Bright Glory

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,

Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.
The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke.

Isaiah 6, The Message

Marriage

Question (excerpt) posed by Dan Kimball at Vintage Faith

...

My question is this. If we aren't using the New Testament to define marriage as between one man and one woman (which I personally believe is the definition of marriage), then why wouldn't we also allow polygamy? If we don't use the New Testament as our grid for defining marriage, and we move beyond the definition of marriage being a man and woman to it also being a man and a man or woman and a woman - then why not a man and woman and woman? Or a woman and a man and a man? Or a man and a man and a man? As long as they are consenting adults, and they are of legal age and are not biologically related - then what basis of argument would there be not to also allow polygamy to also be acceptable as a definition of marriage as we would with same sex-marriage between two people?

Logically, wouldn't it make sense to argue that polygamy is just as justifiable to be considered "marriage" to consenting adults who love each other and desire that - based on the same arguments used for same sex marriage between two loving and consenting adults? To me, this is showing the need for a higher source of what defines marriage, then left to our own to determine it. But if we aren't using the New Testament as our basis for defining marriage then why not include polygamy as an acceptable definition of marriage in addition to same sex marriage? Wouldn't that make rationale sense using the same arguments for extending the definition of marriage between the same-sex? Could this possibly be a future discussion regarding the definition of marriage and future vote we will have vote on too one day?

...

Identity

Excerpts from The Cult of Mac | Out of Ur | Skye Jethani

...

One aspect of consumerism that is particularly powerful is branding. (Add to it commodification and alienation and you’ve got the unholy trinity of consumerism.) Douglas Atkins, author of The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers, says, "Brands are the new religion...They supply our modern metaphysics, imbuing the world with significance.... Brands function as complete meaning systems."

...

One question I pose in The Divine Commodity is this: If brands have become religions, is the opposite also true? Have religions been reduced to brands? I believe the evidence suggests they have. Researchers like Barna, Gallop, and others are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate the behaviors and values of self-identified Christians from non-Christians with one exception-what they buy. Total sales of religious goods in America is nearly $7 billion annually. That is a whole lot of Tommy Hellfighter t-shirts, Jesus is my Homeboy underwear, and Fruit of the Spirit energy drinks. Is Mark Riddle right:

"Conversion in the U.S. seems to mean we've exchanged some of our shopping at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, and Borders for the Christian Bookstore down the street. We've taken our lack of purchasing control to God's store, where we buy our office supplies in Jesus' name."

What does this mean for the future of the church in America? I hear a lot on Christian radio and see a lot of Christian books fighting against postmodernism, relativism, and secularism. But if people are constructing their identities and lives around consumer brands like Apple, is the church fighting the wrong battle? And perhaps more disturbing, are we unknowingly contributing to the problem by encouraging Christians to construct and express their identities via Christ-branded merchandise rather than through characters transformed to reflect the values of Christ himself?

New Creations

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

WE ARE BUTTERFLIES

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure

We present Jesus as the Messiah who came to die for our sins. We tell people that if they accept Christ they will go to heaven when they die. What's wrong with that? First, it's only half the gospel. Second, it gives the impression that eternal life is something we get when we die. Jesus had to die for sins in order to cure the disease that caused us to die. Then He gave us life, making us new creations in Christ.

Suppose that you are a prostitute. One day you hear that the king has decreed that all prostitutes are forgiven. Since you're a prostitute, that's great news! But would it necessarily change your behavior or your self-perception? Probably not. You may dance in the streets for awhile, but chances are you would continue in your same vocation. You would see yourself as nothing more than a forgiven prostitute.

Now suppose the king not only forgave you, but he made you his bride as well. You're a queen. Would that change your behavior? Of course. Why would you want to live as a prostitute if you were a queen?

The church is the bride of Christ! You are far more likely to promote the kingdom if you are the queen rather than a forgiven prostitute. We are not redeemed caterpillars; we are butterflies. Why would you want to crawl in some false humility when you are called to mount up with wings as eagles?

"I would be filled with pride if I believed that," says the skeptic. You are defeated if you don't believe it! Humility is not putting yourself down when God is trying to build you up. Self-abasement has the appearance of wisdom, but it has no value against fleshly indulgence according to Colossians 2:23. Humility is confidence properly placed. We need to be like Paul and "put no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3). Let's put our confidence in God: "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for not only forgiving me but also for taking me as Your bride. May this realization shape my walk with You today.

Real and Eternal Life

Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it's time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.

I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
They'll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

John 17: 1-12, The Message

Voting

Excerpts from Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting by John Piper

Voting is like marrying and crying and laughing and buying. We should do it, but only as if we were not doing it. That’s because “the present form of this world is passing away” and, in God’s eyes, “the time has grown very short.” Here’s the way Paul puts it:

The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

Let’s take these one at a time and compare them to voting.

...

[see link for points 1-4]

5. “Let those who deal with the world [do so] as though they had no dealings with it.”

Christians should deal with the world. This world is here to be used. Dealt with. There is no avoiding it. Not to deal with it is to deal with it that way. Not to weed your garden is to cultivate a weedy garden. Not to wear a coat in Minnesota is to freeze—to deal with the cold that way. Not to stop when the light is red is to spend your money on fines or hospital bills and deal with the world that way. We must deal with the world.

But as we deal with it, we don’t give it our fullest attention. We don’t ascribe to the world the greatest status. There are unseen things that are vastly more precious than the world. We use the world without offering it our whole soul. We may work with all our might when dealing with the world, but the full passions of our heart will be attached to something higher—Godward purposes. We use the world, but not as an end in itself. It is a means. We deal with the world in order to make much of Christ.

So it is with voting. We deal with the system. We deal with the news. We deal with the candidates. We deal with the issues. But we deal with it all as if not dealing with it. It does not have our fullest attention. It is not the great thing in our lives. Christ is. And Christ will be ruling over his people with perfect supremacy no matter who is elected and no matter what government stands or falls. So we vote as though not voting.

By all means vote. But remember: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

Voting with you, as though not voting,

Pastor John

Reformation?

Excerpts from post by Mark Batterson:

...

Here are my two questions.

1) Do we need another reformation?

For the record, I think we do. I love the way Rick Warren framed it a few months ago in a similar sort of gathering. He said the 16th century reformation was a reformation of creeds. The five solas were an important theological correction to some of the unbiblical practices that had crept into the church. But Rick suggested that the 21st century reformation needs to be a reformation of deeds. And he's obviously trying to lead that charge through a variety of worldwide initiatives.

2) How can the 21st century church turn the world upside-down like the 1st century church?

I know the easy answer: do what the 1st century church did. But I'd love to hear some perspectives. Where has the church missed the mark? What do we need to reform? What opportunities or technologies do we need to redeem? How can we recapture the primal essence of Christianity in a way that turns the world upside down?

Forgiveness

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

LIVING WITH SIN'S CONSEQUENCES

Romans 12:19
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord

Forgiveness does not mean that you must tolerate sin. Isabel, a young wife and mother attending one of my conferences, told me of her decision to forgive her mother for continually manipulating her for attention. But Isabel tearfully continued, "She is no different. Am I supposed to let her keep ruining my life?"

No, forgiving someone doesn't mean that you must be a doormat to their continual sin. I encouraged Isabel to confront her mother lovingly but firmly, and tell her that she would no longer tolerate destructive manipulation. It's okay to forgive another's past sins and, at the same time, take a stand against future sins. Forgiving is not a co-dependent activity.

Forgiveness does not demand revenge or repayment for offenses suffered. "You mean I'm just supposed to let them off the hook?" you may argue. Yes, you let them off your hook, realizing that they are not off God's hook. You may feel like exacting justice, but you are not an impartial judge. God is the just Judge who will make everything right (Romans 12:19). Your job is to extend the mercy of forgiveness and leave judgment up to God.

Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. Suppose that someone in your church says, "I have gossiped about you. Will you forgiven me?" You can't retract gossip any easier than you can put toothpaste back into the tube. You're going to live with the gossip this person spread about you no matter how you respond to the gossiper.

We are all living with the consequences of another person's sin: Adam's. The only real choice we have in the matter is to live in the bondage of bitterness or in the freedom of forgiveness.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I give up my right to seek revenge or harbor resentment. I want to enjoy the freedom which comes from forgiving others.

Poor and Needy

Yesterday we were challenged by Adam to think about what we do to recognize and pray and participate in bringing God's Kingdom into our midst (think Jesus' prayer: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." [Matthew 6:10]), and consistent with God's will, to not be guilty of the "sin of Sodom" in Ezekiel 16 (emphasis added below):

48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

49 " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done.

So what does that mean for us specifically? Here is an audacious and very tangible goal for our church -- why don't we commit to raising the money to provide a community with clean water (Samaritan's Purse Gift 39)?

Every hour, another 250 people in developing countries die from water-borne diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. Your gift to our Clean Water Projects is an investment in an entire community, providing safe water for drinking, cooking, irrigation, and watering livestock. Working with local ministry partners, we offer a range of solutions from water treatment and storage systems to latrines and hygiene education. A gift of $8,000 can supply enough clean water for 3,000 people by providing a portable water purification unit or other sustainable resource. That's about $16 per family. Through our Clean Water Projects, countless people have discovered that only Jesus Christ can satisfy their spiritual thirst: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6, NIV).

Clean Water Fund 013659

SUGGESTED GIFT: $8,000

Suffering

Excerpt from Filling Up What Is Lacking in Christ's Afflictions by John Piper

The following is based on notes taken during the message and the manuscript of "Called to Suffer and Rejoice."

...

Once I attended a pastors’ gathering with Richard Wormbrand. He asked questions like, “Will you choose to suffer?” If suffering were offered to you as a gift, would you accept it?

He told a story about an abbot. A reporter asked him about what he would say if found out at the end of his life that there was no God. He said, “Holiness, silence, and sacrifice are beautiful in themselves. I still would have used my life well.” Does that sound noble? Right?

Here’s what Paul said: “If for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.” Why did Paul say that? Because his life was a life of consciously embraced suffering. Read the list in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. Most of us define the benefits of Christianity with how it makes our life better now: “Your best life now.”

What Does Paul Mean?

Let’s go to Colossians, chapter 1, and we’ll look at one verse: verse 24: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions.” Paul suffers, and he says that in his sufferings he fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions? What does that mean?

Here’s my answer in summary: What’s missing is the in-person presentation of Christ’s sufferings to the people for whom he died. The afflictions are lacking in the sense that they are not seen and known among the nations. They must be carried by ministers of the gospel. And those ministers of the gospel fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ by extending them to others.

Paul sees his own suffering as the visible reenactment of the sufferings of Christ so that they will see Christ’s love for them.

...

Forgiving

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

FORGIVING YOUR PAST

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you

The second step in resolving past conflicts is to forgive those who have offended you. After encouraging Cindy, a rape victim, to deal with the emotional trauma of her rape, I said, "Cindy, you also need to forgive the man who raped you." Cindy's response was typical of many believers who have suffered physical, sexual or emotional pain at the hands of others: "Why should I forgive him? You don't know how badly he hurt me!"

"He's still hurting you, Cindy," I responded. "Forgiveness is how you stop the pain. You don't forgive him for his sake; you do it for your sake."

Why should you forgive those who have hurt you in the past?

First, forgiveness is required by God. As soon as Jesus spoke the amen to His model prayer--which included a petition for God's forgiveness--He commented: "If you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions" (Matthew 6:14, 15). We must base our relationships with others on the same criteria on which God bases His relationship with us: love, acceptance and forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).

Second, forgiveness is necessary to avoid entrapment by Satan. I have discovered from my counseling that unforgiveness is the number one avenue Satan uses to gain entrance to believers' lives. Paul encouraged mutual forgiveness "in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11). Unforgiveness is an open invitation to Satan's bondage in our lives.

Third, we are to forgive like Christ forgave in order to keep our hearts from bitterness. Paul wrote: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31, 32).

Your act of forgiveness will set the captive free, then you will realize that the captive was you!

Prayer:

Lord, teach me to forgive others from my heart as You have forgiven me.

My Salvation

Thank you for responding to me;
you've truly become my salvation!
The stone the masons discarded as flawed
is now the capstone!
This is God's work.
We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
This is the very day God acted—
let's celebrate and be festive!
Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
Oh yes, God—a free and full life!

Psalm 118: 21-24, The Message

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118: 24, ESV

Trusting God

How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:


Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can't get around.
But the stone is me! If you're looking for me,
you'll find me on the way, not in the way.


Romans 9, The Message

Memory Banks

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE

Psalm 25:17
The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses

Unlike our day-to-day emotions which are the product of our day-to-day thought life, emotional baggage from the past is always there. Years of exposure and experience in life have etched grooves in our memory banks which are triggered by current events.

For example, if your kind, loving grandfather was named Bill, you probably have a favorable emotional reaction to other people named Bill. But if the school bully was named Bill, your initial reaction to the Bills in your life is probably negative. If your spouse suggests, "Let's name our first child Bill," you might even react, "Over my dead body!"

I call these long-term emotions which lurk beneath the surface primary emotions . The intensity of your primary emotions is determined by your previous life history. The more traumatic your experience, the more intense will be your primary emotion. Many of these primary emotions will lie dormant and have very little effect on your life until something comes along to trigger them. Have you ever brought up a topic of conversation which upset someone and sent him storming out of the room? "What set him off?" you wondered. He was "set off" because a bad experience in his past was triggered by your topic. The trigger is any present event which he associates with the past conflict.

Most people try to control their primary emotions by avoiding the people or events which trigger them. But you can't isolate yourself completely from everything which may set off a response. You are bound to see something on TV or hear something in a conversation which will bring to mind your unpleasant experience. You must learn how to resolve previous conflicts or the emotional baggage will accumulate and the past will control your life.

During the next few days, we will consider ways to resolve our emotional baggage from the past.

Prayer:

Lord, I don't want to be controlled by past events. Show me how I can resolve these issues so I can walk in freedom today.

Redemption

Some of the lyrics from "Feels Like Redemption" by Michael English

I know how hopeless feels
When you're staring at the bottom of an empty hole
In my life I know how forgotten feels
Wondering if the world even knows who you are

But I've never known anything, felt anything
Like the love of Jesus
And it's hard to describe what's happening inside
But right now all I know is

It feels like redemption raining down on me
It feels like forgiveness is come to set me free
All my chains have been lifted
'Cause when the hands of love touch a broken life
It feels like redemption

...

Cultivators

Excerpt from Andy Crouch "Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling" | Out of Context | Out of Ur

The postures of the artist and the gardener have a lot in common. Both begin with contemplation, paying close attention to what is already there. The gardener looks carefully at the landscape; the existing plants, both flowers and weeds; the way the sun fall on the land. The artist regards her subject, her canvas, her paints with care to discern what she can make with them.

And then, after contemplation, the artist and the gardener both adopt a posture of purposeful work. They bring creativity and effort to their calling...They are creaturely creators, tending and shaping the world that original Creator made.

I wonder what we Christians are known for in the world outside our churches. Are we known as critics, consumers, copiers, condemners of culture? I'm afraid so. Why aren't we known as cultivators--people who tend and nourish what is best in human culture, who do the harsh and painstaking work to preserve the best of what people before us have done? Why aren't we known as creators--people who dare to think and do something that has never been thought or done before, something that makes the world more welcoming and thrilling and beautiful?

Music

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

SING AND MAKE MELODY

Ephesians 5:18, 19
Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord

How pathetically unaware we are of the biblical prominence of music in the spiritual realm. It is interesting to note that whenever the evil spirit came upon King Saul, David (the heir apparent to Israel's throne) would play his harp and the evil spirit would depart (1 Samuel 16:23). When Elisha was about to inquire of God, he said, "'Now bring me a minstrel.' And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him" (2 Kings 3:15). During the reign of David, more than 4000 musicians were assigned to sing in the temple night and day (1 Chronicles 9:33; 23:5). It is the mark of Spirit-filled Christians to sing and make melody in their hearts to the Lord and speak to each other in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:18, 19).

On the other side of the truth lies the destructive power of secular music. A former satanic high priest showed me numerous symbols on popular record albums indicating commitment and bondage to Satanism. He told me that about 85 percent of today's heavy metal and punk music groups are "owned" by Satanists. They have unwittingly sold themselves to Satanism in exchange for fame and fortune. Few of these artists actually practice Satanism, but most are hopelessly lost and lead others astray through the godless message in their music.

God created sound and formed our bodies to respond to it. Our ears pick up the sound around us and send a signal to the brain. Some sounds irritate us; others soothe us. There is music that makes you want to march and music that puts you to sleep. Even without lyrics, music with harmony and order can affect the nervous system positively while discord produces a negative effect.

What role does music play in your life? Are you filling your mind and home with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs? Or are you allowing destructive secular music to rob you of your joy and vitality in the Lord?

Prayer:

You are the God who sings over me, Lord. Thank You for the gift of music and for the songs You give me in the night.

Creative Best

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

From Galatians 6:4-5, The Message

There is so much wisdom in these two verses. Some notes on this:

Make a careful exploration of who you are
Make a careful exploration of the work you have been given
Sink yourself into the work you have been given (by God) -- this work is related to who you are (the unique set of gifts given to you by the Holy Spirit)

I think we experience a lot of peace and contentment when we are doing what God created us to do in His service; however, there are some things that can pop up to cause us to doubt and not be content. Things that rob us of joy and contentment are mentioned next in these verses:

Don't be impressed with yourself (pride)
Don't compare yourself with others (jealousy; envy)

Finally, in these verses we are told to take responsibility for our life and doing our "creative best" which causes me to think there is a lot of freedom in "sinking myself" into what God wants me to do.

Completeness

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE EQUATION FOR WHOLENESS

1 Timothy 6:9
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction

In his book The Sensation of Being Somebody , Maurice Wagner expresses a false belief in simple equations we tend to accept. He says we mistakenly think that good appearance plus the admiration it brings equals a whole person. Or we feel that star performance plus accomplishments equals a whole person. Or we believe that a certain amount of status plus the recognition we accumulate equals a whole person. Not so. These equations are no more correct than two plus two equals six. Wagner says: "Try as we might by our appearance, performance, or social status to find self-verification for a sense of being somebody, we always come short of satisfaction. Whatever pinnacle of self-identity we achieve soon crumbles under the pressure of hostile rejection or criticism, introspection or guilt, fear or anxiety. We cannot do anything to qualify for the by-product of being loved unconditionally and voluntarily" (Maurice Wagner, The Sensation of Being Somebody , Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975, p. 163).

If these equations could work for anyone, they would have worked for King Solomon. He was the king of Israel during the greatest years in her history. If a meaningful life is the result of appearance, admiration, performance, accomplishments, status, or recognition, Solomon would have been the most together man who ever lived.

But God also gave the king an extra dose of wisdom to interpret his achievements. What was his commentary on it all? "Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV ). Take the advice of the wise king: All the stuff and status you can acquire don't add up to personal wholeness. Millions of people climb those ladders to success, only to discover when they reach the top that they are leaning against the wrong wall! The only identity equation that works in God's kingdom is you plus Christ equals wholeness and meaning.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I affirm that nothing in this world can make me more complete than I already am in Christ.

Jesus Loves Us

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:


They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.


None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8: 31-39, The Message

Character Development

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE PRIMARY LABORATORY

Colossians 3:18-21
Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . Husbands, love your wives . . . Fathers, do not exasperate your children

God works in our lives primarily through committed relationships. Your family is the primary laboratory for your character development. This is precisely the order of Scripture: Establish your identity in Christ, then focus on living out who you are at home. Notice the order in Colossians 3:10-25;

God's great goal for His children is that we conform to His image: "Put on the new self" (verse 10). Our identity is no longer in racial, religious, cultural or social ties: "There is no distinction . . . but Christ is all and in all" (verse 11). Character is the focus of development once identity is established: "Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (verse 12). Character is developed in the context of relational living: "Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other" (verse 13). Love is the highest level of character development: "Beyond all these things put on love" (verse 14). The means by which all this is accomplished is Christ in you: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you" (verses 15, 16). The primary setting for character development is the home: "Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . Husbands, love your wives . . . Children, be obedient to your parents . . . Fathers, do not exasperate your children" (verses 18-21).

As a parent, you are not just shaping your child's behavior, you are developing his character. Training a child means discipling him to be Christlike. Don't be a phony at home; your spouse and children will see right through it. You can't model perfection, but you can model growth.

Prayer:

Lord, help me be the spouse and parent You want me to be by remaining committed to be a growing child of God.

Resurrection Letters II

I don't know if you like Andrew Peterson, but we were introduced to his music through "Behold the Lamb of God" Christmas tour which we saw in Augusta last year.

His latest album, Resurrection Letters Volume II, releases October 21.

Here are the songs on the album:

1. All Things New
2. Hosanna
3. All You'll Ever Need
4. Invisible God
5. Hosea
6. Love is a Good Thing
7. Don't Give Up on Me
8. Rocket
9. Windows in the World
10. I've God News
11. The Good Confession (I Believe)

Peterson is now with Centricity Music, and they have an online jukebox where you can stream the entire CD for free!

One Issue

Excerpts from One-Issue Politics, One-Issue Marriage, and the Humane Society by John Piper

Investigating dog life in Minnesota has solidified my decision to vote against those who endorse the right to abortion. So then what is my response to the charge of being a one-issue voter?

No endorsement of any single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor, or president. But there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. ...

...

So it is with politics. You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from holding public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those.

When we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, "No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal." Subdivision 7 says, "No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal." The penalty: "A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that "no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law." Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to "maim, mutilate and kill" a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

...

Gospel

The Gospel Works post by Mark Batterson

I'm continuing to process the things that really impacted me at Catalyst. Several years ago I got tired of going to conferences, getting really inspired, and forgetting everything I heard within three days. I try to go back over my notes the next week. And I try to come up with one or two or three action points.

One of the speakers at Catalyst was Franklin Graham. Spitting image of his dad! So forthright. One thing he said really stuck me: "You don't have to help the gospel." He said, "The gospel works." Such a profound reminder.

I feel like all of us could do a better job of consistently communicating the simple gospel message. I'm thinking and rethinking how we help people cross the line of faith. As a dad, one of my roles is to engineer experiences that create memories. The end result is a defining moment.

In the same sense, as a pastor, I want to set up God encounters. I'm obviously not suggesting we can or try to man-u-facture anything. But I need to be more intentional about helping people create spiritual memories.

Just thinking out loud.

Holy Spirit Leading

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

CHANGING CHRISTIAN PRACTICES

Matthew 6:7
When you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words

Jesus taught that Christian practices should be consistent with the inward condition of the heart. Holding to external practices which no longer correlate with the heart is repugnant to God. Jesus railed against praying in vain repetitions and putting on a gloomy face while fasting. Consistency cries for an affirmative answer to the question, "Is it real?" The Christian community searches for truth while the world searches for reality. These are large, overlapping circles, but I'm convinced that we must be real in order to be right. Change is most needed when Christians sit stoically week after week reciting endless creeds in utter hypocrisy.

Tragically, those who are coming to a church simply to fulfill a religious obligation are the most resistant to change. They have resisted the need to change under the instruction of the Word and are in a state of carnality. They are not coming to the changeless Christ and saying, "Change me so I may be like You." Time-honored faith and long-established practices often become intertwined in their thinking. When you advocate a different practice, they think you are tinkering with their faith!

Paradoxically, the ones who have a real Christian experience are the ones who are free to change their Christian practices. They are committed to the substance of their faith, not the form. Form always follows function, but people have a tendency to fixate on the form.

Organizational renewal will not bring spiritual renewal. When the spiritual tide is out, every little tadpole wants his own little tide pool to swim in. When the spiritual tide is in, the fish swim in one big ocean where someone is synchronizing every move. When the Holy Spirit is leading, almost any organization will work. But when He isn't, it doesn't matter how good the program and organization is, it won't work.

Prayer:

Lord, I will not rest my faith on my Christian practice, but I will base my faith and practice on the truth of Your Word.

Be Gracious

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

Colossians 4: 5-6, The Message

Much of Christ - Little of Ourselves

Excerpts from John Was Not the Light, But a Witness to the Light by John Piper

[John 1]

...

Look at verses 6-7: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light.” In fact, fourteen times in this Gospel the word witness (martureo, martus, martureia) is connected with John.¹

...

So verses 6-8 and verse 15 are pressed into the flow of this opening section in a way that almost everyone feels is jarring. So I assume John the author felt it that way too. And I assume that he knew what he was doing. And I assume he had his reasons. (You can call that the Golden Rule of Hermeneutics: Do unto authors as you would have them do unto you.)

Our job is not to improve John’s literary art by telling him he should have written more smoothly. Our job is to penetrate his literary purposes—and by doing that, to penetrate to his theological purposes and his spiritual purposes and his evangelistic purposes—and any other purposes he has by God’s inspiration, so that by hearing and understanding, we might believe on Jesus, the Son of God, and have life in his name. We are not playing literary games. Salvation and damnation hang on whether we hear what the inspired author really meant to say. “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

What I have found in thinking about verses 6-8 and 15 and the wider context is amazingly relevant for today. I have found it very sobering for my own life and ministry, and I think you will find it so for yourself. It has to do with the way pastors and evangelists and religious leaders and TV preachers and conference speakers and Christian musicians—and any other public Christians who represent Christ—speak of Christ and the way they represent themselves. And it was the second of these that sobered me—the way we public witnesses represent ourselves.

If you have ever been bothered by the seemingly self-serving, self-excusing, self-protecting, self-exalting words of public Christian figures, you should be, and you will be all the more bothered by the time we are done. I hope that one of the effects of this message is that it will have a humbling effect on me first, and then on you and any others who hear it, so that we who are called to be witnesses for Christ (namely, all of us) will see that this not only means making much of Christ, but it also means making little of ourselves.

To help you remember what I am saying, I am going to hang all I say on two pegs. One is: “Our witness is a great necessity.” And the other is: “Our witness is a great not.” I know that’s not clear. But it will be. And the awkwardness of it just may help you remember it. Our witness is a great not as well as a great necessity.

...

Nouns to Verbs

Three Translations Post by Mark Batterson at Evotional

...

There are three ways to translate the Bible. You can translate it with 1) your mind 2) your heart and 3) your life.

I think a lot of us settle for the mental translation. But the end result is information. And what happens is this: we learn more, do less, and think we're growing spiritually. But not if that's the only translation.

The second translation is emotional. And the emotional translation may seem more subjective than intellectual translation. But that is when our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. It’s not just information. It’s transformation. For the record, I think one person with one deeply held conviction will make more of a difference than someone with a hundred good ideas.

Finally, there is the life translation. That is when we become a “living epistle.” That is when the noun turns into a verb. And that is how we change the world. At the end of the day, Jesus isn't going to say, "Well thought good and faithful servant." He's going to say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Imagine a church filled with people who are translating the Bible with their lives!

Rulers

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

CHRIST, OUR RULER

Ephesians 2:1, 2
You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air

We live in a world which is under the authority of an evil ruler. Originally God created Adam and his family to rule over creation. But Adam forfeited his position of authority through sin, and Satan became the rebel holder of authority to whom Jesus referred as "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). During Jesus' temptation, the devil offered Him "all the kingdoms of the world and their glory" (Matthew 4:8) in exchange for His worship. Satan's claim that the earth "has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish" (Luke 4:6) was no lie. He took authority when Adam abdicated the throne of rulership over God's creation at the fall. Satan ruled from Adam until the cross. The death, resurrection and ascension of Christ secured forever the final authority for Jesus Himself (Matthew 28:18). That authority was extended to all believers in the Great Commission so that we may continue His work of destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

All of us were born spiritually dead and subject to the ruler that Paul called "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). But when we received Christ, God "delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13). Our citizenship was changed from earth to heaven (Philippians 3:20). Satan is the ruler of this world, but he is no longer our ruler, for Christ is our ruler.

But as long as we live on the earth, we are still on Satan's turf. He will try to rule our lives by deceiving us into believing that we still belong to him. As aliens in a foreign, hostile kingdom, we need protection from this evil, deceptive, hurtful tyrant. Christ has not only provided protection from and authority over Satan, but He has equipped us with the Spirit of truth, the indwelling Holy Spirit, to guide us into all truth and help us discern the evil one's schemes (John 16:13).

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I affirm that You are my Lord today. I choose to be a bond servant to Christ and to no other.

Mystery Worshippers

Excerpt from The Mystery Worshipper by Alexandra Alter -- WSJ Friday, October 10

"Department stores hire mystery shoppers. Restaurant chains bring in undercover diners to rate their food and service. Churches enlist Thomas Harrison, a former pastor from Tulsa, Okla., and a professional mystery worshipper.

Mr. Harrison -- a meticulous inspector who often uses the phrase "I was horrified" to register his disapproval of dust bunnies and rude congregants -- poses as a first-time churchgoer and covertly evaluates everything from the cleanliness of the bathrooms to the strength of the sermon. This summer, Mr. Harrison scoured a megachurch in Cedar Hill, Texas, and jotted down a laundry list of imperfections: a water stain on the ceiling, a "stuffy odor" in the children's area, a stray plastic bucket under the bathroom sink and a sullen greeter who failed to say good morning before the worship service. "I am a stickler for light bulbs and bathrooms," he says.

Mr. Harrison belongs to a new breed of church consultants aiming to equip pastors with modern marketing practices. Pastors say mystery worshippers like Mr. Harrison offer insight into how newcomers judge churches -- a critical measure at a time when mainline denominations continue to shed members and nearly half of American adults switch religious affiliations. In an increasingly diverse and fluid religious landscape, churches competing for souls are turning to corporate marketing strategies such as focus groups, customer-satisfaction surveys and product giveaways."

...

Eight Catalysts

Excerpts from The Ironic Faith of Emergents by Scot McKnight | Christianity Today

...

Evangelical thinkers such as D. A. Carson, R. Scott Smith, John MacArthur, and Kevin DeYoung and Ted Cluck (authors of Why We're Not Emergent) warn of the dangers of emergents' theological drift and draw lines in the sand. The emergents I know are numb to both the warnings and the lines; they have heard those warnings and they have crossed those lines. They are surprised by neither and are not likely to turn back. Instead, they are building a new theology that "emerges" from the story they find themselves in—namely, the shift from modernity to postmodernity.

The origins of ironic faith among evangelicals can be found in at least eight catalysts. These catalysts move disaffected evangelicals from an ironic faith within evangelicalism to a fork in the road: Either abandon traditional evangelicalism for an emergent form of post-evangelical Christianity, or abandon Christianity altogether.

First, emergents believe the epistemic foundation of conservative evangelicalism, the doctrine of Scripture's inerrancy, does not sufficiently express the truth about the Bible. ...

Second, emergents believe that the gospel they heard as children or were exposed to as teenagers is a caricature of Paul's teaching—what McLaren sometimes calls "Paulianity." The discovery of Jesus, the Gospels, and his kingdom vision creates an irony: "If we are followers of Jesus, why don't we preach his message?" Emergents I know are sometimes wearied or put off by Paul, yet enthusiastic about Jesus and the Gospels. ...

Third, exposure to science in public education, universities, and personal study has led emergents to disown the traditional conclusion that when science and the Bible conflict, science must move aside. ...

Fourth, emergents were burned by the lack of integrity among popular evangelical media figures. ...

Fifth, public schools drilled the messages of multiculturalism and pluralism into emergents' heads and hearts, while their churches were teaching them that all those without explicit faith in Christ were doomed. Possessing both a faith that is particular and an intimate knowledge of religious pluralism produced a tension that was nearly intolerable. ...

Sixth, emergents sometimes exercise a deconstructive critique of the Bible's view of God. ...

Seventh, homosexuality. Emergents are not so much pro-gay or pro-lesbian as they are convinced that sexuality is more complex than many acknowledge. ...

Finally, ironic faith grows out of emergents' realization that language plays a large role in our faith and our claims to know the truth. ... Emergents reason that theology is language-bound; language has its limits; the Bible is in language; that means the Bible, too, has the limits of language. ...

...

Control

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, October 13, 2008 - Confessions of a Control Freak

I have to confess that I am–or I can be–a control freak!

What is a control freak?

The dictionary defines a freak as “a person who has withdrawn from normal, rational behavior and activities to pursue one interest or obsession.” So when we talk about a control freak, we’re talking about a person who has gone beyond the normal rational desire of most people to have some control in their lives.

Another definition is: ”Control freaks are people who care more than you do about something and won’t stop at being pushy to get their way.”

You may not be a control freak in every area of your life, but only in certain areas where you care more about something than others do. It may be the way your scrambled eggs are prepared, the way someone answers the phone at work, the way you line your shoes up in the closet–anything you can imagine. If you care more than others do about that thing and you’re willing to be pushy and obstinate and vocal about it, then you’re a control freak. You know, if you think of it that way, most everybody is a Control Freak some of the time.

A certified control freak–one who cares about everything more than others do and wants to be in control of everything and everyone–can be a scary person! This person is not happy until and unless she feels that she has her life under her control in every area.

So, on the continuum of control freaks, a person can go from very mild/very seldom to very severe/all the time! Where do you think you are on this spectrum? I probably skew toward the severe end, but having recognized these tendencies, I’ve begun praying about them. As Christians, our goal should be to be a control freak–but one who is controlled by God’s Spirit in every area of our lives.

Are you the right kind of control freak?

Success

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ


GOD'S GOAL FOR YOU

2 Peter 1:5-7 NIV
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love

A good summary of God's goal for you is found in 2 Peter 1:3-10. Your primary role is to diligently adopt God's character goals--goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love--and apply them to your life. Focusing on God's goals will lead to ultimate success: success in God's terms. Peter promises that, as these qualities increase in your life through practice, you will be useful and fruitful, and you will never stumble. That's success!

Notice also that there is no mention in this list of talents, intelligence or gifts which are not equally distributed to all believers. Your worth isn't determined by those God-given traits. Your worth is based on your identity in Christ and your growth in character, both of which are equally applicable to every Christian. Those who are not committed to God's goals for character will never fulfill their primary purpose for being here. According to Peter, they have forgotten who they are. They are out of touch with their true identity and purpose in Christ.

God loves you and will never leave you. You are forgiven by God and are His child. You have established your identity in Christ and live today in union with God. You are becoming increasingly characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. If you really believed everything that is true about you, would you be successful? Would you feel good about yourself? Should you feel good about yourself? Of course! God has not called you to be a failure, so follow His scriptural formula and be the success He has called you to be.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that I can do all things today through Your Son, Jesus, who strengthens me.

Bible Reading

Excerpt from Live From Catalyst: McKnight on Bad Bible Reading by Skye Jethani | Out of Ur

...

McKnight outlined five flawed ways many people read the Bible:

1. The Morsels of Law Approach
These people search the Bible and extract ever commandment. They see Scripture as fundamentally a book of rules to be obeyed. The problem, says McKnight, is that no one really obeys—or even tries to obey—every commandment. And we’re not just talking about some obscure stuff in Leviticus. Scot mentioned a number of New Testament commands that many Christians dismiss as well. We are all selective.

2. The Morsels of Blessing Approach
McKnight says publishers are always sending him daily calendars that have a different promise or blessing from the Bible printed on each day. It’s a nice way to start the morning, he notes, but it gives people a skewed view of Scripture. The Bible is a lot more than warm thoughts from our Creator to carry us through our day. Finally fed up with these calendars, McKnight wrote to one of the publishers offering to write a daily calendar with nothing but passage about God’s wrath.

3. The Rorschach Approach
Most people are familiar with the Rorschach Ink Blot test often used by psychologists. Patients are asked what they “see” when looking at symmetrical ink patterns. Because the blots don’t really resemble anything, the patient’s answer tells the therapist more about the patient than the image. Similarly, McKnight notes that many people see in Scripture what they want to see, not what’s really there. For example, political conservatives see justification for capitalism. Liberals see justification for a welfare state.

4. The Systematic Theology Approach
Some folks, the particularly left-brained and anal retentive (my perception, not McKnight’s), believe that God has scattered facts throughout the Bible. These snippets of truth need to be located, rather like an Easter egg hunt, and categorized into buckets. Finally, the pieces are assembled into a systematic theology without ambiguity or mystery to explain God, humanity, creation, and history. The fatal error in this approach, says McKnight, is that large portions of Scripture are never included because they refuse to fit into our neat systems.

5. The Maestro Approach
McKnight shared about his love of Italian food—particularly risotto. The best risotto he ever had was prepared by a chef in Italy while on vacation. Since then he’s compared every other risotto dish with that one. We all have favorites; someone we consider the maestro, the master, we compare all others with. So it is with the Bible. Some people have a master book of the Bible—Exodus for Liberation Theologians, or Romans for Reformed pastors—and then they force every other part of the Bible to fit that book’s framework. Some favor the Gospels and Jesus’ focus on the Kingdom, but they don’t read about the Kingdom in Paul’s writing. So they force the Epistles to submit to the Gospels. The opposite also happens when Jesus is only read through Paul.

These five approaches, says McKnight, are all very common, and all very flawed. His solution? We must read the Bible as a story. But it’s not just a story that we read, it is a story that we live. “We must let the Bible’s story become our story,” he said, “so that it becomes us, and we become it.”

...

Real Life

So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law."

The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them."

Galatians 3:9-12, The Message

Meals

"Settings of hospitality, especially in connection with meals, are the most accessible and natural occasions for cultivating the focal practice of the Eucharist in our daily lives. Our continuing witness to and fear-of-the-Lord participation in the work of salvation is formed eucharistically around our kitchen tables. Daily meals with family, friends, and guests, acts of hospitality every one, are the most natural and frequent settings for working out the personal and social implications of salvation.

But there is a problem. The practice of hospitality has fallen on bad times. Fewer and fewer families sit down to a meal together. The meal, which used to be a gathering place for families, neighbors, and "the stranger at the gate, is on its way out. Given the prominence of the Supper in our worshiping lives, the prominence of meals in the Jesus work of salvation, it is surprising how little notice is given among us to the relationship between the Meal and our meals. Our surprise develops into a sense of urgency when we recognize that a primary, maybe the primary, venue for evangelism in Jesus' life was the meal. Is Jesus' preferred setting for playing out the work of salvation on this field of history only marginally available to us? By marginalizing meals of hospitality in our daily lives have we inadvertently diminished the work of evangelism? And is there anything to be done about it?"

Eugene Peterson

Emotionally Honest

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

BEING EMOTIONALLY HONEST

Ephesians 4:15
Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ

You can guard your intimate relationships by monitoring how you verbally express your emotions to them. For example, you're having a terrible day at the office, so you call home and say to your wife, "Honey, I'm having a bear of a day. I won't be home until about 6:00 p.m. and I have a meeting at church at 7:00. Could you have dinner ready when I get home?"

When you hit the front door you discover that your wife doesn't have dinner ready as you'd hoped. "For crying out loud," you blaze at her, "I wanted dinner ready at six o'clock! That's why I called you!" Is your wife really the cause of your emotional outburst? Not really. You had a terrible day and you're tired, hungry and stressed out. It's not her fault. Anything could have set you off. You could have just as easily kicked the dog.

Rather than level your wife, why not be emotionally honest? When it comes to acknowledging emotions with your inner circle, honesty is the best policy. But be sure to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Another important guideline for acknowledging and expressing your emotions is to know your limitations. Be aware that if you're on the edge emotionally--angry, tense, anxious, depressed--it's not a good time to make decisions on important issues. Your emotions may push you to resolve what you're struggling with, but you may regret your resolution if you push too hard. You're going to say things you'll later regret. Somebody's going to get hurt. You're far better off to recognize your emotional limits and say, "If we keep talking I'm going to get angry. May we continue this discussion at another time?"

Being emotionally honest lets others off the hook. When you honestly convey how you feel, others know you are not primarily mad at them and that the problem is not their fault. They can also love you better by meeting the needs you express.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, enable me to be an honest and real person today, speaking the truth in love in all my relationships.

Mission

Excerpt from Andreas Kostenberger’s Twelve Theses on the Mission of the Church in the 21st Century

1. The church’s mission--in both belief and practice--should be grounded in the biblical theology of mission.
2. Reflection on the church’s mission should be predicated upon the affirmation of the full and sole authority of Scripture.
3. The church’s mission should be conceived primarily in terms of the church’s faithfulness and responsiveness to the missionary mandate given by the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture.
4. The church’s understanding of its mission should be hermeneutically sound.
5. The church’s mission is to be conceived ultimately in theocentric rather than anthropocentric terms.
6. The church’s mission, properly and biblically conceived, is to be trinitarian in its orientation, but not at the expense of neglecting the distinct roles of the three persons within the Godhead.
7. The contemporary context of the church’s mission, while important, ought not to override the church’s commitment to the authority of Scripture, its need to be grounded in the biblical theology of mission, and the understanding of its task in terms of faithfulness to the gospel.
8. The church is the God-ordained agent of his mission in this world today.
9. The way in which the kingdom of God is extended in this world today is through regenerate believers acting out their Christian faith in their God-assigned spheres of life: the church, their families, their workplace, the societies in which they live (Eph 5:18-6:9; 1 Pet 2:13-3:7).
10. There is no true lasting social transformation apart from personal conversion through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
11. Human organization does not necessarily entail a lack of acknowledgment of God and his initiative in mission.
12. The church’s task today is to nurture, renew, and plant churches composed of a spiritually regenerate membership and constituted in keeping with the biblical teaching regarding church leadership.

Busyness

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - Busyness: What Does God Think About It?


Are you busy? Your response is likely to be “Are you kidding?” Who isn’t busy? I’m asking some questions to help us determine what God thinks about our busyness. The next question to ask yourself:

Has busyness become my identity? Do I take pride in my busyness?

Some years ago I recognized this was true of me. I found my self-worth, in part, in staying very busy, accomplishing lots of things, and having people notice. Often I would hear, “How do you do all you do?” and I would take pride in knowing that people noticed how busy I was. Mind you, for the most part I was busy doing things in ministry, doing things for Jesus, but far too much of my motivation was to get the praise and admiration of others. That was who I was.

As God’s Spirit revealed this spirit of pride to me, I began to pray that God would deliver me from being addicted to busyness. I truly believe it can become an addiction, when we are driven to keep going and stay busy because—well, because that’s who we are! We have built our worth on our accomplishments instead of on Christ.

One way you can tell if this is your problem is to notice how much you talk about how busy you are. Do you wear your busyness like a badge of honor, a point of pride? You may be doing good works, the good things God put you here to do, but if your busyness is all about you instead of pure service to the Lord, then you need to pray about this. Ask God to deliver you—not from doing the good things he wants you to do, but from that sense of pride and identity based on your busyness.

I’ve noticed how we are prone to play one-upsmanship. You know what I mean. We say, “Hi, how you’re doing?” and the other person gives a litany of how busy they are. Then we replay with our own list, as though we’re trying to prove that we’re busier than the other person. And on it goes. Subtly, without realizing it, we’ve taken on a spirit of pride in how busy we are.

I hope you’ll ask yourself this question, and be willing to let God change that attitude in you, if necessary.

Responding to Those in Pain

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP

Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep

Early in my pastoral ministry I received one of those middle-of-the-night telephone calls that every pastor dreads: "Pastor, our son has been in an accident. They don't expect him to live. Could you please come to the hospital?"

I arrived at the hospital about one in the morning. I sat with the parents in the waiting room hoping and praying for the best but fearing the worst. About 4:00 a.m., the doctor came out to give us the worst: "We lost him."

We were devastated. I was so tired and emotionally depleted that instead of offering them words of comfort, I just sat there and cried with them. I couldn't think of anything to say. I went home feeling that I had failed the family in their darkest hour.

Soon after the accident the young man's parents moved away. But about five years later they stopped by the church for a visit and took me out to lunch. "Neil, we'll never forget what you did for us when our son died," they said. "We knew you loved us because you cried with us."

One of our challenges in the ministry is in learning how to respond to others when they honestly acknowledge their feelings. I find a very helpful principle in the conversations between Job and his friends. Job said: "The words of one in despair belong to the wind" (Job 6:26). What people say in an emotional crisis is irrelevant other than to convey how deeply hurt they are. We have a tendency to fixate on words and ignore the hurt. When grief-stricken Mary and Martha greeted Jesus with the news of Lazarus' death, He wept (John 11:35). Paul's words crystallize it for us: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). We are not supposed to instruct those who weep; we are supposed to weep with those who weep.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me to love like You love. Give me the freedom to respond emotionally to those who are in pain.

Movie Comments

Excerpts from Peter Suderman's review of the Bill Maher movie Religulous

Let's face it: Bill Maher is smart. And funny. Problem is, he's also crass, arrogant, smug, and, with some frequency, totally insufferable. The common name for someone like this is "jerk." But unlike most jerks, that endless supply of lumbering brutes whose only goal in life is to goad others, you can't quite dismiss Maher -- because, well, he's smart. And funny.

So it's no surprise that Maher's newest project, the anti-religion documentary Religulous, is also smart and funny, just as it is also crass, smug, and occasionally insufferable. In it, Maher travels the world in search of... it's not clear what, but he gets himself into plenty of arguments with religious believers, mostly Christians, but a few Muslims too, over the nature of faith, the historicity of the Bible, and whether a perfectly good God is compatible with the horrors of the modern world. Like Michael Moore, Maher has turned the documentary into a personal polemic with himself as the host and star. But Maher is sharper than Moore, a frank, bracing, compulsive quip-artist who never resorts to Moore's fake stumblebum idiocy.

...

In Religulous, though, Maher's playing an openly rigged game. On one hand, he seems, as always, to display a willingness to take all comers. Bring it, world; anywhere, anyone, anytime, I'll best you, seems to be the subtext of his globe-hopping chats with believers of all stripes. He speaks with worshiping truckers in a big-rig trailer converted into a church, with a pastor who claims to be a direct descendant of Christ, an actor who plays Jesus at a religious theme park in Orlando, a U.S. Senator, a maker of devices that allow Jews to get around scriptural restrictions, an anti-Zionist rabbi who attended a Holocaust denial conference thrown by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and a host of lesser knowns.

...

... Religulous isn't a stupid movie by any means, and Maher shows himself in possession of a greater understanding of religion -- especially its historical particulars -- than most of those whom he encounters. Yet for all his bluster, he seems to lack confidence in the power of his own knowledge, for whenever smart and funny collide, funny wins out.

That's not to say he lands no blows. Indeed, Maher employs a well honed rhetorical strategy. Unlike so many of the loudest anti-religion voices, Maher does not argue that God clearly does not exist. No, instead of the fist-shaking, boisterous atheiesm peddeled by the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett, Maher sells doubt. His product is not strident unbelief, but uncertainty -- a far easier and more powerful sell. All it requires is a skeptical mind.

...

-----------

Also excerpts from Dan Kimball and his thoughts on seeing the movie

...

The movie was basically Bill painting Christianity and Christians as what I would call the extreme broad-brushed examples within Christianity. From showing de-frocked television evangelist Robert Tilton speaking in tongues, to Ted Haggard clips talking about sex, to going to the Holyland Experience in Orlando (which I blogged about my time there here), to some church leader who feels he is a blood ancestor of Jesus and he is the Messiah. He interviewed various average and not so average Christians who for the most part came across rather silly and not able to answer his questions with intelligent answers. Often it felt like Bill knew the Bible and church history better than they did. I understand that we don't see the full interviews and edits can make anyone look silly. But Bill raised good and legitimate questions but he didn't get good answers from the people he interviewed (again, at least how they edited the film). People in the theater laughed (including me) at how the responses generally came across from Christians to his questions.

Although it was a humorous film, and although it raised great questions which need to be asked - it only showed a very one-sided perspective. Thus, to me it was a poor film journalistically as it misrepresented Christianity by only showing the extremes of it.

...

After I drove Tim home, we stopped outside his house and we prayed together for a few minutes in the car. We prayed for Bill Maher and we prayed for all the people who will be viewing this film. Not that I don't think people shouldn't see this film. I think Christians should see this film (*although---I want to warn anyone thinking of seeing it and say that there was a lot of coarse language and scenes in it). But it will cause Christians to ask themselves "how would I respond to the questions Bill raises?" In our culture and world today, the questions Bill raises are very valid. I just wish he interviewed people who could have responded better than what was at least shown in the film. There are reasonable and intelligent answers to about everything Bill Maher was raising.

I also wish that Bill would have shown the positive things Christianity and Christians have done throughout history. Yes, there are some very shameful things that have happened unfortunately that would be against what the Bible itself teaches. But because of the "faith" that Bill mocks, we have seen Christian organizations like Compassion International and World Vision help out thousands and thousands of people in need across the world. We have seen Christians and churches serving the needy and those hurting all across the world and give millions of dollars to those in need. We have seen marriages healed and lives changed for the better in all types of ways. So many things, you could go on and on about the good faith in Jesus has done in our world. But unfortunately, the focus is all on the negative and reinforcing the negative in the minds of those who see the film.

But... the bottom line for me, is that this film actually motivates me. It gives me energy to want to be more personally missional as well as in terms of rallying the church to be in the world and among people. It motivates me to want to be training and teaching Christians how to respond to these very things that are being asked today. I have a lot of hope and optimism, because I believe there are answers.

...

In the Name of Our Master

Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master. Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them.

Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end. Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.

Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work. And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don't forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.

Colossians 3:17-4:1, The Message

Seeing

Lyrics from Brandon Heath (tour): Give Me Your Eyes

...

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

...

Yielded to God

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF GOD'S DESIGN

1 Corinthians 6:18
Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body, but the immoral man [fornicator] sins against his own body

Sex glands are a God-given part of our autonomic nervous system. Normal sexual functioning is a regular, rhythmic cycle of life. But when Jesus said, "Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28), He was describing something beyond the boundary of God's design for sex. The word for lust is epithumos . The prefix epi means "to add to," signifying that something is being added to a normal drive. Jesus challenged us not to add onto the God-given sexual drive by polluting our minds with lustful thoughts. The only way to control your sexual drive is to control your thought life.

Sexual lust demands physical expression, and that's where Romans 6 comes into play. We are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies (verse 12) by using our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness (verse 13). Whenever you use your body wrongly through a sexual offense, you give Satan a foothold and your sexual problem becomes a spiritual problem. A missionary shared with me at the end of a conference that he was finally free after 20 years of bondage to lust. He sought counseling for his problem during his preparation for missionary service and on every furlough, but he never gained lasting victory until he realized that it was a spiritual problem which needed a spiritual solution.

Scripture indicates that sexual sins are in a class by themselves because they require the use of the body. Virtually every person I have counseled regarding a spiritual conflict has confessed some kind of sexual aberration.

Prayer:

Lord, I yield my sexual life to You as an expression of loving worship. I choose today to assume responsibility for my thoughts.

Testimonies

I love this!

Make Me Whole

Nothing But the Blood
(Robert Lowry, 1876)

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.