MSNBC was on in the breakroom at work tonight, and there were some “experts” talking about the stock market and various routes people should take with their investments. As these people were talking one of my coworkers said that she was “really scared” about what is happening on Wall St. I don’t think that she is the only one. Many people are fearful over what the future holds economically. I simply do not share these fears. When my coworker was expressing her trepidation, I simply could not relate to it. This isn’t because I don’t realize the importance of money or have a grasp of the cost of living. I don’t think I’m at all naïve about financial things.

My lack of fear comes from the fact that my treasure is not in earthly financial systems. I am not invested in Wall St. The fact of the matter is, as a Christian, I know that my future is entirely secure in Christ. I need not fear even the total collapse of the economy. God is faithful, and he has preserved his people through thousands of years, great wealth, and extreme poverty. And he will not neglect to provide through this most recent upheaval and its aftermath.

Below are three economic principles that I posted in my October 2008 entry on the economy. These are principles that have freed me from much worry over the economy and my earthly financial security. I pray that they might bless you as well:

1. Live in light of eternity. We must recognize that while this life is important, our existence does not end at death. Life is not a race to see who has the most toys at the end of the day. 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Ander verse 17 states, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” We cannot embrace the world system in which we live because it will ultimately be destroyed. We must live with an eternal mindset.
2. Pray only for needs, not riches. When Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6, he did not tell us to ask for God to lavish extravagant material riches on us. He simply told us to ask for “our daily bread.” God will give us all that we need to survive, if we trust in Him to provide. If we place our hope in the stock market, we will be disappointed. In fact, if we are faithful, God will give us more than we need. But we would be ill advised to ask Him for superfluous riches.
3. Accumulate true riches. We ought to flee from the love of money like Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 tells us, “For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

It is in times like these where we as Christians especially must examine ourselves to make sure we are not succumbing to the lies of our culture that money somehow brings happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment. As we can see now amid the economin turmoil, money guarantees absolutely nothing. In the end, all it will guarantee is grief if we allow it to take up a seat of importance in our lives.

In John chapter 8, Jesus tells a crowd of people that they have failed to fully understand his message. And it is a misunderstanding that is far more impactful than anything DeMarcus Cousins could claim.

Jesus is speaking to a crowd of “Jews who had believed in him” (v. 31). These Jews are having a hard time wrapping their minds around Jesus’ teaching when he said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (vv. 31-32).  Perplexed, the crowd informs Jesus that they had never been enslaved to anyone in their lives, so what exactly are they being set free from?

Jesus then goes on to explain their enslavement to sin, but they simply cannot wrap their minds around Jesus’ teaching. John reports that, despite their belief in him, these Jews were out to kill Jesus because of his claims of divinity.

Jesus, recognizing that the people are unable to comprehend his connection with the Father, lowers the boom on them in verse 43. Jesus says, “‘Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.” 

This hit me like a ton of bricks when I read it. In recent months, I have been seeking answers regarding God’s will for my life. I have spent the three months since my college graduation unsuccessfully seeking my “dream job.” My prayer times have yielded little in the way of a picture of what God might have for me. Reading these words has caused me to ask the question, what if I am not getting an answer because I cannot bear to hear it? What if I have put God into a box, limiting him to just a few “acceptable” options about what I might like to do with my life?

Jesus was not one to mince words in his public ministry. He said what he needed to say, leaving nothing out. But his teachings were often incomprehensible to earthly-minded hearers, who simply could not bring themselves to think from another perspective. The Jews had their idea of who the Messiah would be, and Jesus did not fit it (even Peter fell prey to this after Jesus had predicted his own death).

I am convinced that I, along with a whole lot of other people, have the same problem when it comes to comprehending what God is trying to say. I come to God with my mind already made up and expect him to accept with my terms. Or I come to him with a couple of job possibilities and ask him to bless one or the other, never asking him whether either option is in accordance with his will.

I must be willing to truly submit to God and the path that he is leading me on. The last few months have not gone according to plan…my plan, that is. But there is no doubt that God is using them to show how small my faith in him really is. Why have I not been able to understand what God is saying and where he is leading? It is because I cannot bear to hear what he he really has to say. Until I can learn to come to him with open hands, open heart, and open mind, I will never be able to truly grasp his will for my life.

Today’s chapter is entitled, “The Discipline of Disillusionment.” Here are a few lines that caught my attention:

“…the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging bitter things to say.

“There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Our Lord’s confidence in God and what His grace could do for any man, was so perfect that He despaired of no one. If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.”

These three quotes tie together Chambers’ thoughts throughout today’s reading; and I think that he has hit the nail on the head. I think that one of the greatest problems we have, inside and outside of the church, is that we fail to account for the depravity of others. As Christians it is pretty easy to recognize our own fallen nature. However, I think a lot of us (perhaps most of us) operate under the assumption that other people are perfect. What’s especially dangerous is that this is often a passive assumption. In other words, we don’t even consider the fact that other people are just as depraved as we are.

Why is this a problem? When we carry the assumption that the people around us are perfect, life becomes no more than a series of disappointments and failures. Expecting perfection from imperfect beings is a recipe for disaster. We will always be let down if we expect perfection.

Strangely enough, I think that this problem is most prevalent inside the church. In the society at large there is a general aloofness and distrust towards other people. That’s why we have locks, alarm systems, pepper spray, etc. But for some reason, within our churches, we have this expectation that the people around us have all their ducks in a row (so to speak). One would think that Christians would be the most aware of, and sensitive to, the depravity of others. So why are we so shocked when the sins of others are dragged into the open? When prominent pastors fall? When churches split over doctrinal minutiae? When divorce rates among Christians are consistent with wider culture?

Why are we shocked by sin? Because we don’t account for it. This has to be one of the most destructive tactics that Satan employs against the church. If we do not account for the sin of other believers, we will always be appalled when we see it. The disillusionment that Chambers espouses is not a cynical dismissal of others. Rather, it enables us to truly embrace others and to love them for who they really are.

As Chambers points out, our God pursued relationship with us having our depraved nature fully in mind. God is under no illusions that we are perfect beings. Jesus himself “knew what was in man” (Jn. 2:25), but he was not dismissive. He responded with the greatest love imaginable. The heart of the gospel is that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8).

We must recognize that God is the only perfect being. He and He alone can satisfy our desire to be completely and perfectly loved. We must trust in the power of his grace to overcome the sin in our lives and the lives of others. We should not expect perfection from others; we should acknowledge the presence of sin and call upon God to exercise His transforming grace. The Bible is filled from cover to cover with detailed accounts of depraved people who are changed by the power of God.

If we are equally confident of human depravity and the ability of God’s transforming grace, we will never be shocked by the sin of others. Rather, we will be released to truly love others as we anticipate what God will do in and through them.

King’s Cross by Tim Keller

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Life as a Vapor by John Piper

Finally Alive by John Piper

The Twelfth Imam by Joel Rosenberg

Epicenter by Joel Rosenberg

We Shall See God by Randy Alcorn

The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant

Being as Communion by John Zizioulas

Borders is abandoning its bankruptcy plan and closing its doors instead. Cisco is cutting a significant number of its workforce. Between those two companies, that’s 17,500 more unemployed people. But don’t worry, the job market is getting better.

Its July 19, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place in the National League Central (only by 1/2 game–but when you’ve had 18 consecutive losing seasons, any lead in late July is newsworthy).

The British Parliament questioned newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch about the recent blowup surrounding a phone hacking scandal at News Corp. During the hearing, a man hit Murdoch with a plate of shaving cream.

News Flash: Other Evangelical leaders were taken aback by something Mark Driscoll said.

Quote of the Day, from St. John Chrysostom:

If you wish to leave much wealth to your children, leave them in God’s care. Do not leave them in riches, but virtue and skill. For if they have the confidence of riches, they will not mind anything else besides, for they shall have the means of screening the wickedness of their ways in their abundant riches.

By the time I finished with the dishes and sat down with my coffee–about 25-30 minutes later, it was no longer up to my temperature specifications. Lukewarm coffee is not nearly as enjoyable (and for those who might suggest the microwave I offer two rebuttals: 1) I was using my microwave-unsafe San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Champions mug, and 2) the microwave tampers with the taste of the coffee).

I decided to get by with the lukewarm coffee and sat down. As I got my music ready to go and began my devotional time, a request to make a run to the grocery store interrupted me.  I was frustrated by this request, as I knew that it removed any possibility of achieving the desired outcome of my morning. I begrudgingly went to the store and returned just in time to leave for my brother’s baseball game (which we arrived late for, adding further annoyance).

Do you see the irony in the above story? I was so committed to what I wanted–MY music, MY Bible study, MY prayer time–that I was thoroughly annoyed by having to serve and meet the needs of others. This dawned on me later in the day as I was still dwelling on my “lost morning.” The reality is, my morning didn’t have to be  “lost.” I had the opportunity to joyfully clean up around the house and go to the store so that other people didn’t have to, yet I chose to dwell on what I could have been doing instead.

My intent here is not to marginalize time spent alone with the Lord. Such time is vital to maintaining a healthy, vibrant relationship with Him. However, the selfish way with which I approached my time with Him on this particular morning distracted me from being obedient in service to others.

I think that it is common for Christians today to allow their piety to inhibit their service. There seems to be somewhat of a disconnect between what happens on Sunday mornings (or Wednesday night or Saturday night) and in our quiet times, and how we live and interact with people on a daily basis. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:11-18:

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

We need to be very careful when it comes to emphasizing different worship rituals over the actual content of how we live our lives. Jesus condemned this type of living when he encountered it, teaching that what comes out of us (e.g. how we live) is far more important than the pious appearances we may construct through “devotional time.” When I cast my personal time with the Lord as more important than living in a Christlike manner so that others might be drawn to Him, I am in error. On the contrary, a healthy devotional life will energize our desire to love and serve others. The natural result of a relationship with the Lord is an overflowing of His love out of our lives onto other people. We must never think that our time is too valuable to spend on others.

Quote of the Day, from Oswald Chambers:

The real fasting of the preacher is not from food, but rather from eloquence, from impressiveness and exquisite diction, from everything that might hinder the gospel of God being presented.

Quote of the day, from Martin Luther:

If silver and gold are things evil in themselves, then those who keep away from them deserve to be praised. But if they are good creatures of God, which we can use for both the needs of our neighbor and for the glory of God, is not a person silly, yes, even unthankful to God, if he refrains from them as if they were evil?

Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served in beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. -Joshua 24:14-15

The Old Testament documents in great detail the constant struggle the Israelites had with worshipping idols instead of Yahweh. In the above passage, Joshua is imploring the people to return to faithful worship of Yahweh as they are settling in the Promised Land. While the names of the false foreign idols varied over time, the consistent thread throughout the Old Testament is that the Israelites preferred to worship a visible and tangible deity. They were not very fond of the whole “invisible God” idea, and so they continually turned away from Yahweh in preference of false gods that took on physical form.

People today are no different. After all, it is easier to trust something (or someone) that we can see over something (or someone) that we cannot see. The 21st century–and its’ accompanying technology–has given us unprecedented access to people and places all over the world. We can “see” just about anything we want. I don’t think that it is a coincidence that our increased vision has corresponded with a general decline in religious belief (Note: I am speaking primarily of the developed Western world). There are so much to see and do these days that we can hardly find time to sustain a relationship with a God who, though ever-present, is “invisible” to us.

The reason I put invisible in quotes is because I believe, as all Christians should, that God actually is visible. Or at the very least, He should be visible to us. The problem is we often choose to occupy ourselves with the more apparently visible things in our lives. I’m not speaking here of general revelation, in which we admire creation and see God’s handiwork–although I do not discount it. I am speaking of seeing God at work in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. I am speaking of taking the time to pause and trace the history of God’s gracious activity throughout our lives.

That is what Joshua wanted the Israelites to do. That is essentially what all of the prophets were getting at the Old Testament. They were saying: “Look, don’t you see how God has been faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Don’t you see how he led you out of Egypt? Don’t you see how he brought you in the land he promised? Don’t you see how he established Israel as a great kingdom?” You get the idea. The prophets always point back to what God has done before in order to revive faith among the people. The people are forced to step away from what has distracted them and retrace their steps, looking for the hand of God along the way.

It is important for Christians today to perform a similar task of pausing to reflect and retrace. And we must start at the cross. The cross is where our story begins as followers of Christ. Christ is “the image of the invisible God.” In Christ, we can see the God who the Israelites longed to see. But we have to take the time to look. It is far too easy to get into a routine of busyness that excludes a relationship with God. We prioritize our lives around so many things. The Israelites were distracted by foreign gods. The rich young ruler was distracted by his possessions. Peter was often distracted by his preconceived notions of who the Messiah would be. We all have something that distracts, and our God is in the business of getting our undivided allegiance.

We must look to the cross, and then follow the thread of God’s faithfulness through history and through our lives. If we do this, we will undoubtedly see that the Triune God is the only one worthy of our devotion. Nothing else satisfies. No one else saves. Pause to reflect on God’s faithfulness, and choose this day whom you will serve.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-12), for good reason, is a passage of Scripture that receives a lot of attention. Anyone who has spent more than a few years in the church has likely heard many messages exploring the rich depth of these proverb-like statements of Jesus delivered in the Sermon on the Mount.

In my most recent encounter with the Beatitudes, I was particularly struck by the fourth statement of Jesus–that God blesses and satisfies those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The appetite of the Christian ought to be righteousness. What does it mean to have an appetite? The definition is quite simple: “A desire or liking for something.” The funny thing about our physical appetite for food and water is that it cannot be satisfied just once and then never addressed again. Abstain from food and water for too long and your body will begin to function improperly, with death following soon after. We cannot physically survive without meeting our appetite for food and water. We have a natural desire for them.

Jesus’ words here in the Beatitudes are foreshadowed by his temptation at the hands of Satan in Matthew 4. After being baptized, Jesus went out into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and forty nights. As Matthew astutely points out: “he was hungry.” It is at this time that Satan comes and tells Jesus to “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Considering Jesus’ ability to turn water into wine (John 2), turning stones into bread would not have been beyond his ability. But Jesus responds by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” This direct quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 reveals a stunning truth: meeting our physical hunger and thirst is not adequate for remaining healthy and satisfied. We will only be healthy and satisfied when we desire the righteousness that comes from the words of God.

The sin of Adam and Eve, and every sin committed by every person since, is the result of misplaced desire. We turn away from God to hunger and thirst after the wrong things. We completely and utterly neglect and reject Jesus’ promise in Matthew 7: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

What a beautiful and glorious truth! God recognizes the desires and needs that we have, but these only come to us when we are not seeking them. They will come when we are so captivated by pursuing and desiring Him that we forget about them altogether—when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Now for the obligatory C.S. Lewis quote (from Weight of Glory):

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

God does not offer us a boring life in which we must deny the things that make us happy and joyful in exchange for boring worship services and an outdated manuscript. He offers us new life, a life filled with joy and excitement in which we are completely satisfied in Him and by Him alone. The trouble is we don’t often believe that the holiday at the sea is better than making mud pies in a slum. We continue to pursue our desires by our own strength because we do not trust that the life offered by God is better than what we can create ourselves.

How foolish of us! The promise is plain to see in Jesus words: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” Not “might be” or “could be”—no…”will be.” Our problem is not our desire to be satisfied, but that we misplace that desire. The only way to be healthy and satisfied is to place your desire in the only One who can fully satisfy, both now and forever and unto ages of ages.