Surveying The Cross

Issac Watts wrote over 500 hymns during his lifetime.  By far, my favorite of these hymns, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, was penned in 1707.  A non-conformist twice imprisoned for his faithfulness to Christ, Watts most likely drew inspiration for the hymn from Galatians 6:14, ^“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

This 5 verse hymn is rich with theology and worship.  Consider the words of this great hymn followed by my observations in italics:

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Everything I hope to gain, or ever have gained in this world are for naught without Christ. One glance at the wondrous Cross and I realize that I am a sinner, rotten to the core.  Left to my own, I would pursue fleshly desires and operate based on my own wisdom.  Understanding the work accomplished by the Cross brings me to my knees in humble realization of my prideful, sinful nature.  I am amazed by the relentless pursuit of the Father.        

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

My, how I boast…about me.  My life is filled with what I want to accomplish, what I feel, what I like, who I am…and not nearly enough about the gospel of Christ.  My only boasting should come from the understanding that Jesus died for me to set me free.  Free from sin, free to glory in Him, to bring glory to His name, to make Him famous.  My passion should be Christ-like, to reconcile a lost people to God, through Jesus.  The world can have its riches.  I’ll take Jesus, thank you. 

See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

The agony of the cross means life for me.  Jesus endured the cross and its shame, so I would not need to.  Only a righteous King can do that, and my only response is servitude to Him.  Praise Him for His majesty, His righteousness, His mercy, His grace. 

His dying crimson, like a robe, spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe, and all the globe is dead to me.

Most people will shorten their lives for the pursuits of the world.  If I am alive in Christ, then I am dead to the world, its passions and desires.  And I would have it no other way.  Proverbs 16:25 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” That way is the world.  My chief end should never be to bring glory to me, but only glory to God.     

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Imagine you had to pay for salvation.  It is impossible; it cannot be done.  But imagine it could.  What price would you pay?  What if you had the whole world at your disposal?  What if wealth was infinite?  It would not be enough.  The only thing you can give in response to this marvelous work of grace, is you.  Indeed, it is what is required.  This is the high cost of discipleship.  Christ demands your soul, your life, you all.  And when you consider the price paid, what else would suffice? 

May we never stop surveying the Wondrous Cross…

Sola deo Gloria,

Brian

Disciplinary Actions

Discipline. 

Go ahead, admit it.  Just the word strikes some kind of fear in your heart.  Maybe you remember as a child being spanked, put it "time-out", placed under restriction, or had something taken away.  And it was the result of your misbehavior, failing to do as you were asked, or as punishment for failing to meet expectations.  Regardless, discipline, as we know it and are most familiar, is less than pleasant. 

And from a parental view, that is the point, to correct a behavior and prevent it from reoccuring.  We all have expereinced discipline as children in one fashion or another. As a child, my parents were not shy about applying direct force to the southern region of my waistline.  They were never abusive.  Truly, discipline was applied out of love.  This is a concept that as a child I could not understand.  What child, in the midst of expereincing discipline, can?  But as an adult, and a father at that, I understand the purpose of discipline more than ever.  When my four year old son, Adam, misbehaves, a disciplinary action is necessary.  For the most part, explaining the situation, what offense has occured, and why it should nmot be repeated, works.  For the most part, Adam understands this.  However, there are times when his four year old mind and his inherent sin nature collide, and more drastic measures are taken. 

And it kills me to make him cry.  It breaks my heart.  But I must do this in order for my child to grow up and be a respected young man, one who seeks to honor God with his life.  I want my son to learn discipline early on in life so he can practice a life style of discipleship through adulthood.  Adam will develop his worldview of God based on...me.  Now that is a scary thought!  But if I desire him to embrace his Heavenly Father, I have to be the biblical example as an earthly father. 

Adam knows I love him, and would die for him. 
He know I will always love him, unconditionally. 
He knows that I want the very best for him. 
He knows I work in order to provide for him.

All these (and more) are things that Jesus says He does for His children.  He died on the cross, so I may live.  He loves me right where I am, but loves me too much to let me stay there.  He came to give me life, and life more abundant.  He provides wisdom, direction, counsel, protection, and....discipline. 

Proverbs 5:23 says that "He dies for lack of discipline..."  Solomon is telling his son to stay clear of adulterous activity, whether it is with a women or not.  He tells him not to stray from the path of rightousness, rooted in God.  This takes discipline.  Understand that the root word for discipline is "disciple".  A disciple is one who follows another.  Jesus had thousands of disciples when He walked the earth, 12 of which were very close, one of which betrayed Him.  They devoted themselves to Christ.  They loved Him.  They lived Him. 

Stonewall Jackson famously said at the beginning of the Civil War, "It is good to get your dander up in a fight, but it is discipline that wins the day."  Without discipline, we flounder, we wander, we struggle, we....die. 

What disciplinary actions do I need to take in my life to ensure I stay the course?  Where in my life do I need to be discipled in Christ, so that I may truly expereince the joy-filled, abundant life He speaks of? 

Discipleship is only completed when we reach Heaven and spend eternity with our Savior.  Until then, grow today in His grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), study God's word to learn something new (Ezra 7:10), practice discipline in your own life. 

And live.         

For the Love of God and Country

In the next few weeks, one of my dearest friends, Travis Jewell, will graduate from Chaplaincy school at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then assume his new post in San Diego, California with the US Navy.  I appreciate his take on this assignment from God:  "I get to travel the world and tell people about Jesus...and the government pays for it!"  Whereas we all know it is not that simple--there will be trials, tribulation, heartache, etc.--it is exciting to see how God will use Travis, his wife Misty (my wife's bestest friend!) and their 4 precious children to take the radical message of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world.  Please join me in praying God's blessings on The Jewells....  BRH



I am in awe of God and His sovereignty.  We are loved by one who will never let us go.  In Hosea 13:4-5, God reminds Hosea (the one who was told to marry a prostitute, all for the purpose and glory of God revealing His grace and mercy to Israel) that

But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;

The words that translate "I who knew you" come from a Hebrew verb that indicates so much more than a social knowledge i.e., "I know who you are."  It implies intimacy.  A deep knowledge and understanding of every fiber of our being.  And this knowledge began long before we began.  David testifies to this in Psalm 139:13-16 when he sings, 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

As Raymond Ortland rightly observes in his treatment of Psalm 139, David makes this point "...because it assures him that he is not here in this present danger by chance."  Nothing escapes God.  Nothing suprises God.  And so, Ortland also states, David "collapses in a sort of glad defeat, overwhelemed by this inescapable and loving God." 

Such a understanding of God should drive us to worship.  That a sovereign God would choose me unto salvation is beyond my capactity for cognition and speech.   

Father, you are the matchless King of Eternity.  Forever, you are all to us.

The link below is to Chris Tomlin's song, "All to Us".  Enjoy.  Worship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoXPhuDVp4U 
    

What is on your mind today?

A.W. Tozar once said, "The highest form of idolatry is to entertain thoughts of God that are unworthy of Him."  This causes me to pause and consider what is on my mind, and ask:  is it worthy of Him?  Am I commiting the sin of idolatry?  I believe I do when I:

1.  Worry.  The Bible is clear that I am not to be anxious about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34).  Yet, I worry about finances, ministry, friends, family, future, etc.  Worry is idol worship.

2.  Fear.  God did not give the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).  So where does it come from?  It comes from my advesary, who waits to pounce like a lion (1 Peter 5:8).  To live in fear is to idol worship.
3.  Doubt.  It is easy to doubt the unexplainable.  It is easy to doubt things will ever turn around for good when things are going bad.  This too is idol worship.

So how can I counquer this idol worship?  Hebrews 12:2 tells me to set my eyes on Jesus, because He is the author and perfector of faith.  Philippians 2:5 encourages me to have the mind of Christ.  As I am of the same mind as Christ, I expereince His encouragement, his love, his sympathy. Matthew 6:21 tells me that wherever my treasure is, so is my heart.  Granted, Jesus is speaking in material terms, but if I take that spiritually, I am to remember that Jesus is my treasure.  If I truly treasure Jesus and the salvation that only comes through Him, I should be driven to worship Him. 

Father,
Despite the circumstances of the day, the uncertainly of the world, the depravity of my soul, may my eyes be fixed on You.  May my mind be that of Christ Jesus.  You are my treasure, my rock, my redeemer.  You alone do I worship, not the man made things of this world, and certainly not the irrational emotions of the human mind and soul.  Forgive me for entertaining thoughts unworthy of You. 

Does your face tell what's in your heart?

I love this picture of my son, Adam.  But it makes me think:  How many people know that "I love Jesus" yet my face tells them a different story?  Something for me (and all that claim the name of Christ) to consider, don't you think?

What's in a name?

Ok, so I guess I need to explain the name of the blog.  When I was 16 years old, I was challenged by the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church.  In his second letter to Corinth, chapter 5 verse 17, Paul says that if anyone is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation. 

That night I realized that I was old.  I still belonged to the old way of life, despite the fact that I grew up in church.  Despite the fact that I had "walked the aisle" at age 7.  I realized that when I was 7, I desired the safety of God.  I didn't want to go to Hell.  I mean, really, who does?  But I didn't want to neccesarily follow Christ either.  I was having way to much fun saying, doing, thinking, listening to, deciding, etc. what I wanted to do.  But at age 16, my "wants" changed, because Christ changed me.  My wants were His wants, as Jesus became alive to me.  I became a new creation that night.  And as a result, I am not myself today.  I am not the man I once was:  lost, depraved, degenerate, hopeless.  And thank God.  No really.  Thank you, God. 

So I started a blog to provide a board to ramble.  To share things that this God that changed my life lays on my heart.  Because He continues to change my life...daily.  Prayerfully, yours will as well.