IBEX

I don't know if anyone is checking this blog, but I have moved to www.mexicomeetsibex.blogspot.com for the time being.

Shalom!

Dan

God Knows...And God Cares

Wow. I can hardly believe it is Monday of finals week. I took my Theology II exam today. I'm getting ready for three more, then it's "off to see the wizard", toto, dorothy, and Kansas in general. Time really flies by. I'm not quite sure I like the idea, but I guess I will have to adjust.

I just want to say a word to anyone doubting that God cares about what is going on with you, specifically - HE DOES!

Yeah. You had better believe it. He knows what you need, when you need it - and He will send it when it's time for you to have it.

Nahum 1:7 tells us that God knows those who call on Him. He doens't deal with us in a generalized, all-you-little-human-things kind of way. Not at all. He is a personal God, interested in dealing with us personally. And He will. Whether it be a good shaking from the scruff of our necks, or a timely word of exhortation or encouragement, He will send it our way when we are in need of it. I find this so encouraging, and it confirms to me that
GOD KNOWS...AND GOD CARES!

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

My ESV Bible has as header for Psalm 96: "Worship in the Splendor of Holiness" (from v. 9)

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary...
(Ps. 96:1-6)

The Gospel is Fitted for All Men

"Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Do not believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted." (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

For more great quotes on the gospel, see the "Together For The Gospel" blog, http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/gospel/index.html

Towards Thee I Roll - Herman Melville and The Enemy Within

I recently read an excellent book, The Enemy Within, by Kris Lundgaard. It is based on the great works by John Owen on the subject of sin. I found that what has stayed with me is a quote from Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which Lundgaard uses in chapter four to illustrate important truths about sin, sin's struggle against God, and the intensity with which we should struggle against the remaining sin in our lives.

Herman Melville's classic work Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's unrelenting pursuit of the great White Whale. This quote captures the vehemence with which the captain pursues his archenemy:

The author offers two very helpful analogies that developed from this potent little excerpt.

1. God is like the white whale. The flesh is not the Captain Ahab, it is not the harpoon, but rather the pure hatred (Rom. 8:7). The sad reality is that we, every human being, in our unregenerate state, are all the Captain Ahabs, waging war in our hearts against God. Only when we are saved and this enmity is put to death, are the whale and the Captain Ahab reconciled.



2. If slightly altered, the excerpt could be read as a declaration of war on our remaining sinful flesh that wages war against the Spirit that abides within us (Gal.5:17):

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-consuming by unconquering FLESH; to the last I grapple with thee, from HEAVEN'S heart I stab at thee; for LOVE'S sake I spit my last breath at thee."

May we always show this sort of rabid hatred against the sin that remains within us. May we stand strong, resolved and determined to go-down-swinging, to "spit our last breath" at it's unwanted presence in our lives. May we worship God by waging war against sin.

The Apostle Peter's Experience With Biblical Hope

This is an excerpt from my paper on Biblical Hope, for Methods of Biblical Change.

My definition of Biblical hope is: a confident anticipation that God will keep his promises, thus providing the way to joyfully and confidently continue forward in any circumstance.

I hope this is a profitable read. God bless!

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...Because of human weakness, every believer will falter in his faith and struggle with maintaining biblical hope from time to time. If hope were merely an understood, never-lacking property of the Christian walk, then the Bible would not speak so frequently about the issue. The human soul is helpless, and desperately longs for hope. As has been said before, Christ offers this hope. To encourage the believer in his quest for hope, in the gospel of Matthew there is an example of hope acquired, lost, and restored – the plight of Peter walking on the water. This story, recorded in Matthew 14:22-33, is extremely relevant as an example of how focus on Christ and His promises relates to biblical hope.
When Peter realized that it was Jesus that the disciples saw walking on the water, he called out and said “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water (v. 28).” After receiving the Lord’s command to come, Peter left the boat and walked on the water to meet Jesus. This was accomplished by a radically focused faith on Jesus! It is evident that focus was essential in this endeavor, because when Peter began to focus on the wind he faltered and began to sink, crying out to Jesus (v.30). In this moment, Peter was faced with a choice of focus – of hope. Would he focus on his inability, or on Christ’s sufficiency? Would he sink to his death, or cry out to the Lord? The next verse says that Jesus immediately reached out and lifted Peter up, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” In this brief story, we see an example of how vitally important focus on the Savior is to maintaining biblical hope. The progression of Peter’s acquiring, loss, and restoration of hope is as follows: 1) Peter saw the Lord and had faith, 2) This faith carried Peter through an impossible situation, 3) Peter lost his focus on Christ and instead focused on his surroundings and personal inability (placing him in great danger), 4) Peter looked again to Jesus for hope, and 5) Hope was immediately restored.

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Giving Thanks

It is the day after Thanksgiving, and its "dejavue". 365 days ago, I sat in a hospital waiting room, waiting through the surgery, praying for Rebeca, anxiously waiting for news about her condition. It's been a long road. Today, 365 days later, I sit in another hospital waiting room. We have traveled from Jahuara to Culiacan, down to Mexico City, and now we are in Corpus Cristi, Texas.

I am thankful for:

• My Saviour, who gives us hope in times of difficulty. His promises are what have brought me through this situation.
• My family, including the Casarez. I love them very much, and praise God for them!
• For "voz sos..."
• My immediate family's health
• The good times I have spent with little Rebeca. I pray for many more to come.
• Elda. She's a riot. I love that little girl!
• For ice cream. It's cheering me up right now!
• For music.
• etc.

Give thanks, on the mountains, and in the valleys.

You Don't Have to Know a Lot

I was thinking today about something I heard John Piper say in a message. I don't have the exact quote, but it was something like "you don't have to know a lot to be used by God in a great way. You only have to know a few glorious, all-consuming...truths, and be set on fire by them".

I was thinking about a problem I have noticed in our day. It is a matter of cultural influence in our thinking. The problem I see is that we tend to think that if you are a converted athlete, a Christian rock artist, a missionary that has led hundreds to Christ, and so on, then you are more useful to God. This is simply not true. If it were, than I would have every reason to be discouraged. But this is not the case! God can use me, if I commit to following him, and growing in my passion for his renown.

The gospel is what we need to be set on fire by. And don't be fooled into thinking that this means we pray for a heart for the lost, and pray for a desire to evangelize. I have found it to be true in my own life that if I have to pray for those things, then I have a greater underlying problem - my relationship with my Saviour. When my relationship with Christ is deep and rich and pure and sweet, then the rest comes naturally.

This may have been a big babble of ideas, but this is what I am saying: Take heart! If you seek after the Lord with all your energy, and establish the truths of his word in your heart, then God will use you! You don't need a Ph.D. You need truth, and a passion about that truth!

Personal Lessons in Biblical Hope

I recently wrote a paper on Biblical Hope. I believe that the source of this hope is Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1:1) , and I define biblical hope as a confident anticipation that God will keep His promises, thus providing the way to joyfully continue forward in any circumstance. This is an exerpt from the section I entitled Applicaton 2: Personal Lessons in Biblical Hope.

Biblical hope has been a very real topic to me since November, 2005. My family has served in Sinaloa, Mexico on the mission field for six years. We have become very close to our national ministry partners, Carmen and Norberto. They are like a second mother and father to me, and their two little girls, Rebeca and Elda are as close to me as my own sister. In November, 2005, I was told that Rebeca, age seven, had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, placing her in critical condition. What followed were four months of coma – four months of uncertainty about what the next day would hold in precious little Rebeca’s life. I believe that this is the first time in my life that I had to question God’s plan in such a personal way. I have had grandparents pass away, but why would God allow this to happen to a little seven year old?

At first, the temptation that I succumbed to was a focus on the present, on the horrible situation that was taking place. I was both bitter and confused, understanding that God is sovereign, yet unhappy with his choice. I was, like Peter on the waves, in danger of sinking to my end if I did not cry out to the Lord in this time of need. The waves of the situation were overwhelming, and as far as I could see, God was messing up. This was probably the worst spiritual valley I have experienced in my faith.

Thankfully, I was able to be lifted up by my brothers in Christ, who encouraged me to focus on God’s promises, and not the situation at hand. When I began to realize that God was trying to show me many things through this situation, my perspective began to change. I remembered that this life is temporary, and that some day we will be with God, and His plan will have come to pass in perfect order. I remembered Isaiah 55:9-10, that God’s thoughts are much higher than ours. This helped me to trust that God knew what He was doing. When I shifted my focus from the “waves” to the “Maker of the waves”, I found peace for my soul. Rebeca has improved, but not completely. It's still very hard to see her this way, but when I remember the promise that God is a very present help in our time of need, and that he knows those that come to call on Him, I find hope.

From the Conclusion:

May those who seek to find hope outside of the Savior realize the futility of their endeavors, turn to the only Source of true hope, Jesus Christ, and rest in the promises of the Savior. May those who have received the gift of Christ’s love live their lives in confident anticipation of the fulfillment of God’s promises, encouraging and empowering the believer to live for His glory.

Worship Hard, Don't Hardly Worship

Dr. Baker's standard encouragement when we leave class for chapel:

"Worship hard -- don't hardly worship!"

From the Dome of the Rock to the Astrodome

I think these following ideas come from Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio, in their respective writings (The Way I Was Made, The Air I Breathe):

Even a cursory glance at humanity indicates that every man is an inherent, inveterate worshiper. No matter how you cut it, everyone worships something, and worships it well. Temples surround us. From the Dome of the Rock to the Astrodome, worship is taking place across the planet. From moshing fans at rock concerts to quiet monks at secluded monasteries, church steeples to neon lights, everyone is worshiping something. The question is not whether or not you worship, but what you worship, for you, my friend, are a seasoned worshiper.

It's a concept worth considering, since God has declared Himself as the only One worthy of worship:

"You shall have no other gods before me" (Deuteronomy 5:7).

If you miss the boat on worship, then you miss the boat on eternity.

Worship - Short and Sweet

Worship is our response to, and magnification of, that which we deem of utmost importance in our life.

The old English word was spelled wor(th)ship! Worship is attributing worth to something.

Follow the trail of your time, money, and conversation, and you will have a pretty good idea of what you worship.

Funny - Coffee Worship

Sad, but true.

$3.00 cup of coffee at starbucks:

5 days a week = $15

1 month = $60

6 months = $360

1 year = $720

a habit over the next 20 years = $14,400

worship????? just a little : )