Christian Hedonist

Chris⋅tian

–noun

7.	a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.

8.	a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ: He died like a true Christian.

he⋅don⋅ist

- noun

1.	a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.

These two themes seem to be incompatible. But as John Piper points out in Desiring God, it is "The Chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

My thoughts on this: (just the first chapter!)

1. It's hard to wrap my mind around. I tend to think of the pursuit of pleasure as adherently evil. As Piper points out, "I had a vague, pervasive notion that if I did something good because it would make me happy, I would ruin it's goodness."

2. If we come to the conclusion that the pursuit of pleasure is intertwined within our human nature, then we can understand why it would make sense that the God who created us with this desire would also offer the remedy to the abyss within us; Himself.

3. We praise what we love, and we enjoy pleasing those whom we love. It is comparable to marriage in that, when I seek the pleasure of my spouse, I myself am delighted in their pleasure.

Perspective

We tend to think that the universe revolves around the souls of men, where God and Satan are in a cosmic battle to win the souls of men, being the ultimate prize to be won. But rather, the universe revolves around the Almighty God, it's primary purpose to bring Him glory.

We tend to think that God and Satan are arch-enemies, equal in power and strength. But rather, Satan is a created being, subject to God and His command.

We tend to think that Jesus died on the cross to save us ("win us") because He loves us and wanted to defeat Satan. But rather, Christ died on the cross primarily to absorb the wrath of God.

We tend to think that we have control over our lives, that we are free to choose what we will do from one day to the next, that the outcome of our lives depend on us. But rather, God is soverign. His hands direct our lives, and only by His mercy we live one day to the next.

We tend to think that our faith saves us, that if we can believe enough in Jesus that we will escape hell. But rather, Christ's work on the cross was finished, it is only He who inspires true saving faith, only He works in us to will and to do the things that please Him.

We tend to think that humanity is good at it's core being, that every person has some good in him. But rather, we are all born into a sinful nature, that makes us wicked in all we do, with the ultimate result that, apart from Christ, we are enemies of God.

We tend to think that God's character only portrays love, mercy, and kindness. But rather, we forget that He is the Almighty, who demands that we reverence and fear Him. The One who has poured out His wrath upon the nations and takes pleasure in His glory. The One who has the power to destroy both body and soul.

We are arrogant in our thinking. We are completely centered upon ourselves. Humanity wants to believe that we are little gods, that the Almighty God is so captivated with us that we have control. Our perspective is skewed. We can call ourselves Christians but still believe in a man-centered religion.

Who are we compared to the Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God? Who are we to question Him? Who are we to demand from Him? Who are we to say what is just? Are we more intelligent than He? Shall we serve a God who is limited in power and might?

We need to see the One True God. We need to allow His truth to penetrate our hearts. We need to be passionate about His glory. We need to be centered upon Christ. We need Him.

We need a new perspective.

The World Around Us Disappears

After reading Jonathan Edward's "Sinners in the hands of an angry God," and some of Clint's recent posts, I have been contemplating the condition of those who surround me everyday. I have become numb to the piercing truth that many people I know and love are inevitably bound for hell. Just writing that makes my heart cringe. The knowledge of this epidemic should give me an urgency to declare the true gospel, that they should repent and trust in Jesus or their sins will surely be paid for by an eternity in hell.

Although, all too often I find myself "encouraging" and "appeasing" those around me. I make them feel like their condition is acceptable, like convincing them they are not sick when I have the antedote to their ailment. I would like to think that I am gently bringing truth by example, but in all honesty, I am a self-centered coward.

I care more about what those people think of me than their disgusting eternal condition. I would rather be "nice" and tell people things like "Jesus loves you," in the guise of compassion, than to have the truest kind of love and compassion of communicating their rotting condition of sin and the cure of Jesus Christ. I would rather rationalize my lack of concern by saying that "God will draw them to the truth," but denying His use of me as His vessel of truth. It has been said of me that I am the queen of excuses, and in this regard, I cannot deny the stark truth that statement brings. My own actions condemning me before The Judge.

I am selfish. I am afraid. I love my own life too much to truly love those around me. I enjoy my comfortable christian bubble while the world around us disappears.

A Complicated Thought Pattern

A popular subject in my life recently has been Todd Bentley and the revival in Florida. Although I must admit that I have not personally encountered or studied this topic, I have engaged in many a debate surrounding these subjects.

From what I know, The Lord spoke to him in a vision saying, worship the healing angel, Emma. Many miraculous signs and wonders have surrounded his ministry. He is engaged in the charismatic supernatural gifts. He has called down angels by the inclination of the Holy Spirit.

I see many problems with this "revival."

God says in His word:
"Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through it's joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God." -Colossians 2:18, 19

"But even if we or an angel from Heaven preach a gospel to you beside what we preached to you, let him be accursed." -Galatians 1:8

"For such ones are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Did not even Satan marvelously transform himself into an angel of light?"
-2 Cor 11:13-14

God never goes against His word. Anything that is of Him and from Him will be congruent with His Word. Clearly, He says that angel worship is not acceptable.

He also says:
"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will give miraculous signs and wonders in order to seduce, if possible, even the elect." -Mark 13:22

The purpose of signs and wonders is to confirm the Word of the gospel, that people might believe in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:20, 2 Thesselonians ch 2). The purpose is not for our own selfish gain, but for the glory of Christ. The Holy Spirit always points to Christ.

The most important thing:
His Word.

God values His Word, even above His name. Which significance we cannot fully understand. In our American culture, we flagrantly use the name of God to our pleasing, but we cannot understand the sanctity of His name, that the Jews (who God entrusted with His name) would not even say His name for fear of using it in vain. His name is highly exalted. When He made a covenant with Abraham, He could swear by no one greater, so He swore by His own name. His name is the name above every name. It is significant to note that He magnifies His Word even above His name.

The Word is God's heart. It is his special revelation to us. Everything we need (for life and godliness) is found therein. The Word is our foundation. Jesus is the Word become flesh (as Jesus is our rock and our foundation). The Word always reveals Jesus. It always inspires us into a deeper relationship with Him.

"I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth's sake; for You have magnified Your Word above all Your name." -Psalm 138:2

"And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God." -Revelation 19:13

" For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself (His own name), " Hebrews 6:13

The bottom line is this: anything that goes against God's word, even a little, is not of Him, no matter how appealing it seems, no matter how many people have experiences that feel like they are from God, no matter how many signs and wonders, no matter how convincing.
If it goes against God's Word, throw it out.

A Simply Touching Story

"Many years ago, while watching TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a Church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years.He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the Church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait,to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind, he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak.

'When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50 or so years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me...... the only thing that would comfort was this verse.....
'Jesus loves me this I know.For the Bible tells me so.Little ones to him belong,We are weak but he is strong.....Yes, Jesus loves me...The Bible tells me so.'
When he finished, the church was quiet. You actually could hear his footsteps as he shuffled back to his chair. "


We often forget the simple truth. We like to make things complicated. We like to dance around conversations that are too great for us to understand, yet the simple truth remains...
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." If we could just grasp that simple truth and live to love Him back, then maybe our lives would be much more productive for His glory and much less complicated and filled of our own.

Everything is Changing

"I’m trying to follow,
I’m trying my best to do what you said...
But what about tomorrow?
Are you sure I’m not in over my head...

Everything is changing all around me.
Is this the ending of a dream?
I thought I was doing what you wanted...
It isn’t as easy as it seems.

I’m losing my vision.
I’m fighting the doubting with all that I am...
It’s been awhile since you last gave me something...
To go on,
Tell me it’s not the end...

It seemed like I did everything right,
Now I see that it’s all wrong.
Do you want me to move on?
Can you tell me...
where do I belong?"

Learning to Trust

" Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain my ways before Him." Job 13:15

"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who put their trust in Him." Ps. 2:12

The reality of how I feel the sooner, yet the truth I know is the latter. The gap between truth and reality has to be filled with trust in God.

Remembering When...

Sometimes the easiest way to find yourself (or rather, finding yourself in God) is to go back to the basics. Remembering where God has brought me from, the journey along the way, and the very special present moment.

I've been contemplating these things. How easy it is to forget the things that are important in life, namely The Source that makes it all worth it. I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for something special, something grand and wonderful to take place, only to be faced with disappointment. But what I didn't realize was that the miracle has been here all along. The miracle I find in life is the beauty of the cross...everything fades in comparison.

My salvation experience reaches far beyond anything that I can comprehend. I was radically saved from certain hell by a God who is too holy and wonderful for me to understand. How easily I forget. Nothing compares to the beauty of the cross of Christ.

Along the way, He began a work in me, which is not yet complete, but someday shall surely be. Such strong convictions I had, or so I thought. I pride myself in knowing that I dedicated two years of my life wholly to God, and waited another two to court my future husband, but was my heart really any different...

A wise man once said, "Stop praying for a man and start praying for God to prepare you for a REAL man of God. The most unattractive thing to a man of God (I know some men of God) is a woman who is actively searching for a potential husband. It is so easy to sense. It actually shows two things: First, it shows that you don't trust God, that He is going to provide a wonderful husband for you in His timing. Second, it shows that you don't see yourself as worth being pursued. Devote yourself to One Man: Christ. "

I once thought my heart was wholly in this place. Yet, "the heart is deceitful above all else..." I am finding things in my heart that I thought were long dead and gone. But it seems that the condition of the heart always finds a way to reveal it's true nature. Sin abides therein. Dormant for a time, yet not completely gone. "I do what I will not to do," and in the process I hurt those I love very dearly.

Contemplating the cure...I talk alot about things I actually do not know of or have come to a full understanding of. The sovereignty of God, living the gospel, predestination, Calvinism/reformed theology. Truth is still truth, but only life-giving and inspires freedom when lived and applied. "I do not concern myself with matters too great for me to understand." A.W. Tozer said, "Important as it is that we recognize God working in us, I would warn against a too-great preoccupation with the thought. God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, pre-destination, and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, 'O Lord, Thou knowest.' Those things belong to the deep and mysterious profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints."

Knowledge is not enough, it starts in God's working in the heart. "One should suppose that proper instruction in the doctrines of man's depravity and the necessity for justification through the righteousness of Christ alone would deliver us from the power of the self-sins, but it does not work that way...There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do it's deadly work within us."(A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

In the present condition of the disease of self I carry, I must look back to go forward. As when I was first saved from the wrath of God, I must return again to the cross (and continue for life)."To the cross you beckon me, draw me gently to my knees..."

"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified...."