Sin Makes Us Fools

We all need to read this. It comes from http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2009/12/10/sin-makes-us-fools/

Anthony Carter|9:39 am CT

Sin Makes Us Fools

When I was playing football (seems like a lifetime ago), we would often say, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Since I have been a Christian, especially since receiving the call to ministry, I have been frequently reminded, “Sin makes fools of us all.”

Much has been made of Tiger Woods and his admission of sins and our collective gasp at the seemingly frequent and foolish indiscretions. I admit to not only being saddened but even shocked at these revelations. Also, I am thoroughly disappointed. My disappointment, however, is not only at Tiger, but even at myself. The self-disappointment is the lack of time I really give to consider the nature of my own sin, and if given Tiger’s situation and opportunity, how might I fair.

The Bible reminds us, “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil” (Psalm 36:1-4).

One popular comedian has said, “A man is only as faithful as his options.” While I would take serious issue with this statement, I am nevertheless left to ponder what might my heart be without the grace of God, the restraining power of the Holy Spirit, a praying wife, and an accountable Christian community of brothers and sisters. Though I like to think otherwise, because of the nature of indwelling sin I am often more like Tiger than I care to admit. To look at Tiger’s life and then to think of him risking all of it for a few (or however many) fleeting moments of pleasure is to think of only one word — foolish. Yet, sin makes fools of us all. And whether it is David, Nebuchadnezzar, Tiger, or me, folly is only a sinful thought or deed away.

The good news is that because we are fools, we are prime candidates for the redeeming grace of God. The Bible reminds us that God redeems the foolish (1 Cor. 1:26ff — at least those who are willing to admit to the folly of their sin). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the everyday reminder that I have been graciously received into God’s Recovery Program for Fools.

And Tiger, while there are millions already enrolled, there is always room for one more. However, you must be willing to say, “Hi. My name is Tony. I am a fool saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, my Lord.”

Lets Stay Focused

As a pastor I have heard a lot of complaints about a lot of different things. And as a pastor I do my best to keep an open mind and allow people to share their complaints and I try to do my best to allow people to share without trying to impute my opinion especially when I have one of a different opinion. I have heard complaints over music, over preaching style, over bible translations, over drinking coffee or water in the church, about using the church for the public to use, over how could I marry people that are living together and have children together already, about how can people come to church in jeans and a shirt, this is to name some of the ones I’ve heard on more than one occasion(most of these I have heard at my prior church) I have heard a lot of people complain about a lot of stuff. And on an occasion I have been told because these complaints they were leaving the church or if it didn’t change there were leaving the church. As a pastor when you hear that it breaks your heart. You know what though? Let me tell you what I have never heard. Never, not once in my 6 years of pastoring have I heard someone say, “Pastor I am leaving the church because people aren’t getting saved.” No one has ever approached me and said, “Pastor if more people don’t start to get saved then I am out here.” I also have never heard people come to me and say, “Pastor I am leaving the church because people just are not being changed.” No one has ever said, “ I am out of here because people in this church are not becoming more like Christ.” And I wonder why? I wonder why we get so excited about the stuff that doesn’t matter? I wonder why we get so emotional and so focused on stuff that when we die isn’t going to matter at all to God but on the stuff that will matter we just are quiet and show no emotion. Why is it we will complain and actively protest on lets say, what people wear to church but when it comes to sharing Jesus Christ to the neighbor or co worker we never say a word. Why is it people are going to hell and that just doesn’t faze us like it does when the carpet got dirty. Why is it we can be vocal and opinionated when we it comes to this stuff but when we are in a Sunday morning church service we rarely are moved by worship we sit or stand and we sing with frowns on our face. We hear the word of God preached and rarely shout out amen in agreement. Why is it when it comes down to the things that matter we have become emotionless, unconcerned, un passionate but for other stuff we are very emotional, very passionate and very concerned. Why? I don’t know the answer do you?

I read this blog and found it interesting and helpful. You can find it at http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2009/12/01/im-thankful-for-pain/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

Tullian Tchividjian|9:19 am CT

I’m Thankful for Pain

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

For various reasons, this past year has been the most painful year of my life by far. As of late, God has graciously given me a mild reprieve, but I still spend a lot of time thinking about all that happened this year and the way God used trials and tribulations to remold and reshape me.

As crazy as this might sound, I have finally come to the place where I am genuinely thankful for all of the pain and difficulty and loss I experienced this year. As much as my family and I suffered, I look back on the way God used our desperation to make us more dependent on him and I am deeply grateful. In fact, I told a friend the other day that I wouldn’t trade one desperate, difficult day for all the dollars in the world. Seriously!

I’ve discovered that being thankful for pain is such a hard concept to grasp because many of us live in a country which has convinced us that the pursuit of happiness and comfort is our “inalienable right.” Therefore, when our comforts, conveniences, and cushions are threatened, we cry “foul.” This has deeply affected our understanding of what it means to give thanks and the types of things we are to be thankful for.

I love reading biographies. And one of the things I’ve discovered in reading them is that the greatest people in history have been just as thankful for their pains as they have been for their pleasures. They’ve given gratitude for their desperations as much as their deliverances; their grief as much as their glory.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Health is a gift from God, but sickness is a gift greater still.” Throughout his time in this world, Spurgeon suffered with various physical ailments that eventually took his life prematurely. He longed to be well but he recognized the supreme value of being sick and he thanked God for it because it was his pain that caused him to desperately draw near to God.

Similarly, David Brainerd was a young missionary to American Indians who died in 1747 at 29 years old from tuberculosis. Toward the end of his struggle, he was on his deathbed coughing up blood and coming in and out of consciousness saying out loud, “Oh for Holiness! Oh, for more of God in my soul! Oh, this pleasing pain! It makes my soul press after God.”

The Puritans used to say that this life was the gymnasium, the dressing room, for the life to come and if suffering here and now better prepared them for the next world then it was welcomed.

To be thankful for our comforts only is to make an idol of this life. “God-sent afflictions”, says Maurice Roberts, “have a health-giving effect upon the soul” because they are the medicine used to purge the soul of self-centeredness and this world’s vanities. Pain, in other words, sharpens us, matures us, and gives us clear “eye-sight.” Pain transforms us like nothing else can. It turns us into “solid” people. Roberts continues, “Those who have been in the crucible have lost more of their scum.” All of this should cause us to be deeply thankful.

It’s been said that pain is the second best thing because it leads us to the Best Thing (God). For, it is only when we come to the end of ourselves that we come to the beginning of God. And it is only when we come to the beginning of God that we come to the beginning of life.

The paradox of Christianity is that if you want to find your life, you must lose it (Matthew 10:39). In the world’s economy, life precedes death. In God’s economy, death precedes life — the cross always precedes the crown. The good news, however — the thing that should cause us to be supremely thankful — is that when we lose our worldly comforts, we gain heavenly ones.

Thank God!

Tullian Tchividjian serves as the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

I am not going to be surprised anymore. I am not going to allow people to surprise me. It is becoming clear that many people do not want to hear what Jesus had to say about how we should live life. For many people, Jesus has become nothing more than a tolerant, loving, forgiving person whose main purpose is to bolster their self esteem, to help them feel good about their lives and get physical blessing from this world. People just want their ears tickled it seems. People just want to hear about this watered down Jesus so they can keep living in and glorifying their sinful life. Why is it that people are so open to this nonjudgmental, tolerant, loving, caring, and open to anything Jesus? Why is it people can be so moved by all that stuff.? But when you begin to tell and preach the truth, you are told that you are judgmental and harsh. Why don’t more people want to hear from the Jesus that taught things like unless a man is born again He will not inherit the kingdom of heaven? Or that there is such a thing as sin and that we need to mourn, repent and turn from that sin. Or that He and He alone is the only way to Heaven. Or that there is the reality of a real place called Heaven and a reality of a real placed called Hell and that people who refuse to accept Jesus and turn from their sinful ways will choose to go to Hell. The problem is no one wants to face their sin. The problem is no one wants to call sin, sin. We want to call it free choice, tolerance, character flaws, mistakes, laziness, having fun, being stupid, whatever. I look into my life and into my heart and I realize that I fall so short of the glory of God. I have come a long way from that life I lived of sinful drunkenness, fifth and hostility toward God that was leading me to hell. I will not sugar coat this- that life was leading me to hell. I will also not sugar coat the fact that if all I did was say some words about how I believe in Jesus Christ yet still saw nothing wrong with drunkenness it would be impossible for me to be saved. The reality is far too many people don’t see that there is anything wrong with the way they are living and it is leading them to eternal doom. Far too many people do not believe that their sin hurts God and that he is not cool with it. So I have come far in my life but the reality is I still have far to go. I struggle with the sin of pride, I struggle with the sin of anger, to name a few and I will tell you these sins grieve my soul. What about you, do you recognize the sin in your life that grieves God. My challenge to you this Christmas season is to look at your life and see if Jesus is really the precious gift to you that God intended Him to be. The goal of Jesus coming to earth was not so that we would live well. What I mean is that Jesus did not come mainly to be useful to us. The goal of Jesus coming to this Earth was so that we could die well. Jesus came mainly so that HE would be glorified and magnified in and through us. Jesus said in Matthew “^Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13,14. Which gate will you enter?