Worth a Try...

We live in a society today, where if something looks difficult, most people steer clear from attempting it. After all, who wants to fail? But what if we are missing all of the instruction and beautiful lessons in the failing that God has for us. Even more, we are commanded to try. (Exodus 20:1-17; Leviticus 20:26; 1 Peter 1:16) "And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments." (1 John 2:3)

If you're a Christian, you're not going to life your life perfectly, that's exactly the point. Jesus Christ came not to heal the well, but the sick. We were sick with sin. But in the forgiveness we enjoy and adoption we walk in, we are called to holy living and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what God has called us to do. So, in God's grace and strength, we should be trying to live a life that honors Him. 

How will we do what He has commanded, if we don't know what He has commanded? How will we seek to be Holy, if we know nothing of holiness. God has not left us without wisdom or knowledge. He gave us his written word, the Bible, to understand what He asks from us. How will you know what he desires for you if you don't read the Bible and seek to obey it? "

So if we are claiming to be Christians, but show no fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), no desire towards repentance, and no desire to do what God has commanded, then we must seriously question our relationship with God and work to reconcile with Him immediately. (Philippians 2:12) There is grace, mercy, forgiveness, but only for those who bow their knee to Christ in this life. That takes effort, but it's a noble cause. 

Re-evaluating

I recently read an interesting article in the Leadership Journal on multi-site churches and why one pastor felt led to abandon that model, despite great success with it. You can find the article in its entirety here.

I don't claim to know everything about church plating strategy, and as the pastor of an average congregation, I can see why my voice may not carry weight in the conversation, however, my uneasiness with that particular model boils down to one of the 3 points by the author. Namely, my concern lies with the pastor-teacher not knowing his sheep. This is something, I believe, that the multi-site minister cannot accomplish.

What is difference in a member of a multi-site congregation staying home with a few friends and watching one of several great pastor-teachers on television or listening to them on the radio and them attending the service? Would that not be the similar in experience? The message would be no more or less specific than what they would experience in either venue. In a multi-site setting, a pastor-teacher must continually be thinking of preaching based on the larger context and mission. If something particularly tragic or scandalous happens at one campus, the pastor-teacher cannot entirely address the issue from the pulpit for concern that it is not something happening across all campuses.

Pastors should smell like their sheep, their sheep should know their voice, and he should know them by name. This is not possible in the multi-site context. We must stop and evaluate if that model is driven by scripture, or by the fame of the pastor-teacher. If it is the latter, we must re-evaluate and go another way.

Where we live...

I've been thinking a great deal about where we live lately. The television has been filled with news of attacks on the military in my country, continued attacks on the unborn in the womb and the sale of their dismembered bodies, and the wholesale slaughter of Christians around the world. On an international and national scale, things are deeply troubling to say the least. In addition to that, in my small circle of friends and family, the tales of brokenness and suffering abound, the reality of consequences of sinful behavior, and the unrepentant hearts of believers has been breaking mine. 

As I've been feeling a real pain and discomfort grow in my chest, costing me sleep and peace of mind over these events, I've been drawn back to two truths: 1) this place I live is not my home and 2) this place I live is in desperate need of the truth of God. 

God never intended for this world to be the way that it is or for things to be so broken. We wrought this with our words and deeds, yet it still seems nearly impossible to understand and even more difficult to take our own share for the blame and hurt we have caused. God made the world perfect and beautiful, we broke the perfection. But God didn't leave us where we were in brokenness. He condescended and transcended all of the ugliness and through His death, burial, and resurrection, has made a way for the us out of a broken home and into an eternally perfect one. 

Remember where you live, and live in such a way as to prepare for your real address in a better world. As a Christian, you will struggle because you will be trying to do the right thing in the wrong world. Don't give up. You're headed for a far better world. Persevere. Brokenness is everywhere. Jesus still reigns. Cling to Him. 

The Quest for Holiness

Everyone today is on a quest for something greater, a purpose, or a plan to achieve what they believe to be the ideal for their circumstance. Everyone. But who determines what is ideal or better? Psalm 112 gives great insight into the what happens when the believer seeks the best by God's standard. Psalm 112:1 begins with the psalmist rejoicing in the facts of God's character. We find that the person that is "blessed" by the Lord shows himself to be in active pursuit of of wisdom through a reverent fear of God and by delighting in His commands (Psalm 1:2). 

Of even more substance to the believer is the knowledge that there are blessings to be found in adversity (Psalm 112:4). Here, "darkness" is a metaphor for adversity implying that "even in darkness [the] light [of the Lord] dawns on the upright." This person is gracious and compassionate, seeking to relieve the suffering of others. And it plays out in practical ways in v. 5 with the believer giving freely without expectation of interest on a loan, simply believing it just to help others in need (Psalm 111:5). 

These blessings that come in adversity carry the believer through the hardest of times. Because the wise man holds to the precepts of God that are "steadfast forever and ever (Psalm 111:8), he is "steadfast" (v.7) "He will never be shaken" (v.6), "he will have no fear," "his heart is steadfast" and "his heart is secure." We can expect that we may experience any number of surprises in life, but for the believer will persevere in doing good. He does not waver and is not easily tossed about, but he "perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:12) That means that no matter if he receives "bad news" and has reason to "fear" or has problems with his adversaries (Psalm 112:7-8), His trust is in the Lord, so he can stand.   

Doing the will of God is motivated by a desire to be like God. The word godliness stems from the idea of God-like-ness. If the believer would seek to do the will of God, it must be motivated by a desire to be like God. Jesus said in John 14:23 that if we truly love Him, we will obey His commands. So to delight in His commands (Psalm 112:1) presupposes a grateful and generous heart. (James 2:14-20) 

      C.S. Lewis beautifully said in The Great Divorce, “ Only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says in the end “Thy will be done.” If we would seek a quest for greatness and purpose, we must first seek to humble ourselves and obey the will of our Heavenly Father, even though doing so will often take us completely counter to the surrounding culture. 

Are you filled with the love of Christ?

In the movie Saved, Mandy Moore plays a young woman who exemplifies cultural Christianity. She looks the part and knows all of the right things to say when encountering those of differing viewpoints. The essential problem is although she knows what to say, the heart behind the words is entirely bankrupt of love. When a disagreement happens with a young woman struggling with her faith and the outworking of her choices, Moore's character throws a Bible and hits the young woman in the back, all while yelling, "I am filed with  the love of Christ!"

Proverbs 4:23 states it like this: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.” The word picture here is graphic. The heart is a well from which all the issues of life gush forth. A youth pastor of mine growing up would say it this way: What’s in the well comes up in the bucket.
The behavior a person exhibits is an expression of the overflow of the heart. Why bring this up?
 
Evangelism and discipleship.

If when we are rebuffed while trying to share the love of Christ in the form of the sharing of the Gospel with others and they reject the message, our response tells us a great deal about our motives. If they reject the message and we respond with anger and hateful rebuttals, the conversation was about "winning souls" not the transformation of a life and transference of a soul from darkness to light. We've made the emphasis about ourselves and taken the rejection of Christ as the rejection of us. If, on the other hand, the rejection does not end the friendship or conversation, we truly are having Gospel conversations. You and I were most likely not saved on the first hearing of the Gospel. Have patience with new hearers. Show them the same love you coveted when you started out. 


The same is true with discipleship. How you treat someone who struggles, stumbles, and falls in sin while trying to run the race of faith says more to do with your heart than theirs. A heart that loves, celebrates achievements in sanctification and encourages in the midst of failings.  

If God is near...

In my daily devotional, Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives, I am often struck by the way the collective authors seek to get to the heart of the issue. This morning's reading was no different.

"If the Lord is near, if he is someone who knows what’s on your heart, who knows what weighs heavily on you and preoccupies you, then he is a hearer of his beloved children. Many psalms start out by pleading with God—Lord, listen to me, bend your ear, you must hear me, I need you to listen and act on my behalf. These are not calm psalms; they are intense and pointed. In Psalm 28, David tells God that if God doesn’t hear him, he will die. This is faith talking, and David talks this way because God is listening. God’s listening does not guarantee that what is making you anxious will go away—that your financial problems will be solved, that you will be cured of cancer, or that whatever else is worrying you will disappear. You may not be healed, people you love may die, and you may struggle with financial stress. But God comforts, strengthens, and gives hope in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. Jesus did not want to drink the cup of God’s wrath. But God strengthened him, and he was fully willing. There’s help from him for whatever worries you. So when you are anxious pour your heart out to God. He is listening." - David Powlinson

I find all too often that I am anxious. At the root of it all is my selfish desires and tendencies. I can see that and yet still find me fighting the anxiousness. I strive to cast my cares upon Christ, knowing that He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7), but struggle to do the much harder task of 1 Peter 5:6 of humbling myself. Of course I can hand off my cares. My cares are easy to hand off! I don't want them! But i will not find hope, peace, comfort, or joy in the handing off of them until I also find myself trusting in the God who has had them all along. His ways are higher than my ways and His plan for my life brings so much greater glory to Him and brings about more eternal good for my life than any choice I could ever make independently of Him. Since God is near, I am free to trust in Him. Since God is near, I am free to trust in Him. Since God is near, I am free to obey Him.

Simple Reminders to Cry Out

In Psalm 107, we find the emphasis lies on God’s goodness in spite of man’s sin. God is always, consistently faithful, and yet I find my heart prone to wander away from His presence. As a believer, we must remember that when we feel far away from God, the one who promised never to leave us or forsake us, that our feelings are deceptive, but do provide a glimpse into the state of our hearts. When we turn our backs on God, we lose sight of Him to rebel, but God never loses sight of us. He stands to save and never backs away from the promises he offers. 

Psalm 107 offers an emphatic recounting of this truth. In verses 6, 13, 19, and 28 we find that every time man has come to his end (the end of his rope, his strength, his thoughts, his abilities, his resources), he has cried out to God. That in and of itself is not that spectacular; we are trained from infancy to cry out when our needs are not met in a timely fashion. What is spectacular is that God, the almighty Father we have continually turned our backs on, is so ever present that when we cry, He always hears us. Not only does he hear us, "he delivers them from their distress." Four times in this Psalm do we find God's readiness and willingness to save his children when they cry out to Him.

What we also find is the term, "steadfast love" six times throughout this passage. This particular phrase is used in nearly every Psalm as a heavenly reminder that His love never fades or is disrupted by our character, because of His great character.

In my failings, I need the constant reminder and hope of God's Word, that specifically the Psalms offers: God's love is not dependent on me. He is ever faithful and ready to respond to my cries in distress, but longs to lead me away from the things that would steal my joy to begin with. In tenderness, He seeks to love me and His constant presence, another sign of His faithfulness, reminds me that a covenant births a relationship.

The Mark of Maturity.

It is a mark of Christian maturity that when you fall (and oh how we will fall!), you run TO God, not FROM God. This conveys an understanding that God, out of His great love for us, does not give up on His own. While he is perfecting us (Hebrews 12:1-2), honesty of heart tells us and Him that we are not perfect yet. There is further to be run. So when Christ calls us to confess our sin to one another, it's not to simply to show how great our need is, but also to show how great of a savior He is!

Honesty of heart that manifests itself in confession of sin builds community in so many ways. Here are just a few:

• Confession allows others to see that we are professing to be sinners saved by grace. 
• Confession reminds our community that they are not alone in their personal struggles with sin. 
• Confession helps us to see believers further along than us that we may learn from who have similarly struggled. 
• Confession offers us the opportunity to encourage and pray for those who are struggling.  

I've been thinking a good deal about this lately, as I see individuals trying to act independently of one another, yet still claim to be in the same group. The body of Christ removes the need for competition and instead brings about freedom to encourage and build-up one another when they find unity in confession and forgiveness. The outside world will only see us as the body of Christ, when we act in unity.

Mother's Day

Preparing for Sunday's message, I have been thinking a good deal about how difficult it is to be a mother. As a father, I have roles, duties, and expectations that are placed on me from a variety of sources. It's helpful to wade into the waters of those sources and test them against Scripture, but often, the waters are murky and difficult to navigate. As I see mothers beating themselves up, looking back and asking hard questions like, "Was I good mom?" and "Did I fail them?" or "Did I love them enough?". Few professions or careers require or inspire this kind of introspection later in life.

In the book, Mom Enough, the reader finds an assortment of mothers from all walks of life writing on the beauty, frustration, and sanctifying role of being a Christian mother. I highly recommend it for mothers and for fathers. For fresh water to the mothers and understanding for the fathers. Here's a section written by Rachel Jankovic that hit home to me:

“There is a good old saying that distance adds intrigue. It is certainly true—just think back to anything that has ever been distant from you that is now near. Your driver’s license. Marriage. Children. Things that used to seem so fascinating, but as they drew near become less mystical and more, well, real. This same principle also applies to mission fields. The closer you get to home, the less intriguing the work of sacrifice seems. As another good old saying goes, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, they don’t communicate awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People do not press you for needs they can fill for you, or how they can pray for you. Your life does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because you are as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.” 

Truly, godly mothers always feel like home, no matter where they are. Happy Mother's Day to you and yours. 

The Church Without a Body

As a pastor, the theology behind what makes a church is often on my mind. I see people disembodied from a local church and lacking in attendance for months, and even years, yet still claiming allegiance to a local body of believers. This always strikes me as odd. Christ compares the members of the church to a human body (1 Corinthians 12:12). If that is true, how long would an appendage or organ have to be missing from a body before the body no longer considered the missing piece part of it any more? 

Christ compares the relationship of the church to Christ to that of a husband and wife. (Ephesians 5:22-32) if that is true, how long would a spouse need to live separated from his spouse before the other stopped considering them their spouse?  

In Total Church. Tim Chester says it this way: 

“By becoming a Christian, I belong to God and I belong to my brothers and sisters. It is not that I belong to God and then make a decision to join a local church. My being in Christ means being in Christ with those others who are in Christ. This is my identity. This is our identity. If the church is the body of Christ, then we should not live as disembodied Christians.” 

Why is it so hard for us to commit to the relationships, discipleship, service, and worship that takes place within the local church? I think it comes down to the same reason that we have difficulties with our bodies and within our marriages and it is summed up in one word: work. it takes hard work to maintain a healthy marriage and it takes a lot of work to maintain a healthy body. On top of all of the work is the outside influences of a sinful world and our own sinful hearts. 

Most people are willing to make a one-time commitment to exercise or eat healthy, however, it's workouts after tiring days and healthy eating in the face of tasty food that shows the commitment. Most people are willing to say a string of vows and swear to love someone else on a special day, however, it is the daily service and dying to self that adds up to years of true love that frames those vows into a place where a loving home is built.

Laying our lives down for Christ rarely happens in a singular moment of sacrifice. It's infinite moments of small sacrifices and daily choosing to surrender and submit to Christ. To read more on the concept of dying to self daily, Paul Tripp handles this with more experience and grace than I will here.

Most believers are willing to join a local body, however, the real place where feet are put to faith is in the dying to self, the daily picking up of our cross and following Christ. What does this look like? It's the tired 80+ year old cancer survivor who still faithfully attends Bible study when she could easily teach it, yet also faithfully prepares food for the youth group. It's the young man who attends church alone, week after week, because he's the only believer in his family, worshiping gladly. It's the family who attends, week after week, though there isn't much in the way of children's activities and often there aren't more than a handful of people their own age.

What makes us a church? Jesus. We believe, plain and simple, that what Jesus has done in and for us, has changed us forever and we have to worship him in the study of His word and the songs lifted from our souls and invite others to do the same. If you, like me, attend a small church in a dark place, don't give up. The small light of Christ you give off may be the only thing guiding that community towards a home they have never known. Be the church, by attending and serving in your local church.

Psalm 100

For over 2 years, we've been slowly working through a Psalm a night on Wednesday nights. Last night we hit Psalm 100, and it was a sweet reminder of who God is and how He alone is worthy of our praise. The Psalms have been greatly cathartic to me. They show the great majesty of God for sure, his steadfast faithfulness and loving-kindness. The Psalms also show the honest and frail state of man in the throws of difficulties of life with all of the complexities that come from seeking to live as light in a dark world. Perhaps most comforting and beautiful to me in the Psalms is that I find doubt, frustration, happiness, confusion, clarity, pain, joy, sorrow, depression and yet still I find God, constant and faithful to listen and love. 

         

I have found Psalm 100's strength lies in the truths of Psalm 100:3. We are told to "know that the Lord is God." To know that Yahweh is God is to stand on a firm foundation in our understanding and is comprehensive of just who the one true and living God is. Danny Akin says it is "to know who is God and who God isn’t. It is to know the Lord by His Word and through His works. It is to know the God who has made Himself known in nature and scripture (Ps 19) but supremely in His Son Jesus." Hebrews 1:1-2 reminds us, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”

    We see in verse 3 that we are not our own, He created us. We are not our own, He has redeemed us (1Cor. 6:19-20). Here we find the natural antidote for our idolatry, selfishness, and navel gazing. We are not our own. We were bought with a price, and although it was free to us, it was greatly costly to God. James Boice said it well: “The natural result of knowing God is to know ourselves, and the only way to really know ourselves is by knowing God” (vol. 2, p. 812).

     And if the phrase, “It is he who made us” is a statement of accountability to remind us of our contingent origins, this phrase “we are His people and the sheep of His pasture” is a statement of privilege. I not only know the King, I am known by Him. Don’t run past the personal pronouns in verse 3. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. This verse looks back to the kind words of Psalm 23 where the good shepherd leads us to lay down by still waters and even though " I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me: your rod and staff, they comfort me." Why don't I fear? Because the one who disciplines me also knows the way to bring me to safety; He sees farther than I do and He loves me. Verse 3 also looks forward to Luke 15:3-6 and John 10:1-18. Both are talking about Jesus! He is our Shepherd-King and being known by His great love allows to praise Him, as Psalm 100:1 tells us to, despite our circumstances, because of what we know to be true.  

     

The War Within

I've been thinking quit a bit lately on the idea of the internal war mentioned within Galatians 5:17. People will often quote Paul saying that he struggles to do the things he knows are right, however, this seems to be mentioned in reference to a "nobody's perfect" mentality. God didn't leave us without an understanding of what it looks like to walk in the flesh or in the Spirit. Just look at verses 19-21 for a full mp to the locations of nearly every sinful production of the wicked desires of our hearts. Yet, look still at vv. 22-24 to see what life lived in the Spirit produces within us. Our desires are not necessarily sinful, it is the heart behind them and the actions that flow out of them that are sinful.

Even looking at the list in vv. 19-21, desires or cravings of the sinful nature are not just sexual or financial. They’re anything you want more than the living God. These are your god-substitutes—what you worship instead of God (idols). There is only one thing to do when you feel trapped by your response to trouble. You turn. You go and sin no more. You die to self, pick up your cross and follow him. Easier said than done, but if we walk in the Spirit, the power to do what we are called to do has already been supplied and all we need do, is return again and again to the power bestowed on us by our Heavenly Father to fulfill His commands.

I love the way that James Montgomery Boice explains it in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:

"Life by the Spirit is neither legalism nor license—nor a middle way between them. It is a life of faith and love that is above all of these false ways. Being led by the Spirit does not imply passivity but rather the need to allow oneself to be led. Responding to the Spirit is described by three mutually interpreting words in Galatians 5:16, 18, and 25—“walk”, “led,” and “live."

Walk in the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Live in the Spirit.

Literally, we are to have Spirit-filled, Christ centered, God honoring lives.

Today

"For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,," Psalm 95:7-8

At these historical places Israel had acted shamelessly against the Lord (cf. Exod 17:1–7; Num 20:1–13). Despite God saving Israel, they questioned and tested the Lord, much like you and I do. Verses 1 and 2 call us to remember his works of salvation in our lives and to let our praise and gratitude to flow out of that. When I'm grateful, I might ask for more, but I'm recognizing what has already been given and contentment flows out of that. 

Psalm 95 speaks volumes about how great our redeemer is, but also about what He has done. he has been patient and long suffering. This is because real love is persistent and God loves His children. We also are called to be long suffering with the idle, timid, and weak. That means we are to warn, encourage, and help one another for a really, really long time! Change does not happen in us or others overnight. 

God knows our past mistakes. He knows how we have failed Him before, but there is so much grace in that word "Today" in verse 7. If he calls on you to do something today, do it and know that your heavenly Father loves you and is for you. Move forward, past fear, into obedience.