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Archive for July, 2011

Sometimes Jesus talked about healing

Posted in Scripture on July 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

And even talking about healing could get Jesus into enough trouble that people wanted to kill him!

(Jesus said,) “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.  But passing through their midst, he went away.  Luke 4:27-30

The full account of Naaman’s cleansing can be found in 2 Kings 5.  It is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and I come back to it often.

I love 2 Kings 5 because I was Naaman (and you probably were as well) – proud, violent, quick to take offense, idol worshipper, not a natural member of the people of Israel.  Yet God, in his kindness, freely gave this unrighteous man a gift.  And that resulted in this glorious statement from Naaman’s lips:

Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel (2 Kings 5:15).

And that is what made them so angry at Jesus, this acknowledgment that even people like us could be freely cleansed by God.

To God be the glory!

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Sometimes Jesus healed by touching people.

Posted in Scripture on July 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Jesus chose to heal some people through touch:

When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened.  Matthew 9:28-30

Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:30-31

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. Mark 1:40-42

That last one is particularly incredible – Jesus touched a leper!  He didn’t need to, but he did.  Jesus was always demonstrating that there is a way to do things that shows God is merciful and glorious.

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Sometimes Jesus healed them all. Sometimes he didn’t.

Posted in Scripture on July 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

There are accounts where Jesus healed everyone brought to him:

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.  Matthew 4:23-24

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. Matthew 9:35

But he didn’t always do so:

In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  John 5:4-5

Jesus’ ministry on earth defies easy description.  But we know he freely did all that the Father asked him to do.  Including dying.

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At least we won’t have this guilt producer this year!

Posted in News, Scripture on July 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

For the past several years we have taken a family vacation – without Paul.  That has resulted in a personal wrestling with deeply conflicted feelings.

Not this year!  Finances dictated a change in plans.  We will be an entire family as we head out tomorrow, Lord willing.  This, of course, produces a different kind of complication.

I am blessed to know many families with one or more members who live with a disability or disabilities.  Every one of them has a story with complications (and the families with several disabled members have REALLY interesting stories).  Some of those stories are very hard and sad.  Quite a few are just simply funny.

And every one of those families is glad to have every single one of their members – disabled and non-disabled.  The suffering is real, and the joy is real.  God is good.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126

I’ll be posting short reflections on Jesus the next several days.  But where I’m going doesn’t have internet access, so I might skip a few days if I don’t get them done before we go.  Thanks for understanding!

 

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Just a reminder – there is no one else like this!

Posted in Scripture on July 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

Psalm 71:19-21

Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.

You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

Psalm 113:5-8

Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

Isaiah 45:5-7

I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

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From the archives: Suffering Patiently

Posted in Quotes, Scripture, Sermons on July 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

Pastor John has clearly preached the sovereignty of God over all things for a long time.  In this sermon from 1990, Is the Kingdom Present or Future, Pastor John helps us see the present and future hope in the kingdom of God:

Is the kingdom of God a future reality to be hoped for or a present reality to experience now? That’s today’s question. The answer is that it is partly present and partly future. Many of its blessings are here to be enjoyed now; but many of them are not yet here. Some of its power is available now but not all of it. Some of the curse and misery of this old age can be overcome now by the presence of the kingdom. But some of it cannot be. The decisive battle against sin and Satan and sickness and death has been fought and won by the King in his death and resurrection, but the war is not over. Sin must be fought, Satan must be resisted, sickness must be prayed over and groaned under (Romans 8:23), and death must be endured until the second coming of the King and the consummation of the kingdom.

Now I want you to see this clearly in the New Testament because it is extremely important for your faith. It will inspire you with hope that there is a great and glorious future yet in store for all believers. It will deepen your confidence that the glory of your future in the kingdom is secured by precious past down payments of that very kingdom (Romans 8:32!). It will give you a handle on why so much amazing kingdom power is being unleashed in the world, and yet why so much of sin and Satan and sickness and suffering remains. If you get a handle on the presence and the future of the kingdom of God, you will find yourself on a pathway of spiritual power, which might include the power to perform signs, and will definitely include the equally remarkable power to suffer patiently the cross of grief and pain (Colossians 1:11).

John Piper, Is the Kingdom Present or Future, February 4, 1990.

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She opens her mouth with wisdom . . .

Posted in Scripture on July 5, 2011| 6 Comments »

I was feeling down on Paul’s birthday, not unexpectedly.

And Dianne gently and kindly suggested with think on this blessing, adapted from Ephesians 3:14-19:

And now, may our great and eternal Father bless you.
May he strengthen your inner being with power from the Holy Spirit.
May Christ dwell in your heart through faith.
May you be rooted and grounded in love so that you will comprehend with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.
May you be filled up to all the fullness of God according to the riches of His glory.
And may you exalt His glorious name forever and ever.
Amen!
Taken from Ephesians 3:14-19

It was on a bookmark given to the 1st Grade Sunday School workers at Bethlehem.

And it was tremendously helpful to think on!

I continue to be deeply blessed by my wife, the faithful mother of our children:

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  Proverbs 31:26

P.S.  Paul provided his own present on Monday – a little song and a smile.  This was how he used to be most of the time; today we enjoy these flashes of his old self with much greater appreciation and gratitude to God!

In case you were wondering, the bandage is mostly to protect his hand since he bites himself during his ‘spells.’

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I am sad. But only for a vapors breath.

Posted in commentary, Quotes, Scripture on July 4, 2011| 8 Comments »

When I imagined myself a father, a big thing I imagined was helping him to learn how to drive.

The day I turned 15 I started looking forward to drivers education class.  And the day I turned 16 my mother took me to the drivers examination office, where I earned that precious right to drive all by myself.

That was a big deal for me as a young man, and I enjoyed the thought of helping my future son take this giant step toward independence.

Today my boy turns 16.  I’ve known for 16 years that my blind boy wouldn’t be able to drive.  He isn’t even big enough to reach the pedels.  And if he could see and was big enough, his cognitive disabilities and autism and strange seizure-like disorder would prevent him from driving.

It might seem silly given everything else, but I’m sad about not having that rite of passage with my oldest son.

Yet, God has kindly made me ready for this day:

  • More veteran parents than I am have warned that the seasons of sadness will still come.  Sometimes they come at unexpected times.  Sometimes we can prepare.  I knew this would be one of those times I should prepare.
  • My Jesus understands, because he experienced sorrow: Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).
  • My Jesus loves me, covers my sins and helps me turn from sin, including sinful temptations to doubt his goodness in my suffering: To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Revelation 1:5).
  • This sorrow has a greater, joyful purpose ahead: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).
  • God knows my days and my son’s days: In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them (Psalm 139:16).
  • God has good plans for my son and myself: 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).
  • My son has been the means by which God has revealed himself as of greater worth than anything, including raising a ‘normal’ boy.

I still feel that sorrow about my son’s disabilities today; I expect that tears will come.  But just writing the above list has reminded me that ‘no good thing does he withhold’ (Psalm 84:11).  God is awesome in his love and his power and his mercy!

As Pastor John wrote several years ago:

So let us embrace whatever sorrow God appoints for us. Let us not be ashamed of tears. Let the promise that joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5) sustain and shape our grief with the power and goodness of God.

I believe that promise!  I have experienced little tastes of that promise already.

Someday, both Paul and I will experience a different rite of passage, and it is impossible to say who will lead whom.  Either Jesus will return, or we will go to him.

And we will experience something entirely new!

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  Revelation 21:4-5

And that is why I can and will celebrate my son’s birth today, ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing’ (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Happy birthday, son!

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140 characters (or less) of persistent helpfulness

Posted in Quotes on July 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Paul David Tripp is one of those people who can say a great deal with a few words.  He and Pastor John are why I continue to follow twitter.

A few examples:

  • I know, like me, you want now to be a comfortable destination, but it isn’t that. It’s an uncomfortable preparation for a final destination.
  • If you’re God’s child today you will be blessed once again with what you don’t deserve, couldn’t achieve and didn’t earn-it’s called grace.
  • If God’s your Father, he will discipline you, but his discipline is never a sign of his rejection, rather it’s a sure sign of his affection.
  • Today you must battle to convince yourself that what God says is true is really true and for that you have grace.
More than once, God has used Dr. Tripp to reorient my heart.  I’m grateful for his careful, helpful use language.

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What does it mean that God will ‘give us all things’?

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on July 2, 2011| 2 Comments »

I’ve been reflecting on the destructiveness of the health and wealth prosperity gospel.  It isn’t because I enjoy it!  But some prosperity preachers like to make much of their ‘healing’ ministries, so I run into them during my studies.

And sometimes they use scriptures like this to promote their really, really bad, illogical, unbiblical thinking:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

Rather than discourage you with something I came across from a prosperity preacher on Romans 8:32, I thought these paragraphs from Pastor John might be more helpful.

John Piper on Romans 8:32 in The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die, p. 52:

But what does “give us all things” mean? Not an easy life of comfort. Not even safety from our enemies. We know this from what the Bible says four verses later: “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:36). Many Christians, even today, suffer this kind of persecution. When the Bible asks, “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword” separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35), the answer is no. Not because these things don’t happen to Christians, but because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

What then does it mean that because of Christ’s death for us God will certainly with him graciously give us “all things”? It means that he will give us all things that are good for us. All things that we really need in order to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29). All things we need in order to attain everlasting joy.

God gives us things that are good for us – like dependency on him when nothing else is going right in our bodies or our children’s bodies.  Like hope in him when our circumstances are anything but hopeful.

Like the assurance of an eternity with Jesus!

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