If We've Only Got One Life…

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Posted in Ben's Life | 1 Comment »

Kill The Facebook Ads

Stop looking at those sketchy ads on Facebook.  They’re not going to help you find a wife (or a husband).  They are going to tempt you.

Flee from sexual immorality. – 1 Cor 6:18

How?  Block them all.

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.

EDIT: That script adds an annoying “+” to all your pictures.  Use my version of it here.

EDIT 2:  Kill Xanga ads too: Here’s a script that should work reasonably well.

Should take you less than 3 minutes.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 8 Comments »

God’s Sovereignty Over Evangelism, and How To Pray For A Few People

Every Tuesday night, people from church go out into downtown Minneapolis to do contact evangelism.  Daniel and I have been going with them for the last month.

Tonight, God’s hand and God’s plan were clear.

The car we were in was rather delayed… leaving church, for a few reasons, about 15 minutes behind the others, and then it took us forever to find a parking spot.  All the while, I was repenting of impatience and trying to trust and hope that God knew what he was doing…  Of course, He was putting us in exactly the right places at exactly the right times.

Really early on, Daniel and I met a girl looking for a bus home.  We asked her if she knew the Gospel, she said “yes”, and walked us through redemptive history, quoting verses along the way.  We followed that up with the “million dollar question”: do you believe the Gospel.  “No.”

She believes in God, and Jesus, and knows the facts of the Gospel.  But she knows the cost of actual faith – that Jesus would have to take over her life – and that wasn’t a choice she was will to make just then.  Her current state is acknowledging truth in her head and wanting to acknowledge it in her heart.  But she’s not there yet.

We talked with her for about 30 minutes, trying to help her find her bus.  We found out that she’s pregnant and that if she doesn’t leave her boyfriend he’ll make her get an abortion.  So she’s pretty torn up internally and going through some crazy stuff.  We got to talk about how Christianity is about joy – a joy that is deep and true and pervasive, that doesn’t contradict sorrow and suffering but pushes on through it.

We left her with a New Testament, a Quest For Joy tract, and the Quest For Joy CD.  Pray that she would meet Jesus in a compelling way tonight.  She wants to believe.

Our next conversation was with a girl who was already a Christian, was from around here, and was churchless.  We had a good chat with her, talking through the Gospel, talking about Desiring God and what we do there, and inviting her to church with us.  We pointed her to Bethlehem’s website – pray that she gets plugged in.

The last encounter I had was really remarkable.  Bill, one of the guys we were with, and I were walking down the sidewalk and Bill suddenly stops, turns around, and says to this woman, “Can we pray for you?  I feel like I’m supposed to ask you if we can pray for you.”  Her response: “how’d you know?  My mom is about to die of cancer and my toddler is having brain surgery in two weeks.”  Wow!  We prayed for her, her mom, and her kid (who was with her in a stroller, and the happiest-looking kid I’ve ever seen.  He wouldn’t stop smiling!).  We invited her to church on Sunday – she said she’s been looking for a church and everyone she’s asked has been unhelpful.  Pray for her son, her mom, and that she’d come to church next weekend and meet Jesus!

I went into the night hopeful but afraid – it’s hard for me to start and sustain conversations with people.  I was praying that God would give me joy, and help me approach evangelism Christian Hedonistically – doing it for my joy and for God’s glory.  God answers prayer in ways we can never dream, working things out in His perfect wisdom to give us joy in Him and call people to Himself!

-Ben

Posted in Ben's Life | 2 Comments »

Your Reward Will Be Great

See the Christian Hedonistic appeal here?

”If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” – Luke 6:32-35

We love and serve not out of disinterested obedience.  Jesus certainly never suggested we do that.  We love and serve for our benefit – our joy – both now and in heaven.

-Ben

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The smoke from her goes up forever and ever

Right now, we praise God for who He is and what He has done, saving us for eternal life with Him and saving us from eternal torment in Hell.

In heaven, we will praise God for who He is and what He has done, having seen Him in His glory and Him in His judgment of evil.  Wrath and Love are for our joy because they are for God’s glory.

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

-Rev. 19:1-3

-Ben

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