Borrowed Light

A Call To Action In A World On Fire – Part 2

June 24, 2015Nick Horton 1 Comment

At the end of first letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul gives a five-pointed charge to the church. This series examines those charges and seeks their application to us today. Part 1 is here.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

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Have you offended anyone today?

Not simply by being you. Anyone can be annoying and offensive if you try. Have you offended anyone with the Gospel today? No? There’s still time.

The gospel is the central truth of our faith. This truth is that all mankind are sinners, have sinned, and are separated from God by that sin. God acted by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, in the flesh. He lived without sin and was murdered on a Roman cross by sinful men. This death at the hands of sinners was an atoning sacrifice for all who would believe. Three days later Christ walked out of the tomb alive and is alive today at the right hand of the Father interceding for all who believe in him. If you turn from your sins and trust in him for your righteousness, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

In this gospel we stand. This is truth, not fanciful belief. This is truth, not myth. This is truth, not vain tradition.

Paul calls us to stand firm in the faith. If we stand firm in the teachings of the Bible and yet do not have Jesus Christ we are to be pitied. Modern Pharisees who hurl the law yet have no relation to the Law Giver. If we have Christ, if we are in Him, we are sons and daughters of the kingdom.

If we have Christ this world is not our home and we await the world that is to come, the new heavens and the new earth. If we have Christ, there is no condemnation for us. (Rom. 8:1) If we have Christ, he has set us free from bondage to sin. (Gal 5:1) If we have Christ, we are to tell the whole world this glorious news of a God who saves. (Matt. 28:18-20)

Yeah We Know

You may say, “Yeah I know. What’s your point?”

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:1)

As cultural Christianity declines in America the divide between Christ and culture is ever widening. It was always there. Holding a Biblical view of marriage and the family is increasingly seen as hateful. Add in any number of other differences that should set the Christian apart from their former selves, and we are now more akin to the “elect exiles of the dispersion” of 1 Peter 1 than Israelites under the rule of King David.

The change has been abrupt and jarring. We need to learn a theology of exile. That is, what it is like to live as exiles in a foreign land as increasingly we will have more in common with the Jews exiled to Babylon.

These words are not meant to make you depressed.

The call is to stand firm in the faith. Now, when God has graciously allowed our comfort to be pulled back our light is now exposed. Are we going to hide it under a basket or under a bed? (Matt 5:15) They will hate the light. People will curse us because we love Christ. They will curse, and revile, and slander us. (Matt 5:11-12) Yet we do not live for them.

We are to endure in the faith because Christ is worthy. He is worthy! We stand on the truth, not a version of it or our slant to it, but the truth. The truth is an infinitely solid ground upon which to stand. Our faith is grounded in truth. We believe in a God who is real, who has come and made atonement for us, and who is coming again. We stand on the knowledge that He is coming again.

Endure.

We were never promised it would be easy. We were in fact promised it would be hard and there would be tribulation.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” 1 Peter 4:12

I don’t think our trials are as hard as they’re going to be. It will likely get worse. Stand firm.

Christ is worthy. Remember your inheritance in Him in the days and years ahead. Maybe he will be gracious and grant revival. Maybe. Revival begins with us, our faith being grounded in him, and our witness to a lost world.

Stand firm in the faith. Christ is best. Christ is worthy. Christ is King.

Today in Blogworld 06.24.15

June 24, 2015Mike Leake

What is Pop Music’s Most Important Genre?

The answer might surprise you.

His Eye Is On the Sasquatch

Has there ever been a better title?

6 Cautions With Redemptive-Historical Preaching

John Frame gives us whippersnappers some good counsel.

How Exciting Should Our Worship Services Be

Bob Kauflin doing what Bob Kauflin do.

This seem proportional to me…but I’m just shocked he’s not gagging…I would be:

A Life Changing Event One Year Later

June 23, 2015Mike Leake 1 Comment

Last Spring my wife and I finally decided to do something we had talked about from our pre-marital counseling. Truth be told if I wasn’t so stubborn we’d have done it ten years ago. But I was timid and fearful. What is that thing?

We put together a responsible budget.

We’d always tried budgeting…sort of. But it never was responsible. We would simply list our bills. And when I say “bills” I mean things that you’ll get in trouble if you don’t pay. Things like insurance, saving for the eye doctor, clothes budgets, etc. I always assumed where for rich people.

After writing down all those bills we took what was left and tried to do things like the envelope system. But nothing ever worked, truthfully because of me. I wanted to have a big fat line item called miscellaneous that I could use on anything. Truth be told I didn’t want to feel broke. I wanted to feel like I could buy my wife and kids stuff.

But the Lord stopped me dead in my tracks and exposed my terrible stewardship. I wasn’t leading my family well. I wasn’t truly providing. And I was stressed out. It’s stressful trying to do all of this math in your head—trying to figure out if you really can afford to buy that toy for your kids.

And so we decided to put together a responsible budget. We used a program called YNAB. And it has been life changing.

YNAB makes you account for every dollar. You can put a line item called miscellaneous but it is discouraged. At first I felt very restricted. It was eye-opening to see how much we really didn’t have. But we were able to track places where we were just bleeding money and spending money stupidly. I felt silly putting $3 in a new car fund. But we did it.

A little over a year later there has been a drastic change. I can feel it right now because with our move and everything we’ve gotten behind on YNAB. (How silly of me not to be budgeting like crazy during this transition time, eh?). This upcoming week we are going to start over with a new budget and I can’t wait.

Here is what has happened for us along the way. I’ve went from feeling as if I have money to spend to actually having money to spend. When I say “having money to spend” I don’t mean that we can simply go pay cash for a new car. But what I do mean is that when the kids get really excited about a toy, or we find a cheap piece of furniture somewhere, we know exactly what we can spend.

And though it feels silly to set aside $3 here or $7 there that little bit of money adds up. So, when you have to make an emergency trip to Wal-Mart because a tire on your van is about to explode, you’ve got a bit in a fund to pay for it.

All the excuses I once used were flimsy. Budgeting is for people who actually have money, I once thought. No, budgeting is even more important for the majority of us who pretty much live pay check to pay check.

So I encourage you to start something like YNAB today.

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