A New Creation

Yesterday our pastor finished a series on the book of Galatians, discussing 6:11-18.  There were many great points but what amazed me again was Paul's attitude to the world.  It also seems that this is the pastor's attitude toward faith as well.

Paul describes in v.14 - "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  The world was crucified to Paul, and Paul was crucified to the world.  This is a strong language that I don't believe many people can say today.

At the outset, Paul says that he can only boast in the cross of Christ.  That is to say, he has no achievements to brag about, as we know from Philippians 3 all of his achievements he considers rubbish.  But what he boasts about is the achievement of Christ on the cross, the only thing that he counts as having any value in his life.

Because of this, Paul has left the ways of the world he considers himself dead to the world.  He has taken the way of Christ and seeks to use all his life for Him.  He is dead to the world, or he has been crucified to the world, the language that identifies with Jesus' death.  Paul is following Jesus in symbolic form speaking as if he has been literally crucified, he has been Spiritually crucified so that he can give his life in ministry for Christ.

Then Paul explains why he has taken this path.  He has departed the ways of the world, and he has departed Judaism for the Christian faith.  He no longer promotes the customs, traditions, or sin sacrifices of his former way of life.  This is symbolized by the circumcision that every male baby underwent to identify with the Jewish faith.  It was a faith that looked forward to the Messiah, and yet it was deadening because no one could keep the law completely.  But now the Messiah has come in Christ.

Instead of the deadening pursuit of righteousness from seeking to keep the Mosaic law, Christ offers us his righteousness by grace if we shall only receive it.  If we accept his grace we receive his righteousness and thus salvation.  This leads Paul to say in v.15 - "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."  This is the key to the Christian faith, a new spiritual regeneration, new life in the Spirit from the grace of Christ.

The pastor explained how this is the most important part of any person's life, finding new life in Christ.  The graduating seniors from high school, college, and graduate school can all look at their accomplishments and know they've done well.  But receiving the new life in Christ is the only really important thing we can boast about, as it comes from the cross of Christ.

This is what the message of Galatians is all about.  We cannot find the life of Christ from self-righteous works of the law, but only through faith in his righteousness.  We must accept his grace to have him.  That's a great deal in every way.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY: Galatians 6:15 - "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."

The Truth Again

With even a cursory glance at the news in our culture with politics, sports, and entertainment we see a myriad of ugly issues.  It's amazing how little of current events include truth in any particular subject.  We often hear of the latest developments such as the progress of a supreme court nominee, the changes being made in business acquisitions, the up or down votes on a health care bill, or who is still standing in the March Madness tournament.  Very little is written however about truth even in the editorial sections.  Even today the headlines focused on the state of North Carolina changing its infamous "Bathroom Bill" under the pressure of special interest groups.  Transgender people are politicking for the right to choose either male or female bathrooms, and even locker rooms in schools, based on their gender preference instead of the natural birth identity as found on their birth certificates.  This is crazy foolishness.

There is truth all around us but if there was no true truth, then the absence of it in the news would all be quite normal.  Truth may seem quite strange in a world that is changing all the time and where it is said that the only thing that doesn't change is change itself.  Even time is a constant for everyone and it tells us that we are changing, we are getting older day by day and year by year.  But are there any unchanging ethical standards in our world?  Yes, there are, or there could be no civil society to live in.  We hear all the time about the injustice of the economically oppressed in the developing world or the immorality of sex trafficking.  We all recognize the Holocaust was horrific and evil, yet the Nazis in WWII at that time did not.  How can it be that we do not see the immorality of our culture?

Many people have succumbed to a worldview that believes all is well if things keep changing, they even say that this is progress.  Who wants to be stuck in the past?  Isn't it time to upgrade that old cell phone for a smartphone, and then for an even smarter phone?  Does anyone really want to go back to high school, or be stuck in childhood forever?  Do we really want to be trapped in an archaic mindset that had black and white non-talking movies?  Isn't it time that we took charge of our lives and made some changes?  Novelty and autonomy are in, and it sells, it gives us hope for new business, and we really do like the idea that we can change society according to our preferences.

There are some problems in our progress, however, as we can unknowingly accept a change of morality and of reality for something unreal.  I for one really do like my computer and I don't have any desire to go back to a typewriter or snail mail.  Can we distinguish however between progress in technology and regress in morality?  This is the Trojan Horse in our culture as we have been made comfortable to think that man gets to decide what is right and wrong.  Take any moral hot-button issue today and you'll be hard-pressed to find an argument from the perspective of an objective truth or eternal standard.  But if there is no unchanging truth then anything can be normalized.

The definitions of words are really important in understanding the objectivity of morality and reality.  Our culture communicates in a thousand subliminal ways that to pass judgment on another person's beliefs is a form of discrimination.  It implies that there is no ultimate Truth, there are only personal truths and preferences, and who are we to judge someone else?  Yet the acknowledgment of Truth can bring great relief to all the insanity.  Instead of thinking of personal discrimination, we need to think in terms of truth principles, that some things in essence are good or bad, moral or immoral, independent of our personal perspectives.  Two plus two equals four despite what anyone might believe.  Male and female are different for a purpose, despite the trends of society.  Absolute Truth exists even in a democracy.

We need to recover the Truth of truth, which can be done in numerous ways, in order to establish moral standards.  This eternal Truth comes from the unchanging and eternal Truth of God.  In the Truth of Scripture, we find Light for living in the darkness that can't be found anywhere else.  This Truth is also a Person, and if we call out to him in faith he will give us forgiveness, newness of life in the here and now, and eternal life in heaven when we die.  This a good news, it's true truth that we all need because we all are mortal, but it's not discrimination.  The truth of morality and immorality doesn't change by the votes of any people in any government at any age.  We need the Truth of Christ to establish a just and righteous society, and to find salvation for eternal life.

FAITH TODAY:  John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.""

Forty-One Years!

Forty-one years ago today in the history of the Christian church, a very small blip on the screen occurred.  On this day I became a Christian one Sunday morning in 1976, right after the morning church service.  Pastor Dick McKeen, (Pastor Mac) wanted to talk to me about my Christian faith, and I said, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm ok, I believe in God.  I'm not like the Biology professor at college who believes in evolution."  I was a freshman at the University of Lowell, in Lowell, MA.  That was the only open door that the pastor needed, and he went on and said graciously, "Well there's something more you need to know about becoming a Christian."

So we sat down and he explained that the Bible teaches us that we need to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to become a Christian, and that belief in God was not quite enough.  He went on to tell me the gospel that Jesus was the Son of God and he came to the earth to live a sinless life, so that he could become the sin offering for us when he died on the cross.  And, most importantly, he described how Jesus rose from the dead three days later and conquered death itself.  Because of this, we can know that if we put our faith in Jesus as the Christ who was raised from the dead, we too would one day rise from the dead and be with him in heaven for eternity.  That was the part that hit home for me because I really wanted to know where I would be when I died.

As a young man, I had many questions running around my head as well as all the other normal stuff young guys do like playing sports, being a part of the Boy Scouts, and trying to stay out of trouble.  For me, I kept asking, 'Who am I, why am I here, where am I going, what's the meaning and purpose of life, and where will I be when I die?'  Some big philosophical questions for a teenager but they may have reflected my personality or my home situation more than anything else.  My parents had been separated and were about to be divorced while I was a senior in high school, and life was not always a whole bunch of fun.

But when I heard that there was a way to know that you could go to heaven through the gospel of Jesus Christ, I was thrilled.  When Pastor Mac asked me whether I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior, I stopped and thought about what I really believed.  I remembered the pictures in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School when I was young, of the stone having been rolled away from the tomb where Jesus had been buried.  I asked if I really believed that Jesus rose from the dead, and I said "Yes," I did.  I believed there has to be something other than this life and I wanted to know where I would be when I died.  My conscience confirmed to me that this was the truth, this is the reality we all need to know to get right with God and to go to heaven.

Well, I'm not always a real outspoken person and it took me a while to start talking about my new faith with my friends back in school.  Eventually, I transferred from the state university and went to Gordon College, and changed majors from Biology to Biblical and Theological Studies.  I thought I wanted to be a pastor but I ended up being a pilot.  But I remember more than anything else the deepest and greatest joy of knowing the salvation found in Christ, and the joy of living in this faith all these years.

There's great theology to be found in the Bible too that has been a source of fantastic joy for me in knowing God.  In fact, one of the most influential books I've read has been J.I. Packer's, Knowing God.  We can know Christ in great ways through Scripture so that our lives are changed and transformed into his image and character.  It all began for me as Pastor Mac described it forty-one years ago today, that God has such great love for us that he sent his only Son to be our Savior and give us the gift of eternal life.

FAITH TODAY:  John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

When Helping Hurts

Have you ever tried to help someone and wondered if it really made a difference?  There are many occasions when we need to help people in mercy ministry and there are other times when we need to seek to help people help themselves.  As the old proverb goes, 'Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.'  When we help someone learn how to fish they will be exponentially better off than if we simply give them food from day to day.  And, the long-term help of personal development is important, but the gospel is the best help of all.

Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett have written an interesting book entitled, When Helping Hurts, to address the issue of economic development in low-income areas.  They identify poverty as a matter of broken relationships for mankind with - 1) God, 2) Self, 3) Others, and 4) Creation.  We all suffer from poverty in their assessment.  There is personal and systemic poverty and both need to be addressed in different ways.  When a person has a lack of education, for instance, one form of assistance would be to provide scholarships to go to college.  But when that person grows up in a country that has no suitable primary or secondary education, there is a systemic problem that all people in that country suffer from.  Their book develops several possible solutions for tackling each type of economic problem.

The authors identify the broken relationship with God as the first problem for all mankind.  They reference Colossians 1:15-20 where Christ is described, "In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible ... all things were created through him and for him."  Also in v.20, "And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross."  This shows the necessity of the gospel and the primary redemptive work of Christ.  Yet the focus in 'WHH' shifts to the mercy ministry of helping people in low-income positions.  They often reference "community development" as a means for advancement, which they believe in turn will work toward ending poverty and advancing economic development.  I believe there needs to be a much clearer emphasis on the Gospel for Spiritual development as our root problem is our sinful nature.

Much like giving a man a fish, community development without a clear proclamation of the gospel will fall short of healing the brokenness of our relationship with God.  And there's no guarantee that economic development will lead people to Christ.  With mercy presuppositions, their perspective emphasizes several mercy passages to describe how Jesus was interested in relieving suffering.  In Luke 4 they highlight the Isaiah 58 prophecy of the Messiah's bringing "liberty to the oppressed."  And in Luke 7 when Jesus responded to John's disciples by referencing his miracles that "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed... "  In both passages, compassion to the needy is emphasized but the primary message is that Jesus is the promised Messiah who alone can bring salvation.  The miracles he performed were to illustrate his true identity as the Messiah.

The gospel of Christ is the greater message of Scripture even though mercy is an essential part of the Christian faith.  Jesus demonstrated the gospel priority in several ways, and in particular when he questioned his disciples regarding his identity in Matthew 16:15.  Peter answered that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus then instructed his disciples that he needed to go to Jerusalem to be crucified, over and against their protests.  The gospel is not pragmatic but Spiritual, it is the greatest priority, and in turn, it brings Spiritual life and transformation to those who accept it.

Also in Mark 12:30 when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he did not reply with mercy or compassion.  Rather he stated, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  And then he said, "The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”  If there ever was a place where Jesus could have clarified the priority of mercy ministry over the gospel, this would have been it.  Yet the authors of 'WHH' do not make this distinction of the priority of the gospel over all missions.  Nor do they clarify the difference between the gospel and the common grace of philanthropy and humanitarianism.

Even more there needs to be an emphasis on family and work.  In Genesis 1-2, God institutes marriage and family as the central institution for society and commissions them with the creation mandate of having dominion over all the earth.  The family has historically been the central economic unit for society in the teamwork of husband and wife caring for their children.  Yet the breakdown of the family structure has been devastating to low-income people, and in its place community development has often been the focus.  This development can easily progress into social networks and reliance on government programs, which in turn can also regress further into socialism, and even communism.

When Helping Hurts has many positive and pragmatic examples of economic development, but there is a lack of promoting personal responsibility within a Christian work ethic and worldview, and in even developing a Christian capitalism.  For God instructs us in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."  Also in Ephesians 4:28, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."  The mercy ministries of helping other people in need is an important aspect of our faith, for this is an example of the mercy and grace God gives to us in Christ.  But, the Gospel is the primary ministry for all Christians as there is salvation in no other name.  We can help people eternally with the gospel of Christ, which in turn can inspire us all in the here and now.

FAITH TODAY:  James 2:5, "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?"

Sanctification By Truth

The greatest need in the Christian church today I believe is that of sanctification as was discussed in the previous post.  This sanctification is the process of being set apart from the world and growing in Christlikeness.  It is a growth in faith that changes or transforms us from being in the flesh to walking in the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit can transform us from our sinful nature in faith and obedience through our hearts.  Yet it takes our minds to be engaged in the Scriptures to discover its truth and power for us to be transformed into the image or nature of Christ.

Sanctification is multifaceted in that it comes through faith and it is also by truth.  We see from John 17:17 that Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth."  This is his high priestly prayer to the Father before his trial and crucifixion for his immediate disciples and for those of us who would follow later.  Depending on the translation of the Bible we see it is rendered "by your truth" or "in your truth," but either way, it comes from the truth of Scripture.  Our sanctification is also enabled by something outside of us, from the Holy Spirit as we find in the Bible.  Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  We have a teacher and a helper to understand the Scriptures.

In John 17 we see that Jesus is first concerned with the glory of God, and then he is concerned that his disciples would be protected from the influence of the world.  Jesus prays in v. 15-16, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  In the same way, we too need to be set apart from the world even though we are to be in the world.  Because of our brokenness, we need to be reminded constantly of his truth and to follow after him through the Word of God.  We need to be set apart both Spiritually and mentally so that we are able to think outside of our culture, and so we will also seek to do all things to the glory of God.

From the world's perspective, there are many teachings of Jesus that do not make sense.  Both the Jews and the Romans did not understand who he was.  And even his disciples often did not understand his purposes, as he was seeking to glorify his Father.  When Jesus was on trial before Pilate he declared in John 18:37, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice."  This led to Pilate's great question, "What is truth?"  Jesus gave him no answer, probably because he was the Truth and he was standing right before him.

Yet we see that those who are of the truth listen to Jesus' voice, to his words, to his testimony, and to the Word of truth.  All through the Scriptures, we see that to grow in Christlikeness it takes both our heads and our hearts, our minds must be open to discovering the truth in Scripture.  Paul teaches us in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."  This transformation of our mind from the ways of the world to the truth of Scripture is the key to sanctification.  Here we can learn how to think biblically and gain a Christian worldview.

In Colossians 3:1-2 Paul also describes, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."  We are called to think 'vertically' or 'theocentrically' about the truth of Christ so as to live in faith in the constantly changing world.  Paul gives a reason why we should set our minds on things above because that's where we find the greatest reality.  We see in vs. 3-4, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."  This ultimate reality in heaven is the truth that can sanctify all of our lives even in our everyday struggles in the here and now.

We are called to be set apart from the world so that we can grow Spiritually, and so we can bring the truth of Christ into the world as the Light is brought into the darkness.  We first need to acknowledge the Scriptures as Truth, and then be inspired and strengthened by the Word of God to know God personally.  Through the truth of Scripture, we can know God in our hearts and minds and live in his Spirit and walk in Christlikeness.  Knowing God and living for Christ transforms us from the brokenness of this world into Spiritual maturity, fruitfulness, and peace.  In this sanctification by truth, we discover a true Spiritual life and become new people in Christ, which also glorifies God.

FAITH TODAY:  John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Sanctification By Faith

One of the most overlooked teachings in the Christian faith is the doctrine of sanctification.  As a Protestant, Reformed Evangelical I've heard many messages about justification as our heritage is inseparably tied to the sixteenth-century Reformation.  At that time there were two primary aspects of the protest in the "formal debate" and the "material debate" with the Roman church.  The formal debate was that of "Sola Scriptura," that the Bible is the ultimate authority of all church and faith issues.  The material debate was that of "Justification By Faith Alone."  The Reformers believed that the Bible was key and that we are saved or justified before God by faith, as a gift by grace from God in Christ alone.  There are no good works that contribute to our justification.

With this framework the Reformed Christian faith still emphasizes both the centrality of Scripture and the justification by faith alone.  But these are not the only doctrines of Scripture, and to maintain faithfulness to the formal debate of "Sola Scriptura" we need to always be going back to the Bible to understand all its truth and applications to our lives.  Sanctification is one of the key doctrines that the modern Christian church needs more than anything else because of the highly secularistic world we live in, and our Spiritual growth is greatly enhanced by studying the Bible.  Sanctification through the Scriptures can bring great blessings to our lives.

Sanctification is the process of being set apart from sin for our growth in godliness.  Paul speaks about this process of Spiritual growth in Romans 8, beginning with v.1 as he first pronounces that there is no condemnation for those "in Christ."  Here we see that we are first set free in Christ by the law of the "Spirit of life" from the law of "sin and death."  In v.6 we also see that there is action to take in our new Spiritual life, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."  In Christ, we must begin to set our minds, hearts, and souls on the truth we find in Scripture.

The chapter develops a comparison of having our minds set on the Spirit or on the flesh.  In v.9 we see Paul pronounce that we are not "in the flesh" but "in the Spirit" if "in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you."  He then describes in v.12-14, that, "we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."  We can be set apart and filled with the Holy Spirit when we turn away from the sins of the flesh and set our hearts on Christ to walk in faith.

Paul continues in v. 26-27 and we see, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."  The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers as we need to be strengthened in our hearts to trust him.  We can trust God that all things work together for the good of those who love him, (v.28).  God is working in a masterful way to bring all things together for his glory.

Further in v.29, we see that those God "foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son."  This 'conformity' is the process of sanctification, of being set apart unto God, and being changed from our sinful nature to the Spirit-filled nature by faith.  And further in v.30, we read, "those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."  God is directing his people from predestination to justification and then to glorification.  It is the Holy Spirit who is working in us and through us as we follow his prompting from Scripture.  The life of faith is also filled with the good works that come from grace as we are "led by the Spirit of God."

Our sanctification follows our justification, therefore, and our Spiritual lives should grow into Christlikeness.  It is not unlike a child that is born and then begins to grow physically.  But in Spiritual ways, it is not always automatic, and we must remember from Romans 8:12 that "we are debtors" to God to live by faith.  Sometimes this requires great sacrifice, yet we will always grow Spiritually when we follow Christ in faith.  The great blessing to us, and to our families and friends, is that we will be transformed more and more into the image of Christ.  And this in turn will bring glory to God.

FAITH TODAY:  Romans 8:12-13, "So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

The Shema Prayer

In the book of Deuteronomy Moses takes the time to teach, and repeat, to the Israelites many of the basic doctrines that the Lord God has given them.  One of the most well-known and important teachings that became a paradigm for their lives was the "Shema" prayer.  It is found in Dt. 6:4-6, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart."  It is a prayer and a calling to live for God in all aspects of life.  It is a command to set Him above all other priorities and practices so as to be guided in His will.

The entire sixth chapter of Deuteronomy shows us that God is intimately concerned with the well-being and faith of the Israelites.  He wants them to follow him in a faith relationship and so he instructs them how to live for him.  This paradigm is to be for the Israelites and their families, for their good and for their blessings as they prepare to cross over the Jordan River to the Promised Land, which at the time was filled with people who did not have faith in YAHWEH.  Moses is helping the people to remember who they were by remembering who God is.

Moses describes in Deut. 6:1-3, "Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey."  Moses emphasizes that these instructions, these words of faith, are given so that it "may go well with you."

Moving fast forward to the New Testament and the life and ministry of Jesus we see that the Pharisees and Jewish leaders put him to the test.  They were concerned with the integrity of his teachings and to see if he would proclaim what they knew to be the central doctrines they had received and upheld.

In Mark 12:29-31, we read, "And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Here Jesus upholds the Shema Prayer of Moses from Deut. 6.  It was no coincidence that he affirmed this as all the Israelites knew the importance of this prayer from their youth.  This was their theocentric affirmation, the paradigm they were taught by Moses to keep their faith and fidelity to God, especially in an unbelieving and pagan land.

It is important to note that Jesus not only acknowledged the Shema prayer but also added to it.  Moses gave the Israelites a threefold aspect to loving God, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  But Jesus taught, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  Jesus added that they must love God with all their mind.  He turned it into a fourfold love for God instead of a threefold love for God, that we need to love God with our minds, with our thoughts and thinking.  This is a key to our sanctification and faithfulness in our culture.

It has been rightly said before that nobody loves God like this perfectly, we are unable even in our redeemed state of grace to love God completely in this life.  But, this is still the paradigm, this is the theocentric calling that every Christian has, to be God-centered and to love God, not just to acknowledge him, as we live in the unbelieving and pagan world of our day.  This is a tremendous help to remember and know this great calling to love God for our lives of faith.  And also, along with the Israelites of Moses' day, to 'remember who we are' because of who God is and what he has done for us.

Even more though, Jesus took the opportunity to expand the Shema prayer and to add to it.  Jesus made an important addendum, "The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Here Jesus gave a new teaching and a new commandment that we also see in other parts of his ministry.  Jesus did not take away from the Shema Prayer's theocentricity, its God-centeredness, but he expanded it.  He reinforces the priority on God as this is always central.  But he also includes the important requirement of doing something with this love for God, in that we should love other people, to love our neighbors as ourselves.  To love our neighbors would begin with those closest to us, those of our own families, and then the family of faith we are connected to in our own churches.  And also those neighbors who we live near and know, even reaching out to get to know, for the purpose of sharing the grace and truth of God that we have learned in Christ.

The Shema prayer is a tremendously sanctifying prayer, it is a four-fold love for God that is more than anyone could possibly accomplish on our own because we are so self-centered.  It takes the Holy Spirit working through our human spirit to love God and thus love other people.  And then, when we are filled and even saturated with the love for God, we in turn will be able and willing to love our families, friends of faith, and neighbors in our communities with the same love that we have been given in Christ.  It all begins with a command to love God with a four-fold love, so that we, and our neighbors, would know the great Agape love from God in Christ by faith.  All this is to our benefit so, "that it that it may go well with you."

FAITH TODAY: Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Changes and Time

It's been 26 years since I started flying at that fly-by-night shipping company.  It's hard to remember when I began.   The world has changed drastically in that time.  It's also been 28 years since my daughter Valerie was born.  And now she is married and has two of her own children.

The world has changed drastically in that time as technology has brought an avalanche of change.  And in our country, the changes in morality have been monumental.  Technology is up, but morality is down.  It's so easy to accept change in technology and be progressive in our new computers or cellular phones.  But the "progress" stops right there as morality is from God, and progress in immorality leads us into more and more ungodliness.  Immorality can only lead to regress with God.

Some changes are good and some are not good.  It's good to grow in the sanctification of faith and the transformation from grace to grace into the image of Christ.  This is how God seeks to lead us over time, to grow up into maturity in faith.  These are the changes that are good.

Some day there will be no more changes and no more time.  God is immutable and he lives in eternity, yet he seeks to lead us all the time.  For now, we have to keep on seeking the faithfulness of our upward calling in Christ in this constantly changing world.  It is so good to grow in sanctification into Christ even as the world is changing all the time.

FAITH TODAY: Ecclesiastes 3:1, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

True Spirituality

In 1964 Francis Schaeffer began a teaching series on true Christian living or the true Christian life, which was published as, "True Spirituality."  This is a great review of the doctrine of sanctification in the Christian life.

Often we hear, especially in Presbyterian circles, of the doctrine of justification as it was a huge aspect of the Protestant Reformation.  We understand that it is our justification in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone that brings us redemption and a right relationship with God.  But sanctification is equally important in that is so relevant for our faith and lives here and now and day by day.  It is our sanctification that we need to develop in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  And this will change and transform our lives to become more and more Christ-like.

We all live especially busy lives in this technological era that is unraveling before our eyes.  And our culture is even more depraved than it was in the second half of the twentieth century.  So we need all the more to live by the power of the Holy Spirit and to encourage one another in this life of faith.

It's been a while since I've published a post as I've been busy going through a training program for a new airplane at my company.  But, the day-by-day life of faith is absolutely essential for me, I need Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit every moment of every day.  True Spirituality has been a great reminder again of how to grow and thrive in sanctification.

Schaeffer describes in the first chapter some key ideas of spirituality in repentance, contentment, giving thanks for all things, and loving our neighbor.  He says,

"These are the areas of true spirituality.  These are the areas of true Christian living.  They are not basically external; they are internal, and they are deep, they go down into the areas of our lives we like to hide from ourselves.  The inward area is the first place of loss of true Christian life, or true spirituality, and the outward sinful act is the result.  If we can only get hold of this - that the internal is the basic, the external is always merely the result - it will be a tremendous starting place."

The book describes much more about our spiritual sanctification and Christ-likeness.  We can see how to be released from the bonds of sin, many of which we may not even be aware of.  It is an excellent book for every Christian.

PS - I have been rereading this book and just now realized I also made a post on this in March 2015.  It's a good one, well worth rereading!

FAITH TODAY: Philippians 3:12-13, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Wedding Day!

We have a daughter getting married today!  What a blessing it is that our daughter Alison, is marrying a fine young Christian man.  Alison and Cameron, "Ali & Cam," have known each other for three or four years as they worked at Lost Valley Ranch together over the summers during college.  They both have faith in Christ and love for one another.  I have some encouragement for them from the Bible.

Philippians 2:3-7, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

The whole book of Philippians is wonderful as Paul also talks about the joy that we can have from this faith in Christ.  And joy is a great strength to carry us through all the seasons of life.  We rejoice with Ali & Cam on this, their wedding day!

FAITH TODAY: Ph.4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice."

A New Year, and Time Eternal

Here we are again with a new year.  Happy New Year 2016!

It's now 2016 and today I'm stuck in a hotel in Dallas when I was supposed to be in Lubbock, TX.  The weather yesterday in LBB prevented us from getting in as it was below our minimums and we had to "go around" twice, once on an approach from the east and once from the west.  We are heading back to Lubbock early tomorrow morning to try again.

It's a new year, and yet just yesterday before work I went to a funeral for a good friend, Darryl Hannah.  He was a fellow pilot of mine at FedEx and he retired about three years ago.  But just about fifteen months ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  He went through surgery, and much chemotherapy but to no avail, as it had grown too large for too long.

Darryl was a Christian and we had many good lunches together in the last year as I tried to encourage him in his battle against cancer.  He was sixty-eight years old and left his wife, two daughters, a son-in-law, and grandchildren.  He often left me more encouraged, and oh, how he could laugh.  We really had some good laughs together as a result of stories he told or experiences we could both relate to in flying.  We prayed together for his healing, and he asked for prayers that he would be healed.  Even though we both knew it may not happen we still prayed for healing, which was a great encouragement in itself.

Each new year reminds me of the "new life" in Christ.  It's just like a new opportunity to start over with a whole new chance at a brand new year.  Our new life in Christ however is a Spiritual life that is given to us in faith as we realize we can be forgiven for our sins.  We can be healed from a sinful nature although our complete healing comes in the next life.  Spiritual life brings transformation to us so that we have new desires and goals, new priorities and values.  We desire the Spiritual peace that comes from being right with God and then getting right with people.  And we desire to know we are going to heaven, for the longing for eternal life to be satisfied, which we can know in Christ.

With the new life in Christ, we also see our time here on earth as very temporal.  Yet we know that His grace is new every morning, His truth is like a glorious light each day.  We know His love endures forever, He is God and He can make all things new.  Someday though we will cease to count the years and there will be no "Happy New Year" for there will be no calendar and we will live in eternity with Christ.  That's awesome to think about, it's beyond our experience and even our imaginations.  But God has promised this to those who love Him.

I am reminded of the faith today because we celebrate a new year but we are all temporal.  Heaven is the realm where there will be no time and then we will be with God forever.  And I thank God for my good friend Darryl Hannah who has gone on before me.  He was a great encouragement in many ways.  He also asked for John 5:24 to be used and highlighted at his funeral.  Eternal life in Christ is what we rejoice in at a Christian's funeral.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  John 5:24, "Jesus said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.'"

What is the Lord's Will?

What is the Lord's will for our lives?

We find the will of God in a general way through all the Word of God, and in particular from the moral Law of God.  God's commandments are not burdensome to those who love the Lord, and they see that His Law is righteous.

The Apostle Paul describes the will of God in one particular way by living a pure life from sexual immorality.  We see this truth in, 1Th.4:3, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality."  Our sexuality can create life and it can destroy relationships.  There's a good reason why God instructs us to keep his Laws. 

Our culture is depraved in many ways but we need to see the will of God in the Bible because we cannot know it in the world.  The Bible is the light of God's truth, it is the Word from God.  We can come to know the will of God when we see the goodness and righteousness of all His Law.  Jesus upheld this Law and this is the will of God for us too.  Our hearts will be blessed if we accept His will.

FAITH TODAY: Jn.14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love and manifest Myself to him."

The Word of Light

The Bible is called the Word of God, but it also brings the Light of the world to us.  It is a supernatural book that can penetrate and change us from the inside out.

Psalm 119:9-11, "How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word.  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

The Psalmist describes keeping his life pure from sin by guarding himself with the Word of God.  This is the necessary Spiritual power we need, the power of faith in God through His Word.  We see the sin in the world and we find it distasteful when we have our hearts immersed with the Bible.

Also, we see that the Word of God brings Light to our souls because it is God who comes through in the Word of God.  He is the Light, and we live in darkness.  When we bring the Word into our lives, the Light of the kingdom of God comes in.

FAITH TODAY: Mt.4:16, "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

Incarnation

Advent is upon us and we heard another good sermon today on the incarnation of Christ.  John 1:14 has to be one of the best verses in the Bible, and certainly one of my favorites.  Every time I hear someone teach or preach on this verse I get excited, it's just that good, it says so much and it means so much.  God became a Man, the specific Man who is the Messiah and Savior for those who trust in Him.

At the beginning of this chapter, we see that the Word was with God in the beginning and the Word was God.  The OT Israelites never saw God directly but they heard God, they heard His Word and understood that He spoke to them in many ways.  John was using language the Jewish people could understand.  Now he even described the Word of God as coming to them in the flesh, as a real human being, yet without sin.  The Word of God was Jesus.  

The incarnation of God was not only to become one of us but to provide redemption to those who believe that Jesus is Christ.  We see that this Man is also glorious, He is no ordinary man, He is the only begotten, or the only Son that proceeds forth from God.  He is glorious because He is without sin, and He is full of grace and truth.

In Christ, we see the grace of God that provides salvation for our sins.  We also see the truth of God who fulfills all the righteous requirements of the Law of God.  And that means He is still the grace and truth of God today.  We need both the grace and truth of God.  For it is by grace that we receive truth and it is by truth that we can understand what grace really is all about.

Jesus is the Christ, the incarnation of God, full of grace and truth.

FAITH TODAY:  John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Got Vision?

Finding a Biblical vision in our troubled times can be a big help and inspiration for the Christian.

Jesus is the Christ, He is the Word of God that has come into the world.  He is alive and full of glory and power in heaven today.  

The Apostle Paul was singularly sold out to the glory and majesty of Christ.  It consumed him.  And this vision should be our all-encompassing vision as well.  There is no middle ground for Jesus, either He is the Son of God and God, or He was only a good moral teacher that has no authority today.

Paul describes Jesus in the book of Colossians as the image of God, the visible manifestation of God. He is also the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all things, and He is the Head of the church.  Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and Lord.  He is the Alpha and Omega of our salvation and all things.  Therefore we can pray to Him and trust in Him in every part of our lives.  He loves us lavishly.

FAITH TODAY:  Col.1:15-16, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him."

Seasons of Life

For some time now I've wanted to post a new blog but I haven't had the time, or made the time, to sit down and write it out.  I've been busy lately.  And haven't we heard that before?  Really it's true.  It's true that I've been distracted for some time from Spiritual things.

I've been thinking about the seasons or stages of life and how there are distinct times in our lives when we're hard-pressed with certain activities at the expense of all other things we could be doing.  This seems to be normal, yet at times we seem to be on a conveyor belt of life that takes us places whether we like it or not.

We know there are chronological seasons that we can begin with.  When we're young we run through the high school years and then decide to go off to college.  This is an influential time as we discover what we like and what we're interested in, and hopefully, we combine them together to pursue our life's work.  It's also a time to meet people with common interests and desires, making friendships and relationships that will influence our entire adult life.

Then there's the family stage of life when we find a spouse and the kids begin to spring up out of nowhere.  Life doesn't slow down as we start a career or build a business to pay for things and stuff for our family.  It begins to move in fast forward as there's much to do with little time to do it.  We soon realize life is always going to be this way if we seek to uphold the responsibilities that we've begun at the beginning.  And we sometimes ask, is this all there is in life?  Is life a type of carousel, or rather, is it like an upward spiral staircase?

There are other seasons in life mixed in with the youth, teenage, college, young adult, career, parenting, middle-aged, and beyond.  There are Spiritual seasons of faith as well.  There are times of confidence and doubt, seasons of fruitfulness and barrenness, of floods and droughts, profitability and want.  There are seasons of happiness and disappointment, of health and sickness, of birth and death.  All these are mixed in together as we travel through the stages of life.  Do we see the Spiritual seasons of birth, growth, testing, failures, victories, praises, and glories in life?  Do we seek these Spiritual realities?

Focusing on the Spiritual life takes us through all the other seasons of life in the best way.  We cannot control many circumstances in our lives but we can accept them in faith as we accept God's providence.  We can look back on the past and forward to the future, and we can look up to God.  God teaches us, as we've seen so many times, that he is in control and he is benevolent.  He is the One who doesn't change even as we change and everything in our world changes and then changes again.

Our best seasons are when we seek Christ in faith, trust, and prayer and ask that he would teach us and sanctify us through it all.  When we focus on Christ all the seasons of life become secondary as we discover the Spirituality that is primary.  And this is still a challenge for me.  But I seek to remember that Christ has created us, redeemed us in grace, sanctifies us in his image, and will bring all things to consummation.  He calls us upward to him for our Spiritual growth so that we not only go through life but we would walk with him in faith in every season of life.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  Colossians 2: 6-7, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Our Affections

Making decisions about the numerous questions we face every day is usually a small matter of what's the next thing to do, or what's my schedule priority for the day.  But making decisions on a larger scale, for life decisions and knowing God's will for our lives, is a little bit more complex.  One of the questions many pastors and Christian teachers face from their people is, "What is God's will in this matter, or for me personally?"  It's never an easy answer to know the particulars.

One of my favorite ministries is John Piper's, Desiring God Ministries, DGM.  His materials and blogs can be found at www.desiringgod.org.  Just today I was reading this blog and found "Why God's Will Isn't Always Clear," April 30.  It caught my attention for several reasons not the least of which is that I struggle to know what God would have me do sometimes.  In fact, if the whole truth is told, I've struggled with this all my life, and I look back and realize I've made some mistakes in key decisions, or so it would appear.

This article is written by Jon Bloom and he covers some good territory in a short time.  For we know that God wants us to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him," Col. 1:10.  But this doesn't address the particulars in our lives, and the big decisions we make.  Bloom explains, "But one reason why God usually doesn't give us specific guidance in our sometimes-perplexing decisions is that he places a higher priority on our being transformed than on our being informed in order that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus, (Romans 8:29).  This can be difficult, and he also says, "It means that God has a design in the difficulty of our discerning."  Really?  Why would God allow us to struggle with the hard decisions?  What design is worth all the difficulties?

In the big picture of life, I am also reminded that all the difficulties, brokenness, struggles, and hardships of life are not God's fault.  All the sins, disappointments, setbacks, and even death itself are not part of God's original design.  In the Garden of Eden God made it clear that if (we) ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would surely die.  And Adam and Eve represented us as we would have acted in the same way they did, and as a result, we received their sinful natures.

But from the beginning, God has created a personal relationship with humanity for his glory, as we are made in his image to be like him.  We were to be his church, his bride, and the faithful people that worship him.  And Bloom describes, "But the father is not seeking workers, but worshippers (John 4:23).  And he knows that if he made his will for our specific decisions more explicit more often, we would tend to focus more on what we do rather than what we love."  God is interested in our hearts and minds so that we would have a personal relationship with him.

God is still seeking worshippers of what is truly worthy of our lives.  We are called in general to seek after God and his kingdom, and this develops a pattern of decisions that are based on our highest priority.  "But if we really love Jesus, we will increasingly love what he loves - we will be transformed by renewed minds.  And our love for him and his kingdom will be revealed in the pattern of small and large decisions we make."  This pattern of godliness is God's will.

God does not dictate our decisions but he reveals his grace and truth to us to show us not only what is best for us but also what we were created for.  Our affections will never be ultimately discouraged when we place them on God and the pattern of seeking him in all our lives.  Bloom concludes, "And someday, if we really seek to love him and trust him, we will see that he really was leading us through the confusing terrain of difficult decisions all along."  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Easter is in just a few days and I love to remember the resurrection and new life in Christ.  Here are the notes I hope to use for Sunday school.

He is risen, He is risen indeed!  This is a salutation I first heard on Easter Sunday in 1976 when I first became a Christian.  It was a greeting of sorts where the first person would say, "He is risen."  And the second believer would respond, "He is risen indeed."  We still celebrate our faith in Christ this way because we look forward to our own resurrection from the grave one day.  This greeting is always delivered with great enthusiasm as we understand its significance and as we seek to encourage one another in the faith.

Let's look at "He is risen" from the Scriptures.  First, we see the narrative of the resurrection from all four of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  This is a fourfold perspective.  The resurrection of our Savior also distinguishes Christianity from all other religions where their leader is dead and gone.  We not only remember our leader with us, but we also declare that He is risen from the dead and is alive forever more.  Where can we find these truths in the Bible?

In Mt 28:5-6, "But the angel said to the woman, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  Come see where he lay.'"  One of the greatest commandments in Scripture is "fear not."  The angel comforted Mary for she certainly did not expect to see him, nor did she expect to find the Lord's grave empty.

In Mk 16:6, "And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him.""  Again the angel calms Mary with words of comfort for she is in shock.  It is a great shock still today for many to know that Jesus was not in the grave or that someone could rise from the dead.

In Lk 24:5-6, "And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.""  The last thing the women expected was to find angels in the graveyard saying that Jesus was among the living and not the dead.  But isn't this exactly what we also hope for, to find life after the grave?

In Jn 20:16-17, "Jesus said to her, "Mary."  She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).  Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.""  Jesus gives evidence of his resurrected state to Mary and proclaims he will yet ascend into heaven.  It is significant that Mary was given the great honor of announcing to the disciples that Jesus was indeed alive I believe, because she showed the most love to Jesus.

This is the record of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave and it is historically reliable.  It was not fabricated as it shows genuine personality and perspective.  It gives us great confidence that there is hope for those with faith in Christ, and that we too will rise from the grave someday as well.

We also say, "He is risen indeed," to emphasize this great truth.  We can see even more truth in Scripture about Christ in heaven, both now and in the future.

What will heaven be like?  That can be a difficult question because we don't have that much knowledge.  But we see many glimpses from the book of Revelation in some key chapters.

In Rv 1:10-18, v. 10, John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches."  We see John who heard Jesus speaking from heaven to explain things to come.  John was in the Spirit in a transcendent way.  John had a transcendent vision as heaven is not a place but a realm.

In Rv. 4:1-11, v.2, "At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne."  Here we see God the Father seated on the throne, with angels and elders worshipping him as, (v.8), "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty."  There is a throne in heaven that is the center of attention for everything.  In 1 Peter 3:22, we see, "(Jesus) who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him."  How significant a place does God the Father have?  What position does Jesus hold in heaven?

In Rv 5:1-14, v.5, "And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."  We see that Jesus has been resurrected and he has conquered, he is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David.  He is the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies.

In Rv 21:1-27, v.6, Jesus says, "And he said to me, "It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.""  This is the Spiritual life that Jesus is speaking about.  Are we thirsty for the water of life?  How can we drink the water of the spring of life?

In Rv 22:1-22, v.7, "And behold, I am coming soon.  Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."  From this we see that Christianity is not something just of the past, it is of the present and the future too.  We also see that we are blessed if we keep the words of the Book, the whole Bible.  They are our life and they give us Spiritual life.

There's another saying that pertains to the resurrection of Christ that is so beneficial to remember at Easter.  This is the saying, "The already, but not yet."  By this we mean that the kingdom of God has already begun, Jesus has been raised from the dead, he is the king and he has begun his Spiritual kingdom.  But it is not yet consummated, it is still to come in fullness in the future.  From this, we can live the Spiritual life today, as we know Jesus alluded to in Rev 21:6, "To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."

The apostle Paul teaches us in many places how to live the Spiritual life today.  The book of Ephesians is especially significant for the life of the believer and thus the life of the church.

In Ep 4:17-32, v.17-18, "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."  Paul makes a connection between the head and the heart in that we can be darkened in our minds because of the hardness of our hearts.  The Spiritual life requires both the head and the heart given to God.

In Ep 4:23, "and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds..."  We all grow weary and discouraged, yet Paul explains that we must be renewed in our minds, this is the key point.  We must have the Word of God refreshing our minds as this, in turn, connects to everything else in our lives.  We must learn about God through his Word primarily, and we cannot just hear it from someone else, we must ingest it.

Easter Sunday is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year as it gives us "A past forgiveness, a present strength, and a future hope," as I remember a pastor proclaimed many years ago. This is all because Jesus rose from the grave, He is seated at the right hand of God in heaven, and the Holy Spirit empowers our lives with faith today.  In my conscience, I know there is more to life than just the here and now, and the Holy Spirit gives me the confidence of eternal life when I die.  This is a great hope and it all comes from the resurrection of Jesus from the grave on Easter Sunday.

FAITH TODAY: Revelation 21:6, "It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."

True Spirituality

There are many great books written by Christian authors that can assist us in understanding how to live the Christian life.  One of my favorite teachers is Francis Schaeffer who lived in the twentieth century and had a great impact in the evangelical church.  Schaeffer was described as a philosopher, theologian, lecturer, and evangelist.  He was known particularly for starting a Christian study center in the Swiss Alps named L'Abri, where for several decades young people have gone in search for answers to life and understanding Christianity.

Perhaps one of the best books Schaeffer wrote and that has impacted my life was True Spirituality.  In this book he describes the essence of spirituality in the life of the Christian, which can often become cold after the initial conversion experience.  This spirituality is much more than an academic pursuit of knowledge or an external obedience to the commandments of God.  But rather it is a joyful relationship that is based upon a true repentance with God by accepting his Word in our hearts.  Particularly Schaeffer focuses on a Spirituality that is inward and causes us to grow in sanctification.

As Schaeffer describes in his preface, "In going further, I saw something else which made a profound difference in my life.  I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian.  Gradually I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ in our present lives."

Schaeffer had experienced a spiritual crisis of sorts in that he had lost his initial joy in his faith and wondered if Christianity was true at all.  It was in his reevaluation of the teachings of Scripture that he discovered the true spirituality that we live by.  In his first chapter he describes living out the Christian faith as he compares natural birth and life to spiritual birth and life, pages four and five.

"After we are born, the important thing is the living of our lives in all their relationships, possibilities, and capabilities.  It is exactly the same with the new birth.  In one way, the new birth is the most important thing in our spiritual lives, because we are not Christians until we have come this way.  In another way, however, after one has become a Christian, it must be minimized, in that we should not always have our minds only on our new birth.  The important thing after being born spiritually is to live.  There is the new birth, and then there is the Christian life to be lived.  This is the area of sanctification, from the time of new birth, through this present life, until Jesus comes or until we die."

Here Schaeffer emphasizes the importance of living out our faith and growing up in the faith just like a child after he is born begins to grow and mature in his natural life.  This spiritual growth takes Spiritual food and nourishment, exercise, and practice.  It takes living out our faith in fear and trembling, in humility and in boldness, in prayer and in obedience.  But to say one believes without action in faith is not true faith or true spirituality.  And we will be the ones left with anemic growth and malnutrition if we choose not to respond in our lives to the teachings of Scripture.

All of the Christian life can be attributed to grace as even the gift of life is given to us by God.  But what we do with the gifts we have been given is the life of faith, realizing that we all are limited in our gifts and callings, but we all are empowered when we live by the Holy Spirit.  Life in the Spirit is a pursuit of the godliness of Christ as we grow into his likeness in all things.  Some of the first traits that can be identified in true spirituality are humility, teachability, contentment, and thankfulness.  We must also be honest with ourselves to confess our sins and forgive other people.

I believe this true spirituality is difficult in our modern world to be sure, but it is by far the most rewarding and joyful life that could possibly be lived.  It is the life of sanctification and maturing in the faith of Christ and his truth.

FATIH TODAY:  Colossians 1:11, "May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints of light."

A New Year

We are well into the new year, 2015, even though it seems just like a couple of weeks ago it was 2014.  And it was, as time flies by when you get older and you remember many 'new years'.  'Time waits for no one' as the old saying goes.  But a new year is the time to take review of things accomplished and to set new goals with fresh optimism for the future.  So, Happy New Year!

One of the resolutions I've made for myself and my wife is to have more margin.  There's a good book entitled "Margin" from Richard A Swenson, M.D., that we read some twenty years ago as we were in the thick of raising six kids, holding down jobs, and being active in the church.  The book's thesis is "Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, And Time Reserves To Overloaded Lives."  It was a great idea so it seemed at the time, but we didn't do so well as it's always difficult to accomplish.  Yet it was just the prescription we needed to find a balance in our crazy busy lives.

Now it's 2015 and we are way down the road and have become empty nesters with much different time demands from our kids.  Certainly, there's no argument that we cannot change gears and come out of overdrive and slow down.  Isn't it time to smell the roses at least a little bit?  So we've decided to seek a little more 'margin' and work for more quality and less quantity in our activities.  Not a bad idea I believe as we look at the wider scope of life and how quickly life changes and people can be missed.  It's good to see the big picture when making resolutions if we can.

The big picture I believe includes seeing God's priorities and perspective.  This has always been a factor in setting goals for our lives and we need to make adjustments with every new season of life.  Twenty years ago it was good to seek a margin but that may have resulted in a thirty-minute break after the kids go to bed.  Now it may mean taking three days to go to a conference for spiritual and fellowship renewal.  And that is a great blessing indeed.

The Bible is the greatest book and has lots to say about our time, and also eternity.  One must wonder if eternity is an endless amount of time or the absence of time altogether.  Either one is hard to imagine.  But here and now we can make the most of our time with God's wisdom.  We can see a greater perspective from God's Word than from our single day-to-day perspective of the here and now.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 we read, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.  A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance."  These interesting parallels continue through verse eight, and they all relate to everyday life.

In this passage we see a litany of comparisons from one activity to another as there is a season for everything.  The overall perspective is that God is in ultimate control, he is the one who sees the end from the beginning and he is above all time and events.  He is eternal, omniscient, and benevolent.  And thus we can trust him as we live for him in his grace and truth, in this year and the next.

FAITH TODAY:  Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."  

The Incarnation

There are many different pictures of Christmas as we know of the tree, the star, the presents, the garland, the carols, and the eggnog of course.  These are just some of the symbols we associate with like Mary and Joseph and the baby.  Other pictures of three wise men on camels making a journey to Bethlehem also come to mind as we think of Christmas.

Possibly the most significant symbol of Christmas is the nativity scene, and even at the center of the nativity scene is the baby in the manger.  He is the one described as "baby Jesus" or the "Christ child" and given the preeminence in the true meaning of Christmas.  Ironically though some nativity scenes don't even have a picture or replica of the baby in the manger as they are modified to become symbolic of the symbol itself.  But it would not be Christmas if there was no baby as he is the incarnation of God.

The doctrine of the incarnation is the teaching that God has come to the world "in the flesh" or in the body.  It was recently described in a sermon that the incarnation is not the coming of God to the world as it is often understood to be.  But the incarnation is the coming of God to the world as a man.  It is God becoming a human being, to be one of us, from the very beginning of life, and to experience every aspect of human life, even the birth as a baby.

The incarnation is a great, wonderful, and even mysterious doctrine in many ways.  It boggles the mind to even try to think of who God is in all his awesome existence and majesty.  But it can be even more amazing to think that the God of the universe has become a man, the God of creation has become part of creation.  And why?  To relate with humanity, to identify with us, and to live a perfect life so as to provide salvation for us in faith.  We know from Scripture that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins, John 3:16.  God himself has come at Christmas.

Clearly, without the miracle of the incarnation there could be no Christianity at all.  Each year Easter is given great attention as Jesus laid down his life for us.  But without Christmas there could be no Easter, without the incarnation of God as a true man there could be no justification through his sacrifice.  Because Jesus lived a life without sin, in holiness, he alone is able to stand before God as our substitute.  Even more, without the miracle of incarnation there would be no miracle of resurrection, and we could not experience new life in Christ and grow in faith and sanctification.

Truly the celebration of Christmas is a celebration of life, the greatest life that ever lived in Jesus who is the Christ, our Savior.  This Spiritual life can also be 'incarnated' in us, that is, brought into our flesh, our lives, through our acceptance and faith in him.  The Holy Spirit can bring to us the same Spiritual life that was in Jesus of Bethlehem.  We will never be perfect and we will always be in need of Christ as our Savior, but we can become like Jesus through the ongoing work of the 'incarnation' of his life into ours.  He has gone before us and can sympathize with our weaknesses, and he can graciously restore us to our creation image.  He can change us through Spiritual growth and maturity as we live out his teachings in our lives.

The incarnation of God in Jesus was one of the most significant points of history and we celebrate this miracle at Christmas.  God invaded the world to become a man and live the life we could not live by ourselves.  We can experience this miraculous gift of life in Christ, and it all begins with faith in the incarnation of the Christ child at Christmas.

FAITH TODAY: Luke 2:10-11, "And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.""

Discipleship

As we study the Scriptures we see that Jesus chose twelve men to be his disciples.  A disciple is a student, one who learns from another in a specialized way as he is dedicated to that person as his teacher.  Jesus was well-recognized as a great teacher, and he also had other followers that accepted his words and learned from him.  But only twelve were called to be his primary disciples.  One of the initial men betrayed Jesus and was replaced, and then these twelve disciples became apostles, or the ones who established the foundation of the church. 

The discipleship Jesus taught his first students is also taught to every Christian.  Although there were only twelve initial disciples every Christian is called to a teacher-student relationship with Christ even today.  And there are great blessings for those who learn from Christ as we learn the truth of God and the path of righteousness in a world of sin and brokenness.  Even more, we discover that the teachings of Christ are eternal as God doesn't change through the ages of men.

One of the primary requirements then is to learn from the teachings of Christ himself.  We must read the Scriptures directly to know what it says.  We must ask ourselves 'What does it say, what does it mean, and how does it apply to life.'  To be sure of what it says we should compare translations one to another and even reference the original language.  To know what it means we must not ask what it means to me, but what it means objectively, or to God.  We need to know the immediate context historically and grammatically, and then compare this with the plenary context.  Also, we should cross reference each passage with other similar teachings as Scripture interprets Scripture.  God's truth is never contradictory, and we must not read a pretext into the text or context. 

We also see that Christ calls all believers to a certain amount of sacrifice.  To the fishermen Andrew and Peter, Jesus called them to leave their nets and follow him as he would make them fishers of men.  The sacrifices the disciples made in the physical world were repaid abundantly in the spiritual world as they won great numbers of followers.  This discipleship also requires dying to ourselves and picking up our cross in the same way so that we deny sinful activities and learn spiritual strength. 

In the same way Jesus calls his disciples to a life of obedience.  In order for any person to learn from another they must do what that teacher says and not just say they believe.  We cannot learn to pray by only studying prayer academically, we must pray.  We cannot learn to be responsible at work by sleeping in from our jobs or skipping out from practice in sports.  We must be diligent to be on time and earnest in our obligations. 

As Christian disciples we become lifelong students of the Word of God and develop a worldview that places Christ above all things.  We learn to think Biblically and not be conformed to the pattern and principles of the world.  In the power of the Holy Spirit we seek to worship Christ as both Creator and Savior in our everyday lives.  In short, we see the preeminence of Christ in all of life as we learn that He is the Lord of life. 

Our faith in Christ cannot grow or mature if we are partially committed to Christ.  But because of the truth we know from Christ in Scripture, we learn to accept the sacrifices, obedience, and Lordship that he calls us to live by.  We come to realize we can only have true faith if we first fall before him in repentance and submission.  Jesus calls us to be his disciples in our hearts and minds so that we would live out our faith in every aspect of the world.  And this is a joy, not a burden to live for Christ as he has told us, "my burden is easy and my yoke is light." 

FAITH TODAY:  Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.""

 

Inspiration

Everyone needs inspiration and Christians need the inspiration of Christ.  From the Old Testament, we learn that God has created mankind in his own image.  Even more, God has created the entire universe to reveal his existence and thus the greatness of his power and glory.

Sunrise at Perdido Key - Oct 2014

In Psalm 19:1-3, we read, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."  King David teaches us that every day we can be reminded of God's existence, power, and glory.

We can have a personal relationship with Christ as we learn from Romans 8:1-2, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."  To be "in Christ" we must accept and receive Christ and then walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  He is the God of creation and he can recreate our souls to be restored to the image of Christ as we were made to be.  The Apostle Paul teaches us that we can live in new life by being in Christ and walking in his Spirit.

We find more inspiration through the Light of the Word of God as we see in 1 John 1:5-7.  "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."  John exhorts us to walk in the light of Christ which we can find in the truth of Scripture.  And if we sin there is a remedy, for, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," v.9.  The Apostle John gives us great inspiration to know we can walk in truth and we can be forgiven from our sin.

From both natural and special revelation, we find inspiration from God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.  David, Paul and John all remind us that Christ is the Light of the world and in him, we can find the inspiration of eternal life.

FAITH TODAY: Psalm 27:1 - "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

The Promises of God

One of the key areas for finding Spiritual growth is to learn and believe the promises of God in Scripture.  Often life can be difficult with our many responsibilities to fulfill and difficulties to overcome.  But we are not alone, we are not without hope or guidance.  God is the eternal wellspring of hope in all the universe.  There's an encouraging thought!  He sees the end from the beginning and everything else in between.  And he's in control.  He has a plan and has promises for those who love him. 

Early on in Genesis, we read that Abraham was called to leave his homeland and go to a new country to serve the Lord.  Genesis 12:2, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great."  Abraham was called to follow God to the "promised" land.  He was to be the father of the faith and his lineage would lead to the promised Messiah.  Genesis 12:7, "Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.'"  The Lord often reminds us of who he is so that we can trust in him.  Genesis 15:1, "Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."  Abraham needed to trust that God would protect him, and God needed to assure Abraham that there was great reward in trusting him. 

Yet on such a pilgrimage Abraham must have been unsure of his future on many occasions.  When he asked how he could believe that God would bless him in his old age with a son and the descendants that were promised, God directed Abraham's attention to the heavens.  Genesis 15:5, "Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.'  And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'"  And in verse 6 we read, "And he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness."  Here we see the great promise of faith, the righteousness of God given to Abraham unto salvation. 

The author of Hebrews also speaks of people with faith who trusted the promises of God throughout the Old Testament.  In Hebrews 11:9-10 we read, "By faith he (Abraham) dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."  And in v.12, "Therefore from one man (Abraham), and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore."  Here we see a key point about the promises of God.  Sometimes we receive them here in this life, sometimes we do not.  But they are always fulfilled.  As we see about from Hebrews 11:13, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."  These people of faith in Hebrews 11 were people who were called from an earthly country and their promise was the "exceedingly great reward" of being with God in the heavenly country. 

One other great promise of God we should meditate upon from time to time is found in Paul.  In Philippians 1:6 we see, "Being confident of this that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."  We can be sure that God will not leave any work unfinished or incomplete.  He promises to be with us and to work with us until the day we meet him.  He is the Alpha and Omega of the faith.  He will keep his promises because he delights to work in us as we walk in faith, and therefore to be glorified in us.  Let's remember from time to time the great promises of God.

FAITH TODAY:  Genesis 15:1, "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 

Desiring God

One of my favorite books that has made a huge impact on my life is John Piper's Desiring God.  The subtitle is "Meditation of a Christian Hedonist."  It would be difficult to summarize the whole book but to highlight a few points I would encourage you with these.

Christian "Hedonism" sounds suspect on the surface and Piper describes it on p.28, (revised edition), as a philosophy of life built on finding our happiness or pleasures in God.  It might also be called a theology of life in finding our happiness in God.  A small difference perhaps but it helps in discovering a theocentric view of life, and, that God seeks our pleasure in him.

Hedonism by definition is a philosophy of seeking self-directed pleasure for ourselves.  Is it inherently sinful?  For selfish reasons alone I believe it would be.  But Christian Hedonism by definition is seeking joy and pleasure in God.  Our sinful natures however can easily twist this pleasure in God to become pleasures from God.

Desiring God is not the same as just desiring pleasure though.  From God, and in Christ, we not only can receive our joy and pleasure, we also can receive - strength, wisdom, peace, reconciliation, redemption, purpose, dignity, hope, eternal life, and even life abundantly here and now, life indeed!  It's much more than just pleasure.

But hedonism is a good term in one sense, in that we can connect pleasure with God.  Often we cannot see the connection but believe God wants to take away our happiness.  Piper shows us this connection in Scripture and that this is a central doctrine and truth from God.  He shows us that finding our pleasure in God drives out our desire for sin.  It's purifying when we develop a thirst for God that cannot be compared to anything this world has to offer.  And this is redemptive, it brings us back to who we were created to be, and it sanctifies us in the image of Christ.

The world however shows us the emptiness of seeking pleasure from temporal things.  This pleasure does not last and it does not satisfy our souls because we were made to find our happiness with God.  But we can find joy in all things that God has created when we see God as the source and Giver of all good gifts and Christ as the Redeemer of our souls.  The world severs the gifts from the Giver.  The Christian hedonist connects the gifts and the Giver, and because of this, we seek to glorify God as the Creator and Giver of all good gifts.

Football?  Sports?  Music?  Romance?  Jurisprudence?  Academics?  Yes, indeed!  The sport, competition, fun, fellowship, teamwork, purpose, drive, goals, commitments, justice, mercy, hunger for significance, missionary work, all this can glorify God when we use our talents for him.  But the Christian should never sever these from God and for his glory.  And in a broken world, we must not forget his commandments, which are not burdensome when we have his joy.

A biblical faith drives us to desire God in all things.  God has created all the universe for the good of knowing him.  God is the Creator and Redeemer and he seeks our praise, he seeks our fellowship and our glory in him.  This theocentric perspective of life is exactly what Desiring God is all about.  To desire God and to know him and glorify him in all things is exactly what God is seeking.  He seeks our praise, and in fact, he delights in his glory above all.  And this is amazing.

FAITH TODAY:  Psalm 37:4 - "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."