Fruitie-Tales: Living By the Fruit of the Spirit Series

Well it has been a long trip, but we have finally completed our series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Although more could be said, I hope this has been an encouraging series. It seems like every week God was reminding me to be more like Him as I repeatedly failed to do. Below are all of the sermons, links, and book recommendations made throughout this series.

Sermons:
April 26, 2009 - Got Fruit?
May 17, 2009 - Walk In the Spirit

Love:
May 24, 2009 - What's Love Got To Do With It?
May 24, 2009 - All You Lack Is LoveWhat is Love? - Audio
June 7, 2009 - 1 Corinthians 13:8-13: Love Never Ends

Joy:
June 15, 2009 - Matthew 5:1-5: Joy of Spiritual Humility
June 28, 2009 - Matthew 5:6: Starving? Why Wait?
July 12, 2009 - Matthew 5:7-9: The Joy of Holiness
July 19, 2009 - Matthew 5:10-12: The Joy of Persecution
(Sunday Night) - July 19, 2009: Hebrews 11:30ff - The Legacy of Suffering Joy

Peace:
August 2, 2009 - Psalm 23:2: Peace of Rest
August 9, 2009 - Psalm 23:3: The Peace of Restoration (notes only)
August 16, 2009 - Psalm 23:4: "The Peace of Comfort"
Sunday Night - The Agony of Job and the Sovereingnty of God
August 23, 2009 - Psalm 23:5: The Peace of the Shepherd's Sovereignty
August 30, 2009 - Psalm 23:6: The Peace of the Shepherd's Providence

Patience
September 6, 2009 - Faithience: When Faith and Patience Collide
September 13, 2009 - Genesis 13:1-18: The Biggest Loser
September 20, 2009 - Genesis 15:1-18: The Patience of Our Deliverer
October 4, 2009 - Genesis 16: Impatience

Goodness:
October 18, 2009 - 1 Peter 2:21-23 - Christus Exemplar and the Goodness of God
October 25, 2009 - Galatians 6:6-14: Selfless Goodness

November 1, 2009 - "I Believe, Help My Unbelief": The Power of Faithless Faith
November 8, 2009 - "God Be Merciful To Me a Sinner": The Gosple in 7 Words
November 15, 2009 - Living In Meekness
November 22, 2009 - Self-Control in the Face of Temptation

Book Recommendations:
Weekly Recommendation: "A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit"Weekly Recommendation: "The God Who Loves"Weekly Recommendation: "The Greatest of These is Love"
Weekly Recommendation: "Kingdom Living"
Weekly Recommendation: "Foxe's Book of Martyrs"
Weekly Recommendation - "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23"
Weekly Recommendation: "Traveling Light"
Weekly Recommendation - "Restore My Soul"
Weekly Recommendation - "A Grief Observed"Weekly Recommendation - "Finding Peace"
Weekly Recommendation - "Heaven"
Weekly Recommendation: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"

Other:
True Love From Veggie Tales
Bonhoeffer: The Meaning of Poor In Spirit and the Joy of Being Spiritual Bankrupt
Bonhoeffer on Matthew 5:7-9
Mephibosheth and the Sanctity of the Disable: God's Glory In the Face of Deformity
Theodicy as Evidence of a Theos
"I Am so Easily Satisfied With Just Going About" - A Gut Check

Some Helpful Answers To Common Questions: DA Carson Weighs In

I came across the following videos of Dr. D. A. Carson, well known theologian and author, regarding common questions asks. Dr. Carson provides brief and thorough answers to these questions. The questions include, "How Do I Know God Exists?" "How Can God Allow Evil and Suffering in the World?" and "How Can God Be Loving and Yet Send People to Hell?" I hope these videos are helpful.

How Do I Know God Exists?:

How do I know God exists? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

How Can God Allow Evil and Suffering in the World?

How can God allow suffering and evil in the world? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

How Can God Be Loving and Yet Send People to Hell?

How can God be loving yet send people to hell? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

Fruit of the Spirit - Goodness

This was a short series and since our discussion on Kindness was only 1 week, I will include that in here as well.

Goodness Sermons:
October 18, 2009 - 1 Peter 2:21-23 - Christus Exemplar and the Goodness of God
October 25, 2009 - Galatians 6:6-14: Selfless Goodness

Book Recommendations:
Weekly Recommendation: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"

Other:
Theodicy as Evidence of a Theos
"I Am so Easily Satisfied With Just Going About" - A Gut Check

Kindness Sermon:
October 11, 2009 - 2 Samuel 9: Costly Kindness

For more:
Fruit of the Spirit: Patience
The Fruit of the Spirit: Peace
The Fruit of the Spirit: Love
The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy
The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphal Entry to Triumphal Grave Series
Basic Christianity Series Revelation Study

October 25, 2009 - Galatians 6:6-14: Selfless Goodness

No audio is available, only notes. To download the notes, click here.

Weekly Recommendation: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"

I rarely recommend books in which I disagree with the entire premise, but this books popularity and argument draws us to at least take it seriously. In recent weeks we have discussed God's goodness and our call to be good.

I have written a review of the book and was constantly reminded of how Rabbi Kushner's book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," is an attack, not just on the goodness of God, but on the gospel. Let us not forget about Christus Exemplar in all of this. Kushner's basic argument is that when bad things happen, its not that God is bad, He just isn't powerful enough to prevent it. That is an attack on the gospel and nothing else. I encourage you to read the book and see it for yourself, but remember that Kushner presents an argument that undermines the cross of the Christ and nothing less.

"When Bad Things Happen To Good People"

"I Am so Easily Satisfied With Just Going About" - A Gut Check

I have been doing a lot of studying on the subject of godly goodness and came across the following quote that really spoke to me:

I read, in a book, that a man called Christ
Went about doing good,
It is very disconcerting to me,
that I am so easily satisfied
With just – going about.
-Poem by Kagawa of Japan as quoted in Stephen Winward, Fruit of the Spirit, 151

Am I the only one guilty of this?

October 18, 2009 - 1 Peter 2:21-23 - Christus Exemplar and the Goodness of God

Here is the audio.
Here are the notes.

Theodicy as Evidence of a Theos

I have been studying, in great detail, the question of God's goodness. If God is good, then why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? The common riddle goes something like this: If God is good, He cannot be All-Powerful because He cannot prevent evil and suffering in the world. If God is All-Powerful, He cannot be good because He refused to prevent evil and suffering. God therefore, is either good or All-Powerful, He cannot be both.

I have sat in secular university philosophy classes and listened to this argument. To most Christians, they are left stunned by this predicament. The Bible clearly teaches that God is good and All-Powerful. So how can these two concepts be true if there is so much evil and suffering in the world? The answer goes beyond this post. To begin, the Christian worldview must go back to Genesis 1-3. In chapters 1-2, God created everything and saw that it was good. It was good because it came from He who defines good; God. But in Genesis 3, the Fall took place and destroyed the goodness of the Earth. Death, suffering, evil, violence, natural disasters, and pain are the result of Genesis 3.

But does the problem of theodicy disprove God? Interestingly, even the most hardened atheist are not running to the problem of theodicy as they used to. The world's best known atheist, Richard Dawkins, in his book, The God Delusion, points out that this issue does not necessarily disprove God, it only disproves the goodness of God. Though I disagree with his conclusion, one cannot miss what Dawkins is saying. Evil and suffering does not disprove God.

So, how does such an issue prove God? C.S. Lewis explains in the clearest and most powerful language:

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of ‘just’ and ‘unjust’? . . . What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? . . . Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too – for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies . . . Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. -Lewis, Mere Christianity, 38

Lewis is right. The very idea that we speak of evil and suffering implies that we have an inherit standard of evil and good. Where does this inherit idea come from? Why is murder, death, destruction, violence, abuse, and natural disasters bad? By what standard do we measure these things? Evolution implies (though many naturalists may deny it) that death and suffering brings forth the fruit of evolution. Things improve when the weaker become extinct and die. Death is good. And yet naturally, we are repulsed by this. Evolution morality implies relativism. What is true? What is right? What is moral? Without a Divine standard such questions are determined by culture and opinion polls.

Let us remember Lewis' words. When we see suffering and pain, we ought to weep and mourn, not because God seems non-existent, but because we know that God is present. In a world of pain and sorrows, God reminds us of His standard of good. When we see such pain God is calling us to heal what has been wounded, to fix what has been broken, and to united what has been separated. We do this because that is what God has done for us. Upon the cross Christ took upon Himself our evil and sin. On the cross, Christ fixed what we broke, united what we separated, and healed what we wounded.

But the beauty of the cross isn't just in Christ suffering on our account. The beauty of the cross takes us to the empty tomb. Their is always hope and restoration on the other side of pain, suffering, and evil. Christ conquered and so can we.