Daily Thought: Confronting the Kingdom of Darkness

"I don't know what it means for others, but for a follower of Jesus Christ, what it means to live on the edge is to stand at the epicenter of where the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness. When evil raises its ugly head, taunting God and tormenting the weak, the adventurer rises up and moves toward the challenge. Like a guided missile, the adventurous spirit moves toward its greatest challenge." ~ Erwin McManus; Seizing Your Divine Moment

The Myth of Sexual Equality

Today I want you to take a moment and ponder these two blog posts.

Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Woman?

In the movie musical My Fair Lady, Henry Higgins sings longingly, “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” 

I say, be careful what you wish for, Henry. 

I hear confession is good for the soul. On Saturday, I rented a movie that I had been really excited to see. Maybe some of you gals have heard of it—it’s called Bridesmaids and it was the number one comedy for quite a while a few months back. My husband and kids were out of the house, so I made a plate of munchies and sat down eagerly to enjoy myself.

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The demise of equalitarianism

Logic is now beginning to lead others to conclude something I asserted here long ago. And that assertion should never have been any more controversial than a statement that water is wet or increasing the labor supply reduces wage rates. Sexual equality is not societally viable:

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Here is the simple point I want to make: Men and women are not equal.  That certainly doesn't mean one is inferior to the other.  I recognize that my wife is vastly more capable at many things than I am and there are a few areas that I am gifted more than she is, and so it is not an inferior/superior thing I am talking about here.  In fact our standing in Christ is exactly the same.

What this is about is the fact that men and women are different, and we need to celebrate and embrace those differences for the sake our society, our families, and our churches.  Part of the problem that we are facing in our nation today can be directly traced back to the fact that mothers have chosen to work outside of the home and left the hard and essential work of raising children to someone else.  We are surrounded by people who grew up not only fatherless, but motherless as well, and therefore they are left without an identity or a grounded morality.

If our society is going to be saved it will require women to choose to be the primary caretakers of their children and to ground these developing souls with love, morality, and a place of belonging.  I am so thankful to my mother who chose to fill me, as well as my brother and sister, with love and with faith in Christ Jesus.  Her love, teaching, and example has paid for itself over and over again in my life (This is not to exclude my dad for the part he played in my development, but rather to recognize my mom's effort).

We need men to be men and we need women to be women.  I know this goes against what our culture says and even the supposed "progress" we have made, but our society will not survive if we continue to progress the way we have being going.

A Prayer: Jesus Lead Me

This is a prayer I prayed this morning as I confessed that I have been distracted by good, mediocre, and even bad things.  I haven't taken the time lately to simply pause and ask Jesus to guide me through the day, to order my steps, and to show me where I need to go.

Dear God,
I praise You for being who You are.  You are my Creator and I thank You for giving me life.  You are my Heavenly Father and I love You for bringing me into Your family. 

Father, I confess that I have been distracted and I haven't given You the time You deserve.  So it is at this point of priorities that I need guidance.  What is the most important thing?  I want to be like Mary who chose the most important thing of being with and learning from Jesus over being distracted by the good thing of serving Jesus.  What is the most important thing for me to do today?  Open the eyes of my heart so I can see where it is You want me to go and what it is You want me to do.  Lord Jesus, lead me into Your best for my life.  Where do you want me to go?  What do you want me to do? 

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Pause and write down those things that God is revealing to your heart.  What do you need to confess?  What do you need to do?  What do you need to stop doing?  How should you order your day?  Do these things line up with what God has already revealed in Scripture?

It is important that we take time and invite Jesus to lead our lives.  When we don't we can get distracted from what is essential.

Visiti Paul's new blog at www.paulsponderings.com.

Daily Thought: Knowledge or Intimacy

"In church we've often got this confused.  We have established systems of learning that result in knowledge, but not necessarily intimacy...The problem isn't knowledge.  The problem is that you can have knowledge without having intimacy.  In fact, knowledge can be a false indicator of intimacy." ~ Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, p. 44

Daily Thought: Remain with the Church

"There is a message here for those who belong to what is sometimes termed 'a dead church', and who are tempted to leave it and go elsewhere. Of course we do have to leave a church which denies the fundamentals of the faith, for then it is apostate and no longer a church. But what about a church which is orthodox but dead? Christ's will in the case is for the living remnant to strengthen what remains, perhaps by coming together and waiting upon God. A dynamic minority of awakened and responsible Christians is able by prayer, love, and witness both to preserve a dying church from extinction and to fan its flame into a fire." ~ John Stott; What Christ Thinks of the Church, 89

Daily Thought: Our God Given Potential

"Until our bodies return to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life.  The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed within us." ~  Erwin McManus, Seizing Your Divine Moment

Daily Thought: We Need to Commit

"So in case someone left it out or forgot to mention it when they explained what it meant to be a Christian, let me be clear:  There is no forgiveness without repentance.  There is no salvation without surrender.  There is no life without death.  There is no believing without committing." ~ Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, p. 35

Linkage: Reading the Gospels for all They are Worth

This is part two of the article I linked to by Matt Proctor entitled Getting the Most from the Gospels.

In Part One of this article, I explained that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are more than divinely inspired, historically accurate biographies. They are that, to be sure. But each writer’s distinctive approach to telling his material gives us nuance and knowledge we would never have received from one writer alone. 

This week we consider principles to help us get the fullest meaning possible from what I call these “pastorally interpretive narratives of the life of Christ.”

Read Behind the Lines 

The first principle of Gospel reading is read behind the lines. In other words, look at the history and culture behind the Gospel stories. Often we can see a story’s truth clearly only when it’s placed against the historical/cultural/geographical backdrop. As 21st-century Westerners, we must put ourselves in ancient Jewish sandals to understand their culture. We will need to do some hermeneutical excavating to brush away the accumulated dust of the centuries to get back to the original setting. This background can take us to new depths of understanding.

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Daily Thought: Look to the Lord

"Every time we set our eyes on the size of the battle we will shrink from the task.  Every time we look to Him, we leave in peace with the assurance that the battle is the Lord's.  It is so easy to be discouraged with the failures and duplicities of politicians and power mongers around the world.  We see millions living under tyrannies and despotism nicely dressed up in ideological reasons.  We witness incredibly harsh rhetoric against things sacred.  We are troubled by trends in the arts and particularly by the way television has trivialized the sacred and glorified the profane.  Our heroes are more possessed by fame and adulation than they are with things that matter.  Nations that once realized that God is God and is worthy of our worship now treat religion as a vestige of primitive thinking.  It seem that a mighty army is closing in upon the church.  Is God still in control?  He who is and was, will ever by the sovereign Lord of the universe." ~ Ravi Zacharias, Cries from the Heart, pp. 27-28

Linkage: Getting the Most from the Gospels

Having grown up in a Christian family and being around church my entire life it is easy to approach the Bible with a confidence that I know what is being said, and in the process miss what God wants to communicate.  In this article from The Christian Standard Matt Proctor challenges us approach the Gospels with fresh lenses.

“Irresistibly drawn to Jesus.” That phrase describes many who have come to faith after reading the Gospels. Most of us love the Gospels because we love Jesus, and the Gospels bring us face to face with him. For some the Gospels are so familiar, though, that they miss truth contained there. A few helps can prevent that from happening. 

When he was growing up, Vince Antonucci’s parents never took him to church. Maybe it was because his mother was Jewish and his father was a professional gambler. Regardless, he knew nothing about Jesus. He says, “As far as I know, I had never even met a Christian.”

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Video: The Constitution and Money

Daily Thought: Faith Means Movement

"We tend to define belief as the acceptance of something as real or true.  But biblical belief is more than just an intellectual acceptance of a heartfelt acknowledgment; it is a commitment to follow.  Following by definition requires more than mental assent, it calls for movement." ~ Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, p. 32

Fan or Follower?

(This post I originally wrote in December 2004.  Since my wife and I are leading the Not a Fan study for Sunday School I thought it was time to update it)

Rachel Scott, one of the teenage girls killed at Columbine, wrote this to a friend, "What is faith when you are a fan instead of a follower? What is Christianity when it is a label instead of a lifestyle? What is life when living without the LIFEMAKER? " (The Journals of Rachel Scott, p. 53).

It is easy to be a fan of Jesus. People around the world see Jesus as a wise man with great teachings. It is recognized that if people truly lived to the morality Jesus taught this world would be a much better place. To see Jesus as just a great moral teacher means you are just one of his many fans.  While it is easy to be a fan, it is hard to be a follower, to allow Jesus to interfere with the way we live.

Remember being a Christian isn't about mentally accepting that what Jesus said is true. A Christian isn't a person who quotes Jesus alongside the philosophers of old trying to make the world see the logic of living right. A Christian is not a mere fan of Jesus; he is a follower.

A follower differs from a fan because a fan remains on the sideline cheering, but a follower gets into the game and does what he has been taught. A follower not only loves Jesus' teachings, but he also trusts who Jesus is. A fan may love aspects of Jesus, but he is not willing to trust for who Jesus is.

Kyle Idleman in his book Not a Fan, wrote:

"Most of us don't mind Jesus making minor change in our lives but Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down.  Fans don't mind him doing a little touch-up work, but Jesus wants complete renovation.  Fans come to Jesus thinking tune-up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul.  Fans think a little makeup is fine, but Jesus is thinking makeover.  Fans think a little decorating is required, but Jesus wants a complete remodel.  Fans want Jesus to inspire them, but Jesus wants to interfere with their lives" (p. 31).

Our Christianity does us no good if we just use it as a label because we are fans of what Jesus says. We acknowledge that Jesus tells the truth, and so we cheer Jesus as He teaches, but we miss out on the benefit of truly following Jesus.

Christianity makes a difference in our lives only when we follow Jesus. This isn't about morality, but it is about trusting Jesus with our lives.  Being followers of Jesus means we set as our goal to live as Jesus lived, to follow His example and to rely on His Spirit.  Therefore we need to believe that in Jesus we find life. Following Jesus gives us life!

In the book of Luke we read about some encounters Jesus had with a few people who expressed an interest in following Him.

As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! * Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God”   (Luke 9:57-62; NLT).

Each one of these people Jesus encountered in this passage were fans.  When it came to Jesus interfering in their lives they were not ready to follow Him.  For Jesus it wasn't enough that they saw him as a great teacher; He didn't simply want them to be fans. Jesus basically says that fans are not going to be able to find the life God created them to have.  That is why Jesus ultimately wants us to be followers.  We need to sacrifice the security and comfort we desire for our lives and step out into the unknown and follow Jesus wherever He leads us. To be a follower of Jesus requires us to trust Him more than we trust ourselves. We can't just be fans, we have to become followers.

Linkage: The Holy Spirit in the Church

For many Christians the Holy Spirit is overlooked because we just don't know what to make of Him.  Part of the reason is the way some Christians treat the Holy Spirit seems silly and unreal.  Another part of the reason is because we tend to view Jesus' death and resurrection as the climax of God's plan of redemption.

This link is to a transcript of a talk N. T. Wright gave on the Holy Spirit and His work in and through the church.  I hope that it will help you understand the role of the Spirit in our lives a little bit better.

I am delighted to be speaking at this first Fulcrum conference, and am very grateful to Francis Bridger and his colleagues for inviting me, and to Graham Kings and the staff here at St Mary's for their hospitality. It is twenty-five years since I last spoke here, at one of the old Islington Conferences, and I trust I shall look back on this day with as much pleasure as I now look back on that one. 

I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just thrown open the window on a glorious spring morning. A fresh breeze is stirring around the garden. In the distance there is a crackle of bonfire as a farmer clears away some winter rubbish. Out in the field, a skylark is hovering over its nest. All around, there is a sense of creation throwing off its wintry coverings and getting ready for an outburst of new life. 

All these are images the early Christians used to describe something strange but real and central to their lives. They spoke of a powerful wind rushing through the house and entering them. They spoke of tongues of fire resting on them and transforming them. They picked up, from the ancient creation story, the image of a bird brooding over the waters of chaos to bring order and life to birth. 

How else do you explain the inexplicable, except in a rush of images from the world we already know?

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Daily Thought: Goal is Christian Character

"The aim of the Christian life in the present time—the goal you are meant to be aiming at once you have come to faith, the goal which is within reach even in the present life, anticipating the final life to come—is the life of fully formed, fully flourishing Christian character." ~ N. T. Wright, After You Believe, p. 32

Standing Firm With Courage

Many men, at the core of their being, long to be courageous.  He wants to stand alone and face the oncoming danger and to be the hero in the moment of desperation. That is certainly true with me. Ever since I was a young boy I have dreamt of defeating the bad guys, defending the ones I love, and rescuing the beauty from the clutches of evil.

Because of this craving in my soul I believe that God made me to live a courageous life and to be able to walk tall in the face of danger. Part of the problem is that so often the danger that exists in our lives bears little resemblance to the danger faced by James Bond and Batman on the movie screen.  Therefore it is easy to convince ourselves that no real danger exists, and all this talk of courage is just an exaggeration to play on the soul desire of men.

Our day to day lives don't seem to be dangerous because we are rarely in physical danger.  We don't have bullets whizzing past our heads or bombs exploding next to us.  It is so easy to be lulled into a sense of safety because we don't have these physical threats to our lives.  We cannot be fooled that a threat doesn't exist.

The threat which exists is the same threat that Adam faced from the very beginning.  Adam turned his back on his design, and rather than fighting for what God had given him.  We have been paying the price of Adam's failure every since.

With the coming of Jesus, through His death and resurrection, Adam's failure is being reversed.  For us to participate with what God is doing in bringing restoration to creation we have to stand firm where Adam fell.  So the apostle Paul writes:

A final word: Be strong with the Lord's mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against the wicked spirits in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:10-11; NLT)

I am convinced that when we experience fear in our relationships, when we have fear to do the right thing, or fear to attack the sin in our lives it is the enemy trying to convince us to lay down without a fight. Why does a husband fear talking to his wife? Ultimately because Satan is out there seeking destroy the marriage. Why does giving a little extra money cause fear to run through your body? The reason is Satan wants you to hoard what you have rather than being generous with God's provision. When we give into our fears we play right into Satan's hands.

God created us to live lives of courage. This doesn't mean that our lives will be absent of fear, but rather that we have lives which trust in the provision of His strength, hope, and confidence. When we live lives of courage we are able to experience God's power at work in the world around us. Even if things don't turn out the way we would like, because of the faith and courage we exhibit we are able to grow in the relationship we have with God.

Yet if we live lives of fear we will not only be held back in our relationship with God, but we also put our friends and family at risk of Satan's attacks. Think about how many children have been hurt because their parents were unwilling to face their fears and simply got a divorce. Think about how many woman have been treated like dirt because they feared being alone. When we face our fears, it is not for us alone, but it is for all those we know and love. One day they may need us to be strong and brave, and because we have gone into battle before, we will be able to respond for them. We need to be willing to face our fears and walk into the danger that awaits us.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9; ESV).

Video: What Happens After You Die?

Daily Thought: Hearing God's Word Daily

"Listening has a cost, but it has the greatest reward of all, the will of God.  Softened as we are by our comforts and by a false idea that serving God is easy and exhilarating, we wonder why He is so far away from us when, in fact, it may be that we are the ones who have left His proximity.  We have become so accustomed to hearing preachers or expositors, as important as that is, that many in the process have abandoned the grand privilege of personally hearing from God's Word daily." ~ Ravi Zacharias, Cries from the Heart, p. 48

Linkage: What is Faith

There are different "church words" that we use that we are not 100% certain what they mean.  One of those words is faith.  This article from Be Thinking attempts to give a simple and biblical definition to that word.

I’ve been trying to avoid using the word ‘faith’ recently. It just doesn’t get the message across. ‘Faith’ is a word that’s now misused and twisted. ‘Faith’ today is what you try to use when the reasons are stacking up against what you think you ought to believe. Greg Koukl sums up the popular view of faith, ‘It's religious wishful thinking, in which One squeezes out spiritual hope by intense acts of sheer will. People of 'faith' believe the impossible. People of 'faith' believe that which is contrary to fact. People of 'faith' believe that which is contrary to evidence. People of 'faith' ignore reality.’ It shouldn’t therefore come as a great surprise to us, that people raise their eyebrows when ‘faith’ in Christ is mentioned. Is it strange that they seem to prefer what seems like reason over insanity?

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Daily Thought: Being Lost

"Certainly, if you are lost in any sense there is little likelihood of your arriving where you want to be.  But the condition of lostness is not the same as the outcome to which it leads.  We're not lost because we are going to wind up in the wrong place.  We are going to wind up in the wrong place because we are lost." ~ Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 55

We Are Rescued

Galatians 1:3-5; NLT

May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen. 

The Millennium Falcon and her passengers and crew are trapped aboard the Empire's deadly new battle station the Death Star. As the old Jedi Obi Wan Kenobi left the others to deactivate the tractor beam; the astro droid R2-D2 discovers that Princess Leia Organa is a prisoner on the battle station.

Luke Skywalker convinces the two pirates, Han Solo and Chewbacca, to join him in attempting to rescue the princess. Luke quickly formulates a plan that has him and Han, disguised as Stormtroopers, marching the large Wookie into the detention area. While things don't go smoothly, eventually the trio is able to rescue the Princess and escape the dreaded Death Star with the two droids and make it to the Rebel Alliance's secret base.

Every rescue attempt must first begin with a plan. A plan gives direction, clarifies goals, and it assigns responsibilities. A plan is essential to the success of the mission. Even God had a plan to rescue us from sin.

Galatians 1:3-5 tells us that God had a plan to rescue us from the evil world in which we live. God is not winging it when it comes to rescuing His creation from the grip of sin and death.  From the very beginning He had a plan of action in place. History contains the story of God unfolding His plan to save us.

The key figure in this rescue mission is Jesus. He is the hero, the warrior, the one who faces the enemy, and the one who rescues us from evil. Perhaps we should rethink the image we have of Jesus. He is the good teacher, but He is also the Captain of the Heavenly Armies. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God, but He is also the Lion from the tribe of Judah. Jesus in not only the Way, but He is also the Deliverer. Jesus has gone to battle for us and has emerged victorious!

It is for this; Jesus' victory over Satan, sin, and death; that we praise Him. We may debate the different theories of atonement or the necessity of baptism, but we can know for certain that our salvation and freedom come from the power and majesty of Jesus. He fought for us when we were powerless to fight for ourselves. He invaded the kingdom of darkness and secured our release even when we had sided with His enemies.

Why did Jesus do this? Because God loves us and it was His plan that we be saved. Jesus committed Himself to carrying out His responsibility because of love. Jesus' choice to rescue us demonstrates His obedience to the two great commitments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. We are rescued because of God's love. For that all glory and honor belong to Him.

Daily Thought: Genuine Children of God

"And what do they look like? Different! Jesus emphasized that his true followers, the citizens of God's kingdom, were to be entirely different from others.  They were not to take their cue from the people around them, but from him, and so prove to be genuine children of their heavenly Father." ~ John Stott, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 18

Francis Chan: Follow Jesus

Daily Thought: We Need Spiritual Friends

"Instead, we need spiritual friends, broken people who will provide safety for us to be broken, caring people who want us to live and believe we can well, giving people who pour the life they have received from God into us, people of vision who see the Spirit shaping us into the image of Christ." ~ Larry Crabb, The Safest Place on Earth, p. 41

N. T. Wright: The Return of Jesus

Linkage: Bookend Your Days

I so relate to this.  It is time to create a routine for morning and evening so I can accomplish every thing that I set out to do.

You’re a college student. 

It’s midnight. You’re brushing your teeth and reviewing how the day went. And you’re disappointed. 

You had planned to work out, study for an upcoming history exam, clean up your apartment, and find time to meditate. 

But none of those things happened. 

You woke up late. As soon as you sat down to study in the afternoon you saw some friends who invited you out to eat. And that night you got sucked into aimlessly surfing the internet while the dirty dishes sat for another day in the sink. 

You spit out your toothpaste and vow to do better tomorrow–tomorrow you’re going to turn it all around. But the next day brings more of the same. 

Does this sound familiar? Do you feel like you’re stuck in a cycle of good intentions but disappointing follow-through?

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Daily Thought: Affected by Love

"We cannot live unaffected by love.  We are most alive when we find it, most devastated when we lose it, most empty when we give up on it, most inhumane when we betray it, and most passionate when we pursue it.  The human story seems more driven by the insanity of love than the survival of the fittest." ~ Erwin McManus, Soul Cravings

Don't Suck Jesus Into Your Politics

Ron Paul, Blowback, and September 11

Steve Deace on his website gave the Republican candidates for president grades for their debate performance in the CNN debate.  This is what he wrote about Congressman Ron Paul:

Ron Paul (B-)
Paul was dramatically more alert and focused than the past two debates, and did a good job dueling with Blitzer in defense of individual liberty and personal responsibility. However, his continued insistence of U.S. foreign policy antagonizing the 9/11 terrorist attacks is both historically inaccurate in its failure to recognize the militant nature of Islam from its very introduction to the world (which led to the formation of the U.S. Marines), and also undercuts his valid argument urging Americans to reconsider our military policy in the Middle East.

There is no doubt that nations influenced by Islam tend to be aggressive.  Vox Day demonstrates this in his book The Irrational Atheist.  This is what he wrote:

However, it does show that skeptics would have been right to doubt my Wikipedia-based estimate, as I overestimated the amount of war attributable to religion by nearly 60 percent.  It's also interesting to note that more than half of these religious wars, sixty-six in all, were waged by Islamic nations, which is rather more than might be statistically expected considering that the first war in which Islam was involved took place almost three millennia after the first war chronicled in the encyclopedia, Akkads conquest of Sumer in 2325 B. C. 

In light of this evidence, the fact that a specific religion is currently sparking a great deal of conflict around the globe cannot reasonably be used to indict all religious faith, especially when one considers that removing that single religion from the equation means that all of the religious faiths combined only account for 3.23 percent of humanity's wars (emphasis added, p. 106).

Given that there is a "militant nature of Islam" one needs to consider whether or not that provides significant reason/blame for the terrorist attacks on September 11.  I would suggest that it doesn't.  Why was the United States singled out for such attacks?  This is the question that we need to consider, and the question is best answered by the United States Middle Eastern policy.  Our military presence in the region, our government's meddling in their affairs, and even our support of Israel.  Read carefully because this is important, this does not mean the attacks were justified, it just shows that there were specifics reasons that fanned the flame of the "militant nature of Islam" into a fire.  To deny this is misses one of the lessons September 11, 2001 taught us.  The United States government can't expect to meddle in the affairs of other nations without expecting some sort of retaliation, just like I can't walk up to you and punch you in the face without expecting some sort of retaliation on your part.

This video outlines how our government policy contributed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Linkage: A Second Opinion

As many of the regular readers at Paul's Ponderings know, I have been influenced by John Eldredge.  One of the guys that works with John at Ransomed Heart Ministries who has also impacted my life is Craig McConnell.  Recently Craig shared some thoughts about living with cancer that I thought were worth sharing.

When cancer intrudes into your life it comes with a boatload of baggage. Some of it you’d expect: anxiety, an in-your-face mortality smack, physical symptoms, warring hell’s vermin, lifestyle changes and a profound desire to live and love as you never have. Some of the luggage catches you off guard. Shame for example, “Why am I so ashamed of myself, my life, my health, and every choice I’ve made in life?” Then there are the waves of confusion; hopelessness and despair that you thought your long storied walk with God would insulate you from. It didn’t for me. 

 Another piece of cancer’s luggage is the “unknown”. The “unknowns” about your specific cancer’s “personality”, the staging of your disease, the multiple treatment options and ultimately your prognosis. All too soon your cancer seems to metastasize to your marriage, children, finances, plans for Christmas, career and interest in UCLA Basketball.

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Take My Heart and Seal It

Tuesday evenings Jenny and I meet with our Life Group from Church.  I am so very blessed to be part of this wonderful group and I immensely enjoy our time together.

This past Tuesday night we started out with some singing and one of the songs we sung was Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  After we were done singing and before we started our time of study our group leader led us in a time of prayer, and he used some of the words from the song.

The words that lept to my attention were these from the third verse:

here's my heart, O take and seal it,  seal it for thy courts above.


As Adam prayed those words I thought to myself;  "What a wonderful truth that we should pray every day."  So often our time of pray we try to make it through the list of requests we have for God.  "God do this for me," we say, and in the process we overlook the need to daily surrender our lives and our hearts to God.  We need to give our hearts to God, so we don't give them away to lesser things.

May we take these words as use them in our prayer today: God have my heart, seal it with Your love, and prepare me for Your Kingdom.

Daily Thought: Jesus Will Interfere

"There is no way to follow Jesus without him interfering with your life.  Following Jesus will cost you something.  Following Jesus always costs something." ~ Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, p. 30

Surrendering My Entire Life

Following Jesus is not easy.  If it was everyone would do it because the what Jesus offers us is so great.  I believe following Jesus is the best way to live your life, but it is anything but easy.  It is a radical commitment that requires our entire lives.

John Ortberg wrote; "Millions of people in churches these days could be called 'pew potatoes.' They want some of the comfort associated with the spirituality, but they don't want to risk the challenge that go along with actually following Jesus" (If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat; p. 22).

Take a moment and consider your life. Examine the way you live and the desires of your heart. Now answer this question, "Is that what Jesus wants from your life?"

While we might have desire to follow Jesus our lives tell a different story. We want the promises of God, we want the hope which comes from being a Christian, but we are not willing to live like a follower of Christ. We put on a religious show so people may think that we are spiritual and love Jesus, but we still primarily do what we want to do.  We have not fully committed out lives to Jesus, but we go through the motions of religion so we can tell ourselves that we are following Jesus.

To follow Jesus means that we have died to our idea of what it means to live.  The apostle Paul wrote:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20; ESV). 

Remember the story of human history is that we rebell from the Creator's original design, that we have decided what it means to be human, and as a result the entire world is messed up.  We have proven that our way to live life is a bad way to live.

Jesus came to save us from the consequences of our rebellious and sinful actions as well as to show us what it means to be human.  In Jesus we see the way we were meant to live.  For us to do that we have to reject the world's definitions for life, and follow Jesus' definition.

This is where things get uncomfortable and challenging, because we go against what people in our culture (even our church culture) find acceptable.  We truly become foreigners and aliens living in a strange land (1 Peter 2:11).

The foundation for living differently, for getting out of our pews to being disciples of action, is our commitment.  We will not follow through with the life change or the transformation of our beliefs and thoughts if we are not first committed to Jesus.  So the apostle Paul wrote:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2; ESV)

In light of all the great things that God has done for us, including saving us from the power of sin and death, we should offer our lives to Him.  Not just 10% of our lives, but our entire lives.  We are to be, as Paul says, living sacrifices.  Our bodies, minds, actions, and desires are offered to God so they can be transformed, and we can understand His will and how that applies to our lives.

Offering our lives to God is not easy.  The reason is because we still want to be in charge of our lives.  We want to be able to decided what we want to do.  All we require of God is to bless us now and again, but that type of thinking misses the point.  The point is that the only way to truly be human is to living according to God's will.  He is the Creator, and He knows what it means to be human.

So the question we have ask ourselves is this: Do I trust God enough to surrender my entire life to Him?

Kyle Idleman: Not a Fan

Through the fall my wife Jenny and I are leading a Sunday School class at our church on Kyle's Not a Fan study. I think this is worth considering for all who claim to follow Jesus.

Daily Thought: God Feels

"Knowing that our heavenly Father has spoken to us, it is imperative that we understand what He has to say to us about our feelings of joy and pain.  The first thing we notice is that He describes Himself as a God who feels.  This all-transcending mystery, which we cannot fully grasp, is time and again reiterated in His Word." ~ Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart, p. 45

Linkage: Love One Another

One of the political blogs that I read is The Beacon which is the blog for the Independent Institute.  I thought I would share with you the post they had yesterday in honor of September 11, since it conveys many of my same thoughts.

It is fortuitous that the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has fallen on a Sunday, and I hope pulpits everywhere resonated with Jesus’s message in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Earlier this summer, we spent an unforgettable 10 days participating in the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s triennial Oxbridge Conference, held at Oxford and Cambridge, and featuring an array of the most inspiring, talented, intelligent, provocative, and thoughtful speakers, performers, and leaders from across a rich spectrum. One morning’s thought-provoking message was delivered by Richard Kannwischer, Senior Pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA, on the subject of that most-favored concept of our time, “tolerance.”

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Daily Thought: God Knows Who We Are

"Each of us, to some degree, fools our friends and family about who we really are.  But it's impossible to do that with God.  He knows each of us deeply and specifically.  He knows our thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around.  He know who we are and what we are about.  We cannot escape Him, not even if we want to." ~ Francis Chan, Crazy Love, p. 32

No Plastic Men

Linkage: Intro to the End Times

Chuck McCoy was on of my professors at Nebraska Christian College.  He has written a series of articles on the End Times that I think are worth sharing.  One of the things I want to do as a teacher and a writer is to make people think.  The reason I am pointing you to Mr. McCoy's articles is to provide you with another way at looking at the End Times than you normally hear.  It is fine if you disagree, just know why you disagree.

1. A “User-friendly” introduction(All Scripture Quotations NAS)
Evaluating our beliefs about the “End Times” 

There is probably no subject that evokes as much excitement and curiosity (for all people) as does the issue of the future, where we are heading, and how things on this earth will end.  This is certainly true in the area of Biblical study and theology - eschatology (study of the end times) deals with trying to understand what the Bible teaches about the return of Christ, how human history and this world will end, and what follows.  Because of its widespread fascination to us, we must also be aware that there are dangers. 

Sensationalism - There is a real opening here for “exciting” but un-Biblical notions.  Some “scandal sheets” sell well in the grocery store check-out line because of their exciting headlines and wild pictures.  Notions about vast plagues, natural calamities, horrible dictators, major wars, etc. will attract a lot of interest.  Because people naturally tend to believe what is in print, there is also a problem with zealous advocates of certain end times scenarios inventing or passing on unsubstantiated claims that support their beliefs - I have encountered such things in Bible notes and paperback books.

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Daily Thought: Character Matters

"What matters isn't simply keeping a bunch of rules; what matters is character.  Not just any old sort of character, either, but a particular sort: the sort Jesus was urging and modeling—the character of patience, humility, and above all generous, self-giving love." ~ N. T. Wright, After You Believe, p. 48

Daily Thought: Fans not Followers

"It may seem that there are many followers of Jesus, but if they were honestly to define the relationship they have with him I am not sure it would be accurate to describe them as followers.  It seems to me that there is a more suitable word to describe them.  They are not followers of Jesus.  They are fans of Jesus." ~ Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, p. 24

Daily Thought: Transformed Through Service

"The primary reason Jesus calls us to servanthood is not just because other people need our service.  It is because of what happens to us when we serve." ~ John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted, p. 117

Daily Thought: God Gives Himself

"But when God, the infinite Being, in whom everything is life and power, spirit and truth, in the very deepest meaning of the words,--when God speaks forth Himself in His words, He does indeed give HIMSELF, His Love and His Life, His Will and His Power, to those who receive these words, in a reality passing comprehension. In every promise He puts Himself in our power to lay hold of and possess; in every command He puts Himself in our power for us to share with Him His Will, His Holiness, His Perfection. In God's Word God gives us HIMSELF; His Word is nothing less than the Eternal Son, Christ Jesus. And so all Christ's words are God's words, full of a Divine quickening life and power. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.'" ~ Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer