Great Quote By C.S. Lewis

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." - C.S. Lewis

This is a great corollary to Romans 8:28.

The Text From My Sermon Tonight

Romas 8:18-39

Our Predicament
Vs 18- The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us. I cannot imagine what kind of joy would make today and 5.5 months ago seem like nothing. Even though I can’t imagine it. That is really good news.

Vs 19- 22 The creation waits with longing for redemption. Something is not right. Babies shouldn’t be born prematurely. People shouldn’t be thrown from their vehicles. Tornados shouldn’t wipe out towns. Tsunamis shouldn’t sweep away 250,000 people. The whole cosmos is broken and waiting for redemption.

Vs 23-25 Not only the creation but we as Christians who have the Spirit groan. Times like these really cause us to groan and look forward to our redemption. God will one day make everything right. We will also know why all of the things that happened have happened.

Our Promises
Vs 26-27 In all of this talk about pain and suffering and how the glories of heaven will be so much more than the present sufferings, the Bible doesn't minimize the real pain that we feel now. The Bible is a very honest book and that is refreshing. Another promise here is that the Spirit knows perfectly how to intercede for us. Even when we don't know what to pray, we can trust that the Spirit is interceding for us.

Vs 28-30 This is one of the best promises in all of the Bible. This is a firm foundation that we can rest on.

Our Provision
Vs 31- God is "for" us. Who can be against us. How? vs 32
Vs 32- He gave us Christ, how will He withhold any good thing from us.
Vs 33- We have been justified so who can bring any charge against us? We are aquitted- no double jeopardy! Any pain that we have is not punishment (see verse 1) but for our good.
Vs 35- Who shall separate us? Answer: no one, nothing.
Vs 36- Even though we are being killed all the day long
Vs 37- IN: tribulation (catastrophe), distress (abandonment and fear), persecution (people physically or psychologically harming you), famine (no food), nakedness (no clothes), danger (risk to your life), or sword (death by slaying). Paul says "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul does not say instead of all these things, as though Christians will escape physical harm. Neither does Paul equate the love of God with physical sustenance, but with Jesus Christ.

We are more than conquerors- literally we "super conquer." To super conquer means that not only do you defeat your enemy but you make it your slave. Therefore death is not only defeated but is made our slave.

CHRISTIAN:

Hello, Death, my old enemy. My old slave-master. Have you come to talk to me again? To frighten me?

I am not the person you think I am. I am not the one you used to talk to. Something has happened. Let me ask you a question, Death.

Where is your sting?

DEATH, sneeringly:

My sting is your sin.

CHRISTIAN:

I know that, Death. But that's not what I asked you. I asked, where is your sting? I know what it is. But tell me where it is.

Why are you fidgeting, Death? Why are you looking away? Why are you turning to go? Wait, Death, you have not answered my question. Where is your sting?

Where is, my sin?

What? You have no answer? But, Death, why do you have no answer? How will you terrify me, if you have no answer?

O Death, I will tell you the answer. Where is your sting? Where is my sin? It is hanging on that tree. God made Christ to be sin—my sin. When he died, the penalty of my sin was paid. The power of it was broken. I bear it no more.

Farewell, Death. You need not show up here again to frighten me. God will tell you when to come next time. And when you come, you will be his servant. For me, you will have no sting.
Vs 38- Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Update:
I need to give credit on the hypothetical dialogue between Christian and Death above: This was done by John Piper in a Good Friday meditation. You can read the post here. I gave him credit in my sermon, just not in my notes. I'm normally more careful about giving credit. Plagiarism is one of my pet peeves.

Lilly Just Passed Away

Just wanted to give everyone an update that Lilly passed away at 8:47. Please pray for the Sandifers.

It's hard to process all of this, and we will never understand while we are in this life but Katie and Whit are trusting in our good and sovereign God.

Update on Lilly

To catch you up on the latest (if you don't know):
After taking Lilly up to Children's Hospital at Little Rock they did some tests to find out how severe her internal bleeding was a 4 (which is the worst rating). They decided to helivac Lilly and Whit back here to El Dorado so that Katie could spend some time with Lilly before they took her off life support.

Katie's father just came out and told everyone what was going on. Katie and Whit were able to spend some time together with Lilly and they will be taking her off of life support soon (if they haven't already). Katie and Whit are spending some time together now. I talked to Jake about Whit and he said he has been able to spend a lot of time with Lilly and has been very strong for Katie. Katie is obviously upset and is still very weak.

Please be in prayer for the Sandifers, in specific, pray for Katie's health she is still having high blood pressure and platelet issues. Pray for grace to be able to deal with this situation emotionally. Pray for the decisions they will have to make in the coming hours.

Consider Lilly

This twit just came through on Twitter from Jake or Whit.

"Lilly will be with Jesus soon, free from wires and tubes and medicine and sin and pain, and she will live with him forever."

Please pray for the Sandifers. Our church knows heartbreak so please pray for our church that we would be able to be there for them as we were there for Scott, and the Hymers before.

I'm preaching tonight on Romans 8:18-39 (really I'm going to read it and allow it to minister to us) but I'm going to interject this hypothetical dialogue between a Christian and death by John Piper.

CHRISTIAN:

Hello, Death, my old enemy. My old slave-master. Have you come to talk to me again? To frighten me?

I am not the person you think I am. I am not the one you used to talk to. Something has happened. Let me ask you a question, Death.

Where is your sting?

DEATH, sneeringly:

My sting is your sin.

CHRISTIAN:

I know that, Death. But that's not what I asked you. I asked, where is your sting? I know what it is. But tell me where it is.

Why are you fidgeting, Death? Why are you looking away? Why are you turning to go? Wait, Death, you have not answered my question. Where is your sting?

Where is, my sin?

What? You have no answer? But, Death, why do you have no answer? How will you terrify me, if you have no answer?

O Death, I will tell you the answer. Where is your sting? Where is my sin? It is hanging on that tree. God made Christ to be sin—my sin. When he died, the penalty of my sin was paid. The power of it was broken. I bear it no more.

Farewell, Death. You need not show up here again to frighten me. God will tell you when to come next time. And when you come, you will be his servant. For me, you will have no sting.

Baby Lilly

For those who don't know, our good friends Whit and Katie Sandifer had their daughter Friday. She was 11 weeks premature. Everything was looking ok until last night when Lilly's condition worsened. They took her to Children's Hospital in Little Rock. We are waiting to hear the latest news but please be in prayer for Katie, Whit and Lilly.

Wyatt Auction

Go here and visit the Wyatt Baptist Church auction for missions.

There are some good items on here. Just don't bid on anything that has J. Baird as the high bidder!

http://www.grinalittle.net/wyatt/auction.php

The Insidious Nature of the Prosperity Gospel

I believe most solid evangelicals can recognize the full-blown prosperity Gospel when they see it. "Send me a seed gift of $100 and God will multiply it 10 fold!" "We've got to have a prosperity mentality, not a poverty mentality." "God wants you to be wealthy!" etc. The common thread in this philosophy is that God's blessing will be given in the form of financial gains to those who are faithful. Therefore, if you are a "have not" you do not have faith. While the Hinny Benns, Oel Josteens, Dreflo A. Collars (the names have been changed to expose the guilty and protect the innocent) are easy to spot, there are subtle yet just as wrong-headed ways of communicating the same message, that most Christians don't detect.

Here is what I'm not saying:
1. God does not give financial blessing.
2. God does not give financial blessing in response to your giving (or other faithfulness).
3. It is wrong to attribute God with the credit for receiving financial (or physically sustaining) blessings.
4. It is wrong to give "in faith" that God will supply your needs.

I hear people say all the time "You can't out give God." or "God has always been faithful in supplying our needs." or "God came through with provision for a need while I was on my way to pay the bill!" All of this is fine, and I believe God does all of those things. We just must be careful not to equate God's faithfulness with the satisfaction of our physical needs. If God is obligated to fulfill our physical needs if we are faithful to Him, then there would be no such thing as a Christian starving to death. There would be no such thing as a Christian dying from a disease. No Christians would ever suffocate (because God will always provide oxygen). There would be no such thing as a Christian being late on a bill. God has certainly promised blessings to us if we remain faithful to Him, and those blessings may include physical sustenance, but He is never obligated to give us all that we need to live. Sometimes we sell God short on the type of blessings that we expect from Him. If we equate God's blessing with merely physical blessings, we may be missing out on God's greatest blessing- Himself.

Through pain, suffering, sickness, lack, and even death God has designs for the suffering of His people. He meets them in their worst suffering, and gives them Himself. IN: tribulation (catastrophe), distress (abandonment and fear), persecution (people physically or psychologically harming you), famine (no food), nakedness (no clothes), danger (risk to your life), or sword (death by slaying). Paul says "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul does not say instead of all these things, as though Christians will escape physical harm. Neither does Paul equate the love of God with physical sustenance, but with Jesus Christ. If your faith in God is based on the fact that you have always had your physical needs satisfied and all of the sudden you don't anymore, you are at risk of abandoning your faith. Of course if your faith is in a cosmic genie who always provides for your physical needs, I hope he lets you down so that you can trust in the real God of the universe. He will not let you down, He will always give you everything you need, even at the moment that the guillotine slices your head off, or when the tumor on your lung prevents you from breathing and causes you to suffocate, or when your children are taken from you by an oppressive government, or when you lose your job, or when you are thrown from your vehicle and never regain consciousness.

Question: If you have never been without food and water, can you deduce that God has blessed you?

Answer: Maybe. There are many rich pagans who have never been without who have gone to their grave treasuring their full bellies more than God. Was their bounty a blessing from God? I would say it was judgment, or at least the fact that they did not give God glory for their bounty increased their condemnation. Christians who love God more than His gifts who have always had enough to eat, never suffered physical illness, never lost a child or a close friend early in life, always had enough money to pay the bills, who die in their sleep when they are 97 all the while treasuring Christ more than all of these physical blessings are certainly blessed by God.

Question: If you have had a life of suffering in which you have constantly been in poverty, sickness, a broken financial situation, can you deduce that God has cursed you?

Answer: Not necessarily. One of the main problems with prosperity theology is that God's blessing is equated with ease, abundance, and lack of suffering. If we have faith, we are promised that we will have these things. Therefore the presence of stress, lack, and pain means that we don't have enough faith. Some of the greatest Christians in the history of Christianity endured the most suffering- John Bunyan, Richard Wurmbrand, Charles Simeon, Adoniram Judson, John Paton, David Brainerd, David Livingston, and many others. Did these men suffer because they didn't have enough faith? Was God punishing them for not believing as they ought? Did they lack a "prosperity mindset"? No, God works all things together for good to those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose.

Question: Should you give tithes and offerings with the idea that God is obligated to bless you with physical blessing?

Answer: No. God may indeed bless you financially, but He is not obligated to. You should give money joyfully and sacrificially. The system of tithes and offerings is not some kind of money making scheme that you can exploit by giving. Again, we have a tendency to sell God short on His blessings by equating them with physical blessing when He wants to give us Himself.

Question: What if you cannot afford tithing should you anyway?

Answer: You should give joyfully, sacrificially and regularly. If you cannot afford to give much, give what you can and make intentional sacrifices in order to give. While the New Testament doesn't explicitly teach tithing I believe it is a good place to start, or a good goal for people to set. For most of us in America tithing is a way to rob God. I assure you that most of us can give far more than we do, and that we make decisions everyday that keep us from giving what we ought. The problem is that we see it as an obligation- "I've given my 10% now I can buy my toys!" All this does is show where our true treasure lies. If we ultimately see our income as a way for God to bless us we have a wrong view of God's priorities. Our incomes are a way that God blesses us with the things we need, but I find it hard to believe that He is honored when we spend our money on boats and 4-wheelers while people starve around the world, are killed for their faith in Christ, and die without hearing about Christ even though there are missionaries ready to go, but lack the funds.

Stewart versus Cramer

Jim Cramer just went on The Daily Show with John Stewart. John Stewart is super sharp, Cramer is not a complete idiot. You may be wondering why I care about this, but it has a lot to do with what I do vocationally, and I believe that what Jim Cramer and his ilk does is very harmful to investors. Before I hear the commentators I wanted to give my perception of this match up.

In short, I thought John Stewart absolutely destroyed Jim Cramer. If people react like they ought, he will be fired from CNBC, and nobody will listen to him anymore. John Stewart nailed Cramer to the wall. I would have done it a little differently, but he brought out very clearly the main point that all of this hype and "stock picking" does not help individual investors, but hurts them and pads the pockets of the people who benefit from all the trading.

I think Cramer knew that he had to come on Stewart's show and defend himself. He was also trying to minimize the damage. Stewart would have none of that. Cramer wanted to get in and out without a big scene, but Stewart brought him down. His voice was shaking and the interview was very uncomfortable. He spanked him and talked to him like a child. That was one of the most humiliating things I have ever seen, and it couldn't have happened to someone who deserved it more. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the media and in specific for CNBC.

Green and "Green"

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries are a great product. You can recharge them approximately 1000 times without losing capacity, and they work very well.

Right now Amazon has 4 Sony AA NiMH batteries on sale for $8.98. That is a little over $2 per battery, but when you think that 1 NiMH battery replaces literally hundreds of non-rechargeable batteries.

Having a good stock of these will save you a lot of money. Especially Wii owners!