Losing our Rights One Step at a Time

A California court has ruled that parents do not have a constitutional right to teach their children. Hopefully this will help remind you to pray for our country, especially the upcoming election.

A Bolt from the Blue

Bryan Cirlot

Treasuring Christ

This past Sunday we had a guest come and quote the Sermon on the Mount for us. The Sermon is 111 of the most radically life changing concepts by which believers are called to live. It took our guest about 12 minutes to quote the whole thing. Many might ask why this should be done in a worship service (though no one did at our service). How can this demonstration be an act of worship? Is it not a demonstration of the ability of man?

To answer this question, I want to start by asking another. How do we glorify God? One of my favorite texts in scripture is found in Philippians 1:20. I heard John Piper preach on this text at a Passion Conference in 2005, and it changed my life. I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but there are a few specific moments in your life when things not so out of the ordinary grab hold of you and refuse to let go. That Monday morning was one of those.

Paul says in Philippians 1:20, (I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death..." (NASB). Everyone knows the next verse, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The central idea of this text is that Paul desires to Christ be "exalted" either by his living or by his dying. The word here for "exalting" is extremely important. The Greek word is only used eight times in the New Testament. Generally, when we think of the word exalt, we simply think of praise. But the word used here carries a different idea. When Jesus speaks about the Pharisees outward righteousness in Matthew 23, He mentions haw they make their tassels long to show how righteous they are. The word for "make... long" is the same word for "exalting" in Philippians. The idea behind the word is making something bigger - magnifying it.

Paul is saying that he desires to make Christ big in his living. The way that he explains how this works is very interesting. In verse 21 he sets it up like this, living equals Christ. Paul would be magnifying Christ in his body whenever he could say that life itself was so completely intertwined in Christ that they could just be considered the same. Life = Christ.

Magnifying Christ means that everything else in this world pales in comparison to knowing Christ in this world. Paul was saying that he treasured Christ above everything else. He even says in verse 23 that dying would be much better, for that would place him in the presence of Christ. When our life demonstrates that Christ is valuable, He is magnified. Any act of worship must have this aim - proving that Christ is valuable above everything else in our lives.

So, that's how we glorify God. Now back to the original question, why have someone quote the Sermon on the Mount? It is a demonstration that God's revelation of Himself is supremely valuable. It is worth committing much time and effort to learning it, to treasuring it in your heart (Psalm 119:11).

Bryan Cirlot

Silver Refined Seven Times

Do you value God's Word? The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have treasured in my heart" (NASB). I find this verse absolutely amazing. He didn't say he just remembers God's Word, or even that he put them inside his heart. He says that he has treasured God's Word in his heart.

A treasure is not something we don't like. Far too often church members are guilty of memorizing God's word out of duty and obligation, because the pastor made them feel guilty for not doing it. But this is not how memorizing Scripture ought to be. We should treasure God's word -- see it as infinitely valuable.

In Psalm 12, we are told that God's words are "pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times" (NASB). We tend to spend most of our thoughts on verses like these on the issue of purity or the infallibility of God's Word. What is most interesting is that in Hebrew, the word for silver is also used to denote money. They were busy using gold for ornaments and for making things look pretty. Silver was the mode of exchange. This verse is telling us that God's words are "like money; yes, crisp new one-hundred dollar bills."

We do not treasure God's Word above money. This is sad. It is like the time my older cousin gave me a shiny new nickel in exchange for my worthless old dime. We are throwing away a treasure chest when we don't take God's Word into our hearts.

Sunday morning, a young woman is going to teach us about treasuring God's Word. I hope you will make an extra effort to be there.

Bryan Cirlot

Immortality

I was reading some of my favorite blogs and I stumbled across this. I thought you might find it as interesting as I did.

Nothing Stands Against Christ

Bryan Cirlot