"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men,
so one act of righteousness leads to justification
and life for all men." Romans 5:18 (ESV)

As we reflect on the life of Jesus this week which will culminate in the mighty saving act of God at Calvary - my hope is that our faith would grown deeper in love and appreciation for the public demonstration of God's love.

I also hope, with a gospel-confidence, that as we reflect on the goodness of God we will be led to a deeper repentance and holiness of life. That this repentance will result in joyful displays of extravagant love as we do many good works in the name of Jesus.

This coming Sunday as I preach from 1 Corinthians 15:58 I will have in view one final aspect of gospel-confidence. I will trust God to bring us to a "steadfast, immovable, always abounding" life that is willing to risk all because we know that our "labor is not in vain in the Lord."

God relented... or did He?

"When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that He had said he would do to them, and He did not do it." (Jonah 3:10)

How was it possible that God "relented"? Isn't God unchangeable? Isn't His Word irreversible? Isn't that one of the great promises we have that God's Word is not capricious?

Are we to believe that just because a few prayers are made and some people have a religious experience God calls the punishment off? Is that what happened?

What Jonah reports is true. God did relent of the calamity He promised to do. But this does not mean that justice wasn't served.

One of the struggle we humans have is that our lives are framed by time. God's existence isn't. He lives in the eternal present without any boundaries of time and space. He is infinite in His existence. So although God changed His mind concerning the immediate punishment He did not have an overall change of mind about justice. In the eternal present reality of His existence, His Son Jesus was nailed to the Cross for sin in the past, present and future. Although Jonah didn't see it and the people of Nineveh didn't realize it - God did. He knew that justice would be served through the death of His Son who bore sin.

The deep mercy of God in not bringing disaster to the Assyrian sinners meant that God had determined to bring disaster to the pure and perfect sacrifice - Jesus Christ. This is the gospel and it is the only hope for sinners like us.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

On Sunday our challenge will be very simple,
but not necessarily easy. Where are the idols?
What are the idols? Who are the idolaters?

It is clear that although Jonah was a prophet of God he was not obeying the first commandment. He had become so zealous for nationalism that it became an idol. He could not bear to think that God might have a purpose in saving the enemies of Israel, so he fled the scene and did his best to prevent God from showing grace to the people of Assyria.

If this doesn't sound familiar ~ it should. How many people, zealous for the church (as they see it), flee the scene because they don't consider the lives of non-Jesus followers as valuable as their own comfortable church setting? We would like to think that somehow we have avoided idols - but if we were to do an honest assessment of our lives we would have to admit that we give our allegiance to many forms of idolatry.

This Sunday we will engage in a adventure that may remind you of the Children's book - "Where's Waldo?" Instead it will be "Where are the Idols?" Pray for God's Spirit to be moving with power and authority and that our people will have an open life to God.

Here are the questions:

* How do our idols hinder us from completing the vows we have made? (think about marriage vows, new year resolutions, promises to ourselves or others)

* Think about 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. What does it teach us to do with idols ("speculations, lofty things raised up")?

* What weapons are we to use to destroy these idols? Read Acts 19:11-41 to get an idea as to how violent a collision between idols and the gospel weapon can be.

Modern-Day Jonahs

Is your life "open" or "closed" to God?

The sermon on Sunday will help us identify ways we are like Jonah who
was living a closed life to God. You are welcome to discuss the following
application questions in the coming week -

1) Do you live an open life toward God? If yes, what can I do to help
you take that next step of faith toward Ninevah or wherever God is leading YOU?

2) If your life is NOT begin lived as an open life toward God -
what is holding you back? How can I help you overcome the obstacle
so you don't end up in the deep sea?

3) Jesus fought against being closed to His Father's will.
Read through the garden prayer in Luke 22:39-46) to
encouragement for your life. Maybe the pathway to openness
for you is to pray with another person about your struggles.

I hope to hear from you this week. Encourage others to participate.