Boast Only in God

John Piper post:  My Happy Confession of Having No Merit

This is my confession:

I was born into a believing family through no merit of my own at all.

I was given a mind to think and a heart to feel through no merit of my own at all.

I was brought into the hearing of the gospel through no merit of my own at all.

My rebellion was subdued, my hardness removed, my blindness overcome, and my deadness awakened through no merit of my own at all.

Thus I became a believer in Christ through no merit of my own at all.

And so I am an heir of God with Christ through no merit of my own at all.

Now when I put forward effort to please the Lord who bought me, this is to me no merit at all, because

...it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
...God is working in me that which is pleasing in his sight. (Hebrews 13:21)
...he fulfills every resolve for good by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

And therefore there is no ground for boasting in myself, but only in God’s mighty grace.

Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:31)

Church is Messy

Excerpts from Dan Kimball post:  Learning from college students at Anderson University

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I am starting to communicate when I speak at places like Anderson University, some of what I have written in my forthcoming book "Adventures in Churchland" . This book is my first non-church leaders book coming out in September 2011. (If you go to the Churchland book link, the wording and description there is not all correct and a they wrote a few somewhat goofy ways to describe it and it will be changing hopefully soon. It's all in the process of how marketing teams interact with the author in communicating  what the book is about - if you have published you know what I mean). 

I wrote the Churchland book with college students in mind as one of the main readers. The book is about how the church is definitely odd at times and done some bad things throughout history. Many of us have been hurt or disillusioned with the church at some point (I share a personal story in this book when I was about to totally give up on organized church while on a church staff). But even if you feel like a misfit in the church, the church is the "Bride of Christ" (Ephesians 5:22-33 and Revelation 21:9-10). And the church is what Jesus chose to represent Him in this world (2 Corinthians 5:20 ...1 Corinthians 12). And I am very optimistic that we can be making change in the church - even despite the messiness. The church is messy, because we are messy. Habitual mess or intentional mess is unhealthy of course. But I believe the local church (in her many forms) is God's way of bringing the love of Jesus to people and communicating about the "good news" of Jesus. 

                                                                                     

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I really love interacting and learning when I travel - and what I have heard over and over and over and over and over again from college students is a general sense of frustration with the "church" (especially if from denominational churches or others who refuse to change).  I believe it is very possible that "organized church" can be exponentially impactful on mission - if we are organized around the right things. And not organized around the senior pastor or control or organized around tradition for tradition's sake which then can get in the way of mission.                                              

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God Speaks

Excerpts from Thabiti Anyabwile post:  Who's Doing the Talking in Our Church Gatherings?

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The review left me asking myself: Who’s doing the speaking in our church gatherings?

The fatal flaw in my reviewer’s comments was his tendency to think that the service at its best is a conversation between man and man, a human dialogue, a gathering of people of rather equal status speaking to one another.  But is that really what’s happening in preaching and in the gathered worship of the church?  How we answer this question reveals much about our theology of the church gathering and of preaching in particular.

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The very structure reflects a running dialogue–not between the people gathered, though we “speak to one another in songs,” etc.–but fundamentally between God and His people.  We come singing to our God, but He speaks the first word in the “call to worship.”  We respond in song.  Then God addresses us again by the reading of His word.  We then speak to Him in prayer of confession.  Following the confession, God speaks to us in the “assurance of pardon” taken from Scripture each week.  Hearing His promise of pardon, we then respond in song.  God speaks next in the sermon.  God gets the bulk of the service to say what’s on His mind, disclosed in the word of God.  Following God’s word to us, we respond in praise.  We then receive the benediction or words of blessing from God, before sitting in silence (hopefully awe) before the God of the universe.

The Christian worship service is inherently dialogical.  The dialogue, however, involves a more important party than any living human.  The Lord of the Universe speaks during the service.  We have the wondrous privilege of being able to speak to Him as a community of saints.  When God speaks through the exposition of His word there certainly will be many reactions, but as our Sovereign speaks there should not be an interruption in favor of our pooling our comments and sharing our insights.  Our best wisdom is foolishness before God.  Better to first listen to the One who speaks, then talk with one another about it afterward.

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Familiarity

Excerpts from post:  Why men have stopped singing in church

It happened again yesterday. I attended one of those hip, contemporary churches — and almost no one sang. Worshippers stood obediently as the band rocked out, the smoke machine belched and lights flashed. Lyrics were projected on the screen, but almost no one sang them. A few women were trying, but I saw only one male (other than the worship leader) making the attempt.

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Before the Reformation, laypersons were not allowed to sing in church. Sacred music was performed by professionals (priests and cantors), played on complex instruments (pipe organs), and sung in an obscure language (Latin).

Reformers gave worship back to the people, in the form of congregational singing. They composed simple tunes with lyrics that people could easily memorize. Some of the tunes came out of local taverns.

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At first, churches simply projected the songs everyone knew – hymns and a few simple praise songs that had come out of the Jesus Movement. People sang robustly.
But that began to change about three years ago. Worship leaders brought in new songs each week. They drew from the radio, the Internet, and Worship conferences. Some began composing their own songs, performing them during worship, and selling them on CD after church.

Problem is, nobody in the congregation knows these songs. Yes, we’re cutting edge — but nobody’s singing.

And so the church has returned to the 14^th century. Worshippers stand mute as professional-caliber musicians play complex instruments, and sing in an obscure language. Martin Luther is turning over in his grave.

What does this mean for men? On the positive side, men no longer feel pressure to sing in church. Men who are poor readers or poor singers no longer have to fumble through hymnals, sing archaic lyrics or read a musical staff.

But the negatives are huge. Men are doers, and singing was one of the things we used to do together in church. It was a chance to participate. Now, with congregational singing going away, and communion no longer a weekly ordinance, there’s only one avenue left for men to participate in the service – the offering. Is this really the message we want to send to men? Sit there, be quiet, and enjoy the show. And don’t forget to give us money.

There’s nothing wrong with professionalism and quality in church music.The problem isn’t the rock band, or the lights, or the smoke machine. The key here is familiarity. When that super-hip band performed a hymn, the crowd responded. People sang. Even the men.

Planting Seeds

Excerpt from Didn't See This Coming post:  Winter Time Memories (and who does not have those??)

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I liked to just make tracks in the snow with my boots.  Sometimes the night time snow fall let my trails covered, yet I could still see my work.  I had been there,  My time in the snow was not erased.  That was comforting.  Like seeing my mud pies the day after I made them.  I had been there.  My work remained.

Growing up in the heartland, I wonder if the farmers felt like that.  The farmers planted wheat or other grains and as theses fields filled up - they too knew they had been there and they were producing a harvest for others to use.  Now, no one used my snow paths or my mud pies - but I had produced something - even if it was for myself.  It made me feel good.

Whatever you are doing today is leaving an impression - either on you or on others.  It's important to glance back and see where you've been and know you are present in this day - making another mark.  Don't forget to plant the seed of kindness as you are walking along.  That makes more of a difference than my boots ever did in the snow.

Preservation vs Expansion

Stephen Furtick post: Fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium

People ask me all the time how we’ve been able to see so many people come to Christ in five years.

Outside of the favor of God, I could give you a lot of specifics. Tell you a lot of things that we’ve done. But none of it will help you until you make a decision we made in the early days of our church.

And that was the decision to be more focused on the people we’re trying to reach than on the people we’re trying to keep. As others have said, to be fishers of men, not just keepers of the aquarium.
We’re not going to cater to the personal preferences of the few in our pursuit of the salvation of the many.

And that includes if the few is ten people when we’re pursuing one hundred.
Or 5,000 when we’re pursuing 10,000.
Or 10,000 when we’re pursuing 20,000.

Most people and churches aren’t willing to do that. They’re keepers of the aquarium. They say they want to reach people, but in reality they’re more focused on preservation than expansion. On keeping people rather than reaching them.

They let saved people dictate style. Saved people dictate focus. Saved people dictate vision.

The result is a room full of saved people. Not people getting saved. Why? Because the people you’re trying to reach aren’t interested in the church that has been created by the people you’re trying to keep. If they were, they’d be coming. But they’re not.

For some reason, right here is where people usually play the discipleship card. They’re trying to disciple the people they’re trying to keep. They accuse you of pitting evangelism against discipleship.

But that isn’t the case. I just believe true disciples should care more about making disciples than freeze framing the church the way it was when they became one. Or wanting twenty-six programs customized to their liking. If the mark of Christian maturity is a bunch of people who want to create a museum glorifying and preserving their personal preferences and then sanctify it by calling it a church, count me out.

Some people say why can’t we have both? You can. Focus on the people you want to reach and you’ll keep the people you want to keep. Let the rest walk. They’ll find a church elsewhere to graze.

The way I see it is they’re just occupying the space of a person who needs to hear the gospel. You’ll fill their seat.

And it will be with the person who needs it the most.

Relaxed Strenuousness

Miscellanies post:  Indicatives, Imperatives, and Personal Holiness

C. F. D. Moule, “’The New Life’ in Colossians 3:1-17,” Review and Expositor 70:4 (1973), page 479 [ht]:

Christian existence is a strangely relaxed kind of strenuousness, precisely because the Christian gospel is what it is. Before ever any demand is made, the gift is offered: the announcement of good news precedes the challenge.

The indicative precedes the imperative as surely as the rope is made fast round a firm piece of rock for the climber’s security before he has to apply himself to the struggle. Moreover (if the parable may be extended one clause further), the climber must attach himself to the rope before starting his effort. So the gospel not only begins with the indicative statement of what God has done, before it goes on to the imperative: even the imperative is first a command to attach oneself (be baptized! become incorporate!), before it becomes a command to struggle.

The striving does come: strenuousness is indispensable for the Christian climber—but only in dependence on all that has first been given by God and then appropriated through the means of grace. And the attachment to Christ, which is what causes the tension and makes us “amphibian,” is also precisely what gives us our confidence and our grounds for hope, as it is also the source of forgiveness and renewed strength when we fail.

All My Delight

Brooke Fraser: None But Jesus

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

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Loving Jesus More

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for Gospel Pharisees and Scribes

     And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:5-8

      Dear Jesus, we tremble at the thought of you speaking these words to us. What could be more sobering and tragic than to hear you say, “You talk about me a whole lot, using plenty of spiritual language and Bible quotes. You’re very quick to recognize and correct false teaching. You’re even quite zealous to apply what you know to others. But your heart is very far from me.”
     It would be one thing if such a rebuke came to us because we were acting like Mosaic Pharisees and scribes—distorting and misapplying Old Testament law; putting people under the yoke of performance-based spirituality; replacing your commandments with our traditions. But it’s an altogether different thing to be a Gospel Pharisee and scribe.
     Forgive us Jesus, when we love exposing and damning legalistic, pragmatic and moralistic teaching, more than we love spending time with you in prayer and fellowship.
     Forgive us for loving the theology of the gospel and the doctrines of grace, more than we actually know and adore you.
     Forgive us when we invest great energy in defending the imputation of your righteousness but have very little concern for the impartation of your transforming grace in our lives.
     Forgive us when we are quick to tell people what obedience is not, but fail to demonstrate what the obedience of faith and love actually is.
     Forgive us when we call ourselves “recovering Pharisees” or “recovering legalists,” but in actuality, we’re not really recovering from anything.
     Forgive us when talk more about “getting the gospel” than we’re actually “gotten” by the gospel.
     Forgive us for being just as arrogant about grace theology as we were obnoxious about legalistic theology.
     Forgive us when we don’t use our freedom to serve one another in love, but rather use it to put our consciences to sleep.
     Forgive us when our love for the gospel does not translate into a love for holiness, world evangelism and caring for widows and orphans.
     Forgive us for having a PhD in the indicatives of the gospel yet failing so miserably when it comes to the imperatives of the gospel.
     Forgive us when we love “the gospel” more than we actually love you, Jesus, as impossible as that may seen.
     So very Amen, we pray, Jesus, with convicted and humbled hearts. Change us by your grace and for your glory.

Why Not Again?

Scotty Smith post: A Prayer Expressing the Longing for a Gospel Renewal

     Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation. Psalm 85:6-7

     Jesus, I’ve read tantalizing stories about the First Great Awakening—about the grand visitation of the Holy Spirit in New England in the 18th century; when the gospel swept through hearts, churches and the culture with transforming power and beauty. I read these accounts and with a holy lust, my spirit drools and my heart aches with longing. Why not again? Why not in our churches? Why not now?
     Jesus, for the fame of your name… for the praise of your glory… for the satisfaction of your people… for the humbling of our country… for a testimony to the nations… as a preview of life in the new heaven and new earth, will you not revive us again that we may rejoice in you?
     Restore in us the love we had at first—unfettered love for you and tangible love for one another. Remind us of how new we felt when the weight of our sin lifted and the weight of your glory came down on us in the gospel; how free we felt when we actually hated our sin and finally trusted you plus nothing for our salvation;  how grateful we felt when you first rescued us from our unrighteousness and our self-righteousness; how focused we felt when you first took up residence in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Nothing else really mattered but you and your kingdom. So how in the world did we stark leaking grace?
     Where did the pickiness and pettiness come from, Jesus? How did we move from organic reality to obsession with organization? When did we fall back into performance-based spirituality and score-card relationships? When did childlike intercession get replaced with eye-browed-raised suspicions? What caused the sweet to turn into mean? How did the unity of the Spirit get trumped by the disunity of distrust? When did we get so bored and boring that we started playing church rather than being the church? When did we start keeping a better record of wrongs done, than stories of gospel wins and kingdom advances? How is it possible to be so zealous for lyric of the gospel but lose its music?
     Jesus, will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation, again and again and again. That’s all we want, that’s all we need. So very Amen, we pray, in your most loving and faithful name.

Christ First

Ray Ortlund post:  Do you want to be healed?

“He that . . . wants relief must come to Christ himself.  He must not be content with coming to His Church and His ordinances or to the assemblies of His people for prayer and praise.  He must not stop short even at His holy table or rest satisfied with privately opening his heart to His ordained ministers.  Oh no! . . . He must go higher, further, much further than this.  He must have personal dealings with Christ Himself.  All else in religion is worthless without Him.  The King’s palace, the attendant servants, the richly furnished banqueting house, the very banquet itself — all are nothing, unless we speak with the King.  His hand alone can take the burden off our backs and make us feel free. . . . We must deal directly with Christ.”

J. C. Ryle, Holiness (Old Tappan, n.d.), pages 266-267.

If we go to church just to be with one another, one another is all we will get.  And it isn’t enough.  Eventually, our deepest unmet needs will turn to anger at one another.  Putting community first destroys community.  We must put Christ himself first and keep him first and treat him as first and come to him first and again and again.  He can heal as no other can.  Can, and will.  If we come to him.

Being Real

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Thurs is for Thinkers: Kevin Smith on Being "Real"

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In Psalms 34:1, David said, "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." This is one of my favorite scriptures (if favorites are allowed). Our congregation had a glorious time praising the Lord on the Sunday after my father's death. So many members were glad to see me and some were surprised. For some reason, some Christians think a time of grief is a time to stay away from the gathered congregation. Have we created that feeling? Is the congregation a safe place to grieve or will you mess up the happy mood? I told them that at my greatest time of pain I would prefer to be in the midst of God's people - singing His praises and hearing His Word (by God's rich grace we had a previously scheduled guest preacher). Even through pain and tears, the singing was strengthening, the preaching was encouraging, and the fellowship was priceless. I feel honored to have had a "real" moment as the leader of a flock of God's sheep. Hey, pastor, leader, or disciple-maker, don't hesitate to be real about life's ups-and-downs, about pain in your life, and about the joy in Christ which passeth all understanding.

Fatherly Affection

Scotty Smith: A Prayer About Ordained Days and God Thoughts

     All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:16-18

     Heavenly Father, it’s my birthday, and the number just keeps getting bigger. I’m no longer 60, I’m officially now in my 60’s. There was a day when that sounded like the “ancient of days.” Honestly, I don’t feel any different than when I was 41.
     As “vast” and “great” as the sum of my years seems to me today, vaster and greater are my thoughts of you. The number of my years is calculated merely in terms of several decades, but if I tried to “do the math” concerning your glory and grace, I’d have to count every grain of sand on every beach that has ever existed. With David I can honestly say, “How precious to me are your thoughts.”
     Father, keep on rescuing me from all wrong thinking about you. Keep showing me how little I really see and understand about the greatness of your love for us in Jesus. That won’t embarrass me, it will truly thrill me. May the gospel keep on getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
     It’s a source of incredible peace and freedom to know that you’ve ordained all of my days for me. That doesn’t feel like unfair fatalism, but rather, Fatherly affection. I’ll not live one day more or one day less than you decree, by your sovereign purposes and eternal pleasure. I’ve already outlived my mom by 49 years and my dad outlived me by 31.
     There’s a part of me that would like to turn the clock back for a possible “do-over,” especially for certain stretches of my life. But then again… not really. Your name is Redeemer and you’re the God restores years eaten away by locusts. I choose to rest in your love rather than stew in my regrets. I have great hope in your commitment to make all things new.
     All I ask is that each additional day, week, month or year you appoint for me in this world… that each will be filled with a greater grasp of the only love which will never let go of me. By your Spirit, Father, continue to reveal to me how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ—the only love that surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:18-19). Everything else will take care of itself. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ matchless and merciful name.

Glory and Weightiness

Miscellanies post:  Keller on Tolkien

In a recent interview Timothy Keller said the following about J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings:

Tolkien has helped my imagination. He was a devout Catholic—and I am not. However, because he brought his faith to bear into narrative, fiction, and literature, his Christianity—which was pretty ‘mere Christianity’ (understanding of human sin, need for grace, need for redemption)—fleshed out in fiction, has been an inspiration to me.

What I mean by inspiration is this: he gives me a way of grasping glory that would otherwise be hard for me to appreciate. Glory, weightiness, beauty, excellence, brilliance, virtue—he shows them to you in some of his characters.

When people ask: how often have you read Lord of the Rings?, the answer is: I actually never stop. I’m always in it.

As an aside, if you’d like to purchase a copy of LOTR, an edition that will withstand repeated use, Westminster Books now carries a gorgeously illustrated box set. I bought two sets last week and was really impressed with the quality. Find details here.

Being Glad in the Grace of God

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

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That is what the brothers of Jesus did not see and did not have. They had not yet been born again. The root of their joy was the praise of man, not the grace of God. That’s what John meant in verse 5 when he said that Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.


Which brings us now in closing, and very briefly, to the unbelief of the Jewish crowds. Is the root of their unbelief the same? I think it is. Both have self-exaltation at the bottom of their joy. This is what gives them satisfaction. The brothers of Jesus pursued it through his miracle-working. The Jewish crowds pursued it through law-keeping. The brothers boasted in the miracles of their brother. The crowds boasted in their keeping the law of God. In both cases, the root of joy, the root of significance, is the praiseworthy self, not the God of grace.

Look at the end of verse 23: “. . . are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?” Yes they were. Angry enough to want him dead. Why? Jesus gives the answer in verse 19: “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.”


They claim to know the law, and they accuse Jesus of being a law-breaker for healing on the Sabbath. But Jesus says, “None of you keeps the law.” Jesus’ life and words are calling their whole understanding of law-keeping into question. Their whole meaning in life. Their way of finding acceptance and affirmation and approval and praise. It was all crumbling under the weight of grace and truth (John 1:17). “If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7).

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.

Knowing the Backstory

Stephen Furtick post:  The backstory behind the blessing

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!”
Genesis 41:41-43

If you saw Joseph in his prime, you’d probably think, “Oh, that must be nice.” Or negatively, “He’s sold God out and all he cares about now is power and money.”

Really? Here’s the backstory:

Betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a pit. Then sold into slavery. Then falsely accused of rape by his master’s wife. Then thrown into prison. All this over the course of thirteen hellish years. And the Bible says that through it all God was positioning him to save a nation and his family.

Jealous now?

Critical now?

We’ve got to be very careful about being jealous over other people’s blessings without knowing the backstory. It can be so easy to look at someone who’s in a good position or a church that’s really successful and be envious of what God has given them. Or be critical of it.

But you don’t know the road that person had to take to get to where they are today. You don’t know the price they’ve had to pay to get their church to where it’s at today.

They might have had to go through hell. Just like Joseph did. And they might have been faithful through it all. Just like Joseph was.

Would you still want their blessing if you knew the backstory? Would you be willing to go through the same thing to get it? Would you be as critical if you knew the whole story?

God’s blessings were never meant to trigger envy or suspicion.

Don’t waste any more time being jealous of someone else’s blessings. God has given you exactly what you need to do exactly what He’s called you to do.

And don’t be critical of other people’s blessings either. God’s given them exactly what they need too.

Don’t envy where God has taken other people. Stop lamenting the hand He’s dealt you. It’s better than you think.

So good in fact that there’s someone else in the world that would probably be jealous of it.

(Resource of the Day: Sometimes jealousy is rooted in thinking another situation is better than it actually is in reality. Check out this post for more on this idea: Everyone Looks Better on Twitter.)

Affections for God

DG Conference for Pastors:  Francis Chan on Prayer as a Way of Walking in Love, A Personal Journey

In the third session of the Conference for Pastors (live-streamed at desiringgod.org/live), we heard from Francis Chan. He shared testimony after testimony of God's amazing love revealed through answered prayer.


Chan said, "In my life, prayer has even rivaled the Scriptures in raising my affections for God. God has showered his love on me in amazing ways through answered prayer." Here are some take-aways from Chan's message:

• In Scripture we see that one main thing that differentiates a Christian from the rest of the world is that God answers a Christian's prayers. We see this in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). God listens to us. God is a God who hears us and cares even about the little things.
• God is so faithful to answer prayer, we should seriously wonder, "Why do I do anything other than pray?"
• Try to put yourself in the shoes of an unbeliever who is seeking and comes into your church service. What is that person looking for? What does he want to see from the stage? Does he want to see a polished speech? Does he want to see a brainiac who knows more than him? Does he want to see a comedian who makes him laugh? Doesn't that person want to walk in and see that you are connected with God? They want to be able to say, "I don't understand it, but that guy knows God and I want that, too!" When they hear you teaching, is that what they see? Are they jealous for what you have? Are you connected to God in prayer?
• There is a sense that when we are abiding in Jesus, he just wants to dump fruit on us (John 15:1-5)! If you want to bear fruit, abide in Jesus. Commune with your God.
• So many pastors struggle to draw near to the person of God because they are so focused on the work of God. It takes faith to draw near to God in prayer.
• What is the one thing you keep asking of the Lord (Psalm 27:4)? If there was a transcript of your prayers over the last few weeks, what would it show is the main thing you are asking for? Would it be God himself? Is the chief desire expressed in your prayers to dwell with God and gaze at his beauty?
• Is God the stronghold of your life (Psalm 27:1)? Are you leaning on him in prayerful dependence? Or are you leaning on your a strong church staff, or a weekend off, or getting away for a conference?
• Is there anything better than knowing that God hears us, loves us and cares about us? If we feel that God's love and care for us is the greatest thing in our lives, we will pray out of that.
• We shouldn't assume that people are doing fine. We shouldn't assume that people are praying.

The notes and downloadable audio from the session are now available. The video will be up shortly.

Living Together Whole and Healed

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. 

James 5:16-18 [Message]

Trust in Your Love

Really like the song Hallelujah by Heather Williams

Jesus, please come, please come today
Heal me, hear me, be near me I pray
I have fallen so far, flat on my face
I’m in need of Your grace today
I stumble and fall, but in spite of it all
Your love always stays the same
Hallelujah

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Not More Law But More Gospel

Excerpt from Tullian Tchividjian post:  Two Ways to Realize Radical Obedience: My Indirect Response to Jason Hood

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So the issue is not whether obedience, the pursuit of holiness, and the practice of godliness is important. Of course it is. The issue is how do we keep God’s commands? What stimulates and sustains a long obedience in the same direction? Where does the power come from to do God’s will and to follow God’s lead?

Our answer to these questions is determined by our understanding of the distinctive role of God’s law and gospel in the life of a Christian. Therefore, it is crucial that we get this right, biblically and theologically.

When John (or Jesus) talks about keeping God’s commands as a way to know whether you love Jesus or not, he’s not using the law as a way to motivate. He’s simply stating a fact. Those who love God will keep on keeping his commands. As every parent and teacher knows, behavioral compliance to rules without heart change will be shallow and short-lived. But shallow and short-lived is not what God wants (that’s not what it means to “keep God’s commands.”). God wants a sustained obedience from the heart. How is that possible? Long-term, sustained obedience can only come from the grace which flows from what Jesus has already done, not guilt or fear of what we must do. To paraphrase Ray Ortlund, any obedience not grounded in or motivated by the gospel is unsustainable. Or, as I like to put it: imperatives minus indicatives equal impossibilities.

As a pastor, one of my responsibilities is to disciple people into a deeper understanding of obedience—teaching them to say “no” to the things God hates and “yes” to the things God loves. But all too often I have wrongly concluded that the only way to keep licentious people in line is to give them more rules–lay down the law.  The fact is, however, that the only way licentious people start to obey is when they get a taste of God’s radical, unconditional acceptance of sinners. As Mike Horton points out here, in Romans 6:1-4 the Apostle Paul answers antinomianism (lawlessness) not with more law but with more gospel! In other words, licentious people aren’t those who believe the gospel of God’s free grace too much, but too little. “The ultimate antidote to antinomianism”, writes Horton, “is not more imperatives, but the realization that the gospel swallows the tyranny as well as the guilt of sin.” The irony, in other words, of gospel-based sanctification is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience, but Christ’s.

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