Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 142

Three Upcoming Conferences

There are lots of good Christian conferences. Here are three I’m involved with that you may want to check out:

Preaching Christ: The Pastor as Herald of the Gospel

Who else: Stephen Um and Brent Nelson will be speaking, with a Shane and Shane concert in the evening.

Where: Auburn Hills, Michigan

When: May 8

NEXT

Who else: C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, Jared Mellinger, Ian McConnell, Matt Chandler

Where: Orlando, Florida

When: May 26-29

RCA Integrity Leadership Conference

Who else: Carl Trueman, Scott Manetsch

Where: Deerfield, Illinois

When: June 18-19

 

There Is More than One Way to Skin a Cat (and Sanctify One Too)

God wants us to be holy, and he gets us to pursue holiness by means of many motivations. He does not stir us up to love and good deeds in the same way every time. If we shoot for godliness with the same arrow in every situation, we are not only unwise archers we are also being less than fully biblical. The Scriptures do not insist that the only proper motivation for godliness is gratitude, or our acceptance in Christ, or the pursuit of joy, or any one thing.

Take Colossians 3:18-4:1 for example. I count at least seven distinct commands, each with one or more attending motivations.

Command: Wives, submit to your husbands.

Motivation: As is fitting in the Lord.

Given all that is true of the Christian in the first three chapters of Colossians, wives should behave in this way. The motivation is to look to your identity in Christ, look at who Christ is, look at what Christlikeness entails (in putting to death and putting on) and therefore do what is fitting for someone “in the Lord.”

Command: Husbands, love you wives.

Motivation: And do not be harsh with them.

Technically, this is the only one of the seven commands that doesn’t give a corresponding reason for the command. But I think the second half of the command (and do not be harsh with them) may be an implied motivation. Husbands should love their wives because no one wants to be dealt with harshly.

Command: Children, obey your parents in everything.

Motivation: For this pleases the Lord.

Considering everything else Paul has said about legalistic rules (2:18-23) we can be sure he is not arguing for kids to earn God’s favor. But at the same time, it’s clear that pleasing God ought to be one of the motivations we instill in our children. Kids should obey because Jesus likes it when they do.

Command: Fathers, do not provoke your children.

Motivation: Lest they become discouraged.

Here we see Paul reasoning based on the welfare of others. “Don’t be a pain to your kids because you don’t want them to be pained, do you?” Sometimes we insist on obedience based on the principle of treating others as we would like to be treated. This too is gospel logic.

Command: Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart.

Motivation: Fearing the Lord.

Paul does not think it inappropriate to use fear as a motivation even among Christians. Obviously, this is not a servile fear before a vengeful God, but it is real fear nonetheless. The argument is: “Don’t fake it. Don’t put on a good show when people are watching and then turn into a cheat when no one is around. God is still watching and he knows what you are really like.”

Command: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Motivation: Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

Motivation: You are serving the Lord Christ.

Motivation: For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

The simple command is to work heartily. The reasons are many: (1) When you work you are actually working for Christ. (2) Christ will give you an inheritance when you work well. (3) The wrongdoer will be judged for doing wrong. Since Christ is your boss, giving bonuses and passing our demerits, work heartily.

Command: Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly.

Motivation: Knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

The reasoning here seems to be twofold. Masters should be just and fair because their Master in heaven is just and fair. They should also be good masters because they have a Master in heaven who will know if they aren’t.

The point of this brief exegetical excursion is to show how multifaceted the Bible can be with its motivations for holiness. God can appeal to our identity, his pleasure, the good of others, his knowledge, his example, or his recompense. And this just in the span of nine verses. The gospel gets at our hearts and stirs up our wills in many different ways. It is a mistake to lock in on just one truth, whether that’s adoption, justification, union with Christ, or whatever. As we preach and counsel and help others we should make liberal use of all the Bible’s ways of making us holy.

Ten Years, Ten Lessons

Well, today is my lovely bride’s birthday. Hardly a week goes by without someone reminding me how lucky (in a Calvinistic sense of course) I am to have the wife I do. Much better than I deserve.

Since our tenth anniversary was just a few months ago, I’d thought I share ten things I’ve learned about marriage. Guys, feel free to take notes. Honey, I know I still have more to learn.

1. Take time to notice and say thank you. It may be the same chores, the same meal, and the same kids, but don’t overlook all that your wife continues to do for you. Pay attention and let her know you are paying attention.

2. Speaking of paying attention, don’t try to fake it. If you are immersed in the game or an email or a book better to tell her so instead of making a vain attempt at multitasking. Say “Dear, let me finish this page/paragraph/play and I’ll be able to give you my undivided attention.”

3. Get her something for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, her birthday, and her anniversary. Consider Ground Hog’s Day and Arbor Day just to be safe. She may tell you she doesn’t need anything. And with some wives, she may even mean it. But don’t find out if she does.

4. Surprise her. Don’t be dull. Don’t always be predictable. Surprise her with a poem, a gift, a trip, a night out with her friends, a chance to see her mom, a day home from the office. Show her that you think about her even when you aren’t expected to.

5. And while we are talking about expectation, understand that sometimes she wants you to “get it” without having to spell it out for you. Yes, it would be easier if your wife just told you exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. But that ain’t the way things work with the fairer sex. You have learn to pick up the coffee without her telling you to. You have to pick the right restaurant on your own. Sometimes what she wants more than anything else is for you to figure out what she wants. That may drive you bonkers, but it’s part of loving your wife well enough to know her well.

6. Don’t compare. No wife is perfect (except mine probably), but don’t try to improve her by comparison. Nothing good is going to happen when you bring up your momma, your buddy’s wife, or Susanna Wesley. Unless the comparison is to Jesus, just drop it.

7. Don’t use up all your words by 6pm. Your wife wants you to talk, so learn to talk. Talk about your day. Talk about your plans. If you have feelings, talk about those too. Respond to her communication with more than nods and hmms. And don’t say “interesting” if you aren’t really listening. You’ll get yourself in trouble.

8. Don’t talk about leading, just lead. A lengthy discussion on the meaning of kephale will fascinate a few wives, but almost all wives appreciate a husband’s gentle leadership. Ask her to pray. Say “let’s.” Take initiative with the kids, especially in discipline. Call the babysitter. Iron out the details. Don’t shy away from hard decisions. Be a man.

9. Make her laugh. A marriage without humor is like oatmeal without brown sugar: it might still be good for you, but it’s basically congealed mush. If you’ve stopped laughing, you may have started hardening.

10. Repent and forgive. Say “I’m sorry.” Be specific and don’t make excuses. Try to see things her way. If you were only half wrong, own up to your half of the wrong. And when she owns up to her half (or her three-quarters or her one-eighth), give her grace, give her a hug, and move on.

Happy birthday Trisha. And no, this blog is not your only present.

 

Monday Morning Humor

Brings back a lot of good memories:

The Spiritual Discipline of Sleep

D.A. Carson:

Doubt may be fostered by sleep deprivation. If you keep burning the candle at both ends, sooner or later you will indulge in more and more mean cynicism—and the line between cynicism and doubt is a very thin one. Of course, different individuals require different numbers of hours of sleep: moreover, some cope with a bit of tiredness better than others. Nevertheless, if you are among those who become nasty, cynical, or even full of doubt when you are missing your sleep, you are morally obligated to try to get the sleep you need. We are whole, complicated beings; our physical existence is tied to our spiritual well-being, to our mental outlook, to our relationships with others, including our relationship with God. Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good night’s sleep—not pray all night, but sleep. I’m certainly not denying that there may be a place for praying all night; I’m merely insisting that in the normal course of things, spiritual discipline obligates you get the sleep your body need. (Scandalous, 147)

Bring Me the Head of a Pig

Sometimes I feel like I need fancy lessons. Not always, but in certain situations.

When I’m around hunter-gatherer men, the type who like to shoot things and talk about carburetors, I feel like everyone is looking aghast at my preppy short sleeve polo I got on sale at Target. In such company, I might as well have grown up in a microfiche museum raised by two librarians. I’m not really one of the guys. I’m too high brow, too soft.

But then on other occasions, I feel like the country bumpkin who doesn’t know what fork to use and doesn’t understand why there is a dude standing at the men’s room with smelly things trying to help me. Most often, I feel out of place around fancy food. I love Southern Seminary to pieces and have been blessed to eat with Dr. Mohler and others there several times, but the number of world class salads they’ve wasted on me would prick even the most seared conscience. I keep waiting in vain for some kind of hot dog that ends in the word “stuff” or a cheese that begins with “vel” and end with “veeta.” I don’t fit in a refined culture (although refined beans? perhaps).

I found this out again yesterday when I was flying to Dallas. For only the second time in my life I was bumped into first class. I know, I know, what kind of rube am I to be impressed by first class on a Delta regional jet? Well that kind of rube I guess. Yikes, all the things the comedians taught me really were true. I was half expecting the waitress to bring me the head of a pig and someone from coach to fiddle for me.

I felt sheepish when the gate agent called me up by name and told me I was being bumped to first class. I took the new ticket excitedly, but also fearful that some Christian might recognize me in Minneapolis and then I’d have to get into the awkward “I didn’t pay for this tickets and I’m only using it so I can work on a sermon” conversation. It’s hard to look like you are suffering when you are not.

When I got to my seat a very friendly flight attendant immediately asked if I wanted something to drink. When I told her water would be fine–the bottle of water already in my cup holder thingy!–she looked at me with a mix of pity and disdain, as if I were choosing to drink out of the toilet bowl. Before the coach passengers had all boarded, she was back through the first class section again taking orders for a second time. Someone across the aisle got a lovely breakfast platter–the oats in the oatmeal looked steel cut and the orange juice appeared very freshly squeezed. I, on the other hand, turned down breakfast because I already had some of those tater tot things at Burger King.

Before the meals arrived we got large napkins placed over our laps so as to prevent spilling. Very convenient, if awkward. We also each received a moist towel. Not a towelette mind you, but a real honest to goodness towel. It was indeed quite moist, and warm too. I was so flummoxed I had to peer out of the corner of my eye to what others were doing with this special gift placed gently in our palms with sterile tweezers. While I was busy washing my hands like a peasant I noticed others were dabbing their cheeks every so slightly or wiping their furrowed brows. I guess it was like a little bath.

Toward the end of the flight I was getting hungry. So I flagged down the eager-to-help attendant and asked if I might trouble her for peanuts, pretzels, or one of those twofer packages of cookies (the really hard kind that are almost as good as Dutch windmill cookies). She looked crestfallen and told me she’d check in the back. A few minutes later she came with a bag of each, but informed me, “We don’t really serve these in first class when we serve a meal.” Shame was written all over my face, like a man who goes to Morton’s and asks for ketchup with his steak. But if I wasn’t going to get a back of 13 peanuts at some point why did I go to all the trouble of washing my hands with a pre-moistened towel? Sheesh.

After reflecting on the day, I’m concluded that my cultural sweet spot is somewhere just north of Golden Corral and a little south of Olive Garden. A little above bowling and a  little below a butterfly exhibit. I can do the zoo, but I’ll probably stop to get one of those wax figurines.

And as for travel I’m probably a coach guy. But preferably in the exit row.

Stop Your Cheatin’ Ways

[image error]I have a theory that I’ve made into an aphorism: you can borrow time, but you can’t steal it.

The saying is mainly about sleep. If you have to finish a paper by 8am you can stay up all night to finish it. This may seem like a brilliant move because, after all, what were you going to do with the hours between midnight and 7am anyway? You were just going to waste it in bed. So now your paper is done and all you missed was a night’s sleep.

But all you’ve really done is borrowed time. You haven’t stolen it. Because you stayed up all night on Thursday, you’ll invariably crash on Friday. If not on Friday, then you’ll sleep in an extra five hours on Saturday. If you barely catch up on sleep over the weekend, you’ll likely get sick the next week. If you don’t get sick and you keep pushing yourself on empty, your productivity will slide. Or you’ll get into a car accident because you’re so tired. Or you’ll snap at your friends and cause a relational meltdown. All of which take time. You will have to make up for the seven hours of sleep you missed the week before. In fact, the longer you try to borrow against sleep, the more your body (or God) will force you to pay for those hours plus interest. That one all-nighter might cost you three full days of wasted time after all is said and done.

I recently read an article by a computer programmer about how making sleep a priority makes us more productive. There was nothing deep or spiritual about the post, but I imagine his experience, in general, has been the experience of a lot of folks, even if our details are quite different.

Three years ago I started a company in San Francisco with some friends. I didn’t quit my day job, so this was an after-hours project. We set up an office and established a routine of working from 6 p.m. to midnight. After we started working for the new company full-time, I fell into a classic trap of San Francisco startup culture: I confused work hours with productivity. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that working smart was better than working hard, but I convinced myself that I was doing both.

I wasn’t. As a programmer, I averaged 10-12 hours in front of a computer every day and rarely went to bed before midnight. Eventually, I felt dull and unmotivated. When I took two weeks off to travel in Colombia, I spent the first few nights sleeping for 10 hours each. I realized that if there is such a thing as sleep debt, I had accumulated some. I made up my mind to correct my sleep patterns.

I know this is easier said than done, especially for moms and dads with young children. But it would be worth your time (and mine!) to talk to your friends or spouse about how your life might be suffering from constant sleep deprivation. I doubt many of us will be able to solve the whole problem, but I doubt there isn’t something all of us can do to make sleep a higher priority. Less caffeine at night, no internet past 9pm, no t.v. past 10pm, better planning during the day, scheduling your week so that known sleep-deprived nights will be followed with lighter days—whatever little things you can do to pay back your sleep debt will undoubtedly be good for you, your work, your soul, and the ones you love.

Providence Battles Impatience

John Calvin:

If there is no more effective remedy for anger and impatience, he has surely benefited greatly who has so learned to meditate upon God’s providence that he can always recall his mind to this point: the Lord has willed it; therefore it must be borne, not only because one may not contend against it, but also because he wills nothing but what is just and expedient.

To sum this up: when we are unjustly wounded by men, let us overlook their wickedness (which would but worsen our pain and sharpen our minds to revenge), remember to mount up to God, and learn to believe for certain that whatever our enemy has wickedly committed against us was permitted and sent by God’s just dispensation. (Institutes 1.17.8)

As you read over the quotation about patience, remember that it applies to parenting too, as we can often be “unjustly wounded” by our children.

It may also help to remember that Calvin struggled with outbursts of anger his whole life.

The Old Testament Is a Story of Providence

The story of the Old Testament is nothing if not a story of divine providence. On every page, in every promise, behind every prophecy is the sure hand of God. He sustains all things, directs all things, plans all things, ordains all things, superintends all things, works all things after the counsel of his will.

This is not a small theme in the Old Testament. Providence is not merely an implied truth, deduced from a handful of obscure passages. No, the doctrine of divine providence is the soundtrack of Scripture. It is everywhere present even if at times you are not consciously aware of it. Like the book of Esther where God’s name is never mentioned but everything from a beauty contest (2:18) to a king’s insomnia (6:1-3) serve to advance God’s purposes. The God of the Bible is a big God who does not leave things to chance. He does not simply react; he predestines. He does not merely turn hard situations for our good; he ordains hard situations for our good. Our God is never confused and never caught off guard. His will, to quote Augustine, is the necessity of all things.

What is Providence?

Here’s what I mean by providence: “Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand” (Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 27).

Don’t’ miss all that the Catechism is saying. God’s power is almighty and ever present. That means it is limitless and boundless. In God all things live and move and have their being. Our God rules heaven and earth and all creatures in such a way that whatever befalls them—success or failure, blessing or adversity, life or death—no matter what comes and no matter the situation, nothing around us or to us or about us is the product of random happenstance. As Christians, we can be confident that all things come to us from the wise hand of our loving heavenly Father.

The God of Sovereign Sway

In the Old Testament, we see again and again that nothing is outside God’s control or his foreordination. The heavens and the earth were created because God said so. The floods came because God sent them. Sarah had a baby because God promised. Joseph was sold into slavery because God had a plan. The Israelites escaped Egypt because God delivered them. They inherited the promised land because God was with them. They were shipped to Babylon because God wanted to punish them. And the exiles returned because God stirred up the heart of King Cyrus to let them go.

Or consider the book of Job. In the first chapter, Satan is given permission to ruin Job’s life. So in one day Job gets four dreadful messages.  The Sabeans destroy the oxen and donkeys and their servants. A fire burns up the sheep and their servants. The Chaldeans make a raid on the camels and kill them. Worst of all, a wind storm rips through the oldest son’s house and all of Job’s children are killed. Now who is behind all this? Certainly Satan is to blame. Certainly the Sabeans and Chaldeans must be held responsible. Natural disasters also played a role. But somehow sending it all and behind it all-as the planner but not the doer of all these things-is God himself. Which is why Job’s response after these four reports is to confess: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21). Later he cries out, in the midst of unthinkable pain and unbelievable faith, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (13:15).

People frequently struggle with suffering in the Old Testament and ask “Why?” There are many bewildered cries for help and not a few cries of despair. The Old Testament is full of lamentation. God’s people often struggle to understand what God is doing or why he has done what he’s done. But you never find God’s people concluding that God is not the sovereign hand appointing their struggles. The pain may be debilitating or the circumstances shocking but the assumption is still the same: this is from the hand of God. However much they struggle to make sense of suffering they never make sense of it by minimizing the sovereignty of God. When famine strikes the land of Judah and Naomi loses her husband and her two sons she says in her anguish, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). She may struggle to see God’s purpose, but she does not doubt this was his plan.

The God of the Old Testament (and the New Testament for that matter) is a God with absolute power and sovereign sway over all things. “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the people” (Psalm 33:10). “He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses” (Psalm 135:7). He shuts the mouths of lions to preserve the righteous (Dan. 6:22) and unleashes lions to judge the wicked (2 Kings 17:25). He hardens hearts (Exodus 14:17; Joshua 11:20).

God cannot sin. He is not the author or actor of evil. But we mustn’t say he simply allows for certain events to take place, even events full of sin and suffering, as if God had nothing to do with the cross (Acts 4:27-30) and has nothing to do with most of what transpires in our world. The sovereign will of God is more all-encompassing that we might imagine.

•    ”God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem” (Judges 9:23).

•    ”Now the Spirit of the Lord has departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14).

•    ”I am the Lord and there is no other.  I form the light and create disaster; I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7).

•    ”When disaster comes to a city has not the Lord caused it” (Amos 3:6).

Even death is in the Lord’s hands.

•    ”The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6).

•    ”There is no other god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life. I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

From the big pictures to the tiniest details, the Old Testament teaches that God guides all our steps.

•    ”The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33).

•    ”A man’s steps are directed by the Lord.  How then can anyone understand his own way?” (Prov. 20:24).

•    ”I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his step” (Jeremiah 10:23).

•    ”All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).

Our God, Daniel says, “does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth” (Dan. 4:35). And in Isaiah the Lord declares: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God ant there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isa. 46:9-10). God is God because he  has the power to do what he wants, the wisdom to carry it out, and the sovereign authority to immutably appoint whatsoever shall come to pass.

Power with a Purpose

But we must not forget that providence is more than the raw exercise of power. It’s certainly true that God has power and authority and sovereign sway over all things. But the doctrine of providence goes one step further and asserts that all this power and authority and sovereignty is for us. It comes from a loving Father who intends to do good for his children. It’s like that line from Chariots of Fire where Eric Liddel’s father remarks to a skeptic that God may (in a manner of speaking) be a dictator, but “Aye, he is a benign, loving dictator.” The power of providence has a benevolent purpose.

So how does the knowledge of providence help us? According to the Catechism, the answer is threefold: “We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved” (Q/A 28).

Let’s look at each of these three points with an eye to the Old Testament.

(1) “We can be patient when things go against us.”

Providence is not only believing that God is the one writing the world’s history, it’s also trusting that he is writing our story. And it’s a good story. When Joseph was in prison, when baby Moses was floating down the Nile, when Haman was plotting to kill the Jews who could have known what good God had in store for his people? But he always did, and always does. Can you find a story in the entire Old Testament of someone in great trouble who trusts in the Lord who finds out that their trust was in vain? Abraham, Joshua, Rahab, Ruth, David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Daniel—the list goes on and on of godly men and women who trusted God in the midst of trial and discovered that providence was on their side.

No one can tell you exactly how things will turn out for you. I wish I knew when your crazy hard situation would turn around. But I don’t. No one does. But what we do know from the Bible is that God is writing a good story for you. Can you believe that? Do you trust him? You may say, “I’m in the middle of a terrible chapter. He has written a rotten plot twist into my life right now.” And that may be. The Old Testament is full of people lamenting such plot twists. But do not lose your patience. Do not lose heart. The story is not over. This is not the final chapter. God is a skilled Author and we can be sure he has penned a happy ending for us.

(2) “We can be thankful when things go well.”

Have you ever noticed there are a lot of songs and a lot of altars in the Bible? In the earliest days of Israel’s history the people made an altar when God did something amazing. At other points the people stopped to sing a song. The point was the same. When God’s people saw things going well for them they knew God was the reason. Of course, they forget that at times and assumed their bravery and their power were the causes of their success. But whenever the people or the kings were walking with the Lord, they were immensely grateful. They understood that good times were not just the product of wise leadership or a strong economy or brilliant military strategy. Their good times were God times, times where God in his providence had chosen to be transparently kind to them. God is always kind, but sometimes his kinds is especially obvious. It’s in these moments that the doctrine of providence reminds us to be thankful.

If you love the sovereignty of God, you should love to say thank you. Calvinists should be the gladdest people on the planet because we have more reasons to be grateful than anyone else. We know that no gift is an accident. No good thing comes to us by chance. Blessings are never the last link in a chain produced by libertarian free will. If you have a job it’s from God. If you have a family they’re from God. If you have a good church, that’s from God. If your life is made better because of cats or dogs or pizza or popcorn or ice cream or another birthday or new clothes or new friends or new health or a new baby, then give praise to God for he gave them to you. He’s better than Amazon. He gives you packages of new mercy every morning and the shipping is always free.

(3) “For the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father.”

Some of us know the Bible so well that we’ve lost wonder at what God really does for his people. We read Genesis 3:15 and God’s promise that a child from Eve will crush the serpent and we think, “Cool, that’s Jesus.” But we forget that God’s people lived with that promise unfulfilled for thousands and thousands of years. We love the story of Joseph, but don’t think about how he felt during all those years where his life seemed utterly ruined. We recall the promise to Abraham that he would be a great nation and get excited for our Sunday school lesson about trusting God, but don’t appreciate that Abraham and Sarah waited decades for their child to come and then they almost had to kill him and then Isaac’s twins go nuts on each other and then Jacob can’t get things figured out with his wives and then his sons keep acting stupid and then the family almost dies from famine and then comes slavery in Egypt and later exile in Babylon and along the way the line of David is almost snuffed out by Queen Athaliah and later the prophets seem to go silent and then the voice in the wilderness is killed by Herod and finally the would be Messiah gets crucified. At no point did the promise to Abraham look like a sure bet. It never looked like a done deal.

And yet here we are, children of Abraham, children of the promise, children of providence. God has been at work all along guiding, prompting, leading, steering, carrying out his purposes. And he will do the same for us. God is our Father. You are his son or daughter. He loves you. He wants you to grow up and be a mature man or woman. Like any parent, he only wants what is best for you. And unlike every other parent, he always knows what is best.

God Is Great, God Is Good

Don’t be afraid of the future. Don’t be anxious about trials. And don’t be nervous about blessings either, as if God will eventually wake up, realize you’ve been drinking spiritual Mountain Dew your whole life and start giving you spiritual broccoli to eat. Don’t worry that he’ll start balancing the scales to give you a little more suffering. There is no balancing of the scales with God. That’s the thing about providence. Our heavenly Father is always for us. He doesn’t make you pay for the fun stuff in your life with more and more pain. He’s only interested in your good, always interested in your good. He doesn’t vacillate between loving you and loathing you. His affections are set upon you and his providence is fixed upon your spiritual well being in Christ. That’s the story of the Old Testament and your story too-no matter what you’re chapter is like and how you would have written it differently.

Our God plans our way and gets his way. And his ways are always good.

If You Change Your Name to World Peace…

…then don’t elbow people violently in the head. It makes for ironic headlines.

World Peace Throws Vicious Elbow

Let’s hope James Harden is okay after this brutal hit (same goes for Marian Hossa). Professional sports are meant to be rough and tumble, but intentional blows to the head must be dealt with severely. I don’t want to sit down with my kids to watch a game and see a guy get knocked cold.

The Lakers’ forward Metta World Peace is the player formerly known as Ron Artest.