Consider Jesus...

“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…”

All you have to do to spiritually drift is nothing. And like all forms of drift, we are usually unaware of the motion.

When you are sitting in a boat out at sea without an anchor or a compass, land tends to be the only thing that exposes your drifting. So, you pick a spot on the shoreline, grab your oars and aim for that.

Christians need to learn to regularly look to Jesus. “Consider Jesus,” says this author. Set your thoughts on him, not potential suffering or the clutter of the world. Look to Jesus as He is revealed in the Bible.

Here He is referred to as an Apostle and High Priest. As an apostle, He was sent by God (for that is what the word means, a “sent one”) to be God’s representative among us. As our High Priest, he is our representative before God the Father. In other words, He is perfectly suited to preserve His people. Look to Him and live. Look to Him and stop drifting.

In the end of this paragraph the author gives a warning, saying that if you do not hold fast to Jesus, that is evidence you never really were a true Christian. What about you? Are you drifting? Are the things of the world (its fame, money, stuff) of greater value to you than Jesus? Are you living like the world sexually? Does the world’s approval matter more to you than God’s? I can’t imagine what you think the world has ever done for you. It has certainly never desired your good.

Friend, if you are drifting along with the world, look to Jesus and live. He will accept all who row their boat to His shoreline. Tired arms will find rest on His sandy shores. Good harbour awaits. Consider Jesus.

When your special needs kid leaves home... for good.

Greg Lucas writes for all of us with special needs kids.

He hugged his brothers and sister; then dad and mom. Before walking to the car he picked up his small computer talker that he wears around his neck and said, “Goodbye”. He waved like the grand marshal in a ticker tape parade and blew us volley of passionate kisses.

I buckled him into the back seat of the care worker’s car. And just like that…he was gone.

For a brief moment I felt like a normal parent watching his 17 year old son drive away to college. Then, in almost a panic, it seemed like someone had just kidnapped our baby boy. Like a good cop and faithful father, I wanted to run after the car, catch the kidnapper and rescue my son.

Then I realized—this was the rescue.

Jake was moving to the best quality of adult life that we could offer. My selfish attitude of, “No one can care for my son as good as myself” faded into the submission and surrender of his future to the care of my sovereign God.

My wife and I sat on the front porch swing most of that day--wondering…grieving…resting. It was almost like a death in the family, except no one came with food and condolences. We were all alone.

I told a friend it was like we had just completed a marathon together, but when we crossed the finish line no one was there to cheer us on. Then we realized the race had been over for quite some time. All the lights were off and the crowds had gone home. There was no celebration, just exhaustion, weariness and fatigue. We embraced each other at the finish line knowing we lost, but still grasping for the hope that at the very least, we finished the race.

Special Needs, Justin Reimer, David Murray, Challies and Me

Connected Kingdom Podcast, Episode 4 | Challies Dot Com

I was the happy guest of Tim Challies and David Murray this week on their newest episode of Connected Kingdom. You can listen to the interview at the link above.

Normally I would not point this out, but as I thought about it today, it struck me as a good opportunity to highlight the work of the The Elisha Foundation. TEF is a charity I have worked with for several years that runs free retreats for families who care for special needs children. It is a wonderful work and I love being able to serve here.

The interview with me is good if you skip my parts and listen to Justin Reimer, the founder of TEF. He has a thousand good ideas of how a church should help families who deal with special needs members. But his one big idea is best of all!

Help when you are tempted

Jesus’ sympathy for sinners has more to do with identifying with them in their suffering as they resist temptation than it does with coddling them when they have succumbed to temptation. To hold off sin when it looks so appealing is a form of suffering that Jesus knows full well.
What brings me great joy is that Jesus, because “he himself has suffered when tempted… is able to help” us when we are tempted. He responds to the cry of a Christian that pleads for grace to not sin. That is suffering and He gets it.
Our problem so much of the time is that we barely cry out. We cry like a snubbed toddler – enough (we think) to get some attention and then justify our sin when “help” does not come. We need to learn to keep crying until He comes.
Once I heard a thump and scream in my house. It came from the stairwell and it was the voice of a girl who had recently had knee surgery. You can bet I got to that very authentic cry for help in a hurry. Why would we think Jesus would be any different? I guess I am suggesting that the problem lies more in our pathetic, unbelieving cries than it does in the One who is “able to help those who are being tempted.”
Don’t lose heart, Christian. And don’t give up so fast. Your Lord Jesus stands in authentic, unashamed solidarity with you and He will help.

For more, read Hebrews 2:17-18.

Christian SEO Offers Free Admission to Toronto Pastors Conference - PR.com

Christian SEO Offers Free Admission to Pastors Conference - PR.com

"Toronto, Canada, May 03, 2010 --(PR.com)-- This year, pastors who attend the Toronto Pastors Conference and go on to hire Strider, Inc. to design a new website for their church will have the price of their conference admittance deducted from their total Strider bill. This allows pastors to, in effect, attend the conference free of charge. If a church member attends, the church will be eligible to receive the same web design discount, and if multiple members attend, the discount will be greater. Strider, Inc.'s website states that a discount will also be provided for attendees who hire them for church website search engine optimization or maintenance. If conference attendees have personal or business websites, Strider has agreed to give them a discount on web design work as well."

LAST DAY FOR TPC EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT!!!

This is the last day to take advantage of registering for the Toronto Pastors Conference at the discounted rate of $110.  Take 45 seconds now to click here and register online.  You will pay $30 more if you wait until tomorrow!

Only Three Days Left! (for early bird registration)

I just realized this morning that you only have THREE days left to register for the Toronto Pastors Conference and still get the early bird discount!

Why a discount for early registration?  Well, if you have ever tried to plan a conference like this you will know that getting an accurate fix on numbers profoundly helps planning and keeps costs lower.  One of our aims is to keep TPC accessible to all and that means keeping the cost to a bare minimum, especially for those pastors that don't have a big conference line item in their budget.

So, I would urge you to think of early registration not just as a way to save some coin for you and your church (if they are paying), but also as a way to serve those brothers for whom the difference of $50 is a make it or break it deal when it comes to attendance.  If you register early, you save us money (since we can plan better), and that keeps costs down.

By the by, I did arrange to get a great new book for free from a certain publisher while I was at T4G.  The first one hundred registrants will be walking home with a good addition to their library!

Unashamed solidarity

I have often been shocked at the loyalty some parents will show a child. As a young Dad I sometimes watched parents bail out, rescue, house or pay for an adult child in trouble and, to be honest, thought they were nuts. I realize some of these scenarios may have been more the evidence of a strange “co-dependency” than the virtue of loyalty, but the older I get the more I think that is the exception. Parents love their children and they will do almost anything to help them.

There are exceptions. Some parents would rather be caught naked than have someone figure out the relationship between them and their kid. They are ashamed to own that child and will even go so far as to mock the kid – regardless of age. In other words, human relationships can only teach us so much about what it means to be loved by God.

But along comes the Word of God to tell us of Jesus of whom it was said, since “…the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Unashamed solidarity. Jesus chose to become part of my family (flesh and blood humanity) in order to make me a part of His family. He is not ashamed to call me brother nor embarrassed to have me in the family. And this love of His is relentless.

When I think about all the times I have abandoned Him, been embarrassed about Him, contradicted Him and denied Him, I start to feel like the kid in scenario one – a kind of routine mess-up whom nobody should really pay attention to anymore. But because Jesus gave up His life in exchange for mine, taking all of the guilt for all of my sin on Himself, He never thinks of me like that. He is like a proud older brother who stands with glowing smile behind me and says, “God gave me this one!”

How glad I am that the solidarity that counts is generated out of Him, not me.

Another Reason the Gospel Needs to Make Progress in Rexdale

Police to guard Sikh temple at meeting:

I am so glad so many of my friendly Sikh neighbours give no evidence of this kind of behaviour!

"Power struggles are ongoing at a number of Sikh temples in the region, Mr. Deol says, 'even at the cost of your life or limbs.' The situation reached a fever pitch after Mr. Mangat's stabbing two weeks ago, which appears to have set off a chain of events. Mr. Deol calls it 'a territory fight.'

In Rexdale, Major Singh says about five dozen temple members have the right to vote on the proposed expulsion of the 10 directors, who he alleges owe the centre tens of thousands of dollars. In addition to the paid-duty police presence, the centre has arranged for private security and will only allow people with photo ID to attend today's meeting.

Mr. Deol says many temples within the Greater Toronto Area are interconnected, and allies of the group that, until Sunday, controlled the Sri Guru Nanak temple in Brampton also control the Rexdale board.

He warns a 'showdown' may be inevitable after the way events unfolded in Brampton.

'Then we will have trouble there,' he said, noting those jockeying for control are attracted by 'the money and the fame and the political influence... they're greedy.'"

Have YOU registered? Carson and Bullmore this Saturday...

I am looking forward to attending the first ever Gospel Coalition Conference in Canada this Saturday. Guest speakers include Dr. D.A. Carson and Pastor Mike Bullmore. As you know, Mike will be our keynote speaker in June at the Toronto Pastors Conference, so if you want to check out why I think he was such a great choice for us, be sure to join us in Hamilton this weekend.
Registrations for TPC '10 are starting to come in, so if you want to keep a spot, then register today. Space is limited and the early bird special ends on April 30th. Take 60 seconds to register now and save yourself some moola!