Author: Jonathan Dodson

The President's Speech

Posted on September 10, 2009

DGM highlighted some great points from Obama’s recent speech to children. In general, Obama emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for your future. He promotes a high work ethic, discipline, and passion in order to become the kind of citizens that make America a better country. Awesome.

Let’s raise responsible citizens. Teach them the value of working with the world and for the world, with city and for the city, but not so that we can be successful. Instead raise good citizens so that Jesus can be shown to be successful, great, and worthy of his awesome title “Lord.” As the Wordle of Obama’s speech shows, “country” and “America” were prominent in his address. Rightly so. He is the president of the United States of America.

H0wever, let’s be careful not to make country first and keep Christ first. Let’s pledge allegiance to Jesus. Let’s be good students and citizens not ultimately for our country but ultimately for Christ. Let’s put Christ first and country second. If we do, we will bless our country more than we could think or imagine. Let’s heed Obama’s voice, rely on God’s strength, bless our country, and demonstrate that Jesus is Lord!

  • I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
  • I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
  • But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.
  • Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
  • And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
  • Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class.
  • Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
  • I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
  • But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

Read the whole speech.

Wordle: obama speech to students

Middle Road Repentance

Posted on September 7, 2009

On Sunday we discussed the idea of Repentance. All too often, our notions of repentance too expensive or too cheap. Some of us view repentance as an self-reliant effort to reach deep down into our own spiritual pockets to pay God for our forgiveness. Others of us view repentance as a superficial performance. We slip into the confessional booth, say our sins, slip out, and we are good. Then we keep on sinning. The self-reliant approach is too expensive. The superficial approach is too cheap. What we need is middle-of-the-road repentance.

Middle-of-the-road repentance avoids the dangers of legalistic and loose repentance, while possessing promise for real change. It’s comprised of three elements: Confession, Mortification, and Faith. These three elements aren’t three steps to be followed in sequence, though very often they fall that way. Rather, they are three elements necessary for gospel-centered repentance. Perhaps these rough explanations will be helpful:

Confession of Sin

In order to confess our sin, we have to know our sin. If we’re not looking for it, then we don’t know it, and we cant confess it. How do we know it? Ask the question: “What do I want most?” If it’s not Jesus, then you’ve found your sin(s). Why should we confess? Sin festers, burrows deep down into our souls and we become worse because of it. When we hide sin, we become trapped by it. It corners us in the dark. Confession allows us to bring it out into the light, expose it, to escape its clutches. Confession breaks the power of private sin.

Mortification of Sin

Once we drag sin out into the light, how in the world do we beat it? Fighting sin is a lifelong calling. Sin doesn’t give up easily. It’s set against us. It wants to steal our joy, to kill us. We must take up arms against it. As John Owen said, we must “Be killing sin lest it be killing you.” We fight it. Kill it. Mortify it, but how?  In order to fight sin, we have to understand what makes it tick, what gives it life. We have to figure out where it gets its strength, its power. If we are going to mortify, we have to move beyond the superficial performances of the confessional booth, and into the depths of our hearts, where sin sinks its roots. You might say we need to get to the sin beneath our sin, to its root. In order to get underneath our sin, we have to ask the question “Why?” Why do I choose pride over humility, lust over love, gossip over encouragement, envy over empathy? Why do we sin? Well, fundamentally it’s because believe something about sin. That it is more compelling, more attractive, more satisfying, more trustworthy than Jesus. Underneath every sin there is an idol. It’s down there, fueling our sin, giving it power over us. How? It lies to us. How do we uncover it? Mortify it? Here’s how. Expose its lies. Just ask the question: “What lie am I believing when I do X?

Faith in the Truth

After we’ve figured out the lie, how do we turn the corner in conquering sin? How do we defeat those cyclical sins? Well, whenever we turn from something, we also turn to something . The question is what are we turning to? Another lie or a truth? The first two elements of repentance—Confession and Mortification—are a turning from sin, but complete repentance also includes a turning to. We turn from faith in our idols to faith in God, from lies and turn to truths. This is repentance, a constant turning away from sin and turning to Christ. Repentance is an act of faith. Faith in what? Faith in God’s promises. Owen: “Set faith on work on these promises of God…it is not easily conceived what a train of graces is attended withal, when it goes forth to meet Christ in the promises…” (Mortification, 126). Set faith on these promises because when we go out to meet Jesus he brings a “train of graces” to us that woo us from the deceitful promises of sin into his all-satisfying arms. See, ultimately repentance is about trusting Jesus. It’s about grace. It’s about believing the truths of the gospel, not the lies of idols. How can we get in on this train of graces? Trust Christ. Set faith on the promises. Ask yourself the question: “What promises are opposite the lies I believe?”

In You Can Change, Tim Chester helpfully points us to four basic promises. The 4 Gs:

1. God is great – so we don’t have to be in control

2. God is glorious – so we don’t have to fear others

3. God is good – so we don’t have to look elsewhere

4. God is gracious – so we don’t have to prove ourselves

These 4Gs are helpful summaries of God’s various promises, so better yet, find the promises in your Bible that back them up. Find truths to fight lies and start talking back to your idols. Start mortifying your sin! As you do, you’ll find that train of graces that attends God’s promises. You’ll find that God is glorious, good, gracious and great! You’ll find middle-of-the-road repentance.

Helpful Resources on Repentance

Total Church Conference – II

Posted on September 7, 2009

Last year I had the privilege of attending the first North American Total Church, hosted by Kaleo Church with key speakers Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. It was an excellent conference filled with stimulating talks and breakouts adressing the concepts in Chester & Timmis’ book Total Church.

Total Church Conference is back with the theme I Will Build My Church! Mark your calendars for November 17-19 for the TC II, to be held in San Diego again. Here are the speakers…more info to follow

  • Steve Timmis is the co-author of Total Church, cofounder of the Crowded House, a church-planting initiative in Sheffield, UK, and a director of the Porterbrook Network, which trains and mentors church planters. Timmis previously directed Radstock Ministries, a mission agency facilitating the involvement of the local church in world mission.
  • Michael W. Goheen, Geneva Professor of Worldview and Religious Studies at Trinity Western University , co-author of The Drama Of Scripture: Finding Our Place In The Biblical Story, Living at the Crossroads and author of “As the Father Has Sent Me, I Am Sending You”: J.E. Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology.
  • David Fairchild is the co-founder and preaching elder of Kaleo Church in San Diego. He is also the southwest movement leader for Acts 29 network.

HT: Goodmanson