FORREST LONG: MUSINGS ON CHRISTIANITY

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-24T13:30:00.001-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! And who will be here to read this? I see that I haven't put a post on here for months so any regular readers have long disappeared. I am toying with the idea of reviving this blog in the beginning of the new year and getting back into blogging. I may also begin a new blog, not focused on Christianity- maybe on art and/or writing. Then again I may not do anything- just paint and write. I'll let you know in the new year. Hope your past year has been a good one. I will make no resolutions for the coming year, but I will attempt to accomplish something.
Keep your stick on the ice and your oar in the water. And a HAPPY NEW YEAR too!

LORD, SAVE THE CHURCH FROM ITSELF!

2011-08-19T19:24:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but when I read about what churches are doing today in trying to attract the world, in trying new forms of outreach, in trying to be "relevent", it seems to me that a certain degree of insanity overcomes much of the church today. The church tries too hard to become something it isn't and to "market" it's product, when that's not what it's called to do.
I'm back from vacation and back into teaching the book of Acts in our midweek Bible study. I've been in Acts now well over three months and am only in chapter five. I've never taught through Acts before, just preached here and there from it. Luke gives us such an overwhelming sense of focus in that early church in all they did. They didn't try to do everything and be everything, but what they did they did well- under the direction of the Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They had one message to give to the world- the Gospel of Jesus Christ, plain and simple. God the Holy Spirit worked through that message for the conviction and salvation of sinners, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Somehow they didn't worry about how to market their message, they just faithfully proclaimed it. They got the message out to where it needed to be heard and trusted God to do the rest. Ang God was faithful, adding to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47).
We don't have a product to be marketed, we have a message to proclaim. The church isn't a business; it isn't like any other organization in the world. The church is the living body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The church is indwelt and impowered by the Holy Spirit. He alone is the one who convicts sinners and awakens them from death to life in Christ, brings them to faith and salvation. It seems to me that the church's greatest need today isn't a good market strategy, but prayer. What would happen if a church got on its knees before God in sincere repentance, calling out on God to pour out the Holy Spirit in genuine revival and to attend the preaching of the gospel with power for the salvation of sinners? And I don't mean a one day event. I mean day after day, week after week, until they see God work in mighty power. Do you believe that God would respond? Apparently most churches feel such a strategy is long outdated and the marketing gurus have a better idea. Alot of people today are making alot of money by clouding the issue of what the church is to be and what the church is to do. Let's get back to Acts and follow God's agenda.

VACATION IS OVER!

2011-08-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

All good things must come to an end, including vacations. I thought while I was away that I would continue posting on my blog, but that didn't happen. I wasn't always in a place where I had internet connection. And my time was busy with family, including my two grandsons who occupied alot of my time and I enjoyed them- don't get to see them often enough. But now that I am home I will begin blogging regularly next week. From my reading and my observations of other churches I've got a few thoughts in the back of my mind to develop over the next few blogs. There is alot to discourage Christians out there, but there is also alot of opportunity and challenge. It's not a time for the timid if the church is truly going to be the church. So come back next week and I'll have something to say.
Let me leave you with this tidbit from R.C. Sproul on worship:
"The worship to which we are called in our renewed state is far too important to be left to personal preferences, to whims, or to marketing strategies. It is the pleasing of God that is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our worship must be informed as we seek God's own instructions for worship that is pleasing to Him."
God is good! God bless!

KEEP LOOKING AHEAD, NOT BACK!

2011-07-28T16:33:00.000-05:00

I am still on vacation and have been in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for a couple days. I have enjoyed getting back, but I realize that things have changed since I moved from this area. There has been no ferry service from Maine for two years now and that has impacted the local economy. I see the impact with businesses closed down and a negative outlook on the part of so many. The ocean is still beautiful and the beaches are as nice as ever. But it's not the same. There have been times when I have longed to be living back here, but I realize in this trip that it wouldn't be the same as the past. Life moves ahead, not back. Maybe it's a matter of getting older, but sometimes we have a habit of reminiscing about the past and wanting to be there. We do that in the church at times, as well as in other life situations. I leave Yarmouth tomorrow with a different feeling. I will be back, but not with a desire to move back unless I know with certainty that is what the Lord would want.
I find a lesson in this as a Christian. Our focus is to be on Jesus. As Paul said in Philippians, he was letting go of the past and straining forward, as a runner in a race. He used this image to depict the Christian life. It is to be a life moving ahead. As I look back I have good and bad memories, lessons learned and mistakes made. But Christ wants me moving ahead always, not mired in my past. And we always seem to view the past with rose colored glasses, a distorted image. In a week's time I will be heading back to Alabama with vacation over. And I will return, looking ahead to what God has for me.
Some people fear the future, the unknown, but as the old saying goes, "The future is as bright as the promises of God." That's not simply a trite saying but a biblical truth. God is the God of my tomorrow, as much as of my today. He is in control. I need to keep focused on Him and move ahead one step at a time. God is faithful!

On Vacation...Only Temporarily

2011-07-22T21:02:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday afternoon we left Alabama, heading southeast to Atlanta, where Patsy caught a flight to London and then on to Scotland for two weeks with her Institute for Clergy Excellence group. I would love to be there with her enjoying all that she will experience on her first trip there. Instead I continue north to New Brunswick to spend time with family, as well as visit friends and familiar locations in Nova Scotia. It's always a long, tiring drive, covering over two days, but the destination is always worth it. I don't mind the drive and usually listen to music or messages on tape or CD.
So this vacation began with a real challenge. I listened to the CD book by John Piper, "Don't Waste Your Life". It's a powerful, straightforward book that doesn't beat around the bush on vital issues for Christians. John Piper has such a way of communicating that cuts to your heart and conscience. How much of life we too often waste, sometimes inadvertently, yet at other times almost with a planned obscelence. It is frightening how I can fritter away minutes, hours and days in accomplishing nothing of eternal value. And I can think back on a major transitional time of my life where it seems I put my life on hold for several years- not good. Sometimes we give young people warnings about not wasting their lives, but it's a message all adults need to hear. I say that because so often when we approach retirement there is a serious thought and even plan to coast on into the sunset. That leads me to John Piper's next message on CD I listened to, not for the first time, but it was a good reminder to hear it again. This is a sermon he delivered on retirement and the american dream. Interestingly, it's subheading could also be "Don't waste your life!" It was a challenge and warning against Christians developing the cultural idea of retiring to spend the last decades of life- and that could be a long time with today's life spans- just laying back relaxing, playing golf, seeing the world, while doing nothing to really make those years count. He mentioned a quote I heard as a young person and had forgotten for years- "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last." Is there any truth left in that statement? I mulled over those thoughts for miles and considered what they had to say to me. I don't know how much time God will give me, but if I have another twenty or thirty years, how will I use them? What will I do of significance for the Church of Christ and the needs of people? I love to preach and teach and am thankful to have the opportunity to use these gifts again. But can I just come to a certain age and stop, pick up my golf clubs and forget about it all? Apart from being incapacitated by health problems, how could I ever justify not serving God and using the gifts He has given me for His glory? John Piper has a way of presenting things that can dig at your conscience and open the door for the probing work of the Holy Spirit, and we all need more of that. So now I begin to ponder what the next chapter will be. How about you?

DID THE CHURCH REALLY NEED TO BE RECREATED TODAY?

2011-07-15T10:18:00.000-05:00

Over the past ten years or more the church has been facing challenges which have resulted in a multitude of suggestions for being able to adequately meet them. Most of those suggestions seem to center on remaking the church- a post-modern church for a post-modern world. Well, where the church has heeded those suggestions it has certainly brought change, yet that change has come with a great price tag. Some churches have faced division and lost members. Some churches have become unidentifiable compared to what they used to be. Many churches have become indistinguishable from the culture around them. And the books keep rolling off the religious press promoting more ideas, new directions, further reimaging. Where will it all end? This whole thing is on a roll and people are making money off it, so it will continue as long as possible.
But is the church any better off for all this change? Some would say yes. Yet there are some, including myself, who would say no. There is a sadness to the gullability of the church in North America which is so tied to the culture which is not Christian. The trends, the issues, the momentary focus of our culture seems to define where the church needs to be and what it needs to be doing at any particular moment. The result is that much of the church today fails to listen for the voice of God and fails to follow the directions laid down in Scripture for its purpose and life.
The reality of this situation has struck me in a stronger way recently, although I have always been skeptical of what has been unfolding in the church today. In teaching through the book of Acts, which I have never done before in my years of ministry, I am struck by the clear principles and methods laid down and practiced by the early church that are there as direction for us today. And there are many parallels between the cultural situation of the first generation church and that of the church today in North America. Yet for the most part we completely ignore what the Bible has to say, other than using it for some proof-texting if necessary, to justify the radical changes of today. It's sad.
I have just finished reading Charles Swindoll's book, "The Church Awakening- An Urgent Call For Renewal". Now this isn't a book of wild speculation by some church upstart. Charles Swindoll has proven himself as a solid evangelical through years of pastoral leadership and biblical teaching. He has a solid reputation and so has earned the right to be heard, in contrast with so many who are writing books about the church today which are self-centered, building on their own little empire they have created. "I'm successful and here's how I did it. Now buy my book" syndrome seems to be at an epedemic level today. Yet Swindoll, drawing from his maturity and biblical understanding shares with us a message the church today desperately needs to hear. Let me share some of what he writes of the church:

"It is a house of prayer, not a house of business. It is a place of worship, not a place of entertainment. Jesus is our Savior whom we worship, not a brand to market. The body of Christ is a sanctuary of protection for the vulnerable- for children, single women, the abused, and the bruised and broken in life. The house of God is a refuge for those who have special needs and can't keep up. It is a harbor of hope for those who are addicted and struggling. For those trying to find a reason to go on after a death or divorce, the church has a powerful opportunity to offer the hope that God gives.
"The marvelous opportunity of ministry that lies before the church awaits only one thing: the church's awakening. Stated simply, the people of God must return to a hunger and thirst for righteousness, the ministers of God must repent of their failure to fulfill their calling, and the house of God needs to represent its biblical purpose for existence. In spite of all the spiritual devastation and famine in our land, it is not too late to turn it around- by God's grace."

Those are words of wisdom that the church needs to pay heed to. I believe that today's church, particularly in North America, and particularly the evangelical church, has been sold a bill of goods which is more degenerative than regenerative for the life and future of the church. I believe that time will prove that out. But as Swindoll says, it's not too late. God in His grace can give the church another opportunity to get it right.

PROCLAIM THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS!

2011-07-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

It seems to me that the message of the cross is fading into the background of many so called evangelical churches today. In my visits to other congregations I have heard alot of messages on self-help therapy and steps to make your life more productive, etc. but less and less on the centrality of the cross and the message of the Gospel. I fear that this is a response to the perceived need of making the church more "relevent" to the seekers out there. Leaders assume that seekers will be more attracted by practical messages that aren't "preached at them"- instead some good pointers for living. As Stephen Lawson as written, "In a strange twist, the preaching of the cross is now foolishness, not only to the world but also to the contemporary church." Sad, but true!
The purpose of the church in the world is to call people to Jesus Christ, to clearly proclaim the gospel, which opens the door to the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners. It is the Holy Spirit who awakens sinners, "dead in trespasses and sins" and brings them to new life in Christ. It's almost as if pastors today don't trust the Holy Spirit to do the necessary work of conviction and regeneration, as well as don't believe the Gospel is the message post-modern people need to hear. The most essential thing, the most critical issue, isn't that I can communicate with my wife or can raise my kids, or can organize my life- the most critical issue is that I am in a right relationship with a Holy God. And I can only come to that place in response to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church needs to get back to preaching about human sinfulness and lostness, calling people to repent of their sins and turn in faith to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And to reinforce that proclamation with prayer and faith on the part of the whole church. The combination of Christians pouring out their hearts to God to come down in the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word to do a mighty work, hand in hand with the clear, uncompromising preaching of the Gospel, will bring about results even in this post-modern world. God has promised it would!
John Stott in his book, "The Cross of Christ" addresses this issue in these words:

"God finished the work of recomciliation at the cross, yet it is still necessary for sinners to repent and believe and so 'be reconciled to God'... It is not enough to expound a thoroughly orthodox doctrine of reconciliation if we never beg people to come to Christ. Nor is it right for a sermon to consist of an interminable appeal, which has not been preceded by an exposition of the gospel."

The whole church needs to be proclaiming the message of the cross, both in sermon and personal witness. This was the message of the Apostles and the early Christians that reached their world and it is the message we need to be proclaiming today. Stop looking for excuses and reasons to come up with some new "canned" method to reach our world and build the church; just get back to God's method.
George MacLeod expressed it so well in these words:

"I simply argue that the cross be raised again
at the center of the marketplace
as well as on the steeple of the church,
I am recovering the claim that
Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral
between two candles:
But on a cross between two thieves;
on a town garbage heap;
at a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan
that they had to write his title
in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek;
And the kind of place where cynics talk smut,
and thieves curse and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where he died,
and that is what he died about;
and that is where Christ's people ought to be,
and what church people ought to be about."

THE CROSS- "IN MY PLACE CONDEMNED HE STOOD"

2011-07-08T12:03:00.000-05:00

There are many today, even within the church, who downplay the message of the cross. They talk about God's love, God's grace and mercy for us in Christ, but don't mention the cross. Christianity without the cross is an impossibility. The Apostle Paul emphasized the cross throughout his writings, keeping it at the center of the Gospel message. He says in 1 Corinthians 1:18- "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." In verse 23 of the same chapter he proclaims, "we preach Christ crucified".
The New Testament emphasizes the substitutionary nature of Christ's death on the cross and that is why the cross is essential in the proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus Christ took our place, bore the judgment of sin on that cross. He bore the judgment we deserve to bear. Salvation is the work of the triune God, with no image of the Son acting in contrast to the Father. John 3:16 tells us, "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son..." The mystery of salvation is the work of the Triune God who always act in complete unity. The Gospel calls us to repent of sin, respond to God's love and trust in the one who died for us and took our place to provide a perfect salvation.
I have been sharing some from John Stott in his book, "The Cross of Christ", and I continue with these words that throw light on God's saving work in the cross:

"The only way for God's holy love to be satisfied is for his holiness to be directed in judgment upon his appointed substitute, in order that his love may be directed toward us in forgiveness.... As Dale puts it, 'the mysterious unity of the Father and the Son rendered it possible for God at once to endure and to inflict penal suffering.' There is neither harsh injustice nor unprincipled love nor Christological heresy in that; there is only unfathomable mercy. For in order to save us in such a way as to satisfy himself, God through Christ substituted himself for us. Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine self-sacrifice. The cross was an act simultaneously of punishment and amnesty, severity and grace, justice and mercy."

God's saving action is a holy mystery which we can never fully fathom. But that is no reason not to proclaim the message of the cross, for today, sinners still need to be called to the foot of the cross in repentance and faith to trust in the crucified, risen Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. That is our only way to God. Any church which has forsaken the message of the cross is not Christ's church.

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,
There's no other way but this;
I shall ne'er get sight of the gates of light,
If the way of the cross I miss.
The way of the cross leads home,
The way of the cross leads home;
It is sweet to know as I onward go,
The way of the cross leads home.

Guest Post by Dr. Peter Jones-"Out Of Left Field, A Perfect Storm"

2011-07-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

IO 80: Out of Left Field, a Perfect Storm

by Dr. Peter Jones on July 7, 2011

Kathy Witterick and her husband, David Stocker, are raising their 4-month-old child, Storm, without revealing the child’s gender, saying: “We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime.’ On June 23, 2011 the Los Angeles Times featured a front page colored picture of four year-old Kate Eisenpresser, being raised by her three lesbians “mommies,” calling the arrangement “normal.” A recent J. Crew catalog featured a young boy with pink-painted toenails.

Not long ago, such items would have been considered fringe elements, coming out of left field, so to speak. Not any more. Left field is now center-stage. Leading Republicans recently ensured that gay marriage became state law in New York. The sexually abnormal is the new normal, and our children’s future defies description. A worldview tsunami, made of the wildest waves of human fantasy, is bearing down on Western culture, which, shorn of its biblical moorings, will be carried helpless into a nightmare destruction of biblical values. Though proponents of this pan-sexual vision optimistically declare: “We are beginning to see the dark walls of discrimination crumble,” what is crumbling is the foundational building block of Western civilization, the monogamous, heterosexual family — with nothing enduring to put in its place. Al Mohler calls this “a moral revolution,’ and John Piper speaks of “a new calamity.’

The confusion about who we are as sexual beings creates suspicion of all limits on gender roles, as the parents of the appropriately-named “Storm” suggest. These well-meaning folks represent a growing movement, begun by the 1970s Feminists, to eliminate gender from social consideration altogether. Thus college dorms are “gender neutral”; high school homecoming proms pick random male or female “kings” and “queens; and certain State departments have abandoned “father” and “mother” in favor of “parent A” and “parent B.” Support is building for non-gender-designated bathrooms, washrooms and locker rooms.

All this was predicted by ex-Evangelical lesbian, Virginia Mollenkott, who, in her youth, memorized parts of the Westminster Confession of Faith. Sounding like a lone voice in 2001, she published Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach, proposing a then radical paradigm for the future liberation of sexuality — an “omnigender” society in which virtually all sexual choices are normal. Over a decade ago, she called for the elimination of oppressive gender-specific pronouns like “he” and “she,” and “M” and “F” boxes on government application forms, drivers’ licenses, passport applications or marriage forms. She concluded: “When all the variations of human gender and sexuality become acceptable . . . then everyone will be ‘normal’ and ‘normalcy’ will lose its coercive power.” Her predictions have come true, so we should take seriously what she also predicted in 2001: “In all probability, official church policies will be the rear guard on gender, being dragged along towards gender justice kicking and screaming when the secular society will no longer tolerate anything else.”

Church policies are coming along, some even rejoicing, because the liberation of sex has included the liberation of spirituality. By 2001, the “trans-sexual” Mollenkott had become “trans-religious,” a very spiritual pagan One-ist who converted to I Ching divination and the New Age A Course in Miracles. This, too, was no surprise. In 1977 June Singer, a spiritual Jungian psychiatrist, published Androgyny: Toward a New Theory of Sexuality. Why did we need a new theory about sex? Because we were entering a new age, the Age of Aquarius, which, she affirmed, was also “the Age of Androgyny.” This new day would be a time of true spiritual liberation, including being both male and female in the same person, thus witnessing to “the primordial cosmic unity . . . of monism.”

Faced with this catastrophic moral implosion, the Church must speak out meaningfully on gay marriage, not to save America, not to pick on certain kinds of sinners, but to save souls from eternal doom. The clarity of the Gospel is at stake. Without the unambiguous embodiment of difference (hetero) in our sexuality, as part of the image of God, we begin to lose the essence of who we are as human beings. Only heterosexuality, and especially monogamous heterosexual marriage, reflects both God’s Trinitarian image of unity and difference, and the Gospel, which is the good news that God the Creator, different from us, redeems sinful creatures, to restore personal fellowship based on otherness.

In these deeply religious (why do gays want “marriage”?) issues of human identity, The Church addresses The State, so the only question is: Which church — the Church of Aquarius and of “primordial cosmic unity,” or the Church of Jesus, the image of God, against which the gates of Hell will not prevail? “You’ve gotta serve somebody.’

May our marriages, like the law, bring many to Christ, the true Bridegroom.

About the author: Dr. Peter Jones is Director of truthXchange, and Adjunct Professor of New Testament, as well as Scholar in Residence, at Westminster Seminary California. He has written The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back (1992), Spirit Wars (1997), Gospel Truth/Pagan Lies (1999), Capturing the Pagan Mind (2003), Cracking DaVinci's Code (2004, co-author, James Garlow), Stolen Identity (2006) and The God of Sex (2006). Peter Jones is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, and is married to Rebecca Clowney Jones. They have seven children and twelve grandchildren. For recreation, Dr. Jones enjoys playing jazz piano and golf.

GOD'S ACTION IN THE CROSS

2011-07-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

I wear a cross on a chain around my neck most of the time. It's not a good luck symbol and doesn't have any magical power. For me it represents the heart of my faith in Jesus Christ. He died for me and bore the judgment for my sin that in Him I might be justified and forgiven. Even in many evangelical churches today the theology of the cross is wearing thin. It receives brief mention, the Jesus died for us, and that's about it. For many today, they are at a loss to explain the great doctrines relating to the cross, it's purpose and accomplishments- doctrines such as those of substitution, imputation, justification, redemption. The cross in some circles is being emptied of its meaning and thereby gradually removed from the centrality of the Christian faith. We live in a time when the preaching of the cross needs to be reintroduced and re-emphasized in the proclamation of the Gospel- which is a cross-centered message- as well in the teaching of Christians. This whole issue has been emphasized to me in reading John Stott's book, "The Cross of Christ". Let me share some words from Stott on this subject for your consideration. This book has been on my bookshelf for years, yet I hadn't opened it for years and in doing so now I entered into the deep treasures of his writings. I'll share a bit over the next few posts, beginning with the following on the activity of God in the cross:

"The sinless one (Jesus Christ) was 'made sin for us', which must mean that he bore the penalty of our sin instead of us, and he redeemed us from the law's curse by 'becoming a curse for us', which must mean that the curse of the law lying upon us for our disobedience was transferred to him, so that he bore it instead of us.
"....Imputation, Thomas Crawford writes, 'does not at all imply the transference of one person's moral qualities to another.' Such a thing would be impossible, and he goes on to quote John Owen to the effect that 'we ourselves have done nothing of what is imputed to us, nor Christ anything which is imputed to him.' It would be absurd and unbelievable to imagine, Crawford continues, 'that the moral turpitude of our sins was transfered to Christ, so as to make him personally sinful and ill-deserving; and that the moral excellence of his righteousness is transferred to us, so as to make us personally upright and commendable.' No, what was transferred to Christ was not moral qualities but legal consequences: he voluntarily accepted liability for our sins. This is what the expressions 'made sin' and 'made a curse' mean. Similarly, 'the righteousness of God' which we become when we are 'in Christ' is not here righteousness of character and conduct (although that grows within us by the working of the Holy Spirit), but rather a righteous standing before God."

As the hymn writer, Augustus Toplady, wrote:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to your cross I cling;
Naked, come to you for dress;
Helpless look to you for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

How the church and individual Christians need to reclaim ground and begin to once again think deeply about the cross and proclaim its message, which in reality is the message of the Gospel.

I WILL GLORY IN THE CROSS

2011-07-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

The cross of Jesus Christ lies at the heart of Christianity. Our central focus is not on the teachings of Jesus, although we hold them up as truth and direction for our living; not on the miracles of Jesus, although they display to us the glory and power of God; but on the cross. It is in the cross of Jesus Christ that we find our redemption. He didn't die a martyr's death, but he willingly laid down his life for us, for our redemption. If there was no cross there would be no Church, for we are His redeemed people. His death on the cross brings to us forgiveness and reconciliation with a holy God. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. You cannot have Christianity without the cross of Christ. And you cannot have the proclamation of the Gospel without the cross at the heart of the message. We proclaim a message that calls people to faith in a crucified, risen Savior. As the Apostle Paul said, the message of the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved. Lift high the cross of Christ!
Here is a prayer by an old Puritan on the importance of the cross:

Teach me to look to Jesus on His cross
and so to know sin's loathsomeness in Thy sight.
There is no pardon but through Thy Son's death,
no cleansing but in His precious blood,
no atonement but His to expiate evil...
Blessed Lord Jesus, at Thy cross
may I be taught the awful miseries from
which I am saved, ponder what the
word 'lost' implies...
And may holiness be the atmosphere in
which I live.
( from "The Valley of Vision", "Conflicted", p.100)

IDENTITY AND THE CHURCH

2011-06-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

It seems crazy today that churches are being identified by their style and often when someone is looking for a church they will ask about style, as if this matter of personal preference is of utmost importance. Churches are classified as to their worship styles, their relationship to the culture around them, as in the emerging church or the seeker-sensitive church, or any number of options. I even saw one church sign that proclaimed- "We sing only from the hymn book.". The shallowness of marketing ploy has risen to the top these days. But does all of this have anything to do with real identity? Is that the only message we have to offer people- this is our style?
There is a much deeper identity for the church which is rooted in Scripture and has a more enduring proclamation. Yet it is such a relevent identity, for it touches at the heart of human need. It transcends denominational boundaries and cannot be pegged culturally or socially. John Stott expresses it so well in his book, "The Cross of Christ", as he writes about the Christian community. Read what he has to say:

"The Christian community is a community of the cross, for it has been brought into being by the cross, and the focus of its worship is the Lamb once slain, now glorified. So the community of the cross is a community of celebration, a eucharistic community, ceaselessly offering to God through Christ the sacrifice of our praise and thanksgiving. The Christian life is an unending festival. And the festival we keep, now that our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us, is a joyful celebration of His sacrifice, together with a spiritual feasting upon it."

So, how do you respond when someone asks you, "What is your church like and why should I go there?" Give them a response that will make them seriously consider it!

BACK AGAIN...RESUMING THE BLOG

2011-06-27T21:55:00.000-05:00

I've made a discovery over the past month or so- It's good for a blogger every so often to take a break, that is unless your blog is part of your work. For me this is a side activity that I sort of stumbled upon. After a while I find that I get tired blogging and I just need to give it a break for a while. So I've been away for over a month, I believe, and am ready to get this up and running again. I know that I have a few readers, but I would like a few comments along the way. I will do my best to keep my posts interesting and thought-provoking. I never have a game plan as to where I will go with it, but if you the reader have a topic you would like me to deal with in the realm of Christianity I will give it a try. Alot of my blogging grows out of my reading, which at times can be quite varied, from the East and the West. I'll do my best to post at least two or three times a week, so check in and see what is new, or better still subscribe to the blog.

"Blessed be You, O Christ, our God,
Who showed the fishermen to be most wise.
You sent the Holy Spirit upon them
and through them You caught the inhabited world
in Your net, O Lover of mankind.
Glory to You."
How God can use words to reach into human hearts by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, breaking down barriers and melting hardness and indifference. Words are tools, whether expressed in speech or writing, which can bring glory to God and lift up Jesus Christ before others. That's my desire in this blog, to lift up Jesus Christ and promote the life He calls us to. If in some small way I can accomplish that I will be satisfied.
+God bless+

blog ending

2011-05-31T08:19:00.000-05:00

Lately my blog postings have been more sporadic than usual. I think I've just been winding down with it and am losing interest. With the proliferation of Christian blogs from every perspective, it becomes overwhelming. I get tired reading so many and am getting tired writing this one and trying to keep up with something new several times a week. So I'm going to stop. Thank you to those who read it regularly, although I never know who does and get very little feedback. There's more than enough out there to keep you reading after this one is gone. I will leave it up for a while, just no more posts.
Enjoy your day. Have a good summer. Keep your stick on the ice!

CONFIDENT LIVING

2011-05-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

I've recently begun preaching through St Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, a very practical and beneficial writing for Christians today. He writes about life as we should live it in Christ and the same encouragement he gave to those early Christians is the encouragement we need today to live as God's people. From time to time in this blog I would like to share some of what I am learning from this epistle.
In Philippians 1:6 he writes these confident-building words: "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
In spite of all the advances of our age, which seem to be continually pushing us forward, so many people live with very little confidence. The very atmosphere of life seems to be permeated with uncertainty, skepticism and negativity. We don't seem to be able to dispel those fears. When we seem to overcome one source another opens up to spread gloom. A key word in Philippians is "joy" and a sense of joy permeates this epistle. We discover in the writing that confidence and joy aren't rooted in the surrounding culture, or the political system, or an overall sense of progress, but in only one source- Jesus Christ. We need to be constantly reminded of who we are and who we belong to as the people of God- this allows us to live with confidence.
St. Paul points to God alone- His character and acts in Jesus Christ, as our one source of confidence. The prophet Jeremiah relays God's words in contrasting sources of confidence in Jeremiah 17:5-8. The God of Scripture, the eternal, almighty, unchanging God is our solid foundation for confidence. The more we personally come to know God the more our confidence in Him will be strengthened.
God is no quitter. What God begins He completes. The NIV translation says of the work God begins, that He will "carry it on to completion". Have you ever hired someone to do a job for you and after you paid them and they left, you discovered they never did the job right, never completed all the work as they said they would? How did that make you feel? God will complete what He begins! Now you may be in a place in your life where you are discouraged at what you see. Maybe you aren't making the spiritual progress you desire to. Maybe you keep slipping back and struggle with failure. We get discouraged by what we see at one point, without seeing the whole picture. God has a long-term perspective. If only we could see as God does we would be more encouraged. The more you get to know Scripture the more familiar you will become with God's perspective.
Now God's perspective is "until the day of Jesus Christ"- that's as far as we can go, the day when Jesus Christ returns. You see, God is in no hurry; spiritual development is a life-long process of becoming formed into the image of God, the process of "theosis". We live in an age of instant gratification, which may be true in some areas but not in the spiritual life. A squash plant may grow up overnight and reach maturity in a few weeks, but an oak tree take decades, even centuries to reach full growth. What would you like to be compared to? Let your confidence rest in what God is doing in your life and faithfully and patiently work with God in the process.
You may say, isn't it a bit presumptious or arrogant to have such confidence. Yet the confidence St. Paul writes about is not arrogant or self-righteous. It is a humble confidence in the grace, mercy and promises of an all-powerful God. It's a confidence that enables us to grow with purpose and meaning. It's a confidence that gives us hope for the future. It's a confidence that gives us stability for living now. It's a confidence that gives us continual access to God who will never leave us nor forsake us. What is your confidence resting in? Be encouraged that in Jesus Christ you can experience confident living.

JESUS CHRIST WILL RETURN- JUST NOT ACCORDING TO OUR TIMETABLE

2011-05-23T12:20:00.000-05:00

By now everyone knows that Harold Camping was wrong- and in more ways than one. I'm sure he will have some explanation to talk his way out of this error and there will be many who will believe him. And most likely he will go back to his figuring and set another date.
It's amazing in our present cultural setting how much publicity the lunatic fringe of Christianity receives from the mainstream media. It wasn't too long ago that we were held hostage by the stupidity of a Florida fundamentalist pastor over burning the Koran. Even his mention of such an action set off a storm in radical Muslim countries. And now more stupidity over the "rapture" and the end of time. Who really cares besides this fanatic's small following and why should everyone else be subject to his ranting? Yet the media jumps on the bandwagon and creates an instant audience for such an idiot- only in America!
My reaction is twofold. First, this presumptuious proclamation doesn't shake my belief as a Christian that Jesus Christ will return, as Scripture testifies. He will return in power and glory and every eye shall see Him as he returns in power and glory. This whole matter of "the rapture", which has been brought to the forefront by "The Late Great Planet Earth" to the "Left Behind" series, to any number of fundamentalist television and radio preachers has not historically be part of Christian belief. Its rise to prominence has only been since the 19th century. The Church historically has not held to this teaching and of course today it is so sensationalized by American pseudo-writers who churn out books like the "Left Behind" series that many readers take as gospel truth. It's all so sad! The misuse of prophetic scriptures today makes Christianity look rediculous to many people. Serious thinking Christians will go back to explore what the Church has taught historically concerning the return of Christ- and go back before the Reformation to the early centuries of the church.
Secondly, in the context of the Protestant Reformation, Harold Camping seems to have the right to speak as the church, at least as he sees it. I seem to remember reading somewhere about him that he called his followers to forsake all churches, except for his. Be that as it may, over the past several centuries how much damage has been done by the Reformation doctrine of the right of private interpretation. To say that anyone can read Scripture and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, understand and interpret what they read, certainly has no foundation in historic Christianity. We see some of the effect of this in the proliferation of denominations and sects within Christianity today and with the proliferation of interpretations on just about every Christian doctrine from the matter of Christ's return to the understanding of the church. From it's beginning the early Church spoke with one voice- from the Church cuoncil of Jerusalem in the Book of Acts to the Ecumenical Councils of the early centuries of the Church. That was all lost through the Great Schism and then the Protestant Reformation. The only place where we discover it remaining is in the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is still rooted in the Ecumenical Councils and the writings of the Church Fathers. It is unfortunate today that what we experience here in North America in the church is only a Western interpretation of the Church and the Christian message, which seems to be able to be 'all things to all people' in an ever-changing process. How we need to go back to discover a greater stability within a solid foundation of historic Christianity. It is still available to those who will seek it.

SEEING PEOPLE BENEATH THE SURFACE

2011-05-19T09:58:00.000-05:00

How quick we are to judge people, even on a very superficial basis, and even though Jesus said, "Judge not that you be not judged." We have our categories and definitions by which we classify people on the scale of good and evil. Yet at the same time we lack the capacity to look into the heart of an individual and perceive what is there. Ans somehow our own fallenness and sinfulness often disables us from seeing people as God sees them. Jesus was moved with compassion toward people, even to those who were considered "sinners" and outcasts in that day. Jesus saw beneath the surface, beneath the rough exterior and he reached out in love and mercy to all who came to him. He said that he had not come to condemn but to save. How easy it is for Christians to become judgmental and censorious, almost like setting ourselves up as God over people. Our world cries out for compassion and help and if anyone should respond in that way it should be the Christian. I recently read these words from St. John of Kronstadt that focus our attention on this very matter:

"Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him; because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish attack. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement."

As we view others, especially those we may determine in our thoughts to have taken a wrong path or display wrong actions, may our thought be, "There but by the grace of God, go I." and then reach out in the love and mercy of Christ. There is reason why so many accuse the church today of being cold and judgemental. We often act as if we would accept people if they just cleaned up their act and then came to church. But that is not the way of Christ. We need to be reminded, as the saying goes, that the church is not a showcase for saints but a hospital for sinners. That would make all the difference for how we impact those outside the church.

TAKING THE LONGER VIEW

2011-05-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

It seems today that we are living in an age when we want what we want now. The internet has made communication instant and for the most part email has replaced "snail mail". Fast food, to our health detriment, has too often replaced well-prepared meals. And the list goes on. We are being conditioned for instant gratification. Unfortunately the concept has spilled over into the church and Christian living. We are innundated with religious information, good and bad, through electronic media. Even within much of the modern church the focus is on immediate effects and results. All of this can be spiritually debilitating.
Salvation is a life-long process. Sometimes we confuse conversion with salvation, the entry point with the journey. Scripture speaks of salvation in three tenses- past, present and future. It is a life-long journey to God. Yet many people today want to short-circuit the process and achieve instant spirituality- and you can find it out there, at least the promise of it. But does it deliver? I'm afraid not. When it comes to our spiritual development we need to have a life-long perspective. There are valleys and mountain tops, straight stretches and curves- that's the spiritual journey, something like where my son lives in West Virginia, traveling the winding, hilly back roads.
Let me share with you the wisdom of Elder Ephriam in his "Counsels from the Holy Mountain" that relates to this:

"The faster you acquire virtue, the easier it is lost. The more slowly and laboriuosly you acquire it, the more steadfastly it remains; just like that squash plant that grew tall and said to the cypress tree: 'See how much I've grown in just a few days! You've been here for so many years and haven't grown much at all!' 'Yes,' said the cypress tree, 'but you still haven't seen storms, heat waves and cold spells!' And after a little while, the squash plant dried up, while the cypress tree remained where it was!
"This is also how a spiritual person is. Both during a storm and in times of peace he remains the same. Why? Because the long period of time has created stability. When he first renounced the world, his spiritual condition was unstable, but with time, the grace of God gradually worked out his salvation and freedom from the passions."

Think about it- do you see yourself as a squash or a cypress tree? Thankfully God takes a life-long view of working to mold us into the image of Christ. So be patient! You will have your ups and downs, your achievements and your setbacks. But it will be the whole trajectory of your life that will ultimately tell the tale. Enjoy the instant conveniences of our day, while you patiently grow into the person God wants you to be in Christ.

Getting back on track

2011-05-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last blog entry. I went on vacation to Canada the day after Easter and didn't do any blogging during that time. Since I've been back home I've been getting caught up on other things, so now I will get back to regular blogging, at least a few times a week. I know it's hard to keep readers when not blogging, but I will try to do better, starting today. Keep reading- I'll have a post for you today. God bless +

ST GREGORY NAZIANZUS (329-390) ON THE RESURRECTION

2011-04-23T15:33:00.000-05:00

Such beautiful and penetrating words from this great saint of God on Jesus' death and resurrection and the implication for us right now.

"Yesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with Him. Yesterday I died with Him; today I am given life with Him. Yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise again with Him. Today let us offer Him who has suffered and who has risen for us- you think perhaps I was about to say, gold or silver, or precious things, or shining stones of rare price, the frail material of this earth, which will remain here, and of which the wicked and those who are slaves of earthly things and of the prince of this world possess the greatest part- rather, let us offer Him ourselves, which to God is the most precious and becoming of gifts. Let us offer to His Image what ia made in the image and likeness of this Image. And let us make recognition of our dignity. Let us give honor to Him in whose Likeness we were made. Let us dwell upon the wonder of this mystery, that we may understand for what Christ has died."

RESURRECTION REALITY

2011-04-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

The Apostle Paul makes very clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that Christianity rises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the Apostles were not confused about this event. They knew with certainty that Jesus Christ rose physically and literally from the grave and was visibly alive for forty days before he ascended to heaven. This was the message they proclaimed to the world. As 1 Corinthians 15 begins, the gospel is clearly stated as the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this gospel message that is the power of God for all who believe (Romans 1:16). No other message will do; no other message can replace it.
Martin Luther wrote of the Gospel- "We must preach Jesus Christ, that he died and rose again, and why he died and rose again, that through such preaching men might believe on him and be saved. That is preaching the true Gospel. Whatever is not preached in this manner is not the Gospel, and it matters not who does it."
People get alot of mixed messages today from the church. There is alot of pop-psychology and personal therapy that comes from pulpits today- "Ten Steps to Stress-Free Living" or "How to Organize You Life", but that kind of message just doesn't cut it. People need to hear the Gospel preached- preach Jesus Christ, crucified and living, as our only Savior, Lord and hope. Call people to repentance and faith in Christ. Proclaim the victory of the resurrection that will make a difference in anyone's life. This is transformation preaching and today the crying need in our world is for transformational preaching, not therapeutic preaching. Jesus Christ is alive! Lift Him up! Give Him the glory! Celebrate Christ- this is Easter!

"YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD"- on Kindle, on sale now!

2011-04-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

Do you have a Kindle? Go to amazon.com and get a copy of my book "YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD" for only 99 cents. Begin a one month journey toward God and deepen your spiritual life. And you can share the book with other Kindle owners. Get your copy today!

GOOD FRIDAY- THE COSTLY GRACE OF GOD

2011-04-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

"The longer I dwell on the cross in my thoughts, the more I am satisfied that there is more to be learned at the foot of the cross than anywhere else in the world."- J. C. Ryle
On this Good Friday we contemplate the costly grace of God as we reflect on those events of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. We cannot comprehend the depth of such love that caused the second person of the triune Godhead to humble Himself in taking upon Himself our humanity and enter our world through Bethlehem, He who created all things, to enter His own creation through a virgin's womb. Then to face the scorn, ridicule and rejection of sinners, to the point of suffering and death. Through all of this He exhibited a heart of grace and forgiveness, even to the point of speaking from the cross of His assailants, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." He had no sin of His own to die for, but He died for our sins. It was our sins that nailed Him to the cross. And the holy blood that was shed cleanses us from all sin.
"My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!" (H.G. Spafford)
The cross speaks to us of the very seriousness of our sin, the lostness and hopelessness of our condition before God and the extent to which God Himself was willing to go to bring us to Himself. It is no light matter and nothing we can change on our own, for if it was the events of Good Friday would never have taken place.
How we need to stop on this day and in prayerful meditation reflection on the greatness of God's grace and love to us in Jesus Christ.
"Sing we now a hymn of triumph
Of the Cross on which Christ died!
On that Cross His life He offered
That with Him we might abide.

By that tree that was forbidden
We were all once doomed to die;
But the tree on which Christ suffered
For our sins did satisfy.

To the Father, Son and Spirit,
Equal praise be given now,
As we call to mind Christ's Passion,
And in deep repentance bow. Amen"

MAUNDY THURSDAY- MOVING TOWARD THE CROSS

2011-04-21T10:44:00.000-05:00

In the upper room Jesus opened to his apostles a deeper level of meaning, which although not fully comprehended at the time, would serve as a bedrock of faith after His death and resurrection. The events surrounding the cross shook these men to the very core of their being. To say that they were devastated would be putting it lightly. They sunk into the depth of despair, to the point that they were ready to give it all up and go fishing after the cross. Yet in the resurrection and the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus the images and teachings of the upper room began to take hold. Luke adds this perceptive statement in his record of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his apostles- "He was known to them in the breaking of bread." (Luke 24:35).Many Christians today will gather to worship and celebrate the events of this day at the end of Jesus' life. And part of that worship will be the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion. And yes, even today, "He is known to us in the breaking of bread." Our world has so secularized the Easter celebration, as it has Christmas, that there is a need for Christians to distance themselves from the secular and emphasize the biblical. It's not about Easter eggs and chocolate rabbits, although they are an easy means to load up on empty calories. In the midst of our hectic, busy live, how we need to slow down to a standstill in this week and contemplate the deep things of God. How we need to come before the table in repentance and humility and share in the body and blood of our Savior. How we need to examine our hearts and see if maybe there lurks there some of the same sins of those who were willing to turn from Jesus and call for His death. How we need to humble ourselves before the cross and acknowledge that in spite of all our progress and achievement and ability in so many areas, before God we have nothing to boast in. We are simply sinners, saved by grace...
"Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me Savior, or I die."
(Augustus Toplady, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me")

Martin Luther on the True Contemplation of the Cross

2011-04-18T21:23:00.000-05:00

I borrowed this from the Desiring God Blog- words from Luther that penetrate to the heart as we reflect on the cross. Reflect on these words this Holy week and let them sink into your soul-

"Let us meditate a moment on the passion of Christ....true contemplation is that in which the heart is crushed and the conscience smitten....You must be overwhelmed by the frightful wrath of God who so hated sin that he spared not his only begotten Son. What can the sinner expect if the beloved Son was so afflicted? It must be an inexpressible and unendurable yearning that causes God’s Son himself so to suffer. Ponder this and you will tremble, and the more you ponder, the deeper you will tremble.

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your mediation upon the suffering of Christ, for we ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instill it.

The greater and the more wonderful is the excellence of his love by contrast with the lowliness of his form, the hate and pain of passion. Herein we come to know both God and ourselves. His beauty is his own, and through it we learn to know him. His uncomeliness and passion are ours, and in them we know ourselves, for what he suffered in the flesh, we must suffer in the spirit. He has in truth borne our stripes. Here, then, in an unspeakably clear mirror you see yourself. You must know that through your sins you are as uncomely and mangled as you see him here.

We ought to suffer a thousand and again a thousand times more than Christ because he is God and we are dust and ashes, yet it is the reverse. He who had a thousand and again a thousand times less need, has taken upon himself a thousand and again a thousand times more than we.

No understanding can fathom nor tongue can express, no writing can record, but only the inward dealing can grasp what is involved in the suffering of Christ.

Adapted from Nancy Guthrie, ed., Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, 11-14.

HOLY WEEK- HOLY MONDAY

2011-04-18T12:04:00.000-05:00

As we move toward the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is this week any different for you? How are your thoughts, reflections, prayers, spiritual discipline different from other weeks as we move toward this most important day of the Church year? The week began yesterday with Palm Sunday and leads us along the pathway Jesus trod as he made His way to the cross, to the place of death and ultimately to His victorious resurrection. I don't know what, if anything you have given up for Lent, but in this most holy of weeks, take time to quiet your heart before God, reflect upon Scripture, in prayer and meditation, the earth-shaking, life changing events we are celebrating.
I have several sources for my devotional reading every day, and one is the Benedictine Daily Prayer book. Yesterday there was a reading from St Andrew of Crete on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and I would like to share it with you. Think on it and on your own personal spiritual journey as you read-

"Come, together let us ascend Mount Olivet and meet Christ as He returns today from Bethany and advances of His own free choice to His passion, thus completing the mystery of our salvation. For He comes freely to Jerusalem as He once came from heaven in order to exalt us with Himself. But He does not come with pomp and circumstance, like a man ascending a throne: 'He shall not dispute or shout aloud, nor shall anyone hear His voice upraised.' He is meek and humble and goes poorly clad.
"Therefore, let us now devote ourselves to the Passion mystery and imitate those who went to meet Him. Ours is not to strew the way with palms but with ourselves, humbled in spirit, upright in mind and will. Thus we shall receive the Word when He comes, and shall have God for our guest.
"The Word rejoices to come to us as our familiar friend and to draw us to Himself. He has indeed ascended beyond the heavens and entered into the glory of His Godhead, but His love for humankind does not permit Him to depart from us, for He seeks to make us sharers of His exaltation.
"Let us put on His grace, then, or rather, His very self: 'As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.' Then we can make ourselves a path for His feet to tread, and shout each day what the children sang: 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord: the King of Israel.'"

Make this week an even deeper time of preparation that it may be truly a holy week for you. With such a focus your life will be truly blessed with the presence of the living Christ.

IS CHANGE ALWAYS FOR THE BETTER?

2011-04-14T10:33:00.000-05:00

I began in pastoral ministry in 1973. That's a long time ago, a lifetime in the minds of some, yet at times it seems like yesterday to me. Yet I have been in this long enough to see alot of changes, alot of trends come and go, alot of refocusing. And I have watched the "cottage industry" develop in the church. Now, I don't want to be completely negative for there is alot of good coming out of changes today and alot of resources at our fingertips that weren't available when I began in ministry. Yet at the same time, some of those trends and changes have taken away from some foundational resources the church has focused on in past generations.
One vital life-force of the church which in many was has been replaced or shoved to the background is corporate prayer. When I began in ministry, in the small churches I served in prayer meeting was still part of the church life. But I gradually saw it being replaced with more Bible study, to the point that there would be a bit of prayer and alot of Bible study, and then an opening and closing prayer and all the rest Bible study. Now I have nothing against Bible study, but it cannot replace prayer in the church.I can remember back to some prayer groups where I would hear people pour out their hearts to God for the salvation of family members, for revival in the church and other important matters. It was serious business and there was a real sense of God's presence in it. But I don't find that any more in many churches. Such experiences blessed my heart and challenged me as a pastor in my prayer life. I asked my people recently what the effect would be if the whole church began to focus on prayer and cry out to God for revival in the church and the salvation of sinners. Today we look for the latest resource tool to do the job.
I don't see this as an either/or matter. I use today's resources, I go to conferences and seminars. But I also see great value in methods of the past that were laid down for the church in New Testament times, that are essential for today, yet are often overlooked or downplayed for that which is more "relevent". We can't live in the past, but that doesn't mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. That's why I'm teaching a class on spiritual disciplines and reaching back into the past of the church to discover resources for today to give people a solid spiritual foundation. We need to be the people of God, in the power of the Spirit, responsive to where God is leading us. And we need to use the resources at hand to effectively do the job God has for us. How we need to be faithful to God in all things!

ECCLESIASTICAL COTTAGE INDUSTRY

2011-04-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed lately, actually over the past decade or longer, that we are innundated with books on how to do church? It seems that anyone who is enlarging a congregation sees themselves as God's gift to the church growth movement. The result is hundreds of how to books, giving the latest technique, model, formula, etc., etc. on how to do it. And of course with the books there will be the accompanying cd or dvd series, and if the platform is big enough, there's always seminars, speaking tours, etc. It has become a cottage industry for the church and is a sad commentary on where much of the church is today.
Why do I make that comment? Because it seems as if today the directions of Scripture are not enough to empower the church to faithfully do the will of God in edification and evangelism. I'm presently teaching through the book of Acts in two different Bible study groups and there God lays down the foundation for the church, and we find in that early church the resources the church needs to grow and mature- doctrinal teaching, fellowship, the Lord's Supper, prayer and witness. It's not complicated. It's very straightforward. The one problem for today is that it is absolutely necessary that dependence be on the Holy Spirit to bring about results and not on some canned program. No one makes any royalties from it. What would happen if a congregation came together faithfully and regularly for prayer, to pour out their hearts to God for spiritual revival and for the salvation of sinners? It worked in the days of the early church. Why wouldn't it work today? People are different today, you say. Some might like us to think that, but it's just not true. And the Holy Spirit is the same today, working in conviction, regeneration and transformation of lives. And Christ is still building His church. So why not try the original plan and cut out the middle man who usually confuses the issue with too many details. Let's do church as God designed!

ROB BELL- "LOVE WINS"...BUT CHRISTIANITY LOSES

2011-04-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

I have just finished reading "Love Wins"- took me a couple days to get through it- light, easy reading, in contrast to the content. There has been so much publicity about the book even before it was released and so much negative comment- all good sales strategy. So I bought it and read it, every page, every word. My verdict in one word- pathetic! And I don't say that lightly. On the cover Andy Crouch gives this assessment of the book- "Rob Bell is a central figure for his generation and for the way that evangelicals are likely to do church in the next twenty years." If that is so, evangelicals will be extinct long before twenty years.
Rob Bell runs fast and loose with Scripture, quoting loosely, taking verses out of context, misrepresenting the message of the Bible, ridiculing the church, the gospel message, God and Jesus Christ. He quotes loosely from other writers, never giving the context of their words and never giving footnotes for what they say, implying that he just gives his interpretation of their words, which can be misleading. He is rewriting the Christian message to give this post-modern generation what they want to hear, and it's not the message of Christianity- it's another gospel. Not only does he revision heaven and hell, but he does a revisioning job on just about everything he touches on from the Bible. He asks a multitude of questions throughout the book, but his answers, when he does give them are vague and often unclear or uncertain. The god of Rob Bell is certainly not the God we find in Scripture and the Christ he presents is not Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord. There is no triumph in Bell's "biblical" message, there is only compromise.
If I thought Bell was right, I would put away my Bible, step down from my church leadership position, back away from Christianity and simply do my best to live a good moral life and help my fellow human beings. All the rest would be non-essentials. But I don't believe Bell is right. But please, don't take my word for it. Read the book for yourself.

THE POWER OF GODLY LEADERSHIP

2011-04-11T10:45:00.000-05:00

There is so much out there today on church leadership- creating new paradigms, new directions, new goals...and the list goes on. People draw parallels from the business world, from the culture around us, from everywhere it seems but from Scripture. And of course following these models draws crowds today, as we see by the abundance of mega-churches in North America. But what is the end result? What is that church leader modeling before people? Is it Christ or is it someone else? And of course today these leaders write their how-to-do-it books, produce their youtube clips, promote their seminars, etc., etc. We are innundate with all this today. Yet what impact is all of this having on our culture? Is the church today having a transformational impact on American society? What seems to be happening is that American society is having more of a cultural impact on the church.
I would like to take you back to what some today would term antiquated times to what they would view as antiquated leadership. I recently read the "Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne" He was a powerful voice for God in the early 19th century. He died at the age of 29 and his life made such a powerful impact on the spiritual life of Scotland. Andrew Bonar, his friend and biographer wrote of him after his death:

"But there has been one among us who, ere he reached the age at which a priest in Israel would have been entering on his course, dwelt at the mercy-seat as if it were his home,- preached the certainties of eternal life with an undoubting mind,- and spent his nights and days in ceaseless breathings after holiness, and the salvation of sinners. Hundreds of souls were his reward from the Lord ere he left us; and in him we have been taught how much one man may do who will only press farther into the presence of his God, and handle more skillfully the unsearchable riches of Christ, and speak more boldly for his God."

I firmly believe that we need to look further afield for the necessary qualities of leadership for the church today. There is much we can learn from the lives of great men and women of God from the past and "relevence" is not an issue where God is concerned. How the church needs to cry out to God today to give it leaders of the caliber of McCheyne to restore the church to its place of spiritual power through godly leadership.

BLOG IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN

2011-04-07T10:27:00.000-05:00

After a lengthy break from blogging I have returned. I hope to share blogs that will be helpful in the area of spiritual formation, leadership and the Church. I may have lost some of my readers over this break but hopefully will pick up some new ones. If you like what you read pass it on and invite others to join in.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- You In God's Accomplishment

2011-02-15T09:38:00.000-06:00

Today's post will complete the posts of the chapters of my book, and with this will end this blog. I have decided to stop blogging here simply because few read it and fewer respond in any way. The blog will remain open for any who want to read past posts. If you would like to make a comment, or let me know if you have been helped through the posting of my book chapters let me know. For those few who have been reading this blog, thank you.

YOU IN GOD’S ACCOMPLISHMENT

2 Peter 1:3,4
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the diving nature.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Makarios the Great
Even worldly persons desire to be associated with the glory of an earthly king. How much more true is this of those whom the finger of the divine Spirit of Life has touched. Divine love has wounded their hearts with the longing for Christ, the true and heavenly King. His beauty and ineffable glory, his unfailing graciousness, and his incomprehensible majesty have conspired to hold them captive with desire and longing. Their whole being is fixed upon him. 35

LET’S DIG DEEPER
As you began this book you entered it with a realization of personal needs as well as expectations. It’s apparent that you have followed through to completion, but in reality this isn’t the end, but just the beginning. Why did you begin in the first place? Were you struggling with frustration or disappointment in your spiritual life? Were you looking for a spiritual roadmap to help you along your personal pilgrimage? Now that you have arrived at this point where do you want to go from here?
Have you ever found yourself so immersed in a good novel that you didn’t want it to ever end? Have you ever tried a new food and discovered it to be so delicious that it had to become a regular part of your diet? It’s interesting how things can capture us as they do and increase our desire for them. On a far grander scale is the hunger of our soul for God once we have tasted the riches of grace and mercy in Christ. This reality is brought out in the words of Makarios, in speaking of Jesus Christ, “His beauty and ineffable glory, his unfailing graciousness, and his incomprehensible majesty have conspired to hold them captive with desire and longing. Their whole being is fixed upon him.” This is what God desires for each of us, that our whole being would be captivated with Jesus Christ and in him our souls would be satisfied. But is this an elusive dream, a never-ending quest that results in ongoing frustration? At times in our human experience it may appear to be that way, but not by God’s design or purpose.
The words of Scripture give hope and reassurance in your spiritual quest. “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.” Stop! Read that statement again and let it sink in for a moment. God’s power- and that is without limit- is the source from which we receive everything- that’s what it says, everything- needed for life and godliness. Everything! And it all comes through our knowledge of God. Now there aren’t five simple steps and it can’t be achieved in a month. The perspective of the truth of this statement of Scripture is life-long. Salvation is a journey, not a single point in time. Conversion and baptism open the door to the journey, but that is just the beginning. God never promised it would be simple or easy; the Apostle Peter could testify to that. But God has promised that in Christ we have all the resources we need to succeed. Don’t be misled by any false claims that offer you something quickly and with relative ease. Mushrooms mature overnight; people take a lifetime, so don’t be discouraged. You are of more value than many mushrooms.
What you seek to achieve in your life spiritually is within your grasp, and probably more than you ever dreamed possible. Peter tells us that God has given us “his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the diving nature.” What an amazing statement! God promises to give you two things- first, a means to escape the sinful corruptions that eat away at your soul, and second, the opportunity to participate in the divine nature. These two things God promises to you now.
You can have victory over your struggles, over the temptations and allure of what this world offers you in contrast to God. Now it doesn’t say you won’t have any more struggles or temptations, but that you will have escape from them. The old Puritan pastor and writer, Richard Baxter, who died in 1691, expresses the reality of this so beautifully in the following words, “May the living God, who is the portion and rest of the saints, make these our carnal minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts so heavenly, that loving him and delighting in him, may be the work of our lives.” God can correct your vision. You can begin to see and understand that your soul can be satisfied in God alone. Other things that tempt you have no comparable value. The closer you draw to God, the weaker the grasp of temptation in your life.
But it doesn’t stop there. Peter goes on to say that we may “become participants of the divine nature.” What an amazing concept this is! No, it doesn’t say, as some false cults teach today, that we actually become God, that we are absorbed into deity. You will never become God, but you can become all that God desires you to be as part of his divine re-creation. You become a God-like person, a Christ-like person in a miracle of grace and transformation. The Eastern Orthodox Church describes the mystery of such transformation in the term “theosis.” This is our goal in Christ, what you are journeying toward, not a heavenly goal but one that can be attained here and now in the course of your life. In Christ this is within your grasp. Don’t give up! Don’t lose heart! God’s divine power has given you what you need to achieve the goal.

TAKE ACTION
You have completed the personal journey laid out in this book. As you conclude this brief journey take some time to go back to day one and revisit questions 3 and 4.
1. You were asked on day one, #3- “Write down what kind of a relationship you would really like to have with God and how you would like to have it impact your life.” Read what you wrote in response on day one. Now reflect over the time since you began the book to consider what you have learned and achieved. Has there been any change in your desires or expectations? How are you progressing toward that kind of relationship you want to have with God?
2. In #4 of day one you were asked to set some personal goals that would be realistic and achievable in developing the kind of relationship you desire with God. Take time to revisit these goals. Do you still hold to them now? Is there anything you would like to add to them or change in them as you progress onward from today? If so make the changes and at one month intervals go back and review the goals and see how you are doing.
3. If you had not done so before you began this book, hopefully you have begun to keep a journal of this journey. Determine to continue with your journal, recording your daily thoughts, blessings, struggles and achievements. Write honestly from your heart and from time to time reflect back over what you have written to see where you have come from and where you are going. Be consistent and faithful.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Take some time for praise and worship in prayer today for what God has come to mean to you and what is happening in your life through this spiritual journey. This is a beginning. Pray that God would give you a heart to continue. Bring your hopes and fears before God with the assurance that God won’t give up on you. They journey has just begun and you won’t be on it alone.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- You In God's Plan

2011-02-14T08:25:00.002-06:00

YOU IN GOD’S PLAN

Hebrews 12:1,2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Philippians 3:13,14
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Niketas Stethatos
Once a soul has been consumed in the depths of God’s love and has tasted the sweet delight of God’s intellective graces, it can no longer bear to stay frozen in its former condition but is impelled to rise ever higher to the heavens. The higher it ascends through the Spirit, and the deeper it sinks into the abyss of God, the more it is consumed by the fire of longing and searches out the immensity of the even deeper mysteries of God, strenuously trying to come into that blessed light, where every intellect is caught up into ecstasy, where the heart knows it can finally rest from all its strivings and find its rest in joy. 34

LET’S DIG DEEPER
There is a vast difference between a marathon runner and a short distance sprinter, although both demand training and discipline. The sprinter explodes from the blocks to expend a maximum amount of energy in a matter of seconds. The marathon runner has a whole different perspective, conserving energy for the long haul. There has to be a steady focus toward the goal with the understanding that it is not a momentary achievement. There must be stamina and physical reserves to carry the marathon runner through to the end of the race, while at the starting line the end may seem like a hundred miles away to an amateur.
The Christian life is much like a marathon and in fact is portrayed that way in Hebrews 12:1,2 and in Philippians 3:13,14. It’s interesting how the race motif is used in the New Testament to portray the Christian life. You have come a long way in this present process of personal change and growth, and if you have faithfully moved from one chapter to the next you may feel somewhat like a marathon runner as you close in on the end of the book. But this is just a small sliver out of your life, even if it proves to be a very transformational time. What you have learned, experienced and applied to your life needs to be followed through for the rest of your life- that’s the whole race. You can look back over this time and be proud of your achievements, but there can be a greater sense of pride in knowing that your life is on track spiritually and you are moving in the right direction for the duration of the race.
Sometimes we find ourselves so caught up in the daily routine that we lose sight of the bigger picture and fail to set our goals in the light of the greater marathon we are in, instead of just the daily sprints. Now the daily sprints can be challenging- facing career, family obligations, social and financial expectations, and any number of unexpected interruptions- and all this demands daily focus and discipline. But those days are part of weeks, months and years, the whole panorama of your life. That’s the bigger picture, the marathon. Over this brief time you have been building spiritual resources for the daily sprints, as well as for the longer marathon of your life. You have tasted of the disciplines, challenges and resources that are at your disposal. Hopefully you have come to know God a bit better, discovered some new things about yourself, and have tested some of the spiritual tools that equip you for the life of discipleship.
How have you responded to the greatness of the possibilities that are before you as well as the limitless potential of your life before God? What a challenge that is! Has your heart been stirred and challenged? The quote earlier in this chapter challenges you further, “Once a soul has been consumed in the depths of God’s love and has tasted the sweet delight of God’s intellective graces, it can no longer stay frozen in its own former condition but is impelled to rise even higher to the heavens.” That’s the image conveyed in Philippians 3:13,14- “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” You can close your eyes and picture the image of the runner in the race. There is no looking back, no slowing down; every ounce of energy is poured into crossing the finish line. Hebrews 12:1,2 paints the same picture, but it adds one important perspective. There at the finish line is seated the one who has run the race for us and who, through his victory, enables us to endure and ultimately achieve the goal: “looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
You are “the joy that was set before him”- all those he died to redeem, and he is the goal we are moving toward. Focus your eyes on Jesus as you move closer to the goal and know with assurance that through him you can make it.

TAKE ACTION
1. Do you find yourself at times getting bogged down in the details of daily living and losing sight of the bigger picture? That’s one of the hazards of life we all face. Reflect on how making the spiritual disciplines you have focused on this month part of your daily life, will help you to keep the bigger picture in focus.
2. Hebrews 12:1,2 speaks of running light, taking off the weights and “the sin that clings so closely.” As you examine your life what can you see as weights and sins that hinder you from becoming the person God desires you to be? How will you deal with these things in your life?
3. The quote in this chapter speaks of coming to the place “where the heart knows it can finally rest from all its strivings and find its rest in joy.” How does the prospect of moving toward that place in your life affect you? What desire does it create in your heart?
4. Being focused is a key to achieving goals. Life can be so easily fragmented by the demands, expectations and pressures you face daily. Consider the time you spend with God daily, as well as your worship on Sunday, as opportunities to bring all the daily details into the light of the bigger picture. In your daily journal bring together these two perspectives and reflect on them for your life.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Jesus Christ has run the race and finished the course for you. In Him you have found mercy, forgiveness, peace, love and hope. Pray that God would enable you to keep focused in your daily life and not lose sight of the ultimate goal. Sometimes like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus but sinking when he looks at the waves, we do the same thing. God’s purpose for you is to reach the goal in Christ. The time you have spent working through this book hopefully has awakened you in a greater way to the reality of the goal. Pray that God would enable you to set aside the weights, deal with the sins that cling, and run free toward Christ.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- You In God's Model

2011-02-11T09:31:00.000-06:00

YOU IN GOD’S MODEL

1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they may malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Jordan Bajis, Common Ground-
The Church is whole; it defies “denominating” and cannot be delineated in purely administrative terms. Christ’s presence within the local assembly underscores the Church’s innate wholeness. The Church is whole because Christ is whole. Its call to be catholic leads the Church both to embrace all Truth and to refuse all falsehood. The Church is fullness in Life, Love and Communion, and is open to all who would be whole. It cannot accommodate those who live in isolation and prejudice. In conclusion, every Christian has a mandate to discover and embrace the Church’s oneness in her fullness and completeness. Only in this soil can the true unity of the Church be displayed. 33
LET’S DIG DEEPER
The church of today is often viewed with skepticism, ridicule and disbelief by many outsiders. Its fractures run so deep; its sins are so visible; its mixed messages are so confusing. One sad fact in all of this is that so many within the church are oblivious to it and continue as if all is well. “If only people on the outside could see that we are right and that our denomination represents the Church as God wants it to be.”
As Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure, he left them with a commandment to obey, along with a wise piece of advice, which is often ignored today. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34,35). Your initial reaction to this may be, “Well, love is good, but it’s not enough. You need to have right doctrine.” (implying some particular denominational identity as set forth in a doctrinal statement). Those early believers went forth with the message of the Gospel and the love of Christ overshadowing their actions. As the church later ran into conflict with heretical teachings, it rallied around basic doctrinal affirmations like the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.
What would move the church today from a place of irrelevance to a place of critical solution in the eyes of modern skeptics? Our world needs to see the church living as Jesus did. No hidden agendas, no denominational pride, no church politics, but a desire for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ in all the church says and does. As our Scripture says, the church is to exist “in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Our world needs to see that our God is not a sectarian God, that God is not owned by any particular group nor has any favorites. People need to see the immensity of God’s love and mercy toward all. People need to see Christians everywhere living out the love of Christ toward one another and toward their world.
You say this is an impossible task? Is anything too hard for God? Reflect for a moment. There was a day when world communism was viewed as a massive, evil, monolithic structure, unbending and unassailable. On a grassroots level people began to cry out, “Enough!” A mighty tide of public opinion and peaceful demonstration began to roll from one country to another and the communist bloc began to disintegrate. The destruction of the Berlin Wall was probably the greatest visible symbol of the triumph of freedom. The world watched, almost in disbelief. The point of this is not to compare the fragmented church to communism, for there is no comparison. But why couldn’t the same thing happen to the fragmented church? Of course there will be skeptics who will say this is the work of the devil in making one world church, but such naysayers need to be silenced. You can make a difference! It must begin in local congregations, in towns and cities, rolling as a tide through denominational structures, dismantling humanity-glorifying distinctives and divisions, while proclaiming to our world that Jesus is Lord and his church is one in mission, message and love.
Today’s quote is built on the framework of today’s Scripture and calls us to see the church in a different way, to see the church as Jesus desires it to be. You can make a difference! Maybe you can only stir a small ripple, but all those small ripples can form a mighty tidal wave, energized by the Spirit of God to recreate the church in the image of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and the good of our world.

TAKE ACTION
Today’s topic may appear to be overwhelming and impossible. Break it down into small chunks which are easier to deal with. What do you need to change your thinking about the church? What prejudices do you need to repent of? What can you do in your church and how can you begin to influence others in this direction? What can you do in your community, your city, your denomination? Take some time to think seriously about this and write down your observation.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Pray today that God would begin a process of change in your thinking toward the church, to see the bigger picture and the greater needs. Pray that God would give you a vision for what the church could be and the faith to do what you can, where you are, to instill that vision in others. Begin to pray daily for a new reformation in the church that would restore the church to its oneness in Christ and its mission in the world.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Out The Family Image

2011-02-10T10:24:00.002-06:00

LIVING OUT THE FAMILY IMAGE

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Samuel John Stone, “The Church’s One Foundation”
1. The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord;
we are his new creation by water and the word:
from heaven he came and sought us to be his holy bride;
with his own love he bought us, and for our life he died.
2. Elect from every nation yet one o’er all the earth,
our charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one glorious name we hallow, partake one holy food;
and to one hope we follow, with every grace endued.
3. Though with dismay and wonder we see the church oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed;
yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, “How long?”
and soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
5. Yet we on earth have union with God the Three-in-One,
and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we
like them the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee.

LET’S DIG DEEPER
We are called to use our gifts for the good of the body of Christ, the church (Romans 12:3-8). We exercise our ministry in and through the church. The New Testament has nothing to say about professing Christians living apart from the church and serving God. Only the narcissistic individualism of today would consider that to be acceptable. While functioning within the church as a member of the body, contributing to the growth and health of the body, we always need to remember whose body it is.
The words of the old hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” quoted above, may seem a bit fanciful and idealistic, but they are biblical and the imagery comes from the New Testament. They present a view of the church from God’s perspective. In our day that perspective may be lost among all the faults and failures of Christians and the church at times, but the reality is that these words portray that perspective and the hope the church has in Christ. There is a need for Christians today to reacquaint themselves with this perspective, for it seems at times that many have forgotten who the church belongs to.
Some would handle the church as their own personal possession with the attitude that they have the freedom to make the church anything they want it to be. Some regard the church as their own personal servant, there to meet their every whim and desire, and if it fails they will shop around for another one. So many prevalent attitudes and actions among professing Christians would cause one to wonder if they really know who the church belongs to.
The Ephesian epistle focuses strongly on the church, how and why it exists. “The Church’s One Foundation” is rooted in an Ephesian perspective. Ephesians 2:19-22 challenges believers to look up and see their high and holy calling in Christ, as well as to see the high and holy reality of the church. You are “citizens with the saints, members of the household of God… built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” Here we get a glimpse of the spiritual and mystical nature of the church, and the church we see portrayed isn’t a human creation but a divine one. It’s a temple where God dwells. This is nothing ordinary and commonplace. Sometimes we lose sight of this truth because the church is made up of ordinary people with all their faults and idiosyncrasies. There are no perfect churches and no perfect Christians, but we are all in the process of becoming what God desires us to be in Christ. The church is always “under construction,” always becoming, never arriving, until that day when it stands transformed in the presence of its head, Jesus Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 the warning was given to the Corinthian Christians to realize who the church belonged to and how it is to be treated: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
God has called you to live, to grow, to exercise your gifts and ministry as part of the church. What a great privilege this is. What a great opportunity you have. Just keep in the forefront of your mind whose church it is and that reality will govern your attitudes and actions.

TAKE ACTION
1. Do you find it hard to grasp the reality of the truth that the church belongs to God and not to us? What are some barriers you may face in relation to this?
2. Although the words of “The Church’s One Foundation” were written in the 19th century, they apply to the church of all centuries. Reflect on the words of the hymn and record your impressions in relation to the church today, even the individual congregation you may be part of.
3. Does the fact of God’s ownership of the church cause you to see your ministry and the exercise of your gifts differently? Does this truth impact your attitude toward what you do in the church?
4. Do you find it easy to be negative and critical about the church? As the Ephesian Scripture tells us, as a Christian you are a citizen with the saints and a member of God’s household. In light of this reality, think of definite ways you can become a catalyst for positive change in your church and through your personal ministries work to build it up.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Pray that God would enlarge your vision to see the church from the perspective of today’s Scripture. If you struggle at times with a negative and critical attitude toward the church and the people in it, ask God to give you a heart for the church and its members that would be positive and glorifying to Christ. At times the church may need to listen to criticism, but it should always come out of a loving heart that ultimately desires the glory of Christ in his church.

Looking for Response

2011-02-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

I am planning to terminate this blog once I have completed posting chapters of my book, "You:Alive Unto God", which will be done next week. If you read this blog regularly and would like to see it continue please respond and let me know. If you have suggestions for topics that would also be appreciated. But if I get no response I will close the blog and move on to something else.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Justly

2011-02-09T09:33:00.002-06:00

LIVING JUSTLY

Isaiah 58:6-9
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
Luke 4:16-21
When he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Miroslav Volf, “Exclusion and Embrace”
To be a Christian means to be attached to a community and be shaped by its beliefs and practices…. Christian thought on justice is rooted in the fiery protests of prophets and in the engaged reflection of apostles. It derives from the whole narrative of God’s dealing with humanity, a narrative which is particularly dense at the point where Jesus Christ enters that small country under Roman occupation, proclaims and enacts the coming reign of God, is crucified by the Romans, and resurrected by God. (208)
Doing justice, struggling against injustice, was not an optional extra of Israelite faith; it stood at the very core. To know God is to do justice. (217) 32

LET’S DIG DEEPER
The issue of justice is a biblical issue, not just for the prophets of the Old Testament, but for all of God’s people in all times. Because we are in the world as salt and light, our presence is to permeate the darkness of sin and injustice and in the name of Jesus we are to speak for and defend those whose voice is not heard. As the above quote says, “To know God is to do justice.”
Maybe your reaction is, “The church is here to save souls. Its business is spiritual. What does God have to do with issues of justice anyway?” Sometimes we may fail to realize that God created us as whole people, not disembodied souls, and redemption and re-creation involves the whole person. God also created us as relational and social beings and the original purpose in creation was for those relationships and that society to glorify God. Our willful rebellion and disobedience has not only affected our relationship with God, but also our relationship with each other. Christians are called to be agents of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20), calling people to a right relationship with God and hand-in-hand with that, to a right relationship with each other.
The prophet Isaiah, in today’s Scripture, speaks for God in calling people not only to observe the spiritual discipline of fasting, but out of their fasting to go further beyond themselves and fight for justice on behalf of the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the poor, those who are held in “the bonds of injustice.” The prophetic call resonates throughout the Old Testament and is refocused by Jesus on his own ministry, as defined in Luke 4:18,19. Jesus came “to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” It is evident by Jesus’ ministry that there is a twofold application to the fulfillment of this statement. He met the deepest need of reconciliation with God in those he ministered to, yet at the same time transformed the situations many found themselves in.
Christians living in the affluent West have a greater responsibility in matters of justice in our world- whether it is matters of racial tensions, poverty, homelessness or the many issues of discrimination present in our society, or political repression and torture, starvation and poverty, ethnic injustice and many other issues around our world. What a great need there is for the clear voice of Christians to speak out, the finances of Christians to help, and the presence of Christians who are willing to take risks for the benefit of others in great need. It isn’t enough to say, “God cares and understands your pain.” As Proverbs 3:27 instructs us, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” What a challenge that is for each of us.
What can you do? Begin by asking God to give you a greater sensitivity to issues of justice in your neighborhood and around the world. Open your eyes to see. Read, listen and be informed. There are Christian organizations and often denominational groups working in the forefront of justice issues around the world. Outside of the church there are larger and broader-based organizations that are standing up and acting on behalf of oppressed and suffering people and making the world aware of issues of injustice globally. Most have web sites where you can find out more information. Be willing to write to political leaders on behalf of victims of injustice. When issues are close to home write letters to editors of newspapers and see where you can be involved as a volunteer. The book, “Exclusion And Embrace” is an excellent Christian perspective on up-to-date issues of justice that confront our world. In our information age saying, “I didn’t know,” is no longer a valid excuse because it is so easy to become well informed.
The early Christians lived by the standard of the love of Jesus in a way that baffled outsiders. They loved friend and foe alike and were there to minister in Jesus’ name. They stood firm against the abuses and injustices of Rome and suffered for it. They cared for those who were mistreated and abandoned by society. They willingly helped the helpless and protected the widows, orphans and outcasts. No, the church hasn’t always been a champion of justice and for that it bears guilt, but if it stands true to its calling in Christ, it will be thee with the love of Christ in the midst of pain, suffering and injustice. “To know God is to do justice.”

TAKE ACTION
1. Can you think of an issue in your community/city that is an issue relating to justice? On a national level, can you think of three present day issues that relate to justice? On a global scale, can you think of three present day issues that relate to justice?
2. How does God demonstrate concern for justice in the Old Testament? Can you think of any specific examples? How did Jesus in the New Testament demonstrate a concern for justice in the light of his reading of the prophetic word in Luke 4:16-21?
3. Are there justice issues in your world today that weigh heavily on your heart? What could you do to demonstrate your Christian love and responsibility in relation to the issue(s)?
4. Over the next week as you read the newspaper and watch or listen to the news, look for news items, editorials, etc., that relate to justice issues and about which Christians should have an active concern. Make a list of those things you come across during the week.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Acknowledging that justice is a matter close to the heart of God, pray that God would help you to be more aware of injustice on every level in your world. Pray for wisdom to know how to respond and to know what you can do to make a difference.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Passionately

2011-02-08T10:23:00.002-06:00

LIVING PASSIONATELY

Matthew 9:35-38
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Miroslav Volf, “Exclusion and Embrace”
Indisputably, the self-giving love manifested on the cross and demanded by it lies at the core of the Christian faith…
A genuine Christian reflection on social issues must be rooted in the self-giving love of the divine Trinity as manifested on the cross of Christ; all central themes of such reflection will have to be thought through from the perspective of the self-giving love of God.

LET’S DIG DEEPER
“When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” These words reveal to us the heart of Jesus as he walked this earth. Wherever he went during his public ministry the crowds followed him. Many were just curious, wondering what he was going to say or do next. But many were there in desperation and need. Jesus reached out to heal the blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers, and even to raise the dead. Yet it is very evident that the compassion of Jesus went beyond the physical needs of people. He was able to see into the hearts of hurting people, people enslaved by sins, in bondage to pride, greed, lust, whatever the sin was, weighed down by guilt, and in desperate need of forgiveness and restoration. He came to set the captive free. This was his mission, as set forth in the Scripture he read in the synagogue at the beginning of his earthly ministry (Luke 4:16-21). He came to “proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” His ministry gave evidence to this mandate, which was fulfilled, not out of mere duty but out of a heart of compassion for the world.
Do you prefer the comfort and security of a tightly knit group of Christians or are you challenged by the needs and opportunities in your world today? In Jesus’ ministry to his disciples there was a balance between teaching, nurturing and equipping them and sending them out into the world after the manner of ministry he had patterned for them. After his resurrection he challenged them with the mandate of Acts 1:8 and following the Day of Pentecost the church began to move out from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. It was a church with a heart for its world, regardless of the reaction the world had toward it. Ultimately for many they would pay the price of their lives to love the world as Jesus did.
Miroslav Volf’s words points us to the heart of Christian discipleship: “Indisputably, the self-giving love manifested on the cross and demanded by it lies at the core of the Christian faith.” The words of John 3:16 are so familiar, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”, yet in them lies the profound truth of divine love that goes beyond the ability of our minds to grasp. This is a world in rebellion, estranged by sin, yet God loves it to the extent of sending Jesus Christ. Why would God bother? Why? Because that demonstrates who our God is and what love is, from the humble birth in a manger to the agonizing death on a cross, under the indescribable weight of human sin. It’s from this background that we come to understand in some small way the compassion Jesus had for the people he ministered to. It was a costly, sacrificial giving out of a heart of love for the world.
If you are going to live as a disciple of Jesus you must be willing to follow in his footsteps. That means you must come to see your world through the eyes of Jesus, to see people in their need as Jesus saw them and be moved with compassion toward them. You must be willing to love as Jesus loves and give yourself, even sacrificially if need be, to minister to people. Multitudes live in spiritual darkness, needing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Multitudes live in poverty, abuse, suffering, injustice. What will you do for them? How will you respond to their cries for help? There is no place to stand aloof, to be wrapped up in your own comfortable Christian world, insulated from the pain of others. “A genuinely Christian reflection on social issues must be rooted in the self-giving love of the Trinity as manifested on the cross of Christ...” Let your heart be broken with those things that break the heart of God. Don’t buy into the narcissistic attitudes of our culture, but let God mold your heart to truly be a heart for your world.

TAKE ACTION
1. How much time do you spend with and how do you interact with non-Christian people? What opportunities do you use to reach out to others in practical ways?
2. Look seriously at your neighborhood, your town or city. What do you see as needs that Christians should be involved in? What do you see that you could do? Is there anything in particular that burdens your heart?
3. God’s love, we are told in today’s quote, is self-giving love, and that truth is so evident throughout Scripture. Do you have any personal fears or concerns when you think about your need to have a heart with the compassion of Jesus for your world?
4. How outwardly-focused is your church? What active involvement does it have in its community, in ministering where the needs are? Can you be a catalyst to stir your church to more active community and social involvement if the need is there?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
When Jesus prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39), he was struggling with the great personal price of God’s self-giving love. He alone, as our Savior, could pay that price. But there is a price to be paid in having a heart for your world. Pray that God would open your eyes to see your world in all its need, as God sees it. Pray that God would burden your heart in a way that would lead you to live out your love for your world in some way each day.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Connectedly

2011-02-07T08:22:00.000-06:00

LIVING CONNECTEDLY

Ephesians 6:18-20
Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together”
A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses…
…To make intercession means to grant our brother the same right that we have received, namely, to stand before Christ and share in his mercy.
This makes it clear that intercession is also a daily service we owe to God and our brother. He who denies his neighbor the service of praying for him denies him the service of a Christian. It is clear, furthermore, that intercession is not general and vague but very concrete: a matter of definite persons and definite difficulties and therefore definite petitions. The more definite my intercession becomes, the more promising it is. 30

LET’S DIG DEEPER
“If I can’t do anything else for you, at least I can always pray for you.” Have you ever had anyone say this to you, or have you ever told anyone this? Words like these reflect the attitude that prayer is a last resort. When all else is done and there are no more options, then you can always pray. Does this seem to express an exaggeration or reality? It would appear today in many churches where corporate prayer plays a very minor role, if any at all, that this is the true picture. In many churches today the prayer meeting is an event of the past, or if it still continues is often just kept alive by a handful of older members who still see value in it.
Today’s quote begins with this statement- “A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses.” Now that’s a strong statement and the main defense for its validity would be- Does the New Testament support this statement in the place it gives prayer ministry in the church? What role does prayer play in the life of the church in the Book of Acts and in the epistles?
We discover in Acts that in the beginning as the disciples waited for the promised Holy Spirit they were focused on one thing: “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer.” (Acts 1:14). Throughout the Book of Acts prayer was woven into the fabric of the life of the early church. The emphasis becomes even stronger in the epistles, especially those of the Apostle Paul, who continually emphasized the ministry of prayer and often prayed for those to whom he wrote.
Ephesians 6:18-20 puts prayer in the context of an exhortation on spiritual warfare in which the Apostle Paul challenges Christians to put on the whole armor of God for their spiritual battles. Prayer is seen as an important force in those spiritual battles, not just prayer for ourselves, but prayer for one another, prayer as a vital ministry. “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” Notice the emphasis in the words used- “at all times, keep alert, always persevere.” The Apostle sees prayer as a vital ministry for the church, not a last resort when all else has been tried, but a front line spiritual ministry.
In some ways we have convinced ourselves that we have advanced beyond the place of needing prayer as much as the church did in the past. Prayer to a certain degree has become obsolete. When we need to get something done we can always employ the latest guaranteed program, or bring in the big name professional in an up-to-date video conference, or set up a study group to solve problems. Of course with any of these we should at least ask God to bless our efforts, so that would involve prayer. Now that may sound somewhat cynical, but in reality it portrays what has happened to prayer in many churches today. Why pray when we can be doing something more practical that will be achieving results now?
You don’t need any special gifts or a seminary degree to pray. You simply need a compassion for people in their needs and a faith in God before whom you bring your prayers. As today’s quote says, “He who denies his neighbor the service of praying for him denies him the service of a Christian. It is clear furthermore, that intercession is not general and vague but very concrete: a matter of definite persons and definite difficulties and therefore of definite petitions. The more definite my intercession becomes, the more promising it is.” What do you believe God can do? Maybe you don’t believe God is quite as capable as the latest program or fad that seems to be catching on like wild fire. Do you believe that prayer would really make a difference in the church and in all it attempts to do for God?
The story is told of a group of people visiting the church of Charles H. Spurgeon, the great 19th century English preacher. Before the service began they asked him the secret of his success in preaching. He took them to the basement of the church where a large crowd of church members were praying for God to work through the proclamation of the message that day. For Spurgeon, he was not the key to his success but God was and because his people believed that, they prayed for God to work.
When it comes to ministry in the church today, there is none more important than prayer. The church needs to recapture this vision. You can be a vital part of this ministry in your church.

TAKE ACTION
1. What role does prayer play in the life of your church? Is it seen as priority ministry? Where would it fit on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most important? Why?
2. How actively involved are you in praying for people in your church- minister(s) and leadership, people with special needs, church mission focus, etc.?
3. Can you see yourself as a catalyst for change in bringing prayer to a greater place of prominence in your church? What could you do personally to promote the ministry of prayer?
4. Consider beginning a prayer journal. You can often find one at a religious bookstore or begin one of your own in a blank note book. Keep a record of needs, individuals, ministries that need your prayers. If your church has a photo directory of its members this could be used as a guide. Be organized and see this as an important ministry you can have to your church.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Focus your prayers today on your church. Pray for its leaders and the membership in general, the ministries it’s involved in and the needs you know of. Pray that God would help you and others with your church to capture a vision of the important role of prayer ministry.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Now, Looking Ahead

2011-02-04T09:06:00.002-06:00

LIVING NOW, LOOKING AHEAD

Revelation 5:11-14
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders, they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” The I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
James B. Torrance, “Worship, Community & The Triune God Of Grace”
God has made all creatures for his glory. Without knowing it, the lilies of the field in their beauty glorify God with a greater glory than that of Solomon, the sparrow on the housetop glorifies God, and the universe in its vastness and remoteness is the theater of God’s glory. But God made men and women in his own image to be the priests of creation and to express on behalf of all creatures the praises of God, so that through human lips the heavens might declare the glory of God. When we, who know we are God’s creatures, worship God together, we gather up the worship of all creation. Our chief end is to glorify God, and creation realizes its own creaturely glory in glorifying God through human lips. 29
LET’S DIG DEEPER
Do you live from one week to the next looking forward to the high point of your week in the worship service of your church? Does a sense of awe and reverence fill your heart as you come before the Lord in worship with the church? Or do you dread it a bit and find yourself struggling to stay awake for the hour? So what does worship have to do with ministry anyway?
When we come before God in worship as the church together we are engaged in the highest form of ministry, our ministry to God. There is nothing that delights the heart of God more than the praise and worship of the church and Revelation 5:11-14 shows it in its highest expression in the very heavenly presence of God. In fact, our corporate worship from week to week is to be a small taste of heaven where we will worship God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the fullness of divine splendor.
Our worship is an offering to God that goes far beyond what we put in the collection plate each week. The important question isn’t, “What do I get out of worship?”, but rather, “What do I go prepared to give in worship?” You see, what you gain from worship by way of blessing, instruction, comfort and help is secondary. These are byproducts of worship. The primary issue is what you are giving to God each week in worship. How prepared are you to enter the church sanctuary on Sunday morning to present an offering to God? The preparation must take place before you ever get to the church door, through your personal worship and devotion during the week. That will take effort and personal preparation on your part. The common attitude today for people going to a worship service is to view it like a concert or theatrical performance in which they are no more than spectators watching what unfolds before them. When the performance is good enough they may even applaud. No wonder many church goers today hunger for an authentic worship experience.
Another characteristic of our day is an uncertainty on the part of much of the church as to what worship is to be, which results in just about anything passing for worship. Yet we see in Scripture and in the tradition of the church from its beginning that worship has a clear focus and definite components. The focus of worship must be on God. To focus on anything else is not worship. There is a danger today in our “seeker sensitive” emphasis to put more focus on the comfort and relaxed atmosphere of the congregation than on the glory of God in the midst of the church. Who says worship should make us feel comfortable? Realizing that we are entering the presence of the Lord God Almighty, our worship should leave us with a sense of awe and humility. Our primary concern should be making God feel at home in the worship we are offering.
When you begin to look at worship from the context of Scripture and history you discover some important components that work together to glorify God. Worship should involve praise, proclamation, intercession and sacrament. We lift up our hearts and voices in praise to God. We invoke God’s presence in our midst and acknowledge our need of and dependence on a God of mercy and compassion who hears our confession, our intercession and all of our corporate prayers. We listen to God’s written word read and proclaimed and respond in our hearts to its message, hopefully in a way that will impact our living before God. We offer to God bread and wine and in return partake of the body and blood of Christ and give thanks for so great a gift and so great a salvation. In worship we offer ourselves to God and through all of our senses and out of the abundance of our hearts we interact with God who is in our midst.
Worship is not a passive experience but demands your preparation, your involvement, your ministry to God who is there to meet with you each week.

TAKE ACTION
1. Reflect on today’s quote. Does it introduce you to a new and deeper concept of what the weekly worship experience of the church is? How does it expand your understanding of worship? Does it raise any questions in relation to worship?
2. In your Sunday worship experience do you see yourself as a spectator or a participant? If you say spectator, how do you view what is happening on Sunday morning? If you say participant what does that involve for you?
3. On Sunday morning as you go to church how prepared are you to worship? What do you consider to be important in your preparation?
4. When you consider the awesome vision of worship in Revelation five, what connection do you see in your Sunday worship with this great event? Does your worship ever cause you to wonder what heaven will be like?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Pray that God would enlarge your vision of worship to understand its true significance before God and its importance as a ministry of all God’s people. Pray for a greater capacity for personal involvement in worship each week.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Responsibly

2011-02-03T08:47:00.002-06:00

LIVING RESPONSIBLY

Ephesians 4:14-16
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Dietrich Bonhoeffer “The Cost of Discipleship”
To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to him.”
…Only when we have become completely oblivious of self are we ready to bear the cross for his sake. If in the end we know only him, if we have ceased to notice the pain of our own cross, we are indeed looking only unto him….
To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ… If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life…. The cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest. Only a man thus totally committed in discipleship can experience the meaning of the cross28

LET’S DIG DEEPER
There is a concept existing within parts of the church which says all I have to do is believe in Jesus and I will go to heaven. It’s as simple as that, just believe. Such ‘easy-believism’ has no relationship with the call of Jesus to a life of committed, active discipleship. James said that the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19). But what good does that do them? You enter the doorway to salvation through your conversion, but that entrance takes you into a new life with new responsibilities. We are told in Romans 6:4, Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We are told in verse 22 of that chapter that we have been freed from the slavery to sin and “enslaved to God” in order to live a life of obedience to God. We enter into a new life in Christ with a responsibility to live in newness of life, and we enter into a new relationship, no longer enslaved to sin, but now enslaved to God and responsible to live as belonging to God.
Ephesians 4:14-16 points out our personal responsibility. It portrays the church as a body and every member a vital part of the body. Using this analogy the Apostle Paul stresses our personal responsibility: “we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Just as our physical bodies grow as each individual part grows together toward physical maturity, so in the church each member is responsible to grow toward spiritual maturity. What does that involve for you? It certainly means much more than filling your mind with the theology of the faith, not to discredit theology. It implies the ongoing transformation of your life, which will be evidenced by your ministry within the church: “as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” The “each part working properly” includes you. The healthy life of the church is not only dependent on its leadership but also on every member. This reality is stressed throughout the New Testament epistles.
Your responsibility in the church relates to its inner function and growth as well as its outward mission in the world. Wherever the church finds itself, the need is there to proclaim the gospel and reach out in the love of Christ to a world in need. It means working together for peace, justice and alleviating the pain and suffering of so many in our world in the name of Jesus. Proverbs 3:27 has application to a multitude of situations and needs in our world today and would be a good proverb to commit to memory- “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” God gives you gifts, skills, material and financial resources to use in ministering to others in the church and in your world.
Don’t become too comfortable in what you know and assume someone else will do what needs to be done. As today’s quote reminds us, discipleship is a responsibility to take up our cross and follow Christ. It speaks in terms of living, not simply knowing. As the old saying goes, you have to walk your talk. Take your God-given responsibilities seriously and make a difference in your church and in your world.

TAKE ACTION
1. This may take some time and thought, but it will be personally beneficial. Focus first on your church. What are your responsibilities to your church and in what ways can you fulfill them? Write them down and be specific in terms of fulfillment. Next, focus on your world, beginning with your community around you. What are your responsibilities to your world and in what ways can you fulfill them? In both of these areas take into consideration your God-given gifts and skills as well as your material and financial resources. This exercise can help you formulate a personal vision statement and a game plan for practically fulfilling your responsibilities as a Christian.
2. Have you ever been in a situation where you have had the opportunity to do good to someone but failed to do anything? How did it make you feel? Did you regret your inaction later? Did you learn from your experience?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
You have the great privilege of being a recipient of the love and mercy of God, as well as being a member of the body of Christ, the church. Christ calls you to be His disciple, to bear your cross and follow him. As God to help you effectively do this in every area of your life. Make a personal commitment to God to willingly bear your responsibilities daily for His glory.

Blog Closing

2011-02-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

After I finishing posting the chapters of my book I am giving serious consideration to closing this blog. I get very little activity on the blog and almost no feedback. So if people aren't reading it I am wasting my time keeping it going. Let me know if you are a reader.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Living Like Jesus

2011-02-02T09:36:00.003-06:00

LIVING LIKE JESUS
John 13:1-5, 12-17
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it in the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him….
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord- and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their masters, nor are messengers greater than the ones who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Richard Gillard, “Sister, Let Me Be Your Servant”
1. Sister, let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.
2. We are pilgrims on a journey,
fellow travellers on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
3. I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
Speak the peace you long to hear.
4. I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.
5. When we sing to God in heaven,
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.
6. Brother, let me be your servant,
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too. 27

LET’S DIG DEEPER
You can imagine the perplexity of the disciples that evening in the upper room. Jesus took bread and wine and spoke of his body and blood, a reality that never fully sunk into their minds until after his death and resurrection. The evening was rich with symbolism, for after the supper was complete, Jesus’ next action was something they weren’t prepared for. Here was their Teacher and Lord assuming the role of a servant, kneeling before each of them to wash their feet. Bread and wine, towel and basin- these were symbols that would leave a life-long impression in their hearts and minds. The one whom they had come to know as Lord of all was here to be Servant of all in a service that would ultimately lead him to the cross. For Jesus it wasn’t merely words and symbols because his actions would bear out that he truly had a heart fitted for service, regardless of the cost.
In washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus was teaching them a lesson which would stand for all who desire to be his disciples. “For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their masters, nor are messengers greater than the ones who sent them. If you know these things you are blessed if you do them.”
Jesus was calling his disciples to a life of humble service, promising blessing, not in the knowing, but in the doing. As we are instructed in Philippians 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” in the context of his humility and suffering as a servant who “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” (Philippians 2:7). It begins in the mind, with a mindset of humility, service and putting others before yourself.
Too often the attitude is expressed by professing Christians today, “I don’t get anything out of church. It just doesn’t do anything for me.” Have you ever felt that way, even if you haven’t expressed it in words to anyone? Certainly the church is a place where we should receive instruction, fellowship, blessing and encouragement- all things we need. But it is also a place where we can serve others. God gives you gifts and skills to be used for the benefit of others. People sometimes complain about not knowing their gifts or not knowing what they can do, when the deeper issue they need to face is, “Do I have a willingness and desire to serve others? Do I struggle with pride that would keep me from taking up the towel and basin?” Ministry to others, both within the church and in the world, doesn’t begin with an action plan. It begins with an attitude of the heart. Out of a heart fitted for service comes a plan of action that leads to ministry.
Humility is something difficult to grasp. That night in the upper room Peter struggled with it and his question, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” probably expressed what the others were thinking. Humility was a hard lesson for Peter to learn, and it usually is for us as well. It takes a heart fitted for service to be able to honestly say, “Sister, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you; pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.”

TAKE ACTION
1. Put yourself in the upper room that night with the disciples. You have seen Jesus work miracles. You have heard him teaching. You accept that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. How would you have reacted when he kneeled down to wash your feet? Can you relate to Peter? How does it make you feel now?
2. Have you ever gone through an experience with another person in need that has humbled you and caused you to see them as Jesus would? Has pride ever kept you from helping someone else, possibly because of their social status, race or some other factor?
3. Do you actively look for opportunities for service in your church and in your world, or do you wait for someone to point out a need or ask you to help?
4. Reflect on the words of the song in today’s quote. Relate those words to the attitude of your heart toward others. Spend some time in self-examination to determine if there are things in your life that are barriers to having a heart of humility that will free you to serve others.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Reflect on the words of Philippians 2:5-11 and the call to personal action called for in verse five. Pray that God would place in your heart a desire for that mind like Christ. Ask God to convict you and bring to your attention issues of pride and resistance that would hinder you from serving others.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Judging Your Progress

2011-02-01T09:15:00.002-06:00

JUDGING YOUR PROGRESS

2 Corinthians 3:17,18
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Ranald Macaulay, Jerram Barrs “Being Human: The nature of Spiritual Experience”
Sanctification (becoming holy), then is essentially an affirmation of life. The whole purpose of the Christian life is the recovery of the original image of God, in other words, the recovery of the kind of human experience which God intended Adam and Eve to have before the fall.
… As we have seen, Adam was made creative: he named the animals (Genesis 2:19). Also, one of his responsibilities was to ‘till and keep’ the Garden of Eden; and presumably insensitive to Eden’s beauty. Certainly he was not insensitive to the love he was able to enjoy with his wife. The important point is that we should see just an experience as fundamental to the Christian life because to be human is to be a reflection, as a finite physical person, of the experience of the infinite Person who made us. 26

LET’S DIG DEEPER
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you notice another wrinkle or maybe a bit more gray hair? Maybe you like what you see; the view is improving. One thing for sure, what you see in the mirror is one of a kind. There is only one you, in all your uniqueness, not just in what you see in your face, but in your whole being. You are not an accident but a definite creation by God in all of your uniqueness. Sometimes the fact is overlooked that in re-creating us in Christ, God preserves your individual uniqueness, personality, emotional makeup, who you are as a person. Spiritual development isn’t a “cookie cutter” process, turning out identical Christians like in a factory production line. God may be in the process of re-creating you in the image of Christ, but as the person you are you will not be a clone.
In the process of growing through the spiritual disciplines this is an important fact to remember. The spiritual disciplines are used by God to mold you into the image of Christ within the framework of your individual person. God isn’t interested in obliterating your personality, or any aspect of your individual uniqueness you were born with. Along with those birth traits, there ale also cultural and ethnic traits that remain with you for life and are neutral matters in becoming like Christ. Those things will remain. The disciplined growth under the Holy Spirit’s direction will deal with matters that reflect upon your fallenness, your sinfulness and the resulting weaknesses. The Holy Spirit builds within your life the spiritual fruit that is mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23, which reflects the character of Christ. The spiritual disciplines focus your life on Christ daily. Day by day, step by step, a transformation process is unfolding in your life. It may not happen as fast as you would like. There may be setbacks at times. But if you have a disciplined commitment to this path, you can be sure the results will appear- “all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…”
The Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). He wasn’t interested in creating a church full of little ‘Saint Pauls’, but he was very interested in creating a church full of ‘little Christs’, to have all those believers model Jesus Christ in their lives. You may have a mature Christian you hold in high esteem and desire to imitate, but don’t try to become a copy of that person, but to become a copy of Jesus Christ as modeled in that person. That is your challenge.
As today’s quote challenges you, “…to be human is to be a reflection, as a finite and physical person, of the experience of the infinite Person who made you” Don’t turn your back on who you are as a person, for such a reaction reflects on God who made you. Open your eyes to see that through the path of the spiritual disciplines, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, your unique person can be transformed into a Christ-like uniqueness. Don’t look to the person next to you to see if you are identical to them, but look to Christ to see if you are identical to Him in those spiritual qualities that reflect the character of God. You can’t have someone else’s experience. Your pilgrimage will be your own, as unique as you are, because that is how God deals with us. Don’t seek some else’s experience but walk the path God has laid out for you. Seek advice and counsel, follow your spiritual leaders and seek to imitate their Christ-like qualities, but always remember, God created you as a unique individual to bear His image through your uniqueness. A bit of a crazy quote I recently read- and I don’t know where it came from or who wrote it- sums things up this way- “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” You can radiate the image of Christ in all your uniqueness.
TAKE ACTION
1. What do you like about yourself- your personality, your emotional makeup, even those aspects of your cultural/ethnic identity? As you reflect on these things, how does this positive reflection cause you to feel about yourself? Do you struggle with self-acceptance?
2. Our fallenness impacts our personal being in different ways. Look at yourself through this lens now and reflect upon what you would like to see change through the exercise of spiritual disciplines and the work of the Holy Spirit. What kind of positive impact would these changes make in your life?
3. Do you know a mature Christian whom you respect and look up to? What do they model in their life that you would like to have in yours? How does this reflect Christ?
4You may find Christians who would give you the impression that spiritual maturity can be attained through four or five easy steps. Experience will teach you something quite different. There are Biblical principles to follow but no short cuts. Do you find your spiritual path sometimes like a maze? What discourages and frustrates you on your journey? What has encouraged you recently?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Celebrate your uniqueness before God and give thanks that God has created you as the person you are. If you struggle with self-acceptance be honest with God about this. Ask God to enable you to see the uniqueness of your spiritual pilgrimage and encourage you on your disciplined path to Christ-likeness. Thank God for the progress you are making and the signs of change that are evident in your life.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Cleanliness Is Godliness

2011-01-31T08:45:00.002-06:00

CLEANLINESS IS GODLINESS

Acts 2:37, 38
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 7:9,10
Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
J. I. Packer, “Rediscovering Holiness”
What I intend to argue is that Christians are called to a life of habitual repentance, as a discipline integral to healthy holy living. The first of Luther’s ninety-five theses, nailed to the Wittenberg church door in 1517, declared, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent’ (Mt.4:17), he willed that the whole life of believers should be one of repentance.” Philip Henry, a Puritan who died in 1696, met the suggestion that he made too much of repentance by affirming that he hoped to carry his own repentance up to the gate of heaven itself…
Every act of repentance is a separate act and a distinct moral effort, perhaps a major and costly one. Repenting is never a pleasure. Always, in more senses than one, it is a pain, and will continue so as long as life lasts. 24

LET’S DIG DEEPER
On the day of Pentecost, in response to the Apostle Peter’s sermon, the question was asked, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter responded with these words, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37,38). Often repentance is viewed only in relation to conversion, a one-time action that needs not be repeated. But as you look into Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments speak of repentance as an ongoing activity in the life of a believer. The term “repentance” basically means a change of mind. We all know ourselves well enough, if we are honest, to know that our minds need to be changing continuously, especially when it comes to our sins and our relationship with God.
Today’s quote tells us, “Christians are called to a life of habitual repentance.” It is a heart change which must be an ongoing, life-long process. Therefore we must come to view repentance as a spiritual discipline which must be practiced daily. The biblical concept of repentance has both a negative and positive aspect, in saying “NO” to sin and “YES” to God. We see that twofold aspect in response to the sermon of Acts two- turn from, turn toward. We see it as well in the repentance of the Corinthian believers in today’s Scripture. They were grieved when brought face-to-face with their sins, but it didn’t stop there, “because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief.” It goes on to say, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret.”
The struggle with sin is ongoing in our lives. We are well aware of our sins and our failures. They are not small matters with God, but need to be acknowledged and turned from, or they become impediments to us becoming what God desires us to be. As today’s quote tells us, “Repenting is never a pleasure. Always, in more senses than one, it is a pain…” We are struggling with the continuing effects of our fallen nature and how it impedes our relationship with God.
It may be that your concept of repentance is that of a dark, negative, introspective brooding over sins and failures. In contrast, biblically, repentance is seen as a daily turning to God, a daily saying “Yes” to God in acknowledging divine mercy and grace at work in your heart. God doesn’t call you to dwell on your failures and inabilities, but to turn daily to the resources of divine ability and mercy. Repentance is an important part of focusing your life on God continually and turning from that which would entice you away from your God-centeredness. The positive aspect of repentance is stressed in these words, “God is the Creator, who brought everything into being for his own pleasure, and on whom everything depends for its existence every moment. He has a right to prescribe how his rational creatures should behave. He has done this in his moral law which requires us to be holy as he is holy- like him on our own human level in our character and conduct, in our desires, our decisions, and our delights. We are to invest all our powers in living a life of grateful worship and loyal service- a life of fidelity, uprightness, integrity and love towards both himself and our fellow humans- a life shaped by the purpose of glorifying him through wise and skillful obedience to his revealed will.25
Repentance as a spiritual discipline is a daily affirmation that by the grace of God you desire to move on in holiness and Christ-likeness. You want to remove any hindrance from achieving that goal. It is an open acknowledgement of your personal need and a plea for divine help to keep turning toward God. At times the process can be painful and difficult, and as our Scripture said, may cause grief, but that grief is quickly turned to joy and hope in the Lord as your life is freed from the unneeded baggage of sin and failure. As the writer of the epistle of Hebrews encourages us, “let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1).
In the disciplined process of becoming a Christ-like disciple, may you find repentance to be a valued tool as it works deep in your soul.

TAKE ACTION
1. One of the results of the work of repentance is to give us freedom to do the will of God. Do you find yourself free to do God’s will? If not, what hindrances do you struggle with and how would repentance help you?
2. The Apostle Paul links together grief and repentance. Do you ever find yourself grieving over your sins and your failures? Does it ever bring a sense of despair into your life? Has anything you read today given you positive encouragement with this?
3. What place has the discipline of repentance played in your life up to this point? Do you see any difference between the call to confess your sins and the call to repent? Sin in Scripture is always viewed in a negative sense. What is the positive effect of repentance from the heart?
4. Take some quiet time to do some serious introspection. Think on those things in your life that may be hindering you in your freedom to do the will of God and live in the fullness of the joy of the Lord. Write down those things that are having a negative effect- sins, failures, whatever they may be, and one by one decide to deal with them and cut the chains that hold you back.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Pray that God would give you an introspective heart, that under the direction of the Holy Spirit you would allow repentance to do its work and give you the freedom to do God’s will daily.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Giving Up To Gain More

2011-01-28T09:29:00.002-06:00

GIVING UP TO GAIN MORE

Matthew 6:16-18
And whenever you fast do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 9:14-17
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”
More than any other single Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, “I humbled my soul with fasting.” (Psalm 69:10). Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear- if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger; then we know that we are angry because a spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ.21

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Does food play a major role in your life? Most Christians in North America know very little of physical hunger. We seem to have an abundance of food and medical statistics tell us that we are often eating too much and the medical system is overworked with medical problems relating to overeating. It’s a common problem in out society in contrast with much of the rest of the world. Even in Christian circles food plays a role in what we do together, from coffee and donuts to church suppers. Food and fellowship seem to have a close relationship. So when the topic of fasting is introduced, we realize immediately that it isn’t a topic common to our conversation, let alone our practice as a spiritual discipline.
One of the accusations brought against Jesus, as we see in the Scripture for this chapter, was that he and his disciples did not keep the traditional fasts. Jesus’ response was that there would be a time for fasting once he was gone, yet it would not be the legalistic fasting of his day that was so often done for appearance sake. In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus instructed that fasting was not to be done in a hypocritical way simply for appearance, but as a private spiritual exercise before God, “so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
As you move into the Book of Acts you discovered that the early church practiced fasting and often fasting went together with prayer and was used in preparation to making important decisions (Acts 13:2,3; 14:23). It is evident that the practice of fasting continued in the church because in the early centuries of the church fasting had become a regular part of the church life, both corporate fasting at times like Advent and Lent, as well as personal fasting as a spiritual discipline. There is much written on it by the early leaders of the church. Chrysostom, one of the early Church Fathers, said of fasting, “that you may learn how great a good is fasting and how effective a shield against the devil, and also, that after receiving baptism it behooves us not to incline towards pleasure, but towards mortification. He (Jesus) fasted; not because he needed to, but to teach us. And that he may lay down the length of our Lenten fast, he fasted for forty days and forty nights.” 22 For some unfortunate reason, the spiritual discipline of fasting, both personally and corporately, has disappeared from much of the Protestant church.
You can fast to lose weight. You can fast to cleanse your body internally and improve your health. You can fast for any number of good reasons, but fasting as a spiritual discipline must focus on God. Fasting, as the quote for today explains, is for the purpose of purifying the passions, denying that which in itself is good- food, for what is best- God, and in so doing, you make a sacrifice to become more focused on God. In that process you also deal with those things in your life that are barriers to God. John Piper in his book, “A Hunger For God,” expresses the basic importance of fasting: “This is the essence of Christian fasting: We ache and yearn- and fast- to know more and more of all that God is for us in Jesus. But only because he has already laid hold of us and is drawing us ever forward and upward into ‘all the fullness of God’.” 23
How much do you hunger for God? Enough to deny your physical appetites, to set them aside for a time and focus all your energy on your spiritual hunger? Again this is a matter of spiritual discipline. At what price am I willing to set aside my physical needs to bring my soul under the discipline and experience of God? On a larger scale, in the Church Year, both Advent and Lent are times of spiritual preparation and fasting plays an important role in that preparation, denying that which is, in and of itself, good, in order to focus on the best- to prepare our hearts for God in prayer, repentance, confession and worship. Christians are called to practice a corporate fast for a spiritual purpose. Sadly for many today, this practice is ignored or rejected as an unnecessary legalistic imposition, and our souls are impoverished by such neglect.
Fasting is an important spiritual discipline for all Christians and if you are just beginning in it you may be struck by, not what you are giving up, but by all you gain in return. The spiritual rewards can be many.

TAKE ACTION
1. What has been your view of fasting up to today? What do you think has shaped your attitude and thoughts toward it?
2. Fasting does not necessarily involve just food. You can also fast from other things in your life in order to devote yourself to God and your spiritual development. What in your life could you fast from for a time in order to devote yourself more intensely to God?
3. Fasting as a spiritual discipline has a common bond with all spiritual disciplines- it is a discipline, and as such will demand your attention, commitment and determination. What concerns or fears do you have about fasting and if you presently don’t practice it, what would hold you back from adding this spiritual discipline from your life?
4. The Church calendar has long periods of fasting at Advent and Lent, but a spiritual discipline should begin small, one step at a time. Consider setting a day aside for a personal fast. If you have no serious health problems that might be affected, plan a day fast. Just consume liquids for the day and use the time you would usually be preparing and eating meals to prepare and take in spiritual nourishment. Include prayer, Scripture reading, reading from a devotional writing, and a time for personal introspection and meditation. Keep a journal of your day and the benefit you receive from it. You may also consider using the money you saved on those meals to give to a food bank or a local organization helping with poverty. Consider fasting on a regular basis, at least once or twice a month, or even once a week if you are able.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
God gives us all things to enjoy, including food and nourishment for our bodies and we need to be thankful for it all. Spend time in prayer giving God thanks, but at the same time expressing your heart’s desire for God, above all the provisions you receive. The discipline of fasting begins with the discipline of prayer in expressing your need and seeking God’s help.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Hungering After God: The Worship Priority

2011-01-27T08:50:00.000-06:00

HUNGERING AFTER GOD- THE WORSHIP PRIORITY

Psalm 113:1-3
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Stephen Charnock (1628-1680)
The evangelical worship is a spiritual worship, and praise, joy and delight are prophesied of as great ingredients in attendance on gospel ordinances (Isaiah 12:3-5)… The approach is to God as gracious, not to God as unpacified, as a son to a father, not as a criminal to a judge… Delight in God is a gospel frame, therefore the more joyful, the more spiritual.
God is a Spirit infinitely happy, therefore we must approach him with cheerfulness; he is a Spirit of infinite majesty, therefore we must come before him with reverence; he is a Spirit infinitely high, therefore we must offer up our sacrifices with deepest humility; he is a Spirit infinitely holy, therefore we must address him with purity; he is a Spirit infinitely glorious, we therefore must acknowledge his excellency…20

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Have you ever stepped outside on a clear, cloudless night and looked up into the sky at the vast expanse of space in all its beauty, the stars, the planets, the constellations? Has such a scene ever left you with an overwhelming sense of awe and the urge to break out in praise and worship of the God who brought it all into being? Our minds too often get fixed on worship only as a corporate experience in a certain place, under certain conditions, with certain components. Worship is certainly a corporate experience, as we discover throughout Scripture. But we also discover that those who worship God corporately, within the temple or the church also worship God personally. The psalms are filled with personal worship and serve as a good guide for developing your own discipline of worship.
There is a distinction between your personal devotions, times of Bible study, times of meditation and a time of personal worship, although worship could be incorporated in any of these other times with God or flow from them. Worship, going back to the root of the word, is giving God worth, ascribing to God praise and glory, exalting God with blessing and rejoicing. It moves beyond prayer, beyond Bible reading and study, to unleash the flood of praise and rejoicing from your heart and soul. It can be stirred by a passage of Scripture, like that of Psalm 113, or from the awesome glory of God’s creation that may take your breath away and thrill your soul, or even as a response to something God has done in your life. It can be a very spontaneous experience that can take place anytime, anywhere- in a crowd of people where you may silently lift up your heart to God in worship, or on a solitary hillside as you take in the vast expanse of a beautiful creation.
Worship demands a heart in tune to God, even for corporate worship on a Sunday morning, or else you become simply a spectator to what is unfolding- and worship can never be a spectator experience. The fullness of worship unfolds in sounds, sights, smells, tastes, touch- all your senses. They may not all be engaged in every experience of worship, but they all will be at some time. Whatever the situation of worship, there must be a heart in tune with God, or you will simply be going through the motions, even in corporate worship, and your heart and soul will be still.
We often think of a building, a specific place as a sanctuary for worship, and certainly it is. It’s a holy space where you come to meet God in the midst of the church. As you begin to understand all of creation in relation to God, you come to realize that anywhere can be a holy place where you can encounter God and respond in worship. There is a need to develop that sense of God’s being and presence in your daily living. Where I am God is. Where God is I can worship. There are no time and space constraints. If David could worship God in the solitary hillsides of Israel and Paul and Silas could worship God in a Philippian jail in the middle of the night, you can worship God wherever you are. The issue is not time and place but the condition of your heart, a heart in tune to worshiping God. And a heart so in tune to God would never say, “I don’t need to go to church to worship; I can worship God alone.” It’s never an either/or situation, unless physical infirmity prevents you from going to church to worship.
The great Puritan, Stephen Charnock, focuses our attention in his words on the majesty, glory and holiness of God, on understanding whose presence we enter any time or place we worship. Worship is not meant to be a one hour a week experience. If that is all it is to you, it will never play a major role in your life and that’s sad for any professing Christian. Worship is a spiritual discipline to be developed daily in your life as you live in the fullness of God’s presence, as much as can be experienced this side of heaven, and your worship gives you a small taste of heaven before you arrive.

TAKE ACTION
1. Have you ever had a spontaneous worship moment, a time when something just overwhelmed you with a sense of God and filled you with a response of praise and adoration toward God? Maybe it has happened more than once, but describe one experience and the impact it had on you.
2. When you are in a worship service do you sometimes feel like a spectator to all that is happening and not a participant in the worship? Why do you think this happens?
3. Do you believe that daily worship is an important part of your life? Why? If it is, how does it impact your life, or if it isn’t yet, how do you think it would affect your life?
4. What steps can you take to develop the daily discipline of worship in a way that it will become a normal daily spiritual discipline and reinforce your worship in church on Sunday?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Pray today that God would enlarge your vision of worship so that you could respond more daily in spontaneous worship of God, as well as enter into the fullness of worship within the church congregation on Sunday. Pray that God would give you a heart that would overflow in gratitude and praise daily.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Consulting The Guide Book

2011-01-26T08:58:00.002-06:00

CONSULTING THE GUIDE BOOK

Psalm 119:9-16
How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.
I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are your, O Lord; teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.
I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together”
In our meditation we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life, that it is not only God’s Word for the Church, but also God’s Word for us individually. We expose ourselves to the specific word until it addresses us personally. (82)
…in meditation God’s Word seeks to enter in and remain with us. It strives to stir us, to work and operate in us, so that we shall not get away from it the whole day long. Then it will do its work in us, often without our being conscious of it. (83) 19

LET’S DIG DEEPER
It is interesting that the longest chapter in the entire Bible focuses our attention on the place of Scripture in our lives and how it is to have an overall impact on our whole being. We are to think on it, meditate on it, hide it in our hearts, until it becomes part of the very fabric of our being. Meditation calls us to go deeper, moving beyond a quick read as we rush through our day. Maybe you have the experience of trying to grab a few minutes of Bible reading as you begin or end your day. You discover the early morning lingering mental fog from your night’s sleep or the late evening mental slowdown in preparation for sleep limits the benefit you receive from your reading.
Sometimes we strive to read through the Bible in a year, a commendable practice, or have times when we read as much as we can at one sitting. Meditation calls us to slow down and go deeper, to focus your mind on a single verse or phrase, or even just a word; to let the Scripture sink deep into your mind to the point that it becomes part of your subconscious, part of you. It isn’t gone five minutes after you return to your daily activities. As you read in today’s quote, “in meditation God’s word seeks to enter in and remain with us. It strives to stir us, to work and operate in us, so that we shall not get away from it the whole day long. Then it will do its work in us, often without our being conscious of it.” The purpose of our meditation should be transformation- transforming your knowledge of God, your knowledge of yourself, transformation of your very life. It is evident in Psalm 119 that the impact of Scripture was to be life-changing and life-long, but not instant. Meditation speaks to us of a day-by-day progression in our personal transformation through this life-long practice.
Time is not our enemy. We all have the same amount of it, but how we manage that time and order our priorities is critical. If spiritual transformation is a priority for your life then ordering your priorities within the time frame of your days is essential. Meditation requires time, quiet time, not simply in relation to surrounding distractions, but quiet in terms of your mental and emotional distractions as well. The latter may be the most difficult to deal with.
Quiet your heart and mind before God. Ask for divine assistance to help you focus. Be still before God. Let the verse, the phrase, the word, become the center of your focus. This isn’t a Bible study time, or if you are a minister, a sermon preparation time. It’s a time to let this Scripture settle and saturate your mind with the depth of its meaning and to let God speak to you through it. Let it do its work. It may touch you mentally, emotionally, spiritually, but don’t attempt to force it to a conclusion or rush it along. Something is happening within you and you may struggle with the fact that you are not in control of this or orchestrating the outcome. God is at work.
Meditation, as with any spiritual discipline, will take time to develop. Often our minds are wild and restless, overburdened to the point we find it hard to come down to a single focus. Prayer, discipline and practice will help. Day by day it will become more familiar and somewhat easier, although the challenges will always be there. But the rewards are worth it as transformation begins to take place. The mind focused on and saturated with Scripture becomes a mind saturated with God and in turn produces a life that reflects God and the reality of God within.

TAKE ACTION
1. Do you have a daily time to read the Bible and reflect on what you read? How successful and beneficial do you find this practice? What problems do you encounter?
2. Bonhoeffer says that in meditation “We expose ourselves to the specific word until it addresses us personally.” How much personal application do you receive from your Bible reading? Can you see how meditation would make a positive improvement in this? Meditation should not replace your Bible reading but be in addition to it because the two are different.
3. Are you a person who is concerned about always being in control of your life? Meditation in a very real sense is an activity in which you relinquish that control to the particular Scripture of your focus and to the Spirit of God who is at work in your life to bring about change. How do you feel about that? What particular concerns may you have about it?
4. As you have considered the spiritual discipline of meditation on Scripture today, other factors may have entered into the picture; for example the issue of time and personal priorities. Examine your days and your schedule and intentionally block out personal time for meditation. Make sure you give yourself time and space as free from distraction as possible. Do some spiritual time management.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Change doesn’t always come easy and sometimes it begins with a slow, stumbling attempt. If you are entering into this spiritual discipline of meditation for the first time it will be a challenge, but you are not alone in this. Pray that God will give you a clear sense of the importance of this discipline, the ability to so order your time that you have adequate room for it in your day, as well as inner strength to discipline your mind in this process.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Pray, Pray, Pray

2011-01-25T10:31:00.002-06:00

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY

Matthew 6:9-13
Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.
For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
William Law (A Serious Call To A Devout And Holy Life)-
Prayer is the nearest approach to God, and the highest enjoyment of Him, that we are capable of in this life.
It is the noblest exercise of the soul, the most exalted use of our best faculties, and the highest imitation of the blessed inhabitants of Heaven.
When our hearts are full of God, sending up holy desires to the throne of grace, we are then in our highest state, we are upon the utmost heights of human greatness; we are not before kings and princes, but in the presence and audience of the Lord of all the world, and can be no higher, till death is swallowed up in glory.18

LET’S DIG DEEPER
The practice of prayer permeates the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and in those pages we discover the prayers of the patriarchs, prophets, psalmists, apostles, sinners, and ultimately of Jesus Christ himself. It is evident by its use in Scripture that prayer plays a significant role in the life of a follower of God. Yet, if we are honest, we would often have to admit the difficulty of maintaining a consistent, meaningful prayer life. It doesn’t come easy and often involves personal struggle. We must come to see prayer as a spiritual discipline of the soul and necessary for our spiritual wellbeing.
Prayer was a priority of Jesus during his earthly ministry. Often we find him escaping from the crowds to a solitary place to commune with his heavenly Father. He acknowledges his dependence on the Father and gives thanks in the working of his miracles. In the garden before his betrayal and trial he agonized in prayer over what was before him. Even from the cross he cried out to the Father. Now if the one who was on this earth as God incarnate expressed by his personal practice the importance of prayer, how much more should we who are so well aware of our sins, weaknesses and needs, as well as our gratitude to a merciful, loving God.
Today’s quote isn’t an expression of sentimental idealism, but in a very real sense opens our minds to the true activity of prayer. To stop and reflect on what prayer is and who it is we are communicating to should give us this same sense. We can communicate with the Lord God Almighty! Jesus encourages us to come before God, praying in the name of Jesus Christ, and God will hear our prayers, regardless of what we may feel about our personal insignificance. Within the biblical framework of existence and understanding, we live before a personal Creator-Redeemer God who not only understands us, but seeks communication from us. God has communicated with us in the ultimate sense in Jesus Christ and the writer of the book of Hebrews (4:14,16) encourages us, “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession…. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” There is your personal invitation.
Prayer can become a monotonous, short-lived exercise if has no purpose and balance. Jesus gave instruction in prayer in those familiar words we have come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is brief, concise prayer that expresses what prayer should be. Unfortunately, when prayer is thought of simply as a personal wish list of our wants and needs then it will never be seen in its importance as a spiritual discipline. God does answer prayer and meet our needs, but if we simply look to God as some heavenly Santa Claus who exists simply to fill our daily wish list then we are misusing prayer. When you reflect on the Lord’s Prayer you discover the essential components of prayer, expressed in the familiar acronym- ACTS- Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Our daily prayers should be a balanced expression of worship, confession of our sins, thanksgiving for all God provides, as well as the presentation of our needs and the needs of others we pray for. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that you can be growing in daily through your waking hours.
We are called in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” Your response right now may be that you find it difficult to pray for five minutes a day, so how could you ever do that. Again, think of prayer as a discipline. It takes time, practice and work to develop. In recent years we have been told about the value of specific prayers, like “the prayer of Jabez,” which has spawned a whole mini-industry of things related to this prayer. Yet centuries before someone came upon the prayer of Jabez, the early church, and later more so the Eastern Church emphasized the unceasing use of “The Jesus Prayer”- “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” One of the most inspirational and spiritually powerful books on this prayer is a little book translated from the Russian, called “The Way Of A Pilgrim.” If you can possibly find a copy, prayerfully read it and come to understand the centuries-old importance of this simple prayer. Ultimately, may the expression of your heart be that of the early disciples, “Lord, teach me to pray.”

TAKE ACTION
1. Reflect on the present condition of your prayer life and seriously evaluate it. How meaningful is it to you? Where are you struggling with it and why? After considering what you have read today, do you see ways your prayer life must change? Be specific.
2. St John of Kronstadt wrote, “Prayer is a state of continual gratitude.” Would gratitude characterize your praying? Consider intentionally adding to every prayer at least one specific expression of gratitude to God. See what a difference it will make.
3. Does your church emphasize prayer as a spiritual discipline and encourage its corporate and personal practice? Become vocal and enthusiastic about enlarging the place of prayer in your church and in the lives of its members. Ask God for direction in this. Talk to your minister or priest about it.
4. Have you ever considered having a prayer partner, someone with whom you could develop a mutual ministry of prayer? You may only be able to meet together once a week or less, but you can begin sharing together in the ministry of prayer, as well as praying daily for each other.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
On a piece of paper write down the four words mentioned today- Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Beside each word write specific things that come to your mind as matters of prayer. Now bring these things to God in prayer, and as well, ask God to enable you to grow in this important spiritual discipline.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Training For The Real World

2011-01-24T08:30:00.002-06:00

TRAINING FOR THE REAL WORLD

1 Timothy 4:7-10
Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Donald S. Whitney, “Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life”
The Spiritual Disciplines are those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth. They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times. (17)
Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as spiritual exercises. To go to your favorite spot for prayer or journaling, for example is like going to the gym and using a weight machine. As physical disciplines like this promote strength, so the Spiritual Disciplines promote Godliness. (18)
The expectation of disciplined spirituality is implied in Jesus’ offer of Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” The same is true in this offer of discipleship: “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23). These verses tell us that to be a disciple of Jesus means, at the very least, to learn from and follow him. Learning and following involve discipline, for those who only learn accidentally and follow incidentally are not true disciples. (20) 17

LET’S DIG DEEPER
As you read through the gospels you discover that Jesus was very straightforward about the cost involved in following him. He wasn’t looking for people to simply believe- he said the demons already did that- but he called people to be his disciples, to take up their cross daily and follow him. That image is one of costly, committed following. One by one he gathered a small group of disciples who were willing to leave all and follow him. The group grew from twelve, to seventy, to multitudes of men and women, responding to the call of Christ to be his disciples. They weren’t casual bystanders, watching the “professionals” do the work of getting this new movement off the ground. They were an army of men and women and young people armed with nothing but the message of the gospel, a heart filled with the love of Christ, and a vision to change their world. Ingrained in the very fabric of the early church was a personal sense of spiritual discipline that enabled these Christians to have a singleness of focus in their lives.
The New Testament epistles are filled with encouragement and direction for spiritual formation. Disciples are called to grow in holiness and Christ-likeness and the calling isn’t simply a blank sheet for us to fill in anything we may deem adequate for our development and maturity in the faith. In 1 Timothy 4:7-8, the Apostle Paul gives direction to Timothy by way of comparison: “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding forth the promise for both the present life and the life to come.” We constantly hear messages encouraging us to be physically fit and giving us directions to follow, both for proper nutrition as well as exercise.
For some reason we don’t share the same concern for professing Christians who have spent years growing out of shape spiritually. Maybe you fit into that category. The Apostle Paul points out to the Corinthian believers that they were still spiritual infants, evident by their actions, when at this stage in their spiritual journey they should be mature. We all begin our spiritual walk in a state of infancy, but God’s design is for us to grow up into Christ and become mature; when we don’t we find ourselves in a place of immaturity and acting like spiritual babies when we should be acting as spiritual adults.
Spiritual disciplines are designed as tools to help us effectively grow, as we are instructed in Ephesians 4:15, “we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” But we aren’t robots, we aren’t programmed to automatically do this. You have to understand your purpose in Christ and make the commitment and concentrated effort to use the tools at hand to grow. It’s a day-by-day, step-by-step progression. It may seem slow at times and you may falter and even slip back at times, but God has promised to enable you to continue on the path. Over the next few days you will be introduced to several spiritual disciplines, certainly not an exhaustive list, but some will be familiar and some may be new to you. They are all tools God gives you to effectively become the Christ-centered person you are designed to be. Again you need to be reminded that you are not alone. You have the church, the body of Christ to help and support you and you also have the Holy Spirit to empower you and direct you on the path. Don’t lose heart, take it one day at a time. See the disciplines as a source of blessing and you will be richly rewarded for the effort you put forth.

TAKE ACTION
1. The comparison in 1 Timothy 4 between physical training and spiritual training is a valid one made for a practical purpose. When you stop and consider your physical needs and then reflect on your spiritual needs, how do you respond to this comparison? What does it say to you personally?
2. Have you ever been involved in something that took a great deal of personal discipline and commitment- maybe involvement in a sport or striving to earn a degree, or something else? At the time how did you accept the need for discipline and the price you were being called to pay to achieve your desired goal? Looking back, was it worth the effort? Is being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ a goal any less worthy of your focused discipline?
3. During his earthly ministry Jesus would easily fit into the leadership mantra- “Lead by example!” When you consider the ministry of Jesus in the gospels, where do you see discipline in his life and what can you learn from his example?
4. Do you have time for some extra reading? There are some good books today on the subject of spiritual disciplines. If you could find one of the following three and read it, you would benefit greatly by it- “Celebration Of Discipline” by Richard Foster, “The Spirit Of The Disciplines” by Dallas Willard, or “Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life” by Donald Whitney. Each of these would give you a deeper understanding of the spiritual disciplines and their value for your life.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
If you have come this far in the book you are serious about your spiritual life and its healthy development. Give thanks to God for all the resources you have at your disposal to become all that God wants you to be. Pray that God will give you the desire for a disciplined heart to follow after Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit would empower and direct you on this journey as it deepens. Be open with God about your struggles and fears in this journey.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- What If?

2011-01-21T08:35:00.002-06:00

WHAT IF?

Mark 9:20-24
And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able- All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Thomas Moore, “Care of the Soul”
Questioning thoughts, drifting away temporarily from commitments, constant change in one’s understanding of one’s faith- to the intellect these may appear to be weaknesses, but to the soul they are the necessary and creative shadow which actually strengthens faith by filling it out and ridding it of its perfectionism. … If we don’t allow some uncertainty into our faith as we practice it, we fall victim to neurotic excesses: we may feel superior, or entitled to berate those who have betrayed us, or we may become cynical about the possibility of trust…. Also, if we don’t acknowledge the shadow side of faith, we tend to romanticize our belief and keep it in fantasy, apart from life.”16
LET’S DIG DEEPER
Do you wrestle with doubts, with questions that are unanswered, issues for which you cannot find a solution? If you don’t then you are probably one of a very small minority, for if we are honest with ourselves and before God, we are confronted with the reality of doubt. Now that isn’t always a bad thing, in fact doubt can be very positive and productive. There is a great danger in never having questions or doubts, of accepting everything at face value and suppressing and tendency to raise questions or problems in relation to the faith. Doubt can be a challenge to go deeper in the faith, to struggle for answers, and not be satisfied with anything superficial or questionable. If your Christianity cannot stand up in the face of questions or doubts then it isn’t something you can trust your life and future to.
Doubts come from one of two sources. There is the doubt of unbelief, which is seen so often from Jesus’ critics in the gospels. It is in reality a skepticism that grows out of unbelief. Their questions and responses in relation to Jesus’ teachings and miracles reveal an underlying heart of unbelief, to the extent that Jesus could say to them, “You are from your father the devil.” (John 8:44). They weren’t trying to confirm their faith in Jesus but to justify their unbelief of his claims. The other source of doubt is evident in today’s Scripture, where a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit came to Jesus seeking help. You can imagine the heartache and desperation of this father, finally coming to the place of having a glimmer of hope in this miracle-working Jesus.
The play on words between the request of the father and the response of Jesus is interesting. After telling Jesus of the boy’s condition, the father added, “but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus responds in an interesting way, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” Jesus focused on the issue of faith, and the father, who had come to Jesus believing he could help, recognized his lingering doubts and cried out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” There is the acknowledgement of doubt from a heart of faith. This father knew his faith wasn’t perfect, he didn’t have all the answers, yet to the extent he could, he believed. His request, “help my unbelief,” was serious and honest. That put him in a different category than that of Jesus’ critics.
Thomas Moore, in his quote for above, shows to us the value of our doubts. They are not to be suppressed or ignored. As a matter of fact, the person who would tell you that if you are a Christian you should never have doubts can be doing great damage to your faith. Moore says that our questions and doubts “to the soul are the necessary and creative shadow which actually strengthens faith by filling it out and ridding it of its perfectionism.” There is danger in blindly believing that our faith is perfect. Christianity, which can endure our doubts and questions, will provide answers to the seeking heart. To wrestle with your doubts, to ask God the hard questions and patiently wait to discover the answers, will in the end give you a much stronger and more mature faith.
Moore warns us that if we don’t give space for our doubts and questions, “we fall victim to neurotic excesses” or “we tend to romanticize our belief and keep it in fantasy, apart from life.” Your faith as a Christian has to be something that can withstand the rigors of living in reality, with its pain, suffering, injustice and hardships. Lay your doubts on the table, ask the hard questions, and trust that the One who brought all things into being and knows the end from the beginning will be more than adequate to resolve those doubts and questions.

TAKE ACTION
1. How do you deal with your doubts and questions? Do you believe that God will think less of you if you raise them? Do you have someone you can confide in with those doubts and questions and will help you work through them?
2. Reflect on your spiritual journey. Can you recall doubts or questions you have wrestled with in the past until you have found the answer? Are there things you still struggle with and have not discovered an adequate answer?
3. At times the church can seem to be a very artificial environment where everyone would appear to have it all together and give no evidence of struggles or doubts, in a way like Moore’s assessment- “We tend to romanticize our belief and keep it in fantasy, apart from life.” Do you have a tendency to act that way in front of other Christians, wearing a mask that would give the appearance of having it all together, without any doubt? Why would you fear removing the mask?
4. Can you see doubt as part of your spiritual learning process and a doorway to a stronger, more mature faith? Do you sometimes fear that your faith will not be able to stand up to the challenges and questions raised by the culture you live in? How will you resolve this?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Our lives are completely transparent before God, who knows out thoughts and our words even before they are spoken, according to Psalm 139:1-4. Yet God respects our freedom and will not intrude. In faith, be open to God with your doubts and questions. Lay them before God in prayer, believing that God will not be offended. Be willing to pray, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” If you do not already have someone, ask God to direct you to another Christian with whom you can share your doubts and struggles and who will be a help for you.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Becoming Like Jesus

2011-01-20T09:42:00.002-06:00

BECOMING LIKE JESUS

1 Peter 1:13-16
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves, set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy for I am holy.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
William Law (1686-1761) - “A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life”
If you say that a bishop must be an eminent example of Christian holiness, because of his high and sacred calling, you say right. But if you say that it is more to his advantage to be exemplary, than it is yours, you greatly mistake: for there is nothing to make the highest degrees of holiness desirable to a bishop, but what you make them equally desirable to every young person of every family….
Do but fancy in your mind what a spirit of piety you would have in the best bishop in the world, how you would have him love God, how you would have him imitate the life of our Savior and His Apostles, how you would have him live above the world, shining in all the instances of a heavenly life, and then you have found out that spirit which you ought to make the spirit of your own life.15
LET’S DIG DEEPER
How would you like your life to be viewed by your family, your friends, and your peers? Would you like to be seen as a friendly, caring, kind, accepting, interesting, patient person and any other adjectives you can add to the list? What about putting “holy” on that list? Have you ever thought about your life in terms of being holy? We look on the saints as being holy people, famous Christian leaders, missionaries, even church ministers- but me? just ordinary me? It’s interesting that holiness isn’t usually a quality many Christians consciously strive for.
Just as the epistle of first Peter is addressed to Christians struggling to live their faith in a sometimes hostile culture, Christ calls you to live as a Christian in your world today. If holiness was an important issue for their lives maybe you need to seriously consider it for your own. It’s unfortunate that often when “holy” comes to mind many people immediately think of individuals who try to give the impression of being “holier-than-thou”, just a bit better than everyone else. It can create a wrong impression of religious pride and self-righteousness. But in reality, holiness is born out of a sense of profound humility. First Peter begins by focusing on the grace and mercy of God expressed toward sinners and our high calling in Christ. Belonging to Christ gives us hope as well as brings new meaning into our lives, meaning that relates directly to God. It gives us a new sense of identity which calls us to be consecrated to God in all our living. In Christ we are God’s children. God is holy and as his children our lives are to be characterized by a practical day-to-day holiness that proclaims to others that we belong to God. Out of gratitude we live to please God in all our ways. Holiness reflects that character of God in our living and the visible reality of our spiritual transformation- “Like obedient children, do not conform to the desires you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct.” (1 Peter 1:14,15).
Is holiness a relative matter, depending on a person’s status or position within the church? What should be your personal goal in holiness. It’s interesting how we develop pre-conceived ideas of Christian concepts. People often relate holiness to position- “Of course you have to be holy; you’re a minister. That’s what you get paid to be.” We often set up a scale for holiness that gives the ordinary Christian a different position than that of Christian leaders. William Law clearly contradicts that concept, and even though his eighteenth century English may take you a bit more time to work through, what he has to say runs very deep into the issue of your personal holiness. As an Anglican, he uses the example of a bishop as one to be held up as a holy person, yet says the standard of holiness you hold for a bishop must be the same standard you hold for yourself, “for there is nothing to make the highest degrees of holiness desirable to a bishop, but what makes them equally desirable to every young person of every family.”
The standard of holiness that we find in the Bible is not the position or elevation we occupy as a Christian in the church, but it is the holiness of God- “You shall be holy for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16). There is no sliding scale. There is one standard of holiness for all Christians.
Holiness is not something competitive. There is no room for the attitude, “Well, I’m as good as that person,” or “I’m better than a lot of people I know.” Holiness is not a matter of being as good as or better in relation to other people; this is no divine contest. Holiness, in a very practical sense is the daily living expression of a life that belongs to God. Holiness relates to all of your life, not simply your church and devotional activities. We are told to “be holy in all your conduct.” (1 Peter 1:15). Every activity of your life in every moment of your life is to reflect the living reality that you belong to God.

TAKE ACTION
1. “God is holy.” What does that mean to you? What do you see in God’s person and actions that would speak to you of holiness? How does all this relate to your call as a Christian to be holy?
2. Can you think of particular Christians you wither know personally or who have been made known through the media who would stand out to you as being holy? What makes them that way to you?
3. Read the quote from William Law again. He wrote those words over two and a half centuries ago. If Christians of today took his words seriously how would it affect the church? How would it affect the place of the church in the world?
4. Write down this statement- “If my life was to be characterized as being holy I would have to….” Reflect on what you have read today and on your life as you see it. Write down what comes to mind. Be practical and write things you see as achievable in your life.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Holiness is sometimes a difficult concept to fully understand. How do we fathom the holiness of God? How do we get around our own weaknesses and failures which we know so well and begin to see ourselves as becoming holy? Pray that God the Holy Spirit would give you a clearer vision of the holiness of God as well as a more practical understanding of how you can grow in holiness daily.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- I Am Not An Island

2011-01-19T10:44:00.002-06:00

I AM NOT AN ISLAND

Romans 12:3-5
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all members have the same function, so we who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”13
LET’S DIG DEEPER
It’s a sad reality today that many professing Christians have a “take it or leave it” attitude toward the church. If they feel the church isn’t meeting their needs, isn’t living up to their expectations, or is embroiled in controversy or division, they move on to another or simply give up on the church altogether. Maybe you have been or are in that place. Some are on an ongoing quest to find the “perfect” church, or a “New Testament church”, not really clear about what the criteria for either would be. The early Christians held a very high view of the church and it essential place in the life of all Christians. Cyprian of Carthage, who lived form about 200-258, wrote in his treatise “On The Unity Of The Church,” in which he stressed the vital connection of the church for all Christians- “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.”14 In our strongly individualistic and fragmented Christian culture today, that would be a difficult statement for many to accept, but the fact is it is the original position from which the modern church has moved.
Can you see yourself as a Christian existing in the faith apart from the church? As our Scripture tells us, by baptism the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ, the church. We are members of one another. We are to view ourselves from a proper perspective, “with sober judgment” (Romans 12:3), understanding that we are members together, all standing equal under the grace of God and “individually we are members of one another.” (Romans 12:5). It would seem evident from Scripture that those early Christians were right, being a member of Christ and a member of His body, the church cannot be divided. You cannot have one without the other.
The church is a place of spiritual birthing, nurture and growth to maturity, a place of fellowship and service. There is no perfect church. As someone has said, the church is not a showcase for saints but a hospital for sinners. You are part of that imperfect group, growing together on the way to perfection in Christ. It’s so easy to complain about the church, the minister, the people who may rub you the wrong way, but have you ever considered how other people view you in your imperfections? No one is in the church because they deserve to be there. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that we are in Christ and in His church.
Bonhoeffer has given us a good piece of advice today. What a difference it can make when we view the church from God’s perspective and begin to give thanks daily for it and for the personal privilege of being part of it. It can make a very positive impact on your personal Christian life if you have an attitude of thankfulness for your church instead of one of complaining and negativity. A positive attitude will not only affect the way you view your church but it will influence how you benefit from it and how it benefits from you. You will be more open to give, both financially and through the exercise of your spiritual gifts. You will be more willing to submit to its leadership and authority in your life. You will more readily accept the church as “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 1:15), instead of seeing everyone’s competing opinion as being on the same level as the doctrines of the church.
The strong individualism of today may give Christians the illusion that they can make it on their own without any connection to the church. Such an attitude is a formula for spiritual disaster. Give God thanks for the church and the very privilege of being in Christ and as a result, part of His church.

TAKE ACTION
1. What part has the church played in your spiritual birth, nurture and development? What memories do you hold of this experience with the church? What sense of bond does that create for you?
2. Do you find yourself at times negative and critical of the church? Do you struggle with its problems? How can you be more constructive and supportive? What can you do to help move your church toward positive change if that is needed? Put some thought into this and write down your conclusions.
3. Read over Bonhoeffer’s quote. What do his words say to you and what can you learn from them?
4. Do you take advantage of the opportunities your church gives you to grow in your faith, develop your gifts and in turn serve others within the church? Think of ways you could be more effective in this.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Thank God today that you belong to Christ and in Christ belong to His church. Pray today for your church, its leadership, its vision and commitment to be what God wants it to be in your community. Pray that you will become a more effective member and see yourself in the bigger picture.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- What Makes Me Happy?

2011-01-18T10:12:00.000-06:00

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY?

Psalm 62:5-8
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before him;
God is a refuge for us.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
C. S. Lewis (The Weight Of Glory and Other Addresses)- If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.10

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Have you noticed how easily a child can be satisfied? For example, at Christmas a child can be overloaded with toys of all description, yet in the end may focus attention on the simplest little toy, or maybe even the packaging, while passing over gifts of greater cost. A child has yet to make the same kinds of distinctions an adult does. Maybe adults should take that more into consideration when Christmas shopping.
As we grow out of childhood there are some things we take with us, never leaving them behind, and one of those relates to our satisfaction level. We may settle for dry crusts of bread when there is a feast spread before us to enjoy. You say that would never happen? Well, spiritually it happens all too often. C. S. Lewis recognized this human reality and addressed it in the above quote. He says that in the light of all that God offers us we too often settle for much less and “we are far too easily pleased.” Think about that in your own spiritual life today.
In our diet-crazed and weight conscious culture, people want things “lite”. Unfortunately the concept of “lite” carries over into our spiritual nutrition and many Christians find themselves spiritually malnourished, if not on the verge of starvation. The seductive allure of our culture and all it has to promote would have us satisfied on what it offers behind the packaging of materialism, money, position, popularity, recreation and so on. These can become for us the dry crusts of bread we feed on, poor substitutes for the spiritual feast God offers us. We have to live within our culture but we don’t have to buy into its value system. The more we try to satisfy our inner hunger on the “lite” menu, the lower our satisfaction level will fall and the more spiritually malnourished we will become.
Another problem related to this may be an inability to recognize spiritual nourishment when it’s there. God has provided means of nourishing our souls that will leave us satisfied and we can discover rich spiritual food in worship, interaction with other Christians, a daily devotional and prayer life, Bible study and other sources of spiritual nourishment. Maybe you are trying to find satisfaction simply in that one hour of spiritual nourishment on Sunday morning while doing nothing the rest of the week. If that’s your satisfaction level then you will remain spiritually malnourished.
Psalm 62, a psalm of David, is given the title, “Song of trust in God alone,” and that theme is evident in the words of the psalm- “For God alone my soul waits in silence for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.” Did you notice that word “alone”? “God alone…He alone” What David writes in this psalm conveys to us the level of his satisfaction. For him there is only one whom he can fully trust in for the deepest needs of his soul. No one and nothing else will do. It had to be “God alone.”
The same truth is expressed in Psalm 73:25,26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” It’s interesting how often this message is repeated throughout the psalms.
There is at times an almost over-powering attempt to lure us into the mindset that we can find complete satisfaction in the things of our culture which are so transitional, but the trinkets of our culture will never satisfy the hunger of your soul. God alone can do that. Don’t lower your standard; if anything, raise it higher. Fads and fashions around us constantly change and even within the church culture there are so many fads and fashions that come and go. In contrast, God is the one constant, unchanging, soul-satisfying person, “God alone.” Set your sights high. Find your spiritual nourishment in God and you will never go hungry and never thirst for more.
TAKE ACTION
1. Some diet plans recommend that you keep a diary of your daily food intake, both before you begin the diet to see what you are actually eating, as well as once you begin to see how your eating habits change. Let’s make a spiritual application of this. Think about this past week and write down all the ways you fed yourself spiritually. Hold on to that list and over the coming week each time you do something to feed your spiritual life.
2. C. S. Lewis said, “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.” As you consider your spiritual life and what you have been satisfied with, how would you respond to this statement? How would the truth in it be evident in your life?
3. Take some time to think of ways you regularly feed your spiritual needs. The list can include things you listed in #1 and can go beyond that to include other things that you do. Now make a list of all the means available to you to nourish yourself spiritually- your church, Christian friends, community activities, your local Christian book store, and any other things you can add to the list. For example, your church may offer things you have never taken advantage of- write them down. There may be a neighborhood Bible study group or some other activity you could participate in- write them down.
4. Get alone with your Bible and journal or notebook. This may take more than one session but it will be worthwhile to follow through with it. Read through the psalms with one focus in mind- to write down all the verses you come across that speak to you of what God desires to be to you and how your life can find satisfaction in the Lord. The whole Bible is filled with many such verses, but for now keep your focus on the psalms for this exercise.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Reflect on the words of Psalm 62 in today’s Scripture. Let your heart rest quietly in God’s presence. Consider how God is your hope, rock, salvation, fortress and refuge. Express to God thanksgiving and praise for how He is all this to you. Express in your prayer how you want this relationship to deepen. Ask God to help you raise your satisfaction level so that you will always desire God as the one to satisfy your spiritual needs.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Taking A Trip Inward

2011-01-17T09:50:00.000-06:00

TAKING A TRIP INWARD

Psalm 27:4,7-9
One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness-
When Christians meet, they talk to each other about their Christian work and Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the state of the churches, and the problems of theology- but rarely of their daily experience of God. Modern Christian books and magazines contain much about Christian doctrine, Christian standards, problems of Christian conduct, techniques of Christian service- but little about the inner realities of fellowship with God… We do not spend much time, alone or together, in dwelling on the wonder of the fact that God and sinners have communion at all; no, we just take that for granted, and give our minds to other matters. Thus we make it plain that communion with God is a small thing to us.11

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Do you like to travel, to venture out and see new and interesting places, meet new people and expand your horizons? Where would you really like to go? There is so much to discover in this vast world to enrich your life, not only in new countries and people but also in the magnificence of God’s creation. But traveling isn’t for everyone, and maybe you would be just as content to sit back at home and watch a travelogue on television or read a book about it.
Let’s think today about taking a journey without leaving where you are, a different kind of journey, but one that can change your life. It doesn’t involved going miles from where you are right now, but going within yourself on a journey.
Kallistos Ware recalls an incident from the 4th Century when a Desert Father from Egypt who liked to travel, came upon a woman in Rome who lived in one small room and never went outside. He asked her, “Why are you sitting there?” and her response was, “I am not sitting, I am on a journey.”12 There is a connection between this incident and the expression of the psalmist David in our Scripture. He writes, “One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4). Now David wasn’t expressing a desire to literally spend the rest of his life in the house of the Lord, but he was speaking of an inner journey to meet the Lord.
Why inward? Because the Lord has taken up residence within us; our hearts are His home. It’s a matter of meeting God where He is closest to us. J. I. Packer writes of living in communion with God and sharing that inner reality with others who are on the same journey. Moving inward enables us to escape the outer distractions that would break our focus and concentration on God. Now the very sense of moving inward might be a foreign concept to you. Sometimes we find silence awkward to handle and the concept of silent meditation may be foreign to your experience. We are so often conditioned to being comfortable with noise, even the background babble of a radio or television when we aren’t paying attention to it- we like the company of noise. Adjusting to complete silence, not even hearing the sound of your own voice may be like visiting a foreign country for the first time.
David expresses the invitation, “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8). Why are we hesitant to talk about the “inner realities of our fellowship with God. Are you experiencing that journey? Inwardly our heart cries out to come and seek the Lord’s face. Meet the Lord within your heart, in that divine sanctuary of your soul.
Does this concept make you a bit nervous or fearful? Do you fear moving too deep within yourself? It’s hard to be so focused, to concentrate to such an extent when you are in unfamiliar territory, so beginning the journey may be slow. You are moving beyond the level of your external senses as you seek to commune with God within your soul, beyond the physically visible and the communication of audible words. Focus on God. Amazingly, the journey will begin to produce results in your soul. And more than anything else, Christian people should love to talk about the journey they are sharing with the Lord, even as we sit quietly in His presence and meditate on Him. We are so conditioned to think that we have to be physically doing something if we are to serve God. The concept of sitting still and being on an inward journey may be distant, that is if your times of sitting still in silence have always been times of daydreaming.
“Where have you been?”
“On a journey.”
“That’s good. Where did you go?”
“Within myself to behold the beauty of the Lord with the eyes of my soul.”

TAKE ACTION
Are you a person who appreciates silence or does it make you a bit uncomfortable? Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Read Psalm 27:4 several times. Focus your concentration on the words of the verse. Set your Bible down, close your eyes and in silence focus on the Lord. Open your mind to experience God. After write down what came to you mind and how you felt about the experience.
Did you find your mind beginning to wander? It may take several times to develop the ability to focus inwardly on the Lord in a meditative way. Precede the practice with reading a psalm or other passage of Scripture that focuses on the Lord and then pray a brief prayer of praise and worship. This should help you transition into a meditative frame of mind. Keep a record of how you progress in it.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 the Apostle Paul speaks of taking “every thought captive to obey Christ.” Pray that God would help you focus inwardly on Him and not allow other thoughts and images to distract you. Make Psalm 27:4 a foundation for your prayer and express your desire to God to “behold the beauty of the Lord.”

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- I Scare Myself At Times!

2011-01-14T10:58:00.000-06:00

I SCARE MYSELF AT TIMES!

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse- who can understand it?
1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 21:2
All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.
Proverbs 23:17
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 17:19
Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Makarios the Great (an anonymous Syrian master of the spiritual life from the late 4th and early 5th centuries)-
The heart itself is only a small vessel,
yet dragons are there, and lions,
there are poisonous beasts
and all the treasures of evil;
there are rough and uneven roads;
there are precipices;
but there, too, are God and the angels;
life is there, and the Kingdom;
there, too, is light, and there are the apostles,
and heavenly cities, and treasures of grace.
All things lie within that little space.

LET’S DIG DEEPER
The book of Proverbs contains much wisdom concerning the human heart. Although you find no definition there of what the heart is, you soon discover by what is written that the human heart is the seat of our emotions, desires, will and affections. You could say it is the heart of your being, who you really are from the inside out. Sometimes we are quick to judge people by outward appearances and later have to admit we were wrong. We discover in 1 Samuel 16:7 that the Lord responds to the prophet Samuel, who is seeking among the sons of Jesse for a king to replace King Saul as ruler of Israel. Samuel could see good prospects, but the Lord warned him not to be taken in by outward appearance but to look inwardly, for the Lord looks on the heart. The final choice was surprising, yet it was God’s choice- David. Now we discover in the record of David’s life that he wasn’t a perfect man, yet he had a heart for the Lord.
The word “heart” is an interesting term. In our modern culture it has been so romanticized that out understanding of it can be very limited in scope, especially in comparison to the use of the word in the Bible. We discover, even in the few verses you read at the beginning of the chapter that the heart can be a source of good and evil. There is our personal battle ground.
Makarios the Great, whoever he may have been, uses great images and word pictures to help us have a larger understanding of the human heart. Some reflect “the treasures of evil” such as Jesus warned us of in Matthew 15:19. These are the dragons, lions and poisonous beasts we all wrestle with. The heart is the battleground of our temptations where we win or lose those daily struggles. As such it is a place of great activity. Jeremiah describes the heart as “devious” and “perverse” and certainly we can see those negative qualities as we are confronted by temptation and wrestle with our inner desires. We are faced with choices continually. Our greatest heart desire must be for the Lord to create within us daily a clean heart (Psalm 51:10). In turn we must be willing to work with the Holy Spirit in the process of our inner transformation.
The redemptive purpose of God in your life is to bring about transformation so that out of your heart will flow “treasures of grace”. We all know the struggle this can be. We do battle daily with temptation and sin. We wrestle with the darkness of our heart and apart from God, no one knows the darkness in there better than we do ourselves. How fearful would it be to have the thoughts and intents of your heart out in the open for everyone to see! We are continually trying to project an image, but we each know the reality. If it’s any consolation, you are not alone, for we all have our struggles of the heart. At times the frustration level may seem so great that you feel like giving up. But don’t!
It’s in the heart where the greatest victories of life are won and issues are settled that allow you to move on in the way of the Lord. Keep your heart focused on the Lord. As Proverbs 23:17 says, “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the Lord.” Proverbs 3:5, 6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.” What an encouragement that is! Keep your heart focused on the Lord and you will see positive results in your life. God will lead you in the way you should go. That doesn’t mean the way will be easy for there will be “rough and uneven roads” but you aren’t going it alone. And as you look around you will see others on the same journey, working with the Spirit to produce hearts that please the Lord and lives that are moving together in the way of the Lord, hearts that reflect one another (Proverbs 17:19).

TAKE ACTION
1. Makarios certainly had a way with words as he painted a picture of the human heart. Reflect on his words as you think about your own heart. What do you learn about your own heart from these words? How does this enlarge your understanding of your heart?
2. The old adage says, “Know thyself.” But sometimes we would rather not look inward. Do you find yourself surprised at times by what you discover in your heart, both good and bad? How well do you really know yourself?
3. Proverbs 3:5 tells you to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.” What are you learning in your Christian journey about trusting in the Lord? How does it positively affect your life and bring change to your heart? Make a list of some of those changes you have observed.
4. What are your “dragons, lions, poisonous beasts”? Focus on one you are still struggling with. Now, remember that the Holy Spirit is at work in you to bring about change. He is the one who can give you victory over those “dragons, lions, poisonous beasts” that seek to bring you down. What can you do to actively cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this process of change with this one thing. Write down some clear steps you can take and begin to work through them, knowing you are not alone in this.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Often we wear a mask that allows people to see only what we want them to see. But you know your heart. You might be able to justify your actions even if they aren’t what they should be, hoping you will be able to get by that way. As Proverbs 21:2 says, “All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.” You might be able to fool people but you can never fool the Lord for your life is completely transparent before the Lord. Pray that God will give you a heart more sensitive to His will for all your actions, words and thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you where things aren’t as they should be. Begin to make this a daily part of your prayers.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Does My Life Have Value?

2011-01-13T09:09:00.002-06:00

DOES MY LIFE HAVE VALUE?

Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way
Human beings are not counters that can be exchanged for one another, or replaceable parts of a machine. Each, being free, is unrepeatable; and each, being unrepeatable, is infinitely precious. Human persons are not to be measured quantitatively; we have no right to assume that one particular person is of more value than any other particular person, or that ten persons must necessarily be of more value than one. Such calculations are an offense to authentic personhood. Each is irreplaceable, and therefore each must be treated as an end in his or her self, and never as a means to some further end. Each is to be regarded not as object but as subject.8

LET’S DIG DEEPER
In our postmodern and supposedly progressive secular culture people still cry out for meaning, significance and reason for being. The response is often a very loud silence. Through the marvels of modern communications and media we are inundated with video clips that scream “insignificance”- the rising body count of nameless faceless statistics in the unending succession of wars, uprisings and aggression, of crime in the streets and domestic violence. The media coverage is so efficient that too often we have become desensitized to the horror of such reality. These statistics are unique, irreplaceable human beings. Life goes on.
Do you ever find yourself saying, “Enough!” and turn off the remote? Does such a flow of depressing news ever cause you to wonder about the value and significance of human life, even your own? How do you view your own personal significance? You may have a “significant other” to whom you are of great value; children and other family members who value you; wider circles of friends, work associates and others who may be involved in your life on a regular basis and see you as a valued person. But what about your ultimate, eternal significance?
“When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, and the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3,4). So it’s an age-old question: What is the value of my life? The psalmist in our Scripture gives a very positive response to the question, a response you need to understand as you seek to comprehend your personal value in the grand view of things. God created you, just a little lower than heavenly beings, crowned you with glory and honor, gave you a place of dominion over creation. God created us to show forth the splendor of divine glory and respond in worship and adoration. You are created in the image of God as a person of intelligence, creativity, freedom of will, and a soul that can enjoy communion with God. As the quote for today says of each of us, “Each, being free, is unrepeatable; and each, being unrepeatable, is infinitely precious.” Not only are you precious to those who know and love you here, you are also infinitely precious to God. The cross is ample proof of that.
You matter to God! Not only is your life infinitely precious to God, but if you were to read through the Psalms you would discover how very much God cares for you, watches over you, and desires the very best for you. It’s so easy to get down on yourself, wonder if you or anything you do really matters. Believe that it does! God has said that it does- in imprinting your life with the divine image, in providing for you each day of life, in sending Jesus Christ to be your Savior and go to the cross to redeem you. If you didn’t matter to God why would God even bother at all?
There is no greater issue to settle in coming to understand yourself than to be able to look in the mirror and say, “Yes! My life has value, purpose and meaning! I matter to God and others! What I do with my life is important!” Now, live your life in the light of that great reality.

TAKE ACTION
1. Have you ever had a time in your life, maybe as a child or even as an adult, when someone has put you down by telling you that you were stupid or couldn’t do anything right? How did this make you feel at the time? Has it had any lasting impact on your life? Are there times when you may do something wrong and the words come back to haunt you?
2. How important is it to you to please those who have a significant place in your life? Do you look for their affirmation and approval? How do you feel when you let them down?
3. Focus on one statement from today’s quote- “Each (person), being free, is unrepeatable; and each, being unrepeatable, is infinitely precious.” When you stop and realize that statement is about you, how does it make you feel? What does it do for your self-image?
4. To know that your life matters to God, is of infinite value and importance, how does this affect what you do? Consider it in relation to your personal relationships, your spiritual life, your job, your leisure time.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
If you struggle with issues of self-esteem and value in your life, bring these matters before God in prayer. Be honest and open about your struggles, knowing that God does care and can enable you to overcome them. Lay down those struggles before God and ask that you may have eyes to see yourself as God sees you, with the true value and potential that is there.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- How Do I See In This Dark Tunnel Of Life?

2011-01-12T09:29:00.002-06:00

HOW DO I SEE IN THIS DARK TUNNEL OF LIFE?

John 16:12-15
I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
John Owen, “The Spring of the Spirit’s Work in Us”-
All the gracious works of the Holy Spirit in us and towards us as Comforter depend on his indwelling us. He is that ‘fountain of water’ in us ‘springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14)… And as it is natural and easy for a fountain of water to bubble up and pour out refreshing streams so the comfort of believers lies in knowing how ready the Holy Spirit is to carry on his work of grace, holiness and sanctification in us until he has perfected them.
This indwelling is the secret reason for the wonderful and inexpressible difference between believers and the rest of the world. Their ‘life is hid with Christ in God’ (Col. 3:3).7

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Have you ever tried to find your way around a room in the dark? If you are familiar with the room in the daylight it may not be too difficult, but if you are in unfamiliar surroundings it could be a challenge. Obstacles in the way could bring your progress to a standstill. Life can be lot like that.
When Jesus was confronted by a man who had been blind from birth, never able to find his own way around or see what was ahead of him, he said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5). But the day came when Jesus physically left this world, yet as he had promised in the words of our Scripture today, he sent the Holy Spirit to be light for us, to direct us in the way of Christ.
Christians are not self-made people. The Bible is not a self-help manual to direct us in a ‘do-it-yourself’ Christian life. What we are called to be in Christ is a human impossibility to construct on our own. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away: see, everything has become new.” That is the miracle of being a Christian, being a new creation in Christ. Conversion is the beginning, the doorway into salvation, but as the Apostle Peter tells us, God continues to provide for us from that point onward, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3). That’s amazing! By God’s power you now have all you need for life and godliness, all you need to become the person God desires you to be. Yet this isn’t a self-help project that you can accomplish on your own. It is evident in the New Testament that we need one another as members of Christ’s body, the church, to grow together, but even that isn’t enough. The message of Jesus, reinforced by the message of the New Testament epistles, is that we need the Holy Spirit working in us to become all that God desires us to be. It is a work of inner transformation that produces outward change. That transformation process is compared to the ongoing changes we see by looking in a mirror- “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Jesus tells us in our Scripture for this chapter that the Holy Spirit came to inform us of all this, as well as bring about the necessary change. What Jesus began the Holy Spirit continues. Jesus laid the foundation, the means of change through his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit makes the application of that change a reality in our lives. Jesus said of the Spirit, “he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me… he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
In the quote from the Puritan pastor, John Owen, “…the comfort of believers lies in knowing how ready the Holy Spirit is to carry on his work of grace, holiness and sanctification in us until he has perfected them.” The Holy Spirit came to guide us in the way God wants us to go, to give us the wisdom we need on the journey, and to bring about the ongoing transformation of life that is needed to live a life that radiates the glory of Christ to others. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that enables us to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).
May your goal not be to be a self-made person, but ultimately to be a God-made person, by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of Jesus Christ.

TAKE ACTION
1. Do you get discouraged by your lack of spiritual growth and development? How have you progressed over the past year? What obstacles do you face in your spiritual growth?
2. How do you see your Christian life- as a self-help project or as a cooperative effort with the Holy Spirit? How conscious are you of your need to depend on the Holy Spirit for direction as well as power to become all God wants you to be?
3. The Holy Spirit doesn’t bring about your spiritual development and growth in isolation. We grow together as members of the body of Christ, the church, as we are told in Ephesians 4:11-16. What active part does the church play in your spiritual growth? And in turn, how are you adding to the growth of the church (not simply in terms of numbers)?
4. Take time to read and meditate on the quote for today. Do you see in these words a goal for your own spiritual life and the person you desire to become? Write down some of your personal aspirations that may come to pass as the Holy Spirit works in your life.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
The Holy Spirit as the third person of the triune God can receive our prayers and our praise. Focus your thoughts and your prayer today on the Holy Spirit. Express your thankfulness for what is happening in your life. As well, express your desire for what you would like to become, for change that still needs to take place. Acknowledge your dependence on the Holy Spirit for this to happen. Make a verbal commitment to work together with the Spirit to make this a reality in your life.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- The Value of Christ in the Value of my Live

2011-01-11T11:41:00.002-06:00

THE VALUE OF CHRIST IN THE VALUE OF MY LIFE

Philippians 3:7-11
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“The Love of Jesus” – Puritan Prayer
My heart melts at the love of Jesus,
my brother, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,
married to me, dead for me, risen for me;
He is mine and I am his,
given to me as well as for me;
I am never so much mine as when I am his,
or so much lost to myself until lost in him;
then I find my true manhood.
If traces of Christ’s love-artistry be upon me,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and I be made a perfect copy of him, my master. 6

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Remember “doubting Thomas”? Who could forget him; his name has been memorialized by that one act of doubt recorded in the gospel. “Unless I see for myself; unless I can reach out and touch, I will not believe.” But what an encounter he finally had with the risen Christ. “Thomas, reach out and touch my hand; touch where the spear pierced my side. Thomas, I’m alive; it’s me, Jesus.” All Thomas could do was bow in humble adoration with the words, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). From that amazing encounter when all doubts were wiped away, Thomas went on with the other apostles to proclaim the gospel of the living Christ.
Then there was the Apostle Paul, “formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence,” (1 Timothy 1:13) transformed by an encounter with the living Christ on the Damascus Road. What a different man we see in the historic record of the Book of Acts as well as in his epistles. As we see in our Scripture, to the converted Saul of Tarsus Jesus Christ had become the greatest treasure of his life. He never came to Christ out of a life of failure and defeat. His life had been one of accomplishment and esteem in the eyes of his peers. His authority and power caused dread in the hearts of Christians whom he persecuted. After his encounter with Christ he looks back on all his accomplishments and says, “Yet whatever gain I had, these have I come to regard as loss because of Christ…. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7,8)
Gain and loss, surpassing value and rubbish. Here was a person who discovered in Christ the richest treasure he could possibly have. There was nothing to compare with having Jesus Christ as Savior and in the end not even his life would be of that great a value. He speaks of “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”- a knowledge that was above and beyond anything else he had known or could know. That knowledge implied a saving, life-changing relationship.
What do you treasure in your life, by way of persons or possessions? If you are a Christian can you honestly say that you treasure Christ above all else? Can you relate to Paul’s great desire, “That I may gain Christ and be found in him…I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings…” Is Jesus Christ the treasure of your life
Read again those beautiful words penned by an old Puritan, expressing his great love for Christ and the place he desired Christ to have in his life. He uses language that reflects the union of marriage and in reality, spiritually, we are united with Christ and He is our life. When we grasp even a small measure of this our hearts should be overwhelmed by so great a Savior.
Many who profess to follow Christ prefer to follow at a distance or compartmentalize their life so that Christ is supposedly contained in one little room. Until you come to see Jesus Christ as the greatest treasure of your life and hold in highest esteem the surpassing value of knowing Christ, you will never truly know what it is to follow him.

TAKE ACTION
1. Do you ever have the sense of being overwhelmed in your heart by the greatness of Christ’s love to you and the extent to which he went to prove that love? Out of those thoughts how do you respond to Christ, not just in words but with your life?
2. In your life what do you count as “loss” because of Christ? Do you see it as a great price to pay to follow Christ as his disciple? Do you sometimes find yourself struggling with issues of ownership in your life?
3. There is a difference in how you treasure an object and how you treasure a person. Think of someone in your life whom you truly treasure, someone very dear to you. Because of the place that person holds in your heart how do you treat them? Now focus your attention on Jesus Christ, your Savior and Lord. How have you been treating him in your life? If he is truly the treasure of your heart how should you express it? What changes do you have to make?
4. Read again the quote for today. These are such beautiful words coming from the heart of one who truly treasured Christ. Now take a piece of paper or your journal and write “The Love of Jesus” at the top. Fill in the rest with what comes from your heart as you reflect.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Do you find it easy to express your love to someone you love and adore? How about to God? As you reflect upon the great love Jesus has shown you, express in prayer your gratitude, love and adoration of Him who love you more than you can ever know.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- A Cross-Shaped Love

2011-01-10T09:32:00.002-06:00

A CROSS-SHAPED LOVE

Romans 5:6-8
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person some might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9,10
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Miroslav Volf (Exclusion and Embrace)-
…the cross says that despite its manifest enmity toward God humanity belongs to God: God will not be God without humanity. “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son,” writes the Apostle Paul (Romans 5:10). The cross is the giving up of God’s self in order not to give up on humanity; it is the consequence of God’s desire to break the power of human enmity without violence and receive human beings into divine communion…. If the fate of the Crucified and his demand to walk in his footsteps disturb us, then we will also be disturbed by the God of the Crucified. For the very nature of the triune God is reflected on the cross of Christ. Inversely, the cross of Christ is etched in the heart of the triune God; Christ’s passion is God’s passion.”5

LET’S DIG DEEPER
Does God have any idea what I’m going through? Does God actually care about me and understand my needs? Do these questions ever run through your mind? Do you sometimes wrestle with your own sense of smallness and insignificance in the scope of all humanity and the vastness of all existence beyond our tiny planet? It may seem inconceivable to you that a God who is great enough to create all of this would take any thought of you and your need.
The majesty and greatness of God are topics of Scripture, from the creation account of Genesis, to the praise and worship of the psalms, to the great events of the end of the age in Revelation. Between the two bookends of creation and re-creation, the pages of Scripture reveal to us a personal God who is gracious and merciful, loving and caring. God is confronted by a humanity in rebellion and sin, yet we see that this God is neither helpless nor frustrated. The amazing fact is that God acts in such a way to reveal the depth of divine love and mercy that is truly amazing.
One of the most familiar verses of the whole Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” Romans 5:6-8 follows in the spirit of that verse and expands on the great proclamation of love. Verse eight tells us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Think of that- “God proves his love.” The old saying is, “talk is cheap”. God has spoken and Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate word to us. It was far more than just words. The love of God was loudly proclaimed through a manger, in the villages and hillsides of Israel and ultimately from a cross. That was love in action- costly, committed, sacrificial love.
John tells us that God in essence is love, expressed concisely in three words- “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) He then explains how that love was revealed to us: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (4:9) The ultimate expression of that love was the cross, for God “sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (4:10)
Does God understand pain and suffering? In a most profound way, beyond our ability to ever comprehend, God understands pain and suffering, rejection, ridicule- God understands because He has been here where we are. The compassion of God is seen in Jesus Christ as he reached out to the poor, the outcasts, the suffering and the sinners; loving them, accepting them, and transforming their lives with hope. The heart of God is seen in Jesus as he wept over the city of Jerusalem, as he approached the grave of his dear friend Lazarus, as he prayed in agony in the garden on that final night.
“God is love” is not simply a pious platitude to be put on a plaque and hung on the wall. At the greatest possible personal price God loves, and that love reaches out to you, offering you forgiveness, hope and peace.
Charles Wesley summed it up best in one of his great hymns:
“Amazing love, how can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

TAKE ACTION
1. Are there times in your life when you are caused to wonder if God really understands your need and cares? How do you feel at those times and how do you deal with those feelings?
2. Do you ever have difficulty understanding that God’s love is personal, that God loves you as an individual? Do personal feelings of unworthiness or insignificance help create this difficulty?
3. The quote earlier in the chapter says, “the cross is the giving up of God’s self in order not to give up on humanity.” The author reflects on how much the cross reveals the nature of God- “the cross of Christ is etched into the heart of the triune God; Christ’s passion is God’s passion.” Stop and reflect on the magnitude of love expressed in God sending Christ to the cross for you. What thoughts are going through your mind as you ponder this?
4. Take some time to think seriously about your personal experiences of pain, loneliness, or loss, things that may have caused you to wonder if God understands and cares. When you are finished reflect on what you have written in the light of what you considered today about God’s costly love for you. When you look at your trials in the light of the cross and the love of God can you see things from a different perspective?

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
“Love” can be such a superficial and overworked word that becomes emptied of its meaning. Yet there are situations and actions in which love is revealed in a most profound way. Quiet your heart in the presence of God and reflect on the costly, sacrificial love that God has expressed to you. Pray that God would open your eyes to see in a clearer way the immensity of love poured out from the heart of God through Jesus. Bring to God your doubts and frustrations, even your anger you may have felt at times. Ask God for healing and to replace those feelings and fears with the peace and love of Christ for you.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- What Is My Life Focused On?

2011-01-07T08:39:00.000-06:00

WHAT IS MY LIFE FOCUSED ON?

Psalm 63:1-5
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up your hands and call on your name. My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Augustine of Hippo (354-430)- Confessions
“…you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you…
“Who will grant me to rest content in you? To whom shall I turn for the gift of your coming into my heart and filling it to the brim, so that I may not forget all the wrong I have done and embrace you alone, my only source of good?
“Why do you mean so much to me? Help me to find words to explain. Why do I mean so much to you, that you should command me to love you?… Tell me why you mean so much to me. Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. Speak so I may hear your words…
“My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray you to enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things? There is no one but you to whom I can say: if I have sinned unwittingly, do you absolve me.?4

LET’S DIG DEEPER
We live in a very competitive world. The continual assault of marketing and advertising from all directions gives us a daily reminder of this reality. And it works. We are all consumers and the marketing strategy influences our daily decisions from the breakfast cereal we eat to the toothpaste we use, the designer clothes we wear, the car we drive, the bank we use, and the list goes on. Even the church has plugged into the competitive marketplace and functions with its own marketing strategy. Competition and the urge to find a better product- it’s an endless cycle today.
Does God face competition in your life, along with everything else? The quote above contains one of the most famous lines from Augustine- “you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.” Someone has described the human heart as having a God-shaped space that nothing else or no one else other than God can fill. And until that space is properly filled there will be a discontent of soul. Yet strangely enough today, too many people who profess to be Christians exhibit a real sense of discontent and seem to be on a continual search for something more. It may be a search for a deeper experience, more meaningful worship, a more lively church, but it is an ongoing search for something more to meet their needs. Maybe the question needs to be asked, “Have you never discovered what it is to have your soul fully satisfied in God alone?” Is this an issue you are presently struggling with? Is there a sense of emptiness or dissatisfaction in your soul which causes you to look beyond God to fill?
The psalmist David expressed his great hunger for God in our Scripture today- “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1). We all get thirsty at times, but do you know the thirst of someone dying in a desert? That’s the image we have here. That’s real thirst, but the physical image conveys a spiritual reality- we are to have that degree of thirst in our soul for God. This is a thirst that only God can quench and once God quenches that thirst there is no need to look any further. The result is expressed so beautifully in another word picture- “My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.” (63:5).
“My soul is satisfied” How many people today could honestly make that statement? There are probably many people in church every Sunday who would find that difficult to say without some reservation. Could it be that for someone who is a Christian God isn’t enough to satisfy their soul? But maybe the problem doesn’t rest with God. The message of Scripture is that God is sufficient for our needs, even the deepest needs of our soul and our salvation. The psalmist writes, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” (63:3). God’s love is steadfast; it never weakens or wavers; it’s not here today and gone tomorrow. God’s love is poured out to us in mercy, forgiveness, acceptance and soul-satisfying fullness.
What are you looking for? Maybe you have not come to fully understand all that you have in having God. Maybe in your ongoing search you soul has become cluttered with lesser things that narrow the space God occupies in your life.

TAKE ACTION
1. Augustine said in the quote, “My soul is like a house.” Reflect on that image for a few minutes in relation to your soul. If God dwells in the “house” of your soul, does He feel comfortable or crowded there? Are there rooms where God is not welcome? Do you need to make more space for God, maybe even tear down some walls or remove some doors? Where can you begin?
2. Do you recognize a sense of hungering for God in your heart? Can you identify with the psalmist’s words, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you”? How can you deal with this?
3. Do you wrestle with dissatisfaction and frustration in your spiritual life? What would you like God to do to help you? What resources does your church offer to help you with this? It might be good to talk with your pastor or another Christian whom you respect.
4. What is there about God that fills your heart with joy and praise? Take time to reflect on this and write down the things that come to mind. There are important things to always remember.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
In reflecting on your level of spiritual satisfaction in God, open your heart in praise and thanksgiving. At the same time be honest about your struggles. If there are things in your life that you have allowed to compete with God, come to terms with them and confess it to God. Pray that the Holy Spirit who dwells within you will search your soul and let you know where housecleaning needs to be done. Pray that your hunger for God will increase.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- What Shape Does God Take?

2011-01-06T09:37:00.002-06:00

WHAT SHAPE DOES GOD TAKE?

Isaiah 40:25-28
To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? Says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all be name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
John Piper, Desiring God-
“If you are a guide on a sightseeing trip, and you know the people are longing to enjoy beauty, and you come upon some breathtaking ravine, then you should show it to them and urge them to enjoy it. Well, the human race does in fact crave the experience of awe and wonder. And there is no reality more breathtaking than God.
“The Preacher said, “God has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
“Eternity is in the heart of man filling him with longing. But we know not what we long for until we see the breathtaking God. This is the cause of universal restlessness.3

LET’S DIG DEEPER
What is there in the natural world that takes your breath away? Is it the majesty of the mountains, the raging surf at the ocean’s edge, the beauty of a sunset, or the vastness of the universe viewed in a clear night’s sky? In spite of all the destruction, ugliness and suffering in our world, there is still such a sense of beauty and grandeur that causes us to stand in silent awe. It’s that view that for the first time or the hundredth time takes our breath away. What is it for you? Close your eyes as you think about it and picture it in your mind.
The vastness and complexities of creation boggles our minds at times. In many ways it’s beyond even the scope of our imagination- for example as we contemplate the vastness of space. The figures of distance alone are staggering. Yet the Bible tells us that God has created all of this and sustains it continually. Our God is greater than all of creation around us. So many things in creation are beyond our minds to comprehend, yet the wisdom and mind of God has conceived of and created all that exists. Sometimes in our contemplation of God we lose sight of this fact.
Think of that natural scene that takes your breath away and causes you to stand before it in awe. Now think of God. Have you ever had that same sense of awe as you ponder the God you believe in, worship and serve? Unfortunately sometimes our concept of God the Creator is smaller than our understanding of all that is apart from God, all of creation.
“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.” Isaiah 40:26
Ponder that statement of Scripture for a moment and let its implications sink into your mind. Space is so vast that there are stars we have yet to see and planets still to be discovered, galaxies beyond the reach of our most powerful telescopes. Yet God knows them all, has put them in place and sustains them- “not one is missing.” Space is mind-boggling, breathtaking. It all exists and is there because of God. Are you missing the connection?
Think about the words of the quote- “Eternity is in the heart of man, filling him with longing. But we know not what we long for until we see the breathtaking God.” What an intense adjective to use to describe God- “breathtaking.” If you were to put together a list of adjectives to describe how you view God, would “breathtaking” be on your list? If not maybe your God is too small.

TAKE ACTION
1. Think about you personal encounters with God. Is there an occasion that stands out in your mind as “breathtaking,” a time when you sensed how awesome God is? What impact did that have on your relationship with God?
2. What adjectives would you use to describe your daily relationship with God? Write them down. How do you feel about the adjectives you chose and what picture do they paint of your relationship with God?
3. What part does worship play in your life? Is it a Sunday-only activity or does it have a place each day? Think of ways you could make worship a more focal part of your daily life.
4. Over the next week make a point to reflect on God when you notice the beauty of creation around you. It may be a beautiful sunrise or sunset, the beauty of the flowers, the cheerful song of a bird, the starry sky at night, beauty you see in the face of someone you love, or any number of things. The list can be endless. If you have opportunity, write down your reflections on God in these things.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
When you’re trying to see God does it sometimes feel like you’re looking through a fog? Do you have the sense that God plays hide-and-seek with you?
Maybe you need to begin praying, “Lord, open my eyes that I may see you.” Pray that God would open the eyes of your soul to behold the majesty and glory of God. Pray too that God may open your heart to respond daily in adoration and praise. In your daily praying begin putting adoration and praise ahead of your “to do” list for God and see what a difference it makes.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Am I Alone?

2011-01-05T10:27:00.002-06:00

AM I ALONE?

Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for the darkness is as light to you.”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
St. Symeon, the new theologian (949-1022 A.D.)-
I know that the Immovable comes down;
I know that the Invisible appears to me;
I know that he who is far outside the whole creation
Takes me within himself and hides me in his arms,
And then I find myself outside the whole world.
I, a frail, small mortal in the world,
Behold the Creator of the world, all of him, within myself;
And I know that I shall not die, for I am within the Life,
I have the whole of Life springing up as a fountain within me.
He is in my heart, he is in heaven:
Both there and here he shows himself to me with equal glory. 2
LET’S DIG DEEPER
Do you ever want to be just alone? You know the feeling- to escape the intrusion of words, sounds and activity, to spend some time in solitary. So you escape to the woods, to the mountains, or maybe just behind a closed door to immerse yourself in silence. How spiritually and emotionally invigorating a mini retreat can be, even if it may last for only a few minutes in the midst of a hectic day.
Being alone- for a Christian that’s an interesting concept as we come to know God more fully. Can we ever be truly alone? The psalmist in our verses you just read presents an image of one trying their best to escape God’s presence, for whatever reason. Maybe he was seeking to hide from God like Adam and Eve after their disobedience in the garden. But the psalmist paints a much larger picture, not simply trying to hide from God behind a tree. He discovers that God’s presence is inescapable wherever he could go, from the heights of heaven to the depths of the place of the dead, to the farthest limits of the sea, even into the blackest darkness. Why would he want to escape? Could it be like Adam and Eve a matter of guilt? It’s interesting how we react to guilt, not only in relation to people but before God as well. Guilt makes us uncomfortable in the presence of a holy God, yet that presence is inescapable.
Sometimes we fear being alone. How often children fear being alone at night in the dark. Can you remember back to fears like this? What comfort there would be in having a night light or the bedroom door left open at night. God’s inescapable presence can be a source of comfort and blessing, even as expressed so beautifully by Symeon in his hymn quoted earlier. To realize our smallness and seeming insignificance in the vast expanse of all that exists can create a sense of loneliness and fear. Yet the one who created it all is greater than all of creation. As immense and incomprehensible as God is, yet this great God is a personal God who knows each of us. Jesus responds to our human fears with these words that give us a glimpse into the inescapable presence of a loving and caring God, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31).
It’s an impossibility to know everything about God, for to do so we would have to be God. Our capacity for knowing is limited because we are finite and God is infinite. Out of that reality we sometimes make the mistake of imagining God to be much like us. Foolishly we may reason, if I can hide something from other people, I can hide it from God, and we fail to understand that before God “even the darkness is not dark to you.” (Psalm 139:12). On the other hand you may find yourself in a situation where you feel no one cares about you and it can be easy to move from there to think that God doesn’t care either. But God does care! This God is a personal God who has been where we are in Jesus Christ, to understand our pain, feel our loneliness. The words of Symeon express that reality in such a beautiful and profound way. This is our God!

TAKE ACTION
1. Have you ever been running from God, looking for a place to hide? Try to recall a particular incident. What caused you to react that way and what was the outcome?
2. Do you struggle with loneliness and fear? In your personal relationships what brings on these feelings? What would you like to tell God when you feel overwhelmed by loneliness or fear? What do you look for from God?
3. Stop and reflect in silence. Are there things in your life that you are hiding from God, maybe something from yesterday, or something that has been hiding in a dark corner of your soul for years? Don’t be fearful. Talk to God about it. Be willing to let go of it in confession and forgiveness. God understands and He will forgive and remove that burden.
4. Make this a personal assignment in the next few days. Intentionally plan to take a mini-retreat. Get alone, even if it’s just for an hour. Read and reflect on Psalm 139. Write down what you learn about God from this psalm. How does this make you feel about yourself? From what you discover in the psalm, what does it make you want to change in your relationship with God? Be specific and write down your thoughts so you won’t forget. Bring the time to a close by making the request of verses 23 and 24 your prayer.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
The old saying “confession is good for the soul” is much more than just an old saying. In the light of what you have considered today, come to God with your fears and your guilt, things you know right now that you are struggling with. Confess them to God. Seek the peace Christ promised you. Then move on, leave those things with God and don’t carry them any further yourself. God wants you to be free of that burden!

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- Knowing and Being Known

2011-01-04T09:37:00.000-06:00

KNOWING AND BEING KNOWN

Jeremiah 9:23,24
Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), “Confessions”-
Let me know you, for you are the God who knows me; let me recognize you as you have recognized me. You are the power of my soul; come into it and make it fit for yourself, so that you may have it and hold it without stain or wrinkle. This is my hope; this is why I speak as I do; this is the hope that brings me joy, when my joy is in what is to save me. As for other things in life, the more we weep for them, the less they merit our tears, and the fewer tears we shed for them, the more we ought to weep for them. We know that you are a lover of faithfulness, for the man whose life is true comes to the light. 1
LET’S DIG DEEPER
The Bible tells us that God has created everything that exists outside of the Triune God, including us. We come to understand something of God in creation around us which reveals awesome majesty, greatness, power and complexity. We come to understand more about God through the Bible where we discover God in words and action in relation to humanity. The ultimate revelation of God is Jesus Christ, who came to reveal God to us in a way we could never otherwise know God, for Jesus came to us as God in human form- something mind-boggling as well as miraculous.
We read about God. We sing about God. We hear sermons and Bible studies about God. Maybe you know about God through going to Sunday school as a child or reading the Bible. But do you really know God in a way that moves you beyond facts and statements and theological categories- knowing God in a personal way? There is a difference. Part of the difference is seen in the life-impact and personal transformation when you contrast a person who simply has a head full of facts about God and a person who knows God personally on the level of open, intimate, honest heart and soul relationship. Augustine had a certain knowledge about God, learned from childhood, but it wasn’t until the time of his life-changing conversion that he truly knew God. “Let me know you, for you are the God who knows me; let me recognize you as you have recognized me.”
We speak of knowing on different levels of knowledge with different implications. You may have a favorite novel which you have read a dozen times and you can say, “I know that book from cover to cover.” You may say of a famous person whose life may be very public, “I know that person,” even if you have never personally met them. You may have many acquaintances in your life whom you know on a superficial level, allowing you to say, “I know these people.” Then there may be someone in your life whom you know better than anyone else. You know that person in a relationship of depth and intimacy. When you say, “I know that person,” you are speaking of knowing on an entirely differently level than all the others you know. To truly know God, in terms of what Jeremiah said and what Jesus said, is to move beyond even that level of personal knowledge into a life-transforming relationship of present and eternal consequence. That is the level on which we need to know God.
In the verses from Jeremiah God declares that the only room for boasting in who we know, is to boast of really knowing God. Would you be embarrassed or even a bit dishonest if you made that your boast? Take time now to reflect on how much you really know God.

TAKE ACTION
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, with one representing a stranger and ten an intimate, personal relationship, where would you put your relationship with God right now? What reasons do you have for choosing that place? Are you satisfied with it?
2. Reflect on your relationship with one person you know better than anyone else. What makes that relationship special? What are some positive qualities and characteristics of that relationship that you could transfer to building an intimate relationship with God?
3. Take time with this one. You may add to it over several days. Write down what kind of a relationship you would really like to have with God and how you would like it to impact your life.
4. Set some personal goals for how you can begin building this level of relationship with God. Make your goals realistic and achievable. Make them goals that you can evaluate once you finish this book. Put these goals in a place where you can see then daily and reflect on them.

TALK TO GOD ABOUT THIS
Now take some time to pray about this matter of your relationship with God. Pray with the understanding that God wants to help you build an intimate, loving, life-changing relationship. Make the words of St. Augustine your own prayer- “Let me know you, for you are the God who knows me; let me recognize you as you have recognized me.” God desires the very best for you so that you can become all that Christ has redeemed you to be right now.

YOU:ALIVE UNTO GOD- PREFACE

2011-01-03T11:44:00.000-06:00

Today I begin posting my book, a chapter a day. It's designed as a devotional word with a practical focus for your spiritual life. The Preface lays a foundation for where it is going. Let me know if you are blessed by it over the next month.

PREFACE

YOU: ALIVE UNTO GOD… What does it imply? What does it tell you about yourself? What does it tell you about God? Sometimes life gives us more questions than we discover answers for. And sometimes we wonder if the answers are true or just words to put us off from wrestling with the harder issues. Adults do that with children sometimes. Children come with questions and are just brushed off casually with some trite answer because the adult responding is too wrapped up in adult things to give a serious answer. Well, here we want to wrestle with the issues and come to discover answers that will impact your life.
You are a spiritual being, not just a body with all the parts. You have a soul. The Bible tells us that you are created in the image of God.
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27
Language can be a barrier to understanding, a stumbling-block. Ok, substitute “humanity” for man to make it more politically correct and understandable for today. God created humanity male and female. But the important thing is to get beyond that point to the really important part- “in the image of God”. You, as a human being, are in the image of God! Now there is a reality with immense implications, implications which relate to your here and now daily existence as well as your eternal existence. Whether you realize it or not, moment by moment you live your life before the face of God. Most people don’t realize it. Most people live moment by moment as if there was no God. Even sometimes professing Christians live that way. But because you may not realize it on a moment-by-moment basis, this is still reality.
Now, this is the focus of this book, because if all of this is true- and from a Christian understanding of reality it is- then it is vitally important that you live your life moment-by-moment, alive unto God. This book is a handbook for you as a spiritual being. No, it’s not the ultimate authority. The Bible- Old and New Testaments, is set forth as our ultimate spiritual guidebook. It’s good to read the Bible, but if you begin in Genesis, planning to work your way through looking for spiritual guidance, you may get bogged down in Leviticus or Numbers and get discouraged. Where are the answers? Where is the direction?
Our focus will be in the Bible and its overall message, which points us to Jesus Christ as the one who created us, sustains us and redeems us. All of this is so important to understand in coming to understand yourself as a spiritual being. Jesus Christ is the key for all of life. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6. So in coming to understand yourself as a spiritual being and knowing what it means to be alive unto God, you have to begin with Jesus Christ. That is Christianity. You may find different focal points in other religions, but Christianity ultimately is a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Let’s begin there for some important information as you begin this book.
The message of the Bible for every human being is very straightforward. We often wrestle with it because we fear what we might confront in it. We don’t like to hear bad news. We would rather have all good news. But the Bible gives us the bad news, as bad as it gets. That could be discouraging, especially if you don’t continue on for the good news. The good news is the Gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, his coming into this world as fully human as you and I are, dying on the cross for us and miraculously rising from the dead. This was all in God’s plan and purpose for us. This Jesus is Savior; He is the Lord God Almighty! So here are the details in brief form:
1. We are all sinners, all guilty before a holy God. There is nothing we can do to change that condition.
2. God understood our dilemma. Not because He had to, but in love and grace, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be our Savior, to die for us. His sacrifice is the basis for our salvation, for our right standing with God.
3. The Gospel is an invitation which calls us to Christ- to acknowledge our sin and repent or turn from it and to put our faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
4. When we respond in faith to Jesus Christ we are converted. God changes our status before Him, so that now we are accepted in Christ and not under condemnation. God also changes us inwardly, so that our heart’s desire is to know God and please Him in all of life. We have a new focus and purpose.
Now, you may be asking, “How do I live unto God? What does that involve?” Well, this book is designed in a brief way to help you on that journey. It breaks essential information down into bite-sized pieces that make it easier for you to handle. To unload everything on you at once could be overwhelming and very discouraging. You may wonder, “What did I get myself into? I could never do this!” So what you have here is an introduction. Each chapter is like a window into a different aspect of the Christian life. These are beginnings, and hopefully as you begin you will be challenged to go deeper, to discover much more as your life changes. Change is what the Christian life is about, change into the image of Christ.
One more important thing- Don’t attempt to do this journey alone! There are things in life you can do alone, but living as a Christian is not one of them. You need to be actively involved in a local church where you can worship, study, serve, grow and share together in a common spiritual journey. There you can receive direction, encouragement, challenge. It’s not a “just me and Jesus” thing but in coming to Jesus, you come also to His church and that becomes part of your life. Also, if you can find a friend who has been on this journey a lot longer than you have, who can serve as a mentor for you, that would be so helpful. That person will be one to give you some direction, encourage you along the journey, become a friend to walk with you, and help you find answers to your questions.
Well, you have come this far, which indicates you must be interested in where this book will take you. So now to begin. Just one more recommendation- it would be beneficial if you had a notebook or journal to record your journey, your thoughts, your questions, your answers and what you are learning. Celebrate that fact that you are alive unto God! Live the life God has given you in Jesus Christ! God bless you as you begin.

Be Here On Monday, Jan. 3!

2010-12-30T09:43:00.000-06:00

Beginning Monday I am going to blog my book, "You: Alive Unto God", a spiritual journey to help get your year off to a great start. The book will be posted, a chapter a day, in its entirety. You can use it for your own spiritual journey and let others know about it. And if you do follow through with it I would love to get your feedback on it. God bless in the new year!

BE BACK SOON...IN THE NEW YEAR

2010-12-27T22:30:00.000-06:00

Well I didn't expect to be away from here as long as I have, but I guess it will be a bit longer. I should be back around with a regular post beginning Jan.3. I think that I'm going to post my book "You, Alive Unto God", a chapter a day through the month of January. For any interested in following it, you may find benefit in it for your spiritual journey. See you then! Happy New Year!

Taking a break

2010-12-19T21:44:00.000-06:00

I will be away for the next few days and so won't be posting anything until after Christmas. Have a blessed Christmas, a Blessed Nativity and a happy new year.

ADVENT: FOCUSING YOUR LOVE ON GOD

2010-12-16T15:21:00.000-06:00

The fourth Sunday of Advent, which is just before us, focuses our attention on love. Love is a word that has such a multiplicity of meanings and applications that it has become almost meaningless. You can say on the one hand to someone near and dear to you, "I love you," and on the other hand you can say, "I love chocolate ice cream," or "I love my dog, Spot." Love has such broad application in the English language. Other languages are more precise in the use of the word.
Jesus summed up the commandments when he said that we are to "love the Lord our God with all your heart, soul, mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt.28:37-39). Now we are speaking of love on a much deeper level, not a love driven by emotion or the passions, but a love from the depth of the soul, an all-encompassing love.
Henry Scougal writes on the excellency of this love and its importance in our lives as God's people if we are going to properly relate to God and to others. He writes,

"Love is that powerful and prevalent passion by which all the faculties and inclinations of the soul are determined, and on which both its perfection and happiness depend. The worth and excellence of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. He who loves mean and sordid things thereby becomes base and vile; but a noble and well-placed affection advances and improves the spirit into a conformity with the prefections which it loves...
"The true way to improve and ennoble our sould is by fixing our love on the divine perfections so that we may have them always before us, and derive an impression of them on ourselves. Then, beholding with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we may be changed into that same image, from glory to glory."

Advent preparation can also be Advent transformation, as we fix our love on the highest good, God Himself and seek in our souls to be changed into that same image, from glory to glory. After all, that is God's desire for all of His people.

THE FOCUS OF A REGENERATE SOUL- HENRY SCOUGAL

2010-12-15T11:06:00.000-06:00

I am presently reading "The Works of Henry Scougal (1650-78) and the first writing in this volume is "The Life Of God in the Soul of Man", his most well known writing. It is a powerful testament to the life of godliness and holiness and has had a powerful impression on the hearts of many since it was first published. As I reflect on Advent and the need to prepare heart and soul for the worship of the babe of Bethlehem, our Savior and Lord, Scougal reminds me of what we should be as disciples of Jesus Christ. He sets forth our high and holy calling and what God expects of us in our living. Reflect on his words and apply them to your life and what God desires of you.

"They (Christians) know by experience that true religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation in the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul. In the Apostle's words, it is "Christ formed in you." Briefly, I do not know how the nature of religion can be more fully expressed than by calling it a divine life...
"The love which a pious man (and woman) bears to God and goodness is not so much by virtue of a command enjoining him to do so as by a new nature instructing and prompting him to do it; nor does he pay his devotions as an unavoidable tribute just to appease divine justice or quiet his clamorous conscience. But those religious exercises are the proper emanations of the divine life, the natural employments of the newborn soul. He prays, gives thanks, and repents, not only because these things are commanded, but rather because he is sensible of his wants, of the divine goodness, and of the folly and misery of a sinful life."

Should a Christian need to be forced to a life of holiness or godliness? Or should it be a natural inclination of the "newborn" soul? Sadly, it seems too often that professing Christians have no serious interest in living a life of holiness, little interest in the serious work of repentance, little time to spend quietly in the presence of a holy God. And we trifle away our days living superficially and are little moved by the great wonders of God's activity among us. Christmas comes and goes and we find ourselves more interested in getting good bargains while Christmas shopping that pouring out our hearts to our Lord in love and adoration and obedience. How should we live when "Christ is our life" and what should Advent be to us?

A.W. TOZER: SOME VERY RELEVENT WORDS FOR THE CHURCH

2010-12-14T21:56:00.000-06:00

I must admit that I struggle with much of what is going on in modern "evangelicalism", especially in the areas of worship, church leadership, growth,evangelism, etc. One of the reasons for my search into the Eastern Orthodox Church was my continual frustration with the "worship wars" of evangelical churches and the apparent lack of biblical direction for where the church was going. That frustration still persists.
I have always enjoyed reading A. W. Tozer. His writings are biblical, prophetic and often cutting with a razor-edge precision into the problems of the church. So I share with you something which he wrote back in 1980 and thirty years later they are still so true. I guess back then the ball of change was just beginning to roll with momentum within the church and it hasn't stopped. Tozer wrote:

"One of the most popular current errors, and one out of which springs most of the noisy, blustering religious activity in evangelical circles, is the notion that as times change the church must change with them. That mentality which mistakes Hollywood for the Holy City is too gravely astray to be explained otherwise than as a judicial madness visited upon professing Christians for affronts committed against the Spirit of God." (Renewed Day By Day, 1980).

"Judicial madness"... that's quite a serious charge, but Tozer was never one to mince words- he always prophetically spoke very forthrightly. Form his day onward, the church still seems to be tossed to and fro like a ship without a rudder, blown about by every wind of change, fad and fashion. I believe that's a major reason why there are so many today abandoning ship and turning to that which has stood the test of time. Some are turing to strongly liturgical churches where the worship seems to be a constant. Some of those 'seekers' turn to the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican/Episcopal Church, although both in many ways are changing today. And some are turning to the Eastern Orthodox Church, in its various ethnic forms, which seems to be less influence by the Western winds of change. I don't know when or if all this change will ever end, but it causes people serious about the Faith to become skeptical about whether the church knows where it is going. People need to hear a stable voice of wisdom and amidst all the babel noise; that voice can still be heard. Jesus is still building His Church.

ADVENT:UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE

2010-12-13T10:12:00.000-06:00

Advent is to be a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. As I have noted here already, for the Christian our preparation is to run much deeper than simply preparations the focus on our gift list, baking list, holiday parties, etc. Yes, we may do thse things, but on a deeper level we must be doing some heart preparation for the season. Often we don't like to do any below-the-surface introspection, but before God it is necessary. For of all the gifts we give, the most important one is to give ourselves continually to the Lord as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1,2)and that sacrifice should be holy and pure.
The Puritans put great emphasis in heart work and the need for repentance. Some would say that they were overly negative and repressive, yet there was a sound reason for their focus- they had a good understanding who we are dealing with as the people of God. God is holy and we are not. We continually sin and fail; we stumble and fall; yet God is always there to pick us up and restore us. He also desires from us an honest confession and genuine repentance. Advent is a season of preparation when we should focus on this important heart work. From the book, "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions", compiled by Arthur Bennett, I share with you this old prayer which focuses on our great need. Read it, pray it, take it into your heart and soul and make it your own, not only for Advent but for each day of the year:

O God of grace,
Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed His righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom's robe,
decking me with the jewels of holiness.
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.
I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;
I am always standing clothed in filty garments,
and by grace am always receiving a change of raiment,
for Thou dost always justify the ungodly;
I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and Thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day's work in it,
be married in it,
be wounded in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.

What a beautiful prayer of the heart, honest and open before God. Why should we fear to pray like this when we are coming before a God of grace and mercy who desires to heal and forgive. The last part of this prayer, beginning with, "Grant me never to lose sight of" I have written in the front of my Bible as a constant reminder of those things that are so essential for me to remember. How God desires His people to be a holy people, not only in the season of Advent, but always.

ADVENT: PREPARING A HEART OF HUMILITY

2010-12-10T12:09:00.000-06:00

One of the prominent features of the birth and life of Jesus Christ is that fact that from beginning to end it was characterized by humility. From His humble entry in a barn for animals, to a life lived without a place to lay his head, to rejection by the multitudes, death on a cross and burial in a borrowed tomb- His was a humble life. What a contrast to what so many strive for today. We seem to want it all- material possessions, good position, security, a good name, and the list goes on. Yet there are always a few who stand out like Jesus in humility- Mother Theresa who labored in the slums of Calcutta, the few who turn their backs on the world and retreat from it into a solitary life of monasticism. Most today want what Jesus offers on one hand and what the world offers on the other. Our self-esteem seems to be tied up in all these things that we feel we deserve. Yet Jesus calls us to humility, to follow in His narrow way and not in the way of the world. We play our games and live with the illusion that we can have it both ways.
St Evagrios says that our self-esteem, which leads to pride, is at the heart of our problem. Our great need before God is to prepare a heart of humility to welcome Him into the center of our lives. These are good words of instruction in the Advent season. Here is what St. Evagrios wrote:

"In the whole range of evil thoughts, none is richer in resources than self-esteem; for it is to be found almost everywhere, and like some cunning traitor in a city it opens the gates to all the demons.... Self-esteem gives rise in turn to pride, which cast down from heaven to earth the highest of the angels, the seal of God's likeness and the crown of all beauty. So turn quickly away from pride and do not dally with it, in case you surrender your life to others and your substance to the merciless. This demon is driven away by intense prayer and by not doing or saying anything that contributes to the sense of your own importance."

My how that runs contrary to popular opinion! Self-esteem seems to be at the top of the agenda for successful living, at least from our world's perspective. But in God's order of things, humility needs to be at the top, achieved by a life that is focused on God, not on self. Give God all glory and praise and realize that all you have, even down to each breath you breathe is a gift from God. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Our world is dying to see the reality of lives that are truly lived as disciples of Jesus Christ. In this season of Advent, prepare your heart to live as that kind of person!

ADVENT: PRAYER AND HEART PREPARATION

2010-12-07T09:30:00.000-06:00

One unusual habit I have around this time of the year, once I have my shopping done, is to go to the mall and just observe the crowds rushing around at the last minute trying to find the best bargains. For many people this is a hectic and stressful time of the year and they breathe a sigh of relief when it is all over. But is that what Christmas should be about? As one new Christmas song for this season asks, "Where is the line-up to meet Jesus?" Advent needs to be a time of heart preparation to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Prayer plays an important role in this heart preparation. We need to take the time to reflect and meditate quietly in God's presence and to open our hearts to God in praise and worship through prayer. We need to regularly escape the busyness of the season and surround ourselves with silence, to hear the still small voice of God. You say you don't have time for this? Then make time! You make time for all your other preparations of the season. This is the most important preparation and this preparation wil guide us through the season to the great celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Here are some words of encouragement from St. Isaiah from Egypt, who lived in the fifth century. He writes to believers the following:

"Like a pilot steering a boat through the waves, he should hold to his course, guided by grace. Keeping his attention fixed within himself, he should commune with God in stillness, guarding his thoughts from distraction and his intellect from curiosity.
"In storms and squalls we need a pilot, and in this present life we need prayer; for we are susceptible to the provocations of our thoughts, both good and bad. If our thought is full of devotion and love of God, it rules over the passions. As believers, we should discriminate between virtue and vice with discretion and watchfulness... At the time of prayer, we should expel from our heart the provocation of each evil thought, rebutting it in a spirit of devotion so that we do not prove to be speaking to God with our lips, while pondering wicked thoughts in our heart."

This is Advent. Be prepared for the coming great event!

ADVENT AND GROWING IN HUMILITY

2010-12-04T00:14:00.000-06:00

As Advent is a time of soul-searching and repentance, it is also a time of humility. Humility is one of those very elusive qualities, for the very time we think we have it, we don't. As the joke goes, the person boasts about their humility, "I'm humble and proud of it!" As elusive as humility may be, it's a quality God wants us to have in our lives. James tells us to, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up." (James 4:10). Pride is an insidious quality that most people wrestle with and one against which we so often lose the battle. Yet we must realize that if God desires us to be humble, then it must be an achievable goal. In a real sense, humility goes hand-in-hand with repentance and confession, acknowledging our sins and failures and weaknesses. Elder Ephriam, in "Counsels From the Holy Mountain", writes the following on this matter for our instruction and benefit:

"Be attentive to your thoughts. Your attention should mainly be turned to gathering humble thoughts. For humility saves man and it is the chief aim of all spiritual pursuits... Rest for the soul is only granted to man through humility and meekness. This is what the Lord says to us: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matt.11:29). For this reason, my dearly beloved children, let us love with all our soul the humility of our Christ together with his meekness, and then indeed we shall find, just as He said, manifold repose for our souls....
"Onward therefore,my children, let us run like atheletes in the stadium of the glorious race, where the victor will be crowned with the unfading crown of eternal glory before the lofty throne of our most sweet God. I beg you, do not lose courage in the battle, for the Lord with a hidden hand will strengthen us so that we will vanquish the demon of egotism, and He will clothe us in the divinely woven robe of holy humility."

No, it's not 'all about me', as our world would like to have us believe. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus and seek to be all and do all for His glory alone, then we will be on that pathway to genuine humility. And the amazing thing is, as you read the lives of the old saints of the past, the more humble they were, the more they felt they weren't. Humility works that way. Continue on along the pathway of Christ!

ADVENT: SERIOUS REPENTING

2010-11-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

There is an interesting contrast between Peter and Judas in the gospels. The result of Judas' actions in betraying Christ was to go out and hang himself. Apparently he came to that place of despair where he felt that there was no other option. That was unfortunate. On the other hand, Peter, realizing that Jesus was right about him in his actions, saw the seriousness of his sin and wept tears of repentance and was ultimately restored in his relationship with Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks to us about false and true repentance. One leads to genuine change and the other doesn't. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:10, "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted;" Repentance plays an important role in the matter of soul preparation in Advent. It is a time for introspection, confession and repentance. The sorrow of repentance is not a sorrow for being caught, but a genuine sorrow for the realization of the sinfulness of our sin before a holy God. Elder Ephriam writes of this in the following words of advice that we need to take to heart in the season of Advent:

"Obedience, cutting off one's will, self-reproach, and patience in general are what lay the foundations of the soul, while fervor and zeal preserve one's tears. If you want to be zealous until the end of your life, diligently pursue constant tears. If you have such tears, do not be afrais; the zeal of yearning for your salvation will remain. Water normally quenches fire; the water of God, however, which streams from the eyes of the repentant, lights not a physical fire- as we know- but a divine fire burning up the enemy's weeds!"

Our problem often is not one of having too many tears but of having too few. So often we fail to take seriously the nature of our sins and overlook them. We think they are small things of no consequence. Or we think that the blood of Christ will cover them all regardless, so there is no need for confession. The Apostle John instructs us with these words, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." In this season of Advent, search your heart, repent of your sins and confess them for God's cleansing.

ADVENT AND THE PREPARATION OF THE SOUL FOR CHRIST

2010-11-29T10:56:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the Nativity Fast. In the Church year it is a time of preparation, as is Lent. Sadly most of the preparations done today relate to buying gifts, sending cards, preparing food, etc. but little attention is paid to spiritual preparation. Black Friday has nothing to do with preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It has everything to do with the materialism of our age and our obsessive desire for things.
Christians are to be counter-cultural people, for we are citizens of another kingdom. Not that we cannot enjoy exchanging gifts and cards at Christmas time and attending the events of the season, but these should not be our primary focus. This is a time to prepare heart and soul, to prepare yourself as a gift to Christ and as His dwellingplace. This preparation needs to be characterized by prayer and fasting, confession, reading, meditation, etc. It's time to do internal housecleaning. because of this over these days I would like to share quotes that relate to these things, that will hopefully encourage you on your spiritual journey as you draw unto God during this important time of the year.
I would like to share with you these words from Elder Ephriam in his book, "Counsel From The Holy Mountain", on repentance:

"To fall and be injured is human, since- even if a man's life lasted for only one day- his mind is inclined to evil from his youth. But to fall and remain fallen is not human. Repentance recreates man; it was given to us to cure the soul after baptism. If it did not exist, rarely would a person be saved. That is why, the virtue of repentance is unending, as long as man is alive, for only the perfect do not err. My children, every time you see your thoughts reproaching you for some sin, immediately take the medicine: repent, weep, go to confession, and behold, you return to your former and better state.
"Repentance is endless. All virtues, by the grace of God may be perfected by man, but no one can perfect repentance, since we need repentance until our last breath, for we err in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore repentance is interminable."

How easy it is to overlook our sins and think God doesn't care, or maybe even doesn't see them. Yet the reality is that we need to come to God in repentance when we sin. Some think that repentance is there only for the time one comes to Christ at conversion or maybe on one's deathbed as well, but God has designed repentance to be a daily activity of out lives- to confess our sins and repent of them. May you be reawakened to this important discipline over this Advent season and draw close to God through your repentance. Cling to God's grace and mercy in Christ our Lord!

BE THANKFUL FOR THE GOSPEL!

2010-11-25T20:33:00.000-06:00

The message of the Gospel, the central message of Scripture, is a message of hope, of life, of reconciliation between sinful people and a holy God. The gospel is God's initiative, not ours. God has reached out to us in His Son Jesus Christ, who loves us and gave Himself for us. We are bombarded with messages every day, but none can compare to the message God has given us in the gospel, for it is a message every person on earth needs to hear.
At this time of Thanksgiving, stop and reflect on God's matchless grace and mercy. God is giving us Himself, calling us to Himself. How we need constantly to take our eyes off ourselves and look to Him who is our life. I would like to share with you a few more words from John Piper in his book, "God Is The Gospel", which call you to reflect on the God-centeredness of the gospel.

"all saving events and all the saving blessings of the gospel are means of getting obstacles out of the way so that we might know and enjoy God most fully. Propitiation, redemption, forgiveness, imputation, sanctification, liberation, healing, heaven- none of these is good news except for one reason: they bring us to God for our everlasting enjoyment of Him. If we believe all these things have happened to us, but do not embrace them for the sake of getting to God, they have not happened to us. Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. ... The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It is a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel."

Those are powerful words. Yet in our self-centered world, even Christians can live with the thought, "It's all about me," even in terms of the gospel and the work of salvation. It's all for the glory of God alone!

THE GOSPEL- WHERE IS OUR FOCUS?

2010-11-23T22:18:00.000-06:00

I've had a few busy days as well as some problems with a computer virus that I thought might kill my computer, but I got it in time. So after a few days space I continue my focus on the Gospel, sharing some thoughts from John Piper's book, "God Is The Gospel", in which he seeks to correct some of the misunderstandings today on what the gospel is and what we should be calling people to. In this "it's all about me" age it may seem difficult to present a message that says, "It isn't about you at all! It's all about God." That doesn't stroke your ego! In reality the gospel points to our sinfulness and total inadequacy to do anything to imporve our standing before God. We are sinners! That's what grace is all about. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. The great need today is to uphold the supremacy and glory of Jesus Christ in the presentation of the gospel. We need to have our focus on Him and give all glory to God. This isn't an "I did it my way!" event.
Piper expresses a critical area of concern in these words:

"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, and all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?
"And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and respond with a resounding No? How do we understand the gospel and the love of God? Have we shifted with the world from God's love as the gift of Himself to God's love as the gift of a mirror in which we like what we see? Have we presented the gospel in such a way that the gift of the glory of God in the face of Christ is marginal rather than central and ultimate?"

Those are some good questions to ponder as we reflect on today's gospel and how it is presented.

"GOD IS THE GOSPEL"- WHAT PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR!

2010-11-19T22:24:00.000-06:00

I like to shop in thrift stores, not just for clothes but for anything else I can find there. A short time ago while sorting through books at a local thrift store I came across a copy of "God Is The Gospel" by John Piper. One thing I have always appreciated about Piper's preaching and writing is the God-centeredness of his focus. He seeks to draw us toward God as the center of all things and to God's glory as the highest good. I have always remembered his statement in his book, "Desiring God"- "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." That runs counter to the thinking of so many today, even Christians, who live with the attitude, "It's all about me!" If that's your attitude then just get over it, because it's not true. In "God Is The Gospel" Piper draws our focus to what the Gospel centers upon- God Himself. How we need in our self-centered culture to uphold a God-centered Gospel, a God-centered Church and a God-centered life. Let me share a bit of what Piper writes over the next few posts, beginning with this:

"When I say that God is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God's commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself...
"The gospel is the good news of our final and full enjoyment of the glory of God in the face of Christ. That this enjoyment had to be purchased for sinners at the cost of Christ's life makes his glory shine all the more brightly. And that this enjoyment is a free and unmerited gift makes it shine more brightly still. But the price Jesus paid for the gift and the unmerited freedom of the gift are not the gift. The gift is Christ himself as the glorious image of God- seen and savored with everlasting joy."

It seems today that the church is more concerned often about their own personal comfort and success that worship degenerates to self-help therapy and the sermon becomes 'ten easy steps to personal success'. In many ways it has become so much about us that God becomes a crutch to prop us up and make us look good. But that isn't what the gospel is about at all. When the early disciples preached Christ the reaction of the hearers was one of conviction of sin and repentance, turning to Christ alone for salvation and becoming God-centered disciples. What a need there is for that perspective today!

"MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH DISCOMFORT..."

2010-11-18T21:50:00.000-06:00

I have been on vacation in Canada since Nov.3, just getting home late this afternoon. My blog posts have been very sporadic over this time but I will get back into a routine now. Not quite sure where I will be going with my posts, but you will see. For today I want to simply share with you a prayer that someone sent to me. It's probing, disturbing, and yet expresses the kinds of things Christ's disciples need to be dealing with. He hasn't called us to a life of ease but to a life of costly, sacrificial discipleship. I think the following expresses it well. I'm not sure of the origin of the prayer, but I just pass it on to you.

"May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen."

THE IMPORTANCE OF THEOLOGY TODAY- Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

2010-11-15T20:44:00.000-06:00

I have always been blessed by reading the sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. There is a precision in his exposition of Scripture, which probably grows out of his medical training hand-in-hand with his devotion to the truth of Scripture. In the manner of the English Puritans he brings together sound biblical exposition with practical application. To him sound theology was of utmost importance. We are living in a time when theology is downplayed in the church and you can see the results all around us. From a sermon on Romans 10:3- "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." ("Saving Faith") he sets forth images of the confusion of our age and the importance of sound theology. I trust the following will give you something to think about-

"We are living in an age that dislikes precision and definitions. It is an age that is anti-theological, anti-doctrinal and which dislikes propositions and exact knowledge. It is a lazy age in every respect, a sentimental, sloppy age, an age that wants entertainment and dislikes effort. In the whole of life today the principle is 'something for nothing'. We are ready to take but we are not ready to work; we are not ready to give ourselves. It is true all round and it accounts for most of our problems. It is particularly true in the realm of the Christian church. We must therefore deal with this very carefully.
"This tendency shows itself in many ways which are generally very plausible. One way is to say that Christianity is something that is so wonderful that it cannot be defined, that it baffles analysis or any attempt to state it in propositions. I am sure you are familiar with that particular view. People say you might as well try to dissect beauty, or an aroma, as to define the Christian faith. It cannot be done, they say. You experience it marvelous and wonderful! But if you try to analyze it, then you destroy it, there is nothing left. You must not bring the rude hands of analysis here.
"Another way in which it is put is this: that Christianity is only a matter of one's spirit. What makes us Christians is our spirit, and if we have an appropriate spirit, then we are Christians. Christianity is an attitude, a view of life, a general statement concerning our personality and our being. There was a slogan not so long ago which said, 'Christianity is caught, not taught'. You catch the spirit. You feel it in the meeting and you get it. But what is it? Well, you do not know, but that does not matter. You have got it! That is the great thing and you feel much happier and much better than you did before.
"Then a third way in which it is put is this: that after all what matters is our general reaction to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is one of the most popular views of all. People say, 'You read the Gospels and there you see this portrait of Him and, as it were, you meet Him. Now what decides whether you are a Christian or not is this: Do you like Him? Do you want to be like Him? Do you try to imitate Him? What is your reaction to Him?' You must not come and dissect, and bring your propositions and your theology and say you have got to believe this and not believe that. What matters is your total response to Him, and if you react favorably to Him, then you are a Christian.
"The fourth way is the approach that describes Christianity in terms of living. What does it matter what people believe as long as they are living good, Christ like lives, as long as they are generous, ready to make sacrifices, ready to help others, and concerned about the uplift of the race? That is what makes people Christians.
"Now this dangerous attitude takes one other form. I put this in a category on its own because I am beginning to think that in some ways it is the most subtle form of all among evangelical people. It is the tendency to estimate whether or not people are Christians, not by what they actually say about their beliefs but by what you feel about them. Now, I do want to make this clear, because I have encountered it a great deal. We attach greater importance and significance to this 'feeling' that we may have about them than to the very words that the people themselves use about the Christian faith.....
"So what do we say about this modern tendency? Here is the answer.
"First, that Christian people are mistaking natural qualities, niceness, a cultural veneer or politeness, for true Christian grace. It seems that we are no longer capable of differentiating between the two. How often today is affability mistaken for saintliness! 'What a gracious man he is,' they say. What they really mean is this: he never criticizes and he agrees with everybody and everything. I know of nothing more dangerous than that. These so called gracious men are, of course, altogether nicer than John the Baptist or the Apostle Paul! I do not hesitate to go further they are very much nicer than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who denounced the Pharisees! Affability is not saintliness. A mere intellectual, moral flabbiness, is not synonymous with graciousness and with the possession of grace!
"Secondly, the fact that people are devout tells us nothing about the truth of what they believe. There are very devout Jews, devout Muslims, devout followers of Buddha, Confucius, and so on. A devout attitude in and of itself tells us nothing.
"Thirdly, the moment we begin to talk in these terms, it means that we have abandoned all objective standards. We are now judging only by our own subjective feelings, by our impressions and reactions. Is there anything so dangerous?
"Fourthly, and much more important, it is a complete denial of what the Apostle is teaching at this very point, and indeed in the whole of his Epistle. The Jews, he says, are lost and they need to be saved. Why? Because they are lacking in exact knowledge of the truth. This is the reason for their condemnation. So we must never put anything before exact knowledge. It is the most important thing of all.
"My fifth argument is this: to speak like that is a violation not only of what the Apostle teaches here, but also of the whole of the New Testament teaching with regard to the way of salvation. What does it teach? Well, it talks about coming 'unto the knowledge of the truth' [I Tim. 2:4]. Everything in the New Testament is put in terms of truth. What is preaching? Preaching is a proclamation of the truth. And it is an exact proclamation. Preaching is not talking about a vague feeling, but is the presentation of a message, of a case. Preaching is something that is reasoned and argued from the Scriptures. It is truth, and therefore it must always be in the first position."

THE IMPORTANCE OF THEOLOGY TODAY- Alexander Schmemman

2010-11-14T20:54:00.000-06:00

There are many today who would look upon theology as dry and dusty, irrelevent to the present church situation. 'All we really need to do is love Jesus.' Everything the Church says and teaches is theological. There is no getting around it. Something as simple as "Jesus loves me" is laden with theological implications. It would appear today that many church leaders would seek to play down theology and elevate feeling and experience. The late Fr. Alexander Schmemman, writing as an Orthodox spiritual leader, emphasizes the importance of theology in relation to the Church in the West. Even the religious terminology we use is fraught with controversy and division, as he explains. We need to be careful in being clear of what we speak. In an evangelistic sense, people need to have some degree of understanding of what we are proclaiming and what we claim in that proclamation. Here's what Schmemman wrote:
"For us in America to recover the pastoral dimension of theology means then not a change of level ("write on a more popular level"), but, above everything else, a change in the inner orientation of the theological mind, of the basic theological concern itself. First of all, we must aim our theological effort at the real Church and at real man in the Church. We must literally care about the situation of that man and not only about his becoming "more educated" and "proud of Orthodoxy." For as long as we ourselves are not convinced that many ideas and philosophies by which he lives today lead him to spiritual death, and that the knowledge of Truth is to save him and not merely to adorn our Church with a respectable intellectual elite, we certainly will not find the words which can reach him. As luxury and status symbol theology is not needed in a religion which challenges man with the choice between life and death, salvation and damnation.

"This means also that the "pastoral" revitalization of theology must begin with a deep evaluation and critique of the culture in which the Orthodox man is immersed today and which indeed makes Christianity irrelevant. It is not accidental, of course, that patristic theology is rooted in a healthy apologetical purpose, in the defense of the faith against its external and internal enemies. As for us, we fight with great wit the battles the Fathers have already won, but politely smile at the truly demonic implications of some of the modern philosophies and theories. We are unaware of the obvious fact that under the influences of these philosophies even some of the basic Christian terms are used in a meaning almost opposite to the ones they had in the past. Salvation means self-fulfillment, faith -- security, sin -- a personal problem of adjustment, etc. Our culture, which has been recently described as a "triumph of therapeutics," has deeply changed the quest of even a religious man, which makes it almost impossible for him to hear and to understand the true teaching of the Church. And finally we do not seem to notice that this metamorphosis of religion takes place not in some mythical Western man, but in our own parishes, in the preaching of our priests. We must begin, therefore, with what patristic theology performed in its own time: an exorcism of culture, a liberating reconstruction of the words, concepts and symbols, of the theological language itself. And we must do it in order not to make our theology more "acceptable" to the modern man and his culture, but, on the contrary, to make him again aware of the ultimately serious, truly soteriological nature and demands of his faith.

"Only theology can accomplish all this, and that is why it is so badly needed today. But it will succeed only when it becomes again pastoral, i.e. identified with the Church and her life, attentive to the real needs of the man, when, putting aside the academic "straining at a gnat" which has never prevented anyone from "swallowing a camel," it accepts, in humility and with courage, its proper function in the Church."
("The Task of Orthodox Theology in America Today", paper delivered in 1966)

Although his words were written 45 years ago, they are possibly even more important today amidst all the changes in our culture as well as in the Western Church.

REMEMBRANCE DAY.... SOME THOUGHTS

2010-11-11T20:20:00.000-06:00

Another Remembrance Day is over, and this was a good one. For one thing it was so good to be back here in Canada and able to remember here and be part of the great crowd of people at the cenotaph in Fredericton, NB. As always, the service was moving- the words, the music, the flags and wreaths, the old veterans and the young soldiers. I am proud to be a Canadian, probably even prouder after living for six years in the United States. I am a citizen of the greatest country on earth, a country where our young people are still willing to lay down their lives for the protection of all Canadians and the good of other nations facing tyranny and oppression. I see the pride in the eyes of those old veterans as they reflect back on those difficult war years. And I see the resolve in the eyes of those young soldiers, many who have already been placed in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan. War is hell, but sacrificing for freedom is a high calling.
As I reflected today on all of this, I am reminded of Christ's calling for His disciples to take up their cross daily and follow Him, even to death. And millions have, from that very first generation which saw many die for the cause of Christ. How our world today needs to see a costly, sacrificial discipleship lived out by Christ's followers who are not willing to settle for comfort and ease and are looking for nothing handed to them on a silver platter. Our world still lies under the power of the evil one and Christ still seeks those who will follow Him with all their heart. As I watched those young soldiers march this morning, I wondered, where are the soldiers of the cross marching today and what lasting impact are we having on this world? Yes, we are living in a crucial time, not only in relation to world peace, but on a deeper level, in relation to the reign of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Am I a soldier of the cross? What price am I paying in following Jesus?

On Vacation

2010-11-07T20:36:00.000-06:00

I'm on vacation and the last couple posts have been written by other writers, whose contribution I've acknowledged. But for the next few days I will be at a cabin in the woods- no electricity, no internet. So I will be completely out of touch, which isn't so bad occasionally. I should be back here by Thursday evening or Friday with something new. Enjoy your week. God bless! +

THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF MAN, by monk Markellos Karakallinos

2010-11-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

While I'm on vacation I'm posting articles written by others on the internet, which have spiritual value and hopefully some encouragement and direction for you. This article is from the Holy Monastery of Pantocrator web page, written by a monk and focusing on our relationships with others in spiritual need.

An admonishing epistle on our relationships with our neighbour and on the meaning of sorrows.

Nothing makes the way for the approach of God easier as does the mercy that is offered from the depth of the soul for those who are in need. The Lord said: "Inasmuch you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me" (Matt 25:40).
The one who heals the needs of the others like God, imitates God, through philanthropy and demonstrates that he bears within himself in analogy with God, the power of providence for the salvation of his brother.
Who therefore is so indifferent that does not wish to be like God, in other words, wishing to approach that which is in His likeness while the manner of doing good and of sympathy towards his neighbour is so easy? Without compassion and love towards the neighbour, no virtue can remain undefiled.
Let us learn the habit of observing and examining only ourselves, and never bother ourselves with the actions of the others. We should recognize only one judge, wise and just, the Holy God, who judges with wisdom and justice, everything that happened and even for the reason they happened.
Let us limit ourselves by severing every connection to the external and not allow our eye to see, nor our ear to hear, not even the tongue to talk about the things of others. Let us use more sympathy than empathy towards others.
Let us listen to the divine preacher Paul who advises us: "I beg you to behave with all humility and meekness, and longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Eph 4:2). "If therefore different and varied gifts and not the same were given to others, there should be absolutely no reason that this distribution should be the cause of enmity between you. For this distribution was not done by chance but was done by Christ Himself. "But for every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph 4:7).
"Put away the old man of your earlier way of life who is corrupted by the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man who is created according to God in the holiness of truth" (Eph 4:22-24). For if we endeavour this with ourselves then we shall succeed "that we walk worthy of God who calls us to His Kingdom and glory" (1Thess 2:12)
Holy God grants us His grace, but we have to recognize that whatever good we may do it is not done by us but by God. We must sympathize with the one who lacks and do not believe that he is a sinner, such as lazy, evil, chatterer, thief, liar. If we acquire this awareness, we shall never criticize anyone even when we see him sinning mortally.
We shall think thus: "He does not have Your grace my Christ that is why he sins. If you leave me, I too will do the same and even worse. You help me and I can stand on my feet. The brother sees that much and he does that much".
You ask from your brother what God has not given him. If you'll understand well what I tell you, everybody will not be responsible but only you. If you therefore wish your neighbour to be always good as it pleases you, remove his offences with the grace (gifts) you have.....".
"It is just to pray for God to remove his offences so that he may see and act correctly. If however you will ask differently to receive your justice, you will appear unjust and would be necessary therefore for the gift (grace) to keep going back and forth until it finds comfort in your soul. For that much grace one is entitled to have as he agreeably endures the offence. As much weight your neighbor patiently bears (Elder Joseph the Spiliote).
Other faster way does not exist for one to persist in the offences that visit us whatever they may be.
The spiritual condition of a person and the grace he possesses is demonstrated by the patience he has. The proof of the existence of this virtue is the tolerance, longsuffering, patience. These are the jewels of every struggling Christian.
For this, my dear soul, during periods you struggle and get burnt by the fire of sin, do not fall asleep, do not neglect to struggle and hope on the non-combative power of God with which you will put out the fire of sin, overcoming thus the devil. Sing with joy and contentment together with the melodic Theodore Studite: "With Your right hand oh Word protect me, that the fire of sin not burn me" (5th antiphone, 1st tone).
You should know that the devil is useful to all of us, if we use him appropriately. He owes us a lot and we succeed from him not with small profit, as happened with the just Job.
If you do not become negligent and if you do not betray yourself, neither could the devil harm you. The weak becomes harmed everywhere while the strong benefits everywhere. For the spiritual inclination is always very important and man's intention always succeeds.
Let us therefore not blame the responsibilities of our sins on the devil nor on others. What is appropriate for us to do? To do just this. To introspect ourselves and our wounds for then we shall be able to apply the medicine necessary for our healing, for he who ignores his disease will not tend to his healing.
Holy Chrysostom prompts us to bless those that disturb us and to consider them benefactors and not curse them as enemies. "This we should always consider that the one who blesses his enemy blesses himself and he who curses the enemy curses himself and the one who prays for the enemy prays for himself and not him".
Elianos praised the tax collectors of Sparta because they did not revenge the Klazomenes who dishonoured them. They had gone to Sparta and painted the thrones of the tax inspectors where they sat while in judgment. The inspectors when they learned this, they did not become angry nor did they delve evil for evil. They ordered however the speaker to declare the following famous words: "It is allowed for the Klazomenes to act ugly".
These tax collectors we should imitate, us Christians, And if they curse us or do us evil or swear at us, we should not revenge but let us hear what Chrysostom advises us in his sermon on repentance: "He who does not treat himself unjustly, no one else can make him suffer loss... and if you do everything you can do, the help of God will surely follow....., however if one suffers loss and is wronged, it certainly derives from himself, not from the others, even if they were innumerable all those that wronged and harmed him. For if he did not suffer this by himself, all those living on the whole earth, even if they hit him, they could not in the least harm him who walks and is attentive in the Lord....."
The sorrows and the diverse temptations always are spiritually beneficial. Holy Adelphotheos Jacob considers the sorrows as a cause for spiritual joy, and for this he observes: "Count it all joy my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the test of your faith works patience" (Jam 1:2-3). You will rejoice in your sorrows and temptations knowing that the test of your faith through the sorrows will certainly result in a safe and completely steady patience. This patience then being unshakeable will produce the fruit of your perfection, that you may be perfect and complete, that you will thus lack nothing.
Apart from the temptations that God permits, there are temptations that are produced by our sinful passions. No man who suffers from sin, say that God is the reason he is tempted and pushed into sin. Everyone becomes disturbed and pushed into sin by his own bad intentions, which bring him down and with the bait of pleasure draws him in.
Most happy is the man that maintains himself with patience and looks forward to the test of sorrows. And he is most blessed for when through this test he becomes unshakeable, tested and fit, he will receive the bright and glorious crown of eternal life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him.

By monk Markellos Karakallinos