DaveEnglund.Name/DBlog

Charles Simeon on the cross-centered life

I am currently reading through John Piper's "The Roots of Endurance," and I was struck by these words of Charles Simeon.

"By constantly meditating on the goodness of God and on our great deliverance from that punishment which our sins have deserved, we are brought to feel our vileness and utter unworthiness; and while we continue in this spirit of self-degradation, everything else will go on easily. We shall find ourselves advancing in our course; we shall feel the presence of God; we shall experience His love; we shall live in the enjoyment of His favor and the hope of His glory." -"The Roots of Endurance," p. 111.

Lest you think I am advocating a self-preoccupation let me cite another quote about Simeon...

Hopkins said of Simeon:

"Self-humiliation for Simeon consisted not of belittling the gifts that God had given him or pretending that he was a man of no account, or exaggerating the sins of which he was very conscious. He went about it by consciously bringing himself into the presence of God, dwelling thoughtfully on his majesty and glory, magnifying the mercy of his forgiveness and the wonder of his love. These were the things that humbled him - not so much his own sinfulness but God's incredible love" Ibid., p. 112.

Of course, this flies in the face of today's self-esteem emphasis. But, I have found that before I began living this way myself I was so very, very self-centered. And, of course, that realization only came after I began to practice the discipline of viewing God's grace against my own utter unworthiness and wrath-deserving sinfulness. Even more strange, I have began to loose my self-preoccupation and am becoming more and more preoccupied with the glory of God's grace - with God himself.

When doubts assail

Recently I had a disturbing dream. In the dream I was confronted by some man opposed to God, who claimed to have my soul in his possession. He pointed to his forehead and then to mine and said, "You have it too - the mark. You are mine!" And then I awoke.

Needless to say it was a bit unsettling. Whether this was some infiltration of my dreams by Satan, or just my own lingering fleshly doubts I cannot say, and I am fairly certain that it really doesn't matter; There is a doubt assailing me and I have to deal with it. Do I run from it? Try to put it out of my mind? Just hope that by neglect it will fade into the background and disappear? No. That won't do.

First of all, I do not believe God wants me for a minute to live with a cancerous doubt about my salvation. In Hebrews 12:11 we read:

¹¹And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (bold added)

Secondly, these types of lies by the enemy only gain power by our ignoring them; they loose power by our confronting them with the Word of God. The lie that was spoken, essentially provokes two questions - "How do I know I belong to Christ?" and "How do I know I am secure in Christ?" My redress to these questions from God's Word comes from John 6. Actually, two of the verses (vs. 37 & 40) are already plastered on the top banner of my weblog. Additionally, I include verses 39 and 44. Here they are in total:

³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

How do I know I belong to Christ?

I know I belong to Christ because I have come to Christ, and I have come to Christ because I was given to him by the Father. Verses 37 and 44 make this an inescapable conclusion. In verse 37, we find that only those the Father gives to Christ will come to him. In verse 44, we are told only those can come to Christ whom the Father draws to him. In other words, my coming to Christ means the Father has both drawn me and given me to him. It was not an accident. It was not luck. And I could not have come to Christ any other way. As an aside, these verses are often used to support one of the tenants of Calvinism. And I think they do make a persuasive argument for "Divine Election." But that is not my point here. I am simply stating that these verses assure me that I belong to Christ - the fact that I came to Christ means I was drawn, and that I now belong to him.

How do I know I am secure in Christ?

I am secure in Christ because (a) in verse 37 I have the promise of Christ that "whoever comes to me I will never cast out." Also, (b) verse 39 assures me, it is the Father's will that Christ will "lose nothing" of all that the Father has given him. Additionally, (c) verse 40 tells me it is the Father's will that everyone who believes in the Son will have eternal life. And (d) in verses 39, 40 and 44, Jesus assures me that he will raise me up into eternal fellowship with him on the last day (I think the fact he repeats this promise three times in the eight verses from 37 to 44 means that we can bank on it!).

Additionally, I want to mention 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 4:6. 

⁽⁴⁾ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁽⁶⁾ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Pastor John Piper makes a pursuasive argument from these two verses that (a) we would not have seen the glory of God in Christ without God's directive - "Let light shine" in our hearts, and (b) it is the unbeliever's mind who is blinded to seeing that glory. Since we have seen the glory of God in Christ, we can know we are no longer unbelievers. John says,

He [God] causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ. And when we see him for who he really is, we receive him for who he is. And to as many as received him he gave power to become the children of God (John 1:12). That’s what we want for our children—at six or sixteen or twenty-six—and for our parents and our spouses and our neighbors and colleagues and our friends at school. We want the light to shine in their hearts so they see and receive Christ. We want them to be born again.

My battle with doubt a few days ago was all too real. It hit me like a Mac Truck. But God used it to strengthen my faith in him. The enemy knows the lingering insecurity that took root so many years ago in a drug-induced psychotic state. But, if I believed his lie I would be putting my faith in my ability rather than in God's (i.e, "It's up to you, and you can't do it"). The truth is it's not up to me and that's good news, because it's up to God and he can and has done it for me! And my faith in Christ is the evidence of that.

When People Go Missing

According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), as of December 31, 2007, there were 105,229 active missing person records.

America's Most Wanted calls it "America's Slient Epidemic." AMW states:

Every year, the media covers a few high-profile stories of adults who suddenly go missing, people like Chandra Levy or Laci Peterson. For each of these women's anguished families, there are untold numbers of other families who are coping with the agony and chaos that comes when a loved one is missing. Most of those families will never gain the closure that Chandra's and Laci's families found. Instead, they may spend years wondering about the fate of their loved one.

Tonight I bumped into another online resource that provides a wealth of supportive material. It's called "Someone Is Missng," and has an Australian URL: http://www.missingpersons.org.au/index.htm. Here are four paragraphs that seem quite pertinent to what our own family is going through right now:

However, the disappearance of a loved one creates a unique situation. There is much confusion about where the missing is and whether they will return. This brings about feelings of uncertainty, doubt, and insecurity. These feelings were described by those who participated in the Henderson and Henderson study:

“The survey asked what was considered to be the most difficult part of the whole experience. People often identified the uncertainty, for example, not knowing whether the missing person was safe… not knowing where the person might be… or just ‘not knowing’ generally… Other issues identified included dealing with the emotions generated… and accepting that the missing person had left home… Others mentioned not knowing why the missing person left… feelings of helplessness and not knowing what action to take… the waiting… diverse issues relating to police action (such as waiting for 24 hours) or concerns about whether and when to report the person missing to police… and how to deal with the missing person when located or returned home” .

This situation cannot compare with losing a loved one through death. When someone dies family members and friends can attempt to seek closure. They know the whereabouts of their loved one; they can mourn their loss, and they have the opportunity to say goodbye. This is reinforced by conventional social practices. When an individual dies funerals often take place. These rituals are used to mark the event and aid the grieving process for family members and friends.

However, when someone has disappeared there is no comparable ritual. The family members and friends may be living in a cloud of doubt not knowing where their loved one is, or if they are safe . Some academics call this disenfranchised grief or ambiguous loss because the loss felt by those left behind is confusing and unclear.

My own experience is somewhat removed from the above description in that I am an uncle, and not part of the immediate nuclear family of the lost person. Nevertheless, I have found myself moving through stages of grief, and in an entirely unpredictable manner. Initially, when the family was informed Kellyann (my niece) was missing, I experienced great concern. Within a couple of days I found myself at times feeling a sense of loss. I wasn't sure what to do with that because we didn't at all know if something serious had befallen Kellyann, or whether she had simply wondered off in an extreme attempt to start a new life. Since the later possibility was just as likely I also found at times a strange mixture of compassion and anger - compassion for what inner conflicts might have driven her to such an extreme, and anger for the toll this disordered cry for help was taking on her family. And then too there is guilt. How might I have been a better uncle? If I wasn't so self-obsessed and always playing it safe in terms of family relationships might I have played a more helpful role in Kellyann's life?

I have also seen elements of the same grief cycle played out in my prayer life as I have lifted up Kellyann to the Lord, along with her father (my older brother), her grandparents (my parents), and Kellyann's siblings. Most of the time my prayers are the run of the mill rational approaches to problem solving, by asking God to intervene in all the elements of the investigation and the family crisis. But there are times when my heart just aches for Kellyann's ordeal, and amidst tears I hear myself crying out, "You find that girl! You take up her cause! You bring it to light!" I can't imagine what her father is going through. But, I hope and pray he can find some strength in knowing that the heavenly Father too knew overwhelming grief, and had to enduring the unimaginable horror of watching his beloved child being nailed to a tree.

Today I was thinking about the amazing ability our God has to take absolutely horrendous events and turn them into some kind of a victory that overflows to many. Who would have believed that Joseph's being sold into slavery by his brothers would result in the salvation of the Jewish people? Who would have believed that nailing this fully-God, fully-man Jesus to a cross would result in the complete salvation of all who would believe and trust in his name? Who would have believed the stoning of Stephen would have led to a transformational change in Paul, who would then go on to become the apostle to the Gentiles, and deliver the foundational doctrines and teachings to the church? And, who would have believed the great and horrendous persecution against Christians that broke out in the first century would have resulted in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world?

To be sure there are many horrendous things that have happened. And, the good coming out of them does not make the events themselves any less horrendous, any less unjust, any less tragic, any less pain-filled. But, it helps to know God can overcome those evils and bring something valuable and eternally worthy of thanks and praise out of them.

Help us to remember, O Lord. You are sovereign. You reign. And you can bring good where we only see evil. Do that now, Lord. Don't let Satan get the last word in this. Amen.

Don't stand alone!

Doug McHone has an excellent article on his blog today about fighting pornography and its assault on our private lives and personal domain - our homes (CoffeeSwirls: Fighting Porn in Your Life).

I agree wholeheartedly that this fight cannot be won in isolation. This is where we need our "band of brothers" with whom we find understanding and accountability.

I've also undertaken my own technical battle with respect to email spam...

What does rightly-ordered loss & grief look like?

From time to time life presents all of us with horrendous circumstances - a sudden financial crisis that amounts to a setback measured in terms of years, the onset of a life-threatening illness, the unexpected loss of a loved one. These are just a few examples of the worst of what life can throw at us.