If We’ve Only Got One Life…

This Is Love

How do you define “love”?

First John 4:9 warns us NOT to try to define it based on ourselves: “not that we have loved God but that he loved us.”  We do love God and love people, but the Bible says that we can’t use our meager loving to define love.  We are to use God’s love for us and God’s love for himself.

The Ben Hutton paraphrase of 1 John 4:9-10:  “This is the most loving thing ever, and should be an example of how to love: a Father sent his Son on a mission to die, and as part of that death, the Father punished the Son for the sin of many people by pouring out his righteous fury on him.”

God’s chief example of love involved wrath and death.  It wasn’t pretty.  It wasn’t comfortable.  But it was glorious.  The objective fact was that God’s actions were loving.

Too often we rely on our subjective feelings to determine whether actions are loving.  But often, we feel wrong.  Just as our thoughts and our actions need to be sanctified, so do our feelings. And what is most loving might also be what is most painful, and not feel loving at all – especially in the short-term.  Looking back, things are often different.

Back in the day, some of the guys in Crusade liked to throw the term “bricking” around.  It consisted of speaking truth, in love, into each other’s lives.  It often felt, at the moment, like you were getting hit with a brick.  But that’s how it has to happen sometimes.  Life is war.

First John 4:7 is startling:  “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

Love is distinctly Christian.  Nonchristians “love” each other… but according to the Bible, not really.  There must be something distinct about the Christian way of “loving” that makes it love.  What makes it distinct is that Christian love is not about subjective feeling (though it often includes that), but about objective Fact.

One way to describe God’s love: “his commitment to do everything necessary (most painfully the death of his only Son) to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying—namely, himself.”

It works the same for us – we love others by working to “enthrall them with what is most deeply and durably satisfying.”  We love others by pointing them to that which is the greatest good and the greatest joy: God.  We love others by making them happy in God! This is our goal with both Christians and nonchristians – that they would be know God.

Verse 7 says that love comes out of “knowing God”.   To help others know God, we need to know him first.  Love necessarily flows out of knowledge of God.

Verse 12 says, “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” We make up for the fact that nobody has directly seen God’s face by loving them – showing them God!

Verse 10 says, “he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  The ultimate loving act was God doing what was necessary for us to be with Jesus forever in heaven.  God gave us himself by taking our sin and punishment upon himself.

Why?  So that we would know and enjoy God forever.

Does your definition of love match up?  Are you really loving people?  Christians?  Nonchristians?

-Ben

Posted in Theology | 1 Comment »

C.S. Lewis on Heaven

It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time there were somehow different — deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know.

The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if ever you get there you will know what I mean.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried:

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that is sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”

- The Last Battle

If you haven’t listened to Piper’s message called The Triumph Of The Gospel In The New Heavens And The New Earth, you should check it out.  Other than Prayer: The Work Of Missions, it’s the Piper message I’ve listened to the most.

-Ben

Posted in quotes | 3 Comments »

A Liberal Church… “A Lonely Place”

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  – James 4:8

-Ben

Posted in Commentary | 6 Comments »

Joyful Noise – Flame

Your boy’s been a Christian, quite a few years
Victory and faith, but I failed in my fears
I heard a lot of words that have tickled many ears
That’s why I praise God for the Word that we adhere
The Word became flesh, lived for thirty years
Died at 33, but after days reappeared
Jesus Christ anointed one ascended in the air
Or you can say the air where the Father made Him heir
Of all things the throne know it’s more than a chair
But after our redemption yes He did take a chair
Greater than the angels name superior to theirs
This is Hebrews Chapter 1 if you cared
I’m leaning to the right
The light is where I’m running
I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted
But all I really wanted was the One who really won it
Fought death, beat it gave His life to the public
I love it!

Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

Man I’m trying to lift Him high
Higher than the stars
I am not of this world like I’m from the planet mars
I love to preach Jesus you can read it in my bars
I’m pretty straight forward when I’m speaking bout my Lord
He paid the sin price being beat by Roman guards
But when He resurrected gave us life free of charge
Now me and my boys need to be in a psych ward
Cause we went crazy for God our lives was scarred
Now in the Book of Life, our names have been written down
We’re casting our crowns before His feet on the ground
It’s such a holy melody and a heavenly sound
Hearing holy holy holy coming out of the mouth
Of the four living creatures by His throne all around
Can you picture the scene this this is how it’s going down
You just need a little faith and a new set of eyes and a telescopic lens to look in and see God
I love it!

Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

One day we gon’ be out man, like three strikes
And home son like a homerun CHRIST
IS – KING – LION – LAMB – GOD – MAN – SIN CONQUEROR – GRAVE CONQUEROR – SATAN CONQURER
Can take a sinner, atheist sinner to God conscience
Can take nothing
Make creation and lives honor
The same God that came through a fetus as Jesus
Limited to breathing
Got believers singing

Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

Posted in Video | 5 Comments »

Subject: Ben’s b-day…

[Video is at the bottom]

Saturday, July 26th

Rajiv: is tomorrow.  Is anyone gonna cake him?  I feel like he needs to be caked real good.  Every part of his face should be covered.

Joe: Yo, he’s gonna get cakes so hard. So whats the gameplan? Do we have a digital camera (daniel)?

Rajiv: “He’s gonna get cakes so hard?”

I think it’d be cool to trick Ben into thinking he’s not going to be caked. And then cake him late at night.

So … if Daniel could arrange for a little party at work, then he could play it off as if the caking isn’t going to happen.  Daniel can mention that he called Joe to come hang out, but Joe said he couldn’t make it.

Later at night, Daniel lets Joe into his apartment.  Joe ambushes Ben with a cake.

Joe: Yo, I think ben is so smart that he’ll suspect we are going to try to double-fake him…so we need to be extra-crazy smart to out-wit him. Here’s what we should do: daniel should secretly let me into the apartment, I’ll hid in their bath tub and pull the shower curtain shut. when ben comes go “#2″, I jump out and get him while he is “most vulnerable.” how does that sound?

by the way, i’m half serious about my plan.

Rajiv: Didn’t I just say you’re not gonna do that?

Daniel: I definitely think i should let you in and hide you. Got a cake?

Joe: i can get a cake….at ALDI’s!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A bunch of stuff transpired (that's not as funny), and caking got put off til Tuesday]

Rajiv: You should get Piper to cake him.

Daniel: That strikes me as… unlikely…

Ray: YO NICE NICE NICE

Monday, July 28th

Daniel, to Jon Bloom: Mr. Bloom… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to cake Benjamin Lanning Hutton at Desiring God Headquarters after 1300 hours on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008. The method of attack will be delivered by Joseph Scott Tehrab to the door at that time, and he will remain to film the deed. It remains to be determined how the goose will be lured to the pond… I will pay you a visit soon after my own arrival to seal the cracks in the plan.

May the sugary goodness of the frosting in Ben’s beard be acceptable in the sight of our God.

Daniel: Jon Bloom has agreed to cake Ben. The deed will be done tomorrow (Tuesday), time TBD.

Liang: sweet! make sure jon doesnt pull a ray li and miss ben’s face… maybe train him in the art of caking beforehand by the power of the Spirit? just make sure to remind him of 1 peter 4:11 – “if anyone serves (cake), let him do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God might be praised through Jesus Christ.” 

Rajiv: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe: Alright, I just bought the cake from Cub foods, we are locked and loaded….

Daniel: Excellent… Ben said that Joe and I had fallen out of the good graces of many a tiny asian girl because we didn’t cake him yesterday. We’ll have to make it extra good. I’ll make sure the rest of DG is notified…

Joe: Yo, We should get Piper to cake Ben on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 29th

Ray: yo take pictures and video

Liang: might wanna de-knife him b4 you try to cake him… little boys w/ knives can get fiesty when caked

Rajiv: Use chloroform.

Jon Bloom: Very funny! I will cake in the strength the Lord supplies.

Jon Bloom, to me: After today I’m gone the rest of the week for a conference, and I have a dental exam at 1 PM. I have a couple quick questions regarding the M:A things you’re working on. Could I meet with you guys at 11:45 am? Sorry about the very short notice. Just come to my office. Won’t take long.

For some reason, my digi-cam didn’t record audio.  I’ve added a bit of commentary.

Thanks guys. I was completely surprised. Well done!

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

Crusade Blogs in Google Reader

I’ve put all the RSS feeds from all the people in Crusade whose blogs I know of into a shared tag on Google Reader.  You can subscribe to it here, or view a webpage with them all here.

Includes: Ben, Liang, Rajiv, Ray, Ken (Arnold), Charlene, Crystal, Jeanne, John (Sullivan), Tom (Jackson)

If you’re not on my list, and feel you should be, post your blog’s url in the comments and I’ll add it.  I feel like I might be missing some of you…

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 7 Comments »

22 Years

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 as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
- Psalm 39:4-5

Come now, you who say, ”Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ”If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
- James 4:13-17

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
- Psalm 150

Posted in quotes | 3 Comments »

What is the Wasted Life?

YouTube – Trip Lee Interview-What is the Wasted Life?.

“Anything separated from Jesus Christ is a waste of our lives… Anything we do, separated from the motivation behind it – giving the Lord glory – is a waste of our lives.  Pursuing things that are not of the Lord, pursuing things that don’t show him to be glorious, and pursing things that don’t help us to know him – it’s a waste of our lives.”

Posted in Video | 1 Comment »

Begin By Confessing Your Righteousness

I’ve started going through Paul Tripp’s Whiter Than Snow.  It’s a book of 52 short meditations on Psalm 51.  Here’s a snippet from the first one that I find immensely helpful.

Here’s the point. Before you can ever make a clean and unamended confession of your sin, you have to first begin by confessing your righteousness. It’s not just your sin that separates you from God, your righteousness does as well. Because, when you are convinced you are righteous, you don’t seek the forgiving, rescuing, and restoring mercy that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

What’s actually true is that when I come to the Lord after I’ve blown it, I’ve only one argument to make. It’s not the argument of the difficulty of the environment that I am in. It’s not the argument of the difficult people that I’m near. It’s not the argument of good intentions that were thwarted in some way. No, I only have one argument. It’s right there in the first verse of Psalm 51, as David confesses his sin with Bathsheba. I come to the Lord with only one appeal; his mercy. I’ve no other defense. I’ve no other standing. I’ve no other hope. I can’t escape the reality of my biggest problem; me! So I appeal to the one thing in my life that’s sure and will never fail. I appeal to the one thing that guaranteed not only my acceptance with God, but the hope of new beginnings and fresh starts. I appeal on the basis of the greatest gift I ever have or ever will be given. I leave the courtroom of my own defense, I come out of hiding and I admit who I am. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve been personally and eternally blessed. Because of what Jesus has done, God looks on me with mercy. It’s my only appeal, it’s the source of my hope, it’s my life. Mercy, mercy me!

-Ben

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Joshua Project in Google Earth Plugin

Joshua Project is a ministry that collects data on the world’s unreached people groups.  You should check out their website.  They’ve published their data in many formats, including a downloadable Google Earth .kmz file.  I’ve taken that and built a webpage using the Google Earth Plugin.

1. Use this file to install the Google Earth Plugin to run Google Earth objects in your browser (works with any Windows browser).

2. Go here to view the Joshua Project map.  You can click and drag to move around, and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.

For more info on Joshua Project, you can check out this video.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 2 Comments »