingdom. Christ put it this way, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies? It produces much fruit.” (John 12:24)

Christ says that it is through these small seeds of love, the cedar trees of the Kingdom are grown.

This is a Kingdom that comes not by might, not by strength, not by strategic business plans and ambitious marketing goals, but by brokenness, humility, weakness and love.

The great theologian, Bob Marley, put it this way: “If you are a big tree, we are the small axe.”

This is hugely profound. The world and its empire of corporate flesh, is currently the kingdom of satan, his empire reigns through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, the exploitation of the marginalized—all things that are anti-Kingdom, anti-Christ. When we see the suffering, the sin, the curse of the world, it threatens to overwhelm the remnant of God’s people… But as a small axe, overthrows even the tallest of trees in the hands of a skilled, persevering laborer, so our small acts (wit!) in the hands of God, will overthrow the Kingdom of Darkness.

Jesus is the light of the world (John 9:5), we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, we seek out the darkness. We redeem and we resurrect. Bringing light where darkness was. Bringing healing where hurt was. Bringing hope where there was none. Bringing fruit where sin was. Bring the Kingdom of God where the kingdom of satan was.

Last night, continuing my study through Ezekiel, God revealed to me what every good Jew in Jesus’ audience would have grasped immediately:

"'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
" 'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.' " (Ezekial 17:22-24)

This is virtually the same promise. The first listeners would have known immediately Jesus was speaking of this passage. This was their hope. This was their promise. How does the vine grow? How does the cedar reach its fullness? I will plant it. It will produce branches and bear fruit, but how will it accomplish this? I the LORD will make it grow. I make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.

We work with all hope and passion, confident of the final result, because it is God himself who is working in us to will and to do His good will, we do not faint, we do not grow discouraged, because we are promised the Kingdom, The Lord has Spoken, and He will do it.

The vine grows. And the Lord grows it.

100% God. 100% vine.

We plant the seeds. And the Lord increases.

100% the Body of Christ submitting to the Head of Christ (Father), by the Spirit of Christ (Spirit), made possible by the work of Christ (Jesus) on the cross. The crux, climax, and point of EVERYthing.

Every command compels us to *hope* and to *act*.

Not a pithy, useless hope grounded in “positive thinking” and “human intiative.”

A rock solid, gutsy hope, grounded in the promised outcome of the God-breathed, inerrant words of Scripture.

We do not sit back and say “God’s got this, I’m tapping out.”

We do not freak out and say “I’ve got so much to do, I’m freaking out!”

God *is* doing it. Through His Body.

God has no need of us, but in his great goodness, he has chosen to use broken, clay vessels to contain the greatest treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7). So the clay rejoices and praises God for the grace that he has given them to speak through them and save them and use them for his Glory. And the lives that are impacted through the clay rejoice and praise God for the grace he has given them through the clay.

Therefore we have great confidence (2 Corinthians 4:1), God’s success is sure. His Kingdom will come. Victory has been secured.

Therefore, we work and labor and struggle and fight with all of the strength we have.

We wrestle. And we rest.

Those that wait on the Lord renew their strength, they mount up on wings as eagles, they run and do not faint (Isaiah 40:31)…
Because the Lord is strong. They run. Not by their strength, only by their legs.
Because the Lord does not faint, we fly. Not by our lift, only by our wings.

God causes the grass to grow (Psalm 104:14). And the grass grows (photosynthesis, sunlight, water, nutrients).

God feeds the hungry. When His Body feeds the hungry.

May we labor for the Kingdom with an intensity that is driven by the sureness of its coming. His Kingdom will come. His people will be saved. He will receive His Glory. And His Body will be broken and poured out to accomplish this end.

Redeeming depression

Lunch break thoughts:

Sometimes I wake up with a gut-wrenching sense of guilt and depression. This used to bother me because I thought I was helpless to control my feelings/emotions. One of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned is to submit my emotions to the Truth. Simply because I “feel” very strongly a certain way, does not make it true. I can feel rather strongly that I am a poached egg, but fortunately my emotions do not create reality. If I preach the truth to myself “you are not a poached egg,” it will be much easier to get out of the “pit” than if I go on feeling that way and accepting it as reality simply because my emotions have projected it.

I guess that would be a defensive tactic. As of late, I’ve taken a more offensive approach to dealing with depression, redeeming it for the Glory of God and my benefit. When I wake up and feel the least bit depressed, my first thought is, “is this conviction, guilt, or just undiscernable depression?” I believe guilt comes only from people, satan, and the past. God brings only constructive conviction, a loving, sanctifying means of demonstrating His Grace, Fatherly Love, and Mercy.

Satan’s aim is that I waste my morning, day, and life depressed and feeling sorry for myself, but instead I can use the depression for my benefit by finding a legitimate cause for it, and then proceeding to resolve that cause. I try to use the time as a moment to reflect on any sin in my life that I may have been hiding or ignoring. Any that is uncovered, I proceed to confess and repent of. I am now free to stand on the finished work of Christ on the cross and his imputed righteousness as my joy. Any sin has been forgiven 2000 years ago, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, I am counted fully righteous in Christ, so I’m free to rejoice in my Creator unashamed, guilt-free, by the cross, and for His Glory.

The Utter Completion of Eternal Companionship

For as through one man's transgression sin was wrought upon all man
So by one Man's crucifixion were His killers purged of sin
As one solitary rose of crimson blooms from poison earth
The morning star arises in a heart devoid of mirth
May Your luminance shine forth upon this barren land
And pour through shattered cisterns cradled gently in Your hand
Incision of the sternum which no mere man couldst survive
Casualties doth not exist when patients ne'er were live
If e're i start to speak I pray remoove breath from my lungs
The only words to grace this vessel's lips must be Your own
Engrafted heart of flesh, replaces what was stone
Notwithstanding solitude i'll ne'ermore be alone

//cp

proverbs

greatly unrefined thoughts on lunch break (i wish i had time to polish them up, but alas here's my ramblings):

my buddy Andrew and I have been reading through the book of proverbs.... one thing I have noticed is that Proverbs calls people what they are. the loud, defiant woman? she's a fool. the man who takes a nap instead of working? he's a sluggard. This comes as a huge shock at first because our culture refuses to call people what they are, choosing rather to excuse them, victimize them, or classify their folly as an alternative lifestyle.


I believe Proverbs calls people what they are so that we know the way they are living is not an option.


When a young man in highschool meets a scantily-clad girl who is loud, defiant, hates her parents, and makes advances, he should say to himself “Proverbs 7:10 says you are a prostitute, I’m looking for a godly wife who is a gift from the Lord, not a whore who leads me to hell, no thank you.”

When a godly woman hears the loud, undisciplined women on Oprah spewing forth advice without knowledge like water from a toilet, she should say to herself “Proverbs 9:13 says those women are fools, I don’t want to be a fool, I want to be wise.”

Some of you will freak out, “that’s not nice! we can’t call people those terrible things!” The Bible does. So maybe we should too.

“My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call understanding your kinsman;
they will keep you from the adulteress.”

There is a huge blaring assumption in every Proverb. These Proverbs were written to keep us from becoming fools, sluggards, whores, and to shape us into wise men, diligent workers, good wives. In order to keep your teens from an adulteress, they need to be able to recognize who is an adulteress. In order to stay away from corrupt fools, we need to be able to spot them and call them out. Proverbs was written to children. They were meant to be taught through experience, as life is lived out. Your hanging out with your kids and they ask "why did this girl text me and ask to send filthy pics to me?" Because she's a whore, not a chaste, virtuous woman. "Why are the guys in my class avoiding their homework?" Because they are sluggards and not diligent workers. "Why are the guys at my job talking crap about management?" Because they are fools, not wise, lovers of discipline.

This does not mean that we do not love them. We still love them, pray for them, and preach the gospel to them with faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ to cut through their hardened hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit and grant them repentance of their folly and trust in Jesus Christ, the only Wise God.

I love the practical wisdom of the Proverbs.

Ultimately, we should love proverbs because Jesus is the primary author. All of Solomon’s wisdom came from Jesus Christ, the only Wise God. He declared to the foolish Pharisees that He is the One greater than Solomon. We seek wisdom because we seek Jesus, we love Jesus, we want to be like Jesus. In Christ Jesus are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

where.i'm.at/where.i'm.going

First week of January, we were in Clarksburg
Second week, Lost Creek.
Third week, Charleston.
Fourth week, Thomas

February
1st week United Summit
2nd week, Clarksburg
3rd week, Blacksburg, VA
4th week - March 15
Corporate Tax Returns

March 15 - April 15
Individual Returns

April 15?

Rejoining humanity.

If the transformation is not complete...

i love you Jesus

"wake me when it's springtime in heaven
the tears are all wiped from my face
wake me when it's spring time in heaven
and i'm strong enough to walk in that place"