Jesus is a physician, a healer of soul and spirit. He is a comforter, a friend, a brother. Yet, he is also King, with all authority on heaven and earth, and when he comes again he will bring his recompense with him, "to repay each one for what he has done." He is safe, yet unsafe. Should then our pulpits only be safe? Should people only hear "there, there," or should they not also hear "repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand?" It does not advance the kingdom for unbelievers to only hear from the pulpit the sweet and tender promises to the Christian, and never be told they are looking from the outside in.

(Rev. 22:12, Mt. 4:17)

"'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"
Acts 1:8

"And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country."
Luke 4:14

The same Holy Spirit which empowered Jesus through all his ministry on earth also empowers the ministry of each believer. Admittedly there's a big difference between Jesus and the Christian. He was incarnate God walking the earth. We're far from that. But don't underestimate the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life: you are equipped with the very God of the universe to glorify the Father, spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and bring the kingdom into every corner of your life. God didn't send seminary degrees to his people, he sent the Holy Spirit. It's crippling the walk of the Christian life to underestimate the power of the Spirit in us.

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
  and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
  and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,
  and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
  that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
  and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
  and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight is in Her,
  and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
  and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,
  so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
  so shall your God rejoice over you."

Isaiah 62:1-5

My pastor once told me that not all of my thoughts are actually my thoughts. The enemy plants lies in our brains to thwart the gospel and grow unbelief. He sows thoughts that set my mind thinking on my own unworthiness and ugliness, which leads to hopelessness, fatalism, and unbelief, paralyzing my grasp on the truth of the gospel in my heart. I begin to believe that what I think of myself is truth rather than what God thinks of me.

This is one of my favorite passages to run to in the midst of that struggle. God sees me in Christ as so beautiful and delightful that He rejoices over me! He is not ashamed of me, His delight is in me. It is no trifle, but a profound delight.

Christian, Jesus became your ugliness and unworthiness, and you have become the righteousness of God. You are beautiful, and your God rejoices over you!

"No longer will there be anything accursed...."
Revelation 22:3a

The curse of disobedience, justly levied on all men in Genesis 3, is not permanent. One day, when God remakes this world, it will be free of that curse! Think of it:

No sin.
No death.
No disease.
No disaster.
No weeds.
No pain.
No pride.
No strife.

Life as God intended it, with full and free access to Him, living with Him, fully human. Christians, that is our future.

This current world, for all its promises, is but a shadow and a tarnished penny. Yet it is of vital importance: repent and believe the gospel.

I'm glad that rain came today, along with terrific thunder. It is a welcome change of weather, at least for those who don't have to go anywhere and can enjoy the pleasure of a cup of coffee indoors while listening to great jazz and bringing order to the chaos of a hugely unorganized photo library.

Regular or irregular change, that is enjoyable, is one way we're shown the vast beauty of God. We can't behold the entirety of His beauty at once, being finite as we are, so it makes sense to me that God gives us many venues to think on how His glory is displayed through creation. We need four seasons to do so, and those who live in areas where there are actually four seasons can take in those displays. Night and day, rain or shine, fog or clarity, all give opportunities for perceiving God by His creation in different ways.

Of course, not even all of these observations combined is enough, one must know the Son to know the Father, and He is only revealed through the Word. God is apparent through the beauty of nature, but Scripture informs our observations with specific truths of His goodness and greatness, and gives them greater profundity than could be achieved by our eyes alone.

A toast to the faithfulness of my King.

The world drew breath and spun in space this year through the faithfulness of my King.
The moon kept its monthly dance through the faithfulness of my King.
Tides came and went through the faithfulness of my King.
I woke up every morning with breath through the faithfulness of my King.

Relationships flowered and festered through the faithfulness of my King.
Fortunes were made and lost through the faithfulness of my King.
Loved ones were gained and lost through the faithfulness of my King.
Governments rose and fell through the faithfulness of my King.

The faithfulness of my King is constant is steadfast.
The faithfulness of my King works good for those who love Him.
Grace is offered to the living through the faithfulness of my King,
and life is sustained only by the faithfulness of my King,
that He may be known by grace through faith.

Just had my 28th birthday a few days ago. If you were to ask me to say the first thing that popped into my head if you said, "28th birthday," I'd be lying if the words "single," "wife," or the like didn't sputter out first. Romantic love is certainly hammered to the forefront of consciousness during the Christmas season, when so many precious and charming holiday movies are on where everything seems to work out for the couple in the end. I've watched enough of them with my mother in the kitchen through the years to know. Plus it's cold, which brings my thoughts to the warm company of friends and family (usually), or simply someone to be close to.

Now, I'm not writing this to garner sympathy or to motivate people to think of the best Christian bachelorette in their lives that I could give a call sometime, but to offer a meditation on who I really am, and the relationship that truly defines me. Thankfully, the pinnacle of human existence is not marriage, not having children, or even (shh, don't let the world know this) sex. If it were, then you could certainly say I'm in a rough patch, or even that I'm failing at life. You'd also have a lot of explaining to do to those folks who never married or had kids, but still lived passionate, full, influential lives.

The bottom line: at the end of the day, when all is said and done and I lay my single self down to sleep, I'm involved in the most stunning, inspiring, sacrificial, shocking, loving relationship there is to be involved in, and through being involved in it I am made the most human I can be this side of physical death. The living God, loved me and chose me before the foundations of the universe to be His son, and though I began my existence in rebellion against His love He sent His own Son, and through one glorious exchange the Son took my rebellion and nailed it to the cross in His body, and gave me His righteousness, so that I now stand before the living God clothed in perfect righteousness, in a relationship of love with Him, that will only ever deepen and grow until glory, and because of what I've gained through the work of Christ I am now called a son and co-heir with Jesus Christ of all that was made by Him and through Him, the entirety of Creation.

That's the relationship that truly defines me, and because that is true I can live all of my life never knowing the joy of marriage and yet miss out on what it truly means to be human: to love God and know Him, and to be loved by God and be known by Him.

Such a glorious truth, and yet I must confess that most days I think it such a small thing. I do not cherish it according to its worth, and it does not guide my heart as it should. I often desire more the touch of a woman's hand or the companionship of a woman's heart, my gloom born from it's absence swallowing up the truth and joy of my sonship to the living God. This gloom is what J. I. Packer calls "mock heroics" that "have no place at all in the minds of those who really know God. They never brood on might-have-beens; they never think of the things they have missed, only of what they have gained."

Well I can't say that I never fall victim to those "mock heroics," but I do know God, and will continue to know Him better as I walk in singleness with no change in sight. The good news is that Jesus died to redeem those mock heroics, too.

J. I. Packer quote from Knowing God, pg. 25

It was a beautiful day today. Sitting in the sun by our neighborhood boat ramp was made pleasant by a gentle winter's breeze coming off of the inlet. I was thinking about faith, and about the father of the unclean boy in Mark 9 who exclaimed, "I believe, help my unbelief!" I don't know about you, but I struggle with unbelief. Oh I say I believe, but often I don't pray, think, or act as though I do. If you're honest with yourself you might make the selfsame discovery.

Now, it seems to me from Scripture that faith is a gift from God, and that it is through faith by grace that we are given the righteousness of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Faith is not something I muster up on my own accord, or work to achieve, or search for in hidden places. It is given by God to those to whom He gives it, and He is not stingy with it, if you ask. God never gives needlessly, nor does He give incompletely. He will accomplish what He intends to accomplish through the gift, namely my rescue and redemption. There is no place for unbelief in a believer's life, though every honest believer will cry out with that boy's father, "I believe, help my unbelief!"

Think about it.

I've been thinking about a poem that caught my attention a few years ago as I was figuring a few things out about myself. It's by Edgar Lee Masters, in his book Spoon River Anthology, entitled "George Gray." Here's the complete poem:

I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me—
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire—
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

The poem resonates with me through the picture it creates of a boat not being a boat. A boat is meant to travel, to take people places; idleness is a violation of its character. It also sparks a small fear in my heart that I might look back on my life, if the Lord gives me old age, and see that that boat was my life. At least, it did then, especially when I was wallowing in uncertainty and a measure of self-pity, as I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.

I'm not in that same place anymore. Though I'm not married, I have a job (one of at least two questions answered). A job I'm thankful for, a job I enjoy, a job which offers the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. Surely my boat has at least unfurled its sail.

Being a Christian, however, I am gladly forced to make a few changes to the worldview of the poem in order for it to apply to reality. I must lift my sail, and trust in my Father, not the winds of destiny, which only hints of the far greater truth. Destiny implies some vague good end achieved by forces outside no one's control. My Father promises me good, though not easily, or without sorrow (which is why I like line seven).

I must also reconsider line 13. God has placed inherent meaning in the life of every human, as Genesis tells us that He created us in His image, to subdue the earth and bear it to all of Creation. That means that any field of human pursuit, whether moral (teaching) or amoral (fishing), without being immoral, can be done for His glory, and doing such can be bring the very glory of God to all the earth. For the Christian, this is accomplished through the work of Christ. For the non-Christian, line 13 holds true. Any meaning found in life outside the meaning God provides is shallow, and is a puddle compared to the ocean God offers. Truly as maddening as Sisyphus' attempts to roll the boulder up the hill, only to watch it roll back down for all eternity.

So, my boat sails with meaning, as my God is a God who acts with purpose. Every breath He gives me is a validation of the continuing meaningfulness of my life; every day I awake is a day filled with His purposes for my life. (Psalm 139:13-16)

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a poem aficionado, but I love the craft of this poem, the images, and the language. George's startling realization, that his boat isn't resting in the harbor as his life nears its end, but that it never left during his entire life, is an image worth pondering.