If We’ve Only Got One Life…

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 »

Glorified Forevermore

Worth a slow, prayerful read (from here):

As far as any eye could see
There was no green. But every tree
Was cinder black, and all the ground
Was grey with ash. The only sound
Was arid wind, like spirits’ ghosts,
Gasping for some living hosts
In which to dwell, as in the days
Of evil men, before the blaze
Of unimaginable fire
Had made the earth a flaming pyre
For God’s omnipotent display
Of holy rage. The dreadful Day
Of God had come. The moon had turned
To blood. The sun no longer burned
Above, but, blazing with desire,
Had flowed into a lake of fire.
The seas and oceans were no more,
And in their place a desert floor
Fell deep to meet the brazen skies,
And silence conquered distant cries.

The Lord stood still above the air.
His mighty arms were moist and bare.
They hung, as weary, by his side
Until the human blood had dried
Upon the sword in his right hand.
He stared across the blackened land
That he had made, and where he died.
His lips were tight, and deep inside,
The mystery of sovereign will
Gave leave, and it began to spill
In tears upon his bloody sword
For one last time.

And then the Lord
Wiped every tear away and turned
To see his bride. Her heart had yearned
Four thousand years for this: His face
Shone like the sun, and every trace
Of wrath was gone. And in her bliss
She heard the Master say, “Watch this:
Come forth all goodness from the ground,
Come forth and let the earth redound
With joy.” And as he spoke, the throne
Of God came down to earth and shone
Like golden crystal full of light,
And banished once for all the night.
And from the throne a stream began
To flow and laugh, and as it ran,
It made a river and a lake,
And everywhere it flowed a wake
Of grass broke on the banks and spread
Like resurrection from the dead.

And in the twinkling of an eye
The saints descended from the sky.

And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream—
Almost—and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye.

I knelt to drink,
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy. And everywhere
I turned I saw a wonder there.
A big man running on the lawn:
That’s old John Younge with both legs on.
The blind can see a bird on wing,
The dumb can lift his voice and sing.
The diabetic eats at will,
The coronary runs uphill.
The lame can walk, the deaf can hear,
The cancer-ridden bone is clear.
Arthritic joints are lithe and free,
And every pain has ceased to be.

And every sorrow deep within,
And every trace of lingering sin
Is gone. And all that’s left is joy,
And endless ages to employ
The mind and heart to understand
And love the sovereign Lord who planned
That it should take eternity
To lavish all his grace on me.

O God of wonder, God of might,
Grant us some elevated sight,
Of endless days. And let us see
The joy of what is yet to be.
And may your future make us free,
And guard us by the hope that we,
Within the light of candle four,
Are glorified forevermore.

Posted in Theology | 1 Comment »

Sheared

My hair grew to the longest it’s been for about a decade, I think.  Thanks to Joe and my new Wahl clippers (“Premium DuraChrome finish is always in style!”), I am now sheared.

Before:

During:

After:

Slideshow:

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »

Search Desiring God From Firefox

You can now search all of desiringGod.org from Firefox.  Follow along…

1. Go to desiringGod.org.

2. See how the arrow next to the Google Search Box is blue?  That means you can add a search function…

3. Click it and you’ll see the option.

4. Click “Add ‘DesiringGod.org Search’”.

5. Don’t try it out just yet… right now it’s set to open in the same tab.  To configure it to open in a different tab, go to about:config, click through the confirmation, and enter “browser.search.openintab” into the Filter.

6. Double-click on the line so that the “Value” (the right-most column) says “true”.

7. Try out your new search box.  Important keyboard shortcut: ctrl-k. This will focus the search box by putting the cursor there.  You’re now only a ctrl-k away from searching DG!

Bonus Step:  If you install Google Desktop Search, you can use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-ctrl (tap ctrl twice) to bring up a Google search box from within anywhere on your computer.

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 3 Comments »

Exercises In Self-Centeredness

Often, my flesh thinks it needs 2 things to be happy:

1. Everyone else to stop sinning in ways that annoy me, inconvenience me, or make me feel like I need to rebuke them or tell them to stop.
2. Everyone else to focus on making me happy, meeting my needs, fixing my problems.

Simple enough, right?  I feel like I’m not too unique here.

Here’s Jesus’ approach: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45

I can’t “give my life as a ransom for many” and atone for sin.  But I can stop looking at myself and start looking at Jesus because of His atonement for sin. And I can serve others, for His glory, as Jesus enabled me and showed me how to do.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4:10-11

How to really be happy?  Live pointing at, relying on, and hoping in Jesus.

-Ben

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Exercises In Self Justification

At the core of the Gospel that so many of us affirm is justification by faith: we are justified externally not based on our own merits but based on Christ’s merit – he was punished for our sin and he lived the righteous life we could never live.

It’s easy for me to try to forget this and try to justify myself.  How does it look?  Often it goes like this: I sin, and I feel bad about my sin, so to make myself feel better, I remind myself of myself – of the good things I’ve done, the things I’ve done that should make me feel good about myself.  I caught myself doing this just now… trying to deflect feelings of shame and guilt by reminding myself how super I am and about all the things I do right.  I try to make myself acceptable – in my own eyes, in others’, and in God’s – by appealing to my own works.

So sinful.  So unbiblical.

My righteousness gets me nowhere. Isaiah 64:6 says, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Christ’s righteousness is what gets me to heaven.  And it deals with guilt and shame and inadequacy and fear in ways that appealing to my own righteousness was never meant to.

“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” – 1 Cor 1:30

To deal with sin, we remind ourselves of Jesus, not ourselves.

-Ben

Posted in Theology | 1 Comment »

Fight Unbelief Like Christ

Piper, from here:

As I mention these five steps in Matthew 26:37 and following I want you to fix in your mind what it is that threatens your tranquility most, what it is that causes despondency or disheartened feelings to rise most often in your own life. What’s the shell that Satan drops most frequently into your life? And then as I mention these five steps that the Lord Jesus took when the bomb dropped in his life, I want you to translate them immediately into your experience, because they’re all relevant. Alright? There five of them.

1. Jesus chose some close friends to be with him. Verse 37: “And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.” So he didn’t withdraw. He took the inner ring, his most precious and trusted friends, and he pulled aside with them.
2. He opened his soul to them. Verse 38: “Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.’” I can imagine their mouths dropping open, their King confessing his weakness. He opened his soul to them.
3. He asked for their help in spiritual warfare. Verse 38, second half: “Remain here and watch with me.” Another text says “pray,” and another, “Don’t let yourself come into temptation; stay here and fight with me. Fight with me.”
4. He poured out his heart to the Father in prayer. Verse 39: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” It’s just fine to pray that the bombshell that has dropped into your life be taken away. That’s just right. Whatever it is that Satan fires at you, it’s just fine to say, “Take it away Father. You’re stronger than he is.”
5. But finally, he rested his soul in the sovereign wisdom of God. Second half of verse 39: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Piper, in Future Grace, add’s a sixth point:

He fixed his eye on the glorious future grace that awaited him on the other side of the cross.  “For the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2)

-Ben

Posted in Sermon | 1 Comment »

Gmail Reply-To-All Greasemonkey Script

Ever mean to rebuke somebody over email but accidentally send it to a listserv or a list of listservs?  Ever written an email like this? (completely modified to protect the guilty):

from [redacted]
to [redacted]
cc CBS-L@cornell.edu, CCFIV-L@cornell.edu, CHIALPHA-L@cornell.edu, COAH-L@cornell.edu, CRUSADE-L@cornell.edu, FCA-L@cornell.edu, GCF-L@cornell.edu, NAVS-L@cornell.edu, PRAYERVINE-L@cornell.edu
subject Re: [redacted]

hey [redacted],

don’t send things to all the listservs.  You should only do that when it’s relevant to everyone on the listserv

[redacted]

If so, then for the sake of the Gospel – and the rest of us – you should install this Greasemonkey script. Actually, even if you haven’t, you probably should install it anyway – it’s always good to think twice about who you send email to.  It will bug you every single time you click “Reply to all” in Gmail, so you’ll never unwittingly send an email to 3000 people without meaning to.

0. You need Firefox. Get it here.

1. Go here and install Greasemonkey by clicking the green “Add To Firefox” button. It will let you install tiny little scripts to modify webpages. Restart Firefox.

2. Go here and click the black “Install This Script” box on the top right.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 2 Comments »

God Is More For You Than You Could Ever Be

One of the great things that happened at the Cross is our justification.  Without justification, we have a two-fold problem: we are sinful, and thus deserving of punishment, and we are unrighteous, and thus not deserving of eternal life.  Jesus solves both of these problems… listen to Paul explain it:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus took our sin upon Himself, and was punished for it.  He lived a perfect, righteous life, and that is counted to us.  This is called a “double imputation” – our sin is imputed to Christ and His righteousness is mputed to us.  Our sin was punished in Christ, so it doesn’t get punished in us.  His righteousness is given to us, because there’s no way we could live a righteous enough life on our own to get into heaven.

Listen to Isaiah prophesy about the work of Jesus:

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. – Isaiah 53:11

What does this mean for Christians?

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:1-4

Two things in there:

1. All the righteousness that we will ever need to gain right standing before God is DONE.  You can’t do anything more to earn your salvation, and to try to would be sinful and dishonoring to God.  We are loved, so we obey – not the other way around.  Obedience doesn’t earn us love, it flows out of it.

2. All the condemnation we deserved was put on Jesus, on the Cross, so that we are now NO LONGER under condemnation.  What does that mean?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? – Romans 8:31-35

For those who are in Christ Jesus (by faith), the condemnation is GONE and now God is 100% for us.  That God is an infinitely wise, loving, powerful God who know what is good for you FAR BETTER than you ever could.  God is more for you than you could ever be.

How does this ultimately work itself out? What does God know we need most?

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. – 1 Peter 3:18

God is what we need most.  God is the Gospel.  Justification, righteousness, atonement, sanctification, redemption – all of those are good gifts, but not ultimate gifts.  In this case, the Giver is also the Ultimate Gift.

-Ben

Posted in Theology | No Comments »

Ben’s Summer Reading List (So Far)

What I’ve read so far (in approximate order):

1. Preaching & Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones – I started reading this over winter break, read a handful of chapters over the course of last semester, and finally finished it this summer.  It talks a lot about the life of a preacher, how preaching should work, and why preaching should be done.  Very helpful.
2. The Reason For God by Tim Keller – I only read the second half of it.  It is an apologetics book, meant for nonchristians and Christians who talk to nonchristians about Jesus.  Quite interesting and helpful.  The first half I intend to use as a reference.
3. When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper – Tremendously helpful, practical book.  It’s essentially a sequel to Desiring God, and talks about how to pursue joy in God through truth, the Bible, prayer, meditation, etc.
4. Memoirs Of An Ordinary Pastor by D. A. Carson – Carson wrote a biography of his dad’s life and ministry.  His dad was a church planter in Canada with a modest sized congregation and a very interesting story.  The wannabe church planter in me found it very interesting.
5. Counted Righteous In Christ by John Piper – Piper gives an exegetical defense of imputed righteousness as a component of justification.  A short book, but a hard one.  If you want to see how closely reasoned exegesis looks, I recommend this to you.  Difficult, but worth it.

What I’m working on:

1. Future Grace by John Piper – A 31-chapter book (one per day for a month) elaborating on the concept of living by faith in future grace (hoping in future blessings of Jesus instead of simply banking our hope on past blessing (which is still important)).  If you decide you want to read this, let me know.
2. Instruments In The Redeemers Hands by Paul Tripp – an amazingly God-centered book on Christian counseling.  I dare say that Piper could not have written a more glory-centered, sovereignty-centered beginning to the book.  Immensely practical and helpful, I recommend this to everyone who doesn’t feel called to be a hermit.  It will help you help others and be helped by others, with God at the center, for God’s glory and your joy.
3. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem – An enormous theology textbook (basically).  My goal is to finish it by the end of the summer.  It is very well written, very pastoral (as opposed to inapplicably dry), and covers a comprehensive set of subjects about God, his work, and his people.
4. Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud – I started this and I’m not sure if I’ll finish it.  Our Cru staff gave it to me.  I think/hope that Instruments In The Redeemers Hands will sufficiently cover the same material (but I may be wrong – I’ll probably read a bit more of it just to make sure).

What I’m planning to read:

1. Tell The Truth by Will Metzger – A book on evangelism with a stunning list of endorsments – Piper, MacArther, Ryken, Packer, and others.
2. Teaching To Change Lives by Howard Hendricks – John Sullivan recommended this.  I’ve read another book by this guy, and found it quite helpful.
3. Whiter Than Snow by Paul Tripp – After reading him in Instruments and reading snippets on JT’s blog, I think I’m sold.
4. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper

There are probably a lot of others that I intend on reading, but I forget what they are right now.  When I’m done with Systematic Theology, I’ll probably move on to Calvin’s Institutes.

Yes, there’s a lot of Piper in there, but 1. he’s good and 2. I work for the guy and get his books for free, so I might as well.

-Ben

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