Desire Spiritual Growth

Suppression Isn’t Transformation: Where Can We Find Real Change?

2010-05-28T17:11:45Z

“Suppression is not the same thing as transformation, and it is always the latter that the Spirit seeks to effect (2 Cor 3:18).”

- Sinclair B. Ferguson, In Christ Alone

We spend a lot of time and effort trying to force ourselves to be people that we, at the core, are not. But solid Christian character is not a simple act of will or resolution. It is not, for example, forcing ourselves to suppress pride for a moment or doing an act of love It is to have a God-wrought transformation so that we are humble and loving.

Connection to Secret Sin

I see a connection here between secret sin and suppression. If we feel like we are hiding secret sin – that we put on the outward show of a hypocrite – it is because we are trying to suppress our sin before men instead of seeking inward transformation before God.

Source of Real Change

We find real change when we confess that we can’t effect it in ourselves and instead turn to Christ.

That is part of the message of the Gospel: In Christ, by the Spirit, transformation is promised.

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A Heart at Leisure from Itself

2010-05-27T00:03:32Z

Father, I Know That All My Life

Father, I know that all my life is portioned out for me,
And the changes that are sure to come I do not fear to see;
But I ask Thee for a present mind intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love, through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles, and to wipe the weeping eyes;
And a heart at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize.

I would not have the restless will that hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to do or secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child, and guided where I go.

Wherever in the world I am, in whatso’er estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts to keep and cultivate;
And a work of lowly love to do for the Lord on whom I wait.

So I ask Thee for the daily strength, to none that ask denied,
And a mind to blend with outward life while keeping at Thy side;
Content to fill a little space, if Thou be glorified.

And if some things I do not ask in my cup of blessing be,
I would have my spirit filled the more with grateful love to Thee,
More careful, not to serve Thee much, but to please Thee perfectly.

There are briers besetting every path that call for patient care;
There is a cross in every lot, and an earnest need for prayer;
But a lowly heart that leans on Thee is happy anywhere.

In a service which Thy will appoints there are no bonds for me;
For my inmost heart is taught “the truth” that makes Thy children “free”
And a life of self-renouncing love is a life of liberty.

- Charles Steggall (1826-1905)

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Just a Thought: Dreamers Choke on Ignorance

2010-05-19T04:31:22Z

Dreams shatter when we live for something that is small enough to sit on a foundation of ignorance of who God really is.

Just a thought.

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How to Win a Game of Checkers on the Titanic

2010-07-24T03:47:53Z

Some verses just sound too spiritual.

Proverbs 9:10 fit the bill in my mind:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

If the verse had said, “it is wise to fear God,” it would have been acceptable. It is one thing to claim that fearing God is a wise move. It is quite another to say that all wisdom starts with fearing God. Sounds like a spiritual exaggeration.

What about the gray-haired fisherman I met at the canal, who cared nothing about God but had figured a lot of life out just by living long enough earn his wrinkles? Was he not wise?

Let’s rephrase that last question and make it even more clear: Picture a man who puts double-sided tape on the back of the checkers pieces so he can play on the now inclined deck of the Titanic. He’s found a solution to the uneven playing surface. But he’s still playing a silly game on a sinking ship. The uneven decks presented an obstacle to playing his game, and instead of seeing that as a warning, he ignores reality in favor of a short-term fix. Was he wise?

Wisdom is Having a Handle on Reality, and Applying It

To be wise is to have a handle on reality, and apply it.

We cannot understand reality without fearing God. The argument goes like this: God ultimately defines reality, the way things really are. Therefore, to understand reality is to understand everything in relation to God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

You cannot properly understand reality, meaning, purpose, or salvation apart from God because all of those things are defined in relation to God. Provers 9:10 is no spiritual exaggeration.

Dave Harvey, in his excellent book titled When Sinners Say “I Do,” writes:

“Wisdom in the Bible isn’t some mystical knowledge of simple street savvy. It’s the life and decisions of someone right related to God. It’s applying what we know is true. Theologian Graham Goldsworthy says,

…[Wisdom] is not primarily a function of how clever we are, nor of how much information we have managed to cram into our minds. Rather, it is a moral choice…to be subject to [God] in our thinking as well as our doing.”

JC Ryle describes the alternative to wisdom:

“Amazing, that with such a prospect of coming judgment, any man can be careless and unconcerned! Surely none are so crazy as those who are content to live unprepared to die.”

And that is exactly what it means to live without the fear of the Lord: to live unprepared to die, the height of foolishness.

What is It All Worth?

What is it worth to claim any knowledge of fact, mastery of skill, or standing among men if it not on context of a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

It is worth less than a crazed man bellowing across the Titanic deck, “I know how to win a game of checkers.”

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The Messiah: 11 Mediations from the Book of Mark [Weekend Resource]

2010-04-09T12:20:53Z

I’m not going to try to sell you on the top three reasons why you should download this exceptionally written, free book (See there? I only used two reasons).

Or maybe I should tell you the rest of the story…

This 36 page ebook will hit you like a wallop upside the head. It is a page turner. It is written by Demian Farnworth. It is a compilation of arguably his finest series on his blog, Fallen and Flawed. It presents the identity of Christ so clearly, you will be breathless.

I guess the bottom line is: You ought to download and read The Messiah: Eleven Mediations from the Book of Mark.

Here’s a short excerpt from the introduction to whet your appetite:

“Something happens when you systematically read through a gospel narrative like the book of Mark: You are confronted with the real Jesus.

“Gone are the pretty pictures of a gentle man lugging a lamb around on his shoulders.

“Instead, you meet a man who is vast in wisdom, terrifying in strength and exceptional in humility. So vast, terrifying and exceptional you begin to wonder if he is God.”

Here are five ideas for way to use the book from Demian & Co.:

1. Book.
Read it and move on. Pretty straightforward. You could take it a bit further and brag [or rag] on it–whether here, Scribd or your social media site of choice.

2. Devotional.
Print the book out and hunker down each morning with a chapter. Meditate on the messages like you might a page from Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest.

3. Tract.
The book is 30 pages of very short chapters, so it’s easy to read. And the content [the identity of Jesus] is perfect for introducing non-believers to the gospel.

4. Study Guide.
Print this book out and walk your study group or Sunday school class through it. Could stretch into an eleven week course.

5. Gift
Print several copies of the book to give away. Mail some to faraway friends and relatives.

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7 Posts That Pop Up Like Gophers In My Thoughts

2010-07-24T03:55:42Z

There are a few blog posts I’ve read that pop up like gophers in my thoughts. For one reason or another, they stuck in a memorable way.

They are each worth a read, and so are the blogs they come from.

1. On Mission, Changing the World, and Not Being Able to Do It All

This bit says it all: “No doubt some Christians need to be shaken out of their lethargy. I try to do that every Sunday morning and evening. But there are also a whole bunch of Christians who need to be set free from their performance-minded, law-keeping, world-changing, participate-with-God-in-recreating-the-cosmos shackles.”

2. The Devil’s Sermon

This post by is by Michael Spencer, who recently passed away after a battle with cancer.

3. The Sale of a Skeptic

The value of skepticism when put on the auction block. Humorous and thought provoking.

4. On Philosophical Apologetics

This quote from Spurgeon came a turning point in my gospel growth.

5. Secret Sins and Spiritual Power

Ed Stetzer lays it out bluntly: You are lying to yourself when you say, “My secret sin is only hurting me.”

6. How the Conquered Storm Points to Christ

Put yourself in that boat beside Peter. You’ll feel the chill run down your spine when you realize that the Man in the boat, the one called Jesus, have power over storms. We have a hard time imagining such real power because we’ve laughed at it on the Cartoon Network so many times before that we think it child’s play.

7. TV or Not TV [That is the Question]

This post recommendation went last for a purpose: Now that you’ve spent some precious time on the internet, start making a log. Check yourself – how much time do you spend in front of the TV or internet [or whatever else]? Get serious on this one.

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Why Are Some Genuine Christians Gun Shy about Churches?

2010-04-07T13:30:56Z

**Guest post by Demian Farnworth at Fallen and Flawed.**

Let’s talk about people who don’t go to church.

At first blush, you could lump those who don’t go to church into atheists, agnostics and spiritualists [people who commune with God on the ridge of a mountain rather than in a church].

What’s definitive about this group of non-church goers is that they do not embrace the evangelical Protestant view of God.

They either outright reject it, shrug their shoulders to it or simply neglect it for a stiff hike in the woods.

We could say a lot about that, but what I really want to talk about are the frank, honest evangelical Protestants who stiff-arm the church, the institution and the preacher at the podium.

It’s a strange phenomenon, I know: Bible-believing Christians refusing a blood-bought gift of God’s grace. A phenomenon rooted in something marginally sinister. [I'll explain what I mean by "sinister" in a minute.]

Granted, these evangelical Christians have their reasons for being gun shy about church:

Wounds from wicked pastors.
Insults from vicious church members.
Let-down-after-chronic-let-down by delusional optimistic youth leaders.
Threats from seething fundamentalist fathers to NEVER miss a church service, prayer meeting or worship service.

Who wouldn’t cut a wide swath around churches after suffering through one of those experiences? It’s a sad thing that they suffered such. Indeed, it breaks my heart. For them, the greater church and Christ.

If you fall into that camp, I urge you not to give up your search for a church community. Understand: You may visit twenty churches before you find one you can join. But once you do, it will be worth it.

Church community is a tender, precious earthly gift grounded in Christ. It provides ample benefits to the believers, benefits like:

Community. The church is a metaphor for the body. That means we are intended to work together. And worship together. And commune together. As demonstrated in God’s original plan for man through creation, we are built for relationships. What best way to find and develop those relationships but in a congregation of believers?

Correction. Sounds counter-intuitive, but church provides a means to keep us in line when we stray. If you don’t have a church body you belong to, who is going to correct you when you sin? Who is going to keep you from falling into error?

Care. In a Christ-centered church, the pastors and elders will support you and your family with spiritual, physical and even financial help. In addition, members will descend upon your home when a family member dies. They will pitch in to help you move. They’ll even walk you through an ugly divorce.

Counsel. The Bible teaches that wisdom comes from the counsel of many. And that counsel starts at the top with the pastor and cascades to those sitting in the pew. Whether marriage concerns or career plans, counsel found in the community of a church will allow you to approach God and your decisions with wisdom and biblical insight.
Church membership is more than most of us realize. It’s a life-sustaining, faith-strengthening, joy-preserving means of God’s mercy to us.

I urge you not to cut yourself off from this blessing.

But what about those people who resist church membership based on a misleading and perplexing belief that looks something like this: Well, the early church movement met in houses. Not buildings.

They might even argue that formal teaching by a pastor was absent.

They argue early church didn’t look like contemporary church with it’s Sunday service in an auditorium. They do have a point.

But that doesn’t excuse us from an obligation to submit to church leadership, leadership Paul goes to great lengths in First Timothy to define.

Yes, the early church didn’t meet in a large auditorium. But they did submit to the teaching of a pastor.

In the end, what lies at the root of this behavior is not a harmless personal idiosyncrasy. What lies at the root is pure and simple rebellion.

And that’s why I’d argue it’s sinister.

First, on three different occasions, the Bible urges us to submit to and obey our leaders. That means our pastors and elders.

Why would the Bible encourage us to give double honor to our leaders in the church if they didn’t expect us to be in the church?

Furthermore, there is an assumption prevalent in the Bible that you will be part of a church congregation.

Letters are written to entire churches–recognized bodies of believers. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John writes seven letters to churches spread across Asia.

Granted, these churches weren’t organized as we know churches today. But what remained the same is a body of believers who sat underneath the teachings of Jesus Christ.

If you fall into this second category [Christians who don't go to church because they refuse to conform to a church congregation] you need to recognize your error, repent, seek forgiveness and then hunt down a church to attend.

Because not only are you missing out on the rich treasure that is the local church body, but you are also tinkering with damnation as your stiff-arming may be indicative of a larger issue: a heart refusing TOTAL submission to Christ.

You don’t want that hanging over your head.

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How Are You Called?

2010-03-25T03:53:01Z

**Guest article by al Hartman**

Spanish speaking people get acquainted differently than English speakers. When an Anglo would ask, “What’s your name,” the question stated in Spanish is, “How are you called?” We humans seem to need a label for everything. Tagging something or someone seems to eliminate the need for discussion in any detail. If I tell you that Bob is a biochemist, you may be clueless as to what he actually does to earn his paycheck, but you’ll also probably be far less inclined to ask. Sometimes we refer to this process of categorization as “pigeonholing.” As we apply such technique across the broad spectrum of our experience, so we use it to identify (or misidentify) people’s belief systems.

Take for example the atheist.

Everyone knows that atheists don’t believe in God, right?

And that places them all in one box, right?

Hardly!

Atheists come from every imaginable demographic, and there are probably at least a few from backgrounds that most of us wouldn’t imagine. They all have only two things in common: they are living human beings and they don’t believe in a supreme being or beings. Even the second of these similarities may have wide variations. But aside from such instruction as Paul’s examples of being “all things to all men” and his speaking to the Athenians in terms familiar to their own culture, the Bible gives us a lot of latitude in relating to nonbelievers. Atheists, agnostics, polytheists, monotheists, ad infinitum are all biblically qualified together as “lost,” as opposed to those who are “saved.”

It is the identification of the redeemed elect of God that requires the most caution, for the sake of accuracy. Commonly throughout the world today, anyone who attends church, or ever has, or claims to believe in one God, or the Trinity, or Jesus Christ, or the virgin Mary, or who even wears a cross or an ictheus as jewelry, or a T-shirt with a religious symbol or saying on it, is considered a Christian. Many are called Christians who simply live in a geographic area known as a “Christian” community, region, or state. In other words, mankind’s definition of a Christian is skewed into numerous angles. But what is God’s view?

The word translated “Christian” is found only three times in Scripture, its obvious purpose being to label the followers of Christ. Its first occurrence (Acts 11:26) was in Antioch, where “the disciples were first called Christians.” Note that this nickname was not self applied by the believers, but others gave them the title, most likely as a derogatory term to separate them from “normal” people. Then at Caesarea, Agrippa used the sobriquet “Christian” mockingly in addressing Paul, who was a prisoner there. Finally, Peter says, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:16), clearly showing that the label is applied from outside the community of saints, for intended reasons of shame and disgrace. It seems odd that over time believers have adopted the disgrace of the epithet as a beast adapts to its master’s halter.

Paul’s cautioning is stronger still, as he serves notice to the Corinthian church, “there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or “‘ follow Cephas’, or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:11b-13). In so saying, Paul highlights the inadvisability of believers’ labeling ourselves for the convenience of others or even for our own ease of reference. This he bears out with the shocking revelation that it may be as damaging to call oneself a follower of Jesus Christ himself as to be self dubbed the follower of a favorite preacher or theologian. I.e. our Lord declares it equally inappropriate for us to call ourselves after our most darling of Jesus’ disciples, e.g. Calvin, Luther, Wesley, etc., or to describe ourselves as “Christians.”

Finally, consider Jesus own words on the matter of how we are called: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23). Observe that He doesn’t deny their claims of great works done in His name, but simply declares that He never knew them, nor (He implies) they Him, for they were “workers of iniquity,” pointing up two key factors in the business of wearing labels:

First, it matters not what we think of God, but what He thinks of us, and, second, whatever we may call ourselves means nothing in light of the terminology by which our Lord identifies us. In the final analysis, no matter what account we give on our own behalf, we are who and what He says we are—no less and certainly no more.

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The Page from C.S. Lewis that Changed John Piper’s Life [Weekend Resource]

2010-03-12T17:01:32Z

I’m always looking for good material to feature for the Weekend Resources series.

This week, C.S. Lewis has graciously agreed to do a guest post (meaning, I have more or less picked over some of his work and found a short, profitable piece for readers).

This happens to be the page from C.S. Lewis that John Piper says changed his life [PDF].

**The following is an except of The Weight of Glory [PDF], by C.S. Lewis.**

What is the Highest Virtue?

If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness.

But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love- You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance.

Replacing Love With the Negative Ideal of Unselfishness

The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point.

I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire.

We are Far Too Easily Pleased

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Now I encourage you to download and read the remaining eight pages of The Weight of Glory.

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An Open Letter to Non-Christians

2010-03-11T03:42:13Z

Dear Non-Christian,

I’ve known you for a while now, ever since I broke out of my Christian bubble and met you on the college campus. It has been refreshing to engage a bigger world. It has spurred me along in growth and understanding.

Yeah, I Envied Your Swagger

To be honest, I was a bit envious of you when we first met. I envied your humor, your carefree attitude, and your swagger. So when you first opened up and told me you were insecure and desperately seeking hope and change…it came as a bit of a shock. I didn’t know you were so much like me.

What I Never Told You, and Why

There’s something I never told you though. I knew where to find those things. I knew where to find hope. I knew the secret to change. I knew the path to peace. I knew the key to unlocking joy. It is all found in a relationship with God through salvation in Jesus Christ.

Why didn’t I tell you? I blamed it on fear. What if you rejected me, scorned my message, mocked my weakness, or laughed at my childlike faith?

Fear Wasn’t The Root Problem

Fear, though, never was my problem. It was just a convenient excuse. You see, fear is just a surface symptom of a deeper problem. I myself lacked deep enough relationship with God in Christ. I had been able to speak of Him as a lover speaking of his loved one, I would been unafraid.

But things have changed now. I’ve never known God before like I do now. I’ve never loved the gospel of Jesus Christ like I do now. And I want you to find the same things. It is impossible to have such a high appreciation of Christ and have a silent tongue. There is real change and hope in Jesus Christ.

I’m not talking about using a lot of vague theological terms to describe some sort of uselessly abstract path to salvation.

Know the Real God

I’m talking about really knowing the real God. Stop running from Him towards things that never satisfy. Find freedom from destructive desires and habits, and replace them with a lifestyle that is filled with hope, love, sacrifice, humility, security, and contentment. It is all found in Jesus Christ. It is radical. It will completely change who you are, how you view life, work and people.

I hope to keep writing and explain these things further. There isn’t a discussion of greater importance that we could engage in together.

Sincerely,

Daniel Wilson

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