We often think of patience as passive; but it is a very active virtue. Certain people have a reputation for being patient, but sometimes the real truth about them is that they are just dull. They are not sensitive, they do not react, and are more or less stupid. That is not patience. Patience is an active virtue, for which reason we are constantly exhorted to it. It is a virtue that has to be developed, so that it becomes strong and firm. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans Vol. 8, p. 113
Author: Josh King
No Word
It is hard to imagine any greater pain than that of losing a little child. It is like an amputation, so that though one may learn to live with the loss, the parent is never the same again. In the English language we have a word for those who have lost their parents: an orphan. We have a word for those who have lost their spouse: a widow or widower. We have no word for those who have lost a child. It is as if the very thought is too painful to put into words. –Roger Carswell
Baby Josey King
Disclaimer: I do not believe there is a heavenly post from here to heaven. I don’t expect God to act as my mail boy. I don’t anticipate with hope the opportunity to say these things. My hope is much bigger; so much so that this little letter will one day seem trite. This letter was simply my way of grieving and expressing my faith. [Added 11.2.17]
Josey,
Oh, how we love you. We know so little about you, we’re not even sure if you’re our baby daughter or son, but we do know that we love you. Your mommy lept, shouted, and danced with joy when the pregnancy test revealed you were forming within her belly! She heralded your life to PaPa and Gran, Papa and Grandma! Her eruption of joy was the purest motherly delight I’ve ever seen. Oh, how she would have loved you!
Josey, you were bathed in prayer. You were the answer to a plethora of prayer. During your little life on this earth you swam in a sea of prayer. When others were told to expect you they told us of their prayers for you. Many rejoiced to hear of you. Many praised God because of His great mercy toward us in giving us you. God answered our prayer. He said “yes” and “no”. His “no” was a gracious “no”. I do not understand the grace of God in taking you, but His grace is not for me to understand, but to receive. I do not understand all the minutia of the suffering that occurs under the sovereign hand of God, but I do understand the greatest purpose He has in it—His glory. Majestic, eternal, unfading, effulgent glory; the glory you now bask in. This is my hope and my joy, even now.
Josey, your namesake is Joseph. His is a story of the grace of God abounding in blessing upon His covenant people. What was meant for evil by sinners within and Satan without, God worked for good. God’s grace is sovereign even over the sins of His covenant people. Evil spiritual forces will tempt us to sin in this trial, I will and I have. I am so frail. My faith is weak, but my God is faithful. The one who sustained and sanctified Joseph will do so for your mother and me. May your precious little life tell others that our story, like Joseph’s, is not one of our great faith, but God’s great faithfulness toward us in Jesus Christ.
We will miss and mourn you for now. But only for now.
Tolle Lege: Let the Nations be Glad!
Readability: 3
Length: 238 pgs
Author: John Piper
One way a books value can be determined is if it impacts you as deeply or more deeply upon reading it a second time. This is my second time to read through Let the Nations be Glad!, my first to read the second edition. I love the book more not less, not even just the same. I leave the book wishing for its message to burn inside my chest. This book is verging on being beyond the difficulty level I normally advise, but the message is so God-glorifying I persist and plead with you to read this book. It is a book about what God is about. It has become the book on missions in many seminaries and schools for missions, not without reason. It opens with one of the best sentences and paragraphs of any Piper book.
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:3–4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the LORD…. I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Ps. 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.
[M]issions is demanded not by God’s failure to show glory but by man’s failure to savor the glory. Creation is telling the glory of God, but the peoples are not treasuring it.
Missions exist because worship doesn’t. The ultimate issue addressed by missions is that God’s glory is dishonored among the peoples of the world. When Paul brought this indictment of his own people to a climax in Romans 2:24, he said, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” That is the ultimate problem in the world. That is the ultimate outrage.
The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
I hope your appetite has been awakened such that heart and mind salivation for truth has commenced. But hold off ordering the book just yet. Baker will put out a third edition next year along with a DVD and study guide. Or read the 2nd edition now, and plan on reading the 3rd edition next year. I did, and I will, and I anticipate loving it even more.
The Doctor: The Only Hope
The only hope for the creation, for the whole universe as well as man is in the character of God, and in the following way. God’s glory and God’s honor prohibit His leaving the world as it is. If God is God, the great Creator, and if God is all powerful, with all rule and authority at His command, then the very character of God makes it quite impossible that He should leave creation as it is at the present time. He cannot leave it in this condition of vanity, and in this condition of ‘groaning’ and ‘travailing’. It is inconsistent with the character of God that this should be the permanent state of affairs; and of course that is precisely what the Bible tells us. – D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans Vol. 8, p. 57
From Stirring to Collecting Dust
I once posted how some books are dynamite, they leave you gloriously devastated. You have to wait for years for the dust to settle to see just how big the devastation is. In another post I listed some of the books that have done this for me.
There are other books, you think that they are producing the same effect, but they are neither concussion bombs nor fragmentary bombs, they are functionally smoke bombs. You think there has been a rattling explosion, but they have changed nothing, they have only stirred up dust. Years go by, the dust settles, and their effect has been blown away by the wind. What are a few such books for you? Here are mine:
- The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren
- Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
- Fresh Faith by Jim Cymbala
They remain in my library as reminders only, I seriously doubt I will ever reread them. These books that stirred up so much dust, now only collect them.
Genesis 22:1-19 & Supernova
Hmm… so what is this passage about? Are we to walk away from this passage having added to our list of things great saints do that we should also? Or do we walk away powerfully feeling why we should and how we can live so radically for so glorious a God? Let’s think it through…
We’ve been waiting for a son since Genesis 3:15 to pulverize the head of the snake. Hence all the dudes begetting dudes begetting dudes. This forms the tension of the Abraham narrative as well. We are quickly informed that Sarah’s womb is barren (Genesis 11:30). Thus we are waiting for a miracle baby, hmm…
Abraham then receives glorious promises, promises that pick up the echoes of Genesis 3:15, and these promises necessitate an offspring. This narrative is then constructed such that the child’s birth feels anticlimactic. Where does the story reach its peek? Not at the birth of the promised child, but at his sacrifice? Hmm…
The intense emotional element to the story is the bond and love between the father and the son, his only son, whom he loves. Hmm…
They are in union walking both of them together (Genesis 22:6, 8). The son is trusting and innocent (Genesis 22:7, 9). They are not divided, they are in harmony, this will be their most glorious moment – together. Hmm…
The son bears the wood on his back, placed there by his father. The father is the one with the knife and the fire (Genesis 22:6). The father must act upon the son, the son must lay down his life. Hmm…
Empowering Abraham to obey this command is a belief in God’s power and his promises (Hebrews 11:17-19). The promised child who is to be sacrificed must be resurrected! Hmm…
The name of the mountain, the area where the temple will one day be built (2 Chronicles 3:1), is not “Abraham obeys” but “The LORD provides”. A ram is substituted in place of another. Hmm…
It is in Abraham’s offspring that all the earth is to be blessed (Genesis 22:18). Hmm…
The Bible is a constellation of stars. Over every text we should cry out to God the prayer of Psalm 119:18. No star is lacking glory. To say one star shines brighter than another is not to disparage lesser stars, but to overwhelm us with the majesty of larger ones. This text is a supernova, it explodes with brilliant light.
Do not mute such glory by reading this text in a simply moralistic way. Obey God radically, yes, but dig down and notice the why and how behind such obedience – the glory of the Lamb and He who sits on the throne.
Yahweh has provided!
Bethany’s Birthday Brilliance
She was very secretive. She kept pestering me about throwing a Birthday party. I loathe having a personal birthday party. “Hey everyone, gather around and let’s celebrate…ME!” She promised there would only be two people at this party, plus Baby King in the belly of course.
I was told I couldn’t arrive at the house until she called. I just thought she was decorating. So I came home and we went out to eat at The Green Onion, which is under new ownership and better than ever. Once we arrived back home the most spectabulous (such vocabulary is all one can resort to in trying to describe such splendor) birthday book bonanza commenced. My sweet wife is minister to the minister. She encourages, challenges, loves, serves, supports, sacrifices, submits, and gently reproves… me. She was giddy with joy, to surprise and love… me. I am honored. I am blessed.
Father, thank you for my sweet Bethany. Her portrayal of your church, makes me want to be more like your Son.
What followed upon arriving home was 45 solid minutes of book hunting. Books were hid all over the house. We went up the stairs then down, and then back up (she didn’t realize she would have to make this trek twice). You see, to make my 30th a celebration to remember she collaborated with many friends and family to buy books for me. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I am thankful for your kindness towards me. I really was overwhelmed.
Below is what amassed after the hunt (not shown in the picture are the other 25 volumes of The MNT Commentary set!).
- An Introduction to the New Testament by D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo
- The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown by Andreas Köstenberger
- Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 volumes) by John Calvin
- The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (27 volumes) by John MacArthur
- Gospel Powered Parenting by William Farley
- The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
- Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges
- Calvin by Bruce Gordon
- Christ-Centered Worship by Brian Chapell
- The Glory of Christ by John Armstrong
- Preaching Christ in All of Scripture by Edmund Clowney
- The Church by Edmund Clowney
- Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar
- In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson
- Jonathan and Sarah by Edna Gerstner
- Marriage to a Difficult Man by Elisabeth Dodds
- Tell the Truth by Will Metzger
- The Message of Salvation by Philip Ryken
- The Gospel-Driven Life by Michael Horton
- God, Marriage, and Family by Andreas Köstenberger
- Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind by Tremper Longman III
- The Works of John Newton (6 volumes)
- The Collected Writings of John Murray (4 volumes)
- The Walk by Stephen Smallman
- Does Grace Grow Best in Winter by Ligon Duncan
- How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee
- Cecil and Friends (4 Book Set) by Andrew McDonough
- Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers by Lewis Drummond
The Doctor: “I Reckon…” (Romans 8:18)
If a Christian is suffering, Paul’s teaching does not merely administer to him a general word of comfort and of good cheer, telling him that all is well, that things are not as bad as he thinks they are, and that they must get better after a while, that the clouds cannot persist forever, and there is always a silver lining! That kind of teaching is often presented in the name of Christianity, a mixture of psychology and suggestion treatment. But it is not Christianity at all! ‘I reckon’, says the Apostle; I am drawing this deduction; this is the inevitable logical conclusion that I come to as the result of working my way through the great doctrines of the Faith. And if we are to know truly Christian comfort in our suffering we must do exactly the same. In other words, we are entitled to say that any Christian who is unhappy because of suffering, or who is guilty of any of the things I have mentioned under my negative headings, is found in such a condition for one reason only, namely, he has not been thinking clearly. The business of preaching is not merely to make the hearer feel a little happier while he is listening or while he is singing particular hymns; it is not meant to be a way of producing an atmosphere of comfort. If I do that I am a quack, and a very false friend indeed. No, the business of preaching is to teach you what to think. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans vol. 8, p. 24
Genesis 21:22-34 & God is With Us
“God is with you in all you do…”
What is Abraham doing?
He isn’t exploring, discovering new peoples, continents, languages, cultures, and resources. He isn’t gaining massive wealth, becoming an economic center. He isn’t conquering great kings, extending his territory and name. He isn’t teaching, spreading profound revolutionary philosophies.
What is he doing? He sins, but even in sin it is obvious God’s covenant love is towards him (Genesis 20). He has a child in his old age. He digs wells. He sojourns. He raises cattle and milks goats.
And, God is with him.
In subtle and simple, yet sovereign ways, God is being faithful to His promises to Abraham. In the first encounter with Abimelech the covenant seed is in danger. Now the covenant land is the subject. In Abimelech’s coming to Abraham it is obvious that yet again, God is with Abraham.
Beersheba will become the city to signify the southernmost border of Israel (2 Samuel 3:10). Abraham apparently sojourns in this area the rest of his life. He has received down payments, previews, appetizers of the full promise yet to come.
In this story line the true and better seed of Abraham is yet to come. Through Him all the earth will be blessed. His will inherit the earth (Romans 4:13).
And His name will be called Immanuel, meaning God with us.
No Other Boast 