Jason Dollar . Net

Looking at the stats of hitters and pitchers in the Major Leagues reveals the startling truth that baseball players, all of them, fail much more than they succeed. In fact, the best players are the ones who fail slightly less than the other players. For example to get a hit 3 out of 10 at bats is much, much more successful than getting a hit 2 out of 10 out bats. And yet the player who gets 3 out of 10 is still failing 70% of the time!

For Major Leaguers, this kind of failure must be faced 162 games every season. I constantly hear people complain that the MLB season is too long, and should be shortened. But I disagree. The real game (the game behind the game) is who can be patient the longest, facing a great deal of failure every single day. People who are trapped by the vice of impatience, and who cannot stand the thought of their own failure, are the kinds of people who hate baseball. Not enough action, they say. Not enough scoring, they say.

But because of the nature of baseball – facing long-term failure without giving up - it becomes a willing metaphor for life. Honestly, I find myself failing everyday. I fail as a husband, father, pastor, friend, and generally speaking, as a human being created in the image of God. I often go 0 for 4. A good day is 1 for 4. Most of the time I fail.

And then off to bed. Next day. Same thing. Failure. Next day. Same thing.

Watching baseball helps me remember to keep going. It helps me remember that no matter how often I fail, it isn’t my failure that determines my future.

I am in union with the best player in the league – Christ Jesus. As a hitter, He is batting an eternal .1000. Every swing is a homerun. As a pitcher, every game is a Perfect Game. Nobody can even get a hit off of Him. He never looses. (I hope this is not too cheesy, because it really makes a lot of sense).

Because I am “In Him,” then, I never loose either. So as a player on God’s field, my job is to stand back and let Christ take my at-bats for me, pitch my games for me, field the grounders for me. I’m playing, too, but I’m playing in union with Him. As Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). And then again in Eph. 1 (notice how many times Paul uses the phrase, “In Him.”)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

So this MLB season, I intend to watch a few games, and play Fantasy with my brothers, to the glory of God. Look, I’m not trying to overspiritualize things here. I know some will say, “It’s baseball, Jason, just enjoy the game and leave God at church.” But I can’t help but notice the connections, and for me at least, it helps me enjoy the game all the more.

A little airing of laundry: our family recently foreclosed on a house we had attempted to purchase 7 years ago. The house had sustained foundation damage prior to our attempted purchase, and having escaped the careful home inspector’s eye, and not willing to file suit against a brother and sister in Christ, we were stuck, not being able to afford the repairs, in a neighborhood and economy where houses were sinking in value, and yet needing to move to be closer to the church I pastor. In addition to this, we consolidated our debt into a second mortgage, and so owed even more on the house than it was worth (a bad decision on our part no doubt).

So we decided to move into an apartment (after all our credit is not happy right now!). Page and I both spent many years growing up in apartments, and so we both knew what to expect. God gave us the perfect spot! A four bedroom, spacious apartment, right in the middle of the action of our lives: close to family and jobs. And big enough to hold our growing family!

As I tell this story to folks, I get the feeling that people feel sorry for us, and many of our friends say things like, “Maybe one day you can get another house.” Though I appreciate the sentiment, to be honest, I’m not real sure I ever want another house! As a Christian, I am learning some of the incredible advantages to living in an apartment rather than a house.

This post is not to knock Christians who choose to buy a house, by the way. Obviously, there are advantages to owning one’s own home, including having enough space for hospitality. But the purpose of this post is to show that apartment living brings a set of advantages as well. And so the examination of these advantages begins.

Apartment living helps remind me that here and now, temporary structures are to be preferred. Heaven is for permanent structures.

Now, of course, I realize that brick houses are temporary and impermanent structures, just like apartments. But apartments have a more “tent-like” feel to them. Most people do not view an apartment as their final home. It reminds me a bit of Abraham’s situation as recorded in the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:8-10 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith — for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

In other words, living in an apartment reminds me daily that the world is not as it should be. The permanence of God’s city is coming in the future, at the time of full restoration:

Revelation 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.”

This is the permanent city that God is building, without the help of the hands of men. It is in this city that I want my “house” to be.

Please do not take me wrong. I am not (emphatically) saying that if a Christian purchases a house, then he is not looking for this city. I am not saying that at all. What I am saying, is that apartment living is a daily, real-life reminder that we are living for the God who has designed the New Jerusalem, and not for any building on the earth as it stands now.

Apartment living saves me untold amounts of time not doing lawn care and basic maintenance work.

While living in “our”/the bank’s house, I spent thousands of hours and dollars mowing, weed-eating, trimming hedges, paying workers to cut trees, spraying for bugs, replacing A/C filters, repairing toilets, and the list goes on and on, as you well know. There were plenty of days when I could have used those hours to minister to someone in need, or prepare a sermon, but if I did not cut the grass our neighbors were going to burn our house down!

I am not a lazy person. I love to work, and I don’t mind physical work. But the sheer amount of upkeep to that house was highly distracting at times from the vocation I felt the Lord calling me to.

When we first moved into our apartment, I remember hearing a lovely sound. It was a leaf blower outside, getting louder and louder. I told Page, “I want to go out and give that guy a huge hug!” I was not kidding, even a little. Since living here, I have been able to maximize my family time and ministry time, saving lots of hours each week. I cannot stress how invaluable this has been for me.

Apartment living may not be a long-term investment like purchasing a house, but it also removes the risks involved in purchasing a house.

For our family, honesty is needed: we know very little about houses. So we bought a bad house, and took a serious economic risk. Sure, we felt like we were “saving” money, since we could later sell the house later and supposedly recoup our losses, but as it turned out, we ended up stuck in a bad house and the only way out was to ruin our credit.

In other words, our apartment does not function as a savings account, or a financial investment, as buying a house does, but neither does it bring the risk house buying brings, especially in an economy such as ours. I realize many people who read this are much smarter than I, and would only purchase houses that would be good long-term investments. And, I personally am not afraid to take risks in life, when need be. But in our case, this is one risk that hurt us bad once, and I’m not so sure I’ll be willing to take that risk again.

Sure, apartment living may not offer a tax advantage, but it does come at a cheaper monthly cost, and much less direct expense for upkeep. Some say that the tax break owning a home gives is well worth purchasing a home. And we did get the tax break (on mortgage interest), and it did help our returns. BUT, we are paying much less monthly for our apartment than we would for a house in this area (allowing us to live in a nicer area closer to school and jobs). And we do have the tax advantage of not directly having to pay property taxes. In other words, what we save each month on rent and no have to buy lawn mowers, gas for mowers, weed-eaters, etc., seem to balance our the potential tax savings of purchasing a house.

Of course, buying a good house and paying it off is a great long-term investment, and the tax benefits are real. And for some, that is definitely the way to go. But it is also important to point out that there are at least some financial advantages to apartment living.

Apartment living allows (sometimes) closer contact with neighbors, and opens up better opportunities to share and live the Gospel.

We have lived in our apartment for several months now, and have already gotten to know two office workers, two maintenance guys, and several neighbors. Our back door leads out to the pool where, this summer, I’m sure many of our neighbors will gather. Our kids (under careful supervision) will hopefully befriend other kids in the complex.

Some might say, “That is unsafe.” Well, of course we have to be careful, and protect our family and property, but wow, the opportunities to share Christ through relationships and conversations are enormous.

Living in a house, people often cut themselves off with space and fences. And I, too, am a fan of privacy. But if the reason why I am on the planet is to glorify God by receiving, understanding, enjoying, and spreading a passion for His glory, than I can’t think of a better place to live in order to do that.

Sure, the neighbors upstairs play their music a bit too loud. But the other day, I was bringing in a bag of groceries, and my loud-music neighbor held open the main front door for me with a smile and a “hi.” Loud music is a small price to pay for the potential of building a relationship through which the Gospel of Christ can flow!

Apartment living allows for the quick ability to relocate should God send.

I love our church, I love being a pastor, and I’m not looking to move anytime soon. But one of the advantages of apartment living is, if the Lord calls, we can quickly pull up the stakes and go where He leads. Again, I am not looking to do so at all. I love where God has us so much I could picture us here for the rest of our lives.

But on the other hand, so many people get deep into the house-purchasing process, only to sense the Lord calling them to the mission field. It then becomes a difficult process to attempt to sale the house. For some, it isn’t that hard to sell, but for others, it takes months and years. With an apartment, we sign one year leases at a time, that can be broken easily with the payment of a fee, if need be.

While we are waiting for the Lord’s return, and the permanence He will bring to our lives, it seems like a good idea not to sink roots to deep. Please don’t take this as me saying we should not sink roots at all. Again, I would love if this is the place God has our family long-term. We are putting roots down, in spite of living in an apartment. But those roots should not go so deep that if the Lord calls we can’t go. Remember, God called Abram out of his home of Ur. And indeed, He may call His people to a myriad of locations, and we need to be able to say “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

This post is not an attempt to persuade all Christians to rent apartments instead of buying houses. But it is an attempt to show some of the real advantages of apartment living for Christians, and to encourage people who choose to go this route.

My former pastor (and in many ways he continues to be my pastor), David Prince, has published an article at Baptist Press on the excellencies of baseball.

Having just signed Noah up for his first season of Little League, reading this article brings a tear to my eye. I highly recommend it to you:

FIRST-PERSON: Pitchers and catchers report — will Dads?

Every pastor needs to give the occasional meta-sermon, that is, a message or series of messages reminding the people of God, that God’s ultimate aim in all things is His own glory. It is the “Big Story” in which all the little stories (like Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, Paul’s ministry, you life and mine) fit.

So for the next three Lord’s Day messages, I am going to attempt, in a small and finite way, to lead the folks at Rock Mtn to reflect upon, enjoy, receive, and spread the glory of God. The major points for the first sermon:

• The Bible is essentially the story of how God glorifies Himself.
• Everything that happens in human history, then, is a manifestation of some aspect of the glory of God.
• The glory of God is the absolute moral standard that defines our behavior as good or bad.
• Salvation is the movement of a person from being a secular, man-glorifyer to being a holy, God-glorifyer.

One of my major objectives in these messages is to discuss the difference between the innate glory of God in Himself, and the glory of God as received by a second party (namely, us).

The innate glory of God is that glory which belongs to God in His being. That is, it is Him! He is majestic, splendid, awesome in holiness, and an endless trillion other wondrous realities that our feeble language can’t begin to truly get at! (read Psalm 19)

Let me illustrate. I love Paul Simon, the singer / songwriter. He has written some great classic songs, like Bridge Over Troubled Water, You Can Call Me Al, Graceland, and Sound of Silence. All well crafted songs. He has a measure of innate glory. That is, Simon was endowed with certain gifts and talents, including lyrical and musical composition. These gifts are simply part of his being, or his innate glory (so to speak). The innate glory of God is like that – it is simply who He is.

But there is another way of understanding the glory of a person. The sunshine has innate glory just like Paul Simon does, but that glory shines. That is, the brilliance of the sun emanates off the surface of the sun and proceeds forth. And the beams of glory find other objects (like people). We then, as the son shines on us, have the opportunity to enjoy the glory of the son.

Paul Simon also shines this way. He has a measure of innate glory, but he has taken this and put it into the form of “beams,” like concerts, CDs, DVD’s, and radio waves. These become vehicles through which Simon’s glory is communicated to other beings. And so the glory of Paul Simon can be received, understood, and enjoyed by others, to a greater or lesser degree. We cannot add or subtract from the innate glory of Paul (it simply is what it is), but we can magnify his shining glory better or worse.

God’s glory is the same. His innate glory is unchanging, but His glory shines forth from His being a million ways. His Word, His Son, His Church, His Supper, all of these, and a host of others, are vehicles through which we see the shining of God’s glory. And all of us can receive these “beams” of His light, or reject them. To the degree that we receive them, seek to understand them, enjoy them, and spread them, we are “glorifying God.” Now, of course, we cannot add to His innate glory, which is perfectly and eternally unchanging, but we can magnify His shining glory, as it shines upon our lives!

Our ability to understand this theology is absolutely essential for us in understanding the purpose of our lives. The reason people feel chaotic, sad, out of control, or meaningless, is because we are often not consciously living to magnify the glory of God. We are magnifying the glory of self, or a thousand other earth-based things, and this leads to a malfunction in the human heart. After all, God has created us with the function of glorifying HIM, and so this we must do as our highest duty, honor, and joy, if we are ever to experience true life.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I hope to see many of you at church tomorrow! Let us behold the glory of the Lord!

Photo by Brandon Robbins

People know where to go online if they want to see pornography. They know exactly where to look, and they can pull it up even on their cell phone in a discreet moment, if that is what they desire. They are also well aware of how to cover their steps by deleting browsing histories, cookies, and the like.

Porn is like a drug, in the sense that many people plan their days around when they intend to inhale the images on the screen.

It is almost like American Culture is a giant pool of hot tar, and in such a place, everyone is going to get burned sooner or later. Even for youth and children, there is nowhere to run and hide where the prostitute of Proverbs 5-6 is not knocking at the door.

Proverbs 5:3-9 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.  Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.

In such a culture, people who desire sexual purity for the holiness and glory of God are simply not at home. Walking down the mall, driving down the interstate, or clicking on prime time tv, is all one must do to be saturated with sexually suggestive images, communicating the idea that if you are not being satisfied at home, there are plenty of other places you can turn.

The statistics of people who regularly view porn, or read romance novels (porn for women), are overwhelming. The vast majority of men and women, including those who claim the name of Jesus, are seeking out sexual promiscuity in some form or the other, and are not satisfied with God’s plan for pure sexual expression within marriage. Tim Challies recently wrote:

“I read recently of a researcher who wanted to study the effects of pornography on young adult males. He carefully built the structure for the study, determining how he would compare young men who had experienced pornography with a control group comprised of those who had never come into contact it. Tragically this researcher had to cancel his study. He found that he was unable to put together a control group; he could not find young men who had not discovered pornography. The experiment was impossible to conduct.”

The vast majority of teens have been exposed dozens of times to hard core pornography, and in many cases, participate in it with each other.

Given the gravity of sexual sin, even among the Church, I thought it would be fitting to put together a list of free, online resources to help those who want a way out. (AND THERE IS A WAY OUT)! These are the best online works I have found on the issue, and I highly recommend them. It is nice to know that help can be found online, just like harm can be found online.

By way of application, I would suggest reading these writings constantly, praying through them. Perhaps, reading them with a trusted friend can lead to greater accountability.

Ultimately, the reason we engage in sexual sin is because we are not satisfied with the glory and goodness of God. Falling deeper in love with Him, and desiring to live life in the way He has designed it, are the proper positive ways to squelch out sexual sin in our lives.

SERMONS

Fireproof Marriage by Pastor Brian Branam

Let Him Kiss Me by Mark Driscoll

Desiring God National Conference: Sex and the Supremacy of God (Piper, Mohler, Dever and others)

This is the Will of God for You: That You Abstain from Sexual Immorality by John Piper

ONLINE BOOKS

Sex and the Supremacy of God by John Piper and others

Sexual Detox by Tim Challies

Porn Again Christian by Mark Driscoll

ARTICLES

Wired for Intimacy by Tim Challies

When Unclothed Is Unfitting by John Piper

WEBSITES

New Life Ministries

Pure Heart, Pure Mind

Covenant Eyes

Net Nanny

At church, a couple of guys and I are reading through Andrew Murray’s little book called Humility. I am struck by the way in which Murray addresses this topic.

Humility is one of those virtues that is elusive, to say the least. To claim to have it is not to have it! And yet in Christ, we must have it, because of who He is as Creator and Lord, and who we are as created and follower.

Humility is a short book, but it is consuming, because it draws the believer in and creates a meditating heart. To see what I mean, read the first paragraph:

When God created the universe, it was with the one object of making the creature partaker of His perfection and blessedness, and so showing forth in it the glory of His love and wisdom and power. God wished to reveal Himself in and through created beings by communicating to them as much of His own goodness and glory as they were capable of receiving. But this communication was not a giving to the creature something which it could possess in itself, a certain life or goodness, of which it had the charge and disposal. By no means. But as God is the ever-living, ever-present, ever-acting One, who upholdeth all things by the word of His power, and in whom all things exist, the relation of the creature to God could only be one of unceasing, absolute, universal dependence. As truly as God by His power once created, so truly by that same power must God every moment maintain. The creature has not only to look back to the origin and first beginning of existence, and acknowledge that it there owes everything to God; its chief care, its highest virtue, its only happiness, now and through all eternity, is to present itself an empty vessel, in which God can dwell and manifest His power and goodness.

Humility (the book) can be read free online, or can be purchased through Amazon:

The following short editorial appeared in the helpful (and free) online journal Themelios. This journal is produced by the Gospel Coalition and is an appreciated resource for pastors and teachers on a budget, but who want to dig deep nonetheless.

D.A. Carson is a well respected theologian. His work as Research Professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School has been monumental, climaxing in a number of important books and articles. I have learned much from Dr. Carson, but I most admire him for his devotional edge. By this, I mean he seems to genuinely love God! It is sometimes easy for those in the “theology profession” to say many things about God in a broken, unattached (no horse in the race), kind of way. Carson has avoided this error and the short editorial below is one line of evidence that this is the case. I hope you read it.

Most of us have had the experience of drifting, half awake and half asleep, in a gray mist of semi-consciousness, only to be jerked fully awake by some sudden and vivid memory of a shameful thing we have done or said in the past. The action or words are terribly vivid, and we break out in a cold sweat of shame. An inner writhing makes us wish we could relive those moments and behave differently. But in the immortal words of Omar Khayyam,

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

What is striking about these experiences is that the acute shame we suddenly feel is almost invariably with reference to a horizontal relationship—that is, we feel shame for what we have said or done that has wounded a friend or diminished us in the eyes of a family member or colleague. Almost never do we feel such acute shame before God. Why is this?

I suspect that at least one of the reasons is that many of us care rather more for what fellow human beings think of us than for what God thinks of us. To put this in theological language, we do not fall under adequate conviction of sin—conviction that simultaneously makes us feel guilty because we are guilty, and makes us ashamed because we have been so profoundly disloyal to our Maker and Sovereign. What he thinks of us when we act or speak despicably ought to be far more important to us than what anyone else thinks of us. That it is not usually so is itself a measure of our estrangement from the living God.

This common experience of God’s fallen image-bearers, people like you and me, takes on particular hues in specific disciplines. That is why it is worth asking readers of this digital journal what it is that is most likely to induce a sense of shame or embarrassment among theologians young and old, among pastors and teachers.

Would it be unduly cynical of me to suggest that most of us are more likely to feel troubled by something we have said or done that has upset a colleague or parishioner than by something that has dishonored God? Some do not want to be too closely associated with anything the scholarly guild judges old-fashioned or fundamentalist: that, surely, would be shameful. On the other hand, Jesus says some blunt things about those who are ashamed of him and his words (Mark 8:38). The question resolves into something pretty straightforward: Whose approval do we most earnestly desire? Whose approval do we want when we prepare for a lecture (whether to deliver it or to learn from it)? Whose approval do we seek when we preach a sermon? Whose approval matters most when we write a paper or slog away at a dissertation? Whose approval do we hunger for when we choose a vocation, decide how to use our time, take pains to build links of affection and accountability in the local church, exercise, bring up our children, nurture our families, read, lead a Bible study, help a neighbor?

If we do not want God’s approval the most, where does idolatry begin?

Mind you, the really wonderful thing about occasional midnight writhings when the person we have most offended is God is that this God also provides everything that is necessary to cleanse our conscience so that we may once again look boldly into his face. He is “faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). So we return to the cross, and rest once again.