Letter to my softball buddies

I wrote this letter this morning, thought I would share it with you. Any further thoughts on the matter?

I have been thinking about our discussions as of late, particularly as it regards assurance of salvation and the goodness of God.

It seems to me that there are four things that work in harmony with each other, where if they get out of sync or one overpowers the other it can cause problems of doubt.

They are:
Faith
Grace
Knowledge
Responsibility

Faith is informed. We have been led to believe. Someone or something has led us to faith. It isn't blind. But, If we put all our understanding in faith, eventually we will ask, "what was it we have faith in?" and we could get shallow, trite or naive.

Grace is the power God gave us to come to him. Its getting something we don't deserve because of our sin nature. But over emphasis on grace can lead us to sin (see Romans 6).

Knowledge is often ripped on in the NT, but we need to KNOW what it is we are to believe and he we are to live. Romans 10 addresses this. The reason I want to do missions or engage with people at home depot is to share truth with them, so they will know the savior. But, if we lean to heavily on knowledge, eventually we will derail because there are so many things in the world/life that just don't make knowledgable sense to me.

Responsibility is ever present. The bible is clear that we are to work out our salvation. There is accountability all over the bible. For me, if I put too much stock in my responsibility, I feel close to God when I'm doing good, and I feel far from God when I'm living sinfully.

I know the word balance has often been overused, but I can't think of a better word.

In my own life, when I'm feeling askew, I can usually pin it down to one or more of these principles being misappropriated.

Just a Monday thought for you brothers. Hopefully it brings some peace amidst a bummer of a game last night.


Phil

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

Sent from my mobile phone. 

Morning encouragement

I found his little meditation to be very encouraging and convicting this morning. It was very tender in it's correction, and practiced what it preached. It gets at the heart of some of the topics we have had as of late concerning language and worm theology. 

I hope it blesses you today. Jesus cherishes all of you!

Phil

"Babes in Christ."

1 Corinthians 3:1

Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much bought with blood as he is. You are as much an adopted child of God as any other believer. An infant is as truly a child of its parents as is the full-grown man. You are as completely justified, for your justification is not a thing of degrees: your little faith has made you clean every whit. You have as much right to the precious things of the covenant as the most advanced believers, for your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself; and your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of your inheritance in him. You are as rich as the richest, if not in enjoyment, yet in real possession. The smallest star that gleams is set in heaven; the faintest ray of light has affinity with the great orb of day. In the family register of glory the small and the great are written with the same pen. You are as dear to your Father's heart as the greatest in the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are like the smoking flax; a rougher spirit would say, "put out that smoking flax, it fills the room with an offensive odour!" but the smoking flax he will not quench. You are like a bruised reed; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Musician would tread upon you or throw you away, but he will never break the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast by reason of what you are, you should triumph in Christ. Am I but little in Israel? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in heavenly places. Am I poor in faith? Still in Jesus I am heir of all things. Though "less than nothing I can boast, and vanity confess." Yet, if the root of the matter be in me I will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of my salvation.

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

Please excuse any spelling errors. This message was sent from my mobile phone. 

Meditation

Emily and I were both blessed by this meditation this morning. Hope you are too. 

"I will meditate in thy precepts."

Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on his Word spiritual strength for labor in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, "I will meditate in thy precepts."

Phil

Phil Carlson Custom Woodcraft LLC

651.246.7359

www.philcarlsoncwc.com

New Creation

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Rejoice today brothers and sisters, we are NOT who we used to be, we have been made new by Jesus! Amen!!!

We don't have to even think about who we were unless it helps us appreciate who Jesus has made us. When we think negatively about ourselves we are forgetting who we are, God smiles over us, even rejoices over us with loud singing!

Love you and miss you all.

Phil

Great Day

I had a great day at work today! Terry helped me, the Lord was merciful, I felt successful, and the homeowner was happy.

I had such a great day that it wasn't burdensome to take care of our needy kids when I got home tonight. It was a joy to spend time with them, and give my bigtime wife a much needed break.

I hope y'all had a wonderful day.

Phil

Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

I sense we are all a little heavy hearted right now. I'm praying for us today, that we would rest in the fully capable arms of Jesus.

Cliffs Post

http://philthecarl.blogspot.com/2010/09/cliffs.html

Gods beauty

Emily and I spent all day rock climbing at Palisade Head along the north shore. Spending all day gazing down and out toward the water will only cause to you gaze to heaven and praise God for the beauty of his creation.

The weather was perfect, and the fellowship was spectacular. We count it an immense blessing to be able to do these sorts of things.

Psalm 34

I have been immersing myself in psalm 34 lately and the Lord has used this psalm to encourage my soul. I would encourage you to read this psalm when you're feeling heavy hearted and in need of encouragement.

Phil

ESV Bible App

For those of you who have an iPhone or iPod touch, there is a free ESV Bible app that is really awesome. You probably already have it, but I'm finding it to be an awesome way to open Gods word throughout the day.

Phil

This Weekend...

We had a spurt of good, consistent blogging... I thought I'd ramp it up again as a means to getting some ideas together for our "stay-cation". Let the creative juices flow and the fingers type people, we have a weekend to plan!

some reflections...

...after attending the first Saturday men's connection - topic: sexual sin/purity.

If it's only by grace that a man can be pure, why focus on things we can do? Why not dwell on how to allow God to reign his grace in our hearts? All else is fleeting legalism, that is if it's only by grace.

The advice to "run to God" during temptation is irrelevant advice to some who is blinded by sin.

On the edge of a knife cutting my feet;
to remain, bloody soles endure,
or fall, soul lost for sure.

(inspired after hearing the phrase "on the edge of a knife")

Seven sure ways to fight sexual sin:

1. revel your sin to God and others
2. repent of your sin
3. renew your commitment to Jesus
4. replenish your walk with Jesus
5. request help from the Jesus and others
6. refrain from situations that allow sin to creep in
7. rejoice in Jesus

If we could do all these steps no one would sin...then how is it that it's all by grace?

I was reminded on how "instant gratification" is somewhat like a plague to those of us in the west (even thought I hate talking like that, I mean about generalizing about those of us in the west). I need to remember that though I could have instant victory from sin right now (and oh how I pray for that), I need to be ready to battle it out for 2 years, 20 years, or til I die. I should not loose heart in battling sin because I don't receive instant, complete victory, but keep on fighting. Jesus fought the temptation to the point of sweating blood...have I ever fought that hard? Am I willing to fight that hard for the rest of my life...? I need help if I am to do that. Praise God he gave us Jesus, his Spirit, and the church. With out these, we would be toast.

Cry out to God because he's the only one that can change your heart.

It is only by grace that any of us don't sin. So...what does that mean practically? Especially when we do sin? For the believer?

It's very confusing to talk about sin in this manner when you're a Calvinist.

I have yet to attend a seminar on sexual purity that is actually helpful or gets at the heart of the matter and focuses on that. What the hell is the heart of the matter anyways? And why don't we talk about this subject all the time if it's so pervasive??? Especially in the church???

Micah 7:7-8

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

He is Jealous for you!

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

I feel heavily the adulterous longings of the old man still in me today. I feel wretched and hopeless, but I remembered that he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world, and that it doesn't depend on the man who runs or wills, but on God who has mercy.

He yearns jealously over the spirit he made to dwell in me. I take this to mean he will not let me utterly slip away to ruin. He made a spirit to dwell in me, and he's jealous over it. He will go head to head with my opponents for me, just like I will take out anyone or anything that stands in the way of me and my wife and children.

Our right standing with God is not dependent on how well the day goes, but on how well Jesus lived, which was perfectly. We have been filled with Jesus, therefore our days are well, forever!

A line from one of my favorite hymns, "I am his, and he is mine!" This is true and worthy of rememberance when I feel my heart pull toward things that are but a shadow of a thought of satisfaction.

More Tess

Congratulations Harms!

Yay for another healthy happy baby girl! Tess Matea (?? sorry, i probably totally botched that spelling) Harms. Born Saturday April 24th at 3:30pm. Right? 7 lbs something ounces. :) I'm totally botching all of these facts too. One thing I do know is that she is a beautiful little bundle of preciousness. And blessed to be a Harms.

We love you guys!

Suffering

As I spend time reading the new testament concerning suffering, it seems to me that it is in fact a central concept. I have heard mentioned a few times in the past few weeks at small group that BBC focus on suffering, while other churches focus on etc, etc, etc...

This morning I realized perhaps what is going on. The new testament talks about it in a way that's like this, "and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you!" This is encouraging right?! At BBC it seems to be more like this, "you're going to suffer if you're a Christian, this life isn't easy, deal with it!" Not really encouraging to me.

(I'm making a point here so I'm being drastic about it...)

But I think the real difference is that the NT talks about it in a way that focus more on the end result of the suffering, namely your reward in heaven, and BBC talks about it in a way that mainly combats the American, fluffy, desire to be happy and have everything handed to us on a platter, complaining spirit (which I'm never guilty of). I don't thing BBC has a wrong view, I think they're probably just trying to not foster a "lazy" spirit.

What do you think? I think I'm on to something here. Realizing this will help me hear it now and deal with it more healthily.

Last Tuesday's Activity

Member #1:

• Learning a new language without a text book
• Gardening - planning, planting, weeding...flowers
• Talking with one person who is very different from me (after getting over the anxiety...)
• Sailing on a small boat, with a special person, on a sunny (but not too hot) day, with a great but not too strong wind.
• Learning something random; a new skill, fact.

Member #2:

• Being outside in beautiful weather
• Exercising - especially outside
• Traveling - experiencing new places/people
• Sitting with a cup of coffee or tea and a book in the morning
• Wine and cheese picnics

Member #3:

• Photography
• Volleyball
• Snowmobile
• Hike
• Play music

Member #4

• Wake-board
• Songs
• Learning
• Creating
• Casual-competitive sports

Member #5:

• Cooking
• Sitting in the library or bookstore
• Shopping
• Staying in resorts/hotels
• Traveling/camping/living in less than desirable circumstances
• Anything Latin/living and being with Latino/Latin food/salsa dancing

Member #6:

• Bake break
• Watch old movies
• Go on walks
• Read
• Quilt

Member #7:

• Befriending people not like myself
• Photo-taking and editing
• Learning (example: a language)
• Exploring place I have not seen before (new place in the world, state, city, etc.)
• Driving all sorts of vehicles over all sorts of terrains.

See if you can remember who was who. Terry, can you figure out who's who?

Convicted

I was convicted after small group for my flawed thinking, so I changed the way I think.

After we read our passage from Colossians, I was convicted that I'm not extending our children the same grace and patience that I extend to the adults. This was manifest to me when I was getting frustrated that all the children we crying instead of sleeping.

They are just as much a part of our small group as the adults, therefore I ought to extend the same amount of grace to them, and therefore complete our vision for the group. It is nothing short of contradiction that I talk about adjusting our agenda to accommodate the needs of the group members, but have only the adults in mind - pure selfishness.

So, I'm sorry for my lack of compassion.

This will definitely help me to temper myself when we have our discussion concerning childcare and group functionality.

I'm blessed by all of you (that includes you Jamin, Ira, Graydon, Baby Harms, Elijah, Corban, and Jadon).

lean mean grillin' machine