Think About These Things

By: Jim Umlauf

I hesitate to cite Amy Winehouse because there are some explicit lyrics in her songs that most readers of a church blog would certainly not approve of. What grants a little license, I think, is the obvious irony of her best known song, “Rehab.”

What happened to her is a lesson to us. Independent wealth meant she had no financial concerns. Rock star status meant no moral boundaries. Everyone she kept close to her in life said, “yes.” In essence, she got anything she wanted whenever she wanted it, and that’s a recipe for disaster. It really got me thinking: Are we, as fallen image bearers of our Creator, trying, due to sin, to ultimately destroy ourselves? When one overeats, it’s not mounds of carrots and baby spinach. It’s stuff that’s particularly bad for the human body in bulk.

As Christians, we have spiritual life where there was none before. We are a new creation, with a new hope and a new eternal home. We have the righteousness of Christ imputed to our account. In other words, when God looks at our moral “bank account,” he sees ZERO PERCENT of our sin and mangled attempts at morality, and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the righteousness of his Son. Those realities eternally safe in the living Christ, there’s still a part of us on this side of heaven that grapples with sin. So how are we to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How are we to walk in the light as he is in the light? How are we to run the race, keep in step with the Holy Spirit, seek first the Kingdom of God, and renew our minds?

The place to go is where God reveals himself—in his word. The same Holy Spirit who penned it is the same Holy Spirit who breathes life, summons souls, and illumines truth.

Will you join me over the next week to commit to memory my favorite Scripture song, Philippians 4.8? It's number three on the CD, and can also be played below. We’ll sing it together a week from Sunday. Here’s the verse itself:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, thing about these things.

Be Sure to Eat the Right Corn

By: Dr. Jimmy Young

Just got back from Iowa. Ever been there? When you’re flying in, all you can see for miles around is field after field of corn. While there, I learned that there are 3 kinds of corn. There is seed corn; there is feed corn; there is sweet corn. Only one of those is worth eating by us humans. But it all looks like corn.

Truth is like that in a way. Jeremiah, one of my heroes, points that out a lot in his book. One place, which is repeated elsewhere, is chapter 8, verse 11: “They have healed the daughter of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, Peace' when there is no peace.” Who did that? Verse 10 tells us: the prophets and priests.

The professional clergy of Jeremiah’s day was telling people all was well, when all wasn’t well. If given a choice, who wouldn’t want to bring the peace message? But if isn’t true, then the end result is ruin.

Guys, there are lot of truth claims out there, and they all have a ring of truth to them. They all look like corn, but much of it will hurt you if you eat it. There is only one edible corn, one sweet corn, and it is found coming right from God’s mouth. Some of it stings. Some of it warms. But once you swallow it, it will be sweet to the belly. If you eat that other stuff, you’re gonna end up sick… real sick.

Calvin & The True Christian Life

By: Chris Leuck

Excerpts from the “Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life” by John Calvin:

“It is fitting for the faithful Christian to rise up to the level where Christ calls every disciple to 'take up his cross'... all whom the Lord has received into the society of His saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious, and full of countless griefs. It is the will of their heavenly Father to try them in this manner that He may test them. He began with Christ, and He pursues this manner with all His children.”

“For Saint Paul tells us that if we ‘know the fellowship of His sufferings’ we shall also understand the ‘power of His resurrection’; and that while we are ‘participating in His death,’ we are also being prepared for sharing His glorious resurrection… the more we are afflicted by adversities, the more surely our fellowship with Christ is confirmed. By this fellowship, the adversities themselves not only become blessings to us, but they are aids to greatly promote our happiness and salvation.”

“The apostle also explains that it was necessary for Christ to ‘learn obedience by the things which we suffered.’ Why then should we free ourselves from that condition to which Christ, our Chief, had to submit, especially since His submission was on our behalf?”

“Indeed, we cannot show any other obedience to Him than the one He has given to us in Christ; but He is pleased in this manner to exhibit and to test the graces which He has conferred on His saints, that they may not remain hidden and become useless.”

Sound crazy?

More simply put: Hey Christian! You can expect that life will be quite difficult, marred by suffering. It is your heavenly Father’s will to try you in this way, to test you. (Do not think about this “test” like the way a child “tests” his parents, but the way a scientist “tests” his hypothesis). Through suffering, God is “testing” His deposit in you, so that it may not remain hidden. He is testing His deposit in you so that it might be revealed and perfected… that you might be conformed into Christ’s image! As you fellowship with Christ in His sufferings, you will further understand the power of the resurrection… while you “participate in His death,” you are being prepared for sharing His resurrection. God does not test you to torment you… your suffering becomes an aid to your happiness and to the completion of His work in you.

When Is Too Much, Too Much?

By: Scott Elliott

We hear it a lot in athletics: “Can you adjust my son’s soccer practice time? It overlaps with his baseball practice, swim lessons, and two basketball games.” I know this happens in many families in other aspects of their lives too, but when is too much, too much?

We all get caught up in our daily lives and somehow forget how to say "no" to all the “things” that are presented to us. Before we know it, our lives are kidnapped by our careers, hobbies and even our kids. When do we fit time in for our Creator? Does He become an after-thought? We end up replenishing our mind and body, but forget our spirit.

Matthew 6 is rich in how Jesus teaches us how to pray, about giving to the needy, and yes, even how to spend our time effectively for His glory. Verses 19-21 teach us about “storing up for yourselves treasures” (using money as the example – but it relates to all things). If our “treasures” are our kids, our hobbies, or our time, then our spiritual vision becomes blocked with what God has planned for us. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (v. 21).

The more we fill our lives (and our families too) with more “stuff”, the less time we have to spend with God. Our intention should be to seek the fulfillment of God’s purposes in all we do, not just in what we do with our money. These “things” will soon become our idols and then our desires will start outweighing our commitment to God and spiritual matters.

As a parent, it's important to evaluate not only what you spend your time doing, but also what your family unit is doing. Do you sometimes find yourself frustrated that the “family dinner time” no longer exists because your daughter has cheerleading practice and your son has a football game? It’s hard, but start learning to say "no" to certain things. I know a parent who has a policy (which I agree with) with each of their kids that they are allowed to participate in only one activity (other than school) per season. This kind of plan can lessen the tension not only for our family, but it also allows our kids to enjoy growing up and still have enough time to spend doing family things, which also includes their spiritual growth.

God wants us to be happy and enjoy life, but keeping ourselves too busy often interferes with our spiritual well-being. Instead of us overloading our daily schedules, maybe we should heed the words of the psalmist: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This will allow us more time to reflect on our lives, spend more precious moments with our families, and spend more time in the word and exalting our Creator.

Providence?

By: Erin Pearce

To be honest, I do not feel you can fully explain God's providence in a short post, but I will offer a few thoughts. Providence is something I’ve been reading about, and isn’t it funny that when you start studying something it seems to pop up all over the place?

Like last night. Andy and I were reading Proverbs 21 and the first verse says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”

Doesn’t this suggest that the Lord guides our hearts? I remember being terrified in college, thinking, “what if I make the wrong decision? What if I don’t choose what the Lord REALLY wants me to do?” I remember Les Newsom telling me, “The Lord wants you to serve Him. You can’t step out of His will. Obey Him. Now make a decision and get going.” This provided quite a bit of comfort. And now as I get older, I get it more and more. There is much kingdom work to be done. Decide on something to help push back the curse and get going.

As Dr. Young has been telling us in his recent sermons on Genesis 3, Satan is doing everything he can to cause us to doubt God’s goodness. And it is very hard to trust that God has a plan when things are hard and feel like they are falling apart all around us. I am reminded of Joseph. Think about all the pain and suffering he went through. And yet, we read in Genesis 50:19-20: “But Joseph said to them, 'Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.' ”

Wherever you are today, remember that God is in control. He has a plan. And no one, nor anything, can thwart this plan. Not even us.

Commitment Move

By: Brent Wilkins

Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

In climbing there is a move one is occasionally required to execute known as the “commitment move.” You are harnessed into a rope which is securely anchored to a strong, trustworthy object. In order to make your next upward move you must commit by letting go of the safe place you’re at and leaping toward the next hand-hold. At that moment there is no turning back and you must fully trust the anchor you’re clipped into… and not trust your feelings of fear.

Life is full of commitment moves.

There are times in the Christian walk when you are faced with a difficult decision and you find yourself asking, “Is God really there? Is his Word really true?” or stating, “I don’t hear him… I don’t feel his presence.” Yet, you do know him. You know that he has always been faithful. You know that he has never forsaken you. So you take that leap of faith, clinging to what you know is true, knowing that God will strengthen you, he will help you, and he will hold you with his righteous right hand.

How to Do God's Will for Your Life

By: Johnny Coggin

Sometimes it's just refreshing (and freeing!) to be reminded of this:

(youtube link)

Are We Peddling or Tampering With God's Word?

By: Dr. Jimmy Young

I was struck earlier this week with a couple of statements made by the Apostle Paul about people who handle God’s Word, of which I am one, and maybe not a very good one at that. He talked about being a “peddler of God’s Word” (II Corinthians 2:17), and two chapters later in 4:2, he spoke of refusing “to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s Word.”

You can understand, I hope, why statements like that would give me pause. Am I “peddler”? Do I “tamper”? What is a peddler? How does one tamper?

A peddler is one who sells a product for a profit. I do get paid to do what I do. To tamper is to modify or change in subtle ways. So, am I guilty of either of those? I’ll have to let you decide, while I wrestle with God over those matters.

I do know that what I think is tampering with God’s Word, I see in this whole ordaining of women, and, of course, the gay marriage issue. Realizing that my positions on both of those issues are not “politically correct,” I must, nonetheless, speak out against both of those things, because to fail to do so would make me guilty of tampering with something that I’m not supposed to tamper with. I also feel that to cave on issues that I think are clearly denounced in Scripture would mean that I have a tendency to “peddle.”

So, my only solution is to continue to ask God about His Word, and about my heart. That’s all I can offer you. But it might be sound advice for all of us.

Strategic Parenting

By: Jim Umlauf

(If you don't see the video above, click here to watch it on Vimeo.)

A New (Old) Way to Pray

By: Johnny Coggin

From Will Savell's new blog, chronicling his family's journey into a new life of ministry in Costa Rica, and his thoughts along the way:

(On reading Acts 4) "What I noticed... was a boldness and a commitment to truth in the face of persecution. I also noticed what the people prayed, and it had nothing to do with the Lord blessing them with an easier life. They began their prayer with the words, “Sovereign Lord” and they continued to recognize His control and his power. And when it came to supplication, all they wanted was more boldness for proclaiming truth."

If you're interested in seeing the Holy Spirit's power at work in your life and your church, that's a potent way to start. Read the whole thing here. (And subscribe to the Savell's blog while you're there!)