That's a Wrap...for now.

I am sorry to report that severemercy.blogspot.com will be taking a break for an indefinite period of time. Hopefully, it will be back up and running soon.

Home is Where....

Earlier in this semester, I was missing the mountains and rolling plains of Montana, and the familiarity of home. I was lamenting the fact that it is uncertain when I will spend any extended period of time there again, noting how short the summers even seem. At this stage in college, the possibilities are endless. (*If any of you grew up in Montana, or have been there, you would know how easily one can fall in love with the place.) But in thinking about these things, I also considered what my attitudes have been in the years previous to college regarding my home. So often on vacations and travel, I ventured off into the unknown fearlessly. My one thought was to get as much out of the new experiences as I could. I did not pine for home because it would be there when I got back and I had the certainty that my journey would end far too soon. I had to use the time I had away from home the best I could. Sitting in a hotel room weeping over being away from home when I could be at a beach in Florida would just be silly. And it was those times away from home that made me appreciate what I really had when I got back.

All of this talk of home encouraged me to think about the one true home that Christians have in heaven and what our attitude should be toward it. It is our home and the place where we shall be heirs with Christ to enjoy his glorious majesty throughout all eternity. Sometimes our view of heaven overshadows our responsibilities in this life. We get so caught up in visions of glory that we are not mindful of the present. Because you suffer in a fallen world, you may yearn deeply for the peace of Christ in heaven. You are not alone in this. But we must not allow this yearning to hinder our journey here on earth. Know that if Christ is your king, then your kingdom is secure and you will have an "inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:4) It is sure, certain, constant, eternal. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ that has set us free, "neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation." (Romans 8:38-39) As did Christ, we have "a joy set before us" in heaven. Our present trials rightfully prevent us from becoming too attatched to the things of this world.

But while we long for that heavenly state, let us rejoice that God is faithful and that our home is secure, and let us not allow our longing overshadow this life. For we are still in the world and are part of God's plan. He has called us to glorify him in this life as he has in the next. So let us live like our home is secure and in the confidence that we will be with God when the time is right. Let us live with reckless abandon for Christ with his banner flying ever before us. "Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) We know that even death will not separate us from Christ, so what is there to fear but failing to honor Christ? Let us abandon our sin, ourselves, and any other thing that prevents us from a life lived in submission to Christ. Don't become too comfortable in this world! It will all fade away. Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20), for home is where.... If your heart is with Christ, then you may rest in his promises and may rise up in battle for him. Lose your life to save it. (Mark 8:35)

Reality Check

Tonight, since I am on break, I caught a little bit of TV while laying aside my homework for awhile. I happened to catch an episode of "Survivor." Now, I have seen a couple episodes of this show over the past couple years and it can be entertaining at times, I'll admit. But tonight, it really disgusted me, and not because they had to eat worms or anything. It struck me in a really hard way. First, we are supposed to feel bad for these people when they are hungry or thirsty or have blisters or sunburn or what have you. But it's a game show and they chose to be on there- all for the sake of money! And there are real people in the world suffering from real situations who don't get money out of it. (I think we have all come to grips with the fact that "reality TV" is far from reality...I hope.) So I don't really feel too sympathetic for these people. Well, let me take that back. I have sympathy on them for another reason. I think that this show exemplifies, brilliantly exposes, the total depravity of man. In other words, man is unable to do good apart from the grace of God...he only sins. (Romans 3:10) These people go on this show to win the million dollars- at any cost. As the show progresses there is all manner of deceit and lying and backstabbing and foul play. At the bottom is the selfishness and pride that is at the root of sinfulness. They do everything for their own gain. This is very pitiable to me. But there is something perhaps worse. It involves all you viewers out there. We sit in our comfy homes and watch this "reality TV" and criticize these people for the way they are acting. But we wonder what we would do in the same situation and perhaps applaud the strategic moves of our favorite players. But look at these people! When you see them monkeying around on TV with their lies and shouting matches, doesn't it all look very sick and childish? When magnified on a TV, don't we scoff at them? But how similar are our lives to theirs. And how often do we pursue selfish gain over smaller sums than a million dollars. And I guess it really made me ask, "As Christians, what are we really striving for? What is our end?" Don't answer too quickly. Because we may answer correctly in our Christian lingo that Jesus Christ is our be all and end all, but what do our lives say? Your life speaks your theology much louder than your words ever could. What is precious in our lives? What would we die to have? Is it Christ? Are we taking up our crosses daily for Christ? Is our hope in him or in the world? I guess, I don't have a lot to say today. It's just a challenge to myself and to you to examine what your life tells about the goal for which you are competing.

Saturday Book Club

Today, I recommend the book, Through Gates of Spendor by Elisabeth Eliot. It tells the story of the five young men who gave their lives in order to reach the Auca tribe in Ecuador in 1955. Eliott weaves her narrative around the letters and journal entries of the five men. This book has inspired and continues to inspire mission endeavors across the globe, but may have some people wondering, "Wasn't that a waste of five young, intelligent, engergetic lives?" After reading the testimonies of the men and of the wives whom they left behind, you'll know that these men lived and died in service to Christ and for the glory of God. They willingly laid down their lives for their belief and in complete reliance upon God. This book has challenged me, asking, "Do I conduct my life as if 'to live is Christ, and to die is gain?'" (Phil. 1:21) If you have listened to Stephen Curtiss Chapman's song, "There is No Greater Love," one of the Auca tribesman sings at the end of the song in his own language to God. He was one of the Auca who killed the missionaries. Their lives opened the door to these people for the gospel of Christ.

Fast Facts

Number of Pages: 274
ISBN Number: 0842371524
Publisher: Tyndale House
Where to get it: Amazon.com; Discerning Reader
Times I've read it: 1
Other books by Elisabeth Elliot: Passion and Purity; Savage My Kinsmen; Shadow of the Almighty; The Mark of a Man

Quotations from the Book:

"I have one desire now- to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it. Maybe he'll send me to a place where the name of Jesus Christ is unknown. Jim, I'm taking the Lord at his word, and I'm trusting him to prove his word. It's kind of like putting all your eggs in one basket, but we've already put our trust in him for salvation, so why not do it as far as our life is concerned? If there's nothing to this business of eternal life we might as well lose everything in one crack and throw our present life away with our life hereafter. But if there is something to it, then everything else the Lord says must hold true likewise." - Ed McCully


"I would gladly give my life for that tribe (Aucas) if only to see an assembly of those proud, clever, smart people gathering around a table to honor the Son- gladly, gladly, gladly! What more could be given to a life?" - Pete Fleming

"During the last war we were taught to recognize that, in order to obtain our objective, we had to be expendable...This very afternoon thousands of soldiers are known by their serial numbers as men who are expendable...We know there is only one answer to our country's demand for freedom. Yet, when the Lord Jesus asks us to pay the price for world evangelization, we often answer without a word. We cannot go. We say it costs too much.

God himself laid down the law when He built the universe. He knew when He made it what the price was going to be. God didn't hold back His only Son, but gave Him up to pay the price for our failure and sin.

Missionaries constantly face expendability. Jesus said, 'There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the Gospel's but shall receive an hundred fold now in this time and in the world to come eternal life.'" - Nate Saint

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." - Jim Elliot

Praise Him Still

"The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." Acts 16:22-25

Tonight, at an InterVarsity meeting, the mime team performed this story of Paul and Silas in prison and the background music echoed the words, "I will praise the Lord, no matter what tomorrow brings or what life has in store..." And the story struck me deeply. After being beaten and mocked and thrown in prison, these men were praising God! It also reminded me of a quotation by Margaret Clarkson:

"The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the might hand of our Sovereign Lord...All evil is subject to him, and evil cannot touch his children unless he permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of each member of his redeemed family."

God is not the author of evil, and yet he holds dominion over all things. And he has extended his gracious love to us, not only in drawing us to him that we might in the future live in his kingdom, but he is now active in every part of our lives. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) Christ is are only reason, our only truth, our only strength. "Why are you downcast, O my soul, why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I wil yet praise him, my Saviour and my God!" (Psalm 42:11)

I will praise Him, still
By Fernando Ortega

When the morning falls on the farthest hill
I will sing His Name, I will praise Him still

When dark trials come, and my heart is filled
with the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still

For the Lord our God, He is strong to save
from the arms of death, from the deepest grave

And He gave us life in His Perfect Will
I will sing His Name, I will praise Him still.

Passion for Prayer, and Prayer for Passion

In case you didn't know, Mel Gibson will be releasing a new film in the spring called The Passion of Christ, which depicts the last twelve hours of Jesus' life. The film, starring James Caviezel of The Count of Monte Cristo as Jesus, will be entirely in Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew, possibly with subtitles. The ultimate goal is, then, to let the picture of Christ's death speak for itself.

John Piper, pastor and Christian author, has begun writing a book in conjunction with Crossway Books that will accompany the release of this movie.

Be looking for both the movie and the book. But above all, be praying that God might use these in a mighty way to further his kingdom and reach unbelievers.

Tough Love

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:9-19

I know that in day to day life, there are just those people who irritate you or who you just can't stand or who have hurt you or continue to hurt you, and you just want tell them off or perhaps just forget all about them. They don't deserve to be loved and so you aren't going to give it to them. Yeah, it happens all the time, to everyone, and it is just easier to dismiss those people because the more you think about them, the more upset you get. And who needs to walk around with anger all the time?

I don't know anyone, including myself, who hasn't felt like this at one time or another in varying degrees. But I have found in struggling through these feelings with God, the he has something better for the Christian than what we tend to think would be the "easier" way. I think this passage helps illuminate that calling.

First of all, I would like to note that God doesn't suggest that we love one another, he commands that we do. In not loving others, we are sinning against God, telling him that his command isn't the best way to conduct our lives, and that we just don't want to "abide in his love." We are rejecting Christ's example.

Second, I would like to note that one of your intuitions about people is correct: people don't deserve love- yours or God's. As humans, we are all sinners, completely depraved and unable to do good. We deserve nothing else but to be cast into hell for all eternity. Other people don't deserve our love, so our ability and desire must spring from somewhere else, from someone worthy.

Where do we look? To God and his example through Christ. "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." Christ loved a people, and suffered and died for them, while they were enemies to him and hated and persecuted him. (Romans 5:8) He did not choose the easy path, but the way of suffering. He looked to "the joy set before him." (Hebrews 12:1-2) He obeyed the command of God because he is in constant fellowship with God. Another thing to note in this passage, is that God is the initiator of love: "You did not choose me, but I chose you..." He did not wait for us to come to him and did not look at our worthiness, but at his own. He pursues us with his love.

Think about your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your spouse, etc., and for the most part, it can be easy to love them because they possess something in themselves that inclines you to love them. They have merit in your eyes. When they hurt you, it is more difficult to love them, but something in the back of your mind often reminds you of their qualities and forgiveness becomes more easy. Sometimes. And there are those people mentioned above. We know that we need to love them, that God calls us to that. They have no merit on their own and so we must look at to Christ and his worthiness to supply our motive. God is perfectly holy and good and loving and completely worthy above all things of our affections. We must abide in Christ's love, and let the outpouring of his spirit be the content of our actions. And we must pursue the love of others actively. Whether people hurt us or hate us. And this and other passages tell us that they will- it's guranteed! We will suffer on account of Christ and we must respond to that suffering actively, ever trusting in the power of Christ,even though they may never thank us for loving them or respond to our actions or pursuits. Talk about tough love.

Jesus also mentions in these verse that he tells us these things so that his joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete. We have joy when we are delighting in the sufficiency of God. We are saying that there is nothing outside of God that we love more than him, and proclaim that we love anything else only because of our love to him and who he is. When we love others by his power, we are saying that we delight in his command and accept it as the best way for our lives. In this way, we glorify God. The road will not always be easy, but God supplies the power and the joy.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The cloud ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Hymn by William Cowper, 1774

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I know that recently I have struggled in my head saying, "I just can't do this or that thing. I am not strong enough, I don't have enough faith, I am too tired..." But this verse, given to me by a friend at the beginning of the semester, keeps coming back to me. It has been a slap in the face..."You're right, Sarah, you CAN'T do anything, at least, not without God's sustaining power and His grace. Let God fight your battles through you. Don't try to do it on your own strenght because you can't." God has already provided us with everything that we need and his grace is sufficient. We do not boast in ourselves as though we have done anything, but we boast in the cross and the person of Christ (Galatians 6:14). What a mighty, gracious God we serve!

I am still in school...

In Greek this semester, we have been translating Plato's Crito, in which Socrates' friend, Crito, tries to convince Socrates that he needs to escape from prison. (Socrates of course has been tried and is only awaiting the arrival of the ship from Delos when he will be excuted.) Crito, in one argument, says that if Socrates does not come out with the help of his friends, everyone will think ill of his friends. Socrates then takes Crito through an argument that they have in the past agreed upon, which proceeds as follows:

Socrates: Does it not seem to be said fully to you that it is necessary not to honor all the opinions of men but some of them and not others, and that it is necessary not to honor the opinions of all men but the opinions of some men, and of others not? What do you say? Are these things not said well?
Crito: Yes, they are said well.
Socrates: So then, shouldn’t we honor the good ones and not the bad ones?
Crito: Yes.
Socrates: Are not excellent opinions from sensible men and evil opinions from the foolish?
Crito: And how not?
Socrates: Come now, how again did such things used to be said? Does a man practicing and doing gymnastics listen either to the recommendation and blame and opinion of every man, or of only that one who is his physician and physical trainer?
Crito: Of only one.
Socrates: Therefore, it is necessary to fear the blame and to esteem the recommendation of that one but not the blame and approval of many.
Crito: Surely, these things are clear.
Socrates: So then, in this way he should train and practice and eat and drink in the way it would seem best to his master who has understanding, rather than in the way it seems to all the others put together.
Crito: These things are true.
Socrates: Well, then. Will he disobey his trainer and not honor his opinions and approval, but will honor the ones of many who understand nothing, and will he suffer no evil on account of this?
Crito: For how not?
Socrates: But what is this bad thing, and what does it affect, and toward what of these things of the person who disobeys?
Crito: It is clear that it affects the body, for it ruins this.
Socrates: You speak well. *** Then is it livable to us to have a worthless and ruined body?
Crito: By no means.

When I read through this passage, I was struck with the application to the Christian life. When considering our choices and perspectives as Christians, we should not consider the opinons of other people no matter how right they may seem, but view the world as God views the world. In our race, Christ is our trainer and no matter what happens to us or what other people may say or do to us, we must look to him (Hebrews 12:1-2). I guess this may seem obvious, but I also think it is important.

Prayer

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle ( I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling..." ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-8

Tomorrow Kristen and I wil be standing before our congregation talking about prayer and challenging them to commit to praying for a specific AWANA clubber or leader, as we pass out prayer cards. We will be telling them that we believe that prayer is the most important thing that we can be doing as a body of believers embarking on such a ministry. From this passage in Timothy, I draw several conclusions about prayer.

Prayer is a humbling act that gives us a better perspective of our relationship to God and to other men.

The ground for this entire passage appears in verse 5, and is essentially the gospel message. Prayer requires having the gospel message ever in our thoughts. First, "there is one God," who is perfecty holy and just and in turn, we realize that we are wretched sinners who can do nothing but evil and reject the goodness of God. When we come before our holy God in prayer, we must remember our relationship to him, as our Creator.(Job 38) We are finite and he is infinite. The very act of prayer requires humility in that we are admitting that somewhere along the way our own devices have failed or that we are unable to proceed any further without God's assistance. And we realize that the only reason we can come before this holy God is through a "mediator...the man Jesus Christ." God does not listen to our prayers because of any inherent good in us, for there is none. (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10; Psalm 130:3) He looks at the faith of his son, in whom we have been joined by the gift of our faith in Christ and reckons us righteous. So we have no claim to the throne of God by our own merit but by God's grace through Christ, which should bring us before God with a humble spirit.

Paul first exhorts that Timothy pray for all men, even all rulers, by giving thanks and by supplications and intercessions. Why? So that he might live a "peaceful" and "dignified" life. How are these connected? Prayer about other people, in light of the gospel message, helps us to recognize that we are no different from any other sinner in this world as far as our inherent qualities are concerned. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and unless we are in Christ's redeemed family, we are all headed for eternal punishment. (Matthew 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9) When we come before God concerning a government leader, a co-worker, a friend, we ask that God would change their hearts in some way, whether to makes policies that protect life or to be more just in their dealings or to become a Christian. By praying for them, we acknowledge that we can do nothing to change them- it has to be the Holy Spirit touching their hearts. But then comes the question, what happens when they don't change? When we pray, we recognize that there is one God and that he is holy and just and perfeclty wise and all powerful, and in effect, we declare that we are not and that our viewpoint is skewed by our own finitude and short-sightedness. God's is all-powerful and omnicscient- nothing takes him by surprise and he is ever at work in his creation, guiding it for his will and his glory. So when we pray, we recognize that we only see our small picture of the world and God sees the whole of creation and his great work of history. We are humbled to know that our ways may not be the best ways. But this gives us comfort and leads us to a peace in Christ, knowing that even though the government may be unjust or immoral, no part of the world lies apart from God's lordshiop and that everything is subject him and his perfect will. We live dignified and godly by realizing that other people are no better or worse than we are, and so we pray for them and treat them with the love of Christ.

In the last part of this passage, Paul "desires that in everyplace the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling..." When we gather into the assembly of believers, the blessed church, we have more reason to pray, and yet bickering among believers often taints our worship. We pray for our fellow believers once again recognizing that they are fallen human beings who have not yet been glorified in Christ and are still prone to sin. We must put ourselves in proper perspective to them and to God, and know that in Christ we should pray for their best, that they might continue to grow in their knowledge and joy in him. Prayer humbles us then before other Christians. As a church body, our faith and works can cooperate in spreading the gospel message and in building up believers, but the works by themselves are dead because we have not called upon the Spirit of God to work and have not had faith that motivates our deeds.

So remember to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) in the knowledge of God's holiness and providence, by the faith we have in Christ, through grace by the cross.

Let Light Shine Out Of Darkness

Today I venture into the world of blogging. It is a scary thing to lay your words before the world. My goal in this venture is to uplift and challenge the reader as well as to focus and sharpen my own faith and thinking. I hope to keep my thoughts practical and down to earth, and yet never neglect the truth about God and his creation. Before I begin, I will offer up a few words as an introduction myself. I am a junior at Hillsdale College, majoring in both Classics and Religion. My hometown is Great Falls, MT, where I grew up as the second of six kids. Interestingly enough, that is about the only information you get when you introduce yourself to someone new at college, so for now, that will suffice. Subsequent posts will testify to my heart and my mind more fully. So here I now begin, by God's grace.