Forgive

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE COST OF FORGIVENESS

Matthew 18:35 NIV
Forgive your brother from your heart

Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. Forgiveness is costly; we pay the price of the evil we forgive. Yet you're going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bondage of bitterness or the freedom of forgiveness. That's how Jesus forgave you--He took the consequences of your sin upon Himself. All true forgiveness is substitutional, because no one really forgives without bearing the penalty of the other person's sin.

Why then do we forgive? Because Christ forgave us. God the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Where is the justice? The cross makes forgiveness legally and morally right: "For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all" (Romans 6:10).

How do you forgive from the heart? First, you acknowledge the hurt and the hate. If your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your past, it will be incomplete. This is the great evangelical cover-up. Christians feel the pain of interpersonal offenses, but we won't acknowledge it. Let God bring the pain to the surface so He can deal with it. This is where the healing takes place.

Ask God to bring to your mind those you need to forgive. Make a list of all those who have offended you. Since God has forgiven them by His grace, you can forgive them too. For each person on your list, say: "Lord, I forgive (name) for (offenses) ." Keep praying about each individual until you are sure that all the remembered pain has been dealt with. Don't try to rationalize or explain the offender's behavior. Forgiveness deals with your pain, not another's behavior. Remember: Positive feelings will follow in time; freeing yourself from the past is the critical issue.

Prayer:

Lord, I desire to be free from the hurt and the hate of offenses in my past. Today I move beyond desiring to forgive and asking Your help to forgive. Lord, I forgive _________ for ___________.

Ask Questions

Excerpt of Form and Function post from guccilittlepiggy

... The point is: we are talking about how we best maximize our redemptive potential. I think that's a critical question to repeatedly ask over time as people lead a local church.

Unfortunately, many churches get all too enamored with some model (of church) they saw operate with great effectiveness and adopted it, never to look back. At first, maybe even for decades it worked well for them and the context they lived in...but then something changed. Maybe it was the leadership, maybe it was the context, maybe it was everything in between but something changed that made their current model less effective for reaching and discipling people in their neck of the woods. But they don't change. They like the form (the model). It gives them comfort because of its familiarity, its easier because all your systems revolve around it and most of all it takes less courage to change (I mean, think of all the people you might lose if you shifted gears now).

...

Conviction

Summary of Each One Should Be Fully Convinced in His Own Mind by John Piper

[Romans 14]

...

So in this text we have two kinds of disagreements among Christians: What to think about certain days, and whether to eat certain foods. What is Paul’s counsel? In verses 1-4 his counsel was, Don’t despise each other and don’t judge each other. God has received the brother, the Lord will be his judge not you, and God will make the brother stand. Here he says something different. He says (verse 5b), “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” This is remarkable because it seems to make the problem worse not better. Let’s be sure we see it. Verse 5: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

This is not what I would have expected. He is not saying as a kind of concession, Each one can have his own conviction. He is saying, Each one should have his own conviction. It’s a command, not a permission: “Let each one be fully persuaded in his own mind” (hekastos en tö idiö voi plërophoreisthö). It’s the same word used in Romans 4:21 where it says that Abraham “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced (plërophorëtheis) that God was able to do what he had promised.” It’s the same idea that we find in Romans 14:23, “Whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” In other words, minor matters do not call for mushy faith or flimsy convictions. They call for clear faith and full conviction.

...

So here’s the sum of the matter: Paul is dealing with disagreements over non-essential matters like days and food. Instead of saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” or “Lighten up,” he says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” He believes people with conviction and decisiveness are better risks than the other kind.

So how does he handle the risk of conflict when lots of people are “fully convinced” that their way is not sinful, and honors God, and is the best way they can see for themselves in this situation? He boldly asserts that opposite behaviors—eating and not eating—can both show the worth of Christ. To support that radical statement he says its true of the ultimate condition of opposites: life and death. And to support that radical statement he goes to the greatest event in history: “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

The living display the infinite worth of his lordship by valuing him in all his good gifts. The dead display the infinite value of his lordship by valuing him above all his gifts when they are taken away.

Therefore, I do not say to you, “Lighten up.” Or, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Rather I say, “Stand in awe of the risen Christ who will get his glory from the living and from the dead and from the eaters and the abstainers and from the day-keepers and the non-day-keepers. Stand in awe of Jesus Christ. And whatever you do, whether you eat or whether you drink, do all to the glory of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Jump?

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

ACTIVE FAITH

James 2:18
You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works

When my son Karl was just a toddler, I would stand him up on the table and call for him to jump from the table into my arms. Did Karl believe I would catch him? Yes. How did I know he believed? Because he jumped. Suppose he wouldn't jump. "Do you believe I will catch you, Karl?" I might coax, and he may nod yes. But if he never jumps, does he really believe I will catch him? No. Faith is active, not passive. Faith takes a stand. Faith makes a move. Faith speaks up.

There are a lot of Christians who claim to have great faith in God but are spiritually lethargic and don't do anything. Faith without action is not faith; it's dead, meaningless (James 2:17, 18)! If it isn't expressed, it isn't faith. In order to believe God and His Word, we must do what He says. If you don't do what He says, you don't really believe Him. Faith and action are inseparable.

Sadly, one of the common pictures of the church today is of a group of people with an assumed faith but little action. We're thankful that our sins are forgiven and that Jesus is preparing a place in heaven for us, but we're basically cowering in fear and defeat in the world, just hanging on until the rapture. We treat the church as if it's a hospital. We get together to compare wounds and hold each other's hands, yearning for Jesus to come take us away.

The church is not a hospital; it's a military outpost under orders to storm the gates of hell. Every believer is on active duty, called to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20). Thankfully the church has an infirmary where we can minister to the weak and wounded, and that ministry is necessary. But our real purpose is to be change agents in the world, taking a stand, living by faith, and accomplishing something for God. You can say you believe God and His Word. But if you are not actively involved in His plan, are you really a mature believer?

Prayer:

Lord, if I'm not moving forward by faith and taking ground today, I'm only treading water or slipping backward. Nudge me forward today, Lord.

Declare Dependence

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE LUST OF THE FLESH

1 John 2:16
The lust of the flesh . . . is not from the Father, but is from the world

Satan first approached Eve through the channel of the lust of the flesh. He planted a doubt in her mind about the fruit of the tree when he said: "Has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1). Eve answered, "God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it'" (verse 3). But Satan had piqued her appetite for the forbidden fruit, and she "saw that the tree was good for food" (verse 6). Yielding to the lust of the flesh contributed to Adam and Eve's downfall.

Satan also challenged Jesus through the channel of the lust of the flesh. Our lord had been fasting for 40 days when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness at the point of His apparent vulnerability: "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3). Satan is not omniscient, but he's not blind either. He learned about Jesus' apparent vulnerability to physical temptation by watching Him go without food for 40 days. He's watching you too, looking for soft spots of vulnerability in your appetites for food, rest, comfort and sex. Temptation is greatest when hunger, fatigue and loneliness are acute.

The temptation of the lust of the flesh is designed to draw us away from the will of God to serve the flesh (Galatians 5:16, 17). When Satan tempts you through the channel of the lust of the flesh, he will invite you to fulfill your needs in ways that are outside the boundary of God's will. Whenever you feel enticed to meet a legitimate need by acting independently of God, you are being tempted through the lust of the flesh.

When you resist the temptations of the lust of the flesh, you are declaring your dependence on God for your needs. As such you are remaining "in the vine," tapping into the resources Jesus referred to in John 15:5. But when you yield to temptation in this area, your fruitfulness as a Christian will suffer because apart from Christ you can do nothing.

Prayer:

You are a strong, fruit vine, Lord, and I will not wither as long as I remain in You. Strengthen me today to resist the temptation to meet my needs apart from You.

Both

A rather long excerpt from a post by Dan Kimball on Social Justice - yes.....Heaven and Hell - yes

...

I shared in the teaching how as we talk about this, we don't see this as a "program" of the church but instead see it is part of the DNA of who we are and who we desire to be as a church. There is a big difference between the two. I told how if you asked me 8 or 9 years ago what is Christianity all about and the gospel, I would have answered "it is about putting faith in Jesus and His work on the cross so we can go to heaven when we die." I wrote about my change of understanding about this in The Emerging Church (2003) on page 282-283 where I wrote about the importance of "living in the Kingdom now, not just when we get to heaven". I wrote about the difference of focusing the gospel entirely about going to heaven in the next life when it is more than that the focus is also on the Kingdom now on earth and our roles as followers of Jesus in it.

I spoke Sunday about we need to repent if we have simply bought into the "going to heaven when we die" mindset and not taken our role in this life and on this earth seriously now. God seems to be moving amongst the church as the many churches who did not take this seriously have seemed to awaken to this false dichotomy. So it is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to see this happen. I have nothing but thrill to see and hear this happening and I can only imagine the delight of God as He sees this happening. We only have just begin too as there is so much work to be done, the marginalized, the oppressed, even the way we steward caring for the earth and environment really all plays into this. But it is just incredible seeing the work that is now beginning and happening with those of us who did not understand the impact the gospel holistically makes.

But, I as I listen, watch, read, observe.... I have a sort of nagging in the back of my mind/heart concern......questions.... trying to project things out 10 years, 20 years...... I did speak about this Sunday at Vintage Faith Church as part of the message. I also raised it up at Willow Creek Community Church when I was there 2 weeks ago which you can read about and see a video clip here and also it was written about here by someone who covered the event.

What I am wondering about, is how do we avoid patterns of the past when the church jumps strongly in the realm of focusing on the gospel's impact for this earth and in this life - but slowly neglects teaching and reminding people of the gospel's impact about the reality of eternal heaven and eternal hell in the life to come after we die?

...

New Restoration

Excerpt from Greg Taylor, The 21st Century Restoration: Will We Join It? at NewWineskins

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The world is changing and our worldview ought also to change. Rather than asking, “Are the Baptists or the Catholics right?” millions are asking a question on a completely different plane: “Is Jesus the Lord or should I follow Muhammad?” I’m more concerned to tell Muslims and sinners about Jesus than I am debating matters of precise doctrinal formulations with fellow Christians. I’d rather show a wanderer the gospel of Jesus than “convert” an Episcopalian’s view of scripture to mine.

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Video

Some interesting productions at FaithVisuals.

Gospel

"Today there are many who doubt that there is just one gospel. That gives them the warrent to ignore the gospel of atonement and justification. There are others who don't like to admit that there are different forms to that one gospel. That smacks too much of 'contextualization,' a term they dislike. They cling to a single presentation that is often one-dimensional. Neither of these is as true to the biblical material, nor as effective in actual ministry, as that which understands that the Bible presents one gospel in several forms."

Tim Keller (quoted at Our of Ur)

Intelligent Design

Excerpt from C. Michael Patton post on Expelled: Evolution vs Intelligent Design - A Review


Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is the highly anticipated Ben Stein documentary concerning the Intelligent Design (ID) movement. The ID movement describes a belief among many scientists that the supposition and/or conclusion of an Intelligent Designer makes more sense out of science than the alternatives. IDers have had a strong and rising presence in the Christian community over the last ten years, and this movie hopes to give their arguments exposure and validity within scientific academia.

The best word that I can use to describe the movie is this: Effective.

I don’t really like propaganda. I don’t like spins. I don’t like misrepresentation. Even though I am all for the ID movement, I highly expected this movie to make my face red. It did not. In fact, I think that the producers and writers proposed a humble agenda and accomplished this, giving people a educational video that should well outlast its Hollywood light.

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Worship

"Worship is forgetting about what's wrong with you and remembering what's right with God. It is like hitting the refresh key on your computer. It restores the joy of your salvation. It recalibrates your spirit. It renews your mind. And it enables you to find something good to praise God about even when everything seems to be going wrong." [p. 67]

Mark Batterson, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day

Behavior

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIOR

Galatians 5:16
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh

A careful distinction must be made concerning your relationship to the flesh as a Christian. There is a difference in Scripture between being in the flesh and walking according to the flesh. As a Christian, you are no longer in the flesh. That phrase describes people who are still spiritually dead (Romans 8:8), those who live independently of God. Everything they do, whether morally good or bad, is in the flesh.

You are not in the flesh; you are in Christ. You are no longer independent of God; you have declared your dependence upon Him by placing faith in Christ. But even though you are not in the flesh, you may still choose to walk according to the flesh (Romans 8:12, 13). You may still act independently of God by responding to the mind-set, patterns and habits ingrained in you by the world you lived in. Paul rebuked the immature Corinthian Christians as "fleshly" because of their expressions of jealousy, strife, division and misplaced identity (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). He listed the evidences of fleshly living in Galatians 5:19-21. Unbelievers can't help but live according to the flesh because they are totally in the flesh. But your old skipper is gone. You are no longer in the flesh and you no longer need to live according to its desires.

Getting rid of the old self was God's responsibility, but rendering the flesh and its deeds inoperative is our responsibility (Romans 8:12). God has changed your nature, but it's your responsibility to change your behavior by "putting to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13). You will gain victory over the flesh by learning to condition your behavior after your new skipper, your new self which is infused with the nature of Christ, and learning to transform your old pattern for thinking and responding to your sin-trained flesh by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2).

Prayer:

Lord, knowing that I am no longer controlled by sin is such a liberating concept. I can walk today in freedom from my old self, the world system, and the devil. Praise Your name!

Missional Path

Excerpts from interview with Alan Hirsch in NewWineskins

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Fred: If you were asked to steer a conventional, western church on a missional path and were given the freedom to utilize or reallocate all funds and resources in the best way you felt this could be accomplished, how and what would you do? Let’s say you have three staff members and a lien-free building. And the building is located in a neighborhood where few members actually live.

Alan Hirsch: Fred, you want to get me into trouble here! The issue of change and transition into missional forms of church is fraught with many complex problems. But again, at the heart of the problem is our ‘idea of church’—the conception we have of what it means to be God’s people as a community. Part of the problem is that we have so associated our idea of church with the institutional forms of it (including programs, services, professionalization of ministry, theologies, denominational templates, etc.) that we need to at least be given the chance to experience each other as Jesus’ church divorced from the predominance of the institution of the church.

Having said this, I do believe the building can present a real problem—for one, it staticizes our idea of church. I would certainly have the building in my sights. But that would be just one thing—the heart of my strategy would be to try to communicate a more primal and organic idea of church and mission because I think that is more who we truly are meant to be. You no doubt know that wonderful quote from Antoine de Saint Extupery: "If you want to build a ship, don't summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work—rather, teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean."

The unfolding of Christianity as the means by which people are re-connected to God has nothing to do with the institutionalized idea of church in the first instance. We need to recover our most basic, and dangerous, forms of church—that of an apostolic movement. It’s the story of the church and her mission that I outline in The Forgotten Ways. I would tell and retell of that story and then let’s see what happens!

Fred: Can you talk a little about "third place communities?" How important are they to the missional mode?

Alan Hirsch:I think in the West these are absolutely vital to our mission. For those who don’t know the jargon, the first place is our homes, the second place is our work environments, and the third place is our preferred social environment. It is where you hang out when you have time to hang out. The problem for us in the West is that the first place (home) is primarily defined by our concepts of the nuclear family. The home is our fortress from the onslaughts of the world around about us. It can be a place of mission but in most cases it is severely limited because most of us do not see the family as an extended, or open, family as in ancient Mediterranean cultures of the Bible. The second place (work) is very formalized and guarded by roles you have to play if you are to get on with others and is also therefore very limited. The third place however, is a wonderful place where you can engage with people on their own turf. But as Neil Cole says, you have to be willing to sit in the smoking section if you want to do mission in our contexts. It’s a great way to get us out of our cloistered holy zones and take Jesus to where the people are. I actually think it should be our primary missional ground.

...

Faithful

David Crowder Band "Never Let Go"

Purpose

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, April 21, 2008 - Finding Biblical Balance for Our Lives
Balancing Our Energy Checkbooks

We hear a lot about finding balance in our lives, especially those of us who are working women. And for Christian working women, we have a completely different yardstick by which to measure the balance of our lives, because we have—or should have—an eternal perspective: What matters for eternity?

Our dilemma is: How do we know what a balanced life is—and how do we find it?

Which of these statements would you say are true? Our lives are in balance when:

• We accomplish everything we plan to do each day
• We are able to meet all the expectations others have of us
• We are able to look good all the time
• We never feel pressured or frazzled
• We live stress-free lives
• We never have to say “no” to anyone
• We can juggle many balls in the air at the same time
• We are very good at multi-tasking

Are these the signs of a balanced life? No, not necessarily. We need a biblical perspective of what it means to live a balanced life. So let’s begin by asking the question: Why am I here?

Why Am I Here?

We are here to do the good works He has planned for us to do:

For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

We are not to be lazy; we are not here to please ourselves; we are to be about the Father’s business. God does not exist to make us happy and fulfilled and solve all our problems. We belong to Him, and we are here to do what He planned for us to do.

In the last decades we’ve been programmed to believe that we are special, and we deserve to have what we want just because we are special. Well, God’s Word certainly affirms that each individual is special to God, created in His image, and loved by Him. But we are not here to be doted upon and fussed over. We are here to do good works.

When we get outside of that parameter, then we’re in trouble. How do we get outside of God’s plan for our lives? Here are some of the reasons:

• We start “doing our own thing.”
• We plan our life and ask God to bless it instead of seeking to know and do His plan.
• We try to do our good works and some others as well.
• We fail to seek God’s will.
• We allow others to dictate what we should do and be.

If we want to live the kind of balanced life that will count for eternity, we have to be intentional about doing it.

Living Dependently

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

YOUR LIFE APART FROM GOD

Romans 8:13, 14
If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God

Why do you still react as if your old skipper were still in control of your behavior? Because while you served under it, your old self trained and conditioned your actions, reactions, emotional responses, thought patterns, memories, and habits in a part of your brain called "the flesh." The flesh is that tendency within each person to operate independently of God and to center his interest on himself. An unsaved person functions totally in the flesh (Romans 8:7, 8), worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Such persons "live for themselves" (2 Corinthians 5:15), even though many of their activities may appear to be motivated by selflessness and concern for others.

When you were born again, your old self died and your new self came to life, and you were made a partaker of Christ's divine nature. But your flesh remains. You brought to your Christian commitment a fully conditioned mind-set and lifestyle developed apart from God and centered on yourself. Since you were born physically alive but spiritually dead, you had neither the presence of God nor the knowledge of God's ways. So you learned to live your life independently of God. It is this learned independence that makes the flesh hostile toward God.

During the years you spent separated from God, your worldly experiences thoroughly programmed your brain with thought patterns, memory traces, responses, and habits which are alien to God. So even though your old self is gone, your flesh remains in opposition to God as a preprogrammed propensity for sin, which is living independently of God.

Be aware that you no longer have to obey that preprogrammed bent to live independently of God. You are a child of God, and you are free to put to death those fleshly deeds and obey Christ.

Prayer:

Lord, I make a fresh declaration of dependence on You for today. I renounce all my old tendencies to live independently of You.

New Significance

Excerpt from Tony Reinke interview with Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III on “Patristics for Busy Pastors” posted at The Shepherd's Scrapbook

“When we go back to the church fathers we see them defending the important Christian doctrines that are very basic to us, those doctrines that—if we’ve been Christians for a long time—we may well take for granted, doctrines we don’t question, or have any qualms about. Sometimes as important as they are, we don’t think about them much, and we don’t weave them into our teaching, nor do we express the passion for the importance of them to our people as we ought. When we go back to the patristic period and we see the church fathers defending the reality of, for example, the incarnation of Christ and showing the importance of it, we may—who have fully embraced the incarnation of Christ and never questioned it in our Christian experience—suddenly have a new sense of the significance and the absolute essentialness of the doctrine of the incarnation in a way we hadn’t before."

Theological Thinkers

Excerpts from Dan Kimball's article Sticks and Stones found at Catalyst

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Our fast-paced culture has also accelerated change in the Church. Books, blogs, emails, web sites, and podcasts all communicate new and changing information faster and faster. It is a thrilling time dreaming of the potential these forms of communication have for making the gospel of Jesus known and helping people grow in their maturity as disciples of Jesus.

What I wonder about however, is if we sometimes move so fast and have so much communication happening that we aren’t stopping long enough to see if we are communicating correctly? Could we be eagerly moving ahead so fast in ministry methodology that we aren’t stopping to think about the theology behind the methodology? Are we stopping in the midst of fast communication to see if the words we are using are actually theologically correct?

Words are powerful. Words frame beliefs. Beliefs shape actions. As we use words and terms we need to stop and listen to see how the meanings of our words have subtly but significantly shifted in the minds of people.
...
Let me press this even further. Do we think theologically about the way we set up the room for when we gather to worship? The way we set up a room communicates theology to people. Rows of chairs, all facing a stage, with someone up front – does this communicate community? What does this teach about the priesthood of all believers vs. a separation of those with strong enough gifts to make it to the platform? Have we stopped to ponder what this can communicate or do we simply imitate what we have seen and know, and then continue it without thinking about it theologically?

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What about all things emerging and emergent? We can be very fast to jump on trends and new ideas (or what sounds like new ideas). But are we stopping as leaders to critically think about why we may be drawn to something and think change is needed? I am fully aware and agree that there is a longing for change due to the dissatisfaction of the often overemphasizing of some doctrines or even sins and lack of enough emphasis on others. Perhaps there has been too much emphasis on orthodoxy without enough emphasis on orthopraxy. But as we respond and react as leaders, are we careful to examine to what degree we react and make change. As leaders we have the responsibility to guard those we oversee - to make sure they understand the implications of when we remove focus on one part of our theological spectrum and focus on another.

As leaders, are we are stopping to listen? Do we listen and ask questions to see how the people of our church understand the terms and words we use? So maybe having the wrong definition of “worship” or “church” isn’t a big deal. How about when we start hearing subtle changes of definitions of words like “salvation,” “hell,” “the gospel,” “sin,” “atonement,” “inspiration” etc. Are we listening and stopping as leaders to see if the people we lead understand these words in the way we think they understand them? Misunderstanding these words can lead to a misunderstanding of Christianity.

The world we live in with this information flow and fast change is totally thrilling. But, to me, it also means that the leaders of churches need to be sharpening themselves theologically all the more. This means we need to view all we do theologically: our teaching and our methodology. To me, this means we need to seriously stop long enough in the fast pace of change and new ideas to ponder the trajectory of theological changes we may be pursuing. To me, this means we need to be studying church history all the more. We need to understand patterns of the past and see if the “new” things we’re doing have already been played out in history and what the result was. I personally feel that we need to be building leadership skills and growing as leaders. But at the same time, it means that leaders in our culture today need to be theological thinkers. As we look to the future, we also need to be looking to the theological future – mindful of the paths we’re carving and where they lead.

LORD Most High

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

NEW AGE THINKING

Psalm 83:18 NIV
Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD--that you alone are the Most High over all the earth

The New Age Movement is very attractive to the natural man who has become disillusioned with organized religion and Western rationalism. He desires spiritual reality but doesn't want to give up materialism, deal with his moral problems, or come under authority.

I've discovered six unifying factors in New Age thinking. We will consider three of them today and three tomorrow.

The first is monism --the belief that all is one and one is all. It says we all swim in one great cosmic ocean. History is not the story of humanity's fall into sin and its restoration by God's saving grace. Rather, it is humanity's fall into ignorance and the gradual ascent into enlightenment.

Monism is a counterfeit to the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17:21. That unity is possible only when we are united together in Christian fellowship.

Second, all is God . If all is one, including God, then one must conclude that all is God--trees, snails, books and people are all of one divine essence. A personal God is abandoned in favor of an impersonal energy force or consciousness, and if God is no longer personal, He doesn't have to be served.

New Agers say, "When I was a little child, I believed in God. When I began to mature, I stopped believing in God. Then I grew up and realized that I was God."

A third unifying factor refers to a change in consciousness . If we are God, we need to know we are God. We must become cosmically conscious, also called "at-one-ment" (a counterfeit of atonement), self-realization, god-realization, enlightenment, or attunement. Their faith has no object, neither does their meditation, so it becomes an inward journey. To us, the essential issue is not whether we believe or mediate, but who we believe in and what we meditate upon. We believe God and meditate upon His law day and night.

Prayer:

Lord, I affirm that I am nothing, can do nothing, and will amount to nothing apart from You. You are the object of my faith and life today.

Perfect Storm

Excerpt from Brian McLaren's Breakout Session |Live from Shift: The Perfect Storm | post by Skye Jethani at Out of Ur

...

A similar storm is hitting the world today. Brian covered western history in about fifteen minutes, revealing paradigm shifts that have occurred in the past—including the one that gave us modernity about 500 years ago.

We are experiencing another prefect storm today, says McLaren.

In the last century there have been unprecedented changes in communication, technology, transportation, and economics that has shifted how people think. And once again, Christianity needs to recognize how it has linked itself to an old world view and be prepared to make the shift as well. McLaren was mindful to say that the bible is not the problem, but the modern boundaries or “bands” that we’ve constrained it with.

Following the presentation he gave a generous amount of time to questions. This is where his pastoral sensitivity and pragmatism came through.

A 61 year-old gentlemen who works for Evangelism Explosion asked, “How do we keep current? Things are changing so fast.”

Brian’s answer—there are two big shifts every organization must recognize. First, that their current method isn’t working. And second, that even the new method they develop won’t work forever either. That’s hard for modern institutions that value stasis.

A young pastor from west Texas shared his struggle with defining postmodernism for others in this church. He said it’s really hard to talk with his senior pastor about these ideas. He asked Brian for his advice.

McLaren admitted that the word “postmodernism” is becoming problematic. Many people automatically associate it with evil, relativism, or some other heresy. He suggested avoiding the term. Instead, we ought to approach leaders in our churches from a place of humility rather than solutions. Let’s talk about the problem together. Help them see the challenge you’re facing with younger people. “If you rush at people with a solution before they feel the problem you’ll have trouble,” he said.

One inquisitor, an Anglican priest from Canada, said that his church has embraced many of these postmodern/post-Christian ideas for decades. But now they’re not only wrestling with issue of homosexuality but also the resurrection and the deity of Christ. He wanted to know, what are the guards the boundaries to ensure that his conversation doesn’t go outside of orthodoxy.

Brian said that the polarities his church is witnessing is the “residue of modernity.” In modernity there were two ways of being Christian—the fundamentalist way and the liberal way. But both of these came from a modern world view, they just landed on different conclusions. When we see churches fighting between liberals and conservatives, that’s a church still locked in modernity. McLaren says that in a postmodern paradigm he’s finding liberal Christians who are open to the idea of miracles again, and fundamental Christians who are rethinking the way they read the bible.

Toward the end of the session, Brian talked about the challenges of taking a church in this new direction and the conflicts that can arise. He said we’ve got to remain focused on those who need a relationship with Christ. “It’s heartbreaking to see Christians fighting and arguing with Christians about all of this stuff,” he said. “The fighting is driving people away from Christ.”

Rather than fighting with church leaders to make changes, Brian suggested finding more creative ways to live out the mission to reach people for Christ. He said, “If you wait for your religious organization to give you permission to do the things you know have to happen, then you’ll never be faithful.” If the kind of people you are called to reach won’t be welcomed into your church then invite them in to your home, he said. This doesn’t mean leaving the church, but for some people it might mean “getting out your resume.”

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Brian McLaren: podcast | presentation

Revamping

Excerpt from interview with Greg Hawkins | Live from Shift: Willow Implements REVEAL | post by Skye Jethani at Out of Ur

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Because it’s the mature Christians who drive evangelism in the church Hawkins says, “Our strategy to reach seekers is now about focusing on the mature believers. This is a huge shift for Willow.”

One major implementation of this shift will occur in June when Willow ends their mid-week worship services that had been geared toward believers. Instead the church will morph these mid-week events into classes for people at different stages of growth. There will be theological and bible classes full of “hard-hitting stuff.” Hawkins said most people are very enthusiastic about the change.

On the seeker end of the spectrum, Willow is also changing how they produce their weekend services. For years the value people appreciated most about the seeker-oriented weekend services was anonymity. This is what all their research showed. People didn’t want to be identified, approached, confronted, or asked to do anything. But those days are over.

“Anonymity is not the driving value for seeker services anymore,” says Hawkins. “We’ve taken anonymity and shot it in the head. It’s dead. Gone.” In the past Willow believed that seekers didn’t want large doses of the Bible or deep worship music. They didn’t want to be challenged. Now their seeker-sensitive services are loaded with worship music, prayer, Scripture readings, and more challenging teaching from the Bible.

Willow has been wrestling with the research from REVEAL since 2004. Hawkins said, “We’ve tried incremental changes for four years, but now we know we have to overhaul our whole strategy.” Small steps are no longer the method; Willow is revamping everything. “It would be malpractice for us to not do something with what we’re learning.”

In the larger REVEAL survey taken by 200 churches, people were asked what they want most from their church. Three of the top four responses were:
1. Help me understand the Bible in greater depth
2. Help me develop a closer personal relationship with Christ
3. Challenge me to grow and take the next step in my faith

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Right Valuing

Excerpt from All of Life as Worship by John Piper

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So if verse 2 [Romans 12] is likely a realistic explanation of the symbolic picture of verse 1, let's look at it for a moment. There is a negative command and a positive one: negatively, don't be conformed to this world; positively, be transformed. Not conformed, transformed. Devote your life as a Christian to being changed. Don't settle in at the level of transformation you now have. O how many Christians throw away their birthright by coasting. Be transformed! It's present tense, on-going, continual growth in un-conforming yourself to the world.

But how does this happen? What is involved? Does it mean we should just study what the world wears and watches and listens to and buys and plays, and then do the opposite? Well there will be a difference at most of those levels probably, but that's not what the text focuses on, is it? It says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The focus is not first on getting the outside of the cup cleaned up, but on getting the inside cleaned up. In other words, transformation and non-conformity on the outside must flow from a new mind. Be transformed in the renewing of your mind.

So you might say, OK that means we must learn to think differently than the world thinks, and that will transform us from the inside out. Well, that is true. But there is a word in verse 2 to show us that it is not the whole truth, and may not even be the main truth - depending on what you mean by "thinking."

What is the function of the mind according to verse 2? What is the goal of a renewed mind? Right thinking is surely essential. If you think illogically, you will probably live badly. For example, you might think something like this: "Premise 1: Most TV ads entice me to want things that I don't need. Premise 2: Watching more TV causes me to see more such TV ads. Conclusion: Therefore the more TV I watch the less I will be enticed to want things I don't need." That is simply illogical thinking and it will cause you to live badly if you don't think better than that.

But that is not what verse 2 stresses. There is a very crucial word that we have to get right. The NASB says that our renewed mind is so that we may "prove what the will of God is." The key word is "prove." It is a tremendously important word. It has two implications: one is the idea of testing and proving something's value. And the other idea is the capacity to assess it and approve of a value when you see it. It is very hard in English to bring out both these ideas with one word. The NIV does it in fact by using two words. It refers to the renewing of your mind, then says, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is." That is the full idea. Test and approve.

So what is the root issue in verse 2? The root issue is more than right thinking. It is right valuing. Not just right proving, but right approving. Not just right testing, but treasuring. Let me see if I can help you see the difference like this. It would be possible, perhaps to teach an uneducated person to recognize some of the traits of gold without his knowing how valuable gold is. So you might give him a job panning gold with you in a stream and pay him a dollar an hour while he accurately tests the yellow stones and tosses thousands of dollars worth of gold nuggets into your bag.

That is not the kind of renewal Paul is talking about. He is not saying: read enough books or listen to enough tapes or sermons so that you can spot a good deed when you see it and then work up the discipline to do it. He is saying, be renewed so deeply in your mind that you not only can test and spot gold when you see it, but also love gold - approve gold, treasure gold. That's what the word means. (See Romans 1:28; 14:22; 1 Corinthians 16:3.)

Now you can see that the renewal involved is more than a logic lesson. If you want to find out if a certain material is sweet, you might reason logically: it is brown, gooey, comes from a bee hive, crystallizes if you drop water in it, and makes the eyes a two-year-old light up if you put it on toast. Therefore, you infer, it must be honey, and honey is sweet. That is not the main way Romans 12:2 means for you to find the will of God. The way to know if this material is sweet, is by the power of taste, not logic.

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In other words, mind-renewal is a deep spiritual change in how the mind assesses things and values things. In Ephesians 4:18 Paul says that ignorance (of mind) is rooted in hardness of heart. So if the mind is going to be wise and discerning about the will of God, the heart must be soft and susceptible to spiritual reality. In other words, the renewal Paul is calling for is profound, and deeper than any mere mental effort can achieve. This is why prayer is utterly essential. The constant prayer of the Christian is, "Open my eyes that I may see" (Psalm 119:18); and, "Let the eyes of my heart be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18); and, "Cause me, O Lord, to taste and see that you are good" (Psalm 34:8). In other words, God must do the renewing through his word and Spirit.

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Jealous

Excerpt from The Lord Whose Name Is Jealous by John Piper

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But there is another reason why I have stressed that the covenant of Exodus 34 is not a covenant of works but is based on mercy. I wanted to make sure that we saw the jealousy of God in its true context.

God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.

Instead God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.

The ten commandments are not a job description for God's employees. They are the wedding vows that the peasant girl takes to forsake all others and to cleave to the king alone and to live in a way that brings no dishonor to his great name.

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Hungry

Excerpt from Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish post by Mark Batterson

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This week someone gave me a copy of the commencement address Steve Jobs gave at Stanford a few years ago. It was titled: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. His words resonated with my spirit. He closed his address this way:

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewritters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along. It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then, when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970's, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early-morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Centrality of the Cross & Missional

Excerpt from Dan Kimball's post about the recent Awaken conference

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Erwin [McManus] did a really great job hosting this and kept things moving well and I didn't sense any lulls or people losing connection to what was happening. I loved hearing spontaneous thoughts from people. Nancy Beach, Nancy Ortberg, Mark Batterson and so many others that had great things to say about real life ministry. Erwin's closing words of the conference were the strong reminder how he repeated "it's all about Jesus, it's all about Jesus, it's all about Jesus" and stressed the importance of the centrality of the cross. Erwin was one of the people I emailed Kevin about (see last post) in the book he wrote "Why We're Not Emergent".

They mentioned Erwin in the book a few times and I shared with them that they took some quotes of Erwin and assumed things which weren't really accurate. When you know Erwin, listen to his messages, learn about all that is happening at his church throughout the week, and actually read his books through (not just read quotes taken out of the books) you discover pretty quickly that Erwin takes Scripture extremely seriously and takes evangelism extremely seriously. He definitely uses creative metaphors and encourages followers of Jesus to understand the fullness of life that Jesus tells them they have in Him (John10:10) and to be on the mission and dream big dreams sort of a thing. It is odd to hear from some critics that dreaming missional dreams is seen as humanistic or not God-centered, when the point of the dreams he encourages us to have are ones that are all pointing to making a difference in this world for the gospel of Jesus. He constantly stresses it isn't about us, it is about Jesus and reaching and serving others for Jesus. You can't hang around Erwin or Eric Bryant or other Mosaic staff and not almost feel like you are back in the book of Acts going into new cultures and being on this unpredictable mission for the gospel taking risks, facing all kinds of unusual situations that naturally arise because of the adventure - but committed to the gospel and seeing the Spirit lead people to their need of a Savior. That is why I love hanging out with them and like I blogged about St. Patrick a few weeks ago, how risk-taking missional Christians will probably get criticized as St. Patrick did and Hudson Taylor etc.

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Goals

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

FEELINGS OF ANGER

Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander by put away from you, along with all malice

Feelings of anger should prompt us to reexamine what we believe and the mental goals we have formulated to accomplish those beliefs. My daughter Heidi helped me with this process one Sunday morning while I was trying to hustle my family out the door for church. I had been waiting in the car for several minutes before I stomped back into the house and shouted angrily, "We should have left for church 15 minutes ago!"

All was silent for a moment, then Heidi's soft voice floated around the corner from her bedroom: "What's the matter, Dad? Did somebody block your goal?" She was blocking my goal to get to church on time, but she wasn't blocking my goal to be the husband and father God wants me to be. The only one who can block that goal is me.

A wife and mother may say, "My goal in life is to have a loving, harmonious, happy family." Who can block that goal? Every person in her family can block her goal--not only can , the will ! A homemaker clinging to the belief that her self-worth is dependent on her family will crash and burn every time her husband or children fail to live up to her image of family harmony. She will probably be a very angry woman, which could drive family members even farther away from her and each other. Her major goal in life should be to become the wife and mother God called her to be.

A pastor may say, "My goal in ministry is to reach this community for Christ." Good goal? It is a wonderful desire, but if his self-worth is dependent on that desire being fulfilled, he will experience tremendous emotional turmoil. Every person in the community can block his goal. Pastors who continue to believe that their success is dependent on others will end up fighting with their boards, praying their opposition out of the church or quitting.

Make it your goal to be what God has called you to be. No one can keep you from reaching that goal but you.

Prayer:

Father, help me see Your long-range view of life so I can learn not to blow up at minor, short-term irritations.

Christ is All

Excerpt of post Bonar on the Cross by Tony Reinke at The Shepherd's Scrapbook

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And of this Christianity, what is the essential characteristic, the indispensable feature from first to last? Is it incarnation or blood-shedding? Is it the cradle or the cross? Is it the scene at Bethlehem or at Golgotha? Assuredly the latter! “Eh, Eli, lama sabachthani,” is no mere outcry of suffering nature, the cross is no mere scene of human martyrdom, and the great sepulchre is no mere Hebrew tomb. It is only through blood-shedding that conscience is purged; it is only at the cross that the sinner can meet with God; it is the cross that knits heaven and earth together; it is the cross that bears up the collapsing universe; it is the pierced hand that holds the golden sceptre; it is at Calvary that we find the open gate of Paradise regained, and the gospel is good news to the sinner, of liberty to enter in.

Let men, with the newly sharpened axes of rationalism, do their utmost to hew down that cross; it will stand in spite of them. Let them apply their ecclesiastical paint-brush, and daub it all over with the most approved of mediaeval pigments to cover its nakedness, its glory will shine through all. Let them scoff at the legal transference of the sinner’s guilt to a divine substitute, and of that Surety’s righteousness to the sinner, as a Lutheran delusion, or a Puritan fiction, that mutual transference, that wondrous exchange, will be found to be wrapped up with Christianity itself. Let those who, like Cain of old, shrink from the touch of sacrificial blood, and mock the “religion of the shambles,” purge their consciences with the idea of God’s universal Fatherhood, and try to wash their robes and make them white in something else than the blood of the Lamb; to us, as to the saints of other days, there is but one purging of the conscience, one security for pardon, one way of access, one bond of reconciliation, one healing of our wounds, the death of Him on whom the chastisement of our peace was laid, and one everlasting song, “unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”

-Horatius Bonar, Christ Is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar (Reformation Heritage Books, 2007), pp. 79-80.

Prejudices

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Friday, April 04, 2008 - Facing Our Prejudices

I've looked at racial prejudice, economic prejudice and career prejudice. But did you ever think about the prejudice we have toward gifts? We tend to think some gifts and abilities are more important than others. I happen to have a gift that is visible; it puts me up in front of people. And we get the idea that those are the really special gifts, while the gifts of hospitality and administration and mercy get short-changed.

But all gifts are equally important and should be valued and appreciated equally. I often pray "Lord, deliver me from the celebrity syndrome," which is my way of saying, "Remind me often that I'm a servant and my gift is no more special than anyone else's."

And within the Body of Christ we often detect denominational or doctrinal prejudices. Certainly we need to know God's Word and stand strong and true on basic doctrines which can never be compromised. But dear friends, there are many areas where we can have differences of opinion and belief, and still have sweet fellowship.

Do you think that your way is the only way there is to worship? Are you prejudiced toward people who do it differently–think they're less spiritual or something? A good idea is to visit other kinds of Bible-believing churches and see how wonderful it is to worship God like they do. I love the way the Afro-Americans worship, with emotion and gusto and without regard to clocks. I love their music; it touches my heart. I can worship with them without any trouble.

I also love the classical, more sedate type of worship. I've visited churches with strong ecclesiastical services, and found great beauty and depth in the rituals. The old hymns can hardly be replaced for meaning and splendor, and we should not overlook them just because we have some new ways of singing now.

I truly hope that this series on facing the prejudice within us will cause some of you to start thinking about your own prejudicial attitudes, and sensitizing you to them. I've been shocked to discover how much I think in prejudicial ways, because our society has built a lot of prejudice into us. Also, some of you have been greatly prejudiced toward others because of your parent's attitudes or because you've had a bad experience with an individual and you translate that experience to everyone else of that race or that background.

God wants us to see people as individuals, created and loved by Him, of equal importance and value. We must, by His grace, root out the prejudice within us so that we can show the world what God's love is like. This is especially important within the body of believers, and I pray you'll get serious about facing your own prejudices and asking God to forgive you and teach you to see others as He sees them. That's the secret—looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus.

Happiness

Excerpts from Wednesday, April 2, WSJ Article "Down the Tube: the Sad Stats on Happiness, Money and TV" by Jonathan Clements

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You can think of your happiness as having three components. First, there's your basic disposition -- whether you are, by nature, a happy person or not. Clearly, there isn't a whole lot you can do about this.

Second, there are your life's circumstances, such as your age, health, marital status and income. Often, this stuff isn't nearly as important as folks imagine. If your income doubled, you would initially be delighted. But research suggests you would quickly get used to all that extra money.

That brings us to the third factor, which is how you spend your time -- something you have a fair amount of control over. This is the subject of a major new study by academics Daniel Kahneman, Alan Krueger, David Schkade, Norbert Schwarz and Arthur Stone.

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But what I found most intriguing was the study's data on which activities we enjoy. The five professors grouped activities into six clusters, based on the emotions associated with each.

The standout cluster was what the authors label "engaging leisure and spiritual activities," things like visiting friends, exercising, attending church, listening to music, fishing, reading a book, sitting in a cafe or going to a party. When we spend time on our favorite of these activities, we're typically happy, engrossed and not especially stressed.

"These are things you choose to do, rather than have to do," notes one of the study's co-authors, Prof. Schkade of the University of California, San Diego.

The obvious implication: If we devote more time to these activities, maybe we would be more satisfied with our lives. Yet the evidence suggests we've missed a huge chance to do just that -- which may help explain why Americans are little or no happier than they were four decades ago.

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In other words, both men and women had the chance to lavish more time on "engaging leisure and spiritual activities." But in fact, time spent on these activities has actually declined over the past four decades.

Instead, there's been a significant increase in the hours devoted to what the authors call "neutral downtime," which is mostly watching television. Women now spend 15% of their waking hours staring at the tube, while men devote 17%.

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Work

Excerpt from Brian Lowery interview with N. T. Wright about his latest book—Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church—and how it relates to preaching.

Preaching Today: In your book Surprised by Hope, you talk about a deeper understanding of hope "that provides a coherent and energizing basis for work in today's world." How has that deeper understanding influenced your preaching through the years?

Bishop N. T. Wright: [Studying] the Resurrection for an earlier book, Resurrection of the Son of God … ended up rubbing my nose in the New Testament theology of new creation, and the fact that the new creation has begun with Easter. I discovered that when we do new creation—when we encourage one another in the church to be active in projects of new creation, of healing, of hope for communities—we are standing on the ground that Jesus has won in his resurrection.

New creation is not just "whistling in the dark." It's not a kind of social Pelagianism, where we try to improve things by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. Because Jesus is raised from the dead, God's new world has begun. We are not only the beneficiaries of new creation; we are the agents of it. I just can't stop preaching about that, because that is where we're going with Easter.

For me, therefore, there's no disjunction between preaching about the salvation which is ours in God's new age—the new heavens and new earth—and preaching about what that means for the present. The two go very closely together. If you have an eschatology that is nonmaterial, why bother with this present world? But if God intends to renew the world, then what we do in the present matters. That's 1 Corinthians 15:58! This understanding has made my preaching more challenging to me, and hopefully to my hearers, to actually get off our backsides and do something in the local community—things that are signs of new creation.

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Renewed

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

A BLAMELESS CONSCIENCE

Acts 24:16
I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men

Folklore advises, "Let your conscience be your guide." This has serious limitations since our conscience is a function of our mind. Having been conformed to this world, the conscience can be programmed wrongly. It is always true to its own standard. Until we come to Christ, the standard is the world system in which we were raised. Many people are falsely guided by a guilty conscience--not a true guilt, but a psychological guilt usually developed in early childhood. Satan works through this stronghold to accuse the brethren day and night (Revelation 12:10).

People like this are usually perfectionists who labor under condemnation, even though the Bible says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8;1). They aren't led; they are driven. They constantly look for affirmation. They have a tendency to be man-pleasers. Paul said, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). If you are striving to please men, of whom are you a bond-servant?

Since our minds were conformed to this world, we need to renew them in such a way that what we believe is in accordance with truth. Chapter 14 of Romans deals with how we should walk in regard to nonmoral issues. Paul says, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves" (Romans 14:22).

However, we are to restrict our freedom if it causes a weaker brother to stumble. We never have the right to violate another person's conscience. Paul says, "I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men" (Acts 24:16). Be very cautious about going against your own conscience once you are committed to Christ. The Holy Spirit does work through our consciences as He seeks to renew our minds.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that my mind and conscience can be renewed daily through the power of Your Word.

Two Types of Regret

Excerpt from In the Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

"In his book If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction. A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission. A regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s a sin of omission.

I think the church has fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have a long list of don’ts. Think of it as holiness by subtraction. We think holiness is the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn’t be there. And holiness certainly involves subtraction. But I think God is more concerned about sins of omission—those things we could have and should have done. It’s holiness by multiplication. Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions."

Hope

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

HOPE FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

1 John 3:2, 3
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure

As children of the sinful first Adam, we were obstinate and ornery, helpless and hopeless, with nothing in ourselves to commend us to God. But God's love overruled our unloveliness. Through Christ God provided a way for us into His family. As God's adopted child, you have been given a new identity and a new name. You're no longer a spiritual orphan; you're a son or daughter of God. Romans 8:16, 17, tells us, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ."

If you're beginning to think you are some one special as a Christian, you're thinking right--you are special! Your specialness is not the result of anything you have done, of course. It's all God's doing. All you did was respond to God's invitation to be His child. But as a child of God, in union with God by being in Christ, you have every right to enjoy your special relationship with your new Father.

How important is it to know who you are in Christ? There are countless numbers of Christians who struggle with day-to-day behavior because they labor under a false perception of who they are. They see themselves as sinners who hope to make it into heaven by God's grace, but they can't seem to live above their sinful tendencies. Why can't they live the victorious Christian life? Because they have a misperception of who they are in Christ.

But look again at the hope-filled words of 1 John 3:2, 3. What is the believer's hope? That he will someday be changed into Christ's image? That's part of it, but that's only a future hope. What is your hope for today and tomorrow? That you're a child of God now ! You must see yourself as a child of God in order to live like a child of God. The blessed hope for the believer is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Prayer:

Thank You, Father, for the glorious hope of being Your child. I want to live in the security and blessing of that reality today.