Enjoying God Blog

In the previous two articles we looked at some helpful insights from Tim Keller and Wayne Grudem. I want to follow up on that with some comments of my own concerning those who can work but for whatever reason choose not to. Continue reading . . .

In the previous two articles we looked at some helpful insights from Tim Keller and Wayne Grudem. I want to follow up on that with some comments of my own concerning those who can work but for whatever reason choose not to.

Many choose to remain unemployed rather than do work they believe is beneath them. This is sinful. Consider Paul’s counsel in 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 –

“For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2 Thess. 3:10-12).

Clearly there was a problem in the church at Thessalonica. Perhaps some in the church had become so obsessed and preoccupied with the possibility of Christ’s soon return that they quit their jobs and, although healthy and able to work, refused to support themselves and their families. Instead, they became “busybodies,” squandering time while meddling in the affairs of other people, making it almost impossible for them to get their work done, all in the name of being spiritual and zealous about the second coming of Jesus. They also likely expected, indeed sinfully presumed, that others would supply their needs and feed their families while they were off somewhere engaged in more “spiritual” activity.

Paul’s command is to the point: If they are able to work, but unwilling, don’t

In the previous article I drew some conclusions from Tim Keller’s book, Every Good Endeavor, about the relation between faith and our work, our jobs, our careers. Here I want to turn to some observations drawn from Wayne Grudem’s short book, Business for the Glory of God. Continue reading . . .

In the previous article I drew some conclusions from Tim Keller’s book, Every Good Endeavor, about the relation between faith and our work, our jobs, our careers. Here I want to turn to some observations drawn from Wayne Grudem’s short book, Business for the Glory of God.

There is a tendency among some to look with disdain on the pursuit of profit in our work. The very notion of a for-profit business is considered an expression of a competitive ambition that is fueled by greed. It is certainly possible for someone to be driven solely by greed and an acquisitive spirit. But business, property, and profit, when set within the framework of biblical guidelines/ethics, are good.

(1) Profit, justly obtained, is not bad. Don’t be apologetic for or embarrassed by money righteously obtained. Business is morally good when conducted in a manner consistent with biblical principles of justice. Business can glorify God in the same way that worship and evangelism and godly living do.

Thus, profit, when justly gained, is good. Profit is simply selling a product/service for more than the cost of producing it. The ability to obtain a profit is thus an indication that I have produced something that is beneficial for someone else. The making of a profit also indicates that I am making good and efficient use of the earth’s resources, thus obeying God’s creation mandate that mankind “subdue” the earth. Keller writes:

“Corporate profits and influenc

[I recently finished reading Tim Keller’s excellent book, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), as well as Wayne Grudem’s short but insightful volume, Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2003). Following are some insights I gleaned from both books regarding the goodness of labor, business, and how to integrate our faith with our work.] Continue reading . . .

[I recently finished reading Tim Keller’s excellent book, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), as well as Wayne Grudem’s short but insightful volume, Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2003). Following are some insights I gleaned from both books regarding the goodness of labor, business, and how to integrate our faith with our work.]

Tim Keller has rightly observed that because humans are created in the image of God we have an instinctive inclination toward work. We are by nature inclined to be productive, to invent, to create, to innovate, and to be active in countless ways. Work, therefore, is by definition the imitation of God himself. God isn’t simply powerful. Power is not merely an attribute that sits dormant in the divine being. Power is known by its products. God exerts himself to create and renew and orchestrate and providentially govern all things. For us, then, work is as much a fundamental human need as sex, food, thinking, beauty, friendship, etc.

Genesis 2:1-3, 15 speaks of God’s creative effort as “work”. Thus, for both God and mankind (Gen. 1:28; 2:15), work is something that preceded the Fall. Work is not a curse but

Our focus in both the previous article and this one is the remarkable statement found in Hebrews 10:17 where God declares that “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more” (Heb. 10:17). Continue reading . . .

Our focus in both the previous article and this one is the remarkable statement found in Hebrews 10:17 where God declares that “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more” (Heb. 10:17).

It’s important for us to remember that God does in fact “remember” many things and we should be grateful for it. Frequently in the OT we are assured that God remembers his people, the promises he has given them, and especially the covenant that he has made with them (see Pss. 74:2; 105:8, 42; 106:45; 111:5). But when it comes to our sins, well, that’s another matter!

You and I certainly remember our sins and evil deeds, all too often! We can’t shake free from them. They nag at our hearts and haunt us and torment us and oppress our souls. There is a constant piercing of the conscience. And the only way to break free from that remembrance is to remind ourselves that God does not remember!

God doesn’t gain knowledge. God doesn’t lose knowledge. He neither learns nor forgets. He knows all things instantly and eternally, now and forever. So, when he says he won’t remember our sins he means: “I’ll never bring it up and use it against you. I’ll never take your sins into consideration when it comes to determining who is granted entrance into my eternal kingdom. I’ll never appeal to your sins as grounds for condemning you.”

There is obviously a difference between “forgetting” and “choosing not to remember.” Forgetting is unavoidable. It happens by nature, not by choice. You can’t choose to for

I’m going to begin by asking a series of questions, to each of which, in my opinion, there is one simple answer. Continue reading . . .

I’m going to begin by asking a series of questions, to each of which, in my opinion, there is one simple answer.

What is the single greatest and most imposing obstacle to your enjoyment of God?What, more than anything else, keeps you at arms’ length from your heavenly Father?What is it that makes you hesitant to draw near to God and to seek his help?What is the primary reason why you don’t pray more than you do?What is the primary reason that when you do pray you live in fear and anxiety that God either won’t hear it or if he does hear it he won’t answer it in the way you want him to?Why are you restrained in your worship of God?Why are you reluctant to share your faith with non-Christians that you know? What is it that causes you to think of yourself as unqualified to step up and serve in the local church?What is the primary cause of your fear, worry, doubt, and self-contempt?Why do you struggle to find energy and motivation to read your Bible on a regular basis?Why are joy and peace so infrequent in your spiritual experience?

Now that, dear friend, is quite a list of questions! It virtually spans the spectrum of issues in the Christian life. And I strongly believe that there is one answer to them all.

The single overriding and most debilitating factor that threatens to undermine everything in our Christian lives and in our relationship with God is the failure to understand, embrace, and enjoy the full and final forgiveness of our sins.

The reason you and I struggle to enjoy God is because we live in constant fear that he doesn’t enjoy us. And how could he when our guilt and shame remain? And why do we experience this fear? Because we don’t understa

I posted this brief announcement a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be good to do so again. I’m referring to the Desiring God 2015 Conference for Pastors (with Bethlehem College and Seminary) for which registration is now open. Continue reading . . .

I posted this brief announcement a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be good to do so again. I’m referring to the Desiring God 2015 Conference for Pastors (with Bethlehem College and Seminary) for which registration is now open.

If you haven’t done so yet, I encourage you to go the Desiring God website (www.desiringgod.org) and click on Events. There you can register for the DG/BCS conference for pastors (wives and women are also welcome!).

The dates are February 2-4, 2015, and all meetings will be at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, MN.

I have the privilege of speaking at this event, together with John Piper, Bryan Chapell, Conrad Mbewe, and Steve Childers.

Workshops will be taught by Joe Rigney, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Nancy Guthrie, Gloria Furman, Matthew Westerholm, Jeramie Rinne, Mike Bullmore, Chuck Steddom, Eric Bancroft, and Greg Gilbert.

I hope to see you there!

In the previous article we looked at how Jesus invited Matthew to give up everything and follow him. Continue reading . . .

In the previous article we looked at how Jesus invited Matthew to give up everything and follow him.

“13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:13-17).

So what was the first thing Matthew did after saying Yes? How did he respond to the loss of a lucrative career? What did he do following the loss of power and position? He threw a party! He had a banquet in his home. Luke says he held “a great feast” (5:29). Undoubtedly with some of the money he made as a tax collector, he took no shortcuts or held back in the least: this was an incredible celebration.

Matthew says to Jesus: “I’m so glad you’ve agreed to come over tonight. I’ve got the best food and wine in the territory. But whom should I invite? I don’t have many friends. The only people I know are other tax collectors!”

Jesus says to Matthew: “That’s precisely the sort I want to be there.”

Following this exchange, Matthew expands the guest list: it is simply s

How do you react when Jesus doesn’t live up to your expectations? Continue reading . . .

How do you react when Jesus doesn’t live up to your expectations? Now, don’t give me any of that pious bologna about how Jesus has always fulfilled even your highest and most outrageous expectations. Has he always answered every prayer in the way you thought he should have? Has he always orchestrated your life according to your schedule? Did he always teach the doctrines you thought he should have taught? Has he reacted to people in the gospel stories in precisely the way you thought would have been most appropriate?

The bottom line is that Jesus often times does things that shock and surprise us. He never does anything wrong, sinful, or unwise, but he many times does things that are utterly unexpected and contrary to what we believe either would happen or should happen.

Regardless of your response to my question, I can assure you that there were people in the first century to whose expectations Jesus rarely if ever measured up. That’s not to say they weren’t living in hope of the appearance of the Messiah. Indeed, they were. But they wanted a Messiah on a leash! They wanted a savior and deliverer who would fetch and heel and sit at their command and according to their wishes. They wanted someone who would live by their rules.

But if there is one thing about Jesus of which we can be rock solid certain, it is that he will not be domesticated! He will not dance to the tune of human expectations. Any attempt on the part of these people in the first century to set boundaries beyond which Jesus cannot go always proved fruitless. Any attempt on our part in the twenty-first century to create a mold into which we can stuff Jesus and make him conform, will likewise prove futile, if not fatal. Jesus will not be put in a box. We must

Yes, I know that it’s December and the Thanksgiving holiday is in the past. But thanksgiving must remain a daily reality for all Christians, especially when we consider the free love and sovereign grace that God has shown us. Take a few minutes, endure the Puritan prose, and think and thank deeply in light of what Jonathan Edwards has written. Continue reading . . .

Yes, I know that it’s December and the Thanksgiving holiday is in the past. But thanksgiving must remain a daily reality for all Christians, especially when we consider the free love and sovereign grace that God has shown us. Take a few minutes, endure the Puritan prose, and think and thank deeply in light of what Jonathan Edwards has written.

“The godly, those who have that inestimable blessing, have cause to bless God which cannot be expressed. The more we consider it, the more wonderful and inexpressible will it appear. When we read over the history of Moses, and how God appeared to him, and what wonderful works were wrought by his hands, and how he went up into the holy Mount, etc., etc. And when we read the history of Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, the Virgin Mary, the apostle Paul who was caught up to the third heaven, and consider what privileges these had and what high honors were done them, we are ready to admire at the greatness of those privileges by which they were distinguished from the others. But all those extraordinary privileges, considered in themselves, separately from the saving grace of God, are nothing compared to this.

Let those, therefore, who are thus highly favored, consider more than ever yet they have done, how great that blessing is which God has bestowed upon them of his mere free love and sovereign grace, and not for any worthiness of theirs; and how great obligations they are under to glorify God: and to glorify Christ, who

It’s been a few days now since most of us gathered with family and close friends to eat more than we should have and give thanks less than we ought to. So I thought it would be instructive and challenging to consider some thoughts that appeared from John Piper on the Solid Joys daily app on November 28. Continue reading . . .

It’s been a few days now since most of us gathered with family and close friends to eat more than we should have and give thanks less than we ought to. So I thought it would be instructive and challenging to consider some thoughts that appeared from John Piper on the Solid Joys daily app on November 28.

The Apostle Paul wrote this about ingratitude in Romans 1:21 – “Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Piper then comments:

“When gratitude springs up in the human heart toward God, he is magnified as the wealthy source of our blessing. He is acknowledged as giver and benefactor and therefore as glorious.

But when gratitude does not spring up in our hearts at God’s great goodness to us, it probably means that we don’t want to pay him a compliment; we don’t want to magnify him as our benefactor.

And there is a very good reason that human beings by nature do not want to magnify God with thanksgiving or glorify him as their benefactor. The reason is that it detracts from their own glory, and all people by nature love their own glory more than the glory of God.

At the root of all ingratitude is the love of one’s own greatness. For genuine gratitude admits that we are beneficiaries of an unearned bequest. We are cripples leaning on the cross-shaped crutch of Jesus Christ. We are paraly