What is the unwasted life?

The unwasted life is the life that in everything that you do in life and in death puts CHRIST on display as supremely valuable.

You have life given by God for this one main reason: Make. CHRIST. Look. Great.

I count everything:

Money as loss;

Food as loss;

Looks as loss;

Friends as loss;

Family as loss;

Job and success as loss;

in comparison with the treasure that Christ has become for me.

- John Piper

A not-so-new stanza

I was recently reintroduced to the last stanza of Come Thou Fount. I really really can’t believe that it’s omitted most of the time. This is seriously among the most WONDERFUL stanzas of a hymn I’ve ever read. Props to John Martin for re-introducing it to Crossroads @ GCC. This is a stanza I’ve hummed in my mind at many times during my work day, while I’m waiting for the elevator, etc. Perhaps due to freshness, it still brings a little tear to my eye, makes my heart soar, and makes my normal small pang of hunger for Heaven into a ravenous gnawing. Maranatha!

Oh, that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in the blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy wondrous grace!
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send Thine angels soon to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Oh snap, Dr Mohler

“When a generation is continuously told that its options are limitless, its abilities are boundless, and its happiness is central, why should we be surprised that reality comes as such a difficult concept?” – Al Mohler

High Priest

I dare you to read the whole thing. You will be rocked.

 

There’s commotion in my brain, strange is the notion
Words cannot explain my range of emotion
I’m speechless, my flaws exposed and my weakness
Each breath draws me closer to a deep test
It’s month number seven, it’s been ten days
I’ve been awake all night reflecting on my ways
A threat to my peace in this greatest of moments
Because I’m the High Priest and it’s the Day of Atonement
The LORD is so holy and perfect, I’m nervous
I’m floored that He chose me to worship through service
Don’t ask me why the God who crafted the sky
Drafted this weak guy from the clan of Levi
Preceding generation taught me to read the regulations
Deep meditation on decreed revelation
Extreme trepidation breeds hesitation
Yet I must lead and be the representation
My occupation- to intercede for the nation
But indeed my own sins need expiation
The wrath of Jehovah’s grim, sin is no joke to Him
The hope is slim for unholy men coming close to Him
He’s spoken in His Word the proper way of approach to Him
Nadab and Abihu got it wrong and He roasted them
These things I weigh as I sigh
This could either be the greatest day of my life or the day that I die!

For now, no time to focus on my sinning
I bathe in the laver though it seems extreme
I put on the holy coat made of white linen
Craving His favor- I’m ceremonially clean
I check to inspect- no tangible faltering
Next I must collect the animals for the offering
A spotless ram and a bull- the components
God gives to make atonement for my own sins
This part of the ritual makes me real cautious
Because the very sight of blood makes me feel nauseous
Still I proceed by snatching him close, slashing his throat
when his blood splashed on my coat
Reacting, I choke- gasping that’s when I’m grasping
God’s reaction that sin provokes
I take a moment to reflect on the blood spilled in this
Staring at the goat to be sent into the wilderness
I’ll confess Israel’s sins with my hands on his head
Symbolizing guilt transferred instead
to a substitute the living God provided and stamped
guilty of our sin, driven outside the camp
This beautiful picture of hope and grace motivates
And I don’t want my fear to make this dope occasion go to waste
Change my outer garments, slow my pace- yo I brace
myself to stand before Jehovah’s face in the Holy Place

The time has come, the great moment has arrived
About to enter in- what a lonely enterprise
Look at the other priests, they speak only with their eyes
Rope tied around my ankle just in case I don’t survive
I enter through the first curtain to a dark room
I’m standing in the Holy Place, my thoughts consumed
I’m caught off guard, I’m unraveling at this stage
My heartbeat so hard it’s rattling my ribcage
Feeling like I’m disintegrating and I can’t stand
Comforted by the light emanating from the lampstand
This helps my vision- I can see the showbread
I think of God’s provision, that helps me go ahead
I need courage to worship! Man, this is intense
I take burning coals off the altar for the incense
The sweet aroma fills the room
The smoke protects my eyes- one sight of Jehovah seals my doom
It’s no mere coincidence I’m here surrendering
With fear and trembling I’m nearly entering
I feel like running scared, hoping I’m not unprepared
Stunned with fear- no one comes in here but once a year
Nevertheless I’m at the point of no return
Besides, I don’t want my anointing to be spurned
After counting to three, next time I inhale
I’m in the Holy of Holies beyond the veil!
The first thing I realize is I’m thrilled that I’ve
entered into God’s presence and yet I’m still alive
I’m awestruck by the weight of His terrible beauty
It’s almost unbearable but I must fulfill my duty
Approach the ark, the first part of my work’s complete
when I sprinkle blood seven times on the mercy seat
Quickly I exit, impressed with the Hesed
that rescues the wretched and left us accepted!

Lyrics by Shai Linne

From the halls of a med school on the East Coast…

(9:32:04 AM) a: im actually thinking about taking a year off to get a masters
(9:32:13 AM) a: in biomed E
(9:32:14 AM) steve: oh what the heck
(9:32:23 AM) steve: take a detour from your MD path?
(9:32:25 AM) a: i miss thinking
(9:32:38 AM) a: and math
(9:32:38 AM) steve: as opposed to memorizing?
(9:32:47 AM) a: yeah no thinking involved
(9:32:51 AM) steve: bleh
(9:32:53 AM) steve: i could never do that
(9:32:53 AM) steve: hahaha
(9:32:56 AM) a: straight regurgitating facts

Oh wonderful. So that’s how med school is like?

Fruits from the Money chapter of Desiring God

Heart motivation is crucial. How will we ever point them to Christ’s infinite worth if we are not driven, in all we do, by the longing to have more of Him? It would only be unloving if we pursued our joy at the expense of others. But if our very pursuit includes the pursuit of their joy, how is that selfish? How am I the less loving to you if my longing for God moves me to give away my earthly possessions so that my joy in Him can be forever doubled in your partnership of praise?

A very sobering warning to the rich. 1Tim 6:17 says to not set your “hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” This is not easy for the rich to do. That’s why Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23). It is hard to look at all the earthly hope that riches offer and then turn away from that to God and rest all your hope on Him. It is hard not to love the gift instead of the Giver. But this is the only hope for the rich. If they can’t do it, they are lost.

Critical thinking is essential for true, God-honoring wartime living. The pastor will ask, “Is it wrong to own a second home that sits empty part of the year?” And he will answer, “Maybe and maybe not.” He will not make it easy by creating a law. Laws can be obeyed under constraint with no change of heart; prophets want new hearts for God, not just new real estate arrangements… But he will help them decide. He will say, “Does your house signify or encourage a level of luxury enjoyed in heedless unconcern of the needs of others? Or is it a simple, oft-used retreat for needed rest and prayer and meditation that sends people back to the city with a passion to deny themselves for the evangelization of the unreached and the pursuit of justice?”

Paragraph 1: John Piper, Desiring God. pp. 195-196
2: p. 197
3: p. 202

Diamonds in the Rough

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 
- 1Cor 1:26-31

I’ve had the joy of discipling high-flyers, and I’ve also had the joy of discipling guys you’d never think much at first glance. Guess which has been a greater source of joy? Perhaps it’s the joy of exceeded expectations. But I think there’s more to it. The glory of God and the power of God shine MUCH brighter when someone initially unimpressive becomes something special. You know it’s not because of personality. You know it’s not because of natural leadership qualities. You know it’s not because of inherent intelligence. You know it’s undeniably God and God alone who did it. When a man prostrates himself before the feet of the Lord, submits everything, and says with all his heart “Lord, take my life, it’s all for Thee,” He takes the glass ceiling imposed by our personal limitations and shatters it.

All that to say, I’ve been recently (say, in the past year) convicted to divert my focus away from the obvious bright-shiners/high-flyers in the church and focus my search on the more easily-ignored guys who have hearts of gold beating underneath their less-than-impressive surface. There’s just something special about it. It’s much harder in the moment, but the long-term satisfaction and resultant glory to God are just too undeniable to pass up.

In every victory
let it be said of me
my source of strength
my source of hope
is Christ alone!

Verses floating in my mind today

Before the actual content, a really random thought: I thought it was really cool that during one of the hymns during Communion today, the last line in one of the stanzas had a double exclamation (!!) at the end of it. Yes, salvation is that great. Few other things truly deserve heapings of superlatives and !!’s

For Killing the Sin of Discouragement in Ministry
“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
- Luke 17:7-10

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. “
- 2Cor 3:18-4:1

It’s been a crazy, crazy privilege to serve God. It’s been the source of most of the most immense joys in my entire life; nothing can match it. And to think that ministry itself is a GIFT and a GRACE from God’s perfectly loving hand… how can I ever be discouraged and question “what’s the point?” Yes, I do ask that question when I’m in a more emo disposition, but the Word cuts through the fog of my sin, hits me over the head, and says “Wake up, idiot! And get in touch with reality! Rejoice!!” 

For Cultivating Humility and a Love which Rejoices with those who Rejoice
“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
- John 3:29-30

The title is self explanatory.

ECHO 2/3/09

PR Highlights

• Notice: a lot of pregnancies
• A praise to highlight: Whitney Stire’s sight is preserved.
• Russian men: received visas, God has provided abundantly. These are hard to get.
• Matt & Rachel Floreen: please pray for their support levels as they share their vision with churches in the States

 

Alan Luciano (Philippines)

• John 4:35 – the fields are white for harvest!
• We took a trip to the Philippines for teaching
• Indeed there’s a harvest!
• We worked with TMS grads to conduct a weeklong hermeneutics seminar. Attended by 80 people. 50 men, 30 women.
  • There were a lot of Compassion Int’l people
  • Pastors, children’s ministry workers
  • And a few pastors from White Fields
  • We had Bible workshops
  • Also on the last day, we had separate mens/womens sessions.
• The Body of Christ in the Philippines is VERY hungry.
  • A lot of evangelical witness here BUT the depth of knowledge there is very shallow.
    • On par with an FoF class at GCC
  • There’s a real need & hunger for training here.
  • Pastors are very ill-equipped
  • The physical poverty here is a picture of the spiritual poverty
  • The Catholic church is very prevalent here
  • The pastors here are well-connected with each other. We train one pastor, and he refers us to 20 more! Opportunities abound.
  • Sean and Mark, two of our missionaries over there, are likely to overstretch themselves. So many opportunities!
  • There’s a huge need for more expo preaching. There’s really no local church in the Philippines that demonstrate expo preaching

 

The Future Faces of Missions – GCC Missionary Candidates (Kevin Edwards)

• There are many in the pipeline! Clearly we need to beg the Lord to provide support for these precious families.
• Welcome, UCLA. It’s our hope that God would really use many of you for the cause of missions.
• The people I’m about to present, not all of them will be sent. And some we’ll send aren’t here on this list
• Latin America
  • Mexico: 1
  • Brazil: 2
  • Argentina: 2
• Asia
  • Lebanon: 2. There’s big opportunities here, because it’s one of few Muslim countries that isn’t closed in the sense that a Muslim can become a Christian without it being a crime
  • China: we got 2 missionaries over there. 3 more coming!
  • Philippines: the national church there is good at spreading and planting, but definitely there’s a huge thirst for more solid teaching. 1 more coming!
• Africa
  • Malawi: 1
  • South Africa: 1
• Europe
  • Spain: 1
  • Germany: 2
  • Italy: 2
• And 6 more undecided.
• Money has never been a show-stopper for missionaries at GCC. We trust God to continue to provide that

 

STM Update

• Often a heart for missions begins with an STM
• Applications still open for a few weeks
• A great opp here!
• If you’re thinking about missions long term, an STM is a great start. You get to see missionaries in their native environment
• France, Czech Repub STMs still need team leaders. If you wanna lead, please come talk to the coordinator.
• Sign up on the web (gracechurch.org/stm) if you’re interested
• Please consider an STM at least once. You’ll not come back the same! Guaranteed.

 

John Snyder (Samara, Russia)

• IMO Samara is one of the great stories in modern missions
• SAMARA acrostic. What’s Samara all about?
• S – Spiritual leaders (2Cor 5:9)
  • 1998 – Victor Ragusov
  • Was a pastor for 20 years.
  • Came to a preacher’s conference a few years back, and therefore wanted to make many changes, because he wants to please God!
  • Made the pulpit in the center of the church
  • Made verse-by-verse exposition a priority
  • Sent a request to GCC: “come and help us!”
  • PRAY that you’ll serve with the kind of leader who’ll make serious changes if he realizes it Biblically.
• A – Answered prayers (Phil 4:4-7)
  • 1999 – short-term trip
  • Pastor Victor’s request was heard. GCC sent an STM
  • And I (John) was totally captured. Beware the STM
  • And since then, it’s been 8 of the most blessed years of my life!
  • A room jam-packed with men who were hungry to learn. Come and help us!
  • I came back to the States and I told my wife… apprehensive if my wife would agree to moving to Russia
  • I came back, and she was more than ready!
  • Praise the Lord, He richly provided
• M – Missions-minded churches (Phil 4:18)
  • 2000 – support raising
  • Golden piece of advice, if you want success in your ministry: find a church with a mindset for missions
  • A church with fervent fanatics for prayer! Beg them to pray for you! The Apostle Paul did it in all his epistles!
  • THAT’s the kind of church you want to be sent out by!
• A – Amazing Grace (2Tim 2:1-2)
  • Samara Preacher’s Institute!
  • 285+ grads! Faithful 2Tim 2:2 men!
• R – The Russian brethren (1Cor 16:20)
  • They are so precious
  • They are such an encouragement
  • They love us here at GCC, and pray for us as well
  • Be sure you go love the people you serve once you get there!
• A – All of you (Eph 6:18-20)
  • God has answered your prayers here! It’s been amazing!
  • People are getting saved, the workers are going out to the white harvest.
  • PLEASE keep praying!!!

 

GCC Missionary Conference – Israel 2008 (Brad Armstrong, Shannon’s dad!)

• Every 2 years, there’s a GCC Missionaries Conference. All the GCC missionaries worldwide gather together.
• Hard to come up with new superlatives for this trip. Just amazing
• Missionary fellowship
  • They all get to interact with each other and feed each others’ flames J Iron sharpening iron. Stories shared.
  • The Believers’ Foundation: they provide a lot of funding for our GCC missionaries.
  • The kids got a good time to play and have fun too
• Worship
  • Mike Mahoney got to lead us. It was totally wonderful
  • We got to experience really rich, full Body life
• Teaching
  • Mark Borisuk, Irv Busenitz and Rick Holland came and taught
  • Got to sit in the stadium where Paul almost converted Herod (Acts)
• Prayer
  • These missionaries are so fervent and strong in praying for us at GCC and for each other
  • Lots and lots of passionate and very encouraging prayer times.
  • A really special time
• Updates from GCC
  • They were SO encouraged to hear about Commitment To The Commission. A lot of them were having financial troubles lately.
• Ministry to Missionaries
  • ECHO meetings with missionary teams
  • ECHO elders – 1 on 1 meetings with missionaries. Encourage and keep up on them. How can we as GCC help you?
  • Financial meetings with Brian Milam
• Women’s Ministry
  • Really encouraging, since missionary wives can feel isolated sometimes
• Children’s Ministry
  • Very encouraging: the leaders of the time, the wife found out she had thyroid cancer right before the conference, but they still came because they really thought the children’s ministry mattered
• Biblical Understanding Enhanced
  • We got to see a lot of rich history
  • Where Jesus walked…
  • Where Peter preached in Acts…
  • Where some future events in Revelation speak of…
• The sun never sets on Grace Church missions overseas… J
  • It’s mind-boggling and so wonderful
• The next one will be back here at GCC!

 

Next month is Shepherd’s Conference.

We meet as a missionary family at the Dining Commons at the Master’s College for ECHO. Not here at GCC.

Missionaries and nationals from the countries

Marvelous, helpful realizations. And a jarring, helpful quote.

One thing I do during my commute (besides sing ) is ponder the things of the Lord, that He might use that thinking to bring me closer to Him. And many times He’s gracious to coalesce those thoughts into stateable sentences. Here’s two that have been tremendously helpful for my worship and walking with Him in faith.

First: Before you can properly ascribe glory to God, you have to see, savor, and marvel at His glory such that it completely blows your mind.
If you understood that, no need to read the following paragraph. What in the world does all that mean? Recall the difference between God’s intrinsic and ascribed glory. Intrinsic is the glory He’s got that never changes, and that’s what should completely wow us, and that’s what we spend our entire lives acquiring further tastes for. Ascribed glory is praise that Creation brings Him; we ascribe Him glory. Ascribed glory is what most people think of when we say “the chief end of man is the glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” But remember, ascribed glory is rooted in recognition of God’s intrinsic glory.

Second: If Jesus loves you so much to die for you, and He holds the entire universe in His sovereign hands, isn’t it completely natural to trust Him in all your everyday happenings?
I’m going to credit this realization as the fruit of Jerry Bridges’ Trusting God. Go read it. The whole book is an unpacking of three great, foundational, simple truths: God is completely sovereign, completely loving, and completely wise. Therefore trust Him. Solid.

And I close this post with a quote from John Piper’s Brother’s, We Are Not Professionals. Many people I know can benefit from these  implications of justification by faith that Piper unpacks for us. I know I’ve benefited from these implications immeasurably. I commend these to you.

Christ offers you [justification by faith alone] today as a gift. If you see Him as true and precious, if you receive the gift as your greatest treasure in life and trust in it, you will have a peace with God that passes all understanding. You will be a secure person. You will not need the approval of others. You will not need the ego-supports of wealth or power or revenge. You will be free. You will overflow with love. You will lay down your life in the cause of Christ for the joy that is set before you. Look to Christ and trust Him for your righteousness.