Well today I discovered that I can get the Laridian Bible reading software (now called Pocket Bible) for my Ipod Touch for free – and what is more all my existing purchases can be effortlessly ported to the new platform at no extra cost. In my experience this very rarely happens in the software industry and so I am highly appreciative of Laridian‘s policy.

I have yet to play with the software at any length on the Ipod so am currently unable to comment on its usability. But I may post a more detailed review as time permits.

In the meantime, if you’ve used them before and have new hardware, definitely worth checking out Laridian Electronic Publishing.

And probably worth a look even if you haven’t…

The fact is, God is not too concerned whether we are happy or not. But he is very concerned over whether we are holy. We can be happy and on our way to hell. But if we are holy, it is only because the Holy One is at home in his temple, our hearts. So we ought to take a long look at adversity and ask what Jesus the Branch means to burn out of us so that he can take us into his tabernacle, where he abides with the Father.

We should also recognize that comfort, pleasure, and security are all by-products, not ends in themselves. If we make those things primary, we will become idolaters, and we will lose those things even as we seize them. But if we make God’s presence and his character primary, then comfort, pleasure and security will fall on us all unaware. But they will be when and where God chooses, and that will be enough becayse because we know he is all we need and that all those other things may come and go as they will. We can live that way because we know that he has no desire to deprive us but seeks, even in the fire, to do us good.”

(from Oswalt, Isaiah NIVAC, 108 – context Isaiah 4:2-6)

Or as Jesus put it, rather more succinctly:

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Now why do we find that so difficult to live out?

Well, the Bible does use the language of blessing to speak of what we do to us – even if some of the translations obscure this sometimes (e.g. NIV Psalm 134v2 – same verb here and in v3 but NIV uses ‘praise’ in v 2 and ‘bless’ in v3 cf. ESV).

Here’s a helpful excerpt from Journey (see previous post), 146-7:

What, then, does the expression ‘’May the Lord bless you’ (verse 3) mean? It is a request for the Lord to look on us, discern our needs and meet them, that is to say to review us and to respond. Likewise, when we bless the Lord, we – say it reverently – review him and respond. He reviews our needs; we review his revealed excellencies. ‘To bless God’, says F. D. Kidner, ‘is to acknowledge gratefully what he is’. Blessing us, he would make us, by his sufficiency, what we are not; in blessing him, we bow low and acknowledge and revere what he is. To bless the Lord, therefore, is to call to mind the glorious things that he has revealed about himself, as well as the glorious things he has done, and to bring ourselves low, to kneel, in worship and adoration. This is the climax of pilgrimage.”

Amen. Go, ye, and do likewise!

I have been using this in my devotional time for the last week or so and it is a gem of a book. Motyer walks you through the Psalms of Ascent and combines a scholar’s eye for detail with an artist’s creative use of language. Motyer is a brilliant communicator and the whole thing oozes the warm faith of its author.

I love spending time in the Psalms, and just like his earlier volume Treasures of the King on Psalms from the life of David, this is a wonderful companion to help you savour their nourishment.

I recently had the privilege of attending a day on prayer run by Paul Miller and his team. It was a hugely encouraging and liberating day – great to know that I’m not the only one who struggles with prayer, and wonderful to have some helpful theological reminders and practical tips on how to pray.

Perhaps most helpful was the insight that the gospel affects prayer too. We don’t come to Jesus as people that have everything sorted, but as the weary and heavy-laden seeking rest, as the broken and sinful needing cleansing and redemption. So why should we expect our prayers to be perfect? The day was a wonderful reminder about the way we can approach God as His children – with messy and imperfect requests – and a loving Father who delights to give good gifts to His children.

And Paul has written a book which largely covers the same ground as the day seminar – called A Praying Life. I can’t recommend it enough!

This week I’m preparing a sermon all about ‘Why Christians Sing’ and have been considering the whole area of the ‘worship’ life of churches (and yes – I know that ‘worship’ is an all of life thing and not just about singing, but it is a helpful label here!). An outstandingly good book on the whole area of ‘Worship’ is called Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin.

Full of good theology and practical advice from someone with oodles of experience in this area. Well worth a look if you are involved in leading worship in church in any way – as a musician, pastor, service-leader etc.

Here are a few observations.

There is, at one level, something right about people’s expectations. Because Jesus expects much from those to whom much has been given (Luke 12:48). And Paul encourages undershepherds to watch our life and doctrine closely (1 Tim 4:16).

But on another level, these expectations place an impossible burden on a pastor. Because, like any member of the congregation, he is a sinful human being who though forgiven still struggles with sin.

As I reflected on this truth I realised that something similar can be going on in churches all the time. Though, as individuals, we are conscious of our own sinfulness (and our total reliance on God’s grace) we look around us and assume everyone else has got it sorted. It is as if I need grace but I assume YOU don’t. And that kind of false assumption is what stifles openness – as we’re terrified of sharing struggles that we assume no one else faces.

Another peculiar irony of this phenomenon is that it can lead to judgementalistm. So if I look at you and you present as if you’ve got it all sorted, then it is easy for me to become critical of the things which you obviously haven’t got sorted! When in fact we’re all in the same boat, none of us have it sorted, and we’re all utterly dependent on grace.

And all this is why we need to keep coming back to grace, revelling in it, and seeking to live out its implications in our interactions with one another. That is one of the reasons we have just started a series all about grace. You can hear the first in the series here. And you might find some further mulling on the above in the sermon on Sunday evening…

In other words, to say that I have got that area of sin in my life ‘under control’ isn’t the same as acknowledging in your heart that it is wrong and saying sorry to God for it and turning away from that particular pattern of behaviour or thought.

This is an incredibly helpful reminder. The deceitfulness of our hearts means that the longer we have struggled with a particular sin, the more likely we are just to have ‘accepted’ it. It has become familiar, normal. We are no longer horrified by it. And if our hearts will not own it for what it is, then true repentance is impossible.

Recently I was reading Psalm 32 and found a wonderful parallel to this thought. The first 4 verses speak of the blessing of forgiveness compared to the burden of unconfessed sin. Verse 5, the moment of confession and the wonderful response of forgiveness. 6-7 are an encouragement to others to follow the same path – to acknowledge their sins and discover the deliverance and protection that comes from the LORD.

But it was verses 8-9 that I found most helpful. Having repented of sin, then the LORD teaches us the right path to follow. Not to ‘manage’ the sin but to leave it behind. The challenge for me comes in verse 9. Are we going to willingly follow the new path the LORD is teaching, or will we need to be cajoled and dragged into obedience like the horse or mule which has no understanding?

Managing behaviour is not the same as repentant change. We will only willingly follow when our hearts have been truly changed. When our desires are no longer for the things of this world but we are satisfied only in God. Pray that more and more this would be true of each one of us.

A resource I have found extremely helpful is Don Carson’s For the Love of God. This is based on the McCheyne reading scheme and so gets you once through the Old Testament and twice through the New Testament in a year. I recently discovered that it is ‘blogged’ so that you can access the resource electronically on your clever i-this or electronic-that. So why not get yourself over to http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/loveofgod/ or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Or if prefer the feel of paper beneath your fingers, the book is still available:

(there is a second volume but this seems easier to find in the Kindle edition…)