Romans 8:1-4

A few friends on Twitter and I have decided to memorize Romans 8 in its entirety over the next x number of weeks. Here is the first chunk (I'm not peeking, I promise!):

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)

Hover over that link and make sure I memorized it correctly!

I was first seriously turned on to the idea of Bible memorization by this sermon preached by John Piper. I imagine I listened to that sermon for the first time at some point in 2009. It took a good hold of me and began my journey into Bible memorization.

The chief motivations I have had for Bible memorization are the following passages: John 15:1-7 and Psalm 119:9-11. I especially like Psalm 119:9-11 because of its ridiculous relevancy to my life and extremely straightforward point.

Do you want to fight sin? Do you want to not sin against God? Are you a young man? Do you desire to have a pure heart, a pure mind? Pure thoughts? Let me offer the biblical address to your questions:

[9] How can a young man keep his way pure?
        By guarding it according to your word.
[10] With my whole heart I seek you;
        let me not wander from your commandments!
[11] I have stored up your word in my heart,
        that I might not sin against you.
 (Psalm 119:9-11)

 Let me offer you this stream of thoughts that went through my head when I read this verse:

• I am a young man.
• I want to keep my life pure, because I sure know that I am impure in many things.
• Hmm, how can I do this? [Reads verse] Ooooohhhhh....
• Ok, looks like I need to start packing away the Bible into my heart.

Now let me offer one brief thought (and this entire post is totally stream-of-consciousness style, so forgive me): memorizing Scripture won't strictly keep you from sin. Why do I say this? Because Satan memorized Scripture. (And he probably knows way more of it than we ever will!) Therefore, just because someone - even if they are a devil! - memorizes the words of the Bible, they will not become more holy in thought and deed.

There's the rub it seems. Even if you memorize the Bible, you are not necessarily going to sin less, become more sanctified, etc. The Pharisees and Satan memorized gobs of Scripture. And yet, this verse clearly says something about not sinning and storing up God's word in your heart.

Let me offer a few brief thoughts for you to consider regarding this seeming paradox of memorization and sanctification.

•  To grow in holiness, one must guard their their path, their way, their life (thoughts, actions, decisions) according to and with the word of God. The only offensive spiritual weapon we see described in Ephesians 6 is the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". Be as a soldier scouting through a forest, ready to attack and kill sin at the sound of the slightest rustle of the forest. Guard your life by reciting the promises, warnings, and admonitions of the Bible throughout the day as you memorize.
• Let your efforts towards holiness be whole-hearted. When discouraged, flee to the promises given us by our Lord. Know that he will never leave us or forsake us. Know that God is 100% for us. Know that "He who spared not his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).Chase God and seek him wholeheartedly. Intently think about your life and your path and seek to stay on the way that leads to life, but it is the same path that so few find.
• Store up the Bible in your heart, not just your mind. Merely storing and reciting words from the Bible will do nothing for you if they do not affect your heart and find their way deep into your soul. Let the words of God be as scalpels and surgical tools that are cutting away sin from a failing heart. Open your self to divine surgery.

Blog Post #475,819,4572 on Ergun Caner

According to my very scientific and very methodological...methods, I estimate this to be the bajillionth post in the Christian blogosphere on none other than Ergun Caner.

(Photo Source)

For those of you out of the know about what in the world this post is about and who Ergun Caner is and why I am writing something about him, I direct you here and here. I recommend you check out both those links before getting too riled up.

Ok, onto the meat of this post. Today I read this post by Tom Chantry and decided to comment on a few things. (Oh and if you want a superb address on the deep significance of the Caner controversy - albeit slightly lengthy for the ADD generation of the information age - check Tom Chantry's thoughts out starting here.)

Now that you, the reader, is hopefully caught up on the entire shenanigans surrounding Ergun and the Christian bloggernauts, let me offer a quote from the above article (this post...too many links, I know) and then a brief word.

"First, the Caner scandal is no surprise. It has happened before, it was bound to happen again, and it will happen repeatedly until we reform the practice of preaching, stop talking so much about ourselves, chain ourselves to the text of Scripture, and pour out the pure milk of the Word week after week."

I have been riding a train of thought that has been traveling the tracks of this pithy thought for a while now it seems. If you are reading this and you know me, you probably know that I choose my words very carefully when I am speaking in any manner that is not merely joking around or having mindless fun. Perhaps it is this characteristic(?) of mine that lends me to think along the lines of Mr. Chantry.

Personally, I have heard Ergun Caner preach once in person, at the church (Northside) my mother, father, and sister attend. I believe he has preached at Northside two or three times. If I could summarize his times of preaching at Northside, I would say this: comedy show/recent events cultural commentary for around 15 minutes full of uproarious laughter, mention of a Scripture text, and then exposition of the text with personal stories, jokes, and edgy racial terms mixed in (with some jabs at Calvinism). Might I note: By hearing maybe 2 hours total of Caner preach, I cannot offer a comprehensive picture of his preaching, only a brief synopsis that my ears have collected.

In general, I will agree with Tom with the call to "reform the practice of preaching". I have had the chance to preach once and I summarize my thoughts as thus: take a text, explain it, apply it, and pray that God would move the affections of the congregation towards God and his truth. To be a little emotional, I cannot stand when professing preachers take the pulpit and give jokes, personal stories worthy of hearty "amens", and a constant barrage of cliche challenges and Christianese lingo.

If the word of God...

• is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true ( Psalm 19:7-9 )
• revives the soul, gives wisdom, makes us rejoice, enlightens the eyes, endures forever ( Psalm 19:7-9 )
• warns us and gives us great reward ( Psalm 19:11 )
• is more precious than gold and sweeter than honey ( Psalm 19:10 )

...why should preachers not give every ounce of energy they put into sermon preparation towards the mass and rich spreading of the benefits of the Word of God? (Oh, and by the way if you want a gazillion more reasons why the Bible is extremely powerful, check out the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119 .)

Therefore, all who call them selves preachers and moreover all those who speak in the name of Christ, these should devote their energies to the exposition and application of the Word to their audience in all facets of life.

psalm 26

Here are a few thoughts I had concerning my nightly reading for today in Psalm 26.
Our vindication comes to us from God due to the Lord's steadfast love. The Lord is faithful, we just need to realize his faithfulness and walk in it. How often do we succumb to the heresy that teaches us when we have more faith in God, we will reap more benefits? I speak mainly of the people who teach such in connection with physical healings and such. "If you only had greater faith in the Lord, he would heal you." Teachings of that manner are detrimental to our understanding and thoughts. Did not Christ say that if you had faith like a mustard seed (just an FYI, a mustard seed is really, really small) you could move mountains and command trees to be planted in the sea? Christ obliterates our requests for more faith by showing what we are to have faith in, namely, the power of God. Small faith in a big thing (God's power) glorifies God as being powerful and faithful, not ourselves. Small faith in God brings marvelous things.
Got a little sidetracked...back to Psalm 26. John Calvin comments on this passage:

"the prophet declares in what manner he pursued his course in the midst of such powerful temptations, telling us that it was by setting the goodness of God, which so carefully preserves his servants, before his eyes, lest, declining to evil practices, he might deprive himself of his protection; and by confiding in his faithfulness, he possessed his soul in patience, firmly persuaded that God would never forsake his faithful people who trusted in him. And certainly, had he not relied upon the goodness of God, he could not have so constantly prosecuted the path of integrity amidst such numerous and such severe assaults."

Confide in faithfulness. If God's goodness is not pursued, considered, and relied upon, one cannot hope to persevere through temptations and assaults.

It is one thing to say "renounce ungodliness". It is a complete saying to say "renounce ungodliness by seeing the treasure in Christ and trusting in His faithfulness towards you."