Blog Now Blocked

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

I have been alerted to the fact that blogs are now blocked by the filters on our military computers. Are any of you still reading this post now that this is the case? Please let me know if any of you are reading it on your personal computer. If so, I will keep blogging here. Otherwise, I'll shut this baby down.

In Christ,
CH Stevo

Thought of the Day: Measure of Our Lives

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

How do you measure your righteousness? By the Ten Commandments? If you keep six of them, are you sixty percent righteous?

The reality is that we don't keep a single commandment--the law only kills, it doesn't bring life. Jesus made this point where he explained that anger in the heart is tantamount to murder and lust in the heart is tantamount to adultery (Matthew 5). He tightens the screws to let us know that our thoughts are just as liable to judgment as our deeds.

James (ch4) makes a similar point in that if we know the good we ought to do, but don't do it, it is sin. In other words, it is not just direct acts of sin (sin of commission) that condemn us, but any instances of not being perfectly good (sin of ommission).

The bottom line is that if we measure our lives by the law, we will surely be condemned. We need a Savior who will perfectly keep the law in our place, and will die for our guilt in accordance with the law. That is what we have in Jesus Christ, who measured our worth in His shed blood.

Question of the Day: God the Tolerant?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

For me, tolerance seems to be one of the most disturbing concepts today. It is not a call to love. It asks that you show no regard to another's behavior, but to tolerate them, which seems to imply simply putting up with them. No, this petty concept falls far short of love.

Love involves looking upon someone who is morally corrupt and sinful (like you and me) and desiring their good to the extent that you are willing to lay down your life for them.

This doesn't mean overlooking sin, but it does mean not holding sin against someone. God's eternal love for His people did not overlook their sin, but considered it paid for when it was nailed to the cross with Christ Jesus (Col. 2). He is not a tolerant God, nor will He ever tolerate sin. But has has paid for it for all those who believe in Christ.

As such, when you approach God in prayer, you do not approach an open-minded reflection of man who holds His nose while you talk to Him. No, He embraces you unconditionally because of the perfect life and atoning death of Christ. He delights in you, and that is way better than tolerance.

Question of the Day: Still Grateful?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

We have been engaged in our work for many months now, and at some point, we grow tired and begin to grumble. We miss our families. We grow tired on the monotony of our work.

A year ago, my pregnant wife had to go under the knife to remove a mass that we thought might take the life of her and/or our unborn baby.

Today, though we live apart, we thank God because we still live together.

Christ promised us not only life, but life to the full. This fullness does not describe our happy feelings, but of God's provision for our every true need in Christ.

If you're mired in bad feelings regarding your circumstances, look anew to all that you have in Jesus Christ. There is always ample reason to be grateful.

Thought of the Day: Run With Me!

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Just a reminder that we have both a Ruck Run 5k as well as the great Ragnar Relay coming up. If you would like to participate in either event, please let me know. I'd love to run with you.

And whether you run, eat chow, ride in a convoy, or do admin work, do it with the mercies of Christ Jesus in view. In gratitude for His saving work, offer your lives to the glory of the living God.

1 Cor. 10

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Thought of the Day: Accountabili-buddy

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

We all struggle. We all suffer. We all sin.

Normally, we can depend upon our spouses to help care for us in all of these regards. They can encourage us, empathize with us, and hold us accountable.

They are not able to fulfill this role as effectively from across the world.

Alongside our regular times in God's Word and in prayer, as well as hearing from God in our chapel services and learning of Him in our studies, we need someone in our daily lives who can encourage us, empathize with us, and hold us accountable.

They can convict and comfort us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continually work to "set our minds on things above, where Christ is" (Col. 3).

Who is this person for you?

Free Books

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Please don't forget that I have plenty of free books and resources. I have Bibles, books on Scripture and Jesus and the Jesus-centered life. I have booklets on many of the hard questions the we frequently wrestle with. I have pamphlets on most any problem you could be struggling with.

And if you come by, I have coffee, candy, and a chair to sit back and enjoy them all!

Thought of the Day: Christ the Hero

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Sometimes, we get lost in thoughts of our own heroics. We imagine doing great things, especially for those we love, and there is nothing wrong with that.

But do not let your desire to do good outweigh your memory of Christ, the true hero. He did what no one else could do--came from heaven to save sinners by living a perfect life and dying in their place--and deserves all of our reverence and trust.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Tim. 1:15)

Remember, you may want to be a hero, but you need Christ to be your hero.

Never Forget...

Martin Richard, the eight-year-old boy at the Boston Marathon, alongside his mommy, daddy, brother and sister. Behind him, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Beneath him, a backpack. This, in many ways, is why we're here.

Thought of the Day: Operation Outreach

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

I have shared the pleasure of volunteering for Operation Outreach with many of you. There is something invigorating about joining with men and women of all ranks and branches of service to do a little something to improve the life of impoverished citizens of this country.

But let us not grow satisfied with the work we are doing, nor believers in our own righteousness. We serve because we were served. It is not an expression of our piety, but of our gratitude.

The true outreach operation was launched by Jesus, who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, made in human likeness, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross (paraphrase from Phil. 2). He did all this to bring glory to the Father and secure a spiritual impoverished citizenry to Himself.

When we boast, we boast in His righteousness. When we serve, we serve in view of the mercy shown to us in His perfect life and atoning death. And when we unify for a good cause, we are but getting a foretaste of the life unified with all tribes, tongues, peoples, and languages when we gather around the throne of the Lamb who was slain for our sin.

Every blessing but shows the past, present, and future grace afforded those who are found in Christ.

God's Word for the Day: Mark 1:1-13

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Do you ever struggle with whether Jesus Christ really is God?

In Mark 1, we have several very credible witnesses who insist that He is indeed God in the flesh.

First, the writer of the Gospel, Mark, declares that Jesus is the Son of God (v1).

Second, John the Baptist, the last great "Old Testament prophet" (though he is in the New Testament), declares that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (something only God can do--v8).

Third, while the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism, God the Father declared "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (v11).

Finally, Satan, the adversary of God, came out of the shadows to openly confront Jesus and try to tempt Him, which was unsuccessful (v13). In the other Gospels, Satan uses Jesus' identity as the Son of God in his efforts to tempt Him.

This is a pretty impressive array of witnesses--and ones who would not profit from deceit.

The same Holy Spirit who descended upon Jesus has descended upon you and confirmed the truth of Jesus' identity and His saving work in human history for sinners like you and me.

When Satan, the Deceiver, stirs up our self-deceit, turn to the Word of Truth, which anchors your sould back in saving reality.

Jesus: Your Prophet, Priest, or King?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king. He is our prophet in that He is the perfect fulfillment of all prior prophets in His revealing the truth of God by Word and by Spirit. Hebrews 1 tells us that in the past, God sent prophets, but in these final days, He has revealed Himself in His Son. Jesus not only perfect bears the Word for us, but is Himself the Word. He is truth personified. As the truth, He proclaims Himself to be the way and the life. He preaches faith and repentance in His name.

Jesus is our priest in that He is the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood as our representative and advocate before God by His own blood. Having endured every temptation and suffering known to man, He is called our "great high priest" by God through the author of Hebrews. Unlike the sinful priests of old, Jesus never had offer atonement for His own sin. Rather, He offered His own perfect life and death for sinners.

Jesus is our king in that He is the perfect fulfillment of all prior kings in His ruling and defending His people. Most Old Testament kings exposed God's people to judgment due to their own disobedience. Even David, in his sin, was a weak example of righteousness, even as "a man after God's own heart." Jesus, however, is the perfect king. To secure His people from the guilt and power of sin and the devil, He became a servant, purchasing His people once and for all by His own blood. Now He reigns over His people as Lord, securing their eternal life and requiring their grateful obedience.

These great "offices" of Jesus, described in brief here, are not only valuable truths of the Christian faith, they are sources of conviction and comfort for Christians. Yet, we often tend to favor one or two of the offices at the exclusion of the third.

Do you wrestle with one of these offices of Jesus, not truly recognizing the full ministry of Christ on earth and heaven? If you struggle to truly believe one of these great doctrines, what are the consequences for the way you live and way you approach the throne of grace in prayer?

Thought of the Day: Self-Check

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

I have noticed recently that my lack of sleep and long work days are catching up with me. I'm more irritable and crabby and desperate for just a few minutes of alone time to recoup.

And I know that I am not unique in this. We practically live on top of each other out here and are exposed to other people 12 some odd hours of the day, every day, for the better part of a year. There is always the nervous energy that accompanies every trip outside of the wire, as well as the toll that rolling down bumpy roads through conjested traffic for hours of the day in stuffy body armor and poor air quality will take upon you.

Of course, we always have the pressure exerted upon us by soldiers above us and below us on the rank structure, as well as the normal family matters that we need to attend to from afar.

Taking this together, make sure to keep giving yourself a psychological and spiritual self-check.

Are you irritable or irrationally angry at times? Do you feel stressed? Do you try to avoid people as much as possible?

If any of these questions are answered in the affirmative, ask yourself what it is in particular that is causing these feelings, share your thoughts with others, and start seeking out opportunities that you know would bring you a greater measure of peace (prayer, reading, running, intentional alone time, etc.).

And lay all these things before the Lord, who has not only saved your life in Jesus Christ, but is now working in and through your for His good pleasure.

Psalm 139

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

God's Word for the Day: Joel 3:17-21

And in that day...a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD. (v18)

It is fitting that God's Word through His servant, Joel, ends with a picture of the New Jerusalem, where God's people shall reside in peace.

In this book, we have passed through the judgment of Israel, the final judgment in its manifold terrors, and have heard a constant call to repentance--not only in holy fear of the God who rules over all things, but in grateful obedience to the loving God who relents of His anger for the sake of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we traverse the darkened paths of this world, guided by the light of God's Word (Ps. 119), the strength of His Spirit (Acts 4), led and secured from Satan, sin, and the flesh by Christ (John 10; Rom. 8), we walk toward a city of light. God will be our light, and our thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5) will be quenched by He who is our righteousness (Rev. 22).

As you walk by faith, do you keep this heavenly home in view? And how does this glorious future swallow up the sufferings of your present circumstances?

Thought of the Day: Christmas Compassion

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Christmas is two months away and soldiers naturally feel their separation from a home a bit more during this season. Do you have traditions or gifts that you would like to uphold out here if possible?

Sometimes, the most enriching experience for us during a holiday season away is to consider the struggles of others and try to enrich their experience. Do you know what might help another soldier pass the days away with more joy?

Are there other Coalition soldiers and Afghan friends who lack your material wealth who could take great joy in something small (expendable clothing, etc.)?

Most important, this season provides yet another opportunity to realize that life is only truly enriched by life in Christ. 'Tis the season for growing in His grace.

A Poem on War

In light of yesterday's passage from Colossians, consider William Wordsworth's poem of war, Character of the Happy Warrior.

Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he

That every man in arms should wish to be?

—It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought

Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought

Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:

Whose high endeavours are an inward light

That makes the path before him always bright;

Who, with a natural instinct to discern

What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;

Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,

But makes his moral being his prime care;

Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,

And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!

Turns his necessity to glorious gain;

In face of these doth exercise a power

Which is our human nature's highest dower:

Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves

Of their bad influence, and their good receives:

By objects, which might force the soul to abate

Her feeling, rendered more compassionate;

Is placable—because occasions rise

So often that demand such sacrifice;

More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure,

As tempted more; more able to endure,

As more exposed to suffering and distress;

Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

—'Tis he whose law is reason; who depends

Upon that law as on the best of friends;

Whence, in a state where men are tempted still

To evil for a guard against worse ill,

And what in quality or act is best

Doth seldom on a right foundation rest,

He labours good on good to fix, and owes

To virtue every triumph that he knows:

—Who, if he rise to station of command,

Rises by open means; and there will stand

On honourable terms, or else retire,

And in himself possess his own desire;

Who comprehends his trust, and to the same

Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;

And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait

For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state;

Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall,

Like showers of manna, if they come at all:

Whose powers shed round him in the common strife,

Or mild concerns of ordinary life,

A constant influence, a peculiar grace;

But who, if he be called upon to face

Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined

Great issues, good or bad for human kind,

Is happy as a Lover; and attired

With sudden brightness, like a Man inspired;

And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law

In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw;

Or if an unexpected call succeed,

Come when it will, is equal to the need:

—He who, though thus endued as with a sense

And faculty for storm and turbulence,

Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes;

Sweet images! which, wheresoe'er he be,

Are at his heart; and such fidelity

It is his darling passion to approve;

More brave for this, that he hath much to love:—

'Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high,

Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye,

Or left unthought-of in obscurity,—

Who, with a toward or untoward lot,

Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not—

Plays, in the many games of life, that one

Where what he most doth value must be won:

Whom neither shape or danger can dismay,

Nor thought of tender happiness betray;

Who, not content that former worth stand fast,

Looks forward, persevering to the last,

From well to better, daily self-surpast:

Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth

For ever, and to noble deeds give birth,

Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame,

And leave a dead unprofitable name—

Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;

And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws

His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause:

This is the happy Warrior; this is he

That every man in arms should wish to be.

Colossians 3:1-4

If, then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is. Set your minds on things above, not on things below. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, you will also appear with him in glory.

The precious, perfect, and powerful Word of God. Amen.

Thought of the Day: Beauty of Family

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Why do we miss our families so much? Is it because our relationships are always flourishing? Are our conversations always edifying? Perhaps it is the ways in which we also sacrificially love each other at great expense to ourselves? We all know better than that.

Our relationships, like our very natures, are infected by sin. But in marriage, and with children, we are bound for lifetime to unconditionally love another who is infected by sin like us. In the case of kids, we often must do so without any sort of reciprocal love--they are totally dependent on us.

Each day, infected by sin as we are, we remember that we are sinners saved by grace loving sinners saved by grace. And as we remember the cost of Christ's redemption of sinners like us, we are enabled by His Spirit to love our families with grace.

Why do we miss our families so much? Because within them, we are given painful and wonderful evidence that grace abounds to the worst of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15-17).

Thought of the Day: God's Word is All About Jesus

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

It is tempting for us to turn Scripture into our own personal rule book. Proverbs becomes our guide for financial planning or parenting. Song of Songs becomes our guide for cultivating our marriages. Job becomes our how-to on dealing with suffering.

Remember that Scripture is fundamentally about Jesus. Jesus is the wisdom espoused in Proverbs. He is the fulfillment of the covenantal love expressed in Song of Songs. There was certainly none more afflicted by Satan's assaults and temptations than Jesus, to whom Job stood as a pointer.

All of these portions of Scripture have real applications for how we are to live, but if we are to understand these applications, we must first understand these portions in relation to Jesus.

God's Word for the Day: Joel 3:1-16

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." (v10)

This verse, describing how a rebellious mankind will oppose God and His people until the very end--the Day of Judgment--is startling. In fact, it is particularly startling as it mirrors a much more famous verse in Isaiah 2:

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. (v4)

In this passage, we glimpse the peace that will settle upon the new heavens and earth, when God's people, drawn from all nations, experience the total peace that is found only in a Christ-reconciled relationship to the living God.

But that time will not come until the plowshares are first beaten into swords--when mankind makes his final treacherous attempt to dethrone the King--and is rightly condemned for it. That Day is coming, when God will judge the nations, but will be "a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel" (v16).

Such salvation comes only through the throes of judgment. Such incredible ark-borne deliverance achieved only the floods of God's righteous wrath. In that Day, justice will be firmly and finally established through the earth, and mercy will appear with glorious beauty in the eternal, peaceful reign of Christ over a people drawn from every tribe, tongue, people, and language.

Navy Birthday

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

There will be a celebration today in honor of the Navy's birthday and a history of distinguished and heroic actions in service to our country. The Navy successfully conducted the landing of Allied forces at Normandy on D-Day--by many measures the most successful amphibious operation in the history of man. In Korea, the Navy was posed with another daunting mission in landing US forces at Inchon in order to save a country from the shadow of communist tyranny. They performed superbly.

While these operations required exceptional skill and encourage, they required, as all actions do, the sustaining and mysterious providence of God. He alone can whip up winds or settle the seas. He alone can manage our tumultuous lives and bring order to our spiritual chaos through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

I leave you with this verse from the Navy hymn:

O Trinity of love and power
Our brethren shield in danger's hour
From rock and tempest, fire and foe
Protect them wheresoe'er they go
Thus everymore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea

Thought of the Day: Give it a go!

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

One of our Australian soldiers shared with me her "Give it a go" philosophy. She reasons that to many people fear taking risks, and that they later regret such fear and missed opportunities. When you're scared to do something, "Give it a go." And when look back on such experiences, take comfort that when you had the choice between paralysis and risk, you "gave it a go."

This concept, when tempered by wisdom, is friendly to the call upon the Christian life to "walk by faith and not by sight." There are times when we will have to make risky decisions and trust that whatever comes of it, God's grace is sufficient. Noah didn't see the flood, but he spent years building an ark. Abraham didn't see the promised land, but he walked away from worldly comfort to embrace it.

Jesus embraced the security of the Father's will in offering His life as a sacrifice for sinners. And because Jesus gave it a go for the sake of sinners and the glory of the Father, we can always give it a go, knowing that we are eternally secure in the salvation secured for us by Christ.

Thought of the Day: Away in a Manger

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Someone responded to my last post on Jesus being born in an animal latrine and thought it to be a fairly offensive concept. This person helpfully noted that "latrine" might not be the best term, since it typically refers to a structure or specific place to dump waste, whereas animals tend to go everywhere. Point taken. Instead of latrine, this of a place where animals roll in their own filth, like a pig sty. Here's what I wrote with regard to this concept of a manger being offensive:

Thanks for interacting with the post. Your visceral response is exactly as it should be--it is offensive. But that's what Christ entered into.

There were three possible structures that might've been considered a "manger" in that day: a room housing animals within a house, a detached room/structure, or a cave. Yet all three of these descriptions merely describe the frame, not what occurred in a manger. A manger was a chicken coop/pig pen/cow pasture. It is where animals lived, fed, grazed, pooped, and peed.

For what it's worth, most of our church fathers--those most closely connected with the event--believed it to have occurred in a cave. Feeding troughs also were not in existence at the time. Animals would have fed from the ground, and there was likely no elevated place to put baby Jesus.

We know that the paintings we have of a pretty, well-constructed, ordered, and clean manger are 100% wrong, even if we don't have the exact structure/holdings of the historical manger. And this depiction of the nativity is vital to our understanding of Jesus Christ's humanity.

Odds are, this is what unfolded the night of Jesus' birth: A panicked Joseph and Mary desperately sought hospitality in a home, but were rejected (highlighting Jesus' rejection by mankind, even in birth. Mankind never had room in his heart for Jesus.) They stumbled through the pitch-black darkness into a nearby manger--either shabby wooden frame or hole/cave in a hillside. The loneliness was likely as painful as the birth--an utterly forsaken scene (again, prefiguring the cross). Mary would've been lying in the dirt and feces (hopefully shielded in part by her clothing), and delivered a crying baby Jesus in a bloody mess into the trembling arms of Joseph. That Mary had to wrap her own baby too demonstrates the poverty and utter abandonment at this moment. The scene--darkness, the stench of birth and animal waste, the cries, the desperate prayers for this baby--is part and parcel of what Jesus' humiliation would entail. He traded his crown of glory to be born of a woman under the law (Gal. 4:4). He was despised and rejected by men, and it started here, in swaddling clothes, literally experiencing this crappy world it all of its wretchedness from the beginning of His earthly life.

Is it offensive? Absolutely. That's why the humanity and humiliation of Christ offends a great many--that God Himself would be reduced to such a level. And that's when we begin to understand how much we truly needed a Savior and what God was willing to do for our salvation. Ugly, nasty, offensive, and literally, crappy.

 

Praise be to the almighty God who would do this for a sinner like me!

Thought of the Day: He Lived for You

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

We often talk about Jesus Christ dying for us, but how often do we talk of Him living for us?

Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:21 that "He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so we might be the righteousness of God."

From his birth in an animal latrine to his death forsaken by man and by God, Jesus Christ underwent every temptation and suffering that could come our way. In fact, he underwent much more in this life, for He fully knew what it was and meant to be forsaken by God in His hour of need. Yet, He did not sin.

Why did He do this? To give us a good example of how to live or provide us a model of what man could do if he really put his mind to it? No, He lived that perfect life, not primarily for our emulation, but for our sake. His perfect life was lived in place of our rebel lives.

When you are in financial debt, you not only need your debt to be paid in order to live, but also need to have money credited to your account. In the same way, Jesus' death paid for our debt, but we needed more to earn the favor of God than being brought back to zero. We needed Christ's righteousness credited to our account. We need His perfect life put into our account, so that when God sees us, He sees us cloaked in the righteousness of His Son.

Jesus not only died for us, He lived for us. We are not only forgiven, but accepted, approved, and beloved for Christ's sake.

Question of the Day: Where is your security?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Where is your security? Is it found your training, weaponry, or battle buddy? Nope.

It is found in Jesus Christ, your shepherd, shield, and great reward. So we can say:

Psalm 27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

³ Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

⁴ One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

⁵ For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

A Heavenly City (Gen. 12:1-9; Heb. 11:8-16)

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

When God told Abram to leave his old country behind and travel to the promised land of Canaan, Abram followed by faith. Notice, however, that God didn't bless Abram because he walked by faith. Abram walked by faith because God blessed him. What a great reminder to us that our salvation not start with a decision to choose God, but with God's eternal choice of us. When we believe in Christ, it is because God called us to faith by His Spirit in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as with Abram.

If the story of Abram going to Canaan was merely a story of his faithful following of God, it would be a pretty short story. But God tells us in Hebrews 11 that Abraham was not simply looking toward the earthly promised land of Canaan, but a heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God.

This points us to a great truth concerning the promised land in the Old Testament: It was never meant to be permanent, but was a giant pointer to the true, permanent, heavenly promised land. The exodus from slavery in Egypt illustrates our exodus from slavery to sin. The inheritance of the promised land of Canaan illustrates our inheritance of the eternal promised land of heaven.

But how would Abraham or you or me inherit that heavenly promised land? The reality is that man could not even be obedient enough to stay in the earthly promised land--that is why the old people of Israel were exiled. Their sin earned their banishment from the promised land. This, of course, illustrates what mankind's sin earns--banished from the heavenly promised land. The Old Testament prophets continually make this point--they connected God's judgment of Israel with man's final judgment (i.e, Joel 1-2), and then pointed eyes toward the promised One who could merit heaven.

So how did Abraham inherit the heavenly promised land? The key is found in God's promise in Genesis 12 that "Your offspring will inherit the land." Who was Abraham offspring? Over the course of history, God's people always understood that to mean them, and they were right. But Paul also tells us in Galatians 3 that it refers to Christ, and he was also right.

The reality that God's promise concerning an offspring was always intentionally left vague in order to encompass both the offspring (Jesus) and the offsprings (us). When we're told in Gen. 3:15 that there would be hostility between the seed/offspring of Eve and the serpent and that the seed/offspring of Eve would crush the head of the serpent--that promise concerns both Christ and us in Him.

This taps into the great biblical doctrine of our union with Christ. What is said of Christ can be said of us because we are so tightly bound to Him by grace through faith. When Satan strikes the heel of Eve's seed (us), he is striking the heel of our Savior, Jesus. When Jesus crushes the head of the serpenet, we crush the head of the serpent. We die with Christ, are raised with Christ, and are even now already seated in the heavenly realms with Christ (Eph. 1).

Abraham would inherit the heavenly promised land because his offpring, Jesus Christ, would inherit the land for him. And because, in Christ our firstborn brother, we are all God's offpsring, we inherit that heavenly promised land in Him and with Him.

So if God's earthly gifts are meant to point our eyes to the greater heavenly realities, than why are our eyes so often distracted and obsessed with earthly things. As John Calvin reminds us, our hearts our idol factories. With Abraham, let us once more lock our eyes on city that awaits us and the Savior who earned it and find once more that this world is full of God's gracious gifts, not idols of eternal worth. Let us look to heaven, and find our identity and hope anew in Jesus Christ through whatever earthly circumstances we pass through.

God's Word for the Day: Joel 2:18-27

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. (v27)

This passage is written in the broader context of the judgment of the nation of Israel, but within the more narrow context of the judgment of all the earth. Thus, this is not the old Israel that is being referred to, nor their return from exile, but to the new Israel, the Church, to which the old Israel pointed, and its ultimate deliverance on the Day of Judgment.

My friends, shame has hung upon our hearts since the very beginning, when our forefather and representative Adam attempted to cover his shame with his own hand-picked covering. Shame stalks us like a shadow, filling our hearts with grief and anger at our brokenness. We often attempt to avoid our shame with mind-numbing distractions, self-righteousness and judgmentalism.

And the worst part is that our shame is not the worst part. It is not our shame that offends God and not our shame from which we need to be saved. It is the sin and guilt before God that causes that shame. Our shame is merely our heart's reflection of God's displeasure at sin.

In the second chapter of Joel, we have seen a picture of the final judgment and a call to return to the Lord in repentance before we stand before Him in judgment. Just as we were given a picture of judgment on one side of the call to repentance, we're given a picture of salvation and the new heavens and earth on the other side.

This is what awaits for those who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus: life and satisfaction in abundance (vv18-19), eternal security and provision (vv20-22), the vindication of our faith (23), restoration--overflowing vats, not overflowing tears! (v25), right relationship with God (v26), and because we have been restored into right relationship with God, no more shame (v27).

Through the righteous life and sacrificial death of Jesus on our behalf, the guilt of our sin has been done away with and the power of our sin is being put to death by His Spirit. In glory, the power of our sin will be destroyed with its guilt, as well as Satan and death itself (1 Cor. 15). In that day, we will approach the throne of grace in person as we now do in prayer, with boldness and confidence because our great shame has been done away with. We will be fully exposed, and fully loved.

Thought of the Day: Judgment

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Why should we not judge? Is it because judgment is wrong?

Not at all. God is our judge, and as He is holy and we are sinful, He is justified in His judgments against us. No one has the right to judge as God does. No one has earned damnation like we have.

We refrain from judgment because if God had judged us as we deserved, we all be damned. In mercy, He judged His Son in our place. When you notice that you're judging another, remember what your sin has earned and what you now have in Christ. Use such an opportunity to examine your own heart of its sin and lay it before the God who no longer judges, but justifies you and makes you more holy.

Then show mercy. Take the person who has earned your wrath and love them until your wrath breaks, by God's grace.

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, was raised--sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. (Rom. 8:34)

Thought of the Day: Jesus, the Son of God

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Many people like to talk about their admiration for Jesus. He was an incredibly moral man and they would like be more like him. But for many of these folks, Jesus was only a moral man.

The problem with Jesus, the moral man, never existed. Don't get me wrong, Jesus existed in human history, but only because he traded His heavenly crown for a crown of thorns. Many might believe that Jesus was simply a moral man, but they are clearly wrong.

Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus claimed to be God. If he was not God, then he was a liar or a lunatic for making such a claim. If a liar or a lunatic, then He was not a moral man. Jesus did not leave us with the possibility of considering him a mere moral man. Either He is who He says He is, or He was not moral in the least.

That is why the chief priests tore their robes when Jesus claimed to be God at his trial. They did not believe Him to be the Son of God--thus, He is a blasphemer against God (and incredibly immoral and wicked at that).

You can tear your robes at His immorality or bow the knee before His deity, but you cannot leave Him as a mere moral man. Jesus, the mere moral man, is simply a concept that wretched men like us use to dress up our ugliness in ancient clothing and feel better about ourselves.

Jesus is not a better version of you. He is the sinless Savior of the worst of sinners.

Thought of the Day: All Religions the Same?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

It is becoming increasingly common to hear that all religions basically teach the same thing: How to become a good person. As a result, we can find whichever path amongst the religions that we find most appealing, as long as we're trying to be a better person. This is dead wrong.

One, it betrays great ignorance concerning the various religions. A great many of them (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) are exclusive at their core. To claim that they are one path amongst many is to deny their fundamental teachings. As a result, such claims are merely a use and abuse of these religions for one's personal spiritual gain.

Two, Christianity does not fundamentally teach how to become a good person. In fact, that teaching is antithetical (opposed) to Christianity. Instead, it teaches that we cannot be good people. There is no one righteous--no, not one (Ps. 14; Rom. 3). We are sinful from the time we were conceived, united with our forefather Adam in his rebellion (Ps. 51; Rom. 5). Even our good deeds are like filthy rags before God (Is. 64). And the wages of our sin is death (Rom. 6). We suck.

And this reality can easily be reconciled with our experience. We know that the world is broken--that is why we fight wars, including the one we're currently engaged within. We know that we are broken--that is why we do things we regret and know to be wrong. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we cannot earn heaven, only hell.

At its core, Christianity (God) teaches that we need another--fully God and fully man--to live the perfect life demanded by God in our place and bear the guilt of our sin to the grave as our sacrifice. Our hope, therefore, is not attached to us as "good people," but only to Christ as the perfect person, who died for the worst of sinners.

It is important that we maintain this sharp distinction between Christianity and all other religions, including atheism and "spiritualism" (spiritual, but not religious). It is just as important that we preach this message to our own hearts everyday, remembering that this truth saved our lives for God.

God's Word for the Day: Joel 2:12-17

Rend your hearts and not your garments. (v13)

In chapter 1 of Joel, the judgment of Israel was described in painful detail, followed by a call to repentance. Chapter 2 begins with an even more terrifying judgment--the one that will meet all of mankind at the return of Christ. The judgment of Israel is but a meager preview of this great and awesome reality to come.

As with Israel's judgment, God's people are again called to repentance. Not the fake kind that offers lip service and good deeds and earns public praise, but heart-change: Rend your hearts and not your garments.

"Return to the LORD your God," they are told, "for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and aboundnig in steadfast love" (v13). In other words, it is not simply a humble fear that produces repentance in the face of God's judgment, but a humble and grateful knowledge of His merciful character, which grants salvation for the sake of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

If any of you today are rebelling in your heart against the Lord your God, whether in unbelief or in ingratitude, consider the depths of His justice and the blood-borne depths of His love and return to the God who is entitled to your love, worship, and service. Jesus bore His just judgment in submission, so you might bear His lavish grace through repentance and belief in His Son.

Free Cup of Joe

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Just a reminder that you can get a weekly free cup of coffee by going to the Green Beans website and signing up. The coffee is purchased by friends back in the States who love you, support what you do, and are often praying for you.

Sign up and let them bless you and support their soldiers. You have the option, and I encourage you to take it, of writing them a note of thanks back and even becoming pen pals.

And as you think of their support, remember that it is God who strengthens you in the armor of Christ (Eph. 6). He alone will give you the strength you need to love, grow and persevere in the knowledge and for the sake of your Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sign up for the free cup of coffee. Live in view of the free blood of mercy, offered by the God-man who drank the cup of God's righteous wrath in your place. Praise to Him alone!

Thought of the Day: Professional and Personal

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Put into close quarters and under the stress of constant risk and family strain, it is easy for some of our professional relationships with fellow soldiers to deteriorate.

Instead of figuring out reactive strategies to these problems after they arise, why not proactively engage the problem by engaging the person?

Have an issue with a fellow soldier? Work on having more personal conversations. Learn about what is going on in that soldier's life. (Also remember to always praise things you find praiseworthy!)

And instead of simply praying for God to give you patience and grace in that relationship, pray for the personal things you learn about in that person's life. Pray that God would grant them saving faith in Christ, or if they are already a believer, that God would bless them in grace they've been given.

After praying for them, continually ask them follow up questions to show your continued interest and thoughtfulness. Such an endeavor on the personal side could be your greatest aid on the professional side.

Thought of the Day: Watch Yourself

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Another explosive article has been put out, showing the ravages of pornography in our society: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2432591/Experiment-convinced-online-porn-pernicious-threat-facing-children-today-By-ex-lads-mag-editor-MARTIN-DAUBNEY.html#ixzz2g6ThYb8h

What is largely an accepted habit and source of humor amongst soldiers and society alike has become the moral, relational, and professional atom bomb of our generation. Porn kills. It gradually destroys love and human dignity. It consumes time and wastes life. It is an addiction on a level with alcholism and its accessibility makes it a danger to a much wider swath of society than other addictions.

As with other issues, this is not the time for Christians to express their revulsion at this sin and express self-righteous indignation at something they (supposedly) have never struggled with. The reality is that the vast majority of our society and the vast majority of the Church struggles with this addiction.

If God has guarded your heart and eyes with this issue thus far, do not grow haughty, but pray that He would continue to guard you and be intentional about guarding yourself.

Romans 1 tells us of how mankind traded his love for the Creator for love of the creature. This universal idolatry is shown in the same chapter to devolve into foolishness. We pervert the beauty of love between man and woman in accordance with the created order for bizarre love that blurs the lines and twists the meaning and purpose of love.

Thankfully, there was no such equivocation or confusion in the mind of God as He set His love on His people from the beginning of time. And Christ remained undeterred as He disregarded all false loves in favor of securing His people to the glory of the Father. Live with God's love in mind, not the false loves that will inevitably erode the mind.

Thought of the Day: Taking Stock

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Survey your life today. What good gifts has God given you upon your post and at your sites? What is going well with you family while you have been gone? What have you learned? How have you grown? What has exceeded your expectations?

God does not allow us to remain static. He is always working in us to will and work according to His good pleasure (Phil. 2). That means that He is always working in and through you. And this fact will not change, for if He has given you Jesus, how will He not also give you all things (Rom. 8)?

Every good and perfect gift is from our heavenly Father, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1). Take stock of your life today and count your undeserved, Christ-earned blessings. Today should be a day of gratitude, for surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life, even in the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23). Praise be to God.

God's Word for the Day: Joel 2:1-11

The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. (v3)

The book of Joel opened with prophecies and descriptions of Israel's impending doom, followed by calls to repentance. As noted before, that doom was but a small glimpse of the judgment to come, when rebellious man is held to account by the almighty, holy and just God of the universe.

As man has despoiled God's precious creation with his sin, so God will will use the elements of this world to bring man's comeuppance to bear. The beauty of creation will be cast in shadows on that great and horrible day, reflecting the shadow of sin that has fallen upon every heart.

Yet, in that day, creation will be remade, and as in the days of Eden, heaven and earth will be joined, with the earth serving as God's footstool. Man will no longer defile God's creation and creation will no longer be used to call man to account. The lion will lie down with the lamb. The tree of life will bear fruit for the healing of the nations. The river of the water of life, coming from Christ's eternal throne of grace, will bring eternal refreshment to the souls of God's people.

Let those who have been spared from the eternal devastation of God's righteous judgment rejoice in the salvation that has been secured for them by Christ Jesus!

No Better; No Worse

Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

I have seen many a soldier in our unit year for life at his/her sister post. Somehow, even in this barrent landscape, the grass always seems greener at the post you're not at. At one post, people work much longer hours. At the other post, people are constantly outside the wire. Which one is better? Which one is worse?

Ultimately, we should not to our circumstances are those of our brothers/sisters in arms to determine our present well being. It doesn't matter whether your post offers shade or a larger DFAC--if you are in Christ, you are sustained by Christ--"even the hairs of your head are all numbered." Nothing will snatch you from His hand (John 10), and if you have been given Christ, how will you not also be given all things? (Rom. 8)

God graciously and tenderly cared for me at my prior post and at my present post. And if God is for us in Christ Jesus, who cares how we fare in relation to other people?

God's Word for the Day: Joel 1:13-20

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God. (v13)

When we were disobedient as children, our parents would render judgment upon us in the form of some sort of discipline. Even in the those tender ages, our sinful nature was often put on display as we would protest our innocence, disrespect our parents' discipline, lie, etc. While this wasn't always the case, we must all admit that we did not always respond to the just judgments of our parents as we should have. The proper response to judgment is repentance--a sorrow for sin and turning from it unto God.

In the first section of Joel, we see the physical judgments of God coming into play for the disobedient people of Israel. Now they are called to repentance--"put on sackcloth"--which is the appropriate response. Yet even at this point, the days of the nation of Israel as God's chosen nation are forever drawing to a close. This is largely the point of all the Prophetic books--to prosecute God's case against His people and render just judgment: exile.

Alongside the theme of judgment, however, is one of hope. No amount of repentance will restore the Israelites to this earthly promised land. They have shown that man cannot earn an earthly promised land, let alone a heavenly one. The hope held forth is for a new man, a perfect man, to stand in the place of God's people and earn for them the heavenly promised land.

So repentance is still the proper response for the Isrealites, not to return to a land, but to return to the God of promise--a God who has promised that such a man would come to crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15; 1 Cor. 15) by being torn apart like an animal, not for His own failure, but for that of His people (Gen. 15; Is. 53).

My friends, our sin is always before us and it is against God alone (Ps. 51). He alone can offer the forgiveness of sins, and He has done so for us through the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Our appropriate response to this incredible, merciful work is a lifestyle of grateful repentance. As we view our sickening sin and consider what it merits (death), we should also view our suffering Savior and what He merited (our life), grieve of our sin as an affront to God, and turn with joy to Jesus, who has guaranteed that our Father will never turn a deaf ear to our cries.

Word of the Day: Adoption

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

When you think of adoption, you probably think of that act by which a family take a child that does not belong to them by blood and makes that child their own. Many of you might know someone who has adopted child, with the ensuing challenges and blessings.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you have been adopted by God into His family. This is why Jesus is called the firstborn of many brothers (of which you are one!), and by the power of the Holy Spirit (God's irrevocable gift to His children), you are able to call out to the Almighty God as your Father (all of these concepts found in Rom. 8).

In other words, the entire Trinity is involved with your adoption into God's family.The beautiful thing about your adoption by God is that it is not dependent upon your blood or your work. It is dependent on God's love, which stretched forth from eternity into history through the work of Jesus Christ until it conquered your very heart by the Holy Spirit.

In fact, you were very much not a part of His family apart from His grace. You were not a child of God, but a child of wrath (Eph. 2). You were an alien to His promises and a stranger to His covenant. We know His love in this--while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5).

Next time you witness the love of a parent for an adopted child, remember that you too were once an outsider who now knows the love of the greatest Father in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What Really Matters (Phil. 1:18-30/Last in Series)

In Philippians 3, Paul goes after those heretics who would add their own righteousness to that of Christ in order to be saved. He tells them that if any man has reason to boast, it would be him. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees--you get the point. But he considers all of this rubbish (lit. refuse/excrement) compared to knowing Christ. It is all about Christ!

Little noticed in the list of Paul's former accomplished is the phrase "as for zeal, a persecutor of the church." You must think that he took a labored breath as he, by God's inspiration, penned that line. One of his greatest accomplishments prior to Christ was the murder of his Christian brother, Stephen, and violence against his Christian family. This little line provides a portal through which we can learn more about what it meant for Paul to say "To live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:21). We must consider God's grace to Paul, starting with that dark day of Stephen's murder so many years before.

On that day, a young, firey Christian named Stephen did what he normally did--share Christ and Him crucified. God's Word was a fire in his bones, and by the power of God's Word and Spirit, Stephen's wisdom in sharing the Scriptures couldn't be refuted. As a result, many of the self-righteous religious leaders concocted false charges against him and put him on trial before the Sanhedrin. It is likely that Saul of Tarsus was there for most if not all of these proceedings.

Looking then through Saul's eyes, he watched as Stephen made no defense of himself before the Sanhedrin, but put them on trial for joining their fathers in rejecting God's Word and resisting His Spirit, culminating in their crucifixion of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Saul, like the others, wasn't particularly happy about being called a rebel and murderer of Christ, and thus led a mob to murder Stephen.

As he watched with approval, he found himself looking upon something highly usual--even as he was crushed by boulders, Stephen's face shined like that of an angel as he seemed transfixed. Stephen declared that he had seen heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand. At this, Saul and his band cried out and rushed at Stephen to finish the murder. But even at his last, Stephen took the words of his Savior upon his lips: Forgive them!

The great church father, Augustine, believes that this event marked the beginning of Paul's conversion. Paul owes his conversion, Augustine asserts, to the prayers of Stephen. It was as if Christ closed the skies upon one vision, and opened them in another above the road to Damascus. Let us not think that God is deaf to our prayers!

In Stephen, Paul saw the embodiment of that great theme of the Christian life: To live is Christ and to die is gain. He saw in Stephen's call (to make Christ known), and Stephen's comfort (his heavenly citizenship and being carried by Christ). These great realities are what stood behind Paul's inspired phrase--to live is Christ and to die is gain--and stand behind that theme in our own lives as well. We'll discuss these further in the days ahead.

To be continued...

God's Word for the Day: Joel 1:1-12

Lament like a virgin wearing sackloth, for the bridegroom of her youth. (v8)

God's people had failed, and there would be consequences. While nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, there were clear earthly consequences for the rebellion of God's people in the Old Testament: exile from the Promised Land. In order to stay in the land of milk and honey, God demanded that the people keep the Law of the land (Deut. 28).

Of course, the people would not and could not keep the Law. They were sinners, like us. And God knew that they would fail and that He would exile them. Why then would He put them in this position? To point both them and us to the cross (Gal. 3:24). If God's people in the Old Testament couldn't maintain an earthly promised land by their obedience, how could we possibly merit our heavenly promised land with ours?

We would need a new Israel, Jesus, who would perfectly obey God's law and earn heaven for us by His own righteousness, and then suffer our hell--our exile--in the grave.

In our passage today, we see the physical demise of Israel, fulfilling God's promise of exile and illustrating the spiritual consequences of our sin--death, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. We also see a picture of the Final Judgment, when man will not only face the terror of earthly judgment, but the hellish terror of eternal judgment.

Yet here is our assurance: We need not lament like a virgin wearing sackloth, bearing the filthy, damn-worthy rags of our own deeds. Our bridegroom is Christ Jesus, who has dressed us in His own righteousness--who has washed us white in His own blood. Secured in Christ alone, we prepare for an eternal wedding feast in a heavenly promised land, not a funeral and exile in Hell. Let us rejoice.

Thought of the Day: Guard Your Thought of the Day

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

We talk often about not growing complacent and placing ourselves in positions of unnecessary physical risk. Yet, what are we doing to our minds and hearts when we are complacent about the risks we expose them to?

It is said that with regard to the opposite sex, it is okay to look, but not to touch. Is it okay to look? Would that person mind if they knew you were looking? Even if they didn't mind, how might such thoughts affect your relationship to that person? Are you thinking of them as a person with dignity or a collection of parts?

Friends, we must guard our hearts and minds. Jesus tells us that lusting after someone is tantamount to adultery (Matt. 5). Why fill your mind with thoughts of someone who doesn't belong to you, when you could be dreaming of the day you are reunited with your spouse? Why obsess over a fellow creature when you can glorify and enjoy the Creator of the universe?

Why not think of Christ, who did not cast His heart upon you to exploit you, but to save you at the cost of His own blood? What a wonderful Savior we have!

Chains: What are they good for? Pt. 2 (Phil. 1:12-18)

Against the mockery of his opponents, Paul asserted to his brothers and sisters in the Philippian church that his chains were not only not a hindrance for the Gospel, but were in fact serving to advance the Gospel.

In our last post on this passage, we noted that one way in which our chains serve to advance the Gospel: They exalt Christ. The imperial guard was apparently rocked by the Gospel, which they heard from the mouth of Paul and reinforced by his willingness to suffer for the Gospel. In our weakness, God's strength in magnified. Let us not be a den of self-righteous hypocrites who direct eyes to our own filthy rags! May we be willing to suffer the shackles of sin and suffering--following our Savior in His humilitation--that His glory might be made known.

Our chains accomplish another purpose: They give courage. Due to Paul's chains, other believers were emboldened to declare the Gospel without fear (v14). It is one thing to cling to the Gospel when it doesn't cost very much. But what about when it does? You may be scared of that very thought. So was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who opposed Hitler and fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel in the darkest days of the Reich. He worried about how he would respond to suffering and the possibility of death. Yet, when that day came, it was said by a German guard that he had never seen somebody so submissive to the will of God.

The chains of believers flesh out for other believers the sufficiency of God's grace. What are these present sufferings compared to the eternal glory set forth in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8)? In Paul, the Philippian church (and others) saw that the Gospel we proclaim is the Gospel that sustains us against everything the world can throw at us (and we can throw at ourselves). If Paul, facing death, can still be absorbed with the overwhelming desire to see Christ proclaimed, then God can surely sustain us as well. In the present day, when we learn of believers holding fast to Christ as they are being executed for His sake in Tanzania, Columbia, the Sudan, Nigeria, most all of southern Asia, and elsewhere--we know that we too can be given the strength of His Spirit if that day comes to us as well.

The reality is, we are all bound by chains. There is not a one of us that shares the Gospel from a point of sinlessness. Should that truth be convicting? Absolutely! Should it be paralyzing? Never! Even as Paul considers the malicious men who preach the Gospel while mocking him, he rejoices. He doesn't care about the motivation as much as he cares about the message: Christ is Savior and Lord (vv15-18).

The message is more important than the messenger of his motives. This truth flies in the face of modern trends to devalue doctrine as inconsequential, but elevate a person's piety as if it is all that matters. A struggling sinner in the pew who clearly shares the Gospel is of infinitely more value the greatest religious figure in the world's eyes, if that figure so happens to diminish the truth, beauty, and power of the Gospel in any respect. Does this mean that our lives and good works don't matter? Not at all. But our goal is to show forth the life and saving work of Christ beyond all things.

Brothers and sisters, take courage in your chains. Christ Jesus bore the chains, the whip, the nails, the cross--even your sin. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ did this for the worst of sinners, like you and me. Let us refocus our lives--not on being good people, but entrusting ourselves, our growth, and our perseverence to our Good Shepherd. Chains restrain the sinner; They proclaim the Gospel.

Thought of the Day: More Than Life

Life is precious. We know that. We want to extend our lives and those of our family and enjoy the richness and beauty that God has afforded us in this world.

But life is not the most important thing. We know that as well. That is why we're willing to give up our lives for those we love. There are things more important than life.

Paul writes "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

In this current period of uncertainty, remember that our purpose is to bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. Do not grow so obsessed with life itself that you forget your purpose in life.

Thought of the Day: Where is Home?

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

As I prepare to transition from one post to another, I am reminded how difficult transitions can be. We love to feel safe and secure in the routine and predictability of a given time, place and pattern. When that changes, it can throw us off. But it can also remind us to not take any given station of life for granted. We will be constant flux in this world, as pilgrims just passing through.

Let us remember that our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior form there, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20). We already have a place in the heavenly realm. That is why we're told to set our minds on things above, where Christ is. When Christ, who is our life, appears, we will also appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4). We should set our minds of Christ and our heavenly home at all times, knowing that no transition in this world can shake our standing with God.

Chains: What are they good for? (Ph. 1:12-18)

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Despite the mockery of his opponents, Paul has made no defense of himself thus far in the book of Philippians. He starts off by marveling that God's people are slaves of Christ, saints in Christ, and saved by Christ (vv1-2), before expressing profound gratitude at that fact (vv3-7). This identity in Christ binds God's people and even grants them hope amidst suffering. And as Paul suffers, he overflows with love for God's people--not with his own love, but with the affection of Christ Jesus (vv8-10). They are his band of brothers, bought with precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Yet, the mockery of Paul's opponents still stands. They are likely ridiculing him for winding up in prison. What type of ministry was he aiming for? It obviously won't be successful now. He seems to be a failed apostle, as opposed to those still proclaiming Christ with their freedom and rights intact.

But Paul recognizes a fundamental truth: Chains may restrain the sinner, but they proclaim the Gospel. He recognizes right off the bat that rather than detracting from his ministry, Paul's chains have actually served to advance the Gospel (v12). This should blow our minds! We live in a society and culture today that weighs value in terms of freedom. "Unless I have this right or that, we cry, then I am not being valued and my life is made a mockery." But as Paul surrendered his civil rights, God's grace was sufficient as His strength was made manifest in Paul's weakness. And God uses our chains as well. Here's how:

Our chains exalt Christ. According to Paul, the whole imperial guard now knows that his imprisonment is for Christ (v13). The Philippians can certainly relate to this dramatic display of Christ's power, as one of their own number--the Philippian jailor--was converted much the same way (Acts 16). This reality should present many Christians today with a radical paradigm shift--Christianity does not best advance through worldly power, but under it.

While Paul remained free, perhaps his oratorical skills and wisdom would make people marvel at him. But shackled as a criminal, Paul's weakness revealed the beauties of Christ. Why suffer for Christ and even face death for him? Because Christ, the eternal Shepherd of our souls, is worth more than life. Why are approximately 10,000 people coming to Christ a day in the Chinese underground Church? Why do famine-afflicted Malawians give the first fruits of their crops each season to the Church? Because Christ and the spread of His fame is worth it.

It has been noted by certain prominent psychologists that the ever-looming confrontation with death is at the core of many common psychological struggles. That should make sense to us according to our everyday experience. We avoid the thought or mention of death at all costs. We like to feel invincible. We also treat suffering as if there's nothing worse. One of the primary arguments in favor of abortion is that we might be preventing a child from suffering through poverty and lifelong disabilities. But what is there is a purpose behind suffering? As John Piper boldly entitled one of his books, "Don't Waste Your Cancer."

There are worse things than suffering and death. And those worse things center around the eternal suffering and death that belong to the damned. Not only are there worse things, but suffering and death need not scare or intimidate. For Paul--for the Christian--suffering is part of God's holy, wise, and powerful providence and death is not the gaping abyss of damnation, but a portal unto greater life in the heavenly realms with Jesus Christ. Far be it for chains to be a cause of grief! They point the world to the glories of Jesus Christ. And that is a cause worth dying for.

To be continued...

No BS BS: The Gospel According to Noah--A Preview of Things to Come

Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.

Feel free to follow along with today's No BS BS discussion:

I.                    Reminder: Two Lines (Gen. 3-4)

a.       Result of Fall—enmity between seed of woman and seed of serpent

b.      What did this enmity look like in the real world as seen in Gen. 4?

c.       Camera on Cain’s line in ch.4—gets much worse (Lamech)

d.      What hope does end of ch4 offer? Ch5 points camera at line of God’s people.

II.                  Mankind’s Verdict: Judgment (Read Gen. 6:11-13)

a.       What does God see upon the earth? Violence points us back to what?

b.      How widespread is the problem and thus subject to judgment?

c.       Those made from earth have soiled the earth, which will exact justice.

d.      Floods—great symbol of judgment (undo Creation, Exodus, baptism)

III.                Angle 1 on Noah: Saved by Faith (Read Gen. 6:8-9, 22; Heb. 11:7)

a.       As God searched earth in judgment, how did Noah appear to God (v8)?

b.      What are three reasons for this? (righteous, blameless, relationship)

c.       How can Noah be part of “all flesh” and still “find favor?” (Heb. 11:7)

                                                               i.      Heard Word of God and knew it to be reality

                                                             ii.      At center was Promised One, Noah inheritor of His righteousness by faith

d.      Gen. 8:20-21—what type of sacrifice? (Followed pattern) How is it received?

IV.                Angle 2 on Noah: Type of Savior (Read Heb. 11:7; Gen. 7:1)

a.       Not only looked into future to Savior from judgment, but pictured Him

b.      Was Noah the only one saved by his righteousness? Others through him.

c.       Those united to Noah as family are spared from floods of judgment.

V.                  A Sovereign Salvation (Read Gen. 7:10-24)

a.       Did God’s Word come to pass? Through ordinary means.

b.      Was it the floods that blotted the people out? Sovereign judgment.

c.       But didn’t Noah and family save themselves with ark (v16)? Lord shut them in.

VI.                Preview of Things to Come (Read 2 Pet. 2:4-10; Gen. 9:1-3)

a.       What are we told the Noahic flood points forward to? Final judgment and salvation.

b.      In world where all flesh deserves judgment, our hope is in righteousness of another.

c.       Heb. 9:15—Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

d.      Gen. 9:1-3—out of final judgment, those saved walk out with a new life on a new world

e.      The offended earth became place of death/returning dust, now host to life