Resurrection Hope

Why does the Christian perspective seem so weird? Why does gospel teaching seem so disconnected and impractical? It is only weird and impractical if there is no resurrection. It makes all the sense in the world and is the most practical thing you could do, trust in Jesus and take up your cross and follow him, if the resurrection is real.
Wednesday morning I was reading the commentary on the New City Catechism to my children before they left to get on the bus for school. I came across something I have already written a little on and taught and preached but it struck me in a new light. It was D.A. Carson's explanation of the significance of what Christ's resurrection means for us, question 50. Not only are our sins forgiven but we have the hope of one day no longer dealing with sickness. Carson says,

"And with this comes also a vision of life and existence beyond this life. We should not think that Christianity merely sorts out some problems in our lives here. Rather, the ultimate goal is beyond this life. When we get older and more hairs fall out and arthritis kicks in, or we slink away into dementia, suddenly resurrection existence begins to look very good indeed because our hope is not to survive to seventy or eighty or even ninety. Our hope finally is a body like Christ's resurrection body. And his is the first fruit; ours has been secured by him, and we are coming along behind him to join him in resurrection existence; full-bodied resurrection existence in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness."
D.A. Carson in commentary on New City Catechism question 50.

I was impressed with the thought that we far too often only think about this life. Far too many christians think and teach others that being a Christian will make this life better, without pointing to the resurrection. It will make this life better, but so much more. The resurrection is the only thing that makes this life worth living. If we only live for this side of the resurrection, we will be sorely disappointed. If we are only living for retirement, then we have weak reason to fear God or obey his commands. The power of the gospel and the word of God has its full effect in the anticipation of the new heavens and the new earth. If this life only matters for the present until we die what keeps us from the corruption and evil of doing whatever it takes to get what we want now? Our anticipation and hope in the resurrection is our strongest motivation to obey God and live according to his ways now, even when it seems like we end up losing for obeying. The Resurrection gives us hope that we will see the fruit of our obedience in the end. This is what Psalm 73 gets at when he says he was like a beast until he came into the sanctuary and discerned the end of the wicked.
What are you living for? What is your hope? I have struggled some this year in our plan to return to Peru and keep working to build the city of God through Christ's church in Trujillo. I recognize now that my divided feelings have been torn between wanting to go back and participate with my brothers and sisters over there and also wanting to stay in my home town where I have deep roots and family and raise my children where I was raised. Those desires are not necessarily wrong but this perspective of the resurrection shows me that those are short-sighted desires. I have a bit of inheritance here in Louisiana in my home town, but I have a much bigger inheritance that is much longer lasting in the new creation.

1 Peter 1:3-5 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
1 Peter 1:3-5

This morning I was reading in Hebrews 11 and came across these verses that resonate with all of this, verses 13-16,

"All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has prepared a city for them."
Hebrews 11:13-16

Wow, that is why I will take my family back to Peru and continue the work of building that city by preaching and teaching the gospel to obey my King and participate in preparing his bride by doing my part to cultivate and raise up more loyal followers to further His kingdom where he has called me, even if I might like to raise my garden and build my shop in my home town where I can go up to my family's cabin and hunt and fish and teach my children to do the same. This resurrection hope that the scriptures tell me about shows me there is something bigger and more important than enjoying the land that I grew up on. I will get to enjoy the new creation on that day when Christ is fully revealed in the end, which will actually be the beginning.

New Blog platform

I am beginning to tire from format complications on this site and am trying out a new platform for blog. Let me know what you think? Is this new one better?

https://stuing.wordpress.com/

reflection on Ephesians

I few years ago, I studied Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians in depth, not exhaustively. Then I focused on several passages that resonated with me. 1:10 (God's eternal plan to unite all things in Christ), 3:14-21 (prayer for spiritual power to be able to grasp the gospel), 5:22ff (marriage) , 6:10-20 (spiritual warfare).

Yesterday as I re-read through it, two distinct verses stood out. 3:10-11 and 4:15-16. I will try to summarize them like this;

God uses the church to declare the wisdom of his eternal plan, realized in Christ Jesus, to the world, even to the rulers of heavenly places (i.e. demons?) He does this through the church as we speak the truth in love and grow up in every way into Christ as the body which when working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

There is a lot to unpack in those two sections.
What strikes me most is that the church in all of her weaknesses is God's chosen method to reveal his wisdom. I wonder why he says that the audience of this communication is the rulers of the heavenly powers. Who are the rulers of heavenly powers? Is that Satan? God is showing off to the demons? Perhaps. They rebelled against him and are doing everything they can to destroy his plan and purpose for mankind. Presumably because they don't want mankind to enjoy communion with God, since they lost it in their rebellion. God is showing them that he has accomplished his eternal plan through his Son, Jesus Christ. Mankind is now made secure in relationship through Jesus. The demons have nothing on us because of that. God is making all this known through the church.


Secondly one of the ways that he is accomplishing this is through us speaking the truth in love and growing up in Christ, as we do this we are being joined in with the bodily growth and when the body is healthy and growing, it builds itself up in love. What is the take away here? When the church is speaking the truth in love, she is maturing and the members naturally grow up on their own. A pastor's role is overwhelming when he is constantly putting out fires. But if, the members are healthy and being fed, they grow up and help him feed the others. This can sound lazy, and can be taken wrongly but it also can be taken well and applied well to cultivate a healthy and strong church where the truth is spoken in love and exponential healing happens as a result of healthy bodily growth. This merits much more thought and discussion, of which I don't have the time now.
More to come...

Update for January 2019

We are off to a great start for a new year!  We give praise to God that much support has come in and we are now down to only lacking $663/month to  be at 100% of our budget!  We are at 93%! We have a couple of missions conferences lined up and are working on scheduling a few more visits to churches this spring. So far we are fairly open. Meg and I are taking an online course in counseling this Spring with CCEF thanks to a generous donation from a good friend.

So far we have scheduled:

Redeemer Church in Jackson, MS February 22-24

Thompson Memorial in Centreville, MS March 1-3

Grace Presbyterian Church in Central, LA March 3 Evening Service

First Presbyterian Church in Jasper, AL May 19

Grace Presbyterian Church in Metairie, LA May 26

Our goal is to return to Peru by June 9

Updates on Peru:
Alexis Alayo is doing an amazing job coordinating classes with our BTS cohorte using IIIM classes. The cohorte is on summer break until March. Alexis is also serving as assistant SUSA director with Ps. Esdras Vasquez. Alexis got engaged and has asked me to do his wedding. They are planning for sometime in October.

Luis Mendoza is serving as communication director and just recently spearheaded the coordination for summer camp the first week of January. Luis got engaged and has also asked me to do his wedding and is planning for setting the date in July.

Jefferson Alayo got married to Katy in August of last year and is serving with Geneva School in administration. He is also leading the young adults ministry, music ministry and a discipleship study with three young men in the church who are also studying in the cohorte with Areopago.

Bryand Cruzado is sadly not continuing with his work with Ps. Percy in Parque Industrial. Bryand also recently got engaged.

Oscar Loyola is also serving as a SUSA intern and is now assisting Ps. Percy in Parque Industrial.

Prayer requests:

Pray for Las Ponas carpenter, Norvil Campos. Norvil had a hernia operation about 4 years ago. He has another hernia and is not able to work much and may need another operation. Please pray for his healing.

Mills Family Support Team invitation

Grace and Peace,
Will you pray with us and consider if God is providing for you and leading you to partner with us?
It is a joy and privilege that our Heavenly Father lets us live on his earth and even more, has given us redemption and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. His Holy Spirit equips us and enables us to believe and live in obedience, and has given us the privilege of serving His church and being a part of a mission seeking to build His church in Peru. Our participation in the charge to go and make disciples, is how his kingdom grows and the world is transformed. Will you join with us in this work of evangelism and discipleship in Peru through prayer and financial support?We are asking God in prayer to provide all that is needed for us and for our ministries. We are asking for His help to continue to love on the people He places in our path and connect us with those who will partner with us in sending us back to Peru. We are thankful for our current supporters and praying that they will be blessed and enabled to continue participating with us in this work.

We currently need to raise another $1,058 per month to get our budget back to 100%. We are encouraged to aim for 10% above our budget in fundraising, so we are asking God for 20 new supporters to give $100 a month (or the equivalent proportion of people giving) to complete our budget and fundraising goals.

Please also pray for his blessing on our time of Home Ministry Assignment that we can make the most of this time to both reconnect with family and supporters as well as recharge and prepare to return to the work and service in Peru.
In the joy of resting in Christ,
Stuart Mills

You can give online through our website Peru Mission or through mail to:

Peru Mission USA  

P.O. Box 25912
Greenville, SC, 29616

The Peru Mission team including ministry staff and leadership in Peru.

The Peru Mission team including ministry staff and leadership in Peru.

Here is a group of some of the young men we are training. In the photo is also Ps. Caleb Cangelosi who taught them a class when he came on a mission trip with Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, Ps. Wes Baker, Ps. Ricardo Hernandez and Ps. Percy Padilla who also benefited from the class.

Here is a group of some of the young men we are training. In the photo is also Ps. Caleb Cangelosi who taught them a class when he came on a mission trip with Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, Ps. Wes Baker, Ps. Ricardo Hernandez and Ps. Percy Padilla who also benefited from the class.

Here is the group of students studying Third Millennium courses through Birmingham Theological Seminary led by Alexis Alayo, Ps. Esdras Vasquez and Ps. Sergio La Rosa.

Here is the group of students studying Third Millennium courses through Birmingham Theological Seminary led by Alexis Alayo, Ps. Esdras Vasquez and Ps. Sergio La Rosa.

Why does God let evil continue? Part II

In Part I I suggested that God lets evil linger to allow trials to sanctify us. Another reason I see in Scripture comes from Isaiah 30:18. God is waiting patiently for more sinners to repent and be saved.

God lets evil continue to allow more sinners a chance to hear the gospel and repent and be saved.

Isaiah prophesied for God to rebuke his people for their rebellion. He promises destruction if they don’t turn back but at the same time promises restoration and forgiveness for their repentance. He goes so far as to promise that He will come and redeem them and rebuild His city. In chapter 30 he says that God is waiting to be gracious to them, he exalts himself to show mercy to them. God wants to show mercy and be gracious. He longs to do it and waits to be gracious to you as Is. 30:18 says. As I think about how or why God waits, I consider that the reason is that He chooses to work in us in such a way that we willingly come to him. He is capable of overpowering us and forcing us to do His will. But He is exalted and glorified even more when we willingly obey him and follow Him.

Then I also think of the means that God will use to destroy evil when he comes to do away with it completely. The clearest answer I see in scripture and think out is that he will do that when he comes on the day of judgment. If he came to do away with evil today, all who are still in rebellion would be condemned eternally. If he waits until tomorrow, then those who repent today will be saved for eternity. Scripture tells us that this will not be an endless cycle going on forever and ever as a never-ending story. Scripture tells us that there is a day fixed when he will come to judge and he will do it through the firstborn of the resurrection (Acts 17:31). Scripture also tells us that only the Father knows that day. Until that day comes, there is still time to repent and be saved, while at the same time evil still lingers.

It appears that God is waiting patiently to allow more people to repent and return to him. He knows the day and that day will come at His right time. But until that day comes, there is still time for us to do our job of proclaiming his glory and pleading with more to believe in the gospel and repent and be saved. It seems like a difficult thing to grasp that we have to suffer evil both internally and externally because God is waiting to bring judgment day until his chosen loved ones come home. But on the other hand, this thought fills me with hope and longing for my friends and family to be saved. I think of my sister-in-law who has rejected God and I would be utterly grieved to think of her suffering eternally for her rebellion. It would give me the greatest joy to hear of her repentance and return to her loving savior before it is too late. I am very thankful and am willing to suffer however many more days of evil it takes if I may get the chance to see her and countless others return home and be restored to their loving creator. This compels us to go out and plead harder with our loved ones and strangers too to come to Jesus while there is still time. Because there will come a day when it will be too late and God will do away with all evil and will make all things new. He will punish and destroy all who continue to rebel and he will bring home and restore all who are washed and clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. How many more can we lead home today?

Why does God let evil continue? Part I

After talking about God letting evil in (previous post) so we could fall and then be redeemed to an even higher status through union with Christ, I would like to touch on a follow up question. Now that Christ has joined us with himself and is sanctifying us, why not just go on and fix us completely? That sounds nice. Why let evil linger? I believe we can find some answers in Scripture.

1 Peter 1:3-12. Just as gold is passed through fire to purify it, we are passed through trials to purify us.

God let evil continue to allow trials to sanctify us.

       Can it be true that the prophets of old longed to know Christ but were told that their longing was meant to serve us and not them? Why didn’t they get to see Him? I don’t know. Peter says it was revealed to them that they were serving us who would hear the preaching of Christ from the apostles. I feel a bit selfish as I think about my longings and frustrations. At times I get disappointed because it takes too long for lunch time to arrive or a coming holiday. How much more difficult was it for the prophets who never got to see the fulfillment of what they prophesied. They longed to see the Messiah. It was a true prophecy. They didn’t fail. But they didn’t get to see it before they went to the grave.  

We also have to wait. The prophets waited for Jesus to come. Long after many of them died, He came. The apostles got to see him and touch him. But then he ascended and now those of us who believe after he ascended don’t get to see him physically. Yet we can still love him and believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. How? Through faith. 

Faith is mysterious. Peter says that the outcome of our faith is the salvation of our souls. This sounds a lot like what Paul says in Romans 8:24 and 25 about hope. Then it also connects with what he says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 of faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. There will come a day when faith will be obsolete. We will no longer need it because we will see him face to face. There will come a day when hope will be obsolete. We will no longer need hope to wait for him because we will have him present. But love will continue. He will continue to love us and we will continue to love him. Until then, we need faith and hope to be able to love. Faith enables us to see him whom we do not see. Hope helps us wait for it with patience. Until that day when Christ comes back and finishes making all things new, we have faith and hope. 

What strengthens our faith and hope? Peter says our faith is more precious than gold. gold is tested by fire. Our faith is tested by trials. Trials are presented to us through having to deal with evil. I think this is one of the reasons God allows evil to linger. He allows it to be a trial to strengthen our faith and hope. I wonder if it is similar to the saying that you should not help a chick hatch itself from an egg because you will deprive it of the strength that it needs to gain by the work of pecking itself out. Perhaps it is connected to that teacher who will not give the students the answers but makes them go look them up and figure them out. God is allowing us the opportunity to grow and strengthen through the trials he puts us through with leaving evil to plague us and buffet us just as gold is passed through fire to purify it. We are passed through trials to purify us. This is done both through evil outside of us and within us. We see evil around us in the acts of the devil working through the world and people with mass shootings or rape or robbery or even with our neighbor defaming us with lies. But we also see this evil through the indwelling sin in each of us that we long to be free of that led Paul to say in Romans 8 that hope that is seen is no longer hope. We hope for that redemption and freedom from sin. He even says that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. But if we already had it completely we would no longer need to hope for it. We would have it. On that wonderful glorious day when Christ comes back, we will have it. He will be revealed to us and then we will understand and know fully. But then there will also be no more evil.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

(1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV)