Good News

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN

Revelation 12:10
The accuser of our brethren . . . who accuses them before our God day and night

Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from Satan to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ we are important, we are qualified, we are justified. Satan can do absolutely nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies, accusing us of being of little value to God or other people.

Satan often uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He comes along and says, "Why don't you try it? Everybody does it. Besides, you can get away with it. Who's going to know?" Then as soon as we fall for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: "What kind of a Christian are you to do such a thing? You're a pitiful excuse for a child of God. You'll never get away with it. You might as well give up because God has already given up on you."

We have all heard Satan's lying, hateful voice in our hearts and consciences. He never seems to let up on us. Many Christians are perpetually discouraged and defeated because they believe his persistent lies about them. And those who give in to his accusations end up being robbed of the freedom that God intends His people to enjoy.

The good news is that we don't have to listen to Satan's accusations and live in despair and defeat. Satan is not your judge; he is merely your accuser. When Satan's accusations of unworthiness attack you, don't pay attention to them. Instead respond, "I have put my trust in Christ, and I am a child of God in Him. I have been rescued by God from the fire of judgment, and He has declared me righteous. Satan cannot determine a verdict or pronounce a sentence. All he can do is accuse me--and I don't buy it."

Prayer:

Lord God, when Satan accuses me and reminds me of my past, help me resist him and remind him of his future.

Ultimate Outrage of the Universe

Excerpt from The Greatest Thing in the World: An Overview of Romans 1-7 by John Piper

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Romans teaches that the most fundamental problem in the universe is that God's human creatures – all of us – have sinned and fallen short of his glory and are now condemned under the omnipotent wrath of God. There is the problem of our condition called sin. And there is the problem of its consequence called wrath. Another way to say it is that there is real guilt on every person because of sin, and there is real condemnation over every person because the Judge and Maker of the universe is just and holy.

Paul's conclusion after two chapters of as acting the prosecuting attorney is Romans 3:9, "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.'" Romans 3:22-23, "There is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And there's a good definition of what our sin is and why it has mainly to do with God, not man.

When he describes the sins of his own people in Romans 2:24, the climax of the indictment is this: "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The promises of God are not relied upon.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
The person of God is not loved.

The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist (Rom. 11:36) – who holds every person's life in being at every moment (Acts 17:25) – is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored by everybody in the world. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe.

Why is it that people can become emotionally and morally indignant over poverty and exploitation and prejudice and the injustice of man against man and yet feel little or no remorse or indignation that God is so belittled? It's because of sin. That is what sin is. Sin is esteeming and valuing and honoring and enjoying man and his creations above God. So even our man-centered anger at the hurt of sin is part of sin. God is marginal in human life. That is our sin, our condition.

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Study

Excerpt from Study the Bible?Arrggghhh!!!! at Guccilittlepiggy

Bible study done well takes work. It is usually measured in long hours not short minutes. It forces us to be an active thinker instead of a passive recipient. It demands concentration, and sometimes that's a tall order for generations who've been raised by ADD television programming which pounds our brains with a thousand images a minute. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise us that struggle and difficulties arise after someone puts a passage of Scripture before us and says, "Study this text. Observe, interpret and apply what you read."

Heart Condition

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - What Is Your Heart Condition?


Did you know that your heart reflects who you are? Proverbs 27:19 says, As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. So, if your spiritual heart condition were known to all of us, what would it reflect?

For example, would we see a greedy heart? In Ezekiel 33:31 we read, My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Wow, that's a serious heart condition–greedy for unjust gain.

Jesus warned us about this greedy heart condition. In Luke 12:15 he says, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. This greedy heart problem can take over before you know what's happened if you're not on your guard against all kinds of greed.

There's greed for power, the drive to have authority and influence over other people. And greed for prestige and fame. Many people live for recognition from others. Of course, greed for material possessions is very commonplace. And the passage in Ezekiel talked about being greedy for unjust gain. Trying to get something for nothing. Wanting to win the lottery and be rich without working for it. Becoming deceitful and dishonest in order to gain some money or possessions or power. That's a greedy heart.

Do you have any of those symptoms? Even if they're in the early stages, you need to get very serious about dealing with that greedy heart. Greed is contagious. If you're around people who have lots of things and who focus their lives on getting more and more things, you'll discover that it's very difficult not to be swept right along into that greedy mindset for things.

The Psalmist wrote, Turn my heart toward your statues and not toward selfish gain (Psalm 119:36). That's a very good prayer if your heart tends to be greedy. Turning it toward the Word of God and away from selfish gain will cure you of a greedy heart.

Jesus said life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions. You see, even if you get all those things and money and power that you've been greedy for, they won't bring you what you think they will. You can be very rich in this world's stuff and be very poor in the things that really matter. Be on your guard today against a greedy heart, especially as you go out into your working world, where it's very easy to be swept away with the desire for things and power.

Liberating Force of the Gospel

Conclusion to The Atoning Death of Christ on the Cross by Seyoon Kim in Theology, News & Notes

Thus, when the doctrine of Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement on the cross—and the doctrine of justification that issues from it—is properly expounded, it can integrate the Christus victor motif in itself and provide the adequate basis for sanctification or imitatio Christi. Hence Paul uses penal substitutionary atonement for his moral exhortation not to sin against brethren, especially the “weak” ones (“the brother for whom Christ died,” Rom 14:15; 1 Cor 8:11), and not to sell one’s body into slavery either of sexual lust or of a human master (“You were bought with a price,” 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). Above all, in expounding the missionary and social implications of the doctrine of justification, Paul makes the most revolutionary declaration: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. also Rom 3:30; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:11). Since justification does not depend on any innate quality or merit of human beings, but it is only by God’s grace manifested in Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and solely through our faith-appropriation of it, racial, gender, or social differences do not count any more.21 There is no doubt that this gospel has exerted its liberating force over against the still mightily raging diabolic force of discrimination and oppression in the dialectical history of the Christian world. What an irony it is then that the basis of such a liberating doctrine is now made the target of abuses by some “postcolonial” and “feminist” theologians! Evangelicals, if they are to be true to their historic identity, should not succumb to any polemics based on distorted versions of the Biblical doctrine of Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement, nor yield to the attempts to marginalize it for the sake of the (independent) Christus victor theory or the (biblically questionable) moral influence/example theory. Rather, they must uphold the doctrine, expounding it fully and celebrating the grace of God that it highlights.

Meeting Together

Excerpt from Battling Unbelief Together by John Piper

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Now let's look at our text in Hebrews 10:24–25. I want to make five brief points from these two verses.

Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

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4. Empowering to Love

Make your meeting together with believers a meeting specifically for the empowering to love. Empowering to love.

Don't be unintentional when you get together. Don't just say, Christian fellowship is good, so we are going to get together and talk. It is good. And talking is wonderful. But the stakes are too high these days to be that casual and lackadaisical about your gathering.

Verse 24 says, "Consider one another in order to stir each other up to love and good works" (literal translation). There is a clear goal. We are meeting so that when we leave, we will have more power to love, more resources to love, more motivation to love, more wisdom to love and do good works, so that people will see our good works, as Jesus said, and give glory to our Father in heaven. The visible glory of God is at stake.

And not only is there a clear goal, there is a kind of urgent intentionality. The word "Consider" suggests that we come on the look out for how we can specifically help other people get power to love. We don't just drift into a 20:20 meeting thinking about all kinds of worldly things. We come on a mission. We come "considering," on the look out, watching, listening. What does David need tonight? What would help Noël be stronger tonight?

So the fourth point is: Be intentional in your coming together. Aim at empowering each other to love and good works.

5. Strengthening Faith in the Promises of God

The last point is in answer to the question: How do you empower another person to love and good works? What is the root of love? What is the root of all righteousness and truly good deeds? The answer is belief in the promises of God. So the fifth point is: Make the main basic goal of every small group to strengthen faith in the promises of God.

This is implied in verse 23: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love . . . " So these two things are very closely related: stirring each other up to love, and helping each other hold on to hope in the promises of God.

How do you empower someone to love and good deeds in spite of all the obstacles they will run into at home and work? Answer: build their hope in the promises of God. Love grows on the taproot of BELIEF in the promises of God.

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Prayer

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

OVERPOWERING THE CAPTORS

Matthew 12:29
How can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man?

A prime target for our authoritative prayer is the "strong man" mentioned in Matthew 12:29. Jesus was saying that you cannot rescue people from the bonds of spiritual blindness or demonic influence unless you first overpower their captors. Satan's power is already broken, but he will not let go of anything he thinks he can keep until we exercise the authority delegated to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we pray we are not trying to persuade God to join us in our service for Him; prayer is the activity of joining God in His ministry. By faith we lay hold of the property in Satan's clutches which rightfully belongs to God, and we hold on until Satan turns loose. He will hold on to these people until we demand their release on the basis of our authority in Christ. Once Satan is bound through prayer, he must let go.

Understanding the spiritual nature of our world should have a profound effect on our evangelistic strategy. All too often we proclaim the virtues of Christianity to unbelievers like someone standing outside a prison compound proclaiming to the inmates the virtues of the outside world. But unless someone overpowers the prison guards and opens the gates, how can the prisoners experience the freedom we're telling them about? We must learn to bind the strong man before we will be able to rescue his prisoners.

Prayer:

In the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command Satan to release those loved ones in my family who are blinded to the truth and whose thoughts are raised up against the knowledge of God and to return them from enemy territory.

Citizens of Two Kingdoms

Excerpt from Why Vote If You Are Disillusioned? by John Piper
[written October 2004]

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Now, if you are dissatisfied today the way I am, why vote? The answer is that if you don’t, you are guilty of the very oversimplification you condemn. There is no escape from responsibility by pointing out the imperfections of leaders. That is the only kind of leaders there will ever be. Our calling in this world is not to wait for the arrival of the perfect, but to pick our way through the thicket of flaws. We would be arrogant to put ourselves above this fray and say, “A curse on both your houses.”

The Lord Jesus does not give us this luxury of disengagement. He says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Caesar—even pagan Caesar—has his claim on our lives. Why? Because God Almighty, whom we serve above all men, made human governments his way of running the world. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). In a democratic republic like ours that means at least: VOTE.

God has commanded us (as aliens and exiles on the earth): “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). We are citizens of two kingdoms: the kingdom of God, our ultimate allegiance, and the kingdom of this world. The ambiguities are many. The complexities are great. The possibility of political miscalculation is real. But Christ came into the world to save sinners. Therefore we do not panic at the possibility of error. It is worse to run than to risk. Only a fool replaces the complexity of voting with the simplicity of gloating.

Comfortable

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

NEW WINE

Luke 5:38
New wine must be put into fresh wineskins

Jesus taught that the forms of our Christian practice must change. In His parable of the garment and the wineskin in Luke 5:36-39, the garment and the wineskin are the external dress and the container, not the substance of our faith. They represent the religious customs, practices and traditions in which the substance of our faith is packaged. Jesus is stating a fact--the garment needs mending and the old wineskin is old! What worked before isn't working anymore. Times change, cultures change, and what worked 20 years ago may not work today. But what doesn't change is the object of our faith.

"Time-honored faith" and "long-established practice" blend together and become indistinguishable to the status quo. When someone advocates another form of practice, it becomes apparent that the security of the old wineskins rests in the long-established practice instead of the time-honored faith.

The reasoning behind the resistance is logical: "I came to Christ singing that song," or "It worked for me. I don't see why it won't work for my children." We have to ask, "Is it relevant? Does it relate?"

The older generation is the stable force in our churches. They are faithful and mature, and they represent the financial stability that every church needs. They also make up the boards and committees that determine the style of ministry, but they have a tendency to perpetuate long-established practices that are meaningful to them.

This problem is more sociological than spiritual. Why is it that a good, Bible-believing church which faithfully carries out its ministry struggles to hold onto its young people, when down the street a contemporary ministry rents a store building and has four times more young people in a matter of months? Because the contemporary ministry relates to the young and their style of music. It caters to their desire for expression and participation.

If we fail to provide new wineskins, we will be ill-equipped to serve the "new wine"--the next generation of believers.

Prayer:

Lord, help me never to cling to the old ways just because they make me feel comfortable.

Music

Excerpts from Against Music* by Greg Gilbert at 9Marks

I think the entire evangelical world ought to put a moratorium on any kind of instrumental music, and just chant psalms in their worship services—for the next ten years.*

I’ve been amazed since becoming an elder in a local church just how dependent many Christians are on a certain style of music, or certain level of excellence in music. How many times have you heard someone say, for example, “I just can’t worship in that church.”? Or “I just don’t feel like I’m connecting with God there.”

...

I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music. Their sense of spiritual well-being is based on feeling “close to God,” their feeling close to God is based on their “ability to worship,” and being able to worship depends on big crowds singing great music.

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The bottom line, I suppose, is that it would do every Christian well to do some honest heart-searching about what makes them feel “close to God.” Can you feel close to God just by reading or saying the words, “In Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”? Would you be able to function in a church that’s great in every way except the music? If not, you probably need to give some thought to whether your spiritual life is dependent on something it should not be dependent on.

*I'm being facetious with the title of this post and the call for a moratorium on music, of course. The Bible tells us to sing. God gave us music precisely because it affects our hearts and emotion, and that is a good thing. But every good thing can be and will be misused by sinful humans. My sense is that "excellent music" has become something of an idol. No, we don't worship it. But alot of people need it to worship, and that may be just as bad. Music is a part of our lives as humans; in a certain way we'll always depend on it. But as I see it, there's ample anecdotal evidence out there to suggest that for many Christians, the dependence has become unhealthy.

Co-Workers

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, February 07, 2008 - Work Principles from the Life of Daniel

Do you thoroughly like and enjoy everyone you work with and for? I hope so; that would be ideal. But the facts are, most of us in the workplace have certain coworkers who aren’t so easy to like.

Daniel had some very difficult coworkers too, people who were out to do him harm. People who were very jealous of him and wanted to bring him down. But in spite of their attitudes, Daniel kept his attitude right:

Daniel had a compassionate heart for his “co-workers.”

When Nebuchadnezzar was ready to kill the wise men of Babylon because they could not interpret his dream, Daniel went to Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, and interceded for these men. “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” he asked. Now, these men meant nothing to him personally, but he had a compassionate heart and he knew it was wrong to execute them. So, he went to his trusted fellow-Israelites, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and urged them to pray for these men. God then revealed the meaning of the dream to Daniel and the next day he asked Arioch not to kill the wise men, but instead to take him to Nebuchadnezzar because he could interpret the dream.

Talk about sticking your neck out! Daniel was a man of great courage as well as great compassion. He cared about these men, even though they were not fellow-Israelites and indeed were astrologers and sorcerers and enchanters—men who were doing things directly opposed to God’s principles.

It’s not easy to have compassion for people sometimes, is it? Especially those who are antagonistic toward us, or who have no clue about true spirituality. Those whose lifestyles are sinful and against all you know to be right. But as God placed Daniel in the midst of these kind of people, so He does us today as well, and He does it so we can show God’s love and compassion to people who have no clue what it’s all about.

Love Neighbor

Excerpt from "How Shall We Love Our Muslim Neighbor?" by John Piper

There are as many answers to this question as there are ways to do good and not wrong. “Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Romans 13:10). “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Here are some things that, it seems to me, need to be emphasized in our day.

[Update: The mention of loving our enemies is not meant to imply that all Muslims feel or act with enmity toward Christians. They don’t. They are often hospitable and kind and caring. The point is that even when someone treats us with enmity (of whatever religion or non-religion), we should continue loving.

Another clarification is needed in our context today. When I say that love calls us to do good in practical ways that meet physical needs I do not mean that this help is offered contingent on Muslim’s becoming Christians. Practical love is a witness to the love of Christ. Witness is not withheld where it is needed most. Conversions coerced by force or finances contradicts the very nature of saving faith. Saving faith is a free embrace of Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and highest Treasure. He is not a means to treasure. He is the Treasure]

1. Pray the fullest blessing of Christ on them whether they love you or not.

• Luke 6:28 - Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
• Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
• 1 Corinthians 4:12 - When reviled, we bless.

2. Do good to them in practical ways that meet physical needs.

• Luke 6:27 - Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
• Luke 6:31 - As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:15 - See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
• Romans 12:20 - If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.

... [ see link for full list of 9 ways] ...

The most loving thing we can do for Muslims, or anyone else, is to tell them the whole truth about Jesus Christ, in the context of sacrificial care for them and willingness to suffer for them rather than abandon them, and then plead with them to turn away from “vain worship” (Mark 7:7) and receive Christ as the crucified and risen Savior for the forgiveness of their sins and the hope of eternal life. This would be our great joy—to have brothers and sisters from all the Muslim peoples of the world.

Three Temptations

Excerpt from "Integrity. Humility. Generosity." from at Mark Batterson at Evotional (Tues, Feb 5)

"I'd rather die than embarrass Jesus Christ."

Of all the things Rick Warren said, I feel like that statement was the most powerful. Really appreciate Rick's humility and transparency. He talked about the three temptations leaders face. They are the same temptations Jesus faced in the desert.

The first temptation is lust of the flesh. Satan says to Jesus, "Turn these stones into bread." He was tempting Jesus to use his gifts for self-gratification. And the antidote is integrity.

The second temptation is lust of the eyes. Satan shows him the kingdoms of the earth and says all this can be yours. Rick said the temptation is taking shortcuts to accumulate things. And the antidote is generosity. By the way, Rick reverse tithes. In other words, he gives 90% and lives off 10%. Awfully inspiring!

The third temptation is the pride of life. At some point you can stop building altars to God and start building monuments to self. The antidote is humility. And I love Rick's definition. Humility is not denying our strengths. It is admitting our weaknesses.

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Temptation

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

THE ESSENCE OF TEMPTATION

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin

I have found that many Christians struggle with the distinction between temptation and sin. Bombarded by tempting thoughts, they conclude that there must be something pretty sick about them. But even Jesus was "tempted in all things as we are." But finish the verse: "Yet without sin." As long as we are in the world, we are exposed to temptation just like Jesus was. But He didn't sin, and we don't have to sin either (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The basis for temptation is legitimate human needs. We will either look to the world, the flesh and the devil to have our needs met, or we will look to Christ who promises to meet our needs (Philippians 4:19). The essence of temptation is the invitation to live independently of God.

The power of temptation depends on the strength of the strongholds which have been developed in our minds as we learned to live independently of God. If you were raised in a Christian home where magazines and television programs of questionable moral value were not allowed, the power of sexual temptation in your life will not be as great as for someone who grew up exposed to pornographic materials. Why? Because your legitimate need to be loved and accepted was met by parents who also protected you from exposure to illegitimate means of meeting your needs. The person who grew up in an environment of immorality may experience a greater struggle with sexual temptation simply because that stronghold in the mind was well-established before he was born again.

Jesus was tempted to meet His own physical needs by using His divine attributes independently of the Father to turn a rock into bread. But instead He responded, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We also must respond to temptation by relying on God to meet our needs.

Being One

Excerpt from Love and the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by D. A. Carson in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, John Piper and Justin Taylor, General Editors:

"... Christians reading these words [John 17] toward the end of the first century ... were exuberantly thanking God that Jesus' prayer was being fulfilled before their eyes, as men and women were being converted from many tribes and tongues and peoples and languages, and were loving each other for Jesus' sake. Of course, this love is still far from perfect: nothing in these dimensions is perfect until consummation. But Jesus' glorious prayer "that they may be one" is manifestly being answered to a superlative degree in the confessional church around the world today, as Christians bask in God's love and understand that all of our love is but a grace-driven response to the intra-Trinitarian love of God which has issued in the glorification of the Son by means of the cross, in the Son's perfect obedience to his Father, all the way to the cross."

Work Principles

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - Work Principles from the Life of Daniel

Did you ever think that an Old Testament saint could be a great role-model for you as a Christian in the marketplace today? I can assure you that Daniel is that man. We’re looking at workplace principles from the life of Daniel. Consider this:

Daniel was taken out of his comfort zone completely, away from familiar people and surroundings, into a different culture altogether.

When you go to work each day, you are likely to be leaving your comfort zone and entering a different kind of world. In writing to the church in Pergamum, Jesus said through the Apostle John–I know where you live–where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. Pergamum was thoroughly pagan, and many Christians were martyred there.

The pagan gods may be a bit different today, but they are there:

· The god of materialism

· The god of success

· The god of sexual pleasure

· The god of any kind of pleasure

· The god of “it’s all about me”

Our challenge is to remain true to the Lord even though we may work in Satan’s territory. Daniel–and his three faithful friends–were fully immersed in a pagan culture. They worked hard and succeeded in that society. But they did not accommodate their lifestyles or beliefs to the pagan world around them. Their approach was obedient involvement. They stayed involved in the world, while at the same time remaining obedient to God and His principles.

This attitude is a big contrast to other Jewish exiles in Babylon recorded in Psalm 137:1-4:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?”

Have you ever felt like a foreigner in your working world? Well, that’s because you are, if you’re a believer. This world is not our home. Peter wrote that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. He goes on to remind us that we are aliens and strangers in this world.

But Jesus doesn’t want us to “hang our harps on the poplars.” He wants us to sing songs of Zion, even by the rivers of Babylon! A joyful spirit is one of the most powerful weapons we have, both to fight off the enemy, to sustain us–because the joy of the Lord is our strength–and to testify to the foreigners around us that we do have songs of Zion to sing! We have something to sing about!

A Child of Light

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

AN ENTIRELY NEW SELF

Ephesians 5:8
You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light

Ephesians 5:8 describes the essential change of nature which occurs at salvation. It doesn't say you were in darkness; it says you were darkness. Darkness was your nature, your very essence, as an unbeliever. Nor does it say you are now in the light; it says you are light. God changed your basic nature from darkness to light. The issue in this passage is not improving your nature. Your new nature is already determined. The issue is learning to walk in harmony with your new nature.

Why do you need the nature of Christ within you? So you can be like Christ, not just act like Him. God has not given us the power to imitate Him. He has made us partakers of His nature so that we can actually be like Him. You don't become a Christian by acting like one. We are not on a performance basis with God. He doesn't say, "Here are My standards, now you measure up." He knows you can't solve the problem of an old sinful self by simply improving your behavior. He must change your nature, give you an entirely new self--the life of Christ in you--which is the grace you need to measure up to His standards.

That was the point of His message in the Sermon on the Mount: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). The scribes and Pharisees were the religious perfectionists of their day. They had external behavior down to a science, but their hearts were like the insides of a tomb: reeking of death. Jesus is only interested in creating new persons from the inside out by infusing in them a brand-new nature and creating in them a new self. Only after He changes your identity and makes you a partaker of His nature will you be able to change your behavior.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank You for rescuing me from the kingdom of darkness and transferring me into Your marvelous light. I choose to walk as a child of light today.

Worship

Excerpt from "What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem" by John Piper

Here are the first four "marks" he mentions. I post this because I think they are equally applicable to us -- I believe these are marks that also characterize our worship:

1. God-Centeredness. We put a high priority on the vertical focus of our Sunday morning service. The ultimate aim is to experience God in such a way that he is glorified in our affections.

2. Expecting the powerful presence of God. We do not just direct ourselves toward him. We earnestly seek his drawing near according to the promise of James 4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.

3. Bible-based and Bible-saturated. The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and poetry should always conform to the truth of Scripture. But more than that, the content of God's Word should be woven through all we do in worship and will be the ground of all our appeal to authority.

4. Head and heart. The elements of our worship service should aim at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, especially joy, but should not manipulate people's emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves.

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Things in Common

Mark Dever on Cooperating with Acts 29 -- his comments to the Acts 29 Boot Camp Lecture "Church Planting Evangelism" posted at Church Matters by Michael McKinley

"Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you. And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (things like: humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority).

But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home. I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ. This is not taught by other religions, nor clearly by the ancient Christian churches of the East, or by Rome, by liberal Protestant churches, by Mormons, the churches of Christ, or by groups of self-righteous, legalistic, moralistic Christians. And not only do we together affirm the exclusivity of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone—we agree on the sovereignty of God in life and salvation, the regenerate nature of church members, the importance of church membership and discipline, the baptism of believers alone, the priorities of expositional preaching, and evangelism, the importance of authority and a growing appreciation for the significance of complementarianism. These are not slight matters. And they only fire my desire to encourage you and cheer you on, until you cross that finish line that the Lord lays down for us."

Why Minister to the Body?

Excerpt from How the Saints Minister to the Body by John Piper

[Ephesians 4:7-16]

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One was that the aim of our ministry is the upbuilding of the body. Verse 12: Christ gives leaders to the church (like pastors and teachers) "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service [or ministry], to the building up of the body of Christ." So the aim of our ministry is building up the body. Not just the individual members of the body but the body as a whole.

Second, the aim of our ministry is the unity of faith and the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. Verse 13: " . . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God." So our aim is to keep on building up the body until there is unity in our faith and unity in our knowledge of Christ.

Third, the aim of ministry is that the body of Christ attain a corporate personality of Christ-likeness. Verse 13b: (keep on building up the body) "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." In other words the aim of ministry is not just that individuals be built up, but that the body of Christ attain to a mature man (not men, but man).

Christ is the head of the body and he is fully mature and complete. The church is his body, and we are not fully mature and complete. The aim of ministry is to build the church and to cause it to grow up into the kind of maturity that corresponds to Christ. The aim of ministry is corporate likeness to Christ. A kind of corporate personality that is like Jesus.

... and so we should add this week (as a fourth part of our aim in ministry) that this corporate likeness to Christ in verse 13 has definite implications for us as individuals. It results in our not being gullible and unstable. Verse 14: "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming."

When the whole body is building itself up in corporate likeness to the maturity of Christ, the effect is that the members of the body in that process become discerning and perceptive and stable. They have their faculties trained to see through the subtle, manipulative use of language that tricks people into affirming things that are not true or right.

So one of the reasons why the saints minister to the body of Christ is so that every member would become more astute and penetrating and perceptive and stable, and less gullible and credulous and unthinking.

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