devotional

Christmas Night of Worship

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It’s been a while since I attended a night of worship, but I think tonight qualifies as my first ever Christmas Night of Worship. There’s something powerful about declaring the might and majesty of God out loud with a multitude of other believers, especially in the season where we celebrate the arrival of Emmanuel who forever altered and changed the course of history.

There was a good mix of old and new with songs that were overtly Christmas-themed and songs that weren’t but felt very appropriate in the context of Christmas worship. It was the first but I believe not the last as I hope that this will be the new tradition at The Church at Avenue South going forward.

This is why gathering as believers is so vital. It’s one thing to praise God by yourself, but something almost miraculous happens when we stir each other in worship and community. Hearing all the other voices emboldened me to want to sing louder and more passionately.

I’m so thankful for such an amazing staff and worship ministry at my church. Not only to come up with the idea but to pull it off in the midst of a crazy and hectic December schedule blows my Baptist mind. I feel so blessed to call Ave South my church home.

I hope and pray that you belong to a community that doesn’t shy away from singing Scriptural worship music. I hope that you will be intentional this season about singing as loud as you can, whether you consider yourself a good singer or not. After all, the Bible tells us to make a joyful noise.

Being able to sing on key and in tempo is not a requirement to make a joyful noise. You don’t need a music degree or even any musical knowledge at all. All it takes is a heart full of gratitude and a reckless boldness to open your mouth and let your praises pour forth. The sweet aroma to God isn’t from the perfect pitch or the beautiful melodies but from hearts so captivated by grace that they can’t help but sing.

Never Too Late

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“It makes me smile to think there’s a grinning thief walking the golden streets of heaven who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians. No one else would have given the thief on the cross a prayer. But in the end, that is all he had. And in the end, that’s all it took” (Max Lucado).

We speak a lot about salvation by grace through faith alone, but then turn around and talk like it was something to be earned or deserved. Have you ever heard anyone say something along the lines of, “Well, if anyone deserves to be in heaven, it’s . . .” followed by someone who has recently passed away.

But that’s just it. No one deserves to be in heaven. That’s why it’s called grace. We didn’t get what we deserve. I will never side with karma, because I know if I got what I deserved, it wouldn’t be heaven or anything close to it.

I remember Alistair Begg’s illustration about the thief on the cross. He pictures the angels in heaven questioning the man who had been crucified next to Jesus immediately after he arrives in heaven. They ask him all kinds of questions like “Do you know what justification by faith means?” and “Do you understand the doctrine of Scripture?” to which the man gives a blank stare.

Finally, an angel asks him, “On what basis are you here?”

The man says, “Because the man on the middle cross said I could come.”

That never fails to move me. If anyone is a case study for salvation by grace through faith alone and not by works, it’s this guy. He was a sinner right up until moments before he died. He never had time to get down off the cross and attend a Bible study or get baptized or take communion or join a church. We only have his one request to Jesus: “Remember me when you come into Your kingdom.”

That’s it. In that very moment, Jesus told him that he would be in the same Paradise as Jesus. In the moment the man died, he was instantly in the presence of Jesus and forever and fully justified, sanctified, and glorified.

That means it’s never too late for anyone reading these words to turn to Jesus for salvation. It’s never too late to recognize that you are like the rest of us and have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It’s never too late to admit that you’re a sinner, repent of those sins, believe with your heart that Jesus died for those sins and rose again, and confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

If you believe that and want to pray these words, you can be saved. Not because of saying words or praying to God but by grace through faith. Here’s the prayer:

“Thank you, God, for loving me, and for sending your Son to die for my sins. I sincerely repent of my sins, and receive Christ as my personal savior. Now, as your child, I turn my entire life over to you. Amen” (from At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon).

Spinning the Christmas Spirit

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For those who keep up with these blog posts of mine, you know my new favorite hobby is spinning vinyl. In non-hipster lingo, that means playing records. Now that we’re in Advent season, I love being able to drop the needle on a Christmas LP and let it take me away.

I have a mix of old and new, standard and obscure, secular and sacred. It’s the soundtrack for the season. So many of these songs take me back to my earliest memories of when I was little and hearing them for the first time. Suddenly, I can see some of the faces that had faded from my memory. I remember names I’d forgotten and miss those whom I loved who aren’t here anymore.

I love how even the most secular of artists will include a sacred selection or two. After all, it’s impossible to have Christmas without the Christ-child smack dab in the center of it all. I get that the season has been secularized and commercialized into insanity, but the music always seems to bring me back to the true meaning of what Christmas is all about.

I’m sure one of the reasons so many love music is that music originated in heaven and will be one of the first things to greet the new arrivals in heaven the moment they slip into eternity. Music is the language of heaven, so any music, no matter how far removed from its sacred origins, is a shadow and a reminder of what’s to come. I believe the best of the music here will be among the songs we’ll hear and sing around the throne of God.

So I’ll be spinning those Christmas records from now through Christmas until at least the Epiphany on January 6. Maybe even beyond if I don’t get tired of them by then. And I’ll be loving every minute of it.

The Lines of Your Likeness

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“Oh Lord Jesus, deepen in us our knowledge of you. You have made the first lines of your likeness upon our character; go on with this work of sacred art until we shall be like you in all respects. We wish that we had greater power in private prayer, that we were more often wrestling with the covenant angel. We long for the Word of God to be more sweet to us, more intensely precious—that we had a deeper hunger and thirst after it. Oh, that our knowledge of the truth was more clear and our grip of it more steadfast.

Teach us, oh Lord, to know the reason of the hope that is in us, and to be able to defend the faith against all objections. Plow deep in us, great Lord; and let the roots of your grace strike into the roots of our being, until it shall be no longer I who live, but ‘Christ who lives in me Amen’” (Charles Spurgeon).

I love that imagery. God is chiseling away at His child. With each hammer blow, a little bit of me falls away and more and more of His own likeness remains. What must seem like chaos to the created is simply creation to the One who made us.

The end result is “no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That means less and less selfishness and petty anger and more and more love, joy, peace, patience, and all the other fruit of the Spirit. The less of me saying and doing what I don’t really want and not doing and saying what I truly desire, and the more I find the life of Christ within me taking root and taking over.

Lord, help Your children to endure patiently as You chisel away all that does not look like You or reflect Your glory. Remind us of the finished product that we are becoming that is worth whatever painful blows and patient waiting we endure. In the morning, You will see Your likeness in us and be satisfied. Amen.

A Good Advent Prayer

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“Dear God,
Speak gently in my silence.
When the loud outer noises of my surroundings
and the loud inner noises of my fears
keep pulling me away from you,
help me to trust that you are still there
even when I am unable to hear you.
Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying:
“Come to me, you who are overburdened,
and I will give you rest…
for I am gentle and humble of heart.”
Let that loving voice be my guide.
Amen.” (Henri Nouwen)

Those loud outer noises really crank up around this time. Buy this, buy that. max out your credit card to show your family and friend how much you love them. The more you spend, the better the gift.

The loud inner noises have a way of showing up at this time as well. You’ve got to make this season perfect or you’re not really celebrating the season right. You’re probably already screwing it up and it’s not even Christmas yet.

But that still, soft voice still speaks. If you lean close to the manger, you can hear the voice that arrived in the form of an infant saying, “For you, I came. For those just like you, I gave up a throne for a manger, a crown for a cross, royalty for servanthood. I did it all for you.”

Jesus didn’t come to affirm those who are well. He came for the sick to make them well. He came to seek and to save the lost, leaving the 99 to find the one. That’s you. That’s me.

That’s the same voice that says, “Come to me, all who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest.”

That’s the voice that says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

That’s the voice of Him who will come again in triumph over all those loud voices that try to lead you astray. One day, those voices will all be silenced forever, but the still, small voice will be the voice that says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18, ESV).

Finding the Blessing

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Tonight as usual, I served at Room in the Inn at Brentwood Baptist Church. We hosted 24 homeless men, all of whom were thankful to be out of the cold and the rain on the first Monday night in December.

Later, as we were getting ready to start our Bible study, I overheard one of the men say that he had spent the better part of last week attempting to sleep in a port-a-potty. That broke my heart. It also made me realize how blessed I am to have a bed and a roof, two things that I have been known to take for granted.

The old adage goes that the man with worn out shoes might not feel blessed, but to the man with no shoes, he is. And the man with no shoes is blessed in comparison to the man with no feet.

Obviously, the point is not comparison. I’m no better than anyone else because I sleep in a bed. I suppose that the takeaway is that all of us are blessed. It’s only when we stop the competition and the entitlement mentality that we realize what we have that so many others don’t.

Above all, I recall how the King of heaven gave it all up to be born to two peasants in a backwater Bethlehem village. I remember how this Son of God lowered Himself to being a slave so that we who have been enslaved to sin might be set free. I see Him on the cross willingly giving up His own life that I might live and have that life abundant.

Then who am I to complain? Who am I to think that my life would only be better if I had more possessions or money or power or fame? Is not what I have enough? Didn’t God give to me and all believers eternal life and everything needed for godliness?

That man who slept in the port-a-potty could have been bitter. But he chose to see himself as blessed because of God’s love for him. I think we’d all do well to remember how blessed we are at every moment we draw in a breath because of God’s grace.

Re-Reading the Psalms

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“God remembered us when we were down,
His love never quits.
Rescued us from the trampling boot,
His love never quits.
Takes care of everyone in time of need.
His love never quits.
Thank God, who did it all!
His love never quits!” (Psalm 136:23-26).

I started a new thing recently. I’m reading through a little book called David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite, followed immediately by The Book of Psalms by Eugene Peterson. The first one is Malcom Guite, an Anglican priest, songwriter, and poet setting the Psalms into sonnet form. The second is pretty much what it sounds like — the Psalms rendered by Eugene Peterson as part of his The Message translation (or paraphrase if you’re picky).

Both are giving me a greater appreciation for those Psalms and a little different perspective on some familiar texts. I love in Guite’s book the last line in a psalm is always the first line in the next. Peterson’s translations are sometimes a bit loose with the renderings but when he gets it right, he really gets it right.

I think we forget that the Psalms were the original prayer book and hymnal of God’s people. As much as I firmly hold them up as inspired and inerrant, I also believe they record real emotions and real pleadings from a real person at real moments in time. That’s why they speak to so many even today. They’re sometimes raw, sometimes vulnerable, but always real and always Godward.

I imagine both are available from Amazon, but I’d recommend going through rabbitroom.com for the Malcolm Guite book. It’s one way of supporting a fantastic local non-profit organization that’s keeping artistry and integrity alive in the world of Christian music and media. But above all, pick a good translation and just read through the Psalms again.

Be Generous

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“Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!” (1 Peter 4:7-11)

That’s the key: generosity. Not everyone is in a position to be financially generous, but there are other ways. You can be generous with your time. You can be generous with your talents. Best of all, you can be generous in your commitment to pray for someone or something. And in my book, prayer is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight against the adversary known as satan and the systems of this world.

It boils down to loving others like Christ loved us. He loved us not in word only but in deed. His love took up a wooden cross and bore the nails and died for you and me. Our love should be just as tangible toward those in need, especially during this time of the year with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching.

Lord, help us to be as generous to others as You have been to us. May our love show itself not merely in words but in actions that meet the needs of those around us. May we remember that whatever we do in serving the least of these brothers and sisters, we are really serving You. Amen.

A Timely Word from a Different Translation

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“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:31-39, The Message).

I love The Message translation, even if it does get a bit loose with the renderings sometimes. But man oh man, when it gets it right, it really gets it right. Like this famous passage from Romans 8.

I love that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Nothing can deter what plans God in Christ has planned for us and the work He has started in us. Everything right now that seems hopeless suddenly has a ray of hope shining through. What once looked like a dead end now has a way out.

I’m thankful every day that my salvation is not about the strength of my faith and my strong grip on God but on the Source of my faith and God’s strong grip on me. I don’t believe you can lose your salvation because if you could, I would have already lost mine a long time ago. But Jesus won’t lose one of those God has given to Him. Not one.

All that brings me anxiety and fear is temporary. What lasts is the love of God. Anything I’m afraid of has already been overcome by the blood of the Lamb on the cross. Whatever keeps me awake at night some nights will seem like nothing in the light of the eternal glory that’s coming.

I pray more and more, “Lord Jesus, come soon.” This world I’m living has lost its mind. Come make it right and keep on making me right while You’re at it. I know I’m not quite finished yet but I’m thankful that one day You will finish what You started in me. All Your promises are truly Yes and Amen. Amen and amen.

You Can’t Go Back

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“The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

That’s salvation. It’s way more than a mental assent to a set of beliefs. It’s even more than making a few behavioral changes. It’s as dramatic as going from death to life. You become a completely new creation with a new set of desires and actions.

The verse says that the old has gone and the new has come. You couldn’t go back to the old even if you wanted to. You might fall back into sin occasionally but you can’t stay there. It would be like a resurrected man climbing back into the grave and pretending to be dead again. You could try it for a bit, but the natural impulse will be for oxygen.

You could live in sin for a season but you’d be miserable. It’s not natural anymore. The new nature doesn’t thrive in the old ways. The evidence that someone is truly born again is a different way of living. If you say you’ve been saved but keep living like you did, then maybe your salvation isn’t real. If there’s no change, maybe there’s been no transformation.

But the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus is in the business of changing lives and making dead hearts beat again. He takes the old and makes it new. He takes the outcast and makes them wanted. He takes the lost and makes them found. He takes the enemies of God and turns them into sons and daughters of the risen King with all the blessings that come to the King Himself.

If you’re not sure, maybe it’s time to make sure. You can pray a prayer that comes from a heart of faith that goes like this: “Lord Jesus, I want to have a personal relationship with You. I know I am a sinner and I believe You died on the cross for my sins. I turn from those sins and put my faith in You right now to be my Lord and Savior” (Harvest.org).

Maybe today’s the day.