the beauty of the mountains

Two days ago I spent some time hiking around the Absaroka mountains in western Montana. I snow-shoed it with my buddy, Joel. He's a much more avid hiker than I (you'd never guess given my stout appearance...haha) and I'm sure at times he would have loved to hike longer but, thankfully, he slowed and we went at my pace.

I love the mountains. Why? Because there are few places on earth (that I have been)that so encompass the enormity of God than in the mountains. They are huge, they are beautiful, they stir up fear and love, and I long to know them. The same is true of God: he's huge, he's beautiful, he causes fear and love, and I long to know him more.

I wish that each day I could wake and experience the joy of the mountains (not for the joy they cause but for God's.) But I don't want to have to depend on some created thing for a call to worship the greatest thing. Wouldn't it be a great life if each day it was no effort more than to open our eyes and be in love and in awe of our great Savior? O, Lord...let today be the first of those days.

-joe

the Gospel amazes me...and makes me crazy

My sister, who (along with my entire family and many friends) has been a great encouragement during my break with reality, asked me if I had not only known the great forgiveness of the Gospel but also truly accepted it.

Well. It's a hard answer.

I've accepted forgiveness. By that, I mean that I know and believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely true-that belief in Him as Savior and Lord truly saves us from hell and despair and into newness of life with the ability to magnify God.

But, I still struggle with it. Not because I don't believe it but because I do and it is hard to deal with believing it when you know the wickedness of your own heart. The Gospel is such a huge thing and has such an ability to confound the mind that it is difficult at times to understand it...even if you believe it.

How can a good, just, righteous, holy, magnficent, creator God ever love and embrace as His son one like me-or you? It is at that point, realizing the pit of my own heart that the Gospel is the hardest and makes me upset. To know that despite myself that God loves and that is the reality of the Gospel can sometimes be bittersweet because I, by myself, can't love like that. None of us can.

Forgiveness of people (including myself) only comes through an understanding of the forgiveness of God-which results in salvation.

The grace of God truly is amazing...but it still makes me crazy. I cry with the hymnest "Be of sin the double cure, save me from its guilt and power."

-joe

sometimes i just want to go away

Don't you? Aren't there times when the problems in your life (even though they are small) seem to add up to the insurmountable? That if you could, you'd just take what you have and run away and set up a new life?

Well, if you ever catch wind of a Bill Mahoney in your neighborhood and I've come up missing, then there's a good chance that I've done it.

But seriously, sometimes it is very easy to let those soft whispers in your ear about failure morph into thinking that you will never be able to talk of the good news of Jesus. Well, here is some encouragement for you.

Luke 22:31,32

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

Oh that Jesus would be praying this prayer for me and you. Truly, Satan prowls like a roaring lion but Jesus, in his grace, says this "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one."

His grace comes and relieves our doubts and fears so that we are restored.

Read Richard Sibbes The Bruised Reed.

-joe

a relaxing weekend

I came home late last night after 3 1/2 days spent in Indy doing nearly nothing. It was a great relaxing time with good friends and good food. I needed it after last weekend.

I actually had planned to go hiking over those days but the vehicle me and my buddy, Matt, took broke down so we didn't end up going. (60 miles in 4 days is one thing. In 3?...that's a little much when you haven't hiked in months.)

So, I'm back in the ol' Rochester on my way to watch (in a cruel twist of fate) I am Legend for the second time in three days.

(I just noticed how many numbers I used in this post. 6 (now 7...dang...9) times is probably the most I've used in a post this small.

This post sucks but I'm leaving it anyway.

-joe

my family might be crazy

This is a stick of dynamite:
.

This is a GE washer:


This is what is going to happen to the washer:


This is not a joke. My uncle Kevin is supplying the dynamite and my mother is going to light the fuse. The washer has broken 4 times in the last two months and is less than 2 years old. GE refuses to fix it.

We used to sell appliances, so...it really perturbs us.

-joe

sunday is a day for baptisms

Last Friday (maybe?) I told you that there were going to be baptisms today. And there were. Five of them. Sweet meat. I love baptisms. It is the Gospel in the simplest visual form: death, burial and resurrection all in one movement.

And, as I said, my little sister got baptized. Double bonus. As she would say, she "loves Jesus a whole lot," or more simply she'd scream "I LOVE JESUS" in a crazy tone. That was first catch phrase with the youth group. I'd ask, "Do you love Jesus?" whenever they'd do something crazy. Fun times.

Baptisms are a sign that the church is doing one of the greatest things, preaching the Gospel. So, hallelujah, we are at least getting it down. Now, if only we'd become reformed in theology....

Enjoy the day and rejoice because, truly, God is the Gospel.

-joe

getting baptized

My sister, not Amy the missionary, the other one...Anna...is getting baptized on Sunday. So are four other folks that I'm aware of.

Anna's been a believer for awhile, but is just now getting baptized. A couple of the others have been as well, but I know that at least one of the guys is a new believer.

Why does the western church wait so long to baptize?

Anyway. Be excited. I am. We're singing "It Is Well with My Soul," cause I'm pretty sure Anna likes it a lot. Shh...don't tell.

-joe

how long should we give?

I've been plagued recently by some folks who seem to want to live off of what the church gives them. They are content to call me multiple (I got 4 phone calls today from one person) times at work or my cell phone or at the church and basically demand help. Now, as you know from a recent post, I like giving. I think we, as the church, need to be more giving despite what the gifts are used for, but...there just may be a reason why I can't find much 'relief' efforts going on in the early church.

The folks, as it would happen, are not members of the church, do not attend a church elsewhere, and show no signs of being a believer other than saying "I used to go to church." They are, for all intensive purposes, nonbelievers and non-attenders.

What then, is my responsibility to help them? Should I continue to give support to them despite the fact that they are not (by any means that I can see) trying to help themselves (2 Thes. 3:10) or responding to the Gospel? Does the common grace of God extend through us to them?

I must admit, the problem makes my head hurt. The other things weighing on me is the lack of Scriptural evidence that either Israel OR the church ever paid much mind to those who were not part of their community. I wonder if the lack of textual evidence points to the actual exclusiveness that I lean towards in these posts on missional giving and on giving in emergencies (such as natural disasters).

So, with a weary heart, I gave to the man who called 4 times today.
Did he deserve it? Probably not.
Did he need it? Not really.
Were there those in the church that would have benefited more? If I knew them, I'd be banging down their doors.

Thoughts?

-joe

what the flu taught me about the Gospel

I had the flu. It sucked.

But today was great. I was able to eat and work and play and laugh and think and pray and read without getting sick or feeling weak. It was awesome. I felt alive again.

And then it hit me. What kept me going through the flu? It was the hope that in a little while I would be better and able to do all things again.

How much greater a hope is put before us in the Gospel?! We spend this life toiling in the weak, crappy, self-righteous flesh. We are never able to be free of it, it is like we are continually sick. And then, the great day of our death or the Lord's return when finally the sickness will end and we'll be free from this wretched awful body.

What a glorious, freeing, rejuvenating thought. May it keep me (and you) going from now until the day we meet Christ face to face.

-joe

the big day

So, I've missed a few days of life. If you have the flu, get the flu, or know someone who has then you know why. Man, what a couple of sucky days.

But, I did manage to make it to church (although nowhere near full health) to celebrate the great day of Easter. (Pagan references aside, it does have a good ring to it.)

Today is the greatest holiday that the church celebrates. The "first day of the week" he was NOT found in the tomb but was alive. In a new body. What a crazy day that must have been for the early disciples. To really, really get it. To go "ok, I'm not crazy. This dude was dead, now he's alive. Which means: Jesus is God. Jesus is the Messiah. Salvation belongs to all who believe."

And with that in mind they went on a wild torrent all around the known world talking and telling of this grand miracle for the ages. They couldn't stop talking about it. They talked so much that people got angry and tried to kill them. But they kept talking and telling of the good news of the resurrection and what it meant for all who would believe it.

Today, it seems that we have lost some of that fervor. Oh Lord, grant that we would be as passionate about spreading the Gospel as those early disciples were when they first realized the greatness of the news of your resurrection.

-joe

the crucifixion

Tomorrow, Friday, we celebrate and remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years ago. It is at once a joyous and grievous occasion. No greater atrocity has ever occurred than the murder of God on the cross. But, at the same time, no great love has ever been shown than by God on the cross. This is the great mystery of the Christian faith. It is foolishness to those who don't believe and life to those who do.

We will be showing the Passion of the Christ at 7pm tomorrow. I have mixed feelings. I will try to espouse them as best I can.

When the movie first came out I was a bit leery. The thought of watching someone, even in a movie, playing Jesus on the cross has always kind of weirded me out. That includes all of those Sunday morning plays. I have never really liked the thought of someone playing the part of God. Call me crazy, but I still won't like it.

I took some counsel from several folks. Most of them said "Joe, this movie helps us understand the horror of the crucifixion and can be used as a great evangelistic tool. Tons of people will see it and you won't be able to talk about it or interact with it because you won't have seen it."

There were a few, though, that sat on my side of the fence and did not watch it. To me, more and more, I have begun to have problems with pictures and representations of Christ that aren't...Christ. And since He isn't on the earth anymore, then that basically means I have a problem with every single picture of Jesus and every play that Jesus is in. All of them. Including the much beloved portrait of the long-haired Jesus.

Why do I have a problem? To me, it violates the idea of the second commandment which includes the phrase "you shall not make an idol, whether in the form of anything in heaven above..." and it goes on. This idea of not making an idol of anything that resembles heaven above is where I get stuck. To me, these pictorial representations of Jesus begin the violation of this commandment.

Also, when Jesus says to Thomas, "blessed are those who have not seen," I think he really means "have not seen" and implies "or tried to make visual representations of".

To those who would say that I need to see the movie in order to know the horror of the crucifixion...I only say, why? Did Martin Luther have such a movie to convict his heart of this horror? or Calvin? or Spurgeon? or Pink? or Lewis? or Lloyd-Jones? Of course, the answer is "no." I believe the Scriptures do a pretty good job of getting across the gruesomeness of the cross.

I also ask (perhaps this is incorrect) Is it really about the physical suffering of Christ? Does it matter so much that I need to see a movie to understand it about the suffering of Christ? Or, is it more about the finality of death and his defeat of it? Now, I don't believe that we can lightly think of the suffering Christ, but more so we should focus on the actual spiritually crucified Christ. The one who cried out "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" and not the one who didn't utter a word as he was beaten, mocked and spit upon.

And so, tomorrow, I will face the question "Should I continue to keep my eyes from the Passion or am I being a bit to much of a legalist and stifling what could be a raw moment of emotion?"

I have a feeling that I will probably sit it out once again.

What are your thoughts?

-joe

an extra post this week

I just started reading The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I've read Young Christian's Pilgrimage that is an easier read and a slight adaptation of Bunyan's work. I found a gem tonight reading.

Then I saw in my dream, that the Interpreter took Christian by the
hand, and led him into a place where was a fire burning against a wall,
and one standing by it, always casting much water upon it, to quench
it; yet did the fire burn higher and hotter.

Then said Christian, What means this?

The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace that is
wrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it, to extinguish and
put it out, is the devil: but in that thou seest the fire,
notwithstanding, burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason
of that. So he had him about to the back side of the wall, where he saw
a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of the which he did also
continually cast (but secretly) into the fire.

Then said Christian, What means this?

The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, who continually, with the oil
of his grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the
means of which, notwithstanding what the devil can do, the souls of his
people prove gracious still. 2 Cor. 12:9. And in that thou sawest that
the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach
thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is
maintained in the soul.

You can read the entire book online in several formats at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Enjoy.

-joe

on to the mission trip

Tonight we had a business-like meeting at youth group to pick a place to go (I had narrowed it down to 7 choices). We are still on the fence, but tomorrow a decision will have to be made to make sure we have the space reserved. Pray that I make the right choice.

I must admit, I'm a bit worried about this trip. Not of the idea of taking 10 kids somewhere far away, not of sharing the Gospel, not of doing work, not of the dangers that may accompany such work. I'm scared that I'll miss the mark on organizing things. It is definitely one of the things that I am worst at doing. Pray that I would be confident, faithful and organized in planning this event. Also, pray for my spirit to be humbled because, in the end, it doesn't matter how good I am at planning the event...it is God who will be accomplishing His work of spreading the Gospel...with or without good organization. But still, I strive to be better at this.

Thankfully I have some great kids who help me out (one who now works for me an hour a week to organize my life at church). Pray for them...they have to work with a bumbling idiot on a fairly regular basis.

Mostly, pray that God would be magnified in the kids of my church and in the lives of those we serve and share the Gospel with. A heart for missions is an amazing thing and the earlier kids catch wind of the Spirit of power in evangelism, the more time God has to do great things through them.

-joe

be killing sin...

I'm reading through John Owen's book, The Mortification of Sin. It is quite convicting and I recommend the abridged version published by Banner of Truth in their Puritan Paperbacks line.

The famous quote "Be killing sin or it will be killing you" is found within the first 20 pages (the book is at home where I don't have the internet, so I don't have the exact page.) I have been struck by how unbelievably true this statement is. Indeed, over these past few days I have been appalled at how little I have aggressively sought to kill sin and how quickly it has spread its poison. It is truly a horrific thing.

Owen makes the statement that you can't be truly living the Christian life (that is, doing good deeds) unless you are at the same time seeking to put to death all the things of the flesh. They must be at the same time, because unless you have mortified those disastrous sins of yours, no amount of community service will make up for the destroyed witness for Christ displayed by your pervasive sinning.

Help us, Father, to sin no more.

-joe