"If our religion is something objective, then we must never avert our eyes from those elements in it which seem puzzling or repellent; for it will be precisely the puzzling or repellent which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know." -- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Several years ago WORLD Magazine published a column by William H. Smith with the provocative title, “Christmas is disturbing: Any real understanding of the Christmas messages will disturb anyone” (Dec. 26, 1992).
In part, Smith wrote:
Many people who otherwise ignore God and the church have some religious feeling, or feel they ought to, at this time of the year. So they make their way to a church service or Christmas program. And when they go, they come away feeling vaguely warmed or at least better for having gone, but not disturbed.
Why aren’t people disturbed by Christmas? One reason is our tendency to sanitize the birth narratives. We romanticize the story of Mary and Joseph rather than deal with the painful dilemma they faced when the Lord chose Mary to be the virgin who would conceive her child by the power of the Holy Spirit. We beautify the birth scene, not coming to terms with the stench of the stable, the poverty of the parents, the hostility of Herod. Don’t miss my point. There is something truly comforting and warming about the Christmas story, but it comes from understanding the reality, not from denying it.
Most of us also have not come to terms with the baby in the manger. We sing, “Glory to the newborn King.” But do we truly recognize that the baby lying in the manger is appointed by God to be the King, to be either the Savior or Judge of all people? He is a most threatening person.
Malachi foresaw his coming and said, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” As long as we can keep him in the manger, and feel the sentimental feelings we have for babies, Jesus doesn’t disturb us. But once we understand that his coming means for every one of us either salvation or condemnation, he disturbs us deeply.
What should be just as disturbing is the awful work Christ had to do to accomplish the salvation of his people. Yet his very name, Jesus, testifies to us of that work.
That baby was born so that “he who had no sin” would become “sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The baby’s destiny from the moment of his conception was hell—hell in the place of sinners. When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins...
Only those who have been profoundly disturbed to the point of deep repentance are able to receive the tidings of comfort, peace, and joy that Christmas proclaims.
Imitation, the imitation of Christ, is really the point from which the human race shrinks. The main difficulty lies here; here is where it is really decided whether or not one is willing to accept Christianity. If there is emphasis on this point, the stronger the emphasis the fewer the Christians. If there is a scaling down at this point (so that Christianity becomes, intellectually, a doctrine) more people enter into Christianity. If it is abolished completely (so that Christianity becomes, existentially, as easy as mythology and poetry and imitation an exaggeration, a ludicrous exaggeration), then Christianity spreads to such a degree that Christendom and the world are almost indistinguishable, or all become Christians; Christianity has completely conquered- that is, it is abolished!
"Time is the great leveler. It is one resource that is allocated in absolute egalitarian terms. Every living person has the same number of hours to use in every day. Busy people are not given a special bonus added on to the hours of the day. The clock plays no favorites.
We all have an equal measure of time in every day. Where we differ from one another is in how we redeem the time allotted. When something is redeemed it is rescued or purchased from some negative condition. The basic negative condition we are concerned with is the condition of waste. To waste time is to spend it on that which has little or no value.
I am a time waster. When I think of the time I have wasted over the course of my life, I am hounded by remorse. This guilt is not a false one fostered by an overactive work ethic. The guilt is real because the time I have wasted is real time.
The late Vince Lombardi introduced the adage, “I never lost a game, I just ran out of time.” This explanation points to one of the most dramatic elements of sports—the race against the clock. The team that is most productive in the allotted time is the team that wins the game. Of course, in sports, unlike life, there are provisions for calling time-out. The clock in a sports contest can be temporarily halted. But in real life there are no timeouts…
Given my propensity to waste time, I have learned a few tricks to help me beat the clock. They may be helpful to some of you.
First, I realize that all of my time is God’s time and all of my time is my time by His delegation. God owns me and my time. Yet, He has given me a measure of time over which I am a steward. I can commit that time to work for other people, visit other people, etc. But it is time for which I must give an account.
Second, time can be redeemed by concentration and focus. One of the greatest wastes of time occurs in the human mind. Our hands may be busy but our minds idle. Likewise, our hands may be idle while our minds are busy. Woolgathering, day-dreaming, and indulging in frivolous fantasy are ways in which thoughts may be wasted in real time. To focus our minds on the task at hand—with fierce concentration—makes for productive use of time.
Third, the mind can redeem valuable time taken up by ordinary or mechanical functions. For example, the mechanics of taking a shower are not difficult. In this setting the mind is free for problem solving, creative thinking, or the composition of themes. Many of my messages and lectures are germinated in the shower. When I used to play a lot of golf, I found that the time I had between shots was a great time for composing messages in my mind.
Fourth, use your leisure time for pursuits that are life enriching. Leisure time is often spent on avocations. Reading is a valuable use of time. It enriches life to read outside of your major field or area of expertise. Augustine once advised believers to learn as much as possible about as many things as possible, since all truth is God’s truth. Other avocations that are enriching include the arts. I like to study the piano and I dabble in painting. No one will ever mistake me for a serious musician or an accomplished artist. But these avocations open up the world of beauty to me that enhances my view of God and His manifold perfections. I also enjoy working cross-word puzzles to warm up the little gray cells and to expand my vista of verbal expression.
Fifth, find ways to cheat the “Sand Man.” Several years ago I had an epiphany about time management. Though my life-long pattern had been to stay up late at night I realized that for me, the hours between 9–12 p.m. were not very productive. I reasoned that if I used those hours to sleep I might secure more time for more productive things. Since then my habit has been to retire between 8–9 p.m. when possible and rise at 4 a.m. This has effected a wonderful revolution for my schedule. The early hours of the day are a time free from distractions and interruptions, a marvelous time for study, writing, and prayer….
Sixth, use drive-time for learning. Driving a car is another mechanical function that allows the mind to be alert to more than what is happening on the roadway. The benefits of audio tape can be put to great use during these times. I can listen to lectures and instructional tapes while driving, thereby redeeming the time.
Finally, in most cases a schedule is more liberating than restricting. Working with a schedule helps enormously to organize our use of time. The schedule should be a friend, not an enemy. I find it freeing in that the schedule can include time for leisure, recreation, and avocation. It helps us find the rhythm for a God-glorifying productive life."
----------- side note by me - I am positive that posting this much of an article infringes some sort of copyright law... However, I am fairly certain that no one reads this blog... SO I think it is an opportune time to STICK TO CORPORATE AMERICA! Boo Ya!!
[The article “Time Well Spent: Right Now Counts Forever” was written by Dr. R.C. Sproul and published in Tabletalk magazine (September 1997, pp. 4–7).]
Missionary/martyr Jim Elliot once said, “I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds... Satan is quite aware of the power of silence.”
Is it possible to go through one's life without ever experiencing silence? Yes. Was this the example that Jesus set for us? No.
Luke 5:16 says that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places."
The Bible describes multiple benefits of purposeful silence, including: hearing from God (1 Kings 19:11–13), waiting patiently for the Lord to act (Lamentations 3:25–28), worshiping God (Habakkuk 2:20), knowing God better (Psalm 46:10), praying effectively (Luke 5:16)
Without silence, will we be able to hear God speak? I don't think so.
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—————————————————– PRECIOUSNESS OF SILENCE “But Jesus was silent.” Mt 26:63 —————————————————–
The Silence is Meekness. When you do not defend yourself against offenses; When you do not claim your rights; When you let God defend you; The Silence is Meekness.
The Silence is Mercy. When you do not reveal the faults of your brothers to others; When you readily forgive without inquiring into the past; When you do not judge, but pray in your heart; The Silence is Mercy.
The Silence is Patience. When you accept suffering not with grumbling but joyfully; When you do not look for human consolations; When you do not become too anxious, but wait in patience for the seed to germinate; The Silence is Patience.
The Silence is Humility. When there is no competition; When you consider the other person to be better than yourself; When you let your brothers emerge, grow and mature; When you joyfully abandon all to the Lord; When your actions may be misinterpreted; When you leave to others the glory of the enterprise; The Silence is Humility.
The Silence is Faith. When you keep quiet because you know that the Lord will act; When you renounce the voice of the world to remain in the presence of the Lord; When you do not labor yourself to be understood; because it is enough for you to know that the Lord understands you; The Silence is Faith.
The Silence is Adoration. When you embrace the cross without asking “Why?”; The Silence is Adoration. ---From the Missionaries of Charity prayer book
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word sting comes from the word that we get poison from. A bee sting. It is not a bee's sting that hurts, but the poison in the sting. Death is bad, but there is a sting attached to death. What is the poison of death? Sin and its power: the Law (1 Cor 15:56).
The Law is internal (an oughtness - a conscience) AND external (God's commands). The law collectively is a mirror showing us our shortcomings, showing us where we are law-LESS. The law shows that there must be justice, an accounting. The STING. This 'sting' is previewed when we feel distant from God... when we think about death... "If we can be sure that death was extinction or annihilation, then we should not have fear of it." -- a philosopher. There should not be near the fear we have of death. This is the sting. You cannot be sure of an accounting after death.
The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else. It is the end all goal of denying that this is the final destiny of man. The sting... and the poison after the sting...
Jesus died in our place for our sins. He came to bear the judgment and account for sin. Your sin must be accounted for! Are we trying to make the debt up on our own or we trusting God's provision for it?
Paul says, "If Christ is not raised from death then our faith is futile!" It is the cosmic receipt the God has dealt with our two main problems: sin and death...
But what about tomorrow (on earth and not just the later reward)?? God has not only dealt with the penalty of sin, taking us out of this sinful world and giving us a new body in the coming age (bringing us to be holy (set apart))... BUT God also has dealt a decisive blow to the power of sin in our life right now...
Becoming a Christian is not just deciding to be good.
This is what most people think. That is NOT what it means to be Christian! What it means is to give up control to the ONE who is good. It is not going to work, us being good. Sin is our fatal flaw... We are dieing! We are trying to be our own savior, but yet have absolutely ZERO capacity to do so. We are trying to take our 'goodness' and have him accept it as our atoning worth -- the opposite of Christianity!!
Christianity says you cannot save yourself, you are not good enough. You need a leader. You need forgiveness... When you get this, you trust Christ and He becomes your savior... In this God doesn't just give you a nice place in Heaven. He LITERALLY gives you Himself through the Holy Spirit.
He begins to move through you and activate the Resurrection power that is within us. An inside out deal! Most American religion is outside - in. 'If I do such and such externally, it will transform me on the inside'... Simply this is duty... obligation... God literally, through the Resurrection, is coming form the inside out in the regenerated believer. The dominate value here is delight. There is a place for duty. Visit this place, but do not live there. Live in delight.
"God's work in us does not eliminate our work, it enables it. We work because He is the one at work in us. Our fight is only possible because He is fighting in us and through us." -- John Piper
The Resurrection power living through us does not just want to work in our will, but wants to work in your motivation.
Obedience is usually dealt with two ways. One: LAZINESS - ignoring motivations and continually looking back and pointing to a prayer to claim Christian status. Two: Legalism - A pattern in obeying God without desiring God. This is what we are when we are bored Christians! Boredom is how you can be certain that this is the case with most American Christians. A lot of us are entertaining our selves to death because this is the case. The Christian Church impact is minimal on the lives of others. The Divorce rate is the same as compared to others. Kids in the Church get eaten alive in the world...
Both laziness and legalism both have to do with DESIRE. Rarely do you hear a Christian asking for God to intervene in their desire. We don't pray that way! We mostly pray that He will make us to do something we SHOULD do. Please HELP ME. This is okay to pray. BUT there is a deeper prayer -- To ask God to intervene in your very desire. God wants to help us to where we want to obey. Externally "Christians" act, but internally it is not real. We all know it because we are BORED! All the right stuff and it is boring! No joy, no excitement -- most of the CHURCH!
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in YOU (the Christian)! The Resurrection is applicable for ALL. Those looking forward and back. Community and counseling is often needed within the Church, but they will tap into that Resurrection power that is within you, the Christian. To help you live a new identity in Christ.
It is ALL about the Resurrection! It is not try harder, do better. Don't clean up your act.. Get impassioned by GOD!! Get a hold of what raised a dead body!!!
'I am not saying smile and be nice' and do nice church things. We need less of that stuff! The Church has niceness issues! We say we are fine when we are not! Some spend an hour getting ready for Church...
What are we doing? This is not going to help us with life. We need God. If you are a Christian you have Him... rather He has you!
Christianity rises and falls on the Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:18-19 -- We are all crazy if we are following Christianity AND Jesus did not rise again! We are fools if this is the case!!
If you are not tapping into the Resurrection power as a Christian then you are missing the boat. You are then tapping into duty, BUT not delight. Full of boredom and not adventuresome.
Keller writes about responding to concerns, 'I like Christianity BUT... I like this but I don't like this...' Usually he would respond similar to, 'IF Jesus rose from the dead then you are going to have to accept all that He said. IF He didn't rise from the dead then why worry about anything. The issue that everything hangs upon is not whether you like the teaching, but whether or not He rose form the dead.'
Did Jesus rise form the dead? -- it stops all problems with Christianity dead in their tracks
IF we are just following a dead guy, you can stay in control and pick and choose... IF the Resurrectiion is true, THEN God broke into our world and conquered the thing we are deathly afraid of. He is telling us that we do not get to be Lord. He proves it by getting up form the grave and emptying the tomb. Christianity rises and falls with it. It is not just important, without it Christianity does not exist!!
Skeptic go to the Resurrection. Study it!
Believer - Are you tired of feeling bored? Something is wrong if we do not feel joy in walking within the commands of God. Legalism has overtaken us. Walking in this duty-laden spirituality without any delight, comes about by serving God in our own strength. Trying to do the right thing with the wrong power. We have a cosmic power source (the Holy Spirit). The same power that raised Christ form the dead! We don't have to be defined by our passed and freaked out about our future. We can be assured that Jesus, empowering us with His Spirit, is emboldening us to do exactly what He has asked us to do in His sovereignty. And nothing is above what He has given the power for us to do so... if you trust Him... It really is about control. Religion makes us use God and make him a means to our own end. The Resurrection breaks into that with Jesus saying 'you are not in control and things work a lot better when I am in control. I have power, energy, delight, joy... Give up control!'
When Christ died He purchased for His people the forgiveness of all our sins and completed for us a life of perfect obedience (even through death on a cross) that we can count as our own obedience when we are united with Him by faith.
The death of Jesus is THE ultimate act of love, THE ultimate act of salvation. It is the ONLY way we can be saved for our sins and escape the wrath of God! Those hours of suffering on the cross are the apex of God's love, my salvation, my deliverance, my triumph over sin (partially now and fully later)...
The weird thing is that sin made this happen. Sin both murdered the Son of God and delivered us from sin in the same act. Sin killed itself when it killed Jesus. Suicide! (at least the sin of those who welcome THIS real Jesus and HIS forgiveness)
Satan knew that when He led Judas to betray Jesus, he would be defeated by it. #1 Satan desperately tried to make Jesus take the route of the NON-cross power move in the wilderness, but Jesus was zeroed in on His end goal. #2 When Peter said, "No they're not! Not while I'm alive!" to Jesus and His claim of a future death on the cross, His response was, "Get behind me Satan!" The effort to keep Jesus off the cross is satanic. Satan knew what He was about to do. His first tactics were trying to keep Him from the cross and then He sent Him to the cross... WHY?!
Satan is irrational as is sin. He did his very best to divert Jesus from the cross and he saw the absolute resolve of Jesus towards His death. Satan admits defeat and decides to make it AS HORRIBLE AS HE CAN! ... Satan was despairing... He commits suicide with the mindset, 'This will really make them miserable!' - common mindset to those suicidal.
Satan knew he was done for... and he decides to take as many people with him to his damnation as he can... as well as making the death of the Son of Man as horrible as he can.
Introductions 1. The Purpose Driven Death. An awesome title for this conference!! (Piper was ticked off that people were bent out of shape by the title...) At the end of John, Jesus showed Peter by what death He would glorify God. A purpose driven death. Of course their is a purpose driven death along with the rest. Praise God their is purpose in my death! 2. Matthew 24:14 --> This Gospel will be proclaimed to all the nations... then the end will come. Join up or miss out. But also V. 9 You will be hated by all the nations for His name sake. Lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold... Cold people don't finish the Great Commission. But it will be finished! Things will get bad, but those who endure to the end will be saved... A 'spiritual glacier' will come at the end of the age and spread over the world. One city does not necessarily have freeze. Many will! But there will be pockets of fire all over the place. People with torches making holes in it all over the place! The glory of God will be shone through. 3. John the Baptist was SENT to be a witness to the light, and was NOT the light...
THE MESSAGE Will you choose to suffer... if it were offered to you as a gift (Phill 1:29)? ... If you knew that God had appointed for your neighbor or you, to have a child who was profoundly disabled, would you choose to be the one? ...
There was a Roman Catholic Abbott (one who doesn't talk all their life except when singing or confessing). An interviewer asked: What if you were to learn that atheism were true? Even without the promise of reward, my sacrifice was worthwhile and beautiful. To the same question Paul said that we would the people most to be pitied in the world. What a fool I would be if Christ was not raised!! Paul's life was a life of consiously embraced suffering.
2 Cor. 11:23b (Paul is listing off his accomplishments) - imprisonments, countless beatings (he could not count them there were so many), often near death. five times with four lashes (trained executioner - opened lacerated back, thrown on the ground, infected for weeks on end!, heals all wrong, scar tissue all knotted, healed months later all wrong... and then it happens again, and again, and again, again... 3 times beaten with rods, shipwrecked, he was never out of danger! Every night he went to bed wondering if it would be his last... Daily the anxiety of the church... How would you answer the question: What if Christ did not rise from death?
Why did Paul embrace suffering? Col. 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh (his suffering flesh), I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, the Church... It almost sounds heretical.
What is missing in Christ's afflictions? Nothing in their atoning worth. Paul cannot add anything to the atoning value of Jesus Christ. Nothing is missing from it. Paul taught us that...
So what's missing? The presentation of those afflictions to the people for whom He died. The personable, touchable, visible, seeable presentation of His afflictions. There are those who have never seen His afflictions. Making a presentation, not adding. Paul's suffering as a visible reenactment of Christ's love for them... The idea comes from Pill 2:27-30 --> Apaphraditus took gifts to Paul, risking his life, almost dieing. Paul tells the Phill church how amazing the man was. 2:30 he came close to death TO COMPLETE, WHAT WAS LACKING in your service. What was lacking? There was distance between Paul and the Phill church. There is distance in time from Christ and the Cross to us. A representative (Apaphraditus) was SENT! So that the love of the Phill church for Paul could be supplied, complete, could be filled up in the person of Apaphraditus.
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And for your sake I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's sufferings. His purpose is that ALL tribes of people will be with Him. He could have appointed angels on completing what was lacking. He appointed people to fill up what was lacking. To take the sufferings of Christ to the world. The afflictions are there for someone. They must be taken somewhere.
I rejoice in my sufferings! for your sake! and in my suffering flesh I fill up! The greatest love is for someone to lay down their life for their friends. Persecutions, sufferings are a design, a strategy for the completion for the Great Commission.
When Jesus bids a man to follow him, he bids for him to come and die! - Detreich Bonhoeffer
The world gives us momentary, mirroring glimpses of eternity... It was an honor that my dad was counted worthy to die for Jesus (a 13 year-old missionary kid)... Things here are all about something else. Sex is real good! But it points to something else one-thousand times better! ... In Heaven we probably will say - 'How could we have overeaten so much.. fornication... how did we make gods out of all of those insignificant pleasures?!'
"now I rejoice in my sufferings..." We cannot take that lightly. 17 year-old in a coma in his church. He does not lightly say to her parents, 'rejoice!' You dont blather about "Praise God anyhow!" ... Paul put it this way 2 cor 6:10 "Sorrowful, but always rejoicing" ... That's how it always will be in this world. ALWAYS! If it is not always then you are not connected to enough people. We weep with those weep. We rejoice with those who rejoice. There are always people weeping, rejoicing. and so Christians have this miracilous life of crying all the time and being happy all the time. It is a miracle. Outsiders think it is mumbo jumbo because they don't know how it is to weep, but not as those without hope.
SO Paul is rejoicing in his sufferings as he is completing his work... When you are called to the "calvary road" - It is not joyless. Painful? Absolutely! ... You cannot escape pain anyhow, why not make it meaningful. Hebrews 4 - for the joy set before him at the cross. It was joy that carried him through. The joy of the future was streaming into the present. There is a miracle there. Yes it is way out there, it is just over the horizon. It comes over like the dawn and holds you. It is present joy... It is a call to the deepest, longest satisfactions the world has ever known... Every missionary will testify to the pain AND to the peace they have falling to sleep at night, even without "fruit"... How peaceful do you feel in your American securities?
An indigenous missionary was preaching in India. He came to a certain village and was driven out of town. He slept from exhaustion at the edge of town. When he woke up he saw the whole town hovering over him. The town came to look him over and saw his blistered feet. They concluded that he was a holy man and that they had been evil to have rejected hum. They wanted to hear the message that he was willing to suffer so much to bring them. And so the missionary filled up in his feet what was lacking in the afflictions to Christ.
Findings from Unchristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons - a comprehensive research study by the Barna Group
The top three negative perceptions of Christians are antihomosexual (91% say "a lot" or "some"), judgmental (87%), and hypocritical (85%). These numbers tell us what nonChristians think of when they think about Christianity.
Unfortunately, the top favorable image they have of Christianity is that it "teaches same basic idea as other religions" (82% "a lot" or "some"). In general, outsiders consider Christianity to have good values and principles (76%), and friendly people (71%). However, only 55% think that Christianity "consistently shows love for other people", and 54% believe Christianity "offers hope for the future". These 'favorable' images are more dismal as we look at the percentage of young outsiders that consider Christians trustworthy (9 % say "alot"), or Christianity to be genuine and real (11%), "something that makes sense" (9%), or "relevant to your life" (10%).
Outside Perception #1 Hypocritical Christians say one thing but live something entirely different.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians are transparent about their flaws and act first, talk second.
Outside Perception #2 All about getting saved! Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.
Outside Perception #3 Antihomosexual Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians show compassion and love to all people, regardless of their lifestyle.
Outside Perception #4 Sheltered Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians are engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face.
Outside Perception #5 Too Political Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians are characterized by respecting people, thinking biblical, and finding solutions to complex issues.
Outside Perception #6 Judgmental Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.
What Jesus will transform His "church" to someday be like: Christians show grace by finding the good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers.
A warning to all "Christians" who think they have it figured out...
John 9:39-41 Then Jesus told him, "I entered the world to render judgment-to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind." Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, "Are you saying we're blind?" "If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied. "But you remain guilty because you claim you can see."
2 Timothy 1:7 God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power, love, and self-control...
the Bible says we are a slave to that spirit, the spirit is beating the believer to submit to their potential... Why do we feel conviction? because the spirit that lives in us is not thriving... believers want to live boldly, it bugs you when you don't because you know that you are capable of more
When you are alone... not within an American church or fellowship, but when it is just you and the Bible... do you feel at peace with your life? It is easy to feel at peace when you are around other American Christians, but do you feel at peace with a watered-down version of the Bible that is lived? We often know the right things to say in our Christian environment... it is when we are dealing with God directly that we know there is more... 'I know that I can be more bold, more loving, have more self-control'... While people say their Christian feel-good phrases like "everyone does this and that" and "God understands" does it still comfort you when you are alone? When you are alone with God we know that we are destined for more...
Peace before God is when you are zeroed in on God... there is a big difference between having peace about something and ignoring something... there are certain things we are convicted about, and when we don't think about it we can temporarily ignore it, only when we are overwhelmed with God in our life is peace felt... a spirit that wants to break out is inside... often times sermon on evangelism means you just try harder... do church, do community... do evangelism or love people!... love God and love our neighbor as ourself, that is what it all comes down to...
our most courageous times are when we are zeroed in on God. When we are beyond others and are thinking about the creator, 'whatever you want God because it is you who chooses if i live or die, you are the only one that matters'... if i am in love with God, I just want to live how He wants me to, whatever happens happens with people is fine. 'i could care less about anyone else, it is you i want to please!!' ...
it is in these times that we are most courageous! The story of Stephen: People were enraged with Stephen as he preached, but he did not back off! Full of the Holy Spirit he gazed into Heaven and saw the glory of God... As he was pelt with rocks, he saw Jesus and everything happening to Him suddenly did not matter! He didn't care, he was in his own world. He saw Jesus, he was that close... "Fall in love with Jesus, get so close to him that you can see Him and it won't matter, courage will come in life! ... this is not about being tough, it is about being that in love with Jesus... We are most courageous when we are not into ourselves, being so insecure, but into loving God (obeying His command to love)...
Love people so much that you cannot help but tell them. We don't need to "evangelize", "preach" as Christians... we don't need a speech planned. Scripture speaks out against heartless religion and doing things because we are suppose to. Out of love it comes. we try to do church, do community rather then being so in love with people that everything you have is theirs. Just because you love them that much. it is not forcing people to give. Genuine caring for others, for orphans, Genuine love from a spirit given by Jesus overflows freely.
So much of our failure in evangelism in the Christian world comes form a lack of sincerity. We often have little tracks and speeches... but people can see through that!! People can see when you do things out of a sense of duty and when you genuinely care about them. words are often not influential, it is often the heart. if you show that you genuinely love them then they will at least listen. if we love God with all of our hearts, and if we loved our neighbors as much as ourselves then we would never have to teach how to evangelize. Love others! It just comes out. it is not forced. if you loved others as much as yourself then we could be visual presentations of Jesus to the world...
The mouth speaks out of the heart's overflow. whatever is in the mouth will come out of the heart. Watch your heart, not the external action! We miss the issue when we say don't cuss, etc! When we know the slogans it makes it fake. Deal with the root of the problem rather then trivial external factors.
Exodus 33:18 paraphrased Lord! Show me why you matter to me!
The Lord literally shouted back in a mighty way.
Exodus 34:6-7 "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands of generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
In God's words this is His glory, His significance to us, His weightiness... A question that shouts form this passage is how can He both love and forgive unfailingly AND be ultimately just, never excusing the guilty?
Jesus was the only way. Our Advocate Priest who promises that not one whom the Father gives to Him will EVER be snatched out of His hands (John 10:25-30, beware of the warning in Matthew 25:31-46!) and who He will lead until we are all face to face with Him to the end of the age.
"Jesus' teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders [that] Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. If our churches aren't appealing to younger brothers [irreligious], they must be more full of elder brothers [religious] than we'd like to think." -- Tim Keller, Prodigal God
"But when he heard it, [Jesus] said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” -- Matthew 9:12-13
Today our churches all face a strong pull toward religion and morality and away from the Gospel preached to lost, irreligious people. Christianese is the common language of the Church and it is barely intelligible to the outsider looking in. If our preaching does not offend the religious, as Jesus' often did, then the irreligious are by nature repelled. Jesus sought those that are repelled by the current message of the American Church. He spoke often with love to the non-religious type, but to the religious with strong condemnation... may there be reformation in the Church where that the irreligious repent of their sin and (equally as important) the religious repent of their religion.
Acts 7:54-60 The Stoning of Stephen 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together [2] at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Nehemiah 8:10 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Taking that word 'strength' and diving deeper into the original meaning you get: defense, force, fortress, strength, stronghold, and rock. Christian joy is all of these things. Happiness is fleeting and has nothing to do with what we are talking about here. I can prove this simply by referring to those times that everyone has had when a beautifully happy day is torn into pieces with a single life altering sentence... Joy is God exalting, worship creating, dark-day sustaining, and life-giving because it comes from the only one who can give life. Here Stephen follows in the footsteps of His master and bares His cross with joy (Hebrews 12:2).
John 15:11 "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
1. "This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love then to lay down's one's life for one's friends." -- John 15:12-13 2. "To be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison-your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be [mine]." - Luke 14:26
How do we handle Christ's commands to love and to hate? Do we love with a kind of hate or hate with a kind of love?
God was designed to be our only fulfillment. Our relationships can be idolatrous, If we make them ultimate, above an eternal satisfaction in God, then we will destroy it. Relationships were created to make God glorified (representing him, showing others His worth).
"Sin is building your self worth on anything, but God." -- Soren Kierkeguard
Joy and Happiness are not the same thing. They cannot be when dealing with Hebrews 12:2 -
"12:1 Therefore...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
For along time I thought this was joy:
Hebrews 12:2 tells me that this (Christ, before He was crucified) is a more accurate depiction of the joy that is promised by God to those that are His:
Mark 12:23 "And he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.'"
And remember John 13:16! "Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him."
Happiness is NOT promised to us. Try as we might, but if God commands, and we shake if off saying, 'This would make me miserable and God would not want me miserable, so this must obviously not be for me' then we are basically worthless (Luke 14:34-35)... If we are servants of Christ then the best we can expect is death on the cross... We have all heard the Christianese phrase "Bare your cross." Well, Jesus was not happy carrying His cross, but Hebrews 12:2 said He endured it with joy.
Happiness is fleeting. The first thing to go when difficulty comes is happiness. That is why Christ cried out for us to chase joy, not happiness - God exalting, worship creating, dark-day sustaining joy.
I will end my "love" search with some words spoken by Mother Teresa. The more I study it closely, the more I am humbled by the wisdom of this tiny little lady (expect to see more on Mother Teresa in the coming days/weeks/life).
Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don't know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?
I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.
Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.
Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
I was running with my new NIKE PLUS today (trying meet a "man challenge" that my fellows in California proposed) and at the very end of mile 1 I started getting all philosophical and what not about the song that was blasting through my shuffle.
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace."
My first mile had already broken me down to a physical state of a man who had fasted for a week (I haven't been running that much and am totally out of shape!!)... I wanted to do this... I want to do this! My heart is in it, but yet what does it really mean? Where is Jesus' face? Is it all just metaphorical symbolism that never finds its way applied outside of a Church?? I felt so completely fake about it all. Is it all just about singing about loving Jesus, turning your eyes and being consumed with Jesus, checking your box, and then walking out of the Church in a things as usual mindset?? Where is Jesus? How can we love Him? How can we turn our eyes upon Him???
Psalm 42 1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
I honestly don't think this man was calling for His death. Maybe it is just conjecture on my part, but I believe he too longed to see the face of His God. He thirsted as if in exhaustion. Satisfaction would not come with a drop. Would He have even been able to stand before God without Christ. Was he aware of Jeremiah 31:33? Did He look forward to the Messiah?? Was He speaking within the Spirit, pointing to the promise of more? As Matt Chandler says [paraphrased] the Old Testament asks the question and the New Testament answers.
2 Corinthians 4:6 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants [1] for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Without drawing this out too long I think the song has biblical merit. And so, I just wanted to say what came next to my mind as I ran out of breath, with a side cramp beginning to form in my stomach:
Matthew 25:31-40 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
SO THE POINT OF ALL THIS: Jesus is among us. I know He is in the hearts of those who believe, but sometimes we deceive ourselves and make the statement trite speaking flippantly or ignorantly. We are in a war down here and honestly should not rely on an emotional high and low to dictate the movements of God... These verses in Matthew have been making me uneasy since they knocked me upside the head like a ton of bricks as I ran because if you continue in Matthew...
Matthew 25:41-45 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'
There are times for Spiritual discussion, but as James (2:20) said: "20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?" There HAS TO BE an element of physical to let the spiritual flourish...
Jesus is HERE! He is among us!! Why am I just realizing the full brunt of what this means now?? The thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned!!!!
I think we easily pass things off as metaphor in the Bible. I believe there is beautiful poetry, as well as things that cannot be described with physical words, such as the glory of God, the 'light' He offers, the 'saltiness' of a Church desperate for Christ, the glory of Jesus in Revelation 19... If we take the Bible TOO literal we LIMIT God (side note: this single idea reminds me of Philippians 2:12 "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" -- I honestly think we need to take THAT verse more LITERALLY)
"Heaven is, by definition, outside our experience, but all intelligible descriptions must be within our experience." -- CS Lewis, Weight of Glory
All that to say: I just do not see this as symbolism without application! We will probably not see a literal "face" in the lowly that we will recognizable -- "Hey Jesus?! Oh yes, I thought that was you!" -- But yet Jesus is saying that these people are Him. An eternal truth that cannot be expressed within a finite language. We can find Jesus in the lowly... when we care for the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned. When we do this are we loving the 'literal' face of God?? I think so.
Jesus is love. And NOT the kind of love that evokes the image of Jesus with product in his hair.
His love was dangerous and cost much. Making enemies with the religious and the proud, befriending the lowly. Taking the position of a servant... for all of us.
Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
You don't just plant a tree and get "fruit"... it is not that easy.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” -- John 15.4-5
I can not speak the phrase without the image of a flannel board, the discussion of fruit and vegetables in Sunday School, and the absolute zero application it had on my life as a child. When I recite Galations 5:22-23 "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control", I also have an image of a watermelon, an apple, and at least a handful of grapes or a pear. How can I put that to death and raise this idea up instead:
"How can you say you love God whom you don't see when you don't love your neighbor who you do see..."
I searched for love at google and found wikipedia to be the first result saying: "Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection." As CS Lewis has said somewhere: [paraphrased] 'there is something amiss when the expression that I 'love' strawberries does not delineate from the fact that I 'love' my wife or 'love' God...'
For the next couple days I will be frantically trying to answer the question: What is love?
In my (humble) opinion, I think this picture is really funny... My prayer for this blog is that trivialities ("flesh of Christ") may be left behind and words may be expressed with bite in order to create angst and desperation for the all-powerful Creator ("omnipotent yellow") God that is both complete love ("perfect white") and completely just ("rapturous red").
Ideas for Blog 1. How do we Destroy Christian Stereotypes 1a. Hypocritical, Numbers Driven, Antihomosexual, Sheltered, Too Political, Judgemental
2. Christianese to English Interpretation -- what do these words, that at one time had incredible weight, mean in today's context 2a. What do we really mean when we say: "faith", "born-again", "love", forgiving", "prayer", "quiet time", "love your neighbor", "love the sinner hate the sin", "sin", "calling", "bare your cross", "belief", "God", "Christian", "Church", "Jesus"
3. Study 3a. Romans, Luke, Pslams, Weight of Glory, Mortification of Sin, St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross, Quotes...
4. Tough Questions 4a. Can we trust the Bible?, How do we interpret the Bible: literally or metaphorically?, What will the Church in the next century look like: Emergent or Fundamental?
5. Personal Story: How did I become Christian? What does it mean to be Christian? What is the mark of a Christian today?
6. Scripture Application
Weekly Themes for Blog 1. How do I interpret the Bible? 2. Pride - Humility - The Joy and the Miracle of Self-forgetfulness 3. Love 4. Legalism 5. the Sovereignty of God 6. the Glory of God, the Weight of Glory
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
I like making music and bands to play that music; I like sports teams from San Francisco; I am substitute teaching in the Oakland Public School District and I hope I will get a job as a teacher someday; I have a wife who is beautiful, smart and compassionate; I have this blog to wrestle with, make sense of, and heartfully worship Jesus who was foretold about in Isaiah 53.
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