Why God demands to be worshipped

John Piper provides seven theses on why it is right that God demands to be worshipped.

Thesis 1

My all-shaping conviction is that God created the universe in order that he might be worshipped with white-hot intensity by created beings who see his glory manifested in creation and history and supremely in the saving work of Christ.

Thesis 2

I am also persuaded that people need to be confronted with how self-exalting God is in this purpose

Thesis 3

I press on this because I believe that if we are God-centered simply because we consciously or unconsciously believe God is man-centered, then our God-centeredness is in reality man-centeredness. Teaching God’s God-centeredness forces this issue of whether we treasure God because of his excellence or mainly because he endorses ours.

Thesis 4

God’s eternal, radical, ultimate commitment to his own self-exaltation permeates Scripture. His aim to be exalted glorified, admired, magnified, praised, and reverenced is seen to be the ultimate goal of all creation, all providence, and all saving acts.

Thesis 5

This is not megalomania because, unlike our self-exaltation, God’s self-exaltation draws attention to what gives greatest and longest joy, namely, himself. When we exalt ourselves, we lure people away from the one thing that can satisfy their souls—the infinite beauty of God. When God exalts himself, he manifests the one thing that can satisfy our souls, namely, God.

Therefore, God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act, since love labors and suffers to enthrall us with what is infinitely and eternally satisfying, namely, God. Therefore, when God exalts God and commands us to join him, he is pursuing our highest, deepest, longest happiness. This is love, not megalomania.

Thesis 6

God’s pursuit of his glory and our pursuit of our joy turn out to be the same pursuit. This is what Christ died to achieve. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). When we are brought to God as our highest treasure, he gets the glory and we get the pleasure.

Thesis 7

To see this and believe this and experience this is radically transforming to worship—whether personal or corporate, marketplace or liturgical.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Authentic ministry

I don’t know anyone who wants to be a ministry project.  In our new role in member care, there have been a few times when people have been quite defensive when we have asked them how they are doing.  How to communicate genuine care? How to care for people authentically? Some helpful words from Beth Porter via the Henri Nouwen society.

On the Journey Towards Becoming a More Authentic Minister written by BETH PORTER

I have sometimes felt so phony in my attempts at ministry. My words seem awkward and empty to me, and I can only imagine that the person receiving them recognizes this. Lately I have been looking back at one period of ministry when I felt I usually did have the right words – and right judgment about when silence and not speech was called for. It was a stint of chaplaincy training during which I was assigned to visit palliative care patients. Though I had little experience or training, authentic ministry seemed to come easily to me there, and fairly often I could sense the grace in the moment for the other person as well as for myself.

What were the elements in that situation that called the best out of me? I think the exigency of approaching death left no space for delay, for laziness, for the trivial, or platitudes, or dishonesty – or for self-conscious concern about whether or not I would find the right words. In the starkness, fully attentive, I reached deep for hope, and my ego took a backseat.

The word authentic means “from the author.” I usually realize after I have said something when it has come from a superficial part of myself – it’s as though the real me has not authored it! I don’t particularly want to keep death always in mind, but I see the importance of the psalmist’s plea that God “teach us to number our days, so that we might get a heart of wisdom.”

Mysticism Part 7

Soul-connecting concluding words of the Spring 2008 Conversations with the article, “Mysticism: A Personal Reflection” by Alice Fryling; 87-88

Mysticism includes a self-surrender that will be a life-long challenge for me.

God calls upon me to surrender my desires to win approval, to fix other people’s problems, and to be in control of my own life. It is a mystery to me how I can let go of these desires.” 87

This means I do not need to understand. I do not need to be in control. Mysticism invites me to let go: to let go of the things I do to gain God’s love, to let go of my need to know the whole truth, to let go of taking myself so seriously. When I let go of my own grip on life, I find that God is already at work, changing me . . . 88

The most important thing is not whether we can explain it but that we truly experience God’s presence in our lives, that we are being transformed by God’s grace, and that we are loving one another with God’s love. 88

People buying things they don’t need with money they don’t have

. . . to impress people they don’t like! Just back on Christmas Day into the land of the post-Christmas sales. I have a few things I want to pick up here but generally I don’t go shopping unless there is something specific I want to pick up. Unless, I am going to people watch. I seem to be out of synch with the culture and life here. Maybe I need to do some cross-cultural study to try to figure out this place.

Began car shopping with my daughter yesterday and it is an odd experience. When the salesman made u s an offer on a car and we didn’t make a counter-offer but said we needed to go, he said that didn’t usually happen. I think I am missing something here. Will go to the mall later today I suppose so the following article by Michelle Singletary on Our Relationship With The Mall seems to fit here.

I have another way to describe that big, never-ending place where sales are king.

I call the mall a “den of iniquity” because it is often a place where immoral shopping goes on. And by that I mean people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have and may never have.

I will admit that I was a mall rat at one time. I lived to find bargains. I loved going to the mall and hunting for sales. But then I had an epiphany. I realized that you never save when you spend. No matter how much of a sale you find at the mall, you are not saving money. You are spending less, but you are not saving.

So, I’ll confess I’m not terribly troubled by all the retail failures or store closings. I’m a wee bit happy that the “mallworld” is collapsing as Post Style reporter Hank Stuever wrote recently.

In an essay, Stuever calls these times “shopocalypse.

We’re living at what may be the beginning of the end of mallworld as we know it:”

Maybe I need to compare malling in the Philippines with malling here this week. Already we have been shocked by the quiet and the absence of people. I wonder if the mall will be the same. On the last day in the Philippines, we were trying to make sure the garbage collectors received their Christmas present from us to ensure our garbage would continue to be collected.

War between the flesh and spirit

Outstanding article on “Spiritual Formation and the Warfare Between The Flesh and The Human Spirit”.by Dallas Willard in the first issue of Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care Spring 2008, Vol 1, No 1. For now, here is his definition of spiritual formation and a definition of the problem that we all face. More to follow.

Spiritual formation in Christ is the process through which disciples or apprentices of Jesus take on the qualities or characteristics of Christ himself, in every essential dimension of human personality. The overall orientation of their will, the kinds of thoughts and feelings that occupy them, the “automatic” inclinations and “readiness” of their body in action, the prevailing posture of their relations toward others, and the harmonious wholeness of their soul—these all, through the formative processes undergone by his disciples, increasingly come to resemble the personal dimensions of their Master. 79

Our basic problem: It is the problem of not doing the good that you would sincerely say you intend to do, that you clearly wish you would do, and that you grieve over and regret not having done. It is a fundamental problem of all who see life clearly and think deeply about it. 80

A sad day at the North Pole

From Wall Street Journal, thanks to SMI

Maybe you missed this as I did?

With the government on the brink of rescuing the U.S. auto industry, we have learned that the Treasury Department is drawing up plans to bail out Christmas. “We have reason to believe,” said a person close to the matter, “that without an immediate capital injection, Santa Claus will fail before December 24.” Mr. Claus could not be reached for comment.

Government officials are said to be concerned at the risk that the collapse of Santa Claus could pose to the nation’s intricately related system of holiday happiness. Though a failure by Santa Claus poses the largest systemic risk, the government is also prepared to step in to bail out Christmas trees, caroling parties and mistletoe producers.

To stay or to go?

John Fischer wrote in his Nov 21, 2008 Catch of the Day about a Christian musician friend struggling whether or not to stay in a club environment.  Obviously, by staying he could influence young people by his music but to stay would test his faith.  So, he asked God, “Should I stay or should I go?”  Here are some powerful words from Fischer about what happened.

For as he was deliberating whether he should stay or go, he heard a message from God, “It’s okay, you can leave if you want to, but I’m staying.”

This is one of the more powerful pictures I have in my memory bank of what a Christian worldview is and is not. It is not a retreat from the world. It is not fostering a righteousness that sets itself over and above everyone else. It is not living in isolation, but entering into the risk of relationship and compassion.

If you want to read more from Fischer, heres a link to his blog

Anger, pain and men

I have tried to be honest about my journey with depression over the past few years.   But, as I have written in other places, beneath a lot (but certainly not all) depression lies anger.  And being honest about my own anger has not been nearly as easy to admit and discuss with people.   Not that I should be talking about it with everybody.

Indeed my personal journey with depression (sounds kind of strange–like depression has been my friend) has often been intertwined with anger.  By being willing to talk about my own struggles with depression, others have been willing to admit their own depression and talk about it a little.  It gives me no joy that there are so many men out there fighting the dark cloud but it is encouraging to know that this battle is not one anyone needs to fight alone.  And it does bring me joy when my friends begin to get help to climb out of the despairing pit.

I suppose that normally anger seems to come before depression.  And according to David Benner, anger comes out of an experience of pain or an experience of loss.  So, the real challenge is for men to talk about not just our depression and anger but also about our pain and losses.  And that is where it gets tough doesn’t it?

What got me going on this topic is an article that my dear wife sent me,  an article by Anthony Bradley in World Magazine titled,  “Do Men Hurt?” Bradley writes,

Sadly, for many men, pain is often dismissed, ignored, or confused with sin. Many men do sinful things not out of a rebellious spirit but to self-medicate real pain. We all find ways to deal with pain, and sometimes it opens the door for sin.

Reminds me of a post I made about a book I real last year by Terrence Real,
I don’t want to talk about it,

One reason so many men face depression is that they do not face or deal well with the pain in their lives–often leading to addictive behavior to cover up the pain.

Pretty sensitive areas to discuss in a small group, eh?  The problem is that for too many of us, there is no safe place,  not even the church!  Not that I am down on the church–don’t misunderstand me.  Its just that the church seems to rarely be the place it could be.  For more on that, read Larry Crabb’s excellent book, The Safest Place on Earth. Here is more from Bradley on this topic.

Many churches do not provide safe space for men to confess being in need of healing (Luke 4, Isaiah 61) due to the hands many men have been dealt, sins committed against them in the past or present, their own addictions, confusions, passivity, anger, and so on. As a result, we have churches full of unhealed and wounded men who often medicate their pain in secret or take it out on their wives, children, friends, and co-workers. The dysfunctional cycle of self-medication creates even more generational sin and pain.

Anyway, I am finding this post to be a healthy challenge for me to think about my own openness–how much am I willing to share about my pain with others? What am I hiding?  And, how am I doing in creating safe places for men who need to talk about their pain?  I know it means that I have to think about ME less, make myself more available to build relationships of trust.  Likely, it means that less may very well be more in the long run.  And as Bradley exhorts in his article, all of us need to remember that it is only relationship with the Triune God that can bring the healing that we need.

Want to end this post on a positive note and so here is a vision that Bradley gives worth praying towards.  Again, the link to his entire article.

I look forward to the day in ministry contexts where I hear stories of men growing up in churches who were able to get help early because it was a normal way the church loved their men.

Mysticism Part 6

Jerry Root writes about “Evelyn Underhill: The Path toward Spiritual Maturity” on pages  76—81 of Conversations Spring 2008 issue

Mysticism is union with God.

The recognition that our deepest longings cannot be satisfied by any created thing awakens desire for the transcendent, but this desiring is not specifically Christian.

All religions have their mystics who testify to a hunger and thirst for God

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Lewis 79

It is true that we tend to define ourselves by how we perceive that others see us. But when we look to others in the hope of making sense of ourselves, we are disappointed, for we are looking to those who are at least as insecure as we are. We can gain a proper understanding of who we are only when we grasp how God sees us, and he loves us and forgives us. Knowing his love and forgiveness allows us to look honestly at ourselves so that we might adjust our lives to reality; that is, we might mature according to the truth of God as he reveals it by his love. 80

Mysticism Part 5

“A mystic as a person whose identity is deeply rooted in God’s love,” says Wil Hernandez in his article “Henri Nouwen as an Evangelical Mystic” on pages 60—63 of Spring 2008 issue of Conversations He described mysticism as “simply dwelling in the presence of God.”

Other favorite quotes

Evangelicals have a great need for a mystical dimension to their lives so they could be more free in living and not driven. 61

Mysticism is a direct personal experience of God

I am convinced that I will truly be able to love the world when I fully believe that I am loved far beyond its boundaries. 62

Underhill advocated a union with the divine that “impels a person toward an active, outside, rather than purely passive, inward life.” 63

The great mystical truth of the spiritual life, Nouwen emphasized, is that the more intimately connected you are with the Lord, the more in solidarity you are with all the suffering people of the world. 63

Health Warning

Saw this the other day and I thought it worthwhile warning you all.

No nativity scene

From Tom McMahon

There will be no Nativity Scene in D.C. this year.

The Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a Nativity Scene in  Washington D.C. this Christmas season. This isn’t for any religious reason – they simply have not been able to find Three Wise Men in the Nation’s capital.

(from Jeff Brown)

Mysticism Part 4

“A mystic is anyone who experiences God,” says Heather Prkinson-Webb in her article, “Reading the Mystics as Spiritual Formation on pages 56—58 of Spring 2008 Conversations.

She suggests, “Mystic ways is simply the process of sanctification, what happens as we grow in faith.” 57

I think both conservative evangelicals and wild charismatics need to pay attention to her next words.

If we make ourselves only students of doctrine, we run the risk of becoming, like the Pharisees, devoid of deep devotion and a living relationship with God. But, on the other hand, if we pursue only an experientially based religious life and don’t focus on doctrine and theology, we may end up as heretics. There is a delicate balance we need to maintain in being people of the Book but also people of the heart. Both are essential if we are to maintain a living relationship with God. 58

Mysticism Part 3

Two more points by Larry Crabb from his article, Confessions of a Badly Dressed Mystic in Spring 2008 volume of Conversations

1.  Reason and imagination have equal value in mysticism.

• • The aim of true mysticism is not to experience God; it is to glorify God.
  • True mystical experience consists in nothing less than literal participation in the eternally ongoing perichoretic life of the divine community.
  • Christian mysticism becomes not the attempt to experience now what can be fully experienced only in the next world, but the desire to experience now what will sustain us in the battle until we rest in the next world forever. Empowerment, not fulfillment, is more the point of mystical experience in this world.

2. Cosmetic transcendence is no substitute for curative transcendence.

• Transcendent experience not dependent on transcendent truth is cosmetic, not curative.
• Any experience—no matter how stirring or apparently God related—that fails to release us a little bit more from the bonds of self-sufficiency, fails to reach beneath our deepest and most painful wounds and expose our resolve to relieve our pain at any cost to others, and fails to supply power to please God and advance His kingdom at any cost to ourselves is counterfeit. 28

Reflectons on aging

Following the death of one of the monks, Merton reflects on aging and memories of his youth.  From A Year with Thomas Merton

If I were wiser, I would not mind, but I am not so sure I am wiser.  I have been through more, I have endured a lot of things, perhaps fruitlessly.  I do not entirely think that–but it is possible.  What shakes me is that–I wish I were that rugby player, vain, vigorous, etc., and could start over again!  And yet how absurd.  What would I ever do?

Seems like I had a conversation about this earlier in the week.  People sometimes assume a level of expertise or maturity or wisdom of us when we get older that may not be necessarily true.  Lord, let me embrace both who I am and who I am not and be content with that.

Placing myself in God’s hands

I love these words from Thomas Merton about his simple focus

I give myself completely to God.  He draws me more and more to that.  I cannot know what lies ahead of me, for us, but more and more I realize God wants me to put myself in His hands, and let Him take me through the things that are to come, and I must learn to trust Him without fear, or questions, or hesitations, or withdrawal.

From Dec 12 in A Year with Thomas Merton

Communion develops in the dark

Really, this post should be mysticism part 3 since once again it is coming from the Spring 2008 issue of Conversations on Mysticism.  But, I like the first point that Larry Crabb makes in his article, “Confessions of a Badly Dressed Mytic” on pages 25-28.

1. Union is established by the cross. Communion develops in the dark.

¨ Union—securing a right relationship for a sinful person and holy God by the work of Christ

¨ Communion—slow growth and enjoyment of the relationship gained above.

Present communion—has “more to do with the pain of thirst than the enjoyment of gratification.” Joy is more of a hope of satisfied desire than the experience of satisfaction

“We sometimes feel forsaken. We always are accepted and loved. That’s union. In the darkness, when we feel forsaken, we discover our desperate thirst for God, our consuming desire to know him, to experience him, to enjoy him. And concentrating on that desire, even as the experience of his absence deepens, is one form of communion, perhaps the one most pleasing to God.” 27

Actually, I heard a great illustration of this in a powerful testimony yesterday at church.  Sandra had back surgery two years ago and because she was allergic to pain medication, she had the 18 hour surgery and all of her rehab without pain medication. Unbelievable, eh?  She was expressing thanks for all that had prayed for her at church.  She said about the past 2 years, “Pain has been my constant companion and diligent teacher.” She went on to describe how God had deepened her during this time.  I think she was saying, like Crabb, that communion develops in the dark.  Confirms what Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross and other spiritual masters have told us.

Finished The Interior Castle by Teresa last night and the following quote seems to fit here, ” When our Lord chooses to withdraw His presence, the soul in its loneliness makes every possible effort to induce Him to return.  This avails but little, for this grace comes at His will and not by our endeavors.”  Sixth Mansion VIII:7

Reading in Psalm 77 and in this Psalm, Asaph seems to be experiencing the withdrawal of God. And yet . . . he says in verse 13, “Oh God, your ways are holy.”  Oh yes, the inscrutable, holy, mysterious ways of God.  Thank you Lord, thank you.

Mysticism part 2

More from Conversations Journal

Mysticism: A Personal Reflection Alice Fryling 87-88

Mysticism includes a self-surrender that will be a life-long challenge for me.

God calls upon me to surrender my desires to win approval, to fix other people’s problems, and to be in control of my own life. It is a mystery to me how I can let go of these desires.” 87

This means I do not need to understand. I do not need to be in control. Mysticism invites me to let go: to let go of the things I do to gain God’s love, to let go of my need to know the whole truth, to let go of taking myself so seriously. When I let go of my own grip on life, I find that God is already at work, changing me . . . 88

The most important thing is not whether we can explain it but that we truly experience God’s presence in our lives, that we are being transformed by God’s grace, and that we are loving one another with God’s love. 88

Mysticism part 1

Just finished reading through the Spring 2008 volume of Conversations. The issue was on Mysticism and Divine Awareness.  Will be making a few posts from the different articles

First very helpful thoughts in understanding what is mysticism from Bruce Demarest in “Mysticism: Peril or Promise?” He says that there are 3 types of mysticism but only one can be called Christian.

1. Hard mysticism—“alleges the merging of human nature with the essence of the Absolute or God, in such a way that self-consciousness is lost. (Buddhism, Hinduism etc)

2. Occult mysticism—seek transcendent insights and experiences through mind-altering.” substances and/or esoteric practices. (est, New Age, Psycanics)

These first two are “fundamentally opposed to orthodox Christianity.”

3. Soft mysticism—“seeks deepening relational union with God, not emptiness, fusion, or an ontological union.” Relates to the “believers experience of intimate, relational union with Jesus Christ.” 12

“Soft mysticism calls for the integration of intellect, affections, relationships and service, which Scripture collectively calls “heart.” 16

“Christian disciples are summoned to experience more fully their union with Jesus by surrender of their lives to him and by biblical meditation, prayer and other edifying spiritual practices. The biblical mystic does not withdraw from life in some “rapturous dreamland” (Underhill), nor does he spend his days in a cave ruminating on his own spiritual world. Rather, the biblical mystic joins contemplation of Christ with practical action on behalf of others in the give and take of everyday life. In deep personal relationship with Jesus, disciples discover wisdom for living, words for speaking, and courage for serving God and others.” 17

The gift of tears

A few years ago, during a retreat, I began weeping when I shared a dream about my early family.  The ladies in the group thought it was great!  I am not so sure about that.  But, since then, there have been times when I have longed for the gift of tears, to pour out my  heart and my pain to God–but nothing came, unfortunately!  The mystics talk about the first stage of mysticism as being the purgative way.  This is when we realize our human failure and deficiency or see our sinful condition before God.  As Jerry Root says, “To define oneself before the holiness of God leads to repentance, confession and tears.”

Well, I have been reading Teresa of Avila’s The Interior Castle and in her section on the sixth mansion she writes about the times when the fire of God within her leads to tears that are soothing and gentle rather than stormy and rarely do any harm.  But then she writes:

Let us not fancy that if we cry a great deal we have done all that is needed–rather we must work hard and practse the virtures; that is the essential–leaving tears to fall when God sends them, without trying to force ourselves to shed them.  Then, if we do not take too much notice of them, they will leave the parched sould of our souls well watered, making it fertile in good frueit; for this is the water which falls from heaven.  However, we may tire ourselves in digging to reach it, we shall never get any water like this; indeed, we may often work and search until we are exhausted without finding as much as a pool, much less a springing well!

Therefore, . . . I think it best for us to place ourselves in the presence of God, contemplate His mercy and grandeur and our own vileness and leave Him to give us what He will, whether water or drought, for He knows what is good for us; thus we enjoy peace and the devil will have less chance to deceive us.  Sixth Mansion; Chapter VI:9

I find this helpful and freeing and hope it can help me be less frustrated when the tears do not come.