True Beauty

Why do we sin? The Bible tells us it's because we enjoy it, at least on some level. That our hearts are so sick that we gladly turn our back son the fountain of life giving water and drink out of man made cisterns instead. That instead of swimming in the ocean of God's goodness, we'd rather drown in a muddy puddle, sucking dirty water from the ground.

But we don't see sin like that do we? We see sin as attractive, fun, beautiful even. That's why, or one of the reasons at least, that John saw what he saw in Revelation 9. The middle chapters of Revelation are some of the hardest i've ever preached through. Not because of the manifold interpretations of those chapters, but because of the undoubted truth that they proclaim. Whether you see the ghastly locusts and terrifying armies of Revelation 9 as symbolic of the devils activities from day one, or an historical prophesy of actual famine and wars (or, as i'm increasingly beginning to, both) the message is clear. Pull the beautiful mask away from sin, and the truth is as ugly as it gets.

We don't see casual lustful glances as ugly as locusts with lions teeth, but we should. We don't see the materialism that takes money from the offering plate as awful as a deadly sting that doesn't kill, but we should. We don't see the joy we pursue as if this life is all we have like sulphur breathing horses, but we should. And Revelation 9 helps us to.

So is this the key to our sanctification? Just grit our teeth, remember that what looks attractive really isn't, and life our lives in a state of stoic denial? Luckily our maker knows us better than that!

In John 17:26 Jesus prays that the love the Father has for Him might be in us. That is, that we might see Jesus as beautiful, as attractive, as lovely as He really is. This is the key to taking our gaze off the shiny trinkets of the world, this is the way we see sin for what it is, by seeing something better. Next to the blazing midday sun of the love of God in Christ, sin looks like a candle, next to the fullness of joy in the presence of our Lord, sin looks like the loss that it is.

So we pray, we pray for eyes to see the world as it really is. We pray like the bride in the Song, for help to find our beloved as we wander through the city. We open the Bible, and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to us, and make us sick with love by faith in Him, not by sight in the world.

We sin, not because our desires are too strong, but because they are too weak. In the Bible we find a love stronger than death, a love strong enough to satisfy our every desire, forever.

When Preaching Is Hard

Preaching is a funny thing. Sometimes preaching is easy. You feel the wind of the Spirit filling your sails, you know your words are presenting the Word, you have people's attention and you know that the Spirit is doing His work, carrying the Word into hearts, and feeding Christ to your listeners.

Sometimes, on the other hand, preaching just feels like hard work. I don't mean the strange act of standing up and talking in front of people, after a couple of years you get used to that, but i mean the actual preaching. You struggle for ideas, you struggle for flow, you struggle to expose the meaning with your words that you see with your mind. You see people's attention wander, you feel this unique opportunity slipping through your fingers. Maybe there's a long prayed for guest in attendance, and you him check his watch more often than make eye contact.

More often than not, preaching falls somewhere between these two on the spectrum, but what do we do when preaching is hard?

Remember that preaching is God's work not yours
Preaching the Gospel is not the Christian equivalent of teaching maths or geography. It's not a download of information from mouth to brain. It is a Spirit filled work. The Lord promised through Isaiah that His Word would not return to Him void, and so it won't. Sometimes that work is to harden, oftentimes that work is to soften and mold and convict. Sometimes it's our throw away phrases or our off the cuff applications that lodge in people's hearts. Preaching is God's work, not ours. We need to preach and trust that God is doing His work.

Remember that you're preaching God's Word not yours
The Bible is the first hill that orthodoxy dies on. And i'm glad. When we preach we don't go with our ideas, our thoughts or our knowledge. We repeat what has been entrusted to us. Whether we feel like great communicators, or that we may as well be talking in a different language, when the Word goes forth, preaching is done well. Sometimes it is hard work, your illustrations miss the mark, your points don't flow together as well as you thought they would. Things don't sound as good out of your mouth as they did when you typed them. That's ok. It's the Bible people need to hear, not ours.

Remember that God gives the growth not us
Apollos planted, and i watered, but God gave the growth. Amen. The growth of our listeners does not depend on our delivery, or sharpness, or style, it depends on God. Someone once said that preachers overestimate the difference one message can make, but underestimate the difference that long term, faithful preaching can make. Or something like that. Christian growth is incremental, Christian growth is by degree, and God grows, not us. God is doing things in our listeners that we can't even imagine.

We need to remember these things to keep our feet on the ground when we feel like we preach well, and we need to remember them for encouragement when we feel like we preached poorly. Remember preaching is God's Word, God's work and God's growth, and thank God that in a couple of days, you'll get another chance.

Faithlessness and Jesus

Mark 9 is a reboot, a re-beginning of Jesus ministry. You can cut Mark's Gospel in half, either side of Peter's great confession in 8:24. A week after that great moment Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain and is transfigured before them.

Peter makes himself sound a bit slow. he often does in Mark's Gospel. if we agree that mark got his information from Peter, we have to conclude that Peter wasn't one to retweet his own achievements. He offers to make tents for the three men he sees. Jesus, Moses and Elijah. On that mountain, His clothes shining white, Jesus is endorsed by the law and the prophets. In Luke 24 Jesus tells us that the law and the prophets talk about Him, well, here are the law and the prophets talking to Jesus.

But not just the law and the prophets. The men here a voice from heaven as well. 'This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.' Just like at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Mark, Jesus is endorsed by His Father. The second half of Mark starts like the first, Jesus is re-comissioned by the Father, and sets off for the final part of His earthly ministry.

Having been with Elijah and Moses, Jesus then faces what they faced. What happened when Moses left his meeting with God on a mountain? He was met with the faithlessness of his people, including, worst of all, Aaron. He found them dancing around the Golden Calf, worshiping it as the 'God who brought them out of Egypt.' Faithlessness. Why was Elijah on a mountain talking to God? Faithlessness. He told God that he alone was left, that everyone else has bowed the knee to Baal. He was wrong of course, but that was his perception.

What did Jesus meet as he came down the mountain? Faithlessness. The remaining disciples were arguing with some scribes because they could not cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus could and did. But why, the disciples ask, couldn't they? Presumably when Jesus sent them out two by two they hadn't met any such problems? What was the problem?

Their problem was that even though the Kingdom comes to earth in glory, the Kingdom grows in our hearts slowly. Jesus tells them that they must pray and fast. I can't believe they weren't already doing that, but Jesus simply encourages them to do it more. Pray more, fast more, grow more. You'll get there.

How can we be sure we'll get there? Well, remember who told them to pray and fast? Who tells us to pray and fast? Who helps us grow as Christians. Jesus! Jesus who was endorsed by the law, the prophets and the Father! Jesus who stood transfigured before Peter, James and John. Jesus who took on death, and left it defeated in the grave. Jesus who rules the Kingdom for His people, Jesus who returns.

So if you wish you were growing more quickly as a Christian, you're in good company. And you've got all the help you need. Jesus encourages us to pray, to fast, to ask for help. And as we pray, He'll answer. The great and glorious Son of God will help us grow.

A Strange Miracle

For the last couple of months we've been going, verse by verse, through Mark's Gospel. On Wednesday we were in 8:22-9:1, the pinnacle of Mark's thought and theology and message. The high point and low point of Peter's early ministry, and home to one of the oddest stories we find in Mark's Gospel.

The halfway point is the transition from action to talk, more or less. Chapter 1-8 has Jesus healing, exorcising and raising, 9-16 has Jesus explaining. Those are broad brush strokes, but close enough to the truth.

So why this odd half miracle, this miracle in two parts to set the stage?

Jesus is back in the Jewish area in the town of Bethsaida. They bring a blind man to Him, and Jesus laid His hands on him, but the blind man couldn’t see properly. He told Jesus that he saw men, but they looked like trees walking around. Then Jesus laid His hands on this man again, and his sight was fully restored. What’s happening here, why couldn’t Jesus heal him the first time? Because Jesus is acting out a parable.

This event really happened, Jesus really did heal a blind man in Bethsaida, but it was also a parable. What’s a parable? A short story designed to show a truth. So what truth was Jesus trying to show here? Why does Mark, include this incident when no one else does? Because he wants to make us think about how we see. What was the disciples’ problem at the moment? They couldn’t see Jesus very clearly; He looked like a tree walking. That’s why they could see Him feeding 25,000 and then 20,000 people with a few loaves, and still worry about getting hungry on a boat with Him. Just like this man, they couldn’t see Jesus clearly.

So of us are like this as well. We don’t see Jesus clearly. When we look at Him, we see a walking tree, our spiritual eyes are blurred. We see Jesus, we know Jesus, but not very well. This is why some of us struggle with Bible reading. We see other things more clearly. This is why some of us struggle to make it to church on Sunday, just one day a week (!) other things are just more important than Him. This is why we struggle with sin. If we could see the beauty, the riches, the satisfaction that springs only from Christ, we'd never take a second glance at the pigsty of sin. But we can't, so we do.

Although this is without precedent in Mark, it's not without repetition. Isn't this why Mark places the cleansing of the Temple in between the cursing of the fig tree and it's withering? So we might learn the lesson?

So how do we solve this problem? What do we do when we wake up and don't want to read the Bible. When we see Facebook, or the news, or anything more clearly than we see Jesus? When we don't want to sing, when we don't want to worship? What did the man do? He didn’t pretend everything was ok, and then stumble off. He was honest, and he asked Jesus for help. If you struggle to be seriously, regularly committed to Jesus, then ask Him for help. Ask Him to help you see clearly, ask Him to help you get more excited about your faith, more excited about the Bible and more excited about your faith. This man asked Jesus, and he saw everything clearly.

A Church on every corner

It takes five minutes to drive from our house to church. Three minutes when we get both green lights. In those five minutes we drive past five churches, of which ours is the sixth. Five churches in five minutes...it's like a Bible belt joke, but it's true.

You'd think that in such a churchified city, something would be different. I guess i don't know what but perhaps you wouldn't expect the first segment of the local news to be a round up of young men who have killed or been killed in the last twenty four hours. But it's true.

A church on every corner should point to the great spiritual strength of a city, but increasingly, i think it does just the opposite. You knock on someone's door, and it's 'no thanks, i go to that church...over there.' It makes us complacent, it makes us insular because if we disagree with someone, there's always another church to try. I think it actually hinders a mission to reach a city.

But i think, perhaps paradoxically, it also makes finding a good church harder. I've never lived anywhere that has churches advertising on TV, but on some local stations in Greenville, they do. What do they advertise? Their faithful repetitiveness of the Gospel? Their solid Bible study classes or commitment to the great commission? Well maybe i've missed that advert, but the ones i've seen is all about the music and the lights. The youth. The venue.

It makes choosing a church hard because having a church on every corner obscures the major issue.

How do i find a church? Do i go where my friends go? Where i can see my front door from the church? Where the music is to my taste? Somewhere the kids enjoy? Or where the Gospel is preached? It obscures that issue because it makes it harder to settle. It's the tyrany of choice. If you didn't like the music, or the way people where dressed in one church, well you can try another one...and then another one...and then another one.

This sort of culture encourages us to be church shoppers. It encourages us to focus on secondary issues rather than on the Gospel, We should be able to say 'if the Gospel is being preached, i can put my preferences to one side.' I can wear a tie or not, i can take the Lord's Supper slightly more, or slightly less frequently than i'd prefer, i can deal with the youth pastor's funny accent. But what chance has that sort of thought got when there's a church on every corner? It caters to the very worst of our attitudes to church.

So how should we find a church when there's a church on every corner? It's simple. Go where the Gospel is preached. Don't go where your favourite phrases are repeated, go where the Gospel is preached. Don't go where people look like you, go where the Gospel is preached. Don't go where your friends are, go where the Gospel is preached.

A church on every corner should be a good thing. But don't let the hundreds of secondary issues settle where you go to church. Go where the Gospel is preached. And go often.

God is the fountain of every good

Moreover, although our mind cannot apprehend God without rendering some honour to Him, it will not simply suffice to hold that there is one to whom we ought honour and adore unless we are also persuaded that He is the fountain of every good, and we must seek nothing elsewhere than in Him

Jean Calvin. Institutes I P40

It is the great, driving desire of every human to be happy. And this can't be a bad desire, since God has put it into us. All of us are made to be hedonists, the problem comes when we try to satisfy these desires outside of God.

Calvin argues that once we conceive of a God who created the universe, who is moral and powerful, we can't help but render Him some honour, we can't help but think highly of Him. But that's not enough. You might think highly of a headmaster, you might honour a policeman, but we can not think of God like this?

Why not. Because God isn't just an honourable dignitary, He is the fountain of all good! God is where every laugh, every moment of joy, every heartbeat skipping moment comes from. All the good in the world is just a stream of goodness. God is the ocean. So we must swim in this ocean, and this make a difference in the way we relate to God, and following, in our lives.

It must make a difference in the way we read the Bible. To hear the good, life giving voice of the God of the ages speaking to us.

It must make a difference in the way we pray. Not to perform a religious duty but coming to our Father trusting in His love and goodness.

It must make a difference when we share the Gospel. No more 'the teen didn't get saved and then died on the way home...' Let's give them Jesus, the fountain and source of good instead. Attract our listeners to Christ, don't scare them to Him.

It must make a difference in how we preach. Our hearts must be exposed to this white hot goodness. Not our best life now, but our best life forever and ever.

It must make a difference in our approach to sin. Sin promises us happiness, Jesus promises more, and crucially can deliver. John Owen's major application in his works on sin is simple: expose your heart to the Gospel!

It must make a difference to our marriages. I must lead my wife to drink more and more deeply from this fountain, as a fellow beggar who has found a feast.

Rejoice today that holiness doesn't mean dull duty or boring box ticking. It means more of Jesus, the fountain of all good.

Marks of the Messengers 3: Faithfully Repetitive

On Saturday morning we had our church leadership conference, an annual morning where we get together and share the vision for Trinity in 2013. I spoke on 'Marks of the Messengers,' from Mark 6:7-14. You can view part one here and part two here.

But we have to remember, that hopefully at least, it’s not us they are rejecting, it’s our message. And it’s a message we repeat. We see in verses 12-13 that messengers are repetitive. Look at those with me. What did Jesus send the 12 out to do? Preach repentance and heal the sick. Call people into the Kingdom and exorcise demons. Jesus didn’t tell them to make it up by themselves, He told them to repeat. This is just Jesus’ version of 2 Timothy 2:2, ‘what you have heard from men the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will able to teach others also.’ What’s our aim this year at Trinity? To discover some great new idea? To be novel? No! To be old and faithful and orthodox and repetitive. To remember that the Gospel is the only relevant message, and to repeat it. And repeat it. And repeat it!

This is particularly important in youth ministry. There’s always a new curriculum, always a new dvd series, always a new guy with trendy facial hair telling us how he went from five teens to five million in five easy steps. Do you know how your teens are taught? Verse by verse, through books of the Bible. Read and explain, read and explain. It’s deeply unpopular, and deeply fruitful. Last Wednesday we looked at Mark 7:1-30 together, this Wednesday will be Mark 7:31-8:21. And when we’re done with Mark, we’ll go to chapter one verse one of somewhere else. Because Christian ministry is a ministry of repetition.

Christian messengers are always ready, sometimes rejected, and faithfully repetitive. And from this faithfulness, this obedience, the Lord gives fruit. I always pray for growth in two different ways. I pray we’d grow wider and deeper. Deeper in our knowledge and love and obedience to Christ. Deeper in our response to the Gospel, deeper in our prayer life and Bible reading. And that growth is happening in many, many teens, and that’s exciting. And width growth, growth in numbers. More people in Sunday school, more people in teen church. And that’s happening, slower than I would prefer, but happening all the same.

Everything that this youth ministry does, whether it’s bowling or a mission trip is informed by this philosophy. This is why we do awana, this is why we have Sunday school and this is why we have Wednesday night classes. We never do something just to do something. The teens who come bowling tonight will be challenged from the Word, a message I’m ready to give, a message that may be rejected, but a message that’s repeated.

As we go out as messengers, and as we train people to go out, we must prepare to be ready, to be rejected, and above all, to be repetitive.

Marks of the Messengers 2: Sometimes Rejected

On Saturday morning we had our church leadership conference, an annual morning where we get together and share the vision for Trinity in 2013. I spoke on 'Marks of the Messengers,' from Mark 6:7-14. You can view part one here.

But we have to remember, as Jesus warns us in verse 11, that sometimes we’ll be rejected. Read that with me. This is not a new teaching from Jesus. Remember He said if He was called Beelzebul as the master of the house, what will they call the servants in the house. Jesus was rejected wasn’t He? He came to His own, but His own didn’t receive Him. He was rejected in Nazareth; a prophet is not without honor, except in His hometown. He was rejected by the crowds in John 6, and finally, but the majority of His disciples. Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and rejection.

Should we expect any better? Of course not! Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians  2:16 that we are the aroma of death to those who are perishing. That’s rejection. When you smell something like death in your house you throw it out, you don’t make a bouquet out of it. So many problems that the evangelical church gets itself into these days are because we’re afraid people don’t like us, we change to be liked. We worship a guy who got murdered, of course people don’t like us, of course our message is offensive! If we are going to be effective messengers, we have to get over the idea that everyone, everywhere is going to like us, sometimes they’ll shut the door in the face of your teenage son, sometimes they’ll ignore you in the checkout line, sometimes they won’t send you a Christmas card. That’s ok, that’s a mark of the messengers.

Marks of the Messengers 1: Always Ready

On Saturday morning we had our church leadership conference, an annual morning where we get together and share the vision for Trinity in 2013. I spoke on 'Marks of the Messengers,' from Mark 6:7-14.

One of the best things, and most vital things about Christian ministry is resisting the temptation to re-invent the wheel every year. Avoiding the thought that just because something is new, it’s also better. In 2013 there will be new books written, new programmes published and new ideas followed. But we know our responsibility, we know what will grow a church, and that is staying faithful to the plan that God reveals in the Bible. So, it’s with great joy that I take you to a two thousand year old book and share with you how Teen Ministry at Trinity fits into the overall philosophy of our church.

We see in these 7 verses from Mark’s gospel three things I’ve called ‘Marks of the messengers.’ Marks of the messengers. We’re the messengers, just like the original 12 were back then, what are to be our distinctive, what are to be our marks? We see in these verses that messengers are ready, messengers are sometimes rejected, and messengers are repetitive.

The messengers are ready, look at verses 7-10 with me. Jesus tells the 12 what to wear, how to dress, were to stay, what to bring. Is that important? Why couldn’t they bring bread or money with them? Because they had to be ready. They had to have a single focus on the task that Jesus had given them.

He doesn’t send the 12 out as sightseers; they’re not going to catch up with friends. They are going with a message. They don’t need money or food; they’ll be fed and accommodated. They need a staff, but not two coats, nothing that would distract them, nothing that would weigh them down. The instructions Jesus gives here are similar to those given by the LORD to Moses before the Passover escape. Moses is told that the Jews must eat ‘with your loins girded, you shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand,’ (Ex 12:11). They had to be ready to eat, and we have to be ready to carry the message where we go, and where we are.

The Church of England and Relevance

The first paragraph of Saturday morning's BBC website article sums it up well.

'A decision by the Church of England to allow gay men in civil partnerships to become Bishops has prompted criticism from both liberals and conservatives.'

Why? Because 'the announcement would allow gay clergy to become Bishops only if they remain celibate.' Quite apart from the simply impossibility of ever enforcing this stipulation, it's hard ignore the dangerous path that the CofE is on, and we mustn't ignore it, we must take heed of the warning it gives us.

Lets look at the policy for a minute. The CofE will ordain gay men in civil partnerships providing they remain celibate. Why? If it supports, officially and institutionally, gay marriage, then there's no reason they shouldn't be Bishops. I'm not clear on why they have to be married at all to be honest, are single heterosexuals allowed to be Bishops? That's a genuine question. But back to the main point. If the CofE sees no problem in two men, or two women being married, then those two men or two women should be afforded the same rights that any other married couples should be.

So why the celibacy clause? Why take away from these marriages the one thing that makes marriage unique? Why take away from these marriages what God has given to marriages? Unless...

Unless it's just a concession to keep conservatives happy. Unless it's just something for the CofE leadership to point to for people who don't want to be led by a gay Bishop. If demanding celibacy concedes, or even defines, that gay marriage is an oxymoron, why ordain gay men as Bishops?

It seems to be, as an outsider, that the CofE is trying as hard as it can, to be all things to all men. To be relevant, But if you try to be all things to all men, you end up being nothing to anyone. Liberals aren't happy because the Church is demanding celibacy from those who have been given the right to be married, and conservatives aren't happy because they see no way you can take the Bible seriously and call two men or two women a marriage. In chasing relevance they become irrelevant to all. What a mess.

The Gospel, the Biblical Gospel of the virgin birth, perfect life, vicarious death and glorious, bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth will always be relevant. It speaks to the greatest need of every man, woman and child who ever lived. The Church of England simply can not continue down this path. If gay marriage is ok, ordain married gay men, and let them be married. If not, don't. It's not that complicated is it? If the Gospel is relevant to all everywhere, preach the Gospel and don't be ashamed of it.

Imagine a Britain where the Church of England was true to it's Gospel roots. Where every little church, in every little village was a Gospel station. Where the Church uses it's privileged position in society to preach the Gospel. If the Queen can manage it, why not Archbishops?

Moralistic Attenders

What is Christianity?

What is life in the Kingdom of God? what makes us different. Doing good things plus going to church? Morals plus attendance. I wonder if that's how we often think about our faith, i wonder if that's how we present our faith. We give to charity and go to church, and we're welcomed in the Kingomd of Heaven. We vote Republican and eat at Chick-fil-a, so Jesus stamps our ticket.

But we know this caricuture isn't Christianity. Why isn't it? Why can't we just modify our behavior, 'be nice' and go the Church? Why is our problem not solved with this answer?

The answer is found in Mark 7:14-23.. Verse 14 sums up the dispute with the Pharisees, and then Jesus moves away with His disciples to start teaching them. But verse 17 tells us the disciples are confused. Jesus has just told them, and everyone, that nothing that we put into our bodies can make us unclean, make us unacceptable to God. Again, this was absolutely world changing news for the Jewish people, in fact, so unusual was this teaching to their ears that they thought it must have been another parable!  It’s no wonder He is asked to explain in verse 17. I love His response… ‘are you kidding me?’ is basically what He’s saying, are you as bad as those other guys who don’t get it?’ Jesus explains to His disciples, and to us in 17 and 18 why Christianity is about the heart, why performance is not how we get saved. When you eat food, it eventually leaves your body. It doesn’t stay, it can’t hurt you long term because it’s not there for long, it gets expelled. It’s the heart that’s the problem; it’s the heart that causes issues. Look at what comes out of the heart…evil thoughts, immorality, slander, envy, pride and foolishness. That’s bad. It’s the heart that’s the problem; the heart is deceitful above all things and totally wicked. It’s our hearts that need changing. Our hearts are the same wherever we take them, church, the mall...sitting in front of the TV. Entering a building doesn't give us the change we need! Our problem is bigger than that.

This is why Christianity is inward, because the problem is inward. This is why Christianity is radical, because our problem is radical. Christianity is not morality plus attendance. The moralistic attenders were the ones who Jesus reserved His most bitter words for. Jesus demands not a new diet, but a new heart. And why? Because we are heart sick, we are inwardly sick, and we need an inward Saviour.

An inward salvation, not an outward one. Goodness knows, we need to more committed to church attendance and Bible reading, but not like a Pharisee, but like a Christian. Not coming to church to be seen or to tick a box, but to worship. Not to use good deeds as gambling chips to cash in at the prayer counter, but seeing them as the natural fruit of the Gospel tree.

Our hearts are the problem. Our hearts are sick and desperately so, only Jesus can give us the medicine we need.

How will I love Jesus in 2013?

First and Second Timothy might be two of the most emotive books of the Bible. Paul, moved with love, compassion and care writes two last times to his son in the faith, to encourage him after he has gone. The question on Paul's mind would have been, 'how will Timothy love Jesus when i'm gone?' The question on our lips this morning should be something like, 'how will i love Jesus in 2013?' With the distractions of the world, with the constant buffeting of sin, the discouragements  and strife, how will we love Jesus in 2013?

Paul sums it up for Timothy, and for us in just one word in 2 Timothy 3:14, 'continue.' 2013 will be about continuing for Christians. There will be new fads, new controversies, new 'follow this programme to grow your church into the 1000s', but the only Biblical answer? Continue.

Christians must continue in Bible reading. No matter how you read the Bible this year, make sure you're reading. The Bible will help us continue in our faith. It reminds us of the constancy and ancient relevance of our faith. Once again we'll start with 'in the beginning' and end with 'amen.' Adam will sin, Abraham will lie, David will go for an ill advised walk, Israel will fall, and Jesus will rise again. We'll sing Psalms and lament sins. If God has spoken in the Bible, may our prayer be that we would hear Him clearer in 2013 than ever before.

We must continue to pray as well. I was challenged towards the end of the year by a tweet from John Piper. The idea was that if you're not praying for influence over people, you must not think that what you believe, or can input is very important. We are nothing more than who we are in secret with Jesus. Pray to glorify God with your life, pray for forgiveness and sanctification, pray for those around you, pray for the lost, across the street and across the globe. Talk to Jesus each day like He is a real person. Continue in prayer.

And continue in church attendance. I am more and more convinced that your view of Jesus is reflected in your view of the Church. If church isn't a priority, then Jesus probably isn't. If signing, giving, and listening to good preaching bores you, guess what? Jesus probably bores you as well. If you struggle to pay Jesus attention at the one time where you know a lot of other people are, what makes you think you're ever paying attention to Jesus. If you think you're 'too cool' for church, then you need to repent, if you don't understand why church attendance is important, the you need to read the Bible, and ask the Lord to fill your heart with love for His Bride.

2013 will bring us many opportunities to indulge in that which Christians should be most wary of, novelty. Don't spend 2013 chasing what's new, continue in the Bible, continue in prayer and continue in church. And by so doing, you'll continue with Jesus.