Father, we give you thanks and praise that you are a God who speaks,
that you have spoken to us by your word written,
and we acknowledge and confess before you, Father,
that you both ask for us to use the very best of our minds and our imaginations
and our will to understand your word,
but at the same time that we can never understand your word properly by our own power.
And so we ask, Father, that in your kindness and mercy to us,
that you would pour out the Holy Spirit upon us to lead us and guide us into all truth,
to grant us the renewing of your minds, our minds,
so that we can live in a way that is good for the world
and brings you great glory and spreads the gospel.
And we ask that as you pour out the Holy Spirit upon us
and as we think upon your word,
that you would grip us with the beauty and the truth and the power of the gospel,
the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for us,
that makes us right with you when we put our faith and trust in you.
So, Father, we ask all of these things in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Please be seated.
Those of you who come to the church know a lot of times I have conversations in coffee shops.
It's been very hard for me not to be able to have conversations in coffee shops.
It was actually so nice this week.
I think it was on Thursday for the first time in a long time.
I sat at a cafe at a table outside and had a cup of coffee
and did some work on a sermon and I really felt very grateful.
Just a small little mercy.
Over the years, I've had lots of conversations with secular people.
I've developed some secular friends.
And a thing which once they get fairly comfortable with me,
they'll often tell me is this.
And it doesn't come up at first.
It's only after they start to get a bit comfortable with me.
And they might say, some of them will say,
George, I sort of envy you.
I envy your faith.
I can see how it makes a big difference for you and it's really helpful to you.
But the problem I have is I just think too much.
Like, I just think and because I think,
I just can't ever see how I could ever be a Christian just because I think.
And they don't mean it as an insult or as a put-down.
I mean, even though it is a bit of a put-down, what you think and I don't.
Like, I mean, that's what goes through my mind because I'm proud, self-centered,
you know, just like every other human being.
What you think and I don't think.
Like, I'll often have some cutting thoughts that fly through my mind,
which hopefully in heaven I'll find out how many times that the cutting thought
that went through my mind that I should really repent of.
And it's a good thing I don't say it.
It's because one of you were praying for me at that moment that I didn't say it.
But it's well-meaning.
And you know what?
The fact of the matter is, is in many ways it's a very fair comment.
In many ways it is a very fair comment that most, that many people,
because they think, they can't have faith.
Because you either think or you have faith.
I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that when I first became a Christian,
and these were, many of them were well-meaning people.
I'm not saying that it described all of the people that were responsible for me
becoming a Christian when I was in grade 12.
But when I started to have problems with the relationship of the Bible and science,
when I started to have problems with, and a variety of issues between the Bible and science,
and I started to have problems with the problem of evil,
and I had some problems with Christianity and other religions,
and as I started to have these intellectual problems, and I go to share it with them,
many of these well, well, well-meaning godly Christians would just say,
George, you have to have faith.
Like, you just pray about it.
Just pray about it.
And you're a Christian, and they're not a Christian,
and they say something about how the, you know, only those who love, you know,
know the things of God, and all that type of stuff.
And it's all very well-meaning, but it was as if you don't have to have any reasons.
You don't have to have an account of the Bible or Christianity and science.
Just have faith.
Just believe.
And it didn't help me.
And so, and there's many, many people when you challenge them.
In fact, you see it on TVs and movies, but it's not something that's just made up.
It's many people say, well, that's just what I believe.
That's my faith.
When you challenge them with questions.
So our secular friends, when they think you have to make a choice between thinking and believing,
it's not a completely, it's not a completely absurd thing for them to say.
And in fact, it's not just that, because, you know, I think our secular friends,
if they were to really be honest, they'd say, listen, George,
in fact, Christian faith is just part of a pattern.
There's a pattern of all religions.
Like, look at Muslims.
Muslims just believe that you just have to submit to God.
I mean, Muslims even believe that there's a part of the Bible, you know,
whatever was recorded in the Quran early, and then later on,
if they wanted to disagree with that and contradict it,
they even come up with a thing called abrogation.
Somehow everything in Quran is true, but the early parts aren't true,
and the later parts are true, and you just have to believe.
And in fact, if they know much about religions,
they'll know that for much of Hinduism and for much of Buddhism,
the mind is particularly the problem.
Like in Buddhism, the mind is the problem because the mind keeps creating difference.
That's what minds do.
The minds make distinctions, and you've got to get rid of this difference.
And in Hinduism as well, it's often, many of the purposes of the meditation techniques
is to stop the mind from working.
And when the mind stops working, then you progress in holiness.
And so for our secular friends, and they look at Christians,
they see that many of their Christians that they know,
it's just a matter of, well, we Christians are just part of a religious pattern.
So you either can have faith or you think.
Or you think in every other area, and then when it comes to faith,
you just stop thinking.
You put a big wall up there, you stop thinking altogether.
The text of the Bible that we're going to look at this morning,
Philippians chapter 4, verse 8-9,
it's a verse which I hope, the main thing I hope comes out of this
is that you desire to meditate upon this text and memorize it and meditate upon it.
There are going to be points, but we're going to say the text a lot
because it's a very, very powerful text.
And it's not just a powerful text because it says something that I like,
but in fact, it's one of those, occasionally you have verses in the Bible
that encapsulate the Bible.
And so the verse is Philippians chapter 4, verses 8-9.
We're going through the book of Philippians.
This is our second to last sermon.
Next week we finish the book.
And here's the verse.
And notice what it says.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,
practice these things,
and the God of peace will be with you.
Now, I'm going to read it again in a moment,
but Andrew, could you put up the first point?
Did you notice,
and in fact it's far more clear in the original language,
there's only one imperative or command in these two verses,
and the command is to think.
The Bible actually says,
think.
The Lord commands his children to think.
In fact, if you just look at it again,
it's very interesting.
There's three parts of these two verses.
If you look at the first thing,
the first part is the Bible sets forth
eight aspects of reality to think about.
They're not watertight compartments,
but that reality,
what we need to think about,
is in fact quite broad,
very, very wide.
And so, in fact,
it's not a ghetto,
like only think about religious things,
or only think about the Bible,
or only think about spiritual things,
or only think about math and just have faith,
or only think about history and then just have faith,
or only think about the law and then just have faith.
In fact, it says there's these eight aspects of reality.
What are the eight aspects of reality?
Look at them.
It's in verse 8,
and all finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
I only have five fingers,
whatever is commendable,
if there's any excellence,
if there's anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
So, it tells you,
there's eight aspects of reality,
think about them.
Think about these eight aspects of reality.
And as well as that,
read the Bible.
What Paul is saying next here is,
in a sense,
when you read the New Testament,
this is both the Old and the New Testament.
When you read the New Testament,
what you are reading is the apostolic testimony
to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,
and how according to the apostles,
who studied under Jesus,
how you should then live.
And so, what does Paul say?
He says,
think about these eight aspects of reality.
Then in verse 9,
what you have learned,
received,
heard,
and seen in me.
Practice these things.
In other words,
live them.
And what's the promise?
The promise is,
that the God of peace will be with you.
You see the power of what the Bible is actually saying?
The Bible links,
even though there are many Christians who,
in fact,
accept that you just have faith.
There's thinking,
and there's faith.
There's the world that you think in,
in terms of math,
or history,
or biology,
or chemistry,
or physics,
or finance.
You think there,
but then when you come into this building,
on a Sunday morning,
you stop thinking,
and you have faith.
And what the Bible says,
is that even though this is a pattern for all of religion,
even though it's a pattern for all of religion,
that,
in fact,
the Bible connects thinking,
the command to think,
with a promise of his presence.
Just as a pause,
I am so glad there's children here.
And I appreciate that,
you know,
you have to take them out when they cry.
I had nine kids.
If you're a guest here,
I had nine kids.
And because I was up front for most of that,
it meant that it would be my poor,
long-suffering wife having to deal with it.
But I am very,
I am just so glad there's children here.
And I know that that means occasionally,
children will erupt.
That's what children do.
They erupt.
Anyway,
back to this.
But, you know,
this is one of the reasons I said this.
I wanted,
like,
this is why the sermon is entitled Thinking.
Thinking,
God says think,
and if you think,
I'm going to be with you.
It's the opposite of what the pattern of the world is.
Now,
I don't always,
I'm not always very successful in trying to communicate this to my secular friends.
And that's fine, by the way.
You know,
when you talk about Jesus with your secular friends,
if you wait to be able to talk about,
if you wait until you can do it perfectly,
you'll never talk.
And it's a bit of a matter of just trying to figure it out.
And you know what?
If you fail,
that's fine.
You're saved by grace.
You're not saved because you're perfect.
And how do you learn?
You learn by trying.
You learn by taking the risk.
You learn by thinking about it afterwards.
And that's sort of how you learn.
So,
I don't always handle it very well when my secular friends say this.
But here's the thing.
Some people,
when they hear this text,
what I just read,
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable,
if there's any excellence,
if there's anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
What they don't get is the thing.
But what they get is all those other things.
And in fact,
it's a very common problem in certain Christian circles
that this text will be a proof text
to basic,
here's what it is.
For many people,
when they read this at first glance,
what they think it means is you've got to love the best things.
And what does that mean?
All you folks who listen to country music,
has to be opera.
Okay?
All those people who like the funnies
and the comics in the paper,
you've got to go to the National Art Gallery.
All of those of you who like reading Stephen King
or something like that,
I mean, for some of you,
people actually read a book?
For those of you who even read a book,
Stephen King,
has to be Shakespeare.
And that's how many people take it.
That real Christians read Shakespeare,
listen to opera,
listen to Bach,
don't listen to popular music,
definitely not country,
and all of that other type.
But definitely not hip-hop.
I want to be equal opportunity here as well,
that you're only listening to opera and Bach.
And in other words,
how they take this
is that you have to fit in with the elite culture.
And whatever the cultural elite says is the elite,
that's what you have to do.
That's not what the text says at all.
It's interesting,
Christians,
when they talk about that,
they forget about the gospel all of a second.
The Bible doesn't ever baptize cultural elites.
In fact, if you read the Bible,
what is the Bible always doing?
It's always undercutting
the claims of the powerful
to humble us
before the triune God.
So what's going on here in this particular text?
Try to explain what's going on.
And in fact,
actually what the Bible text actually is saying
is it's not saying
you have to stop listening to country music
and have to start listening to Bach.
It's not saying you shouldn't listen to Bach,
by the way,
and that you have to listen to country music.
It's just saying,
it's not saying
that you have to fit in with
however the elites in Canada
define the excellent and the worthy.
The gospel and the Bible
defines the worthy,
not the elite culture.
But what this text is actually saying
is something which is very troublesome
and challenging to Canadians.
And I'll illustrate it
with two quotes from C.S. Lewis.
The first quote is this,
there is no neutral ground in the universe.
Every square inch,
every split second
is claimed by God.
I'll say it again.
There is no neutral ground in the universe.
Every square inch,
every split second
is claimed by God.
That's what we Christians believe.
We Christians believe
that the triune God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
three persons, one God,
who for all eternity,
outside of time,
before there was anything
that was ever created,
the Father loved the Son
and the Father knew the Son
and the Son knew the Father
and loved the Father
and the Father knew truth about the Son
and the Son knew the truth about the Father
and the Father sees the beauty of the Son
and the Son sees the beauty of the Father
and the Holy Spirit, of course,
is in there as well
as in a sense
both the means of the communication
but also the person himself
and that from all eternity
there is this love,
there is a truth,
there is reciprocity,
there is both stillness and movement
and this is going out of
from all eternity
and out of nothing.
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit,
three persons,
one God,
out of nothing,
God creates all things
and out of nothing,
God creates all things
and sustains everything in existence
in every single second,
every split second
is sustained by God,
every square inch of the universe
is sustained by God
and God is sovereign
over every split second
and over every square inch
and not only is God sovereign
but God will bring
this created order,
this universe,
to its proper end
at his determination
and he will bring it
to its proper end
every square inch
and every split second
with nothing left.
when I am redeemed by Jesus,
when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
what is redeemed
is every square inch
of who George is
and every split second
of who George is
from the moment
of my conception
in my mother's womb
to the moment
and I hope
unless Jesus comes back
and I hope it's not
for another 40 years
until I die
and even that
which is future
is redeemed by Jesus,
every square inch
of who George is
and every split second
of who George is
is redeemed by Jesus.
My sexuality,
my mind,
my body,
my imagination,
my heart,
my will,
my finances,
my house,
my car,
my wife,
my children,
everything that makes me
me,
everything that makes you
you
is redeemed by Jesus.
the same God
who has created
the entire,
every square inch
of the universe
and is God
for every split second
in every square inch
in the entire universe.
And C.S. Lewis
also said this,
I believe in Christianity
as I believe
that the sun,
and he's spelling it S-U-N,
I believe in Christianity
as I believe
that the sun has risen
not only because I see it
but because by it
I see everything else.
Isn't that a brilliant quote?
I believe in Christianity
as I believe
that the sun has risen
not only because I see it
but because by it
I see everything else.
So in other words,
when you become a Christian,
it's not an invitation
to live in a Christian ghetto.
When you become a Christian,
it's not an invitation
to only,
yet you think,
you know,
in your day job
you code software
or you build bridges
or you figure out dances
or you manage households
or you do money markets
or you work in the bureaucracy
or you're a lawyer
or you're a carpenter
or you're a plumber
or you're a truck driver
and you think
in all those areas
but you come in the doors.
Here you don't think,
you just have faith.
That's not the way it is.
Why do I say that?
Because what does the Bible say here?
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable,
if there's anything,
excellence,
if there's anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Think about these things.
And you want to know something else?
The command here to think
is even more powerful
in the original language
than it is in the English language
because there's different words
for think in the original language
and the word which is used here
for think
is specifically thinking about reality.
Just to give an example,
if you were translating,
trying to translate this conversation,
this conversation,
you had somebody,
one of you had to try to explain
to a person from New Testament times
who happened to be here
and maybe one of you
is in financial planning.
If you know anything about my life,
I desperately need financial planning
but that's a separate whole other thing.
You know,
the Lord provides
and there you go.
So anyway,
I'm on the Freedom 75 plan
just for the record.
So Daniel,
if you went into the ministry
to become rich,
you made a terrible career decision
just for the record.
Anyway,
if somebody said,
George,
what do you think
your net worth is?
And I said,
okay,
what do I think
my net worth is?
Yeah,
I don't want you
to sort of guess.
What is your next worth?
What do you think
your net worth?
Think about what your net worth is.
Calculate it.
And the word think
and the word calculate
in the original language
you would use the same word.
And so if at the end of it
I'd say to the person,
I calculated my net worth
and it's,
you know,
five billion dollars.
I'm just not lying.
You know,
it's whatever.
That word think,
that word calculate
is the word that's used here.
It's only a word
that's used to deal with reality.
And that's what
the Bible is saying.
So this is a very big challenge,
you see,
because here's what happens
in Canadians
and part of it's a human problem
and part of it
is a problem
made far worse
for Canadians.
That both people
who think that faith is faith
and thinking is thinking,
but whether you're all
on the faith side
or all on the thinking side,
everybody agrees with it.
How do you know that?
Very simple.
If Victor,
my friend,
invites me to a party
of some of his lawyers
and some other people
that are very,
you know,
important.
And during the party,
I discovered
that one of the people
says,
you know,
we're all having
a little glass
of a very good wine
or something like that.
And one of them
shares with me
how they've really
gotten deeply
into the truth
of Native spirituality.
They've been really,
they've been studying
the writings,
they've been reading
these creation stories
and these other stories
and they've really
deeply are committed,
they just,
they're finding it
so wonderful.
And if I,
with a smile
and trying to be gentle,
say,
you can't really
believe that.
Like how on earth,
if I said to them,
how on earth
could you possibly
believe that
and believe biology?
Like how could you
possibly,
like you really believe
that a,
like a bird did this
and a turtle did that
and a bear did that
and all things
came into,
like you really think
that,
how could you think
that's true?
Like you're an educated
person.
Now here's the thing.
Victor and I are the only
Christians in the room.
There's 15 people
and they overhear it.
The other 13,
the other 12 people
will be deeply angry
at me.
They will think
I am the rudest jerk
in the world.
They would say,
how dare you challenge
this person
on the truthfulness
of native spirituality.
Same thing happens
by the way
with morality,
doesn't it?
It's a very,
very interesting thing.
I really try to find,
it's very interesting
how many people
who on the
first of March
trumpeted
that you do
whatever you want
and the state
can't tell you
what to do
and by the
31st of March
were saying
that you were
a bad and evil person
if you didn't wear
a mask
or you didn't do this
or you didn't do that.
It's very interesting.
The same people
have gone from
being extreme relativists
to almost totalitarian
in the way they talk.
You can see it
in columnists
and it's a very,
very interesting thing.
But the fact of the matter
is we all know
that people basically say
well that's just true for you
like morality
is just right for you
and it's not,
it can be right for you
but not right for you.
How dare you say
that something's right
or wrong
for something else?
Because you see
the fact of the matter
is that in Canadian culture
we've broken thinking
and not thinking
into all these
different silos
and categories.
And the problem
with the Bible
is this.
The problem
with the Bible
isn't that it tells you
to stop thinking.
Andrew,
could you put up
a second point?
The problem
is that the Bible
reveals that
since your thinking
is too narrow,
incomplete,
short-sighted,
and unrealistic,
it needs to be
redeemed,
reformed,
and renewed.
That's the problem
with the Bible.
Because the fact
of the matter
is that
from a biblical
point of view
if somebody said
so you're a Christian
and I say yes
so that you believe
in God created all things
I would say yes.
That's a fair thing.
Are you a Christian?
Yes.
Do you think Jesus
rose from the dead?
Yes.
And if they challenge
me on that
that's a completely
valid thing.
In fact the Bible
says be prepared
to give an account
for the reasons
that you believe.
The fact of the matter
is that the four
biographies of Jesus
which we call Gospels
are eyewitness biographies
of what Jesus
actually did in history.
The central claim
that goes back
to the very first
New Testament writers
is in fact
that on the third
that Jesus predicted
he would die upon the cross
in fulfillment
of ancient prophecies
that he is the one
promised in ancient prophecies
that he has arrived
that these miracles
actually happened
that he would die
by crucifixion
that he did die
by crucifixion
on the third day
the tomb would be empty
because he rose
from the dead
and the heart
of the apostolic witness
is that on the third day
the tomb was empty
because Jesus
had risen from the dead
and appeared
to give trustworthy proves
to many, many, many
eyewitnesses
that in fact
the Christians
that's the Christian claim.
Now we might not be
very good at defending it
and I'm not saying
that every one of you
I mean I don't have
a master's in apologetics
we don't have to have it
but the fact of the matter
is it's a valid thing
to say to a Christian
well how can that
possibly be true
and to try to give an answer
and if you can't give an answer
you call up Daniel
you call up me
you call up somebody else
and you work it out
you read some books
and you have a conversation
because we believe
well here's the beauty
of what the Christians believe
and just think about
for a second
how beautiful it is.
The Bible isn't saying
that you have to listen to opera
you have to read Shakespeare
it says that
whatever you think about
think about
eight aspects of reality
not the way
you normally think
and think about
the eight aspects
of reality
in the context
of God's revealed word
you see
why is most
non
why is most secular
thinking short-sighted
it doesn't think
about eternity
it doesn't think
about the fact
that one day
they will die
and they will appear
before God
it doesn't think
about the fact
that death
isn't the end
but that there will
be a judgment
so much secular thinking
is very very short-sighted
and it's very narrow
why
well because
as normal
natural human beings
we want to be
very short-sighted
not only about the distance
but we want to think
mainly about
what it affects
about ourselves
or within our own discipline
but if the Bible is true
what the Bible here
is encouraging you
is this
if you are a person
who's working
in the civil service
and you work
in the area
of government policy
if you are a business
working a business
and you're running a business
if you're a mom
or a dad
and you're trying
to manage your kids
if you're retired
and you're looking
at how to manage your home
if you're in
whatever it is
and you have to come up
with a business thing
or a policy decision
or a financial thing
and what the Bible
is saying is
don't be narrow
in your thinking
like first of all
think about what is true
like always try to find out
what's true
and true here in the Bible
this also said
true means what's real
like when you stop believing it
when you stop wanting it
what actually is
like think about what's true
but don't just think about
whatever is true
think about what's worthy
of honor
think about those things
because there are things
in life
that are just
a gust
there's a weightiness
to it
there's something
about it
that has
a type of
sense that if you're not
moved by it
moved by that act
of heroism
moved just by the
the depth
and the
it's just honorable
think about
not just the individual
little policy decision
about what it is
think big
think about what's true
want to know what's true
want to know what's honorable
think about what's just
like what's actually just
is this the just way
to make a policy
is this just a matter
of caving into what
the powerful want
is this going to be just
for the weak
that's what you should be
doing in policy
that's what you should be
doing in business
and don't only think
think about what is morally
pure
and think about what's
lovely
like why write something
which is a policy thing
which is unbelievably boring
why can't you make it
lovely
why can't you make it
beautiful
don't just think of
the most effective way
to get a person
into your shop
to buy the coffee
to get them out
make the whole experience
lovely
make it winsome
make it just
think about
how to bring in
that which is worthy
of praise
why would you do
something shoddy
when you could
seek excellence
and why would you
want to do something
like why don't you
want to take into account
those things
which really truly
are worthy
of praise
and all of our
secular friends
we're all
there's an inconsistency
we all know
that nobody
consistently says
that all morals
and all things
right and wrong
are completely relative
nobody lives up to that
the second you
the second
you just put them
in a line up
and make them
the first person
in the line
and then serve
the second
third and fourth
person ahead of them
and they'll say
it's not fair
like they
it's just
I mean it's not
serious thinking
when people say
it's not relative
and there's the same
thing about things
which are beautiful
and worthy of praise
like we all have
this basic sense
and understanding
if you hear of
an act of
tremendous heroism
there's this
wonderful story
of the fellow
in England
I can't remember
his name
that there was
an alt-right
demonstrator
and the African
the British African
the black fellow
he picks up the guy
who's hurt
and rescues him
in the face
that's just so
worthy of praise
isn't it
that's just
worthy of praise
we see an absolutely
beautiful sunset
and somebody says
yeah it's just
atmosphere
we think there's
something
think big
think of all
eight aspects
of reality
listen folks
you believe in
Christianity
because not only
the sun has risen
but because the sun
has risen
you can see
everything
look at the world
not just religious
things
look at business
look at law
look at politics
look at your
neighborhood
look at your
lawn
look at your
garden
look at your
kids
look at your
clothes
the whole
world is yours
Andrew if you
could put up
the third point
in the real world
where the triune
God claims
every square inch
and every split
second in the
universe
only the cross
of Christ
can redeem
comfort
and propel
you
to live free
in his creation
in the real
world
where the triune
God is
where the triune
God claims
every square
inch
and every
split second
in the universe
only the cross
of Christ
can redeem
comfort
and propel
you to live
free
in his creation
what I mean
is this
it's a frightening
thing
as it starts
to grasp you
that every square
inch of who I
am is claimed
and redeemed
by Jesus
it can be
very scary
when you're
thinking about
your autonomy
and your will
and like
really my money
you know like
the old Christian
thing is if you
give ten
do you know
how much of
your money is
God's
well you know
I've learned
tithing so ten
percent is God's
and no no no
a hundred percent
is God's
he asked for ten
percent but a hundred
percent is his
how much of
your mind is
God's
just the Christian
no no
all of
all of your
mind has to
belong to God
all of it
and that can
be very frightening
you know the only
thing that can
possibly comfort
you is just
to remember
what most
perfectly reveals
the existence
of the triune
God
read John
118 later
on especially
if you know
anything about
the original
language
in John
118 the
beginning of
John's gospel
says it's
Jesus
his life and
death and
resurrection
which perfectly
interprets God
to human
beings and
helps us to
understand him
the father
the son
and the
holy spirit
and God
reveals himself
most perfectly
by showing
that he loves
you to the
uttermost
even to the
point of
emptying himself
of his glory
and taking
upon himself
your sin
and mine
and your
shame
and mine
and your
dishonor
and mine
and your
uncleanness
and mine
and the
accusations
against you
and the
accusations
against me
he reveals
his total
claim
and total
redemption
by taking
upon himself
every
bit
of shame
and sin
and uncleanness
from the
moment of
your conception
to the
moment of
your
death
all on
him
and so
those times
by which
your conscience
is afraid
of such
a total
claim
remember
the total
self-giving
of God
the son
of God
for the
total
you
to comfort
you
three
prayers
in
closing
the
first
one
Andrew
if you
could
put
it
up
Lord
please
transform
me
by the
renewing
of my
mind
that's
a great
prayer
to pray
the
Lord
the Lord
gave you
a mind
he wants
your mind
to work
as well
as it
is
some of
you have
unbelievably
brilliant
minds
and some
of you
have less
than brilliant
minds
but whatever
your mind
is
God
wants it
to work
well
for his
glory
he wants
it to be
uncluttered
he wants
it to be
long-sighted
he wants
it to be
broad
he wants
it to be
generous
he wants
it to be
rooted in
the gospel
and rooted
his word
he wants
to renew
it
and so
we pray
Lord
please
transform
me
by the
renewing
of my
mind
the second
prayer
point
number
five
Andrew
Lord
as I
read
your
word
written
cover
to cover
please
help
me
to
meditate
deeply
on the
gospel
and the
whole
counsel
of God
Lord
as I
read
your
word
written
cover
to
cover
please
help
me
to
meditate
deeply
on the
gospel
and the
whole
counsel
of God
in other
words
life
death
and
resurrection
is the
key
to
understanding
everything
from
Genesis
1
to
Revelation
22
and
so
the
gospel
has to
always
be
the
center
but
you
have to
read
Genesis 1
to Revelation
22
over the
course of
your life
if the
Lord lets
you live
long enough
and meditate
upon what God
is saying in all
of his word
in light of the
gospel and what the
gospel means in
light of all of his
word and meditate
upon it deeply
and finally
last point
Lord when I am
afraid of your
total claim
upon my
life
please grip
me deeply
with the
truth
and beauty
of the
gospel
because there
will always
be a time
Lord
you want
me to
do
this
Lord
you want
me to
give up
this
you want
me to
learn
this
and you
don't want
to do
it
and so
Lord
when I am
afraid of
your
total
claim
upon my
life
please
grip
me
deeply
with
the
truth
and
beauty
of the
gospel
Jesus
walk
with me
Jesus
walk
with me
and trust
that if I
put my
hand in
yours
I can
face
every
intellectual
issue
I can
face
every
moral
quandary
I can
face
every
demand
of
justice
with
my
hand
in
yours
your
nail
pierced
hand
let's
invite
you
just
to
stand
in
prayer
nothing
holy
about
standing
it's
just
good
to
have
a
change
of
position
let's
bow
our
heads
in
prayer
father
you
know
how
the
culture
Canadian
culture
can try
to squeeze
us
into
its
mold
and
you
know
father
how
we
can
feel
very
uncomfortable
about
making
the
claim
that
morality
there
are
moral
truths
that
are
true
and
there's
truth
about
praise
and
value
and
dignity
of
human
beings
that's
just
true
and
truths
about
sexuality
truths
about
justice
that
are
just
true
just
as
there
are
truths
about
history
and
science
and
chemistry
and
biology
that
are
just
true
father
you
know
how
deeply
the
world
can
try
to
form
us
into
its
mold
how
the
devil
can
try
to form
we'll
reject
anything
of
you
father
you
know
this
so
deeply
and
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
that
you
saw
our
helplessness
and
sent
Jesus
to be
our
savior
and
our
redeemer
in his
life
death
and
resurrection
and
so
father
we
ask
that
the
holy
spirit
would
move
mightily
in
each
of
our
lives
so
that
we
might
be
gripped
once
again
with
the
beauty
and
the
greatness
of
Jesus
and
it's
by
our
faith
and
trust
in
him
that
you
make
us
right
with
yourself
we
don't
make
ourselves
right
with
you
make
us
right
with
you
all
by
faith
you've
done
all
the
work
and
grace
and
father
grip
us
with
this
truth
and
grip
us
father
with
your
word
so
that
we
aren't
formed
in
the
mold
of
the
world
the
flesh
and
the
devil
but
as
we
think
upon
Jesus
as
we
read
your
word
as
the
holy
spirit
moves
us
that
father
we
will
be
free
more
and
more
free
to
think
widely
and
deeply
about
everything
in
all
aspects
of
reality
through
the
lens
and
truth
of
your
word
that
we
might
be
free
to
think
for
the
glory
of
God
for
the
good
of
people
and
for
the
furtherance
of
the
gospel
in
your
kingdom
Lord
please
do
that
mighty
work
in
us
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
and
all
God's
people
said
Amen