Slaves?

In my study this week, we talked about being slavery. Not physical slavery of course, but spiritual. I got most of my material from the John Piper book, The Passion of JC, and it was really rich. I found it amazing how many times the Word talks about being slaves to sin. For instance, in John 8, J says clear as can be, "everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin." He sometimes spoke using confusing words - this was not one of those times! Again in Romans 6, "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin." Then Peter makes the issue even bigger in II Peter 2 when he says, "For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved." That could include even "good" things that consume our time and become idols!

One reason this can be so confusing is precisely because its not a physical slavery, so we don't feel like we are slaves. Neither did the Pharisees J was talking to: "We...have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" Piper expounds on this: "Most of the time we are free to do what we want. But we are not free to want what we ought" (65). Of course we can decide whether to work or not work, or whether to wear this shirt or that shirt. But can we will ourselves to desire G0d all the time? To love our enemy? No, because we are naturally slaves to sin!

J promised, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." What is that truth? One place it's found is in Romans 6. It says, "For one who has died has been set free from sin" and "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all." Therefore, if we can be united to that death that J already died for our sin, we will be free from sin! What is that unifies us to Him? Faith! And what does faith look like? It's savoring, trusting, resting, embracing, relying on, banking on, receiving, being satisfied with J. I heard a pastor say in a sermon it was like falling on J and all He has done for you. Kind of like falling on a rock to hold you and make you firm. When faith is made to seem like a work, its incredibly frustrating. Faith isn't a work - the work has been finished! Faith sees J and the cross and simply rests that it's finished - the sin debt is paid and we can go free!

So why do we still struggle with sin then? If we have the victory, then why do we struggle with sin and doubt so often? Piper had a great illustration of this: "It is as though a great dragon has had his head cut off and is thrashing about until he bleeds to death. The battle is won. But we must still be careful of the damage he can do...In other words, if God's law no longer condemns us, because Christ canceled the debt, then Satan has no grounds to accuse us" (103).

I hope that's enriching to you. I encourage you to read through all of Romans 6, it's good stuff.

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

Last semester I realized the beauty of the Sabbath. I had been meeting with students almost every day, including Sundays and never really had time to just rest for an extended period. Then I read a sermon about the Sabbath and realized that's not how G intended things to be. He gave us one day out of seven to rest, to cease from normal activities and to rest in Him. What a deal! Why not take Him up on it! So I've started to try and capitalize on this blessing. This past Sunday after "church" (I meet with about 15 believers and we talk about the Word, pray, sing, celebrate the Lord's supper and eat lunch together) I went on a walk behind the campus to a quiet little place with my MP3 player and sat down and listened to a really good sermon by John Piper. It's title was Doing Missions When Dying is Gain. He gave it at Wheaton College over 10 years ago. He often talks about similar themes (especially as a guest speaker) so the message wasn't anything I hadn't heard him say before, but it was still good. If JC is our treasure, if in His suffering and death He completely paid for our sin and if He will never leave or forsake His people, then there is NO REASON for me to do whatever He calls me to in order to spread His love. If you're interested in hearing the message for yourself, go to the DG website and type in the name of the message in the search box. After I was finished listening to the message, 4 kids came up and were playing around. I talked with them a little in Chinese, which was cool since they could understand me! Here are a couple pictures I took that day.

Basketball Tourney

The school was having some sort of basketball tournament this past weekend and I got to go see some of my students/friends play in their first game. It didn't go as well as we all hoped it would, but it was still fun to see them play and to root them on with their other classmates.

Lollipop, Lollipop

Last week we went over the "L" sound in class. Most students seem to enjoy learning English songs, so I thought it would be the perfect time to teach them that old song with the chorus that goes, "Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolli, lolli, lolli" and then repeats. It has a lot of "L"'s in it, so it was good practice and they thought it was pretty funny because it sounds so silly. It also gave me an opportunity to give them a little treat during class...I mean you can't teach them a song like that without giving them a lollipop!