Joe's Conversion Story

Pastor Jon was thankful Joe "shook off" when he came out of the water at his baptism!

Joe’s Testimony

“A funny thing happened on the way home from the office” just doesn’t fit this context. Stunning. Life-changing. Eternally significant. Those all fit the context of Joe’s drive home from work the evening of August 6th, 2009.

The left turn arrow turned green, so Joe proceeded. Unfortunately, so did the oncoming traffic – on a main, 4-lane boulevard between his job and home! All he saw out the passenger side window were headlights barreling down Antonio Parkway. I’m told this kind of accident is referred to as a “T-bone”. Joe stomped on the gas pedal quickly enough to avoid being hit, seeing the other car screeched to a smoky stop in his rearview mirror. Praise God for His protection in a thousand ways we know not, and those we do recognize!

Shaken, Joe arrived home to a sleeping family. Not able to sleep himself, and not wanting to waken us to share his story, he began to complete the first chapter in the Partners Manual he and I would be discussing the next morning. Joe and I have sought to spend some private time together that Summer, incorporating this one-on-one discipleship program authored by our pastor, Mike. http://www.compasschurch.org/partners/

We sat down for breakfast at Corky’s and ordered a skillet to split. Not even Joe can finish one of those, and I shouldn’t finish this 5-egg, potato-laden, cheese-smothered, heart attack-producing dish. While we were waiting for the food, Joe looked nervous.

“What’s up, dude?”, I asked tenderly, trying to help Joe feel OK sharing with me.

“I don’t know why I’m nervous to talk with you about this, dad”, he reluctantly said, with a sort of embarrassed look.

I assured my son the best I could, “Well, I’m not sure what you’re going to say, but I’d be surprised if I were surprised”, I said in that fatherly kinda tone and demeanor.

“Well, last night…” And Joe went on to tell me the story of the potentially tragic T-bone miss the night before, and how he was studying the first chapter of Partners. [The first chapter in Partners is, “Being Sure of Your Relationship with God”]. Then he told me of a vision-like, semi-dream, he had while the Holy Spirit was performing the miracle of new birth. He said that he was watching himself being snatched from the precipice of hell, when he realized, clearly for the first time what it means to be a true follower of Christ!

Joe told me that “the Great Exchange” has finally made sense. He described the sense of burden taken from his shoulders, to be placed squarely on Christ. Joe described, in some detail, understanding being clothed in His righteousness. He stated that he feels like for the first time in his short life, he’s “all in”! Joe described repentance and faith and second Corinthians five twenty one.

Well, I was surprised! I would have told you, beyond reasonable doubt, that Joe was already a true follower of Jesus. As much as one man can discern the spiritual condition of another, so I thought my son was heaven-bound. He has had several crises of faith in recent years, all of which have produced another humanly discernable degree of maturity. A common occurrence in someone who is committed to following the Lord is to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12), and “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8; Acts 26:20), because “it is God Who is at work in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Joe’s seemed to display the acts and attitudes, in increasing measure, of a transformed life. But he had not yet placed his trust solely and only in Christ. He had turned away from sin innumerable times, but without the indwelling Holy Spirit, that kind of repentance is of the flesh and doomed to failure.

One of my favorite pics of Joe doing what he loves

The young lady brought the heart attack skillet to our table, even as my tears welled. “Are you OK?”, was her inquiry. “Everything is just great, thanks.”, was my strained reply, as I took massive delight in seeing a new creation before my very eyes!

Hey, we'd love to hear your story about becoming a Christian.  Do tell!

Refreshment - Proverbs 11:24-25

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Prov. 11:24-25

Lord Jesus, I cannot read these words without lifting my heart and hands toward heaven. I cannot read these three words, “whoever refreshes others,” without thinking of you. For no one refreshes a dry and disconnected heart like you; no one is breathes life into the listless sails of a soul like you; no one is an artesian spring of encouragement like you; no one welcomes our burdens and cares, our weariness and our woes like you. Your mercies are new every morning, and your steadfast love never comes to an end. Great is your faithfulness!

Indeed, no one gives more freely than you, Jesus. You’ll never be charged with withholding any good thing from your people. You’ll never come to poverty through hoarding, because you freely chose the poverty of the cross as a means of making us rich (2 Cor. 8:9). This is the gospel, and nothing is more refreshing than the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation—for this very moment, for this very parched heart.

In the gospel, you’re always calling to us in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Jesus, I join my brothers and sisters in coming to you right now with my heart as wide as open as the skies of Montana and as willing to receive as the government is our taxes. I humble myself before you. I own the need that you alone can meet. I am not ashamed to let you know just how much I need to be refreshed by you, Jesus. You love to give, and I love to receive from you… right now.

And as grace runs downhill to the needy, so it flows freely to others. To whom would you send us today—to whom would you send me? Who needs a word of grace, a look of mercy, a hug of hope… or maybe a listening, lingering lunch? Freely we will receive, freely we will give to others. So very Amen we pray, in your most generous and grace-full name.

From Scotty Smith's daily prayer blog:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2011/09/07/a-prayer-about-giving-and-receiving-gospel-refreshment/

Psalm 24

Joe and I hiked up Mt. Baldy the other day.  I snapped this picture of him @ 10,064 feet - it reminded me of Psalm 24:

Ten Verses Worth Reading, Pondering, Praying, Praising God in:


"The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,

the world and those who dwell therein,

for he has founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the LORD

and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD, strong and mighty,

the LORD, mighty in battle!

Lift up your heads, O gates!

And lift them up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD of hosts,

he is the King of glory!

Selah"

Truth

Pondering some of what the Scripture has to say about the Truth:

3 John 4

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 17:17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Psalm 19:7-9

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Colossians 1:5b

Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel…

John 16:7

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Gospelicious!

John Calvin at His Gospel-Saturated Best 


From a stunningly gospelicious preface John Calvin wrote for Pierre Robert Olivétan’s French translation of the New Testament (1534)

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe …” (66)

“It follows that every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone. For, he was sold, to buy us back; captive, to deliver us; condemned, to absolve us; he was made a curse for our blessing, sin offering for our righteousness; marred that we may be made fair; he died for our life; so that by him fury is made gentle, wrath appeased, darkness turned into light, fear reassured, despisal despised, debt canceled, labor lightened, sadness made merry, misfortune made fortunate, difficulty easy, disorder ordered, division united, ignominy ennobled, rebellion subjected, intimidation intimidated, ambush uncovered, assaults assailed, force forced back, combat combated, war warred against, vengeance avenged, torment tormented, damnation damned, the abyss sunk into the abyss, hell transfixed, death dead, mortality made immortal. In short, mercy has swallowed up all misery, and goodness all misfortune.

For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit. If we are able to boast with the apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? it is because by the Spirit of Christ promised to the elect, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us; and we are by the same Spirit seated among those who are in heaven, so that for us the world is no more, even while our conversation [life] is in it; but we are content in all things, whether country, place, condition, clothing, meat, and all such things. And we are comforted in tribulation, joyful in sorrow, glorying under vituperation [verbal abuse], abounding in poverty, warmed in our nakedness, patient amongst evils, living in death. This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father.” (69-70)


http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/08/08/john-calvin-at-his-gospel-saturated-best/

A Prayer for Gospel Snobs and Scribes, Like Me

"And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” "  Mark 7:5-8

Dear Jesus, we tremble at the thought of you speaking these words to us. What could be more sobering and painful than to hear you say, “You talk about me a lot—using multiple Scriptures and well crafted theological language. You’re quick to recognize and correct false teaching, and you’re quite zealous to apply what you know to others. But your heart is far from me.”

It would be one thing to garner such a rebuke for mimicking the worse Pharisees and the Galatian Judaizers (Gal. 2:11-21)—putting people under the yoke of performance-based spirituality, and failing to acknowledge your work as the sole and sufficient basis for our salvation. But it would be an altogether different thing to be chided for being a gospel snob and scribe. Have mercy on us, Jesus, have mercy on me.

Forgive us when our love for the truth of the gospel and the doctrines of grace is more obvious than our love for you… as impossible as that may seem.

Forgive us when we enjoy exposing legalistic, pragmatic and moralistic teaching more than we crave spending time with you in fellowship and prayer.

Forgive us when we invest great energy in defending the imputation of your righteousness but have very little concern for the impartation of your transforming life.

Forgive us when we are quick to tell people what obedience is not, but fail to demonstrate what the obedience of faith actually is.

Forgive us when we call ourselves “recovering Pharisees” or “recovering legalists,” but in reality, we’re not really recovering from anything.

Forgive us when talk more about “getting the gospel” than we’re actually “gotten” by the gospel.

Forgive us for being just as arrogant about grace theology as we were obnoxious about legalistic theology.

Forgive us when our multiplied uses of the word “gospel” in our conversations does not translated into multiplied evidences of the power of the gospel in our lives.

Forgive us when we don’t use our gospel freedom to serve one another in love, but rather use it to put our consciences to sleep.

Forgive us for creating gospel-fraternities and gospel-posses which taste to outsiders like ingrown tribes or “clubish” elitism.

Forgive us for having a PhD in the indicatives yet only a kindergarten certificate in the imperatives of the gospel.

Forgive us when our passion for the gospel does not translate into a passion for holiness and world evangelism, and caring for widows and orphans.

Lord Jesus, with convicted and humbled hearts, we ask you to change us, by your grace and for your glory. So very Amen, we pray, in your magnificent and merciful name.

Remembering Keith Green

29 years ago today the 28-year-old Christian singer and songwriter Keith Green went to be with the Lord, along with his two young children and another family.

Here’s an hour-long documentary on his life:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/07/28/keith-green/

Here's a Good Visual of Repentance

“Repentance is the vomit of the soul”

Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) in Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1450539114/deyorestandre-20

Reposted from Kevin DeYoung, here:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/

A Prayer about Stuff and Contentment

by Pastor Scotty Smith here:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2011/07/11/a-prayer-about-stuff-and-contentment/


"Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven."  Prov. 23:4–5

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."  1 Tim 6:6-8


Loving Father, we continue to live in a difficult economic season. Some of us who thought we’d be retired in a couple of years are now thinking it’s ten, if ever. Some of us have lost jobs, even homes. Some of us are selling stuff and downsizing out of necessity, not choice. Some of our marriages are being stressed to the point of breaking. Some of us are actually being tempted to steal for the first time. Lord, we need wisdom, we need a work of your Spirit, and some of us really do need jobs.

Father, we look to you. Give us the perspective and power of the gospel as we make hard decisions, and reflect on our relationship to money and “stuff.” Free us from an attitude of entitlement and place within us a Spirit of contentment. When did we first assume the right to excess? When did abundance get relabeled as need? Why did we think only first-century disciples of Jesus would ever actually have to pray for daily bread?

In our “iWorld” of new gadgets and cool widgets, help us ponder the fact that over half of the population on the earth exists on three of our American dollars, or less, a day. Free us to share with others from the much or little that we have. Help us to raise our children not to love money as much as we have. Don’t let us grow bitter, shame-filled or fearful.

Father, if we would wear ourselves out for anything, let it be to become rich toward you (Luke 12:20–21)—to have the gospel so penetrate our hearts that we cry out with spontaneous joy, “Who do I have in heaven but you, O Lord, and being with you I desire nothing on the earth . . . You are my portion, sovereign Lord.”

Lord Jesus, you who were immeasurably rich in all things became incomprehensibly poor for us, so that we, who were desperately poor in sin, might be made inconceivably rich in grace. We worship and adore, with humility and gratitude. We thank you for the daily bread of both wheat and the gospel. So very Amen we pray, in your holy and gracious name.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

Jesus in John 12:32