Missing Medicine

By: Landon Ditto      

“We shall all do well to remember the charge: “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is” (Heb. 10:25). Never to be absent from God’s house on Sundays, without good reason – never to miss the Lord’s Supper when administered in our own congregation – never to let our place be empty when means of grace are going on, this is one way to be a growing and prosperous Christian. The very sermon that we needlessly miss, may contain a precious word in season for our souls. The very assembly for prayer and praise from which we stay away, may be the very gathering that would have cheered, established, and revived our hearts. We little know how dependent our spiritual health is on little, regular, habitual helps, and how much we suffer if we miss our medicine.” –J.C. Ryle

Reading this quote in 1900 (the year of Ryle’s death) and in 2012 carries different weight, doesn’t it? Surely our English brother doesn’t understand the demands of life in 2012. Surely he doesn’t understand that as quickly as I can receive a news update from Fox, I can receive some sort of spiritual "word for the day" and be about my life.

Friends, let’s not fool ourselves. The admonition of Hebrews 10:25 is just as weighty in 2012 and 1900 as when it was originally penned. If we rightly understand that the gathering of God’s people for worship reaches far beyond religious exercise, Ryle’s words resonate deep within. How seriously do we take “missing our medicine”?

Obedience as Worship

By: Dr. Jimmy Young        

Blogging is not my “long suit.” I find it so strange to think that anyone really wants to read about my “cogitations.”  There are hundreds out there who are better thinkers than I.  So, read this with only one eye.  I had a thought that hopefully will be as helpful to you as it is to me.  

As some of you know, I am immersed in the subject of legalism.  I am teaching on that subject on Wednesday nights.  One topic that I often mention is obedience.  How can a subject like that become controversial?  It isn’t, unless one tries to attach some sort of merit to one’s obedience.  When that happens, you have fallen into the trap of legalism.  

Yet, obedience is very important.  So, here is my “insight”:  my obedience is a part of my worship, not a merit-producing act.  Jesus says as much in John 14:15:  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  My desire to obey is the outgrowth of my desire to express love.  Thus, my obedience is worship.  

Sanctification is the synergistic work between the Holy Spirit and me.  My heart is the problem and it will never be changed from the outside-in.  The Holy Spirit must do work that only He can do.  So, my obedience is not my effort at changing me.  It is my feeble attempt at worship.  When I obey, I’m not earning anything.  I am simply saying, as best I can, "I love You, Lord."

Women: The Barometer of a Nation's Virtue?

By: Kim Killebrew     

Susan Hunt compares Scripture with the words of one famous American in her book, Spiritual Mothering (p.42).  I thought it was worth sharing: 

Proverbs 31:10 says, “ A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies,”  John Adams, our second President, seemed to think so, too.  He said in his autobiography: 

“From all that I had read of history and government of human life and manners, I had drawn this conclusion, that the manners of women were the most infallible barometer to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue of a nation.  The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit and their republican forms of government when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women.”

Certainly this is a lofty opinion of the power of women upon a society.  Truth, or just an old-fashioned mindset?

My Valentine's Day

By: John Ottley     

Valentine’s Day was earlier this week.  I was up early for a meeting.  Kathleen had the coffee ready so I just had to flick the switch.  My travel mug stood guard over a red envelope leaning against the coffee maker.  I opened it in the quiet kitchen and read the funny card about an old couple forgetting stuff.  Her familiar writing in blue ink followed by the familiar series of X’s and O’s.  I found a red envelope and blank white card in the plastic bin she keeps full of cards for special occasions (and other emergencies like Valentine’s Day).  I made a simple line drawing of a steam-heart wafting out of a coffee cup with a “K” on it.  I copied a little poem by Judith Viorst on the card:

Still married after all these years? No mystery.We are each other’s habit.And each other’s history.

I listened to the radio while I drove to the meeting.  A comedian, whose father recently died, told how his parents met.  I was touched and inspired so later I sent my kids an email called “How I Met Your Mother”…

I saw your mother for the first time in January of 1975.  We were together in a large college classroom.  The class was over and the room had thinned out.   I was in the back on the left and there was a very cute blonde over in the middle with her winter coat draped over the back of her chair.  (Remember the old Beatles’ song, "I Saw Her Standin’ There"?  Well my heart went "Boom" when I crossed that room...)   She had a bright orange blouse.  Her skirt and vest were white with a large floral pattern.  And that blonde hair.  And those legs... 

I brought Kathleen red roses and dark chocolate when I got home.  We ate a shrimp dish she made while we watched “Downton Abbey.”  During the show, the old Dowager Countess, Cousin Violet, tries to talk some sense into this guy, Matthew, who isn’t marrying the girl we want him to.  Here’s what she said:

“Marriage is a long business.  There’s no getting out of it for our kind of people.”  I went back so we could hear her speech again.  It was a Happy Valentine’s day.

This morning I read about Servant Love in my High Quest book.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.   The part about “not insisting on its own way” and not being “irritable” was convicting but the part about love “bearing everything” and “never ending” was encouraging.  It reminded me of what Cousin Violet said about marriage being “a long business.”   It reminded me of the grace of God in our marriage.

How was your Valentine’s Day?  I hope it was a day of genuine celebration of God’s grace among those you love most.  If not, give us a call here at Grace Evan.  

Can You Defend Your Pro-Life Beliefs?

By: Johnny Coggin      

Scott Klusendorf, author of the excellent book, The Case for Life: 

"Suppose that you have just five minutes to graciously defend your pro-life beliefs. Can you do it with rational arguments? What should you say? And how can you simplify the abortion issue for those who think it’s hopelessly complex? Here’s how to succeed in three easy steps:"

Click here to read the three very simple and helpful guidelines.  Then go buy his book for more.

Death of a Mentor

By: John Ottley      

"...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV)

My cell phone blipped with a text message the other morning. My daughter wondered if I’d heard the sad news about a friend of mine who died while skiing in Utah. He was almost 75. He was with a group of men. They’d ski during the day and he’d teach the Bible in the evening.

He was quite a guy. He taught all kinds of courses at a Bible college for almost thirty years—Old Testament survey, creation science, apologetics, hermeneutics. All his students loved him. He led numerous trips to the Holy Land and other biblically significant places. He had recently accomplished his goal of preparing notes and messages for every book of the Bible. He constantly exhorted his colleagues to “leave a legacy.”

I’ve known him most of my adult life and had the privilege of serving with him at a summer camp in New Hampshire in the 90s. He and his wife took a genuine interest in Kathleen and me. They were a big encouragement to us as parents of young children. I asked him questions about being a dad and he gave me wise, honest answers. You could ask him anything. We had some great talks. I consider him a mentor.

Somebody came up to the camp with a new wake board during one of those summers together. That afternoon my friend and I had a chance to try it out. When my turn came I popped right up and rode around the lake. My friend didn’t fare so well. He never got up on it. From then on he took every opportunity to brag that I had out-performed him on the wake board. He delighted in this — shining the spotlight on my (meager) success in comparison to his “failure.” Everyone knew that in every other sport— golf, tennis, wind-surfing (which he tried to teach me one summer), skiing, you name it — he far excelled us all. He was jovial and accessible. He endorsed me every chance he got. Such was his Barnabas spirit.

Do you have mentors who challenge and inspire you mentally and spiritually? (You can have living mentors who actually befriend you or you can be mentored by reading great books by great authors.) Are you mentoring others? My friend made a big impact on me because he took a personal interest in me. There was room for me in his mind and heart. He let me into his life. I thank God for the privilege of knowing him. I’m richer for it.

Flourishing Femininity

By: Kim Killebrew      

In anticipation of Susan Hunt’s arrival for the Women’s Conference in March, I wanted to share something from her book, Spiritual Mothering.

“As a woman’s growing desire to imitate God produces obedience to His Word, she develops mothering characteristics. Our femaleness gives us the capacity for mothering; our faith produces certain characteristics of mothering. Some characteristics we see from the Scriptures are strength, excellence, tenderness, generosity, desire to nurture, comfort, compassion, affection, protection, and sacrifice. These characteristics are relational - they simply will not allow a person to be an isolationist. The possesion of these charateristics creates an intense desire to nurture and to be nurtured. The results in the recipients are security and fruitfulness. They will flourish like grass.”

Don’t we all long to nurture and be nutured? Is the Lord calling you to a particular relationship in either of these capacities? Consider praying for the Lord’s leading and the courage to follow his lead. 

And don’t forget to mark your calendar to join the Ladies of Grace on March 31st when Susan will be here to share with us all!

Stiff-Necked... Just Like Me

By: Dr. Jimmy Young        

Ever been called “hard-headed”? How about “stiff-necked”?  Well, I am both.  

But it appears that I get honestly, though it is still ugly.  I read something this morning that made me sad about my own tendencies.  It was in Genesis 26.  Abraham is dead and the Patriarch that is now on center stage is Isaac.  God speaks with him in verses 2-5 and reminds him of His relationship with his father.  Verse five points out that Abraham had been blessed “because (he) obeyed my voice.”  

Now we both know that my obedience is in no way meritorious.  But obedience does make life go better, even if only in the sense that my whole enjoyment of God is enhanced.  

The thing I want to point out is that in the next two verses (6 & 7), we find Isaac choosing to disobey.  He was just told of God’s great interest in obedience, and the very first thing he does is disobedience.  That’s what I call “stiff-necked”…just like me.

New Ancient Blather

By: Dr. Jimmy Young      

“As unsettling as it may be to reflect on the reality of God’s wrath, divine wrath is a necessary complement to God’s love and justice.”  

Marcion, a second-century heretic, who sought to serve the Christian Church, did not understand this, believing that God was too merciful and loving to be the same wrathful God that he saw in the Old Testament.  So, the blather produced by some today (such as Rob Bell) is nothing new.  

But it does do damage to the gospel, so often called “good news.”  Where is the good news if all ultimately find their way to heaven?  But the gospel has enormously good news within it, because it states that a God, who has an inflexible hatred of sin, has been reconciled by the finished work of Jesus Christ.  

That’s a gospel worth dying for.  The other is, well, blather.

The Christian Life

By: Brent Wilkins        

Martin Luther described the Christian journey this way:

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”