Prayer of Confession: The First Commandment

O LORD our God,

who ransomed a people for Yourself

from every tribe and tongue,

You alone are God.

Yet, with the grumbling of our mouths,

the complaints we entertain in our minds,

and the discontent we harbor in our hearts,

We have not worshipped you alone;

instead, we have sinned against you

by elevating our own wisdom beside yours.

Too often times we’ve thought

situations should have been different,

places should have been switched,

roles should have been reversed.

We have presumed that we, not you, know what is best.

We have sinned against you

by complaining about and questioning

your wise and perfect ordering of all things. 
 

Forgive us, Father,

through Jesus Christ,

whose blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

We ask that You would give us grace and faith to see,

whatever our circumstances,

that You alone are God and You order all things well.

Amen.

We Do Not Trust in God Alone

In reference to a Question & Answer 125 of the Heidelberg Catechism, Kevin DeYoung writes: 

"I'm struck by the line in the Catechism that our work, our worry, and our gifts cannot do any good without God's blessing. The great danger we have, living in such an affluent society, is the evil of self-reliance. How tempted we are to think that we are in control, that we are gifted enough, hardworking enough,and rich enough to tackle any problems. But the reality is God can frustrate the best laid plans of mice and Americans. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain (Ps. 127:1). 

"This is why prayer is so essential for the Christian. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for five or fifty minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on God. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness-- time management, busyness, lack of concentration-- but most fundamentally, we ask now because we think we need not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side. We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God's ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God's help" [Kevin DeYoung, The Good News We Almost Forgot (Moody Publishers: Chicago, IL: 2010), 232, italics added]. 

 Convicting words. 

Belhar Confession

In one week the Christian Reformed Church will gather in Ancaster, Ontario for Synod. This Synod is anticipated (or dreaded) because the CRC will dash itself upon the rocks of the Belhar Confession. The Belhar Confession was written in response to the horror of South African apartheid. While the church stood, amidst the racial chaos with blood on its hands, the Belhar was penned. Now, the Christian Reformed Church will decide whether the Belhar should be adopted as the denomination's fourth confessional document.

The Belhar is intended to be a statement of Christian unity, but the grim reality is that it threatens to tear the CRC apart. I will be posting (or referring to) a number of resources this week that speak to the Belhar Confession. In the meanwhile, please pray fervently that God will guide the discussions of Synod and that He will provide a way to maintain both the unity and the doctrinal integrity of the denomination.

Here is the text of the Belhar Confession. Be sure to read it.