Raw Material

dreaming of manure

2011-10-11T05:47:00.001-07:00

Constantly we find ourselves slipping into bitterness and apathy and gloom as we reflect on them ( past disappointments and present heartbreaks) which we frequently do. The attitude we show to the world is a sort of dried up stoicism, miles removed from the “unspeakable joy” which Peter wrote about ( I Peter 1:8). “Poor souls, “ our friends say of us, “how they’ve suffered.” And that is just what we feel about ourselves !

But these private mock heroics have no place at all in the minds of those who really know God. They never brood on might – have – beens ; they never think of the things they have missed, only of what they have gained.

“ But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ, “ wrote Paul. “ What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him… I want to know Christ ( Philippians 3:7-10). When Paul says he counts the things he lost rubbish, or “dung” ( KJV), he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure ? Yet this, in effect, is what many of us do. It shows how little we have in the way of true knowledge of God.

( page 25 Knowing God J.I. Packer)

words from another century

2011-08-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

JC Ryle was a pastor in Liverpool in the 1800's and wrote a book called Holiness. I pulled this off the shelf recently and just found some statements that I thought might contribute to our spiritual growth.

Here are some free samples: ( sort of like Sam's club -- but for your brain)

Page 75 " A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent carrying the cross."

page 67 " But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence, arises the unspeakable importance of counting the cost."

page 20 : " True holiness does not consist merely of believing and feeling, but of doing and bearing, a practical exhibition of active and passive grace. Our tongues, our tempers, our natural passions and inclinations; our conduct as parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and wives, rulers and subjects; our dress, our employment of time, our behavior in business, our demeanor in sickness and health, in riches and in poverty ---all these matters which are fully treated by inspired writers. "

same section: " True holiness, we surely ought to remember, does not merely consist of inward sensations and impressions. It is much more than tears and sighs and bodily excitement and a quickened pulse and a passionate feeling of attachment to our favorite preachers and our own religious party and a readiness to quarrel with everyone who does not agree with us. It is something of the 'image of Christ' which can be observed and seen by others. It is something that would be demonstrated by our private lives and character. "

blood pressure medication or prayer ?

2011-07-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

I found myself getting angry the other day. I was reminded by the word of God that he who has been merciless will be shown no mercy. It does seem like at times that no matter how well you are prepared for the day, your faith will be tested and your patience will be tried. In my reading I came across this and wanted to reprint it for whom it may concern:

“ What gives so much force to the impulse of anger is the overwhelming sense that the offender does not deserve forgiveness. That is, the grievance is so deep and so justifiable ( in our minds) that not only does self righteousness strengthen our indignation, but so does a legitimate sense of moral outrage. It’s the deep sense of legitimacy that gives our bitterness its unbending compulsion. We feel that a great crime would be committed if the magnitude of the evil we’ve experienced were just dropped and we let bygones by bygones. We are torn: our moral sense says this evil cannot be ignored and the word of God says we must forgive.” ( Faith in Future Grace page 265)

wisdom from the 1600's

2011-05-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Richard Baxter wrote these words:

" Let not your first opinions, about the controverted difficulties in religion, where Scripture is not very plain, be too peremptory, confident or fixed; but hold them modestly with a due suspicion of your unripe understandings, and with room for further information, supposing it possible, or probable, that upon better instruction, evidence and maturity, you may, in such things, change your minds."

A Christian directory page 49

I was struck by the idea that some of our ideas are not ripe and need time to mature. I needed this exhortation from another century today.

persistence in prayer

2011-04-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Jesus said: " For everyone who asks, receives and he who seeks, finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. "
( Matthew 7:7 ff)

I stumbled across this paragraph:

" ...His point seems to be that the secret of prayer is persistence. Keep at it, keep speaking, and even if nothing comes, speak again and again. And finally the answer is given. It may not be the kind of answer we want - the kind of stopgap peace and the kind of easy security, the kind of end to loneliness that we are apt to pray for. Christ never promises peace in the sense of no more struggle and suffering. Instead, He helps us to struggle and suffer as He did, in love, for one another. Christ does not give us security in the sense of something in this world, some cause, some principle, some value, which is forever. Instead, He tells us that there is nothing in this world that is forever, all flesh is grass. He does not promise us unlonely lives. Instead of all these, the answer He gives, is Himself. If we go to Him for anything else, He may send us away empty or He may not. But if we go to Him for Himself, I believe that we go away always with this deepest of all our hungers filled."

( adapted from Frederick Buechner Listening to your life page 132)

ouch

2011-03-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on laziness: “ Does then the sluggard disappoint and provoke his earthly master ? See that we be not such sluggards to our heavenly Master. Laodicean professors are specially hateful in his sight ( Rev 3:16). The slothful minister carries in a tremendous account to him that has sent him. No more pitiable object is found, than the man who has time to spare; who has no object of commanding interest; and is going on to the end, as if he had spent his whole life in children’s play, and had lived for no useful purpose. He may probably have given out a portion of his time for some miscalled religious duty. But he might as well be asleep as on his knees; in idleness as in meditation – so little pains – so little heart is connected with his duties ! “ I found this phrase particularly pointed: ( No object of commanding interest, and is going on to the end, as if he had spent his whole life in children’s play and had lived for no useful purpose.) He continues: “ There is indeed no higher blessing than usefulness; no more affecting lamentation than that of the wornout labourer, who is conscious that his usefulness is ended. But the slothful is satisfied, that his usefulness should never begin. He is content with a life of utter uselessness. He willfully gives himself up to it; as if indolence was his supreme good, and every kind of exercise the object of his shrinking dread. Such a life can never approve itself to conscience, and assuredly will never escape the condemnation of God. It is poverty to himself. He becomes his own enemy. The springs of solid happiness are impoverished, and the true end of life frittered away. Let us look at the sluggard: time, talents, and opportunities have been given graciously to him, perhaps a godly education and every encouragement for hopefully promise. But if diligence is needed; if the man must labor and strive then his field must be left for the present time. He needs a little more sleep first. And thus he sleeps on, and shuts both eyes and ears against every disturbance of his fatal slumber. Nothing is done or attempted for God, for his own soul, or for his fellow creatures. His vineyard is left open. All his good purposes are the stone wall broken down. Satan goes out and comes in at will. All is devastation and ruin.” ( page 461) Charles Bridges ( commentary on Proverbs Banner of Truth publishing)

the race set before us

2011-03-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Run the race that is set before you

One of the ideas stuck in my head from years of listening to sermons is this one:

Regret is a form of unbelief. One of my weaknesses has been this tendency to look back at the past and think that the “old days” were better than these days ( an idea specifically prohibited in the book of Ecclesiastes). There is a glossing over the bad and remembering the good to the extent that I have difficulty being content in the “now.” The Lord has shown me this is sin because I am casting doubt on the goodness of His timing and questioning His leadership in my life. This came home to me in a new way when I was reading Hebrews 12 recently.

It goes like this: “ …let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” This truth landed on me in a new way and reminded me that I am not supposed to run the race that I ran in 2001 or in 2007. The Lord is calling all of us to run the race that is…. “ set before us.” We are to run this race with endurance and maybe one of the weights I need to drop is this idea of constantly regretting past decisions. This is such a paralyzing way to live and it robs a person of all joy in the present.

Therefore, if you find yourself saying…” why were the old days better than these ? “ , dismiss that idea as sin and move forward with your new station in life. Embrace Isaiah 43:18,19 which says:

Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it ? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

Jesus affirms this idea in Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “ No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Even Paul recognized the need to exhort the Philippians: “ … but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on…” ( 3:13-14)

I thought that the Pixar film “ Up” was helpful in thinking through this as well. This man drags around his house most of the movie clinging to the memories of the past. Eventually he had to learn that it was time to “go have a new adventure.”

( He ends up dropping all the furniture out of the house too.)

Why does all this matter ? If I’m stuck in the past, then I will be ineffective for ministry in the present. I am not on this earth to reminisce about the “ good ol days,” but I am here to be God’s ambassador in the present. Time is running out for the world to repent of their sin and the fields are “white with harvest.” There is too much work to do to sit and wallow in self pity about things that “used to be.” How will I give an account to the Lord ( see Romans 14) for how I lived in 2011 ? What will my journal read Dec 31, 2011 … “ spent the year thinking about how I could have lived differently in 2009 ? “ Talk about a waste of time. I take seriously the Biblical idea that whether I live or die, I live to the Lord. I will have to give an answer for what I did with the time God gave me. I can’t see how it will be profitable for me to to tell the Lord someday: “ Well, here they are … here are all my regrets… I carried them for 40 years.” I am thankful for all the people that have been my friends over the years and I value the relationships that God has given me. At the same time, I have a strong desire to step into the “race” that is set before me right now.

Jeremiah 23:7
“ Therefore, behold the days are coming, “ declares the Lord, “ when they will no longer say, ‘ As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt’,

8 but ‘ As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’

Then they will live on their own soil.”

quite a vocabulary

2011-03-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

This is from an essay by Edwards on the excellency of Jesus Christ. He was writing about how Jesus is a perfect mingling of attributes. The idea being that Jesus is both lion and lamb, powerful and meek at the same time.

“Such a conjunction of infinite highness and low condescension, in the same person is admirable. We see, by manifold instances, what a tendency a high station has in men, to make them to be of a quite contrary disposition. If one worm be a little exalted above another, by having more dust, or a bigger dunghill, how much does he make of himself ! What a distance does he keep from those that are below him ! And a little condescension is what he expects should be made much of, and greatly acknowledged. Christ condescends to wash our feet; but how would great men, ( or rather bigger worms), account themselves debased by acts of far less condescension !”

Jonathan Edwards page 681 “Works of Edwards”

why our culture goes to the movies

2011-03-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

It is very difficult to go into Blockbuster these days. The amount of disturbing images on the covers of the DVDs is shocking and revolting at the same time. I sometimes wonder what will be next. How much worse can it get ? I am sure people in the 1950's asked the same questions. I found this section in a book by John Stott and thought it might give us a clue.

“Until our sins are forgiven, we are exiles, far from our true home. We have no communion with God. In Biblical terms we are ‘lost’, or ‘dead’ through trespasses and sins which we have committed.

It is this that accounts for the restlessness of men and women today. There is a hunger in the heart of man which none but God can satisfy, an empty space which only God can fill. The demand for sensational news in the press and for extravagant love or crime stories in the movies; pools and pubs; the dirt track and the dog track ( or football stadiums); the current epidemic of drugs, sex and violence --- -all these are symptoms of man’s search for satisfaction.”

Augustine said concerning God: “ You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Taken from Basic Christianity John Stott page 74-75

Stop regarding man

2011-02-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

I think this has appeared before on this site, but it's worth revisiting.

The idea has to do with Romans 12 where Paul states that we shouldn't think too highly of ourselves. I like the way G.K. Chesterton states it :

" Are there no other stories in the world except yours; and are all men busy with your business ? How much happier you would be if you only knew that these people cared nothing about you ! How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiousity and pleasure; if you could see them walking as they are in their sunny selfishness and virile indifference ! You would begin to be interested in them, because they were not interested in you. You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theater in which your own little plot is always being played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street fully of splendid strangers."

( page 15 Orthodoxy)

I think these ideas give us a perspective and echo what the Bible says in Isaiah 2:22: "Stop regarding man, whose life is in his nose. Why should he be esteemed ? "

how do you start a revival ?

2010-11-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

The short answer is that you can’t start one. I picked up a copy of Revival and Revivalism by Iain Murray and have been working my way through it. One of the chapters started out painfully slow with all the statistics of congregational growth among the denominations in the early 1800’s but then the author started to reflect on what brought about revival. I thought his discoveries were very helpful and could be of benefit to the church today. Here are a few thoughts:

“ Thus what characterizes a revival is not the employment of unusual or special means but rather the extraordinary degree of blessing attending the normal means of grace. There were no unusual evangelistic meetings, no special arrangements, no announcements of pending revivals. Pastors were simply continuing in the services they had conducted for many years when the great change began.
( Page 129 Revival and Revivalism Iain Murray)

Later he talks about prayer and I thought this was very interesting:

“ As with the truth that is preached, prayer has no power inherent in itself. On the contrary, true prayer is bound up with a persuasion of our inability and our complete dependence on God. Prayer, considered as a human activity, whether offered by few or by many, can guarantee no results. But prayer that throws believers in heartfelt need on God, with true concern for the salvation of sinners, will not go unanswered. Prayer of this kind precedes blessing, not because of any necessary cause and effect, but because such prayer secures an acknowledgment of the true Author of the blessing. And where such a spirit of prayer exists it is a sign that God is already intervening to advance His cause. One thing that can be said with certainty about the 1790’s, before any general indications of a new era were to be seen, is that there was a growing concern among Christians to pray. “ ( page 129 ibid )

Revival and Revivalism

2010-11-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

There's a period of my life that I look back on with fond memories. In 1995 I had the opportunity to be a part of Lake Cities Bible Church in Lake Dallas, Texas and our pastor's name was David Kunz. We were going through seminary at the time and what I remember was the reading group that met weekly to discuss different books. We read things like John Owen's Sin and Temptation and Don Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian life. This season of my life was my introduction to Banner of Truth publishing and I specifically remember David saying ( of that publisher): " they don't print junk." As a result, whenever I'm in a used book store I usually look at the publisher and author rather than the title as I walk through the shelves. One book I have never seen in a used book store is Revival and Revivalism by Iain Murray, so to own a copy I had to look to the publisher. I can tell you that I have no regrets. The vocabulary is challenging at times, but anything meaningful usually requires an effort. I was reading about the history of the Baptists around the time of the revolutionary war and came across this quote from Robert Semple who was 14 years old at the time of the war. He said:

"The war, though very propitious to the liberty of the Baptists, had an opposite effect upon the life of religion among them. As if persecution was more favorable to vital piety than unrestrained liberty, they seem to have abated in their zeal, upon being unshackled from their manacles. This may be ascribed to several causes... Perhaps many did not rightly estimate the true source of liberty, nor ascribe its attainment to the proper arm. In consequence of which God sent them liberty, and with it leanness of soul. This chill to their religious affections might have subsided with the war, or perhaps sooner, if there had not been subsequent occurrences which tended to keep them down. The opening of a free trade by peace served as a powerful bait to entrap professors who were in any great degree inclined to the pursuit of wealth. Nothing is more common than for the increase of riches to produce a decrease of piety. Speculators seldom make warm Christians. With some few exceptions the declension was general throughout the State. The love of many waxed cold. Some of the watchmen fell, others stumbled, and many slumbered at their posts. "

I'm not saying he was 14 when he wrote those words but he was 14 during the war. These comments are his reflections years after the war. The sentence in that quote that grabbed my attention was this one: " Nothing is more common than for the increase of riches to produce a decrease of piety." This really makes me think about how money affects our spiritual life. Sometimes, when we are "well fed" it tends to make us spiritually lethargic, so what do you do if you happen to have a lot of money ?

I would think that part of the answer would be to give generously and share. Keep putting yourself in a place of dependence on God. If you are in debt, you should pay off that debt, but then get to the place where you are giving sacrificially. The Bible affirms that the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. How can you avoid falling in love with money ? I find things in myself that I despise when it comes to thinking about money. Greed has walked through my mind more often than I care to admit and it has this tendency to take over and control and connive for more and more money. There's a phrase from the book of Jeremiah that bothers me : "they were well fed lusty stallions." Biblically speaking, when we are full of the world, it dulls our spiritual appetite. How can you avoid this condition ?

1. Remember that wealth spreads wings and flies away. ( Prov 23)

2. The rich man and his pursuits will fade away. ( James 1)

3. We brought nothing into the world ... and we will leave the world with nothing. ( I Tim 6)

4. The desire for riches is a snare and can often cause people to shipwreck their faith.

5. Men have plunged into ruin and destruction because of money. ( Enron)

6. The love of it is a root of all sorts of evil.

7. People have been pierced with many griefs longing after money.

8. Alot of money can make you conceited if you are not guarded about it.

9. Here on the earth, our "treasures" can rust and be eaten by moths...

10. Our treasure is related to the condition of our heart. They are vitally connected.

When the Baptists in the 1700's were set free from British rule, their spiritual life declined because they shifted their dependence from God to money. Don't follow their example.
If you are poor right now, James says you should glory in your high position. However, if you are rich, beware of the fact that an increase in riches often leads to a spiritual decline.

the devil and gossip

2010-10-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the word "gossip" and just looked in Titus 2:3 for the greek word. I had forgotten that the word used there in original language was "diabolos." Basically, the word dia ballo in greek means to throw through. This is why satan is referred to as the accuser of the brethren. He is an accuser/ a slanderer,if you will, of the saints. Why would I want to help satan's cause by slandering anyone ?
I was stunned by this realization that when I slander someone, I am in league with the devil.

Wow... this should stop us in our tracks before we gossip again.

help each other endure to the end

2010-09-18T09:20:00.001-07:00

great article about bearing one another's burdens

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/94

pressing into the kingdom

2010-09-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

recommendation:

There is an article called: " pressing into the kingdom of God" written by Jonathan Edwards on the web. You can just google that title and it should come up... good read. It's actually a sermon and I found it helpful.

beware of a search for authenticity

2010-09-16T03:29:00.000-07:00

I just want to speak a word of caution about the search for authenticity. Sometimes in a search for what is "real," we can become cynical. If you think that you are "spiritual" and that everyone else is shallow because they don't read the authors you read or know what you know... be careful. You have started down a path of spiritual pride and arrogance. God has much to say about how He brings down those who are "lofty" in their thinking.

Be on guard against an overly zealous search for something genuine... there is a cliff there: it's called cynicism. You can begin to think that no church is good enough, no article is deep enough and no person is "wise" enough to speak into your life. This is a dangerous place to be and the Bible warns us repeatedly : "don't go there."

it's worth it

2010-09-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you wonder if it's worth it... I'm talking about the extra work required to dig a little deeper into Scripture; to push yourself a little further than you think you can go. I remember reading that the fruit of God's word does not yield itself to the lazy.

I was reading in Philippians 4 and thinking about the word : "think." Chapter 4 of this book gives us a list of things to "think about" or to "dwell on."

Finally, brethren, whatever is true
whatever is honorable
whatever is right
whatever is pure
whatever is lovely
whatever is of good repute
if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,

dwell on these things.

What have you been dwelling on today ? money, whether or not she likes you, your grades, your homework, your savings account, your lack of motivation.... God's word tells us to dwell on what is right and pure. Here's a thought I found while researching this idea:

" The sharing of the logizesthai ( greek word for 'think about') through faith is not a case of merely holding something to be true but is also an inspiration and activity, as in the OT hasab. Philippians 4:8 and I Corinthians 13:5 are to be expounded in the light of Zechariah 8:17 and not of 2 Tim. 4:16. This kind of thinking is not solely an intellectual construction, but can arrive at factual conclusions which demand corresponding actions ( Romans 14:14), just as the word and the act are one with God. Hence, we should evaluate others and ourselves rightly, not by false standards, but as they and we stand in God's sight.

( Colin Brown Dict of NT Theo p 825 Vol 3)

I was impressed by the idea that "dwelling on these things" is not just sitting and thinking, but sitting, thinking and then acting on those thoughts. This is only meaningful when we draw conclusions from our thoughts and those ideas shape how we act. Here is an example:

When I go out in public, what do my eyes see in the mall, at blockbuster, standing in the check out line at Wal Mart ? The world says it is just fine to stare at women dressed immodestly. Philippians 4:8 tells me to dwell on those things that are pure. How can I read Philippians 4 and then stare at something impure ? I can't do it and keep a clear conscience. If I have to walk through the mall to get to a store that has what I'm looking for and I pass by a store that is advertising things that should remain private, what do I do ? I have to look in the other direction. This is not the only area; there are others. When I sense that a friend is about to go down the road of gossip, do I keep listening or stop them ? Will I rob God of tithes of offerings ? ( and think about how I could use the money differently ... for more noble purposes ? ) When I am alone in a hotel for 6 hours, how will I use that time ? When I am hungry, lonely and tired will I become a total jerk to get relief ? When the person I'm meeting is late, will I seethe with resentment ? When I wake up in the morning, will I start the to do list or humble myself before the Lord ?

Whatever is right .... dwell on these things. Whatever is right .... do these things.

the value of church history

2010-07-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

I came across this recently:

" ...a knowlege of the history of doctrine ( teaching) supports the Bible's witness to the triumph of the church. Through times of duress and trial, the people of God have been preserved and have steadfastly proclaimed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The devil has employed every strategy to destroy the church; armies have marched against it; unbelieving scholarship has relentlessly assaulted it; internal bickering has torn it; and martyrdom has depleted its ranks from time to time. Yet the church marches forward in triumphal anticipation of the great consummation when the kingdoms of the world will be put under Christ's feet and when the bride, without spot or blemish, will be given to the Bridegroom. "

This thought encourages me especially through all the discussions of church models that I have read about.

Page 13 Our Legacy John Hannah

2010-07-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am often outside during the summer and the heat in south Texas can be stifling. I came across this verse in Psalm 74 and it was reminder to me of how God is still in control of the weather.

Psalm 74:16-17 " Yours is the day, Yours also is the night... You have made summer and winter."

For some reason, this assurance helped me realize that God has made both heat and cold and it was a reminder to be thankful even when the humidity and the temperature are about the same.

the creativity of God

2010-07-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

"What the church has been used to, is not a rule by which we are to judge; because there may be new and extraordinary works of God, and He has heretofore evidently wrought in an extraordinary manner. He has brought to pass new things, strange works; and has wrought in such a manner as to surprise both men and angels. And as God has done thus in times past, so we have no reason to think but that he will do so still. The prophecies of Scripture give us reason to think that God has things to accomplish which have never been seen."

Jonathan Edwards On Revival page 89

what we think about God

2010-05-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

I once heard someone say that one of the most important things about you is what you think about God.

Today I realized something that I have been waiting for several months to understand. For some reason it just clicked today and it's related to 2 Samuel 7:18-19

" Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, ' Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far ? 19. And yet this was insignficant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future...'"

Most of us have time to think about the past, present and future and if we are not careful we can begin to say to ourselves: " Man, I'll never have it as good as I had it in ( fill in the blank). " We begin to compare our current situation to former situations and feel a certain way.

Today, for the first time in about 9 months, I realized that when I say those things I am basically saying that God has peaked in His ability to provide for me; which cannot be true and so I have to think biblical thoughts about the past and the future.

So, here it is again:

When we start to think: " I will never have life as good as I had it in _____________", we are essentially saying that God has peaked in His ability to provide for us. This idea is emphatically false and should therefore be rejected as unbiblical thinking.

Do you really believe that the grace God provided you in the past will be there for you in the future ?

The daily arrival of fresh supplies of grace

2010-05-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

I started reading Matthew 8 this morning and came across the line that tells us that Jacob is in the kingdom of heaven. When I read about Jacob in the OT, I read about all the times he messed up and how he was labeled a deceiver. Yet, he walked with God and believed God. I am encouraged to read this and my belief that Christianity is true is confirmed by the idea that someone like Jacob was saved by faith. If you keep reading in Matthew 8-9 and other places you see phrases like this often :

“ … it shall be done for you as you have believed…” and “ Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘ take courage, son, your sins are forgiven’ “ and “ it shall be done to you according to your faith….”

In Matthew 9:22 you find the phrase: “ Daughter, take courage, your faith has made you well…”

In Luke 22:31 Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. You notice Jesus, as intercessor, praying that the faith of His children would not fail.

When Jesus prays for you, what does He pray ? Answer: that your faith would not fail.

If all this is true, then what can we do to “increase our faith” ?

#1. Ask for faith. The disciples said: “ Lord, increase our faith…”

#2 Listen to God’s word. Romans 10:17 “ faith comes hearing and hearing by the word of Christ…”

#3 Take risks. I think of Jonathan and his armor bearer who went up against 20 Philistines. Jonathan said: “ The Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.”

the body

2010-05-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as He desired.

I Corinthians 12:18

What I like about reading God's word is the ability that it has to sustain me over a lifetime. Chapters that I read years ago continue to unfold and teach me even though " I thought I knew it." So, when I read I Corinthians 12, it's good to be reminded that God has placed the members in the body...just as He desired.

I think in the immediate context this has to do with who is a foot and who is an eye, etc. However, it also tells us that God has placed you where He wants you according to His desire. I found this comforting and liberating.

When you start to read this whole chapter, it also speaks to our tendency to compare ourselves to each other. All of us can't be (fill in the blank) with your favorite teacher. If we tried to be, we would be miserable and everyone around us would be turned off. If all of us were the same... there would be no body. It is the different members that actually allow the body to carry out the diversity of functions. I can't type with my eyeballs, and I can't see with my hair. I think if we began to see ourselves like I Cor 12 tells us to see ourselves, we would be kinder to one another; for we are members of one another. In another passage, we are told not to lie to each other because we are members of one another. If I dropped a bowling ball on my toe and the nerve endings told my brain: " all is well," I would be in trouble. I need my body parts to tell the others that I'm hurt. If my body starts lying to itself, I will have major problems in a hurry. When I treat my family with respect and kindness... I am essentially doing these things to myself ( because they are a part of me.) When I am rude and irritable and difficult, the whole family suffers. " If one members suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."

Multiple times in the NT we see the phrase " each one" with regard to spiritual gifts. Each one of us has been given abilties by the Holy Spirit for the common good. How are you using your spiritual gift in the church right now ?

exhortation from the 1600's

2010-03-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

I was reading a book by Richard Baxter recently and came across this:

( this was written in the 1600's)

" If you be in prison, He will open the doors; but then you must relieve imprisoned souls. He will give you a tongue and wisdom that no enemy shall be able to resist; but then you must use it faithfully for Him."

" Up then, and work as the redeemed of the Lord, as those that are purposely rescued from ruin for His service. If you believe that God has rescued you for Himself, live to Him, as being unreservedly His who has delivered you."

Page 129

I don't know if you have ever tried this: to live unreservedly His.... We all have reservations from time to time. Have you ever peeled back the layers of your heart and asked God to deal with those areas you know you don't want to change in ? I think this is something of what Baxter is talking about when he says : "unreservedly."

In over my head

2010-02-28T05:06:00.000-08:00

It seems like the Psalms become more meaningful when you are in a place of dependence. I read recently that if all seems well with you, then you probably won't surrender to the Lord. We are often taken back to a place of dependence when it comes to life with God.

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

I have been in a concordance lately tracing the word : "presence." It seems to me that the presence of God means alot more to you when you are "in over your head."

modern day parable of confrontation

2010-02-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

I found this story on the internet and thought it was a great illustration of our need to "admonish one another." This fisherman fired a flare gun at a trucker who was about to drive over a collapsed bridge in Oklahoma.

Tragedy on I-40
When the Interstate highway bridge collapsed, sending traffic plunging into the Arkansas River far below, these bass fishermen helped keep the dangerous situation from becoming far worse.
by Mike Lambeth
In the stillness of early morning, several bass boats idled near the Webbers Falls city boat ramp. Kirk Washburn and Alton Wilhoit had high hopes as they waited their turn to blast off. The two fishermen from Harrah, OK - normally fellow competitors - were partnered in the Jimmy Houston Outdoors Team Tournament held May 26, 2002.
The previous day Washburn and Wilhoit pre-fished the Arkansas River, part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigational System, a waterway used for recreation, water supply, fish and wildlife conservation, hydropower and as the navigational means of moving barges from Oklahoma to New Orleans. They caught several fish, and gained knowledge that, they hoped, would land them a full livewell and a nice check.
"Alton and I had a good feeling that day," Washburn recalled. "We felt like we were going to catch some good fish. The water level was up and we found some productive weedbeds that held good numbers of fish."

Wilhoit shared his partner's enthusiasm. "It was a great morning for fishing and we were ready."
The pair drew an early starting time, leaving around 6:15 a.m. to fish their first spot - three miles south of the launch area. Crossing under the Interstate 40 Bridge, both fishermen noticed the ideal weather for fishing - air temperature was nearly 70 degrees with no wind.
Upon arriving at their first spot, the pair caught a 2 1/2-pound bass. Their plan was to fish a half-hour, then head 25 miles downriver to Sallisaw Creek, where they would spend the better part of the day.
Satisfied that they had caught all they could, Washburn suggested they change plans and go back to the bridge to try the nearby weedbeds. With life jackets on and rods stowed, the pair motored to the overpass.
The bass tournament that Kirk Wasburn (l.) and Alton Wilhoit were fishing on the day the I-40 bridge fell was rescheduled for six weeks later, which was when trucker Rodney Tidwell was reunited with the heroes who'd pulled him from the river. Photo courtesy of Alton WilhoitAs their boat planed out at 70 mph, Washburn remembers looking back and seeing, 200 to 300 yards behind them, a barge heading north in their wake. The barge appeared to be in the very center of the channel and headed toward the generous clearance where barges cross under the bridge daily.
Washburn and Wilhoit fished a weedbed on the south edge of the bridge without success, and then slowly idled across to a wing dam just under the north side of I-40. The pair alternated throwing jigs, spinners and tube baits to entice a strike.
Suddenly - there was a roar!
The morning's tranquility was shattered with a sound Washburn compared to a sonic boom. The deafening roar reverberated throughout the entire span of the bridge. Wilhoit assumed there had been an automobile accident overhead. Nearly 150 yards away on the western end of the bridge the unthinkable had occurred - a tugboat pushing twin barges had veered off course and struck a piling with incredible force.
Witnesses recall hearing the thunderous sound miles away. When the boom silenced, the catastrophe unfolded. The impact of the 400- to 500-ton barges instantly collapsed the west end of the bridge. A chunk of the interstate between 500 and 600 feet long fell into the river. Now part of I-40, the most traveled highway between the East and West Coasts, crumbled as if moved by an earthquake. The void created a deadly trap for unsuspecting motorists.
Washburn and Wilhoit had been listening to the clopping noise made by tires running across the jointed sections of the bridge overhead. The pair was suddenly jolted into reality.
In an instant, rods were stored and life jackets put on. Wilhoit fired up the motor and jetted to the accident site. "The trip took no more than 15 to 20 seconds," said Washburn.
While en route, the pair watched in horror as a truck heading west flew off the bridge. It was then that they realized approaching traffic had no warning of the calamity ahead. Their boat idled 20 to 30 yards away from the collapsed span when another semi with a double tandem trailer sailed into the murky water and vanished.
Washburn dialed 911 on his cell phone and alerted an "unbelieving" sheriff to what had happened. "The sheriff didn't believe the bridge had actually collapsed. I had to assure him that I wasn't joking; this was a very serious matter. I told him to send emergency help at once."
In a matter of seconds, 10 vehicles eerily plunged into the murky water nearly 70 feet below the bridge. There were trucks with horse trailers, semis, and cars all unable to stop, plummeting into the turbid river. Wreckage debris littered the water's surface.
Washburn and Wilhoit stood waving their arms in an effort to ward off more tragedy. "We felt helpless; it seemed there was nothing we could do to stop the traffic," Washburn recalled.
"At one point our boat drifted directly under the bridge, pulled by the strong current," said Wilhoit. "We looked up to see a truck plunge directly overhead, narrowly missing our boat."
In desperation, Washburn told Wilhoit, "We have to back up farther from the bridge so people can see us." It was then that Wilhoit remembered having a flare gun on board - required safety equipment from a tournament they'd fished years earlier.
Wilhoit placed the boat in reverse and motored north in the current while at the same time aiming the flare gun at an approaching semi. Miraculously, the gun fired and the flare actually struck the truck's windshield. The trucker slammed on his brakes, stopping literally at the edge of the damaged bridge.
With traffic finally stopped, the anglers idled toward the barge, looking for survivors in the water. The current was strong and the men struggled to keep their boat away from the mangled wreckage. It was then they heard a resounding, "Hey," from near the barge. Mississippi truck driver Rodney Tidwell had miraculously surfaced and, though badly injured, beckoned for help.
Washburn and Wilhoit quickly tied a flotation cushion to a rope and tossed it out as the injured trucker struggled to remain afloat. Tidwell was pulled to safety by his two "heroes" and later admitted he couldn't have tread water much longer.
Thirty feet away, the bleeding and badly injured body of Arkansas truck driver James Bilyeau surfaced. His desperate pleas for help weakened as the current pulled him under the front of the barge. Washburn and Wilhoit saw Bilyeau, but were penned by the strong current to the mangled pylon and protruding rebar.
The Harrah fishermen encouraged the trucker to hang on to some floating boxes nearby. It was then that Norman Barton Jr. of Sallisaw and Randy Graham of Wagoner arrived. The anglers had been some 700 yards away when the collision occurred.
The badly injured Bilyeau was nowhere in sight. Graham maneuvered their boat under the front of the barge, and noticed a strange object. The object turned out to be the blood-covered head of Bilyeau. Norman and Randy tossed the victim a cushion on a rope and pulled him to safety.
A short distance away, John Swain and his son Gabe pulled a third victim into their boat. With injured survivors onboard, the boats headed to the ramp a little over two miles away. They cared for the victims the best they could. Emergency help was on the scene when they arrived.
The tranquil morning had turned deadly, and now ominous black clouds halted rescue efforts until the storm passed. The aftermath left 10 vehicles in a watery grave, and claimed 14 lives. The victims were: Andrew Clements, 35, of California; Jeanine Cawley, 48, of Lebanon, Ore.; Margaret Green, 45, of Stockdale, Texas; Gail Shanahan, 49, of Corpus Christi, Texas; James Johnson, 30, of Lavaca, Ark.; Misty Johnson, 28, of Lavaca, Ark.; Shea Johnson, 3, of Lavaca, Ark., Paul Tailele Jr., 39, of Magna, Utah; Wayne Martin, 49, of Norman, Okla.; Susan Martin, 49, of Norman, Okla.; Jerry Gillion, 58, of Spiro, Okla.; Patricia Gillion, 57, of Spiro, Okla.; David Mueggenborg, 52, of Okarche, Okla.; and Jean Mueggenborg, 51, also of Okarche.
The medical examiner ruled the manner of death as accidental drowning on 13 victims, with one dead from blunt trauma to the head.
Washburn and Wilhoit humbly insist that they are not heroes. In fact, they were doing what anyone else on the scene would have done. They regret they couldn't have done more.
Because of the tragic events, tournament director Carl Woods cancelled the bass competition. As the shaken Washburn and Wilhoit reflected on the emotional events that had unfolded that day, they chose to unwind in the best manner they knew. The two fishermen climbed into their boat and went fishing.

Our attitude toward the sin of others

2010-02-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God

Jonathan Edwards

the fear of man is a snare

2010-02-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

A people pleaser is not a peace maker, but rather a peace lover. A peacemaker is willing to endure the discomfort of conflict in the hope of bringing about a peaceful resolution. ( Peace not only is the absence of conflict, but is often the result of it.) A peace lover is so afraid of conflict that he will avoid it at almost all costs. He is so concerned with keeping the peace with his fellow man that he is often willing to forfeit the peace of God that comes from standing up and suffering for the truth. He is essentially a coward at heart.” ( People pleasing p 25 Lou Priolo)

The people pleaser overreacts to any hint of disapproval. He feels a pinprick as keenly as a knife in the back. He is overly sensitive because he is too concerned about his own glory ( and popularity). He sees any constructive criticism or suggestion for improvement as a threat to his reputation rather than as an opportunity to grow or as an indication of the reprover’s love for him. ( p 31 ibid )

dangerous places

2010-02-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

I came across this earlier today and was encouraged by it.

" Unfortunately, the resolve to be courageous in the pulpit can result in our becoming headstrong and arrogant. We may succeed in being outspoken, but spoil it by becoming proud of our outspokenness. Truth to tell, the puplit is a perilous place for any person to occupy. It is 'high and lifted up,' and thus enjoys a prominence which should be restricted to Yahweh's throne ( Isa 6:1). We stand there in solitude, while the eyes of all are on us. We hold forth in monologue, while all sit still, silent and subdued. Who can endure such public exposure and remain unscathed by vanity ? Pride is without doubt the chief occupational hazard of the preacher. It has ruined many, and deprived their ministry of power."

taken from Between two worlds by John Stott page 320

Septic tank theology

2010-02-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

I get to talk to college students at Texas A&M as we travel around Brazos county officiating basketball games. In the course of our 2 hour conversation I end up asking them about their purpose in life. Many of them have no idea what that is and seemed stunned that someone asked them the question. Our purpose is directly tied to the Person who made us and the only way to find that purpose is to discover it in Scripture. For some reason, this morning, an old truth made so much sense to me in a new way. Faith needs something to bite into in order to strengthen us. These students that I'm talking to don't have faith in anything substantial and the faith that they do have is starving for substance. It's like the lids on a septic tank. When we are done working with them, they must be secured. They have to be screwed back in place, but often because of time and the elements, the place where the screw grabs on to is deteriorated so badly, that it will not hold. It seems to me that this is like the faith of some. There is nothing for their "faith" to grab hold of because there is nothing substantial to hold it in place. If this is confusing to you then maybe this author can explain it better:
" ... it simply stands to reason that faith feeds on the Word because the Word is what faith trusts. And where trustworthy words are not present, faith has nothing to bite into. That's the nature of faith. It exists by what it trusts. It has no life but what it gets from the truth it believes. So if we do not feed it with a substantial diet of life giving truth, it will shrivel. " *

If you don't have the luxury of opening a Bible every hour, you do have the ability to consult your memory. When your memory goes walking down the corridor of your mind opening doors, what does it find ? Does it find Ephesians 2, does it find Proverbs 25, or does it find other things ?

* John Piper A Godward life Book 2 page 215

losses and crosses

2010-02-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

The woman at the well in John 4 made a statement to Jesus: " Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep." This thought is running through my mind right now after reading A Quest for Godliness by J I Packer. Sometimes, I feel like in our life we have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. I found something this morning that is deeper than I have the ability to draw from... the puritan experience. I am humbled by their life and sobered by Packer's description of their maturity. It makes me feel very shallow when I stand next to them.
His vocabulary makes the book worth reading and I feel like I need to go read a dictionary and learn some new synonyms.

Here's what I found particulary meaningful:

( before you read, keep in my mind, the use of the word "reformed" here is not a branch of theology, but renewed, re-shaped, and revived...)

"...the ideal for the church was that through 'reformed' clergy all the members of each congregation should be 'reformed' , brought that is, by God's grace without disorder into a state of what we would call revival, so as to be truly and thoroughly converted, theologically orthodox and sound, spiritually alert and expectant, in character terms wise and steady, ethically enterprising and obedient and humbly buy joyously sure of their salvation."

" ...and their ( the puritans) knowledge was no mere theoretical orthodoxy. They sought to reduce to practice all that God taught them. They yoked their consciences to His word, disciplining themselves to bring all activities under the scrutiny of scripture, and to demand a theological, as distinct from merely pragmatic, justification for everything that they did. "

I like that phrase: " they yoked their consciences to the word of God..."

more:

" Puritan authors regularly tell us, first of the mystery of God: that our God is too small, that the real God cannot be put without remainder into a man made conceptual box so as to be fully understood, and that He was, is, and always will be inscrutable in His dealing with those who trust and love Him, so that 'losses and crosses' , that is bafflement and disappointment in relation to particular hopes one has entertained, must be accepted as a recurring element in one's life of fellowship with Him."

" By ministering to us these precious biblical truths the Puritans give us the resources we need to cope with the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune', and offer the casualties an insight into what has happened to them that can raise them above self pitying resentment and reaction and restore their spiritual health completely. "

( pages 29-34)

quenching the fire

2010-01-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

What quenches the fire of people who used to be " on fire for God" ? I can't speak for everyone, but I have identified one thing for me: selfishness. Self absorbed wallowing in self pity is such a deterrent to evangelism and discipleship. When I sit and think about the past in destructive, fruitless ways I am the furthest from being a disciple who is pleasing to the Lord. There is too little time during our lives to waste it pondering the things of the past. Past, present and future is such an interesting idea because the present is such a thin slice of who you are. Who is making you ? What are you reading, thinking and talking about ? Who is influencing you ? You are being conformed to something right now. What is it ? I know that when I neglect to read, I feel shallow, disinterested and bored. When I read the word and other men who follow God, I feel invigorated, challenged, bold and armed. I suppose that media is like sugar...we reach for the m&m's when we should be cutting up cucumbers and carrots. It's not that you can never have the m&m's , but too much of them and you end up with diseases. Here are some cucumbers and carrots:

1. Holiness by JC Ryle
2. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya Ruth Tucker
3. Just Do Something Kevin DeYoung
4. Spiritual depression Martyn Lloyd Jones
5. Proverbs
6. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Jeremiah Burroughs

worth repeating

2010-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

You may have read or heard this before ...but it's worth repeating here :

I was searching in a greek dictionary for the development of the word : COURAGE and came across the greek word for boldness ( parrhesia) which means the freedom to say all.

In the same definition I found this sentence in the discussion of the boldness that the disciples had in the book of Acts.

Here it is: " This boldness which provokes astonishment, division, and persecution is not something that man has under his control. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 4:31) that has to be sought again and again ( 4:29). " Later on this sentence appears: " Such courage is not a human quality; it comes from God and Christ ( see I Thessalonians 2:2 and Philemon 8).

I am struck by the phrase: " sought again and again."

So I looked up I Thessalonians 2:2 " For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts."

Footnotes: Colin Brown Dictionary of New Testament Theology

So, this raises a question in my mind : " Why do we hesitate to share the gospel with all boldness ? " It could be because we haven't been willing to seek that courage "again and again." We had it at one point in our lives because we were excited about something, but the inevitable fade happened and we went back to the rut of just work, eat, sleep, tv, internet,etc. What keeps that fire burning to see the truth spread out in the city you live in ? Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.

my response looks alot like Gideon's

2009-12-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

When I read how Gideon responded to God in Judges 6, I thought: " this is how I feel sometimes."

God has given Isreal to Midianite oppression and they have lost their food, crops and morale. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says: " The Lord is with you O valiant warrior." Gideon says: " If the Lord is with us, then why is all this happening to us ? Where are all the miracles that our fathers told us about ? "

I feel your pain Gideon.

God' s response comes a few verses later: " Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat Midian as one man." God's confidence in Himself never wavered. Can you imagine God doubting Himself or saying: " Well, Midian does have a good team this year...." ? No, He said: " I am with you... keep moving forward."

What we have from God

2009-12-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

What do we have from God ?

1. Do we have the promise that we will be alive tomorrow ?
2. Do we have the answer to what city to go to or what job to take ?
3. Do we know that our children are safe from all tragedy ?

The answer to all three questions would be " no." What do we have from God then ? It seems to me after reading several places in the Old testament that we have the promise of His presence. We have the assurance that God is with us and won't fail us. " Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass." ( Joshua 21:45)

After tracking this idea here's what I found:

1. " I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

2. " And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city." ( Acts 18:9-10)

encouragement: go on speaking

3. "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
( Matthew 18:20)

4. " Certainly, I will be with you..." Exodus 3:12

5. "Now then, go and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."

Exodus 4:12

encouragement: He equips us

6. From those who brought back the minority report from spying out the land:

" Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us, do not fear them."
Numbers 14:9

notes: 1. if God is for us, who can be against us ?

2. The people's response in the next verse: " STONE THEM !"

3. In our culture, we kind of exalt doubt and questioning as wise. God often punished those who did not believe His word, or act on His commands.

By the way: " What is the difference between 'waiting on God' and 'delayed obedience ' ?

7. " You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God."
Deuteronomy 7:21

8. " No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. "
Joshua 1:5

9. "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."

Deut. 31:6-7

10. "Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ' I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you' so that we confidently say, ' The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what will man do to me ? ' "

Hebrews 13:5-6

Gideon: see next post

why comparison doesn't help

2009-12-22T04:57:00.000-08:00

In John 21, Jesus describes to Peter the path he is about to walk ( I mean the path Peter will take .)

After thinking about this, Peter points to John and says: " What about him? " Jesus says: " If I want him to remain, what is that to you ? You follow Me !"

I take from this that the Lord may have different paths for people. When we find ourselves looking around at that person or that situation, the Lord may be saying to us: " What is that to you ? You follow Me."

Comparison ( frequently) doesn't help when thinking through your life.

writing blogs or just quoting other people ?

2009-12-02T20:34:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if people actually write their own stuff or just quote other people....

so after thinking about it... I think I will ...quote Spurgeon:

"For we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon the sand of imagination; but, at the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We would bring men to Christ, and not to our own peculiar views of Christianity. Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of ministers of Christ!"

( taken from another blog of someone who didn't write their blog either, but quoted Spurgeon)

The reason I felt compelled to pass along this quote was for the phrase: " We would bring men to Christ, and not to our own peculiar views of Christianity." ( ouch)

I definitely am guilty of doing this and feel the sting of this statement. Thanks Charles for telling it like it is.

Casting lots

2009-11-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

In the book of Acts ( chapter 1) the disciples cast lots to decide on Judas replacement. Is this a legitimate way to make decisions in 2009 ? Why or why not ?

hearing the voice of God

2009-11-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

I recently listened to a message entitled: "Christianity and the danger of mysticism." It was a warning to believers about using language like : " God said to me..." or " God told me...."
So, if we are to heed this warning what do we do with passages in Scripture where the word of God says: " He told me..." " He said to me..." ?

1. Isaiah 30:21 And your ears will hear a word behind you, " This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

2. Acts 22:21 " And He said to me, 'Go ! For I will send you far away to the gentiles.'"

So it seems that people in the Bible heard God tell them to do things. Does God tell us to do things ? Yes, He obviously tells us things that are scripture verses. An example would be: " and this is the will of God that you __________________." We can say: " God said..." when we quote a Bible verse. Can we say: " God said," when we are talking about going into the teaching profession or starting a paint business ? How does God guide us ? Do we just consecrate ourselves to Him, reject unbiblical thinking, love our families and then.....do what we want ?

alternatives

2009-11-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

I used to go for walks at night through the neighborhood and experienced what I call the "blue glow" effect. This described the colors coming through the windows of the homes from the television. I don't remember ever running into anyone on the streets at night ( maybe one person in 10 years). Most people are in their homes watching tv at night. Some nights... we are too. If you have to be in front of the box at night here are some ideas for redemptive television:

1. Homeless man ( the biography of Rich Mullins) 53 minute video

2. Return to Hauna ( parts 1 and 2) part 1 is Come by here ( the story of Marilyn Lazlo who went to Papua New Guinea to translate the Bible into a native language)

3. Louie Giglio messages ( available from North Point Community Alpharetta Ga)
"Indescribable" " Alive" " Tattoo"

4. Beyond the Gates of splendor ( story of Jim Eliot) just google it

5. Transformations ( the sentinel group) documentaries about revivals in South America and Uganda

There's a part of us that just wants to be passively entertained from 8-10 pm. If this is you, try to find a way to learn during this time as well. One more note: this will cost you. It's not easy to find these things at blockbuster. However, if you want to fly with sparrows... just go outside, but if you want to find a bald eagle, you may have to climb awhile.

a glad heart

2009-10-10T07:39:00.001-07:00

Deuteronomy 28:47-48

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies...

The Lord has been showing me the need for joy in life, work and ministry. Why are we so petty and why do we complain about the smallest things ? I think because we are looking for joy in circumstances. If the joy that is in us is from the Lord, then nothing can smother it. If our joy is in good food, good feelings, good weather, good pay, no problems,etc... then we will constantly be floating in and out of joy.

the art of small talk

2009-09-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

in response to my own post...

I do think there is a place for small talk and I don't think every single conversation has to be a deep theological discussion to meet the requirements for redeeming the time.

Stephen knew the Old Testament

2009-09-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I read Acts 6-7 this morning and found about 18 things about Stephen that I thought were noteworthy. In some ways, this feels like an outlet to me. I have a desire to share truth, but those outlets are different now. Here they are:

Stephen:

1. He had a good reputation. ( 6:3)

2. He was full of the Holy Spirit. ( 6:3)

3. He was full of wisdom ( 6:3)

4. He was reliable. ( 6:3)

5. He was full of faith. ( 6:5)

6. He was full of grace. ( 6:8)

7. He was full of power. ( 6:8)

8. He faced opposition/ criticism. ( 6:9,12)

9. He could not be refuted. ( 6:10)

10. He was lied about/ falsely accused. ( 6:13)

11. He was misunderstood. ( 6:13)

12. He was ready to testify. ( 7:1) see also I Peter 3:15

13. He was bold ( whole chapter)

14. He was informed of OT history and could quote OT passages at length.

15. He was willing to confront sin. ( 7:51)

16. In a crisis, he kept his eyes on Jesus. ( 7:55) ( He had eyes of faith to see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father... did anyone else there see this ? )

17. When things turned ugly, he didn't change his mind to avoid pain /even death... he was willing to die for what he was convinced of. ( 7:58)

18. He was gracious to those who opposed him. ( 7:60)

Note: There are times when I read the word without a pen and paper and it still means something to me,however, when I write down what I read it adds so much. I can't say this enough: study with pen and paper. Write it down !

little by little

2009-09-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

I found Deut 7:22 to be very encouraging. The Lord told His people that He would conquer the nations before them and give them the land... however, it would be little by little and not all at once. This verse helped me to grab a perspective on how God works.

knowing the future

2009-09-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I ask people : " if you could know the future, would you want to know it ? "

Usually, they don't. You have chosen wisely. I think if we knew the future we would either get discouraged or become complacent. Recently I came across some good words for comfort in uncertain times...

Psalm 4:8 In peace, I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.

Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You. For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

2 Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

slow and disinterested

2009-08-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that the cure for " the blues" is to serve other people. When I am involved in caring, praying for and serving other people I feel God's pleasure and sense a real purpose that goes beyond just surviving and paying bills.

Mark 10:45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.

faith

2009-07-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Jesus said in Luke 17 that if you had faith the size of a mustard seed that you could tell a mulberry tree to move to the sea and it would obey you. Have you ever tried to move a tree before ? It's not easy. Last year I tried to move a small oleander out of our side yard and I couldn't do it. It took a large truck to move this thing after I had been digging for hours.

It seems like Jesus is saying: do you think this ____________ is impossible ? If you have faith... it can happen. I think I doubt to protect myself. I stay negative and pessimistic so I won't get my hopes up so that when it doesn't happen I can say : "well, I figured that..."

What builds your faith ? ( see Romans 10:17)

Faith comes from hearing...

and hearing by the word of Christ.

Application: how have you found ways to have Christ's word go through you ?

our stuff

2009-07-28T06:41:00.001-07:00

In Luke 14, Jesus says that if you do not give up all your possessions, you cannot be His disciple.

What does this mean ?

me myself and I

2009-07-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of Philippians 2 recently which talks about looking out for the interests of others and not just your own. So, I looked up some scripture that has to do with selfishness...

What are the explosives we use to destroy the tendency to act in a self seeking way ?

Explosive # 1 IDEAS

( Biblical ideas)

Biblical idea # 1 Jesus’ harshest condemnations were toward the Pharisees for being self indulgent.

“they clean the outside of the cup, but inside they are full of robbery and self indulgence..”

Do I want to align myself with the people Jesus often condemned for being self centered ?

Biblical idea # 2 God will “bring to an end” those who exalt themselves

Jeremiah 48:29-35 Moab was “self exalting”
V 35 “ I will make an end of Moab.”

Point: when you are selfish, you put yourself in competition with God
( see also I Samuel 2:10 Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered )

Even more: Nahum 1:9 “ Whatever you devise against the Lord, He will make a complete end of it. “

Self exalting people are in competition with God and He has said clearly in Isaiah 42:8, “ I will not share my glory with another.”

Biblical Idea # 3 Selfish people just make it worse on themselves

Isaiah 28:22 “ do not carry on as scoffers ( selfish people) or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts of decisive destruction on all the earth.”

Biblical Idea # 4 the self ( the old self) is being corrupted

Ephesians 4:22 “ that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit…”

Why get on a train headed for derailment ?

pure joy

2009-07-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

I went fishing in the mountains of northern New Mexico a few days ago and caught a few rainbow trout. I had a lot of time to think about life and the future. When I was younger, I would want to fish for 10 hours straight. As much as I still enjoy it, I found myself alone alot and wondering. What I discovered is that the thrill of catching fish for myself was not nearly as meaningful as watching my kids catch fish. When I finally got them into the river and they begin to catch fish for themselves, it was amazing. It made me think about enjoyment that is limited to yourself. It just doesn't mean as much. I read somewhere years ago that when we like something we want other people to enjoy it with us. The author said that "praise" not only expresses the enjoyment but completes it. We want to praise something/ someone and then tell someone else. Think about kids who want to tell you all about their new lego creation or the wife who wants to tell you about strawberries on sale at Albertson's. We have a desire for someone else to enjoy what we are enjoying. It really can't be just anyone... we want to tell our friends. I can tell a homeless person about the fish I caught... but if the right person sees me, then it means so much more.
Do you enjoy forgiveness for your sins ? Why don't we get more excited about telling other people about this ? I just wonder sometimes why we are so "into" the stuff we are into and yet we essentially ignore the commission Jesus gave us. I'm talking to myself here and wondering why I don't share my faith more. I'm tired, I've got too much to do, I'm intimidated and on and on... I heard someone say that in order to cast compelling vision you must be captured by that vision.

What are you captured by today ? Is the extent of your vision your wife's cooking and the remote control for 3 hours in the evening ? Is the extent of your vision an hourly wage and a three day weekend ? Do you ever stop to think about the reality of heaven and hell ? It's so easy to get focused on just "getting through the day" and paying the bills and mowing the lawn and planning the vacation and going to Sam's and cleaning the garage and ..... and ...and...

Luke 9 " He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God..."

Just John

2009-06-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

I am reading through the book of Luke right now and came across some things regarding John the Baptist:

1. if you look at chapter 3 it lists all the important people of the time and their titles.... and then the text says...." the word of the Lord came to John... in the wilderness..."

2. When the listeners asked John, " how do we bear fruit in keeping with repentance ? " this is how he responded:
1. share your stuff
2. don't be greedy
3. don't lie
4. be content with your wages

So, the next time you are wondering what God's will is for your life, you can find it in Luke 3.

mature

2009-05-21T11:18:00.001-07:00

Colossians 1:28 says: “ We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching everyone so that we may present every man complete in Christ….”

The word for complete is “telos” or “mature.”

The same thing shows up in Hebrews 5:14 : “ But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

I was talking to one of my friends in Birmingham and I asked him how he was doing spiritually and he said: “ how do you measure spiritual growth ? “ I thought this was a good question and when I thought about it, I went looking for answers in the Scriptures….here’s what I found:

A mature person is someone who exercises their gift in the church. ( Eph 4:13)
they are also equipped for service
they also equip others for service

2. I Corinthians 13 A mature person demonstrates love.

All of our giftings and knowledge without love amount to nothing.

3. A mature person works toward unity with other believers.
a. Philippians 2
b. I Corinthians 1;10
c. Amos 3:3

4. A mature person is a servant
a. Mark 10:45 “ For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. “

b.I Peter 4:11 ff

5. A mature person is mature in his thinking and an “infant” concerning evil.
a. I Cor. 14:20

6. A mature person is teachable. ( Colossians 1:28)

7. A mature person is able to discern good and evil even without a Bible verse. ( see also birth control, gambling, educational choices, etc…)
a. Hebrews 5:14

8. A wise man can receive correction. ( multiple proverbs)

9. A mature person brings forth vegetation. ( Hebrews 6)

- It makes sense to me that this would be related to Galatians 5 ( fruit of the Spirit)
- Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control

10. A mature person is diligent ( not sluggish)

a. Hebrews 6:11-12

11. Mature people are people who give.

- Matthew 5:42 “ Give to him who asks you…”

12. Mature people love their enemies. ( Matthew 5:44)

13. Mature people pray for those who persecute them. ( Luke 6)

problem of evil

2009-05-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

Topic: The problem of evil

How can the Bible be true when we know that there are babies who die, and people get cancer and are killed by Tsunamis ? If God is in “control of everything” how do you account for pain and suffering that seems to have been caused by Him ?

This question has been asked for a long time and there are no easy answers. The short answer is this:

In order for things like love, freedom and enjoyment to exist, there must necessarily be pain, evil and suffering.

Ok, that being said we also have to establish this: what will be the basis for our truth ? The question is not : “ what is truth ? “ but a better question is : “ where do we go to find truth ? “ The El Paso times ? Inside of ourselves ? God’s word ? What will we accept as an authoritative word on life ? I am convinced of the truth of God’s word and here are some thoughts from the Bible that specifically address the question of pain and suffering in the world:

# 1 Isaiah 45: 6-7 “ I am the Lord, there is no other; besides Me there is no God. ( I am) the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”

( comment: God does not apologize for natural disasters but takes responsibility for them.)

# 2 Genesis 6:17 God states that He will bring a flood on the earth to destroy people.

( comment: Even still, He saves Noah and his family.)

#3. Amos 3:6 “ If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it ? “

( again: The Lord states without apology… “ I brought this about…” )

#4. John 9:1-5 The disciples were walking with Jesus and they came across a blind man and asked Him ( Jesus), “ who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind ? “ Jesus answered: “ It was neither this man nor his parents that sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in Him.”

#5. Luke 13 A tower fell on some people. Jesus comments: “ Do you think that these people were worse sinners than other people ? I tell you ‘no’ but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

( comment: Jesus really doesn’t answer the question of why this happened. He just says this should motivate us to repent so we are ready for death. )

Ok, there are several verses that seem to make God out to be a mean person, but think about this way. What if you built a house for yourself and then put a guest house out back with a pool ? You invited some friends to stay in your guest house and use your pool. You gave them a hospitality bar that was fully loaded and you paid all of their bills for them. You gave them a car, paid their insurance and provided them with daily meals.
After all this kindness, they begin to come into your house and steal from your wallet. They never clean up after themselves. They even got to the point where they took your debit card and put you in financial bind because of excess spending. They ran up excessive cell phone bills and abused just about everything you gave them. At some point you would say: “ that’ s it “ and kick them out. When you tried to do this, they got so angry they assaulted your daughters and attempted murder on some of your family members.
Needless to say, your relationship with these people would be broken. You might even want to commit acts of violence against them.

I see this world as God’s house. He gave us fruit, vegetables, cattle, sunlight, rain, scenic overlooks ,taste buds, ears, the ability to touch, warm coffee, and pick up basketball games. At the same time, God in His infinite wisdom has said ( about some things) ,
“ these things will hurt you” in the same way a parent says to a child: “ don’t play in the street.”

What have we done with God’s gifts and God’s rules ? We have abused the gifts and broken the rules.

A brief look at world history reveals that some cultures have practiced child sacrifice, bestiality and a whole list of sins that shouldn’t even be described here ( see El Paso Times). The book of John says that Jesus was full of grace and truth. Grace to forgive sin, but truth to say that there are things that are always right and things that are always wrong.

This is an incomplete thought but in the same way that a child cannot always under a spanking, humans cannot understand how God deals with people who reject Him. I cannot explain why God is merciful to some and not others. I don’t have my own answers to why 100,000 people die in the pacific rim because of a tsunami. All I have is what God’s word says. I don’t fully understand the mind of God, and if I could, He would no longer be God.

Summary: You have wisdom that a 2 year old does not have. You tell that child, “ don’t play in the street.” The child doesn’t understand and if he persists in going into the street, the parent spanks the child. We would also say that the punishment rhymes with the crime. God is an infinite being and to sin against Him deserves an infinite punishment. This is the bad news, but it’s not all the Bible has to say about our condition. God has provided a solution to this problem. I believe God’s word teaches that God did punish someone: His own son. Jesus took the punishment that we deserved and offers us a restored relationship with our Creator.

“ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
( 2 Peter 3:9)

This relationship that is offered to us cannot be earned by doing good things but is a gift that eliminates all boasting. If salvation were by good works, why would Christ have to suffer and die ?

Afterthoughts:

If you had authority over a group of people ( and you actually created them ) … how are you going to feel when they not only reject you but murder your son ?

If we enjoy love…. then the other side of that is hatred.

3. We have American “lenses” that we interpret events through. Our idea of fairness comes from a Texan, American sense of fairness. Does this line up with what God has written in His word ? I see the issue of “evil and suffering in the world” very much related to our source of truth. What do we think is ultimately true ? Does truth come from our “gut reaction” to what is fair based on our opinion or God’s word ?

4. I am disturbed by the news that “innocent” people died from various causes. But I would seriously question whether they were really “innocent” ? Innocent according to who ? ( The El Paso police dept ? ) Who sets the terms for who is innocent and who is guilty ? If God has revealed His mind to us, what have we done with that revelation ?

Carl

husks

2009-05-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

" Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ's purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards."

J Campbell White

( qtd in Desiring God by John Piper page 222)

thoughts on the family

2009-05-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Taken from New International Dictionary of Theology ( Colin Brown - roots of education)

Vol 3 page 776

“ The OT bears witness to God’s self revelation to Israel and intervention in his life. In response to His love and care for the chosen people, He expects in return trust and obedience. The priestly nation is to be stamped with God’s nature, and to become increasingly fitted for the sphere of His holiness. The trouble that God has with His people forces Him to severe disciplinary measures, or chastening. But God does not educate in order to achieve an ideal; He watches over His people’s faithfulness, which He intends should flow from trust and from that constant readiness to hear and truly listen which arises from obedience ( to the prophetic message). This education by God, which Israel is ever trying to escape, although for its own good, is shared equally by all members of the nation. There is no special religious education of the young. It is God who educates, and the upbringing of children takes place within the sphere of this God who instructs in love and punishes because of the recalcitrance of His own.
The educational aim of God is to lead His people ( ministry not tyranny) to the realization that they owe their existence to the saving will of Yahweh alone, and therefore owe obedience to their divine instructor ( Deut. 8:1-6). “

Stop – take a breath ---

Page 777

“How does the education of the young proceed in Israel ? God commands that they obey their parents, who are next to Him in importance. The father acts like a priest to the family. He hands on the tradition to the family; he does so in answer to the question of his children ( see Exodus 12:26 ff), and his answer is a confession of God’s saving activity towards Israel. The children are told of this not only in words, but also by means of impressive signs in the form of monumental stones ( Joshua 4:6,21). Education takes place in the execution of justice ( see Achan /and Deut 21:21), and in the teaching of the law. There is no theory of education, no special institutions; but the young become accustomed to the life of the nation, which stands under the loving discipline of God. Watching and listening, they enter into the inheritance of their forefathers. For he who hears aright will obey.”

update

2009-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in Rudy's BBQ right now using space on their free wi fi network. It's really hard to sit here and not go to the counter and request about 3 pounds of moist brisket...you know the kind that slides down your throat and comforts you in times of trial. The boys are by my side soaking in a few precious wi fi moments themselves. We chose deliberately to not have internet at the house and so in order to surf the web we go hunting for free wi fi signs.

As I read through the gospels and notice all of the people that Jesus healed there seems to be a thread:
" Go, your faith has made you well." Jesus really focused in on the faith of those who were seeking to be healed. His first priority was not physical healing but that their sins would be forgiven and that they understand His mission was not to be a miracle worker but to establish their hearts in faith toward God. I remember hearing someone say :" When you put your faith in God, you see the results of His power." When I read the Psalms, I feel a kinship with those who wrote: " It is better to trust in the Lord than to put your trust in man." There's a song by Ross King called: "Anchor." I highly recommend this song and the rest of the cd... it's called " Perhaps I've said too much." ( available on i tunes)

email

2009-04-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

If you recently sent me a message on facebook, I would be glad to respond through my email account. I would welcome emails but didn't feel like I could manage facebook as well.

off the grid

2009-04-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have been off the grid for awhile...which isn't all bad. I have time to think now during my daily commute to work and I just wonder how many people we can have meaningful relationships with in the course of our life. I am thinking of a verse I can't place right now but I think it goes something like this: " a man of many friends will come to ruin...." I will have to get a concordance. I do believe that Luke 6:26 says: " Woe to you when all men speak well of you for this is how they treated the false prophets." In the course of a day with work, family, the word and prayer I don't see how it's realistic to maintain so many friendships. I don't mean this in an isolated way or to be rude... just confused by it. I have emailed people or called people who never wrote back and never called back. I don't think I'm angry because I see that there's a limit to one person's capacity. It could be that I'm the lazy one....

Anyway, I have experienced times of loneliness and know the desire for authentic community. I believe God wired us for relationships and to be encouraged by each other. I think my expectations are definitely unrealistic at times when it comes to what a Biblical friendship looks like. I just read the story of Jonathan and David and was impressed by their loyalty to each other. I think we all want something like this. What's interesting is that the harder you try for a friendship, the more it seems to elude you. However, if you relax and live before the Lord, the friendships seem to have their proper place.

I guess I wrote this blog after looking at facebook for 5 minutes. A word to facebook people: is this a tool for you or an idol ? I think it's fair to ask that question. I have to ask that question about other areas in my life too.

weird

2009-04-04T13:21:00.003-07:00

I just wrote an entire blog, published it and then the computer erased it.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away

Take inventory

2009-04-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

eli

2009-03-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

I am humbled by Eli. If you haven't read this story in a while, I encourage to look at I Samuel again. Samuel receives a revelation from the Lord concerning Eli and Eli says: " let me have it... don't hold back anything."

Samuel then says: " God is going to judge you because of how you have raised your sons..."

Eli's response: " It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him." "

I am troubled by this passage and at the same time I admire Eli's response. Can you say that about your situation today:

"It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him."

update March 16

2009-03-16T08:18:00.001-07:00

Today's mercies are for today's troubles.

" Part of saving faith is the assurance that you will have faith tomorrow."

" Trusting Christ today includes trusting Him to give you tomorrow's trust when tomorrow comes. Often we feel today like our reservoir of strength is not going to last for another day. The fact is, it won't. Today's resources are for today and part of those resources is the confidence that new resources will be given tomorrow. "

( see I Corinthians 10:13)

* adapted from A Godward Life by John Piper

blogworthy quote 2

2009-02-16T12:09:00.001-08:00

“ No amount of fees paid to learned doctors and no amount of classics received in return, appear to us to be evidences of a call from above. True and genuine piety is necessary as the first indispensable requisite; whatever “call” a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.”

Charles Spurgeon “ Lectures to my students” page 3

blogworthy quote 1

2009-02-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

“ I read the other day, that no phase of evil presented so marvelous a power for destruction, as the unconverted minister of a parish, with a 1200.00 organ, a choir of ungodly singers, and an aristocratic congregation. It was the opinion of the writer, that there could be no greater instrument for damnation than that. People go to their place of worship and sit down comfortably, and think they must be Christians, when all the time all that their religion consists in, is listening to an orator, having their ears tickled with music, and perhaps their eyes amused with graceful action and fashionable manners; the whole being no better than what they hear and see at the opera ….
Thousands are congratulating themselves , and even blessing God that they are devout worshipers, when at the same time they are living in an unregenerate Christless state, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. He who presides over a system which aims at nothing higher than formalism, is far more a servant of the devil than a minister of God. “

( Lectures to my students Charles Spurgeon page 6)

update

2009-02-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

It's interesting when you stop to think about this question: " what is newsworthy ?"

When I read end of year reports, I usually see numbers and statistics, events participated in, and the like. What's to report ? I suppose I was really encouraged about a month ago when I came home from the store.

Back ground first: We have been in need of a major overhaul on landscaping, but we were waiting for the right time. We had a massive amount of rock in the yard that needed to be hauled off. Have you ever tried to do this with a shovel ? It's like trying to mow 10 lawns with a pair of scissors. So, I come home from the store and I notice my neighbor has a bobcat next to his house ( the kind of machine that moves much rock). So, I say, " Hi Joe" and he volunteers his bobcat to move our rock around. WOW ! I didn't even bring it up... he initiated it. So, the next day, he pushes most of our rock into 3 piles in the front yard and removes a rock wall we needed removed. This was worth quite a bit of dinero. So, I call another friend... he gives me the name of a man with a truck and he comes and removes the piles for a very fair price. So, our landscaping is at least removed for now and we are preparing for the next phase.

Moral of the story: Those who wait on the Lord, will get their strength renewed. We are thankful for how God uses people to participate in our lives.

Also: I made a commitment in June of 2006, to read God's word every day. As a result of that commitment, I feel like my life has changed dramatically. I realize that we all sort of have this goal as a good idea, but when we actually do it, there are rewards that cannot be typed out in a blog of this size. My prayer for you, o reader of the blog, is that you would see the value of reading / studying God's word every day. I have found that if this does not happen in the morning, it becomes next to impossible.

Also: I have witnessed first hand, the value of praying for my kids. I have seen changes in them that have helped me keep going. They certainly have a long way to go, but I am thankful for "setbacks" and "delays" that worked together for their good.

Also: I have found that if you are an irritable person, you will find much to irritate you. As I look around and observe the people who are easily angered I find myself saying: " Lord, don't let me be like that."

Does God have 2 wills ?

2009-02-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how God can desire one thing and yet determine that another thing actually come to pass ?

I have too.

This is an article by John Piper called : " Does God have two wills ? " I found it helpful in explaining the relationship between man's responsibility and Divine sovereingty.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1580_Are_There_Two_Wills_in_God/

found it

2009-01-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

I just googled

" The blessedness of possessing nothing" by Tozer ... here's the link

http://www.theboc.com/freestuff/awtozer/books/the_pursuit_of_god/bless_possess_nothing.html

suggestion

2009-01-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

If you can get a copy of " The Pursuit of God" by AW Tozer I highly recommend reading chapter 2 : " The blessedness of possessing nothing."

do we have enemies ?

2009-01-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

I try to keep a book by the bed so that before I go to sleep, I just meditate on something worthwhile.

I was reading David Wells ..." The Courage to be Protestant" and came across these statements:

" Today, prodigious amounts of energy are being poured into this effort ( of re thinking the church). Everything, it seems, must be rethought ! We must rethink how it becomes successful ! We must rethink it all because this is what businesses have to do. Their products are all the time dying as new niches and needs arise. So it is in the church. Rethink or die !

The church is not our creation. It is not our business. We are not called upon to manage it. It is not there for us to advance our careers in it. It is not there for our own success. It is not a business. The church was never our idea in the first place. No, it is not the church we need to rethink. Rather it is our thoughts about the church that need to be rethought. It is the church's faithfulness that needs to be reexamined. It is its faithfulness to who it is in Christ, its faithfulness in living out its life in the world, that should be occupying us. "

( page 222-223)

Later he mentions the idea of impacting the culture and I like this:

" Churches that want to influence their culture are so often tempted to think that to be effective they must hide their otherworldliness and become slickly this-worldly.
Churches that actually do influence the culture --- here is the paradox --- distance themselves from it in their internal life. They do not offer what can already be had on secular terms in the culture. They stand outside of its life. "

He continues:

" The temptation the church always experiences is to be like the world. It is the temptation to enjoy the comfort of a majority, to be at home, to be at peace, to have no enemies. However, if the church is to be truly successful, it must be unlike anything else we find in life. As a result, it will undoubtedly make enemies."

( page 224)

freed up

2009-01-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

There are certain passages that should free us up from worry, anxiety and the like. One of those is Job 14:5

" Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You, and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass."

Job really had a perspective on God's providence that few of us have. We still go into fits of rage and battle depression and worry when calamity comes. Job knew that God had appointed a certain number of days for us. I think this verse helps me hold on loosely. When riches increase... the Bible says... do not set your heart on them. Paul says: " I have learned how to do without..."

Honestly, how much of our time is spent worrying about money ? ( or planning how to make more) The message from Job to me is this: whether I have alot or little... whether I die today or 50 years from now, God is in control of my life. This is such a freeing concept to me. Who am I afraid of ? What am I afraid of ? Why would we grab and hoard ?

Psalm 65:9 ff You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it... You have crowned the year with Your goodness.

God is good.

acceptable offerings 2

2008-12-17T17:07:00.001-08:00

It seems to me that Isaiah 56 speaks of it here:

1. those who minister to Him
2. those who love the name of the Lord
3. those who are His servants
4. those who keep from profaning the Sabbath

I ended up in Isaiah 56 after reading Malachi. I find it interesting that in all of God's statements in Malachi... they basically boil down to this: money management and marriage. He is concerned about your marriage and how you spend your money. It's less about finding the right animal to sacrifice and more about being the right kind of worshipper.

acceptable offerings

2008-12-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 56:6 speaks of the foreigner who joins himself to the Lord. I like what it has to say about God's attitude toward our "offerings."

God sums it up in verse 7 : " their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar..."

So, here's the question: What kind of offering does God find acceptable ?

the stuff of the universe

2008-12-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

This is for the next time that you think you are out of time, money and stuff:

" If you are selfish and make yourself and your own private interests your idol, God will leave you to yourself and let you promote your own interests as well as you can. But if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ's, and things of your fellow beings, then God will make your interest and happiness His own charge, and He is infinitely more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at His bidding and He can easily command them all to serve your welfare."

He sums up: " So ... not to seek your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of seeking your own in a better sense. It is the most direct course you can take to secure your highest happiness."

Again: The resources of the universe move at His bidding and He can easily command them all to serve your welfare.

( Taken from Charity and its Fruits Jonathan Edwards page 184)

boredom

2008-11-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

I am definitely a product of the things I read. I was just sitting here thinking about why people blog and why people take the time to read blogs. I think we have a God given hunger for relationships and we are curious/interested in what someone else is thinking, doing, planning, etc. I read blogs. What am I after ? What am I seeking when I do this ? I don't feel bored necessarily, maybe just passive. I do admire those who have drunk deeply from God's word and can bring back some treasures for me to look at ( maybe this is part of it.) Maybe I admire their courage to say what I was thinking and what I agree with.
Anyway, I happened to remember this section from Frederick Buechner and it's reprinted below:

" You can be bored by virtually anything, if you put your mind to it, or choose not to. You can yawn your way through Don Giovanni or a trip to the Grand Canyon or afternoon with your dearest friend or a sunset. There are doubtless those who nodded off at the coronation of Napoleon or the trial of Joan of Arc or when Shakespeare appeared at the Globe in Hamlet or Lincoln delivered himself of a few remarks at Gettysburg. To be bored is to turn down cold whatever life happens to be offering you at the moment. It is to cast a jaundiced eye at life in general including most of all your own life. You feel nothing is worth getting excited about because you are yourself not worth getting excited about. To be bored is a way of making the least of things you often have a sneaking suspicion you need the most. "

( Buechner p 142 Listening to your life)

I think being bored is a symptom that you are not satisfied with God and that you're not engaged in the mission of God. I am thinking of I Corinithians 7:29 ff " But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none and those who weep as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away."

I want to be involved in the things that will not pass away.

morph 2

2008-11-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

meant to add this to previous post:

" When morphing happens, I don't just do the things Jesus would have done; I find myself wanting to do them. They appeal to me. They make sense. I don't just go around trying to do right things; I become the right sort of person."

( John Ortberg The Life you always wanted page 23)

morph

2008-11-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

I spend time reading dictionaries that explain greek words and so every once in a while I come across things that I get excited about.

How do we change ? How do we really become "conformed to the image of His Son" ? ( Romans 8:29)

Here's the progression of thought that I saw this morning:

1. John 6 Jesus says " No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him."

so...How are we drawn to Him? ( I looked up the word "drawn" 'and it shows up again in John 12:32)

Jesus said: " and I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to Myself."

We are drawn to Jesus when He is lifted up from the earth. Now, connect John 6:40 and 2 Cor 3:18 .... both of these talk about " beholding Jesus."

POINT: When we " behold/see" Jesus, we are transformed.

How do we see Jesus ? John 3:3 "unless one is born again... he cannot see..."

We have to find ways to keep Jesus in view. We must say like the Psalmist: " I have set the Lord continually before me.... because He is at my right hand, I will never be shaken." Psalm 16:8

Suggestion: Instead of watching a movie this Saturday night... spend 1 hour meditating on John 6 and write down 20 observations. Go for a walk and ask the Lord to invade your life. Insist on being real in His presence and resolve to live with integrity within the walls of your house.

out of the mouths of babes

2008-10-30T10:22:00.001-07:00

My family was traveling to Hereford last weekend and we were driving through Alamogordo when my youngest son ( 8 years old) wanted to stop and eat at Subway. I explained to him multiple times that we brought food in our cooler and that we were emphatically not stopping. After several back and forth comments I said: " Matthew, what's the difference ? You can fill your stomach with what we have already paid for or go spend money at Subway....why do you feel like we need to spend more money right now ? " He said: " But Dad, these are trained professionals ! "

sand

2008-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if this is in an earlier blog but it it still worth putting down again.

So here it is:

" Do not forget this. At first it is natural for a baby to take its mother's milk without knowing its mother. It is equally natural for us to see the man who helps us without seeing Christ behind him. But we must not remain babies. We must go on to recognize the real Giver. It is madness not to. Because, if we do not, we shall be relying on human beings. And that is going to let us down. The best of them will make mistakes; all of them will die. We must be thankful to all the people who have helped us, we must honor and love them. But never, never pin your whole faith on any human being; not if he is the best and wisest in the world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it. "

( CS Lewis p494 A Collection of works)

PS You can't build on sand unless you are on a Casas Por Cristo trip in Juarez, Mexico.

stir up

2008-10-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

2 Peter 1:13 " I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder.

I wanted to stir up this verse in your mind : Colossians 3:23.

" Whatever you do ( let that soak in), do your work ( how ?) HEARTILY .... for who?
as for the Lord, and not for men. "

I don't know your situation,but this verse should be in our minds often.

Thompson Chain

2008-10-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what you think of the Thompson chain reference, but I like the way it prints the whole verse out in the concordance.

This morning I looked up the word complaining ( from Philipp 2:14).

God has made it clear that the murmuring in the desert from the children of Israel was displeasing to Him. Even Proverbs 15:16 says: " Better a little with the fear of the Lord that great wealth with turmoil."

Paul: Philippians 4:11 " I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

I Timothy 6:8 " If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content."

I Corinthians 10:10 " And do not grumble, as some of them did-- and were killed by the destroying angel."

God has shown me through His word that I complain too much. This morning was incredible and I felt through just about every sense I have that the Lord is good and it's good to be alive. It's good to wake up hungry and be satisfied with Cascadian Farms cinnamon raisin granola. It's good to see the sun shining in its strength and get an audio visual of Revelation 1 where John describes Jesus in His glorified state. It's good to remember that our bodies will someday be redeemed and we will be like Jesus ( able to see Him as He is).

Why don't I think on these things more often ?

hope

2008-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

There are days and events and people that make you long for heaven. I have been thinking alot lately about Romans 8:19-25 and the groaning that we experience here while waiting for the redemption of our bodies and I came across something from Jonathan Edwards that I wanted to reprint here... ( it's worth reading) :

" You that are poor, and think yourself despised by your neighbors and little cared for among men, do not much concern yourselves for this. Do not care much for the friendship of the world; but seek heaven, where there is no such thing as contempt, and where none are despised, but all are highly esteemed and honoured, and dearly beloved by all. You think you have met with many abuses, and much ill treatment from others.... care not for it. Do not hate them for it, but set your heart on heaven, that world of love and press toward that better country, where all is kindness and holy affection."
Taken from Jonathan Edwards " Charity and its fruits" page 365

7 minutes on the ipod

2008-10-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

The previous post about my perspective change was influenced by 7 minutes in the pickup listening to a podcast by Alistair Begg. He was quoting another pastor who brought that perspective about God's providence. I know I am not in the grip of blind forces and I am convinced I am not floating on a sea of chance. I am being trained in the school of God's providence.

This is why I recommend something... instead of listening to the music you normally do... put some podcasts on your ipod and listen to God's word taught by true prophets. Even 7 minutes can do you good.
( I am no way advocating 7 minutes is sufficient... but don't underestimate the "immeasurable moment" )

Perspective change

2008-10-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Thankful

It takes some time to be in a place to recognize the value of everything that is happening/ has happened in your life. I have been put in a position to deal with things that I wasn't dealing with before. I am thankful for God's leading in my life and regret that I have complained internally about my perceived losses. I still feel a certain sense of loss, but at the same time I realize that I am here by God's appointment, under His care and here for the length of time that He has determined.

Romans 8:18 For I consider that our sufferings in this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

the power of a new affection

2008-09-10T14:41:00.001-07:00

I was reading Jerry Bridges’ book Respectable Sins and came across a phrase in it : “ the expulsive power of a new affection.” Thomas Chalmers preached a sermon with this title years ago. I like this sermon title. It really brings home a thought that we are all aware of :

WHEN WE WANT SOMETHING REALLY BAD, WE FIND A WAY TO GET IT
( or spend much effort trying to make it happen)

We obey our highest desire. I know of teenagers who constantly said they had no money for youth retreats or camps, however, if ( fill in band name) had a concert nearby they managed to find the time and money to make that happen. They applied for scholarships for youth events but would go buy gold necklaces ( etc). I am not just using an example… these things really happened. I have witnessed stadiums full of people on Saturday for a football game and empty pews Sunday morning for a church gathering. Why is this ? People make time ( and pay for) what they value. So, if your spiritual life is lagging and you find yourself constantly beset by sin it’s time to ask some hard questions. What do you value ? What is your highest desire ? My implication is NOT that it is sinful to attend a football game. My point is that we make time for and we can suddenly afford the things we love. I am guilty of the things I am ranting and raving about right now. I have made excuses for my sin and they were just as lame as the excuses that I have been irritated by in others.

So, what now ? Is this just another rant by another frustrated pastor ? Is there hope for change ? Can we really have the type of integrity that we cry out to God for in prayer ?

I believe people can change. What’s the prescription for change ? I think part of the answer is in Romans 8:13
” for if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Do you want a fulfilling life that overflows with joy ? Put to death the deeds of the body by the power of the Holy Spirit. Be killing sin or it will be killing you.

( see John Owen “ Triumph over Temptation” )

question for the blogging community

2008-09-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

In Luke 17 the disciples said to Jesus: " Increase our faith"

How do we do this ?

I'm really asking the question.

from Josh

2008-09-08T09:48:00.001-07:00

I used an illustration about our attitude toward God's word yesterday in church. I said: " Our boys have a subscription to lego magazine and when it comes in the mail they are very enthusiastic about reading it." I then said, " I don't know why we get this because it just makes them want more legos...maybe we should cancel this subscription."

After the sermon, Josh said: " were you joking about cancelling that subscription ?" I said: "yes." His reply was: " that's coarse joking."

unrestricted study

2008-08-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

I am not proud to admit this but it seems like it's hard to find study time that doesn't have a string attached to it. I'm talking about reading or study that is "free." Even my quiet times begin to feel obligatory and my sermon prep can feel like "work" at times. So, I just resolved that I would sit down for a few minutes and read a passage of Scripture that I wasn't preaching on and wasn't part of my quiet time. I read I Thessalonians 1 for awhile and then got distracted by a book on my shelf called " Spiritual Depression" by Martyn LLoyd Jones.
( by the way, I did have a good time reading I Thessalonians 1 and I will speak to that later)

From Spiritual Depression... he's talking about Paul's statements in Philippians 4 with regard to the idea of contentment.

here's the line of thinking ( Philipp 4)

1. Conditions are always changing, therefore, I must not be dependent on conditions.

2. What matters supremely and vitally is my soul and my relationship to God --- that is the first thing.

3. God is concerned about me as my Father, and nothing happens to me apart from God. Even the very hairs on my head are numbered. I must never forget that.

4. God's will and God's ways are a mystery, but I know that whatever He wills or permits is of necessity for my good.

5. Every situation in life is the unfolding of some manifestation of God's love and goodness.

6. Whatever my conditions may be at this present moment they are only temporary, they are only passing, and they can never rob me of the joy and the glory that ultimately await me with Christ.

Here's the passage in Philippians 4 ( we always quote verse 13 but do we know v11- 12 ?)

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abudance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

What about you ? Have you learned how to be content ?

inner man

2008-08-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting to see how scripture relates to other scripture... for example:

Paul says in Romans 7:22 that he joyfully concurs with the law of God in the inner man. So, I look up "inner man" and find the same phrase in 2 Cor 4:16 ..." though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day..."

Really ? How ? How is the inner man being renewed ? I thought Romans 12:1-2 would answer that question and it did somewhat. Don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... so that you can prove what the will of God is. How else can you renew your mind except on God's word ? So then I looked up "renew" and found it in Isaiah 40:31

" Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength..." Ok... thanks... but what is waiting on God and how do I do it ?

Again, I'm still searching and then I come across this:

The hebrew word for "wait" means to look for with eager expectation. Waiting means that we express our faith in God and look for Him to rescue us. ( This brings honor to Him if you remember from Psalm 50... Call upon Me in the day of trouble.)

" Those who wait in true faith are renewed in strength SO THAT they can continue to serve the Lord while looking for His saving work." ( Harris Theo Wordbook of the OT)

One more time: " Those who wait in true faith are renewed in strength SO THAT they can continue to serve the Lord while looking for His saving work."

So,if you live in ( fill in city) .... you can continue in the work God has for you since God promises to renew your strength. This strength is found by being in His presence and allowing His word to renew you.

What is keeping you from "continuing to serve the Lord" ?

1. Criticism

2. your own sin

3. laziness

4. lack of faith

5. depression

6. fatigue

I don't know what it is for you, but I am telling you that their is new strength to be found when you "wait" on God. If you don't know what this means, then read Psalm 25 and Psalm 27 in one sitting and ask God for the wisdom to understand what it means to wait on Him.

Waiting on God in the desert,

Carl

hard and crusty cooking utensils

2008-08-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

" The flesh is the outlook oriented towards the self, that which pursues its own ends in self sufficient independence of God." ( Colin Brown )

When I think about my experiences, the most satisfying are those when I "lose" myself in the service of God and others. I always start out thinking that I really don't want to do this, but afterwards, it's rewarding. I went home for lunch today and sat at the table looking at our kitchen. I decided I could either sit there and read the Sunday paper or clean it up. It may seem like a small thing to you, but there really was some satisfaction in serving that I don't find in fleshly indulgence. There is a traitor in my body called the flesh and it is continually seeking ways to undermine the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Lately, the troubles come from destructive thoughts. How do you "wage war" with this "mole" ?

Here's what I saw in I Chronicles this morning: David ( in chap 29) is praying about the transfer of leadership to Solomon and he prays this...

" For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You." ( I Chron 29:15)

Did you read that right ? Whatever we have is God's anyway, and when we give... we really just give back to God what He already gave us. How ironic that we think we have rights, our own stuff, or our own abilities. It all belongs to Him. He gave it to us and is honored when we give it back to Him.

update

2008-08-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Lessons learned :

1. don't hit "send" on an email until you are sure you want to send it

2. dont' say " he said" unless you know he really said it

3. if you have to get behind on things, don't get behind on prayer

4. take your kids to a grassy park and play games with them occasionally

5. fathers: take initiative in leading your family in spiritual discussions ( use the Bible)

6. read Christian biography

7. pray that God will raise up friends for you

8. stop drinking cokes --- they are like drinking paint thinner

9. use a pen and paper when you study the Bible

10. get an ipod and listen to sermons in the car

11. put weights on your trampoline ( legs) .... ours blew out of our backyard and into our neighbor's dining room window

12. try to find out both sides of the story ( if possible)

we forget

2008-08-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

I read Mark 8 today about the feeding of the 4000. The same disciples who witnessed the feeding of the 5000, make this comment when the same scenario presents itself:

" Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people ? "

Are you joking ? Did you not just see Jesus feed 5000 men a few chapters earlier. Even Jesus comments to the disciples: " Do you have a hardened heart ? "

It seems to me that a hardened heart is one thing that grieves Jesus. The text even says that Jesus " sighed deeply" when the Pharisees came to Him with their unbelieving attitude. It's possible for 2 people to witness an event and one completely misses the miracle in what happened.

What's the difference ? Why do some people see and others don't ?

So here's my question for you: have you forgotten past miracles in your life ? Are you facing "insurmountable odds " again ? What is your attitude like ? Are you like the disciples ?

" Where will we get bread for all these ? " or are you saying in your heart: " I know whom I have believed and I am confident that He will take care of me."

Don't forget in the dark what you learned in the light. Keep a journal, go back and read your old journals. Read the Psalms:

1. Psalm 140: 7 O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.

2. Psalm 144:1 Blessed be the Lord , my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle ...

when you don't know what to do

2008-07-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

I read in I Chronicles 19 this morning and came across the story of Joab and his brother Abshai.

They were facing a difficult situation in combat with the enemy coming at them from both directions. Here's what Joab said: " Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight." ( I Chronicles 19:13)

I just sat and looked at that phrase for awhile: " be strong, and show ourselves courageous... may the Lord do what is good in His sight."

Even if you don't know what to do, you can be strong and let the Lord do what seems good to Him. Don't be paralyzed by indecision. Obey what you can see in Scripture.

why you should read the dictionary

2008-07-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

We take for granted that we understand certain Bible passages. I've said it before and I will say it again:
read slowly ... eat the Bible -- chew it over and over

Romans 7:1-6 was never really a fascinating passage to me. I usually skipped over it on my way to Romans 7:14-25 ( because I felt this way more often). The first part of Romans 7:1-6 is amazing. It is true what one man said: " The word of God does not yield its fruit to the lazy."

So here it is: death decisively changes our relationship to someone/ something

Lee Harvey Oswald was never put on trial for the death of JFK ... why ? Because he died.

Sin picks up the law of God and uses it like a machete to chop off our limbs. Sin is always ( like the lemur said in Madagascar): " interrupting our parties and ripping our limbs off. "

In a way that is difficult to explain a Christian's death took place through Christ and here are the results of that death:
1. freedom from the law's power to condemn us ( we have been forgiven, restored, redeemed)

2. we have been joined to another ( our new husband is Christ ... spiritually speaking)

3. we can now bear fruit for God

4. we can now serve in the newness of the Spirit

I really latched on to the idea of us bearing fruit for God and I thought how does this happen ? It can only happen if we die. Fruit bearing happens when seeds die.

Listen to this : " Jesus' death is the soil out of which rich fruit grows ( see John 12:24) ; His death on the cross brings about redemption for men. As the vine, He sends out life giving power to the branches ( remember who the branches are ?) This power is the power to believe God's word. Some call it faith.
Man ( by himself) can accomplish moral and technical achievements by his natural gifts. However... the fruit of the gospel --that which God expects from man -- can only grow from the soil of obedience, which essentially consists in recognition of the bond between Creator and creature, established by the death of Christ. He ( man) no longer needs to consider his own achievements. Freed from the anxiety of failure, he is capable of the highest endeavor ( more fruit) . CHECK THIS OUT: Because the source of his capacity to bear fruit lies outside himself, the yield is certain. It counts and remains for eternal life (John 15:16). "

These ideas came from a dictionary believe it or not. ( Colin Brown's Dictionary of NT Theology page 723 vol 1) I am encouraged by that last statement: bearing fruit is certain because the source is God, not me.

I am constantly thinking of ways to stop thinking about myself. This passage in Romans reminds me that if I really want to bear fruit to God a death has to take place : namely, my death.

God takes joy seriously

2008-06-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

Psalm 100:2 says " Serve the Lord with gladness." I wrote in the margin: " What if I don't ?"

Then for some reason, I wrote next to it Deut 28:47-48

It says: " Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things ; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you."

Basically... if I dont' serve with gladness... I will serve my enemies. This tells me that God takes joy very seriously. He is opposed to our complaining and murmuring.

Are you serving with gladness or a bitter spirit ?

busy people

2008-06-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

“Just look for a moment at our daily routine. In general we are very busy people. We have many meetings to attend, many visits to make, many services to lead. Our calendars are filled with appointments, our days and weeks filled with engagements, and our years filled with plans and projects. There is seldom a period in which we do not know what to do, and we move through life in such a distracted way that we do not even take the time to rest and wonder if any of the things we think, say, or do are worth thinking, saying and doing. We simply go along with many of the ‘musts’ and ‘oughts’ that have been handed to us and we live with them as if they were authentic translations of the gospel of our Lord. People must be motivated to come to church, youth must be entertained, money must be raised, and above all everyone must be happy. Moreover, we must be on good terms with church and civil authorities; we ought to be liked by a majority of the congregation; we ought to move up in the ranks according to schedule; and we ought to have enough vacation and salary to live a comfortable life. Thus we are busy people and just like all other busy people, rewarded with the rewards which are rewarded to busy people.

Why is this so ? Why do the children of light so easily become conspirators with the darkness ? The answer is quite simple. Our identity is at stake. Who am I ? I am the one who is liked, praised, admired,disliked, hated or despised. Whether I am a pianist, a businessman, or a pastor, what matters is how I am perceived by my world. If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failing and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same – more work, more money, more friends. It has been said that anger and greed are the sour fruits of our worldly dependencies. What else is anger than the impulsive response to the experience of being deprived ? When my sense of self depends on what others say of me, anger is quite a natural reaction to a critical word. And when my sense of self depends on what I can acquire, greed flares up when my desires are frustrated.

Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families, who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger, but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face and the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull, it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ. “

Taken from “ The Way of the Heart” by Henri Nouwen page 22-24

on female dress

2008-06-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

I found this in article written between 161 -230 A.D. buy a man named Tertullian :

here's an excerpt:

" But why should you be a danger to your neighbor ? Why should you excite him in lustful desires ? In amplifying His law God makes no distinction of penalty between lust and fornication, and it will scarcely be that they escape punishment who have been to another the cause of perdition. That other, as soon as he has lusted after your beauty and in his mind committed the lustful act, perishes; and you have been made the sword of his destruction. "

He goes on to address why women change their appearance ? " Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's skill in crafting them. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things..."

best Bible advice

2008-06-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

When I read " Living By the Book" ( Howard Hendricks) he talked about reading repeatedly. I think this is some of the best advice I have received on Bible study. We read too much and comprehend too little. Whenever we read repeatedly, we can saturate, soak, and immerse ourselves in the Word. Here's what happened one day while doing this:

I was reading in 2 Corinthians 7 ( for about the third day in a row) and I found this verse...

( verse 4)
"...I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction..." So Paul is in affliction (which can be translated pressure) and he says, " I am overflowing with joy." WHAT ? How can anyone overflow with joy in affliction ? I cry, pout, write blogs and complain when I am in affliction. However, I kept reading and noticed that in verse 6 he explains how he could overflow with joy in affliction... it says ( my translation): " God comforted us with the coming of Titus..."

Something clicked in my head... Paul was overflowing with joy in affliction because he had a friend. If you have a friend in ministry or in life you can have joy. If we all had one good friend, we probably would not need psychiatrists. Back in September of 2007, I prayed that God would send me a good friend here in El Paso. God answered that prayer. It is so good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share in the pain and joy of life. Do you have one good friend ? If not, cry out to the Lord and see if He will answer your prayer.

bound together

2008-05-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

2 Cor 6:14 says: " Do not be bound together with unbelievers..." and later in the same passage: "Come out from among them and be separate."

These are bold ideas and make it difficult for me to discern sometimes what it means to be "in the world but not of the world."

Do we ever stop to reflect on our relationships and evaluate whether or not they are healthy ? Do you spend time with people who drain you or cause you to stumble ? Do I ( do you) have the courage to pull away and separate ? How can this happen without coming off as arrogant or "thinking too highly of ourselves" ?

Dead to sin

2008-05-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Are we really dead to sin ?

As I sit and stare at this page over and over, I have the same thoughts:

“ I don’t know.” I use this phrase a lot lately: “ I don’t know what to do , what to think, whether to spend the money or not, whether to confront… etc”
The list of “ I don’t know…” seems endless. The things I know seem less that the things I don’t know.
In reality, I do know the Bible is true. I believe with certainty that God will confirm me to the end.

What I do know :

1. God will confirm me to the end ( I Cor 1:8)

2. Jesus has the power to subject all things to Himself. ( Philipp 3:21)

3. My citizenship is in heaven Philipp. 3:20

4. my body will be transformed into conformity with the body of His glory Philipp 3:21

5. I have the freedom to walk in newness of life Rom 6:4

6. I don’t have to be a slave of sin anymore Rom 6:6

How can I describe this experience? I am free from sin, yet I still sin. I am no longer under sin’s power, but I still feel real temptations on a daily basis. God has not (to my knowledge) put so many restraints on me that I am incapable of sinning. I still can choose to sin. I could ( if I so desired) close this box and plunge into the worst kinds of immorality the internet has to offer. I could sit here at this desk and immerse myself into the world. Why don’t I ?

#1. There is a serious risk of being fired if I do it. ( I don’t want to jeopardize my family by being foolish with sin)

* I just re read this list and noticed that “ being fired” popped into the # 1 slot. I would like to think that my fear of God would be # 1. It is a reason, but the immediate thing I thought of was losing my job… ( another reason to repent).

#2 It would set back my relationship that I have grown and cultivated with my wife. I see her as beautiful and I don’t want to erase or destroy the relationship we have been constructing. I do feel that her trust of me has grown. This trust can be wiped away very quickly if I became a lying, adulterous person. Trust is very similar to the world trade center towers ( 25 years to construct --- 1 hour to bring down --- bring down to a pile of rubble)
I don’t want to turn my life into a pile of rubble.

#3 If I did plunge myself into sin, I would grieve the Holy Spirit of God. When David sinned, the text says: “ the thing that David did, displeased the Lord …” I really have no desire to upset God in any way. I don’t want to deliberately “ provoke” Him to anger. He has made clear His thoughts on immorality and I have no business putting Him to the test.

#4 If I were to plunge into sin, I don’t know exactly where the bottom is to that cesspool. It’s a deep subject with many terrors and dangers that cannot be seen on the surface. The devil is seeking someone to devour. Sin always leads further than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay. I would be entering ( blindfolded) into a very dangerous world where sin is magnified and God is “shut out.” God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. I don’t want to find out more about the darkness by experiencing it up close and personal.

The Bible says that it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

#5 I would confuse and hurt so many people who have been in my life. I have taught, preached and pled with others to be holy and pure. If they hear of my demise, how would this affect their life ? How disappointing to hear of another pastor going down the tubes morally ? Since 1989 three of my close friends ( all in the ministry) were dismissed / resigned from their positions. Their stories are very fresh in my mind and I would imagine their scars are still with them today. Why inflict these wounds on myself unnecessarily ?
I have spoken to (?) how many students about moral purity. I would instantly become a hypocrite in their eyes… which leads to #6.

#6 David was told that the pagan nations would blaspheme the name of God because of Him.
Do I really want to be a reason in the minds of some why they are rejecting Christ ?

#7 I just remembered that my own children would eventually find out. They would always have doubts about my own instruction to them and it would hinder my ability to lead them. They might even experiment and “ out of curiosity” find out for themselves the details of where “satan dwells.” This would crush me to think they would have to travel down this horrid path of sin and destruction.

Digression: I don’t want anyone to think that the sin I am talking about is the only sin out there. I realize that people have issues with gossip that are very destructive in the church and in the community. There are those whose anger is so out of control that they do not enjoy going to their home. Many men have “fits of rage” and have so damaged their witness that no one wants to be around them. Greed has paralyzed many generous hearts and the love of money has caused so many people to shipwreck their faith.

#8 Plunging into sin maybe a bit extreme. It could be that some of us just want to walk into sin or “experiment” for a minute or two. There might be a desire to just “take a quick look” and then restore normalcy. Why even do this ? Why toy with sin ? Can a man take burning coals into his lap and not be burned ?

The nature of sin is so deceptive and my heart is so deceptive that I can fool myself into thinking that I can just sin “ a little bit.” Sin is progressive and deadly. One drop of poison in my water would make it toxic.

# 9 I have memories of the torment of my soul after battles with sin. Those battle scars are still with me. The feelings of self hatred linger in “closets” and I don’t want to go to those places again.

Romans 6:6 says that my old self was “crucified with Him, in order that my body of sin might be rendered inoperative…” For me to experiment with sin on purpose is to go against the grain of who I am and displease the One who gave Himself for me. Jesus is in effect saying to me: “ it is for these sins that I died… why live in them anymore ?”

What benefit is there in going back to an old way of life that ( by your own admission) you hated ? You hated yourself for doing those things… why would you go back into them ?

It’s 2:40pm on a Wed. afternoon and several minutes have gone by while writing this document.

I just thought of # 10

#10 Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all His paths.

To think that the God who created the universe would be watching me “sink” into sin on purpose is a revolting thought. How arrogant and “self centered” to think I could somehow exist in a place where God could not see me. Do I really think of God as a person ? If I do… ( and I do) then God is actively aware of all my actions, motives, and attitudes.

What about this verse ?

“ O Lord … you know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all.”

Psalm 139:1-4

why progressive sanctification ?

2008-05-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

After reading Romans 6:1-7, a question entered my mind that I found difficult to shake. Why does God value a progressive sanctification ? He could have instantly made us holy, but in His infinite wisdom He chose to do it over stages. Why ?

Here are some thoughts:

1. The things that really mean something to us are genuine and well crafted. A cloth/ fake bullwhip imitating Indiana Jones' whip is not near as meaningful as a real, handcrafted leather bullwhip from El Paso Saddleblanket. We value the things that took time to prepare. A homecooked meal ( like a potroast) simmering for hours is much better than 6 nuggets flash fried in 30 seconds.

2. God wants us to relate to Him by faith. Hebrews 11:1 and following talk about the faith that believers had throughout history. Their relationship with God was forged in those low moments of pain and difficulty. There is no shortcut to holiness, and without holiness no one will see the Lord.

3. God values love and freedom. A computer can do amazing things... which it is programmed to do. A person can love sincerely because God has designed us with choice.
In an " instant sanctification" process we would by pass all of those things which build up love, joy, peace, patience,etc.

4. 2 Corinthians 1:9 Paul says that they were excessively burdened... to the point that they even despaired of life. He says that this happened so that they would not trust in themselves, but in God. The process of becoming holy deepens our dependence.

5. A process allows God to fully display all of His attributes of glory, majesty, patience, mercy, love, kindness, grace, etc. We can see the manifold wisdom of God as we walk on this journey.

Any other things I left out ?

Carl