Monday, February 28, 2011

Christian Civility

Excerpt from Tim Keller article:  Backlash and Civility

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One of the reasons that Americans have reacted so sharply to Christians’ involvement in politics is that our culture tends to accept the Enlightenment belief that religion is a completely private affair that should not affect how you live in public. That, of course, is unhealthy and wrong. But much of Americans’ negative response is warranted. They know Christ called his followers to love their enemies and to speak the truth in love. In John 17 Christ told his followers that the world would only believe that he really was sent from God if his followers were famous for their love for one another. That is not the case today. 
 
Which leads us back to the topic of “civility.” Os Guinness said that civility is too easily dismissed as simply “niceness” or even squeamishness. Worse, it is seen as unwillingness to contend for what is right and true. 
 
Civility, however, has to do with how you contend, and it is an expression of caritas—charity or Christian love. It is not a refusal to criticize. Indeed, uncharitable discourse makes no attempt to really persuade the opposition. Uncivil discourse merely castigates and caricatures the other side. It doesn’t try to win over the opposition with the truth, but only to marginalize and disempower them. 
 
Uncivil speech is designed to intimidate, silence, and stir up opposition. It does not aim to persuade more people to believe it. Ironically, when Christians speak this way, it shows no confidence in the Truth at all, but only in power, and that is a very secular view of the world. As someone has famously (but anonymously) said, “Evangelicals are in danger of  selling their gospel birthright for a mess of political pottage.”
 
By contrast, what does Christian civility look like? First, it shows respect for persons in the image of God even as it argues that their views and positions are not worthy of respect. James 3:9 says we should not “curse men made in God’s likeness”—a remarkable warning against wishing ill on people. 
 
Second, it shows humility as you argue. That means a lack of eye-rolling, sighing, sneering, and pejorative vocabulary. Especially as Presbyterians we believe that ultimately God opens one’s eyes to the truth, and so we are gentle with those who don’t yet see. That’s why John Newton wrote: “Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation.” (See Newton’s letter “On Controversy” available on the internet at several sites.) 
 
Third, it would be good to follow the ancient rules of debate. One is not to attribute an opinion to opponents that they will not personally own, even if you think it is the logical outcome of their views. Another ancient rule is:  before arguing with your opponents you must state their position positively and so well that they say, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Then and only then may we proceed to argue. 
 
What does the future hold? There’s good news and bad news. Os Guinness rightly warns that there are many calling for an American public life without any expressions of religious faith at all, more like a French-style laicite. That could mean, for example, that even private Christian organizations would not be allowed to hire only people who shared their religious faith commitments. Os warned that the lack of civility could lead some to rule certain subjects “out of bounds” and to try to put an end to public debate on many issues of moral values. 
 
On the other hand, Robert Putnam believes that most of the people checking “None” are not hard-core secularists. They have looked at acerbic, condemning, combative churches and said, “If this is religion, I want no part of it.” However, Putnam says, a different kind of church could definitely get a hearing from them. It would have to be different from the old mainline churches that simply reflected the culture and didn’t prophetically declare Biblical truth, but it would also have to be different than the self-righteous churches that didn’t preach or speak in humility and love. There is still a role in our society—perhaps a big role—for churches like that. 

Power and Love of God

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional


STUCK IN UNFAIRNESS
Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Romans 5:14
Paul doesn’t let up!  For ten verses he hammers this point about me being related to Adam.  I was one with Adam.  I suffered because of Adam’s sins.  I was judged ‘in Adam’.  That doesn’t seem fair.  You mean that I was born under God’s condemnation because an ancient relative sinned?  The answer is yes and it’s easy to get stuck there.  Most do.
I think of my ancestors, the ones that I did know.  Their sins infected our family, even three generations down the line.  This principle is true whether we’re talking about Adam or our great grandparents.  We suffer the consequences of those who lived before us.  Is our predicament without hope?  Is God that unfair?  Without an understanding of why Jesus came, God can seem like a tyrant.
The moment Adam and Eve sinned, God put a plan in motion for a Savior, a plan He conceived before the earth was ever created.  Jesus was called “the Lamb” before there was time so God’s extravagant love pre-dates the creation of man.  Wouldn’t I be moved to discover that my earthly father cherished me enough before I was born to make provision for my every need for as long as I would live?  I would be endeared forever to him.  God has taken care of me, prior to my birth, for my life here on this earth and for all eternity.
The moment I chose Christ, the consequences of Adam’s sin in my life died and I was unified with Jesus.  Because He is sinless and has always been sinless, there are no ancestral sins to dread.  Only abundant life, only the fruit of His righteousness.
From Adam ~ to Christ.  Such a short phrase but one that speaks volumes about the power and love of God.
I know, Lord, how painful it is to suffer because of a family’s sin.  But you made a way out. I live in You, the righteous Savior in whom I have nothing to dread.  Thank you!  Amen


Redeeming Beauty Itself

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer in Praise of Jesus’ Beauty

     One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

     Gracious Jesus, I’m still reeling in the sheer beauty of the day you gave us yesterday in middle Tennessee—not just a foretaste of the coming spring, but also of the life we’ll forever enjoy in the new heaven and new earth. Yesterday’s environmental splash of beauty invaded my distracted, ugly thinking at just the right time. You always seem to deliver the hope and perspective of the gospel when I need it the most. Thank you that beauty will ultimately trump all ugly, including my ugly. What a kind, loving and present Redeemer you are.
    Indeed, there is no Redeemer like you, Jesus, and you are faithfully at work redeeming all things, including beauty itself.  For you are the fountain of all beauty and quintessential beauty itself. I remember how it felt when you first opened my eyes to your beauty in the gospel. The scales of my unbelief came off; the blinders of religion and self-righteousness were removed; the rosy-tinted glasses of make-believe were crushed. I had my first genuine sighting of your glory and grace, and King David’s song became my song, “Lord, just let me gaze upon your beauty all the days of my life!”
     For in seeing your loveliness, Jesus, I learned to see all things by the light of your loveliness. I began to find beauty in unexpected places and unsuspecting people. I began to realize how sin had blinded me to true beauty, even sabotaging the very category and holding it hostage to illusions and counterfeits.
     But as with our natural eyes, so with our spiritual eyes, the clarity of vision fades. Jesus, please lay your hands on the eyes of our hearts and remove the cataracts and heal the myopia. We don’t just want to regain lost sight, but to see you in ways we’ve never seen you before. How we long for the Day when we will finally see you as you are and we will be made like you… hasten the day, hasten that Day (1 John 3:1-3).
     Until then, reveal more and more of your beauty to us, Jesus. Let us gaze upon your grandeur, gape at your grace, linger in your loveliness, savor your splendor, and marinate in your majesty. So very “Amen!” we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Blinded to What We Have

Stephen Furtick post:  Think inside the box


When it comes to our limitations, most people operate out of an if, then mindset.

If I had __________, then I would ___________.
If I could __________, then I would ___________.

So…
If I had more money, then I would buy a nicer house.
If I could sing, then I would be a musician.
If my children were in a different stage of life, then I would move.
If my church had a state of the art facility, then we would grow.

You encounter this same kind of thinking in the corporate world. It’s called thinking outside the box:
What would you do if you had unlimited money? Could sing? Had children who were at a different stage? Had a state of the art facility?

Sounds nice, but this mindset is a breeding ground for frustration. Why?

Because you don’t have unlimited money.
You can’t sing.
Your children aren’t in a different stage of life.
And your church still has the same building.

In other words, for now you’re stuck with your limitations. And while it might be liberating to think about life as if you didn’t have them, they’re still there and you have to work with them.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t plan ahead or that you shouldn’t dream. Of course you should. But your box is never going to expand to the place where you’re thinking outside of it until you learn to live in it.

I would challenge you to think inside the box. Stop waiting for what you want and work what you’ve got. How much money do you have? What talents has God given you? How can you maximize your church or corporation with the assets and resources you currently have in place?

Your greatest limitation is God’s greatest opportunity.
If He wanted you to have ________, He would have provided it to you.
If He wanted you to do ________, He would have made you able.
But He didn’t.

So there must be something greater in mind that He wants to do through your limitation. He must have something in mind He wants to do with what you actually have and actually can do.

Most of us are so focused on what we don’t have that we’re blinded to what we do have. If you had what you think you needed you wouldn’t be able to use what God’s actually put inside of you.

And what He has put inside of you is all you need to accomplish all that He’s called you to do. It’s all He needs too.

Even if it seems limited to you.

Vital Heart Engaged Communion

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for a Fresh Connection with Jesus

     When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  Acts 4:13

      Dear Jesus, this simple story is simply what I need this morning. Peter and John, two unschooled, ordinary fishermen were noticeably different and engaged in life because “these men had been with Jesus”—with you, the same Lord who lives in our hearts and rules all things from heaven. More than anything else I need fresh, vital fellowship with you, Jesus.
     Though it’d be nice to astonish others and hear comments like, “He’s obviously been with Jesus. What else could explain his merciful heart for the broken; his outrage in the face of injustice; his calm in the midst of provocations. What other motivation would he have for loving so boldly, forgiving so deeply and giving so generously? He’s been with Jesus, alright.” Jesus, as nice as that would be, that’s not at all what I’m thinking about and longing for this morning.
     Jesus, I don’t really care what people think or don’t think about me right now, what they say or don’t say about me. I crave fresh fellowship with you in the core of my being. Union with you by faith is one thing, but vital heart engaged communion with you is quite another. I’ve got great theology, I want Spirit-generated doxology.
     Doing things for you is not the same thing as spending life-giving time with you. Thinking great thoughts about you is not the same thing as connecting intimately with you. Helping others understand the gospel is not the same thing as crying out with the Psalmist,
     “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.” (Ps. 63:3-5 ESV)
      Come, Holy Spirit, come. Ignite within each of our hearts renewed affections and life-changing communion with Jesus. That’s what we need and want more than anything else. We pray with famished and expectant hearts, in Jesus’ most gracious and loving name.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Desire

Excerpt from Practical Theology for Women post:  Her Desire Will Be For Her Husband

I think this post may be controversial.  But I’m always concerned when those of us who most strongly advocate a straightforward reading of Scripture and obedience to it then don’t take Scripture at face value ourselves.  We have to guard our hermeneutic, folks.  So here goes my attempt to do just that. 

After the fall of man, God is very clear in Genesis 3 about the consequences for women.


16To the woman He said,
         "I will greatly multiply
         Your pain in childbirth,
         In pain you will bring forth children;
         Yet your desire will be for your husband,
         And he will rule over you."

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The word for “desire” in Genesis 3:16 can mean craving or longing.  The issue is best understood if we make the simple substitution of God for her husband.  Her desire SHOULD BE for her God.  Instead, her desire/craving/longing is misplaced.  The curse is not that women want to dominate the men in their lives.  Women’s problem is that they worship the men in their lives and look to them for affirmation and provision emotionally and spiritually for things that God alone is supposed to provide.  Their problem is IDOLATRY. 

If you think that the foundational result of the fall of man in the average woman’s life is a desire to dominate, your ministry is going to miss … well … the vast majority of problems in a woman’s life.  Certainly, I know my fair share of dominating, manipulative, control freakish women (of which I am often chief), but our problem goes much deeper than the symptomatic issue of control.  We are idolaters!  We looked to men to meet a need they couldn’t meet—emotionally, spiritually, physically.  And instead of recognizing our sovereign, compassionate, and wise Father in heaven as the place to which we should have looked, we started looking within ourselves once the men in our lives disappointed us.  Control tactics aren’t the manifestation of an innate desire to dominate the men in our lives.  Instead, we resort to manipulation and control because we longed too hard to rest in the men in our lives.  We grasp and clamor, “Lead me spiritually.  Provide for me physically.  Affirm me emotionally.”  And when they can’t or don’t, then we attempt to lead ourselves spiritually, provide for ourselves physically, and seek outside affirmation for ourselves emotionally.  Instead, we don’t need to change our desire or craving.  We simply need to change the object of it.  

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Importance of Grounding

Excerpts from Dan Kimball post:  "It's Over!" - Trends in Churchland

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I wonder in land the church we can get caught up in forms of "It's Over!"....

Generally out of good intentions, we are looking out for new forms of ministry that will effectively see people come to faith and grow as followers of Jesus. But then as innovation and exciting becomes the standard, can we then feel "It's Over" and then want to move on?

In being 100% honest, I remember being challenged and even told how wrong I was about implementing forms of worship and art etc. by a church. But then 10 years later I was at that church and seeing them using the same thing in worship they fought against us doing and said was silly. My bad-Dan side of me was thinking "It's Over!" if they are now doing this we better then stop. And then I had to realize how dumb and self-centered that thinking was and quickly repented.

At conferences there sometimes can be a "What's the newest thing?!" feeling out there. Again, out of good heart and intentions. We want to be serving God on mission and learning what is happening out there. But we also need to discern when our interest and heart/mind moves to more concerns of personal experience or the cool factor or keeping up on things in the evangelical world.

One day will we be saying "Multi-Site Video Venues?" - "It's Over!" ...... "Missional?" - "It's Over!"...... If we look back, I can name several things I think we have done the "It's Over!" with in churchland.

Maybe someone will do a mock video of this one with Christians at conferences doing this about the various trends we have gone into for a while and then shifted later as it becomes "It's Over" and move to another.

But outside of methodology, I have sensed from some even due to bad experiences we looked at the evangelical world or some theology and said "It's Over!" due to some of the things that happened to us personally or as we understand there was too much focus on the reductionist form of the gospel as a ticket to heaven, lack of orthopraxy, right-wing political definition that developed etc. And then we can become like in the video the guy who rejects evangelicalism as "It's Over!" by seeing maybe who claims to be evangelical or what some turned it into. Can sometimes even our theology fall into "It's Over!". Not that we won't grow in our theology, but can we unconsciously reject or change it because of reasons other than theological but more personal or cultural?

I am finding that we must, must, must of course be scanning the horizon for what is new and what God is doing. I don't see it as trendy, but if it is effective on mission and doesn't compromise Scripture then I think we should be using it if appropriate in our context of mission. If I shift from a normal cell phone to a smart-phone, I don't see that as trendy. I see it as having an effective form of communication. I believe the church naturally should be doing the same with how we go about our mission.

But with the quickness of change that happens in just normal life and also in the church (as church is normal life really) I am finding myself more immersed in Scripture and theology and truth which is our bedrock. What we know about Jesus comes from Scripture etc. So our anchor, our understanding of Jesus - is from Scripture primarily. And our theology isn't trendy (or shouldn't be). Cultures do change and forms of what we do will change. That is why being grounded in Scripture is so incredibly important. So whether normal cell phones, or smart cell phones or normal church meetings or multi-site meetings - our bedrock and truths we hold are not "It's Over!" if a new cell phone is designed.

At the same time, I have met and talked with church leaders who put tradition and not changing at such a high value and they would totally be looking at this video of "It's Over!" and using it for their argument of claiming we all jump on trends and we should just stick with tradition. And as I have now said many times "If tradition gets in the way of mission, it is sin". If what we do gets in the way of people coming to know Jesus and growing in their faith etc. So just because one doesn't have an "It's Over!" experience because they are traditional, does not mean they aren't trendy. They just stuck with a trend from a certain time in history and then chose not to move from it and when you trace origins of most things we do in church as "tradition" it did actually come from the trend of that time period. So the question is, in those churches (or any church) are we seeing new life, growth, followers of Jesus making a difference in the world etc.?

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God For Our Treasure

Ray Ortlund post:  No ordinary treasure


“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One.  Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness.  Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things, he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight.  Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately, forever.”

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (London, 1967), page 20.

Valuable Role

Excerpts from Mark D. Roberts post:  The Surprising Entourage of Jesus

Luke 8:1-3 is one of those passages from the Gospels that receives relatively little attention. But when you read it carefully, you may be surprised by what you learn.

The passage begins by describing Jesus’ kingdom ministry. There’s no particular surprise here. We know that Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom of God in the region of Galilee, and that he took his twelve disciples with him (8:1). But then Luke describes a crucial group of Jesus followers, people who were essential to his ministry but are rarely remembered: “[Jesus took his twelve disciples] along with some women he had healed and from whom he had cast out evil spirits. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples” (8:2-3).

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Among those who followed Jesus were Mary Magadalene, who is mentioned for the first time in Luke. Another follower was a woman named Joanna, who was “the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager” (8:3). Now that comes as a bit of a shock! We would not expect such a woman to follow Jesus, both because of her connection to Herod Antipas, who was no fan of Jesus, and because she was surely a person of financial means. Her experience of God’s love through Jesus was powerful enough for her to leave her comfortable and safe life in order to support Jesus.

And support Jesus she did! Luke notes that Joanna was one of those “who were contributing their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples” (8:3). But using their own savings, and perhaps by earning money along the way, the female followers of Jesus provided the financial base for him and his followers to focus on proclaiming the kingdom of God.

The presence of these women among the close followers of Jesus serves as an encouragement to women today, who can sometimes feel like second-class Christians. Moreover, it underscores the fact that all Christians have a valuable and necessary role to play in the ministry of the kingdom. Some, those who are gifted for preaching, should preach. Others, who are gifted for making money, should provide financial support to the mission of Christ. The church of Jesus Christ will be what God intends it to be only if each and every person—every man and every woman—faithfully utilizes the gifts and opportunities God has given.


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Responding to the Revelation

Perry Noble post:  Eight Things That Will Change You AND Your Church


#1 – Ask God to absolutely set you on fire…to ignite you with passion that consumes you so that you are not merely working in a job but fulfilling His vision for your life.  People who work a job make a living…but people who are fulfilling their passion/calling make a difference!  (See Jeremiah 20:9)

#2 – Make the decision that you are going to lead out of CONVICTION of the Holy Spirit rather than the CONVENIENCE of doing what is easy rather than what is right.

#3 – Beg God to allow you to see people the way He sees people.  I think one of the fundamental problems in the body of Christ is that our eyes no longer see as His eyes see!  However, if we take off our “church colored glasses” and begin to see the world the way HE sees it…it changes EVERYTHING!  (See II Corinthians 5:16)

#4 – Make the decision that you don’t have to have all of the answers before you obey the voice of the Lord.  I once heard Francis Chan say, “When I read the Bible it makes perfect sense not to know what is going to happen next!”  THAT might be one of the most freeing statements I’ve ever heard!  Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6 have been HUGE for me personally in this regard.  YOUR church can do EXACTLY what God has told you to do…GO FOR IT!

#5 – Understand that everyone is NOT going to understand you…and that you can’t make it your goal to make sure that everyone understands and approves.  (See Galatians 1:10 and Proverbs 29:25)

#6 – Quit running to the online audience that will never darken the doors of your church to seek their approval.  Enough said!

#7 – PRAY BOLD PRAYERS for your church!  The early church prayed for boldness…we pray for safety.  The early church prayed for people to come to Christ…we pray for sister so & so’s hangnail!  The early church prayed for the church to expand and the Gospel to advance…we pray that we can keep our churches small and safe.  Let’s BEG God for things to happen in our churches that are UNEXPLAINABLE and UNDENIABLE so that HE can receive ALL the glory!

#8 – STOP trying to be everyone else and be who God called you to be…your church should be a result of responding to the REVELATION of God and not the IMITATION of others!

Bear. Endure. Believe.

Excerpt from Wendy Alsup:  The Most Needed Peer Pressure in Christianity

If you are in a season of struggle with those God has called you to love, God doesn't expect you to change your loved one. His call is to bear long in love, to endure, and to believe the best for that person while he changes them. And if you are not in that season but are friends with someone who is, weigh carefully the tone of your suggestions or encouragements. Hold your friend up as they bear long and patiently endure. Believe with them that grace works and that loving unconditionally for the long haul is the most effective tool we have for influencing change in the ones we love. May you and I rest from our attempts to change our loved ones and find refuge in God's ability and promise to do so. And may the greatest peer pressure we put on each other in such situations be to bear in love for the long haul.
. . . walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, (Eph. 4:1-2)

Equilibrium

Excerpt from Kevin DeYoung:  A Tale of Two Corners:  Knowledge and Maturity


In this corner you have our friend Mr. Bookworm. He’s not quite thirty years old. He’s very intelligent. He’s read Calvin, Edwards, Luther, and Bavinck. He knows Warfield and Hodge, Piper and Carson too. Since coming to the Lord in college, Mr. Bookworm has been on fire for learning. He listens to a dozen sermons each week on his iPod. He has a better grasp of current theological debates than most pastors. He loves Chrstian conferences, the good meaty ones. Mr. Bookworm knows all about hermeneutics, propitiation, covenant theology, the regulative principle, and the ordo salutis. He’s even teaching himself a little Greek. Hebrew and Latin are around the corner. Ugaritic, if he’s got time.

Mr. Bookworm is smart, serious about his faith, and genuinely wants to serve the Lord. But he’s twentysomething and not all that mature. In terms of knowledge, he’s playing in the Major Leagues, but as far as wisdom he’s batting below .200 in A ball. He doesn’t have gross sins, just some annoying ones. On the truth-grace scale, he’s all truth. He’s obnoxious, bordering on abrasive. He lacks all sense of proportion. He can’t see that a debate over presuppositional v. evidentialist apologetics is not as serious as Athanasius v. Arianism. Everything is a first-order issue because there are no other kinds of issues.

To make matters worse, Mr. Bookworm talks too much. He sees every conversation as a forensics match waiting to happen. He’s opinionated. He doesn’t ask questions. People are scared of him and he doesn’t know why. Except for those in complete agreement with him, Mr. Bookworm doesn’t have many friends. He’s not trying to be rude or arrogant. In fact, push come to shove he can be a winsome fellow. The problem is he has all this knowledge and doesn’t know how to use it wisely or winsomely.

In the other corner is Mr. Simple-Faith. He’s been a Christian for 40 years. He prays and reads his Bible every day. He’s raised four godly children. He’s been married for over 30 years. He’s quiet, sincere, and well-respected by everyone. But he’s not a huge reader. He never has been. He reads two or three books a year, one of them might be a Christian book, usually something popular and pretty lightweight. Mr. Simple-Faith has decent theological instincts. He knows the Bible is all true, Jesus is the only way to God, hell is real, and we can’t earn our way to heaven. He’s orthodox, but beyond the basics he’s pretty ignorant and, frankly, not very interested.

So who would you rather have as an elder in your church? Mr. Bookworm is more impressive, but Mr. Simple-Faith is probably going to make better decisions and be better received by the members of the congregation. Personally, I’d rather have maturity outpacing knowledge instead of the other way around.


It should go without saying that the goal is to have both. A mature Christian with little theological knowledge is not living up to his potential. A knowledgeable Christian without maturity has potential he doesn’t know how to use.

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Take Heart

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for Times of Troubling News

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

     Jesus, yesterday’s troubling stories shape today’s morning prayer. I went to bed late last night, wearied with woes of good friends. I arise today hungry with hope in you, our great and gracious Savior.
     Thank you for being so honest with us about life this side of the new heaven and new earth. You’re not an on-demand panacea—promising the elimination hardships and heartaches.  But you’re a very-present-help—pledging your presence in every circumstance and trial. Troubling news doesn’t have to cripple our hearts. Indeed, may it carry our hearts to you today, for you are ever-so-trustworthy, Jesus.
     For our friends stunned with heartbreaking health news, we declare our trust in you, Jesus. How we long for the day when words like cancer, dementia and heart disease will no longer appear in our vocabulary. Until that Day, we unabashedly and earnestly pray for healing, and trust you for all-surpassing peace and more-than-sufficient grace.
     For our friends saddened with heart-ripping children issues, we declare our trust in you, Jesus. Few troubling reports carry more power to dis-hearten than those related to our children. Whether they’ve been vandalized by others’ darkness or victimized by their own foolish choices, it hurts real bad and real deep. We appeal to your covenant faithfulness and your powerful reach, capture the hearts of our children, Jesus, and help us love them well in the chaos and the crisis.
     For our friends saddled with heart-wrenching financial burdens, we declare our trust in you, Jesus.  There’s a growing number among us who have more month left over at the end of the check. There’s a growing number of us who’re actually facing losing homes and hope. But things that are impossible with man are possible with you, Jesus. We not only pray for your provision, but for our generosity with one another.  May the law of love be fulfilled as we bear one another’s burdens—spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially.
     Jesus, we can trust in you as we trust in God, for you are God—the Son of God and God the Son. We can “take heart,” because you’ve have already overcome the world for us. In the world we will have tribulation, but in you, all the peace we need. So very Amen, we pray, in your kind and overcoming name.

Rest. Endure. Love.

Excerpt from Wendy Alsup post:  The Most Needed Peer Pressure in Christianity

I want control of my circumstances and gravitate to suggestions of things to try to fix situations. But at some point, as things continue without change, I tire of suggestions to try. In one such situation, I sat with a wise older friend and listened as she spoke words that poured over my parched soul. Her advice? Rest. Endure. Love. After time in her presence, I felt free—free from the guilt that I wasn't doing enough to change my loved one, free from pressure to come up with the thing that will most help them, free to love them unconditionally the way God has loved me, free to bare my soul to God in confidence that he would hear me, and free to leave my fears at his feet when I was done.  
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all thing.  Love never ends (1 Cor. 13:7-8).

Human Praise

Excerpt from John Piper post:  The Common Root of Unbelief in the Brothers of Jesus and the Jewish Crowds

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The root of their unbelief is the same as Jesus’ brothers’ unbelief. For the brothers, the miracles of Jesus can get them human praise. For the crowds, the miracles of Jesus threaten their human praise. Written over both like a great indictment are the words of John 5:44: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”


Therefore, how should we pray for ourselves and for those we love? We should pray that, when we read of Jesus in the Gospels, or hear about him, that we would be able to say with John from the heart: “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:14–16).

Because pride, at its core, is the rejection of grace and the craving for human approval. And faith, at its core, is despairing of human approval and being glad in the God of grace.

Basic Doctrines

Excerpts from Doctrinal Boot Camp:  Conforming to the truth of the faith is necessary for survival by
Chuck Colson | posted 2/21/2011 on ChristianityToday

If you have survived a Marine Corps boot camp, read no further. If not, this article is for you.

Over the years I've grown concerned about Christians—especially younger ones—who express little interest in the basic doctrines of the faith. They don't want to appear to be dogmatic or judgmental. I can understand why; after all, as Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman pointed out in unChristian, we older evangelicals have often come across that way. But our failures do not alter the fact that understanding and living by these doctrines are essential to, well, being Christians.

An aversion to doctrine caused some thoroughly orthodox young evangelicals to decline to sign the Manhattan Declaration (which defends human life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty), even though the document is rooted in Scripture. As one young evangelical explained to me, "We don't like dogmatic statements that a lot of people have to sign." What about the Nicene Creed or the Westminster Confession of Faith?
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Come to think of it, isn't the church today in a far more serious battle than any the Marines have fought? Aren't we called to make disciples who will advance the kingdom of God in an extremely hostile world? Haven't we inherited 2,000 years of very hard-earned lessons?

The more I've thought about the parallels, the more I am convinced that we have failed younger evangelicals and new believers generally. We have told them or at least implied that they can live happily ever after, that Christianity is all about what's good for them—not necessarily about what is true. Things just go better with Jesus.

If we want to see revival in the church, we need to be at least as serious as the Marines are about preparing men and women for battle. Perhaps we ought to rethink Sunday school, dust off the catechisms, and start teaching the Bible and theology to our young people again. If the theologically attuned young Reformed crowd is any indication, they can handle it. But it's not just for Calvinists. Every successful Christian movement has embraced ways to effectively pass on the faith entrusted to the saints once for all.

The church is looking for a few good men and women. Is anyone ready to enlist?

Monday, February 21, 2011

Let Go Of Our Fools' Gold

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for Those Who Want to Be Great and First

     “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.Mark 10:43-45
     
     Dear Jesus, surely, the gospel is the most counter-intuitive, paradigm-shattering, worldview-transforming force in history. Because of you, true greatness is now measured in terms of being a servant rather than owning the estate. Being first is no longer calculated by how many slaves we own, rather, by how many people we serve.
     What an incredibly powerful Lord you are, redeeming the huge mess we’ve made of your world. What a most gracious Savior you are, giving your own life as the necessary price to make all things new. We prostrate ourselves before you with wonder, love and praise. We rise to dance before you as a people astonished at such love and affection.
    Jesus, tattoo these words on our hearts with indelible ink; make them the most replayed song in the iPod of our soul; keep them before our eyes with neon-flashing brilliance: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
     These words—this truth contradicts our most basic instincts about everything, including salvation. We don’t want to be ransomed, as guilty rebels; we want to be coddled, as misunderstood victims. We want a second chance, not a second birth. Forgive us, Jesus.
     In our marriages, too often, we don’t come to serve, but to be served, and to give our criticisms about many things. As leaders in your church, we tend to confuse greatness with exercising power and authority, rather than washing feet and nurturing your lambs. Forgive us, Jesus.
     Only you have the right to determine the value and price tags for everything. Help us to treasure what you treasure, and let go of our fools’ gold. Continue to free us from upward mobility for downward stick-to-it-tiveness. Let us actually prefer the hidden place of service over the public place of being noticed.
    Jesus, only you can change our hearts, and grace always runs downhill, always. We tremble to ask this, but expose our pride; humble our attitudes; and soften our hearts. Make us glad to be your servants.  So very Amen, we pray, in your kind and powerful name.

Why and How

Yancey Arrington post:  I Liked Some of It ...


I spoke with a young married couple after service today. I’m currently teaching on marriage and the selfless roles God calls us to in it, and they had a question. From the outset the husband, an affable gentleman, informed me he was not a Christian and that his wife was. He simply wanted to know if I believed they could still have a good marriage if he, as a non-believer, was still soundly committed to being selfless toward his wife. While we had a meaningful conversation I was struck by something he said pertaining to my message.

He agreed with some of what I said about marriage (e.g., being selfless and loving to your spouse) but disagreed with the why and how of marriage – Jesus and his grace. Basically, in his eyes, my message was good until I leveraged it in the gospel.

It was the best compliment of the day.

It reminded me that if you preach messages which only prop up the things we should do without standing those things upon the essential posts of Jesus and his work of grace, then you may actually be preaching something else than the gospel. If unbelievers can agree with everything you say because you only call them to a morality they either already have or likely could conclude by common sense, I would argue your message is far from being Christ-centered. The imperatives of Christianity (what we do) should never be divorced from the indicatives of the gospel (who Christ is and what he has done for us). It’s the indicatives that make the difference between a message rooted in Christ or merely in morality. The difference is not only huge, but eternal.

It also helps us see that sometimes the best people to evaluate how gospel-oriented our messages are, are the ones who’ve yet to receive that gospel.

So, how much of your sermon would a non-Christian have agreed with today?


Already Yours

Steven Furtick post:  You already have it


16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17

If Jesus.

Who had infinite power and potential.

Who carried the most important calling and mission in history.

Who did so much in His lifetime that John would later say that the world could not contain the books describing it.

Had his Father’s acceptance before he did a single thing in His earthly life to obtain it. 

What makes you think you have to knock His socks off before you can obtain it as well?

What makes you think you have to turn your life around before you can come back to God?

What makes you think you have to impress God with your obedience before He will impart His grace to you?

What makes you think you have to do things to get God to like you, much less love you?

What makes you think you have to build a church of thousands before God will be pleased with you?

What makes you think you have to be the perfect spouse or parent before God will perfectly love you?

Many Christians spend a lifetime trying to achieve something that Jesus already achieved for them in His. God’s acceptance isn’t based on your performance. It wasn’t for Jesus. And because of what He did for you, it isn’t for you either.

The acceptance He had, you have.

The love He unconditionally received, you unconditionally receive.

Yes, Jesus was the Son of God. But through Him, you are a child of God with the same privileges (Galatians 4:5-7).

That includes the privilege of having God look at you and being well pleased.

Don’t waste any more time striving after what’s already yours.

Minds and Hearts Aglow

Ray Ortlund post:  "... certain young men"

“. . . that He will again raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ [revival].  And what manner of men will they be?  Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace.  They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat.  They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”


Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield (London, 1970), I:16.

HT: Tyler Powell

What Christ Has Done

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Horton On The Law And The Gospel


This is probably the best shortest explanation of the all important distinction between God’s law and God’s gospel that I’ve read. It’s from Mike Horton’s new book The Christian Faith:
In the Reformed tradition, the law-gospel distinction was interpreted within the historical context of distinct covenants in history. The covenant of creation (also called the covenant of works or law) was based on the personal performance of all righteousness by the covenant servant. The covenant of grace is based on the fulfillment of all righteousness by our representative head and is dispensed to the covenant people through faith in him. There is still law in the covenant of grace. However, it is no longer able to condemn believers but directs them in lives of gratitude for God’s mercy in Christ.
As I’ve said here before, the commands in the Bible are like a set of railroad tracks. The tracks provide no power for the train but the train must stay on the tracks in order to function. The law, in other words, never gives any power to do what it commands. It shows us what a sanctified life looks like but it has no sanctifying power. Only the gospel has power, as it were, to move the train. This is why the Bible never tells us what to do before first soaking our hearts and minds in what God in Christ has already done.

Grace Card

New movie out this weekend:

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Recent Phenomenon

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  The Myth of Teenage Rebellion


When I spoke at the D6 Conference, I made an off-handed statement that has generated a lot of questions. In that talk, I said something to the effect that teen rebellion is not found in all cultures. Thus, it is not a universal cultural experience. It is a myth that teens consistently rebel in every culture and context.

I probably mentioned teen rebellion is more common in Western industrialized societies with formalized educational systems. Well, since that time, people keep asking me, "where can I find more about that?" (Which teaches me not to make an off-handed comment in front of thousands of people.)

People often ask for a source to cite, but I did not remember a recent source where it is spelled out. It is just something known and discussed anthropology studies. In pre-industrial societies, "adolescents" spend most of their time with parents, often apprenticing with adults, etc. Thus, in my Ph.D. work, I remember reading it and discussing it, particularly in anthropology studies. I would think that most textbooks dealing with anthropology and "adolescence" would address the issues.

But, recently I ran across an article that might help those looking for a recent and easily locatable source. It is in Scientific American. In that magazine, Robert Epstein weighs in on the debate that teen rebellion is caused by brain chemistry issues among teens (a widely held view). He explains,
It's not only in newspaper headlines--it's even on magazine covers. TIME, U.S. News & World Report and even Scientific American Mind have all run cover stories proclaiming that an incompletely developed brain accounts for the emotional problems and irresponsible behavior of teenagers....
As you will see, a careful look at relevant data shows that the teen brain we read about in the headlines--the immature brain that supposedly causes teen problems--is nothing less than a myth...
But, he then cites some of the literature that address the questions at hand:
But are such problems truly inevitable? If the turmoil-generating "teen brain" were a universal developmental phenomenon, we would presumably find turmoil of this kind around the world. Do we? In 1991 anthropologist Alice Schlegel of the University of Arizona and psychologist Herbert Barry III of the University of Pittsburgh reviewed research on teens in 186 preindustrial societies. Among the important conclusions they drew about these societies: about 60 percent had no word for "adolescence," teens spent almost all their time with adults, teens showed almost no signs of psychopathology, and antisocial behavior in young males was completely absent in more than half these cultures and extremely mild in cultures in which it did occur.
Even more significant, a series of long-term studies set in motion in the 1980s by anthropologists Beatrice Whiting and John Whiting of Harvard University suggests that teen trouble begins to appear in other cultures soon after the introduction of certain Western infl uences, especially Western-style schooling, television programs and movies. Delinquency was not an issue among the Inuit people of Victoria Island, Canada, for example, until TV arrived in 1980. By 1988 the Inuit had created their first permanent police station to try to cope with the new problem.
Consistent with these modern observations, many historians note that through most of recorded human history the teen years were a relatively peaceful time of transition to adulthood. Teens were not trying to break away from adults; rather they were learning to become adults. Some historians, such as Hugh Cunningham of the University of Kent in England and Marc Kleijwegt of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of Ancient Youth: The Ambiguity of Youth and the Absence of Adolescence in Greco-Roman Society (J. C. Gieben, 1991), suggest that the tumultuous period we call adolescence is a very recent phenomenon--not much more than a century old.
You can read the article in its entirety at Dr. Epstein's site, so I will not excerpt more than that lest I run afoul of copyright issues. You can also order it at the Scientific American site.

...



Breaking Through

Kevin DeYoung post:  Does the Kingdom Grow?


When you look at the Gospels and examine the verbs associated with the kingdom, you discover something surprising. Much of our language about the kingdom is a bit off. We often speak of “building the kingdom,” “ushering in the kingdom,” “establishing the kingdom,” or “helping the kingdom grow.” But is this really the way the New Testament talks about the kingdom? George Eldon Ladd, the man who put kingdom back on the map for evangelicals, didn’t think so.
The Kingdom can draw near to men (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; etc.); it can come (Matt. 6:10; Luke 17:20; etc.), arrive (Matt. 12:28), appear (Luke 19:11), be active (Matt. 11:12). God can give the Kingdom to men (Matt. 21:43; Luke 12:32), but men do not give the Kingdom to one another.
Further, God can take the Kingdom away from men (Matt. 21:43), but men do not take it away from one another, although they can prevent others from entering it. Men can enter the Kingdom (Matt. 5:20; 7:21; Mark 9:47; 10:23; etc.), but they are never said to erect it or to build it. Men can receive the Kingdom (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17), inherit it (Matt. 25:34), and possess it (Matt. 5:4), but they are never said to establish it. Men can reject the Kingdom, i.e., refuse to receive it (Luke 10:11) or enter it (Matt. 23:13), but they cannot destroy it.
They can look for it (Luke 23:51), pray for its coming (Matt. 6:10), and seek it (Matt. 6:33; Luke 12:31), but they cannot bring it. Men may be in the Kingdom (Matt. 5:19; 8:11; Luke 13:29; etc.), but we are not told that the Kingdom grows. Men can do things for the sake of the Kingdom (Matt. 19:12; Luke 18:29), but they are not said to act upon the Kingdom itself. Men can preach the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7; Luke 10:9), but only God can give it to men (Luke 12:32). (The Presence of the Future, 193)
I’ve quoted this section several times, probably on this blog before. But when I’ve used it in the past I’ve been uncomfortable with the line “we are not told that the kingdom grows.” It seemed to me that the parable of the sleepy farmer (Mark 4:26-29) and the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32) clearly teaches that the kingdom grows. But as I’ve studied the passages more carefully I think you can make a good case that Jesus is not teaching about the growth of the kingdom as much as he is demonstrating that the kingdom of small beginnings will, at the close of the age, be the kingdom of cosmic significance. The kingdom may look unimpressive now, with nothing but a twelve-man band of fumbling disciples, but one day all will see its glorious end.

To borrow a tired cliché, the kingdom is what it is. It does not expand. It does not increase. It does not grow. But the kingdom can break in more and more. Think of it like the sun. When the clouds part on a cloudy day we don’t say, “the sun has grown.” We say, “the sun has broken through.” Our view of the sun has changed or obstacles to the sun have been removed, but we have no changed the sun. The sun does not depend on us. We do not bring the sun or act upon it. The sun can appear. Its warmth can be felt or stifled. But the sun does not grow (science guys, don’t get all technical, you know what I mean). This seems a good analogy for the kingdom.

God certainly uses means and employs us in his work. But we are not makers or bringers of the kingdom. The kingdom can be received by more and more people but this does entail growth of the kingdom. We herald the kingdom and live according to its rules. But we do not build it or cause it to grow because it already is and already has come. As Ladd put it, “The Kingdom is the outworking of the divine will; it is the act of God himself. It is related to human beings and can work in and through them; but it never becomes subject to them…The ground of the demand that they receive the Kingdom rests in the fact that in Jesus the Kingdom has come into history” (A Theology of the New Testament, 102).

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Gracious to Us

Scotty Smith:    A Prayer about Jesus Longing to Be Gracious to Us

     This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:15-18

     Dear Jesus, it’s an incredible joy to begin this day knowing you long to be gracious to us. The way you care for your people is simply irresistible, and yet, foolishly, we do resist.
     Indeed, there are times when “riding off on swift horses” looks like a great option—when the demands upon us seem to far outweigh the resources with us; when we reach our emotional limits and exhaust our mental reserves; when tired gives way to “attitude” and patience gives way to pettiness. Even then, you woo us to yourself—especially then, we need you.
      The call to repentance and rest, and quietness and trust comes to us like a kiss from heaven. Jesus, on this Valentine’s Day, we find great comfort in your pursing love. You are truly the lover for which we most earnestly long.  No one else can touch the deepest place in our hearts. O, for the centering power of a quiet spirit before you. O, for the strength of a heart at rest in you.
     Jesus, I’m not facing the enemies Israel confronted in Isaiah’s day. The Assyrian and Babylonian armies aren’t on the horizon, coming at me in breakneck speed. I simply need, once again, to learn my limits. Help me say “Yes” to the right things and “No” to the unnecessary things, Jesus. Help me reestablish the rhythms of a gospel-driven life.
     I repent of letting the tail wag the dog. I repent of letting needs dictate my pace. I repent of grabbing four more plates to spin than you intend. I repent of not honoring Sabbath rest. I repent of trying to be my own savior, yet again. I repent of thinking too much and praying too little.
     I repent of listening to the squawking voices of human parakeets more than the comforting voice of the blessed Paraklete—God the Holy Spirit. I repent doing more things for you than spending unrushed time with you.
     Jesus, right now, we choose to wait for you. As you rise to show us compassion, we will sit down, shut us, be still and let you.  We pray with great anticipation, in your merciful and mighty name.

No Joy?

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional


I HAVE NO JOY BECAUSE…
We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  Romans 5:11
 
Jesus came to show me what God was like.  That He came is a miracle.  That He would leave heaven so I would know His Father is a miracle.  That He would die in order to show me the vastness of His Father’s love is a miracle.  That He would be so radical as to forgive all my sins and never bring them up again is a miracle.  That I would have nothing to feel guilty about is a miracle.  That I could dare go behind the veil and approach God intimately is a miracle.   There are enough grounds here to rejoice all day, every day, no matter how well or poorly my day is going.

Yet, I’ve lived much of my life without joy.  What was the problem? I have found, for me, that no joy means one of two things, and how I wish someone had told me this twenty years ago.

1.) I have not allowed the truth of God to impact my heart. Symptoms?  I know a lot but feel little.  I can pick apart doctrinal stands on issues but never let the truth of them affect me.  I can preach humility but be arrogant.  This is the fruit of study without meditation; about knowledge void of experience.  The cure?  I come to God everyday with the Word in my hand and ask Him to awaken my heart to the message.  “Search my heart, do surgery on my heart if necessary and let me feel what You feel, Lord, about this passage.” This begins a transformation that, over time, produces joy!

2.) I believe things about God that aren’t true that block joy. I can be full of contradictions.  I say that I believe Jesus came to save sinners but then I have trouble admitting that I am one.  I can easily give testimony that God is love but privately believe that He is punishing me when things go wrong.  I must ask God to make me self-aware, in touch with my emotions.  When I feel helpless, what do I believe that is causing me to feel helpless?  Therein lies the lie.  When misjudged and feeling outrage, what lie do I believe about God’s justice and His sovereign rule? I must name it before I can know freedom. I must hold up my emotions, the beliefs behind them, to the truth of God’s Word.  My beliefs, and the feelings which mask them, must be subject to Truth, always.

Joy begins when I know the truth.  Joy begins when I feel the truth.  Joy begins when I am delivered from misjudgments about God.  Joy begins when my heart of stone is touched by King Jesus and begins to beat hard with passionate responses to His glory.  I was made to feel joyful about God, not a shortsighted joy that is dependent upon in my circumstances.

Those who have been martyred walked to their death singing.  Help me know what they knew.  Amen


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Adoration and Utmost Courtesy

Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. [1 Peter 3, Message]

Means of Grace

Miscellanies post:  The Marks of A Healthy Missional Church


Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way (Zondervan, 2011), pages 899–902 [his|mine]:
In Acts, the mission of the church and its actual growth are always attributed to the means of grace, which the so-called marks of the church (preaching, sacrament, and discipline) identify.
The preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments have (or at least should have) such preeminence in the church not because of the desire for clerical dominance over the laity; on the contrary, it is because of the unique and essential service that this ministry provides for the health of the whole body and its mission in the world. So instead of treating the formal ministry and marks of the church as one thing and the mission of the church as another, we should regard the former not only as the source but as in fact the same thing as the latter.
Throughout the book of Acts, the growth of the church—its mission—is identified by the phrase, “And the word of God spread.” The regular gathering of the saints for “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship,” “the breaking of bread,” and “the prayers” (Ac 2:42) is not treated in Acts merely as an exercise in spiritual togetherness but as itself the sign that the kingdom had arrived in the Spirit. …
The mission of the church is to execute the marks of the church, which are the same as the keys of the kingdom. Where the gospel is being preached, the sacraments are being administered, and the officers are caring for the flock, we may be confident that the mission is being executed, the keys are being exercised, and the attributes of “one holy, catholic, and apostolic church” are being exhibited. Preaching, sacrament, and discipline are singled out in the Great Commission and, as we have seen, in Acts 2:42. If these are missing, marginalized, or obscured, there is no office, no charismatic ministry, and no innovative program that can build and expand Christ’s kingdom. God may use many means, but he has ordained these and has promised to work the greatest signs and wonders through them. …
There is a gathering—an ekklesia—because there is a work of God through preaching and sacrament called the gospel that does its work before we can get around to ours [personal evangelism and societal transformation]. We cannot create the church by our acts of service, missionary zeal, church orders and liturgies, pragmatic programs, authenticity, or romanticizing efforts at generating community. Rather, it is God who creates his own unique community in the world by speaking it into existence and sustaining it in its pilgrimage.
We must therefore resist the false choice between looking after the sheep already gathered through preaching, sacrament, and discipline (the marks) and reaching out to the lost sheep who have yet to hear and believe (the mission). The church is created and sustained by the Spirit through preaching and sacrament, and the church grows numerically—expanding in its mission—by these same means. …
The Word that is preached, taught, sung, and prayed, along with baptism and the Eucharist, not only prepare us for mission; it is itself the missionary event, as visitors are able to hear and see the gospel that it communicates and the communion that it generates. To the extent that the marks define the mission and the mission justifies the marks, the church fulfills its apostolic identity.

Scandalously Freeing

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Transforming Grace


My whole theology of gospel preaching rests on the foundation of truth that the quote below illuminates. God’s grace is a beautiful, and scandalously freeing, thing!
My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace.  If we’ve performed well—whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly.  In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace.  We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance.  Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to ‘try harder’.  We seem to believe success in the Christian life is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is very freeing and joyous experience.  But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth needs to be reaffirmed daily.
Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace
 
 

Monday, February 14, 2011

Call to Mind

John Piper post:  The Ministry of Reminding -- Myself


One of the great enemies of hope is forgetting God’s promises. Reminding is a great ministry. Peter and Paul wrote for this reason (2 Peter 1:13; Romans 15:15).

The main reminder is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). But don’t be passive. You are responsible only for your own ministry of reminding. And the first one in need of reminding by you is you.

The mind has this great power: It can talk to itself by way of reminder. The mind can “call to mind.” For example, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:21–22).

If we don’t “call to mind” what God has said about himself and about us, we languish. O how I know this from painful experience! Don’t wallow in the mire of godless messages. I mean the messages in your own head. “I can’t . . .” “She won’t . . .” “They never . . .” “It has never worked . . .”

The point is not that these are true or false. Your mind will always find a way to make them true, unless you “call to mind” something greater. God is the God of the impossible. Reasoning your way out of an impossible situation is not as effective as reminding your way out of it.

Without reminding ourselves of the greatness and grace and power and wisdom of God, we sink into brutish pessimism. “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalms 73:22).

The great turn from despair to hope in Psalm 77 comes with these words: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Psalms 77:11–12).

This is the great battle of my life. I assume yours too. The battle to remind! Myself. Then others.

Healing

LifeToday Words of Life  Destroying Harmful Words by Beth Moore

The words I have spoken to you are
spirit and they are life.
” (John 6:63)

 Have you ever been to a family reunion or other gathering where you can’t even get through the meal without replaying a negative or painful comment that someone said to you, even as long as five or ten years ago? Words have a way of sticking with us, but we must learn to deal with hurtful statements that torment our minds and emotions.

You have heard it before: hurting people hurt people. Their words express how their inner man feels—wounded and possibly mean-spirited. The word tells us, “My dear brothers, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19)

We know that quick anger can bring angry words. We wish we could get angry, critical words out of our hearts and off of our minds, but perhaps our greatest regret comes from things we let come out of our own mouths.

Most of us remember rejection, name-calling or critical comments meant to be defining words for us. You may think that healing comes by changing the actions of the one who hurt you, but it’s going to take some words. In some cases, you may never get words of apology, so it takes new, potent words to cancel out the power of harmful ones.

Have you had potent, negative things said over you? Words like, “You will never amount to anything.” In order to trump it, we need something omnipotent to replace it. Only God’s omnipotent words can cancel out potent, destructive words.

In Isaiah 54:17, the Lord says, “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me.”

There is a very real enemy of our souls and his name is Satan. He accuses the sisters and brothers in Christ with words. You and I have been given the power to cancel the accusing word with God’s Word. What was true of them in literal terms under the old covenant is true of us in spiritual terms under the new covenant. No weapon forged against us will prevail and you have the power and the words of God to refute every tongue the accuser wags at you.

It is also important for us to look at the life of Job. When he needed consolation, he was deeply hurt by his friends’ words. We are told that when his friends first came to him in his grief, they sat down with him and were silent for seven days. I believe they should have stayed that way, but they brought trouble the moment they opened their mouths. In Job 42:7-12, God gives Job an omnipotent prescription for healing his friend’s potent words. He told him to open his mouth and pray for the friends that had hurt him.

I know this is hard to hear, but praying for the person who hurt you (particularly by their words) is the very thing that God will use to heal you and set you free. Get into a private place where you can open your mouth and pray out loud. You will begin to realize that you are not replaying so much of what they said to you, but hearing now what God has caused you to speak over them. That is power!

If we are invaded and empowered by his Holy Spirit, we can be used of Christ to speak words that are spirit and life. God planned for us to use our mouth in ways that have effectual power beyond anything we have ever experienced. He wants us to speak words that encourage, edify others and glorify God. In order to operate in that pure flow of spirit and life, we need to be set free from words of flesh and death that have been spoken over us. We must let God heal us of words that come from wounded people.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Reengage in Profound and Personal Ways

Ray Ortlund post:  What do we know of this?


In The Epistle Dedicatory to James Durham’s Clavis Cantici of 1668, his wife Margaret describes personal communion with Christ in these terms:

“. . . those spiritually glorious interviews, holy courtings, most superlative but most sincere commending and cordial entertainings of each other, those mutual praisings and valuings of fellowship, those missings, lamentings, and bemoanings of the want thereof, those holy impatiencies to be without it, swelling to positive and peremptory determinations not to be satisfied nor comforted in any thing else, those diligent, painful and restless seekings after it till it be found and enjoyed, on the one hand; and those sweet and easy yieldings to importunity and gracious grantings of it, on the other; with those high delightings, solacings, complacencies and acquiescings in and heartsome embracings of one another’s fellowship . . . O what will he make of his church when sinless and in heaven, when he makes so much of her when sinful and on earth!  And how incomprehensibly glorious must he be in himself, that he puts such passing glory on her!  These transports of admiration at one another, . . . and finally these vehement joint-longings to have the marriage consummated and the fellowship immediate, full, and never any more to be interrupted.”

Years ago I would have thought that was soft-headed.  I was wrong.  Personal communion with Christ is real.  It is the whole point of being a Christian.  It is what the Bible is for.  It is our endless future.

What do we know of this, as Durham describes it so astonishingly?  The Puritans, among others, knew a lot about it.  They experienced it.  They pursued it.  Have we graduated to a spiritual level above them, such that we can smile condescendingly?  Or is it we who have drifted from the sacred center and need to repent and come back and reengage with our Lord in profound and very, very personal ways?

Keep Pressing This Gospel Into My Heart

Scotty Smith: A Prayer for Preaching the Gospel to Yourself


I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:15-17

     Dear Jesus, even as Paul was eager to preach the gospel to believers in Rome, so I’m eager to preach it to my own heart today. There was a time when I thought the gospel was only for non-believers—simply the doorway for beginning a relationship with you. I now realize the gospel is just as much for believers as it is for non-believers. Because from beginning to end, our salvation in entirely dependent upon the grace, truth and power of the gospel.
     Salvation is not just about going to heaven when we die. It’s about becoming like you Jesus—being transformed into your likeness. Only the resources of the gospel are sufficient for such a task, for we’re not just separated from God by a great distance, we are thoroughly broken and corrupted by sin. We need a big gospel for our great need. Indeed, there’s nothing more than the gospel, there is just more of the gospel.
     So I praise you today, Jesus, that you’ve already accomplished everything necessary to completely save us. You came into the world as God’s promised Messiah. You lived a life of perfect obedience on our behalf—as our substitute, fulfilling all the demands of God’s law for us. You died upon the cross for us—taking the judgment we deserve, completely exhausting God’s righteous anger against our sin. Hallelujah!
     Through faith in you and this good news, all of my sins have been forgiven and I’ve been given the gift of your perfect righteousness. God has already declared righteous in his sight. He cannot love me more than he does today and he’ll never love me less. In fact, because of your work for me Jesus, God now loves me just as much as he loves you, for he’s hidden my life in yours. Amazing!
     He’s adopted me as his child and placed his Spirit in my heart. The Holy Spirit constantly reminds me I’m God’s beloved child, because I’m so prone to forget. He’s also present in my life to make me like you, Jesus, for I can no more change myself than I could’ve ever begun a relationship with God on my own. Keep pressing this gospel into my heart, I pray in your precious and peerless name.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Our Greatest Delight

Excerpt from DG:  What is Christian Hedonism?


A "Christian Hedonist" sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it? If the term makes you squirm, we understand. But don't throw this paper away just yet. We're not heretics (really!). Nor have we invented another prosperity-obsessed theology by twisting the Bible to sanctify our greed or lust. We are simply stating an ancient, orthodox, Biblical truth in a fresh way.

"All men seek happiness," says Blaise Pascal. "This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." We believe Pascal is right. And, with Pascal, we believe God purposefully designed us to pursue happiness.

Does seeking your own happiness sound self-centered? Aren't Christians supposed to seek God, not their own pleasure? To answer this question we need to understand a crucial truth about pleasure-seeking (hedonism): we value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not God's competitor, idols are. Pleasure is simply a gauge that measures how valuable someone or something is to us. Pleasure is the measure of our treasure.

We know this intuitively. If a friend says to you, "I really enjoy being with you," you wouldn't accuse him of being self-centered. Why? Because your friend's delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his heart. In fact, you'd be dishonored if he didn't experience any pleasure in your friendship. The same is true of God. If God is the source of our greatest delight then God is our most precious treasure; which makes us radically God-centered and not self-centered. And if we treasure God most, we glorify Him most.

Does the Bible teach this? Yes. Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13). This is the essence of sin. The Bible actually commands us to delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). Jesus teaches us to love God more than money because our heart is where our treasure is (Matt. 6:21). Paul wants us to believe that gaining Christ is worth the loss of everything else (Phil 3:8) and the author of Hebrews exhorts us to endure suffering, like Jesus, for the joy set before us (Heb. 12: 1-2). Examine the Scriptures and you'll see this over and over again.

Christian Hedonism is not a contradiction after all. It is desiring the vast, ocean-deep pleasures of God more than the mud-puddle pleasures of wealth, power or lust. We're Christian Hedonists because we believe Psalm 16:11, "You show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore."

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