Theodicy, Underdog-Style

A brief but moving, heartfelt, and tear-soaked delivery by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. on what God's mercy, love, and longsuffering means to sin-entrenched humanity.

Unfashionable

Billy Graham's grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, pastor of New City Church in Florida, has a new book about to be released this April called "Unfashionable". Of course, availability in the Philippines by that time is quite another matter—LOL—but do listen to Tullian discuss the premise of the book in the vid below. I was extremely blessed and inspired to find underdogism promoted in his thought.



A snippet from the upcoming book:

"According to Jesus, Christianity is not cool. There, I said it. I'll even go a step farther: if what's fashionable in our society interests you, then true Christianity won't. It's that simple.Think about it. Jesus said some pretty unfashionable stuff. If you want to live, you must die. If you want to find your life, you must lose it. He talked about self-sacrifice and bearing crosses and suffering and death and the dangers of riches. He talked about the need to lay down our lives for those who hate us and hurt us. He talked about serving instead of being served, about seeking last place and not first. He talked of gouging out our eyes and cutting off our hands if they cause us to sin. He was making the profound point that daily Christian living means daily Christian dying—dying to our fascination with the sizzle of this world and living for something bigger, something thicker, something eternal. Jesus calls his people to live for what is timeless and not trendy, to take up the cross and follow him, even when it means going against social norms. Of course, all this is flat-out uncool in a world that idolizes whatever cultural craze is in style, whatever is fashionable."

Theology Enfleshed

2 Cor 4:6
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Cor 4:7
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

2 Cor 4:8
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

2 Cor 4:9
Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

2 Cor 4:10
Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Cor 4:11
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

The pursuit of the knowledge of God is the greatest human endeavor possible. Theology is treasure. However, it doesn't stop there. When God gives His beloved knowledge of Himself and His ways, He then enfleshes this knowledge so that what the beloved knows becomes who and what he is. This is the painful part; the formation of Christ in the Christian is through affliction, persecution, and mortification.

In my own life, I am amazed that much of what I know theologically is still very much distinct from who and what I am. This gives me great sadness; O, how the Christian life is fraught with despair over sin and the painful process of sanctification. But I must not lose hope. The Lord is faithful. I will cling to Him like a child to his father, always mindful of the fact that to be His child is to suffer and die everyday.

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord—Woe is Me!

Isaiah 6 cuts to the quick! Just for the life we lived today, you and I can fittingly cry "Woe is me!", for its incongruity to God's holiness and our professed Christianity. We miss the mark time and time again and we mourn. We cry out to God and ask for more of His holiness to be who and what we are, not just positionally, but in true substance and character. And so we will never cease to worship Him for all eternity for that is precisely what He has accomplished in Christ, and that is make a way for us to be partakers of His holiness, His beauty, and His character.

Phil on Fire!

I got the privilege a while ago of listening to Phil Johnson's message on the "pornification" of the pulpit, delivered at the 2009 Shepherds' Conference. I must say that Phil lived up to his alter ego as the "Pyromaniac" for his fiery exposition of Scripture, laying to ash the claims of many famous evangelical pastors/preachers to contextualization as the foundation of their blatant misuse of the tongue and their adoption of the culture's skewed value system.

Phil made mention of other aberrant "ministries" but really honed in on Mark Driscoll as the chief object of his Scripture-reinforced rebuke. Armed with Titus 2:7-8, he ably demonstrated the perversity that the current trend in pastoring/preaching has mutated into and mainly attributed it to an infatuation with "coolness", "hipness", and what it really boils down to, WORLDLINESS, that has descended upon these younger batch of "modern" pastors/preachers. These ones want to look, smell, feel, and SOUND like the world in order to win the world. Of course, this type of fulfilling the Great Commission is actually an unfulfillment of it!

As I see it, only a wholehearted acceptance of the Christian's status as an underdog in the eyes of an anti-Christian world, and that as mandated by God, is the antidote to the pride that is at the root of all this unfaithfulness and compromise in modern evangelicalism.

Reality is founded on abstractions. A dog can't meow, and a cat can't bark. If you howl like the world, then perhaps you might be a wolf yourself.

1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Self-Control: The Lifeblood of Virtue

"Self-control...is the exercise of godly restraint upon our human appetites and passions.This quality is practically the lifeblood of virtue itself—so that a person of true character is most easily distinguished by his or her extraordinary self-control. In the development of Christlike character qualities, here is a trait to which we ought to give a significant amount of energy and attention."

- John MacArthur, The Quest for Character, ch. 25, p. 104–105

Which Jesus Do You Follow?

This song by Todd Agnew moved me to tears. It gave out a loud cry—a call to authentic WORSHIP: the worship of the one, true God, Savior, and Lord, JESUS CHRIST, who came as a lowly and uncomely man—being in essence God—that He might show the mercy and love of the Father to the UNDERDOGS, to those who have come to the end of their ropes and have fully surrendered their lives, their total selves, NOT to more "rope mileage" but to just one thing: TO HAVE JESUS CHRIST INCREASE, AND THEM DECREASE.

Infinite Happiness

"The wealth of his grace is immeasurable. It will take eternity for him to show us all the kindness he has to show. That is what it means to be God. In him there is always more to know, more to marvel at, and more to enjoy. This makes me very happy."

- John Piper, A Godward Life, Book I, 109, p. 293

Soul, You Wait

Isaiah 30:15
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."

Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 49:23
"...Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."

Isaiah 64:4
From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

Psalm 25:3
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Psalm 25:5
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:21
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 37:7
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Psalm 37:9
For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Psalm 37:34
Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

Psalm 52:9
I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Psalm 62:5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Underdog Affections

"All gracious affections that are a sweet odor to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble brokenhearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit, and more like a little child, and more disposed to a universal lowliness of behavior." (emphases mine)

- Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, 348-349

To Enjoy God, Now and Forever

"The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean. Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, as itbecomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labour for, or set our hearts on, any thing else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?"

- Jonathan Edwards, 'The Christian Pilgrim,' in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, ed. EdwardHickman, 2 vols. (1834; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974), 2:244.

Embracing Career Change for the Glory of Christ

"Many of you are simply not satisfied with what you are doing...the output of your lives is not satisfying your deepest spiritual ambitions. We must be careful here. Every job has its discouragements and its seasons of darkness. We must not interpret such experiences automatically as a call to leave our post. But if the discontent with your present situation is deep, recurrent, and lasting, and if that discontent grows in Bible-saturated soil, God may be calling you to a new work. If, in your discontent, you long to be holy, to walk pleasing to the Lord, and to magnify Christ with your one, brief life, then God may indeed be loosening your roots in order to transplant you to a place and a ministry where the deep spiritual ambitions of your soul can be satisfied....God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace." - John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, ch. 9, p. 178

As the uneasiness grows, does faith grow along with it?

Are we building up the soul resources needed to enable us to respond in radical obedience when the Lord calls us out of our white-collar comfort zones into the thick of battle?

Are we weaning our hearts off earthly affections and focusing on heavenly ones?

Do we really want to walk the talk?

Is Christ our everything?

I need to reflect on these questions and more.

The Family Best

I have realized that it is part of my role as a husband and father to work hard to provide for the needs of my family. But I have also realized that it is God who ultimately provides for everything pertaining to me and my family, be it the strength and intellect that I utilize in the dispensation of my tasks, to the faith that I need to see all of this. I have realized that it is not for me to carry the burden of provision.

What, then, is the sole purpose that I must strive for? It is liberating, soul-freeing, and empowering. It is simply this: THE PURSUIT OF CHRISTLIKENESS.

If I devote the totality of my being to this end, then I am seeking that which is the reason for my creation and nothing else matters. In this pursuit, I am released from the shackles of the worldly mindset of "keeping up with the Joneses" and thinking that anything less is a disservice to my family. Our worth and well-being are bound up in the promises of God. In this, I am being the husband and father that God wants me to be, the kind that pursues Christ, and the best possible kind to my wife and children.