Psalm 73 is a very personal psalm written by Asaph which begins in verse on by Asaph saying (in a paraphrase) “I know God’s been good to my nation, and my people..BUT, as for me…my feet were almost gone.” Asaph says I started to slip, I started to flounder, when I was looked at the foolish and the wicked seeing how they did whatever they wanted yet never seemed to be judged for it. Asaph expounds upon his observations of their seeming prosperity in verses three through twelve. In verse thirteen through sixteen he begins to lament of the good that he had done. He starts to despair of the pains he suffered for righteousness sake and says finally in verse sixteen in an incredible soul baring moment “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;”. Then comes the hinge. In verse seventeen he says “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood…”

Once Asaph got his eyes off of the world, and off of their seemingly consequenceless actions and onto the Lord and saw things from His perspective Asaph got understanding. In the poetic sense the word sanctuary is referring to the actually dwelling place, the living area of God, which is referring to a celestial location. Its referring to where God sits to look in on the things of man. Asaph removes himself from the view of the world, and from looking around at the muck and mire surrounding him and rises up to the plains of God and sees the condition of the wicked and understands their end. He sees it through God’s economy. He sees it and as a result in verse twenty-one he repents under great conviction. He makes a recommittment of faithfulness to God and to trusting in Him. In verse twenty-eight, at the close of this Psalm, Asaph reflects and says “It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.”. Notice what Entering into God’s sanctuary gave Asaph :

 (1)Proper Perspective and Understanding  

(vs. 13-15 contrasted with vs. 26)

(2) Steady Walk (vs. 2 contrast vs. 23-24) 

(3) Godly Purpose (vs. 13-15 contrast vs. 26). 

(4) Asaph’s confidence (vs. 26-28). 

But all of these served a greater purpose than just making Asaph feel good. Asaph gained this perspective, steadiness, purpose, and confidence, to the end  that he “may declare all thy (God’s) works.”. God never gives us something just for us to have; He gives it for a purpose and that purpose is to glorify Him! In Psalm fifty-one David makes request for a clean heart, renewal of spirit, continuance in His presence, restoration of joy, so that(vs. 15) his mouth could “shew forth thy praise”. Now, why did I go into all of this? Its personal, very often I get discouraged. Its very easy to start looking at the condition of the world and be “envious at the foolish”. But when we go back into “the sanctuary of God.” and regain the proper perspective and see God for what He is and see the world for what it is than we will be driven to do just what Asaph did; declare all thy works.”. Where are you looking? Better yet, where are you today? Are your feet slipping? Are your steps almost gone? Then its time to return to the sanctuary of God, to see things as He does and worship Him in the beauty of His holiness. We can do this by returning to God, in prayer and in His word. So will you look at the wicked and have the painful thought that it all is vanity? Or will you enter the sanctuary?

     I am my Father’s son. It was once said when I was younger while running around the auditorium of a church “He looks just like Frances (my mother), but he acts just like Ronnie (my dad)”. While at a small family get together that we had my dad and I sat together and tried to “one-up” each other with things that we had done and stories that we could tell. Since I was little and my dad would tell me “Little Ronnie Stories” about his pre-Ransom adventures, the only thought that would come to my mind was “How can I top that?”. As a result I have become my dad. I was informed that I walk the same as my dad, I laugh the same as my dad, I think very much the same as my dad (scary sometimes). As the Marlon Brando line says in Superman (1978),    “The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son.”. While were on the topic of circa 70’s films and the cultural impact that Father’s roles had on son’s who could forget the crucial moment in Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader reveals himself to Luke Skywalker with the line immortalized by James Earl Jones’ bass voice “I am your father”. Luke’s reaction indicates that even the world recognizes that the son is very much influenced, and may I even say, dictated, by who his father is and what his father does. In light of this I’d like to pose a question using a very modern phrase;

“Who’s your daddy?” 

    The word Father is used more times in the book of John than any other book in the New Testament. The entire thrust of the book of John is on the deity of Jesus and this is shown over and over and over again by Jesus stating his relationship to His Father. The most explicit of these is given in John chapter ten verse thirty where Jesus makes the statement “I and my Father are one.”. He says in John nine verse four just before He heals the blind man in Jerusalem, “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.” Who had sent Jesus? He tells us repeatedly, in John chapter twenty verse twenty-one, “…as my Father hath sent me”, in John sixteen twenty-eight he says “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world:” . Jesus because of His heavenly heritage was compelled to, “seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” He says just a few verses later “I am come in my Father’s name,”. In John fourteen Jesus testified “..that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do…”. Jesus was compelled because of His relationship with the Father to do the work of the Father. This showed forth the proof that God was in fact Jesus’ Father. Does this show true in our own life? Do the things that we do, the way that we live, the obedience that we have testify to our being “joint heirs with Christ”? Jesus says in John eight verse forty-two “If God were your Father, ye would love me;”. Jesus says that one of the fruits of your salvation is a love for Him! He continues by making a very striking accusation to the Pharisees in verse forty-four “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” The Pharisees worked the work of the devil because he was their father! They were devil-like because thats who they naturally took after, it was in their blood. Have you had a blood transfusion? Has the blood of Christ been infused into your veins? If you will you will love Him for the Father that He is, and you will keep His commandments. Examine your life today. Are you working the works of the devil? It could be because the devil is your father. Are you doing the will of the Father? If you claim Christ as your Saviour than you should, because you are in the family of God.  

    One night as I was at my grandparent’s house with my parents and a second cousin, my dad was getting ready to tell a story of something less than intelligent that I had done recently. I chose that as my opportunity to exit. As everyone laughed and I stepped out the door my cousin asked “Dont you want to defend yourself?” I turned and pointing to my dad I said “He’s my Father. That’s all my excuse.”. Who would you point to in a spiritual sense to defend your actions? To God or to the devil? I ask you; Who’s Your Daddy?

   Please be in special prayer today for Bro. Aaron. He is the missionary who had surgery several months ago. He was expecting to return to North Africa this past week but because of some complications in his recovery he is now having to have another surgery today. He has had a great attitude about this delay and I know that he appreciates your prayers. He has been one of my greatest friends and influences so I really appreciate your praying for him and for his family as well.

             Ecclesiastes 1.14 -”I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Solomon starts out this book by saying “Look, I’ve seen it all and everything done under the sunis vanity and vexation of spirit.” The key to everything Solomon is putting forth in these passages of “vanity” is turned upon the hinge of that phrase in italics “under the sun”. It denotes anything done in a temporal manner or for temporal gain. Its repeated again and again throughout the first section of Ecclesiastes and is always followed by the summary of it “vanity”. This is reaffirmed in I Pet. 1.24 where the apostle writes “All flesh is as the grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth away:” .

     With such a bleak proclamation from the Old and New Testament’s what is the reason for living? Why not sink into the slough of despond and just labor like a beast? I Pet. 1.25 Continues with a conjunction-”But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” The crucial crux of a human life ever having any “profit” is found in those three words in verse twenty-five: “of the Lord”. When something is “of the Lord” it can be said of that thing “endureth”. When something is “under the sun” it is going to fade away! Jesus talks about meat that perisheth in John 6.27, the writer of Hebrews talks about everything on earth waxing “old as doth a garment”. But Jesus says in John 6.27 not to labor for that perishing meat. Dont work for the meat that is going to spoil and rot, instead labor for the meat that endureth to everlasting life. How does that mean endure forever? Because it comes from the hand of Jesus! It is of the Lord. But does that mean that we shouldnt work? Does that mean that we dont earn money to buy food? No! It just means have something more that your living and eating and breathing and waking up morning after morning for! You can either labor like a beast, searching day after day for some kind of fulfillment and never find it, dying without ever having lived, or you can live a life of eternal value. You can work your job for the rest of your life for a few years of comfort in retirement and having nothing to show for it in eternity or you can work the rest of your life in a job and give the fruits of your labor, give your own self to the labor of the Lord and have meat that endures. Which is going to fulfill? The truth is that the phrase used in Ecclesiastes 1.14 “vexation of spirit” means literally eating up the spirit. It is something that is chewing and gnawing and consuming the soul. You face a choice, a choice to let you feed a soul eating disease of vanity or feed your soul with the eternal meat of God glorification. That choice, is one that everyone faces. Hebrews eleven, that great Hall of Faith, is a list of people who were tired of having their souls devoured and instead chose to give their lives to meat that would last forever. They lived lives that were pointing to Jesus, who is called in I Pet. 2.25, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. What is a shepherd? Its someone who is to tend and feed the sheep. Jesus wants to feed us Himself, and when we are being fed by Him, we are glorifying Him by humbling ourselves before His all sufficiency. We are yeilding ourselves to His power and His glory and admitting that anything we do “under the sun” and not “of the Lord” is a waste so feed me Lord Jesus! That brings glory to God! Which will you choose? Waste your live? Or lose it in Christ?  

Here therefore is your choice; be vexed with vainity and your soul eaten alive by fruitless labor, or you can labor for meat the endures to everlasting life at the nail scarred hand of the Good Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep. Which will you choose today?

No, this isnt about the CBS crime investigation show. These are just a few numbers that I found that I’d like to share.

Population of Morocco:

34,343,219

Approximate Estimated Births for 2008:

731,854

Approximate Estimated Deaths for 2008:

188,887

Life Expectancy:

71

Median Age:

24

Approximate Number of Births as of June 27, 2008:

341,890

Approximate Number of Deaths as of June 27, 2008:

92,364

Morocco is a 99.9% Muslim Country. That means that if the of those approximate 92,000 people who have died so far

91,440

have died in their faith as Muslim’s and are now, even as you read this suffering in an eternal seperation from God

in Hell.

For those approximately 341,890 that have been born so far this year, and for the about 389,964 still to be born this year we have (on average) seventy-one years to bring them the Gospel before they slip off into eternity.

188,887 Lost.

731,854 Opportunities.

We have the Command. We have the Resources.   

“Why Stand Ye Gazing?”

 

Information Gathered from the CIA World Factbook.  

“Why for fifty-four years of my life did no one tell me about Christ?”

This question was asked by a now fifty-eight year old Moroccan as I sat in a Starbucks in Washington, D.C.. He leaned over the table slightly and his still thickly accented English asked again, “Why for fifty-four years did I sit in darkness?”. I was in Washington tagging along with Aaron and we were meeting this Moroccan to talk to him about some of the work he did now on a Christian Arabic satellite program. As we sat together drinking our coffees (mine), espressos (his), or frappuccinos (Aaron’s) he gave us his testimony. When he came to America in June of 1998 he was living with an American family. He was a Muslim. They were Christians. During the month of Ramadan he would fast and pray five times a day. The Christians he lived with would say ”I respect you so I wont talk to you about religion.” Four years later after the Moroccan was saved, he confronted this man about his ”respect” and told him “You are not a good Christian. You never told me.” As I sat there listening to this man it became real to me something that I would say as I would travel and talk to people about missions; the reason they dont know is because we wont go. The reason this man had been in the U.S. for four years before he became a Christian was because for four years no one spoke to him about Christ-in a “Christian” nation! How much greater is the need in countries where there isnt really any Christian presence? I wonder how many Moroccans, how many Albanians, how many Sri Lankans, how many Americans could stand and point a finger at me and say “You are not a good Christian. You never told me.” Why did this Moroccan sit for fifty-four years in darkness? Because we didnt bring the gospel to him. In II Corinthians chapter four Paul is exhorting the church in verse one “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, (3.6-ministers of the new testament…that the spirit giveth life) as we have recieved mercy, we faint not;” Paul is saying “Keep at it!” He says why in verse three “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” He says “If we dont share the gospel, if we hide it away, the lost are the ones that suffer!”. As your read this today I hope you will ask yourself this question, the question I asked myself as I heard the Moroccan’s question in Starbucks: What will you do TODAY to bring the Gospel to someone who otherwise would never have it? Will they continue in darkness because of our inactivity? Or will we bring them the Gospel? Will our light be hid to them that are lost?  

          Well I’ve been several places since my last update, first stop Mayberry. The Saturday after the OG Student Leadership Camp (man thats a mouth full) I drove up to Mt. Airy, North Carolina, famous for being the filming location for The Andy Griffith Show. I was really blessed while I was there by a really good friend from school named Ben Webb. Ben worked out a place for met to stay in the area while I was in town and even arranged for me to meet some area pastors at a true Old Fashioned Camp Meeting (that was an experience). Sunday I drove up to a meeting and preached in a small church in Martinsville, Virginia. That night I dropped into the evening service at Northside Baptist Church, where I was staying. Wednesday I drove up to Hopewell, Virginia where I am currently staying in the missions apartment of my grandfather’s church, Broadway Baptist. I was able to attend a fellowship meeting and meet some pastors from the area. Sunday I went to services at Broadway and preached last night in their Wednesday evening service. I took my message out of Jonah and spoke about how Jonah’s live so often mirrors our own.

   Jonah receives a direct call from God, then as a reaction decides to turn his back on God get in with the world and fall asleep to the need around him. This was caused because of (1) Jonah’s patriotism, (2) his narcissism, and led to his attempt at escapism. Jonah was ignoring, as we often do, his responsibility. First he was ignoring his responsibility of obedience to God. God had given Jonah a direct call to go. Just as Jonah received a direct call every page of scripture calls to us to go! Secondly Jonah ignored his responsibility to man. As someone with knowledge of Ninevah’s impending doom Jonah a responsibility of knowledge. Just like the watchman in Ezekiel 33, Jonah had a trumpet but wasnt willing to sound it. This is so often true in my own life, I have a trumpet (the Word of God) but I am unwilling to sound forth the warning. Thirdly Jonah was ignoring the responsibility of his own life’s calling. Jonah had been created for a single purpose: to glorify God. We are no different from Jonah in this regard. We have all been given a purpose. I Peter 2.9 says that we are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, SO THAT we may shew forth the praises of Him. II Cor. 5.20 tells us that we are ambassadors, the verses preceding verse twenty tell us of our responsibility of reconciliation. So now we have the choice just as Jonah, to either accept this or turn and run from God. What will you choose? To “arise and go to Ninevah”? Or to “flee from the presence of the Lord”?

Daily Christian Living is Daily Christian Dying-John Piper

“I am definitely excited. God is working here, and people are being reached for Him. Jesus came that none should perish; that includes Abdul, Morab, and everyone else that we meet. It includes everyone that you meet, too! Americans need the Gospel of Christ just as much as the people of North Africa!”

     Thats the word from one of the Our Generation Student Interns in North Africa. You can read more about their experiences and see exactly how “God is working here,” at The Call for Muslim Evangelism. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again I am extremely jealous of those interns over there now. Continue to pray for them.

       In II Pet. 3.9 Peter is dealing with the assurety of Christ’s return. Some, (scoffers, walking after their own lusts), had come in saying that Christ wasnt coming back. Peter in answer to this says in verse nine “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” I believe that Peter was giving a reason here in this verse as to the seeming “delay” of Christ’s return to gather the church on into glory. It was to give us time to spread the Gospel and give those who’d never heard the opportunity to repent. The question from this that I’d like to pose is this: The Lord is not willing (that any should perish) are we?

         Peter gives this reason for Christ’s return being so long in coming and says “Hey God doesnt want anyone to perish! He, as Ezekiel 33.11 says has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” God doesnt get some sick pleasure out of punishing the wicked or those who have done wrong. Instead He tries to give them every opportunity possible for them to come to repentance. Once at a Bible Study with some teenagers in my youth group several years back I needed one of the teens to ”be God” for an illustration. Right of the bat, this teenager looked at me and looked at the other young man in the illustration and said “zap”. I asked him what he was doing and he said “I’m killing him.  I’m God I get to do that.”. Thankfully the God of the Bible isnt anything like that. He doesnt arbitrarily look at someone and say “zap” and poof their smoke goes up like the smoke of a furnace. Instead, as II Peter 3.9 says, He is long suffering to us-ward.

   This is demonstrated over and over again in the Bible, such as with Abraham in Genesis 18.13-32 when Abraham intercedes on the part of the Sodomites, and the Gomoreans, or with the children of Israel again and again throughout the Old Testament when they would sin against God, He would give them chance after chance. In the New Testament He gives the task to the disciples to take His message of redemption and forgiveness to everyone.

Yesterday I was at a Father-Son fellowship with Broadway Baptist Church and as I sat with one of the older men he told the story of a battle in the Civil War. He talked about how this was supposed to be a suprise assualt from the Confederate Army on a Union fort. However instead of it being a complete suprise, initiated by a artillery barrage, one of the soldiers fired a warning shot before the cannonade. This was, the man explained, a matter of honor. They wanted to give them a fair chance. God doesnt have to give us a fair chance. God wont have an attack of conscience if He didnt warn us of our impending doom. Yet again and again we have warnings. Even for those who have never had the Gospel the Lord gives us Creation bearing witness of Himself, and our conscience, with the law of God written on our hearts. Why? Because while God cant abide with sin, He cant overlook it, and by His just nature He must punish it, as the our Advocate He also provides a way of escape, and not only does He provide it, He is It! What is left to us? Just to tell. Just to boldly share what someone has already shared with us. In probably one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture and one of the greatest speaking to our responsibility to as Christians to share the Gospel:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Eph. 2.4-7

So thats where God stands. He is long suffering to us-ward. But what about us? This is where it comes back to the question-The Lord is not willing, but are we? God has already showed that He takes no delight in the death of the wicked. He doesnt want lost people to remain lost, otherwise He would not have commissioned His church to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”. He would not have provided atonement to all men for all eternity. Instead He gave us all grace that we may be saved that we may have access to the Father, that we might be nigh unto God, and walk in good works. He gave us all of this not so that we could have it for ourselves and just for our own welfare, but He gave it for a purpose. He gave it so that we could give it out.

Looking at all the provisions that God has made so that no one would have to die and go to Hell, why would  we not make all the provisions to see to the same? Why would we not devote our efforts to making sure that the lost have every opportunity to be saved? There is no viable answer and when we stand before our Holy God there will be no worthy excuse. We will stand before the God of Heaven in all His majesty and splendour who gave His own Son to ensure a way of escape, and we will have to answer for our own disobedience and inaction. The Lord is not willing, are we?