Online Extremist

These 4 ground-shaking, life-shattering questions are found in chapter 6 in John. Jesus has, starting in verse 35, really challenged his listeners with the reality that He is the Bread of Life, the Son of the living God (John 6:35). He has told them that unless they eat of this Bread of Life, and abide in Him, and He in them, they have no chance at eternal life (John 6:50). This direct confrontation with what Judaism has become challenges even his disciples, and they say, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). This sets the stage for four questions that come in rapid succession, three from Jesus and one from Simon Peter, that describe God’s calling in the life of a sinner to faith in Him.

1. “Do you take offense at this?” (John 6:61) The obvious, heart-breaking answer is, yes, most do. And that offense leaves them on the road to hell, where we all are headed without life-saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age feel-good, all have one thing in common: they are not faith in the one true Way. Every man, woman, and child will hear this question at some point in their lives. If they answer “yes”, then there are no more questions, unless God, by an act of supreme grace, asks this question again.
2. “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67) This question is asked of the man who professes belief, but does not really believe in his heart. Believing in Christ does not mean that life will be a bed of roses. It does not guarantee riches, or “your best life now”, as some feel-good “preachers” will tell you. It automatically excludes you from the crowd. Most of Jesus’ disciples went away. They could not handle the demands of a faith that seemed to turn their world topsy turvy, not realizing they had been flying upside down their whole life.
3. “Lord, to whom shall we go?” (John 6:68) This question, from Simon Peter, is the realization that there is no one or nowhere else to turn for fullness of life, for joy everlasting, for the promises that will be kept by a God who always keeps his promises. Once this question comes up in the mind of a man who is called by the Spirit, there is no turning back, his life is forever changed.
4. “Did I not choose you…?” (John 6:70) Now we see that we can come to Christ only if we have been called by Christ. Until that point, we are dead (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13), and the Word of God is folly to us (1 Corinthians 1:18). This question is the lifting of a death sentence on the person to whom it is asked, for it is not asked unless the answer is “Yes!”. It is a privilege that is granted, not earned: “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65).

Four little questions that mean eternal joy or eternal pain. How do you answer?

This is a poem that I heard about in a sermon by Chuck Swindoll when he was discussing the lukewarm church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-19. Swindoll attributed the poem to Dr. Stephen Bramer, and he asked, “Are you leaving a butt print in the sand?”. I pray that you and I aren’t, but that our footprints are plainly visible in the sand, next to our Lord’s.

Butt Prints In The Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
Those prints are large and round and neat,
“But Lord they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt.”

“Because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

-Author unknown

Matthew 4:1
“The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Contrast with:

Matthew 6:13
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

It is fascinating that God chooses to do to Himself what commands us to pray to Him not to do.

Yet, Jesus prevailed. Perfectly. And in doing so, He allowed us the ability to pray that part of the Lord’s prayer, and to expect that He (who is perfect and above temptation) would understand, first-hand, why we have to pray it every day. And that same Spirit will lead us away from temptation that led Jesus to it.

How utterly amazing that a man can lead a sinless life. Only one person has done it in all of time: Jesus Christ. And He did it, and suffered, and obeyed, and endured the momentary separation from God, felt the coldness of being, for a moment, outside of the Trinity (if that is at all possible), for us, so that we could live, and die, and join Him forever in the light of God.

AMEN!

Quite topical for recent events: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ” – Romans 12:19-20. Osama bin Laden is now in a very holy place, a place called Hell, where the perfect justice of God is carried out. I don’t need to judge bin Laden, he has already been judged in the fairest court in existence, and he just finished day one of a sentence of eternity.

However, take a look at the second half of that Bible verse. I’m honestly not sure how to deal with that. The whole concept of heaping kindness on your enemy, which only increases the temperature of Hell for that person once he stands before the most perfect Judge, is a tough thing to do. I wanted to see him get his butt kicked, I am glad bin Laden got what was coming to him, but I also know that it was against God that he sinned, not me. So today I find myself thanking God for his perfect justice, all the while thanking him for his incredible grace. Osama got justice, thanks be to God that he has given me mercy instead.

Take a look at this from Desiring God: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/bin-ladens-death-how-should-we-feel.

Some people I know are perpetual victims. They’ve been laid off, done wrong, fired, lost friends, loved ones, and possessions. They walk under a cloud of self-pity. They suck the life out of a room. We all know a few of these. Maybe you’re one yourself. We all can be at times, as we struggle to regain equilibrium, but I’m talking about someone who goes there, unpacks his suitcase, paints the walls, puts down new carpet, and settles in for a long stay at the Self-Pity Lodge.

It’s a shame to see this in anyone, but in a Christian brother or sister, I find it almost offensive. I know, you are giving me the harsh look, but remember I said that the person I am talking about is a long-term victim, not someone grieving or dealing with something that has recently happened, someone that will return to a state of joy. A Believer should remember what the Word of God tells us. How about this? “…God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Or this? “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Maybe this? “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). “I will turn their mourning into joy” (Jeremiah 31:13). “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (2 Corinthians 7:2). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Galatians 5:22). “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). Get the picture?

Or, how about Job? We talk a lot about how he bore up during a terrible time in his life, when had lost everything, and was afflicted with sores and disease. But what we often forget is that God rebuked him for allowing himself to think like a victim (and for questioning God). Job realized it, and was healed, not just his body, but his spirit, his outlook.

Look at Paul and Silas, singing hymns in jail after having been beaten and placed in stocks (Acts 16:25). They could have easily played the victim card, and who can blame them? But they were keenly aware of the source of their joy, and their eyes were firmly fixed upon the reward. Paul was willing to suffer hugely for it. No victims there.

I love the story in 2 Samuel of King David fasting and praying for his sick son. The child dies, then what happens? Does David cry out how he’s been done wrong? No. “Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate” (2 Samuel 12:20). David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), so maybe we have a glimpse at what God desires from us here.

Life is not pretty. We all go through seasons of anger, bitterness, sadness, self-pity. But there is no place in the Christian life for this to settle in on a long term basis. We can choose not be victims, and choose to be joyful in the promises that God has given us. And he never fails to live up to his end of the bargain.

I have lost jobs, friends, things, even my wife. But I am so blessed. You are, too, brother, but you’ve forgotten that. Hopefully this will remind you. Our God is an awesome god.

It appears that our President has set a dangerous precedent, one that will haunt this country. By instructing the Department of Justice to not enforce the Defense of Marriage act, he has basically told Americans that it is okay to simply not obey laws they don’t like. Not only that, but he has abdicated on his sworn vow to uphold the laws of the land (“he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed”). Whether you agree with the Defense of Marriage Act or not, the way President Obama has taken unilateral action is a huge deal. If the law needs to be repealed, then he should work toward its repeal, but our sworn President has a duty to uphold the laws that are on the books. As Chief Citizen, Obama has just given the American public free reign to do whatever they wish, and that won’t be pretty.

D.A. Carson speaks about the intolerance of tolerance in this video (via Tim Challies). Definitely worth a listen (it’s really just audio with a still image). He points out the sheer incoherence of today’s concept of tolerance.

Here are a couple of things that show me the real heart of the liberal:

1. I am amazed that liberals still espouse abortion, what with their love for “the little guy”. You know, abortion, the killing of really “little guys”? I guess, under the banner of “tolerance”, they are tolerant of murder and genocide. Apparently, according to this article and the New York City Summary of Vital Statistics 2008 (screenshot shown here), the vast majority (about 80%) of children killed by abortion are black or hispanic. Genocide under the guise of mere murder. How caring! But apparently it’s big money.
   

   Table 29a from the NYC Summary of Vital Statistics 2008 (highlighting mine)

2. For all the talk that our liberal neighbors spout about conservatives being so nasty and icky when it comes to compassion and caring, turns out that liberals are, well, tightwads when it comes to charitable giving. This is true even when taken as a percentage of income. A huge contributing factor is all those nasty Christians, giving to help their fellow man eat, drink clean water, and stay out of hell (the latter being the most important, folks). It looks like this love for fellow man starts at the top, too. Joe Biden gave 1.2% of his $333,182 earnings in 2009. That’s $3,920 from someone who gets free room and board. Obama did far better, giving $329,100 of his $5,505,409, or about 6%. He also gave the proceeds of his Nobel Peace Prize to charity, which was nice, since he no more deserved it than I did. And he seemed to be aware of that. But, wouldn’t you think that the party of love would, like, love a little more?

The heart of the liberal looks like a dark, dry, shriveled kind of place, doesn’t it?

Now they’ve done it. Some tolerance fascist in Canada has persuaded the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council (CSBC) that the Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” is “propagating hate”. And the CSBC, lacking actual cojones, has gone along with it. Why does the song propagate hate? It uses the word “faggot”. Now, this song has been a hit for decades, coming out in 1985 with the release of the Brothers in Arms album. But now, some thin-skinned little puke in Canada is all offended by it and, since it is fashionable these days in “sophisticated” circles to call anything that even remotely expresses homosexuality in a negative light hateful, decides to be a total killjoy for the rest of the planet.

Welcome to the censorship of the cool, the new tolerance, the concrete evidence of a world that has gone utterly and absolutely haywire, in which someone who lives an aberrant and immoral lifestyle gets to rule the dialog. For the record, the word “faggot” is used three times in the song, which is about a guy who delivers appliances and wishes he had learned to play guitar and have a band of his own. It is sung in his vernacular. It does not promote hate, except when spineless idiots in the Canadian bureaucracy don’t have the guts to tell some thin-skinned member of the lesbian community to take a hike.

The word “cool-shaming” came up on Doug Wilson’s blog, and I think it’s a great word. People who want to look like they are doing the right thing instead of actually doing the right thing are most susceptible to being cool-shamed. And this is a classic cool-shaming if I ever saw one. God gave you a spine and a mind, people, and neither are getting used that much by the Ironic, Hip, Tolerant Left (or Canadians). I think we will find, one day in the future, that the fascism of “tolerance” will have done more harm in more ways than any heavy handed form of fascism ever did.

I’m not going to play along. I’ve got that Brothers in Arms cd somewhere around here…