Ransomed Heart: Find a Few of His Friends

Ransomed Heart Daily Reading form Thursday, September 30, 2010

Find a Few of His Friends

Hopefully you will find a few folks who walk with God to also walk with you through the seasons of your life. But honesty - and Scripture - forces me to admit they are a rare breed. Few there are who find it. All the more reason for you to make the number less scarce, by becoming someone who walks with God and teaches others how.

Look to those who have walked with God down through the ages. Certainly that is why the Bible is given to us. If God had intended it to be a textbook of doctrine, well then, he would have written it like one. But its not; it's overwhelmingly a book of stories - tales of men and women who walked with God. Approach the Scriptures not so much as a manual of Christian principles but as the testimony of God's friends on what it means to walk with him through a thousand different episodes. When you are at war, when you are in love, when you have sinned, when you have been given a great gift - this is how you walk with God. Do you see what a different mindset this is? It's really quite exciting.

And there are those who have walked with God since the canon of Scripture closed. Here is an Athanasius, a Bonaventure, a Julian of Norwich, a Brother Lawrence, a Tozer- here is how they walked with God. When it comes to time and place, temperament and situation, they could not be more different. Julian lived in a cloister; Tozer lived in Chicago. Athanasius fled to the desert; Lawrence worked in the kitchen. But there is a flavor, a tang, an authenticity to their writings which underlies whatever it is they are trying at the moment to say. Here is someone who knew God, really knew him. This is what its like to walk with God, and that is what its like as well.



(Waking The Dead , 107, 108) 

Colorado Trip 2010

For the past week I have been hiking and camping with a group of guys.  Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Change Starts with Us

A few days ago while Barkley and I were on our daily three mile walk I was listening to a sermon by Jon Weece, the lead follower (the preaching pastor) at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY. In the sermon Jon said, “We will never change Lexington until Jesus changes us” (that is how I remember it any-way). It made me stop and think because I am so quick to blame others or to see the necessary changes other people nee to make while I forget about the transformation that still needs to take place in my life. Didn’t Jesus say something about this in one of His teaching? Something about a speck and a log? Check out Matthew 7:3-5 if you want to know what I am talking about.

Many of us are disappointed and frustrated by the moral climate of the United States. We want changes to be made and so we turn to the political process to bring about the changes we would like to see happen. The problem is that for the past 30 years the Church in the United States has been involved in politics and things have not improved, in fact things have gotten even worse. What is that? I think Henry Blackaby can shed some light on that question:

“Your life is the product of choices you have made, and your church is the product of choices it has made. Your prayer meeting is a reflection of the choices yo have made as a church. Our nation is a reflection of the choices that have been made by the people of God concerning their relationship with God” (Holiness, Emphasis added, p. 22).

I want to tie these two thoughts from Weece and Blackaby together. Instead of focusing on political, educational, or technological change to bring revival to the United States we need to focus on personal change. When God’s people are salt and light change in the culture will naturally happen, just as salt naturally enhances the flavor of food and light naturally chases away the darkness, and the entire nation will be blessed as a result.

The first step in this transformation process is the TOTAL surrender of our lives, of our church families, and our agendas to God. That is the first choice that we need to make, and it is this choice that opens our lives up to the transforming power of God.

We, who claim the name Christian, will not change the United States until Jesus changes us. It is time to surrender to Him so we can be transformed into the people He created us to be, and thus become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Sunday Quote: Totally Yielded to God

"Worship is a deliberate, steady, focused time with God.  Worship anticipates not only an encounter with God, but also a clear next word from God.  Worship is totally God-centered! God-focused! out of worship comes a clear and more focused relationship of faith and obedience with God.  Worship is God's way of developing character and directing the life into the center of His will...The ultimate outcome of consistent worship is a life totally yielded to God, on God's terms." ~ Henry Blackaby, Created to be God's Friend, p. 83

Offering Truth and Love

{Matthew 9:35-38; NLT}

Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send out more workers for his fields."

While we may have made advances in technology since the time of Jesus the human need remains the same. Not only are people’s need the same, but also the majority of people are still unaware of where to turn to for help. Casual sex, drug use, and pornography are just some indications that people are in search of some how filling the need they have in their hearts.

How should the Church, the community of Jesus’ followers, respond to this reality?

If we are truly following the example of Jesus the first thing we are to do is to have compassion on the “sin-ners” we find all around us. Within the Church we tend to judge before we have compassion. We find some sort of sick satisfaction in telling people that they are sinning. Perhaps it would help to remember that the homosexual, the pornographer, and the drug user are not necessarily evil people, but they are looking for something to fill the need they find in their empty hearts or to heal the spiritual wounds that have been af-flicted on them over the years. While it is true that these people are living outside of God’s will they too are being deceived and manipulated by Satan. No matter how awful their lives may seem to be we have to remember that their lives are being stolen away by Satan and they don’t know where to turn to for help.

Not only did Jesus have compassion for these people, but He also spent time healing them and teaching them in order to help them understand the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness. For us this means we need to be active in the lives of other people. We need to be loving influences in the lives of our family and friends who do not know the love God that is found in Christ Jesus. Please remember that part of what being a follower of Jesus is all about is to engage the lives of other people.

Finally we are to pray for more workers. There are more people who are lost than there are people who saved. Many of us who are saved do very little to help those in need and focus our attention on ourselves and the management of our own sin. It is only through the conviction God’s calling that we begin to move out of our comfort zone and into the places of great need.

Donn Leach in What the Bible Says About Jesus commenting on this passage wrote; "Jesus knows that many are ready to repent if only some messenger bring the good news of the kingdom to them (Matt. 9:37, 38). But more messengers are needed. God can supply more messengers if His people will pray." Prayer is one of the most important things we can do as we seek to change the world. People are not changed by our wise words or logical arguments about the power of God. Rather it is our love for others that reveals to them just how much God loves them.

The first step in all of this is having compassion for the people of the world and seeing people as Jesus saw them. Jesus not only saw people’s sin, but He also saw their need. He knew that their only hope was love and truth not judgment and law. What are we offering to people?

Don't be Ashamed

{Philippians 1:20; NLT}

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

There is a great responsibility that goes along with declaring we are Followers of Christ. It puts us under the microscope and either validates or refutes the message we love we have received for God. For this reason it is very important that we are concerned about how we live.

We have to be concerned about how other people see us, the message we giving through the way we live. Other people’s perceptions of us matter. Sure we cannot ultimately control how other people view us, but there are steps we can take to put our best foot forward.

First we have to be concerned about not doing anything that causes us shame. The Apostle Paul was con-cerned about this. He was public figure and people knew what he stood for, and so Paul wanted to make sure he didn’t anything that would cause him shame and lose the respect of other people. We need to be conscious about the words we use and the things we do. Remember we might not think doing this or that is a big deal, but by our participation it might cause others to lose respect for us.

Second we have to have standards in our lives. If we don’t have standards in our lives then we will find ourselves in a position where we get caught up in the moment and we simply go along with the crowd. Often times the people others respect are those that stand by their convictions rather than going along with the crowd. It is easy to go along with the crowd, it is another thing to stand and do the right thing.

Third we need to be bold. Courage is essential if we are going to stand apart for the crowd. It isn‚Äôt easy being different because you feel so alone and vulnerable, and so there is a great temptation in giving in to the crowd, but respect doesn’t necessarily come by being like everyone else, but often times it comes from having the courage to be different. Why? I believe that it is because many people want to be different, but they don’t have the courage to separate themselves from the crowd. You are respected because you are doing what they want to do.

Being respected is very important if we are going to make an impact this world. When we are respected by others then they will listen to what we have to say and follow where we lead. Respect is a precious com-modity, are you making sure you are holding on to yours?

Galatians Questions #3

3. What does it mean to be “true children of Abraham”? (3:29)
I think there are two reasons why we can say that Christians are the “true children of Abraham”. First would the the traditional way of interpreting this thought and that would be connected to our faith. Since Abraham was declared righteous because of faith, those people who demonstrate that same faith would be his true descendants rather than those who are physically descended from Abraham but do not have faith.

The second reason is because Jesus is the promised seed of Abraham and as Christians we are in Christ, and thus we are part of God’s promised descendants to Abraham. Ben Witherington wrote:

“Paul returns to the them that they have in Christ the heritage of Abraham, indeed they are in Chr-ist the ‘seed’ of Abraham. Christ had previously been called the seed of Abraham (3.16) but since Paul views Christ as an incorporative personality, and since they are in Christ, they are also that seed promised to Abraham, having become in Christ the legal heirs of Abraham and the promises given to him. This verse reminds us, especially when coupled with vs. 26, that Paul is once more transferring the language applied formerly only to Jews to Gentiles, and claiming they already have the benefits that accrue from being brought into the family of Abraham” (p. 281; Grace in Galatia)

So we are Abraham’s true children because of our faith in Christ Jesus, the promised descendant of Abra-ham, who will bless the entire world.

Larry Crabb: What do You say?

Book Excerpt from Shattered Dreams:

“Naomi is on that path. She’s not doing well. Life has been hard. Ten years ago she was widowed; a few years later she lost both her married sons before either had fathered a child; now she has returned home with a nice young woman, a daughter-in-law from the despised country of Moab.

“Naomi is no longer young, her money is gone, her property is sold, she can’t manage to shake off feelings of depression, and she is mad at God, convinced that she has been a victim of His ruthless sovereignty. No one wants her in their small group.

“Assume she attends the church your pastor. What will you say in next Sunday’s sermon that you honestly believe she might hear? What message could you preach that the Spirit might use to draw her along on the path toward God? Do you believe that everything helps a person to God, including a suicidal son, a devastating divorce, a secret moral failure, an unfulfilling job? If so, how do you preach what you believe?

“Or assume you’re a Christian counselor. Ruth has brought Naomi to your office, then waits outside to let you do whatever you do with depressed clients. What would you say to this slumped-over old lady?

“Maybe a better first question is, what would you feel as you listen to Naomi? She tells her story in a flat monotone, until at one point she looks up at you and with fire in her eyes says, ‘I’m alone. My life is not worth living. I’m utterly miserable, and I have nothing to look forward to. Shaddai could have done some-thing. He did nothing.

“It was at a point like this that Ted Turner dismissed God. It’s been at points like this that countless others have more quietly dismissed God and learned to live like functional atheists or pragmatic deists. ‘There is no God I can depend on. The God who exists has left me to make it on my own. He offers no real help.’ Churches are filled with worshippers who have reached that conclusion. Their worship is not from the heart.”

Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams, pp. 79-80

Introduction to the Restoration Ideal #4

The Church is Jesus’ Church. He loved her and gave Himself for her. We always need to remember the place the Church has in God’s plan. To diminish the Church is to miss what God is doing in the world.

Yet, we also know that what Saint Augustine wrote rings true: “The Church is a whore and she is my moth-er.” The Church has not always been faithful to her first love, and yet without her we would not be part of God’s Kingdom today. It is through the Church that people experience the love and forgiveness of God.

Most of Chapter 2 of Introduction to the Restoration Ideal is a short Church history lesson. In this lesson author Marshall Leggett stresses just how far away the Church has gone from the ideal found in Scripture. Leggett writes:

“More and more, as time passed, Christians became secularized. One historian says, ‘the doors of the church were thrown open so wide, that the distinction between Christianity and the world was obliterated.’ Many Christians protested, but they could not stem the tide of secularism” (p. 19).

Secularism has destroyed the witness of the church because it prevents Christians from being salt and light in the world. It is hard to influence culture when Christians live no different from the rest of culture. The result of this reality is that the Church stopped looking to Christ Jesus as the Head of the Body and began doing things based on what seemed right by the standards of culture.

One of the consequences of secularism in the Church is the creation of numerous sects and denominations among the body of Christ. Our current Christian landscape reveals thousands of different groups that claim the name Christian, yet some are radically different from one another. In fact some groups are openly hos-tile to other groups.

It was to combat this disunity that brought about the Restoration Movement. Leggett writes:

“It is...a movement that began in the early part of the nineteenth century to seek Christian unit on a Biblical basis...It is called the restoration movement because it embodies the ideal to restore the essential marks of the New Testament Church to it pristine purity. It is founded on the premise that the true basis for unity is to return to the church as it was given to, and guided by, the apostles. Its adherents seek to be Christians and to follow the Bible only as they strive to be both Biblical and undenominational in faith ordinance, and live” (p. 24).

I agree with that sentiment except for the belief that there was a pristine New Testament church. The book of Galatians shows us that even among the apostles there was a struggle when it came to making disciples of all nations. In other words, and I think this is part of the beauty of the Church, is that the Church is constantly growing in her knowledge and application of Scripture.

The Restoration Movement is a response to the disunity in the Church and seeks to call people to be united in holiness and mission as we are guided by the Holy Spirit through the pages of Scripture. I think that is a very worthy calling, and I am glad to be a part of it.

Compassion for Sinners

Originally posted Thursday, March 2, 2006


One of the things I find interesting about Jesus is that he didn’t get angry with people who struggled with sin. In the Gospels we see that Jesus became angry with the "religious leaders." Obviously He was oppo-site with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes because they burden people with law but did little to help them all the while opposing Jesus. Jesus also became angry with the Twelve when they prevented people from Him because they wanted to protect Jesus from the crowds. Rather than getting angry with people struggling with sin Jesus showed compassion and offered them an invitation to follow Him.

An example of this is the Samaritan women Jesus met at the well near the village of Sychar. You can read about this encounter in John 4. Jesus has stopped to rest near this village next to the well and the disciples have gone into town to buy food. While resting at the well a woman comes to draw water. Of course this is unusual because the women came to the well to draw water in the morning and evening, not midday as it was. The well was also the gossip place; it was where the women gathered to talk about everything that was going on. It can be assumed that since the woman came alone at midday that she was not accepted by the other people of the village.

Jesus strikes up a conversation with the woman, which would have been an unheard of event in that cul-ture, and they talk about water. In the course of the conversation Jesus reveals that He knows the woman has been married five times and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. No condemna-tion comes from Jesus’ lips, just the invitation to drink the water He is offering.

The way Jesus related to people struggling with sin has gotten me to think about how we should relate to them. One school of thought is that we need to convict these people of their sin, so we need to open up God’s Law and show them that they are liars, cheaters, thieves, and adulterers. They need to understand their sin before they can repent of it.

I suppose that is one way to handle the situation, but it doesn’t seem to be Jesus’ way. Could it be that people who are entangled with sin understand fully that things are not the way they should be? I would suggest that a person struggling with sin is already experiencing the consequences of sin. He or she doesn’t need to be told that things need to be changed or what they are doing is wrong, their lives are evi-dence of that fact. What they need to hear is that there is hope and that there are people willing to help them change no matter who they are or what they have done.

Sure there is a place for telling the world of God’s law, but more often then not what people need is mercy and compassion. People struggling with sin don’t need lectures on sin or be told that they are sinners, but they need to know that there is hope for their lives and that things can be different. They need to know that they are loved regardless of the circumstances in their lives.
Jude tells us:

Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins (Jude 1:21-23; NLT).

Perhaps we need to quit being so vocal about the sins of the world and start being more compassionate about their circumstances. When we help people rather than judge them we do a better job at communicat-ing God’s love to them. After all, that is what they really need.

Sunday Quote: Regardless of the Consequences

"The moment you know what God wants of you is the moment to do it.  He doesn't expose sin in our lives so we can take care of it later.  When God speaks, it requires immediate attention.  We might be tempted to put things off until it's easier to deal with them.  We might hesitate in an attempt to minimize the consequences.  Yet courage does what's right regardless of situation or consequence." ~ Erwin McManus, Uprising, pp. 100-01

Guard Your Heart

If we are going to remain healthy we have to take care of our hearts.  A person’s heart, according to the Bible, is the seat of his emotions and his thoughts.  In western culture we have usually equated our hearts with just our emotions, but to the original readers of the Bible they understood the heart to be person’s true self.  It is what motivates you to act when no one else is watching. That is why it is so important for our hearts to be healthy.  Consider what Erwin McManus wrote: “When your heart is sick, it can spread everywhere.  Like a cancer, despair in the human soul can cause all kinds of malfunctions” (Uprising; p. 133).

Having a sick heart makes life more difficult and can ruin our lives.  To have a sick heart means that we will be depressed, anger, confused, and fearful.  Rather than living a life of hope our life will be full of despair.  A sick heart will keep us from experiencing the life God wants us to enjoy.

Proverbs 4:23 reads: Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life (NET).  Solomon tells us that the condition of hearts is very important, so important we have to guard them.  This is what we fail to do.  I believe we are good at making sure were are studying the Bible, worshipping, have fellowship with other Christians, and even serving in some capacity.  Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

In other words our hearts become sick because we do not guard our hearts like we should.  We allow too much of the bad into our lives.  Whether this is in the form of images we allow into our minds through the various types of visual media, continuing habitual sin, or spending time with people who drag us down.  When we don’t work at guard our hearts they get damaged or they get sick.

So how do we guard our hearts?  

 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-9; NET).

We guard our hearts by faith.  The most basic way we demonstrate our faith in God is through prayer.  Prayer is trusting God to work our worries and problems out for good.  Sometimes all we need is to acknowledge our problems so we can get a proper perspective on things.  Other times we need God’s supernatural intervention.  Pray helps guard our hearts.

We guard our hearts by thinking good thoughts.  When we put garbage into our hearts our hearts will be consumed by garbage.  We have to be vigilant with what we are fueling our thoughts with.  We can’t concentrate on the things of God if our minds and hearts filled with junk.  Take note of what you are putting in and make changes.

The heart is important, essential, to our health.  We need to work hard to guard our hearts from damage and sickness. When our hearts our healthy then our lives, no matter what the circumstances are, will always have hope.

Point to Ponder: Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

Passage to Remember: Philippians 4:6-9

Question to Consider: What are you filling your heart with?

Galatians Questions #2

What is the purpose of the law for the Christian? (3:21-23)

This is question that is at the very heart of Galatians.  First, I think it is good to be reminded of what I think is the primary purpose of the Law: to separate Israel from the nations around them.  I think this is why the Judaizers were having so much trouble with what Paul was preaching and teaching, because they had been taught that this is what separated God’s people from the world.

Second, we notice that in verses 21-25 of chapter 3 Paul gives four basic truths about the Law.  First, Paul tells us that the law was unable to bring life to people (v. 21).  Second, the Apostle compares the function of of law and promise in history (v. 22).  Third, is Paul’s explanation of the function of the law (vv. 23-25). Finally, Paul explains that the function of the law has been suspended (v. 25) (pp. 181-84; The NIV Application Commentary: Galatians; Scot McKnight).

Scot McKnight wrote; “I think, then, that while the law has been suspended as a ‘contractual obligation’ or as the ‘covenant between people and God,’ it has not been suspended as a preliminary statement of God’s will, nor has it been suspended as a moral check on all human behavior” (p. 187). 

As Christians we understand that because of Christ’s sacrifice that we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices or that we don’t have to go to the Temple to worship God.  Yet, we continue to acknowledge that God’s will is revealed to us in the Ten Commandments (although the Sabbath day has been re-interpreted) and the other “moral” commands we find in the Old Testament.  In other words the function of the Law for Christians is to be an advisor or a guide.  We are not obligated to it, the Law no longer is the boundary marker for God’s people, but it provides us with the knowledge we need to know how to live as God’s people in the world.

Fighting the Cosmic War

{2 Corinthians 10:3-6}

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

This world is the battle ground of a great cosmic war. Satan and the Kingdom of Darkness are trying their best to lay waste to God’s great creation. God and the Kingdom of Light are at work to restore creation. You need to understand something very important: in this war you on one side or the other. You cannot remain neutral. The way you live determines whether or not you are a soldier of Satan bringing destruction to the wonderful creation God has given us or a servant of the Living God working as an agent of reconciliation and restoration. You either belong to the Kingdom of Darkness or the Kingdom of Light.

I realize that it seems a little dramatic to use war language. After all it doesn’t feel like war, it feels like life. Since the bullets aren’t flying and there are not great D-Day like invasions in the works it is easy to believe that we aren’t part of this war being fought for creation. Yet, if you really took the time to examine your life you would realize that the best explanation for the great evil in the world, the oppressive regimes which take advantage of the people they are to serve, the twisted thoughts and philosophies being promoted, and even temptations and sins you struggle with everyday is that there is an active campaign being waged against the Sovereign God and His creation.

Take a moment and think about the words of the apostle Paul that are recorded in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. I believe this passage gives us three important insights to help us understand our role in this cosmic war.

The first insight is a truth to remember: For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

We may be human and living in bodies of flesh, but that doesn’t mean we fight this war in the same way humans fight wars. This is a different type of fight and it isn’t about killing and destroying other people. It is about bringing God’s love and restoration to the world. This war requires different tactics and different weapons.

This war between the Light and the Darkness should not be equated with the “culture war” that is being fought in the United States. We are not at war with the atheist, the Muslim, or the Hindu, but with philosophies, teachings, and institutions that keep them in bondage to sin and death. We will be opposed by people who have been tricked into serving the Enemy, but our fight isn’t with them. Our fight is against the Kingdom which keeps them in darkness.

The second insight is God has given us weapons to use: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

The weapons God has given us are different from the guns, swords, missiles, and bombs used in our human warfare. They are even different from the spin and propaganda used in the “culture war”.

Jesus has provided us with two great weapons for this war. These weapons are unconditional love and uncompromised truth. When we love unconditionally we will reach out and serve people simply because they need help. When we speak the God’s truth we allow His Word a chance to effect the hearts of people who may have never had the opportunity to hear the truth before. We won’t win any popularity contests by loving people and telling the truth, but that is the role God given to us.

The third insight is that God has given us a purpose to follow: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

In this war we are not to attack our fellow man, but we are to challenge the philosophies and lifestyles that hold people in darkness. If we insist on attacking other people it shows then we are not following God’s battle plan for winning this war and bring restoration to creation.

The only way we can free people from the control of the Kingdom of Darkness is to level the light of God’s Word at the lies Satan and to love people. That is the only way they will understand that there is a better way to live. People will not abandon their kingdom until they understand that God’s Kingdom is the best kingdom. They will not leave their way of living until they know that following Jesus is the best way to live.

We are in the middle of a great cosmic war. This conflict is being fought, not over physical territory, but for the human heart. It is of the upmost importance that we learn to guard our hearts and do battle to fight for the hearts of those we love, for those people Jesus died to save. It is time to go to battle. Let’s follow Jesus to victory.

Point to Ponder: We live in a world at war.
Passage to Remember: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Prayer to Pray: Lord God, open my eyes to the the battle that is being fought for the hearts of people.

Galatians Questions #1

I have been asked to meet with a ladies Bible Study group in Cherokee, Iowa to help answer a few of the questions they have about the book of Galatians. In preparation for this study I was given a list of 10 questions the ladies had, so I thought I would share my answers to these questions on Paul’s Ponderings to make sure I took the time to prepare.

1. What does “it is through faith that righteous person has life” mean and what would the correct response be to someone who says that this bases the Christian life too much on personal experiences? (3:11)

Questions like this are hard because there are is so much context that surrounds this quotation. First, you have the context of where it fits in Galatians: What has Paul been saying that has led him to use this quotation? Second, you have the context that surrounds this quotation from where it was pulled in Habakkuk 2:4. Third, you have the cultural context of how this verse was interpreted and applied in Paul’s day.

What can we learn just by looking at the phrase itself? I think it is important to keep in mind that the theme of the Galatians is about who can be counted as God’s people. The Jews that were causing problems in these churches declared that only Jews can be God’s people, and therefore a person had to become a Jew before they could become a Christian. The boundary markers for determining who was in and who was out of the Kingdom were things like circumcision and food laws, in other words the Law. Paul was arguing that everyone who has faith in Christ Jesus were a part of God’s people and that the Holy Spirit was the boundary marker showing how was in and who was out of the Kingdom.

I think an understandable paraphrase of the above quotation would be: God’s people live by faith. Righteousness means to have a right relationship with God which is seen in right living. So how is a person made righteous? The way of the Jews of Paul’s day was to be committed to the Law. Their high priority was to make sure they didn’t break the law, especially those things that really separated them from the world (circumcision, food laws, and holidays), and they created a system of smaller laws to govern their lives so they wouldn’t break those laws. One could say that their faith and their commitment was to the Law rather than to God. If they kept the Law then God would bless them and they would be righteous.

Paul’s argument is that it isn’t by Law that we are made righteous, but it is by faith. Now we have to remember faith is more than just belief. If it was just belief then the Jews had faith as well, but since faith also encompasses commitment and trust then we notice the Jews didn’t have true faith in God, for their commitment and trust was in the Law. A person of faith is committed to God and they trust His way of life. This will be displayed by the fact that they will help a person who is in need on the Sabbath day rather than using the Sabbath as a loophole to get out of loving their neighbor.

For the Christian faith is specifically directed at Christ Jesus. We trust that His life, death, resurrection, and accession broke the power of sin, ushered in God’s Kingdom, and is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless on the nations of the world. As Christians our lives are lived in response to faith in Christ Jesus rather than a commitment to the Law.

The second part of this question is interesting: what would the correct response be to someone who says that this bases the Christian life too much on personal experiences?

I am not really sure what is meant by this, but I will take a shot at this. I think this is a reference to the necessity of knowing correct doctrine and not just have a “simple” faith in God that is built up by our experiences.

I would respond by saying that there is a misunderstanding of what true faith is. True faith is informed by correct doctrine, and so as Christ’s disciples we are urged to be students of the Word as well as to pray for knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. A Christian who is not taking the time study and to learn is at risk of being led astray by false teaching.

On the other hand we are not saved by correct doctrine. All of us have an incomplete understanding of God’s Word. Thank God for grace! That is why one of the mottos of the Restoration Movement has been “We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only.” While our faith is informed by doctrine and knowledge, it is made real by life and experience. We need to be out in the world being “salt” and “light” in our culture. Faith needs to be lived out in the world.

Introduction to the Restoration Ideal #3

Any true church is first and foremost Christ's church.  The apostle Paul wrote:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23; ESV)

Jesus is the head and we who make up the Church are His body.  This is the point that Marshall Leggett makes in chapter two of Introduction to the Restoration Ideal. Leggett writes:

One cannot have an understanding of the New Testament and not be impressed with the importance of the church to Christ.  He loved it, gave himself for it, and purchased it with His own blood.  It was to be His body, the agency of salvation whereby peole would be reached with His gospel.

Christianity cannot be separated from the church.  This is seen in Acts 2:47, which says, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." One who accepts Christ is given no option to membership in His church.  He cannot become a Christian and then decide whether he wants to become a church member.  To the contrary, he is automatically added to that body of believers, that fellowship that seeks to serve Christ as its Lord.  It is his responsibility to become a supportive member of the priesthood of believers in the local congregation of the church (p. 17).

Why is Jesus the Lord, or the Head, of the Church?

The first reason Jesus is the Head of the Church is because it is upon faith in Him that the Church is built.  We don't believe that Jesus was simply a good man or an insightful teacher of spiritual truths, instead we believe that Jesus is the unique Son of God sent into this world to save us from Satan, sin, and death.  This belief manifests itself in obedience and action as we surrender to His authority.  Jesus is the Head of the Church on the basis of who He is.

The second reason Jeus is the Lord of the Church is because of His love for the Church.  The apostle Paul wrote; Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25; ESV). Jesus, by His sacrificial death demonstrated to us that He is willing to do whatever it takes to have a relationship with us.  Jeus loves the Church and wants what is best for us, and therefore we can trust Him to lead us with wisdom and with love.

This is important to remember because it reminds us that if we will surrender our agendas and expectations then Jesus will guide us to where He wants us to be.  Will we trust Jesus to guide our church families?  Unfortunately all too often individual Christians, and even whole church families, have responded with a no, and their agendas and their plans have torn Christ's Church apart.  May we  pray daily for unity to be restored to the Church, as we surrender to the Lordship of Christ Jesus.

Ransomed Heart Daily Reading: The Worst of all Possible Reactions

Thursday, September 09, 2010
Ransomed Heart Ministries
The Worst of all Possible Reactions

"The heart," as Pascal said, "has its reasons that reason knows not of." Something in us longs, or hopes, maybe even at times believes that this is not the way things were supposed to be. Our desire fights the assault of death upon life. And so people with terminal illnesses get married. Prisoners in a concentration camp plant flowers. Lovers long divorced still reach out in the night to embrace one who is no longer there. Its like the phantom pain experienced by those who have lost a limb. Feelings still emanate from that region where once was a crucial part of them, and they will sometimes find themselves being careful not to bang the corner of a table or slam the car door on a leg or arm long since removed. Our hearts know a similar reality. At some deep level, we refuse to accept the fact that this is the way things are, or must be, or always will be.

Simone Weil was right, there are only two things that pierce the human heart: beauty and affliction. Moments we wish would last forever and moments we wish had never begun. What are we to make of these messengers? How are we to interpret what they are saying? As the playwright Christopher Fry wrote,

The inescapable dramatic situation for us all is that we have no idea what our situation is. We may be mortal. What then? We may be immortal. What then? We are plunged into an existence fantastic to the point of nightmare, and however hard we rationalize, or however firm our religious faith, however closely we dog the heels of science or wheel among the starts of mysticism, we cannot really make head or tail of it.

And what does Fry say we do with our dilemma? The worst of all possible reactions:

We get used to it. We get broken into it so gradually we scarcely notice it.

(Desire , 8.9)

A Life Worth Living

Orginally posted on Friday, February 3, 2006

{Romans 14:7:-9}

For we are not our own masters when we live or when we die. While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he might be Lord of those who are alive and of those who have died

Yesterday I went to a funeral for a man who was a member of the Stronghurst Christian Church(the church I was youth minister at for 5 years), in fact he was the last person from Stronghurst who I talked to. At age 52 he died of a heart attack while playing with his granddaughter on the living room floor. While I sat listening to the proceedings of the funeral I had two main thoughts.

First, I thought about how meaningless life is. After years of living and all that there is to show for it is a service attended by friends and family who hold on to a few memories which begin to fade as time goes on.

Even worse is that we have very little control over when our life will be taken from us. Sure we can take a few precautions but we are not a guaranteed a long life. We can die in the prime of our life without ever accomplishing the many dreams we have for our lives. So many things can remain unfinished and unsaid. What is the point of living when there are so few things under our control?

Second, what brings meaning to life is the impact we make. This came through loud and clear as the people who spoke told of their memories and the impact this man had on their lives. It was in fact very humbling for me to listen to.

When we love people and treat them with respect we impact their lives in positive ways. Others will look up to us and follow our lead because by the way we treated them we able to earn their trust. Living a life of love helps us to discover a life of meaning and purpose. That is true no matter how long we might live.

We don't have very much control in our lives. Our lives can change in the blink of an eye and there is nothing we can do about it. One thing that we do have control over is how we live our lives. We can choose to respect other people or disrespect them. We can choose to serve people or we can choose to make life harder for them. We can choose to love others or can choose to ignore them. If we want to have life that makes a difference in this world we have to make the right choices in how we will respond to those around us.

How are you treating people? Do you treat them as creatures created in the image of God or objects fit for the trash? Are you seeking to serve other people or are you seeking to horde as much as you can for yourself? It isn't stuff that makes life worth living. What makes life worth living is following the example of Jesus by giving our lives away in service to others. That is the type of life we should all inspire to live.

Andrew Murray: Denial of Self

I love books and I enjoy introducing people to the joy of reading books.  One of the problems that we face when it comes to reading is the sheer number of books that is available to us.  How do we know what to read?  Over the course of the next several days I am going to share excerpts from books that I have found valuable so you will have an idea whether or not it will appeal to you.  This first excerpt comes from Andrew Murray's book Absolute Surrender.

"I say again, God will bless you.  You have been praying for blessing.  But do remember, there must be absolute surrender.  At every tea-table you see it.  Why is tea poured into that cup? Because it is empty, and given up for the tea.  But put ink, or vinegar, or wine into it, and will they pour tea into the vessel? And can God fill you, can God bless you, if you are not absolutely surrendered to him? He cannot.  Let us believe God has wonderful blessings for us, if we will but stand up for God, and say, be it with trembling will, yet with a believing heart: 'O God, I accept thy demands. I am thine and all that I have.  Absolute surrender is what my soul yields to thee by divine grace.'

"You may not have such strong clear feeling of deliverances as you would desire to have, but humble yourselves in his sight, and acknowledge that you have grieved the Holy Spirit by your self-will, self-confidence, and self-effort.  Bow humbly before him in the confession of that, and ask him to break the heart and to bring you into the dust before him.  Then, as you bow before him, just accept God's teaching that in your flesh 'there dwelleth no good thing,' [Rom. 7:18] and that nothing will help you except another life which must come in.  You must deny self once for all.  Denying self must every moment be the power of your life, and then Christ will come in and take possession of you...

"God the Father loves to give us the power of the Spirit.  We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us.  We come to God confessing that, and praising God for it, and yet confessing how we have grieved the Spirit.  And then we bow our knees to the Father to ask that he would strengthen us with all might by the Spirit in the inner man, and that he would fill us with his mighty power.  And as the Spirit reveals Christ to us, Christ comes to live in our hearts forever, and the self-life is cast out."

Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender, pp. 74-75

Introduction to the Restoration Ideal #2

What does an ideal church look like?  I think if we tried to answer this question we would get a variety of answers, for each person has a different image of what the church should be like.  Each one of us carry around certain expectations for the church family that we call home.

I think the key thought in the first chapter of Introduction to the Restoration Ideal is:

“It may be impossible to restore the church perfectly as Christ conceived it and as the apostles guided it.  It might always remain in the realm of the ideal.  But virtue will be found in striving for that goal or aiming for it” (p. 11).

There are three ideas that I want to pull out of this thought.  The first idea is that the ideal that is important is not our own personal ideals of what the church should look like, but the ideal of Christ Jesus.  As the apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 1:19-23 Jesus is the head of the Church, and we are His body.  That means that He has great say in what our church families look like and in what we do.  How do we allow Jesus to guide our church families?  I think we need to be people of the Book and know what expectations Jesus has laid down for the church.  An excellent place to start is Revelation 2-3 for in these two chapters we read Christ’s critique of seven churches, which can give us an idea of what He would say to us.

The second idea that I want to mention is we have to be willing to be flexible when it comes to the look of our church families.  Remember there are certain bedrock doctrines that we cannot compromise on, and if our church family is asking to make changes in these core doctrines we have to be able to stand firm on the truth.  Most of the time the issue in our church families is not one of doctrine but of style and purpose.  As we try to apply God’s mission to our lives and fulfill the ideal that Christ has for our church that means we might have to do things we are not entirely comfortable with, but we sacrifice our comfort in order to accomplish what God desires. This is why there is great virtue in pursuing the ideal, because it is often in these areas of sacrifice that we learn to trust God more and that we are able to experience Him at work in and through our lives.

The last idea is to remind us that there was never a time when the Church was perfect.  The Church has always been shooting for the ideal of what Christ has for it.  Even the early church with all the disciples failed to do things perfectly.  I don’t know if we fully appreciate the difficulty many of these men and women had as they moved from Judaism to Christianity.  The New Testament shares these struggles, like the struggle Peter had with accepting Gentiles into the community of God’s people.  Even after receiving a vision about God declaring all things clean Peter is still persuaded by people not to associate with the Galatians Christians (Galatians 2:11-14).  I think there are times when people in the Restoration Movement have  held the New Testament Church as the ideal, forgetting they were trying to figure things out as they were guided by the Spirit.  The goal isn’t so about making ourselves look like the early church as much as it is learning to be guided by Christ as we try to establish the “ideal’ church in our respective communities. It is the the headship of Jesus and not a some model of New Testament Christianity that is important.

In the New Testament, through the teachings of Jesus and His disciples, we are giving an ideal for the Church.  It is up to us, those who bear the name Christian, to adjust our lives and church families to match up with that ideal.  It might never happen, but we will be better off because we have made the effort.

About Christ Following

To be a Christian means that we embrace a life of faith. We have pretty much equated faith with mental acceptance of certain doctrines.  For us faith is all about what we believe.

There  is doubt that belief is the foundational element of faith.  The apostle Paul tells us as much when he wrote:

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! (Romans 10:14-15; ESV).

We cannot  call to God, trust Jesus for salvation, without first hearing and believing the Gospel.  Belief is absolutely essential to faith, but to always equate the two would be a mistake.  It is apparent to me that the Bible teaches that true faith is demonstrated in what we do.  I would put it this way faith is belief in action.

James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that the faith of Abraham was discovered in how he lived:

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  (James 2:21-24; ESV)

To truly have faith in Jesus means that it will be seen in how we live.  This is more than "going to church," singing praise songs, reading "Christian" books, studying the Bible, and praying.  I am not saying these things are bad, but adding certain rituals to our lives doesn't  mean we are living a life a faith.  Faith, when lived out, will affect every area of our lives.  Faith will change how we date, what we consider to be entertainment, how we spend our money, how we relate to other people, and a host of other choices we face each day.

Choosing is how faith moves from mere belief to action in our lives. Abraham had to choose to leave his home and follow God into the unknown, to obey God when it was difficult to do, and to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  Based on what he believed about God Abraham made choices that affect how he lived his life.

In the same way Christians are people who are to live by faith, choosing to do what God has told us through His Son Jesus.  The writer of Hebrews wrote:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:1-4; ESV).

We trust God and His Word and live our lives accordingly.

The way God wants us to live is found in the way Jesus lived. That means Jesus is our example on how we are to live life.  In fact is is impossible to have a relationship with God when we don't follow Jesus.  The apostle John makes this clear; whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked (1 John 2:6; ESV). We need to follow the example of Jesus.

This is what being a Christian is all about.  We often get so distracted from this main thing that we have forgotten what true faith is.  To live a life of faith, for a Christian, means to follow Jesus.  We cannot call ourselves Christians if we do not follow Jesus' example in how we live.

So how do we follow Jesus? It isn't like we can physically follow Him since He ascended into heaven 2,000 years ago.  Not only is Jesus not here for us to physically follow, but there are also many people who claim Jesus for their personal agendas, and so it can become very difficult to understand who Jesus really is.  Is He a feminist? A Republican? A vegetarian? A Muslim prophet?

The starting place for following Jesus begins with the four Gospels which record for us Jesus' life. That means we need to be people of the text as we learn about how Jesus lived and what He taught.

Following Jesus isn't just about being people of the text, but we must also choose to apply that text to our lives.  That is why the disciplines of study, meditation, prayer, and fellowship are so important in our lives.  These are the means by which we take the text and process it so it becomes part of our lives.

If we are going to follow Jesus it begins by believing in Him, but then it moves to obeying Him.  Faith is the combination of belief and obedience.  We are people of faith when adjust our lives to the will of Jesus.

Sunday Quote: Only Broken People Worship

"It comes down to this: God's best is available only to those who sacrifice, or are willing to sacrifice, the merely good.  If we are satisfied with good health, responsible children, enjoyable marriages, close friendships, interesting jobs, and successful ministries, we will never hunger for God's best.  We will never worship.  I've come to believe that only broken people truly worship.  Unbroken people—happy folks who enjoy their blessings more than the Blesser—say thanks to God the way a shopper thanks a clerk." ~ Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams, p. 57

Introduction to the Restoration Ideal #1

One of the things I am very thankful about in my life is to be part of the Christian Church/Church of Christ, one of the branches of what is called the Restoration Movement.  It is within this movement that my thinking has been shaped and I have learned what it means to be a disciple of Christ Jesus.  For this reason it is something I like to talk about and introduce other people to because I think we have a lot to offer other Christians.  So to introduce more people to the Restoration Movement I thought I would take some time and blog through Marshall Leggett's book Introduction to the Restoration Ideal, now I did attempt this several years ago, but I thought I would give it another shot.  With this first post, before we get into the book, I would like to share a couple of my thoughts about being part of the Christian Church/Church of Christ.

The thing I have probably come to appreciate the most about the movement is that we don't adhere to any systematic theology.  We certainly have core doctrines that we hold on to, but there really is no such thing as "Restoration Movement Theology".  Since we don't have a systematic theology that has allowed me the freedom to read widely and really develop a theology that is my own, one that I can embrace, and one that is able to influence what I teach and how I live.  While the core doctrines of the Movement have provided a firm foundation for me to build upon, I have had the freedom to follow where the Holy Spirit led me.

Another aspect of the Christian Church/Church of Christ that I have really appreciated is that we are nondenominational.  Yes, there are certain doctrines that set us apart from other churches and so we form a loose brotherhood of churches, we do not have a denominational headquarters that oversees our local church families.  This has given us flexibility when it comes to reaching out into our various communities.  If you know me you know that I cherish that type of freedom.  The downside of not being a denomination has been that there has not been a group to come in and mediate when local church families were having difficulties, which have led to some very nasty and ugly church splits.  This is a sad reality for a movement that began as a unity movement.

A third reason I love the Christian Church/Church of Christ is because it is part of my journey of faith.  Not only did I grow up in a Church of Christ (Sutherland, IA), but I also attended a Christian Camp (Nebowa Christian Camp) growing up, and attended a Christian College (Nebraska Christian College).  I am currently preaching at a small Church of Christ (Storm Lake, IA) and I am making arrangements to return to seminary at Lincoln Christian Seminary (Lincoln, IL).  Most of the the Christians I have interactions with on a regular basis are part of this brotherhood of Churches and they have been a source of encouragement to me.

I hope that you will join me on this journey through the Introduction to the Restoration Ideal as we learn what this ideal is and why it is important to all our church families no matter what your faith tradition is.

Living What You Believe

Originally posted Monday January 30, 2006

What does faith look like? Our image of faith is often a person believing certain things: That God exists, Jesus' Resurrection, and the like. Of course in a different religion faith would look different because there would be different things to believe. But I don't think this is the full picture of what Biblical faith truly is. When it came to talking about faith the authors of the Bible turned to the example of one man to serve as an illustration.


This is what James writes:

Don't you remember our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did--by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous." He was even called "the friend of God." So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, no by faith alone (James 2:21-24; NLT).

I think people have always struggled with equating faith with simply believing the right things. Certainly belief is part of faith, but it is not the only part of faith. Faith is also about trusting God. Trusting God so much that we will obey Him completely in every area of our lives.

The examples of faith that we read in Hebrews 11 are all about people who not only believed in God, but allowed that belief to influence their behavior.  In other words they trusted God. Belief if it is not accompanied by action is worthless. What God is interested in is our beliefs being lived out in our lives. Ultimately what we really believe is communicated through our behavior.

This is why it is no contradiction for the Bible to say that our salvation is tied to our belief and to our actions, for both are a part of faith. The Bible is clear that we are saved by God's grace through our faith and not our good works. Our good works don't get us into heaven, but they do set us apart as faithful people.

When it comes to how I live do people see that I am trusting God? Would the people who I interact with on a regular basis know that I am a Christian if I didn't tell them that I was a follower of Jesus? These are questions worth considering because the way we live shows the world what we truly think about God. I believe that being the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" is about how we live in front of an unbelieving world.

For one semester in college I had a roommate who was from China. He was in his mid-thirties and wanted an "American Education," but he had a hard time getting accepted to college in the United States. For some reason he ended up at Nebraska Christian College even though he had no Christian background, and planned to transfer to another school (I guess it is easier to get accepted once you are in the States) as soon as he was able. One night towards the end of that semester he asked me if I was a Christian since all he saw me do was goof off, watch movies, and play video games and that he did not see me pray or read my Bible. Now in my defense I did do that when he was not around, but the reality is that I did not make that a real visible part of my life.  In a way that was a crucial experience for me because that is a question which still haunts me to this day almost 14 years later.

Faith is more than what we believe, it is also about how we live. We need to trust God more than we trust ourselves. When we step into the unknown trusting God to lead the way, like Abraham, that is when faith is truly evident in our lives. When we do the right thing even the we are faced with dreadful temptations, like Joseph, that is true faith in action . When we boldly proclaim the Gospel regardless of the circumstances, like Paul, is faith that makes a difference in the lives of others. When we help other people, like the early Church, that is faith that is able to change the world. Faith is about living out what we believe. What is your life saying about what you believe?

Worship the Lord

Psalm 9:1-2
Great Provider and Father,

Open my eyes to the blessings You have generously given me. I have fallen into the trap of the world and I have ceased to see You as the Giver of Life, and I have looked to myself to provide for my needs.

Move my heart to thanksgiving as I begin to see Your providing hand at work in my life. I thank You for the food I enjoy, the clothes that I wear, the relationships that enrich my life, the work that uses my creativity, and the ministry that allows me to be a conduit of Your love.

I worship You because You are the Creator, giving the universe beauty and meaning. I worship You because You are the Savior, giving me hope and freedom. I worship You because You are the Provider, giving me all that I need for life and righteousness. I worship You.

In the name of the Son, Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.