Thoughts to build communion with God, community with the church and help collide with darkness

My desire is to post my thoughts with the hope that God's people can benefit from them and be prepared to work harder and and fight better. Our enjoyment of God is at stake. Father is anything but a boring, no fun, stick in the mud who wants everyone to wear a tie. He is the creator of the universe and he will blow your mind!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

I hate Valentines Day

Dude, the fact of the matter is that Valentine's Day as it stands is awful. After many years of wallowing around in my thoughts I propose a revolution to take the day back.
1. Saint Valentine was probably not a wuss, so let's go manly with the revolution.
2. Pink? What the heck? Can we get any more sugar in the tank? Really! Let's go with camo.
3. I hated giving Valentines cards to chicks as a kid that I feared would read too much into the goofy card and believe I was really asking them to be MY Valentine. How embarrassing. I propose we burn valentines cards for fuel for point number 5.
4. Chocolate... well, that's not so bad. We can keep the chocolate.
5. How about adding "feats of strength" events all day long. One such even could be with a bow and arrow, in order to redeem the combination from the sweet cupid, in which we shoot a moving target, preferrably something edible, and upon slaughter, field dressing the beast and cooking it on the spot on Larry's grill.
6. Beer. Enough said. If this one offends your conscience, then I meant root beer, seriously. Just have some fun with me and don't be a pink valentine.

That is enough from me for now. How about you post some of your thought on revolting against the current Valentine's debacle. Post them as comments. Come on people, let's get it done!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

threeriverscc.org/c_sermons.php?c_id=48

The Sabbath is such a pointer to the person and work of Christ that it's hard to see how it is missed. I have spoken on this issue in greater detail. The link above is a link to that talk, but I read Exodus 31:12-18 this morning as part of my Old Testament reading for the day and a single line spoken from the LORD stood out that really did the job of my entire talk. Speaking of keeping the Sabbath the LORD says, "...that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you." WOW!

See, on the Sabbath they did no work as the LORD did no work after the sixth day of creation. The LORD did not need to catch his breath after creation. If he did, we are in some trouble. Did the Sabbath provide a physical rest for the people? Sure. Was that the point? NO!

The writer of Hebrews makes that clear, but so does this text. The point was that they see it is the LORD who cleans them up without any of their assistance!

God does not ask us to be effective at cleaning ourselves up. We seek to be righteous because we love Jesus, but he makes us righteous because he, as God, is the only one who can do that.

So, when you enjoy the Sabbath, remember, it is the LORD, Jesus, who makes you and I acceptable to God, not our actions, attitudes, behaviors, resting....

Praise be to God!

Friday, February 12, 2010

CH Spurgeon, Nehemiah 4:15-23 and The Sword and the Trowel

I love Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He is an apt hero for us Calvinist Baptists. I was digging today, this glorious gift of God's grace to me in a snow day in the south, while preparing for Sunday's talk on Nehemiah 4:15-23 and found a site that has some old articles from Spurgeon's magazine called "The Sword and the Trowel". I discovered that he took the title from the passage I'm preaching from Sunday, Nehemiah 4:15-23. It's the perfect title for a magazine that did the work his did. Here is a link to the site I found. Take a look at the cover art work on the left hand side of the page. Download the image and look at it closely. It is a great depiction of the work on the wall require "sword" and "trowel".

www.spurgeon.org/sw&tr.htm

Click this link and enjoy!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

On the eve of something really cool

You know, tomorrow could either be a huge success for a huge failure, at least in these eyes. Father never fails, I know that. Just being honest with my thoughts.

When I first learned of the need for Christian parents to do James 1:27 for real I was confronted with a personal responsibility to do something. Enter my 4 year old son Daniel.

When I saw him for the first time he was sick, in shoes too small and with a lady he did not know and biological mother he did not know. Jennifer, being the always prepared one, asked the mother some questions and she answered. The mother did not even hold Daniel (that is his new name). He sat in the lap of the other lady who drove the mother to where we were. He was with no one he knew. Nothing familiar, sick and in clothes that did not fit.

He slid down off of the lady's lap when it was time to part ways and toddled over to me and put those arms up for me to pick him up. He had my heart. I still can't recall that moment without tears. Partly because he became my son at that moment and partly because I can't fathom walking away from my kid like the biological mother did.

That was just part of the journey that led to January 31, 2010. We will meet together with 5 other partner churches and a mix of people from other churches in the launch of Project 127 Rome. This is a licensed foster placement and adoption agency that is focused on mobilizing the church to be THE answer to the foster care problems in NW Georgia. At 6 PM tomorrow night we go. This is a chance for the church to become relevant to the culture, actually indispensable.

I'm not nervous, just fully of anticipation of what Father is going to do with such unity among brothers and desire to do the work.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Nehemiah is kicking my butt

You know what? Nehemiah is a journal of a man who took his passion for and knowledge of God and put it to work in a life long pursuit.

I hope that is what I have set my hands to.

Nehemiah records some of his internal musings, but he mostly records his work and what he said externally.

I, by no means, dwell fully in the world of internal musings and theory. I have my hands on too many things actually doing them as a result of what I say I believe. Too many. I actually must pare down some.

However, I often wrestle in communicating with my mouth the practice of what I am trying to do with my life to other people so that they can do the same things.

No doubt that doctrinal soundness and strong doctrinal moorings must be taught and adhered to, but they must be lived out. Nehemiah does this and he writes and tells you how he did it.

Communicating that how piece is my most difficult task.

My personality lends itself to self-starting and self-managing activity. I have no problem taking what I believe and going to do it from scratch and figuring out the best way along the way. Therefore, I default to wondering why all people just can't figure it out.

So, it's a challenge to get into the world of helping other people put the "how" to the "who and what". Nehemiah did that well, and it's kicking my butt.

Father is teaching me and I want to learn.

Help me Father speak the "how" better without forgetting the "who", "what" and "why".

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A prayer for blessing that God will answer!

Psalm 67:1-2 says, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, THAT your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations."

Here is the deal. I'm headed to Georgetown University for a series of meetings with Key leaders globally about the upcoming issues globally between competing truth claims. I'm being very vague on purpose in case you are wondering for very important reasons, and if you are a TRCC regular you know why. Anyway, I digress...

There is really only one way to be a church doing it's biblical mandate and that is by engaging the globe personally by taking the Gospel to the unreached people groups of the world so that people can be saved and a self-sustaining and multiplying church made up of that people group and looking like that people group in cultural distinction but having the distinct characteristics of Jesus' kingdom imprinted on their new lives as a redeemed people of God now taking that message to the unreached peoples of the globe themselves.

A church doing local ministry only and throwing a small percentage of it's budget to a missions agency is not doing it's job. Then they have the audacity to ask God to bless them (however that gets interpreted).

This Psalm is basing it's request for blessing upon the already understood and mandated Abrahamic Covenant that they would be blessed (with the knowledge of God) to bless the nations (Genesis 12:1-3 "families" is the Hebrew of the word nations that means something along the lines of distinct ethno-linguistic peoples) with the knowledge of this God, who is Jesus.

In other words blessing does not exist for the sole purpose of growing a local church ministry. Blessing is that the church would then, by it's very nature and mission take that blessing to the nations that have not heard! The Great Commission is the restating of the Abrahamic Covenant! Jesus knew this. He did not make up a new thing. He was re-instituting (if I may use those words) what he already spoke to Abraham back in Genesis (Remember Jesus said he was YHWH in John 8).

So, don't ask for blessing unless you intend to fulfill your mission as followers of Jesus Christ to make disciples of the nations in blessing them with the blessing you have received from the Lord i.e. knowledge of the Gospel and resources to bring it to them.

Don't be satisfied with a ministry to local communities. That is not the end game. Our hearts were made to go global, and they have been shrunk and withered by a local only mentality.

I grow tired of having supposed pastors ask why we do what we do among the nations. I grow tired of pastors volunteering their words of defense that not everyone (i.e. pastors and churches) are called to do what we do. What bible are they reading? What part of it does not apply to them?

If one does not want to complete the Great Commission, then don't come after Jesus! Jesus said not to begin a work one is not willing to count the cost and assess if they are willing to finish the work. Don't come after Jesus in repentance unless you are willing to die among the nations for Jesus' fame having spent all of your resources to make it happen. That IS our mission.

If you pray for blessing to do that, you are guaranteed to get it because Jesus said if we ask for things in his name (things that represent his mission and reputation) he was pleased to do it! When we ask for blessing to be showered on us that we might turn and shower it on the UPG's of the planet, then we will get all we need to do the task! If we just want more crap, then we might get it, but know that what you get and attain and sit on is not from God, but a work of your hands and the desire of your heart and thus your object of worship.

Oh that we would be prayer warriors asking for blessing to be showered upon us that we might turn it to the praise of the nations to make much of Jesus, the King.

If you want to know about unreached people groups and the one's yet to be engaged go to http://joshuaproject.net/

Pick one and get started asking! We were made for this. We will either send by praying and resourcing or we will go short or long term or we will be disobedient.

Soli Deo Gloria among the nations!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Missing the text in fighting our flesh and the real answer to fighting our flesh!

Here is something I notice about man’s nature, even as followers of Christ is that when studying the bible and asking questions of the text such as, “what is the explicit instruction of the writer here to whom and why?” people have a tendency to raise their eyes from the text, look into the air (indicating that they are searching for the answer). See, there is the problem. What is wrong with that picture? You got it! They are looking into the air, indicating they are searching for the answer in their own mind. The answer is found in the text! The answer is not pulled from one’s own mind.

This absolutely amazes me. Is this a fallen tendency left over in man? Is this a funk brought upon God’s people by the evil one to keep them from seeing truth and learning that truth can and must be mined from the biblical text? Probably a little of both is right.

It’s this phenomenon that has led to one of the most putrid activities among Christians known to the church: legalism disguised as spiritual discipline.
First, I want to say that I believe in the exercise of spiritual disciplines, but not as actual means to ends. I believe they are effective as means to get us into the proper means that lead to the proper end. Notice I made end singular and not plural.

Here is what I mean. I hear, perhaps most often from people, that they have thrown out their televisions and cable because it is the source of filth and all despicable content and they do not want that in their homes. They then discover they have more time to do more things like read the bible and relate to their children.

Fair enough. If that is what you want to do, then do it. The problem comes when they begin to sell it as if it should be done by all and defend it as “the” thing to do.

The problem is Jesus! No, Jesus is not problem, but he is a problem to that mentality. Mark 7:21-23 21 “... For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Do you see it? What is the source of filth and despicable content? The heart! Not television. The problem is that we actually think that external actions can actually help us grow. They can’t! They never will. Obviously, if an activity causes one’s conscience to be bothered, then the text is clear, avoid said activity. But if the avoiding of that activity is a means to the end of being a better person for Jesus, it is vanity of vanities!
Why might a person think that such external activities will help them and their children be better? They have lifted their eyes from the text and are searching for answers in their own minds to combat problems that they are powerless to conquer. This ends in frustration and confusion. Why do I still do these things? Why do I still think these things? Why do I still desire these things?

Jesus said to the Pharisees in Luke 11:37-54 that instead of washing the outside of the dish they should give as alms things that are within. Point? Externals will not fix the source of the filth. Only internals can fix the internals and then the externals will follow suit.

Again, Paul addresses this in Colossians 2 (whole chapter). Speaking of external attempts to gain control of the flesh he says, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

The point is to not let people trick you or force you through guilt to adopt externals as means to the end of getting rid of sin issues.

This begs the question(s): how do I fight sin issues? What is the end I’m striving for?

First, the end is simply stated in Ephesians 4 and alluded to Colossians 2. The end is that, through proper teaching, we grow up into Christ Jesus who is the head of the church to a mature manhood.

How do fight the sin issues that face me in order to grow up into Christ Jesus? Colossians 2:6ff states that as we received him continue to walk in him, rooted in him, established in him while abounding in thanksgiving. How did I receive Jesus? By faith. What does it mean to receive Jesus? Follow him, imitate him, learn from him and repent.

Here it is. Paul says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ Jesus (Col 2:3). In other words, bury yourself up in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, Yahweh come, Holy Spirit proclaimed, cross centered Jesus and learn and grow into him. Read the bible that preaches Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. Ask questions of the text like “why?” “who?” “what?” “when?” “where?” and “how?”. Learn how to read the Old Testament with an eye to the cross. Saturate your mind with the Gospels. Learn from the instruction to the early church. Practice what you read and you will make one hell of a war on your fallen flesh. Tedashii says in a song called “Make War” “I beat my flesh to the death every breath like I beat my chest.” This is how one beats their flesh into submission. It is done with the person and work of Jesus Christ on the inside not simply on the outside.

Disciplines, whatever you choose, only serve to bring us more into Christ, who is the means, to bring us fully into Christ in maturity, who is the end.

This is not pragmatic as pragmatics go (pragmatics being the exercise of means absent of the transcendent reality of God in Jesus Christ produces as a discipline during the Enlightenment). It is practical as the biblical text goes. Often our problem is that as Christians we are pragmatic atheists. If I just blew you out of the water, go read "Eclipse of Heaven" by AJ Conyers. It should clear it up for you. Another blog post for another time.

So, if you are looking up from the text and trying to figure out how to beat back the flesh and you come up with some good old external trickery, don’t be deceived. Look down to the text, follow the instructions, and bury up in Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit surgery, resist the evil one, love God, love your neighbor and go watch the game with him to the glory of God and the enjoyment of life and be salt and light to your neighbor not a stale breath of dead air condemning him for watching the game or in my case many games. God Dawgs! Go Falcons! Go Jesus! Thank you for the cross!

Soli Deo Gloria!