A tale of two Newtons

It was a weird morning when my kids were working on their studies and talking about Sir Isaac Newton. He gets a couple knocks on the head and comes up with three laws of physics. Can you name them? He is perhaps one of the most well known scientists ever. You'll note that as sharp as modern people may say Einstein was, they didn't name any measurements after him (like a Tesla or a Newton).

So naturally, I found Lego stop motion videos and Epic Rap battles of History and felt I now know everything that Newton discovered in a couple minutes.

Since this is my spiritual blog, we should mention that Newton studied the Bible quite a bit. In it, he noted a couple things. First, the end of the world won't happen until at least 2060. See, he was into the chronology of the Bible. I don't know if he was trying to prove the age of the Earth or disprove the end of the world arguments that seem to come out in every generation. The Bible says - no one knows the time of the end of the age except God. Newton was not saying that 2060 was the year - but that he believed he would not be alive on Earth to see it.

Second, on creation, he was quick to point out that there is no way that all of this came together by chance. I don't think that the "Intelligent Design" argument was really required in his day - but we can say he was an early adopter.

Then, the devotional I read started talking about Newton. It said he was dismissed from the Navy for dissent and insubordination, he became a slave trader, a murder, he did indescribable things to women and children. In short - he was a dirty man.

If you are wondering where this all came from, the change was just as weird for me, It was John Newton I was reading about - not Isaac Newton.

So - who is John Newton? Well, it is said that as had a near death experience, called out to God, and he had a conversion experience. He was still a slave trader, but as he recalled the sorrowful negro chants that came up from below decks, he penned a song that is equally as famous as Newton's laws of motion... Amazing Grace.

In the end, Newton and William Wilberforce worked to end slavery through England. He became a priest and lived a life of solitude.

This week, I was reminded of CS Lewis when confronted by his contemporaries about what makes Christianity so unique from other religions. It wasn't the creation story, one God, resurrection from the dead, wars, end times, none of that. He said "Oh, that's an easy question. The answer is GRACE."

Christianity is the only religion where there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more or any less. He extends GRACE and forgiveness. All we have to do is say "Yes."

Testing my will

I'm a talker. Worse than that, I'm a lecturer. Today I read this verse:

Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. - James 1:19

As a result, I'm going to resolve to NOT lecture my children. Instead, I'm going to ask a thoughtful question that enables them to come to the conclusion themselves. Essentially, I'm going to fight to say all I have to say in one minute or less.

I'm NOT going to lecture my soccer team. I'm going to ask the questions that they know the answers to and clarify when they ask questions back.

If I come up with more areas, I'll add them to this list - but these two things seem to frustrate me (and turn me into monster lecture man) more than anything else.

In order to help me with this, I'm going to set an alarm for every 4 hours. That way when the alarm goes off, it will reiterate the commitment in my mind. I'll keep this up until it becomes a habit.

A wise old owl sat in an oak;

The more he saw the less he spoke;

The less he spoke the more he heard;

Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?

- anonymous

Whistle while you work, and listen for his voice

I will whistle for them and gather them, for I will redeem them. —Zechariah 10:8

I read this and was instantly reminded of this video. :)

Misleading voices and distracting noises still compete for our attention (cf. Zech. 10:2). Yet God has ways of signaling us, even without words. By events that can be alarming or encouraging, He reminds us of His guiding, protecting, and reassuring presence. —Mart DeHaan

Lifting directly from CS Lewis

Two thoughts on God

As a great Christian writer (George MacDonald) pointed out, every father is pleased at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. In the same way, he said, “God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.”

I think every one who has some vague belief in God, until he becomes a Christian, has the idea of an exam or of a bargain in his mind. The first result of real Christianity is to blow that idea into bits. When they find it blown into bits, some people think this means that Christianity is a failure and give up. They seem to imagine that God is very simple-minded! In fact, of course, He knows all about this. One of the very things Christianity was designed to do was to blow this idea to bits. God has been waiting for the moment at which you discover that there is no question of earning a pass mark in this exam or putting Him in your debt.

Then comes another discovery. Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. So that when we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like. 

It is like a small child going to his father and saying, “Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present.” Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child’s present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction. When a man has made these two discoveries God can really get to work. It is after this that real life begins.

From Mere Christianity

Reasoning with the unborn

I've often been challenged by the idea of being "born again" or whatever the lingo is. In fact, I am challenged by many of the things in the Bible. I have a hard time reconciling all the issues inside and the apparent contradictions.

But then I think about my time as a pre-natal fetus. If someone had the ability to talk to me in the womb, they would tell me about this great love of a mother on the outside. They would tell me about incredible colors, sites, sounds, textures and things that quite frankly are unimaginable.

"It sounds impossible."  I would reason. "For one, you say I'll taste food with texture. How can that be? I just ingest food. And you say there is somebody that loves me? How can they even know me? I've never seen them."

I could argue that my life is perfect just the way it is. I have all I want.

But in the end, all my reasoning kind of falls flat. I wouldn't want to miss this world for a embryonic existence. Would you?

I believe that when we get to the other side, all our ideas and reasons for thinking God is impossible will disappear. CS Lewis puts it this way:

Heaven will solve our problems, but not, I think, by showing us subtle reconciliations between all our apparently contradictory notions. The notions will all be knocked from under our feet. We shall see that there never was any problem.
Who can tell? But unless we take Pascal's wager, we stand the risk of missing the greatest party of all time.

Unless a seed dies - it remains just a seed. But when it dies, it is transformed into something far more than it ever was before.

Being Childlike, in a good way :)

I'm struck over and over again by how simple life is supposed to be. If we consider the Garden of Eden as the starting place (a leap of faith I will grant you), then you will see we didn't have to work the land for food, and we were able to interact peacefully with nature and God.

Then the fall. And from that moment on, we see strife.

Fast forward to the new testament when Jesus shows up on the scene. Those closest to him start trying to figure out their standing with Jesus in Matthew 18. Jesus replies in action and word:

He [Jesus] called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

It is supposed to be simple. Just believe, help and serve each other the way that we want to be helped and served. God's economy is upside down compared to how I typically view my situation. But what can I do but continue to work on myself? 

You've probably heard about the last supper Jesus ate before he was betrayed by one of these 12 disciples. Many churches call it communion. But at this supper, Jesus takes the position of a lowly servant and washes the feet of his disciples - even the one that betrayed him. 

He wants us to be humble. James 4;10 reminds us to be humble and He will lift us up. 

Excerpts from “If” by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
  But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
  If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
  To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
  Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
  With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
  And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Excerpts from “If” by Rudyard Kipling

Base your life on this

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Test yourself. What is your mindset? Do you begin with God and his rights and goals? Or do you begin with yourself and your rights and wishes?

And when you look at the death of Christ, what happens? Does your joy really come from translating this awesome divine work into a boost for self-esteem? Or are you drawn up out of yourself and filled with wonder and reverence and worship that here in the death of Jesus is the deepest, clearest declaration of the infinite esteem of God for his glory and for his Son?

Here is a great objective foundation for the full assurance of hope: the forgiveness of sins is grounded, finally, not in my finite worth or work, but in the infinite worth of the righteousness of God — God's unswerving allegiance to uphold and vindicate the glory of his name.

I appeal to you with all my heart, take your stand on this. Base your life on this. Ground your hope in this. You will be free from the futile mindset of the world. And you will never fall.

When God's exaltation of God in Christ is your joy, it can never fail.

For more about John Piper's ministry and writing, see DesiringGod.org.

This came in today and I thought it was simply worth the repost.