All new posts at Posterous

All new posts at brianfrahm.posterous.com. This site will redirect you automatically.

Are we idolaters?

Dr. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Fellowship in Manhattan, has authored a new book entitled "Counterfeit Gods" that will be released around October 20th.  I have grown to really appreciate his ministry with his great book "Prodigal God" as well as through his "Preaching Christ in a Post-Modern World" seminary course (available online at the Gospel Coalition).

This new book will really challenge us in the current economic environment to take a look at what are the "ultimate things" in our lives.  We might be blessed with just a few "good things" in our lives, or perhaps many - it is when these things become ultimate that we fall into idolatry.  I am looking forward to the book, may want to use it for a future topical study in a Community Group at Second Mile Church.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

I think this is one of the ways we embody going the "Second Mile"

I echo his title in my own life...

I Have Not Always Obeyed This Command

via Desiring God Blog on 9/28/09

(Author: Jon Bloom)

"Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you" (Matthew 5:42).

I confess, I have not always obeyed this command.

I'm a veteran urban-dweller. Having lived in an inner city neighborhood for 18 years, I've encountered many beggers and borrowers. Some I discerned as cons I have called out or waved off. Some I have hired to do work. Others I've given to because I felt the conviction of this text.

I've thought a lot about this command of Jesus over the years. I've discussed it with many. I think I know all the major reasons why not to give when someone asks. You don't want to encourage deception. You don't want to feed a chemical addiction. You don't want to contribute to someone's cycle of poverty. And there are many others.

But still this text unnerves and convicts me.

The reason is that Jesus doesn't give this command in the context of addressing how I can best facilitate transformation in someone else. He is telling me how I should respond to those who are making demands on me, either from explicitly evil motives or just plain out of their difficult situation. He is telling me how I ought to respond even when being taken advantage of.

• Do not resist the evil person, he says. Let him slap you twice. (v. 39)
• Give him more than he is suing you for. (v. 40)
• Do more than he is forcing you to do. (v. 41)
• Give to those who ask. (v. 42)
• Love your enemy. (v. 44)

Jesus is telling me to actively show kindness and radical generosity toward those who hate me or who are seeking to take advantage of me.

Really, Jesus? Isn't that rewarding sinful, or at least unhealthy, behavior?

Of course, I can think of Biblical examples that illustrate when it seems right to resist or flee an evil person in situations of theft, deception, abuse, persecution, war, etc. So when the Word speaks, I must listen carefully, and I must weigh all of his words.

But from the words Jesus speaks here, I think it applies more often and more broadly than I want it to. He does not let me off the hook easily. He tests my heart with such radical love. And in my heart I see my selfish, unloving impulses that do not want to part with my money, possessions, time, or convenience for needy or evil people. And I have a ready arsenal of noble-sounding rationales that conceal my sin, almost from myself.

What Jesus is calling me to is gospel love. It's the love that drove him to die for me with when I was still a weak, ungodly, sinful enemy of his (Romans 5:6-10). There is something about such over-the-top, radically generous love that is so different from the way the world loves that it reflects the Father's love for sinners. It's why Jesus calls us also to costly love. It is both an expression and picture of the gospel.

Pray for me. I have an opportunity in my life right now to obey this command, which is why I'm wrestling with this text again. Pray that I will love the way I have been loved.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

Proverbs 20:6

Need reminders like this daily. Maybe hourly.

Proverbs 20:6

via Christ is deeper still by Ray Ortlund on 9/28/09

"Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?" Proverbs 20:6, NLT

A spirit of self-assurance is a gospel-denying, self-deceiving, friendship-destroying mentality. It is natural to say to ourselves, "I'm doing my part. They should be grateful." It is supernatural to say to ourselves, "I place myself under the judgment of the Word of God. I humble myself. Even if the other person is wrong, that gives me no right to assert myself. No matter what the other person does, no matter how much I am misunderstood and misjudged, I will remain in the fear of the Lord, I will entrust myself to God." True friendship thrives when, before God, each one is more aware of his debts than his rights.

If God has given you reliable friends, and surely he has, hold them close to your heart. Each one is a rare treasure.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

Brian Frahm is forwarding an email to you

Hi post@brianfrahm.posterous.com,

Brian Frahm thought you'd be interested in this:

http://us1.forward-to-friend.com/forward/show?u=547212b288bdf82781625015c&id=18e1308baa

Brian Frahm also included this personal message to you:

Good devotional on evangelism and authenticity

--------------------------------------------------

Did you find the link interesting?

You can forward it on to your friends, too:
http://us1.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=547212b288bdf82781625015c&id=18e1308baa

You can subscribe for more emails at:
http://walkintheword.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=547212b288bdf82781625015c&id=513e3cdc91

* Note: if any of the URLs above are not clickable, you can copy-paste them into your web browser.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

Centeredness

Where is your life centered? Stephen Wittmer's post talks on being cross-centered, even when we are in heaven some day.

We never get past the gospel

via PCF Church - Pastor's Blog by Stephen Witmer on 9/15/09

I said in Sunday’s sermon that the gospel is about our future (Colossians 1.3-5) and therefore it matters for us on an ongoing basis. The gospel is not something we ever grow past or get beyond. It is like water (which we drink daily) rather than an instruction booklet (which we discard once we’ve set up the bookshelf or bed or desk or whatever).

One proof that we never get beyond the gospel is the cross-centeredness of heaven. Here’s a great quote from Jim Elliff: “One is taken aback by the emphasis upon the Cross in Revelation. Heaven does not ‘get over’ the cross, as if there are better things to think about; heaven is not only Christ-centered, but cross-centered, and quite blaring about it.”

Here’s an even greater quote from the Apostle John: ‘And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth”’ (Revelation 5.6-10).

We’ll never get beyond the cross. We’ll never move past the gospel.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

The Demeanor of Humility vs Actual Humility

Ouch. My humility is fake much of the time I am afraid.

The Demeanor of Humility vs Actual Humility

via Justin Taylor by Justin Taylor on 9/22/09

Ken Sande:

Many leaders conceal a proud attitude under a demeanor of humility, which is not the same as actual humility. One of the many evidences of actual humility is the inclination to “consider others better than yourself,” which results in valuing their thoughts and interests as highly as your own (Phil. 2:3-4). A closely related evidence of humility is to sincerely welcome critique and correction, no matter who brings the “observation” (Prov. 13:10, 17:10). Therefore, wise leaders regularly meditate and pray about the “pride and humility” passages in Scripture (see Prov. 11:2, 19:20; Isa. 66:3; 1 Pet. 5:5-6), asking God to help them put off self-confidence, pride, and every hint of arrogance, and to put on a humility that genuinely welcomes questions, suggestions, criticism, and anything else that might aid us in the process of presenting ourselves before God as empty vessels, so that we might be utterly dependent on and fulfilled in him, which is the essence of true humility.

From Approachability: The Passport to Real Ministry and Leadership.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

Kept by the power of God

I really appreciate Ray Ortlund's posts. The line "original sin means our wills are unfree" was especially thought provoking today.

Kept by the power of God

via Christ is deeper still by Ray Ortlund on 9/26/09

"If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah." Isaiah 1:9

Did you notice how God intervened this week? The Church of Jesus Christ did not go completely apostate. The Gospel Coalition did not disown its Confessional Statement. Acts 29 did not repudiate church planting. Together For The Gospel did not fragment in mutual recriminations. Sovereign Grace Ministries did not deny the new birth. And I did not walk away from Jesus.

We all sinned this week, and a lot. No surprise there. After all, original sin means our wills are unfree. But we held fast to Jesus our Savior, and for a whole week.

Truly, the age of miracles is not over.

Posted via email from brianfrahm's posterous

Faithful

"Just be faithful. Moses was faithful. Anyone want his job description? He had to hang out with an unfaithful people for 40 years in the desert, just waiting for them to die so God could allow the next generation into the Promised Land. Moses was faithful, but it wasn't glamorous. He got to see the Promised Land, but didn't get to enter. Yet, he was faithful.

Just be faithful today, and then the next day, and then the next day, and then the next day. So quit looking around to everyone else around you and run the race that God has given YOU." - Matt Chandler

Affections

...two questions.

What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ?

And what robs you of those affections?

Many of the things that stifle growth are morally neutral. They're not bad things. Facebook is not bad. Television and movies are not bad. I enjoy TV, but it doesn't take long for me to begin to find humorous on TV what the Lord finds heartbreaking.
The same goes for following sports. It's not wrong, but if I start watching sports, I begin to care too much. I get stupid. If 19-year-old boys are ruining your day because of what they do with a ball, that's a problem. These things rob my affections for Christ. I want to fill my life with things that stir my affections for him. . . .


We want our people to think beyond simply what's right and wrong. We want them to fill their lives with things that stir their affections for Jesus Christ and, as best as they can, to walk away from things that rob those affections—even when they're not immoral.

Source here

Pursuit

Haven't posted in a while... most of the good stuff I read is shared off to the right in my Google Reader shared page. Couldn't pass this one up though...

Pursuing God by R.C. Sproul

Albert Einstein was once asked by a student, "Dr. Einstein, how many feet are there in a mile?" To the utter astonishment of the student, Einstein replied, "I don't know."

The student was sure the great professor was joking. Surely Einstein would know a simple fact that every schoolchild is required to memorize. But Einstein wasn't joking. When the student pressed for an explanation of this gap in Einstein's knowledge, he declared, "I make it a rule not to clutter my mind with simple information that I can find in a book in five minutes." Einstein was not interested in trivial data. His passion was to explore the deep things of the universe. His passion for mathematical and physical truth made him a pivotal fixture in modern world history.

We are called to similar passion, a passion to know God. A thirst for the knowledge of God should drive us to drink deeply at the fountain of Scripture. We are equipped with more than enough unholy passions. Our appetite for lesser things at times threatens to consume us. Yet few of us are in danger of being consumed by a passion for God. The Scripture says of Jesus that zeal for His Father's house consumed Him. In His humanity, Jesus was a man of passion. He was neither hostile nor indifferent toward the knowledge of His Father. He was a man driven in His pursuit of God.

Coram Deo: Are you driven by an undying passion in your pursuit for God? If not, ask Him to rekindle your desire.

Psalm 42:2: "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"

Psalm 143:6: "I spread out my hands to You; my soul longs for You like a thirsty land."

Isaiah 55:1: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, buy wine and milk without money and without price."