Who will you worship?

"Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and offer your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." Joshua 24:23

The end of Joshua clearly anticipates the tragic events of the book of Judges. Here Joshua calls the Israelites to covenant faithfulness with God. After sternly warning them and challenging them to follow his example, he finds their profession of faith to be a testimony against them rather than a sign of faith. They promised not to worship other gods, but their shelves are lined with household idols. It's like a person on a diet stocking the pantry with Oreo cookies. If you are really going to worship God, then get rid of the idols.

Note also that Joshua calls them to "offer their hearts to the Lord." The first and most important sacrifice of God's people is a sacrifice of submission, of a heart that bows and bends to the will of the Almighty. We need both. Leave and cleave. Repent and believe. Joshua's call is a call to faithfulness, a call all God's people, both then and now, must answer.

Talking about God at Work

At work this week I got into a conversation with quite a few of my coworkers about religion. I'm not sure how the conversation got started, but my coworkers were discussing praise dancers. I'm not quite sure what to think of the phenomenon myself, but I believe dance is an acceptable form of worship and that in the church we are to do everything "decently and in order." Since the majority of my coworkers thought it was odd and didn't like it, I thought I'd share what I don't like about some churches.

One person's version of church was waking up on Sunday morning, watching Joel Osteen speak on the television for a half hour, and falling back to sleep. I said, "What I don't like about Joel Osteen is that he doesn't get to the gospel. He doesn't get to the central message of the Bible. I get that we need to live contently with our life situation, but anybody can do that."

My coworker didn't quite follow what I was saying, so I asked her, "You watch Joel. Answer me this: What must I do to be saved?" She's grown up with enough of a Christian influence to say something about praying a prayer, and a "Catholic" coworker said, "Yeah, and they say it doesn't matter what you do so long as you pray that prayer." In general, the people didn't seem to like that idea, which I would agree is wrong, but probably for different reasons than they would.

I'm currently listening to an audio book from Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears that touches on this. I'm praying for more opportunities to talk about the gospel with my coworkers, and I hope to bring up Romans 10:9 in that conversation.

Being a Christian means that you “confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9). Ask yourself, “Am I trusting the truth of the gospel?”

… Many people emphasize the moment when you prayed to accept Jesus. Some go so far as to declare that if you can’t remember the moment you prayed, then you cannot even be a Christian. But if you look in the Bible, that kind of statement is never made. Conversely, 1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” It is real belief and not a magical prayer that saves a Christian. In fact, many who grew up in Christian homes never remember a time when they prayed a prayer or made a decision for Jesus, but they lovingly confess Jesus all the same.

Vintage Church, pg. 31

Don't Sire Your own Grandchildren

• When you trust in wealth more than God, you move to a wealthy wicked city.
• When you move to a wealthy, wicked city, you don’t quite fit in.
• When you don’t quite fit in, people want to molest your house guests.
• When people want to molest your house guests, God destroys your city with sulfur and fire.
• When God destroys your city with sulfur and fire, your daughters think it’s the end of the world.
• When your daughters think it’s the end of the world, they seduce you into siring your own grandchildren.

Don’t sire your own grandchildren. Don’t trust in wealth. Trust in God.

---

Inspired by those DirecTV commercials. Based on Genesis 13:10-13; 19:1-38

Pornography is Not a Turnaround, Repentance is.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

—John 1:1-5; 3:19

I was looking at an article on CNN and then followed a link to an article on People Magazine’s website about Hugh Hefner and Lindsay Lohan. Apparently she posed nude for Hefner’s Playboy Magazine. I don’t read People Magazine, and rarely do I visit the website except to read a specific article mentioned on CNN. I figured any photos with the article wouldn’t be graphic, so I clicked through and read.

The gist of the article is this: Hefner was at first a little uncertain about having Lohan pose for his magazine given her personal issues that are all over the news media every few weeks, but is pleasantly surprised that the magazine issue is selling so well.

A few observations:

1. I find it ironic that the head of a company that specializes in the mass distribution of pornography and the objectification of women would be wary of controversy. Lest we attribute this uneasiness to a burdened conscience, we should remember that Hefner’s main purpose in having celebrities featured in his magazine is primarily to increase market share and make money. He was concerned about Lohan because her appearance could be bad for business.
2. Hefner stated that Lohan’s appearance in the magazine “is intended as a turnaround.” It may well be that Lohan again rises to stardom and makes millions of dollars, gets involved in a somewhat stable, cohabitating relationship, and maybe even has a few kids. But that is only a Hollywood turnaround. In relation to God, repentance and faith is the only turnaround that matters. Lohan’s most recent public act is merely one step further in the direction of depravity and despair.
   
3. Hugh Hefner also said “this is a born-again beginning for Lindsay.” Again, repentance and faith is what makes a man or woman born again. The cheap substitute experience that Hefner offers is merely a shadow and a perversion of the image of God present in every human being.

Faith without the Word?

Saint Peter exhorts every faithful Christian to be prepared to give account of his Hope. And what account will he give of his Hope, or Faith, he who neither reads nor hears the word of God? Because you know, that like the wick does not burn in the oil lamp, or lamp, unless it has oil, so neither Faith lives, unless it has the word of God. He that doesn't read, doesn't hear, doesn't meditate on the word of God, what Faith can he have?

—Cipriano de Valera, Dos Tratados

San Pedro exhorta a todo fiel Cristiano que esté aparejado [es decir, preparado] a dar cuenta de su Esperanza. Y ¿qué cuenta dará de su Esperanza, o Fe, el que ni lee, ni oye palabra de Dios? Porque sabed, que como la mecha no arde en el candil, o lámpara, mas de cuanto tiene aceite, así tampoco la Fe vive, mas de cuanto tiene palabra de Dios. El que no lee, no oye, no medita la palabra de Dios, ¿qué Fe puede tener?

—Cipriano de Valera, Dos Tratados [ortografía actualizada]

Book Review: Seeing the Unseen

T.W. Hunt’s Seeing the Unseen, contains less than a hundred pages of printed material and looks more like a small companion to a much larger volume. Unfortunately no such volume exists. Yet despite its size, the author left me with much to think about after I turned the last page.

Hunt’s goal is to get his readers to grow a new awareness of God through faith mediated by prayer. At first I found the book difficult to read and enter into until I realized the philosophical bent of the author. Though he mentions various philosophies from the start, I didn’t realize he was writing on a philosophical level. I should have seen it sooner, but not being a student of philosophy, his use of arcane terms and Aristotelian concepts put the reading at a much higher level than I anticipated from a work less than a hundred pages long.

On the plus side, the work accomplished its goal in me, as I did find myself stopping and praying and pondering the things of God more so than usual (much to my admitted shame). His discussion on the Trinity is both concise and accurate, though he does get into some unnecessary and off topic speculation as to why it was the Son who became incarnate rather than the Father or the Spirit. Must we have a reason for everything?

Though I found the book enjoyable and meaningful, I wouldn’t recommend it to most people I know because of the philosophical approach is beyond what most of us read. That and the size. Concise, yes, but a list price of $9.99? I don’t know.

To buy the book, visit Amazon.com.

To read a sample chapter, visit NavPress (direct link).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Examine Yourselves

I knew a guy who doubted his faith in God. He questioned whether or not God really loved him because things weren’t working out in his life like he had originally thought they should. Though he had lived on his own terms for most of his life, he had been miserable. It was only after believing God and committing to follow Jesus and to live for Him that this man began to see a turn around.

Yet forgiveness and salvation don’t always do away with all the consequences of sin. Poor decisions in the past were now creeping up on him again and he wanted to know why God wasn’t helping. In his mind, God was supposed to get him out of the jams he had gotten himself into, and since God wasn’t working the way he expected, he questioned whether he should follow God at all.

I’ve heard Andy Stanley quoted as saying that most people initially attend the local gathering of the church and come to believe in Christ out of selfish motives. Perhaps we want to be spared eternal judgment. Maybe we think our kids need to grow up in a positive environment. Whatever the reason, it is usually later on down the road of sanctification that we come to love God for who He is and we choose to follow Him out of love for Him, not love for self. 

But to get us to the point where we love God for who He is and what He has done instead of because of what we expect Him to be and to do, He has to tear apart the scaffolding of belief we’ve erected until either we fall and our false faith is shown for what it is, or we come to realize that our beliefs are founded on truth and we follow God because He is worthy.

So as I saw this guy struggling with financial difficulties and questioning God’s care, I prayed. I prayed that God would continue to knock down the week supports this man had erected under his faith until he trusted in the God who is worthy and not in the god who aids in self-worship. Yet as I meditated on this, I realized that I too try to cling to my own scaffolding of belief. I have expectations of God as well. Though I may not expect Him to bail me out of my problems, I do expect Him to keep me from them. I expect Him to keep me secure in my job, to maintain or increase my income level, and to allow me to live in relative comfort. This is not what true faith is.