How Independence Day should affect Worship

A couple of years ago, I asked Bob Kauflin, Should July 4th Affect Our Sunday Planning?

He answers the question again today at his blog, Worship Matters.

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Conquering Fear

The guys at "Art of Manliness" are posting 30 Days to a Better Man for the month of June.

Today, day 29, the focus is on overcoming fear. This is an important property in the character of men in general, and Christian men specifically.

I, for one, am afraid of snakes. Always have been. I can even just barely look at them on TV, much less in real life. Nonetheless, I used to kill them with a shovel when I was a kid - chop off their heads, and watch their bodies spaz out. But that never killed the fear I had of them.

The "fear (Gk. phobos) of the Lord" that we read about throughout the Scriptures (Dt 6:13; Joshua 24:14; Ps 2:11, 19:9, 34:9,11; Prov 1:7; Ecc 12:13; etc.) is a response to a manifestation of God's presence that involves both reverent awe and a healthy fear of God's displeasure and discipline.

To have no fear of God (Romans 3:18; Ps. 36:1) is to assume that God will not discipline sin in this life or judge it in the next.

Paul tells the church in Philippi to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." He was telling them to demonstrate their faith by nurturing their relationship with God daily, progressively coming to experience all of the aspects and blessings of salvation. Doing this with "fear and trembling" meant doing it soberly.

Also, Peter instructs the dispersed Christians in Asia-Minor, "...if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear..." This fear is, again, not a paralyzing fear like I have of snakes, but a fear of God's discipline and fatherly displeasure; a reverence and awe of God. (1 Peter 1:17)

But the Bible also says that "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). The fear mentioned here isn't contradictory to the reverential fear in the above verses. It is a fear of final judgment, wrath, and eternal punishment, which for Christians has been cast out by God's perfect love.

Now as an earthly father, I know personally what it takes to get my kids to obey. I don't do the whole "1....2....3..." bit. I think that trains them to think I didn't mean what I said when I said it. I want them to respond immediately to my voice and instruction. I want them to have fear in their hearts for me. The quick and just discipline I give them, along with the extravagant and unconditional love I lavish on them, I trust will have the long term effect of developing in them a healthy fear of their Heavenly Father.

If there was one thing my Dad was in his leadership in my family growing up, it was this - he was clear. It was his way "or the highway" I often heard. I feared him with a Biblical fear. He meant what he said and always carried through; no empty threats. But he was also a "cuddle-bug." That's not a very manly thing to talk about, much less do. But that was my Dad. Countless times in my childhood he would lie down in bed with me just to tell stories with his crackling, baritone, whispering voice.

I feared him, and I fled to him.

I respected him, and I wrestled with him.

He disciplined me, and took great delight in me.

I feared him, but I wasn't afraid of him.

And through him I learned the art of loving my Heavenly Father.

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How we end is more important than how we begin

You'll find in this post a link to a letter from the late Ray Ortlund to his family, which was to be read after his death. I read it and wept, thinking, "God, may I be more like that."

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Managing Your Social Network Addiction - Stepcase Lifehack

A couple of weeks ago, Suzanne, the kids, and I went to Nantahala Lake in North Carolina for a week-long vacation with her family. It was beautiful and relaxing. One of the best parts was the total inability to use my cell phone and computer. We were, as Tom Hanks said in Joe Versus the Volcano, "away from the things of man".

Take my advice: Plan a week where you can deprive yourself of all the technology you feel like you depend on. I promise, you'll be fine.

It may sound primitive. No Facebook. No iPhone. No blogging. No email.

But believe me, you need this.

To help you along, the folks at Lifehack have written a little plan for getting your life back. Check out their rehabilitation plan HERE.

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Os Guiness & John Wood: Tullian Tchividjian's Installation Service at Coral Ridge Presbyterian

Many folks have told me they wished they could have been at the installation service for Tullian, where Os Guiness and John Wood preached. The service is now available HERE. It was a powerful evening, and is wonderful to listen to again. If you listen to anything, listen to the charge delivered by John Wood.

Here's the time map for the recording:

00:00:00 - 00:04:28 Tullian Tchividjian: Introduction and Scripture Reading

00:04:30 - 00:33:05 Dr. Os Guiness: Sermon, "Lord, Show Me Your Glory"

00:33:22 - 00:36:38 Dr. Larry Thompson: Invocation (Sr. Pastor, First Baptist Church Ft. Lauderdale)

00:36:39 - 00:37:00 Video, Reflections & Historical Significance

00:40:51 - 00:44:07 Dr. Dan Westphal, Prayer of Dedication

00:44:08 - 01:01:57 John Wood: The Charge to Tullian, New City & Coral Ridge, "Come and Die"

00:01:58 - 01:05:32 Bob Coy, Prayer of Thanksgiving (Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale)

00:05:33 - 01:07:40 Tullian Tchividjian, Benediction


(Click HERE to see the bulletin for the installation service)

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Tortured Christ

Every so often, I find myself thinking about this sculpture. I know it's disturbing, and I've posted it before. But I've never seen anything that so well captures Christ's agony on the Cross as he suffers the penalty for our sin, bearing the weight of God's wrath.

It is the work of Guido Rocha, a Brazilian sculptor who died in 2007. This sculpture was displayed at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Nairobi, 1975.

In front of the sculpture was this inscription:
Today, increasingly, the so-called western Christian civilization sees itself faced with two Christs: the Christ of the oppressors and the Christ of the oppressed. The Christ of the oppressors is the one which submits, without struggle, to exploitation, absolves the sins of the torturers and threatens with hell the "laziness" of the undernourished peasant's son. For us, as artists of Latin America, the Christ of the oppressed is born in the soul of the people. His cry is a weapon of struggle, who creates out of his weakness the strength to struggle against the exploitation of man by man. - Guido Rocha

What I find astounding is that the WCC had it removed. It was too disturbing. I find that disturbing. Oh the price we pay when we can only accept an un-disturbing view of the Cross of Christ.

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Christian Audio Free Downloads

Deep down, you know you should be (or want to be) reading good books, but you spend three hours in the car commuting, leaving you with no time to relish any literary licorice. Your solution? ChristianAudio.com. They give free downloads of highly recommended books every month.

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