I want to wish everyone a happy New Year. May we each grow closer to God this coming year, and may he be glorified in all that we do. It’s going to be an exciting new year. Welcome to 2009.

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

I highly recommend that you take the time to read this insightful and convicting article by Mike Ensley in Boundless.

When I first started ministering to teens who struggle with same-sex attraction, I met “Josh.” Of the categories of people we worked with, Josh fell into the “never acted out” one. He was a good kid who loved Jesus, he served at his church and sang in the youth worship band. To this day he’ll describe me as one of his mentors, but honestly I’ve always hoped to emulate his gentle spirit and genuine affection for God and other people.

Secretly, though, during his adolescence Josh suffered with attractions he neither chose nor wanted. He also did not obey them, but he struggled with this problem in secret in most arenas of his life, including the church where he attended and served.

I thought that stunk. In fact, I was pretty ticked that Josh even had to be a part of my little group over at the Exodus ministry where I volunteered. Not that he wasn’t a good guy to have around — always has been — but all he needed was a safe place to be transparent and find acceptance and support.

This article also in some ways relates to my article on Boundless But For the Grace if you would like another follow up or insight into some of my thoughts.

It’s always a thrilling experience for me when I read an excellent article. Of course, it was a little odd that this particular piece of literature (taken from the local newspaper) was about the incredible destruction caused by a 5-alarm fire. Nonetheless, in between bites of grapes, apples, and strawberries, I read the incredible story of a Mr. O’Connor.

“Standing in front of a charred lot where his waterfront home stood the night before, Dan O’Connor shook his head and nervously kicked at the blackened debris on the roadway.

The yellow sweatpants, red sweatshirt and Ravens football jacket he wore yesterday afternoon were what he was wearing when he escaped his burning home about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

And it is all he has left.

Mr. O’Connor’s house was one of three destroyed in a five-alarm blaze on the 3300 block of Shore Drive in the Oyster Harbor community on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula.

The fire, which caused $2 million in damages, remains under investigation, but county firefighters believe it was accidental.

The irreplaceable artwork and artifacts Mr. O’Connor has collected in his worldly travels are now blackened ash. His dark blue Mercedes is unrecognizable.”

I had to stop reading there as verses began to flash through my brain, particularly Matthew 6:19-21, which says “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Mr. O’Connor had put all of his time and energy into traveling the world and collecting artifacts. He lived in a huge home, and owned a beautiful car. Now, all of that is blackened ash, taken away in an instant by flames that melted the paint off the fire trucks that came to save it. All that remains for Mr. O’Connor are the clothes he is wearing and a few friends to live with.

Now, I do not say all of this to condemn Mr. O’Connor. On the contrary, I have a feeling that many of us, especially around this time of year, are buying into the lie that we can waste our lives during the Christmas season (not to mention the rest of the year). This is what I mean.

Many of us are quickly caught up in the commercialism surrounding Christmas. Our minds are filled with the thoughts of getting, getting, and getting. Each of us wants the new iPod, the latest fashion, the coolest new toy, or the nice check from Grandma. We quickly lose focus of what Christmas is all about - and I have wondered how we would treat Christmas if we received no gifts at all this year.

Every person on this earth will one day be like Mr. O’Connor. Actually, they won’t even have the clothes on their backs or friends to fall back on. All of this world will fade away, and the only “treasure” that will remain is not our iPod or new clothes, but the treasure we store up in heaven.

It is a hard thing to put our complete focus and attention on Jesus Christ during this holiday season. We live in times of economic uncertainty, and the desire for things seemingly can grow as we see things slowly taken away from us.

During this Christmas season, I hope that each of us can think about Mr. O’Connor. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, and that must cause us to do everything in our power not to waste the time we have here and now.

“God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.” - John Piper

Keys to Joy at Christmas (Tim’s Version)

My latest article is up at Boundless.

Joey hates life.

It’s been rough. His dad drinks and hates the kids. His mom hates his dad, and she take it out on him and his siblings. So he spends his time walking the neighborhood streets. It’s just his thing, he says. It sure beats hearing and dealing with the junk at his house.

So he wanders, just looking at houses and imagining that he lived there — just him, and maybe a wife and kids someday. All he wants is normal — no more drunk dads, mad moms, or any other pain in his life.

I see a lot of Joeys out on the streets. Just walking and staring straight ahead. Some act like nothing is wrong — but I’ve seen their eyes, and I can see the sadness, the pain, and the heartache. And I hurt for them.

Imagine with me for a moment that you are Joey. Because you were.

We find ourselves in trying times. There is, as I said in my previous post, much uncertainty about our future. It is easy to become depressed and lose hope. Our friends, our neighbors, or maybe even relatives are losing their jobs. The stock market seems to be a dismal state, and for some, the policies of a new president are seemingly doomed to sink our nation.

For others, this man offers salvation from the place we find ourselves in. He will not do this. We must not put our hope in a president or any political leader. Our hope must be in the One who can offer us grace amidst the storm.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

And from the Valley of Vision:

Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill; unbelief mars my confidence, sin makes me forget Thee. Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots; grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to Thee, that all else is trifling. Thy presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy. Abide in me, gracious God.

Unbelief mars my confidence. Sin makes me forget Thee. During these times, we cannot rest in anything but the presence and grace of Jesus Christ. Our hope cannot be placed in this world. Our joy is not going to found here. It will be found in Jesus Christ alone.

Be thankful for Jesus Christ, the gospel, the cross, salvation. Celebrate grace amidst the storm.

There is a great amount of uncertainty right now. Wihtout a doubt, tomorrow will be a historic day. For one, we’re looking at the possibility of having the first black president ever in our country.

On one hand, that seems to be a thrilling thing, especially for those who lived at a time of great hatred toward blacks and for a nation with a blighted history. Yet at the same time, I do not want to think of this as a racial thing - nor would I want to vote for someone just because he is black, or just because he is white. But it would be an amazing thing nonetheless.

Still, we must consider this: Obama is one of the largest proponents of abortion this nation has ever seen. I for one cannot vote for a man who will do nothing to stop the quiet genocide our nation refuses to see. The issue is complicated to be sure - but we still have millions of dead babies across our country. Somehow we need to wake up to the horror of it. The issue is extremely important.

I want to conclude by saying this: we must rest in the sovereignty of God no matter what happens tomorrow. I know there is so much fear about the future, but we are not to worry about tomorrow. God is still in control, and His plan will not fail. Things may not look as if they are going the way they should, but we cannot respond by hiding, running to Canada, or giving up.

I do not know what will happen tomorrow. Certainly, I can assume. But no matter what, I want to put my trust in God alone. We need to realize that our hope is not in politics or politicians. That is not going to solve the world’s problems. And it will not be the end of the world if Barack Obama becomes president tomorrow.

Our focus must not be solely on this election, and our peace of mind cannot be anchored on what happens on November 4. Instead, our eyes should be on Christ, and our minds should be focused on His mission.

My Grandmother sent me an email this afternoon reminding me that God is in control, and at the bottom it had this verse:

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” - Romans 13:1

God is sovereign - do not worry about tomorrow. Trust in the One who will never fail.

I found this article quite convicting.

In such uncertain times as these with 700 billion dollar “bailouts” looming over our (the taxpayer) heads, volatile markets wreaking havoc on our 401K’s and our houses worth considerably less than when we bought them, it is easy to find ourselves praying to our heavenly Father for His amazing grace. President Lincoln said it best, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

Although the Lord calls us to “pray continually”, we unfortunately and predictably find ourselves on our knees much more during trying times such as our current national climate. I think it’s our transparent means of self-preservation, actually. A natural response for those who believe. But what is more divine? To pray for ourselves or to be selfless and pray for others. For the sake of this article “others” refers to our Legislative Branch, our Congress.

I’ve been thinking a great deal about the coming elections, school decisions, war, peace, and the world. I will be frank and honest - I sometimes wonder where God is and what exactly he’s doing. Today in my Sunday School class we were talking about how the Israelites desired a king, but God told them it was not the right time. But they wanted one anyway, so He gave one to them.

I wondered how exactly that worked - was God still sovereign over that situation? Did their choices have some sort of pull in the great scheme of things? Was God just shrugging His shoulders, sighing, and giving them a king? Or did He plan all of this all along. It reminded me of a post I wrote about September 11 last August.

–

It was more than a day of “infamy” for those of us who stood in front of our television screens watching the falling, the fear, the flashes. We watched as two towers burned, gaping holes billowing smoke, screams, tears, sirens, frantic phone calls to family and friends. I need not describe that day to you — September 11. The silence when those words are spoken speaks volumes to the great tragedy felt within all of our hearts. In thinking about that day, most of us turn to our Sovereign God and cry out — how can this be happening? How, Dear God, can You allow such tragedy? Why could You not stop this? How is this right? How is this just?

For many atheists and agnostics, September 11 is a great tool within their arsenal of arguments against God. Was it’s God justice on America on September 11? they all ask. And to that I reply: God is just in all that He does, and September 11 was no exception. Was it God’s specific “justice” on America? That I will never answer with a positive “yes” or “no” on this earth.

To put it plainly, God was just in everything that He did on September 11. He is in control of everything that takes place on this earth, and was in control on that day. Did He let it happen? Yes, God allowed September 11 to happen. Do I know why He allowed it to happen? No, I don’t know why He let it happen. Who am I, but a mere man to understand God’s ways? Who can know the mind of God but Himself? I know that answer hurts — embracing the unknown, embracing faith, embracing truth is always hard. What kind of God let’s thousands die innocent deaths? Did He ignore the prayers of those Christians in those buildings asking for deliverance and safety?

First of all, none are innocent. Not one. Everyone deserves death — we do not deserve any life whatsoever on this earth. We are all sinners who by God’s grace are granted another day to live. So, in that respect, it was just of God to allow September 11 to happen. To say that it was His direct punishment is to put ourselves in the place of God. As mere man, we cannot say that it was or was not God’s punishment on sinful people. But we can say that everyone that died that day and who continues to die today receive their due punishment for sin.

We don’t like that answer — mystery is not something we seem to want to settle with. But all of us can look at that day and say — God was in control. We have to or we deny God’s sovereignty over His creation. When we understand this truth, days like September 11 make sense. We see a day where God chose to allow a great tragedy for His purpose. What that purpose is remains a mystery to us, but we do know that God works through all things for His glory. All things happen for His glory. Salvation is not centrally about Him loving us, but about Him glorifying Himself. It is no different with days like September 11.

You’re saying that day will bring glory to God? Ultimately, yes. For some reason, God chose for that tragic day to occur for his glory. I know that sounds horrible, disgusting, and cold. It’s not — if I were God I would have stopped that day. But I am not God — and I do not know the future, or the plans for the world. God does.

God was just in everything that He did on September 11. Yes, God allowed September 11 to happen. I don’t know why He let it happen, but I do know that it is all about His glory. Perhaps that day pointed thousands to consider their eternity without the cross as the center of their lives? Perhaps thousands will remember that day and not see simply terror, but the brave men and women who were their sacrificing their lives for men and women they had never seen or met? Whatever it is, we will know this: God was just on that day, and will always be just in everything that He does and allows.

–

It seems to me that God knew what he was doing. He didn’t just throw his hands in the air and exclaim “Oh my!” when the first plane hit. Neither does is He surprise when we disobey him. Which is a great, unfathomable mystery to me. God is sovereign, yet I choose, yet he has pre-ordained all of my days.

I simply turn from my thoughts and bow at the foot of the cross, where the Prince of Glory died. Who am I that You are mindful of me? I can only sit and contemplate on the utter unfathomable depth of God. I can’t wait for heaven.

I used to think I lived my life on the edge — I’ve broken my wrist, fallen off a plastic car onto pavement and gotten stitches, gone to the hospital with a swollen appendix and hooked my dad’s finger while fishing.

I’ve had some close calls too — I’ve been stuck on way too many roller coasters, seen one too many robberies from the parking lot and have been in a restaurant where a car came crashing through the wall during lunch (seriously, I have).

It’s been interesting, exciting and really painful. Yet I have to sit back and laugh when I think about some people who do crazy things to themselves — like those crazy skydivers. At least I didn’t choose to be heading to the hospital — these guys risk skipping the hospital visit and creating an instant grave on impact. Most people may think skydiving is just plain suicidal, but I have to admit there’s just something about “living on the edge” that people love — and in the case of skydiving, jumping off the edge. Sometimes, I think I’d love to take the plunge.

P.S. Just ignore the amazing article series by David Powlison. If you read him, you may not return to my article. Just warning you. (Okay, seriously. Please read his article series.)