Worse off than Frogs

Have you ever heard it said "God didn't die for frogs (or dogs or cats or whatever). So he was responding to our value as humans."?

Here is John Piper's take on that statement:

"This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in our lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great only divine sacrifice can pay it."

Lord, forgive my pride.

God's love for us has nothing to do with our worth, but everything to do with his infinite worth. We were given the intelligence, unlike frogs, to choose good or evil in the garden, and we chose evil and are therefore condemned. Because of God's love, we have a savior, through whom, if we repent and believe, we can enjoy a blissful eternity with him instead of the eternal torment we deserve outside of his grace.

So I guess I'm better off than the frogs after all! Woohoo!

Craigs's Top 10 Lies of the Devil

I just returned from the 2007 CMC Youth Retreat. It rained every day, but still was a blast. The highlight for me and for many was Craig's talk on Tuesday night about Satan and his wiles... how he wants to kill us, just like he wanted to kill the pigs that the group of demons named "Legion" went into. And how he doesn't go around in some kind of red suit... he is far more subtle than that. Here is his top 10 list of Satan's lies that he tells us through media, other people, our own selfish desires, etc:

Top 10 lies the devil tells us today: (Craig Combs, Youth Retreat 2007)
10. The devil does not exist. He wants us to believe he is a figment of the imagination.
9. Good and evil are 2 sides of the same coin - (that Star Wars is right about good and evil!) World tells us we can balance good with evil, like standing on a tight rope with a long pole, you can balance, its ok if we are a little bad, as long as we are mostly good.
RESULT: YOU BELIEVE THE LIE THAT YOU DON’T NEED SAVING.
8. All religions are the same - they all basically say be good and you’ll be alright.’
RESULT: YOU BELIEVE IF ALL TRUTH IS ONE TRUTH, THERE IS NO LIE.
7. How you look is more important than who you are.
RESULT: YOU NEVER EXAMINE YOUR HEART - THE DEVIL WANTS YOU TO CHOOSE WHAT “GOOD” LOOKS LIKE.
6. The one who dies with the most/best toys wins.
RESULT: WE LIVE FOR THINGS.
5. Good intentions are good enough.
RESULT: THINKING THAT GOD GRADES ON A CURVE.
4. You deserve everything you desire. The culture perpetuates this lie with commercials/Christmas/birthdays
RESULT: YOU ARE NEVER SATISFIED AND NEVER THANKFUL.
3. If it feels good, it IS good. (Ecl. 2) - often comes from music, ex. “its Fergilicious”
2. You have all the time in the world.
RESULT: YOU BELIEVE THE LIE THAT YOU SHOULD LIVE FOR TODAY, YOU CAN WORRY ABOUT GOD STUFF LATER
1. THERES NO SIN, THERES NO GOD, THERES NO DEATH, THERES NO DEVIL.
ALL THESE LIES SAY THE SAME THING: THAT GOD IS LIEING.
PSALM 1 - SUMS UP THE OLD TESTIMENT, THE WISE MAN LISTENS TO GOD AND WILL STAND IN JUDGEMENT, THE WICKED WILL NOT REMAIN STANDING WHEN JUDGED.

Mormons!

Along with being a new homeowner comes the privilege of being visited by Mormons. Actually, it took them a while, and I still haven't seen any Jehovah's witnesses. It could be because of my strange schedule... maybe they've just missed me.

Anyhoo, they came around today and I didn't have much time but talked to them for a few minutes. I was torn between deciding whether it was profitable or a waste to spend time talking with them, but I was curious so I did.

I think they have some kind of schpeil they normally go into, but I just started in with some questions. I asked what it is about this Joseph Smith guy that makes him seem so special. They said he lived in Vermont at a time when the world was spiritually dark and couldn't find any church with true doctrine, or at least could not determine which was true and which wasn't. So he prayed to God, and God appeared as a pillar of light and explained it all to him, and he wrote it down into what we know as the Book of Mormon.

I said I believe the Bible, and they said "oh, we do too!".

I was like "oh, ok, great! So you believe then that Jesus Christ is the only way to God"

"Yep!"

"And that those who don't believe go to hell when they die, and those who do go to heaven"

"Oh, well, no we believe that there is a second chance".

"Oh! Well, that's not what the Bible says. This is exactly what I've heard about you guys... you try to say you are Christians too, and that you believe the Bible, and then it turns out that you don't."

They didn't seem very disturbed by this statement. They neither refuted nor confirmed it and that is pretty much where we left it for now. So I guess I have a bit of a homework assignment now... to find out why I believe that after we die, it is too late for any chance of salvation. The obvious one is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16:19-31. Brad reminded me that Revelation is pretty full too. I'll check that out next. Any other ideas, anyone?

Audio Biblegateway!!!

Everyone knows you can read the Bible on Biblegateway, but did you know you can listen too? Neither did I, until I accidentally clicked my way there the other week. I started listening to the book of Acts and ended up listening to the whole thing over the course of about a week. I had a bit of a lull in my reading lately and this was just the thing to get me going. With work, school, house, and other stuff going on, every time I sit down to read I feel like little fires are springing up all over the place. My computer is near the kitchen so I cranked it up and listened while cleaning house, doing dishes, preparing meals, etc and sometimes cranked out a couple chapters while having lunch. I could have gotten through the whole book in a couple days I think this way, but I listened to some chapters two or three times to make sure I got it because sometimes I'd forget to listen if I was doing something else. But it was pretty exciting to get through a significant portion of scripture in such a short time... its been a while. Not that it was that much, but it was just incredible how quickly a chapter flew that way. I highly recommend adding it to your routine! Here's the link:

Free Audio Bible!

The excitement of it has gotten my reading back in the groove again too. I should have bought the bible on CD/tape/mp3/whatever a long time ago. Think I will soon.

Tips on Quiet Time

We had a seminar with the Hanudels recently that I found very helpful. My notes are brief, but here they are:

meet with God as a friend

keep it fresh -- mix it up with different stuff, locations, etc to keep it interesting

I'm not too busy to spend time with God. I'm too busy not to spend time with God.

keep in mind we tend to make time for what we prefer.

ask myself, what do I tend to do with my idle time

pray big... really big (and small too). The "impossible".

don't doubt God's goodness

Romans 8:28

sometimes write prayers down... helps with focus

have an occasional "blitzkreig"... long reading session.

memorize Colossians 3

Set some goals, low at first, and talk to one person about that goal

We went over some categories for quiet time:

Hear: Romans 10:14

Read: Revelation 1:3

Study: Acts 17:11

Memorize: Psalm 119:9-11

Meditate: Psalm 1:1-3 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (prayerful reflection with a view to application).

And some recommended books (some of these are not necessarily the right titles... will need some googling to get them right):

Passion -- Elliot

Knowing God -- Packer

Bondage of the Will -- Luther

Lorraine Boettner -- Reformation

The Religious Affections -- Edwards

Faith Alone -- Sproul (easy read)

Biblical Christianity

Pink -- Sovereignty of God

Jim Downing -- Meditation

Eric Liddle -- The Dash (movie)