(Originally Posted 2007)

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her king!

It’s a beautiful phrase that proclaims why we must rejoice this holiday season. Yet during the Christmas season, the biggest struggle for me — and possibly for many others– is the struggle for joy. It’s funny that joy would be something hard to maintain during this the “season of joy,” yet it is.

Personally, for me, the past year was characterized by a misapplication of the Doctrine of Sin. I was focusing almost completely on my own sin and failures, instead of allowing God’s grace to flow in my life. Through the great words of C.J. Mahaney, my parents, and God’s Word, I realized that I had been doing the easy part — identifying my sin, yet that was all I was doing. I was not doing the hard part — crushing my pride by accepting God’s free grace. This act of refusing God’s grace sapped joy from my life. But I am still grateful for the lesson I have learned through this season of my life — and am now joyfully enjoying God’s grace once again.

Which brings me back to Christmas — it is a time where we all seem to get caught up in the nation-wide Christmas grumpiness. What we need to do is to take just a few “keys” to joy, and apply them to our lives. Now, these keys are not original to me (as most things are not), but come from the great blog Girl Talk.

First, we must contemplate the incarnation.

I have found this key to be of the utmost importance, particularly this Christmas season. As I have thought upon the great wonder of the incarnation — the miracle of Christmas — and upon the great news that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:6) it has sent shivers up my spine and has brought tears to my eyes.

This past Wednesday was especially sweet to me as I led worship, sharing a story of sacrifice, and just contemplating with fellow believers on the incarnation and on Christ’s death. I don’t usually cry – but the overwhelming power of the message that God had laid on my heart came with such a force. We must always keep this wonder in the forefront of our minds and hearts.

Two other ways to contemplate the incarnation, as pointed out by Nicole Whitacre, include reading chapter five, “God Inncarnate” from JI Packer’s Knowing God, a chapter that affected me deeply this past summer during a class I was taking on the book.

“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity’s hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross,” says Packer, “It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.”

The second way to contemplate the incarnation is through music, particularly the Sovereign Grace Christmas Album, Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. The songs on this CD are absolutely wonderful — full of beautiful, theologically strong lyrics and perfect music for the whole year.

The second key is to practice the spiritual disciplines. A great way to do that is to get a hold of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney – a book I desperately need to pick up and read along with my daily Bible readings. I really like what Janelle Bradshaw said in her post on this second key:

“It can be a temptation to let a few things slide. You know the thoughts: “Things will settle down after the holidays. I’ll get back to it then.” Often times, the spiritual disciplines can be the first to go.

We usually don’t feel the immediate effect of skipping a few devotional times here and there. But, what happens if we don’t get our presents wrapped in time or the cookies made before the big meal? That would be a disaster! “

And which one of us has not experienced that very thing happen to us at least one year around Christmastime? I doubt one of us could say that we have been faithful each year during this busy time. But we must remember that “the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart…they are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.” (Psalm 19:8,10)

The third key to Christmas joy is to serve and give to others.

It reminds me of my visit to the nursing home just a couple of weeks ago. I went with the junior high department of my church’s youth group to sing Christmas carols in the halls. As expected, we walked into a smelly, overly heated, dry, old building with what seemed to be smelly, cold, elderly people. And that’s how many of us saw it when we first walked in. Yet when we began to sing, I saw a building that was full of sad, lonely, joyless people who needed to hear those songs proclaiming the greatness of the incarnation.

In one hallway, we stopped to sing for one lady who began to direct us as we sang. I set my guitar down (since we sang a cappella), and turned to see a older black man sitting on his bed, reading a Christmas card that one of the kids had given him. His face was so sad — so lonely, as if he had no one in his life. The television in front of him was the only light in that room, except for a little light from the hallway. He struggled to read the card – and his face slowly melted. And then he began to sing along with us in a deep, quiet voice…

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king…”

I thought I saw a tear in his eye as he looked up at me. I smiled and wished him a “Merry Christmas!” A smile took over his face as he looked up at me. “Merry Christmas,” he said. His eyes quickly returned to that simple card we had made for him earlier that day.

It’s just another example of serving and giving to others — it truly brings you great joy as well. A quote I loved from J.I. Packer was quoted in the Girl Talk post. In the quote, he reminds us:

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor–spending and being spent–to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends–in whatever way there seems need.

If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. ‘You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty became rich’ (2 Cor. 8:9).

The fourth key to joy is continued communion with God. This is essentially staying and praying to God throughout the day. Not just part of the day. The cross need to be at the forefront of our minds all the time, not just the morning or evening, or Sunday or Wedndesday. We must constantly rely on God for our joy – especially when we serve others. In these things, we cannot do them alone. Meditate on God’s Word all day.

The final key to joy is to return every gift into an opportunity to glorify and adore God.

“Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility”.I have tried to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different. Gratitude exclaims, very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun. If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.” (C.S. Lewis as quoted in, When I Don’t Desire God, by John Piper)

I pray you will have a joyful year full of the wonder and mystery of God become man – and I pray that you will not stop simply at God becoming man, but what he did as a man on this earth. And that will bring you great joy.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her king!

Originally posted 12/22/2007

As we wake up this Monday morning, we begin a week where parents will begin burying their six and seven year olds. This should not be so. It is, I think, a grave strike in the face of all that is right and true. The serpent has struck at the innocent.

I for one wake this Monday morning and must wrestle in my soul, as I read the stories and see the pictures of these children. Thankfully, there are men who have sensed and felt the same struggle and pain and have written in response to this awful tragedy. I put this list here for your benefit (HT: The Rebelution).

How Does Jesus Come to Newtown? by John Piper

We need a suffering Savior. We need a Savior who has tasted the cup of horror we are being forced to drink.And that is how he came. He knew what this world needed. Not a comedian. Not a sports hero. Not a movie star. Not a political genius. Not a doctor. Not even a pastor. The world needed what no mere man could be.Keep Reading –>

Rachel Weeping For Her Children by Dr. Albert Mohler (also listen to The Briefing)

The calculated and premeditated nature of this crime, combined with the horror of at least twenty murdered children, makes the news almost unspeakable and unbearable. The grief of parents and loved ones in Newtown is beyond words. Yet, even in the face of such a tragedy, Christians must speak. We will have to speak in public about this evil, and we will have to speak in private about this horrible crime. How should Christians think and pray in the aftermath of such a colossal crime? Keep Reading –>

School Shootings and Spiritual Warfare by Russell Moore

Let’s grieve for the innocent. Let’s demand justice for the guilty. And let’s rage against the Reptile behind it all.As we do so, let’s remember that Bethlehem was an act of war. Let’s remember that the One born there is a prince of peace who will crush the skull of the ancient murderer of Eden. Let’s pray for the Second Coming of Mary’s son. And, as we sing our Christmas carols, let’s look into the slitted eyes of Satan as we promise him the threat of his coming crushed skull.Keep Reading –>

Sermon of Remembrance and Peace by Tim Keller

TRANSCRIPT: But it is on the Cross that we see the ultimate wonder. On the cross we sufferers finally see, to our shock that God now knows too what it is to lose a loved one in an unjust attack. And so you see what this means?John Stott puts it this way. John Stott wrote: “I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the Cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” Do you see what this means? Yes, we don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, but we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be.It can’t be that he doesn’t love us! It can’t be that he doesn’t care. God so loved us and hates suffering that he was willing to come down and get involved in it. And therefore the Cross is an incredibly empowering hint. … if you grasp it, it can transform you. It can give you strength. Keep Reading –>

The Loss of the Innocents by Ross Douthat

NEWTOWN, Conn., is about 20 miles from the town where my wife grew up. It’s the kind of place that rewards rambling New England drives: there are big old Victorian houses flanking the main street, a hill with a huge flagpole rising in the center of town, and a large pasture just below, with shaded side roads radiating outward from the greensward, and then horse farms in the hills beyond.

When you live in a hectic, self-important city, it’s easy to romanticize a town like Newtown, and maybe imagine escaping there someday, children in tow. The last time we drove through was more than a year ago: it was a summer dusk, and there were families out everywhere — kids on bikes, crowds around the ice cream stand, the images of small town innocence flickering past our car windows like slides on a carousel.

Any grown-up knows that such small-town innocence is illusory, and that what looks pristine to outsiders can be as darkened by suffering as any other place where human beings live together, and alone.

But even so, the illusion has real power, not least because the dream of small-town life makes the whole universe seem somehow kinder and homier. Keep Reading ->

Connecticut Shooting & How God Identifies with Suffering by Alyssa Joy

My heart is broken for the kids and adults who were killed this morning in the Conneticut shooting. My heart aches for those parents, teachers, children and families. They said on the news that this is the worst school shooting in American history.

As I watched the news this morning, my heart cried out to the Lord– praying for those involved, and also wondering why God allowed this to happen. How could this happen?

Then I recalled who the LORD is. He did not turn His back when the shooter went in this morning. He did not forget about His children. He did not forsake them. Keep Reading – >

Suffer Not the Little Children to Come to Me–and to Us by Owen Strachan

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away (Matthew 19:13-15 ESV).

Many of us are still recovering from the Sandy Hook shooting this past Friday. We’re still in shock; we’re still in mourning. It is right that we find ourselves here. Terrible tragedy calls first for sadness, not solutions.

In my own processing of this evil event, I have thought a good deal about what this calamity shows about how Americans continue to think about children. We grieve the little ones who are dead. We do not think of them as expendable, as inexpensive, as possessing less dignity than anyone else. We want to protect them. Our worst nightmare as a society is for someone to menace and kill our kids. Keep Reading ->

Grab a cup of fresh coffee, a pen, and turn your mind on.

As some of your may know I am a faithful reader of Houston Baptist University’s (free) publication, The City. If you are currently not subscribed to this venerable journal, you are missing out on reading some of the finest minds and finest writing in Christendom. I have recently attempted to scream from the rooftops the overwhelming joy I’ve received from reading it (beginning with the insightful interview with Mary Eberstadt).

The most recent issue discusses Ross Douthat’s important book Bad Religion. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was greatly helped by my friend Owen Strachan‘s fantastic contribution this Fall. You can read his article below.

I’m still making my way through the journal, but if you have a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon that needs to be filled, this will benefit both your mind and soul.

I recently started using the iPhone and thought you might like to know what apps I’m currently using and why I’m using them.

Twitter – I use Twitter. Therefore I use this app.

Desiring God – Intuitive design for accessing John Piper resources.

Fighter Verse – Incredible Bible memorization tool.

ESV Study Bible – my go-to app for Bible study. I believe my friends over at ChurchApp had a hand in this.

PocketSword - Add on for the Fighter Verse app to access some commentary.

Kindle – Constantly using this to read all of my books.

Agenda – a simple solution for Calendar use. The pre-populated emails and messages are a huge plus. Fantastic app that I’ve become a missionary for.

Instagram – fun photography social media.

Over – Text over photos. I endorse it here.

Shazam – I like music and sometimes I want to figure out what the song is.

Evernote – I’m a premium user. I could write a whole blog post on why this tool is worth your time to download. It’s free to start.

Base – A new CRM tool I’m using for some freelance sales I’m doing.

E Startups – I love reading about startups and best practices.

FoxNews – My news source.

eBay – This has been a key tool in winning bids because it updates me when I’m 50 cents away from winning.

MapQuest – I love the spoken turn-by-turn navigation.

PivotalTracker – I use this for work. Enough said.

Zite – Personalized magazine. Probably getting rid of this in the near future because it’s not getting a lot of use. I used to like to read daily stuff through this.

Saga/Chronos – creepily tracks my life so I can look at where I’m spending all my time.

UrbanSpoon – good food reviews as I attempt to be a foodie.

Starbucks – so I can become a Gold Card member and finally get free refills. Recently had some issues with it.

Book Crawler – incredible tool for organizing my library. Scan the barcodes and I’ll never buy a duplicate book again.

Pages – Essential to every writer. A bit pricy.

MyFitnessPal – using this to get fit.

RunKeeper – using this to track my runs around town.

Games – there are quite a few games I play. Currently rocking Words with Friends consistently.

Flashlight – for those emergency purposes.

OnSong 1.95 – a great tool for worship leaders.

ScoreCenter – essential during the NFL season

ESPN Radio – the Redskins aren’t always playing on local TV.

Redbox – my wife and I are regular movie watchers.

Kids-in-mind – We want to be careful of what we watch, so we check it first.

ABC Player – for the times when I want to watch Shark Tank.

Stamped – a new app I’m trying out that is supposed to let me “like” all kinds of things.

Glympse – another new app that will send directions to where you are currently at if you want to bring friends together for a meeting.

This is a repost from February 13, 2006. This article is referenced in the book Saving Leonardo by the excellent author and professor Nancy Pearcey. I wrote this as a young 16-year-old wrestling with how to best impact culture. 

For a first article on Total Truth you may be surprised at what you find here. I’m not only going to talk about Total Truth, but also some other related books that I’m reading at the same time.

First off, let me tell you my Total Truth story.

It all began with a little article called “Tolerating the Intolerable” that I wrote after hearing a presentation given by Josh McDowell, and by doing some extra reading and reasoning on my own. This article gave me the foundation for believing that there is a final, one and only Truth. After that article was a time of relative quiet, other than critics of my article. Then, before I knew it, I was on a flight to Nashville for the Southern Baptist Executive Committee, unaware that Total Truth would pop up.

I met a member who was very interested in blogs and was able to talk to her a lot about them while I was there. She told me about her book (not Total Truth), I told her about my blog, and we both discussed the blogosphere. And as our discussion continued, she told me about a fantastic book she was reading by Nancy Pearcey. Immediately I thought of all those Mind and Media reviewers and the book by Nancy Pearcey on their sidebars. I remembered an interview done by Catez Stevens, and a book review by Tim Challies. The committee member offered to let me borrow the book for the plenary session, and I jumped at the chance to browse the book. Ironically, I wasn’t able to browse it much because I was called out by a man who looked somewhat familiar, and ended up being on his radio show about an hour later (another reason I wasn’t quite as prepared as I could have been for the Albert Mohler Show, but it was awesome!).

When I returned home, I began doing research on the book, and found that Nancy Pearcey had a website, and began reading it. And finally, I received her book and began my reading experience.

I opened the book and began reading the introduction, which absolutely floored me. It was as if I was reading the message of my blog, along with many other fantastic goals. One quote struck me about why kids fall away from church, something that is heavy on my heart.

“Not only have we ‘lost the culture,’ but we continue losing even our own children,” says Nancy Pearcey, “It’s a familiar but tragic story about devout young people, raised in Christian homes, head off to college and abandon their faith. Why is this pattern so common? Largely because young believers have not been taught how to develop a biblical worldview. Instead, Christianity has been restricted.”

She continues by telling us that “as Christian parents, pastors, teachers, and youth group leaders we constantly see young people pulled down by the undertow of powerful cultural trends. If all we give them is a ‘heart’ religion, it will not be strong enough to counter the lure of attractive but dangerous ideas. Young believers also need a “brain” religion–training in worldview and apologetics–to equip them to analyze and critique the competing worldviews they will encounter when they leave home. If forewarned and forearmed, young people at least have a fighting chance when they find themselves a minority of one among their classmates or work colleagues. Training young people to develop a Christian mind is no longer and option; it is a part of their necessary survival equipment.”

I find this so true as I see “double-agents” if you will. Kids, who are Christians in church, and some other places, but have a completely secular mind view. It’s as if they have a split personality, something that has concerned me as I read MySpace stories. It’s the story of our culture–the “dichotomy” of public and private, heart and mind.

Another interesting quote from the book was “politics is downstream from culture.” This struck me hard, especially when I received Tim Echols book Real Citizenship in the mail the other day. On the front of this book, the subtitles states “Practical steps for making and impact on your culture.”

Immediately that quote from Nancy Pearcey popped into my mind, as the red flags waved frantically. If politics are downstream from culture, how much affect does “real citizenship” have on culture?

Now, I realize this could put in a bit of hot water, but think about it for a moment. Forget the rest of the book, and just think about that statement for a moment.

Done?

Okay, now, as the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover.” And, thankfully I did not judge this book solely by its cover, but rather read the entire book within an hour and a half on Saturday night. And I found that it is pretty much in harmony with Total Truth. Both heavily emphasize the need for a biblical worldview, especially for young adults.

“Essentially, one’s worldview provides a basis for understanding reality,”says Tim Echols, “for understanding how and why things are the way they are.” Nancy Pearcey agrees when she talks about our youth. Having the correct worldview allows us “to interpret the world around” us. Tim Echols believes that “thinking biblically is not enough.”

But, let’s move away from that and focus on the political aspect. How much affect does politics have on culture? “Politics tend to reflect culture,” says Pearcey, “Not the other way around.” Tim Echols adds that political activism is not enough. “America’s social problems are too severe and pervasive to be solved in the power of the Flesh.”

He quotes Dr. James Dobson, who said to Christian public policy leaders,”Everything you are doing [to impact public policy] is just stopgap until God sends revival.”

Nancy Pearcey asserts that “the most effective work is done by ordinary Christians fulfilling God’s calling to reform within their local spheres of influence.”

Now, let’s do a little backtracking. We must have a biblical worldviews. Politics is downstream from culture. Politics is not going to do much of anything without a Christian worldview and a revival. And the greatest work on the culture is done by ordinary people. As Tim Echols says, “You can be a catalyst for change. Anyone.”

But the pervasive question is how important is politics upon our culture?

Bill Wichterman, policy advisor for Bill Frist, says that “all we can do on Capitol Hill is try to find ways government can nurture healthy cultural trends.”

Tim Echols believes that influence, “when used properly can pave the way for biblical and traditional family values to be reflected in public policy.” In other words, we would be in huge trouble if we don’t have Christians in the public sphere using their power and influence correctly.

“Living in the Washington, D.C., area,” Nancy Pearcey tells us, “I have witnessed first hand the growing numbers of believers working in politics today, which is an encouraging trend.” But there is a problem. “Few hold an explicitly Christian political philosophy.” She speaks of a chief of staff who admitted “I realize that I hold certain views because I’m politically conservative, not because I see how they’re rooted in the Bible.”

Tim Echols addresses this issue, exhorting us and telling us that “knowing and honoring Christ should go to the top of our priority list as Christians and should permeate our every decision.” (Emphasis mine.) “One of the snares awaiting politically-active Christians is the temptations to assign more loyalty to a political party then to Jesus and His precepts.”

The bottom line for him is that he is “politically active to promote a biblical worldview in political campaigns, legislative chambers and on battlefields of the culture war.”

I believe those battlefields are not just Capitol Hill. Those battlefields are on blogs like ours, in our homes, in our towns, and at our State level. It’s the small things that make the biggest difference. It’s the smaller websites joined together that make the biggest change.

So, the discussion continues: how politically active should we be if we want to change our culture for the good?

**

Most interesting quote from Nancy Pearcey from and interview done by Allthings2All:

“Working out an intentional Christian worldview certainly includes a biblical view of politics, but that it is only one part of our cultural engagement. We are also called to have a Christian worldview on economics, education, entertainment, and every other area of life. Of course, we all have to specialize in some field or profession. Because I live in the Washington, D.C., area, many of my friends are political professionals. But they are keenly aware that they are part of the larger Body of Christ, and that cultural renewal requires all of us to be faithful in the sphere of influence and responsibility where God has called us.

In fact, I would go further and say that if we are not working out an overarching, comprehensive Christian worldview that applies across the board, we will not be effective even in politics. Why? Because we will get caught up in sheer activism. We may win elections, but we will not know how to address the deeper, underlying ideas that shape our culture. We will always be reacting to the latest outrage instead of acting intelligently in ways that establish justice and protect the public good.”

From Dr. Albert Mohler: 

A recent letter to columnist Carolyn Hax of The Washington Post seemed straightforward enough. “I am a stay-at-home mother of four who has tried to raise my family under the same strong Christian values that I grew up with,” the woman writes. “Therefore I was shocked when my oldest daughter, ‘Emily,’ suddenly announced she had ‘given up believing in God’ and decided to ‘come out’ as an atheist.”

The idea of a 16-year-old atheist in the house would be enough to alarm any Christian parent, and rightly so. The thought that a secular advice columnist for The Washington Post might be the source of help seems very odd, but desperation can surely lead a parent to seek help almost anywhere.

You usually get what you expect from an advice columnist like this — therapeutic counsel based in a secular worldview and a deep commitment to personal autonomy. Carolyn Hax responds to this mother with an admonition to respect the integrity of her daughter’s declaration of non-belief. She adds, “Parents can and should teach their beliefs and values, but when a would-be disciple stops believing, it’s not a ‘decision’ or ‘choice’ to ‘reject’ church or family or tradition or virtue or whatever else has hitched a cultural ride with faith.

Read the rest here.