Christian Contentment Mathematics

From the time we are very young we learn simple math.  2+2=4.  5+5=10.  7-4=3.  We look at these problems now and say they are quite easy to solve.  In fact, we could probably give the answers in our sleep.  I wonder though, how else have we been taught to solve problems from a very young age?  Specifically, when talking about contentment, is the issue resolved by addition or subtraction? 

When someone is discontent addition is often thought to be the solution.  “If I just had such and such then I would be content.”  “My condition is so low that it needs addition to be content.”  My one-year-old son’s discontentment is often taken care of by addition.  He cries, we give him something, and he stops.  What if we learned that contentment is not gained so much by addition but by subtraction.

This is exactly what Jeremiah Burroughs states as he unfolds the mystery of contentment in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.

A Christian comes to contentment, not so much by way of addition, as by way of subtraction.

It makes sense to us that contentment would be received from addition.  How then can it be attained through subtraction?  Burroughs makes the statement that it is, “not by adding more to his condition; but rather by subtracting from his desires, so as to make his desires and his circumstances even and equal.”  These desires are worldly desires, not heavenly, God-honoring desires.   We need to associate these kinds of desires with greed, selfishness, and pride.  How often do we think we deserve more?  How often do we think we deserve better?  These thoughts only lead to discontentment in our lives.

The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have.  Here lies the bottom root of all contentment, when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances.

Our prayer must be that our heart would be brought down to our circumstances.  Then there is contentment with little and with affliction.  Our desires must find their satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ.  What else do we think would bring us satisfaction in this world? 

Thus the gracious heart thinks in this way: “The Lord has been pleased to bring down my circumstances; now if the Lord brings down my heart and makes it equal to my circumstances, then I am well enough.” 

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

I recently purchased a book by Jeremiah Burroughs entitled The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.  I bought this book because I have seen lately my own need for contentment.  So far I have found this book a great encouragement, help, and rebuke.  Not only has the author challenged the way I think, he has also pressed the Word of God to my heart and shown me my sinfulness.  I believe this is what a “good” book must do.  Those books I have found most pleasant over the years are not the ones who simply state something I agree with.  Instead, they are the ones which skillfully use the Word of God to perform open-heart surgery on my soul.

I wanted here to give the definition Burroughs uses for contentment.  He gives the following description:

Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.

What is impressed upon me by this definition is the fact that it must be the habitual way of the Christian.  Perhaps I am able to live this definition out here and there, but to live it out all the time?  To live it out in every circumstance?  How am I going to be able to do this?  I will only be able to accomplish this by the grace of God working in my heart.  It is only a heart that “freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal.”  Not only is it a surrendered heart, it is a delighting heart.  Is a heart content when it is content merely out of duty?  The content heart does submit, but it also delights in how God works and why God works. 

Listen to what Burroughs says about the importance of habitual contentment:

A Christian who, in the constant tenor and temper of his heart, can carry himself quietly with constancy has learned the lesson of contentment. Otherwise his Christianity is worth nothing, for no one, however furious is his discontent, will not be quiet when he is in a good mood.

Read over that last sentence a couple times, and think about what your Christianity is worth as you contemplate your contentment.  I look forward to sharing more from this book in following blogs.  Until then meditate on these great words from God’s Word.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  Philippians 4:11

On The Lighter Side: Lutzer/Graham

On Tuesday, September 11, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary had the honor of hearing Erwin Lutzer in chapel. I went to chapel wanting to hear this well known author and pastor. What I got in the first few minutes was more than I expected.

Impressions are not my thing. If I try to impersonate someone else it never does them justice. In this particular chapel, we heard Pastor Lutzer do an impression of Billy Graham. I enjoyed it so I thought I would share it here on my blog. In all fairness, Pastor Lutzer made sure it was understood that he greatly respected Billy Graham and that few men have had the impact he has on his life. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

There is also a rumor going around that Dr. Mohler does a great Jack Black/Nacho Libre impression. I would love to hear that sometime.

Lutzer as Graham

Discipline and Doctorates

I have just started my seminary education at The Southern Baptist Theological.  This semester I am only taking two courses.  One of my courses, Systematic Theology, is taught by Dr. Stephen Wellum.  I am enjoying this class and would like to share one thing he said last class which I found interesting.  He said (paraphrasing), “Getting your doctorate is more about discipline than it is about intelligence.” 

Upon hearing this statement I thought, “Praise the Lord!  There is hope for me to someday get my doctorate.”  Intelligent, I am not.  Being disciplined, though, seems more attainable.  I am used to discipline as I have gone through my undergraduate studies and work experience.  Intelligence, on the other hand, always appears to be fading in the distance as I scramble towards it.

My thoughts then went to the discipline as seen in the life of a believer.  Aren’t I to be disciplined, not just in academic studies or in my career, but in my life before God?  Paul gives this instruction below to Timothy as he instructs him in the ministry.  I believe though, the minister is to do this as an example to the whole church.  These words then are not just for ministers, but for all in the church who live as good servants of Jesus Christ. 

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather ^train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as ^it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

1 Timothy 4:7-8

Discipline is not simply needed for academic endeavors, but for all who live for Christ.  Focus on discipline which leads to godliness.  These are truly lives lived following God and are for His glory.  Gaining godliness holds promise now and for the life to come.  Our discipline for godliness is not merely a temporary undertaking, but it has benefits that go into eternity.  What steps are you taking to discipline yourself for godliness?

Blowing the Trumpet for the Unborn

I came across an interesting letter while reading Brother’s, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper.  In his chapter, “Brothers, Blow the Trumpet for the Unborn,” Pastor John shares a letter he wrote to the Editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  I found this letter very compelling and a demonstration of how to stand up for aborted babies. 

Dear Editor,

                Are you aware of the fact that the same day the Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved unconditional permission to terminate the lives of twenty-four-week-old fetuses, the neonatology unit at Abbot Northwestern was caring for a twenty-two-and-a-half-week-old (500 gram) preemie with good chances of healthy life?

                Now that is news and calls for profound reflection.  Instead, your lead editorial the morning after (Feb. 26) glossed over this critical issue and endorsed abortion because it is “one of the most personal decisions a woman can make” and because “the abortion decision is undeniably sensitive.”  This level of reflection is unworthy of major editorials in good newspapers.

                I assume you mean by “personal decision” not: having deep personal implications, but: having deep personal implications for only one person, the mother.

                But abortion is emphatically not a “personal” decision in that limited sense.  There is another person, namely, the unborn child.  If you deny this, you must give an account of what that little preemie is at Abbot Northwestern.  Abortion is a decision about competing human rights: the right not to be pregnant and the right not to be killed.

                I assume you approve of the Committee’s action.  But I also assume you would not approve of the mother’s right to strangle the preemie at Abbot before its twenty-fifth week of life.  If so you owe your readers an explanation of your simple endorsement of abortion because it is “personal” and “sensitive.”

                In fact I challenge you to publish two photographs side by side: one of this “child” outside the womb and another of a “fetus” inside the womb both at twenty-three or twenty-four weeks, with a caption that says something like: “We at the Star Tribune regard the termination of the preemie as manslaughter and the termination of the fetus as the personal choice of the mother.”

                I have read in your pages how you disdain the use of pictures because abortion is too complex for simplistic solutions.  But I also remember how you approved the possible televising of an execution as one of the most effective ways of turning the heart of America against capital punishment (a similarly complex issue).

                We both know that if America watched repeated termination of twenty-three-week-old fetuses on television (or saw the procedure truthfully documented in your paper), the sentiment of our society would profoundly change.  (The Alan Guttnacher Institute estimated over nine thousand abortions after twenty-one weeks in 1987.)

                Words fail to describe the barbarity of an unconditional right to take the life of a human being as fully developed as twenty-three weeks.  You could never successfully defend it in the public presence of the act itself.

                You can do so only in the moral fog of phrases like: Abortion must be left to the woman because it is “undeniably sensitive.”  This is not compelling.  There are many sensitive situations where the state prescribes limits for how we express our feelings where others are concerned.  If you are willing, you may meet this “other person” face-to-face in dozens of hospitals around the country.

                                                Sincerely yours,

                                                John Piper

 

After reading this letter and the entire chapter, one verse came to my mind.  It might not be a verse many think of when it comes to combating abortion.  The verse is Psalm 150:6. 

 

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!”

 

What a tragedy it is for those who never have a chance to praise the Lord.  All that has breath was made to glorify God and ascribe praise to His name.  In taking the life of an unborn child, we do not only commit sin against that person but also against the very image of God in which this child was formed.  The odiousness of this sin should overwhelm us and make us stand up for these little ones, as well as for the glory of God.  I pray that we would never stop “blowing the trumpet for the unborn.” 

Guess Who Said It

Here’s how the game is played. I give you a quote. You read the quote and then leave a comment giving it your best guess as to who said it.  After I think enough comments have been left or enough time has gone by, I will reveal the author of the quote.

Here’s the quote:

“If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

Well, there is at least one clue in the quote.  Hope it helps narrow down your options.  Good Luck.

UPDATE ANSWER:  The person who gave this quote is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

You’re a Theologian!

What comes to your mind when I say the word, “theologian?”  You probably think about some old man who has disheveled gray hair, clothes that are from the 1960’s or earlier (which don’t match), and has as many wrinkles as the thick, dusty books set out before him.  Often we think of theologians as those Bible brainiacs who read old books and write deep commentaries, yet have never seen the sun. 

What if I said, though, “You’re a theologian!”  Does that make you excited?  Or, do you find yourself offended?  Or, perhaps, perplexed that such an average person could be called a theologian?  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can be excited that you are a theologian!

Listen to what Graeme Goldsworthy has to say in his book entitled, According to Plan:

Have you ever heard a person say (particularly in the middle of a discussion about the Bible), “I’m no theologian, but . . .”?  My answer to that is, “Yes you are!  All Christians are theologians, but some are more able theologians than others.”  Every Christian by definition knows God, thinks about God and makes statements about God.  So, you are a theologian.  Part of being a Christian is that we do theology.  That is, we put together different aspects of what we understand about God, and we build it into some kind of coherent understanding of our existence as God’s redeemed people living in the world.

What is your reaction to hearing this?  I think an appropriate response is to boast about it!  Now, listen to what God says about those who understand and know Him from Jeremiah 9:23 and 24.

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Welcome to the new Heart of Ezra

Welcome to the new Heart of Ezra hosted by WordPress.  Come on in, make yourself at home.  Take a look around at other pages or leave a comment. 

I am trying to resuscitate the old Heart of Ezra now that I am in a new place, with a new host. I figured, “Why not give it a shot?”

This blog is designed to share edifying and helpful thoughts from God’s Word and my mind about the world in which we live.  I have realized that previously I tried to make blogging harder than it needs to be.  So, my desire is to keep these posts short, to the point and, hopefully, relevant. 

I will leave you with one of my favorite Psalms.

Psalm 101

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

          to you, O Lord, I will make music.

²      I will ^ponder the way that is blameless.

          Oh when will you come to me?

     I will ^walk with integrity of heart

          within my house;

³      I will not set before my eyes

          anything ^that is worthless.

     I hate the work of those who ^fall away;

          it shall not cling to me.

⁴      A perverse heart shall be far from me;

          I will ^know nothing of evil.

⁵      Whoever slanders his neighbor ^secretly

          I will ^destroy.

     Whoever has a ^haughty look and an ^arrogant heart

          I will not endure.

⁶      I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

          that they may dwell with me;

     he who walks in ^the way that is blameless

          shall minister to me.

⁷      No one who ^practices deceit

          shall dwell in my house;

     no one who utters lies

          shall ^continue before my eyes.

^{8 }     Morning by morning I will destroy

          all the wicked in the land,

^     cutting off all ^the evildoers

          from ^the city of the Lord.