Christ Who is Our Life

Without Words Wednesday

2011-06-08T04:44:00.001-07:00

Thinking About Christmas

2010-12-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Our home schooled children have been learning about different types of poetry over the last few weeks. Today Thea (our 8 year old) decided to sit down and start cranking out Christmas limericks (a limerick is a five lined poem with the rhyming sequence of a-a-b-b-a). Of the three poems she has written thus far, this one is my favorite:

Thinking About Christmas

I love the Christmas tree,
Even though it's not about me;
It's about a Baby,
Some say maybe;
But I know that He's the key!

Just Be Good For Goodness Sake?

2010-12-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

For centuries mankind has been trying to deny the existence of God. While God has declared His existence to all mankind through general means such as creation (Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:19-20), the human conscience (Romans 2:14-15), and His loving care of all mankind (Acts 14:16-17) and has revealed Himself through the special means of His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), mankind still chooses to suppress and distort this truth about God (Romans 1:21).
One such attempt to deny God was made in the weeks leading up to Christmas a few years ago. The American Humanist Association launched a $40,000 holiday ad campaign in Washington D.C. by putting the message, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake” on the sides of city buses. A spokesman for the group stated in an interview that, “We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you. Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion.”
The D.C. ad campaign came on the heels of a similar anti-God barrage in England. The British Humanist Association ran ads on London buses declaring, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” This ad campaign in the U.K. goes to show that foolishness knows no geographical boundaries (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).
But as I read and considered the content (or lack thereof!) of the ads and the comments of their propagators, I was immediately struck with the absurdity of their argument. Simply wishing God away or denying His existence does not change the fact that He does exist. I may not believe in gravity, but one step off the Perrine Bridge sans parachute and I will be quickly convinced, at least for a second or two, of the truth of the force of gravity. Month after month I can choose to deny my accountability to the bank for my mortgage, or even go so far as to deny the very existence of the bank itself. But the bank will be quite quick to remind me of their existence and the consequences of my denial when they begin foreclosure proceedings. Why believe in a God? Because the overwhelming evidence leads us to the existence of a God who has made Himself known. God exists and He is far from silent about His existence.
The message, “Just be good for goodness sake” is not good news at all, because as hard as we may try, we cannot be good enough. The message of the Bible and the Gospel is not “clean up your act and try harder and be good for goodness sakes.” The Good News of the Bible is that Jesus came because I cannot be good. He embarked on a divine rescue-mission where He would deliver sinners from the penalty of their sins through His death (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 1:15).
And while many “agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists” feel alone during the holidays, they only feel such because they have rejected God. The message of the Bible is that we are not alone: the God of this universe cares for us. The message of Christmas that makes them feel “a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion” is the one that proves to them that God loves them enough to send His Son to save them (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
Is anyone really willing to rest their life on the shifting sand assertion of “there’s probably no God”? Besides that, if there is no God, then I have lost all capacity to “stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The problem is that if there is no God then all I can do is worry. If there is no God then I have been cut off from the only thing in the universe that brings true joy to my life and is able to satisfy the deepest longings of my heart (Psalm 73:25; Isaiah 43:7). If there is no God then life ceases to make sense and nothing really matters at all.
Jesus came because I cannot be good. Jesus came because I do feel alone. Jesus came because I need hope for this life and hope for the life to come. He came for “agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists” and for just run-of-the-mill sinners like you and me. There is a God. And this God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. Now that’s a great message for an ad campaign (Acts 1:8)!

The God Who Sings

2010-12-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

I must confess that I am not a very good singer. In fact, my singing is quite bad. It is not that I do not like to sing; on the contrary I find great delight in it. The problem is that those who hear me find absolutely no delight in it. Yet singing is something that the Bible says we are to do in response to the person and work of God in our lives. Moses and the Israelites sang “to the Lord” after He led them through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19). King David was a mighty warrior, but an even mightier composer of songs to and about God (2 Samuel 22:1-51). The book of Psalms is a divine hymnal of praise to God for His mighty works. In the Old Testament singing was a part of great and historic events, such as the restoration of the temple (Ezra 3:11), while in the New Testament singing is a source of instruction for others (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And as the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into heaven we see singing there as well as the saints and the host of angels are gathered around the throne of God praising Him in song (Revelation 5:8-10, 14:3, 15:3-4).
The Old Testament book of Zephaniah speaks of singing as well. The majority of the book is taken up with the theme of the coming day of the Lord when He will judge the peoples of the earth for their rebellion against Him. God through Zephaniah describes that day as “a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” as the peoples of the earth come face-to-face with the righteousness and justice of God (Zephaniah 1:15). But after two-and-a-half chapters about God’s coming judgment God says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (3:14). Sing? Up to this point in the book there has not really been a lot to sing and rejoice about!
But then God gives the reason for their singing, “The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more” (3:15). Their singing is not based upon wishful thinking, nor does its foundation rest upon their ignoring the circumstances around them. Their singing flows from the truth that God’s judgment has been taken away from His people, their enemies have been triumphed over by God Himself, and God’s very presence is with His people. Now that is a reason to sing!
For those who have a personal saving relationship with Jesus we too can praise God for those very same things. The judgment of God has been removed from us because Jesus has taken away and paid for our sins and rescued us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8, 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Our enemies have been triumphed over through the finished work of Jesus (Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). And now, through Jesus, God is always present with His people to care for them and to bless them (Romans 8:31-39, Hebrews 13:5-6).
But the most shocking thing about this passage from Zephaniah is not that God is calling His people to sing, but the fact that God Himself is singing! God says, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17). As God is in the midst of His people that He has saved He is rejoicing and singing over them.
If you are like me this seems too good to be true. At first glance it does not even really make sense. I mean think about it: there is nothing in me that is worthy of rejoicing. There is nothing about my life that is song worthy. So how can God rejoice over me with singing? The answer is found in the fact that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-12). He sings over me because of the triumphant and sin removing grace of God that has been demonstrated in my life through Jesus Christ.
No matter what your musical ability, “break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises” (Psalm 98:4). Whether you are a baritone, a bass, or something in between, “sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6). And as you sing know that in Jesus Christ God is rejoicing and singing over you as well!

Glorifying God in the Ordinary

2010-11-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

There is nothing wrong with being ordinary. As a matter of fact, that is the likely category that most of us find ourselves in: ordinary. We are ordinary people, with ordinary jobs, who are part of ordinary families, living out ordinary lives.
But the extraordinary thing about God is that He intends to inject His glory into the ordinariness of our lives. With God nothing is just ordinary because He intends to be glorified in all areas and facets of our lives; including the ordinary.
Paul understood this point when he wrote, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Eating and drinking are the epitome ordinary; quite mundane actually. Yet in even these things I have the capacity to glorify God because all of life is meant to be about Him and for Him. And think about the “whatever you do” part. Paul is saying that the glorifying of God is not limited to certain “spiritual” tasks or activities, but is possible in everything.
In much the same way Paul writes to the Colossian Christians and says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). The “whatever” of this verse is broad enough to totally encompass your “ordinary” life.
This means that you do not have to be a pastor or a missionary or have some other “spiritual” vocation to please God with your life. God is glorified in the lives of businessmen who maintain Christian ethics in their business and honor Him with their profession. He is glorified in the tradesman who puts in an honest day’s work and seeks to work “heartily as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). God is exalted in the life of the stay-at-home mom who nurtures, loves, and instructs her children. God delights in the teachers who love their students and live out the Gospel before them day-in and day-out. Secretaries, students, salesmen, servers, and a whole host of other “ordinary” people truly have the capacity to glorify God with their lives as they live for Jesus.
This also means that there is an urgency to all of our work. We are not waiting to do God’s work; whatever God has set before us is God’s work! If we sit and wait for something better that is more “spiritual” or “important” and less ordinary then we may miss the thing that God is calling us to that is right before our eyes.
Missionary James Fraser learned this valuable lesson as he was language learning in China. He wrote: “It is all if and when. I believe the devil is fond of those conjunctions … The plain truth is that the Scriptures never teach us to wait for opportunities of service, but to serve in just the things that lie next at our hands … Since the things that lie in our immediate path have been ordered of God, who shall say that one kind of work is more important and sacred than another?”
His point is that what lies before us is the work of God. While we have a tendency to separate life into “sacred” and “secular” compartments, the Bible makes no such distinction. The “whatever you do” of 1 Corinthians and Colossians destroys those compartments and makes everything the work of God whereby God can by glorified. Fraser goes on to write: “I am no more doing the Lord’s work in giving the Word of God to the Chinese than you are, for example, in wrapping up a parcel to send to the tailor. It is not for us to choose our work. And if God has chosen it for us, hadn’t we better go straight ahead and do it, without waiting for anything greater, better, or nobler?” He is saying that the most “noble” work that God can call you to is the work that God has called you to. He is saying that with God there is really no such thing as ordinary.
So go and live out your “ordinary” life. But do it in a way that points others to your extraordinary God!

Living Life "All In"

2010-09-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

My nine year old son Ezra wants to learn to play Poker. He has a book called “The Most Dangerous Book For Boys” that has all of these cool things in it that would interest boys his age and Poker happens to be one of them. So we were looking at the book recently and it talks about how to play different Poker games and it gives some of the different Poker terms. It describes terms like “straight” and “flush” and what it means to “call.” And one of the things that it talks about is what it means to be “all in.” To be “all in” is defined as every one of a player's available chips being committed into the pot. When a player is all in he is playing this hand going for broke; he is betting it all and everything he has is out of his hand and in the pot.
And as we read this Ezra is thinking cards and I am thinking about how you follow Jesus. I thought, “That’s how you live the Christian life: you live the Christian life all in.” We have a book called the Bible that could also be called “The Most Dangerous Book For Christians” because if you take it seriously it will challenge you to radical living for Jesus Christ.
1 Kings chapter 19 describes the call of the prophet Elisha into the service of the Lord. The Bible tells us there that as the prophet Elijah was nearing the end of his ministry the Lord told him to go and call Elisha to serve as God’s prophet in his place. Elisha was a farmer and as Elijah came up to Elisha, his future predecessor, Elisha was plowing a field with twelve pairs of oxen.
When Elijah saw him he threw his mantle on him (which would have been like a cloak) and this symbolized that Elisha was now being called to follow and serve the Lord as a prophet. He was being called to commit his entire life to follow after the Lord and serve Him in all that he did.
This was a call that would have taken Elisha away from everything that he knew and everything that he was comfortable in and comfortable doing. This was a radical call to commitment; a radical call to be “all in.” It was the call to forsake all that he had and to venture with God into the unknown as he walked by faith and served God as a prophet.
And do you know how Elisha responded to this call to commitment? The Bible says he killed two of the oxen and took the oxen’s equipment and chopped it up and set it on fire and cooked the oxen over the fire. He then gave the meat to the people there and he arose and followed Elijah. That is a picture of being “all in.” Where there is no turning back. When you kill the oxen and burn the yoke you have truly set your course to follow hard after God.
That is the commitment that we need in our service to the Lord Jesus: total commitment that kills our self-centered way of life and burns our past, and follows Jesus. Sold out, total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman are names you may not readily recognize. They were men with ordinary occupations (one was a potter and the other a carpenter), but who lived extraordinary lives for Christ. These two men became the first Moravian missionaries in 1732.
What makes their story unique is that they felt the call of God minister to the slaves of the West Indies. To accomplish this they willingly sold themselves into slavery and gave up all their rights so that they might go and share the Gospel. One of the men had his wife and children standing on the dock as the slave ship left its port begging him to stay. But it is recounted that as the ship pulled away from the wharf the men cried, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.”
I read that story and think, “I do not have a clue what it means to be all in for Jesus Christ.” But I want that. I desperately ache for that. I want that so deeply for me and for my family and for you. It does not mean that you have to become a missionary and sell yourself into slavery, but it does mean that you have to fall so deeply in love with Jesus that you live your life in the pursuit of making nothing of yourself and everything of Him.
And I want that because that is life! That is what it means to live! That is what Jesus has saved you for: He saved you from sin and hell, but He saved you for a life like that here and now. He has saved you to live “all in.”
To be “all in” is defined as every one of a player's available chips being committed into the pot. Where are your chips at today?

Finding Our Identity in Christ

2010-06-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

The first time that the reader is introduced to Peter and his brother Andrew in the Gospel of Mark Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16). And the two brothers were there casting their nets into the water because, as Mark adds, “they were fishermen.” Now fishermen had a bad reputation in those days: they were known to be hard workers, rough in their speech, crude in their mannerisms, and coarse in their treatment of others. In other words, they were a pretty rough and tumble bunch of guys who were known to be really rough around the edges.
But Peter and Andrew “were fishermen.” They were defined by what they did for a living. When people would have seen them they would have thought, “There are Peter and Andrew the fishermen.” Being defined by what a person did as their profession was commonplace in the first century. Jesus’ step-father was Joseph the carpenter. One of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, was known as Matthew the tax-collector. Later in Mark chapter 6 when people are wondering about the identity of Jesus they will ask, “Isn’t this the carpenter?” identifying even Jesus by His former profession.
The same thing is true today: one of the first questions that a person usually asks when they meet someone new is, “Now what do you do for a living?” These same things define us and serve as our identitiy: we are engineers, and managers, and pastors, and business men, and stay-at-home moms, and teachers. For Peter and Andrew, as well as for us today, part of who they were was drawn from what they did.
But it is not only our career that defines us and gives us a sense of identity, but many other things as well. Some of you may be defined by your successes: wealthy, successful, powerful. Some of you may be defined by your failures: unwed mother, addict, loser. Some of you may be defined by your past: sin, disappointment, abused, tragedy, victim. That is your identity that you feel that you are living with that defines you and who you are. And there are times where you feel that you cannot shake it and that you will always be “that.”
But the thing that Jesus offered to these fishermen and that He offers to us as well is not a change of identity, but the opportunity to find our identity in Him. That we could be defined by Jesus and our relationship with Him and that we could find our identity in Jesus Himself.
Do you remember the ridiculous years of high school where everybody was just trying to fit in with one group or another? If you were a jock you dressed one way and did one group of things and if you were a preppy you dressed another way and had another group of friends and did other activities. Each group had their defining characteristics as everybody was searching for their identity and what was going to define them. There was franticness about fitting in and being accepted and being noticed and being somebody. Unfortunately the ridiculousness of high school did not end there: many people today are still searching for what will define their lives as they look to find their identity and who they are in what they do and what they have.
So the freeing alternative that Jesus offers is to find our identity in who we are in Jesus. No matter what else I may or may not be, or whatever I may or may not have, I must first and foremost be defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ. Before anything else, before I am a pastor or a husband or a father or a friend or a whatever, I must be defined as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Do not let your past or this world dictate to you who you are. Find your identity in Jesus Christ and let that define you. Because all of those other things may change, but who I am in Jesus will never change. If I can find my identity in Jesus and be satisfied in Jesus then I do not need the latest and greatest things to define who I am. I do not need a huge bank account to make me feel like a real somebody. I will not crave more stuff to impress others. Because I am secure knowing who I am in Jesus Christ.
When that happens I am free to find worth in who I am in Jesus and in nothing else. Peter the fisherman and Andrew the fisherman were about to become Simon Peter and Andrew the followers of Jesus as Jesus said to them, “Follow Me” (Mark 1:17). How sweet and freeing to lose ourselves in Jesus Christ!

The Love Inspired Grace of God

2010-05-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have recently been thinking much about the love of God and the grace of God. And it seems to me that God wants to prove His love for us by demonstrating His grace toward us. Throughout Scripture it is as if He is saying, "You know that I love you when you see that I have shown you grace."
That truth is seen in Romans 5:8 where the Apsotle Paul writes, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." There are many ways that God could have inspired Paul to write that verse. He could have simply said, "God demonstrates His love for us in that Christ died for us." If that would have been how Romans 5:8 was written then it would have still been amazingly true and would have been infinitely worthy of our praising God for all eternity.
But Paul adds a phrase that magnifies God’s grace. He says that God shows His love toward us in that "while we were still sinners" Jesus died for us. That phrase magnifies God's grace toward us in that it shows us love inspired grace. Jesus did not just die, He died while we were rebels, while we did not love God, while we had nothing good in us, while we were deserving of nothing but hell and punishment, while we were going our own way, while we could care less about God, while we were committing sin after sin against the God of the universe, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus did the dying and the saving while we still did not deserve it.
That is grace. And that is how you know that God loves you: you know that God loves you when He shows you grace like that. It is one thing to see love; it is a more amazing thing to see grace-filled love!

A Friend of Sinners

2010-05-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

What kind of difference are you making in your workplace and in your neighborhood and in those places that God has providentially placed you in order for you to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)? What kind of relationships are you building so that you can love those around you that do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior? How are you involved in people’s lives for the sake of the Kingdom and for the sake of their eternity?
Jesus was called a “friend of sinners” by the religious establishment of His day. They saw that He spent time in the company of those of questionable backgrounds and practices and believed that to be scandalous. But I pray that we would be bold enough to live in such a way that the same might be said of us.
While Christians are to clearly look different from the world (John 17:16; 1 John 2:15) we must live in a way that demonstrates to the people of the world that we love them. This is what Jesus did as He interacted with those around Him. The religious people of Jesus’ day looked down upon sinners; Jesus looked for sinners because He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).
When Jesus hung out with sinners He did not condone what they were doing and their sinful lifestyles, He simply affirmed that these people and their lifestyles can be transformed. And He was able to hang out with sinners without becoming a sinner Himself.
So as we seek to live in the world but not look like the world we need to avoid two extremes. One extreme is to retreat. This is where the only people that we know and hang out with are those like us: they believe like us, live like us, think like us, have the same morals that we do, and have the same worldview that we do. This is retreat and this is defeat.
The other extreme is to relax. This is where we begin to look more like our unbelieving friends then we do like Jesus. We relax our morals and relax our values and the sinners and the culture begin to affect us more than we affect them. This is just as dangerous as retreat for while retreat causes there to never be a Christian witness, relaxing causes the Christian witness to tainted and therefore ineffective.
Thankfully Jesus did neither of these. He did not retreat and He surely did not relax. Jesus redeemed. And that is what He has called us to do as well. Jesus has called us to be salt and to be light, but in order to do that I must get out of the salt shaker and into a world that needs some salt and that needs the light of the Gospel.
So I ask again: What kind of difference are you making in your workplace and in your neighborhood and in those places that God has providentially placed you in order for you to be salt and light? What kind of relationships are you building so that you can love those around you that do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior? How are you involved in people’s lives for the sake of the Kingdom and for the sake of their eternity? Let us go and be known as friends of sinners so that Jesus might use us to bring redemption to those around us!

Marriage for the Glory of God

2010-05-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Marriage, just like all of life, is meant to glorify God. It is meant to picture the loving relationship between Jesus and His church (Ephesians 5:32). God created marriage upon the pattern of Jesus and His relationship to His bride the church, so the goal is to live and love in such a way that God is glorified and the relationship between Jesus and the church are portrayed.
We all know that a strong, God-glorifying, Christ-centered marriage takes a lot of hard work and a lot of determination. It takes following the instructions of God, the One who created marriage in the first place. This kind of marriage does not come about by looking at the pattern of the world, but by looking at the pattern of the Word; the Word of God.
The building of a strong and lasting marriage is much like building a strong and lasting house. When you build a house you want to use materials that will make it last a lifetime. You want to work hard so that it will be built into something that will stand up to the test of time. And building a strong, God-glorifying marriage is no different. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Likewise we can say that unless the Lord builds the marriage, those who try to build it labor in vain.
The building of a marriage, just like the building of a house, must start with a strong foundation. And the foundation that is needed in marriage is Jesus Christ. There is simply no other foundation with which to build a marriage upon. Jesus said, "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys Me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25). The only foundation that will stand when the storms of life blow hard is the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. A commitment to Him as individuals and a commitment to Him as a couple is the only lasting, solid foundation that can support a marriage. He alone must be the rock.
But a house also needs walls: something that builds upon the foundation and adds structure and support. And in a marriage what adds that support is love. The Bible says, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). And the love that a husband and a wife should show one another should reflect the love that God has shown them in His Son, Jesus Christ. A sacrificial love that seeks the other’s good above one’s own. It must be a love that is predominantly centered not in each other, but in Jesus Christ where you love one another out of the overflow of your love for Him.
Not only does a house need a foundation and walls, but a house also needs a roof; something to protect the house from rain and acts as a shelter in the storm. And in the building of a marriage grace and forgiveness serve as that roof. The Bible says, “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). The grace and forgiveness that the husband and wife show to one another should reflect the grace and forgiveness that God has made available through His Son, Jesus Christ. That is free grace that is not deserved or earned, but is freely and lavishly given. Grace that is not dependant upon each other’s performance or worth, but grace that reflects the blessings that we have been shown in Christ. Free and unearned grace must permeate your marriage so that it protects and shelters from struggles within and problems without.
When these things are done, a marriage will be made that will be strong and that will last a lifetime. But above all else, it will be a marriage that will bring glory to God.

Walking By Faith

2010-05-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

We know from Scripture and from personal experience that God leads and directs His people. The main way that He does so is by His Spirit working through His Word the Bible. God’s will is mainly revealed in His Word as we embrace it, know it, internalize it, and come to know more about the mind and the heart of God through it as we conform our lives to what it says. Any means of seeking the will of God that does not involve the rigorous, regular, and systematic study of the Word of God is flawed and is a potential recipe for disaster.
God also leads His people through the godly counsel of others who are studying and loving and embracing and living God’s Word. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors provided that the multitude know the Word of God.
It is also true that God sometimes leads through circumstances that we seek to interpret through the lens of the Word of God. God sometimes does close doors and open doors and these are indeed factors (not sole factors, but factors) in determining His leadership for our lives.
God uses these and other means to lead and guide His people; the list could certainly go on. To think that God does not lead His people would be unbiblical and contrary to the experience of most Christians. But as God leads His people He rarely (if ever) leads them in a way that does not call for faith. And while the way that God leads His people is important, it is not nearly as important as how God’s people trust their God.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This faith does not find its anchor in what is known and understood and what can be checked out and mapped or planned. The anchor for this faith and this trust is the person and the promises of God: Who He is and what He has said He will accomplish. This kind of faith enables the Christian to press on steadfastly even when he does not know what the future holds for him. And he presses on not because he understands or trusts the future, but because he understands and trusts God who firmly holds the future. Faith knows that God can be relied upon and trusted.
Faith clings to God when you do not know how things are going to shake out and where exactly you are going. Let’s be honest: most of life from our perspective is absolutely uncertain. That is our perspective, but that is not God’s perspective. Our uncertainty concerning the future is only an apparent uncertainty; everything is certain to the God that we are called to trust.
But all of this is a matter of perspective. It all derives from how one sees things: do you see by merely sight or do you see by faith? Fear sees only the uncertainty and the unanswered questions and the range of options. Faith sees only God. The Apostle Paul called this “walking by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Walking by sight does not require a lot of faith. When you walk by sight you have things seemingly figured out and there is a fail-proof plan that you have come up with and there are safety nets galore around you to catch you if you have made a miscalculation somewhere. When we walk by sight we have a tendency to trust ourselves and others and not to lean heavily and desperately upon God.
When you walk by faith you do not walk by sight. You cannot do both: to walk by faith is not to walk by sight. Most things that we do in life we structure to ensure that we do not have to walk by faith. But God expects His people to walk and live and think and make decisions that is a living out of their trust in Him and not a denial of it. And walking by faith is what is pleasing to the Lord because it is a demonstration of a person’s trust in the Lord. Two verses later in 2 Corinthians Paul writes, “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Trusting God pleases God.
As a matter of fact, it is the only way to please God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” If I am not walking by faith I am either trusting in myself or I am walking in unbelief and neither is pleasing to God. Walking by faith realizes that the goal of the Christian life is not to know the plan of God, but to know God Himself and to be one who “diligently seeks Him.”
So what do you do when you come to a crossroads and are not sure where to go? You trust God and you walk by faith. And you realize that the plan of God is not about a plan, it is about a Person and knowing Him (2 Peter 3:18).

25 Damaging Effects of Pornography

2010-04-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this it means that you have access to the internet. And if you have access to the internet then you also have access to pornography. The statistics on porn viewing are astounding and shocking to say the least. The internet allows for porn viewing through accessibility, affordability, and anonymity. A deadly mix that lures many men (and women).
Let me list for you some of the damaging effects of pornography. (These are just 25 that I came up with and shared with a group of men at our church a few months ago; I am sure that we could list more.)
1) Pornography breaks the seventh commandment concerning adultery
2) Porn is unnatural in the sense that it is sexual pleasure that is solo
3) Porn is usually a deceptive secret sin that allows one to continue under a pretense of sanctified and holy living
4) The pornographic images that are viewed will stay with a man in their mind long after the computer is shut off
5) When a man views porn they are viewing someone’s daughter
6) When a man views porn they are viewing someone’s current or future wife
7) When a man views porn they are adding to the shame that the people in the pornographic images feel currently or will feel in the future
8) Viewing pornography gives no thought to the image of God within the people in the porn images, no matter how marred that image may be
9) Porn gives a false view of true sexual relations within marriage
10) The law of diminishing returns is in effect with porn
11) Women are made an exclusive object of sexual desire which diminishes their personhood and the reality of the image of God
12) Porn sets up unrealistic expectations concerning what one’s wife will do and will look like
13) It is difficult, if not impossible, not to mentally recall pornographic images when in a real sexual situation with one’s spouse
14) Pornography disgusts God
15) Much of pornography depicts lesbianism
16) Much of pornography depicts abuse
17) Viewing porn supports the porn industry which is ruining millions of people’s lives
18) Pornography ruins marriages
19) You would not view porn with Jesus sitting in the room with you
20) For the Christian porn leads to overwhelming guilt and shame
21) Viewing porn breaks a Christian’s fellowship with God
22) It is hypocritical to tell your children to abstain from porn if you are viewing it
23) Viewing porn wastes time that is meant to be used for the glory of God
24) It turns your attention to sexual things in an inordinate fashion that may spill over into non porn viewing times
25) You would not want others to view porn if it was your loved one on the screen
Job 31:1- "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?"
1 Thessalonians 4:3- "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality"

True Fellowship

2010-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

What do you think about when you hear the word “fellowship” at church? Maybe it is hanging out in the foyer for a bit after the service getting caught up on the events of the week. Possibly your thoughts turn to sharing a meal together at someone’s house and getting to know them and their family a little bit better. Or maybe you are thinking “pot-luck” dinners and fried chicken after the service. While all of things are good and I readily admit that I enjoy all of them (especially the fried chicken part!), they are just a small part of what true, biblical fellowship is all about.
Over forty years ago Bruce Larson wrote, “The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give to His Church. It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality. But it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love, and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.” People are longing for true biblical fellowship, but unfortunately they are content to settle for inadequate imitations. Whether we know it or not, or even admit it or not, we long to live life in relationships with others.
The word “fellowship” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word group koinonia. While this word can be translated in a few different ways and it carries various nuances to it, it generally means “a relationship characterized by sharing in a close partnership” or “an association involving close mutual relations and involvement.” I like to think of it simply as sharing life together.
But our fellowship with one another is rooted and grounded in our fellowship with God in Jesus. In Galatians 3:26 the Apostle Paul writes, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” We “receive the adoption as sons” into the family of God through trusting in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins (Galatians 4:5). Because Jesus has saved us from our sins we are now brought into a new relationship with God where we can now relate to Him as Father (Galatians 4:6-7). And this new relationship with God also brings us into a new relationship with other followers of Jesus Christ.
The new relationship we have with each other springs from and flows out of our new relationship we have with God through Christ. That is why John wrote in 1 John 1:3, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” Our fellowship with one another is derived from our fellowship with God through Christ; that is the common bond that we have that unites us.
John MacArthur comments on this fact and writes, “Anybody in fellowship with Jesus Christ is also in fellowship with anybody else in fellowship with Jesus Christ. This is our common ground. It is not social, economic, intellectual, cosmetic, or anything else superficial. Our common ground is that we posses a common eternal life and are children in the same family.” No other human relationship compares to the relationship that we have with fellow believers in Christ because our bond is Jesus Himself. So biblical fellowship occurs when I am living out my relationship with Jesus in relationships with other of Jesus’ followers.
But authentic New Testament fellowship does not happen automatically. Rather, it comes when we actively seek relationships within the Body of Christ where we can love one another (John 13:34), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), pray for and confess sins to one another (James 5:16), encourage and build up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving to one another (Ephesians 4:32), be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10), rejoice and weep with one another (Romans 12:15), and through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).
But here is the catch with all of these “one anothers” of the New Testament: they cause us to be focused on others at the expense of self. Fellowship within the church flourishes when we have a heart to love and serve others and when we actively seek ways to live life together with them for their benefit.
If it were possible for us to live the Christian life in isolation from other believers then the Lord Jesus would not have established the church and the Spirit of God would have never inspired the writers of the New Testament to include so many things we need to do in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. But they did, because we need the church and we need one another. And when the church ministers to one another as it is called to do then we experience true biblical fellowship, true koinonia, and God is glorified and we are blessed.

What is a disciple?

2010-03-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

The word “disciple” is used around 275 times in the New Testament. Though the word is used exclusively in the Gospels and in Acts, the concept of discipleship is found throughout the entire New Testament. The word translated “disciple” simply means “learner” or “pupil” and it carried with it the idea of being a student or a follower of a person. It would have been similar to the modern day idea of apprenticeship where the less experienced learned from the more experienced, seeking to emulate them and their life. The task of the disciple was to learn from their master and to then pass along the teachings of their master to others and thus spread the teaching of the master beyond his own personal realm of influence.
When “disciple” is used in the New Testament it most often applies to followers of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it refers to the twelve disciples, it is sometimes a reference to a larger group of followers that included the twelve, but went beyond them, and in Acts it is used to refer to all those who are followers of Jesus Christ. This is important to see, because all Christians are disciples of Jesus: we are His followers who are committed to Him and to following Him and His teachings. And as such we are seeking to emulate Him. In Luke 6:40 Jesus said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Jesus’ point was that over time the disciple would begin to live as the teacher did.
We could define discipleship like this: Discipleship is learning from God’s Word how to live my life as Jesus would live it, striving to live that way, and teaching others to do the same. So there is a learning component, a doing component where you put what you have learned into practice, and then a teaching component where you take what you have learned and what you are doing and transfer that to others helping them to become disciples as well.
This concept of discipleship is seen in the life of Ezra, a priest and scribe of the fifth century B.C. The direction of Ezra’s life is summed up in Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach His statutes and rules in Israel.” The phrase “set his heart” denotes certainty: Ezra had established that this was simply how it was going to be for his life. He had set his heart upon learning and knowing God’s Word, doing God’s Word, and teaching God’s Word to others.
Ezra set his heart to “study the Law of the Lord.” The word “study” has the idea of “seeking or searching for frequently” and conveys a serious desire for something. So for Ezra, God’s Word was not just something that he could either take or leave; it was something in which he had a burning desire and passion to learn and know. Ezra realized that to know God’s Word is to know the God of His Word, so he came to the Bible with a desire to know God.
But Ezra also set his heart to do it. He wanted to be the man that James would later write about who is not just a hearer of the Word, but a doer of the Word (James 1:22). Studying the Bible and coming to know God in a deeper way is not just an academic exercise, it is a call to action. And God uses His Word to make disciples of Jesus more like their Master as He conforms their lives to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). Any study of God’s Word that does not lead to “doing” is not truly fruitful study!
Ezra’s study of the Word that led to his doing of the Word did not end there. He then sought to pass along what he was learning and doing. Ezra taught God’s “statutes and rules in Israel” so that people would come to know this God and what He expects of them. Teaching is not just standing before a class and giving a lecture. It is sharing your life with others so that they can learn and benefit from what Jesus is doing in your life. Colossians 3:16 gives instruction to every disciple of Jesus when it says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”
I pray that God would give us all a heart like Ezra: a heart that was set upon learning the Word, living the Word, and then teaching the Word. And when we have a heart like that what was said of Ezra may be said of us: “For the good hand of His God was on him” (Ezra 7:9).

Take Up Your Cross

2010-03-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

Jesus Christ spoke some of the most radical words that have ever been uttered in the history of the universe. But it is not just what He said; it is the fact that these words passed through the lips of the one who is the God of the universe. That gives what Jesus said gravity and weightiness that is not there if a mere man speaks them. But Jesus is no mere man: He is the man who is also God.
Among the radical words of Jesus Christ are these: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). These words hold particular weight because Jesus is laying out for us what it really means to be one of His followers.
What Jesus says in that verses goes totally against popular thinking today about what it means to follow Jesus. In the modern church in America there is the mindset that to follow Jesus simply means that you go to church more Sundays than not; you give a little bit here and there; you don’t have any scandalous sin in your life that others know about; you and your family and your kids try to look somewhat normal and adjusted; you help out a little bit at VBS and other things at the church; you own a Christian t-shirt and a couple of contemporary Christian CDs; you cautiously invite a person to church every Christmas and Easter; you pray on occasion and read the Bible now and then; and you are overall satisfied with how you are living the Christian life. That is the picture of Christianity in our society today: it is a cozy picture; it looks like Norman Rockwell painted it; it is a safe picture where there is little or no risk involved in it. And with these words Jesus destroys that picture.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to deny self. The idea here is not of denying things, but of denying yourself. It is the total renunciation of self. This is you and I ceasing to make life about us and placing Jesus and not you at the center of your life. That is difficult to do because everything within you (other than the Holy Spirit) wants you to live for you! We are by nature self-centered and self-focused. But the call to follow Jesus is the call to live as if you do not exist. That is how we are to deny ourselves: to live as if we simply do not exist anymore.
But Jesus does not end there: He then says take up your cross. Taking up one’s cross is not some minor irritation that is in your life that you must bear. It is not something that just makes life inconvenient for you that you have to endure. I have heard people say things like, “My boss is so unreasonable. He is always on my case and gripes and complains about everything that I do. I guess everybody has their cross to bear and he is mine.” Those things are called thorns and not crosses. Thorns hurt and irritate and you really want to get rid of them because they are very uncomfortable. Crosses will kill you.
A cross is a means of death and suffering, not inconvenience. Jesus is calling for self-execution here; not just a denial of self, but a death to self. When you take up your cross you will die to self and you will live as a dead man.
The Apostle Paul understood this. He wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul is saying that he is dead, but Jesus is alive and well living within him and now his life is lived by Jesus and for Jesus.
Then, and only then, Jesus says, “Follow Me.” If you are not denying yourself and if you are not taking up your cross then you are not following Jesus. Because it is doing the first two things (the denying and the dying) that frees you to truly follow Him.
Many people today feel this kind of “radical” Christian living that Jesus is referring to here is reserved for the super-saints and the real spiritual people; people in the ministry or people that are missionaries. We think that this passage and these demands are meant for someone else and it is not really meant for “normal” Christians like us. But Jesus says that this is normal Christian living. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to call radical what Jesus calls normal.

American Struggles

2010-03-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

I just read a news story on the front page of a major news outlet that details the government's plan to expand broadband internet. The plan is for 9 out of 10 Americans to have broadband by 2020. I am all for this and think that high-speed internet is great. As a matter of fact, if anyone is even reading this you are likely doing so via broadband service.
The part of the story that jumped out at me was that it portrayed a woman in Oklahoma who "struggles" because she does not have broadband. This poor woman has to "do chores" around the house while she waits for images to download to her computer because her internet service is so slow. And the story details the plight of her deprived kids who have to get her to accept their Facebook friends when she goes to work and has access to broadband. It must be nearly unbearable to have to survive under these stressful conditions and amidst these oppressive struggles.
Thankfully many in our world today do not have to face these same trials. Those without computers, for instance, do not have to deal with the stress that a lack of broadband brings. Those without the availability of electricity are further freed from these trials as they know that even if they possessed a computer they would not have the means to power it.
And the minds of countless multitudes in our world have been spared from this non-broadband anguish because they are occupied with other thoughts: One-half of the world's population is trying to figure out how to live on less than $2 per day. Today 30,000 people will fight their final battle with starvation. 13 million orphans will wonder about their future and if anyone cares about them. Around the globe others are struggling with malnutrition, no cleaning drinking water, abject poverty, death from preventable diseases, and a whole host of other things. Oblivious that there is even such a thing as broadband internet.
Struggle? Not having broadband can be considered a struggle? I fear only in America would this be considered such. Perspective is everything.

Do You Want to be Great?

2010-03-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

In Mark 9:35 Jesus told His disciples how to be great. He said, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Consider four obstacles to being that kind of servant.
You will struggle to be a true servant if:
1) You are filled with pride
2) You have not denied yourself and taken up your cross
3) You are consumed with your rights
4) You are concerned with positions and titles and prestige
The common denominator in all of these obstacles and struggles to be a servant is me; it is self.

But consider ten things that a true servant will do and be.
A true servant:
1) Knows that there is nothing that is beneath him
2) Is never inconvenienced by serving Jesus and others
3) Will help and will give whether they get anything out of it for themselves or not
4) Serves out of delight and not out of duty
5) Serves so that people will see Jesus and not him
6) Is not just concerned about what is done, but about how something is done
7) Is always on the lookout for ways to serve
8) Realizes that serving is about people
9) Will get tired (sometimes exhaustedly so), but will not quit
10) Realizes that as they serve others they are ultimately serving Jesus

The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:23-24 and says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” When you serve others it is not as if you are serving Jesus; but it is you serving Jesus.
It was Jesus who gave us the ultimate example of that kind of service. In Mark 10:45 Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The ultimate example of serving others was seen as Jesus hung on the cross for my sins. God in the flesh becoming the sacrifice and payment for every wrong that I have ever done against others and against Him. Dying in my place, for my sins, not coming to be served, but coming to serve as my Savior and my Redeemer, even at the price of His own life.
So now I can and must be a servant of Jesus and others because Jesus has bought me at the price of His life. Therefore, I am His possession and this now frees me to serve Him and to serve others because my life is not my own.

Do you want to be great? Here is how you do it: live as a servant of Jesus and a servant of others. That is how you achieve greatness in the Kingdom of God and that is how you really live!

Are You a Glory Thief?

2010-03-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

God says in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another." He reiterates much the same thought later in Isaiah 48:11 where He says, "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another." There is no missing the point that God is consumed with His own glory.
That is why it is not an understatement to say that God deeply hates pride. The reason that God hates pride is that He rightly loves Himself and pride is a person taking the focus off God and putting it on them. It is a person taking the glory and trying to put it on them; taking the spotlight that exclusively belongs to God and seeking to have some of it shine upon them and who they are and what they have done.
In our house we have a term for this: GLORY THIEF. A thief is someone that takes something that is not theirs. God has said that His glory He will not share with another because it does not belong to another; it is exclusively His possession. So if I am seeking glory for me then I am in the process seeking to steal something that belongs to God and that makes me a glory thief.
The world is filled with glory thieves because the world is filled with pride. It is filled with self-centeredness. It is filled with those who desire their glory at the expense of giving God all the glory that He and He alone is due.
Are you a glory thief?

The God Who Sings

2010-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

I must confess that I am not a very good singer. In fact, my singing is quite bad. It is not that I do not like to sing; on the contrary I find great delight in it. The problem is that those who hear me find absolutely no delight in it. Yet singing is something that the Bible says we are to do in response to the person and work of God in our lives. Moses and the Israelites sang “to the Lord” after He led them through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19). King David was a mighty warrior, but an even mightier composer of songs to and about God (2 Samuel 22:1-51). The book of Psalms is a divine hymnal of praise to God for His mighty works. In the Old Testament singing was a part of great and historic events, such as the restoration of the temple (Ezra 3:11), while in the New Testament singing is a source of instruction for others (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And as the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into heaven we see singing there as well as the saints and the host of angels are gathered around the throne of God praising Him in song (Revelation 5:8-10, 14:3, 15:3-4).

The Old Testament book of Zephaniah speaks of singing as well. The majority of the book is taken up with the theme of the coming day of the Lord when He will judge the peoples of the earth for their rebellion against Him. God through Zephaniah describes that day as “a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” as the peoples of the earth come face-to-face with the righteousness and justice of God (Zephaniah 1:15). But after two-and-a-half chapters about God’s coming judgment God says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (3:14). Sing? Up to this point in the book there has not really been a lot to sing and rejoice about!

But then God gives the reason for their singing, “The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more” (3:15). Their singing is not based upon wishful thinking, nor does its foundation rest upon their ignoring the circumstances around them. Their singing flows from the truth that God’s judgment has been taken away from His people, their enemies have been triumphed over by God Himself, and God’s very presence is with His people. Now that is a reason to sing!

For those who have a personal saving relationship with Jesus we too can praise God for those very same things. The judgment of God has been removed from us because Jesus has taken away and paid for our sins and rescued us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8, 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Our enemies have been triumphed over through the finished work of Jesus (Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). And now, through Jesus, God is always present with His people to care for them and to bless them (Romans 8:31-39, Hebrews 13:5-6).

But the most shocking thing about this passage from Zephaniah is not that God is calling His people to sing, but the fact that God Himself is singing! God says, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17). As God is in the midst of His people that He has saved He is rejoicing and singing over them.

If you are like me this seems too good to be true. At first glance it does not even really make sense. I mean think about it: there is nothing in me that is worthy of rejoicing. There is nothing about my life that is song worthy. So how can God rejoice over me with singing? The answer is found in the fact that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-12). He sings over me because of the triumphant and sin removing grace of God that has been demonstrated in my life through Jesus Christ.

No matter what your musical ability, “break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises” (Psalm 98:4). Whether you are a baritone, a bass, or something in between, “sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6). And as you sing know that in Jesus Christ God is rejoicing and singing over you as well!

Free!

2010-03-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

If I live to be one hundred,
I will never understand;
The grace that freely flows,
From Your forgiving hand.
I could not buy nor earn it,
Though many times I've tried;
Your only Son You sent to earth,
For me He gladly died.
May I never take for granted,
The blood He shed for me;
I owe my life to Jesus Christ,
The Son has set me free!

Being an Armchair __________

2010-02-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

I like football. I mean I really like football.
And I can be quite the critical football fan. When my team is down or when they lose a game it is quite easy for me to sit in my home and confidently proclaim what they could have done to ride to victory. From my living room I can clearly see where the coaches called a bad play, how the quarterback did not see what I saw from my lazy-boy, or what was a clear path to imminent victory.
To put it mildly, I am an armchair quarterback.
But my armchair quarterbacking does not end with sports. I am also extremely good at raising other people's kids. As I watch other people's children and their interactions with them I know exactly what they need to do to get their children on the right track to obedience. I know what "I" would do if "I" were them.
In addition, I am surprisingly good at pastoring other people's churches. I know the direction that they need to go and the ministries that they need to implement in order to be all that God desires their church to be.
As a matter of fact, I generally excel in knowing exactly what others need to do to succeed in life, family, business, and nearly every other facet of their existence.
And I think that the reason that I am so good at these things is because I am not actually in their shoes. I do not walk where they walk. This means that I do not know all of the situations and facts and extenuating circumstances that make up their life and shape their decisions. This kind of armchair living breeds a hyper-critical spirit and judgmentalism that lacks grace and that is surely not pleasing to the Lord.
This revelation in my life (I hope) will cause me to be more charitable to others. To dispense "the benefit of the doubt" when I can. To try and see things from other angles and other vantage points and not rush to judgment. And I hope it will cause me to be more forgiving and more loving toward others.
More than anything it drives me to the grace of God in Jesus Christ where I experience forgiveness and where that forgiveness can serve as God's standard for me to dispense to others (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13).
And besides, everybody knows that armchair quarterbacks could not ever truly be quarterbacks anyway!

Now What Are You Going To Do About It?

2010-01-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

A few quick facts:
*There are only 100,000 missionaries in the world and only 3% of them are working among unreached peoples
*Over one-third of the world's population is considered unreached with the Gospel
*There are over 16,000 people groups in the world and over 6,000 of them are unreached
*Two-thirds of the world's population lives in Asia and 70% of them have never even heard of Jesus
*One-half of the world's population lives on less than $2 per day
*30,000 people starve to death every day
*There are 13 million orphans worldwide
*In the past hour 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets
*In the past hour 1,667 children died from malnutrition or disease
*In the past hour 257 children were orphaned due to AIDS
*If Jesus has saved you by His grace then He expects you to do something about these things

"Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, 'I did not know'" - William Wilberforce

"This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." - JESUS

"But now..."

2010-01-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

If you were to read the first two-and-a-half chapters of the book of Romans in the New Testament you would not walk away feeling all warm and fuzzy about yourself and your standing before God. The Apostle Paul, the author of Romans, makes his point quite clearly: God is holy, we are not holy, and that is a big problem for us.
And nobody gets off the hook. Paul continually uses words like "all" and "everyone" and "none of them" to describe the universal nature of sin. Sin affects everyone who has every lived and even our best efforts at God-pleasing righteousness fall dreadfully short. With vivid clarity he describes mankind, the pinnacle of God's creation, in total rebellion against his Creator. Romans 3:20 says, "No one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what His law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it." That is why I am eternally grateful that the book of Romans does not end there.
Then hope turns on the hinge of God's truth with the words: "But now..." For weary and downtrodden sinners hope emerges through the sacrifice of the Son of God. While no sinner is deserving of salvation or can earn their salvation, the offended God offers the rebels a free gift of grace through the sacrifice of His Son. A purchase price for mankind's sins is paid as Jesus, the sinless payment, dies upon the cross in the place of sinners. God provided, He "set forth," the only one who can reconcile a holy God to unholy mankind: the God-man Jesus Christ.
Sin brings nothing but destruction. Nothing but problems. And nothing but separation from God. "But now" there is hope because of Jesus.

Year's End Prayer

2010-01-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have enjoyed a book entitled "The Valley of Vision" which is a collection of Puritan prayers that have been topically arranged. These prayers are soul-stirring petitions to God with theological depth and heart examining clarity. The following is an except from the prayer called "Year's End":

O Love Beyond Compare,
You are good when you give,
when you take away,
when the sun shines upon me,
when night gathers over me.
You have loved me before the foundation of the world,
and in love you redeemed my soul;
You love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Your goodness has been with me during another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Your goodness will be with me in the year ahead.
I hoist my sail and draw up anchor,
With you as the blessed Pilot of my future as of my past.
I bless you that you have veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If you have appointed storms of tribulation,
you will be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,
I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see your face sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
grant me grace that my faith not fail;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation;
Only glorify yourself in me whether in comfort or in trial,
as a chosen vessel fit always for your use.

(The Valley of Vision)

Finding Contentment in Jesus

2009-12-30T06:45:00.000-08:00

There is little doubt that our society suffers from a lack of contentment. Many families bury themselves in debt as they seek to keep pace with the proverbial Joneses. Many individuals move from job to job and career to career in search of more pay, better benefits, and the brass ring that always seems just out of reach. Marital discontentment causes many to hope for greener grass in another relationship. And rampant materialism permeates nearly every facet of American life. All the while the virtue of contentment is nowhere to be found.
Thankfully God's Word addresses these pressing issues with illuminating clarity. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
A few verses later the text continues by saying, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
When considering these verses, along with the rest of what the New Testament teaches on the subject, it seems that the key to contentment is not my finding contentment in money, possessions, or things, but in my finding contentment in Jesus. Contentment comes as I am able to live knowing that in Jesus I have a treasure that is worthy of giving all for (Matthew 13:44). True contentment comes when I value Jesus above any and everything else and then live like I value Jesus in that way. Contentment is essentially living like Jesus and Jesus alone is more than sufficient to satisfy every longing and desire of my life. This treasuring of Jesus loosens the grip of materialism over my life and frees me so that I can truly experience the all-satisfying pleasure of knowing Jesus Christ.
Consider these eleven questions that may help you determine your level of contentment. These questions are aimed at the heart so as you read and think about them be sensitive to what God may be saying to you:
1) Am I content with what I have and the circumstances of my life or am I striving for more and more?
2) If everything in my life was taken away, all of my material possessions, and I had nothing but Jesus Christ would I still be content?
3) Am I living as if I am taking nothing with me when I die?
4) In my life does Jesus look like an all-satisfying treasure?
5) Can I rightly distinguish between my needs and my wants?
6) What is tempting me to treasure it more than I treasure Jesus?
7) Am I discontent with the things of this world, yet content with where I am in my relationship with Jesus?
8) Do I live like I trust and hope in things or like I trust and hope in God?
9) Am I generous, ready to give and willing to share?
10) Am I living and giving in a way that shows it is more blessed to give than to receive?
11) Does Jesus have all of my life?
Contentment is not primarily about money and things. It is primarily about being satisfied with Jesus and treasuring Him above all else.

The Wonder of Jesus

2009-12-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas. For many, the next two days will be filled with gifts, food, family, friends, and joy. For some there will be busyness and hurrying to relatives homes and making sure all the last minute things are taken care of. And there will be the danger that we forget about Jesus in the midst of it all. We run the risk of forgetting about Christ at Christmas.
In the first chapter of Matthew we read of how an angel came to Joseph in a dream announcing that a child had been supernaturally conceived in Mary. Matthew reminds us that this was done in fulfillment of a prophecy given over 700 years before this time when Isaiah wrote, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). The name Immanuel means "God with us." That is why Jesus came: to be God with us. To be God in human flesh.
The Apostle John would later write that Jesus "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Jesus has always been all God, but a little over 2,000 years ago Jesus became all man. Jesus was all God and at the same time all man: 100% God and 100% man with two distinct natures in one person in a way that is beyond our comprehension.
And Jesus becoming man and taking on humanity was necessary for Him to "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus came to save His people by dying on the cross in their place and for their sins. Jesus had to become a man to do this because it took someone that was fully human to be man's substitute. If He was to die for man, He had to be a man. But it also took one that was fully God to bear the full weight of God's wrath against sin. Salvation could not have been accomplished unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that while man owed it, only God could pay it. So the one that would "save His people from their sins" had to be both man and God.
This Christmas don't get lost in the busyness of the season. Get lost in the wonder of the salvation that Jesus came to provide. Get lost in the greatness of our Savior who took on human flesh so that He could save His people from their sins.

Absolute Commitment

2009-12-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

A while back I ran across a little book about Jesus in the nursery at church that caught my eye. You know the kind of book: vibrant pictures with a few sentences on each page using short, easy to understand words. A typical children's book. On the cover of the book was a picture of Jesus with a wide smile, perfect teeth, groomed hair, and an appearance that said, "I just want to be your friend."
Make no mistake, I think that it is great for kids to be taught from an early age the love that Jesus has for them and His desire to be warm and welcoming and friendly. The problem is that we grow up and still have this view of Jesus exclusively. In other words, we cannot imagine Jesus saying or demanding anything over and above just wanting to be our pal.
While I believe that Jesus was indeed the most joyous man who ever lived, since He had no sin and enjoyed perfect communion with God, He is also the man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) who came to speak out against sin and to deal decisively with it once and for all (Hebrews 9:11-12). And the smiling, easy-going, happy-go-lucky Jesus is also the Jesus who calls His followers to absolute and unconditional commitment to Him.
In Luke 9:23-24 Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." To deny one's self is to live as if we no longer exist. And to take up one's cross is not just to deny self; it is to die to self.
In Luke 14:33 Jesus said, "Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple." Jesus is emphatic that all has to be given up to follow Him. This does not mean that a person has to take a vow of poverty in order to be a Christian or that they have to sell all of their possessions and give the proceeds to Christian causes. But it does mean that nothing is to get in the way of our radical following of Him. It means that we dare not allow our hands to be full of things that must be given up for Christ.
I am eternally grateful for the smiling Jesus who's arms are open wide to receive sinners and who calls them friends (John 15:15). I am constantly amazed at the grace of God shown to me in Jesus as He receives me not based upon my works or my goodness, but based upon His death (1 Peter 3:18). Yet I am continually confronted and challenged with Jesus' call to absolute commitment to Him, the One who has always been absolutely committed to me.

If I Only Had Three Years Left...

2009-12-13T17:07:00.000-08:00

For several months now my wife Gayle and I have been asking ourselves a question. What we hope will be a life-changing question. A question that rightly answered will cause us to radically reprioritize our lives. The question is this: If we had only three years left on this earth what would we do? What would change in our lives? What would become more important? What would be a bigger priority?
We have been asking this question not because we have a terminal illness that we know of or because of any other external reason (including the Mayan calendar!). We have sought to ask and answer this question because we do not want to waste the life and the salvation that God has so graciously given to us. We realize that life is like a vapor (James 4:14) and therefore we must live with planned urgency.
So let me share with you ten of my personal answers to the question: If I had only three years left on this earth what would I do?
I would:
1) Strive as the chief aim of all I do to draw closer to Jesus
2) Apply Scripture to every area of my life
3) Pray with greater intimacy and do more listening to and for the voice of God
4) Spend more real, purposeful, intimate time with my family
5) Do more to reach people with the Gospel, especially the unreached peoples of the world
6) Pray more fervently for the lost
7) Be more generous and give more radically
8) Love the Body of Christ deeper
9) Think much more about heaven and the life to come
10) Live with and in the freedom of why I was created and why I was saved: to glorify God

What about you? If you had only three years left on this earth what would you do?

(I elaborated upon these ten answers in my sermon "If..." that can be viewed at www.nrfellowship.org/Video.html)

Jesus - Our Treasure and Joy

2009-12-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, when many think of Christianity they picture grumpy old men in three piece suits sitting around with scowls on their faces as they talk about the long list of things they don't do because they are Christians. Now there is certainly nothing wrong with older men, three piece suits, or the truth that the Bible commands Christians to abstain from certain activities. There is, however, something decidedly wrong with joyless Christianity. Of all the people in the world, whose who follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior should be the possessors of great joy.
Sadly this is not always the case. Often Christians plod through life just trying to "get by" and make it through another day. Life seems overwhelming and the thought of joy in the midst of a hurried life that seems chaotic at best and depressing at worst seems unimaginable.
The problem is that many are looking for joy in all the wrong places. Some seek joy through their career and advancement up the corporate ladder. Others look for joy in material possessions and the accumulation of things. While some search for joy in relationships or titles or power or influence or...you get the picture. The point is that the human heart longs for joy and will not rest until it is found.
It may shock some that the Bible actually commands us to seek joy. Psalm 32:11 says, "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice; Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" The theme of joy is seen in Psalm 37:4 which instructs us to "Delight yourself also in the LORD." Jesus told His followers to rejoice that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:19-20) and to "leap for joy" as they await their heavenly future with Him (Luke 6:22-23). The Apostle Paul in his joy-saturated letter to the Philippians commands Christians to "Rejoice in the Lord always" (4:4).
But joy for the Christian is not simply joy for joy's sake. Nor is it a joy that comes from our circumstances or the things that we possess. Rather, ours is a joy that is found in Jesus Christ. The fountain and the source of the Christian's joy must be Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for us in His life, death, and resurrection.
At this point you may be wondering how the pursuit of joy can coincide with some of the demands Jesus made in the Gospels. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Later Jesus said, "Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). How can self-denial, cross-carrying, and the forsaking of all things coexist with the pursuit of joy? These truths are reconciled as we realize that it is in our giving of all for the sake of Jesus that our joy is realized. The removal of these counterfeit joys from our lives frees us to focus upon the only thing in the universe that brings true and lasting joy: Jesus Christ.
This truth is driven home by Jesus in a one verse parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 13:44 Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven (knowing Jesus Christ) to a treasure buried in a field. A man found the treasure, hid the treasure again, and then sold all that he had to buy the field so that he might possess the treasure. But what motivates the man to sell all his possessions and buy the field in order to get the treasure? Jesus says his motivation was joy. Because true joy was not found in all that he possessed; true joy was found in the treasure.
When compared with the treasure everything else he possessed seemed to have no value at all (Philippians 3:7-10). Jesus' point is that knowing Him is more valuable and more precious than anything else. As our treasure, He is the source of our joy.
So the next time you think about Christianity, dispel the notion of the scowl and the three piece. Instead, think about the treasure in the field and the joy that moves us to give all to obtain it. Think about Jesus "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross" that we might find our joy in Him (Hebrews 12:2).

The Fool Has Said...

2009-10-30T19:53:00.002-07:00

For centuries mankind has been trying to deny the existence of God. While God has declared His existence to all mankind through general means such as creation (Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:19-20), the human conscience (Romans 2:14-15), and His loving care of all mankind (Acts 14:16-17) and has revealed Himself through the special means of His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), mankind still chooses to suppress and distort this truth about God (Romans 1:21).
One such attempt to deny God was made last year in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The American Humanist Association launched a $40,000 holiday ad campaign in Washington D.C. by putting the message, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake" on the sides of city buses. A spokesman for the group stated in an interview that, "We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you. Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."
The D.C. ad campaign came on the heels of a similar anti-God barrage in England. The British Humanist Association ran ads on London buses declaring, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." This ad campaign in the U.K. goes to show that foolishness knows no geographical boundaries (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).
But as I read and considered the content (or lack thereof!) of the ads and the comments of their propagators, I was immediately struck with the absurdity of their argument. Simply wishing God away or denying His existence does not change the fact that He does exist. I may not believe in gravity, but one step off the Perrine Bridge sans parachute and I will be quickly convinced, at least for a second or two, of the truth of the force of gravity. Month after month I can choose to deny my accountability to the bank for my mortgage, or even go so far as to deny the very existence of the bank itself. But the bank will be quite quick to remind me of their existence and the consequences of my denial when they begin foreclosure proceedings. Why believe in a God? Because the overwhelming evidence leads us to the existence of a God who has made Himself known. God exists and He is far from silent about His existence.
The message, "Just be good for goodness sake" is not good news at all, because as hard as we may try, we cannot be good enough. The message of the Bible and the Gospel is not "clean up your act and try harder and be good for goodness sakes." The Good News of the Bible is that Jesus came because I cannot be good. He embarked on a divine rescue-mission where He would deliver sinners from the penalty of their sins through His death (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 1:15).
And while many "agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists" feel alone during the holidays, they only feel such because they have rejected God. The message of the Bible is that we are not alone: the God of this universe cares for us. The message of Christmas that makes them feel "a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion" is the one that proves to them that God loves them enough to send His Son to save them (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
Is anyone really willing to rest their life on the shifting sand assertion of "there's probably no God"? Besides that, if there is no God then I have lost all capacity to "stop worrying and enjoy your life." The problem is that if there is no God then all I can do is worry. If there is no God then I have been cut off from the only thing in the universe that brings true joy to my life and is able to satisfy the deepest longings of my heart (Psalm 73:25; Isaiah 43:7). If there is no God then life ceases to make sense and nothing really matters at all.
Jesus came because I cannot be good. Jesus came because I do feel alone. Jesus came because I need hope for this life and hope for the life to come. He came for "agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists" and for just run-of-the-mill sinners like you and me. There is a God. And this God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. Now that's a great message for an ad campaign (Acts 1:8)!

Praising God for His Servants

2009-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I praise God for a man named Carl Hodges. Carl was in his late fifties when I really got to know him. He was on medical retirement from his job due to a terribly bad heart. I met him when Gayle and I became Christians and got involved in our local church.
I was excited about the things of the Lord and eager to serve in any way that I could. I worked night shift at the time so I had my days free so Carl invited me to join him as he ministered around the community. He drove an aqua-blue Ford Pinto that had a top speed of about 45 miles-per-hour and I would meet him at the church and off we would go. I, the 23 year-old new Christian, and he, the seasoned servant of the Lord. We went to nursing homes, the homes of those that were too ill or too elderly to go to church, and other places around our community seeking to minister to the people there. We would teach them Sunday School lessons or pray with them or just be there to encourage them in the Lord. The first time that I ever taught the Bible was in an elderly woman's living room under the direction of Carl.
Carl went to be with the Lord Jesus about 10 years or so ago now. When he died he had very little materially to speak of. He did not leave behind great wealth or great acheivements in the eyes of the world. But God used this simple and humble man to greatly impact my life. He taught me with his actions what it really meant to be a servant of others and to love the Lord Jesus in such a way that it allows that love to spill over into other people's lives. He taught me that the work of God that goes on behind the scenes in nursing homes and in the living rooms of shut-ins is important to the heart of God. And he taught me that God can use anyone that is willing to be used by Him. I praise God for Carl Hodges and hope that I can be more like this simple servant who had a heart for God and a heart for others.

What Do You See?

2009-10-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

My study is located in a room that we built in the garage of our home. When we built it we put in a window so that there would be some natural light and so that I would be less likely to remember that I am sitting in my garage. The table that I work at faces that window and I can look out of it at the homes that line West Avenue J in Jerome where we live. It is a nice and fairly quiet neighborhood with a lot of kids and a prevailing sense of normalcy about it.
On occasion as I look out the window of my study I think about what it would be like if instead of looking out upon West Avenue J in Jerome, Idaho I was looking out upon a village in southern Senegal where we minister. What would be different? What things would remain the same?
If I were in Senegal instead of looking out and seeing neatly lined houses with vinyl siding I would see houses made of mud with thatch or tin roofs. If I were looking out onto a village in Senegal the grass covered yards of West Avenue J would give way to sand and dust in the dry season and mud and standing water during the rainy season. The cars that go up and down my street would be replaced by people on foot, a bicycle or an ox or donkey pulled cart, and on rare occasions a possible car. The skin color of the people would change along with their clothing, but the smiles and laughter and joy of the children would still be there. If my street were in Senegal everyone who lived on it would surely all know each other and we would great each other every time that we passed. There would be a greater sense of community among us and less of an individualized existence where we live in isolation from those around us. Indeed, if as I write this I were looking out upon a Senegalese village things would be much different.
While there are many differences, there are some similarities as well. Whether overlooking a village in Senegal or the homes on West Avenue J one things remains the same: the people there need to hear the message of Jesus. And my responsibility, just like yours if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, is to have a part in taking that message to them. Whether it is crossing a culture or crossing the street we are surrounded by people that have no hope apart from the message of the Gospel. What do you see when you look out your window and how can God use you to touch the lives of the people that are there?

Studying the Word of God

2009-09-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am often asked questions that relate to personal Bible reading and study as people want to get the most benefit out of their time in God’s Word. Let me share with you a few thoughts about your personal time in the Bible that may be helpful.
First, use a translation that you are comfortable with. Different translations serve different purposes and you need to find one that is easy for you to understand, yet also maintains the accuracy of the Scriptures. With the abundance of English translations available today this task is not at all difficult.
Second, read for breadth. Expose yourself to the entire Bible so that you are able to see how all of God’s Word fits together and is a unity. I highly recommend a Bible reading plan that allows you to read through the entire Bible in a year. This allows you to see the big picture of God’s story of redemption as well as exposing you to books of the Bible that you may otherwise be tempted to neglect. There are many great Bible reading plans that do this (we put a reading plan in the bulletin each month) and there are even “One Year” Bibles that contain each day’s reading. With as little time as fifteen minutes a day a person can easily read through the entire Bible in a year. When one reads for breadth they are getting the “lay of the land” and are not reading for great detail, but just to see the overall picture.
Third, read for depth. I know you are thinking, “Wait a minute, I thought you just said read for breadth!” True, but it is both/and, not either/or. Reading for depth in not just reading; it is study. There are several practices that will help us do this. One that has been very helpful to me over the years is to read the same book of the Bible every day for a month. A short book like Colossians or 2 Peter can easily be read in one sitting, while longer books like one of the Gospels or Romans can be divided into smaller units. Reading the same book every day for a month allows you to become intimately familiar with the book. After reading it several times you will begin to see certain themes that emerge or certain key words and ideas that are repeated that you may want to study further. Writing key verses on index cards and taking them with you to work or sticking them in your pocket to reflect upon during the day is another good way to cement God’s Word in your heart and mind.
Fourth, ask questions from the text that you are studying. As part of your reading for depth you want to encounter the text and think deeply through it. Asking questions helps us in this process.
The following are some questions to consider as you study a passage:
What does this text tell me about God and what God is like?
What does this text tell me about what God has done in history?
What does this text tell me about what God has done for me?
What does this text tell me about myself and what I am like?
Does this text contain a promise from God? If so, what is it? Is the promise conditional or unconditional?
Does this text reveal something I should praise or thank God for? If so, what is it?
Does this text reveal something that I should pray about for myself or for others? If so, what is it?
Does this text reveal something that I should have a new attitude about? If so, what is it?
Does this text reveal something I should do for the sake of Christ, others, or myself? If so, what is it?
Does this text reveal a sin in my life that I need to repent of? If so, what is it?
What am I going to do in response to this text from God’s Word?
These questions, and others like them, will help us not only to understand the text, but more importantly to apply it.
Above all else, just make time for the Word of God. Identify the things that steal time from your life and prevent you from spending more time with God in His Word and eradicate them. While these thoughts by no means exhaust the many ways you can read and study the Bible, some of them may be of genuine use to you. Grab your Bible, find a quiet place, and taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8)!

Praying for Missionaries

2009-09-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

Missionaries have always asked for prayer. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome and said, “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me” (Romans 15:30). But all too often our prayers for missionaries consist of “God please bless all the missionaries all over the world wherever they are.” Many times I have heard people who have a genuine heart for Jesus, the Gospel, and the Great Commission pray in this way. And I readily confess that I have uttered these general type petitions in the past as well as I sought to lift up those who are serving the cause of Jesus Christ and the Gospel overseas. But over the years I have tried to move away from such blanket prayers and move toward praying for some very specific things on behalf of missionaries.
One thing that has greatly helped me to do this is to pray regularly for specific missionaries. Our family receives several monthly prayer updates from missionaries on the field that convey their detailed needs. This allows one to “get to know” the missionaries and their struggles and their specific needs and concerns. Also, many missionary agencies such as the International Mission Board provide prayer calendars and send out weekly e-mail prayer updates to keep God’s people aware of particular needs that arise, as well as to inform them of how they can praise God for the continued advance of the Gospel.
It also helps to pray for some needs that are common to all missionaries. The following list is far from exhaustive, but may cause you to enlarge your prayers on behalf of God’s ambassadors.
Pray for their Spiritual Life: that they would take sufficient time to study the Bible and pray; that they would be encouraged and experience joy in their ministry; that they would be people of integrity, reliability, humility, discernment, and wisdom; that they would be led by the Holy Spirit in all of their day to day decisions.
Pray for their Personal Life: that their marital relationships would be strengthened; that the needs of their children would be cared for; that they would not be homesick for or worry about family, friends, and situations back in the United States; that they would be protected from sickness; that they would be protected from accidents, crime, terrorists, and calamities.
Pray for their relationships: with other Christians; with their ministry team; with the nationals they are working with and ministering to.
Pray for them as they work in a different culture with a new language: that they would make steady progress in language studies; that they would adapt well and be sensitive to new customs and cultures; that they would have clarity, creativity, and relevance in their preaching and teaching; that they would be fearless to preach Christ and Him crucified no matter what the cost.
While there are so many more things that we must pray for on behalf of missionaries, let this serve as a great starting point for us as we seek to be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Now let us pray without ceasing on behalf of those who are pouring out their life for the spread of the Gospel!

Down-to-Business Living for Christ

2009-09-03T17:08:00.001-07:00

At the age of 22 Jim Elliot wrote these words to his father in a letter dated April 13, 1950, “I met with twenty-five young people, high school age and over, last night after the meeting before I went to the bus and had a serious time dealing with them about private study of the Scriptures, personal holiness, and down-to-business living for Christ.”
Jim Elliot was more than qualified to speak about down-to-business living for Christ. His life was permeated with a desire to live a life that thoroughly glorified Jesus in all that he did. When Jim was between the ages of 20 and 24 he penned the following quotes in his journal and in letters to family and friends:
“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.”
“He makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’ Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame.”
“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.”
“Christ needs some young fellows to sell out to Him and recklessly toss their lives into His work.”
“He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
After college and some time spent in various ministries Jim traveled to Ecuador to minister among the Quichua Indians. God had also implanted within Jim’s heart a desire to reach the Auca people. The Auca were a primitive and savage people who were hostile toward the Quichua and outsiders. It was dangerous to attempt to reach the Auca, yet Jim knew that this was what God had called him to do and that the Gospel was the Auca’s only hope.
Less than six years after he wrote to his father about “down-to-business living for Christ” Jim Elliot would lie dead on the banks of a secluded river in the jungles of Ecuador having been run threw with a spear by the very people that he desired to share the Gospel with. His widow concludes her story of Jim’s life in this way:
“Suffice it to say that on Friday the thrill of Jim’s lifetime was given. He took an Auca by the hand. At last the twain met. Five American men, three naked savages. Two days later, on Sunday, January 8, 1956, the men for whom Jim Elliot had prayed for six years killed him and his four companions.” Jim Elliot, at the age of 28, lay dead on the banks of the Curaray River in the jungle of Ecuador.
As his widow begins the Epilogue she writes, “W. Somerset Maugham, in Of Human Bondage, wrote, ‘These old folk had done nothing, and when they died it would be just as if they had never been.’ Jim’s comment on this was, ‘God deliver me!’” And God did indeed deliver Jim Elliot from such a wasted life. His life and death were characterized with bold obedience to Jesus Christ. And though when he died he had very little of material value, he left an enduring legacy and an example of self-sacrifice for the cause of Christ to the peoples of the world.
God deliver us so that we would not waste our lives, but would live them for the glory of Jesus Christ and the spread of His Gospel to the nations!

All quotes are from: Elisabeth Elliot. Shadow of the Almighty. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1958.

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 6

2009-08-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

Putting on the new
Taking thoughts captive is only half the battle. In reality, it is not enough to simply abolish the thoughts that do not conform to the criteria of Philippians 4:8. We must replace these thoughts with truth from God’s Word. Paul’s admonition is not simply to do away with wrong thinking, but to “think about” those things that do conform to the truths of God’s Word. Not replacing the wrong thoughts simply leaves a vacuum that will soon be occupied with more erroneous thinking if something true does not take its place. This is where we really begin to preach truth to ourselves in an active way.
Ephesians 4:20-24 says, “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” The Bible uses terminology such as “put off” and “put on” to describe the things of our former way of life that we lay aside and “put off” while we “put on” and adopt new ways of thinking and living in Christ. In the above passage, Paul says that as Christians we are to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” as we put on the new man that has been recreated in Christ. Similarly, Colossians 3:8-10 also tells us to “put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge.” It is clear to see that the Christian not only needs a new way of living, but also a new way of thinking.
Here is how this applies: as we take thoughts captive we “put off” those that do not conform to the Philippians 4:8 criteria and we “put on” those that do and we meditate upon them. Obviously, the thoughts that meet those criteria come from the truth of God’s Word. To pick up our depression example again, as the depressed person thought, “This is going to be another terrible day” that thought should be taken captive and replaced with something like, “It may indeed be a bad day today, but God’s grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) and no matter what happens to me today God is going to use it for my good in making me more like Christ (Romans 8:28-29).” To use another example, the thought “God has abandoned me and is nowhere to be found” is to be “put off” and replaced with truth such as “God may not feel near to me at this moment, but He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5) and even though He may feel distant the truth is that He is an ever present help in my time of need (Psalm 46:1).” When we do this we are injecting our mind and heart with biblical, life-giving truth. This allows us to preach to ourselves in an active way rather than us passively “listening” to our uncontrolled thoughts and emotions. It also allows us to anchor our lives to truth rather than feelings. I may feel such-and-such a way, but I need to be reminded that my feelings often betray the truth of what God has said about Himself, me, and my circumstances.
None of this denies the real hurt and heartbreak of life. It does, however, push us to the truth of God and His Word and His promises. It allows us to turn the focus away from our situation and our self and place our gaze upon God.

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 5

2009-08-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Using a biblical filter for our thoughts
The question now arises, “What thoughts do I take captive?” Being aware of our thoughts and taking our thoughts captive is of no use unless we know what thoughts need to be eradicated. To do this we need a filter.
Consider how a filter works in your home air conditioning unit: as the air flows over the filter it is designed to capture and stop certain things from making it into the air ducts of your house. It stops dust, lint, and other particles that are unhealthy for your family to breath, but allows the air to pass through without problem. In other words, it stops the bad things from traveling any further and allows the proper things to pass through unabated.
God’s Word also gives us a biblical “filter” for our thoughts in Philippians 4:8 where Paul writes, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.” The criterion that our thoughts have to meet is truth, nobility, rightness, purity, loveliness, admirableness, excellence, and praiseworthiness. Things that meet these criteria pass through the filter and should be thought about and meditated upon. Thoughts that do not meet these criteria don’t pass through this filter and should be taken captive and we do not think about them.
The problem is that most of our thoughts should never make it through the filter. To use our example of the person with depression again, the thought, “This is going to be another terrible day” should be taken captive because it is not pure, lovely, or noble. It may indeed be true, but to dwell upon that idea sends the depressed person into further despondency and further away from the realization of God in their lives. To use another example, the thought “God has abandoned me and is nowhere to be found” does not meet the criteria of truth. It may feel like the truth, but in actuality it is simply a lie. Again, this thought must be taken captive and put out of one’s mind. The filter is of no use unless it is implemented through the active taking captive of one’s thoughts.
(NOTE: This is not the power of positive thinking or anything of the sort. As will hopefully be seen below, this is the power of biblical truth to transform and renew our minds [Romans 12:2].)

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 4

2009-08-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

Taking our thoughts captive
Paul writes to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 and says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Several things come to bear on the application of the truth of God here. First, it is a battle. Paul uses warfare imagery as he talks about appropriating the truth of God in the midst of a spiritual war. Secondly, and most importantly, he says to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” This deals with being in control of what we are thinking and talking to ourselves rather than simply passively listening to ourselves.
Imagine the person who does not “take every thought captive” as in the example of the person with depression given above. They are like a person who is on an out of control horse where the reins have been thrown over the horse’s head and the rider is simply hanging on for dear life with no control over the horse whatsoever. The horse simply goes wherever it wishes. This person’s mind is taking them on a ride that is scary, out of control, and is not pleasurable in the least. The antidote and remedy for this is to “take every thought captive.”
To do this one has to constantly be aware of what we are thinking all of the time. A thought cannot be taken into captivity if we are oblivious to what we are thinking. In keeping with Paul’s warfare analogy, we need to be on guard for what is happening with our thoughts in much the same way that a sentry would guard against the enemy: ever vigilant and mindful of an attack or anything that seems like a foreign invader.

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 3

2009-08-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Preaching truth to ourselves as we battle for the mind
The fight of faith in the midst of troubles is more often than not a battle of the mind. Our minds are the battlefield. Satan, the flesh, and the world have lies for their arsenal and our main weapon is truth. Here is what we have a tendency to do when we face troubles: we allow our self to talk to us instead of us talking to ourselves. In other words, we are many times passive listeners rather than active talkers to ourselves. Rather than “renewing our mind” (Romans 12:2) we often allow our mind and our thoughts to control us and send us into an ever increasing spiral into our fears, depression, and despondency and away from the truth of God and His promises.
An example of this might be someone who battles with depression. They may wake up and tell themselves, “This is going to be another terrible day.” Or, “Something will go wrong today, just give it time.” Or even worse, “God has abandoned me and is nowhere to be found.” The list of examples is endless. The point is that this person most likely thinks these things thousands of times during the day without ever really taking notice of what occupies their thoughts. So it is no wonder that they feel depressed when you consider that they have been “listening” to themselves speak things that are not in conformity to the truths of God. Everybody does this, to one degree or another, but this is most harmful in times of struggle.

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 2

2009-08-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Satan’s design is for us to focus on our troubles and not upon our God
The enemy’s grand scheme (Ephesians 6:11) is for Christ’s followers to be so wrapped up in their troubles that they lose sight of the source of their strength (Exodus 15:2). Satan desires that we would be so distraught and overwhelmed with the trials of life that we would curse God to His face (Job 1:11). This is the pervasive struggle in trials: to see past the trials so that we might see the face of God. The glass is even dimmer in the darkness of trial and tribulation (1 Corinthians 13:12) so we must strain to see past the situation and squint to see the light of God. We surely cannot do this apart from faith in God and in the promises of His Word.
When the writer of Hebrews says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1) he captures the essence of faith in God and His promises in the midst of trials. When we walk through the trials of life we do not often “see” the hand of God. Many times it seems to be quite the opposite: a world and a life that are out of control where God does not intervene. It is in those dark moments that we must be “certain” of what we do not see, namely the secure and steadfast promises of God that are rooted in the unchanging character of God and His Word.

The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 1

2009-08-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

The application of the truth of God is a fight
Applying the Word of God does not come easily in times of God’s overt blessing, much less at times when various trials and hardships assail us. To apply the Word of God to our circumstances and to our souls calls for the utmost diligence and the most fervent fight.
The Psalmist writes, “My flesh and my heart fail” (Psalm 73:26a). This surely is the feeling that many experience during struggles: weakness, a sense of being overwhelmed, despondent, depressed, and the list could go on. But in the second part of the verse he declares, “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26b). The psalmist does not stay in his despondent condition, but rather clings to God. There is no doubt that this is a fight and that it is not easy, but yielding to the failing of our flesh and heart cannot be an option. We must fight.

Slaves of Jesus

2009-08-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

It is interesting to notice how the writers of the New Testament refer to themselves in their letters. As the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the church in Rome he writes, “This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ's slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News” (Romans 1:1). James begins his letter by saying, “This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). The Apostle Peter starts his second letter by writing, “This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). And the first words of Jude’s letter read, “This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (Jude 1:1). The one thing that they all have in common was that they consider themselves slaves of Jesus. Rather than refer to themselves as church planters or missionaries or leaders, or even referring to themselves exclusively as apostles, they chose to be known as slaves of Jesus.
Slavery was a reality in the first century Roman Empire. Estimates of slavery in that culture vary with some reporting slaves being in upwards of 50% of the population and some showing slaves making up 20% of the population. A realistic number is probably somewhere in between, but whichever figure is true it is more than apparent that slavery flourished in the first century.
While the tasks of slaves varied, one thing that all slaves had in common was that they were the property of someone else. Slaves were considered living tools with each one having an owner. A Roman could buy, rent, or sell a slave as he would any other piece of property. Paul had this truth in mind when he wrote, “Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 7:22b-23a). Jesus, our Master, has paid for us with His life and we are now His possession.
The word “slave” or “bondservant” that is used in the passages above comes from the Greek word doulos (dou/loj) and is a word that means “pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something; to be subservient to someone else; one who gives himself up wholly to another’s will.” So as slaves of Jesus we are now to be completely controlled by and subservient to Him. As His followers we are to give ourselves up wholly to His will and live for Him and not for ourselves.
But a slave of Jesus lives not just to serve Jesus, but also to serve others. 1 Corinthians 9:19 says, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” A Christian’s servitude to Jesus is lived out in the service of others. A person who is a slave of Jesus will follow the example of their Master who said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” so that He could serve us by dying on the cross in our place and for our sins (Philippians 2:7-8).
Are you able to refer to yourself as many of the New Testament writers did: a slave of Jesus? Begin today to live life as a slave of Jesus Christ and experience the grace and love of the Master who says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

A Christ-Centered Perspective on Life

2009-08-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges of life is living all of it out with a Christ-centered perspective. Colossians 3:3-4 gives us some instruction concerning this when it reads, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.”
Verse 3 points to the Christian’s union with Jesus and our death with Him. When Jesus died on the cross He died as my representative, taking my place, and my death. Now, through my union with Him by faith, I have already died. I am now dead to the penalty of sin, I am dead to the power of sin, and I am dead to the things of this world. I am a new creation in Christ. This is past tense showing that this is what has already happened.
In verse 4 Paul looks to the future and speaks about Jesus’ return. Though Jesus is now hidden, out of sight from the eyes of the world, and though our lives are now hidden in Him, there is coming a day when those things will be revealed. There is coming a day when Jesus returns and we will be made like Him and we will glorify Him. That is the future.
But we are living out our lives in the present: somewhere between Jesus dying for us and Jesus coming again. We are stuck between the past and the future in this world of the here and now. But we are to live with both perspectives in mind. Our desires and our focus and our thoughts and our minds are to reflect both the past truths and the future truths. We are to live remembering that Jesus died for us and all that we are in Christ. And we are also to live remembering that Jesus is coming again for us to glorify us and to bring us to be with Him forever. We are to live with both the past and the future in mind. And as we do that it should transform our living and cause us to have a true Christ-centered perspective.
But the key to it all is to live all of our lives remembering that it is Christ who is our life. Jesus does not merely give life; for the Christian Jesus is life. Jesus cannot just be a part of my life that gets pulled out and lived out on Sunday mornings. For the believer Jesus is their life!

Life Changing Truth

2009-08-11T14:30:00.001-07:00

For me personally there has never been a verse that has so impacted my thinking and living of the Christian life than Colossians 3:4. The verse reads: “When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.” It may be an overstatement to say that that verse is one of the greatest passages in the New Testament. But it would not be an overstatement for me to say that in my own personal life and relationship with Jesus Christ that He has used this passage in a greater way than possibly any other in the Bible. I had read this passage many, many times in my reading of Scripture, but about five years ago this verse, and specifically one phrase, leapt off the page and I have been trying to live out the implications of that phrase ever since: CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE. Because Jesus is not meant to be just a part of your life; not even a big part of your life. Jesus should be your life. And everything in life rides on this and how true this is for you and me. My hope for this site is that it will encourage me (and possibly the one or two other people that view it!) to live out the truth that Christ is our life. Most of the things that I plan to post will simply be comments upon Scripture in order to encourage, challenge, and strengthen us to show the supremacy of Jesus in all of life!