Real Christianity

Check out this picture John Piper posted on his blog... It certainly is a stunning example of what real Christianity is, especially compared to the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel.

When My Heart Turns Away from God

"Why"
Why would I ever choose a broken cistern over Living Water? (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

Where did you go?
For so long you've seemed so lost, so distant—
Though you try to hide your face
Your eyes betray the emptiness of your soul.

Won't you please come back?
Turn around, before it's too late, time is running…
Approaching dusk is never scary
Until the darkness swallows up all the light.

Don't you see what you'll become?
That twisting, winding, deceivingly wide road
You've never taken. But you know the destruction
That lies on that horrid path.

Remember what it was like before?
You loved the light, you frolicked in it—
The warmth of the sun brightened your eyes, colored your cheeks.
Come again to feel the warmth, what you once loved.

Do you miss the sweetness of satisfaction?
Get out of the mudpit and taste of the cool fountain;
I know you never thirsted when you drank of Living Water.
Quench your restless desires with eternity.

Why did you ever want to leave?
How could you forget the Lover of your soul?

Page CXVI

I recently found a site through another blog that is giving away a bunch of songs for free! The site is called Page CXVI.

These aren't just any songs, though… they are hymns. I know hymns don't SOUND very exciting at first. They carry a connotation of being old and stuffy and maybe even legalistic or overly religious. But the truth is that hymns are just overflowing with wonderful, life-giving, heart-healing TRUTH from the Bible! I know that for my own heart, meditating on Truths from Scripture keeps my mind centered on who I am in Christ, what Christ has done for me on the cross, and helps foster in me a spirit of thankfulness to God for all that He has done in my life. I urge you to take hymns seriously and not dismiss them off as an "old person's" form of worship.

In his book Desiring God, John Piper speaks of the passage in which Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well, "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24) In speaking of the truth aspect, Piper says, "The only affections that honor God are those rooted in the rock of biblical truth," and quotes Romans 10:2, John 17:17, and John 8:32 as biblical proof & support.

John MacArthur, in one of his sermons during the Shepherds Conference, stated, "An invitation to salvation is an invitation to worship Christ. It's all about worship. The Father is seeking true worshipers. When we all get to Heaven we are going to worship… it's all about ascribing glory to Christ… Transcendent worship comes from a depth of understanding."

Worshiping God with true affection, real love, requires that we worship God in truth. Worshiping in spirit AND truth is essential, true worship does not and cannot exclude one or the other… Which is why hymns are so encouraging! They contain all the passion of troubled souls, triumphant souls, and souls simply amazed at the grace and beauty of God, and they are just dripping with truth.

PS—If any of you are curious as to why the project is called "Page CXVI," read on. It's really quite beautiful and inspiring!

For all of you who were wondering where our name "Page CXVI" came from, we'd love to share with you a little bit about it. Page CXVI is a reference to page 116 of our personal copy of The Magicians nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void. One of the characters, Digory, describes it as, "...it was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it."

As the hymns project began to form, our hope was to wrap the strong lyrical content of the hymns, with music that portrayed our personal reactions to the life that God has brought to our "black void." The most personal song on the album is by far "Joy" with the counterpart, "It is Well" was written by Horatio Spafford after losing his son to scarlet fever, all of his real estate investments to the Great Chicago Fire, and his 4 remaining children to the sinking of a boat. The contemplative turn from "Joy" into the lines from "It is Well" comes out of our own personal tragedy this past year and combines a Psalm like lamentation with hope. Our intention with all of these songs is to be a source of comfort and encouragement to all who hear them.

Thank you again for listening and sharing.

Page CXVI

I Am Too Easily Satisfied…

CS Lewis once wrote,

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 immorality 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.

Why is this quote so real, so poignant? Because it's true. Jeremiah 2:10-13 says the same thing… look especially hard at verse 13—

"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

So often I turn to the bland pleasures of the world to satisfy my weak desires, rather than going to the one true source of all joy, God Himself. So often I drink dirty, filthy mud water, when all I have to do is turn my back on my own work and drink from the purest, coolest, most delicious source of water there is—the Fountain of LIVING Waters (see also John 4:13-14, and notice how Jesus uses this as a claim of His equality with God).

When I read this quote from Spectacular Sins, it just reaffirmed what my college pastor has been saying over and over again… I'm not QUITE sure, but I think God is trying to tell me something here! (sarcasm…)

This [Colossians 1:14-20] is worth memorizing. If your heart ever wavers and grows cold, come here. Memorize this litany of glories, and ask God to give you affections that correspond to the measure of this greatness—infinite in beauty, immeasurable. If any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens any admiration or any amazement or any joy, let it be the greatest person and the greatest power and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love that exists—Jesus Christ.

Why would I turn to ANYTHING except Jesus Christ for joy or satisfaction, when HE is the ultimate beauty to behold, when walking in His will is the ultimate adventure, and knowing Him intimately is the ultimate experience?

Valley Girls Unite!

Okay, so this is so applicable to many diverse groups of people, not JUST valley girls, haha.

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the Sovereign Grace Ministries big February Sale!!! It starts February 1^st; that's in three days… (I thought valley girls might be appropriate, because everyone knows how valley girls love to shop, and find the perfect item at the perfectly reduced price!) I found out about it on the Worship Matters blog… You can check out that site's blog post to see the specifics of the sale…

If there are specific books I could recommend for you to purchase it would be Cross Centered Life, for sure, as well as Living the Cross Centered Life and Humility: True Greatness. I have not read the book Worldliness, but I did read bits and pieces of it that CJ Mahaney has posted online for free, and I know someday, hopefully soon, I'd like to read that book as well. Something else that caught my eye is one of the studies in the Pursuit of Godliness series—it's called Disciplines for Life: Steps to Spiritual Strength… However, the whole book is available online in pdf form for FREE… The Worship Matters blog says that 23 books (I'll post an update blog when I find out exactly which books) will be available for $7, while everything from the Pursuit of Godliness series will be $4… So I guess I'd better start saving up!

Also, all the music albums are $6! I don't have much from music from Sovereign Grace Ministries, but all of what I do have has incredible lyrics, all solidly based on Scripture; many times it will even be Scripture itself put into song. For some free downloads to sample their music, check out "I Have A Shelter" from the Come Weary Saints album, "Praise the Lord" from the Psalms album, "Glory Be To God" from the Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man, "You Are Good" from the album You and You Alone, and the orthodoxy "What A Savior" from the album Looked Upon.

By the way, the sale only lasts until February 29^th, so hurry over to the site and make your choices quickly! Did I mention that they always give FREE standard shipping for all orders in the continental US?

Fireproof

The movie Fireproof came out on DVD today!

I am excited because this Christian film will have the chance to impact many people-- many more than it has already impacted in theaters. It is the story of a young married couple, a fireman and his wife, who are struggling through their marriage. The main character must learn what love truly is if he is to salvage his dying marriage (Romans 5:8)… I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to any who have not seen it!

I love the Scriptural truths that fill this movie, and I truly and greatly appreciate that Fireproof gives a clear gospel message. I must admit that I have not seen many Christian films, but I have not been very impressed with their presentation of the gospel, or their inclusion (or lack the thereof) of how that gospel message should affect their characters' metamorphoses. I feel that too often Christian films glaze over the gospel, which is ridiculously ironic, because if it were not for that precious Truth, there would be no need, desire, or basis for Christian movies! Isn't the very purpose of the Christian film industry to open doors to reach the lost, as well as to strengthen and encourage believers to live out what it means to be a Christian?

Why does this bother me so much? Because the gospel should be the most important thing in our lives as Christians—Let's follow Paul's example when he says that the gospel is the MOST important thing in his life (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)! And I admit that, like many Christian movies, I leave out the very basis for my existence when I go out into the world, and even when I am in my own home. But I don't want to just sit and ponder what my life might be like if the gospel truly permeated everything I believed, said, and did… I want to go, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, live out the gospel in my life, as a testimony to the glory of Jesus Christ and of God the Father!

Help!!! Please ;-D

I want you all to help keep me accountable and ask me how I'm doing with my reading… questions like how much I've read, and what I've learned from what I've read so far. It would be NICE to finish all… or some… lol… before I go back to school, but this is a very ambitious list! So ask me if I've wasted more time watching television or going online that I could have spent reading. I want to invest my time so that what I do will actually count for eternity, rather than frittering this vapor of a life away on things just as transient as I am. So without further ado, here is the list!

Showdown, Ted Dekker

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, John Piper

Desiring God, John Piper **Reading

Spectacular Sins, John Piper **Reading

The Passion of Jesus Christ, John Piper

Living the Cross Centered Life, CJ Mahaney **Reading

A Practical View of Christianity, William Wilberforce

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce, John Piper

Twelve Extraordinary Women, John MacArthur

Competent to Counsel, Jay E. Adams

Living by the Book, Howard & William Hendricks

Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically, John MacArthur (& staff)

30 Days to Understanding the Bible, Max Anders **Reading

Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders

Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper **Reading