Love Matters -

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.” 

- C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

‘The church’s manifestation in time of the glories that are yet to come is not accomplished in the gift of tongues, nor even in prophecy, giving, teaching. It is accomplished in love…. The greatest evidence that heaven has invaded our sphere, that the Spirit has been poured out upon us, that we are citizens of a kingdom not yet consummated, is Christian love.’
- D.A. Carson, Showing the Spirit, p. 76

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
- 1 Cor. 13:1-3 

How do we learn to love well? We may have an inclination of affections or grand feelings of inducements towards others, but it seems that to love well the purity of unvarnished affection must come from outside of ourselves. How do we love well without example, or without demonstration toward us? It seems to me that to love well is to apprehend, if even in a small way, love demonstrated to us. Luke tells a scandalous story in chapter 7 about a woman who loved well. She was a woman with a ruined reputation...no social ranking, no reputation, no reason for anyone to take notice; a woman who was known by every scurrilous epithet. Luke doesn't fill in all of the blanks, but we can safely say that her notoriety was common knowledge. Hers was the name whispered in impolite company. Kept in the shadows and never seen for her humanity, she had become a stain on the community. And yet Jesus saw her condition and her lostness and He loved her. Her transformation from a great sinner to one who loved well was nothing short of miraculous. In that moment the offscouring became the much-loved. The solitary was placed into a family. Others looked on and missed the point, but she got it. She loved well because she experienced Love first hand. Forgiveness Incarnate came to her and she was loved. For the first time in her life she was really and truly loved.  And out of love demonstrated to her she then loved well. Mark this my friends, when Love apprehends us a transformation takes place. Loving others well is the inevitable byproduct of being loved by Another in demonstrated, true, genuine gospel love.

Because of love shown, desiring to love well,

Dan

(An adaptation of a blog first written in September 2009)

That Nagging Abortion Thing -

One of the greatest indicators of the church’s commitment to the pro-life cause is whether she will commit herself to becoming dissatisfied with the status quo. Let’s face it; the abortion debate has been around a long time. The destruction of human life far precedes the recent videos, and yet heretofore the cost to the church has been minimal.  It is one thing to vote for pro-life candidates and put bumper stickers on our minivans, and quite another to materially help a young woman with an unwanted pregnancy as she struggles to get on her feet. The pro-life battle comes much closer to home when we invite the stranger into our own living room. To adopt a child is to invest in something far greater than creature comforts, and at the time it's much more difficult to see a return on our investment. It’s a matter of historical record that the early Christians were pro-life, believing that God was the giver of every life. When Roman citizens looked for ways to dispose of unwanted children it was the Christian communities that took them in and raised them as their own. The early church saw the risk and took it. They knew the way of the cross was costly, particularly for their Lord, but they also knew the servant is no greater than the Master.  

As long as the church loves her ease and eschews her discomfort it’s likely the pro-life battle will be consigned to a passive yawn. We’ll soon forget the videos and settle back into the routine. You see…to care is to commit time and resources. To care is to cast comfort to the wind. To care is to make hard choices. And frankly, there is a certain risk to it all, and risk is…well, it’s risky. As long as the church is satisfied with where she’s at there will be little light and little salt, and we shouldn’t wonder why the world then looks at us with eyes aglaze and yawns.

- DJM

September 2, 2015    

The Storyteller's Story -

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.'
-Luke 24:24-27

'Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.'
-Hebrews 1:1-2

'The entire Bible finds its unity in what can be best called holy history - Heilsgeshichte. It is a record and interpretation of the events in which God visits men in history to redeem them as persons and also to redeem them in society - in history. This means finally the redemption of history itself.'
- George Ladd, The Pattern of New Testament Truth, pp. 110-111

'The story is God's story. It describes His work to rescue rebels from their folly, guilt and ruin. And in His rescue operation, God always takes the initiative.'
- Edmund Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery, p. 11


Dear Friends,

The Bible is all of a piece. Sixty-six books with a variety of authors from varying backgrounds and written at various times in various places, and all with a unified story-line. This book stretches over thousands of years of history and each author contributes to the integrated whole. The voices and nuance are different, but the refrain is the same and continues to build to a crescendo. The God of history has a story to tell and of His initiative He will tell it. Starting from the beginning, in a garden, paradise was lost. The ruination and sorrow that would follow would be retold in stories of treachery, war, betrayal, misery and bloodshed. Thankfully, throughout the story of fallenness and depravity another story is told. From the beginning a promise was made. The Storyteller would not let darkness have the final say. Genesis sets the trajectory with a paradise lost and the promise of One who would come. Revelation ends with paradise restored through the One promised. The plot line winds its way through the multiplicity of stories like a crimson thread. And, at the end of the day our stories are woven into the whole. It is a story of grace unbound and mercy throughout. It is a story of perilous rescue. It is a story of incomprehensible love at unfathomable cost. The God of history has a story to tell. Listen to the Storyteller tell His story.

-DJM

A Voice for the Voiceless -

'Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.'

- Proverbs 31:8-9

"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
- Psalm 82:3-4

What are the duties required in the sixth commandment? 

A. The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful studies, and lawful endeavours, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any; by just defence thereof against violence, patient bearing of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit; a sober use of meat, drink, physick, sleep, labour, and recreations; by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behaviour; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil; comforting and succouring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent. (emphasis mine)

- Westminster Larger Catechism Q and A 135

'God's word calls us to help those most despised by the world, to love the least lovely. So there must be, however much the world will despise us as religious fanatics, indeed, especially since the world despises these convictions, a special place in our hearts for the unborn.' 

- John Frame, Ministries of Mercy to the Unborn, http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/1999Ministries.htm


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

With the busyness of our lives and the pressures of these days it is easy to lose our voice for those who need it most. I can think of a thousand things to occupy my time and forget to speak up for those that have no voice. This week I was moved by this story http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571215,00.html. In it a strongly pro-choice director of a Planned Parenthood clinic was moved to embrace life. The faithfulness of those who provide a voice for the voiceless and an ultrasound video changed her mind. I thank God for those who , in innumerable ways, bear witness to God's unequivocal commitment to life. I also thank God for the privilege of serving a church that loves life. Your love for the God of life is a constant testimony to me. Your tangible expressions of protecting and defending the innocent speaks volumes. Thank you for tangibly loving the voiceless. Thank you for adopting children and for loving adopted children. Thank you for contributing to the needs of the innocent. Thank you for speaking words of life to those considering abortion and adoption. Thank you for speaking the gospel to those suffering under the guilt of abortion. Thank you giving sacrificially to help others adopt. Thank you for making time available to fix cupboards and computers at the local pregnancy resource center. Thank you for cleaning toilets and vacuuming floors and doing all sorts of work behind the scenes so that the counselors at the pregnancy resource center can do their job. 

Thank you for being a voice for the voiceless.

-DJM, November 2009

The Inclination of Thankfulness -

'And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.'

- Colossians 3:15

'Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.'
- Hebrews 12:28-29

'From the plan of salvation I learn that the true driving force in authentic Christian living is, and ever must be, not the hope of gain, but the heart of gratitude.'
- J.I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, p. 75

'In short, then, the grace of God in the Cross of Christ leads to thanksgiving in his people, which in turn naturally leads to obedience.'
-Dane Ortlund, A New Inner Relish, p. 25

Almighty God, Father of all Mercies,
we, thine unworthy servants,
do give thee most humble and hearty thanks
for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men.
- The Book of Common Prayer


Thankfulness testifies to the truthfulness of the Christian life. I'm not naturally thankful, but simply put - gratitude and new life go hand in hand. In Christ my greatest need has been met and to be ungrateful would be to malign the God Who has shown me mercy. Unmitigated grace is the impetus for unexcelled gratitude. The Christian is assured that his sins have been forgiven. Think of this…enmity no longer exists between the Christian and His Creator/Redeemer. In a body of flesh God has redeemed men and women for Himself. Upon a Cross of otherworldly suffering the God-man happily took the place of His people. An exchange. An unfair trade. Here, life met death, and for a moment it seemed that death would prevail. Then, on a resurrection morning the God-man rose and broke open the sealed pardon. Captivity itself became captive. Those bound were loosed. In the flame and wind of upper-room fury the Spirit was given to vouchsafe mercy's purpose. Thankfulness testifies to truthfulness.

Thanking God for grace to the undeserving,

DJM