Boldness

Excerpt from interview with Francis Chan in ReThink Monthly Magazine

Rethink Monthly: Is there anything that God is saying to you that is causing you to rethink, anything that God is personally doing in your life or in your church as a whole?

Francis Chan: There are a couple of things. One, it’s getting pretty pathetic how people call themselves Christians and how terrified we are of everything. There’s just not the courage, boldness, and the strength that I see in Scripture and there isn’t an emphasis on that. We have people who are scared to talk to their next door neighbors; there are people who are scared to disciple. It’s just nothing like it was in the beginning. There seems like there was such boldness and you couldn’t shut the believers up back then, now we can’t prod them to speak. So, the big thing is just praying for a spirit of boldness in the church again and encouraging people to believe that they can share the gospel powerfully, and that they don’t need their senior pastor to do it for them. So, that’s been a big emphasis in my own life as well as with the church.

Prayer

I like this prayer that Mark Batterson challenged his congregation to pray (Evangelism Experiment):

Lord, I pray for an opportunity to share my faith with someone in some way. It’s not up to me to decide who or when or where. But I know why. Because you love them and want a relationship with them. So Lord, surprise me with opportunities to share my faith.

Forgive me for trying to do your job for you. You are the one who convicts of sin. You are the one who draws to Christ. But help me do my part as salt and light. Help me see those opportunities to react compassionately or listen patiently or speak kindly. Through word and deed, help me plant seeds of love in the lives of others. Give me boldness when it’s time to speak. Give me restraint when it’s time to listen. Give me words to say. But more importantly, give me ears to hear.

Lord, help me be sensitive to the prompting of your Holy Spirit so I can see the divine appointments you send my way. Help me not to be afraid of questions I cannot answer. Help me not to be afraid of people’s reactions or rejections.

Lord, help me preach the gospel every day, when necessary, with words.

In Jesus name, amen!

Bond of Peace

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

PRESERVING UNITY

Ephesians 4:3
Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

I really don't mind taking a stand on biblical grounds and living with the conflict that comes from those who oppose the gospel. I think that is part of our calling. What grieves God is when our ministry and work is stopped because well-intentioned people resist the inevitable and needlessly fight change.

I tell my students that the greatest asset they will have in their early years of ministry is older, mature saints in the church. The greatest liability they will have is old saints who have stopped growing years ago. All these saints do is censor. They reflect no more love or kindness now than they did 20 years ago. They don't worship--they critique the worship service. They no longer sit under the judgment of Scripture--they sit in judgment of the pastor. They no longer bear fruit--they actually prevent it. They insist that they are right when what they need to be is holy.

Mature saints have learned to restrict their freedom for the sake of weaker believers. Their faith doesn't rest in traditions, so they gladly accept changes in style of ministry that will reach the younger generation.

Another problem arises when young Christian leaders act impulsively as change agents without giving thought to what the consequences will be to the fellowship. Any movement forward that results in the loss of fellowship is not an improvement. We must be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit. Such change agents seem to be unaware that patience is a fruit of the Spirit. The modern generation wants it now. They seem to have forgotten the fact that God does everything decently and in order. He is not the author of confusion.

Prayer:

Father, please don't allow me to sit, soak and sour, but to remain open-minded, lighthearted and nonjudgmental.

Sure Foundation

In that day he will be your sure foundation,
providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.

Isaiah 33: 6 (NLT)

Fishers of Men

Excerpts from Take Them to the Streets by Jay Hardwick

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately, they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:17-18 (ESV)

I’m captivated by this and I wrestle with it everyday. Jesus did something here that frankly, we just don’t do very well. I don’t know if it’s because we don’t trust Him, we don’t trust the Holy Spirit…I don’t know. But everyday, I wrestle with what Jesus did here with His first followers.

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Now, here comes the wrestling match for me. What did Jesus do with these uneducated, ordinary guys that left everything they knew to follow Him?

Did Jesus lead them to a classroom and take them through the 10 points of being a disciple? Did he distribute notebooks with fill in the blank outlines and say, “Pay attention and take notes, boys…?”

No. He didn’t take his new, impressionable, uneducated, ordinary followers to the classroom. He took them to the streets.

The next part of Mark 1 finds these new followers listening and watching Jesus as he taught about the Kingdom of God to the crowd gathered in the synagogue in Capernaum. They watched as He cast out a demon and followed as He left the synagogue to heal Simon’s mother in-law. That night, they saw the huge crowd gather and watched as Jesus healed many who were sick. The next morning, they woke up only to find their new leader was already awake and was off by Himself praying. They found Him and followed Him on to the next towns for more preaching, more healing, and more praying.

No classroom. No fill in the blanks. No Survivor Kits.

Jesus skipped the classroom and went to the streets. His new followers learned what it meant to follow Jesus and fish for men by going with Him, watching Him, learning from Him, and then engaging in the work themselves.

What does this say to us who lead churches and attempt to lead people to love, worship, and follow Jesus with their whole lives? What does this say to people who have surrendered their lives to Jesus and now think they have to learn something before they can do anything for Jesus?

That’s where I wrestle. I’ll share some more throughout the week. Would love to hear your thoughts, if you have any on the matter.

Tongue

Excerpt from The Tongue, the Bridle and the Blessing: An Exposition of James 3: 1-12 by Sinclair Ferguson

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I want to walk you through the whole book of James in just a few minutes. I want to do it in the form of some Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions.

Amazingly, outside of this passage, the book of James has at least 20 resolutions that need to be part of the Christian’s covenant with God about how the believer is going to employ the tongue and lips, and master the heart in such a way that the beauty of Jesus is expressed:

1. I resolve to ask God for wisdom to speak out of a single-minded devotion to him (1:5).
2. I resolve to boast only in the exultation I receive in Jesus Christ and also in the humiliation I receive for Jesus Christ (1:9-10).
3. I resolve to set a watch over my mouth (1:13).
4. I resolve to be constantly quick to hear and slow to speak (1:19).
5. I resolve to learn the gospel way of speaking to both rich and poor (2:1-4).
6. I resolve to speak in the present consciousness of my final judgment (2:12).
7. I resolve never to stand on anyone’s face with the words I employ (2:16).
8. I resolve never to claim as reality in my life what I do not truly experience (3:14).
9. I resolve to resist quarrelsome words as evidence of a bad heart that needs to be mortified (4:1).
10. I resolve never to speak decided evil against another out of a heart of antagonism (4:11).
11. I resolve never to boast in any thing but what I will accomplish (4:13).
12. I resolve to speak as one subject to the providences of God (4:15).
13. I resolve never to grumble. The judge is at the door (5:9).
14. I resolve never to allow anything but total integrity in everything I say (5:12).
15. I resolve to speak to God in prayer whenever I suffer (5:13).
16. I resolve to sing praises to God whenever I’m cheerful (5:14).
17. I resolve to ask for the prayers of others when I’m in need (5:14).
18. I resolve to confess it whenever I have failed (5:15).
19. I resolve to pray with others for one another whenever I am together with them (5:15).
20. I resolve to speak words of restoration when I see another wander (5:19).

Are you looking for guidelines in the gospel. Here your whole life is suffused with how God will give you this training for your life and for how you will speak. You need to resolve those things for how you will speak to others.

It would be wonderful if such resolutions were fixed in our hearts.

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Rejoice

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;

Psalm 97:1 a

Who You Are Really

Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

Matthew 16: 17-18 (The Message)

Prayer and Purpose

Excerpts from Small Churches Can Thrive by Ed Stetzer

The July/August issue of Outreach Magazine features my article on small churches. Yep, small churches - I love 'em! Especially when they are thriving on gospel and mission.

As a speaker at a number of conferences each year, I continue to see pastors and leaders going from one workshop to another searching for "THE" answer. They show up and hear amazing stories about implausibly happy people who willingly follow a new vision for their lives and their church.

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Passionate, Persistent Prayer
Small churches need to stop looking at megachurches and their pastors as role models. They can learn from them, but they must not copy them. In a world that devalues the small, listening to God in prayer and stepping out in obedience are much more important than the latest magic bullet that often misfires in smaller churches.

That attitudinal change can and does happen through intentional prayer for renewal. As we looked a little deeper at survey results, it was interesting to note that the comeback leaders of smaller churches highlighted the need for prayer even more than those at larger churches. When asked, "To what degree did the following [areas] change during your church's comeback?" leaders of the churches under 200 rated prayer as the area most changed.

Smaller comeback churches are often praying churches. Comeback leaders of smaller churches believed even more strongly that real, intentional, strategic prayer made a significant difference in their revitalization process. God can change attitudes in your church through passionate, persistent prayer for renewal.

An Outward Focus
Small churches are not exempt from the call to reach people because they are small. Too many churches of all sizes spend too much time moaning about what they don't have that other churches do have or about what they can't do that other churches are doing. No, you may not be able to do everything that other churches are doing. But that doesn't mean your church can't do something of purpose.

If smaller churches are going to thrive, they must focus their attention on reaching the lost in their communities. Again, delving deeper into our survey results reveals another important point. When asked the same question above, the leaders of churches under 200 rated evangelism as the second area that changed the most during the comeback.

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Enjoy .. Revel

All you who fear God, how blessed you are! how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!
You worked hard and deserve all you've got coming.
Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness!

Psalm 128: 1-2 (The Message)

Victory

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE TRUTH OF CHRIST'S VICTORY

Colossians 2:15
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him

One of the common objections to the ministry of setting captives free performed by Jesus and the apostles is the apparent lack of instruction on the subject in the Epistles. Let me offer another perspective which may help clarify the issue and suggest how we should confront demonic influence in our own lives and minister to others in bondage.

Prior to the cross, divinely empowered agents--such as Jesus and His specifically appointed apostles--were necessary to take authority over demonic powers in the world. But something radical happened at the cross and in the resurrection that changed the nature of spiritual conflicts forever. First, Jesus' death and resurrection triumphed over and disarmed the rulers and authorities of the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 2:15). Prior to the cross, "All authority . . . in heaven and on earth" had not yet been given to Christ. But Matthew 28:18 assures us that the resurrected Christ is now the seat of all authority. Because of the cross, Satan is a defeated foe and he has no authority over those who are in Christ. Affirming the truth of Christ's victory and Satan's defeat is the primary step to successfully combating the enemy's attempts to intimidate you and hassle you.

Second, in Christ's death and resurrection every believer is made alive with Him and is now seated with Him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:5, 6). You no longer need an outside agent to effect authority for you; you now reside in Jesus Christ who has all authority. In order to resist the devil, you need to understand and appropriate your position and authority in Christ. Freedom is your inheritance as a Christian. It is your responsibility to put on the armor of God and resist the devil.

Prayer:

Thank You, Jesus, for making me a partaker with You in defeating the devil. Help me fulfill my responsibility to resist him today.

Nonsense

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2: 14-17 (The Message)

Daylight Hours

... You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

Ephesians 5: 8b-10 (The Message)

Fleshly

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

The Fleshly Person

1 Corinthians 3: 2,3
I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly.

The spirit of the fleshly person is identical to that of the spiritual person. The fleshly person is a Christian, spiritually alive in Christ and declared righteous by God. But that's where the similarity ends. Instead of being directed by the Spirit, this believer chooses to follow the impulses of his flesh. As a result, his mind is occupied by carnal thoughts and his emotions are plagued by negative feelings. And though he is free to choose to walk after the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, he continues to involve himself in sinful activity by willfully walking after the flesh.

His physical body is a temple of God, but he is using it as an instrument of unrighteousness. He has the same troubling physical symptoms experienced by the natural person because he is not operating in the manner God created him to operate. He is not presenting his body to God as a living sacrifice. Since he yields to the flesh instead of crucifying it, the fleshly man is also subject to feelings of inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, guilt, worry, and doubt.

Several years ago I did some research to discover how many Christians are still the victims of their flesh. I asked the same question to 50 consecutive Christians who came to me to talk about problems in their lives: "How many of the following characteristics describe your life: inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, guilt, worry, and doubt:" Every one of the 50 answered, "All six." Here were 50 born-again, righteous children of God who were so bogged down by the flesh that they struggled with the same problems of self-doubt which inundate unbelivers who only live in the flesh.

If I asked you the same question, how would you answer? I imagine that many of you would admit that some or all of these six traits describe you. It is evident to me that a staggering number of believers are still confused about their spiritual identity in Christ and its implications for their daily lives. We are struggling with the behavior aspect of our growth because we are still struggling with the belief aspect of our growth: who we are in Christ.

Prayer:

Father, help me live above my fleshly desires today by exercising my spiritual inheritance at every temptation.

Got to Know Some Pretty Well

... And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: "What an airhead!" But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: "That's a new slant on the gods. Tell us more."

Acts 17: 17b-18 (The Message)

Findings

National Congregation's Study of American Congregations

This report highlights some of the National Congregations Study’s most important findings, including:
• Most congregations are small but most people are in large congregations.
• Worship services are becoming more informal.
• Congregational leaders are still overwhelmingly male.
• Predominantly white congregations are more ethnically diverse.
• Congregations embrace technology.
• Congregations and clergy are getting older.
• Congregations’ position in the social class structure remains unchanged.
• Congregations’ involvement in social service activities remains unchanged.
• Only a small minority of congregations describe themselves as theologically “liberal,” even within the Protestant mainline.
• Congregations are more tolerant and inclusive than we might expect them to be, even when it comes to hot-button issues.
• There has been no significant increase in congregational conflict since 1998.
• Congregations’ involvement in political activities is largely unchanged since 1998.

See web site for full pdf.

God Will Be Exalted

⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ "Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Cross references:

1. Psalm 46:8 : Psalm 66:5
   
2. Psalm 46:9 : Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3
   
3. Psalm 46:9 : Psalm 76:3; 1 Sam 2:4
   
4. Psalm 46:9 : Ezek 39:9
   
5. Psalm 46:10 : Exodus 14:13
   
6. Psalm 46:10 : Isa 2:11, 17; 33:10
   
7. Psalm 46:11 : Psalms 42:7
   

Psalm 46

Reason Returned

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand

Cross references:

1. Daniel 4:34 : Daniel 4:26
   
   
   
2. Daniel 4:34 : Daniel 4:36
   
   
   
3. Daniel 4:34 : Daniel 6:26; 12:7; Rev 4:10
   
   
   
4. Daniel 4:34 : Psalm 10:16; Daniel 2:44
   
   
   
5. Daniel 4:35 : Isa 40:17
   
   
   
6. Daniel 4:35 : Psalm 115:3; Heb 1:13, 14
   
   
   
7. Daniel 4:35 : Isa 14:27
   
   
   
8. Daniel 4:35 : Job 9:12; Isa 45:9; Rom 9:20
   
   
   

or say to him, "What have you done?"

Daniel 4: 34-35

Hope

Excerpt from lyrics from Brandon Heath: Wait and See

There is hope for me yet because God won’t forget, all the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see, he’s not finished with me yet. He’s not finished with me yet

What Matters

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

Galatians 5: 4-6 (The Message)