Goals

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

FEELINGS OF ANGER

Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander by put away from you, along with all malice

Feelings of anger should prompt us to reexamine what we believe and the mental goals we have formulated to accomplish those beliefs. My daughter Heidi helped me with this process one Sunday morning while I was trying to hustle my family out the door for church. I had been waiting in the car for several minutes before I stomped back into the house and shouted angrily, "We should have left for church 15 minutes ago!"

All was silent for a moment, then Heidi's soft voice floated around the corner from her bedroom: "What's the matter, Dad? Did somebody block your goal?" She was blocking my goal to get to church on time, but she wasn't blocking my goal to be the husband and father God wants me to be. The only one who can block that goal is me.

A wife and mother may say, "My goal in life is to have a loving, harmonious, happy family." Who can block that goal? Every person in her family can block her goal--not only can , the will ! A homemaker clinging to the belief that her self-worth is dependent on her family will crash and burn every time her husband or children fail to live up to her image of family harmony. She will probably be a very angry woman, which could drive family members even farther away from her and each other. Her major goal in life should be to become the wife and mother God called her to be.

A pastor may say, "My goal in ministry is to reach this community for Christ." Good goal? It is a wonderful desire, but if his self-worth is dependent on that desire being fulfilled, he will experience tremendous emotional turmoil. Every person in the community can block his goal. Pastors who continue to believe that their success is dependent on others will end up fighting with their boards, praying their opposition out of the church or quitting.

Make it your goal to be what God has called you to be. No one can keep you from reaching that goal but you.

Prayer:

Father, help me see Your long-range view of life so I can learn not to blow up at minor, short-term irritations.

Christ is All

Excerpt of post Bonar on the Cross by Tony Reinke at The Shepherd's Scrapbook

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And of this Christianity, what is the essential characteristic, the indispensable feature from first to last? Is it incarnation or blood-shedding? Is it the cradle or the cross? Is it the scene at Bethlehem or at Golgotha? Assuredly the latter! “Eh, Eli, lama sabachthani,” is no mere outcry of suffering nature, the cross is no mere scene of human martyrdom, and the great sepulchre is no mere Hebrew tomb. It is only through blood-shedding that conscience is purged; it is only at the cross that the sinner can meet with God; it is the cross that knits heaven and earth together; it is the cross that bears up the collapsing universe; it is the pierced hand that holds the golden sceptre; it is at Calvary that we find the open gate of Paradise regained, and the gospel is good news to the sinner, of liberty to enter in.

Let men, with the newly sharpened axes of rationalism, do their utmost to hew down that cross; it will stand in spite of them. Let them apply their ecclesiastical paint-brush, and daub it all over with the most approved of mediaeval pigments to cover its nakedness, its glory will shine through all. Let them scoff at the legal transference of the sinner’s guilt to a divine substitute, and of that Surety’s righteousness to the sinner, as a Lutheran delusion, or a Puritan fiction, that mutual transference, that wondrous exchange, will be found to be wrapped up with Christianity itself. Let those who, like Cain of old, shrink from the touch of sacrificial blood, and mock the “religion of the shambles,” purge their consciences with the idea of God’s universal Fatherhood, and try to wash their robes and make them white in something else than the blood of the Lamb; to us, as to the saints of other days, there is but one purging of the conscience, one security for pardon, one way of access, one bond of reconciliation, one healing of our wounds, the death of Him on whom the chastisement of our peace was laid, and one everlasting song, “unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”

-Horatius Bonar, Christ Is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar (Reformation Heritage Books, 2007), pp. 79-80.

Prejudices

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Friday, April 04, 2008 - Facing Our Prejudices

I've looked at racial prejudice, economic prejudice and career prejudice. But did you ever think about the prejudice we have toward gifts? We tend to think some gifts and abilities are more important than others. I happen to have a gift that is visible; it puts me up in front of people. And we get the idea that those are the really special gifts, while the gifts of hospitality and administration and mercy get short-changed.

But all gifts are equally important and should be valued and appreciated equally. I often pray "Lord, deliver me from the celebrity syndrome," which is my way of saying, "Remind me often that I'm a servant and my gift is no more special than anyone else's."

And within the Body of Christ we often detect denominational or doctrinal prejudices. Certainly we need to know God's Word and stand strong and true on basic doctrines which can never be compromised. But dear friends, there are many areas where we can have differences of opinion and belief, and still have sweet fellowship.

Do you think that your way is the only way there is to worship? Are you prejudiced toward people who do it differently–think they're less spiritual or something? A good idea is to visit other kinds of Bible-believing churches and see how wonderful it is to worship God like they do. I love the way the Afro-Americans worship, with emotion and gusto and without regard to clocks. I love their music; it touches my heart. I can worship with them without any trouble.

I also love the classical, more sedate type of worship. I've visited churches with strong ecclesiastical services, and found great beauty and depth in the rituals. The old hymns can hardly be replaced for meaning and splendor, and we should not overlook them just because we have some new ways of singing now.

I truly hope that this series on facing the prejudice within us will cause some of you to start thinking about your own prejudicial attitudes, and sensitizing you to them. I've been shocked to discover how much I think in prejudicial ways, because our society has built a lot of prejudice into us. Also, some of you have been greatly prejudiced toward others because of your parent's attitudes or because you've had a bad experience with an individual and you translate that experience to everyone else of that race or that background.

God wants us to see people as individuals, created and loved by Him, of equal importance and value. We must, by His grace, root out the prejudice within us so that we can show the world what God's love is like. This is especially important within the body of believers, and I pray you'll get serious about facing your own prejudices and asking God to forgive you and teach you to see others as He sees them. That's the secret—looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus.

Happiness

Excerpts from Wednesday, April 2, WSJ Article "Down the Tube: the Sad Stats on Happiness, Money and TV" by Jonathan Clements

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You can think of your happiness as having three components. First, there's your basic disposition -- whether you are, by nature, a happy person or not. Clearly, there isn't a whole lot you can do about this.

Second, there are your life's circumstances, such as your age, health, marital status and income. Often, this stuff isn't nearly as important as folks imagine. If your income doubled, you would initially be delighted. But research suggests you would quickly get used to all that extra money.

That brings us to the third factor, which is how you spend your time -- something you have a fair amount of control over. This is the subject of a major new study by academics Daniel Kahneman, Alan Krueger, David Schkade, Norbert Schwarz and Arthur Stone.

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But what I found most intriguing was the study's data on which activities we enjoy. The five professors grouped activities into six clusters, based on the emotions associated with each.

The standout cluster was what the authors label "engaging leisure and spiritual activities," things like visiting friends, exercising, attending church, listening to music, fishing, reading a book, sitting in a cafe or going to a party. When we spend time on our favorite of these activities, we're typically happy, engrossed and not especially stressed.

"These are things you choose to do, rather than have to do," notes one of the study's co-authors, Prof. Schkade of the University of California, San Diego.

The obvious implication: If we devote more time to these activities, maybe we would be more satisfied with our lives. Yet the evidence suggests we've missed a huge chance to do just that -- which may help explain why Americans are little or no happier than they were four decades ago.

...

In other words, both men and women had the chance to lavish more time on "engaging leisure and spiritual activities." But in fact, time spent on these activities has actually declined over the past four decades.

Instead, there's been a significant increase in the hours devoted to what the authors call "neutral downtime," which is mostly watching television. Women now spend 15% of their waking hours staring at the tube, while men devote 17%.

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Work

Excerpt from Brian Lowery interview with N. T. Wright about his latest book—Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church—and how it relates to preaching.

Preaching Today: In your book Surprised by Hope, you talk about a deeper understanding of hope "that provides a coherent and energizing basis for work in today's world." How has that deeper understanding influenced your preaching through the years?

Bishop N. T. Wright: [Studying] the Resurrection for an earlier book, Resurrection of the Son of God … ended up rubbing my nose in the New Testament theology of new creation, and the fact that the new creation has begun with Easter. I discovered that when we do new creation—when we encourage one another in the church to be active in projects of new creation, of healing, of hope for communities—we are standing on the ground that Jesus has won in his resurrection.

New creation is not just "whistling in the dark." It's not a kind of social Pelagianism, where we try to improve things by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. Because Jesus is raised from the dead, God's new world has begun. We are not only the beneficiaries of new creation; we are the agents of it. I just can't stop preaching about that, because that is where we're going with Easter.

For me, therefore, there's no disjunction between preaching about the salvation which is ours in God's new age—the new heavens and new earth—and preaching about what that means for the present. The two go very closely together. If you have an eschatology that is nonmaterial, why bother with this present world? But if God intends to renew the world, then what we do in the present matters. That's 1 Corinthians 15:58! This understanding has made my preaching more challenging to me, and hopefully to my hearers, to actually get off our backsides and do something in the local community—things that are signs of new creation.

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Renewed

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

A BLAMELESS CONSCIENCE

Acts 24:16
I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men

Folklore advises, "Let your conscience be your guide." This has serious limitations since our conscience is a function of our mind. Having been conformed to this world, the conscience can be programmed wrongly. It is always true to its own standard. Until we come to Christ, the standard is the world system in which we were raised. Many people are falsely guided by a guilty conscience--not a true guilt, but a psychological guilt usually developed in early childhood. Satan works through this stronghold to accuse the brethren day and night (Revelation 12:10).

People like this are usually perfectionists who labor under condemnation, even though the Bible says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8;1). They aren't led; they are driven. They constantly look for affirmation. They have a tendency to be man-pleasers. Paul said, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). If you are striving to please men, of whom are you a bond-servant?

Since our minds were conformed to this world, we need to renew them in such a way that what we believe is in accordance with truth. Chapter 14 of Romans deals with how we should walk in regard to nonmoral issues. Paul says, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves" (Romans 14:22).

However, we are to restrict our freedom if it causes a weaker brother to stumble. We never have the right to violate another person's conscience. Paul says, "I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men" (Acts 24:16). Be very cautious about going against your own conscience once you are committed to Christ. The Holy Spirit does work through our consciences as He seeks to renew our minds.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that my mind and conscience can be renewed daily through the power of Your Word.

Two Types of Regret

Excerpt from In the Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

"In his book If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction. A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission. A regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s a sin of omission.

I think the church has fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have a long list of don’ts. Think of it as holiness by subtraction. We think holiness is the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn’t be there. And holiness certainly involves subtraction. But I think God is more concerned about sins of omission—those things we could have and should have done. It’s holiness by multiplication. Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions."

Hope

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

HOPE FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

1 John 3:2, 3
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure

As children of the sinful first Adam, we were obstinate and ornery, helpless and hopeless, with nothing in ourselves to commend us to God. But God's love overruled our unloveliness. Through Christ God provided a way for us into His family. As God's adopted child, you have been given a new identity and a new name. You're no longer a spiritual orphan; you're a son or daughter of God. Romans 8:16, 17, tells us, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ."

If you're beginning to think you are some one special as a Christian, you're thinking right--you are special! Your specialness is not the result of anything you have done, of course. It's all God's doing. All you did was respond to God's invitation to be His child. But as a child of God, in union with God by being in Christ, you have every right to enjoy your special relationship with your new Father.

How important is it to know who you are in Christ? There are countless numbers of Christians who struggle with day-to-day behavior because they labor under a false perception of who they are. They see themselves as sinners who hope to make it into heaven by God's grace, but they can't seem to live above their sinful tendencies. Why can't they live the victorious Christian life? Because they have a misperception of who they are in Christ.

But look again at the hope-filled words of 1 John 3:2, 3. What is the believer's hope? That he will someday be changed into Christ's image? That's part of it, but that's only a future hope. What is your hope for today and tomorrow? That you're a child of God now ! You must see yourself as a child of God in order to live like a child of God. The blessed hope for the believer is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Prayer:

Thank You, Father, for the glorious hope of being Your child. I want to live in the security and blessing of that reality today.

Meaning?

Excerpt from The Exegetical Process: What Does It Mean To You? by C. Michael Patton

What does it mean to you? This, I believe, is the most destructive question that one can ask of the Scriptures. The implication is that the Scriptures can mean something to one person that it does not to another. “To me, it means that God is going to protect my children,” says one person. “Well, to me it means that God is going to help me get that new car,” says another. “Wonderful!” is the response to both. And so goes the conversation around the circle of well-meaning Bible studiers.

The problem with the “What-does-it-mean-to-you” approach is that it is purely subjective. It turns the Scripture into a wax nose that can be shaped into what ever our our current situation demands. The Bible becomes subjective magic book through which we serve as mediums to its message.

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The “what does it mean to you?” hermeneutic is called “Reader-response hermeneutics.” Hermeneutics is your method or rule book for interpretation. The reader-response hermeneutic, while common today in most Bible studies, produces a rule book that has no rules. The Scriptures can mean anything. Its no wonder we have so many interpretation. With a reader-response hermeneutic, the number of interpretations will equal the number of readers.

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Authorial intent hermeneutics, on the other hand, does not start with the reader, but with the writer and his audience. What did it mean to then? Here is a chart that helps visualize what I am going to be talking about. This is called the exegetical process. Notice, there are two vital steps that one must take before they can ask the question, How does it apply to me?

Prejudices

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, March 31, 2008 - Facing Our Prejudices

We like to think that discrimination and prejudice ended decades ago. We see ourselves and our generation as too sophisticated and advanced to have prejudicial views toward other people for any reason. But the truth is, we are a long way from being free from prejudice, and we need to face the prejudice that is within us because God hates it.

There are many types of prejudice but the one that comes to our minds most readily is racial prejudice. I am a middle-class white woman and though I may think I understand racial prejudice and never participate in it myself, because I am a white woman, I'll never be able to totally understand what it feels like to be treated prejudicially simply because my skin is not white.

But as a white Christian woman, I have a strong obligation to work hard at rooting out any prejudices toward other races, and to extend myself to understand and relate to the people of other races, particularly my sisters and brothers in Christ.

The Apostle Peter had to learn about racial prejudice. You remember in Acts 10 where Cornelius, an Italian, wanted to know the true God, and Peter was commanded in a vision to share the truth about Jesus with him and his family. Peter didn't want to do that because he believed the gospel was only for the Jews, and he felt these other races were inferior and unworthy of God's grace.

But in this vision he saw all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds, and a voice told him to kill and eat them. Peter refused because they were impure and unclean, but God said to him, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." So, Peter shared the gospel with Cornelius and later he said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." Peter began to face the prejudice that was within him, and to realize how wrong it was.

Jesus made a point of ignoring the racial prejudices of His day and teaching His disciples to do the same. For example, when He chose to talk to the Samaritan woman at the well, He shocked the disciples because Jews hated Samaritans and considered them to be second-class citizens. A Jew never talked to a Samaritan unless they had to, but Jesus chose not only to talk to this Samaritan woman, but to reveal great and marvelous truth to her and lead her to become His follower.

It's no accident that Jesus used a Samaritan to tell his parable about the Good Samaritan who helped the wounded person. To the Jews of his day, it was a message loud and clear that He harbored no prejudice toward these people and He saw them as equal and gave them respect.

Think about the prejudice that is within you toward other races. Perhaps you were taught it from your parents or your culture. Ask God to help you see it as the sin that it is, and to root it out of your heart.

Object of Faith

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF LIFE

Mark 11:22
And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God"

The sun is perhaps the most credible object of faith for the world. It appears to be immutable. It has always been there, 24 hours of every day, 365 days a year. Without the sun, people couldn't live. If the sun didn't rise tomorrow morning, what would happen to the world's faith? All of humanity would be thrown into confusion.

If we have such great faith in the sun, why don't we have even greater faith in the Son who made the sun and all the rest of the fixed order of the universe?

Our faith is in God. Genuine faith is born out of a knowledge of the will of God and exists only to fulfill that will. Faith is not a means of getting man's will done in heaven; it is the means of getting God's will done on earth.

After hearing me speak on spiritual conflicts, a young man came by to talk about his personal life. He said he'd had several experiences of not being able to speak the name of Jesus aloud. I asked him about his faith. He thought he had made a decision for Christ years earlier in an evangelistic meeting. He tried living with some American Indians to continue his spiritual journey, but that proved to be disastrous. He finally ended up living in a pastor's home where he was helped with the assurance of his salvation. The pastor encouraged him to just go live by faith.

The young man said to me, "I've been trying to live by faith for three years, and it has been one trial after another."

"Faith in what?" I asked.

He didn't know how to respond. This young man was trying to live by faith in faith. But faith itself is not a valid object. The only valid object for faith is God and the revelation we have of Him in His Word. Faith is the operating principle of life. The only difference between Christian and non-Christian faith is the object. God must be the object of our faith.

Prayer:

Lord God, I place my faith in You alone today. Help me not to allow anyone or anything to take Your place as the object of my faith.

Resolved

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Cor 2:2

Claim His Truth in Your Life

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

RECOGNIZING YOUR STRONGHOLD

2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ

Hostility is a stronghold. Plan A from God develops the character and the knowledge to love your enemy, pray for him, and turn the other cheek. If you cannot help being pugnacious or argumentative in a threatening situation, it's because you have learned to cope that way and your Plan B response has become entrenched as a stronghold.

Inferiority is a stronghold. Plan A says that you are a child of God, a saint who is inferior to no mortal. If you are constantly shrinking back from people because of feelings of inferiority, it's because the world, the flesh and the devil have carved a negative, Plan B groove in your mind over the years.

Manipulation is a stronghold. Do you feel like you must control the people and circumstances in your life? Is it nearly impossible for you to give a problem to God and not worry about it? Somewhere in your past you developed a pattern of control which now masters you. It's a stronghold.

Homosexuality is a stronghold. In God's eyes there is no such thing as a homosexual. He created us male and female. There is homosexual behavior, which can usually be traced to past negative experiences. Such experiences prompted these individuals to doubt their sexual adequacy and they began to believe a lie about their sexual identity.

Anorexia and bulimia are strongholds. A 99-pound woman stands in front of a mirror believing that she is fat. She is the victim of negative thought patterns about herself which have been burned into her mind and direct all her activities concerning her body and the proper use of food.

Somewhere in the past you may have consciously or unconsciously formed patterns of thinking and behaving which now control you. That's a stronghold. Satan works through strongholds to keep our minds from focusing on Christ. But, thank God, as we appropriate God's truth we are set free.

Prayer:

Father, reveal to me and help me deal with any strongholds in my life. I claim Your truth in my life over Satan's lies.

The Wings of God's Love

Excerpt from My Grace Awakening: Thank You Chuck Swindoll by C. Michael Patton at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries

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It is told that during a meeting on comparative religions in Britain that many scholars gathered together to discuss what, if anything, was unique to Christianity. Many different elements were discussed and debated. Was Christianity unique because of its concept of truth? No, other religions have this. Was it unique because of the doctrine of reconciliation? No, other religions have this. Was it unique in terms of inspiration of a particular book? No, again, other religions have this. It is told that C.S. Lewis entered the room during the debate and asked what the discussion was all about. “We are discussing what makes Christianity unique, if anything.” “That’s easy” Lewis responded, “its grace.”

What is grace? If it is the primary element that separates Christianity from all other world religions (and I believe that it along with the doctrine of the Trinity is), all Christians should have a deep understanding of it, along with the ability to articulate it in a accurate way. Let’s start with this working definition: “Grace is the gift of God that is not deserved, cannot be earned, and cannot be paid back.”

The word grace comes from the Greek charis which means “a beneficent disposition to someone” (BDAG). From it comes charisma, the Greek word for “gift.” When we talk about people being “charismatic,” we mean that they are gifted. Theologically, while the term does not occur many times in the Gospels, Paul develops the Christian understanding of grace from his understanding of the acts of God through Christ Jesus. It is a free gift that God offers in exchange for nothing other than a willing hand of reception. Broadly speaking God’s grace is seen in creation (He gave us life for free), in providential provision (He sustains the world for free), and in salvation (He offers to those who have turned against Him reconciliation for free). While other religions may have love, they do not have unconditional grace as the avenue for the expression of that love.

Grace can be thought of as the wings of God’s love.

It is the path that His love walks.

Other religions have this word but none of them define it the way that God demonstrates it. In other religions, in order to acquire the love of God or His favor one may have to do any number of religious deeds and acts of righteousness in order to be deserving. But from the Christian worldview “grace” and “deserving” are antithetical. As Paul says to the Romans: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (11:6). In other words, “If it [salvation] is a gift, it cannot be paid for by any means, otherwise it is not really a gift, but what is deserved.”

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Entrenched

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

WHEN STRONGHOLDS BECOME ENTRENCHED

2 Timothy 2:4
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier

Once your consideration of a temptation has triggered an emotional response leading to a Plan B choice, you will act upon that choice and own that behavior. You may resent your actions or claim that you are not responsible for what you do. But you are responsible for your actions at this stage because you failed to take a tempting thought captive when it first appeared at the threshold of your mind.

People who study human behavior tell us that if you continue to repeat an act for six weeks, you will form a habit. And if you exercise that habit long enough, a stronghold will be established. Once a stronghold of thought and response is entrenched in your mind, choosing to act contrary to that pattern is extremely difficult.

Like environmental stimulation, a stronghold of the mind can be the result of a brief encounter or a prevailing atmosphere. For example, a woman goes into a deep depression every time she hears a siren sound. It turns out that she was raped 20 years earlier while a siren was wailing in the distance. In the weeks and months after the rape, the sound of a siren triggered traumatic memories. Instead of resolving that conflict, she relived the tragedy in her mind, deepening the emotional scars and locking herself into a thought pattern she cannot seem to break. That's a stronghold.

Other strongholds are the result of a prevailing pattern of thinking and responding. Imagine, for instance, a nine-year-old boy whose father is an alcoholic. When the father comes home drunk and belligerent every night, the boy is simply scared stiff of him. He scurries out of sight and hides. As the boy continues in his defensive reaction to his hostile alcoholic father, he forms a pattern of behavior. Ten years later, when he faces any kind of hostile behavior, how do you think he will respond? He will run away. His deeply ingrained pattern of thinking and responding has formed a stronghold in his mind.

Prayer:

Father, don't allow the enemy to deceive me into weak-willed actions that dilute my testimony and effectiveness as a believer.

Get Close to Christ

“The best preaching is, ‘We preach Christ crucified.’ The best living is, ‘We are crucified with Christ.’ The best man is a crucified man. The best style is a crucified style: may we drop into it! The more we live beholding our Lord’s unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce. The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we can view heaven, and earth, and hell, all moved by his wondrous passion—the more noble will our lives become. Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. Get you close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds. Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain. Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried. Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object — let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful.”

-C.H. Spurgeon, sermon “To Lovers of Jesus” (#1834) delivered by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Nov. 2, 1884

From The Shepherd's Scrapbook

Dependency on Christ

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

AT THE THRESHOLD OF TEMPTATION

Titus 2:11, 12
The grace of God has appeared . . . instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age

Yielding to temptation is another step toward a stronghold being established in your mind. Whenever you are stimulated to conform to Plan B instead of God's Plan A for your life, you are experiencing temptation. The essence of all temptation is the invitation to live independently of God and fulfill legitimate needs in the world, the flesh or the devil instead of in Christ. That's the great contest. And Satan knows just which buttons to push to tempt you away from dependency on Christ.

The moment you are tempted to get your need met in the world instead of in Christ, you are at the threshold of a decision. If you don't immediately choose to take that thought "captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), you will begin to consider it as an option. And if you begin to mull it over in your mind, immediately your emotions will be affected and the likelihood of yielding to that temptation is increased.

The Scriptures teach us that God has provided a way of escape from every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). But the escape is right at the threshold of the temptation. If you don't control the temptation at the threshold, you run the risk of allowing the temptation to control you. Rare is the Christian who can turn around after directing his will toward Plan B.

For example, a man sees a pornographic picture and is tempted toward lust. He has the opportunity to respond by saying something like, "My relationship with sin has ended. I choose to take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I'm not going to look at it or think about it." And he separates himself from the picture immediately and escapes the lust.

But if he hesitates at the threshold, stares at the picture, and begins to fantasize about it, he will trigger an emotional landslide producing a physical response which will be difficult to stop. He must capture the tempting thought in the threshold or it will probably capture him.

Prayer:

Dear God, I want to be obedient to Your perfect plan for my life today. I don't want to give in to Plan B thinking. Strengthen my will to obey.

Early Morning

Excerpt from Early-Morning Spiritual Battles by Tony Reinke | JH=Josh Harris, JP=Jeff Purswell.

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JH: Jeff, what about you? Talk about your own practice of the spiritual disciplines.

JP: Well, mine sound very similar to what C.J. has just described, especially those opening moments. I never cease to be amazed at how cold my heart is in the morning. And I used to think, “No, if I am really saved then I wouldn’t feel this way in the morning.”

It encouraged me one time to hear Dr. Piper say, “I feel like I have to get saved every morning. I wake up and the devil is sitting on my face.” I can relate to that.

So now I am no longer surprised. I can be discouraged at times, but the coldness that I feel just reminds me how badly I need God. Because apart from him I can do nothing. And apart from getting food for my soul this morning, I will be starving.…

So I’m very pragmatic in my devotions. I don’t feel obligated to continue along a track that is not bearing fruit. Because of how cold I am in the morning I am desperate in the morning. Obviously, I think that is a gift of grace. But I just have this feeling because I am so cold I must meet with God, I must connect with him, I must be addressed by him. I must reach a point of faith for that day, knowing I have indeed encountered his presence, that the flames of affection for God in my heart have been stirred, that I have brought myself under his sway, and under the control of the Holy Spirit.

That doesn’t mean that I am dependent upon an emotional feeling. I suppose it’s very similar to what George Mueller talked about, getting his soul happy before God. That is what I am after in my devotions. I am not there to learn more data about God (although hopefully I am constantly learning as I read and meditate upon Scripture). I am not there studying (I will study at other times). But I am desperate in those moments not merely to complete a regimen, I am there to, as James put it, to “draw near to God.” I am banking on his promise, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (4:8 ESV).

And so I do follow a plan, but if I am in a book, say, a book of Scripture or a chapter, or maybe if I am supplementing that with another book, and it is not accomplishing this, then I don’t feel an obligation to trudge through and finish this book.

I am seeking to encounter God, to draw near to him and to experience a sense of his presence—again, not an emotional encounter—but a sense of his presence. To have my heart set upon him. To have my faith in his promises stirred, and now facing this day standing on his promises, standing on the truth of his Word.

St. Patrick

It's a little past St. Patrick's Day, but these are interesting quotes from the book "The Celtic Way of Evangelism" by George Hunter (from Vintage Faith blog):

Patrick got to understand those he was trying to reach:

"..Patrick understood the people and their language, their issues, and their ways...When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too." (pages 19-20)

"After years of reflection on how the Irish might be reached, he moved into mission....employing parable, story, poetry, song, visual symbols, visual arts and perhaps drama to engage the Celtic people's remarkable imaginations. Often, we think, Patrick would receive the people's questions and then speak to those questions collectively." (page 21)

"They did not rely upon preaching alone to communicate the fullness of Christianity." (page 74)

The results:

"They baptized many thousands, probably tens of thousands. Patrick's mission planted about 700 churches. Within his lifetime, 30 to 40 (or more) of Ireland's 150 tribes became substantially Christian." (page 23)

Thoughts

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

STRONGHOLDS OF THE MIND

2 Corinthians 10:5
We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ

The nature of the battle for your mind is clearly presented in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

The first thing you need to know about the battle for your mind is that it is not fought on the plane of human ingenuity or ability. You can't outsmart or outmuscle the flesh or the devil on your own. Your weapons must be "divinely powerful" if you are going to win a spiritual conflict.

The main targets which must be destroyed are the "fortresses" in the mind. The King James Version uses the word strongholds . Strongholds are negative patterns of thought which are burned into our minds either through repetition over time or through one-time traumatic experiences.

Thoughts determine behavior, and thought patterns determine temperaments. Strongholds are revealed in un-Christlike temperaments and behavior patterns. A mind-set impregnated with hopelessness causes us to accept as unchangeable something known to be contrary to God.

How are these destructive strongholds established in our minds? Usually they are the result of a number of subtle steps which lead us away from God's plan for us and mire us in Plan B behavior. We will look at these steps and how we should respond to them over the next several days.

Prayer:

Lord, I determine to prepare my mind for action today and avoid passivity in my thinking, because Satan loves passivity.

Sunday

One of the songs I think about on Good Friday is Carman's "Sunday's on the Way"

On Friday night, they crucified Christ on that tree,
But he said, "Don't worry, three days' later
I'll live again, you'll see!"
When problems try to bury you, make it hard to pray,
It may seem like Friday night, but Sunday's on the way!

To God's Glory

And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.

13-15We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16-18So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4 (The Message)

His Name is Jesus

On this Good Friday be encouraged by these words to "King of Glory" by Third Day

Who is this King of Glory that pursues me with his love
And haunts me with each hearing of His softly spoken words
My conscience, a reminder of forgiveness that I need
Who is this King of Glory who offers it to me

Who is this King of angels, O blessed Prince of Peace
Revealing things of Heaven and all its mysteries
My spirit's ever longing for His grace in which to stand
Who's this King of glory, Son of God and son of man

His name is Jesus, precious Jesus
The Lord Almighty, the King of my heart
The King of glory

Community Art Walk

Something new this year in downtown Augusta on Good Friday:

The Well and The Quest are working together to create "The Way of the Cross", an art event on Good Friday (March 21st.) The stations will be set up on the 900 block and will feature local artists' interpretations (sculpture, painting, etc.) of the events from the stations of the cross.

I'll Be Found in You

Video of Brooke Fraser's Shadowfeet

Some of the lyrics:

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

You make all things new

Full of Christ

Spurgeon quote from Between Two Worlds

"I believe that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end crammed full of the gospel. As for myself, brethren, I cannot preach anything else but Christ and His cross, for I know nothing else, and long ago, like the apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. People have often asked me, "What is the secret of your success?" I always answer that I have no other secret but this, that I have preached the gospel,—not about the gospel, but the gospel,—the full, free, glorious gospel of the living Christ who is the incarnation of the good news. Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, always and everywhere; and every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon. "

-CH Spurgeon, The Soul Winner.

Women at the Cross

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - The Women at the Cross

Resurrection Sunday is an appropriate time to consider who these women were and why they were there.

We are told that Mary, His mother, was at the cross. No doubt as she stood there, she must have remembered the prophecy told to her by Simeon when they took Jesus to the temple to consecrate Him. Simeon said to Mary, This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel...And a sword will pierce your own soul, too (Luke 2:34-35).

That sword was piercing her soul as she stood at that cross for hours and watched her son die in agony. She heard His cries from the cross; she heard the mocking voices of the soldiers who said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” She watched as Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

No doubt Mary was a widow at this point, without Joseph to care for her any longer, and now she watches her eldest son die on a cross. Mary knew with absolute certainty that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit–a virgin birth–and she knew that He was Messiah. Yet, she had to watch Him crucified, wondering how a crucifixion could be part of God’s plan.

What kind of God dies on a cross? Jesus had declared himself to be equal with God His Father, and now here was God on a cross. What kind of God dies on a cross?

My friends, Jesus is the only qualified Savior because He did die on that cross to pay the penalty for our sins, which we could never pay. God demands a perfect sacrifice, and only Jesus meets that qualification. So, as our substitute He died on that cross, while his dear mother watched in bewilderment and great personal sorrow.

But here’s the good news: He rose from the dead three days later, and because He conquered death, He can promise those who believe on Him that they, too, can be assured of eternal life with Him.

As you celebrate Easter, think of those women at the cross, especially Mary, the mother of Jesus, and praise God that you are celebrating an empty tomb.

Vessels of His Glory

Excerpts from They Love the Church But Not the Institution (Part 2) by Skye Jethani at Out of Ur

In the first part of this post, I discussed my suspicion that we have confused the church (the community of God’s people) with the church institution (the 501c3 tax-exempt organization). This leads to a myopic understanding of Christian mission and service. We can slip into the idea that the only legitimate use of one’s gifts, time, and energy is within the institutional structures of the church organization. In part two I want to explore why we may have fallen into this mindset, and how we can begin to think differently.

...

... In our consumer culture we’ve come to believe that institutions are the vessels of God’s Spirit and power. (The reason for this is a subject I explore in more depth in my book due out next year.) The assumption is that with the right curriculum, the right principles, and the right programs, values, and goals, the Spirit will act to produce the ministry outcomes we envision. This plug-and-play approach to ministry makes God a predictable, mechanical device and it assumes his Spirit resides within organizations and systems rather than people.

...

But what we often fail to see is that the Spirit was not unleashed in the leader’s life because he or she had the right values or employed the right strategy. The “fire of God,” as Dallas Willard calls it, was in their soul because of their intense love of Jesus Christ. Rather than focusing on reproducing a leader’s methodology by constructing an institution, we ought to focus on reproducing his or her devotion to God—but that is a far more challenging task. As Willard writes, “One cannot write a recipe for this, for it is a highly personal matter, permitting of much individual variation and freedom. It also is dependent upon grace—that is, upon God acting in our lives to accomplish what we cannot accomplish on our own.”

This is what highly institutional consumer Christianity fails to grasp. It reduces ministry to a predictable machine where the right input results in the desired output, and then invites religious consumers to engage the test-engineered institution for their spiritual nourishment. It is also the assumption behind a good number of the ministry books, conferences, and resources we produce every year. But I don’t believe the Spirit of God is laying dormant waiting for the institutional church to compose the right BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) so he can be unleashed the way a pagan god is conjured by an incantation. God is a person, not a force. And his Spirit does not empower programs or inhabit institutions but people who were created in God’s image to be the vessels of his glory.

...

Past Tense

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

DEATH OF THE OLD SELF

Colossians 3:3
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God

A pastor visited me a few years ago, and he was in real turmoil. "I've been struggling to live a victorious Christian life for 20 years. I know what my problem is. Colossians 3:3 says: "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.' I've been struggling all these years because I haven't died like this verse says. How do I die, Neil?"

"Dying is not your problem," I said. "Read the verse again, just a little slower."

"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.' I know, Neil. That's my problem. I haven't died."

"Read it once again," I pressed, "just a little bit slower."

"For you have died--" and suddenly a light switched on in his understanding. "Hey, that's past tense, isn't it?"

"Absolutely. Your problem isn't dying; you're already dead. You died at salvation. No wonder you've been struggling as a Christian. You've been trying to do something that's already been done, and that's impossible. The death Paul talks about in Colossians 3:3 isn't something God expects you to do; it's something He expects you to know, accept and believe. You can't do anything to become what you already are."

Thanks to the incredible redemptive work of Christ in your life, your old self has been replaced by a new self, governed by a new nature, which was not there before (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your old self was destroyed in the death of Christ and your new self sprang to life in the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The new life which characterizes your new self is nothing less than the life of Jesus Christ implanted in you (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4).

Prayer:

Lord, I'm so grateful that I don't have to work for new life. You have already paid the price, done the job, and handed me the prize.

Explosive Christian Fellowship

Excerpts from Explosive Fellowship by John Piper

...

I use the word "explosive" to define the fellowship I want to talk about, because life is too short and this age is too evil and the people outside are too broken and hopeless for us to settle for a notion of fellowship as a kind of comfortable togetherness that has no transforming, empowering, explosive effect when we meet.

Believe me, I love fellowship. I love to be with people of like mind and heart. I love my main support group, the pastoral staff of this church, and our hours together each week. But my life is so short, and my meeting with the Lord face to face is so imminent and so real, and my desires to make a 100% return on God's investment of grace in my life are so strong, that I am just not interested in any kind of fellowship that does not help people explode with more love, more compassion, more joy, more holiness, and more zeal for God, and more boldness in witness, more power in ministry, more vision for missions. And I do not believe that this disenchantment of mine with self-contained, unfruitful, ineffective fellowship is a personal quirk. I think it's an echo in my heart—and yours—of the explosive fellowship we hear about in the book of Acts.

O, I want us all to be in small groups! I want every person in this church to know the sweet taste of camaraderie and belonging and family at-homeness and unity of spirit and oneness of mind that is the heart in New Testament, Christian fellowship—and so precious and indispensable in my life. But I want everything we do in our groups—whether we are studying Scripture, reading a book, focusing on singles issues, marriage issues, supporting a missionary, targeting the inner-city, praying for children—whatever the focus is, I pray that everything that happens in the small groups will be explosive—will produce explosives or ignite the fuse of explosives or toss explosives. I hope that the mindset of every small group is to serve an explosion of love and compassion and truth and joy and worship and power and ministry.

...

Now let's go back to Acts 12 for just a moment. I want to point out one main thing. James, one of the sons of thunder, had just been beheaded and Peter is in prison waiting his turn as soon as the feast is over. ...

Verse 5 says what the church is doing: "So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." Notice: it seems to be the whole church that is praying for Peter. We know from Acts 4:4 that by this time there were well over 5,000 men (not to mention women and children) who were part of the church in Jerusalem. So how was this prayer happening?

They may have called an all-church prayer meeting in the city. We don't know. But what we know for sure is that the house-group network in Jerusalem was on fire for Peter. Verses 6–11 describe the amazing answer to prayer as Peter is saved from prison by an angel. Then look at verse 12: "When Peter realized this [that he had been delivered], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying."

Now, it says "many." But many is not 5,000, because they are all in one house. Maybe 40, 50, 60 according to what archeology shows us about the size of nice houses in Jerusalem in the first century. So when verse 5 told us that "the church" was praying, did that mean just these 50 or 60 people were praying? No. It meant that the church in Jerusalem was praying—all five or ten thousand of them probably; the loss of James AND Peter would have been devastating—all the church was praying, but it was praying in its house groups all over the city. And the power of those groups praying all over Jerusalem exploded the doors off the hinges of Herod's prison.

Can you feel why I read the book of Acts and become disenchanted with "fellowship-as-usual"? We are beyond all controversy here over whether signs and wonders are done only by apostles. We are talking here about ordinary Christians who meet together with such expectancy and fervency of prayer, and vision—or desperation—that the Spirit is poured out, and people are added to the church daily, and witness is bold, and missionaries are called and sent, and prison doors are opened. This is not apostolic vindication. This is just Christian fellowship—explosive Christian fellowship—the way it was happening in a context where leaders were being executed. My prayer is that we will not be so at home in the world—so content with business as usual—that God must bring persecution upon us in order to create in Bethlehem explosive fellowship.

Obedience of Faith

Excerpt from The Treasure of Faith in the Life of the Church by John Piper

...

Surely we should learn from this that the great aim of our ministry should be the same as Paul's – to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of Christ's name and God's glory. I said a moment ago that faith glorifies God in at least two ways. One we saw here: namely, that God is the Giver and the Giver gets the glory. The other is that faith by its nature depends on God and calls attention to his trustworthiness. You can see this worked out in chapter 4, especially verses 20-21: "With respect to the promise of God, [Abraham] did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform." When you trust God's promise in the face of great adversity, you glorify God's dependability and truthfulness.

...

The lesson for us in this is manifest: If we are committed to the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples, let us be committed to bringing about the obedience of faith in each other and among the peoples of our neighborhood and the nations.

Resurrection

Excerpt from Let These Results of the Resurrection of Jesus Revive Your Passion for His Supremacy Over All Things by John Piper

As Easter approaches, let’s stir up our thankfulness and joy and admiration and amazement at what the resurrection of Jesus means for us. The curse of our fallen nature is that what once thrilled us becomes ordinary. The reality hasn’t changed. We have changed.

This is why the Bible exists. Peter says of his two letters that they are written to “stir up” or “arouse” by means of “reminder.”

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. (2 Peter 3:1)

So let’s stir up our sincere minds by way of reminder.

What has God done in raising Jesus from the dead? Here are a few biblical answers.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, death will never have any dominion over him again.

Romans 6:9: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”

Acts 13:34: “He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption.”

Because of the resurrection, Jesus intercedes for us in heaven before God.

Romans 8:34: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning and guarantee of our resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

2 Corinthians 4:14: “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”

We were raised with Jesus so that our true life is hidden now in him.

Ephesians 2:6: “[God] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 3:1-4: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. . . . Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

...

Seeker Sensitive Guy

A video to lighten your day:

Enjoyment of God

Excerpt from John Piper, Joy and the Supremacy of Christ in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World

"There is no doubt that the postmodern world -- like every world -- must hear the gospel proclaimed and must see the glory of God flowing in many streams of radical, sacrificial deeds of love. My point here is that the enjoyment of God is the headwaters of all those streams, and that's why they make the glory of God visible."

Faith

There was a recent two day discussion (Keeping the Faith) on Focus on the Family with Chuck Colson discussing his book The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It and Why It Matters.

Emergent Audio

Mars Hill Everything Audio: Mark Driscoll's teaching on emerging churches from the 2007 Convergent Conference.

Beliefs

Excerpt from How Many Beliefs Can One Abandon and Still Be Called Christian? by Michael Patton at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries

This is a question that I received from one of our readers here on Parchment and Pen. It is a good question that cannot be answered easily.

You mentioned in this blog the conversation you had with a Pastor regarding the blessing of same sex marriages. This is an issue that the denomination (Episcopal) that I attend is struggling with. We had a Parish discussion about this last year with about 25-30 out of 200 active members voicing their opinion. Myself and a few others were in the minority against blessing these relationships. I came to this conclusion after researching all the known biblical passages regarding this issue, which I plainly read as viewing homosexual activity as sin. Therefore this is not behavior we should be celebrating. I also read several scholarly papers for and against and was not persuaded by the arguments for.

I guess my question for you or anyone else who wants to comment is at what point has one crossed the line in terms of throwing out orthodox teaching. I’ve followed your discussion on the emerging Church with the charts in terms of essential beliefs for salvation, essential beliefs for orthodoxy. How many orthodox beliefs/doctrines can you abandon and still call yourself a Christian?

The reader was not asking for an actual number. It cannot be answered with a number. One cannot say everyone gets to abandon five traditional Christian beliefs, but once they throw overboard that sixth one, they also throw overboard their right to be called “Christian.” It has more to do with the types of beliefs they are abandoning.

There are a lot of beliefs being abandoned today as people question “established” traditional Christianity.

Here are some big ones:

• Can one abandon the idea of God’s eternality as openness theologians do, believing that God is in a give and take relationship with mankind and does not know the future with certainty?
• Can one say that the resurrection has already happened like the preterists do?
• Can one abandon the traditional Christian belief about the sinfulness of homosexuality and ordain homosexual ministers as many mainline churches are doing as well as bless same-sex relationships?
• Can one abandon the historic belief that abortion is wrong as many Christians are doing?
• Can one abandon belief in the exclusivity of the Gospel?

My first thoughts are that one cannot abandon these doctrines and beliefs and remain within the confines of orthodox Christianity with regard to these particular issues.

Christianity is first and foremost about who you say Christ is and what you have done with him. To be Christian means that Christ is your savior and God and you have called upon him to have mercy on you based upon what he did on the cross.

...

Plan B

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE SOURCE OF PLAN B

James 1:7, 8
Let not [the doubting] man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

When you continue to vacillate between God's Plan A and your Plan B, your spiritual growth will be stunted, your maturity in Christ will be blocked, and your daily experience as a Christian will be marked by disillusionment, discouragement and defeat. Where do Plan B thoughts come from? There are two primary sources.

First, your flesh still generates humanistic thoughts and ideas. Your flesh is that part of you which was trained to live independently of God before you became a Christian. At that time there was no Plan A in your life; you were separated from God, ignorant of His ways, and determined to succeed and survive by your own abilities.

When you were born again, God gave you a new nature and you became a new person, but nobody pressed the CLEAR button in your brain. You brought with you into your new faith all the old Plan B habits and thought patterns of the flesh. So while your new self desires to live dependently on God and follow Plan A, your flesh persists in suggesting Plan B ways to live independently of God.

Second, there is a person active in the world today who has opposed Plan A in God's human creation since the Garden of Eden. Satan and his demons are relentless in their attempts to establish negative, worldly patterns of thought in your mind which will in turn produce negative, worldly patterns of behavior.

The essence of the battle for the mind is the conflict between Plan A, living God's way by faith, and Plan B, living man's way by following the impulses of the world, the flesh and the devil. You may feel like you are the helpless victim in this battle, being slapped back and forth like a puck in a match between rival hockey teams. But you are anything but helpless. In fact, you are the one who determines the winner in every skirmish between Plan A and Plan B.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that I can live above the world, the flesh and the devil as long as I choose Your plan for my life.

Everyday Work

Our everyday work by J.I. Packer

Church or Institution

Excerpt from They Love the Church but Not the Institution by Skye Jethani posted at Out of Ur

Dan Kimball, a regular contributor to Leadership and Out of Ur, has written a book titled, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from emerging generations. The book chronicles the attitudes of younger seekers—they feel a strong affection for Jesus but they harbor distrust, even disgust, for the church.

I can relate to that perspective. In college I studied in the comparative religion department of a secular university and was closely involved with a parachurch ministry. During those years my fascination with Christ and my devotion to him was budding. But I carried a lingering resentment toward the church. For a number of legitimate (in my mind) and illegitimate reasons, I had pushed the church to periphery of my life. I saw it as a superfluous appendage to faith; like a sixth finger or third nipple—pretty harmless but best removed or kept hidden to avoid embarrassment.

That sentiment changed in me, however, through prayerfully reading the New Testament. I came to see that is was impossible to love Jesus but not his church. As the “Body of Christ,” the community of believers is at the center of God’s mission and work in the world. As Saint Augustine says, “You cannot have God as your Father and not have the Church as your mother.”

...

Sometimes I wonder if we have so confused these two entities—the church and the institution—that our mission becomes the growth and advancement of the later rather than the former. When attendance at a church program is large we say, “the church is growing,” and when attendance is poor we say, “the church is failing.” But is that really accurate? Is the church growing or failing, or merely the institution? Can we even tell the difference anymore?

I am not anti-institution. I am not one of those fluid-organic-anti-linear-pomo-loosy goosey-anti-establishment church people. I believe structure is necessary. Structure is good and even God-ordained. We see organization and structure from the very foundation of the church in Acts. But these structures always existed to serve God’s people in the fulfillment of their mission. Today, it seems like God’s people exist to serve the institution in the fulfillment of its mission (which is usually to become a bigger institution). Most of the curricula available to pastors on spiritual gifts and service focus on getting people to serve within their institution. Rarely does a church recruit, equip, and release saints to serve the mission outside its own immediate structure. (Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon, is a refreshing exception.)

...

Sail

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

PUT UP THE SAIL!

John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit

What does it take to be the selfless, loving Christian we desire to be? What is needed to move us beyond our inconsequential selfish, fleshly pursuits to deeds of loving service to God and others?

First, it requires a firm grasp on your identity in Christ. You can't love like Jesus loved until you accept the reality that, since you are in Christ, His divine nature is united with your spirit.

Second, you must begin to crucify daily the old sin-trained flesh and walk in accordance with who you are: a child of God whose spirit is filled with God's Spirit.

The fact that the Holy Spirit resides in us and that we can live according to His leading is an awesome but elusive concept to many. The problem is not new. Nicodemus was a learned man, but he couldn't comprehend life in the Spirit. So Jesus told him, "the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Trying to reduce life in the Spirit to a formula is like trying to capture the wind.

Someone reflecting on the mysteries of walking by the Spirit said, "I think we need to pull in the oars and put up the sail!" I like that. When we walk by the Spirit, we stop striving. We are no longer driven; we are led. "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). When we come to the end of our resources, we discover His.

Prayer:

Father, help me to quickly set aside human resources today so I may walk in the strength and adequacy of Your Spirit.

Depression

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, March 10, 2008 - Dealing With Depression

Depression is not the most joyful topic we could consider, but the truth is, many people suffer terribly with depression–yes, even Christians. And therefore, it’s a subject we need to consider from a biblical perspective.

Some would say that a Christian should be emotionally strong and healthy and if you’re not, something’s wrong spiritually. This has caused many Christians to hide their depression and refuse to get help. But that teaching is not supported by Scripture. There are many examples of strong people of faith in Scripture who battled emotional issues. Read Psalm 38 and you will hear David describe great emotional pain:

· My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

· I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

· I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.

· I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

Elijah, the great prophet, did mighty deeds for the Lord. Yet listen to his words:

Elijah came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Those are words of discouraged and depressed men–even wanting to die.

We need to make it safe for Christians to acknowledge their struggle with depression so they can find healing and help. Those who suffer with depression don’t need clichés or trite answers. We have to show how God’s grace can bring healing and help in their everyday lives.

So I want to give a few suggestions on how to deal with depression for yourself, or how to help someone you love who is battling depression.

Prayer Verse

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
Romans 15:17

Joy

From Joy and the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by John Piper in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, John Piper and Justin Taylor, General Editors.

"That's the condensed version of this chapter: (1) Jesus' greatest joy is in the glory of his Father, and (2) he shares this joy with us by means of understandable propositions (or Biblical doctrine) about himself and his Father and his work, which the Holy Spirit illumines and ignites as the kindling of our passion for Christ."

Impatience

Excerpt from Battling the Unbelief of Impatience by John Piper

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Impatience is a form of unbelief. It's what we begin to feel when we start to doubt the wisdom of God's timing or the goodness of his guidance. It springs up in our hearts when the road to success gets muddy or strewn with boulders or blocked by some fallen tree. The battle with impatience can be a little skirmish over a long wait in a checkout lane. Or it can be a major combat over a handicap or disease or circumstance that knocks out half your dreams.

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Before we look at Isaiah 30, I want you to see this relationship between the promises of God and the patience of the believer in Psalm 130:5. How does the psalmist battle against impatience in his heart?

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in his word I hope.

"Waiting for the Lord" is an Old Testament way of describing the opposite of impatience. Waiting for the Lord is the opposite of running ahead of the Lord and it's the opposite of bailing out on the Lord. It's staying at your appointed place while he says stay, or it's going at his appointed pace while he says go. It's not impetuous and it's not despairing.

Now how does the psalmist sustain his patience as he waits for the Lord to show him the next move? Verse 5 says, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and IN HIS WORD I HOPE." The strength that sustains you in patience is hope, and the source of hope is the Word of God. "In his word I hope!" And hope is just faith in the future tense. Hebrews says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for."

So what we have in Psalm 130:5 is a clear illustration that the way to battle impatience is to buttress your hope (or faith) in God, and the way to buttress your hope in God is to listen to his Word, especially his promises.

If you are tempted not to wait peacefully for God, to let him give you your next move—if you are tempted to give up on him or go ahead without him—please realize that this is a moment for great spiritual warfare. Take the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and wield some wonderful promise against the enemy of impatience.

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Community Groups

Excerpt of post by Dan Kimball in reviewing the book Pagan Christianity

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If you know me and if you are part of Vintage Faith Church - you would hear pretty constantly that we don't believe the larger Sunday worship gatherings represents what the early church meetings were like. For the first 300 years of the church, the early church did primarily meet in homes in smaller settings and not in buildings with several hundred people and worship bands etc. But even though the larger worship gatherings are not formatted like the early church meetings, we still have larger meetings (3 currently) and strongly believe that larger worship gatherings have purpose and are used by the Spirit in peoples lives and in someone's spiritual formation and in the rhythm and flow of someone's week in part of a church community.

However, you would also hear us constantly promote mid-week Community Groups as where true community can develop and relationships deepen in ways that they can't in larger meetings. We try to communicate that we see these more than "small groups" which usually just last a short time - but we try to structure Community Groups to function in ways that empower leaders to shepherd, study Scripture, make decisions for their groups etc. So I believe that the house church or Community Group (or some sort of regular smaller meeting) format is very, very important. I can't imagine being a church without them and other mid-week meetings such as what we have for Soul Kitchen (for women of our church) etc. We also have taught in our church about the title "pastor" and how it was not originally a title as we use it today, but it was a spritual gift (shepherding) and that many people have pastoral/shepehrding gifts to be used in the church. We communicate that much "pastoring" happens in Community Groups and that the leaders of Community Groups and other smaller groups truly do biblically "pastor" people.

So looking into all the origins of what we do in churches and titles that Frank and George raise in Pagan Christianity, I love, love, love reading that. None of it surprises me or makes me upset that these origins are being written about. I wish every Christian would know the origins of why we do what what we do in our churches. For the past several years, both in our church and when I speak at conferences I also have been stressing that most of what we do in most church's formal meetings on Sundays is not based from the Bible. How preachers preach, pulpits, suits, robes, the design of the buildings we meet in, pews, the title of "pastor", the order of a worship gathering, bands etc. all were not practiced in the early church. I wish all Christians would know the origins of these things. If we all did, then we wouldn't feel so restricted to "this is what church is supposed to look like" and fight about things, when we realize most of what we do (and normally fight about) is no where to be found in the Scriptures. I will comment more on this in the next post.

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Spectrum

A few excerpts of Michael Patton's From Fundamentalism to Liberal: Spectrum of Thought in the Western Church (Updated)

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You can click on each chart to get a larger version.

The Evangelicalism of the 1940s was a progressive movement. It was progressive in two ways 1) It was a movement of cultural engagement. 2) It was a movement that recognized the need for and valued theological diversity (at least to some degree). The Emerging church is progressive in the same way.

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Movement toward the left represents a diminishing capacity to relate the Gospel in a world in need. To the right represents a loss of any definite message.

The only note I will add here is to draw attention to the two extremes. Liberalism integrated with the culture which results in compromised living. Fundamentalists separated from the culture with results in compromised mission.

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The middle represents a place where doctrine is important, but not all doctrine is equal.

I think we are beginning to recognize the need to balance our works and words. What good is the Gospel message without a proclamation of truth? What good is the proclamation of truth without a life of mercy and concern?

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OK, here is where I get in trouble. Not only do I still have names, but I have added more! Notice the change in the “historic orthodoxy” delineation. The fading line shows how one can begin to step outside of historic Christianity on certain issues, yet still remain orthodox in others. I believe that many in the Emergent church, for example, are stepping outside the bounds of orthodoxy with regards to the doctrine of Hell, but they would still remain orthodox with regards to the resurrection and Lordship of Christ. Therefore, being outside of orthodoxy is not a black and white issue. Even Dwight Pentecost of Dallas Theological Seminary used to say that everyone is allow at least on pet heresy!

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To Arrange Under

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE TRUE CHAIN OF COMMAND

Luke 10:17
Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name

It was an eye-opening experience for the disciples to discover that the demons were subject to them in Jesus' name. Subject ( hupotasso ) is a military term meaning "to arrange under." It pictures a group of soldiers snapping to attention and following precisely the orders of their commanding officer.

Perhaps the disciples suffered under the same misconception which blinds many Christians today. We see God and His kingdom on one side and Satan and his kingdom on the other side. Both kingdoms seem to be very powerful, and here we are, stuck in the middle between the two, like the rope in a tug of war. On some days God seems to be winning and on other days the devil appears to have the upper hand. And we don't seem to have anything to say about who wins the battle.

But the disciples came back from their mission with a new perspective, a true perspective. Spiritual authority is not a tug of war on a horizontal plane; it is a vertical chain of command. Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18); He's at the top. He has given His authority and power to His servants to be exercised in His name (Luke 10:17); we're underneath Him. And Satan and his demons? They're at the bottom, subject to the authority Christ has invested in us.

Why, then, does the kingdom of darkness exert such negative influence in the world and in the lives of Christians? In a word, the lie. Satan is not an equal power with God; he is a vanquished foe. But if he can deceive you into believing that he has more power and authority than you do, you will live as if he does! You have been given authority over the kingdom of darkness, but if you don't believe it and exercise it, it's as if you didn't have it.

Authority is the right to rule based on position. You have the authority to do the will of God because of your position in Christ. It's an authority you could never have independent of God, so you need to remain dependent on Him to live victoriously.

Prayer:

I praise You, Lord, for the inexhaustible supply of power to defeat the enemy which You have provided for me in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Difficult Manager

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, March 03, 2008 - When Your Boss is Wrong

Because managers and employers are people, like you and me, sometimes they are wrong. They may be wrong in their attitudes, wrong in their management techniques, wrong in their tactics, wrong occasionally, wrong all the time–but it happens! What do you do when your boss is wrong?

For example, how should a Christian respond in a situation when a boss belittles you? Unfortunately this is a fairly common occurrence in our business worlds, where a boss gives negative feedback in front of other people, or makes fun of you in some way. Perhaps that boss just always manages to find something wrong in everything you do, and he or she tells you about it in a meeting, or loudly standing at your desk. It's humiliating and belittling.

Our first human reaction in cases like this is usually either to resist and strike back, or to be intimidated and retreat or run away. Neither reaction is proper. When any person tends to belittle other people frequently, we should understand that it is a symptom of insecurity. Underneath the intimidating facade is a person who can only feel good about himself or herself by making someone else look small.

A Christian has to learn to move from the self-focused reaction which is typical in these situations–"Oh, poor me, this is not fair to me"–to a God-focused reaction, understanding how God sees this person. And that comes only through prayer. Start praying for that boss.

Now, I don't mean that you pray for lightning to strike your boss, but you pray that God will give you his perspective of this person. Pray that God will help you see beneath the facade and get a glimpse of why he or she is like that. Pray that in spite of the unfair treatment, you will be able to respond in Christ-like ways, and ask God for His wisdom.

Every person in your life is there through God's permissive will, and that means that God can turn the tough situation into an avenue of growth and learning for you, even if the other person never changes.

So, my first advice is to pray for that boss every day before you leave for work. And pray for wisdom. James tells us that God will give wisdom to us liberally, and in a situation like this, you need a lot of godly wisdom. So, pray for wisdom–and expect God to give you the wisdom you need.

You will be amazed to see what happens to you when you start to pray for that difficult manager.