Confound it!

In keeping with the presumed folly of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God has chosen the so-called foolish ones of the world to confound the wisdom of the wise, the weak to confound the strong, the trivial and contemptible, the things that are not to bring to nothing those that are, in order that it may be manifest that no flesh can glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1.18, 26–29).

Profession & Vocation!

What does a person do if they have no profession? Or, more candidly, what does it mean to be human when someone has no profession?

While studying theology and Christian ministry at Princeton Seminary it dawned on me that I had to make a living. Yet it irritated me to think that preaching the gospel could be considered a profession. I thought that preaching was a calling not a profession. I had consciously chosen to pursue Christ not a career. To put it in Pauline terms, I died to the idea of career and even profession. Admittedly, my knowledge of worldly success was inconsequential and making a living took second fiddle to a deep desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3.10). Trusting that God would supply all my need in Christ Jesus was merely a characteristic of my conversion to the gospel.

I believed then, as I do now, that I am called in the Word of God to glorify and enjoy God. That’s my purpose and my vocation. Within the scope of my calling to be fully dependent on Jesus Christ, any work, including that of any profession, can be seen as working out that calling (vocation) with fear and trembling. In other words, no profession, discipline or employment, as such, defines me. What I do is important only in light of who I am. But who I am is my calling or vocation.

Enjoy, ron

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911 Musing!

Currently I'm preaching through The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. I'm in chapter 9. In this Chapter Paul uses himself as a example for true freedom. According to 9.11 Paul has every right to reap material things from the Corinthian church. After all, they are his work and Paul has sowed spiritual things in them.

Of course, verse 11 falls firmly into the main teaching of 9. Namely, by means of personal example, Paul reinforces the appeal of chap 8, that the stronger believer is to forego his/her rights for the sake of the weaker, even to adopt the stance of the weak if necessary, by drawing attention to his own surrendering of his apostolic rights for the sake of a greater good! In this case, for the sake of the Gospel’s advance!

The major significance is the gospel-first posture of Paul that so ordered and influenced his life - his passion to keep the Gospel free and clear from any hindrances - whatever that might mean for him personally (1 Cor. 2.2). As a result of this gospel-first posture, Paul was more than willing to forego his personal rights, to abandon his apostolic privileges and “become all things to all men” for the sake of the Gospel’s advance.

To put it another way, what is on display in 1 Corinthians 9 is the gospel-driven, sacrificial mindset and lifestyle! This is the lifestyle that was demonstrated by Jesus, modeled by Paul, and whose echo ought to reverberate through the lives of God’s people, wherever they may be found.

enjoy, ron

Word of the Cross!

Note: It's been some time since I posted. Thought I might show a couple paragraphs from today's sermon. I'm currently preaching through 1Corinthains.

In verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul begins by saying: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…" They are perishing precisely because they don’t know themselves to be perishing. They have no idea of their desperate need for salvation. As Paul says of himself in Rom 7, Christ never made any sense to him until he first realized himself a sinner, in bondage to sin, & in desperate need of redemption.

The word of the cross doesn’t belong to the perishing but to those "who are being saved." God has built His kingdom in such a way that the Saved are entrusted with the word of the cross. Plain & simple! The word of the cross stands alone! It alone will cut to the heart of all self centeredness. It alone is central to salvation.

It belongs to the saved but it stands alone! We need not "decorate" the cross with any earthly wisdom or technique so as to make it more acceptable to the perishing. The power of the cross rests in the Word! There’s nothing we can do to make the Gospel more palatable to a hard heart. Only if the Spirit of God goes forth first & makes dead people alive will the word of the cross be effectual. Therefore, we rely on God's good purposes in regeneration, not our oratory skill or technological prowess or worldly wisdom.

Enjoy, Ron