Friday, December 31, 2010

Study

Excerpts from Ed Stetzer  My interview in Bible Study Magazine

Bible Study Magazine is a non-denominational publication that works to provide readers with tools and methods for Bible study, as well as insights from respected Bible teachers, professors, historians and archaeologists. The content is diverse, always interesting, and helpful. I was recently interviewed for the magazine and am allowed to share a few excerpts below.

...

On why reading and studying the Bible is important for Christians...

Stetzer: I think right now we're in a season where a lot of people are realizing that we aren't making as many disciples out there as we would like. Our LifeWay Research studies show a lack of discipleship among many evangelical Christians, and so people often wonder, what's the answer to that? Issues such as preaching, missional living, and belonging to a covenant community are all part of the solution. But I think there's no question that an essential element is leading God's people to consistently engage God's Word through reading, studying and memorizing it. Biblical illiteracy is prevalent and personal commitment to God's Word is the only real answer.

Church leadership must challenge people to be in the Word of God--consistently growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures.

...

BSM: You have written about some of the challenges in churches today. How do you think Bible study relates to that?
 
Stetzer: I think there are some big challenges. One of the greatest is the Evangelical angst occurring in North America. Evangelicals in our country are just not sure of who they are or where they're going. I think they need to engage the Scriptures to find the answers.

Perhaps what Evangelicals need most right now is a strategy for biblical literacy. We need to get--as one organization is named--"back to the Bible." It will help us be more gracious and winsome in the way we communicate, and some evangelicals need that.

It could help some Evangelicals have a clearer view on controversial issues. It will help us to understand and communicate a clear gospel as laid out in the Scriptures--a gospel of the cross and of the kingdom.

The Word of God is essential to where we are right now.

First Words of Freedom

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About the Most Beautiful Irony

     When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:39-40

     Dear Jesus, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought of irony as beautiful until today. But everything connected to you reveals beauty, in one way or another, including your first days as a newborn baby.
     Joseph and Mary were such faithful and loving parents, from your conception on.  As the Scriptures tell us, just after your birth, they took you to the temple and did “everything required by Law of the Lord” on your behalf. But little did they realize that you were born to fulfill everything required by God’s Law for them… and for us. There’s no greater or more beautiful irony to be found in all of history…
    You didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it for us. What we could never do, you’ve done for us with perfection. What we could never be, you became for us with affection. The law demands a righteousness and beauty which come to us freely and fully only in you.
     Oh, wonder of wonders… my heart sings and soars as I ponder your humility, kindness, and servant-love, Lord Jesus. From cradle to cross to crown, you’ve done nothing but love and care for us with unremitting compassion.
     Your last words from the cross, “It is finished,” are our first words of freedom. It’s not our obedience, but yours in which we trust. It’s not our righteousness, but yours in which we boast. And by the same grace you saved us, you’re now changing us. One Day, one blessed Day we will be as lovely and as loving as you, all because the gospel is true.
     Jesus, you fulfilled the law for us, now fulfill in us everything you intend. Make us like yourself—as singles… spouses… parents… grandparents… friends and neighbors. On the verge of a new year, show us… show me clearly and specifically, what this will look like. What more could any of us want, for the rest of our days in this world, than for you to be glorified in us and through us? So very Amen, we pray, in your most glorious and gracious name.

None Like You

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You



"Our God" - Chris Tomlin

His Good Providence

Excerpt from R.C. Sproul post:  Weary in Doing Good

...


Indeed, what if God in His good providence, sees to it that I am more tired, so that I might be more like His Son? Maybe that’s why I should be getting up earlier to pray. Maybe that’s why I should be working harder, not so that I might get more done, but that more might be done in me.

Our prayers expose the folly of our strategies. We ask for strength, because we think it will do the kingdom good. But the kingdom grows in our weakness. We ask for health, thinking it will make us more effective, when it might just make us more affected- pretending to be strong and bold. We ask for ease, which only makes us more at ease in Babylon. What we ought to be asking is to be more like Jesus. He had no place to lay His head. He was acquainted with sorrows. He carried the burden of our sins, and drank the Father’s cup. And through it all He is what we are supposed to want to be.  Lord, make me tired. Make me weak. Make me tender and make me soft. Make me reach out to hold my wife, to squeeze my children. Make me more like your Son, for the sake of His kingdom, for the sake of His saints, and for the sake of my soul.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Real Community

Ray Ortlund post:  Where there is no encounter


“Reflecting on the American church scene, [Bonhoeffer] was fascinated that tolerance trumped truth.  His analysis was remarkably similar to the report he wrote in the summer of 1931, trying to make sense of his year at Union:

‘I now often wonder whether it is true that America is the country without a reformation.  If reformation means the God-given knowledge of the failure of all ways of building up a kingdom of God on earth, then it is probably true. . . . The voice of Lutheranism is there in America, but it is one among others; it has never been able to confront the other denominations.  There hardly ever seem to be ‘encounters’ in this great country, in which one can always avoid the other.  But where there is no encounter, where liberty is the only unifying factor, one naturally knows nothing of the community which is created through encounter.’”

Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer (Nashville, 2010), pages 338-339.

On the one hand, community is destroyed by negative scrutiny of others, relishing reasons to criticize, looking down from a superior position.  On the other hand, community is diminished by cowardly avoidance of encounter.  And, as Bonhoeffer interestingly suggests, we Americans have enough space geographically and enough options ecclesiastically that we can avoid encounter if we choose to.  But God says, “You shall reason frankly with your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:17).

It is wrong to brutalize a brother.  It is also wrong to avoid a brother.  The way of Christ is to move toward one another, especially when we are tempted to move away – to move toward one another not in attack-mode but with frank reasoning, where real community can be created – or re-created.

Reward and Opposition

Steven Furtick post:  Grapes and Giants


“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…we can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. All the people we saw there are of great size.
Numbers 13:27-28

The Israelites had finally reached the Promised Land. But it wasn’t what everybody thought it would be.

There was a reward. But there was also opposition.

There were grapes. But there were also giants.

So they came to the conclusion that this couldn’t be what God was calling them to do. This couldn’t be God’s will, because God’s will had to be easier than this.

We tend to think the same way. Many people consider opposition a sign that they must not be in the will of God. We think the Promised Land is where the blessings are going to be. Being in God’s will is where life is supposed to be easy. Therefore, battle, opposition, struggle, and enemies must be a sign that we aren’t in the right place.

But apparently a sign of God’s will is not the ease with which you obtain it. Apparently the very sign of the Promised Land is giants. Conflict. Opposition.

In other words, being in God’s will doesn’t guarantee a tension-free job. Or a conflict-free marriage. Or a trouble-free life. In fact, the very presence of tension, conflict, and trouble could be a sign that you’re right where you need to be.

You might be thinking that you’re not in God’s will right now. You’re going through all this fighting and it shouldn’t be like this. It must mean you’re in the wrong place.

Not necessarily. It might mean that you’re in exactly the right place. I doubt Satan is going to put up a fight to keep you from doing what you shouldn’t be doing. What if you changed your perspective and saw what you’re facing as a sign that you’re exactly where God wants you to be, because giants live in the Promised Land?

That doesn’t make it easy. But remember:
There was opposition for the Israelites. But there was also a reward.
There were giants. But there were also grapes.

A sign of God’s will isn’t just the opposition you’re facing. It’s also the fact that with God you can actually overcome it. And the reward that you will get for sticking it out will far outshine any opposition that you’re facing.

More Than Impassive

Quote in post from Thabiti Anyabwile:  Waiting on God

“To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect–to look for with patience, and also with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if he does not come, we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that he will not come.” – Dr. A.B. Davidson, Waiting on God (quoted in The Hidden Life of Prayer by David McIntyre)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Worship

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About How Jesus Transforms Worship

     There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child (Jesus) to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

     Lord Jesus, there are innumerable reasons to love and praise you. Reading Anna’s story, once again makes me grateful for how you radically transformed the worship of God. The main reason we’ve been created is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, so nothing is more important than how we worship God.
     Though I admire Anna for her life of devotion—her life of worshipping God ceaselessly in the temple, I adore you for removing all the limitations temple worship imposed. You were just eight days old when Anna met you in the temple. There’s no way she could have imagined you came into the world to fulfill and replace temple worship forever.
     By your death on the cross, you atoned for our sins once and for all and you exhausted God’s righteous judgment that stood against us. Through your incalculable sacrifice, you fulfilled the entire sacrificial system. It will never resume, for the shadow has given way to the substance—the type to the antitype.
     O, the freedom we now enjoy! The gospel put an end to any doubts about acceptable worship.     Not only is there now “no condemnation,” there is now full celebration, for we are fully and eternally acceptable to God in you. The sacrifice we make is one of life and praise, not ritual and repetition.
     Jesus, we also praise you for removing all spacial and calendar limitations on God’s worship. Because of what you have done for us, “true worshippers” are those who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-26). Not just in one place, but in every place. Though we’re still to gather with our brothers and sisters for services of worship, you’ve transformed the entire Christian life into worship service. Everything we do is to declare your worth and glory. Everything is to be offered as an act of worship.
     Because of you, Jesus, one Day the entire earth will be covered with the knowledge of the glory of God. The new heaven and new earth will be like the Garden of Eden on steroids. There’ll be no temple, for you and the Father will be the temple—our eternal sanctuary of glory and grace. (Rev. 21:1-22:6)
     Every creature and all creation will be liberated for the doxological delights of knowing and serving you forever. Oh, hasten that glad and glorious Day. So very Amen, we pray, in your faithful and worthy name.

Celebrate

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! 

Philippians 4:4-5  [Message]

Transformation

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Bartow: God at Work in Transformational Churches

The videos below are an encouraging picture of what God can do in and through churches as they follow Christ on mission. In fact, they document what God has been doing in Bartow County, Georgia. Can local churches of different denominations work together for good and the gospel? Can God transform established churches, and through them transform the community they are sent to? Take the time to watch these videos, praise God for what he's doing in Bartow, and let's pray for more of the same in our own cities. The accents are all Georgia, but the transformation is universal. Lives, churches, and communities are all changed.


Bartow County, GA-1 from Claude V King on Vimeo.

See link above for other videos

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sheer Gift

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. 

Ephesians 3:7-8 [Message]

Not Sure

Steven Furtick post:  The ultimate poster child for what could have been


Few of you have ever heard of Ron Wayne.

A lot of you have used the products that stem from his creation.

All of you need to know his story because it’s a warning to all of us.

Along with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Ron Wayne cofounded Apple Computer Inc. on April Fools Day, 1976. Yes, there was a third founder of Apple. But few people know that because just twelve days after he signed the agreement he himself drafted that would have given him 10% ownership of the company, he sold back his shares. For $800. If he had stuck it out, today he would be worth around $22 billion. 


Instead he now sells stamps out of his home. And plays penny slot machines after midnight. A poster child for what could have been.

Ron bailed on Jobs and Wozniak because he wasn’t sure about the future. Jobs spent a lot of money that Ron was going to have to pay the tab for initially. Wozniak was non-committal. And the prospect of starting a computer company just seemed too difficult and taxing.

Basically, Ron was afraid. Afraid that the payoff wasn’t going to be worth the work. So he quit. And missed out on billions.

Most of us are never going to really experience Ron Wayne’s story on the level at which he experienced it. Most of us are not going to be able to say that we missed out on being responsible for the birth of cool.

But I am afraid that many of us are going to sell out and accept an $800 payoff when we could have made billions. Not literally obviously. But I worry that instead of putting in the hard work and pushing through periods of uncertainty and difficulty, you’re going to take the easy way out and walk away. From your marriage that is struggling. From the calling you know you have received but is tougher than you thought it should be. From the risk you’re supposed to take.

That’s not to say that some people aren’t sometimes called to sell back their shares. The wife that is getting beat by her husband should not wait for a payoff down the road. Sometimes God calls you to a different ministry or career. To move to a new city. To play conservatively.

But more often than not, we sell out before the big payoff because we’re scared. Or we don’t want to do the hard work. Then we use God to justify a decision we have already made out of fear or apathy. And we never know what could have been down the road if we had kept persevering.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your story is not destined to be a cautionary tale of what could have been. God would rather raise you up to be an example for others of what can be. Of the incredible marriage that is possible through God’s grace and power. Of what God can accomplish through people who stay true to their calling.

God has a much larger payoff for you than the one you’ll receive if you give up now. Persevere. Stick it out. Push through. When the payoff comes, it will be worth the work and the waiting.

Endless Resource

Ray Ortlund post:  Strengthened by grace


You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  2 Timothy 2:1

“First, then, there is a call to be strong.  Timothy was weak; Timothy was timid.  Yet he was called to a position of leadership in the church – and in an area in which Paul’s authority was rejected.   It is as if Paul said to him, ‘Listen Timothy, never mind what other people say, never mind what other people think, never mind what other people do; you are to be strong.  Never mind how shy you feel, never mind how weak you feel; you are to be strong.’  That is the first thing.

Second, you are to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  If the exhortation had simply been ‘be strong,’ it would have been absurd indeed.  You might as well tell a snail to be quick or a horse to fly as to tell a weak man to be strong or a shy man to be brave.  But Paul’s calling Timothy to fortitude is a Christian and not a stoical exhortation.  Timothy was not to be strong in himself.  He was not just to grit his teeth and clench his fists and set his jaw.  No, he was, as the Greek literally means, to be strengthened with the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to find his resources for Christian service not in his own nature but in the grace of Jesus Christ.”

John Stott, Urbana 1967.  Italics original.

Grace is not an excuse for weakness; it is an endless resource for strength.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Immanuel

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel


Childlike

Kathryn's Christmas Eve post:  Being A Child Tonight

IF WE WOULD see the Child on this Night, then we must be prepared perhaps even to be a child on this Night, to let our imagination and our hope and our faith carry us to some new way of seeing, some new way of hearing, so that our eyes might be opened and our ears might be too, so that our hearts might be quickened and our spirits might be touched.

In the end, we must be willing to believe in the Promise that Immanuel will come, we must have faith to believe that the Promise will be kept, and we must hope that we too will be willing and able and childlike enough to recognize the face of God in the face of the Child.    
 
- Robert Benson, The Night of the Child 

Special and Common Grace

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About the Day After Christmas

     The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20

     Heavenly Father, it’s reasonable to assume that life just on the other side of Christmas day is as varied as imaginable. For some of us, this was the “greatest” Christmas ever, in terms of healthy, caring relationships… incredible “eats”… thoughtful gifts, both given and received… and above all,  fresh gratitude for the indescribable gift of your Son, Jesus.
     For others of us, it was a really difficult day. Palpable tensions… dashed hopes… brokenness abounding. For still others, it was the first Christmas with an empty chair where a loved one used to sit, or a day spend all by ourselves in excruciating loneliness.
     Father, my prayer today is for all of us, no matter what yesterday was like. For even our best days are in need of the gospel and none of our worse days are beyond the reach of the gospel.
     When the shepherds left Jesus’ manger, they were still shepherds… they still couldn’t worship at the temple… they still couldn’t give testimony in a court of law… they still were stereotyped as thieves by many in their community.
     And we shouldn’t romanticize what Joseph and Mary did the day after Jesus was born. As though, all of the sudden, a 5-star Inn in Bethlehem did open up… as though Mary’s body would’ve been spared all the normal chaos and pain of birthing and afterbirth… as though angels started showing up as round the clock wet nurses.
    Father, thank you that we’re Christians, not Gnostics. We don’t have to pretend about anything. Christmas isn’t a season in which we’re supposed to be transported into a super-spirituality, rising above reality. The gospel isn’t about denial, but learning to delight in you… no matter what’s going on. We praise you that Jesus came into a real world where everything is broken, but he came to make all things new… starting with us.
     Please give each of us the special and the common grace you gave shepherds. Let us hear and let us see more of Jesus, even if we remain “shepherds” the rest of our lives. Enable us to glorify and praise you, Father, for you are not a man that you would lie about anything. Everything you’ve promised us in your Word will come to pass. The gospel really is true. Jesus really is making all things new. Your grace really is sufficient. This is good news for shepherds, kings and us alike. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ faithful and loving name.

Peace

James Robison (Life Today) post:  Heavenly Peace

Heavenly Peace
by James Robison


Why were the tears suddenly filling my eyes until they began to stream down my cheeks? Just a few moments earlier, my hands were lifted to heaven in worshipful praise. I had noticed Betty’s hands also lifted, along with many others, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my daughter Rhonda with hands lifted high, tears filling her eyes, as she, too, praised our Savior. But now my head was nearly in my lap, and I was weeping.

We had been invited to simply gather with friends for a Christmas fellowship, and some of our family—including four grandchildren—also attended. We were blessed by two gifted musicians, Tim Sheppard  and Brent Lamb, who had been asked to lead Christmas songs, worship and praise. I was moved from previous times of exultation to complete brokenness over the simple phrase from Away in a Manger, “the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.” So help me, I could see the precious, beautiful, most-special baby boy.

In recent months, it has been as though this old Baptist preacher keeps seeing visions. I guess it just fulfills the prophecy that “old men shall see visions.” The “old” part is true, but our kids and grandkids keep telling me not to say it—I’m not old, they say.  But the fact is, I am seeing visions, and I’m not hallucinating. So help me, I saw baby Jesus asleep on the hay, wrapped in rags. Somehow it just didn’t seem right for Him—the Messiah, the Promised One, the hope of all humanity—to be lying there in the straw. But I must tell you, He was altogether so amazingly beautiful, as the Christmas favorite Silent Night so clearly proclaims. There He was, sleeping “in heavenly peace.”

I am telling you, I could see Him, and there I, too, along with the shepherds and wise men, worshiped the Promised One—the One who came to pay for and offer peace on earth. Peace to me, you and all who will receive it. Oh, how I long to see people receive the peace that only God can give. It is within and can overflow, inspiring everyone He contacts. This peace can only prevail on earth when it resides in us. It can only come when we yield our lives to the Prince of Peace—to Jesus, the holy child, the perfect demonstration of life and truth, the lamb that was slain, the reigning Lord of all and King of Kings.

As I glanced around the room, I saw many mothers, fathers, grandparents and young people who had come to Jesus as I shared the gospel over the past 50 years. I saw in their countenance the heavenly peace in which Jesus surely slept. Some of them have recently lost loved ones. Others are battling cancer or other debilitating diseases. Some of them have had family members challenged by addictions or financial pressures. But through it all, there was Jesus, revealed so clearly. What a Savior! What a “friend we have in Jesus!”

Once again, that baby asleep on the hay reappeared in my mind’s eye, and I saw indescribable love, grace and forgiveness, “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” My mind was exploding with phrases from treasured Christmas carols, songs, hymns and Bible verses—all increasing my gratitude for the little baby lying in a manger but now living in my heart as the closest possible friend. He is the only one who knows me fully, understands me, and will never leave me nor forsake me. Suddenly, I, too, felt the “peace that passes all understanding.” This peace is available to everyone through the One whose birth I pray you openly and joyfully celebrate this weekend.


Friday, December 24, 2010

Our Peace

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About Jesus, the Peace-Preacher/Maker

     He (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:17-18

     Merciful Jesus, I don’t usually think of you as a “preacher,” yet this Scripture presents you as the one most worthy of that title. What is Christmas? It’s you, Jesus, coming as near as possible to us in your incarnation… ultimately, to proclaim and proffer the peace for which we are most desperate.
    It’s not the naïve peace I idolized as a college student in the 60’s. It’s not the self-centered peace my conflict-avoidant personality craves in the chaos of sticky relationships. It’s a peace which required your perfect obedience and your atoning death—a peace by which you destroyed the hostility between God and us… a peace by which you’ve reconciled God to us and us to God.
     Indeed, Jesus, you are our peace.  You are the preacher of all preachers and the peacemaker of all peacemakers. Apart from you, we never would have gained access to the Father… we never would have been able to cry out, “Abba, Father.” We bless and adore you…
     Now, in your resurrection glory, you’re the one who’s constantly preaching the gospel of peace to us by the Holy Spirit… through the widest array of preachers imaginable. Forgive us when we credit mere men (preachers) with the task you alone can accomplish. For only you can apply the gospel of peace to hearts dead in sin and trespasses (Eph. 2:1-7) And only you can apply the gospel of peace to hearts, like mine—hearts that are prone to wander… prone to believe the counterfeiters and hucksters’ cries of “Peace, peace!” when they offer relief, but not peace.
    Jesus, you don’t just preach the gospel to us as individuals, but also as people who share in a wide array of broken relationships. You didn’t just come to reconcile us to God, but also to heal our relationships with one another. You’re committed to destroying all kinds of hostilities and reconciling all kinds of people. In the Body of Christ… in our marriages and families… in our communities… even with our enemies. For some of us, this promise represents timely news, disruptive hope, and costly obedience. Grant us grace, Jesus, grant us big grace.
     Jesus, most powerful Prince of Peace… you who one Day will reconcile wolves and lambs, leopards and goats, and calves and lions… give us the desire, the humility and the strength to live as a people of peace. As far as it’s in our own power (Rom. 12:18-21), and as far as the power of the gospel will take us… let us live as agents of your reconciling love. So very Amen, we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.

God With Us

Ray Ortlund post:  Immanuel


“‘Immanuel, God with us.’  It is hell’s terror.  Satan trembles at the sound of it. . . . Let him come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, ‘God with us,’ back he falls, confounded and confused. . . . ‘God with us’ is the laborer’s strength.  How could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? . . . ‘God with us’ is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky. . . .
Feast, Christians, feast; you have a right to feast. . . . But in your feasting, think of the Man in Bethlehem.  Let him have a place in your hearts, give him the glory, think of the virgin who conceived him, but think most of all of the Man born, the Child given.

I finish by again saying, A happy Christmas to you all!

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the Old Testament (London, n.d.), III:430.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mary and Joseph

Creative presentation at GodVine

Real Gift

Kevin DeYoung post:  Santa Claus with the Baby in Bethlehem (Part 2)

See also:  Santa Claus with the Baby in Bethlehem (Part 1)




In honor of St. Nicholas the gift giver, Christians began to celebrate December 6 (his feast day) by giving presents. The tradition developed over time.  For good boys and girls, St. Nicholas would come in his red Bishop’s robe and fill boots with gifts on the night of December 5.  For bad boys and girls St. Nicholas was to be feared.  In highly catholic parts of Europe, St. Nicholas became a deterrent to erring young children.  In Germany, he was often accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht (farmhand Rupert) who threatened to eat misbehaving children.  In Switzerland, St. Nicholas threatened to put wicked children in a sack and bring them back to the Black Forest.  In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas’ helper would tie them in a sack and bring them back to Spain.  In parts of Austria, the priest, dressed up in Christmas garb,  would visit the homes of naughty children and threaten them with rod-beatings. At least nowadays, he only checks his list!

Not surprisingly, the Reformers were less than friendly towards the traditions that had been built up around the saints. Luther rejected the saints’ days, believing they were built upon legends and superstitions (and a virulent strain of moralism we might add). In Germany, Luther replaced Saint Nicholas’ Day with a different holiday, Christ Child, or Christkindl.  Ironically, Kriss Kringle which derived from Luther’s Christ Child holiday, has become just another name for St. Nicholas.


The cult of St. Nicholas virtually disappeared in Protestant Europe, with the exception of one country: the Netherlands. If you love Christmas with all the trappings of Santa Claus and stockings and presents, thank the Dutch. If you despise all that, try to ignore my last name for the time being. The Puritans had done away with St. Nicholas and banned Christmas altogether.  But the Dutch held on to their tradition and brought it with them to the New World.  In the Netherlands Sint Nicolaas was contracted to Sinterklaas.  According to Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas rides a horse and is accompanied by Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete.  Many people figure black Pete was derived from black slaves, although others counter and say that he is black because he goes down the chimney and gets a face full of soot.

At any rate, it is easy to see how Sinterklaas evolved in America to Santa Claus. Santa Claus became the Santa we know in the United States only after the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” was written in 1823. Possibly the best known verses ever written by an American, the poem has greatly influenced the tradition of Santa in the English speaking world and beyond.


How should Christians relate to the traditions of Santa Claus? C.S. Lewis embraced them and so included Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Other Christians, fearing syncretism, stay clear of Santa, reindeer, and a tree full of presents. I’ll leave it to you and your family to form you opinions on observing the Christmas holiday (see Rom. 14:1, 5-6). Personally, we try to walk in the middle of the road on this one: we don’t teach our kids about Santa, but we are happy to enjoy It’s a Wonderful Life, a couple Christmas trees, and a little Bing Crosby. And if the kids, picking up bits and pieces from other places, end of listening for flying reindeer landing on the roof, we’re not going to introduce the laws of physics to crush their anticipation. Most of all, of course, we try to press home that Christmas is about Christ.

But if you have a lot of Santa Claus around, why not use him to your benefit and talk about the real St. Nicholas. We don’t know a lot about him, but we know he lived and was revered. According to  legend–one of those stories that probably isn’t true, but should be–when Nicholas was little boy he would get up early in the morning to go to church and pray.  One morning, the aging priest had a vision that the first one to enter the church in the morning should be the new bishop of Myra.  When Nicholas was the first to enter, the old priest, obeying the vision, made the young boy bishop right on the spot.  But before he consecrated Nicholas a bishop, the priest asked him a question. “Who are you, my son?”  According to tradition, the child whose legend would one day become Santa Claus replied, “Nicholas the sinner.” Not bad for a little boy.

With what little we know about St. Nicholas, it is safe to say he would not be pleased to know he had eclipsed Christ in the hearts of many as the central figure of Christmas. For the Bishop of Myra no doubt knew the angel’s words to Joseph: “Mary will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

So this Christmas, give gifts if you like. We will in our family. Receive them all with thanksgiving.  But do not forget what we need most–salvation from our sins. This is one gift the real St. Nicholas would not have overlooked. In fact, I’m convinced, if given the opportunity, he would have loved to be there with the shepherds and the angels, bowing down around the manger in Bethlehem. And I bet he would have brought a present too.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Battles of Appetite Not Reason

Jon Bloom post at DG:  We Are Not So Reasonable

And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers…[and] went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them. (Judges 2:12)
The ancient Israelites repeatedly turned to the idols of the surrounding nations despite God’s repeated warnings. What in the world was so compelling about Baal, Dagon, Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech?

Answer: the world around them worshiped them. The nations surrounding Israel had fruitful harvests and won wars. They grew wealthy, had many children, and flocks of livestock. Those nations mocked Israel’s invisible God and applied political pressure. These gods appeared to provide more immediate benefit than Israel’s God.

We mustn’t be quick to say, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part” (Matthew 23:30). What powerfully appeals to your sin nature to turn from God and to hope in other things?

Answer: whatever the world around you worships. Those that serve other “gods” may prosper financially, accomplish impressive feats, wield power, have beauty. They may mock what you believe and apply cultural pressure to you. These gods may appear to provide more immediate benefit than your God.

In fighting idolatry we must remember that we are not so reasonable as we might wish. This battle is often not waged on the field of truth, but rather on the field of cravings and fears. The desires of the flesh and the eyes (1 John 2:16) are battles of appetite not reason. And what of your last battle with doubt? Was it really based on a rational, fair comparison of truth claims? Or was it triggered by the fear-laden discouragement of circumstance, cultural consensus, or someone else’s confident contrary assertion?

The Israelites turned from God to idols out of covetousness and fear. We do it for the same reasons. False gods bring false benefits. When temptation comes keep your head.

Our God wants us to trust his promises, not our short-sighted, distorted perceptions.

Reversal Has Begun

Excerpts from Tullian Tchividjian post:  The Great Reversal

In C.S. Lewis’s masterful children’s story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he tells of a country, Narnia, which is under the curse of the White Witch. This evil queen places a spell on the land so that it’s “always winter and never Christmas.” Under her control, the future of Narnia looks bleak until word gets out that “Aslan is on the move.” In the story, Aslan is a noble lion who represents Christ. He’s coming to set things straight. He’s coming to destroy the White Witch and thus reverse the curse on Narnia. The first sign of Aslan’s movement toward this cursed land is that the snow begins to melt–“spring is in the air.” The cold begins to fade as the sun rays peer through the dark clouds, promising the dawn of a new day. Everything in Narnia begins to change.

...


Tim Keller observes that Christ’s miracles were not the suspension of the natural order but the restoration of the natural order. They were a reminder of what once was prior to the Fall and a preview of what will eventually be a universal reality once again—a world of peace and justice, without death, disease, or conflict.

To be sure, when Christ comes again, the process of reversing the curse of sin and recreating all things will be complete (1 Cor. 15:51-58). The peace on earth that the angels announced the night Christ was born will become a universal actuality. God’s cosmic rescue mission will be complete. The fraying fabric of our fallen world will be fully and perfectly rewoven. Everything and everyone “in Christ” will live in perfect harmony. Shalom will rule.

Isaiah pictures it this way:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
For those who have found forgiveness of sins in Christ, there will one day be no more sickness, no more death, no more tears, no more division, no more tension. The pardoned children of God will work and worship in a perfectly renewed earth without the interference of sin. We who believe the gospel will enjoy sinless hearts and minds along with disease-free bodies. All that causes us pain and discomfort will be destroyed, and we will live forever. We’ll finally be able “to enjoy what is most enjoyable with unbounded energy and passion forever.”

Christmas is the celebration of this process begun and the promise that it will one day be completed.

Simple Expression of Faith

2010 Advent Day 25 | Gordon-Conwell Seminary

LUKE 1:26-38
Dennis P. Hollinger

The Annunciation

In this classic text of the Christmas season, we are given an intimate glimpse of a key moment in salvation history. This is in many respects what we should expect from a story about an angelic announcement of a birth, as such stories frequently occur in the Old Testament before divinely appointed leaders are born. In this story however, the miracle is amplified by Mary’s simple question in verse 34, “How will this be... since I am a virgin?” The angel’s answer provides the basis for one of the most profound and important mysteries of God’s revelation in Jesus. God will become a human being. And Mary is to give him a name that will sum up his mission and personhood with perfect clarity: Jesus, “The Lord Saves.”

The magnitude of this great revelation to Mary is contrasted with Mary’s own station. She is but a young woman, still unmarried, from a small backwater part of a backwater province of the Roman Empire. And yet God has chosen the small things of the world to bring about a great salvation. Mary is herself quite cognizant of this contrast, and her response is a model to all of us, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (vs. 38). In this simple expression of faith, Mary models a proper response to God’s gift in Jesus. May we respond likewise this Advent season.


Joyful

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christ's Body

At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. 

Eph 1:22-23 [Message]

Confident Hope

Advent Devotional 24 | Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

PSALM 61
Karen Mason

The Holy City

I grew up in a community of Christians who eagerly anticipated the return of Jesus Christ. So when Advent season arrives, my attention is drawn not only toward the past but toward the future. John sees a new Jerusalem where God will dwell with his people, where every tear will be wiped away and where death will be no more. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, will make all things new.

Following Christ daily is a challenge. As Christians, we are not immune from sickness, personal and financial setbacks and the effects of living in a world infected by human depravity. In the midst of those challenges, we can live with hope because we know that Jesus Christ will return and we will live with him in a new heaven and a new earth. The risen Christ has conquered death and there will come a time when Jesus Christ will appear. In that instant, sin and death will be completely destroyed, and his followers will enter into the new Jerusalem of his eternal kingdom.

We do not know when that will be, but we still live with confident hope because the sovereign God of the universe is Lord over time and eternity.

Most Wise and Worthy Name

Scotty Smith post:  A Prayer About the Magi and True Wisdom

A Prayer About the Magi and True Wisdom

     When they (the Magi) saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 2:10-11

     Dear Jesus, whether they were magicians, astronomers or astrologers… whether there were three, nine or seventeen of them, it makes absolutely no difference. The Magi were wise men and they show us the way of true wisdom, because they lead us to you, not to a library or a school of philosophers.
     At Advent you became wisdom from God for us, Jesus—“that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). It’s great to have conundrum-solving and decision-making wisdom, but better-by-far to have the Wisdom that makes us right with God. The incarnation of Wisdom tops propositions of wisdom immeasurable times over. That’s why we boast only in you, Jesus, and not in ourselves and our so-called “wisdom.”
     In fact, you’re the real seeker in the story of the Magi. Promises of your coming, an irrepressible calling, a providential star, a Spirit-generated joy…. how we praise you for drawing men and women to yourself from every period of history… every family of humanity… and every segment of society, including these Persian star-gazers and ourselves. Come Herod or high-water, those you’ve come to save will come to you, Jesus.
     My prayer for this Advent season is quite simple. Jesus. Please reveal more and more of your glory and grace to our hearts. We want to bow before you quicker, lower and with more joy than ever, O majestic and merciful King.
     Open the eyes of our hearts a bit wider to behold the great hope to which you’ve called us in the gospel. Deepen our adoration of you, Jesus… and loosen our grip on our so-called treasures. What do we have that you haven’t given us? What can we give back to you in celebration of our stewardship and your ownership of all things? So very Amen, we pray, in your most wise and worthy name.

Two Truths Not at Odds

Excerpt from John Piper message at Lausanne:  Making Known the Manifold Wisdom of God Through Prison and Prayer

...


The reason I draw out this implication of the cross is to hold together in this congress and in the church of Christ two truths that are often felt to be at odds with each other, but don’t have to be.

One truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it impels us out toward the alleviation of all unjust suffering in this age. That’s what love does!

The other truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it awakens us to the horrible reality of eternal suffering in hell, under the wrath of a just and omnipotent God. And it impels us to rescue the perishing, and to warn people to flee from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

I plead with you. Don’t choose between those two truths. Embrace them both. It doesn’t mean we all spend our time in the same way. God forbid. But it means we let the Bible define reality and define love.

Could Lausanne say—could the evangelical church say—we Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering? I hope we can say that. But if we feel resistant to saying “especially eternal suffering,” or if we feel resistant to saying “we care about all suffering in this age,” then either we have a defective view of hell or a defective heart.

I pray that Lausanne would have neither.

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Pictures

Mark Batterson post:  A Billion Bits per Second

The brain processes print at a hundred bits per second. The brain processes pictures at a billion bits per second. That means a picture isn't worth a thousand words. A picture is word ten million words.

All of that to say this: nothing is more powerful than a picture. It can move in ways that words cannot. It bypasses defense mechanisms. It gets past the mind and invades the soul. A well-painted picture changes minds in ways that words cannot. That's one reason why the parables are so powerful. Jesus painted pictures.

At NCC, we view our movie theater screens as postmodern stained glass. I think the modern church was very wordy. And there is nothing wrong with words. But we also need pictures! And if the gospel is going to capture the imagination of our generation I think it'll be worth words AND pictures!

Utter Extravagance

13-14It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. 

 15-19That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! 

 20-23All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. 

 Ephesians 1 [Message]

Open the Eyes of Your Heart

Excerpt from J.D. Greear post:  Are you enticed to read this book?

...


Now, you might look through that prayer and say, “But I already know all this stuff.” Of course you do. But if you are not growing in your passions for God and for His Kingdom, you may not really know them. You may know that the honey is sweet, but that sweetness has not burst alive in your mouth yet.

The Gospel has done its work in you only when you crave God more than you crave everything else in life—more than money, romance, family, health, fame, anything—and when your service to Him is done because there is nothing else you’d rather do that delight Him and see His Kingdom grow in the lives of others.

Christian growth is not usually learning something “new,” but going deeper in what you already know. The purest waters from the spring of life are not accessed by enlarging the circumference of our well, but by digging deeper into it.

The Gospel is amazing because it is simple enough for a child to understand but overwhelming enough that it bewilders the angels. My children have been able to explain the basics of the Gospel from the time they were 4 years old. Jesus, in fact, said that in order to enter the kingdom of God you had to become like a small child. That same simple Gospel, however, still blows the minds of angels. 1 Peter says that the angels “long to look into” the things of the Gospel. The angels have to be some of the smartest theologians in the universe, and they still can’t get enough of it!

You grow in Christ not by cramming your head full of more complex Christian stuff, but by going deeper in the simplicity of the Gospel.

Whatever spiritual dysfunction you have in your life, the cure is the Gospel. Every answer to every question you have about God and yourself is the Gospel. Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, said that Christian growth came from “…embracing the love and kindness of God… and daily exercising our faith therein; entertaining no doubt of God’s love and kindness.”[1] Embracing the love of God for you. Abiding in it. Seeing more and more of your life through it.

Let me lay a very heavy burden before you. I think evangelicalism, as a whole, desperately needs a recovery of the Gospel. Even in conservative denominations like my own (the Southern Baptist Convention), who have built their identity on standing for the importance of the Gospel, the Gospel has been displaced as the primary means of Christian growth.

I don’t mean we are not preaching the Gospel or that we have corrupted it, doctrinally speaking. Being Gospel-centered does not mean that each week we tack it onto the end of our sermons or that we can articulate with precision the pages of a systematic theology manual. Making the Gospel central in our lives means that our primary goal is to adore and show off the beauties of God displayed in the Gospel, knowing that as people see God for who He is, their hearts will fall in love with Him and overflow with love for others.

Love for God and others is the heart of all the commandments. Jesus said that if we did that, we would naturally keep all the other commandments? But how can we learn to love? You can’t be commanded to love; true love only grows when you delight in and cherish something. Where does the heart learn to delight in and cherish God? Only in knowing God’s prior love given to it as a gift (Matthew 22:37-40; 1 John 4:19)For many evangelicals, the Gospel has functioned as the entry rite into Christianity; a prayer we prayed to begin our relationship to God; the diving board off of which we jumped into the pool of Christianity.

What I want to show you is that the Gospel is not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity, it is the pool itself. It is not only the way we begin in Christ, it’s also the way we grow in Christ. As Tim Keller says, the Gospel is not just the ABC’s of Christianity, it is the A-Z; it is not the first step in a stairway of truths, it is more like the hub of a wheel of truth.[2]

In seminary one of my professors used to say that “Evangelism was one beggar showing another beggar where he found bread.” The implication was that we ate the Gospel bread once, were satisfied, and then spent the rest of our lives telling people how satisfying it was. I think it would be better to say that evangelism is one beggar taking another beggar to the place he eats bread daily and showing him how to find ever-present satisfaction for his starving soul.

Let me say this again as clearly as I can: Centering yourself on the Gospel does not mean being passionate about the spread of the Gospel, giving a lot of money to missionary work, or inviting people to be saved at the end of every sermon. Centering yourself on the Gospel means that everything you do flows spontaneously out of an overwhelmed sense of awe and delight in who God is and gratitude for what He has done for you in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.


...



This is what has happened for me and the church I lead, the Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, NC. When I came to the Summit Church in 2002 I preached the Bible. People came to faith in Christ. But it was almost 4 years later when I discovered what it meant to center my life on the Gospel. I listen to those sermons from the 1st 4 years and realize they are filled more with moralisms about how to live than they are adoration of Jesus Christ. In a lot of the illustrations I point people more to an example to emulate (often me) than I do a Savior to hope in.

Here’s something scary: I think most Muslims could have preached my sermons from those 1st 4 years and simply substituted “Mohammad says” for “Paul says” or “Jesus says.” How I tried to motivate people to obey is not fundamentally different than how works-based religions motivate people to obey. Yes, I took people through a “salvation rite,” but at the end of the day I told you to obey so that your life would be blessed and you could avoid God’s discipline. Obeying God was a means to an end. I didn’t urge obedience as a grateful response to God’s grace, or urge people to seek God because He was beautiful in Himself (I’ve told our congregation I’d like to preach a series at our church called “Encore” in which I go and re-preach all those passages, topics and book in a Gospel-centered way.)

In the last 4 years we have “re-discovered” the Gospel as a congregation. The change has been profound. We are more fruitful than ever. We have grown, numerically, at a greater rate than we did before. More importantly, I see people in our congregation who have for the 1st time in years become worshippers of God.

The Father seeks those who worship Him in Spirit and truth, i.e. those who seek Him because they delight in Him. I am seeing Him find some of those in our congregation, and it has only come through the consistent preaching of the glory and beauty of Christ in the simplicity of the Gospel.

I want you, and your family, and your church, to have that kind of revolution, too. The humbling thing for me is that I can’t really teach any of this to you. These things are spiritually revealed and spiritually discerned. They require the gift of heavenly eyes. I couldn’t even teach it to myself when it was right in front of my face, so what would make me think I could illuminate your heart?

And what makes you think you can develop a passion for God by reading a book? Why not stop right now and plead with God to open the eyes of your heart? You might use the words of Paul in his prayer for the Ephesians,
“I pray… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened… and I pray that you… may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 1:17–18; 3:18–20)

...


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Great Joy

LifeToday Devotional

Joy to the World
by Randy Robison


God wants you to be happy. That is a big part of the reason he sent his Son. How do I know this? Because when the angels announced his birth, both to his mother, Mary, and to the shepherds that came to worship him, they said so.

In Luke 1:30, the angel said to Jesus' mother, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God." In Luke 2:10, the angel says to the shepherds, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people."

The Greek words used for "favor" and "joy" are charis and chara, two nouns of the same derivative. One of the definitions of charis is "that which afford to joy, pleasure, delight." It also implies goodwill, grace, blessing and the translated word used here: favor. Chara is generally translated as "joy" or "gladness." The verb form of the word is chairo: "to be glad" or "to rejoice."

This is how the birth of the Messiah was announced. The same Messiah whose birth led to Herod's orders to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under. The same Messiah who was brutally beaten and wrongfully executed. The same Messiah whose disciples were chased, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. So how could the angels promise blessings of joy that would cause us to be happy?

Christmas time can be very difficult. Those who have lost loved ones to distance or death suffer loneliness. Others dread the tension that comes with family gatherings. Many feel the financial pressure that comes with giving material gifts. We may sing "Joy to the World," but there is little happiness. And yet, we are told, this is a time of joy. How is this so?

Consider other scriptures where the same Greek words are used:

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced [chairo] exceedingly with great joy [chara]." (Matthew 2:10)

"And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy [chara] and ran to report it to His disciples." (Matthew 28:8)

"Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad [chairo] in that day..." (Luke 6:22-23a)

"But we had to celebrate and rejoice [chairo], for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found." (The prodigal son's father in Luke 15:32)

"Rejoice [chairo] with those who rejoice [chairo], and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15)

"I am overflowing with joy [chara] in all our affliction." (2 Corinthians 7:4)

"You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice [chairo]; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy [chara]." (John 16:20)

Our problem in understanding happiness lies somewhat in the parts of speech. In other words, we view happiness as an adjective – a temporary feeling. "I'm happy my team won" or "They have a happy marriage." But scripturally, this concept is largely a noun or a verb – something we possess or express, not something we feel. Affliction and persecution will never feel good, but when we possess or express true happiness, it cannot be taken away, despite the pain. When we choose to demonstrate our joy in any circumstance, it cannot be denied.

The angels could promise true joy, not because the suffering of this life would disappear, but because the blessing of eternal life had appeared. This is the joy expressed in the Hebrew word samach, which the Israelites used to celebrate the old covenant (2 Chronicles 15:15). It is the same word used when King David wrote, "Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad [samach] in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, 'Let God be magnified.'" It is the countenence of a "cheerful look" (NLT) or "bright eyes" (NAS) that "gladden [samach] the heart," according to Proverbs 15:30.

It is the joy of salvation.

Happiness ceases to be a temporary condition when we fully understand the gift of salvation. It becomes a permanent part of our character because God has given it and nothing on earth can take it away. The light of this new life cannot be dimmed by the darkness of our old nature. The purpose of Jesus Christ becomes our purpose. And in that, there is great joy.

"These things I have spoken to you," Jesus said, "so that My joy [chara] may be in you, and that your joy [chara] may be made full." (John 15:11)

This Christmas, as we celebrate the joy of Jesus Christ that came into the world, let us also possess the full happiness He has given us and express it to everyone around us. This year, let us be joy to the world.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Seed Planters

Seth Magnuson post a Desiring God :  Every Church Must Make a Decision


J. D. Greear, Lead pastor of the Summit Church and author of Breaking the Islam Code, says:
Every church has got to make a decision whether or not it’s going to be a seed that exists for itself or whether it's going to be a seed planted in the ground that dies [to be a blessing for the nations].
He recently recorded a helpful and challenging video while traveling to the largest unreached island in the world.

Also, at our National Conference this year, J. D. participated in a discussion with Thabiti Anyabwile entitled "Loving Our Muslim Neighbors."

Friday, December 17, 2010

Renounce the Lies

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

FAVOR, GOD'S PRESENCE AND SUFFERING
 
And he came to Mary and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.  Luke 1:28

God led me to this passage last night and I began writing.  By the time I finished, I knew it wasn't right.  It felt more like my thoughts than Spirit-led thoughts.  Frustrated, I went to bed. 

Ron is away on business so I am home alone.  At 5:00 a.m., I woke up to the smell of homemade bread baking.  With no one here to account for that, I knew it was the Spirit of God calling me to get up and eat of the Bread of Life.  (This happens to me several times a year.)

After a season of prayer, my heart is burning with this message!  It feels like it was straight from His heart.

Mary was favored by God, promised His presence, but then, God asks us to look at her life.  It was characterized by suffering.  Leaving her home eight months pregnant.  Giving birth in a dirty barn.  Fleeing for Egypt with a husband and toddler.  Seeing her son taunted, beaten, and crucified.  How was she comforted?  By sound theology and the presence of God.

As she reviewed the stories of her ancestors, she remembered others who were favored, promised the presence of God for their journey, but then suffered greatly. 

  • Joseph, shown early through dreams that he was favored by God, was then betrayed and led into slavery and imprisonment.  Many years later, he would see redemption.
  • David, shown early at twelve years of age that he was favored by God, was anointed king.  Over the next decade or two, he hid in caves and ran for his life from a demented king.
  • Jesus, obviously favored by His Father (a voice from heaven declared it so), was immediately led into the desert for testing.  His life ultimately ended up on a cross, by God's design.

There are so many more examples.  So have I forgotten the Bible stories I learned as a kid?  Why, when I'm suffering, do I wonder if I have found dis-favor with God?  Why do I hide my pain from other believers?  Why do I fear God has withdrawn from me rather than tucked Himself in closely?  Bad theology!

Perhaps you are afflicted today.  You may be ill; too sick, too young, the losses staggering.  You may have been betrayed; feeling punished by God, deserted, aching.  You may have set out on a path you feel God carved out for you ~ only to experience one set of crushing circumstances after another.  Now, you second guess yourself; shame and guilt are your constant companions.

Suffering does not prove dis-favor and disobedience.  In the life of a believer, more than not, it proves God's favor and a path of obedience.  I am not advocating that we wear our pain as a badge.  I am promoting rest in God's purposes!

The One who favors us is the One who calls us to share in the sufferings of Christ.  God's glory, what life is all about, is most clearly seen when His favored ones trust Him through their tears and wait for ultimate redemption.  Let's renounce the lies of our accuser and run with confidence toward the heart of the Father who sustained His Son through His darkest hours.

Your children dream of being spiritual giants but we forget their paths of suffering.  We are suffering.  We are favored.  We are resting in Your provision of grace.  We declare that we are loved today, not despised.  Amen


Lavish Love

Scotty Smith post:  A Prayer About a Delightfully HUGE Christmas

     “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Isaiah. 65:17-19

     Heavenly Father, the long line at Wal-Mart gave me more than a chance to whine about the wait. Casual conversation with fellow shoppers, once again, highlighted the multiple ways the story of Christmas is told and experienced.

     To start with, Bing Crosby was crooning, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas ,” but on top of that I kept hearing this shopping-cart refrain, “We can’t afford much Christmas this year” and “We’re down-sizing Christmas this year.” I found myself grateful for the way you tell the story.

     Father, we’re not the ones who “do” Christmas, you are, and there’s nothing merely “merry” or “little” about Advent. The size of our Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with how much discretionary money we have to spend on bigger and better gifts. It has everything to do with how much of Jesus we see. I praise you that every Christmas is huge, delightfully huge, irrespective any economy or currency.

     Through Jesus, you’ve promised to create a new heaven and new earth from the stuff of our broken universe—a new creation world in which you will find great delight. We praise you for the magnificence and hope of your plan, mighty Father. And you’ve promised to redeem a pan-national people, to populate and celebrate this eternal habitation of peace and joy—a people in whom you find great delight and over whom you will rejoice forever. We praise you for your immeasurable grace and lavish love, merciful Father.

     Therefore, Lord Jesus, we intend to fix our gaze on you today and not on our shopping carts. For you’re the object, author and perfecter of our faith. You’ve already washed all our sins away, and one Day, you’ll wipe every tear away. Apart from you, Christmas is just one more banal carnal day. So very Amen, we pray, in your holy and loving name.
      

Lectio Divina

An Excerpt From Life With God By Richard J. Foster with Kathryn A. Helmers as posted (excerpt) by Courtney Cohen, Renovaré December 2010 Devotional (Facebook)

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” –
Ephesians 1:16-18


“Distinct from other ways of approaching the Bible, the ancient Christian practice of *lectio divina* (spiritual reading) is the primary mode of reading the Bible for transformation. There is a place for reading large portions of the Bible in one sitting, such as an entire book, but this is not it. Here we are concerned with depth rather than breadth. There is also a place for Bible study, in which we apply exegetical tools of interpretation, but this is not ‘study’ per se. Rather, *lectio* is a way of allowing the mind to ‘descend’ into the heart, so that both mind and heart might be drawn into the love and goodness of God. Our goal is immersion . . . In its classic form, *lectio* comprises four elements . . . listening, reflecting, praying, and obeying. When these elements are combined . . . they lead the human spirit into a dynamic interaction with the Holy Spirit . . . When we continually attempt to make the Bible serve our own agendas – and in doing so, distance ourselves from God – *lectio divina* is a way of recovering our ability to be attentive to the heart of God in the Word of God.”

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Plodders

Mark Batterson post:  Longevity

On the day after THE STREAK ended, I've got to make a few observations about longevity. I always have been and always will be a believer in sustained effort aka longevity. I had a Father-in-Law that planted and pastored one church for more than thirty years so I saw the impact of cumulative effort. I pray for the privilege of pastoring one church for life. I honestly believe that the key to a fruitful ministry isn't dreaming big as much as it is thinking long. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. And that takes tremendous endurance.

I know there are those who root against Favre because they root against the teams he's played for. And I know his indecisiveness regarding retirement has been a media frenzy for a few years. And it's been a tough season for Favre. But none of those things changes the fact that only a handful of players in NFL history have been good enough to start for 297 consecutive games. And no one in the history of the game has matched his toughness or love for the game. And those are two things that Favre will be remembered for. In fact, he epitomizes them.

I'm impressed with plotters--people who are visionary strategists. But I think I'm more impressed with plodders--people who put one foot in front of another and keep plodding ahead despite circumstances and challenges. To put it in ministry terms, I'm inspired by pastors of churches that have experienced exponential church growth, but not nearly as much as those pastors who faithfully pastor churches in the shadows of the kingdom from cradle to coffin.

I think most of us in ministry want to grow faster quicker, but there is a reason why Scripture uses agricultural metaphors for kingdom growth. Maybe our goal shouldn't just be growing bigger faster. Maybe it should also be growing deeper longer.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Incarnation of the Rescuer

Excerpt from Matt G. Redmond post:  Christmas Is for Those Who Hate It Most

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I get it. I mean, it makes sense on the level of Christmas being a time in which there is a lot of heavily concentrated family time. The holidays can be tense in even the best of circumstances. Maneuvering through the landmines of various personalities can be hard even if there is no cancer, divorce or empty seat at the table. What makes it the most wonderful time of the year is also what makes it the most brutal time of the year. My own family has not been immune to this phenomenon.

But allow me to push back against this idea a little. Gently. I think we have it all backwards. We have it sunk deep into our collective cultural consciousness that Christmas is for the happy people. You know, those with idyllic family situations enjoyed around stocking-strewn hearth dreams. Christmas is for healthy people who laugh easily and at all the right times, right? The successful and the beautiful, who live in suburban bliss, can easily enjoy the holidays. They have not gotten lost on the way because of the GPS they got last year. They are beaming after watching a Christmas classic curled up on the couch as a family in front of their ginormous flat-screen. We live and act as if this is who should be enjoying Christmas.

But this is backwards. Christmas—the great story of the incarnation of the Rescuer—is for everyone, especially those who need a rescue. Jesus was born as a baby to know the pain and sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus was made to be like us so that in his resurrection we can be made like him; free from the fear of death and the pain of loss. Jesus’ first recorded worshipers were not of the beautiful class. They were poor, ugly shepherds, beat down by life and labor. They had been looked down on over many a nose.

Jesus came for those who look in the mirror and see ugliness. Jesus came for daughters whose fathers never told them they were beautiful. Christmas is for those who go to “wing night” alone. Christmas is for those whose lives have been wrecked by cancer, and the thought of another Christmas seems like an impossible dream. Christmas is for those who would be nothing but lonely if not for social media. Christmas is for those whose marriages have careened against the retaining wall and are threatening to flip over the edge. Christmas is for the son whose father keeps giving him hunting gear when he wants art materials. Christmas is for smokers who cannot quit even in the face of a death sentence. Christmas is for prostitutes, adulterers, and porn stars who long for love in every wrong place. Christmas is for college students who are sitting in the midst of the family and already cannot wait to get out for another drink. Christmas is for those who traffic in failed dreams. Christmas is for those who have squandered the family name and fortune—they want “home” but cannot imagine a gracious reception. Christmas is for parents watching their children’s marriage fall into disarray.

Christmas is really about the gospel of grace for sinners. Because of all that Christ has done on the cross, the manger becomes the most hopeful place in a universe darkened with hopelessness. In the irony of all ironies, Christmas is for those who will find it the hardest to enjoy. It really is for those who hate it most.

God At Work

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Kick-Starting the Plateaued and Declining Church Part 4: Challenge People to Face Reality and Join the Team

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After assessing the situation, it's time to start facing reality and helping people start making some changes. Obviously, this is where it can get really tough because there's a need to say some hard things firmly, while being gracious. In addition, you're going to ask demoralized people to reengage who may feel like losers, even if they're trying to put a good face on it. This is how Nehemiah approached things after his assessment:
So I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let's rebuild Jerusalem's wall so that we will no longer be a disgrace." I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and also about the king had said to me. They said, "Let's start rebuilding," and they were encouraged to [do] this good work (Neh. 2:17-18, HCSB).

It makes it all sound pretty easy on the surface, but notice that Nehemiah didn't ask them to do everything all at once. He just asked them to do one thing--rebuild a wall. In your case, who knows what it might be? Maybe you need to ask people to do a major "spruce up" of the property or building; maybe you need to ask them to start a new group or class of some kind; or maybe you need to work with people to organize an outreach project. Do whatever activity that will begin to build a sense of accomplishment among the people.

In addition, Nehemiah did speak the truth. He stated the obvious, and then he turned that into a battle cry. And the reason for it was that God was at work in the situation. That goes back to the first two points--having a clear sense of calling from God to love, serve, and lead the people and allowing God to cultivate a love in your heart for the people and the place.

Notice also that Nehemiah made it about "we" and "us," not "me" and "them." He challenged people to join the team, and Nehemiah saw himself as one of the team. It wasn't Nehemiah against or above everybody else, and the people responded. Nehemiah didn't rub all of this in the face of the people or try to make them feel bad for letting things get to that point.

In leading Lee Park Church to experience significant revitalization, Pastor Chris Justice kept things pretty simple. The vision he cast for the church revolved around two obvious things--preach the Word and love people. That's it. He tried not to use the word "change" in the first year. What he did set out to do though, was highlight instances where he observed people loving others. Pastor Justice asserted, "The people were so used to hearing everything that was wrong and everything that they weren't, I wanted to preach to them who they were." Pastor Chris Justice and Nehemiah were working on building people up after being demoralized.

Be sure to read the rest of the series, and feel free to interact.



 

Passion

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer:  Guest Post from Philip Nation: Advice to Worship Leaders

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All leaders face the temptation to love their work for God more than God Himself. It is our own temptation toward idolatry. To speakers, I would say that they should love Jesus more than their words about Him. For worship leaders, love God more than the music about Him. No matter what else happens on the platform, it will be obvious where your passion rests.


 

More Blessed

Jonathan Parnell post:  Are You More Blessed Than the Virgin Mary?


In the sermon descriptively entitled,

“That Hearing and Keeping the Word of God Renders a Person More Blessed Than Any Other Privilege That Ever God Bestowed on Any of the Children of Men,”

Jonathan Edwards writes:
The hearing and keeping the word of God brings the happiness of a spiritual union and communion with God.
‘Tis a greater blessedness to have spiritual communion with God and to have a saving intercourse with him by the instances of his Spirit and by the exercise of true devotion than it is to converse with God externally, to see the visible representation and manifestations of his presence and glory, and to hear his voice with the bodily ears as Moses did. For in this spiritual intercourse the soul is nigh unto and hath more a particular portion than in any external intercourse.
‘Tis more blessed to be spiritually related to Jesus Christ—to be his disciples, his brethren and the members—than to stand in the nearest temporal relation, than to be his brother or his mother.
This portion of Edwards was taken from the advent devotional Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, ed. Nancy Guthrie, 57.

Overall Aim

What's Best Next post:  Those Who Set Goals Accomplish More.  And:  Be Careful to Have the Right Goals

Stephen Covey notes that:
In the field of personal development, one of the few things that can be empirically validated is that individuals and organizations that set goals accomplish more. The reality is that people who know how to set and achieve goals generally accomplish what they set out to do.
That’s interesting.

But, don’t take it as a whole-sale endorsement on setting goals. Covey goes on to note the weaknesses of this approach:
There are countless people who use the Goal Approach to climb the ladder of success — only to discover it’s been leaning against the wrong wall.
They set goals and focus powerful effort to achieve them. But when they get what they wanted, they find it doesn’t bring the results they expected. Life seems empty, anticlimatctic. “Is that all there is?”
When goals are not based on principles and primary needs, the focused drive and single-mindedness that makes achievement possible can blind people to imbalance in their lives.
They may have their six- or seven-figure income, but they’re living with the deep pain of multiple divorces and children who won’t even talk to them. They may have a glamorous public image, but an empty private life. They have the plaudits of the world, but no rich, satisfying relationships, no deep inner sense of integrity.
It is important to have goals. But there is also a danger in having goals. What’s the solution?

One part of the solution is to have the right goals. Another part of the solution is to not let your life be _entirely_ directed by goals. 

You see a good example of this in the life of the apostle Paul. He had an overarching goal — a mission — that was right. Here’s one statement of it (there are others as well):
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11).
Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).
Paul’s overarching mission here is an example of a goal, an ultimate goal, that should cover our entire lives and for which we should sacrifice greatly for. And he commends the same goal to each of us: “Let those of us who are mature think this way” (v. 15).

Paul also had some lower-altitude goals that aligned with this. For example, he really desired to visit the church in Rome:
“. . . without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” (Romans 1:9-10)
But this was not an all-defining goal, because other things took precedence and prevented him from coming (see Romans 15:18-24–very interesting: what kept him from coming was another goal). Paul had other goals like this as well — things he really wanted to do, but which he sought to do in an integrated way with all the other callings that God had placed before him.

What we see in Paul is a good example of goals working in the right way. He had the right overall goal, or aim, in life. He pursued that goal at all costs — and, because it was the right goal that God would have for him (and us), that did not result in unloving, unbibiblically unbalanced (note: the term “unbiblical” is a critical nuance there) life.

Then, underneath that, he had many lower-altitude goals that aligned with it, and which he pursued with great diligence, but which he didn’t pursue at all costs and without the wider awareness of other things, apart from those goals, that God might want to do in his life.