From One Degree to Another

I am thoroughly enjoying prepping for this Sunday’s sermon, which will come from Galatians 4:4-5. The commentary that I most enjoy is the NAC volume by Timothy George. Commenting on the eternal nature of Christ he says, “Christ did not begin to be the Son of God at Bethlehem, or the Jordan River, or at his resurrection or ascension. He is the ‘only-begotten God’ resident in the ‘bosom of the Father’ from all eternity (John 1:18; 17:1-10)… God sent his Son not just from Galilee to Jerusalem, nor just from the manger to the cross, but all the way from heaven to earth…In sending Jesus, God did not send a substitute or a surrogate. He came himself.” These are just very high and lofty thoughts to be enjoyed during this holiday season.

An Andrew Peterson song begins, “Gather round ye children, come, listen to an old, old story: of the power of death undone by an infant of glory — Son of God, Son of Man. So sing out with joy for the brave little boy who was God but made Himself nothing. Well, He gave up His pride and He came here to die like a man.”

I hope you can stand in awe of the incarnation. The eternal God himself sent His Son, fully God, fully man and fully able to save us to the uttermost.

Praise Christ this Christmas.

My Mom’s favorite baseball player, Pete Rose, (said with great sarcasm) says steroid users are damaging the game of baseball. Like Tim Ellsworth said, (HT to him by the way), “Good grief.” How did the ol’ phrase go? Something about a pot calling the kettle black???

For the free audio emphasis of the week, I would recommend listening to this year’s advent poems by John Piper. As the website suggests, “Beginning in 1982, as a gift to Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper has written poems for each of the four Sundays of Advent. They are mostly stories from the lives of biblical characters who find their lives intertwined with significant events in redemptive history. Also included here are poems that Piper has written for other occasions.” They are entertaining and well worth a listen. And, running about 7 minutes each, are easily grabbed quickly.

Thanks again to Desiring God for making Piper’s resources free and available to all. This year’s poems focus on Nicodemus (coinciding with Piper’s series on the new birth.

Nicodemus, Part 1
Nicodemus, Part 2
Nicodemus, Part 3

Yesterday in my morning message, I quoted Voddie Baucham on the need to encourage discipleship in our children. For today’s Marriage Monday segment, I want to give you the quotes I mentioned and simply ask, “Parents, are you equipping your children to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus? Or are you equipping them to a selfish lifestyle with little sacrifice following whatever their little hearts desire?” We have been given an awesome responsibility from God to shepherd the hearts of our children.

Here are the quotes I used…

“Ask parents what they want most for their children, and you will likely get the same answer whether they are Christians or garden-variety unbelievers. They will likely say, ‘I want my children to get a good education.’ In fact, that’s exactly what George Barna found when he interviewed Christian and non-Christian parents. The number one goal that they had for their children was that they would get a good education.

“I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with emphasizing education for our children. However, our children’s education is not our primary goal. Our primary goal for our children is that they walk with the Lord.

From Family-Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham

For further instruction, you might consider checking out J.C. Ryle’s excellent piece entitled “The Duties of Parents”Parent by grace in a way that draws out the heart of your children and prepares them for the good news of the Gospel.

Thabiti has some great thoughts on questions people have asked him about “children ‘celebrating’ Santa Claus during the Christmas season.” My favorite line was the last one answering whether or not including Santa is ‘worth’ it: “Personally, I doubt Santa Claus is worth it, and pointing our kids away from Jesus at Christmas may be the worst form of child neglect I can imagine.” Check it out for yourself!

Yes, the Winter Storm filled with ice hit us. We got around 1 inch of ice. Rainfall totals from start to finish were over 3 inches. So, we are digging out of what amounts to a disaster area today. Every school here was cancelled today and many are already cancelling tomorrow. While the roads and parking lots are passable, many remain without power. We cancelled our Wed evening activities tonight due, in large part, to the many people who serve being without power.

Here are some weather stories from the local news:

More Than 130,000 Kansans Still Without Power
Reno County (Where I Live) Hardest Hit By Storm
Reno County Ice Storm Damage
Hutchinson Hit Hard By Ice
Ice Storm – Photo Gallery

Here is the headline from the local news at 12:20PM today…

MAJOR ICE STORM ON THE WAY

As a result of this, I may be at home iced in tomorrow. I am furiously trying to finish some of the major details of sermon work in which I need books in my office. But plan to take labtop, books and sermon prep material home to work out of there.

You may or may not know that my FAVORITE preacher is C.J. Mahaney. I love the way C.J. brings every message back to the cross and is so humble and transparent in his communication. His pointed application always is used by God in my life. I really want to feel the text like he does. I was excited, then, when last week, on the Covenant Life podcast, I got a sermon from him on Adoption. The sermon was titled, “God as Father: Understanding the Doctrine of Adoption” from Galatians 4:1-7. Check it out. It is my free audio recommendation of the week.

Last Monday, I posted Mark Altrogge’s tips for more meaningful Bible intake. Over at the Blazing Center, Mark’s son, Stephen, gives the following tips to encourage Bible intake:

1. Pray as you’re reading
2. Apply one bit of truth
3. Read your Bible in the morning
4. Write while you’re reading

After yesterday’s sermon on denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus, I was thinking about how this concept related to my marriage/family life. As a father and husband, I need to be seeking to encourage radical Christ following in the lives of my wife and child. John Piper calls this building God-esteem not self-esteem into them. In Paul Tripp’s latest book, A Quest For More, he gets to the issue of kingdom allegiance. He summarizes the call of denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus as a simple call: YOU MUST DIE.

Deny Yourself: death to the priority of self
Take Up Your Cross: death to my pursuit of my life
Follow Me: death to my pursuit of my plan

Tripp goes on to ask these questions…

Are you living as his disciple in this way? Are you following his example? Only as we die to the glory of our claim on our own lives will we begin to experience the transcendent glories of living for the Lord. Only when we are willing to the do the unthinkable (preside over our own deaths) does the wonderful (the transcendence for which we were created) become our possession.

Later on in this Tripp says, “To jealously hold on to my dream of what I want to accomplish, experience and enjoy is to guarantee that I will never ever experience true life.” We want that life that is found only in God.

Therefore, as leaders in our homes (or as wives or children seeking to follow Christ), let’s get ride of the selfish things that surround us and inspire God esteem in our own hearts and in the hearts of those we love.