And it is not as though in this time I have become slothful and have ceased to work, but quite the contrary, I have been working as hard as I ever have. And that, it seems, has been my problem. I began our present journey with a righteous course–to free ourselves of debt for sake of the Kingdom–and yet have, through my labor, lost the chief goal of righteousness. I have forgotten in practice, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things will be added to you,” and have adopted a “work now, ask questions later” attitude with regard to achieving that which I believe God has laid on our hearts to accomplish instead of waiting on him to provide as only he can provide. Therefore, since September of last year, I have been practically working seven days a week to fill the gaps in our needs, rather than seeking provision from God so that he, not I, would receive the glory.

And in this time, God has seen it fitting to reveal at least two things to me–one being my self-righteousness, and the second being my lack of faith. And like a loving father, rather than turning his back from me and leaving me to myself, he has let me be unrighteous to destroy my self-righteousness, and he has heaped burden upon burden upon my shoulders so that I would crumble under their weight. And thus, I have again been led back to cross to throw my unrighteousness upon Christ and to give my burdens to him alone who can bear them. And in this way, I have lost all cause for boasting, and Christ has gained all of it.

I shall not trouble you with the details of my Slough, but here I publicly repent from my self-righteousness and futile laboring. Here also I declare my need for Christ alone and that he alone is strong enough and worthy enough to bear my awful load. May God have mercy on me.

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me” (Rm. 15:3).

When it comes to those to whom Christians are to look for guidance and inspiration to live their lives, their focus should be Singular. For there is only one Man who lived perfectly for the sake of God and his glory, and that man is Jesus Christ. And though there are others to whom we can look to as a godly examples, their example is only good insofar as it accords with the example of Jesus Christ. For while there have always been, by God’s grace, godly men on this earth, those men, at the end of day, were still men and being such were still sinners till the day they died.

It is for this reason that the apostle to the Hebrews, after bringing forth testimony after testimony of faithful witnesses who testified to greatness of the saints’ Inheritance in Christ in Hebrews 11, wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1,2). For all the godly saints before us were not displayed by the apostle as examples to be followed, but they were brought forth as witnesses to the validity of the example of Christ. Therefore, Christ is to be our only Example, and as such, the examples of men are only good insofar as they accord with the example of Christ.

Therefore when it comes to the matter of dealing with the weak in the church, we who are deemed to be strong must follow the example of Christ. For this reason, we who are strong in the church must not look to please ourselves through our bearing of the weak, for Christ did not please himself, but he came to please others insofar as he was still able to please his Father. And since Christ bore the reproach of those who reproached God, we are also to do as he did and bear with love the weaknesses of the weak in the church.

For this reason, the apostle expresses the wish, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus (v. 15:5). For if all of us in the church sought to be in accord with Christ alone, then there would be harmony for we would be One in our goal. There would be no “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Paul,” “I am of Calvin,” or “I am of Arminius,” but there would be a singular, “I am of Christ,” and as such we would “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 15:6).

May we become a people who welcome all as Christ as welcomed us, for the sake of the glory of God (cf. v. 15:7). Amen.

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up (Rm. 15:1,2).

As God has ordained it, his church is comprised of many people of many varying strengths and degrees of faith (cf. Rm. 12:3). And in spite of these variances, God has ordained that his church be one Body, united for the sake of his glory. And as such, the attainment of unity in the church for the sake of God’s glory must come through love and longsuffering, for the church at present remains in a fallen world and will, because of the variance within it, contain those who fail.

For this reason, the apostle calls the strong in the church to bear with the failings of the weak. For it is the strong who have the greater ability for love and longsuffering, and it is the strong who give to the church strength and maturity, and they who have such strength and maturity have the greater responsibility in the church for the accomplishment of unity.

And though there is this goal of unity through longsuffering, it must be accomplished through proper means with the proper end. What that proper end is not, the apostle writes, is “to please ourselves.” For a semblance of unity can be obtained in the church because of selfishness, whereby the strong bear the weak for the sake of their personal gain. This personal gain can manifest itself in filled pews, large offerings, and the lack of strife out of absence of accountability–all of which are done not for the sake of the weak but for the sake of the strong. This unity in the church obtained by selfish desire is not a unity that is glorifying to God, and it is not a unity that grows and strengthens the weak.

The proper end of unity through longsuffering, however, is, as the apostle writes, the “pleasing of his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” In other words, the strong are to bear the failings of the weak, not for selfish reasons, but so that the weak might obtain their good, which is to be built up in the church and in faith. And this is to be accomplished by “pleasing our neighbor.” In the context, this is not the pleasing of our neighbors in all things, but it is, as Romans 14 teaches, the pleasing of our neighbors in those things which are matters of opinion. It is, as the apostle writes, “not to destroy the work of God for the sake of food” (Rm. 14:20). For there are things that are not to be suffered in the weak that pertain to holiness and godliness, but convictions concerning days and festivals and foods and drinks, etc. are not to be among them. And since it is the strong who have the greater understanding that “everything is indeed clean,” they are to endure the present misunderstandings of the weak, so that they who are weak might one day become strong.

Therefore, those who are strong, for the sake of the weak, must keep the faith that they have between themselves and God and not place in front of the weak a matter which may cause them to stumble. “For,” as the apostle writes, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm. 14:17), and unity must be obtained through the longsuffering and love of the strong.

This estimation of God that produces such a division in our lives, rather than being a lofty estimation, is in fact low estimation. For we view God as one who is constantly running about, tirelessly fighting the Adversary and strenuously beckoning men to himself, rather than he who is seated on high and who controls the world by the Word of his mouth. And as such, our God is not merely the God of Good and of Salvation, but he is the God of the birds and the hairs upon our head, and neither the bird nor the hairs upon our head live or grow or die or fall apart from his Word (cf. Mt. 10:29, 30). And our God does not merely ordain the beginnings and ends of all things, but he holds all things together so that nothing can claim a moment of existence apart from him (cf. Col. 1:17).

For this reason, all things are sacred, for God is “over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6). And it is for this reason that the apostle Paul exhorts the church at Corinth, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Cor. 10:31). For if God governs all things and holds all things together by the power of his Word, there is nothing, no matter how small or insignificant, that is truly small and insignificant and thereby exempt from spiritual worship to God.

And it is for this reason that the apostle exhorts the church at Rome, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rm. 12:1). For, because of the God we serve and his dominion and sustenance of all things, we cannot divide a portion of our lives into service unto God and another not, but we must present our bodies–our entirety–as a sacrifice unto God. The imagery is inescapable, for if one were called to offer his body as a sacrifice, it by necessity is a call to give up everything for that sacrifice, for his life would end upon that sacrifice. Likewise, we are called to give up our bodies as a sacrifice, but we are called to give it as a living sacrifice. The meaning is that as a real bodily sacrifice would necessitate the giving up of everything, so our living sacrifice unto God is our giving up of everything in our lives unto his service.

And what is the nature of this living sacrifice we are to give? It is to make all that we do in our bodies, no matter how great or how small, “holy and acceptable to God.” It is the making of all that we do sacred and set apart unto God, and it is the making of all we do an act of spiritual worship. For worship is not to be contained in some hour on Sunday mornings or on Wednesday nights, but it is to be contained in every breath we breathe and every step we step. Therefore, all things, whether it is attending a Sunday morning worship service or mowing our lawns, or preaching the Gospel or watching a television program, should be done from the mindset of worship and of holiness unto God. For our God is not a petty God who sets his stake upon that which we esteem as big, but he is a great God who spins every atom that exists to the end of his glory and our good.

The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Rm. 14:6-8).

In Christian practice there exists two categories–that which is doctrine and that which is opinion. And though these two categories exist and have existed since the creation and more so since Christ fulfilled the ceremonial and civil requirements of the Law, their ends have ever been the same, namely to glorify God. Therefore whether one submits to doctrine or whether one submits to a certain opinion, it is to be done for the sake of the glory of God alone lest that which is not sin become sin.

For sin has never been rooted in particular practices, but it always has been rooted in a rebellious and self-glorifying heart. For when one sins, it is from the heart that he sins, for at that moment his heart’s desire is not to glorify God, but it is to please himself. Thus if anything is to be pleasing to God, it must be done from heart that seeks to honor him alone.

For this reason, the apostle writes elsewhere, “So, whether eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Cor. 10:31). For the practice is not the end of itself, nor is its propagation, but the glory of God is to be its only end. So if one eats all foods, he is to do it to the glory of God; if he abstains from particular foods, he is to do it to the glory of God; if he drinks wine, he is to do it to the glory of God; if he abstains from wine, he is to do it to the glory of God. For around such things there is no law, for Christ has fulfilled the law concerning such things and has freed us from it, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rm. 8:4).

The reason being, as the apostle says later in the chapter, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm. 14:17). In other words, these things over which we quarrel the most have no correlation with the kingdom of God. For God is not concerned about the practices of our particular cultures or our traditions per se, but he is concerned about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Peter writes, “[By] his divine power [God] has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2Pet. 1:3). What Peter is conveying is that God has fully given to us all things to be godly in his sight and to glorify him through the knowledge of God in Christ. This knowledge has been made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ and in his Word which he has spoken forth from before the foundation of the world. For this reason, we are to fully understand that which he has given to us, viz. his Scriptures, and they alone are sufficient for our godliness. All other matters that the Scriptures do not address or to which they explicitly give freedom–all these do not pertain to life and godliness in and of themselves, but they do so in the heart of him who practices them. Therefore, in these things, one’s heart must be inclined to glorify Christ alone, and he must practice all things to that end.

For this reason, the Christian must do as the Lord commanded Joshua, “Meditate on [the law] day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it (Jsh. 1:8),” so that he might do as David did, viz. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11). For the Christian’s aim must be to glorify God by “the renewal of [his] mind” (Rm. 12:2) by the Word of God and to conform himself to the instructions therein for God’s glory, and so that he might distinguish what is lawful requirement and what is opinion. And it is for this end that apostle instructs the stronger in the faith to suffer the opinions of the weak, for they in their infancy have yet to meditate upon the word of the Lord and to be transformed by it. Therefore, rather than casting those out for their ignorance and their convictions based upon culture and tradition, we are to accept them so that they too might have a chance to grow in godliness by being instructed from the Word of God.

We have signed pre-disclosure statements with the lender on the loan, and we are simply waiting for an appraisal to be done on the property and for a title search to be done by the attorney. If all that goes well, we are well on schedule to close on the land before month’s end.

Our next step is on hold until that time, and we are not sure exactly what that step is. Ideally, we would be able to put a mobile home on the property and get it ready to move into, so that we can get our present home ready to sale. That is the ideal scenario, however the limited nature of our funds might prevent us from doing things the ideal way. There are a number of expenses that come along with making the mobile home livable, and I am sure that there are some which we have yet considered. The problem is that things always seem to be more expensive than they appear on paper, and we will have to figure out how to make those things happen without getting ourselves into a bind. So your prayers for wisdom and God’s gracious hand throughout this would be greatly appreciated.

That said, the first step (barring some unforeseen complications) is nigh onto completion, and we are excited and a bit scared at the bigness of the undertaking. However, when by God’s grace all this is said and done, we will be well on our way on our journey to unindebtedness having cut our housing expenses by more than eighty percent and its term by twenty years.

If you wish to pray for us, you can pray for us in this way: that the land will be closed on in a timely and unhindered manner, that we will find a mobile home (which we believe we already have) to put on the property and will have the resources to make it livable sooner rather than later, and that when we put our present home on the market, that it will sell quickly and for an amount that will at least pay off present mortgage. Thank you again, and may God bless you for your thoughts and prayers.

While it is of little surprise that American Christians are more concerned about worshipping themselves than God by the churches they attend, it is saddening nonetheless. For it is clear that we have been deceived into thinking that true joy rests in self-satisfaction, and we rob ourselves of our Joy by seeking it in entertainment rather than in Christ and him glorified.

The reason I think of this now is because this past weekend I was called to remembrance of a small church at Atlantic Beach called Bogue Banks Baptist. I, my wife, and a friend attended this church a Sunday we were at the beach, and the effects that this small church had on my opinions of church services is nothing short of profound.

Upon first glance, the church appeared to be your typical Baptist church, with its members in suits and ties and Sunday dresses and with its members at the elder end of the age spectrum. But that is where its similarities ceased. I strolled into the church that Sunday in my typical church garb–a knit shirt, shorts, and flip flops–and rather than getting the expected strange stares and the tacit how-dare-you’s, I was received warmly and lovingly. When the service began, the music leader (who just as well could have been the preaching pastor), read from the Scriptures and went out of his way to honor Christ with his words. The whole service consisted of this–of the Scriptures being read and Christ being glorified.

The style of music fit well with the members of the congregation, being akin to what you might expect in an old school Baptist church, but that did not matter in the least. Every song they sang was Christ saturated and honored him. Every person there, it seemed, sang from his heart to his Savior, and they enjoyed him that service, not the style of music. And no person left that service without hearing the Gospel at least ten times. What a blessing!

My purpose in sharing this is both to honor the church I attended, whose heart’s desire was to honor Christ, and to exhort us in our local congregations to honor Christ above all in our services. So often we are worried about putting on a show for the people and luring them by entertainment (*cough* *cough* C3), instead of by luring them by displaying Christ as majestic and worthy of praise. If we could grasp this in our churches and seek to show Christ as beautiful rather than our favorite genre of music, there is no telling the effect that that would have on our country. Just a thought.

Because of our past decisions–most of them foolish, some of them not as much–we have incurred a great amount of debt when compared to our present income. Because of this, we have been denied a loan twice with just mine and my wife’s name on the loan, and to get approved for the loan we are going to have to add a more financially stable co-signer to the loan, namely my father-in-law.

For this reason, we have had to learn to be patient when waiting to hear back from lenders, and not to be discouraged and not to desire to simply give up and accept the status quo that characterizes our present life.

It also has caused me to meditate upon what is the Lord’s will (hence yesterday’s post), and how we are to respond when things do not go as smoothly as we think they ought. For when things do not go smoothly, it is natural to think that God may be preventing it and that it might not be God’s desire for us to go forth with our present plan. And while that may indeed be the case, it may very well be the case that Adversary is seeking to supplant our desire for simplicity and unindebtedness, and his obstacles are being tossed into our paths to test just how dedicated we are to living a life that is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

Therefore, we have found (as Scripture also declares), that knowing God’s will from his Word is fundamental to perseverance. And though human judgment and wisdom must take God’s timeless truths and apply them to particular cultural contexts, his truths are timeless nonetheless. And though we know that God could very well have another way for us to live out his will in our context, we have yet to see this other way, and we have not yet exhausted the means by which we can make our present plan a reality.

Therefore, we are presently busy about exhausting our means to make our present plan come about. Yes, two doors have been closed thus far, and that has been slightly discouraging at times, however we have been encouraged to press on knowing that our heart’s desire in this is to glorify God and to obey his commands.

For this reason, if you think of it, we would be thankful if you would pray for us, that a door would be opened up for us so that we can demonstrate, sooner rather than later, that God is our greatest treasure by the way we live our lives. For that is the desire of our hearts and the design of our present plan, and we know that God is faithful to make his name great through his people. Soli Deo gloria.