Mailmen, not Editors

I am realizing that it is going to take me a while to completely unpack all that God taught me last week at “Together for the Gospel”. I feel extremely privileged to have been there. Going to the conference, I knew that I was in for a treat with MacArthur, Piper and Sproul being there. But the other four guys, Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, Ligon Duncan, and Albert Mohler, I didn’t really know too much about.

Mark Dever is the Pastor in Washington at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and also the founder of 9 Marks Ministry. His talk was on “The Pastors Understanding of His Own Role”. The main thing I took from this message was the fact that we are supposed to spread God’s message. We aren’t supposed to pick and choose our own things to share, but simply share God’s message. Dever explained that we are God’s messengers, or mailmen, just delivering the mail that God has sent. Mailmen aren’t supposed to get the letters and then change them to their own fancies. They are just supposed to deliver the goods! The Pastor/Evangelist is the same. God has given us a message in his Word, and we are just supposed to pass it on. It is simple but profound.

In today’s Christian world, too often we are trying to make the message more attractive. But it isn’t ours to change.

Let’s move forward giving the goods that God has given, no more, no less.

The Holiness of God

I had the privilege this week of hearing R.C. Sproul speak at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary while I was in Louisville for the Together for the Gospel conference. Sproul spoke on the Holiness of God. His talk was so good, but one thing stood out most to me. In 2 Samuel 6, the Israelites were transporting the Ark of the Covenant. . They had placed it on a cart pulled by oxen. At one point, the oxen stumble and the Ark was about to fall to the ground, so Uzzah reached out to stop it from falling. At that moment, the LORD’s anger burned on Uzzah for his irreverence, so He struck Uzzah down and he died.

In his talk, Sproul pointed out that the Lord struck Uzzah down because of two things. One, he broke the command from Numbers 4:15 that if anyone touched it who wasn’t supposed to, they would die. But secondly, Uzzah was arrogant to touch the Ark, even if trying to save it. The reason only certain people could touch it was because they had been set apart by God to do so. Uzzah was unclean (sinful), and therefore it was not right that he touched something that was so Holy. In Uzzah’s eyes, it was worse for the Ark to touch the ground than to touch him. But why is it wrong for the Ark to touch the ground. The ground is just there by God’s will, doing its thing in obedience to God. Although the ground (dirt, mud) is dirty to us as humans, it is beautiful in God’s eyes because it is His creation! To Uzzah, it was worse for it to be touched by the ground, but to God it is worse to be touched by sinful man.

As humans we think far too highly of ourselves. Uzzah did, and he paid the price for it. We also think too highly of ourselves, but for some reason God holds back his wrath. If I was Uzzah, I probably would have tried to be a hero as well.

I pray that God would teach me know see myself more accurately, so that I can fear the Him appropriately. I take too Gods grace for granted far too much, because I because I think I deserve it.

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I have so much more to share from this conference. Hopefully I will process it and get a chance to blog more.

I also just realized you can hear the message from Sproul here: http://www.sbts.edu/MP3/gheens/20060426sproul.mp3

What is God's Will for My Life?

In my reading today, I came across a great quote by McManus about "the search to know Gods will for our lives". Enjoy:

"The problem is not that we don't know what to do, but that we don't do what
we know... The key to the future is not revelation, but obiedience. When we
submit our lives to what God has made known, the future becomes clearer to us.
When we neglect to do what we know, we begin to live as if we were walking
through a fog. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves condemning God for
being silent, when in fact we have condemned ourselves for refusing to
listen."

I find this quite true in Christian circles that people are looking all around for the will of God for their lives. If we just followed what we know without worrying about what we don't, God could use us so much more. But we over-analyze and before we know it, many oppourtunities are passing us by while we are waiting for them to come to us on a silver platter.

Does Absolute Power Corrupt Absolutely?

I have heard it said many times that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". For a long time I have bought into it, believing it to be true. It seems that in many situations that a seemingly good person gets to a position of authority, and then all of a sudden, they turn into a bad guy.

Tonight I was reading "Uprising - A Revolution of the Soul" and McManus (the author) made a good point. He said that absolute power reveals absolutely. A person who seemed to be good, but then got power did not all of a sudden turn into a bad guy, he all of a sudden had the power to do whatever seems best to him. It is more an insight into human depravity that so often when people come to power they become jerks.


But now look at God. He is the only one with true absolute power. And what does He do with it? He serves, and He is good.

So in humanity 'absolute' power shows us to be corrupt, while in God it shows Him to be good.

So to answer the question the title of this post asks... No, absolute power does not corrupt, it reveals.

Sometimes I just Don't Know Why I Love Them so Much...

Like many Maple Leafs fans these days, I am at a loss for what to think. In their last 8 games they have got 14 out of a possible 16 points. They are one of the hottest teams in the league. Yet because of shoddy play during Jan-begining of March, they are out of the playoff picture.

Herein lies the issue. If they do not make the playoffs, have they at least proved that the core of this team should stick together next year, since they have shown they can win? Or is it too late for that, and it is time to just blow the team apart and start from scratch?

With the Maple Leafs, I am ever the optomist, predicting for years now that this is the year they will win the cup. So in line with the optimistic thinking, I say, lets keep the major components of this team together, and grab a handful of free agents, most of all, a legitamate number 1 goalie, ranging in age from 25-34. Is this too much to ask?

And one last tidbit, I definatly think that as long as they test his wrist and it is all good, they should bring back Lindros. During those games in October when Sundin was out, he was our best player on many nights. Bring back Lindros!

Oh yah, and here's to Mats Sundin, who last night took the team by the scruff of its neck and said we are not losing this game, and scored four goals and 2 assists for a 6 point night.

GO LEAFS GO!

God is Good

Well, well, well... its been a while.

I have so much going on right now. So much to be thankful for. I will start with being at 100% of support. It has been a while in the coming. I am thankful for all the people who we have met with and who have decided to partner with us in our ministry. As I look over the names on our list of supporters I am humbled and greatful to God for his goodness. God has privided.

I am also very thankful that there will be a Stint to Tanzania this year. I am so pleased that there will be a team of men and women who will spend a year of their life pouring into the ministry at the University of Dar es Salaam. In many ways I am sad that I won't be going with them. I have such a heart for that country. But I know that in God's Providence that it is for the best. For one, it will give Vanessa and I another year to develop as leaders on campus here in Canada. In many ways I am still just begining to hit my stride as far as being an effective staff member with Campus Crusade. Secondly, it will mean that since Vanessa and I are still commiting to going Aug/Sept 2007, there will be a team to follow up the team that is going this year. There will be at least 2 solid years of building a movement there. God has a plan for Tanzania and He cares far more for the people there than I do. I will let Him make the decisions.

Well, that is where I am at. Sorry it has been a while, but hopefully this will get me back into the swing of things.