Basic Christianity

In Acts 14 Paul was stoned and left for dead outside the city of Lystra. He had been chased down from some opposing Jews from Antioch and Iconium. Why? B/c he and Barnabas had "spent a long time there and were speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord".

After being stoned and left for dead, Paul arose and entered that same city and on the next day left the city of Lystra and went to Derbe (just outside of Lystra). While in Derbe Paul and Barnabas once again "preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples", even after almost being stoned to death days before. They then returned yet again to Lystra (where he was stoned), and there began "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith".

When I read Acts 14 and consider just some of the basic elements of how Paul and Barnabas lived the Christian life with one another and the disciples, God really keeps things very simple for us to understand. Things like...

* spending a long time there
* speaking boldly the Word of God to the city
* with reliance upon the Lord
* preaching the gospel
* making disciples
* strengthening the souls of the disciples
* encouraging them to continue in the faith

Although this seems like a very simple approach to Christianity...the truth is, it is rather difficult to fulfill b/c we often times do not think biblically about ministry nor do we have the patience to endure. I must honestly say that it is a challenge at times to patiently trust in the 'slow work of God'.

* Time seems to fly by so fast, yet we must spend a long time here planting ourselves as a means of God's grace to the people.

* People naturally do not want to hear the truth of God and the truth of their sinfulness, but we must speak boldly the Word of God to the people.

* Naturally I have the tendency to rely upon myself, but I must rely upon the Lord to use His people in His way.

* Regardless of what people think they need to hear from preachers, we must preach the true gospel of faith and repentance unto the Lord.

* As difficult as it is to impart our lives to people and wait patiently for them to be saved, grow, and mature in Christ, we must make disciples who will reproduce themselves into others and make disciples.

* Because of life, circumstances, and sin, it is difficult at times to consistently strengthen the souls of the disciples, nevertheless, we must strengthen the souls of the disciples with the Word of God.

* All of God's people are being torn between love for the world and their love for God, so we must encourage one another to continue strongly in the faith that God has called us to.

This sure seems simple to read and for some possibly too simple to actually be ministry worthy. But I think when we actually consider what our early brothers and sisters were engaged in, it quickly becomes the best possible means of living the Christian life in real life.

The great (small 'g') Tom Landry

"Tom Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys football team for most of three decades, said, "The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be."

"In as much the same way, Christians are called to make themselves do something they would not normally do--pursue the Spiritual Disciplines--in order to become what they've always wanted to be, that is, like Jesus Christ. 'Discipline yourself,' says the Scripture, 'for the purpose of godliness."

~ Donald Whitney (Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, p.20)

How Would You Have Asked?

Below is a snippet of Adoniram Judson's conversation with his future father-in-law concerning his daughter's hand in marriage...an amazing approach!

“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next
spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her
departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings
of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of
the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every
kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a
violent death? Can you consent to all this for the sake of Him who left his
heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing immortal
souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this in
hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown of
righteousness, brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to
her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and
despair?”

(HT: Life2gether)

The Epistle Of James And The Tongue/Words/Faith

Since December of last year I have been preaching through The Epistle of James. I'm now at James 3.5-12 and James is dealing with assessing the genuineness of our faith by the words that proceed from our tongues.

In my study I've come up with a little bit of trivia with regards to 'words' that we use.

One study online says that men use about 6,000 words a day and women use about 9,000 words a day. A different study online estimates that a total of 70-100 billion people have lived on the earth over the last 6,000 years.

Taking averages, let's say that each person uses about 7,000 words a day times 80 billion people since creation. Simply stated, you have a tremendous amount of words that have been spoken.

"Scientists maintain that once a sound wave is set in motion, it continues on a never-ending journey, and that, if we had sophisticated enough instruments, each wave could be captured and reproduced at any time. If that is true, every word spoken by any person who has ever lived could be retrieved!" (MacArthur, commentary on James p. 144)

Can you imagine how many sound waves of words are circling around us right now? Can you imagine how many words we could hear...even from the beginning of time? Who could possibly keep up with all of the words spoken?

Now consider Jesus' words, "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." ~ Matthew 12.36-37

Our tongue/our words give an accurate assessment to the genuineness of our faith, whether it is living or dead. Our words come from "the overflow of the heart" (Matthew 12.34). We say what our hearts tell us to say. We respond with words that our hearts tell us to use. Our words will justify or prove that our faith is real and living. Or our words will condemn us b/c they prove that our faith is fake and dead.

God judges the heart. And God is keeping record of every word that proceeds out of our mouths. May God find our hearts to be tethered to the grace and mercy found only in Jesus Christ. And may our words always reflect where our hearts are...in Christ!

Self Control And The Barriers Against The Sinful Attacks Of Satan

"Like a city that is broken into and without walls...Is a man who has no control over his spirit." ~ Proverbs 25.28

"The good character of a wise and virtuous man is implied. He is one that has rule over his own spirit; he maintains the government of himself, and of his own appetites and passions, and does not suffer them to rebel against reason and conscience. He has the rule of his own thoughts, his desires, his inclinations, his resentments, and keeps them all in good order.

"a man who has no control over his spirit"

The bad case of a vicious man, who has not this rule over his own spirit, who, when temptations to excess are before him, has no government of himself, when he is provoked breaks out into exorbitant passions, such a one is like a city that is broken down and without walls. All that is good goes out, and forsakes him; all that is evil breaks in upon him. He lies exposed to all the temptations of Satan and becomes an easy prey to that enemy; he is also liable to many troubles and vexations; it is likewise as much a reproach to him as it is to a city to have its walls ruined."

~ Matthew Henry

The Best Way To Discipline Your Kids

In his autobiography, John Paton, Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides, reflects on how his father so effectively responded to his children's disobedience:

If anything really serious required to be punished, he retired first to his "closet" for prayer, and we boys got to understand that he was laying the whole matter before God; and that was the severest part of the punishment for me to bear! I could have defied any amount of mere penalty, but this spoke to my conscience as a message from God.

We loved him all the more, when we saw how much it cost him to punish us; and, in truth, he had never very much of that kind of work to do upon any one of all the eleven—we were ruled by love far more than by fear. (John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides, p.17, paragraphing added)

(HT: Desiring God)

Is There A Middle Road In Your Life?

(HT: Resurgence)

The Abiding Fullness Of Truth In Christ

“Brethren, there is an abiding fullness of truth in Christ; after you have heard it for fifty years, you see more of its fullness than you did at first. Other truths weary the ear.

I will defy any man to hold together a large congregation, year after year, with any other subject but Christ Jesus. He might do it for a time; he might charm the ear with the discoveries of science, or with the beauties of poetry, and his oratory might be of so high an order that he might attract the multitudes who have itching ears, but they would in time turn away and say, “This is no longer to be endured. We know it all.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

Mortification Of Sin

Below is an outline from Bob Thune on John Owen's Mortification of Sin.
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Why Must We Mortify Sin?

• Because sin is always active
• Because unmortified sin weakens and darkens the soul
• Because unmortified sin hardens others to the gospel

What Does It Mean to Mortify Sin?

What It Does Not Mean

• To mortify sin is not to utterly destroy it. (That’s Jesus’ job, not your job.)
• To mortify sin is not to outwardly forsake its practice. Those who do this are just “more cunning; not more holy.”
• To mortify sin is not to have a quiet, sedate nature. “Some men have an advantage by their natural constitution… they are not exposed to unruly passions and tumultuous affections as many others are.” This does not mean they have mortified sin.
• To mortify sin is not to divert it. “He that trades sensuality for Pharisaism has not mortified sin… He has changed his master, but he is a servant still.”
• To mortify sin is not to experience “occasional conquests” against it.

What It Does Mean

• A habitual weakening of sin.
• A constant fighting against sin.
• Success. Victory over sin!

How Do We Mortify Sin?

4 General Principles

1. You must set your faith on Christ. (Fill your soul with the consideration of who Jesus is and what he’s done for you)
2. You must rely on the Holy Spirit. “A man may easier see without eyes and speak without a tongue, than mortify a sin without the Spirit.”
3. You must be truly converted.
4. You must intend universal obedience. If you don’t intend to obey God in every area, you don’t hate sin; you hate the particular sin that is bothering you. Which means you don’t love Christ; you love yourself. A particularly strong, besetting sin commonly issues from a careless, negligent spiritual life in general.

9 Specific Directives

1. Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind of the guilt, danger, and evil of your sin.
2. Load your conscience with the guilt of your besetting sin.
3. Long for deliverance from the power of sin. “Longing, breathing, and panting after deliverance is a grace in itself, that has a mighty power to conform the soul into the likeness of the thing longed after… Unless you long for deliverance you shall not have it.”
4. Consider whether you are prone toward a particular sin because of your personality or disposition. This should awaken your zeal. “So great an advantage is given to sin and Satan by your temper and disposition, that without extraordinary watchfulness, care, and diligence, they [sin and Satan] will prevail against your soul.”
5. Consider what occasions your sin uses to exert itself, and watch against them all.
6. Fight strongly against the first actings of your lust. “Sin is like water in a channel – once it breaks out, it will have its course.”
7. Dwell on thoughts that humble you and remind you of your sinfulness.
8. Know the warning signs of particularly dangerous sin patterns: persistent, habitual sin; secret pleas of the heart to leave sin alone; giving into sin without struggle; ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit; avoiding sin because you fear punishment. If a lust has any of these symptoms, it cannot be dealt with by an ordinary course of mortification; it requires extraordinary measures.
9. Do not speak peace to yourself before God speaks peace to you.

James 1.13-16 And Your Children

Over the last few weeks I have been preaching through James 1.13-16...

"Let no one say when he is tempted , "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."

As a family we have been talking about all the many ways we are tempted to sin against God. One of the things that I was challenged to do is to find out what my wife is being tempted with each day and our older children. And one of the interesting and humbling things that has come out of these daily discussions with our children is that Stephanie and I now have one of our boys, Micah, who is asking us almost every day, "have you been tempted today to sin?" Wow!

This is something that I wasn't expecting to happen or even ready for, but in a good way is 'rocking our world'. I mean...I wasn't expecting to be held accountable by my six year old and have to give an account of the things that are tempting me in life...whether I stand firm against them or not.

So have any of you found this to be taking place in your family?

Maybe you're a few years ahead of us in the parenting years and can offer some good biblical advice or encouragement. I find this to be very interesting and healthy, but at the same time it is somewhat different for your child to ask you this question every day expecting a truthful answer.

I am happy and thankful to God that he is taking temptation to sin very seriously and I hope he perseveres in his life to always battle the enemy within and remain strong in the grace of God.

To Have A Godly Father

Each of us has been placed by God in a specific time, in a specific place, with a specific family, and I'm sure a million other specifics. And one of the things that I have really come to enjoy, as I've gotten older (I'm now 35), is listening to how God has used earthly fathers to spiritually encourage their sons, who are now pastors/ministers in the gospel ministry.

I'm a first generation Christian. I don't have years of godly advice and wisdom that has been passed down to me from my dad. God didn't save my dad until I graduated and left home to prepare for ministry. My dad and I have an incredible relationship and friendship to this day. But since God saved me, almost 20 years ago, and my other brother and sisters, we've had to by God's grace, begin this tradition of passing on the legacy of faith to our children.

I say all this, because when I read what some other brother's dad passed on to him spiritually it encourages me and blesses me. But the truth is there is also a little in me that wishes that I could have had a good jump in life for Jesus from my dad. It is in those moments when I know that I must repent and trust that Christ is doing a good work in me for my children today. I must lean on His providence and wisdom and not my own.

Anyway, I was reminded about all this when I read what Ray Ortlund's dad told him growing up.

"My dad used to say to me, when I was a kid, 'Listen, son. Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with Christ to be happy. Be wholehearted for him!'

I used to roll my eyes when you said that. I don’t any more."

Football Is Good...But God Is Great!

Last Friday, Kurt Warner retired from the NFL. My good friend Pastor Brent Wells lived in St. Louis for a few years and since that time he has become a big supporter of Kurt Warner.

Since hearing of his retirement I wanted to give Warner a mention on my blog, but really felt like I didn't know enough about him to do justice to his life and career. So I've asked Brent if he would write up an article to describe his ministry and life and what it meant to him, a fellow brother in Christ, watching Warner live out his faith. His article is below...

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I'm really going to miss seeing Kurt Warner play football in the NFL. And it's not because he helped me big time on more than one fantasy football team. It's not because he led one of my favorite teams (the Rams) to a Super bowl championship (I lived in St. Louis from 1994-1997 and began pulling for the Rams). It's not even because Kurt Warner seemed to never miss an opportunity to give praise to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ or tote his Bible to the podium for a post-game interview. Don't get me wrong, all of these factors are part of the reason I'm going to miss him...but only a part.

After hearing his retirement speech last week, I've given some thought as to why I'm really going to miss him. I can boil it down to this: Kurt Warner brought perspective. He reminded me (and others who have ears to hear) that he is small and God is BIG. He reminded me that football is good, but God is GREAT.

You could hear it in his words, "These past 12 years (of football) have been incredible, but I'm looking just as forward to the next 12!" He went on to say that the Bible is a book about an extraordinary God doing extraordinary things through ordinary people who yield their lives to Him. He brought perspective to the game. Football is over, but Warner is eagerly anticipating the next chapter of his life and what the extraordinary God of the Bible has planned for him and his family. Football was not his life because Jesus is his life!

And yet I don't want to swing the pendulum too far that way (as if I could)! Kurt Warner DID LOVE THE GAME, and was pretty good at it! This is another helpful perspective that Warner reminded me of--true worshipers of God must live ALL of their lives as acts of worship. All of life must be lived for the glory of the God of the Bible! Kurt Warner did that (not perfectly, but it came through consistently).

In Augustine's final book, Confessions, he summed it up this way:

"He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake."

Simply put, we are to love football, family, and food FOR GOD'S SAKE! In other words, don't view football, family, and food as competitors for God's love, but love God more BECAUSE OF THESE GIFTS. I'm not saying love the GIVER more than the GIFT, I'm saying love the GIVER more BECAUSE of the GIFT.

When I watched Warner march his team down the field, or when I heard of him minister to people in the locker room and community, or when I witnessed him kneel beside an injured Tennessee Titan and pray over him in the 1999 Super bowl it was obvious that this man loved God, loved football, and I would even say, used football as a vehicle to love God more and more AND lead others to love Him and His Son Jesus Christ!

Of course I've never met Kurt Warner and what I've said might be viewed as "putting words in his mouth", but I don't think so. Though we've never met, he is my brother in Christ and what I've described is not only his fight of faith, it is mine as well, along with all others who have been rescued from God's wrath through faith in Christ and are daily seeking to FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH!

Football is good, but God is great!

Brent Wells

Whatcha Got And Whatcha Doin' With It?

"I will place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the Kingdom of God." ~ David Livingstone

(HT: Piper On Twitter)

Glorify God By Working Out Your Salvation In Christ

“We glorify God by working out our own salvation. God has twisted together his glory and our good. What an encouragement is this to the service of God, to think, while I am hearing and praying, I am glorifying God; while I am furthering my own glory in heaven, I am increasing God’s glory.

Would it not be an encouragement to a subject, to hear his prince say to him, You will honour and please me very much, if you will go to yonder mine of gold, and dig as much gold for yourself as you can carry away? So, for God to say, Go to the ordinances, get as much grace as you can, dig out as much salvation as you can; and the more happiness you have, the more I shall count myself glorified.”

—Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity

(HT: OfFirstImportance)

Next Time You Fulfill A Conditional Promise In Scripture...

Below is a pretty good article from John Piper on reading the scriptures. It addresses a God-centered thinking when reading the Bible and applying the Bible. I was encouraged as Piper reminded me that even when fulfilling the conditional promises in Scripture, it is the power of God working in me to fulfill them.

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One of the Most Important Principles in Reading the Bible

Sometimes readers of the Bible see the conditions that God lays down for his blessing and they conclude from these conditions that our action is first and decisive, then God responds to bless us.

That is not right.

There are indeed real conditions that God often commands. We must meet them for the promised blessing to come. But that does not mean that we are left to ourselves to meet the conditions or that our action is first and decisive.

Here is one example to show what I mean.

In Jeremiah 29:13 God says to the exiles in Babylon, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” So there is a condition: When you seek me with all your heart, then you will find me. So we must seek the Lord. That is the condition of finding him.

True.

But does that mean that we are left to ourselves to seek the Lord? Does it mean that our action of seeking him is first and decisive? Does it mean that God only acts after our seeking?

No.

Listen to what God says in Jeremiah 24:7 to those same exiles in Babylon: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”

So the people will meet the condition of returning to God with their whole heart. God will respond by being their God in the fullest blessing. But the reason they returned with their whole heart is that God gave them a heart to know him. His action was first and decisive.

So now connect that with Jeremiah 29:13. The condition there was that they seek the Lord with their whole heart. Then God will be found by them. But now we see that the promise in Jeremiah 24:7 is that God himself will give them such a heart so that they will return to him with their whole heart.

This is one of the most basic things people need to see about the Bible. It is full of conditions we must meet for God’s blessings. But God does not leave us to meet them on our own. The first and decisive work before and in our willing is God’s prior grace. Without this insight, hundreds of conditional statements in the Bible will lead us astray.

Let this be the key to all Biblical conditions and commands: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13). Yes, we work. But our work is not first or decisive. God’s is. “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

(HT: Desiring God)

In & Out Grace

“God’s grace is the driving force of all change. . . . God’s grace has both an inward and an outward movement that mirror each other.

Internally, the grace of God moves me to see my sin, respond in repentance and faith, and then experience the joy of transformation.

Externally, the grace of God moves me to see opportunities for love and service, respond in repentance and faith, and experience joy as I see God work through me.”

~ Bob Thune and Will Walker, The Gospel Centered-Life

(HT: Of First Importance)

Satisfied?

“Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.”

~ John Calvin

(HT: Of First Importance)

Self-Controlled?

Here is a pretty good take on being self-controlled with technology.

Are You Holy? It May Not Be What You're Thinking!

“The holiest Christians are not those most concerned about holiness as such, but whose minds and hearts and goals and purposes and love and hope are most fully focused on our Lord Jesus Christ.”

~ J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit

(HT: Of First Importance)

John Piper

This is classic John Piper.....only it was written about 14 hours ago on Twitter! Yep....J.P. is on Twitter.

"Don't pursue joy, pursue obedience" is like saying, "Don't pursue apples, pursue fruit."