Friday, January 30, 2009

More You Don't Know

Excerpt from The Experience Trap by Mark Batterson | Evotional

A few years ago I read a book by R.T. Kendall titled The Anointing. I memorized something he said because it's so true: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I do reconnaissance at other churches. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!

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Discipleship

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE DEFINITION OF DISCIPLESHIP

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing

Jesus' primary call to His disciples is seen in His words "Come to Me" (Matthew 11:28) and "Follow Me" (Matthew 4:19). Mark records: "He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons" (Mark 3:14, 15). Notice that Jesus' relationship with His disciples preceded His assignment to them. Discipleship is the intensely personal activity of two or more persons helping each other experience a growing relationship with God. Discipleship is being before doing, maturity before ministry, character before career.

Every Christian, including you, is both a disciple and a discipler in the context of his Christian relationships. You have the awesome privilege and responsibility both to be a teacher and a learner of what it means to be in Christ, walk in the spirit and live by faith. You may have a role in your family, church or Christian community which gives you specific responsibility for discipling others, such as husband/father, pastor, Sunday school teacher, discipleship group leader, etc. But even as an appointed discipler, you are never not a disciple who is learning and growing in Christ through your relationships. Conversely, you may not have an "official" responsibility to disciple anyone, but you are never not a discipler. You have the opportunity to help your children, your friend, and other believers grow in Christ through your caring and committed relationship with them.

Similarly, every Christian is both a counselor and counselee in the context of his Christian relationships. A good counselor should be a good discipler, and a good discipler should be a good counselor. Biblically, they are the same role. Your level of maturity may dictate that you do a lot of Christian counseling. But there will still be times when you need to seek or receive the counsel of other Christians. There will never be a day when we don't need each other.

Prayer:

Father, help me remember that I will never be so mature that I need not receive godly counsel from my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Life

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, January 29, 2009 - When Life Throws You a Curveball

You know, it’s easy in good times to believe that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” but when the bottom falls out and our faith is shaken, how do we hold on to the full assurance that God is in it, and he is in control of everything in our lives? It’s no secret that we are all facing some challenging times as we watch our economy in a critical struggle. Of course, there are many other kinds of struggles that try our faith as well.

I was glad to see 2008 come to an end, as it was one of those years when life kept throwing me curveballs. My mom went on to heaven early in the year, and then my oldest brother suddenly dropped dead a few months later. In addition, another unresolved issue with potentially serious consequences, hung over my head for twelve long months. One of the things I recognized through those days was that now I had to decide, by faith not by emotions, whether I really believe that God is in control of all things in my life, and indeed, everything works for my good.

Mulls

A fool lets it all hang out;
a sage quietly mulls it over.


Proverbs 29:11 (The Message)


Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Time

Excerpt from The Gluttony of Time by Bob Hyatt | Out of Ur

A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking on more than they have resources to handle. It's as though their eyes were bigger than their stomachs.

—David Allen, Getting Things Done

It's more than likely that you've heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking about "busyness" in the last year or two. Slightly less likely, but still entirely possible, is that you've heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking on "gluttony" during the same time.

It's highly unlikely that the two were connected. But maybe they should have been.

Why do we say yes to so much? Is it because we are guilt-ridden, co-dependent angst monkeys who lack the willpower to say no? No. We say no to a million things a day. Usually to things that are good for us, but still...when we want to, we know how to say no just fine, thank you.

Is it because we have a drive towards self justification that works itself out in our work and an ever-increasing load of commitments through which we seek to earn the favor of others and God? In part, yes...

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Get Service

I think you will find this interesting:

Life

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE LAWS OF GOD

Luke 11:39
Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness

The Talmud , a collection of ancient rabbinic writings, relates the story of Rabbi Akiba, who was imprisoned. Rabbi Joshua brought him some water, but the guard spilled half of the container. There was too little water to both wash and drink, and Rabbi Akiba faced the possibility of death for lack of water if he chose to use the water for ceremonial washing. He reasoned, "He who eats with unwashed hands perpetuates a crime that ought to be punished by death. Better for me to die of thirst than to transgress the traditions of my ancestors!"

Jesus responded harshly to such reasoning: "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24). The Lord cautions that the weightier matters of the law (such as justice and mercy) are overlooked when attention focuses on strict observances of religious practices. This leads to a corresponding negligence of the eternal laws of God. Jesus told people to pay more attention to cleansing their hearts and not be like their leaders who cleanse only their hands.

The laws of God are liberating and protective. They are restrictive only when they protect us from the evil one. The rules of any institution should ensure the freedom of each individual to reach his or her God-given potential. They should serve as a guide so we don't stray from our purpose, and they should protect us from those who abuse the system.

The principle that Jesus modeled could be stated as follows: If people are commanded to follow a traditional practice that makes life more difficult and no longer contributes to the purpose of the organization, then we must not participate as a matter of religious conscience. Jesus simply didn't observe such traditions, and He defended His disciples for not observing them as well.

Prayer:

Thank You for reminding me, Lord, that the law kills but the Spirit gives life. Help me walk in that freedom today.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Curveball

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, January 26, 2009 - When Life Throws You a Curveball

I’m a big baseball fan. I was raised with two brothers and a father who loved baseball, so it became our family sport, I guess. At any rate, I really love the game and I hope to be around when the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. After a one hundred year dry spell, it’s about time!

However, I must admit that I have a hard time distinguishing one pitch from another. There are fast balls and screw balls, split-finger balls and knuckle balls, to mention a few. But the one that seems to give the most trouble is the curve ball. It comes at you one way, and then it suddenly curves another way, making it very difficult to hit.

Whether or not you know anything about baseball, you know what a curveball is in life. It’s that unexpected turn in the road that takes you where you don’t want to go. It’s that unwanted circumstance—or person—or event—that turns everything topsy-turvy and leaves you bewildered and discouraged.

What curveball has life thrown at you recently? With our current economic crisis, no doubt many have been thrown a financial curveball. You had money put aside for retirement or savings, you thought you invested well, and now that nest egg is worth considerably less than it was last year. You had a good job with a good organization, then one day you heard those dreaded words, “We have to lay you off.” You just learned that the value of your home is now less than you owe on it! Those are financial curveballs for sure.

David wrote, When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3) What are we to do when it feels like our financial foundations are being destroyed? Do we really believe Philippians 4:19, which says, My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus?

Rejected to Accepted

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

1 Peter 2: 9-10 (The Message)

Friday, January 23, 2009

Discerning

Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Proverbs 23:4-5

Economic Uncertainty

Excerpt from The Good Recession at Miscellanies

Targeting the anxiousness caused by what some are calling “The Great Recession,” my pastor Joshua Harris recently preached a pair of messages at Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD). Entitled “The Good Recession,” Harris taught from Luke 12:13-34. Both messages addressed the proper Christian response to this season of economic uncertainty and targeted the themes of greed and covetousness (week 1) and worry (part 2).

In the opening message, Harris said:

“God is doing something. He is shaking the financial security of the entire world. That’s not easy, that’s not something we want. But could we be a people who believe that God can use even something that looks very bad, for our good? Could we be trained by this, and on the other side of it, know the ‘peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (Heb. 12:11, ESV)? That is my prayer for myself, my family, and for this spiritual family. We could mope our way, complain our way, worry our way, grow bitter, through all of this. Or we can humbly ask God to use an economic downturn for our spiritual renewal, for our spiritual upturn.”

What follows is an outline of the two messages, a handful of transcribed excerpts, and links to the audio recordings. The messages are worth your time.

OUTLINES (with audio linkage):

Part 1: The Folly of Greed (Luke 12:13-21)

  1. This recession can be good if we allow it to open our eyes to folly of greed and covetousness.

Part 2: Don’t Worry…Seek the Kingdom (Luke 12:22-34)

  1. This recession can be good if it helps reset our definition of ‘need.’
  2. This recession can be good if it makes us more aware of our helplessness and God’s faithful provision.
  3. This recession can be good if it helps us see that only King Jesus and His kingdom are worth living for.
  4. This recession can be good if it encourages us to lay up treasure in heaven.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Satisfaction in Him

New Way revolutionaries cling to their hope that they're indeed receiving the salvation of their souls, even as they walk through the door marked Oncology Department. They know they're redeemed from the futile search for soul pleasure in anything but God. Their barns may be full of blessings or they may be empty; either way, the barn door is open and their hearts are fixed elsewhere. They're redeemed to enjoy God.

As followers of Jesus, they can drink living water that satisfies their thirst and eat rich food that fills their souls with delight. No matter how life is treating them, no matter how discouraged, angry, or empty they may feel, no matter how badly they've failed, they can walk boldly into the Holiest Place. They actually encounter God. They meet the Principal, and He hugs them.

That is God's purpose in everything He does. It has been His purpose since Creation -- and it will be His purpose until it's fully realized. It's the Immanuel Agenda.

The pressure's off.

We can abandon the Rich Farmer's Agenda. There's a new way to live.

It's all about God and His glory and our satisfaction in Him.

That's been His plan since Eden.

The Pressure's Off by Larry Crabb
p. 130-131

Better

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

Proverbs 22:1

Your Face, LORD, I will seek

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

SEEKING GOD'S FACE

Psalm 27:8 NIV
My heart says of you, "Seek His face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek

"If the sun is shining in the morning, I'll do it." "If he's there when I open the door, I'll know he's the one." "If I pass the class on world missions, I'll be a missionary. If not, I'll be a local pastor."

We all know better than this, but it's amazing how often scenarios just like these pop into our minds. Such propositions are referred to as "laying a fleece" before the Lord or "seeking a sign."

The term fleece comes from the account of Gideon. In Judges 6, Gideon is called by God to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Gideon questions whether God is even for Israel (verse 13), and he doubts his own ability (verse 15). So he asks God for a sign (verse 17). God gives him one, then tells him to tear down the altar of Baal. Gideon is afraid to go during the day, so he goes at night.

Then he questions again whether God will deliver Israel. This time he puts a lamb's fleece on the ground. If God will deliver Israel, then the lamb's fleece will be wet in the morning and the ground around it will be dry. The next morning it is so. That ought to satisfy him, right? Wrong! Wanting to be sure, and hoping that God won't get too mad, Gideon asks Him to do it again, but this time with the opposite result (i.e., the fleece dry and the ground wet). Not exactly the stuff heroes are made of. But God answers Gideon's request and then He reduces Gideon's army down to 300 men!

The whole point of the passage is that God, not man, is the deliverer. God chose a man desperately seeking assurance and reduced an army down to nothing so that the victory would clearly be His. The fleece wasn't a means of demonstrating faith; it was just the opposite. And it certainly wasn't used to determine God's will. God had already told Gideon what to do. Gideon was questioning the integrity of God, just as we do if we ask for a fleece when God has already shown us His will. "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign" (Matthew 12:39). As God's people, let's seek the face of God.

Prayer:

Lord, forgive me for the times I have looked for sign instead of seeking Your face. I commit myself today to walk only in the faith revealed in Your Word.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Inauguration Prayer

Rick Warren's Prayer

Almighty God, our Father:

Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone.

It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory.

History is your story.

The Scripture tells us, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one." And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge point of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama,

the wisdom to lead us with humility,

the courage to lead us with integrity,

the compassion to lead us with generosity.

Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans--united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you--forgive us.

When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone--forgive us.

When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve--forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet.

And may we never forget that one day, all nations--and all people--will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, 'Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus—who taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.


Transcript Source


What To Do

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 and Wednesday, January 21, 2009
- What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do


What do you do when you don’t know what to do? We’re looking at 2 Chronicles 20 where Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had to fight a vast enemy army and from all outward appearances, his little ill-equipped army was going to be soundly defeated.

When Jehoshaphat realized he didn’t know what to do, he called all the people together and prayed for God’s help. From his prayer I want to point out seven R's that I hope you'll remember, because this shows you what to do when you don’t know what to do.

The first R - recite who God is

Jehoshaphat prayed:
You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you.
Jehoshaphat's first move was to remind himself and his people of God and his power. And it has to be our first move, too. We must have an in-depth knowledge of the nature of God. That means we must get to know God. Are you able to recite the nature and character of God? Is it firmly established in your heart and mind? When there are no answers, we must begin by reciting who God is.

The second R - remember God's great works

Jehoshaphat’s prayer continues:
Did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
Isn't it amazing how your memory goes on you when you're in a crisis or when you're discouraged? It takes an act of our will to remember what we should remember. But it's really important at these times that we purposely remember God's past miracles in our lives, his faithfulness to us in days gone by, his deeds of old, as Jehoshaphat did. That's important to remember, when you don’t know what to do.



The third R - recall God's promises.

Notice that next Jehoshaphat recalls God's promises to the children of Israel. He says:
If calamity comes upon us...we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.
The Bible has promises there just for you, did you know that? Have you learned to turn to God's Word and ask for a promise when you face an impossible situation?

I remember when I first started this ministry on one station in the Chicago area in 1984. As it began to grow, I was frightened; I knew how inadequate and inexperienced I was. And I really wanted to back out. But I couldn't deny that God had opened the doors in a miraculous way.

So, I sat down with my Bible and asked God to confirm his calling with a promise. From Isaiah 50 God gave me this promise:
The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. . . Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
Many times I've gone back to that promise and it has sustained me and strengthened me time and time again. Do you need a promise from God right now? You’ll find them in his Word.

The fourth R - restate the problem to God.

Now, Jehoshaphat restates his problem. He prays:
But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
The sequence is extremely important. You restate the problem after you have recited who God is, remembered what he has done and recalled his promises to you. Then you're ready to focus on the problem because you're then God-centered instead of self-centered.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Praying

I listened this morning to this message from Charles Stanley on praying for The President:

In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, the apostle Paul says, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

Most of us realize that we should be interceding for our country’s leaders. But sometime we have difficulty knowing what to ask. Below are a few suggestions.

Pray that our elected officials would:

  1. Recognize their personal sinfulness and need for the cleansing power of Jesus Christ.
  2. Understand their inadequacy for the task before them and their need to pray for God’s wisdom, knowledge and courage.
  3. Reject all counsel that violates the spiritual principles of God’s Word and be willing to trust God to lead them in the right direction.
  4. Resist the pressures of those who would lead them astray or tempt them to disobey the Lord and His will for their lives.
  5. Work to reverse the trend towards ungodliness in our land and to restore America’s Christ-centered values.
  6. Be prepared to make godly choices in the best interest of America, regardless of the cost.
  7. Rely on the Word of God and prayer for strength and success.
  8. Maintain dignity, honor, trustworthiness, and righteousness in office.
  9. Strive to be a godly example to the men, women, and children of this land.
  10. Remember that while in office, they are accountable to God for their attitudes, actions, and motives.

If God’s people pray consistently and passionately for those in authority, the entire nation will be affected. “The effective prayer of a righteous man [or woman] can accomplish much” (James 5:16).


New Way

Excerpt from The Pressure's Off by Larry Crabb

Either we live to store up things for ourselves, or we live to become rich toward God. We cannot do both. No one can live the Old Way and the New Way at the same time. This man hoarded possessions. We chase after fulfillment, importance, a community to belong to, security in relationships, emotional health, a good reputation, honor and appreciation, a self-protected soul, happy families -- the list is endless. And so many items on it don't seem selfish. They're blessings God wants us to have. But never as our chief treasure.

When blessings, even noble ones, become our chief treasure, we hoard them. We may seem generous and giving, but we never sacrifice what matters most. Christians who store treasures other than God in the barn of their soul do not worship God. They can't. Their core worship is directed elsewhere. Living the Old Way turns us into selfish fools, no matter how we may appear to others. That's the point of the parable.

I hear Jesus telling us:
"Don't live the Old Way. If you value the blessings of life over communion with God, you'll end up miserable. Guaranteed! But if you live the New Way, if you draw near to God, not to exploit His power but to enjoy fellowship with Him, then He'll supply everything you need to participate in furthering the Immanuel Agenda. Guaranteed! And you'll know My joy, the joy I experience in the fellowship of the Trinity."

p. 127

Conduct

Even a child makes himself known by his acts,
by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Proverbs 20:11

Monday, January 19, 2009

Consider Yourselves

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

DEAD TO SIN

Romans 6:11, 12
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts

Sin is the condition into which all descendants of fallen Adam are born (Romans 5:12). Sin is living our lives independently of God. It's the result of being deceived by Satan to believe that meaning and purpose in life may be achieved apart from a personal relationship with, and obedience to, the Creator of life (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20; 1 John 5:12). In the non-Christian, sin permeates the old nature, dominates the old self, and perpetuates the deeds of the flesh. Satan is at the heart of all sin (1 John 3:8). He deceives people into believing a lie and counsels them to rebel against God.

When you received Christ you died to sin and its power to dominate you was broken. Satan and sin have not died; they are still strong and appealing. But you no longer have to sin because you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Romans 6:11). You are not dead to sin because you consider it so; you consider it so because it is so. In Christ you have already died to sin.

Paul goes on to say that we are not to use our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness (verse 13). If we do, we allow sin to rule in our mortal bodies. For example, it is virtually impossible for someone to commit a sexual sin and not use his body as an instrument of unrighteousness, allowing sin to rule. Ask the Lord to reveal to your mind how you have wrongly used your body, especially sexually. Renounce that wrong use and then submit your body to God as a living sacrifice. It is your responsibility not to let "sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts" (Romans 6:12).

Prayer:

Loving Lord, I know that sin's power over me has been broken. Help me live today in the light of that truth by renouncing sin and submitting my body to You.

Ten Years Out

Opening paragraph of Ten Years Out: A Retrospective on the Emerging Church in North America


As Next-Wave turns ten years old with its January 2009 issue, it provides a good opportunity to look back over the short history of the emerging church in North America. Next-Wave, after all, is the publication most closely associated with the emerging church conversation and many of the movement’s most prominent leaders have contributed articles to the online journal over the years.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Tent

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE BELIEVER'S TENT

Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being

Biblically, life means to unite and death means to separate . When Adam became a living being, his soul was in union with his body. When he died, his soul separated from his body.

As long as you are alive, your soul is united with your body. But when that separation occurs, you do not cease to exist. Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Your primary identity is not found in your physical existence. Paul said, "From now on we recognize no man according to the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Even though your principal identity is more than physical, in this temporal life you cannot function without your physical body. Your immaterial self needs your material self, and vice versa. You need your physical brain to control your movements and responses, and you need your immaterial mind to reason and make value judgments. Your brain is like a computer and your mind is the programmer. The finest human brain can't accomplish anything in a corpse which lacks a mind. And the most brilliant mind cannot function in a brain damaged by Alzheimer's disease.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 Paul referred to the believer's body as a tent, the temporary dwelling place of the soul. Using his illustration, I must confess that my tent pegs are coming up, my poles are sagging, and my seams are becoming frayed! At my age I'm just glad that there's more to me than the disposable earth suit I walk around in.

You don't exist for your body; it exists for you. That's why Paul said, "I beat my body and make it my slave" (1 Corinthians 9:27 NIV ). In order to fulfill your purpose for being here, you need to manage your body well through exercise, balanced diet and adequate rest.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to not overemphasize or underemphasize the significance of my physical life but stay in step with Your view.


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Faith-Life

I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

James 1: 1-4, The Message


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Technological Change

Excerpt from Five Things the Church Needs to Know About Technological Change | Between Two Worlds

In 1998 Neil Postman delivered a lecture on his five ideas about technological change.

First, that we always pay a price for technology; the greater the technology, the greater the price. Second, that there are always winners and losers, and that the winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really winners. Third, that there is embedded in every great technology an epistemological, political or social prejudice. Sometimes that bias is greatly to our advantage. Sometimes it is not. The printing press annihilated the oral tradition; telegraphy annihilated space; television has humiliated the word; the computer, perhaps, will degrade community life. And so on. Fourth, technological change is not additive; it is ecological, which means, it changes everything and is, therefore, too important to be left entirely in the hands of Bill Gates. And fifth, technology tends to become mythic; that is, perceived as part of the natural order of things, and therefore tends to control more of our lives than is good for us.
John Dyer--the web guy behind Best Commentaries and Dallas Theoloogical Seminary's website--runs the blog Don't Eat the Fruit, where he's recently been exploring Postman's lecture as it relates to church life and spirituality:

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Top Five

Excerpt from Biblical Literacy Reaches New Low by Brian Lowery | Out of Ur

Today, Friday, January 9, 2009 —a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America has officially become utterly and inexcusably biblically illiterate. Let me explain.

Each Friday, over on the Preaching Today blog, I write up a weekly pop culture roundup. It's a way to help preachers know what folks are watching, reading, listening to, and learning about. I list the top-five movies, the top-five books, the top-five albums, the top-five songs, and the top-five search items on that particular Friday morning—all with a bit of hyper-linked commentary.

Of all the material I gather for the roundup, I'm almost always most intrigued by the top-five search items. I go to Google Trends, find the day's date, and just like that, I know what people are obsessing over as they begin their Friday.

Today's top-five list was a bit unexpected:

1. John 3 16
2. Mary Lynn Rajskub
3. Windows 7 beta download
4. All inclusive vacations
5. Ana Ortiz

You read number one right. As Friday, January 9th, was just getting rolling, the top search item on Google was John 3:16. Why? Oddly, because of last night's BCS Championship football game between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners. Florida's quarterback, Tim Tebow, came out to play the game with "John 3:16" written on his eye black ("John" under one eye," "3:16" under the other—hopefully in the right order).

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Walks

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 13: 20

Persistence

Excerpt from The Power of Persistence by Mark Batterson | Evotional

I came across a fascinating study this week. Can't stop thinking about it. Priscilla Blinco did a study involving Japanese and American first graders. She gave them a very difficult puzzle to solve. The American children lasted, on average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted 13.93 minutes or 40% longer.

Any one want to guess who has higher scores on standardized math tests?

Fascinating study with interesting implication. The argument is that we might give IQ more credit than it deserves. Persistence quotient might be a better predictor of success! How long are you willing to try something before giving up? Successful people, in every arena, aren't just smarter. They try harder and try longer.

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Prayer

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

WITH ALL PRAYER AND PETITION

Ephesians 6:18
With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints

The mother of one of my seminary students was a psychic. She said to him once, "Jim, have you been praying for me?" "Of course I have, Mother." "Well, don't," she insisted, "because you're disturbing my aura."

I say pray on! We never know completely the effects of our prayers, but we do know that God includes prayer as part of His strategy for establishing His kingdom and ensuring our spiritual victory.

One of the most dramatic deliverances I have observed happened in a man who was a high priest in the upper echelons of Satanism. Six months after he was set free he gave his testimony in our church. At the close of his testimony I asked him, "Based on your experience on 'the other side,' what is the Christian's greatest strategy against demonic influence?"

"Prayer," he answered forcefully. "And when you pray, mean it. Fervent prayer thwarts Satan's activity like nothing else."

What is prayer? It is communication with God by which we express our dependence on Him. God knows what we need in our battle with the powers of darkness, and He is more ready to meet our needs than we are to ask. But until we express our dependence on Him in prayer, God may not act. In prayer we say, "You are the Lord, not I. You know what's best; I don't. I'm not telling You what to do; I'm asking." Prayer is a means by which God guides and protects His children.

Praying in the Spirit is God's way of helping us pray when we don't know how: "The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us" (Romans 8:26). Helps (sunantilambano) depicts the Holy Spirit's role of coming alongside us in our condition of human frailty and spiritual vulnerability and bearing us to the other side of spiritual protection and victory.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that prayer is such a powerful weapon in my arsenal against the powers of darkness.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Reading the Bible

Excerpt from Bible Maestros by Scot McKnight | Our of Ur

The great Reformer Martin Luther famously found the letter of James to be a strawy epistle because, in his judgment, it did not teach enough Christ or faith or grace. It had too much law for him. Most of us have forgiven Luther for overcooking his confidence, but he illustrates how many of us often read the Bible. We fasten upon a “maestro” – and Luther’s maestro was clearly the Apostle Paul – and make the rest of the Bible fall in line with our maestro’s lens of interpretation. Let me trade a moment in a few stereotypes.

Protestant liberals, Anabaptists, and Red Letter Christians have all made Jesus the maestro of their Bible reading. Everything is seen through the angle of the words “kingdom” and social justice as “discipleship.” We are tempted, of course, to forgive anyone who makes Jesus their maestro, but the wisdom of God in giving us a canon—a list of 27 books that included Paul and Peter and John and Hebrews and Jude— which renders making even Jesus the maestro suspect.

Conservative evangelicals and the (strongly) Reformed have made Paul their maestro, at times a bit like Luther. In their view the rest of the Bible either anticipates or clarifies “justification by faith” and “soteriology” and “grace.” Paul’s theology, it must be admitted, is gloriously rich and his categories breathtakingly clear and the implications profound. But the wisdom of God was to give us a bundle of books and a bundle of authors. A fully biblical approach to reading the Bible reads and accepts each author and each book.

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Thursday, January 08, 2009

Wisdom and Insight

Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling? Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
She's taken her stand at First and Main,
at the busiest intersection.
Right in the city square
where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
"You—I'm talking to all of you,
everyone out here on the streets!
Listen, you idiots—learn good sense!
You blockheads—shape up!
Don't miss a word of this—I'm telling you how to live well,
I'm telling you how to live at your best.
My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth—
I can't stand the taste of evil!
You'll only hear true and right words from my mouth;
not one syllable will be twisted or skewed.
You'll recognize this as true—you with open minds;
truth-ready minds will see it at once.
Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money,
and God-knowledge over a lucrative career.
For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth;
nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.

Proverbs 8:1-11, The Message

New You

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

A NEW CREATURE

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come

Dan and Cindy were a fine young Christian couple who were preparing for ministry on the mission field. Then tragedy struck: Cindy was raped. As hard as she tried to get back to normal life, Cindy couldn't shake the horrible memories and feelings from her experience.

Six months after the tragedy, Dan and Cindy attended a church conference where I was speaking. During the conference Cindy called me in tears. "Neil, I know God can turn everything into good, but how is He going to do that?"

"Wait a minute, Cindy," I said. "God will work everything out for good, but He doesn't make a bad thing good. What happened to you was evil. God's good thing is to show you how you can walk through your crisis and come out of it a better person."

"But I just can't separate myself from my experience," she sobbed. "I've been raped, Neil, and I'll be a victim of that all my life."

"No, Cindy," I insisted. "The rape happened to you, but it hasn't changed who you are, nor does it have to control you. You were the victim of a terrible, ugly tragedy. But if you only see yourself as a rape victim for the rest of your life, you will never be free. You're a child of God. You can't fix the past, but you can be free from it."

All of us have a number of hurtful, traumatic experiences in our past which have scarred us emotionally. You may have grown up with a physically, emotionally or sexually abusive parent. Any number of traumatic, emotional events can clutter your soul with emotional baggage which seems to limit your maturity and block your freedom in Christ. You must renounce the experiences and lies that have controlled you and forgive those who have offended you.

As a Christian, you are primarily the product of the work of Christ on the cross. You are literally a new creature in Christ. The "old you" is gone; the "new you" is here.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for working all things for good in my life, even the effects of evil attacks meant for my harm and destruction.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Morning

Excerpt from Morning Ritual by Mark Batterson

"The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray." (Mark 1:35)

This is more than an isolated incident. It was a morning ritual. And I'm convinced that the example Jesus set is the key to my spiritual future and yours. If I start my day by reading my Bible I get on God's wavelength. If I don't, I don't. It's that simple.

I've always been challenged by something I read in a D.L. Moody biography years ago. Moody said he felt guilty if he heard the blacksmiths hammering before he started praying. Why did God use Moody in such a powerful way? I think it's simple: he got up early to spend time with God.

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This isn't rocket science. God uses people who put Him first. And one way we put him first is by giving him the first part of our day.

I would encourage you to examine your morning ritual.

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Hell

Excerpts from The Importance of Hell by Tim Keller

In 2003 a research group discovered 64% of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die, but less than 1% think they might go to hell. Not only are there plenty of people today who don't believe in the Bible's teaching on everlasting punishment, even those who do find it an unreal and a remote concept. Nevertheless, it is a very important part of the Christian faith, for several reasons.

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What is hell, then? It is God actively giving us up to what we have freely chosen-to go our own way, be our own "the master of our fate, the captain of our soul," to get away from him and his control. It is God banishing us to regions we have desperately tried to get into all our lives. J.I.Packer writes: "Scripture sees hell as self-chosen . . . [H]ell appears as God's gesture of respect for human choice. All receive what they actually chose, either to be with God forever, worshipping him, or without God forever, worshipping themselves." (J.I.Packer, Concise Theology p.262-263.) If the thing you most want is to worship God in the beauty of his holiness, then that is what you will get (Ps 96:9-13.) If the thing you most want is to be your own master, then the holiness of God will become an agony, and the presence of God a terror you will flee forever (Rev 6:16; cf. Is 6:1-6.)

Why is this so extremely important to stress in our preaching and teaching today? The idea of hell is implausible to people because they see it as unfair that infinite punishment would be meted out for comparably minor, finite false steps (like not embracing Christianity.) Also, almost no one knows anyone (including themselves) that seem to be bad enough to merit hell. But the Biblical teaching on hell answers both of these objections. First, it tells us that people only get in the afterlife what they have most wanted-either to have God as Savior and Master or to be their own Saviors and Masters. Secondly, it tells us that hell is a natural consequence. Even in this world it is clear that self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness makes you miserable and blind. The more self-centered, self-absorbed, self-pitying, and self-justifying people are, the more breakdowns occur, relationally, psychologically, and even physically. They also go deeper into denial about the source of their problems.

On the other hand, a soul that has decided to center its life on God and his glory moves toward increasing joy and wholeness. We can see both of these 'trajectories' even in this life. But if, as the Bible teaches, our souls will go on forever, then just imagine where these two kinds of souls will be in a billion years. Hell is simply one's freely chosen path going on forever. We wanted to get away from God, and God, in his infinite justice, sends us where we wanted to go.

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Conclusion The doctrine of hell is crucial-without it we can't understand our complete dependence on God, the character and danger of even the smallest sins, and the true scope of the costly love of Jesus. Nevertheless, it is possible to stress the doctrine of hell in unwise ways. Many, for fear of doctrinal compromise, want to put all the emphasis on God's active judgment, and none on the self-chosen character of hell. Ironically, as we have seen, this unBiblical imbalance often makes it less of a deterrent to non-believers rather than more of one. And some can preach hell in such a way that people reform their lives only out of a self-interested fear of avoiding consequences, not out of love and loyalty to the one who embraced and experienced hell in our place. The distinction between those two motives is all-important. The first creates a moralist, the second a born-again believer.

We must come to grips with the fact that Jesus said more about hell than Daniel, Isaiah, Paul, John, Peter put together. Before we dismiss this, we have to realize we are saying to Jesus, the pre-eminent teacher of love and grace in history, "I am less barbaric than you, Jesus--I am more compassionate and wiser than you." Surely that should give us pause! Indeed, upon reflection, it is because of the doctrine of judgment and hell that Jesus' proclamations of grace and love are so astounding.


Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Great Mercy

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.

1 Peter 1: 3-5, The Message

Culture

Spurgeon post: Gestures + Postures Toward Culture at Miscellanies

“When we set out to communicate or live the gospel, we never start from scratch. Even before church buildings became completely indistinguishable from warehouse stores, church architects were borrowing from ‘secular’ architects. Long before the Contemporary Christian Music industry developed its uncanny ability to echo any mainstream music trend, church musicians from Bach to the Wesleys were borrowing well-known tunes and reworking them for liturgical use.

Why shouldn’t the church borrow from any and every cultural form for the purposes of worship and discipleship? The church, after all, is a culture-making enterprise itself, concerned with making something of the world in the light of the story that has taken us by surprise and upended our assumptions about that world. Copying culture can even be, at its best, a way of honoring culture, demonstrating the lesson of Pentecost that every human language, every human cultural form, is capable of bearing the good news.

The problem is not with any of these gestures—condemning, critiquing, consuming, copying. All of them can be appropriate responses to particular cultural goods. Indeed, each of them may be the only appropriate response to a particular cultural good. But the problem comes when these gestures become too familiar, become the only way we know how to respond to culture, become etched into our unconscious stance toward the world and become postures.”

- Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (IVP, 2008).


Monday, January 05, 2009

Expert

Excerpt from Evotional (Mark Batterson):

I'm currently reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers. Wanted to share a finding I've heard before. Basically, it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything! It doesn't matter whether it's athletics or academics. According to Gladwell, there are no "naturals." You have to put in the time. Generally speaking, the only difference between an elite person in any field and everybody else is usually a few thousand hours of practice time.

I find this study so empowering. Anybody can become an expert in just about anything. Obviously, you need a baseline of talent if you're talking about music or sports. But you can accumulate knowledge and become an expert.

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Victory

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

SUCCESSFUL CHRISTIAN LIVING

Galatians 5:1
We are to grow up in all aspects into Him (Ephesians 4:15). It was for freedom that Christ set us free

There are two concepts which determine the victory and fruitfulness of a Christian. The first concept is maturity. Paul wrote: "We are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ . . . to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:15, 13). God has given us everything we need to grow to maturity in Christ (2 Peter 1:3). But Satan is opposed to our maturity and will do anything he can to keep us from realizing who we are and what we have in Christ. We must experience victory over the dark side before we can fully mature.

The second concept of the successful Christian life is freedom. Paul declared: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). This verse not only assures us that God wants us free, but also warns us that we can lose our freedom by returning to the law.

Before we received Christ, we were slaves to sin. But because of Christ's work on the cross, sin's power over us has been broken. Satan has no right of ownership or authority over us. He is a defeated foe, but he is committed to keeping us from realizing that. He knows he can block your effectiveness as a Christian if he can deceive you into believing that you are nothing but a product of your past, subject to sin, prone to failure, and controlled by your habits. As long as he can confuse you and blind you with his dark lies, you won't be able to see that the chains which once bound you are broken. You are free in Christ, but if the devil can deceive you into believing you're not, you won't experience the freedom which is your inheritance. I don't believe in instant maturity, but I do believe in instant freedom, and I have seen thousands of people set free by the truth. Once a person is free, you would be amazed at how quickly he or she matures!

Prayer:

Lord, I rejoice that it was for my freedom that You came to set me free. Remind me today to walk in Your freedom.