Restoring

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

DISCIPLINE VS. JUDGMENT

Galatians 6:1
Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness

Are there any occasions when Christians should confront each other on matters of behavior? Yes. We are required by God to confront and restore those who have clearly violated the boundaries of Scripture (Matthew 18:15, 16). But let me alert you to an important distinction in this area: Discipline is an issue of confronting observed behavior--that which you have personally witnessed (Galatians 6:1); judgment is an issue of character. We are instructed to confront others concerning sins we have observed, but we are not allowed to judge their character (Matthew 7:1; Romans 14:13). Disciplining is our responsibility; judging character is God's responsibility.

For example, imagine that you just caught your child telling a lie. "You're a liar," you say to him. That's judgment, an attack on his character. But if you say, "Son, you just told a lie," that's discipline. You're holding him accountable based on an observed behavior.

Or let's say that a Christian friend admits to you that he cheated on his income tax return. If you confront him as a thief, you are judging his character and that's not your responsibility. You can only confront him on the basis of what you see: "By cheating on your taxes, you are stealing from the government and that's wrong."

Much of what we call discipline is nothing less than character assassination. We say to our disobedient child: "You're a bad boy." We say to a failing Christian brother or sister: "You're not a good Christian." Such statements don't correct or edify; they tear down character and convey disapproval for the person as well as his problem. Your child is not a liar; he's a child of God who has told a lie. Your Christian friend is not a thief; he's a child of God who has taken something which doesn't belong to him. We must hold people accountable for their behavior, but we are never allowed to denigrate their character.

Prayer:

Forgive me, Father, for judging others. Enable me to discipline in love those I care about and for whom I am responsible.

Praise Him

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his steadfast love endures forever."


2 Chronicles 20:20-21

Frame of Spirit

Mark Batterson post: While the Harpist was Playing

"While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha."

Have you ever noticed this prophetic idiosyncrasy? The Message version of II Kings 3:15 says: "When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha." Is that a random connection? I think not. There are other instances in the Old Testament where music dramatically changes the emotional and spiritual climate. For that matter, it was the worship leaders who led Israel into war on occasion. Check out II Chronicles 20:21.

What am I getting at? As leaders we need to be intentional about creating atmospheres where people can hear God's voice. And musical worship is one of them. I had this revelation during worship a few weeks ago. Some things cannot be learned from a sermon. They can only be experienced in worship.

I'm not suggesting that you rent a harpist. But you better figure out how to hear His voice more clearly. Just as athletes have pre-game rituals that help them get in the right frame of mind for a game. I think we need spiritual rituals that help us get in the right frame of spirit. That is what musical worship does. It tunes us to God.

Whenever I open a service I try to put a frame around the experience. Here's how I did it this week. I simply reminded our congregation that we often feel unworthy to worship God but God is always worthy to be worshiped. We worship in that tension. And we have a saying around NCC: don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Why? Because He's worthy!

Strength, Song, Salvation

The LORD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Exodus 15:2 [Song of Moses]

Gospel Love

Jon Bloom post (Desiring God blog): I Have Not Always Obeyed This Command

"Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you" (Matthew 5:42).

I confess, I have not always obeyed this command.

I'm a veteran urban-dweller. Having lived in an inner city neighborhood for 18 years, I've encountered many beggers and borrowers. Some I discerned as cons I have called out or waved off. Some I have hired to do work. Others I've given to because I felt the conviction of this text.

I've thought a lot about this command of Jesus over the years. I've discussed it with many. I think I know all the major reasons why not to give when someone asks. You don't want to encourage deception. You don't want to feed a chemical addiction. You don't want to contribute to someone's cycle of poverty. And there are many others.

But still this text unnerves and convicts me.

The reason is that Jesus doesn't give this command in the context of addressing how I can best facilitate transformation in someone else. He is telling me how I should respond to those who are making demands on me, either from explicitly evil motives or just plain out of their difficult situation. He is telling me how I ought to respond even when being taken advantage of.

• Do not resist the evil person, he says. Let him slap you twice. (v. 39)
• Give him more than he is suing you for. (v. 40)
• Do more than he is forcing you to do. (v. 41)
• Give to those who ask. (v. 42)
• Love your enemy. (v. 44)

Jesus is telling me to actively show kindness and radical generosity toward those who hate me or who are seeking to take advantage of me.

Really, Jesus? Isn't that rewarding sinful, or at least unhealthy, behavior?

Of course, I can think of Biblical examples that illustrate when it seems right to resist or flee an evil person in situations of theft, deception, abuse, persecution, war, etc. So when the Word speaks, I must listen carefully, and I must weigh all of his words.

But from the words Jesus speaks here, I think it applies more often and more broadly than I want it to. He does not let me off the hook easily. He tests my heart with such radical love. And in my heart I see my selfish, unloving impulses that do not want to part with my money, possessions, time, or convenience for needy or evil people. And I have a ready arsenal of noble-sounding rationales that conceal my sin, almost from myself.

What Jesus is calling me to is gospel love. It's the love that drove him to die for me with when I was still a weak, ungodly, sinful enemy of his (Romans 5:6-10). There is something about such over-the-top, radically generous love that is so different from the way the world loves that it reflects the Father's love for sinners. It's why Jesus calls us also to costly love. It is both an expression and picture of the gospel.

Pray for me. I have an opportunity in my life right now to obey this command, which is why I'm wrestling with this text again. Pray that I will love the way I have been loved.

No Other

⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶ that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isaiah 45

Catch Your Breath

Excerpt from Perry Noble post: Seven Ways to Catch Your Breath

...

#1 – You’ve GOT To Rest…and Make No Apologies For Doing So!

First of all…the LONGEST command (the one God spent the most time explaining) in the ten commandments is the one having to do with rest. God said take a Sabbath…to not do so is a sin!

(AND…you REALLY need to read this post by Clayton as to WHY rest is SO important…SERIOUSLY!!!) (Especially if you are a senior pastor!)

#2 – Find A Hobby!

I am still in the process of doing this…and I know it is necessary. You’ve got to find something you love to do at least a couple of times per week that relaxes your mind. (Watching television is NOT a hobby!) So…hit the golf course, ride a motorcycle or a jeep, play tennis…SOMETHING…but you’ve GOT to find a way to focus on something fun from time to time.

#3 – Get A Journal!

One of the things I do now ANYTIME I am traveling is carry my journal with me…that way when I have a great idea I can write it down (along with all of the thoughts that come with it) and after doing so KNOW that the thought has been captured…then I can proceed to enjoy time with my family because I not trying to remember the idea.

(Let me be clear…I don’t try to DEVELOP the idea…I just write it down…the time for development of it will come later.)

#4 – Have A Date Night With Your Spouse WITHOUT The Telephone!

Let me be clear…no calls, no text messages, no twitters…ANYTHING! Just you and her…in a restaurant (that doesn’t have a value menu) talking about whats going on in your life.

Let me take this a step further…spend time with your family WITHOUT having to have the computer on! The online world will survive without you!

#5 – Take A Season Of Rest Every Year.

Every single year I take at least three weeks in a row off from speaking. (I haven’t always done this…but since I have it has been awesome!) Trust me…it will recharge you like never before. (When you take just one week off you never really shut it down or disconnect…at LEAST try two!)

#6 – Focus on God’s Sovereingty And Not Your Ability.

He loves the church more than you! He said that HE would build the church…which means you don’t have to. AND…if you think you are SO essential to your church that it could not survive without you for a few weeks…then you either suck as a leader OR are struggling with pride!

#7 – Have Someone You Can Spill Your Guts Out To…Other Than Your Spouse!

You need someone you can be honest with…very honest, DANGEROUSLY honest…you can scream, cry, throw things…you get the picture. AND…it should not be your wife. Find a dude…someone in the ministry who you trust…and be real with them. One of the problems that I see that church leaders have is that many of us live as if our crap doesn’t stink…that we don’t have any problems…that our lives are perfect…and that just ISN’T the case!

...

Fragrance

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2 Cor 2:14

Missons

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post: Five Reasons Missional Churches Don't Do Global Missions -- and How to Fix It

...

All this provokes me to ask, "Why are so many missional Christians uninvolved in God's global mission?" As the missional conversation continues and deepens, what has occurred that has led to our blindness to the lost world around us?

There are five reasons I think this has happened:

1) In rediscovering God's mission, many have only discovered its personal dimensions.

I don't mean they have somehow localized mission into their interior, "private" life-- that would make little sense. Rather, the encouragement for each person to be on mission (to be "missional") has trended toward a personal obligation to personal settings, rather than toward a global obligation to advance God's kingdom among all the nations.

"Missional" has merged with privatized Christianity to serve as the reason for personal projects carried out in personal spheres. This is not bad, necessarily. But when the missional impulse is not expanded to include God's global mission, it results in believers moved only to minister in their own Jerusalems with no mind toward their Judeas, Samarias, and uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).

2) In responding to God's mission, many have wanted to be more mission-shaped and have therefore made everything "mission."

Missions historian Stephen Neil, responding to a similar surge in mission interest (the missio dei movement of the 1950s and following), explained it this way: "If everything is mission then nothing is mission." Neil's fear was that the focus would shift from global evangelization (often called "missions") to societal transformation (often called "mission"). He was right.

Recently John Piper echoed these same concerns, differentiating between evangelism and missions. He reminded us that when "Every Christian is a missionary" equals "missional," then we have diluted the need for and specialness of missionaries to foreign lands. (Although I would want to nuance John's language a bit, I agree with his point.)

One American church's website recently identified their ministry as missional, which they proceeded to define as "reaching out to the community to invite them to come" see what is happening in the church. Another's young adult community service project consisted of landscaping the church grounds. Inviting people to church and cleaning up the church are noble endeavors, but passing them for "missional" and "service" is ministerial naïveté at best. It demonstrates the fuzziness that creeps in when labels become catch-alls. And as the outer edges of the missional label gets fuzzy so does mission to the outer edges of the world.

3) In relating God's mission, the message increasingly includes the hurting but less frequently includes the global lost.

One only needs to watch the videos to see the emphases: global orphan projects, eradicating AIDS, Christmas shoeboxes, etc. All of these causes now have advocacy groups, and rightly so, as they are important. However, their vocabulary and frames of reference do not frequently make room for evangelizing the very people they touch. The message of world evangelism, actually, seems more common in legacy/traditional churches than in missional churches. Missional churches seem to speak more of unserved peoples rather than unreached peoples. As we engage to deliver justice, we must also deliver the gospel regardless of anyone's status in a culture.

4) In refocusing on God's mission, many are focusing on being good news rather than telling good news.

St. Francis allegedly said,"Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." Interestingly enough, Francis never actually said this, nor would he have done so due to his membership in a preaching order. But it is a pithy quote tossed into mission statements and vision sermons in missional churches all around my country. Why? It seems that many in the missional conversation place a higher value on serving the global hurting rather than evangelizing the global lost. Or perhaps it is just easier.

I am not urging a dichotomy here, only noting that one already exists. It is ironic, though, that as many missional Christians have sought to "embody" the gospel, they have chosen to forsake one member of Christ's body; the mouth.

5) In reiterating God's mission, many lose the context of the church's global mission and needed global presence.

For whatever reason-- the admirable one of commitment to the local church or the ignoble one of commitment to personalized consumeristic Christianity-- we have lost the grand scope of the entire family of God. While Christ calls people from all tongues, tribes, and nations, we have become content with our own tongue, tribe, and nation. Many churches are wonderfully embracing the missional imperative, but as they seek to "own" the mission by adapting their church into a missional movement in their local community, some inadvertently localize God's mission itself and lose the vital connection all believers share together. A hyper-focus on our own community results in a, have lost vision for the communion of the saints.

So how do we fully embrace missional without losing the mission? The Mission Exchange (formerly the Evangelical Foreign Mission Society) asked me to talk to their global leaders on the topic "How to Put 'Missions' Back into Missional." In my talk, I proposed four principles we needed to consider:

...

[ see link for rest of article ]

Freedom

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Cor 3: 17

Foundation

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

IF YOUR FAITH IS OFF

2 Corinthians 5:7
We walk by faith, not by sight

When my son Karl was about eight years old, I introduced him to the game of golf. I gave him a little starter set of clubs and took him out to the course with me. Karl would tee up his ball and whale away at it with his mightiest swing. Usually he sprayed the ball all over the place. But since he could only hit it 60 or 70 yards at best, his direction could be off by 20 degrees and his ball would still be in the fairway.

As he grew up and got a bigger set of clubs, Karl was able to drive the ball off the tee 150 yards and farther. But if his drive was still 20 degrees off target, his ball no longer stayed in the fairway; it usually went into the rough. Accuracy is even more important for golfers who can blast a golf ball 200 to 250 yards off the tee. The same 20-degree deviation which allowed little Karl's short drive to remain in the fairway will send a longer drive soaring out of bounds.

This simple illustration pictures an important aspect of the life of faith: Your Christian walk is the direct result of what you believe about God and yourself. If your faith is off, your walk will be off. If your walk is off, you can be sure it's because your faith is off. As a new Christian, you needed some time to learn how to "hit the ball straight" in your belief system. You could be off 20 degrees in what you believed and still be on the fairway because you were still growing and had a lot to learn. But the longer you persist in a faulty belief system, the less fulfilling and productive your daily walk of faith will be. As you grow older you will find yourself stumbling through the rough or out of bounds spiritually if the course you have set for your life doesn't agree with Scripture.

For many adults, a mid-life crisis is the result of basing their concept of success and fulfillment on the world instead of on the Word of God. Tragically, many of our children and teenagers are heading for the same fall because their beliefs are not founded on Scripture. As a result, their lives are often bankrupt before they leave high school.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Teach me Your truth today that I may walk in it.

Say Continually

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, "Great is the LORD!"

Psalm 40: 16

With You

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:5-6a


God says to us in our anguish ...

"Hold on. I love you. I know you don't understand but I am with you. I hurt with you. I weep with you."

- - Dee Brestin, The God of All Comfort

Our Sufficiency

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

2 Corinthians 3: 4-5

Success

Mark Batterson post: The Definition of Success

Thought I'd share a few of my personal definitions of success. It's important to define success in biblical and personal ways. You need to know what you're aiming at or you will succeed at the wrong thing.

First of all, success is maximizing your God given potential. Success is synonymous with stewardship.

A second definition is this: doing the best you can with what you have where you are. Success is not circumstantial. Some of the most successful people are those in the worst of circumstances, but they make the most of them. That's success.

Here's a third definition: the people who know you the best respect you the most. We care way too much about what strangers think of us, but they won't be the ones at our graveside. I want my wife and my kids to respect me the most.

Here's a fourth and newest definition: success is trying until the day you die. I think most of us give up on our dreams way too easily and way too quickly. We stop trying. But if you're still trying you're succeeding!

One key to success is not worrying about the outcome. Winning or losing isn't the issue. Trying is winning! That is what I told Parker when he decided to run for class president. That is the lesson I learned at our triathlon this weekend. That is what I've learned as a church planter. The measure of success is this: how hard did you try?

If you pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you you cannot fail.

A Superior Satisfaction

Desiring God blog post: The Love of Human Praise as the Root of Unbelief

This week's sermon: "The Love of Human Praise as the Root of Unbelief"

Jesus' refrain in John 5:30-47 is "not me, but God." He baffles the expectations and confronts the comforts of fallen humanity by being a Messiah who comes not in his own name, seeking his own praise, but by coming in his Father's name and pursuing his Father's praise.

In verses 37-47, Jesus issues a seemingly relentless string of indictments against self-seeking humans:

• Verse 38: You don't have God's word in you. You don't believe the one whom he has sent.
• Verse 40: You don't want to come to me.
• Verse 42: You don't have the love of God in you.
• Verse 43: You don't believe me.
• Verse 44: You cannot believe.
• Verse 45: You don't believe Moses, and you don't believe me.

How did Jesus' kinsmen, who knew their Scriptures so well, not believe in their Messiah? Almost at bottom is that they did not want to. They had other desires. But the bottom-line answer is that they were seeking human approval. Their craving for human praise was so strong that it closed their hearts to pursuing divine praise and closed their eyes to such a Messiah.

Love of human approval is at odds with faith because…

1. …true faith in Jesus gives all glory to God and none to ourselves (Romans 4:20), and…
2. …true faith is a drinking of living water for the satisfaction of our souls—and the well of that water is the glory of Christ.

When we are satisfied in Jesus, the enslaving power of the craving for human glory is broken. Broken by the power of a superior satisfaction.

Nevertheless

Words of Life Devotional| LifeToday

The Nevertheless of Comfort and Community
by Dr. Mark Rutland

"Nevertheless..." (II Corinthians 7:6)

There is a remarkable menagerie of words expressing pain of every kind in Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth; words like affliction, anguish, beatings, distresses, fastings, fightings, labors, perils, persecutions, sorrows, stripes, sufferings, tears, tumults, weak, and weakness. They snap and snarl at the reader ferociously, in such obviously inconsolable anguish that comfort is unimaginable.

“When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings and within were fears.” (II Cor. 7:5)

Yet even in the midst of the most pain-filled epistle in the New Testament there is...Nevertheless.

“Nevertheless God, who comforteth those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation herewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more.” (II Cor. 7:6-7)

To be sure, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, but Spirit-filled persons in community comfort one another. A friend having sent his little daughter up to bed heard her whimpering and went to check on her.

“What’s the matter, darling?”

“Daddy, I’m scared in here alone.”

“But you’re not alone,” he explained. “Jesus is right here with you.”

“I know,” she wailed. “But I want somebody with skin on his face.”

We all do. The scripture says that God inhabits the praises of His people. He also inhabits the comfort of His people. Beaten, afflicted, persecuted, suffering and weak, Paul the Apostle found the comfort of God—in Titus and in his report of the love and concern of the Christians at Corinth. Was it God who comforted Paul? Or was it Titus? The answer is “yes.”

The community of faith does not scold the grieving widow for her grief or dismiss it lightly. The people of God dare not tell the hurting in their midst that they do not hurt, do not have a right to hurt. Even so, we are not wordless in the face of their pain. We do have one thing to say.

Nevertheless, we are here.

Like Titus, we are here. God in us, God as us can be with you and comfort you just as God comforted the great apostle through Titus.

Paul wrote in II Cor. 7:6 that God “comforts those that are cast down.” If, as many seem to think, God is peevish with the downcast and irritated at their lack of faith, He would upbraid them, not comfort them. We, the community of faith, like our God, must comfort the downcast who long for a word, a touch, a face with skin on it.

The nevertheless of Paul was a very human Titus. We, likewise, can be there for someone else, just on the other side of nevertheless from their deepest anguish.

John Wesley said, “I know of no holiness save social holiness.” He meant that we do not live out our piety in relationship with God alone but in community with others. The downside of community is that no one can test your sanctification like your brother-in-law, the antichrist. The upside is that just when you are ready to collapse under the unbearable weight of grief and suffering, Titus shows up with love letters from Corinth.

Some believers tend to so over-spiritualize their faith that the relational aspect gets lost in the glow. Jesus painfully peeled away the soft spiritual goo to reveal the hard core realities of relational holiness as no other teacher ever has. Probably, that was a large part of what got Him killed.

The golden thematic thread that runs through the entire tapestry of the Sermon on the Mount is relational holiness. In that great teaching, theology (spiritual theory) was not Jesus’ point. It was human application (spiritual practices). He was teaching, not about what we ought to believe, but about how we should act, love, live, and forgive. You want to get folks angry enough to kill you, just leave the theoretical realm and deal with horizontal, relational reality. Preach on love and win medals. Talk to a man about how he treats his mother-in-law and wind up nailed to the wall.

Jesus taught that everything, even, or perhaps especially, offerings to God, must be seen in the light of human relationships. “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matt. 5:23-24)

The Bible never envisioned our being reconciled to God apart from our being reconciled to each other. No amount of spiritual language can change that. Nevertheless beautifully bridges the gap between the spiritual and the pragmatic.

This Week
Be that Nevertheless for someone by focusing on the relationships God has placed in your life.

Prayer
"Lord, allow me to comfort someone in my community just by being in the right place at the right time, so I can share your love with them."

My Strength and My Salvation

I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18: 1-2

Third Place

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post about Matthew's Table

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to visit Java Joe's / Matthew's Table in Lebanon, TN. (The church gathers for worship in a coffee shop they own and operate.)

Part of the design is that they are trying to create a "third place" community. From Wikipedia:

The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Oldenburg calls one's "first place" the home and those that one lives with. The "second place" is the workplace -- where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true "third place": free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars - those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.

They describe their church on their website.

Matthew's Table is a church stripped of its formality. At every Sunday gathering we prepare food and all eat freely. During the meal we engage in a simple liturgy that we call a Weekly Rhythm:

BLESSING - The word "blessing" means "to empower to strength." We seek God's blessing and pass that blessing on to others. As we gather we intentionally speak words of blessing and affirmation over each other.

EATING - Sharing food has always been central to a shared life of community. We want to place worship and communion back where it began: as a delight in the middle of the shared table. We eat and drink in remembrance of Christ - looking back to the cross and forward to his return.

LISTENING - We believe that God is capable of speaking to us. We do not confine him to any particular medium, but we try to be attentive to his voice, wherever and whenever it speaks. We provide a period for reflection, meditation and listening to the voice of God.

LEARNING - We desire to take on the image of God and to participate in his plan. We seek out knowledge about God to help us to do this. We gather around the Scriptures and learn together, discussing issues that confront our world.

SENDING - We are ambassadors who bear God's image in the world. We remind ourselves regularly that we are sent to participate in God's activity in both our local and global cultures.

I thought is might be helpful to share some of the setting with you. Instead of a church starting a coffee shop, this is a coffee shop with a church.

...

(go to original post for pictures and more details)

Fueling Good Works

Excerpt from How the Hope of the Resurrection Leads to Good Works | Desiring God blog

Piper also discusses the resurrection—and the renewal of all creation—in chapter 30 of Future Grace. At the beginning of that chapter, there is a helpful discussion of how the hope of the resurrection fuels good works:

The faith that grows in the ground of God's promises takes away fear and fills us instead with hope and confidence. And when fear goes, and hope in God overflows, we live differently. Our lives show that our treasure in God is more precious than the fleeting attractions of sin.

When we rely on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9), and revel in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2), we don't yield to the sinful pleasures of the moment. We are not suckered in by advertising that says the one with the most toys wins. We don't devote our best energies to laying up treasures on earth. We don't dream our most exciting dreams about accomplishments and relationships that perish. We don't fret over what this life fails to give us (marriage, wealth, health, fame).

Instead we savor the wonder that the Owner and Ruler of the universe loves us, and has destined us for the enjoyment of his glory, and is working infallibly to bring us to his eternal kingdom.

So we live to meet the needs of others, because God is living to meet our needs (Isaiah 64:4; 41:10; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 23:6). We love our enemies, and do good, and bless those who curse us and pray for those who despise us, because we are not enslaved to the fleeting, petty pleasures that come from returning evil for evil, and we know that our reward is great in heaven (Luke 6:35; Matthew 5:45; 1 Peter 3:9).

All this flows from a growing hope in future grace. When you know the truth about what happens to you after you die, and you believe it, and you are satisfied with all that God will be for you in the ages to come, that truth makes you free indeed. Free from the short, shallow, suicidal pleasures of sin, and free for the sacrifices of mission and ministry that cause people to give glory to our Father in heaven.

Seeking

Post by Mark Batterson: Spiritual Hunger

How hungry are you?

Spiritual hunger is the key to spiritual maturity. When you lose that spiritual hunger you stop seeking, asking, and knocking. You stop growing.

As leaders, this isn't something we can "give" to people. But we need to salt the oats so to speak. And we need to set the example. You know what you owe God and owe your congregation as a pastor? A deep spiritual hunger to know God more!

I remember when I first starting seeking the Lord. It was between my freshman and sophomore year of college. I would stay up late reading my Bible. I'd get up early to pray. I went to sleep and woke up thinking about God. I was hungry. And I'm still hungry. I know it waxes and wanes, but how hungry are you?

If I could pray for one thing for you it'd be this: an insatiable hunger to know God more. There is no substitute for spiritual hunger.

Deuteronomy 4:29: "Seek the Lord and you will find him, if you search for Him with all of your heart and all of your soul."

God reveals Himself the most to those who want to know Him the most.

Cross

Calvary and the Real World post from Miscellanies

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his.”

—John Stott, The Cross of Christ (IVP, 1986), pp. 335—336. As quoted in Randy Alcorn, If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah, 2009), p. 217.

You Are the One

Chorus from Wonderful, Merciful Savior


You are the One that we praise, You are the One we adore.
You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for,
Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

Distractions

Mark Batterson post: Rebuke Distractions

If you want to make an impact for the glory of God, you have to rebuke distractions. Your life has to be totally focused on becoming who He has called you to be and what He has called you to do. If you don't, here's what will happen: unimportant things become important and important things become unimportant. One of the primary reasons we aren't advancing the kingdom like we could or should is because we major in minors. And that leads to sideways energy.

Let me touch on two kinds of distractions:

I think we have to avoid vision distractions.

I love the example Nehemiah set when he was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. A couple of thugs named Sanballat and Tobiah are trying to discourage and distract him. Nehemiah says, "I am doing a great work! I cannot stop to come and meet with you." I love that. He refuses to play defense. He's got a job to do and he's going to do it. One of the maxims I live by is something Andy Stanley said: saying yes to one thing is saying no to something else. You have to make every decision with that in mind. You can get so busy the vision will never be fulfilled.

I think the second kind of distractions we have to avoid in church circles are theological distractions. We need to study to show ourselves approved. We need to know what we believe and why we believe what we believe. But we can get so busy arguing about theological nuances that we lose sight of the Great Commandment and Great Commission. Sometimes, when a person is endlessly arguing theological nuances, I want to blurt out: people are going to hell. Let's get our theology straight. And we need to call blasphemy and heresy on the carpet. But let's get some perspective.

In the words of Titus 3:9: "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless."

True theology doesn't just lead to endless arguments. True theology leads to action.

Let's follow Jesus' example: "I must be about my Father's business."

Higher Life

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE VIEW FROM THE CROSS

Matthew 16:25, 26
Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul?

Three guidelines from these verses summarize the view from the cross, which we must adopt to counteract the self-centered worldview promoted by the god of this world.

First, we must sacrifice the lower life to gain the higher life. If you want to save your natural life (i.e., find your identity and sense of self-worth in positions, titles, accomplishments and possessions and seek only worldly well-being), you will lose it. At best you can only possess these temporal values for a lifetime, only to lose everything for eternity.

Furthermore, in all your efforts to possess these earthly treasures, you will fail to gain all that can be yours in Christ. Shoot for this world and that's all you'll get, and eventually you will lose even that. But shoot for the next world and God will throw in the benefits of knowing Him in this present life as well. Paul put it this way: "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7, 8).

Second, sacrifice the pleasure of things to gain the pleasure of life. What would you accept in trade for the fruit of the Spirit in your life? What material possession, what amount of money, what position or title would you exchange for the love, joy, peace and patience that you enjoy in Christ? "Nothing," we all probably agree. Victory over self comes as we learn to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.

Third, sacrifice the temporal to gain the eternal. Possibly the greatest sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to postpone rewards. It is far better to know that we are the children of God than to gain anything that the world calls valuable. Even if following Christ results in hardships in this life, He will make it right in eternity.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, You alone are God. Help me to choose the higher life today instead of seeking the pleasures of this world.

Recount Deeds

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
²I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9

Infinite Value

Mark Batterson post: Switch the Price Tags

Soren Kierkegaard once told a parable about two thieves who broke into a jewelry store, but instead of stealing the jewels they simply switched the price tags. They put high-priced tags on cheap jewelry and low-priced tags on valuable gems. For several weeks no one noticed. People bought cheap jewelry for exorbitant prices and rare jewels for spare change. Kierkegaard's point is pretty obvious: sometimes we have difficulty discerning between what is valuable and what is worthless.

John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy." But here's how he steals. Very rarely is it overt. He uses covert means. He switches the price tags. He wants us to place supreme value on worthless things and no value on things that are invaluable.

A relationship with Jesus Christ is of infinite value. To settle for anything less is literally robbing from yourself.

Nines

On Wednesday there was a broadcast of The Nines. One of the speakers was Ed Stetzer. Here is what he had to say:


Ed's outline:

Mission, Self, and God's Mission

Mission is the opposite of self. We have to remember to make it about God and not about us.

Even pastors struggle with the reality that the heart is an idol factory. Your heart is an "Idol Factory" constantly creating things other than God to worship.

We must resist the pull of idols and live the mission-- to make it about God's Glory and His agenda.

We pastors too often consider ourselves as "religious professionals who can put on a show" rather than people transformed and sent on mission.

1. Those on mission focus on God's glory and His agenda
(Isaiah 6:1-8).

2. Those on mission reflect being with God
(2 Corinthans 3:16-18).

Trying to get people on mission who haven't been transformed by the gospel is a fool's errand.

3. Those on mission no longer live for themselves
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

It's not about thinking less of you; it's about thinking of you less.

-------------------------------------------------

http://vimeo.com/6436097

Ed Stetzer - The 9s from LifeWay on Vimeo.

Be Prepared

^10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

^13-18Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Ephesians 6 [The Message]

Truth

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

John 16:13
When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth

It's not hard to know the truth if You are the truth, and speaking with authority would come quite naturally if you're God! Discernment is also easier if you know, as Jesus does, what's in the hearts of men (John 2:24, 25). Though we don't possess those attributes, we do have the Holy Spirit. If we are going to continue the work of Jesus, we must yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to control and guide us. Then we can know the truth, speak with authority, and discern good and evil.

We have as our guide the Spirit of truth. When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, He said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you" (John 16:13, 14). This promise has primary reference to the apostles, but its application extends to all Spirit-filled believers (1 John 2:20-27). The Holy Spirit is first and foremost the Spirit of truth, and He will lead us into all truth.

When Jesus prayed, He requested, "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:15, 17). Truth is what keeps us from the evil one. John wrote, "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19), because Satan "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). The only way to overcome the father of lies is by revelation, not research or reasoning. Many in higher education lean on their own understanding and believe only in what can be validated by research. Truth is God's will made known through His Word. The Holy Spirit's role is to enable us to understand the Word of God from God's perspective. Jesus says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

Prayer:

Father, forgive me for leaning on my own understanding. Fill me with Your Spirit and lead me into all truth today.

Revel in Him

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! [The Message]


Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; [ESV]

Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!

Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon]. [Amplified]

Philippians 4: 4-5

God's Happiness

Excerpt from John Piper The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism

Which brings us now to the final observation: God's happiness is the foundation of Christian Hedonism because his happiness spills over in mercy to us. Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression like some Jack -and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected and frustrated? Could we join David and say, "O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is" (Psalm 63:1)? No way! We would all relate to God like little children have to a gloomy, dismal, discontented, frustrated father. They can't enjoy him. They can only try to avoid him and maybe try to work for him to make him feel better. Therefore, the foundation of Christian Hedonism is that God is infinitely happy, because the aim of Christian Hedonism is to be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy fellowship with God. But children cannot enjoy the company of their father if he is gloomy and dismal and frustrated. And so the basis and foundation of Christian Hedonism is that God is the happiest of all beings.

Here is another way to say it. In order for a sinner to pursue joy in God, he must be confident that God will not shut him out when he comes seeking forgiveness and fellowship. How can we be encouraged that God will treat us with mercy when we repent from our sin and come seeking joy in him? Consider this encouragement from Jeremiah 9:24, "'I am the Lord who performs mercy and justice and righteousness in the earth, because in these things I delight' says the Lord." God shows mercy because he delights in it. God is not constrained to save by some formal principle or rule. He is so full of life and joy in his own glory that the climax of his pleasure is to overflow in mercy to us. The ground of our confidence in the mercy of God is that he is a perfect Christian Hedonist. He delights above all things in his divine excellence, and his happiness is so full that it expresses itself in the pleasure he has in sharing it with others.

Listen to the heartbeat of the perfect heavenly Hedonist in Jeremiah 32:40-41. Why does God do good? How does he go about the business of loving you? Listen:

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

God does good to you because he enjoys it so much! He pursues the business of loving you with all his heart and with all his soul. The happiness of God spilling over in joyful love is the foundation and example of Christian Hedonism.

I close with an invitation. These precious and astonishing promises of God's favor do not belong to everyone. There is a condition. It is not a condition of work or payment. An infinitely happy sovereign does not need your work and already owns all your resources. The condition is that you become a Christian Hedonist—that you stop trying to pay or work for him or run from him, and instead begin to seek with all your heart the incomparable joy of fellowship with the living God.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse
Nor his pleasure in the legs of man;
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
In those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalm 147:10-11)

The condition for inheriting all the promises of God is that all the hope for happiness you have pinned on yourself and your family and job and leisure you shift over to him. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who hope in his steadfast love." "Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).

Experience of Grace

Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.

2 Cor 1: 15


Bring "grace" to others.

Joy in God

Excerpt from John Piper sermon: The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism

...

Sometimes an illustration is worth a thousand words of abstract definition. So instead of giving you a precise definition of Christian Hedonism, let me start by giving some biblical examples of it. David counsels Christian Hedonism when he commands, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). And he demonstrates the kernel of Christian Hedonism when he cries out, "As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). Moses was a Christian Hedonist (according to Hebrews 11:24-27) because he rejected the "fleeting pleasures" of sin, but "considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward." The saints in Hebrews 10:34 were Christian Hedonists because they chose to risk their lives to visit Christian prisoners and joyfully accepted the plundering of their own property since they knew that they themselves had a better possession and an abiding one. The apostle Paul commended Christian Hedonism when he said in Romans 12:8, "Let him who does acts of mercy do them with cheerfulness." And Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, set the greatest standard of Christian Hedonism because "his delight was in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:3), and for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

Christian Hedonism teaches that the desire to be happy is God-given and should not be denied or resisted but directed to God for satisfaction. Christian Hedonism does not say that whatever you enjoy is good. It says that God has shown you what is good and doing it ought to bring you joy (Micah 6:8). And since doing the will of God ought to bring you joy, the pursuit of joy is an essential part of all moral effort. If you abandon the pursuit of joy (and thus refuse to be a Hedonist, as I use the term), you cannot fulfill the will of God. Christian Hedonism affirms that the godliest saints of every age have discovered no contradiction in saying, on the one hand, "We are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" (Romans 8:36), and on the other hand, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Christian Hedonism does not join the culture of self-gratification that makes you a slave of your sinful impulses. Christian Hedonism commands that we not be conformed to this age but that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) so we can delight to do the will of our Father in heaven. According to Christian Hedonism joy in God is not optional icing on the cake of Christianity. When you think it through, joy in God is an essential part of saving faith.

...

One Question

Perry Noble post (excerpt): The Question That Changed My Life

And he asked me THIS question…

“What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?”

I knew the answer…I didn’t even have to think about it…it literally just flew out of my mouth, “I would plant a church.”

He looked at me dead in the eye and said, “then you are a coward if you don’t!”

SO…literally…at that moment I said “yes” to the call I knew God had placed on my life. I didn’t know the answers (still don’t), I didn’t know anything about strategy or structure, didn’t know how technology would play a part of the church, didn’t know how we were going to establish leadership…I didn’t know a LOT…

BUT…what I did know is that God had placed a DREAM inside of me to plant a church…and when Dale asked me the question I mentioned earlier it SHOOK me…and DROVE me to take a DIVE of faith.

SO…what about you…what would YOU be willing to attempt for God if you KNEW you could not fail?

If the answer isn’t, “what I am doing right now” then I would say you need to do some serious praying and rearranging.

You see…life is SHORT…our days are numbered…and God didn’t put us on this planet to screw around…but rather to MAKE A DIFFERENCE by USING what HE has given us to advance HIS Kingdom and MAKE HIM FAMOUS!

Too many of us are held captive by fear…but remember He is THE MOST HIGH GOD!!! Never let fear trump the potential God has placed in you!

Too many of us are held captive by the unknown…but remember HE KNOWS! Besides…if we have EVERY answer to every question then what He is comanding us to do would not require faith on our part…and where would the fun be in that?!?!?!

Too many of us are held captive by people who say “it” can’t be done…but if you will look at who is saying that “it” you will discover that they aren’t actually doing anything except for trying to hold back the people God is letting loose to do ministry.

Too many of us are held captive by critics…but if you will notice Jesus was criticized…and, if you are not experiencing some opposition then that means the enemy is pleased with you…not exactly the calling our lives should fulfill!!!

What would you be willing to attempt for God if you KNEW you could not fail?

You’ve GOT to beg Him for revelation on this…and when He gives you the Word…you’ve GOT to act. God doesn’t reveal Himself to us so that we can CONSIDER IT…but rather so that we will be CONSUMED by it and OBEY HIS VOICE!

BTW…if the thing that you would attempt scares you to death…if you have had sleepless nights thinking about it…if you KNOW that failure is a sure thing unless HE gets involved…then you should probably make a move…SOON! (Like…maybe even RIGHT NOW!!!)

When Dale asked me that question I told myself, “I’ve got nothing to lose…I am going to give this a shot…I don’t want to waste my life and then look back 20 years from now and begin asking ‘what if’ questions!” (AND…you don’t want that for yourself either!!!)

SO…what would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?

You’re not waiting on Him…He’s waiting on you…do you need to make a move, share Christ with someone, plant a church, change careers…WHAT IS IT that BURNS YOUR HEART and DRAWS YOU to DESPERATE DEPENDENCE ON HIM?

What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail? Can you imagine what the world would be like if all of us allowed that question to drive the vision for our lives?

What about it?

Simplicity and Godly Sincerity

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

2 Cor 1: 12

Lead Me

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!

Psalm 143:10

Emotions

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR EMOTIONS

Psalm 109:26, 30
Help me, O LORD my God. . . . With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD

Nancy was a college student with an inability to express the anger and resentment she felt. "My roommate gets to the point sometimes where she just explodes emotionally to let off steam. I have deep feelings too, but I'm not sure that a Christian is supposed to let off steam."

I opened my Bible to Psalm 109:1-13 and read David's angry words against an enemy. "What's that doing in the Bible?" Nancy gasped. "How could David pray all those evil things about his enemy? That's pure hatred."

"David's words didn't surprise God," I answered. "God already knew what he was thinking and feeling. David was simply expressing his pain and anger honestly to his God."

I encouraged Nancy that when she is able to dump her hurt and hatred before God she probably won't dump it on her roommate in a destructive way. I also reminded her that David was as honest about his need for God as he was about expressing his feelings. He closed the psalm by praying: "Help me, O LORD my God. . . . With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD" (verses 26, 30).

I think the way David acknowledged his feelings is healthy. If you come to your prayer time feeling angry, depressed or frustrated, and then mouth a bunch of pious platitudes as if God doesn't know how you feel, do you think He is pleased? Not unless He's changed His opinion about hypocrisy. In God's eyes, if you're not real, you're not right.

Acknowledging your emotions also involves being real in front of a few trusted friends. During his travels, Paul had Barnabas, Silas or Timothy to lean on. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus expressed His grief to His inner circle of Peter, James and John. If you have two or three people like this in your life, you are truly blessed.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that I can be real and honest with You. Help me develop a few trusted friends who will also welcome my emotional honesty.

Living Water

Tony Reinke post: Religious souls need water, too

On John 7:37 [“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink’”], Bonar writes:

“Who are they who need this living water? Not heathens; not profane and irreligious; but Jews; religious Jews; engaged in the worship of God, at one of their most joyful feasts. This is remarkable.

In the fourth chapter it is to the Samaritan that he presents the cup of living water. In the book of the Revelation, it is offered indiscriminately to all, Jew and Gentile. So also in the fifty-fifth of Isaiah. But here it is to the Jew, the religious Jew. He is the thirsty one, he needs living water.

His rites, and feasts, and sacrifices cannot fill him, nor quench his thirst. He has still a deep void within,—an intense thirst, which calls for something more spiritual and divine. It is not then to the idolatrous pagan that the Lord speaks; not merely to the lover of pleasure or lust; the heedless sinner. It is to the men who frequent the sanctuary,—who pray and praise outwardly; who go to the Lord’s table. It is to them He speaks. Perhaps the thirstiest of our race are to be found among our so-called religious men,—and I do not mean the hypocrite or Pharisee,—but those who, with devout conscientiousness, attend to what are called religious duties in all their parts.

They go through the whole round and routine of service, but they are not happy. They are still thirsty and weary. This external religiousness helps to pacify conscience, but it does not make them happy. Sabbath comes after Sabbath, and finds them in their place in the sanctuary, but they are not happy. It is a form or a performance; an empty vessel. They are just where they were. There are multitudes of such in our day; in our churches; at our communion tables, To them Jesus speaks, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.’ Duties, ceremonies, and performances cannot make you happy. They are a weariness. They leave you often more thirsty than before. But deal with Jesus, as God’s gift, as the dispenser of God’s gift,—you will find in Him the fountain of living water.”

—Horatius Bonar, Light and Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes (Dust & Ashes, 2002), 2:250—251.

Must Help Us

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

2 Cor 1:11

Spiritual Intensity

Mark Batterson post: Do You Love Numbers More Than Souls?

"David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics." I wonder if we're guilty of the same thing?

Can we have a heart to heart? I think the numbers game is one of the greatest stumbling blocks for pastors. I'm not saying that numbers aren't important because every soul is of infinite value. But when we measure the wrong things or measure the wrong way it reveals wrong motivations. The purest motivation for what we do is a love for Christ which translates into a love for souls. But let me ask an honest question that demands an honest answer: do you love numbers more than souls? Or to put it another way, is the love of souls your deepest desire and truest motivation for growth? Or is it your own ego? A little self-examination wouldn't hurt any of us!

It's easy to measure a congregation by its numbers--attendance and offerings. And, again, I'm not saying those things aren't important. But I don't think they are the truest measure of a church. Over the years I've learned to gauge spiritual intensity. Call it spiritual hunger. It's much harder to measure, but I think it's the best gauge. And it's that spiritual intensity that will lead toward growth because friends will invite friends. Why? They're excited about what God is doing in their life. They are seeking God. And when you seek God, seeking souls is one byproduct.

The real problem isn't counting numbers. The real problem is comparing numbers. When you start comparing it leads down one of two paths: pride or jealously. And either one will eat you alive!

Bottom line? May we care less about statistics and more about souls.

Risk

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

LIFE ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Hebrews 11:33, 34
. . . Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong

Is faith a risk? Of course. But failing to step out in faith is to risk missing real life. I have been challenged by the following thought from an unknown author.

Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To place our ideas, our dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love . . . live. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave; he has forfeited freedom.

What a privilege for us to be able to walk by faith in God Himself, armed with all the promises of His Word. I suppose we all desire the security of the solid tree trunk, but the fruit is out on the limb. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The timid soul asks, "What do I stand to lose if I do it?" The fruit-bearing Christians asks, "What do I stand to lose if I don't do it?" Real life is lived on the cutting edge.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help me stand up for what is right, to reach out and love others, and to dare to believe.

Good Courage

So we are always of good courage. ... , for we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5: 6a, 7

Give Up Inferior Stuff

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Philippians 3: 7-11 [The Message]

Crazy People

You're Not Crazy post by Perry Noble

As I said the other day…don’t expect God’s next step to make sense.

I’ve had so many leaders who have HUGE dreams…but back off because it will not work out on paper and they are afraid people will think they are crazy…

I think we need more crazy people…

• People thought Noah was crazy when he built the ark.
• People thought Abraham was crazy when climbed a mountain to sacrifice his son.
• People thought Joseph was crazy when he shared his dreams!
• People thought Moses was crazy when he announced God’s relocation project!
• People thought Joshua was crazy when he announced the battle plan for Jericho!
• People thought Gideon was crazy when the army got reduced to 300.
• People thought David was crazy when he walked out to meet Goliath.
• People thought Elijah was crazy when he faced the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel
• People thought Nehemiah was crazy when he had a dream to build something incredible for the Kingdom.
• People thought John the Baptist was crazy when he preached a radical message.
• People thought the woman who poured out perfume on Jesus’ feet was crazy…and yet He honored her in front of all of them.
• People thought the Apostles were crazy in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit showed up!
• People thought Paul was crazy for planting churches and taking the Gospel to the Gentiles!

Crazy people…insane…but ALL of them were used by God to do GREAT THINGS because they refused to be “normal” when He called them to be something so much more.

I don’t want to be the guy who never attempts anything great and plays if safe…

“Taking up my cross” SCREAMS, “be willing to give up everything…including YOUR REPUTATION!”

The world needs more leaders who will die to the idea of being crazy and live in complete obedience…those are the people who make the difference.

Wait For It

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear? [1:2]

"Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told. [1:5]

If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay. [2:3b]

Habakkuk 1 and 2

You Are My God

But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."

Psalm 31: 14

Humility

Excerpt from Greatness, Humility, Servanthood sermon by John Piper

...

So what I would like to do first is not start with a definition of humility but with six passages of Scripture and a brief comment about each. I think what will come out of these texts is a sense of what humility is. Then I will draw out some implications for us as a church. And close with the question why this is so important and try to answer some objections that the world has to humility.

First, then, six texts that open us up to what God means by humility.

1. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

My point here is that humility agrees and is glad that God gets all the credit for choosing us and calling us according to his purposes, not our merit. And he does this (v. 29) “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God,” but that (v. 31) the one who boasts might boast in the Lord. Humility agrees and is glad that God acts in a way to take the focus of all boasting away from man and put it on himself. Are you happy about that? Are you glad God does it that way? Humility is glad about that.

2. 1 Corinthians 4:6-7

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Humility agrees and is glad that everything we have is a free gift of God, and that this severs the root of boasting in our distinctives. Whatever talents, whatever intelligence, what ever skills, whatever gifts, whatever looks, whatever pedigree, whatever possessions, whatever wit, whatever influence you have, put away all pride because it is a gift, and put away all despair because it is a gift from God.

3. James 4:13-17

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Humility agrees and is glad that God governs the beating of our hearts and our safe arrival at every destination. If we get there, God got us there. And if we don’t get there, God willed that we not get there. Humility gets down under this sovereign providence and nestles there gladly.

4. Colossians 3:12-13

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

One of the implications of this text is that our humble willingness to forgive others their offenses is rooted in God’s forgiveness of us through Jesus. In other words, Christian humility is rooted in the gospel. True humility is gospel humility. It is not just copying Jesus in his willingness to die for others; it is enabled by Jesus because he died for us. Humility is rooted in the gospel.

5. Philippians 2:3-8

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Humility serves. Humility gets down low and lifts others up. Humility looks to the needs of others and gives time and effort to help with those needs. Jesus took the form of a servant and humbled himself, even to the point of death. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Humility measures everything it does by whether it serves the good of other people. Am I feeding my ego or am I feeding the faith of others? Humility serves.

6. Mark 10:42-44

Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

Humility agrees and is glad that this servanthood is true greatness. Verses 43-44: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

...

Generous and Giving

"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.

Isaiah 58: 9-12 [The Message]

Rejoice, Sing and Exult

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.

Psalm 5:11