Sycamore

Pacific Crossroads is a solid church in West Los Angeles, and they recently sent out an email about Village of Hope orphanage in Morocco.  Last Sunday, Crossroads commissioned a team of people who were slated to go out to Village of Hope in only a few weeks, but they just got news that the Moroccan Government has raided the home and told the children that their foster parents are going to be deported for talking about their Christian faith.

Not only is Pacific Crossroads a church we love here at Shoreline, but these workers in Morocco are our brothers and sisters in the faith.  I’d ask us all to join with Crossroads in praying for the situation over there, in the following ways (taken from their email):

1.  Pray for the children that are being left behind - that they would be cared for and be protected.
2.  Pray for the missionaries who are being asked to leave - that they would be able to mobilize against this.
3.  Pray that the Moroccan officials would reverse their decision.
4.  Pray that the media around the world would cover this story and bring shame upon the Moroccan government for this decision.
5.  Pray that our God - the Father of the fatherless - would be glorified and would act decisively in this situation.

For more information, here’s the Village of Hope website with updates.

Paper Route is an enjoyable band.
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I am really interested in the science behind Starbucks.  Not the coffee, the atmosphere.  I’ve heard they want to make it a “third place,” or “third space,” or something like that - distinct from home and work as a third spot where you spend your time.  I’m sure there are hours and hours of studies and surveys that are behind the way they arrange their stores, from the table sizes to the music, color scheme, everything.  I think Peet’s coffee is significantly better, but these days I’m drawn to the Starbucks atmosphere.  I think they blinded me with science.
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Plus, I’m positive that I’m more productive when I’m sitting in a deep armchair.
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If D.A. Carson writes it, you should read it.  The man is incapable of overstatement, and has an uncanny ability to see every side of an issue and then explain them to you clearly.  Right now I’m listening through a series of talks he gave on biblical interpretation, focusing on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.  It’s good stuff.  You can listen to the first session here.
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March Madness cannot get here soon enough.  It just doesn’t sit right when sports talk radio spends a lot of time on Nascar.
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Matt Chandler tweeted something that bears repeating: “Jesus is not a means to an end…He’s the goal or you’re an idolater.”  Got me thinking in a good way, not just about ways I might need to repent, but about how Jesus is precious enough to be the goal, of everything.  His glory is vast enough that it can touch every piece of our lives.  No idol can make that claim.

Blogs can be giant time wasters.  But, read appropriately, they can be a great encouragement to your faith.  That’s why it’s important to keep a tight leash on your blog reading (and your internet surfing in general).

One guy you should have on your blog list is Jared Wilson over at The Gospel-Driven Church.  Jared is a pastor, speaker, and author who is quick to enjoy the gospel and help his readers to do the same.  Reading his posts are never a waste of time.

Read Jared’s Blog

Follow Jared on Twitter

Buy Jared’s book, “Your Jesus is Too Safe”

When Jesus took the curse on Himself and so identified with our sin that He became a curse, God cut Him off, and justly so. At the moment when Christ took on Himself the sin of the world, His figure on the cross was the most grotesque, most obscene mass of concentrated sin in the history of the world. God is too holy to look on iniquity, so when Christ hung on the cross, the Father, as it were, turned His back. He averted His face and He cut off His Son. Jesus, Who, touching His human nature, had been in a perfect, blessed relationship with God throughout His ministry, now bore the sin of God’s people, and so He was forsaken by God….

…If Jesus was not forsaken on the cross, we are still in our sins. We have no redemption, no salvation. The whole point of the cross was for Jesus to bear our sins and bear the sanctions of the covenant. In order to do that, He had to be forsaken. Jesus submitted Himself to His Father’s will and endured the curse, that we, His people, might experience the ultimate blessedness. -R.C. Sproul (HT: Shane Vander Hart)

When God put together the New Testament, He inspired people like Paul to exhort believers to good works - holy living, prayer, loving others.  Basically, God calls us to be just like Jesus.

But Paul never opens his letters with a call for his readers to live better.  In almost every letter, he opens with Jesus.  And then, he paints the picture of a redeemed group of people who live like Jesus because they have an unstoppable passion to glorify Him.

I think that at the heart of every Christian is the desire to live like Jesus out of real passion, not just duty.  But the routine of the every day, the quick-fix temptation of sin, and the distractions of the world can rob us of passion and leave us with the guilty of failing our duty to obey.

If you find yourself there today, don’t try to find passion by increasing duty.  Raising the bar for obedience doesn’t reignite passion, it pours water on it.  Instead, do what God teaches us in the New Testament - start with Jesus.  Remember the gospel.  When your passion is lacking, no matter when or where, take hold of your mind and focus it again on the “obscene mass of concentrated sin” that Jesus bore so that you could be eternally redeemed, adopted, safe, secure, loved.  Don’t stop.  Immerse yourself in the gospel until your passion can’t be quenched.  Then, nothing will stop you from living like Jesus with a passion that transcends duty.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. -Romans 12:1

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  -Ephesians 5:1-2

Here’s what’s good:

Read about how to minister well (even if “pastor” isn’t your day job).

Learn from DA Carson how to know what commands in the Bible are still binding today (holy kisses, anyone?)

Read the Wall Street Journal on getting married “too young.”

Watch “How to Build a God,” by a worship leader from Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Make the perfect grilled-cheese sandwich.

Read Russel Moore on “Misguided Christian Outrage.”

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” -Luke 17:7-10

God is full of loving mercy, but that doesn’t mean He stops being Lord.  Just because your Dad loves you doesn’t mean he stops having authority over you.  A good King inspires a humble kind of service, because you know what bad kings can be like.

We can all think of times when we’ve obeyed our Lord and then said, “you’re welcome” - as though we just went out of our way to do God a favor.  But Scripture says that our obedience is never a “you’re welcome”:

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. -Titus 3:3-8

How are we called to obey our Lord?  By knowing God’s grace towards us in Jesus, to remind us that He’s the kind of Lord we live for every day as a humble “thank you.”  Once enemies, now heirs through Jesus, it’s our joy to say, “Lord, we are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

Mondays are (sort of) my day off.  After a full day on most Sundays, my brain needs some time to recharge, so I try to keep my schedule light and relax.  This gives me my share of odd, undeveloped thoughts.  In the interest of you getting to know some sides of me that might not come out in a sermon podcast, some of those thoughts end up here:

John Piper tweeted something earlier in the week along the lines of “TV was made for man, man was not made for TV.  Make your viewing feed your sanctification.”  Wise, biblical advice in a time when even our billboards have turned into giant televisions.  I’m applying this in two ways: first, I’m trying to filter out media that distracts from my sanctification.  Second, I’m looking to find quality media - television, film, writing - that stimulates my brain and my heart.  Just eliminating inappropriate things isn’t quite it.  We can worship God through taking in good culture, and we can miss that opportunity when we just focus on getting rid of the “bad stuff.”  I’m reading Dostoevsky’s short stories.  They’re good, they make me think, and even though they’re not explicitly “Christian” fiction, they show me life from a unique perspective and give me the opportunity to apply the gospel in a new way.
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Plus, a good story that’s well written is a bit of common grace that shouldn’t be overlooked.
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Scott taught me to earn my man card and start drinking my coffee black.  (My Dad also gave me a push in the right direction).  But everytime I’m at the S&W - far and away the best diner in Los Angeles - I still put cream and splenda in there.  And it’s really good coffee.
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My thesis (which has to weigh several pounds when it’s all printed out) has strict formatting requirements.  One of them is for the margins to be at 1″, all the way around.  Which you’d think would be easy, but Microsoft word is just throwing footnotes wherever it pleases, with no regard for margins.  Thus far, google has no idea how to fix this.

I finished my thesis, and took a little time off from writing.  But now I’m blogging again.  I even have a plan, and a schedule and stuff.  Monday through Friday.  Just a heads up.

I’m writing a thesis.  This means almost all of my creative juices are being enlisted for that purpose, and so blogging (not to mention phone calls, emails, and leaving the house) has been put on the sidelines.

But i couldn’t help posting this, fourteen items on a list of the “Top 20 Unfortunate Lessons Girls Learn from Twilight” (the last five weren’t that great).  Ever since I skimmed through one of the books during a youth group houseboats trip, I’ve been waiting to write something like this.  Now, someone has done it for me.  Enjoy:

And so, with an insincere “love is forever,” we begin.

1.  If a boy is aloof, stand-offish, ignores you or is just plain rude, it is because he is secretly in love with you — and you are the point of his existence.
2.  Secrets are good — especially life-threatening ones.
3.  It’s OK for a potential romantic interest to be dimwitted, violent and vengeful — as long as he has great abs.
4.  If a boy tells you to stay away from him because he is dangerous and may even kill you, he must be the love of your life. You should stay with him since he will keep you safe forever.
5. If a boy leaves you, especially suddenly (while telling you he will never see you again), it is because he loves you so much he will suffer just to keep you safe.
6. When a boy leaves you, going into shock, losing all your friends and enduring night terrors are completely acceptable occurrences — as long as you keep your grades up.
7. It is extremely romantic to put yourself in dangerous situations in order to see your ex-boyfriend again. It’s even more romantic to remember the sound of his voice when he yelled at you.
8. Boys who leave you always come back.
9. Because they come back, you should hold out, waiting for them for months, even when completely acceptable and less-abusive alternative males present themselves.
10. Even though you have no intention of dating an alternative male who expresses interest in you, it is fine to string the young man along for months. Also, you should use him to fix things for you. Maybe he’ll even buy you something.
11. You should use said male to fix things because girls are incapable of anything mechanical or technical.
12. Lying to your parents is fine. Lying to your parents while you run away to save your suicidal boyfriend is an extremely good idea that shows your strength and maturity. Also, it is what you must do.
13. Car theft in the service of love is acceptable.
15. Men can be changed for the better if you sacrifice everything you are and devote yourself to their need for change.

“Many well-meant efforts at so-called sanctification become sinful.  For the man who applies himself earnestly and diligently to good works, solely to attain a holier status and thus become a holier person, has lost his reward.  His end in view is not God, but himself; and…this wrongly planned sanctification causes self-exaltation and spiritual pride.” - Abraham Kuyper

Translation: doing good things because you think it will accomplish something between you and God seems really holy but is actually really arrogant.  No one will stand before God and brag, “Not only did I trust in Christ, but I was really obedient as well!” and have Him nod with approval.  There will be no sly winks from God to those who are “really holy” on that day.  The only praise will be for the Lamb who was slain - not your really super commitment.

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:11-14