Check it out – should be pretty intense:

• 1/6 – #9 – There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black and white topic, or does it fall under liberties?
• 1/13 – #8 – Why do you make jokes about mormon missionaries, homosexuals, trenchcoats wearers, single men, vegans, emo kids and then expect these groups to come to know God in the same sermon?
• 1/20 – #7 – Why does an all loving, all knowing, and all sovereign God will into creation people He foreknows will suffer eternal condemnation? Why does Romans 9:20 feel like a cop-out answer?
• 1/27 – #6 – Of all the things you teach, what parts of Christianity do you still wrestle with? What’s hardest for you to believe?
• 2/3 – #5 – How should Christian men and women go about breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?
• 2/10 – #4 – If salvation is by faith alone, then why are there so many verses that imply works?
• 2/17 – #3 – How does a Christian date righteously; and what are the physical, emotional, and mentally connecting boundaries a Christian must set while developing an intimate relationship prior to marriage?
• 2/24 – #2 – What can traditional/established churches learn from “emerging” churches?
• 3/2 – #1 – Do you believe that the Scripture not only regulates our theology but also our methodology? In other words, do you believe in the regulative principle? If so, to what degree?

I’m looking forward to many of these.  #9 should be very interesting and insanely controversial.  #8 is personally interesting to me as I contemplate the place of humor in preaching.  #3 might just be the most needed out of all these.  And #2 and #1 have to do with church methodology and practice, which is also very interesting and useful for me…

-Ben

Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

1Co 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge– even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you– so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph 1:15-16 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Php 1:3-5 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Col 1:3-5 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

1Th 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Th 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

To pull out some highlights from those verses, Paul is thankful TO GOD for the believers in these churches because of:

• The faith in Jesus that has been produced in them by the Holy Spirit (salvation)
• The spread of their faith (the Gospel) around the world (missions/disciplemaking)
• The grace that God has displayed in changing their lives (sanctification)
• Their love for each other
• The good work that is spurred on by the faith in Jesus and love for God and others
• The steadfastness and perseverance that comes from hope in Jesus

And so I want to publicly thank God for some of the believers that he has placed in my life. This isn’t to put them on a pedestal and proclaim how great they are, but to proclaim to you how great their God is, using sinners like them to encourage a sinner like me, and to offer some encouragement, as Paul encourages Timothy: “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

I’ll start with my parents, since it was my conversations with them that spurred this post. I thank God for their love for me and the grace that He has given them to display to me, that despite my pride, arrogance, callousness, apathy, they still love me and care for me unceasingly, giving me a glimpse of how my Heavenly Father loves me and cares for me completely unconditionally and unceasingly.

I thank God for the guys in Crusade, who have strengthened and encouraged me by continually pointing me to Christ despite my desire to point towards me, who have placed their faith in Jesus and their hope in His sovereignty.

I thank God for Cru’s Small Group leaders, who work every week to strengthen and equip Crusade with the truth found in God’s Word, so that we might be able to “teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness.”

I thank God for Cru’s Praise Team, which works every week to contextualize the Gospel to believer and nonbeliever alike, making the truth of God come alive to us through song.

I thank God for the Freshmen in Crusade, who have been more and more desiring to get involved in bringing the Gospel to Cornell through loving service and evangelism.

I thank God for my co-shepherds – past and present – who have show me grace I certainly don’t deserve, loved me by pointing me to Jesus, and fought steadfastly alongside me in the work that God has prepared for us to do, reminding me daily that God is sovereign, I am not, and He will work all things out for His glory and our joy.

I thank God for men like John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Tim Keller, by whose teaching of the Bible I have grown immensely.

I thank God for Liang, for the years of friendship, the tears, the patience, the necessary rebukes – gentle and harsh, the vision of God he’s helped me attain – a Sovereign God who pursues His own glory for His joy and ours, and the unity that’s by God’s grace stood firm, despite the storms that might destroy it.

This list is far from comprehensive – there are many more people, entities, and programs that should be here than I could possibly list, or even name, right now. God has blessed me with much, and has allowed me to be witness to much. Seeing lives change – my own, my friends’, and total strangers’. Seeing people realize that giving up everything to follow Jesus is the easiest decision to make because Jesus is that satisfying and that real and that worth it. Seeing people see God in new ways – marvelous ways that brings light to their eyes and joy to their hearts as they glimpse and understand something new and glorious. Seeing repentance and forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation – in my life and in my relationships.

By the grace God has given you, press on!

-Ben

1. Pride is our greatest enemy.  Humility is our greatest friend.

2. Pride, in its origin and practice, is demonic and Satanic (Satan’s pride was the first sin).  Humility is Christ-like and Spirit-enabled.  Any human being who has any measure of humility is a miracle.

3. Pride is the encouragement to compare ourselves to other people.  We tend to pick people who are less than us.  Humility is continually comparing ourselves to Jesus.  If you struggle with pride, compare yourself to Jesus and that will help.

4. Pride covets the success of other people.  When they succeed, we become jealous.  This is why we critique them.  Humility allows us to celebrate the success of other people and the grace God has displayed.

5. Pride is about me…. about what I deserve.  Humility is about Jesus, and it’s about other people.  It allows people to be selfless.

6. Pride is about my glory – who I am, what I’ve done, do you like me?  do you want to be like me?  Humility is about the glory of Jesus – who is Jesus, what has he done, do you want to be like him?

7. Pride is “I am God”.  Humility is not about being God but about celebrating the fact that the real God has lovingly served me.

8. Pride leads to arrogance/cockiness/smugness, and is repugnant.  And leads to rejection of truth/teaching.  Humility leads to confidence (in truth), NOT compromise (of truth).

9. The point of pride is independence (look at Satan, look at our sin).  Humility is about dependence – acknowledging that we are created, God is creator, and we are dependent on God for everything.

10. “Pride is the mother of all sin” – Augustine.  Therefore, conversely, humility is the mother of all Joy.

11. Pride is something that we can achieve in this lifetime.  Humility is something we must continually pursue – it isn’t something we achieve fully.  Can’t say, “I am proud to report that I am now humble.”  Can say, “By God’s grace, I am a proud person pursuing humility.”