 I'm leaving after this election!
I decided that if the Republicans win - I'm leaving. I decided that If the Democrats win - I'm leaving. I'm leaving the world where it's me against them. I'm leaving the world where it's OK to slander those who disagree with my view - rather than maybe, I don't know, maybe talk with them and try to grow in understanding one another. I'm leaving the world where I think the worst about those who don't share my views. I'm leaving the world where there are lines drawn that cannot be crossed - not lines of what I believe or what moral or ethical standards I live by - but lines that we can't cross to talk to each other. I'm leaving the world where we think an election is what will change things - that new laws - new executive orders - even new Supreme Court Justices will actually change things in our country and in our lives. I'm leaving the world where I myself, as well as all others around me, have their identity described by two labels - the "good one" I call myself - and the "bad one" the other side calls me. I'm leaving the world where I can be manipulated by a political party to the point where I immediately characterize people (without ever getting to know them) by which party they associate with at the time. I'm leaving because I want to rediscover Someone Who commanded me to prove I am His disciple by the way I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm leaving because I want to rediscover Someone Who said that His kingdom was not of this world. I'm leaving because I want to rediscover Someone Who put a Zealot and a Tax Collector in His group - and they didn't wind up killing each other - or at least protesting one another. I'm leaving because I want to rediscover how to lose my life so that I can gain it - to give my life and my rights away so others can be blessed - to consider others better than myself. I'm leaving because I want to rediscover the One Who gave His life away - who laid down His rights as God (even though He WAS God) - Who took my sin and my sorrows - Who even paid the price of my sin - Who was despised and forsaken - misunderstood - mischaracterized - mistreated - and yet considered it all joy when He considered all those who would be blessed as a result. I don't want Trump or Pelosi - Democrat or Republican - Conservative or Liberal - Socialist or Capitalist - or any other label or leader to be associated with my name any longer. I'm leaving to follow Jesus. I'm leaving to live for His kingdom and His righteousness. I'm leaving because the world's mindset - the Republican's mindset - the Democrat's mindset - honestly - even my own mindset - are not the mindset by which I need to live and make my decisions. I hope to have the mind of Christ. So . . . I'm gone. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live - yet not I, Christ lives within me. The life I want to live, I live by faith in the Son of God - Who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. As I leave I have a prayer - May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, my Rock and My Redeemer.
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 Last Friday there was a march in Washington and in many other places. This coming Saturday there will be another march in Washington - and in many other places. The primary result of both marches will basically be that those who participated in them and supported them will be more committed to their previous stances, will feel good because they participated in them, and probably will change very few minds in the process. There will have been activism on both sides with self-imposed monickers like pro-choice, pro-life - while at the same time calling those who oppose them far less positive names like anti-choice and anti-life. But I am concerned that when it is all over what we will have is two groups who are more focused on the other side than they are on those caught in the middle.
Who are those who are caught in the middle? In regard to the question of abortion - it is several groups of people. First of all it is the women who face a pregnancy and what to do now that they know they are pregnant. There is also whatever is in their womb that is at stake. How is this being addressed? Here is where I will begin to make my main point. When Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 that we are to, “Let our light shine in such a way that people might see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in heaven,” I believe he meant something other than participating in a march. Honestly - considering what He said about the “least of these,” I believe He had in mind stuff more like rolling up your sleeves and serving those who are caught in the middle. I’ve moved away, in my latter years, from marching much any more. Looking back over 50 plus years now, I see far more accomplished in addressing the abortion issue by rolling up my sleeves and working WITH the women who are caught in the middle of crisis pregnancies. There are plenty of them who have written and spoken saying how grateful they were for a place where they were loved and helped in the midst of their crisis. There are others who spoke through tears stating their gratefulness in having a place that loved them even after they had an abortion. Their thankfulness was for someone telling them and helping them find forgiveness when they thought it was not possible to be forgiven. At last count I don’t remember any women thanking me for marching - at least women who were caught in the middle. Do I think marching is wrong? No, I cannot say that. The right to express ourselves peacefully in a march - and even for some to carry signs with fairly incendiary messages on them (I’m speaking about both sides of the issue folks) is protected under our system of government. There are also times when a peaceful march is needed. But can I be perfectly candid with you who are reading this. Keeping an accurate count of those at a march - that is hard work - and often debated as soon as the numbers come out. Keeping an accurate count of those rolling up their sleeves and being dedicated over time to those women and whatever is in their womb in the middle? That, my friends is rather easy - because the number plummets to easily manageable numbers. I do attend a rally every year. It is called "Sanctity of Life" day. On this day those of us who come together tend to shy away from street protests and marches. Our celebration of life focuses on God giving each of us, including developing babies in the womb, life. It focuses on the real needs of women who are facing the extremely hard decision of what do to in a crisis pregnancy. We focus on those who are hurting badly because they've had an abortion and wonder if they can be forgiven. We focus on people who have adopted children - and face many hard, day-to-day realities of rearing a child who has everything from reactive-detachment disorder to babies coming off the drugs their mothers were taking while pregnant. We want to encourage them - help them - and be respite families for them when they need a night together as a couple. We do this because we know this will help far more than holding signs with incendiary messages that honestly do far more to infuriate the opposition than win their hearts. It would not be inaccurate to say that these gatherings are about remembering those people who are still in the middle - and celebrating some who have rolled up their sleeves to help. Oh that we would be able to see that being a "light set on a hill" has far more to do with choices to address the problems of our society with hands-on, very hard, action-oriented solutions - than it does with shouting at - and eventually shouting down those who disagree with us. According to our Lord, that light is visible as people see our good deeds. They see them not in light of how awesome we are (which will do little more than cause us to be proud of ourselves for that self-glorifying awesomeness). They see the motive for our works - as well as the works themselves - and glorify our Father Who is in heaven. At the end of such works there are no congratulations in order for us - because we know what our hearts were like before He saved and changed us. No! All congratulation and celebration is focus on such an incredible Father Who has given birth (through salvation) and reared (through teaching, encouragement, and discipline) such good kids. They honor and glory for the works belongs to God! In doing them our hope is that they will know that we are Jesus' disciples by our love for one another, our love for those who oppose us, our love for the "least of these," and even our love for our enemies. May our stand for life be seen far more often in these ways - than in holding a sign, yelling a phrase, and honestly - doing little or nothing to truly change our culture. If we want to make America great again . . . why don't we try rolling up our sleeves, wading into the mess within our culture, and getting our hands dirty serving, loving, and ministering (and I believe this includes sharing the gospel with them), to those who are hurting because of its problems. If you participate in a march - good! But if all you do is march - and there are not regular marching orders to follow to selflessly and sacrificially fix the problems, your march ended far too soon.  Consumer Church, part 1 of 4
Who Exactly is the Consumer? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and bring you to a place where you desire what He desires in His church. This week I will begin my series of articles on “Consumer Church.” When the whole idea of “Consumer Church” came on the scene, it began with churches thinking it would be a good idea to begin polling people as to what they wanted in church. It was not long before churches were in surrounding neighborhoods going door to door asking people in their city what they wanted at church. Statistics were gathered from these polls and strategies were formed to “reach the unchurched.” Subsequently, a church program was developed that would minister to the felt needs that existed among the community. Over time the churches grew due to their ability to address the felt needs of their community. The unchurched were reached in large numbers – which eventually gave rise to the mega-churches of the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s. Success, right? Before we begin our celebration we might consider a fundamental problem that exists with this model of “doing church.” There is a problem that is inherently part of the “Consumer Church” model. That problem is that the consumer changes over time. This is why companies like Apple constantly poll the consumer. They do so to stay ahead of their ever-changing desires. The consumer actually drives what is happening in “Consumer Church.” If his or her felt needs are not met, he or she will be looking for a church that will meet their needs. In the years that I have been a pastor I’ve watched the “Consumer Church” change numerous times. They had to revamp just about everything because they learned that the busters did not want the same things as the boomers. A couple of years later they found out that the Gen X crowd had different desires than the Gen-next group. Even preaching and worship styles changed every few years. They learned that certain words – and even the symbol of the cross was seen in a negative way – so they morphed to meet those desires of the consumer. In time some churches even set up different worship services for different age groups so they could continue meeting the felt needs of the last group they just reached. This whole scenario begs for an answer to a very pressing question. Who are we supposed to be pleasing in the church? The “Consumer Church” model says that we are to be please the consumer. But what happens when the consumer wants something that God does not? What happens when the consumer’s desires reflect the very lost and sinful condition God wants addressed in the gospel? What happens when the consumer wants a less convicting atmosphere or preaching that acknowledges there is more than one way to get to heaven? What happens when society becomes more open toward sexual immorality and the consumer calls for a broader mindset toward alternate lifestyles? Is the consumer always right? Is the church always beholden to shift her views and stands accordingly? The core problem with “Consumer Church” is that the consumer is treated as the supreme authority in how church is done – and often even in what the church preaches. Biblical church sees the revelation of God in Scripture as supreme. This is the radical difference between “Consumer Church” and “Christ-centered Church.” The “Christ-centered Church” believes that there is already an infallible rule for faith and for practice in God’s church. God did not set up His church to be a consumer driven endeavor. God calls His church to honor and glorify Him. He commands the church to seek His face and submit to what He desires. The way one does this is not by taking polls of the lost community. The way one does this is to read and study the Scriptures so that we know God – and in so doing – know what He wants in His church. Please understand that God will not lead us to be rude or disparaging toward the “consumer” or better said, the lost person in our community. God calls us to serve and love them – to minister to them – and lay down our lives as we share the gospel with them. But that being said, the “Christ-centered Church” does not have the freedom to ignore God’s desires because they conflict with those of the lost, consumer in our area. Our first and greatest priority in the church is to glorify God and make much of Him in everything we do at church. To make more of our potential “consumer” than we make of God is idolatry – and in the end it will not bring blessing to the church. We have to remember that our target audience is just One person in the end – God Himself. What I find interesting is that God is referred to as a “consuming fire” by Scripture. So actually, we are conforming to the consumer. It is just that we are defining the consumer as THE Consumer. It is very appropriate to poll and consult THE Consumer. What we then learn of and from Him rules all decisions and reigns in the focus, direction, and program of His church. May God make us ever more sensitive to THE One and Only Consumer, making sure that whatever He wants is done in His church!  May the Lord bless you this week and help you to know that because you are in Christ, you are free to make a choice to strongly will the will of God.
This week I am going to address a couple of things on a theological level. That is because it is important for us to understand what is true of us because we are saved. Something glorious happened to us – on the level of our will – when we came to know Jesus Christ. Something marvelous happened when we came to life spiritually. When we did, by the grace of God, there was a freedom given to us on the level of our wills. Let’s talk about this today. Before God saved us we were bound in our sin. Ephesians 2 tell us that we were dead in our trespasses and sins – we were being driven and controlled by the spirit that is active in the sons of disobedience. The fact is that we did not have a will free to make whatever choices we wanted. We were bound in sin and our choices would be consistent with the world system, our own flesh, and the devil. Until God’s grace came to us by God’s wonderful mercies, we could not choose God’s way. Then came the wonderful day when God drew us to Himself – and we were saved. On that wonderful day we were not only forgiven of sin – given the righteousness of Christ as a gift – born from above with God’s very life now within us - but one other glorious thing happened as well. We were set free from sin’s bondage and could begin to make choices to do God’s will. What a glorious day it was when we were set free to choose the things of God! We can now choose to do the will of God. That was not true of us before – because of our bondage to sin. But now we are free to follow the Lord. Read this wonderful statement in Romans 6:12-14 about this truth. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Look at what Paul says here in Romans 6. First, we need to see what he says lastly in these verses. He says that sin is no longer your master because you are now under grace. Two things to remember here. The first is that at one time sin was your master. You couldn’t do these things Paul was commanding you because you were not free. You had a master – and your master was sin. BUT . . . now you have been set free to make choices to tell sin to get lost. You can tell sin that it will not be reigning in your body – and using the members of your body as instruments of unrighteousness. This is astounding news! The second thing to note in this Roman’s passage is the number of times Paul is giving “strong commands” for the believer to make “strong choices.” He is saying for them to make some strong stands as they make strong choices. “Stop letting sin reign in your body!” “Stop obeying the strong desires of sin!” “Stop presenting your members to sin!” “Stop being an instrument of unrighteousness!” “Start giving yourself to God as one alive from the dead!” “Start giving your members to God!” “Start being an instrument of righteousness!” Seven strong commands are given – and Paul (and God who is inspiring Him to write this) is expecting believers to obey them. This means that we CAN obey them now. That is implicit in the commands themselves. But what I truly want you to get here is how powerful Paul’s statements are! He is not saying things like, “If you feel like it today – you might want to give it your best shot – you know to maybe give yourself to God.” He is almost like a spiritual drill sergeant snapping out these commands. Stop doing this! Start doing this! Give yourself to God – give your members to God – be in instrument of righteousness! If anything, this passage alone should show us that God desires for us to STRONGLY CHOOSE these things. This is not an exercise for the weak willed or the weak minded. We are to make very bold choices – not based on our own strength – but based on the facts of what has happened to us because of God’s grace in the gospel. Next week I’ll say more on these commands in Romans 6, but for now I want to admonish you based on what we’ve seen today. Where are you today? If you are not willing to make strong choices for God’s will – you are going to be in trouble. The trouble you will face is from you not being willing to “put your foot down” when it comes to sin – self – Satan – and this present world system. If you are unwilling to say, “NO – NOT TODAY! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE MY BODY TO SIN! I AM NOT GOING TO CHOOSE TO DISOBEY GOD! I GIVE MYSELF TO HIM! I AM GOING TO PLEASE HIM AND BE AN INSTRUMENT OF WHAT IS RIGHT – NOT OF WHAT IS WRONG! GOD, BY YOUR GRACE I WILL STAND UP – I WILL TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW YOU! If you are unwilling to use your will to will the will of God – you will flounder, falter, and unfortunately fall. You truly have a choice! But, God will not make it for you! He has freed you to be able to make it! He has empowered you to be able to make it! He has and will give you spiritual wisdom and knowledge to know what to do! But, in the end, He calls you to obey – to choose – and if there is going to be victory and the experience of overcoming sin – YOU MUST CHOOSE! Choose precious saints of God! Choose His will – choose His way – and choose to rely on Him totally to empower you as you make it. Truly, there is no other way.  Last week we examined what it means to act with our wills – choosing to do the will of God in our daily lives. God gives us all that we need to do His will as believers, but He will not absolve us of making the choice to do so. So the question naturally results from this – how do we get into a place where we will choose God’s will on a more consistent basis. (The truth is that we want to get to where we choose nothing other than His will – but this article takes into account that we are in the process of sanctification in the nitty gritty of every day life).
One of the major problems we have in consistently choosing the will of God is that often we do not know what His will is. Ignorance is never a good argument for disobedience – especially when God has given us His Word as well as His Spirit, Who teaches that Word to us. This is why Paul prayed for the Colossians after they came to know the Lord. His prayer is a reminder to us of the kind of things we need if we are going to consistently choose God’s will over the world’s ways or our own flesh. Let’s take a look at this prayer in Colossians 1:9-12. “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Colossians 1:9-12, NASB) The first thing Paul prays for these new believers is that they would be “filled with the knowledge of His will.” Therefore the first thing we learn about knowing and doing the will of God is that it is not natural. The Fall has resulted in us being blinded and incapable of knowing God’s will on our own. If we are going to walk in God’s will – and indeed “will” to do God’s will – we will need for God to teach us and reveal to us what His will is. The second thing we learn about choosing God’s will is that it requires “spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Again, this is not something that we learn like we would learn Math or Science. We need the Holy Spirit to open the Scriptures to us in such a way that we end up with “spiritual wisdom.” This phrase refers to the way we view the world around us. We begin to see things as God sees them. Until we do this we don’t have wisdom and will more than likely walk in foolishness consistently. (It may be helpful to know that foolishness here refers to any conduct where we are walking outside of God’s will or contrary to what God desires in our lives.) Whereas spiritual wisdom refers to seeing things as God sees them, spiritual understanding refers to grasping what we see in a way that we begin to comprehend concepts and relationships between things. But the word used here has a highly practical meaning as well. We not only get things in our heads – but we begin to get the skills necessary to walk out mental concepts as lifestyle choices. This kind of information comes to us from God as we read, study, memorize, and meditate on His Word. Without God’s revelation (written word) and illumination (Holy Spirit instruction) we are blind to truth. Some will balk at this, but in doing so they only reveal that they still have issues with pride and the self-life. It would be wise for us to be reminded of several passages of Scripture in this regard. God tells us in twice in Proverbs, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25) We also read in 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” The world’s wisdom will not do the will of God for its wisdom is opposed to Him. This teaches us an important truth. If all we are getting is the world’s information sources each day, we will not walk in God’s will. In order to choose His will consistently in our lives, we MUST have a regular input of His spiritual wisdom as well as His spiritual understanding. Humility is required to do this. We MUST admit that we don’t have these things – and that they only come as we seek God for them. As we close this week’s look at walking in the will of God, we need to answer a very simple question. The question is this: “Are we filling our minds and hearts with the kind of information that will lead to us knowing God’s will?” If our lives are filled far more with the world’s wisdom – we will walk in worldly ways. We will not have the information we need to walk godly – choosing God’s will over our own fleshly wisdom and the wisdom of the world. We will find ourselves far more convinced of the world’s take on things, which will subsequently move us far more consistently with actions and a lifestyle that agrees with the world and disagrees with God. If we are going to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, we will have to be filled with His will, His thoughts, His reasoning, and His plan of action. Anything else will result in us choosing the same foolishness the world has always chosen – and missing out on the blessing of walking in the will of God.  The Uselessness of Spiritual Self Beat Downs, part 2
Holy Spirit Conviction or Spiritual Insults? What is the difference between a spiritual self beat-down and the work of the Holy Spirit as He brings genuine conviction of our sin? That is what I want to address this week in my article. Knowing the difference between these two things is knowing the difference between the constructive work of the Holy Spirit making us like Christ, and the destructive work of our own self-oriented religious actions. As we begin discerning these two things, we begin by looking at a passage of Scripture that speaks of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in us. "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. John 16:7-11 (NASB) This is a passage about the convicting work that God does in our lives. So how do we know when the Holy Spirit is doing this work? First, we should note that He comes to convict us. The word for convict here is “elegcho,” which means to prove or show someone to be wrong; to convince of error; to refute, rebuke, reprove, or admonish. The word has the idea of doing this on more than just a factual basis – but to actually bring someone to an emotional response as well. That response is shame over what they have done. There are three areas where the Holy Spirit desires to bring us to this kind of conviction. But what might be instructive before we look at these three areas is what is NOT among them. Not among these things is the area of personal attacks. When the Holy Spirit convicts us, He NEVER attacks us personally. Never will He call us stupid – or use demeaning names as He speaks within our spirit. When we say that God convicted us and called us a name like “idiot” or “moron” or something like that, we are stepping outside of Scripture. About as rough as God gets is to call someone a fool – or to refer to their actions as foolish. But let me reiterate that God does not trash talk when dealing with our sin. The problem here is that in our society we have a difficult time accepting correction without thinking it is a personal attack. Let me explain. When we choose to lie, the Holy Spirit is going to convict us that we have lied. There are even a few passages in Proverbs where if we commit certain sins involving departing from the truth, we are called a liar. That causes many in this society to bristle – and accuse God of calling names. He is not calling any names – except those we have proven to be true by our actions. Note that nowhere does God refer to someone as a stupid liar, or a lying idiot. God simply addresses the sin with truth. He does so with authority, honesty, and with tact. He is not out to trash talk us or to engage in some kind of spiritual beat-down. But, with that being said, He is going to rebuke us and tell us that our actions were wrong. We want to say we are dealing with someone who is being mean, and therefore justify rejecting what they say. But God does not work in this way. When we experience genuine conviction of sin we are dealing with Someone who speaks the truth. We face a “truth encounter.” Our problem is that it is difficult to handle the truth – face up to it – and repent accordingly. Let me illustrate with one more example. God says that homosexual activity is sin. When He says this God does not resort to insults or any kind of “street-talk” slurs. He addresses the sin. But society wants to say that God is a “homophobe” for saying this. This is like saying that God is a “lie-a-phobe” for saying that lying is a sin. We want to make conviction seem like a beat-down, when it fact it is nothing more than a truth encounter. When we make it a beat-down, we can then reject Holy Spirit on the grounds He is being mean. The fact is that He is not mean – He is lovingly truthful. We just don’t want to face the truth – whatever the issue may be. Making the encounter seem like a beat-down provides us a sort of perverse comfort that actually God is out of line in saying what He says. But turning His conviction into a reason to insult Him will guarantee us only bondage in the end. Bondage to the very sin He desired to deliver us from by bringing conviction in the first place. We need to learn to receive genuine Holy Spirit conviction in our lives. We need to discern how God defines sin without defiling his work by adding insults. We need truth, not trash talk. May God give us grace to hear Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word. And may we learn in the process that His conviction of sin is not a beat-down or an insult. It is the first step on a pathway to God’s forgiveness – and honestly – to freedom as well. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
Do I see this life as a building or as a tent? Paul begins by comparing our life here on earth to living in a tent. Our earthly bodies are mere tents - temporary dwellings. They will be torn down - i.e. we are going to die. But there is another dwelling - a building from God, a house made without hands. This is our eternal dwelling place with God for Paul lets us know that it is "eternal in the heavens." Too often I see this world as substance and the things of the Spirit as shadow - when the fact is that it is just the opposite. We live in a shadow-world and the reality is the spiritual. Paul's assertions here - and God's truth is that we should KNOW that this world is the tent - and heaven is our house, our building, our home. The problem we have is that all that is around us seems so real. It is real - but it is so amazingly temporary. All this around us will be torn down - and it will vanish. So why live for it? Why focus upon it? In this house (our current tent) we groan. That is because since salvation we have been changed - born again - made alive in the realm of the Spirit. Since that time - the reality of this world is fading - even as the Holy Spirit teaches us more and more about what is real. Therefore we begin to groan. This world is filled with death, destruction, deception, and devilish ways. We want - even long to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. We want reality and truth - therefore we want God. We know, just as Adam and Eve were filled with the horrific knowledge of their own nakedness after sinning agaisnt God, that we are naked and need to be clothed. (They tried to sew fig leaves to cover their nakedness - and hide it from God. Mankind has been either sewing their own religious covering or hiding from Him ever since.) We know that as we put on Christ, His righteousness and His works, that we will not be found naked. But as long as we live in this world - shadowland - we will continue to groan over our humanity, over our flesh, over our inability to completely shake off all the effects of the Fall. We are burdened with this as long as we inhabit our unglorified bodies. We groan in a way because we don't want to be unclotherd, but clothed. Here Paul shifts gears and speaks of how our flesh and our human existance fights death. We also are well known throughout all history for fighting God as He unclothes us from our religious outfits. We don our works-mentality and our religious observances thinking that in these we are clothed. We put on the world and its garish outfits of selfishness, self-centeredness, self-achievement, and self-glorifying. We embrace the fashion trends of the here and now - embracing the flesh-lusts, eye-lusts, and the pride of this life and our tent-ways. God wants to unclothe us from all these things - even allowing us, giving us over to them - so that in their self-destrutive ways we would groan. Suffering and pain make us groan - resisting His hand and His sanctifying purpose makes us groan - rebelling against His purposes and plans makes us groan. He will win these battles, even allowing periods of devastation in our lives - because we MUST be unclothed from such things so that what is mortal can be swallowed up by life itself. That life is His Life - abundant and eternal. To these things God has been committed since the day of our salvation. At that moment He did something miraculous. He gave us His Spirit, putting Him deep within us - at the very core of our being. We were changed and altered (althought not so much to the seeng eye). The Spirit was His earnest money - His downpayment that guaranteed that He Who had done this work of salvation in us, would complete it until the day of our ultimate redemption. This is not earnest money that will be left on the table - after the transaction is abandoned. This is God's way of saying that He is committed to this process - and He will have us - all of us. It is also His way of saying that we will be unclothed from the rags and tatters of this world and its ways - and clothed with . . . well, with Him. This is more of a certainty than the next tick of the clock, your next breath, or the rising of the sun in the morning. These actually will all stop one day - but His pursuit of us clothed in Him alone will never end - nor will it ever be abandoned. So today continues - tick after tick of the clock will go on - just like it did yesterday. You will continue to groan in this world - groan in your interesting ensemble of this world and the world to come. You will groan as more of your life and ways are unclothed with truth - conviction - repentance. Some times it will be painful - so painful and so difficult you wonder if you can take your next step. Other times will be delightful as you watch your humanity swallowed up by life - astounded as you see Christ, His character and ways more clearly in your attitudes and actions. Groan, dear ones, groan under the burden of this world. Groan as you learn of a wardrobe so simple yet majestic. Groan as you embrace life itself. Such groans are a symphony of sanctificatioin in His ears. It is music both painful and pleasant to hear. It has played ever since the first couple were unclothed from such silliness as fig leaves - and were given physical garments paid for by a blood sacrifice. But in another realm preparations had been made since all eternity for a like re-clothing of all the redeemed. Preparations for man to be unclothed from all his sin - and dressed in the glorious, blood-bought righteousness of Christ. So groan my dear brothers and sisters - groan as you are changed out of your fallen humanity and redressed in Life that swallows you so that your nakendness is covered by His glory. And may even our groans rise in a cresendo of praise and glory and honor to our kind and gracious Clothier.  May the Lord bless you and help you to set godly goals for this coming year. This past Sunday night our community group met and took some time to talk about goals for this coming year. This is something I write about almost yearly - and yet when I speak to believers, I find that very few of them set any kind of spiritual goals each year. Some might balk at the thought of setting spiritual goals for their lives - relegating such things to the realm of legalism. They might not be so quick to do this were they to consider what Paul's said to Timothy in his first letter to the young Christian. Let's take a look at this statement this week and seek to learn from it.
Paul said the following to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:6-8. "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Paul wanted Timothy to beware of the damage that bad teaching can have in a Christian's life. What he desired for Timothy is that he would be "constantly nourished on the words of the faith" as well as "sound doctrine." The words of the faith are easy enough to discern. We know that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ." The words of the faith are Scripture - the Word of God. The sound doctrine that Paul speaks of here is simply good, biblically sound teaching that comes forth from the Word of God. Thus, what Paul was telling young Timothy was that he needed to be CONSTANTLY NOURISHED on the Word of God - and good teaching which springs from the Word of God. Having established a need to be CONSTANTLY NOURISHED on God's Word - Paul then makes the statement one verse later that he is to have nothing to do with worldly fables - but to discipline himself for the purpose of godliness. This godliness is of far greater profit than bodily discipline - because it blesses both now and for all eternity. Therefore, one of the most important things we should have is some way that we are disciplining ourselves to become godly - with a major emphasis on being constantly nourished on Scripture and sound doctrine that is founded in it. Let me boil that down to a simple statement. We are to be disicplinging ourselves to be in the Scriptures so that we can be constantly nourished by them and what they teach to us. The spiritual goals of which I speak of simply goals that we set so that we can practice "nourishing ourselves" on the Word and on good, sound, godly doctrine. What kind of goals and practices of discipline do you have to do this? What kind of practices are you wanting to adopt and grow in this coming year so that you are being constantly nourished on the Word of God? Let me use an example from your everyday life to illustrate what I mean. Pretty much everyone who reads this has a habit of eating breakfast, lunch, and supper. These are ingrained habits we have to make sure we are constantly nourished physically. If we were to lose those habits - or if we are practicing terrible nutritional habits in them - we are going to be in physical trouble before long. I am not hearing anyone complain about the habit of breakfast, lunch, and supper as some sort of legalism that we are in bondage to in our lives. They are helpful habits that can truly bless us if we eat proper nutrition during them. The reason I say this is simple - just as breakfast, lunch, and supper are physical habits to help nourish us physically, the habit of a quiet time during which we invest in reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture is vital to us being nourished (might I even say, CONSTANTLY NOURISHED) on a spiritual level. Without proper spiritual nourishment, we will languish spiritually, be weak when confronting temptation and trial, and will be susceptible to every spiritual malady and sickness that comes our way (read here false doctrine and sinful lifestyles that do not glorfiy God - among other things). By spiritual goals - I refer to things you want to do each day - like maintain a quiet time. I refer to things you specifically do to be nourished on God's Word - like read through the Bible this year or read a chapter or more each day. Other things that help here are to say that you will take time to study through Romans to learn about salvation better - or memorize one verse each week with an emphasis on important passages of the Bible. Then you plan to meditate on one of those passages every day in free moments. Another spiritual goal may have to do with "obeying" the Scripture you read. Outreach to a couple of people you want to see come to Christ may be in order. Getting trained to share the gospel effectively by the end of the year might be another. You may want to read a book on basic Bible doctrine to be better grounded in your faith. The possibilities are endless - involving your own growth - the growth of your family together - the growth of others you know in basic discipleship - or even stepping up to a ministry in the church and committing to do it for a year. All these might be ways of growing by "discipling yourself for the purpose of godliness." So . . . what are you going to do this year to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness - to make arrangements to be constantly nourished on the faith and sound doctrine? Your willingness to sit down and write out some serious goals as you ask God what to do may mean the difference between an awesome year of spiritual growth and effectiveness - or just another year wasted thinking that one day you'll get serious about following Christ. Oh dear saints of God - let this year be the former! My love to all of you as we follow our Lord Jesus Christ for God's glory in this coming year!  It is a new year - and with that comes the feeling that you are making a new start - or at least you can make one. This time of year results in massive sales of exercise equipment as well as a large increase in the enrollement at health clubs. We charge into each new year with a sense that maybe this year we can make the changes that will bring us greater joy. The sad reality is that these good intentions or new year's resolutions are often short lived. Very few actually change in the way that they desire or initially intend. How do we take the excitement and freshness of a new year and turn it into the kind of change that will last beyond the end of the month - or for some - even the end of that first week?
If we are going to experience true change we need to begin with our motive for change. For most of us that involves wanting to look or feel better. If we were to be brutally honest - most of our new year's resolutions center around us. I'd like to be slimmer and be in better shape . . . why? Because I'd like to look good - and the compliments from others are not too bad either. Very few of our resolutions have at their core the glory of God. Most of mine - if I were to be brutally honest - are for the glory of pastor John. Real change will have at its core God's purposes - God's will - and God's glory. This examination of our motives brings us to the second important point about real change. By what power are we expecting to accomplish these changes? If our motives reveal that we want change for our glory, comfort, or convenience - guess whose power is going to be foremost in achieving it? If you guessed your own - you are right! This is where most change short-circuits. Our ability alone is not able to make changes - if it was - we would have been able during the year. Just because it is a new year - does not change the lack of power with which we struggle. What we need to a power surge - or a power change. That is where God comes into the picture. He is the One with the power to change our hearts and live. When we put His will at the center of our desires - as well as His glory at the center of our purpose - real power will be released in our lives. The last aspect of change is honestly the MOST IMPORTANT. Most changes we seek to make on our own involve the principle of "Law." We begin to make a promise - or a list of things or actions we are going to do to bring about change. The list seems helpful to us until we mess-up for the first time. Then the list seems to condemn us for not conforming to it. We failed - the change did not come - after a few failures add up we become discouraged and give up. That is what the principle of Law does in our lives. Change that is entered into by grace is much different. Grace urges change just like Law does. The difference comes when we have a failure or two. Law does nothing to encourage us - in fact it looms ever higher after each failure. Grace calls us to change - but meets us with - well, with grace when we fail. Think about how often God forgives us - dusts us off from our failures - and lets us know that God chose to love us. We are reminded that God's love is based upon grace and what Christ did - not on our performance. This frees us to get back up and continue seeking to love and honor and obey God - even though we don't always do it perfectly. Even when we become discouraged, grace urges us to get back up and trust God anew to change and transform us. Each year we have an opportunity given to us - by nothing more than a change of calendar. The problem we've faced is thinking that the calendar alone can help us to make the major changes we desire - only to find that these changes rarely if ever come. My hope is that by looking at this in a more biblical way - there has been opened to you a fresh opportunity with God to see change in your heart and life. The best thing about this is that with God - this change is not limited to once a year in January. It can happen any time you choose to turn to the Lord and access the grace He offers to you. |
Biblical ArticlesMost of these articles are taken from the Calvary Courier, a weekly newsletter that is sent to the folks who attend Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. Due to the response to these articles, we've decided to print some of them which proved to be very helpful to God's people at the fellowship. 
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