S.D. Smith » Scripture

Kill the Nailbiting God

S.D. Smith — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:08 +0000

The happy truth that God does not need us is a tonic against the fatal illness of self-reliance. It pleases God to work in and through us, but he is not dependent upon us. He is never biting his nails. He is never on the edge of his seat, worrying over outcomes.

If your god is like that, may I suggest you kill him and turn to the Triune God of the Bible. He is the Sovereign King. In actual fact.

The Bible = Easy to Understand

S.D. Smith — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:00:31 +0000

“The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”

Søren Kierkegaard

HT: Scotty Smith

Holy is the Lord by Andrew Peterson

S.D. Smith — Fri, 21 May 2010 10:00:49 +0000

I know these Youtube homemades are often pretty bad, but I found this one very moving. Maybe because I love Genesis, Abraham, and Andrew’s Bible-saturated music. You can get this song on AP’s Appendix A. You can have his Appendix out and in your iPod (or whatever) for 12$ here.

A Prayer We Need: Why God Loves Us

S.D. Smith — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:00:11 +0000

The following is a prayer by Scotty Smith (no natural relation). If you, like me, live among a people who are embracing Moralism and personally have a will that wants to embrace Moralism instead of Good News, then maybe this prayer is one you can pray as well. -sam

A Prayer About WHY God Loves Me and Us

The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers… Deuteronomy 7:7-8

Most holy and gracious Father, like every day, this day begins with the bodacious promise of your steadfast love and new mercies for me. Yet I am still foolish enough, at times, to look for some generating basis… some causal motivation… some rooted explanation in me for why you love me as much as you love any and all of your people. Here my cry for mercy…

Where do these moments of temporary insanity come from? Why in the world do I have days when I think there’s something I can do to prompt you to love me and stimulate you to even greater affection?

Isn’t it because I want to manipulate and control you? Isn’t it because I want less mystery and more predictability in my walk with you? Isn’t it because I’d rather spend the Monopoly money of self-salvation than declare my real bankruptcy? Isn’t it because I’d rather work my way out of guilt than be shut up to sheer grace? Isn’t it because I want to make you responsible for my bad days and hard circumstances? Isn’t it because I want to justify my critical attitude towards other less-disciplined more-irresponsible people? Oh, how much I need the gospel, today and every day…

Indeed, Father, all day long, I will rehearse this good, humbling and liberating news. You have set… settled… secured your affection on me NOT because of anything in me… not because of anything I have done, do or ceased doing. You have chosen me not because I am choice, but simply because you have chosen to redeem and restore me for your glory. It’s only because of your covenantal faithfulness—promises you have made that you alone can keep, that I have the absolute assurance that I am loved with your everlasting unwavering love.

The only mirror I want to consistently stand in front of is the mirror of your Word, where I behold Jesus, the author and perfecter of my salvation. For Jesus is your “Yes!” to every promise you have made on my behalf. So very Amen, I pray, in His matchless and merciful name.

Doane’s Short Film on Genesis

S.D. Smith — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:00:09 +0000

Genesis is so foundational to the rest of the Bible and all of human history.

It is also highly poetic, and (needless to say) so full of truth.

Note: When I say “highly poetic” I do not in any way mean that it is not factual in its accounts of events. I believe that it is factual. It’s just very literary as well, and beautiful. That’s what I meant.

This short video has some fascinating insights. And it’s kinda weird.

You may recognize Doane’s name from his film, Collision –which is outstanding.

Genesis Redux Pt. 1 from Darren Doane on Vimeo.

The Basics

S.D. Smith — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:00:52 +0000

“The kingdom of heaven is like this: Find the Treasure. Feel the Joy. Forsake the Stuff. (Matthew 13:44).”

John Piper

HT: Austin Storm

Magic, Sorcery, and Children’s Literature: Should We Enjoy It?

S.D. Smith — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:02 +0000

I place before you here a short discussion by childrens author N.D. Wilson and his father, (author, pastor) Doug Wilson, on a subject close to my heart. Is it appropriate for Christians to appreciate the use of magic in stories? Yes, if you want to read the Bible. But not so fast, what about the idea of authority? Some useful, worthwhile thoughts.

Ask Doug – Magic in Literature from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Here’s the video for those on Facebook if it doesn’t show up.

“What is lacking cannot be counted.”

S.D. Smith — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:08 +0000

It is no secret to people close to me (like my wife, brothers, and football legend Pat White) that my favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes.

In my experience it is also one of the most consistently misunderstood and ill-preached (an actual term?) of any book in the Bible. Not that I have it all figured out. Show me that man who gets it all, I would like to shake his hand and listen to him talk for days.

My dad has taught the book with great clarity and understanding. But, sadly, he hasn’t written a book about it.

Lacking that, Doug Wilson’s book , Joy at the End of the Tether, is the very best book I have read on Ecclesiastes. I recommend it with a muchness.

Here, in a short video, Wilson talks a little about it.

“Joy at the end of the tether” – Conversations with Doug Wilson from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

2009 for God’s Glory and Our Good: A More Substantive “This Stuff Actually Happened Last Year”

S.D. Smith — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:00:40 +0000

I had fun with last week’s post about what actually happened last year, and it was true enough. But it’s clear to me that there is a danger for me in being too flippant about the events of life. In particular, there’s a danger in not recognizing, with thankfulness, the sovereign hand of God for our good and, most importantly, for his glory, in all things.

So God himself is, of course, the author and hero of this story that is my life. There’s no meaning, truth, beauty, or goodness apart from Christ. So, with that in mind, I want to be thankful out loud here for a few areas I neglected last week.

Family
The mercy of God in my ordinary life has no greater vehicle than my bride, Gina. She is the primary voice of encouragement in my life (and in my writing) and is a nearly-endless blessing to me in a thousand ways. She is an excellent partner and an enormous helper. There’s no higher calling than that. Our children have been an unbelievable gift, a source of joy and a point of focus for an intentionality in my life I’ve never had before. Thank you, Yahweh.

Our wider family has been a gift as well, from our parents to our siblings and cousins etc. I here include some special friends who have been like family to us. You know who you are.

Vocation
I thank God for the work he has blessed us with. I have never been more satisfied in occupational matters than I am now. I know the idea of vocation (calling) extends beyond occupation, and that we are called to many things. But I am thankful for my job.

I want to thank the saints at my local church. They have been an unlooked for delight to us, and an experience of meeting in the name of Jesus we are deeply happy in. The pastors have been faithful under-shepherds to the Senior Pastor (Chief Shepherd), Jesus.

Suffering
Suffering is an ordinary part of fallen life. I thank God that he has been good to us in and out of pain. Life hasn’t been easy for us in many ways, as I know it isn’t for anyone (though we all feel like our pain is unique and particularly difficult). God’s sovereign hand for good in all things is in evidence in our lives. We are thankful for this mercy.

Finally, I mentioned that we had a son. His name is Micah. We gave him this name as, primarily, a tribute to the unmatched glory of God. Micah means “Who is like Yahweh?” The answer is, of course, silence. There is no one like Yahweh (rendered “The LORD” in most translations). No one compares with him. All wholesome delights originate in him, reflecting glory back to the Source.

We want to find our joy in him, and see with clear eyes that all true delight is a gift from him, and we want to be happy about that. As a naturally somewhat-melancholy, anxious type, it’s my prayer that I can set aside the impediments which sprout in my heart, weeding with vigor at the nonsense fruit of vanity.

A Psalm we learned last year is an appropriate way to end this brief exercise in public thankfulness. Maybe you should consider memorizing it as defensive measure in the war on your soul -for when the inevitable attacks come.

Psalm 46

46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

May the God of Jacob get glory from us in 2010. He will be exalted, so let’s join in the endless chorus.

A Great Man and Two Humble Women

S.D. Smith — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:00:07 +0000

I love Luke’s ”orderly account” of what has been accomplished by Yahweh in the first advent of Christ.

We remember the true tale of how the angel Gabriel came to two people (in Luke’s account), one was a priest and the other a virgin.

The priest’s wife, Elizabeth, and Mary both get a lot of time in the early part of Luke.

Both are women whose station in life is in relationship to their husbands (or, in Mary’s case, her betrothed). One woman’s husband has a “secular” career, the other a religious one. Both have a humble calling, a vocation for the lowly of spirit.

Elizabeth might have had some status as the wife of a priest, but she describes herself as having a reproach upon her from her people (because she was barren).

Mary would have likely had almost no status at all on her own.

What is the value of such people in the world’s economy (especially today)? They are nobodies.

Both women are blessed by God in a miraculous way by miraculous pregnancies and births. Both women became catalysts for the greatest event in the history of mankind.

It was not to, or through, Herod the Great that such things were accomplished. It was in spite of him. He was a mighty, important, powerful man who ruled the land. He was a man of intelligence, strength, and creativity. He was, perhaps, a genius. Let’s contrast this great man of his time with two Jewish women.

Elizabeth and Mary were humble-hearted believers.

What does Elizabeth say of Mary in vs. 45? How does Mary respond to truth that is good beyond measure?

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

What profound humility. What submission. What simple, astonishing beauty.

Do not believe the horrendous, and popular, lie that “History Doesn’t Remember Obedient Women.”

“From now on all generations will call me blessed,” sings humble Mary (in a Gospel-drenched, deeply theological, and lovely song).

She believes.

Mary hears…and believes.

What is our calling? It is the same as Mary’s in that way. We must hear, and having heard: believe.

Hear and believe.

This requires a humble heart, because it is the abandonment of whatever status we have held on to as a coin to buy God’s favor.

It is a filing for bankruptcy.

It is a kneeling surrender of our sword and our rank.

It is, as a wise man said, a “glorious defeat.”

In Christ’s advent we celebrate the happy end of our pretended reign.

There is no room for Herod the Great -clinging to his murderous self-interest.

Let us look instead to believing Mary, and Elizabeth –two beautiful, humble children of God– and let us imitate their faith.

Hear –and believe.