Articles from this week (November 25-29)
How do we rekindle a passion for the Word?
https://www.ryleyheppner.com/articles/how-do-we-rekindle-a-passion-for-the-word
Whats the point in praying?
https://www.ryleyheppner.com/articles/whats-the-point-in-praying
Thinking about Bruce Willis and Jesus
https://www.ryleyheppner.com/articles/thinking-about-bruce-willis-and-jesus
Yesterday, the algorithm got the best of me.
Every time I opened up my phone’s web browser, the same article was sitting there staring back. I say ‘article’ loosely, because it wasn’t much of an article. It was a collection of pictures of celebrities and their families celebrating American thanksgiving. From morning to night, it kept showing up, until finally as the evening approached and all my self-control over ad clicking had been spent, I clicked.
For the next few minutes, I clicked my way through thirty-four pictures of celebrities posing with turkeys. You don’t have to remind me of what a complete waste of time this was. I will the wear the disappointment in myself over that initial click for the rest of the weekend. That being said, there was one picture that caught my attention and gave me a lot to think about. It was the one with Bruce Willis and his family, sitting on a couch in their casual thanksgiving clothes.
I don’t know if you have kept up with Bruce Willis’ life over the past while, but it has changed a lot since the Die Hard days. Willis was diagnosed in 2023 with frontotemporal dementia. As a result, he has faced rapid cognitive decline, to the point that he is no longer even capable of speaking.
To see John McClane (Die Hard reference in case you missed it) sitting and smiling with his family was a beautiful thing. It was the most beautiful picture in the set of thirty-four. At the same time, it was to me a staunch reminder of how fast our abilities can disappear.
We often talk as Christians about the suddenness of death. We talk to unbelievers about how important it is to not put off a decision for Jesus until later, because what if death comes calling when you don’t expect it. I wonder though have often we talk about or think about for ourselves, the suddenness of debilitation or disablement; how fast we can go from a fully functioning person, to our arms not working, our legs not working, our kidneys not working or even our mind not working.
In the same way that unbelievers can put off following Jesus, thinking that they have lots of time to make the decision, believers can put off radically following Jesus, believing that they also have lots of time to make that kind of commitment. Think about this for a second, because maybe it is you. You are a Christian and yet each day you justify why you’re not going to start really committing to Jesus until next week, or until after the new year. When that time comes, then you will pick up a serious bible reading plan; then you will shut off the TV and spend more time in prayer; then you will start putting resources to global missions; then you will make these changes to put Jesus first and finish your life with a legacy of seeking first His kingdom.
Listen, I am not preaching to you, I am preaching to myself, because I do this. I have an idea of how surrendered and devoted to Christ I want to be, and there is always a valid reason for it starting tomorrow. But as a I stared yesterday at Bruce Willis and his family, I could not help but think that maybe tomorrow won’t come, or at least not come in the same way that today came. I might not die tomorrow, but I might lose the ability to follow Jesus as radically as I am able to right now.
Limitations can arrive and will arrive just as fast as death. All we can really know is that we have whatever ability we have in this moment. So then why not capitalize on this moment, to seek first the Kingdom of God with everything we have, before we have less of an ability to do so? Jesus deserves that much and more; He deserves our prime years as well as everything that follows.
Today, I woke up with the full function of my mind and body. Tomorrow might be different. So, let me use all the ability that He has given me today for His glory, before I no longer have it. Let me take the risks today, because I have today, and because He is worthy of my complete devotion now and not just in the future.
I hope I don’t click on another set of celebrity photos, but I am thankful for the reminder that came through yesterday’s lack of self-control.
“Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology”
Published by Crossway, 2024.
Kevin DeYoung does it again! What a brilliant idea for a book, and so masterfully executed.
“Daily Doctrine” is DeYoung's latest book. Put out by Crossway, it is exactly what it sounds like, a daily dose of doctrine. The book is divided nine sections that fall under nine different theological headings, like Preliminary Considerations, Theology Proper, Christology, Soteriology, etc. Under the nine headings the book is then divided into fifty-two weeks, with each week having five daily devotional size entries that work through content related to a particular heading.
The daily entries are devotional in size (i.e. one to two pages) but not so "devotional" in nature. What I mean is that there are not many stories or illustrations, if that is what you are looking for. That being said, the content is extremely engaging and easy to follow. Even if you are not used to theological type language, for the one and half pages that most of the entries are, DeYoung will undoubtedly hold your attention. Or rather, the Scriptures and the theology of the Scriptures will hold your attention, because each entry is so incredibly full of both.
I have often thought that there should be a daily devotional type book that teaches systematic theology; something that takes readers deeper than the average devotional does, but does in a similar format. Well here it is! And it is so perfectly done.
Whether you are a seasoned theologian, or a Christian looking to be a little more challenged and seasoned, this will be a worthwhile book to grab! I cannot recommend “Daily Doctrine” highly enough. And I cannot wait to get more copies to start handing out to friends, family and congregants.
What is self-denial?
We might know that Jesus calls us to it, but what exactly is He is calling us to?
In the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus moves toward the cross, it becomes clear that He both knows what is coming and that He has a choice in the matter. When He eventually arrives in the garden of Gethsemane, His prayer to God is simply this: “Not what I want but what you want” (Mark 14.36). Those don’t sound like the words of someone being coerced; those sound like the words of someone being obedient.
As the passion scene unfolds Jesus’ resolve to the Father’s will remains, even though He has full knowledge of what it entails. When the mob shows up to arrest Him, He welcomes them (14.43-50); When He is accused by the chief priests before Pilate, He stays silent. All of this occurs with Jesus knowing not only the suffering that awaits Him, but also knowing that He is perfectly innocent and undeserving of it all.
Execution by cross was not akin to getting lethal injection. There was no more degrading way to die in the ancient world than by crucifixion. New Testament Professor Helen Bond describes it in detail in her article, “A Fitting End? Self-Denial and a Slave’s Death in Mark’s Life of Jesus.” She writes:
“Stripped naked, the victim was humiliated and shamed as he suffered extreme agony, perhaps for several days, until, overcome by suffocation and exhaustion, he met his merciful end. So offensive was the cross that civilized people preferred not to talk about it, and few Roman writers ever dwelt on any of the details. Cicero described crucifixion as ‘the greatest punishment of slavery,’ while Josephus labelled it ‘the most pitiable of deaths.’”
Several chapters before the passion narrative, in Mark 9, Jesus sits his disciples down and He tells them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9.35). Perplexing words to hear. I have to imagine that the disciples were left wondering in that moment what Jesus meant and what a servant of all really looked like. Thankfully, they would not have to wonder for long.
Remember Cicero’s words, quoted by Bond, “The greatest punishment of slavery.” What happened on the cross was not Jesus simply dying the death of a citizen. He was dying the death of a slave, and that for the sake of others. He was innocent of all charges and unworthy of the death he was being served, and yet in obedience to the Father’s will He embraces all of it.
In other words, Jesus doesn’t just teach the disciples, on the cross He fully embodies for them what He’s been teaching. He becomes His teaching. He teaches the disciples that to follow them they must become a least of all, and then on the cross He becomes the least of all. He teaches them that to be his disciples they must be a slave to all, and than on the cross He becomes a slave to all.
If we ever wonder what self denial looks like, here it is. It is to become a servant to all.
If we ever wonder what it is to be a servant to all, here it is. It is to choose obedience to the father, over and above obedience to ourselves.
And if we ever wonder where we look to see the servant-of-all-self-denial, here it is. Not only is Jesus our Savior, who denied Himself for us. He is our model now for what it looks like to deny ourselves for Him.
I amaze myself sometimes, at just how irrational I can be.
Life can feel so extremely busy these days, with a family, a congregation, a home, a yard, vehicles, pets and so forth. I find myself regularly seeking out moments of rest; little chances in the day or in the week to catch my breath and to feel some level of emotional and spiritual refreshment. More times than not, I seek this rest in things like movies, news websites and skateboarding. The reason I seek rest in these things is because I have this unspoken belief that rest will come through more “me time;” through forgetting about my responsibilities and tasks and burdens for a few moments and focusing on the things that I enjoy and that I can get lost in; things like movies, news articles, skateboarding, etc. The funny thing is though, very often I come out of those “restful” activities, more fatigued than before, or at least no more rested.
Now at the same time, I continually come to passages in scripture that speak about rest, and they always point in the same direction, and it is not more “me time.”
Psalm 23.2 - He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”
Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Hebrews 4:10 – “For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
In these passages and so many more, God is the source of the rest. He is the one producing it and the one inviting us to receive it.
Here is the irrationality of it all. I know that the things I choose to find rest in won’t every give me the kind of rest I am seeking from them. I know it deep it down. I also know that God can and will give me the kind of rest that I need. And yet, still I continue to choose the one at the expense of the other.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with enjoying enjoyable and relaxing activities. God gave us all of them, and I am sure thankful that He did! But the fact of the matter is that true rest will never come from those things. It will come from Him. It will come from Him as we come to Him and, and whether for the first time or the five hundredth time, we place our trust in Him. It will come as we, by faith, through prayer, in worship and with Scripture, throw all of our worries, anxieties, doubts, sins, pressures and ambitions before Him. That is where rest lives! In the arms of an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful Father.
And it makes sense doesn’t it, that rest would be found in Him alone? In dictionary terms to rest is to cease all movement; to make no effort; to be still. It is to be relieved of all of the weight that we are carrying. Well, God is the only one who can fully support us, the only whose shoulders are able to bear the weight that we carry and so to relieve us of everything we’ve been carrying. He is the only one strong enough to carry us, so that we can cease moving; so that we can feel light, as if we are being carried on wings of eagles. No relationship can do that. No sport can do that. No sit back and relax type of entertainment can do that.
To be honest, I plan to continue watching films, reading the news and riding a skateboard, as time allows. But by God’s grace, I will stop expecting those things to be the answer to my stress and fatigue, and will stop doing those things at the expense of time spent with Jesus. At the risk of sounding cliche, I plan to seek and find my rest this week not in more “me time,” but in more “He time.”