-  The Four Loves, by C.S. Lewis

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Today marks the 269th anniversary of Jonathan Edwards preaching his most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, CT. I’m reading through it after pastor Rick Holland’s wife Kim posted a tweet mentioning it. Though I won’t try to summarize it because I just can’t do it justice, the point Edwards was making, as Capitol Hill Baptist Church shows us, was that God’s grace was the only thing keeping his listeners out of hell at that very moment. This message, based on Deuteronomy 32:35, played an important role in the Great Awakening that swept through America in the 1740s.

“The strongest have no power to resist him…”

“God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so.”

“God has laid himself under no obligation by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment.”

“However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it.”

“But the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.”

“God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is.”

“And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners…”

“Men’s hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls: and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart, and blindness of mind.”

• One week from now, the sin I fight against inside of me will have a magnifying glass put over it by the constant closeness of another, and yet one week from now, God’s process of sanctification for his children will give my wife and I the opportunity to begin dealing with deeper underlying problems that we never knew God wanted us to confront in our own lives. As Rick Holland describes marriage, it’s “an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person.”

• One week from now, I’ll be financially responsible for someone. Yes, there will be tension, but it’s how I deal with my own selfish pride in that moment that counts.

• One week from now, I’ll finalize my full commitment to her alone, in the form of a vow before God, witnessed by friends and family.

• One week from now, I will be bound to reject the temptations of in any way pursuing other women, appearing to do so, or even accepting the advances of any other woman, for the sake of Karen knowing she is the only one that matters to me. Call this a positive bias in her favor or a discrimination against the pursuit of all others if you will.

• One week from now, there will still be just as many, if not more people watching to see how things turn out for the two of us, or as Stuart Scott put it in The Exemplary Husband, “We need to remember that we already are some sort of example to others. The question is, what kind?”

• One week from now, I will be committed to her safety, to the point where I will not be tolerant of that which harms her. This intolerance will apply to physical threats, emotional dangers, spiritual misguidance, or anything that threatens to destroy my relationship with her.

• One week from now, the two of us are committing to a first-year ban on the habit of the passive entertainment of television-show series that we’d rather not even give the chance to distance us from getting to know each other. We’ll revisit the need for this voluntary ban after we’ve had more time to analyze it’s potential benefits.

• One week from now, I’m not going to stop giving her flowers or chocolate! (And we’ll still be going out on dates).

• One week from now, we’ll be able to look back on our convictions about why we made the choices we did, and the relationship will become all that much more valuable to both of us as we reflect on the purposeful and sometimes temporarily painful discipline it took to faithfully wait for each other, despite the constant temptations that at any point could have overtaken our resolve if it weren’t for the daily grace of God. 1 Corinthians 10:13: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

• One week from now, the excuse that “I don’t know if we’re compatible” will be as convincing in my mind as the rhetoric of a four year old telling his mom he doesn’t want to take a nap, as Karen and I discover that OF COURSE we’re not naturally “compatible” in popular culture’s expression, because only God’s grace can truly walk us through, rather than around, the inevitable challenges we will face in living with each other. (thanks Paul Tripp for the idea behind my analogy!)

• One week from now, all the advice we’ve received from the hours of counseling sessions, the overview books, and the DVD segments, not to mention the great role models of our parents and close friends, will become more valuable resources that we look back on to help guide us through miscommunications and disagreements that will arise from the dark sin we all have inside of us as part of fallen humanity that can only look to God for true hope.

• Lastly, a year from now, I’ll probably look back on this list and laugh a little, thinking of all the other things that I had yet to learn about marriage, about my relationship with Karen, and most importantly about God, since that determines our perspectives on everything else in life.

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At an event with JP, the billionaire who started the company 30 years ago.

I’ve been with my company for over two years now, and I have to say it’s an amazing and unique place to work, where I’m continually thankful for the opportunities I’ve already been given to learn, the people I’ve had the privilege of getting to know, and the financial stability that has been provided. My desire is that I’ll continue building caring and beneficial relationships here, not to mention expanding my knowledge of technology in computers as I’m always finding out how much I still don’t yet understand in the vast world of information technology.

What I’d like to briefly share here is a summary of how things fell into place when I was job searching, because I think it’s worth writing down for some friends who might be encouraged by the account, and equally it’s a reminder to myself about how God has been faithful.

I was a full-time college student with a part time job at another company. It was a great situation; being on the cutting edge of Microsoft’s newly improved SharePoint software technology for business communication and collaboration, and I was working with great people including my boss at the time who I still enjoy meeting up with for lunch these days when we get the chance. That company’s corporate headquarters had just been moved from across the United States into my city, and I was taking on a more crucial role within the organization to roll-out this new project company-wide while slowly training key individuals on how the new system would become an efficient tool in the way the company did business. They made it clear that they wanted me to stay in the position, but during a time of economic uncertainty, the company let me know that they just wouldn’t be able to hire full-time.

Sad to hear this, I accepted the news and started looking around for a full-time position. In the back of my mind there was a thought of that offer I received over a month before that from someone at Paul Mitchell who had found my online resume through my buddy Shay’s profile on LinkedIn.com. I sent over a carefully written email, checking if by some small chance the company was still looking to hire after I had already declined their previous offer. They were interested, so we set up an interview. I was pretty nervous after not having done an interview for a couple of years, and it showed. I talked with the guys for over an hour as they asked a lot of questions that I didn’t feel confident about how to answer. Driving away from the building I basically accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to be invited back, because I must have failed the interview by being nervous and not knowing the answers.

But soon after, I received a phone call from them asking if I wanted the job. I was shocked–what about the bad interview? I told them yes, I accepted the offer, and called my family to share the exciting news. At some point I remembered that God had provided all this, so I thanked him, and felt dumb about forgetting how I had prayed for a good outcome without first coming back to thank God for giving me exactly what I wanted. So that all went down on a Friday afternoon.

Along came Monday. The company I was about to step away from approached me, but this time explaining how important my position was after the CEO of the company saw my big project, and asked what it would take to keep me there. Wait… what now? How was I supposed to respond? I had just accepted the new position. Maybe I could just call back Paul Mitchell and apologize for the change in circumstances. Oh sure, but hadn’t I already given them my word? Should I stay true to that?  But…what if  the new job fell through and left me without one? Plus, the people at the current job were finally becoming familiar, and I don’t like being in completely new situations, so why don’t I just stay comfortable and go back on my word? And they were even letting me name my salary figure, how could I leave them?

No, I knew that God was in control, as he’s always been throughout the other choices I’ve been faced with in life, so he must have a reason for this. I had already told the new company that I accepted the position, and it was my own fear of the unknown that was making me hesitant. I really wanted to stay comfortable, but if this was what God wanted to use to help me grow, then alright, I would follow. There were plenty of doubts in my mind, but it was decided: I declined the offer to stay on board, and said goodbye to the comfortable and familiar position. If God was faithful in providing for me up until this point, He would certainly honor what little weak faith I had at this moment of trust in him. He had a plan, of course, as he always does, even though it’s not often that I get to see so clearly after two good years the result of one little decision to step out of my comfort zone.

The one small decision wasn’t whether or not I’d accept the new job–it was whether or not I’d trust in God’s faithfulness. I could’ve stayed in a comfortable situation, but missed out on all these new relationships and learning opportunities.

So I know these are rough economic times, and many of my friends are having a hard time finding a job, but I still wanted to share this story of how God was faithful, because he’s still that way regardless of whether you’re stuck in a difficult job or you’ve been searching non-stop for months. He will provide grace somehow to those who know Him, even if that’s not in the form of money. If God told the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that “My grace is sufficient for you” when Paul was disappointed in his own weaknesses, then certainly God’s grace is sufficient for this situation, not to mention how Paul went through physical beatings, imprisonment, being shipwrecked, being kicked out of cities, and other incidents during which he still held fast to faith in the Lord. One last thing: although I’m talking about God honoring my decision, it should be obvious that He’s the hero of this story, so keep that in mind, otherwise you’ll be pretty disappointed when you see how often I fail in the decisions I make. He’s the only one you can fully trust.

*Disclaimer: the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer (John Paul Mitchell Systems).

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“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” (1 Peter 3:13-16, from the ESV)

I’ve heard it put this way: the true Gospel message is already offensive, so why let your personality add to it? Don’t get in the way of the message itself so that they’re up against what the Bible is saying instead of the way I’m coming across. That’s right on, and who wouldn’t be offended when shown what the Bible says about you and I constantly living in rebellion against a perfectly Holy God who would be justified to kill us off in an instant–but only for his mercy gives us repeated opportunities to return to him through wholehearted faith in Jesus Christ? Note: for those unsure about where the Bible talks about this, start with the book of Romans; focusing on Romans 3:23, 6:23, and 10:9-13. And for a much bigger view of what God’s character is like, read through the Old Testament while keeping in mind that his character has never changed since then, as verses like James 1:17, Numbers 23:19, or Malachi 3:6 say “For I the LORD do not change.”

By the way, here’s a quick side note that was shown to me years ago. For Peter to tell his readers that they should be prepared to give a reason for the hope inside (and hope in the biblical expression here means something you’re completely sure of), the apostle is assuming that people are going to ask his readers why they’re different! If they blended right in with those around them in the lifestyle they chose, there would be no reason for people to ask what they’re living for, because who would bother to notice?

But what I want to do here is go directly to a book called “Tactics” by Gregory Koukl that has seriously impacted my thinking on all of this, and for that I HIGHLY recommend picking up this book. It’s written to help Christians know how to talk about their convictions, knowing that we already have volumes of material written in defense of the actual claims of the Christian faith, leaving people like myself needing help with maneuvering comfortably and kindly through beneficial conversations. The author also reminds his readers that it should give them confidence when they realize how compared with all the worldviews out there, Christianity is the one that best explains who we are and how we got here. The book cover mentions that Koukl has Masters Degrees in philosophy and in apologetics, he’s spoken at 50+ university campuses, he hosted a radio talk show for 18 years, and founded Stand to Reason (www.str.org).

Here’s an excerpt from what Koukl says when addressing just one of the reservations that Christians have when they try to shy away from these issues:

When people say you can’t argue anyone into the kingdom, they usually have an alternative approach in mind. They might be thinking that a genuine expression of love, kindness, and acceptance, coupled with a simple presentation of the gospel, is a more biblical approach.

If you are tempted to think this way, let me say something that may shock you: You cannot love someone into the kingdom. It can’t be done. In fact, the simple gospel itself is not even adequate to do that job.

How do I know? Because many people who were treated with sacrificial love and kindness by Christians never surrendered to the Savior. Many who have heard a clear explanation of God’s gift in Christ never put their trust in him.

In each case something was missing that, when present, always results in conversion. What’s missing is that special work of the Father that Jesus referred do, drawing a lost soul into his arms (John 6:44). Of this work Jesus also said, “Of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39).

According to Jesus, then, two things are true. First, there is a particular work of God that is necessary to bring someone into the kingdom. Second, when present, this work cannot fail to accomplish its goal. Without the work of the Spirit, no argument—no matter how persuasive—will be effective. But neither will any act of love nor any simple presentation of the gospel. Add the Spirit, though, and the equation changes dramatically.

Here’s the key principle: Without God’s work, nothing else works, but with God’s work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. But the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods. Why do you think God is just as pleased to use a good argument as a warm expression of love? Because both love and reason are consistent with God’s own character. The same God who is the essence of love also gave the invitation, “Come now, and let us reason together.” Therefore, both approaches honor him.

- from “Tactics: A game plan for discussing your Christian convictions” by Greg Koukl, page 36. Foreword by Lee Strobel, endorsed by JP Moreland, Sean McDowell, William Lane Craig, and Norm Geisler.

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Stephen Prothero starts off his response, contrary to pop culture, with the following headline: “It is misleading–and dangerous–to think that religions are different paths to the same wisdom.” He continues, “No one argues that different economic systems or political regimes are one and the same,” and begins to show us how we’re trying to claim that the fundamentals of all religions are the same, and that the differences don’t really matter, yet in the process we become naive and disrespect each one of them, suddenly finding ourselves with new problems on our hands.

Read the full article here.

It sounds like Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University, goes more in depth on this topic in his new book “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World–and Why Their Differences Matter.” And yes, by the subtitle of that book, you can guess that he probably doesn’t have a “Coexist” bumper sticker on this car.

Definitely interesting to find this issue showing up on yesterday’s list of “most-read” articles at The Boston Globe website. I think some of Prothero’s assumptions are off because of what separates Christianity from other religions. Specifically when he compares the end goals of each religion, that Christianity’s salvation isn’t something you can reach by personally accomplishing anything, but instead by accepting what’s already been done (justification), and the response to God that follows is one of gratitude, becoming more like Jesus Christ (sanctification). See Ephesians 2:8-10, Galatians 2:22-25, etc. in the Bible. Not to mention that salvation within Christianity isn’t like a personal fire insurance plan before death–genuine belief is not motivated by just the fear that something bad might happen. So what Prothero doesn’t mention is that in other religions you’re trying to get somewhere; but in Biblical Christianity you admit you have no chance of getting there but that it’s still possible because of the central figure, Jesus Christ.

But still, it’s slightly refreshing to see that this article is a starting point for the general public to start asking questions and seek clarity amidst a muddy landscape of personal misconceptions regarding the core beliefs of the world’s religions.