markchanski

From Justin Taylor’s Blog – Between Two Worlds

Fred Sinclair came to our church in 2003.  He was an Air Force military veteran who had suffered a stroke, paralyzing the left side of his body.  He’s travelled about quite smartly in a Hoveround wheelchair.

A few months ago, at the age of 73, Fred had to make the difficult decision of closing up his independent living apartment, and moving into a medical facility for retired and aging veterans.

But Fred hasn’t retired.  He’s been transfered to a different branch — made into a Navy Seal of sorts.  His cyberspace e-mail name is Heirborn Ranger. Fred views himself as having been sent by his Commander on a special ops mission of crucial importance.

He’s been airlifted to a POW camp on the borders of eternity.  Living on that veterans’ facility campus are hundreds of men with never dying souls about to slip into eternity. Fred sees himself as strategically positioned to rescue prisoners of the prince of darkness.

His colorful personality is employed to strike up new relationships.  His creative and humorous skill in analyzing a person’s personality by interpreting his handwriting enables him to win friends.  Under his bed is a supply of bibles he distributes with marksman-like precision.

Thousands of gravestones decorate the facility’s sprawling yard.  Fred is a missionary to a Judgment Day waiting room.

Pray that the Lord would anoint him with a double portion of evangelism tact, wisdom and power.

“Deliver those who are being taken away to death.  And those who are staggering to slaughter, O hold them back” (Proverbs 24:11).

Sitting at our graduation ceremonies, we naturally dream of fame, wealth, and a nice home in the suburbs, with our 2.5 children.  Our default setting is to aim in life for the personally satisfying and comfortable goals of notoriety, prosperity, and tranquility.  As parents tearfully observing from the bleachers, we instinctively want the same for our robed children.

But the Apostle Paul aspired for the achieving of something far greater with his life.  He was navigating his life right into a shipwrecking hurricane of persecution in Jerusalem, where the Spirit compelled him to go.  This course would ruin his comfort, prosperity and tranquility.  But that didn’t bother him much:

“And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.  But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).

Later, when his Christian friends who feared Paul would suffer harm tried to deter him from heading toward Jerusalem, Paul said:

“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

Calvin Comments: “Paul was not so gripped by a blind love of living, that he lost sight of the reason for living.”

That’s striking.  Don’t let the love of living blind you of the reason for living — and that is to pursue our chief end, which is glorifying God.  And if we lay down our life in the process of glorifying Him, then so be it!  Paul lived for a cause far greater than himself — for King and for Kingdom.

In Shakespeare’s Henry V, the King inspiringly rouses his grossly outnumbered troops to hurl themselves against the French forces, to sacrifice if necessary their precious lives for King and Kingdom.  In summary, he shouts: “For centuries to come, English gentlemen shall think themselves accursed who were NOT here, and they will hold their manhoods cheap, who fought NOT, and shed NOT with us their blood on St Crispin’s Day.”

That’s how Paul lived for His King; and so should we.

H. C. Trumbull wrote:

“If a man is not ready to die, he is not ready to live. He who is unready to lay down his life at the call of duty, will not use his life to advantage while it is spared to him. It is a great mistake to suppose that it is a man’s first duty to take care of his life, or to preserve his health, or to look out for his own interests. His first duty is to do right. His second duty is to do right. His last duty is to do right. If the responsibility is upon him for the hour to risk his health, or his life, in behalf of his family, or of a stranger or of any trust committed to him, he ought to take the risk, and push ahead at any cost. Living is a good business for a man only when a man is as ready to die as to live. But it was “for the name of the Lord Jesus” that Paul was ready to be bound or to die.”

Now that’s a life worth living!

This kind of thinking drove Jim Elliot to dying on a riverbank among the Auca Indians, a Pastor to spending his life laboring in obscurity among the inner city underprevileged, and an entrepreneur to quitting a cushy VP position in a big corporation to start from the ground up and slug it out in a small business start-up whose employees could enjoy a culture that seeks first the kingdom.

May graduates and parents alike aspire for such lives spent for King and Kingdom.

A mother’s tenderness and softness are very important in developing the character of her sons, but it is possible to overdose on a good thing. Proverbs 25:16 Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, Lest you have it in excess and vomit it.

Years ago, there was a dead skunk in the middle of the road in front of our home.  It was stinking to high heaven.  It had to be dealt with.  It was an excellent teachable moment for Nathan, our 8 year old.  He was presented with the challenging dilemma, and informed that he was the man for the hour.  He was to dig a suitably deep hole near the ditch, scoop up and drag the foul carcass about 80 feet to the hole, then cover the grave over with dirt.  He dry heaved a few times during the process, but his mother refused to rescue her “little boy” from such a horrible and “dirty job”.  Don’t be guilty of molly-coddling by taking sides with your son against Dad when a peculiarly difficult chore has been assigned.

Train your sons to face tough obstacles head on, work hard through thorns and thistles, and “find a way” to get jobs done.  They need to become bread-winning providers in a cursed world.  Train them to be tough, not fragile.

A three-year old boy gets bonked in the head by the refrigerator door.  He begins to scream bloody murder.  The wise mother gives him a brief hug, then says, “Show me tough!”  The seven year old boy gets hit smack in the face with a soccer ball during a Saturday game.  Mom doesn’t run out to scoop him up in her arms.  She’s thankful for the principled coach who encourages her weeping son to: “Settle down!” and “Stay out there, because we need you on the field!”  Nancy Wilson writes in Praise Her in the Gates: “Don’t tolerate a cry baby.  Although it is understandable to see tears in young boys, older boys should not normally cry from pan.  This may be an attention-getting device.  Don’t overdo on the comfort.” (Praise Her in the Gates, p. 62)

When a teen son fails a test or loses a neighborhood lawn mowing job, it’s not Mom’s role to go to the teacher or home-owner to plead for mercy or patch things up.  Let him endure the pain of reaping what he’s sown.  No pain, no gain!

— from Womanly Dominion: More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit by Mark Chanski, (Calvary Press) p. 144

Christ’s prayer takes away the sins of our prayers. As a child says Ambrose, that is willing to present his father with a posy, goes into the garden, and there gathers some flowers and some weeds together, but coming to his mother, she picks out the weeds and binds the flowers, and so it is presented to the father: thus when we have put up our prayers, Christ comes, and picks away the weeds, the sin of our prayer, and presents nothing but flowers to His Father, which are a sweet smelling savour.

Christ is in heaven, as Aaron with his golden breast-plate, and his precious incense; and He prays for all believers as well as He did for the apostles. ” Neither pray I for these alone but for all them that shall believe in me ” (John xvii. 20).

When a Christian is weak, and can hardly pray for himself, Jesus Christ is praying for him; and He prays for three things.

First, that the saints may be kept from sin (John xvii. 15). ” I pray that you should keep them from the evil. ” We live in the world as in a germ-infested house; Christ prays that His saints may not be infected with the contagious evil of the times.

Second, for His people’s progress in holiness. ” Sanctify them ” (John xvii. 17). Let them have constant supplies of the Spirit, and be anointed with fresh oil.

Third, for their glorification ” Father, I will that those which thou hast given me, be with me where I am ” (John xvii. 24).

Christ is not content till the saints are in His arms. This prayer, which He made on earth, is the copy and pattern of His prayer in heaven. What a comfort is this; when Satan is tempting, Christ is praying!

— Thomas Watson, All Things for Good

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

One sharp winter’s day a poor woman stood at the window of a king’s greenhouse, looking at cluster of grapes, which she longed to have for her sick child.  She went home to her spinning wheel, earned half a crown, and offered it to the gardener for the grapes.  He waved his hand and ordered her away.  She returned to her cottage, snatched the blanket from her bed, pawned it, and once more asked the gardener to sell her the grapes, offering him five shillings.  He spoke furiously to her, and was leading her out when the princess came in, heard the gardener’s anger, saw the woman’s tears, and asked what was wrong.  When the story was told she said, “My dear woman, you have made a mistake.  My father is not a merchant, but a king; his business is not to sell, but to give.”  Upon saying this, she plucked the cluster from the vine and dropped it into the woman’s apron.

God is not a bartering merchant, but a gift giving King.  Eternal life cannot be earned by good works, or deeds of holiness, or acts of religion.  God does not accept proud attempts to buy salvation.  Only the empty hand of faith can receive the salvation which was purchased by Christ who finished all the work on the cross.

“But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

Sunday School Analysis Lecture:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.aspSpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&keyword=Mark%5EChanski

Family Radio’s (http://www.familyradio.com/facts/) official description of Camping’s claim:

What will take place on May 21?

On May 21, 2011 two events will occur. These events could not be more opposite in nature, the one more wonderful than can be imagined; the other more horrific than can be imagined.

A great earthquake will occur the Bible describes it as “such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” This earthquake will be so powerful it will throw open all graves. The remains of the all the believers who have ever lived will be instantly transformed into glorified spiritual bodies to be forever with God.

On the other hand the bodies of all unsaved people will be thrown out upon the ground to be shamed.

The inhabitants who survive this terrible earthquake will exist in a world of horror and chaos beyond description. Each day people will die until October 21, 2011 when God will completely destroy this earth and its surviving inhabitants.

Critique Summary:

1. We cannot know the day or the hour.

Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

Matthew 25:13 “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

2. We must be ready every day and hour.

We should live every day as if it were the day we will be ushered before God in Judgment.  Why should May 21 be a more urgent day than May 18?  We should stand “on tiptoe” every hour of every day looking forward to our meeting with our Lord and Savior face to face.  Every day is a day for crying mightily to God for mercy.

Jonathan Edwards’ Resolution#7: “Resolved, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.”

Matthew Henry on Matt 24:42: “We must watch for our Lord’s coming, to us in particular at our death, after which is the judgment, that is the great day with us, the end of our time; and his coming at the end of all time to judge the world, the great day with all mankind.”

Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

2 Peter 3:11 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

3. We can see how the Deceiver cultivates cynicism and disillusionment.

This twisted crying of “Wolf” (Camping: “The Bible guarantees it.”), invites men to scoff at the scriptures.

2 Peter 2:1-2 “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”