Renewing Minds

Writing Every Day?

2010-09-03T14:28:00.001-07:00

Learning to write involves writing every day!

Treasure

2010-04-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

What we value is determined by how much we are willing to give or sacrifice. If we are willing to give all for something, then whatever we are desiring is of extreme worth. If we sacrifice everything, then ultimate value is assigned.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable concerning the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. He compares it to a man who found a great treasure in a field and then in his joy, went out and sold everything he had in order to purchase the field. Jesus also compares the Kingdom to a merchant who searched for a pearl of great worth. When found, the merchant sold everything in order to own such a pearl.

The two mentioned in these parables were willing to give everything for that which was of extreme worth to them. When they found that which was invaluable worth, it was not difficult for them to sell all in order purchase that which was beyond any treasure they currently possessed.

The Kingdom of Heaven is of extreme value! Jesus wants us to know that when one finds it, he or she should sell and sacrifice everything. Not that we can purchase the Kingdom as it is by grace we are saved. But our heart, soul, mind and strength should be overwhelmed at what we have inherited through Christ.

Think about it! We who were once aliens and enemies of God, have now, by the grace and mercy of God, have become His children. We have been forgiven. We have been accepted. We have been declared righteous. We have an inheritance that will never fade or rust. We have Christ! We have the Kingdom of Heaven!

Do we realize the value and the extreme worth of the Kingdom?

In Weakness...

2010-03-11T20:25:00.001-08:00

This week for some reason has not been very easy! Feelings of inadequecy have seemed to wash over me quite incessantly for the past few days. My spirit has been plagued by an overwhelming sense of weakness. As I read Tim Challies blog today, as I usually do, I gathered some perspective and encouragement from a fellow struggler. In his blog he referred to 2 Corinthians 12 in which Paul boasted in his weakness and then quoted Kent Hughes who wrote:

Life is not as it appears to be. We are led by today's culture to imagine that God pitches his tent with the especially famous and powerful - those who can speak of ecstasies and miraculous power and who command large crowds as they jet from city to city and enjoy the spotlight of center stage - but it is not so.
Christ pitches his tent with the unknown, the suffering shut-in, the anonymous pastor and missionary, the godly, quiet servants in the home and in the marketplace.

These were such sweet and refreshing words to a soul that was weathered and parched. However, if not for my feeling of such weakness and helplessness this week, I might not have given heed to the strength that can only be found in God. I might have walked through this week in my own might not thinking twice about bending my knee in prayer. I would have continued to trust in my own abilities rather than in the one who is the cause of all things. To Him be the glory!

Conviction from Carl Trueman

2010-03-07T00:14:00.000-08:00

We mediocrites struggle at a different level, hoping that our own petty contributions, irrelevant and ephemeral as they are, will be puffed and acknowledged by others; and in a sense, there is nothing we can do about that. I am a man divided against myself; I want to be the centre of attention because I am a fallen human being; I want others to know that I am the special one; and as long as the new me and the old me are bound together in a single, somatic unity, I will forever be at war with myself. What I can do, however, is have the decency to be ashamed of my drive to self-promotion and my craving for attention and for flattery and not indulge it as if it actually were a virtue or a true guide to my real merit. I am not humble, so I should not pretend to be so but rather confess it in private seeking forgiveness and sanctification. And, negatively, I must avoid doing certain things. I must not proudly announce my humility on the Internet so that all can gasp in wonder at my self-effacement. I must make sure I never refer to myself as a scholar. I must not tell people how wonderful I am. I must resist the temptation to laugh at my own jokes. I must not applaud my own speeches. I must deny myself the pleasure of posting other people's overblown flattery of me on my own website, let alone writing such about myself. I must never make myself big by clinging to the coat-tails of another. In short, I must never take myself too seriously.

To view complete article click here

Where does the time go?

2009-11-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

It was only yesterday, or so it seems, that my wife and I brought home our baby girl from the hospital. We didn't know what to do with her as she was our first child, but it didn't take long to figure out that when she was crying, something was wrong. It was only a few years later that my wife and I brought home our second and third child! Twin boys! And we thought we were busy with one child!

It was only yesterday, or so it seems, that I was pushing my daughter on a swing in our backyard watching her ponytail sway with each push. I could never push her enough! She always wanted one more swing.

It was only yesterday, or so it seems, that I was at Disney World holding both my boys at the same time. One was on my sholders and the other I was lifting with my arms. We were all trying to get a glimpse of one of the outdoor shows at Cinderella's castle. It was hot that day, but it didn't seem to bother me at that moment holding my boys.

It was only yesterday, or so it seems, but "yesterday" has turned into years! My wife and I's baby girl is now 13 years old. Our twins are now too big to hold. But it just seems like yesterday! Where did the time go?

It was only yesterday, or so it seems, that I made a commitment to blog consistently. A year later and I only have a few posts. It was only yesterday, or so it seems, that I made a commitment to read a book a week. Though I have read more, I have not come close to reading a book a week during the past couple of years.

It was also only yesterday, or so it seems, that I made a commitment to make prayer a vital part of my life. And yet.... You see, the danger in life is that we say things, make commitments, and before we know it we wonder aloud: "Where did the time go?"

The time between when we say we are going to spend more time with our kids, or whomever, and actually getting around to doing it, can be years. And then? Well, it seemed like only yesterday and now, well, they are really too big to push on the swing now!

The time between when we say we are going to spend more time reading Scripture and praying and actually getting around to doing it can also be years. And then? Well, it seemed like only yesterday and now, well, after so many distractions and demands time just seemed to get away!

Be encouraged, however! By the grace of God you do have today! Tomorrow? Who knows? Today, yes! So if God permits, in a few years as you reflect and say, "It was only yesterday, or so it seems," the ending of such thoughts will not be ones of regret, but of gratitude to God that he has helped us to not get bogged down with the trivialities of life.

It was only yesterday, or so it seemed, that my daughter turned 13. And though it WAS just a few months ago, in several years, when she turns 18, I'll be saying the same thing. But I do have today by His grace!

Going to hug my kids...maybe pray for them as I do!
Jeff

Twins, Water Hose, & Slip 'n Slide!

2009-06-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

The simplicity of life is no where better exhibited than in watching my 9-year-old twin boys play in the back yard with a newly purchased slip'n slide. Watching them brings back memories of my own childhood days when I, too, owned a slip'n slide. I'm also reminded that if I tried to slide on one of these things today, I would most likely dislocate various parts of my body.

Though we have advanced technologically beyond any of my childhood dreams (I think on my block growing up, slip'n slide was as techonoligical as we got), I don't think it's possible to improve on getting some kids together on a hot summer day with a water hose and a slippery piece of plastic. Now for those who have not experienced the slip'n slide experience, you might be thinking, "What more can you do except just slide?" Well, let me inform you!

Though the basic premise of slip'n slide is to slide, it's more than that. For instance, you don't just slide, but see how far you can slide, how many ways you can slide (ie. frontwards, backwards, sideways, etc...), how fast you can slide, how wet you can get, how muddy you can get (don't ask how this happens), how much water you can put on the mat, and any other game or competition anyone slip'n and slide'n can create.

The reason I believe in the beauty of a slip'n slide on a hot summer day is not just because of the memories of my childhood, but because of the creativity and comradory that such a piece of plasctic in a backyard creates. I have just witnessed my boys create about 7 different games using the slip'n slide in the last 10 minutes. And at just this moment, they are laying down and drying out discussing the things that 9-year-old boys need to discuss such as how many bugs might like to use their slip'n slide as well.

So many times in our culture I feel that we are overly entertained. We have become numb to the simplicity of just sitting and enjoying a cool breeze on a summer day. Granted we might enjoy a cool breeze, but only as we sit with our IPhone checking email or news updates every few minutes.

We also bring such overly entertained attitudes into our worship life as well. We no longer know how to be still or to be unplugged from email, text messaging, facebook, and twitter. Nothing wrong with using all which technology has to offer us, but I pray for my own life that my use of technology does not make me less human. Could it be that maybe I just need to take my Bible, a pen and a notebook and find a quiet place to just sit and think and fellowship with our Creator? Could it be that maybe I have lost the art of thinking creatively because I have learned to turn my mind off during mindless entertainment (and forgot to turn it back on?).

My kids have video games and they enjoy playing them, but I really see their personality and their ingenious minds at work on a slip'n slide. Though I do enjoy technology, I think today that I enjoy the creation of the slip'n slide the most!

Going to clean up a mudhole!
Jeff

Image Is Everything?

2009-06-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Nice jacket. Nice tie. Pressed slacks. Shined shoes. This is obviously someone who has it together. After all, if they dress and look like someone on the front of a clothing cataloge they must be educated, esteemed, a developed leader, and maybe even spiritual (If not a church attender, he would most definately be welcomed)

Or could it be that all this gentlemen esteems is wearing nice clothes? Anything wrong with looking nice? Of course not! But if that is as far as it goes, there might be a problem. What about the person who dresses a bit more shabbily and yet does so for the purpose of his ministry to the homeless? He doesn't have the "proper" image...or does he?

I guess that what I have been learning is that I am quick to judge others. Just by glancing at a person's looks and what they are wearing, I make assumptions. Someone who looks like they just climbed out of bed and donned a pair of shorts is most definately an individual who needs some organization skills and most likely, a job. Could it be, however, that this unkempt looking individual only looks the way he does because of staying up all night with a sick child or spouse? I am so quick to judge!

I am even inclined to judge others while gazing their yard. Why is their yard so green? What a waste of money on water? I wish I had money to waste on watering! Or, why don't they mow their yard? Don't they care? How lazy! Again, so quick to judge without first seeking to understand others.

The danger this creates for me is that I can be tempted to work more on my image, how I appear before others, rather than on my character, who I actually am. In other words, as long as I wear the proper clothes and mow my yard, things are good. Forget the fact that I'm struggling with how to discipline my children or feel lonely, the key is that all looks well.

I guess I still need to learn from Sawyer Brown's lyrics from their song "They Don't Understand." The chorus says:
Everybody's busy with their own situation
Everybody's lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
Everybody's living like there ain't no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor's going through

I pray that we come to the realization that image is not everything. May we cease to judge others by image alone and stop seeking to perfect our own image to the detrimate of our character. Sola gracia

$3 Worth of Gospel?

2009-04-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please. Not too much--just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted. I don't want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust. I certainly don't want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture. I want ecstasy, not repentance; I want transcendence, not transformation. I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don't want to love those from different races--especially if they smell. I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not su much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged. I would like about three dollars worth of gospel, please. (from D.A. Carson, Basics for Believers, p. 13)

May we say as Paul, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

I'm Back...Maybe...

2009-04-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm always reminded that writing is 90 percent persperation and 10 percent inspiration. Bottom line: writing is work. I started this blog some days ago (actually MANY days ago) hoping that I would just magically write each day. I envisioned this blog being a new technological inspiration in which writing would just flow. This has not happened. Does this mean that I'm just a writer "wanna be?" Or am I just undisciplined?

I know for some writing may come easier than it does for others. But I think for most writing is work. This does not mean that there are not pleasures found in writing, but these pleasures are mainly found through discipline (or so I think).

My hope continues that I will continue this blog with the desires of writing that which will encourage others and exalt the name of Jesus Christ. I do not wish to be another "empty rhetoric" type blog in which only vain opinions are given. May God grant me the grace and wisdom to write that which speaks of the eternal.

Jeff

Culturally Relevant? Should We Care?

2009-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

In the past few years, I've been concerned about the fascination of many who are more concerned with relevance than with truth. I sometimes become worried when I hear people comment that we must make God's Word relevant to others. I understand the need for common language and understanding, but relevant? God, who created all that is in existence, has spoken. I find that fairly relevant.

I have recently become encouraged recently by an article by Carl Trueman. I hope you will read it and that it will cause you to rethink the idea of what it means to be culturally relevant!

Jeff

Where are the young men and women...

2008-11-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Where are the young men and women of this generation who will hold their lives cheap, and be faithful even unto death? Where are those who will lose their lives for Christ's sake--flinging them away for love of him? Where are those who will live dangerously and be reckless in his service? Where are his lovers--those who love him and the souls of men more than their own reputation or comfort, or very life?

Where are the men who say"no" to self; who take up Christ's cross to bear it after him; who are willing to be nailed to it in college or office, home or mission field; who are willing, if need be, to bleed, to suffer and to die on it?

Where are the men of vision today? Where are the men of enduring vision? Where are the men who have seen the King in his beauty, by whom from henceforth all else is counted but refuse that they may win Christ? Where are all the adventurers, the explorers, the pioneers for God who count one human soul of far greater value than the rise or fall of an empire? Where are the men of glory in God-sent loneliness, difficulties, persecutions, misunderstandings, discipline, sacrifice, death?

Where are the men who are willing to pay the price of vision?

Where are the men of prayer? Where are the men who, like the psalmist of old, count God's Word of more importance to them than their daily food? Where are the men who, like Moses, commune with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend, and unmistakably bear with them the fragrance of meeting through the day?

Whare are God's men in this day of God's power?

-taken from Sacrifice by Howard Guinness, pages 83-84

Luther's Theology of the Cross (Happy Reformation Day)

2008-10-31T05:23:00.000-07:00

Today, October 31, in the year 1517, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. Though it was Luther's first attempt of many at writing or speaking against the theological thinking of his day, it was and continues to be a defining moment in history. The Ninety-Five Theses ushered in the dawn of the reformation.

Of the ninety-five theses, it is Luther's ninety-fifth that leads us to consider what some say is the heart of understanding Luther's theology. It reads: Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross! Luther is concerned with those who speak peace without the cross and offer glory without suffering.

In 1518, in another set of theses prepared for a debate at Heidelburg, Luther further defined his theology of the cross. He wrote: That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the invisible things of God as though they were clearly perceptible in those things which have actually happened. He wrote further that he deserves to be a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross.

In the Heidelberg Disputation, it is important to understand that Luther is contrasting his theology of the cross with what he termed a theology of glory. A theology of glory was the medieval practice of theology that involved mere metaphysical speculation and attempted to find God by one's own reasoning and wisdom. In contrast, a theology of the cross finds God on the cross through faith. Luther wrote that he who does not know Christ does not know God hidden in suffering. Therefore he prefers works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly, and, in general, good to evil.

For Luther, to know God is to know him on the cross. Walter Von Loewenich writes in regard to this principle that God reveals himself in concealment, God's wisdom appears to men as foolishness, God's power is perfected in weakness, God's glory parades in lowliness, God's life becomes effective in the death of his Son.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. Would we have chosen the cross and suffering as God's mode of saving the world? The cross is so scandalous and is only for the severest of criminals. Who would look for God on the cross? And yet Paul, and Luther, directs our gaze at God on the cross hidden in the midst of suffering.

Luther, beginning with his 95 Theses begins to direct the church of his day back to the cross. The question we must ask is do we need to recover a theology of the cross as a church? Do we prefer glory, strength, and wisdom compared to humility, weakness, and foolishness? Knowing that following Christ involves taking up our cross, are we willing to live sacrificial lives for the sake of gospel and others? Douglas John Hall writes that a theology of the cross…insists that God, who wills to meet us, love us, redeem us, meets, loves, and redeems us precisely where we are: in the valley of the shadow of death. As a result, will we engage the world around us and meet others with the truth of the gospel in the midst of their pain and struggle?

May we stand as Luther and proclaim and live life under the cross. And, may we daily remind ourselves that the word of the cross…to us who are being saved…is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18) Therefore, far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14).

Jeff

For more blogs concerning Reformation Day visit Tim Challies blogsite.

The Most Important Institution Shaping Western Culture

2008-10-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

I work on the campus of Texas Tech University so the following excerpt from the book Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig profoundly encourages and challenges me.

For the single most important institution shaping Western culture is the university. It is at the university that our future political leaders, our journalists, our teachers, our business executives, our lawyers, our artists, will be trained. It is at the university that they will formulate or, more likely, simply absorb the worldview that will shape their lives. And since these are the opinion-makers and leaders who shape our culture, the worlview that they imbibe at the university will be the one that shapes our culture. If the Christian worldview can be restored to a place of prominence and respect at the university, it will have a leavening effect throughout society. If we change the university, we change our culture through those who shape culture.

Are You Spiritually Healthy?

2008-10-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Are you spiritually healthy? Important question. Many times we evaluate spiritual health with actions such as church attendance, etc..., but spiritual health is much more than just activity. It involves the motivations and attitudes of the heart.

Consider the following questions as you gauge your spiritual health:

1. Do you thirst for God?

2. Are you governed increasingly by God's Word?

3. Are you more loving?

4. Are you more sensitive to God's presence?

5. Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?

6. Do you delight in the bride of Christ (the church)?

7. Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you? (ie. Bible study, prayer)

8. Do you still grieve over sin?

9. Are you forgiving of others?

10. Do you yearn for Heaven and to be with Jesus?

(questions taken from Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health by Donald Whitney)

The Weightlessness of God

2008-10-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

David Wells writes:

It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God's existence my nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned him after having nudged him out to the periphery of our secularized life.

-God in the Wasteland by David Wells, pg 88

Too Busy? Remember Your End!

2008-10-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Our days are numbered on this earth. But I'm not sure we believe it. We dash through our days attempting to keep afloat in a sea of hurried madness. We rush to work. We speed away to pick up our kids from school and then dart off to get them to soccer, baseball, band, and church. We eat fast food and microwave dinners. We have instant access via computer to more information than any generation and yet we get upset when files do not download fast enough. Even when we are not hurried, we live as though we are. Consider the way we drive. How many times do you find yourself getting aggravated at the slowness of traffic even when you are out for a leisurely drive?

Is this hurried pace the way we are to spend our days? We appear to be doing a bunch of "stuff" and yet in reality we are not doing much of anything. There seems to be an abundance of hollow activity as we hop from activity to activity. Could it be we have forgotten that our days our numbered? Does a dying man wish for days of frantic busyness or days of building on things that are lasting? In the last moments of a person's life, one does not spend time on the trivial.

David, the psalmist writes: O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath (Ps. 39:4-5).

May we understand the brevity of life in order to understand what needs to be priority. Time with God. Time with family. Time with friends. Time spent with a lonely neighbor. Life is too short not to spend time reading the Bible to your family. It is too short not to spend time praying for others. It is too short not to share your wealth with others. It is too short not to eat a slow meal with a good friend. It is too short to be caught up in the "rat race."

Lord, remind us of the shortness of our days...

Jeff

Why Another Blog?

2008-10-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Why another blog? After all, there are already so many blogs yet so little time. Each day I seem to discover a new blog site with good stuff. True, there are many blogs that are not worth the effort to click on, but many of which I have been faithful to read have been helpful. (Between Two Worlds and Tim Challies are just a couple of which I frequent.)

So, why another blog? Well, I have a few reasons:

1) For the glory of God! Though this could be assumed, I never wish to not state the obvious.

2) For the renewing of our minds! (Thus, the blog title) We must learn to think biblically!

3) For sake of truth! In a post-modern world, we must hold on to that which is true.

4) For the depth of our souls! My hope is that this blog avoids the trivial that captures so much of our attention in this world.

5) For personal reflection! Writing causes me to think and work at expressing the truth.

So here is my attempt at a blog. For those who read it I hope you enjoy it, but more importantly, I pray it serves as a catalyst for the renewal of your mind.

Jeff