Wonder

Wonder is a hard feeling to describe. Wonder is that fleeting moment when man's eyes are finally off of self and on to something truly grand and beautiful. For some, this sense of wonder is felt in deep, majestic, and moving music. For others, it is found in the masterpieces of art. For all of us, I'd say, it is in some form of the beauty of Nature. The Rockies have captivated my thoughts since my youth.

I recently bought a bicycle for my son Ethan who, at the time, did not really know much about bikes. When we went into Wal-mart and I pointed out the rows of bikes hanging on the ceiling, he pointed up in wonder and said, "What's that, Daddy."

"Bicycles, Ethan. And Daddy is going to get one for you."

His eyes went wide. His wonder was at the bicycles. My wonder was at the joy one can feel for the love of a child.

Sometimes I feel silly to admit that my favorite authors are authors of fairy tales and myths. But then, again, I recognize that what these writers stir in me is a sense of wonder, a calling back to that childlike view of the world where everything is a glorious and major event. And, for the good authors, their stories point to the Great Story we are living in. Sometimes their writings trigger a flash of emotional memory, a reminder of a childlike perspective.

I believe that Wonder is one trait of good character, and we must develop it. It is a character trait because Wonder helps us to get our eyes off self--and self-focus is character-destroying.

A soul that has lost its capability to wonder is a soul that has lost its ability to worship. For worship is the ultimate act of placing our thoughts and visions off of self and on to ultimate beauty: God Himself.

What does God wonder at? What captivates His fancy? There is nothing and no one higher, grander, or more beautiful than Himself. Therefore, He rejoices in Himself. This is not ego. This is true worship of the one and only God. God wonders at, rejoices in, and is happy because of Himself! We were created to take part of His wonder.

If this is true, what happened? John Ortberg remind us, "There is a being in this universe who wants you to live in sorrow, but it is not God."¹ Satan deceived us and plunged us into sin and, as a result, sorrow.

Have you grown too melancholy? Too sorrowful in this life? Too old? Because of our sin, we lost our capacity to enter into God's joy. G.K. Chesterton wrote:

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisy's alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."²

God is the Ancient One in that He is eternal, timeless. We humans simply get old, creaky, crusty, and cranky. I am not talking about chronological age. Sin stoops the back of any soul regardless of how long it has crawled around under these skies. Sin drains our ability to rejoice because sin kills life.

Jesus said we must come to God as a little child. The ability to do so is the gift of repentance. The blood of Christ can restore our spiritual youth--the ability to wonder and rejoice in God.

This is the hope for our souls, for our eternal destiny, and for our created purpose.

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¹ John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan, 1997), 68.
² G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Waterbrook Press, 1994), 61.

The Good Life

The Good Life
by Chuck Colson
Tyndale House Publishers
Wheaton, Illinois

FROM THE FLAP

“Do you wonder if you can figure out the world and your place in it? Do you question how your life can be truly significant? Reflecting on his own story and the story of others, Chuck Colson examines the beliefs and assumptions that form the fabric of our lives.”

SUMMARY

Directing its readers to pursue a life of significance, The Good Life contains four sections:

1. Searching for the Good Life.
2. Giving to Others.
3. Searching for the Truth.
4. Living the Good Life.

The author relates various stories in the first section to frame the issue of his book. What is the good life? Is it the pursuit to change the world for the better--and using power to do it (as Mr. Colson experienced in what became the infamous White House of Richard Nixon)? Is it clamoring after money and pleasure like L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of the Tyco corporation? Or is the good life to be found in standing firm against oppressive regimes as Nien Cheng of China did for six and a half years in prison? The book goes on to compare and contrast other views and stories of what it means to live well.

The section “Giving to Others” moves the reader to conclude that the good life is found in giving one’s life away for the sake of others. On page 144, the author states:

“Giving to others brings the greatest satisfaction. It’s one thing to write a check, but sometimes we have to give ourselves. I mean, totally, including life itself. When we do, there’s no limit to the way others’ lives can be changed and our culture transformed.”

Colson supports his conclusion by relating the true story of Earnest Gordon’s experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

The transition to the third section, “Searching for Truth,” reminds the reader that pie-in-the-sky altruism is not what the author is advocating: “So sacrificing ourselves for others gets us only part of the way. The most important question is whether what we sacrifice for is the truth. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, Is there such a thing as truth, and can we know it (p. 156)?”

“Living the Good Life,” the last section seeks to inspire the reader to pursue giving one’s life away for the sake of truth. The doctrine of God’s Providence can give us confidence that God is directing the lives, and the deaths, of His people for the good. Seeking to inspire his readers, Mr. Colson shares the stories of Christians like Bill Bright and others who lived and died well. He then shares how God has brought the author full circle. He found himself back at the place of his fall in the Watergate scandal.

“That’s why I can say to you...that the good life is near at hand. It’s both God’s will for you and His free gift to you (p. 365).”

CRITIQUE

Strengths:

The section “Searching for Truth” is the book’s backbone. It contains and arranges material in a unique and helpful way. How people can give themselves “to great causes” while becoming monsters is highlighted in the story of Albert Speer, a principal war criminal during the Nuremberg trials after World War 2. Living to change the world is dangerous if one does not have a handle on truth. The author relates how even he was misled in his desire to change the world for the better--and fell in the Watergate scandal. Any cause that is disengaged from the truth leads to ruin.

Colson also challenges the philosophy of the ethicist Peter Singer who, with an air of respectability, advocates for euthanasia and infanticide. Colson’s treatment of this matter is effective and worth the price of the book.

The rest of this section includes discussions on Intelligent Design, morality, beauty, and the ability to know truth. Mr. Colson’s experience and ideas will encourage the reader to believe that truth not only exists but that it can be known. Some readers will easily see Francis Schaeffer’s influence on the author.

The book also contains an important story about Randy Thomas and his deliverance from a homosexual lifestyle. The reader will gain insight into the struggles of many homosexuals. Randy’s story offers the hope and confidence that people with this difficulty can be delivered. In the current philosophical climate, this kind of writing is rare and daring.

Weaknesses:
Colson seems at times to fall into using his life story to “set the record straight” about Watergate rather than supporting his thesis; however, he does so in a way worthy of the reader’s forgiveness.

The theme of the book is living for others based on truth. The thesis is sound as far as it goes. However, I found myself thinking that there is still more to finding the good life. Colson could have taken his thoughts to the higher level of living for and enjoying the glory of God. It seems that Colson emphasizes the second of the greatest commands, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ” I wish he had started his thoughts on the good life by using the first commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God...” and then moving on to the second.

To use movie parlance: If we could have had a “Chuck Colson meets John Piper” publication, it would have been a blockbuster.

CONCLUSION

The Good Life deals with profound issues in a conversational style. While the book could have been more, it is a worthy read. I recommend it highly.

Money and Eternity

Message Notes Delivered October 16, 2005
by John Rush

Theme: View Money in Light of Eternity.

Introduction:
Howard Dayton writes of the story of “A young Roger Morgan [who] came out of the Appalachian Mountains with the sole purpose of making a fortune. Money became his god, and he became worth millions. Then the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression reduced him to utter poverty. Penniless, he took to the road. One day a friend found him on the Golden Gate Bridge staring down into the waters of the San Francisco Bay, and [his friend] suggested they move on. “Leave me alone,” Roger replied. “I’m trying to think. There is something more important than money, but I’ve forgotten what it is.”¹

Let me ask you a stupid question: Have you ever thought what it would be like to be rich?

Solomon was rich:
- Annual Income of over $25 million
- His palace took 13 years to build
- He owned 40,000 stalls of horses
- He sat on an ivory throne overlaid with gold.
- He drank from gold cups.
- The daily menu of his household included 100 sheep, 30 oxen, plus deer and fatted fowl.²

Here's what Solomon said about money: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.” Eccl. 5:10-11

Who are the wealthy?

Those who have enough money to pay for their needs and have discretionary dollars left over.

This means us. We are rich in this world. And this morning, I have commands for the wealthy.

Text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19: 17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

God does not rebuke the rich for being rich. He warns the rich about the dangers of wealth and encourages the wealthy to invest their money wisely. Why? Because money can be a source of trouble instead of blessing. Solomon also said, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” Jesus put it in more dire terms: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25).”

These verses tell us that our view of money has spiritual consequences.
What about people who are saved and have wealth?

View Money in Light of Eternity:
Think Right. Do Good. Invest Wisely.

Exposition:
I. Think Right:
A. You Will Be Tempted with Pride:

Proverbs 28:11 The rich man is wise in his own conceit...

Job 31:24-25, 29 “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained...then these would also be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”

Daniel 4:30-321: 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king' mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying , O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

B. You May Misplace Your Confidence:


There’s Only So Much Money Can Do, Even in This Life:

“The futility of riches is stated very plainly in two places: the Bible and the income tax form.”³

Someone wrote: Money can’t buy you friends, but your enemies treat you a little better.⁴

Money will buy: A Bed but not sleep; Books but not brains; Food but not an appetite; A house but not a home; Medicine but not health; Amusement but not happiness; A crucifix but not a Savior.⁵

Proverbs 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall...

Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.


Money is so alluring because it is TEMPORAL POWER. It is the key to power in this temporal age. If you live for this age, you will have to live for money on some level. However, there is:

A TWO-FOLD problem with money:

1. Wealth is Fleeting in this Age.
2. The Age Itself is Passing Away.

“That money talks I’ll not deny,
I heard it once, it said, “Good-bye.” ⁶

C. You Can Find True Security: The Living God.

What is Your View of Economic Resources?
The Pie:

• "I have a Big Piece of the Pie and Am Working to Keep it for Myself."
  
• "I have a Small Piece of the Pie and Am Scrambling to Get My Share."
  

The Engine:

• The Engine of Capitalism Works!
  

The Cogs of Good Ideas + Pistons of Hard Work + Widgets of Thrift= Wealth Cranked Out!

God transcends the economy because He can make multiple pies and provide when the engine conks out! Deut. 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth...

God is to be our trust, our refuge, our hope, our security, our exceeding great reward.
God Lavishes His Gifts on Us: This is not some sort of legalism or ascetisim.
Nor is it a guilt-based message.

II. Do Good: Verse 18: That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate...

A. Do Good: v. 18
B. Be Rich in Good Works
C. Ready to Distribute
D. Willing to Communicate:

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share.” (NIV)

Mark Hambourg said, “Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price for it.”⁷

We pay too high a price when we do not invest our resources in light of eternity.

III. Invest Well:

It is possible to have many dollars yet be poor because we are not rich towards God. The story goes of a very privileged girl at an elite school wrote a composition for her class. It went like this: “Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor.”⁸

How can we avoid this kind of poverty? By living in light of the eternal. It will bring blessing to our homes and make for a better entrance into the kingdom of God.

A. Lay Up Store: To Amass a Treasure!

Years ago I read where “J. Robertson McQuilkin, president of Columbia Bible College, pointed out in a speech that if members of the Southern Baptist denomination alone would give an average of $100 per year to foreign missions, over $1.4 billion per year would be given. They are nowhere near that level now. If they were, the fulfillment of the Great Commission could probably be financed rather easily in this generation by one denomination!”⁹

B. Good Foundation: The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock. The Foolish Man Built His House Upon the Sand.

C. Time to Come: There is a New Age Coming. God’s eternal kingdom.

D. Lay Hold of Eternal Life: The New Kingdom will not be temporal, but eternal. This is life indeed. This is where we should invest.

Revelation 21:1-5: 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Conclusion:

Use Your Money to Advance the Kingdom of God Here and Now before It Comes Crashing In In Its Fullness.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD...
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¹ Howard Dayton, You Money Counts: The Biblical Guide to Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing, Giving, and Getting Out of Debt (Gainesville, Georgia; Crown Financial Ministries, 1996), 147.
² Dayton, You Money Counts, 147-148.
³ Dayton, You r Money Counts, 147.
⁴ James S. Hewett, ed., Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton, Ill.; Tyndale House, 1988), 369.
⁵ Dayton, Your Money Counts, 148.
⁶ Roy B. Zuck, ed., The Speaker’s Quote Book, (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1997), 258..
⁷ Roy B. Zuck, ed., The Speaker’s Quote Book, (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1997), 258.
⁸ James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 373.
⁹ Ron Blue, Master Your Money (Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), 18-19.

Eat My Flesh. Drink My Blood

In speech classes, teachers instruct students to use various methods to gain an audience’s attention. One of those methods is called the “startling statement.” Jesus used the startling statement to its full effect when he said:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you (John 5:53).”

That statement is just as startling today as it was 2000 years ago. It is startling because we don’t talk in terms of eating one’s flesh and drinking one’s blood. In fact, some during the years of the early church thought Christians were practicing a form of cannibalism. They were clearly confused. Nevertheless, Christ said that unless we consume His flesh and blood, we are eternally lost, without life, forever.

Jesus had been talking to the Jews about the nation’s experience during their wilderness wanderings centuries before. The Passover had been eaten. The Red Sea had been parted. Pharaoh’s armies had been drowned. They went to Mount Sinai to receive the Law, the priesthood, the sacrificial system, and the tabernacle. Later, they unfortunately, decided to rebel against the Lord by refusing to conquer Canaan land at the right time. God condemned that generation to wander the desert for forty years. How can a large crowd of almost 2 million people survive desert life like that?

Exodus 16 tells how God provided for His chosen people, the Hebrews, during their wilderness trek. Each day, He miraculously provided a bread from heaven called manna. The meaning of the name manna is close to the question “What is it?” The Scriptures say, “It was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey (Exodus 16:31).” Every morning, the Jews could go outside and get their daily bread. They could not store any of it, except for the Sabbath, lest it rot. God showed his lovingkindness to the nation. “Man did eat angels' food (Psalm 78:25)

They had manna for breakfast, dinner, and supper. They had it for snacks, hors d’oeurvres, and desserts. They ate it poached, pureed, sliced, diced, sautéed, and grilled. Their cookbooks had only one main ingredient, and everyone knew how to get it. Every so often, the Jews would think of eating something different--the food of Egypt.

“We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes (Numbers 11:5-6).”

God had to deal with their grumbling spirits as well as their grumbling bellies. In it all, He was laying the groundwork for Christ’s statement centuries later.

In John 6, Jesus tells the Jews that real life is found in Him, and he uses the illustration of bread--manna--to do it.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:47-51)."

We know that Jesus is not talking about eating literal flesh and drinking literal blood because later, in this very text, He tells His disciples, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).” He is not even talking about the church ordinance of communion here because it had not yet been established. He is talking about how eternal life is received (something not even communion can impart).

How does one eat His flesh and drink his blood? Again, Jesus provides the answer in John 6:29, “"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." The word believe is the verb form of faith. One trusts in Christ alone for eternal life. The act of believing, trusting, faith-ing is the act of eating and drinking. In order to take Christ in for ourselves, we must know with whom we are dealing!

Who is this Jesus? Who is this one who says "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed (John 6:55). Here is a short list of who Jesus is:

1. Jesus Created You: John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

2. Jesus Sustains You: Colossians. 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

3. Jesus Will Judge You: John 5 :22 "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: "

Revelation 1:17-18 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

4. Jesus Loves You: John 6 :33 "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."

5. Jesus Sacrificed for You: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life "

6. Jesus Will Save You: John 3:17 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

It is this Jesus who gives Himself for you to eat and drink.

Eating and drinking is a personal thing. I don’t like to have people push something right into my face and try to make me eat it. (One-year-old girls and three-year-old boys are known for doing such things to Daddy.) I like to choose what I eat and when I eat it. Some spiritual parallels apply:

1. What You Take In Becomes a Part of You. The knowledge of Christ is not a mental process of acknowledgment. You have to take Him in! He has to become the sustenance of your life.

2. Nobody Else Can Eat or Drink For You. Family, friends, colleagues, your church. Everyone can hope and pray that you’ll come to Christ. In the end, you must do your own eating.

3. Spiritually, Nobody Can Force Feed You. When I was in high school, I spent a week at a camp near Kansas City and wrangled their horses (not that I am a horseman). In the morning, I, with the other wranglers, saddled the horses, took campers on rides, and tended the horses in the evening. One day, I actually tried to make a horse drink. It doesn’t work. The old cliché about horses and water holds true. We cannot make people into Christians. People must come willingly and take Christ in. They themselves must eat his flesh and drink his blood.


4. Spiritually, Only One Food Will Work. Such talk is offensive to many people. It was when Christ spoke as well.

“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, "Will ye also go away?”

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:66-69).”

Do you see the faith of Peter? He said, “We believe.” They had eaten Christ’s flesh and had drunk His blood. In this statement Peter recognizes that eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ.

This is a difficult statement, and many could not accept it. So they left. Jesus did not soften His position at all though. He simply asks, “Will ye also go away?”

And that is our choice. We either find life in Christ, or we “go away.”

For those who don’t know Christ, the Scriptures are here saying that Christ is the only source of life. You must take Him in.

Christian: Why Feast at Another Table?

1. This world has nothing to offer.
2. Jesus is just as satisfying as he’s ever been.
3. If we have become bored or unsatisfied, it is because we have become worldly.


Abandon pride. Return to faith, not sight.

The Storm Is Over

The Storm is Over (Thoughts on the Doctrine of Propitiation), by John Rush

I had gone away. I strayed off.
Home and safety and warmth of love
Were nowhere in sight. My dark path
Split and split again, and above
Me rolled the distant clap of wrath
From Heaven.

He was angry, but He was right.
Criminal, Rebel, Fugitive
Were my names. And in the true sight
Of God, I had no right to live.
I tried to run, and found no light
From Heaven.

His wrath raged. His glory thundered.
Flashing fury burst and vanished.
Faltering, fleeing, I pondered
My soul’s lost state. I was banished
From Him. Alone, I now wandered
From Heaven.

He was upon me now. Judgment
Rained around me. Holy, pure, white,
God came. I knew this surely meant
My end was near--eternal night.
I fell. He spoke. The verdict sent
From Heaven.

I raised my hands to stop the gale
By works, effort, and religion.
But my striving was sure to fail.
Too sinful was my condition!
His judgment continued to hail
From Heaven.

But, through the flashes, I could view
A crucified and bleeding Form
Raising His two hands. Then I knew
That only He could calm the storm
That crashed, and fell, and justly flew
From Heaven.

“Peace be still!” I could hear Him say.
“It is Finished!” I heard Him cry.
Only the Son of God could pay
My sin debt. And now I see why
He is the Life, the Truth, and Way
To Heaven.

I knelt down with great hope and fear,
In repentance and faith to trust
Him only. God’s great love came near
To make me live--to make me just.
My sins are gone. My way is clear
To Heaven.

His storm broke up and rolled away.
Each day, in Christ, I now abide.
Above me is the clear, blue day.
I know His wrath is satisfied.
Secure in Christ, I’m on my way
To Heaven.

The Storm is over.