"Hold Your Ground!"

Image Copyright: Unknown

"You are not bound to loss and silence

For you are not bound to the circles of this world

All things must pass away;

All life is doomed to fade

Sorrowing you must go,
And yet you are not without hope"

- Arwen, The Lord of The Rings

   Ruminations of The Sage has reached its 100th post! Looking back on the last year and a half since I started taking this blog seriously, this is an opportunity for me to remind myself about who I've become, what I'm doing here and why I'm doing it. Like the occasion of the 50th post (The Redeeming Marriage Project), I wanted to write about the things that are important to me, with an accompanying metaphor that would neatly express what I feel at this point in my thinking and writing. And I could find fewer things more apt than some thoughts from the Apostle Paul's two letters to Timothy, his son in the faith, and a pivotal moment in the third installment of my favourite movie - The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King.

   This blog was created four years ago because I was searching, and because I like to think. I was desperately searching for true wisdom because I was (and still am) convinced about a singular fact regarding myself that I knew was absolutely true then, and am assured of with even more certainty as the years go by:

I'm a fool. And I really need to change.

   I wanted to live my life skilfully and live it well, with purpose and integrity. One of the things I feared (and perhaps still dread) was looking back with regret at the end of my life, with the thought "I've wasted my life...". And so I started thinking, and searching.

   But more than that, I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with others, because I was equally convinced about another fact related to the one about my own condition: I can't be the only fool out there. I wanted to help those like myself, who were desperately seeking a means to navigate their way through life, sometimes barely hanging on from one episode to the next. And so I started pouring my thoughts and anecdotes out here.

   The last year, particularly the last few months, have been a time of rapid growth. Much of the recent change in my life has been due to the book I was given as a Christmas present, and which I've been trying to blog about as I contemplated its exposition of the gospel - "Jesus + Nothing = Everything", by Tullian Tchividjian. I'm convinced that I desperately want to live its message with everything that I have.

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

   As I mentioned earlier, I'm partially writing this post as an encouraging reminder to myself of who I have become, and what I want to keep doing through this blog. So I'm turning to the two letters from Paul to his son in the faith, because I need my Heavenly Father to speak to me now. And I pray, dear reader, wherever you are, that He will speak to and encourage you too.

Scripture: Holding On To The Only Source of Wisdom

"teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith...from which some having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm." - 1 Tim. 1:4-7, NKJV

"Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge - by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you." - 1 Tim. 6:20-21, NKJV

"Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." - 2 Tim. 1:13-14, NKJV

"But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." - 2 Tim. 1:13-14, NKJV

"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!." - 2 Tim. 4:1, NKJV

     I am convinced that there is no other teaching or instruction for life that will help my foolishness, other than that which is soundly built upon the written word of God. It is the only infallible source that I wish to put my faith and hope in. If there is anything valuable or useful on this blog that God uses to touch the lives of those who read the thoughts posted here, may it be the transforming power of His word.

Grace: Holding On To The Only Life Support Available

"And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." - 1 Tim. 1:14-15, NKJV

"You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."- 2 Tim. 2:1, NKJV

"...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before time began..."- 2 Tim. 1:9-10, NKJV

   Grace. I've been drowned in the overflowing, abundant and limitless grace of God all my life. I'm free because of His grace. I'm alive, breathing, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling because His grace sustains me. The wretched fool that I am is loved by God, not because of who I am or anything that I've done to earn His affection, but only because of His Son who stands in His presence on my behalf.

Glory: Living For Him Alone

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen" - 1 Tim. 1:17, NKJV

"He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen" - 1 Tim. 6:15-16, NKJV

   He is eternal; my life is a shadow that vanishes like the fog mist that hangs over Vancouver and dispels with the morning sun. He cannot die, cannot be killed; I do not know whether I will survive to the next minute. He alone has proven Himself to be wise; I have seen my reflection in the mirror of His Scripture and come away seeing myself for the fool that I am. He deserves the attention, always. May everything that is written on this blog point to Him, and not to me. I have nothing to say, except to talk about Him in this life and the life to come.

Christus: Holding On To The Only One Who Can Save

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, toe be testified in due time." - 1 Tim. 2:5, NKJV

   I have no one else to speak about here, no other person or source of help, hope or love to offer. The reason is simple - there was and is no other source of help or hope for my life and foolishness when I desperately needed it. No one else heard; no one else ran to help; no one else gave hope; no one else had the power to turn my life around; no one else can save. 

Faithful: Standing Firm For The Reward From The Faithful One

"If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished int he words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness."

- 1 Tim. 4:6-7, NKJV

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer." 

- 2 Tim. 2:15-16, NKJV

"Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master." Those are the only words that I want to hear now, the only approval that I live for. No other praise from anyone in this world matters anymore. May I be found writing faithfully for Him.

Unashamed: The Shout Of His "Good News"

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God..." - 2 Tim. 1:13-14, NKJV

   Here I am, Master. I'm ready.

   It's time to hit the shower and head to bed. This has been an awesome night of prayer and meditation, thinking through some of the questions in my heart and listening to Christ speak as I wrote this 100th post. God has spoken powerfully and convictingly. I can only obey. May He give me the strength to hold my ground. I had referred to a moment from The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King and I thought I'd include this clip of that scene here to wrap up this post.

 
Grace and peace to you,

- The Wisdom Seeker

A Letter To Rome: Thinking Through The Gospel

"To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints..." - Romans 1:7, NKJV

The time has finally come where I feel that the stage is ready for me to start on an endeavor that I had first mentioned towards the end of last year, but haven't really done anything much about till now.

I first mentioned my desire to work through Paul's letter to the Romans last December. My spiritual journey had arrived at the point where my three-year struggle to make sense of my experiences across different churches that I had grown up in and their doctrine drove me to a point of resolve, haunted by the words of a poster that is still mounted on the wall at the foot of my bed. The story of the background leading to that point of decision, and my motivations for deciding to work through Romans can be found in full in the entry titled "Haunted By The Gospel".

Haunted by the Gospel

This is going to be an intensive endeavor; I have no idea how long and how many posts it will take, but I'm looking forward to plunging into the words of this epistle. I trust the Holy Spirit to guide me to the truth of Christ and illuminate my heart with the brilliance of His glory, as Christ has promised in His Word [2].

 

I am once again reminded of some of the great people in the history of the church, some of long ago and others still alive, whose lives were shaped by God through the words of this book. Sharpened by Him like the fine tip of a spear and used mightily in His hand for the sake of His kingdom, their lives are a demonstration of the power and impact of this magnificent letter - Aurelius Augustine, John Chrysostom, John Huss, Martin Luther, John Wesley, John MacArthur, Ravi Zacharias - the list is endless.

My prayer and plea is that God will do a similar work and sharpening in my life, and use me in His hand for the sake of His name. I'm going to start my journey investigating the background of the author of this letter - Saul of Tarsus, the zealot who introduces himself as "the slave of Jesus Christ" [ 3]. That will be the next post. I will leave you until then with the customary salutation of the Apostle whom I am growing to dearly love:

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." [3]

- The Wisdom Seeker

REFERENCES:

=========

[1] Haunted By The Gospel - December 4th, 2011

[2] John 14:26, 16:13 - 15
[3] Romans 1:7b

The Equation Of The Gospel

 "What in the world makes us so embarrassed about the Gospel?"

- John MacArthur [1]

Over the last two weeks, I've been trying to write a follow-up to my last post on the disturbing reality of the "prosperity gospel" and its purveyors. It's been difficult going, because I've also wanted to draw from my own experience of being blinded by subtle variations of the same message. That post still isn't finished, but I hope that I'll be able to dig deep down, find the right words for what I want to say and have it finished soon.

In the meantime, I've managed to finish reading through my Christmas present from my roomate Paulman - Tullian Tchividjian's "Jesus + Nothing = Everything". It's been a great read, one of those precious pieces of Christian literature that when I came to the end of it, knew that God had been at work in my mind and hear to propel a paradigm shift in my understanding of His gospel. I thought I'd share some of my impressions here.

"Jesus + Nothing = Everything" is more than an attempt at creating a catchy Christian jingo that appeals to our generation's short attention span. It is more than just another attempt to deliver an exposition of the New Testament book of Colossians. Pastor Tullian delves deeply, invigoratingly and refreshingly into the life-giving waters of the Gospel, and encouraged me to dive into its depths with him. By the grace of God and the working of His Spirit, I gained more than just an intellectual excursion through the core message of the Christian faith, more than just pithy and stimulating sayings or an entertaining read. No, much more in the little bit of poetry that I wrote to express my gratitude:

I see more clearly now the hollowness of the Nothing, 

The radiant brilliance of the Everything, 

And the pearl of Jesus, and Him alone.

The light of the truth is blinding;

How much better to be blinded by the truth 

Than to have the sight that never sees!

I think that little bit of prose expresses my sentiments about the message of Pastor Tullian's book. God in His mercy has been using to help me see and savour the wonder of His gospel, so that I might better understand the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews, exhorting me to join my fellow believers:

"lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, 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 the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV

I came across the following video depicting a section of a sermon by Matt Chandler, on part of the text of Paul's letter to the Romans. It fit very well with the exposition of Jesus + Nothing = Everything, and I wanted to include it here. It lifts my heart every time I hear these powerful words from the pen of the apostle that have saved lives over the last twenty centuries:

I could think and write all night without stopping on the blinding light of His word that God is beginning to breathe into my mind, heart, and life by the power of His Spirit. I feel like my head will explode if I think about this anymore; I'm so happy. So I'm going to stop here for tonight, and take my thoughts with me as I get ready for bedtime. As I wrote this post, I was listening to part of a sermon by John MacArthur titled "God's Own Defense of Scripture." I'd like to leave you with what he had to say; they were incisive:

"You can't be saved unless you know that God is too righteous to accept your works, and you're too sinful to earn salvation...Does the word of God have to be helped along because it is somehow inept, inadequate, irrelevant, antiquated? Do we need somehow to package it in some culturally sensitive way to make it feel like everything else in this culture feels in order to get an entrance? Do we have to beef it up, by making it seem to promise health, wealth, prosperity, healing, as if God was some divine Mary Kay passing out pink Cadillacs? Do we need to make a syrupy, schmaltzy appeal to the emotions of people based on their feelings, bruised egos, need for self-esteem, desire for trinkets and goodies, and somehow alter the hard gospel so that people will buy it? Does it have to be polluted with promises of material prosperity, material success? Is it insufficient on its own?"

- John MacArthur

The answer, as he clearly laid out, is no. The Word of God alone tells me that Jesus is my Everything. Nothing else. I'll say a happy "Amen" to that.

Grace and Peace to you,

 - The Wisdom Seeker