Hearing God Speak

As we prepare to launch into another year one of the best things we can decide to do is to get serious about our relationship with God.    I love this article written by Tim Chester, originally for a great new initiative called Open up the Bible.  www.openupthebible.com    He's right on the money.  

Let me tell you about an amazing experience I had just this morning. Actually “amazing” doesn’t really do it justice. It was out of this world.

This morning God spoke to me.

I know that sounds weird, but I’m sure that’s what happened. The God who made the universe actually spoke to me. I could hear what He was saying just as clearly as you can understand what you’re reading now.

The words He spoke felt like words of life to me.

It was like they resounded deep in my heart.

• There were words of instruction that helped me know Him more and understand his ways.
• There were words of challenge that called me to follow Him better and love Him more.
• There were words of comfort that spoke to my needs and gave me hope. It was like medicine to my soul. It was like a rousing speech before battle. It was like a love song sung to my heart.

But there’s more. Just as God spoke to me, so I spoke to Him. I spoke to Him as someone might speak to their friend. It was like a conversation. He talked to me and I talked to Him. I was able to express my deep appreciation for the words He’d spoken to me. I told Him how I planned to respond. I told Him about my needs and my hopes. I asked for his help, not just for me, but for people I know. I lamented the sorry mess we’ve made of his beautiful world and asked Him to have mercy on specific situations that are weighing heavily on my heart.

I spoke to the God of the universe and He heard me. He listened to what I was saying. And He promised to respond. I don’t know whether He’ll do what I ask. He might have other plans, better plans. But I’m confident He heard me and that He’ll respond in whatever way He thinks best.

What’s more, what happened to me this morning was not a freaky, one-off experience. This happens to me most mornings.

What I did this morning was read my Bible and pray. I just read my Bible and prayed. But there is nothing “just” about just reading your Bible. It really is all that I’ve described. It really is the most amazing, out-of-this-world experience. Every time you read your Bible God really is speaking to you—medicine to the soul, a rousing speech before battle, a love song sung to your heart.

The Holy Spirit spoke through the human authors of the Bible. He ensured that what they wrote truly was the word of God. Their words were God-breathed. So the Bible is the reliable, accurate, sufficient word from God. God has spoken.

But the Holy Spirit is also at work whenever the Bible is read or heard.

He takes the words that were recorded long ago and makes them live afresh. The letter of Hebrews, quoting from the Old Testament, says, “as the Holy Spirit says” (3v7). God has not only spoken in the Bible (past tense). He also speaks through the Bible (present tense).

God speaks to you every time you read the Bible. Personally. Intimately.

I read my Bible regularly because I have to. Not “have to” in the sense that someone might criticise me if I don’t or that God will get miffed with me. But “have to” in the same way I have to eat food every day. This is how I live.

Without God’s word in my life, I too readily get preoccupied with myself, my fears, my insecurities, my reputation. Without God’s word I’m so much more vulnerable to temptation. I need God’s word to realign my heart day by day towards Jesus. I need that medicine for the soul, that battle speech, that love song. And I need it every day.

"I Can't Breathe"

I've just read this from James Emery White who leads a church in the States and who coaches Christians on how to engage more thoughtfully with contemporary culture.  His blog really caught my attention as it gave expression to thoughts that I and perhaps you have had.  

There would be few reading this unaware of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, regarding the shooting death by a police officer of Michael Brown. This was quickly followed by the asphyxiation of Eric Garner in New York as a result of a chokehold during an arrest.

Neither case resulted in a grand jury indicting the officer involved.

Many lumped the two together, but I did not. To my thinking, they were very, very different. Apparently I’m not alone. A USA Today poll found that most Americans supported the Brown decision, but not the Garner decision.

I don’t want to get into the racial elements.

I don’t want to get into the pros and cons of grand jury indictments.

I don’t want to get into the perils of resisting arrest.

I don’t want to get into the difficulties and challenges of police work.

I only want to get into one thing:

“I can’t breathe.”

It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, a video must be worth ten thousand. Or in this case, an extremely potent three. If you saw it, you know that those three words were repeated eight times. And after he was on the ground, held down by multiple other men, and being handcuffed.

“I can’t breathe.”

I don’t care if he resisted arrest.

I don’t care if he weighed 300 or more pounds.

I don’t care if he had a criminal history.

At the time of the arrest, all I care about are those three words.

“I can’t breathe.”

Why?

Because I am a follower of Christ. I am a follower of Christ before I am a member of a political party, before I am a cultural “conservative” or “liberal,” and certainly before I am either “black” or “white.”

And as a follower of Christ, I understand every human being to be someone made in the very image of God and of immeasurable worth to their Father.

The color of their skin does not matter.

Their arrest record does not matter.

Their non-lethal resistance to arrest does not matter.

What matters is their “imago dei.” The image of God reflected in their very soul. And no human being should have been handled that way, much less in that situation.

Period.

And this includes the breaking news of the extent of torture carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency. [I couldn’t help but think of the connection between water-boarding and a chokehold – both are acts on another that keep them from breathing.] It doesn’t matter whether such acts fell short of a legal definition of torture, or whether they were effective.

Torture is simply wrong. Why? Because no human being, made in the image of God, should be treated that way.

Period.

As I watched the video of Eric Garner’s arrest, I could only imagine one of my sons, resisting arrest for whatever stupid or miscalculated reason, who then found himself thrown to the ground and fighting for air.

And dying.

Dear God. I can barely sustain the thought.

So whatever needs to happen to address racism in our land,

     ...and the great evil is that it does thrive;

...whatever needs to happen to uphold justice,

     ...and only a naïve observer would assume it flows freely;

…whatever needs to happen to support police in their responsibilities, not to mention rid police forces of rogue elements,

     …and both must be pursued;

…whatever needs to happen to end all affronts to the worth and dignity of human beings as made in the image of God;

Whatever needs to happen, until it does,

    …for Christ’s sake,

    …let them breathe.

The Lethal Drug in Your Dream Job

On Sunday I spoke about the importance of living out of the "Rest" that Jesus has won for us.   Even as we labour in all that God has called us to at work, home and through the church (scattered and gathered) we can know a form of rest that can refresh our souls.   

Marshall Segal's blog (below) continues that theme as he talks about the perils of the workplace. Thank God there IS a better way - there really is and it's this that gives us as followers of Jesus a distinctive quality that is compelling and attractive.

Idolatry is a subtle and scary business.

You simply don’t know all the lies lurking in your desires, ambitions, and decisions — even the good ones. In fact, Tim Keller says, “The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes” (Counterfeit Gods, xvii). That’s a terrifying proposition. And one I can testify to personally. Some idolatries scream, and others whisper. Some lure us down long, dark alleys. Others creep into the comfort of our more safe, suburban self-righteousness.

Success is a drug of choice among Americans, and it is a slow and subtle killer. I wonder why you want the job you do. There are lots of good motivations. Maybe having a higher salary would free you to give more to ministry. Maybe more power would put you in a position to influence more people with the gospel. Maybe God’s gifted you for more than you’re able to give in your current role.

There are bad reasons, too, though, and one that is especially sinister and murderous. Success at work will play god and make promises to you that it cannot and will not keep. Success promises to fill holes in our hearts. If you only ascend this high or accumulate this much, your fears and insecurities will be resolved once for all. Success promises the love of those around us. They will finally give you the respect and affection you crave. Success says it can cover everything wrong about us. It offers esteem, control, and security — everything we surrendered in our sin. It wears the savior’s costume and presents itself the strong, charming, and trustworthy hero.

But success is a horrible hero, and an even worse god.

Work in Line with the Gospel

There is only one way to deal with the sin that remains and the death we deserve, and it isn’t found at the top of any corporate ladder, or in the size of a 401K, or in the number of people reporting to you, or even in how happy you are in your job. Only God can address the needs nested deep in our weaknesses, insecurities, fears, and failures. Success could never address what we all really need most. Only the gospel will save us — even those who believe success in this life might save them.

We all try to earn love. For many of us, it started in preschool trying to please Mom and Dad with another picture for the fridge. Then it was cultivated in the competition of middle-school classrooms, and confirmed in the grades and awards of high school. In college, for the first time, we were identified by our major — our future job. And then four years later, after our first paycheck, we’re already fighting society’s desire to define us by where we work, who works for us, and how much we make. It all looks like work, but it’s really worship. It wears the responsible nametag of provision, but it’s really the frantic, promiscuous search for redemption.

Again, Keller writes:

God is not on a leash, he cannot be bought or appeased. The gods of religion can be controlled. If we offer them hard work and devotion, then they are beholden to us. However, God cannot be approached like that. Whatever he gives us is a gift of grace. (85)

God will never be won through work. He loves to save, but he will not rescue those who believe they’ve earned it. Grace is the only currency he trades in. Everything else we might offer him is as Monopoly money in his hands. He refuses to love and affirm you like a cosmic CEO, because he’s not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25).

To be clear, success is not a curse. It becomes a curse when it quietly becomes your savior. God prospers the work of our hands in all kinds of ways for his glory. But it is not his method of making you his, and it’s certainly not meant to make much of you. Success is a servant of sovereign Grace, the only means by which anyone is saved.

If you see and embrace this about success, it will free you for Monday morning. We work and succeed as those who’ve already been rescued from our brokenness and need. We labor from the safety of God’s love. We won’t earn anything from God between 9:00 and 5:00, so we work with the security and confidence we have in Christ only because of his cross.

Work in Love for the World

The gospel frees us from going to work to prove ourselves, and it frees us from going to work to serve ourselves. A second great and pervasive sin in the workplace is selfishness, wielding ambition and vocation to satisfy our own needs and desires.

According to Nathan Hatch, President of Wake Forest University:

Students are [pursuing lucrative and powerful professions like finance, law, and specialized medicine] with little reference to the larger questions of meaning and purpose. That is, they choose professions not in answer to the question “What job helps people to flourish?” but “What job will help me to flourish?” (Keller, 79)

It’s the trend at Wake Forest, but what about for you? Maybe you’re not aiming at six-or-seven-digit salaries or a second home somewhere warm or recognition from industry leaders, but are your aspirations fundamentally serving you or others? Is your desire for that job driven by a heart for the world around you or for the one within you? Is your work about making your life count for the good of others or about having your own little heaven here?

The gospel saves us so deeply and satisfies us so fully that we can let ourselves — our gifts, our career, even our lives — be poured out for the sake of others, especially for the sake of their faith and joy in God. The meaning and purpose of history, and the meaning and purpose of our lives specifically — every area of our lives, every day of our lives — is Christ. We never walk away from that, certainly not for eight hours a day, five days a week. He is the freeing, satisfying, and controlling purpose for everything we do. So our work is about worship after all, not of success, but of our Savior.

This does not mean everyone should go into full-time Christian ministry. You do not have to be paid to make much of Christ to make much of Christ. In fact, I’m sure as much or more ministry is happening today in homes, schools, hospitals, and downtown corporate towers as in churches.

It does mean that we’ve been freed to labor not for ourselves, but in love for the world around us. Wherever we work, we’ve been deployed by God as agents of everlasting joy. So, let’s labor and succeed as those who’ve already won in Christ. And let us work — in whatever field — that others might experience the freedom, love, and security we enjoy with God.

I was in two minds as to whether to share Ryan Shelton's post with you.   It made me wince and it may make you squirm but that's not necessarily a bad thing.   One of the big curses of our age and the thing that many of us are significantly influenced by if not enslaved to is consumerism.  50 years ago this wasn't the case but today it's probably the biggest tool in our enemy's arsenal.  

Here's Ryan's post and the warning he gives about not being a church consumer.  Let's be on our guard.

Are You Leaching the Local Church?

When I was a teen, I bought into the very fashionable assumption that the local church would only cramp my style and put a barrier to “authentic spirituality.” I stopped attending for a while until I got wind of a hip, cool church across town that was full of attractive, young, relevant people. The music was great, the preaching was edgy, and the atmosphere was exciting.

For months, I drove all the way across town, nearly an hour each way, to attend services at the church that “got it.” It was a booming place, with six fully packed services each weekend. And if I arrived late, I was turned away because the fire department was keeping a close eye on the safety capacity.

It all ended for me one week, when the pastor said something that disturbed me. I remember it something like this:

For those of you who come here every week thinking attendance makes you good with God, you’re wrong. Some of you are driving from the other side of the metroplex, and are not really connected to the church at all. If you’re just coming here, not involved in a small group, not serving with nursery, parking, or ushering — if you’re just here to hear the band or listen to me talk — go somewhere else. You’re a leech. And quite frankly, we could use your seat.

That was a harsh thing for me to hear, but I can attest now that it was a most loving gift to me. That was my last weekend at that church, and I began searching for a local body where I could serve in a context of real relationships.

More Than Showing Up

I continue to grow in my love for the local church. One of the ways God has grown my love for the church is by teaching me that worship is more than showing up.

How amazing is God’s design in creating the church! God could immediately and directly pour his grace into us, giving us all the nourishment we need for this Christian life. But in his wisdom, he chooses to operate through people, not just private devotions. And specially so when local church is gathered in worship.

Think about it, the last time you sensed God’s powerful intervention in your life in a corporate worship gathering, consider how many people God used to deliver that grace to you.

• It may have been a preacher who spent days studying a passage to explain it clearly to you.
• It may have been a musician who spent hours practicing songs to make them stirring and musically satisfying.
• It may have been a songwriter who poured over biblical truths to articulate them with beautiful poetry.
• It may have been a parking-lot attendant sweating through his shirt so that your minivan, and so many others, could navigate congested parking lot between services.
• It may have been a kitchen worker who cut up pastries so that your stomach isn’t making noise even though you forgot breakfast.
• Or it may have been the faithful saint sitting beside you raising their hands and encouraging you that some truths are worth getting excited about.

In a thousand ways, the last time God poured grace over you in a weekend service, consider how many people were involved in his decisive work.

Receive from God, Give to Others

I marvel that God meets me in profound ways through un-extraordinary people who do more than just show up for Sunday worship. And it fills me with great joy to think that through my participation, someone else might go home saying “God really met with us today.”

I’m glad I received that harsh word so many years ago, but maybe you don’t need to be called a leech to see the gathering of the church is about more than just showing up. Gather this weekend expecting to receive from God in a hundred different ways, through dozens of different people. And consider how God might have you give of your gifts so that he can bless others through you. Receive from him, and remember the words of Jesus as you orient on others: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

It's Not About Making "A Difference", It's About Making Disciples

On Sunday I spoke about how our core calling is to make disciples, men and women who joyfully organize their lives around Jesus to the glory of God.  If you're part of LBC let me encourage you to have a listen, it's an important message. http://lymingtonbaptist.org/mp3s/Called%20to%20make%20disciples.mp3

I referenced Malcolm Duncan who has done more to mobilize the church in the UK to social action and community engagement than probably anyone else.  But for all that's been done he's the first to say that it's not enough.  All authority was not given to Jesus in order that we could "make a difference" but so that we could make disciples, apprentices of Jesus who, in all areas of life, are becoming like their Savior.

Here's an extract of the lecture he gave at LICC.

“We can build a society that looks healthy, without God. We can create activists and campaigners who change the world, without God. But the change will be temporary and it will not last.

But if we give ourselves to forming Christ in those who have surrendered their lives to him, if we make growing disciples our central purpose as a body of Christ. If we help one another to encounter, walk with, and serve Christ in every area of our lives in the fullest sense of the word, then the world around us will feel the impact and we will also feed the hungry, clothe the naked and end the injustices that we confront.

But we will do it in his power… not in our own.

A Church for the nation must surely seek to enable those who own the name of Christ to live for him, to serve him, to honour him and to obey him in every single area of their lives - even if it means the redefinition of worship, discipleship, teaching and mission.”

Malcolm Duncan

Why I Hate Religion

Love this by Jefferson Bethke

Khan Academy Meets the Bible

This initiative looks amazing.

Look at the Book is kind of like Khan Academy ( http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy ) but for studying the Bible.

 http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-legacy-i-want-to-leave

I can't wait to see this  in action.  I think it's going to be great.

Trinity Sunday - a Bit of Satire

It was Trinity Sunday the week before last and Ros did a great job of proclaiming how we can know God as Father (it was also Father's Day) through the Son and by the Spirit.

Thought this video from the Lutheran Satire guys was great:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw

Called to be Incendiary!

Loved this talk by Simon Ponsonby given at Pentecost.   His scholarship plus passion for Jesus is infectious.   How we need to get ourselves ignited with the Holy Spirit!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fRCqdT6oE

 

Ascension Day

It's Ascension Day today and Jonny Woodrow and Tim Chester's little book, "The Ascension: Humanity in the Presence of God" has really inspired me to pay much greater attention to this much neglected doctrine.   

Here's a great quote.....

The Ascension reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven, our inheritance is in heaven, our treasure is in heaven and our saviour is in heaven. Everything we have of real value is in heaven. Why would we lay up treasure on earth when we can lay up eternal treasure in heaven? 

The Ascension, therefore, impacts our lifestyle decisions: the things we buy, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the holidays we take.   All will be shaped by the Ascension. 

What's more, our heavenly treasure is secure. So we can take risks with our property, our salary and pensions - not because God guarantees to prevent bad things happening in our lives on earth, but because everything we have of real value is in heaven and it is there fore secure.   

Toxic Religion

On Sunday we looked at how Jesus, in Luke 20 and 21, once again deconstructed religion showing it to be dangerous and damaging.  

The gospel of grace is about what God in Christ has DONE for us whereas religion is about what we DO to gain a right standing before God.
Gospel is about the NEWS of what God has graciously DONE for us, it's about what has happened that we then get to respond to.  
Religion is more about responding to ADVICE through which we can DO things to make ourselves okay.  

And deep within all of us is the desire to earn, to deserve.  The natural inclination of our heart is religion - to do rather than to receive, to earn rather than accept.  

It's dangerous because we become our own saviour through what we do.  Our confidence, significance, peace, joy and sense of acceptance is located in what we make happen.   Consequently we look down on those who don't do what we do and we get pretty cross or frightened when what we do isn't appreciated or affirmed.  When it's all going well for us we feel confident but when it's not we feel crushed.

The answer is the gospel.   When we see what Jesus has done for us and all we are in God because of His work for us, everything changes including our deep desires.  No longer is it about outward action to "tick a box" but it's about a changed heart that becomes the source of a whole new motivation.

Tim Chester in his book The Everyday Gospel uses the analogy of washing the dishes to show the difference between law and grace.  He asks the question: "How can you tell if a religious person has washed the dishes?"   The answer: "They leave the pans in to soak"  Ouch!  Are there any dirty dishes?  No.  Box ticked.  Job done.  You get the points for doing the dishes because technically it's been done.  But you're motivated by law not grace.  The gospel oriented person does the dishes because they want to serve or because they're grateful or because they want to create a place where others can flourish or because they want to model something to others for whom they have a responsibility.

Religion causes damage but the gospel....the Good News of God's loving kindness....creates life.

Distracted by Petty Things

The other day I read an article (Barnabus Fund magazine, March/April 2014) about a little 7 year old boy called Anmol Gemethi.  He went missing on 17 November 2013 after setting off for Sunday school in his village in India.  He was later found having been tortured and murdered.  Anmol’s father said that during the 10 years since he had become a Christian he and his family had received numerous death threats from Hindu extremists.  He had told the police but they appeared to take no notice.  

I share this because it put the rather petty things that distract me from discipleship into context.  I have to be honest and say that compared to a small child who had his toes broken, his body burned and his life taken simply for being a Christian my own reasons for not being more wholehearted in living for Christ seem somewhat pathetic.  

Lord, teach me more about what it means to follow you as I listen to the voices of those persecuted for their love of you.

Golf to the Glory of God

I love 1 Corinthians 10:21: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God".  I love how we're encouraged to do all things in such a way as a spotlight is shone on the all powerful, loving and sufficient Jesus Christ.  But how do  we do that in the ordinary, everyday.  How do we do "whatever we do" to the glory of God?  How do we display the majesty and splendour of God and his amazing grace in all we do?  

What about golf for example?  Surely this must be included in the "whatever you do" so how can those who like to have "a good walk spoiled"(!) play to the glory of God.  If you play or you're friends with someone who does let me encourage you with this article that I read recently by David Mathis.  But as you read be thinking how the principles here might apply to other activities so that we might "do it all for the glory of God".  

The game of golf has tied itself to the beauty of God’s created world like few other competitive pastimes. This is at the heart of the sport’s allure. With no standardized playing area, the designers and groundskeepers are commissioned to nest the course in the splendor of the natural terrain. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19:1, and the best of links do the same, if you have eyes to see it.

But enjoying creation is one thing, and giving hours on end to playing a game can be quite another. We may be able to drink orange juice to the glory of God, but what about playing golf?

Hazards on the Links

Those of us who might defend our annual watching of the Masters, and playing eighteen every so often, should be swift to acknowledge that the game is not without its spiritual dangers. If we are to play golf to the glory of God, we must beware the aspects of the game that appeal so strongly to our indwelling sin, and our deep yearning for the new creation before it’s time.

Time Consumption. It’s not arbitrary that “golf widow” is a popularly understood term. A single round of golf can quickly consume half a day or more. And it takes an extraordinary amount of time not only to play the game, but to hone the skills, and keep them sharp. This, in itself, is not evil, but Christians will want to wisely assess the time demands, in view of what’s at stake in this “mist” of our lives (James 4:14) and our summons to “make the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). Eternity may give us endless days for feasting in the joys of golf, but for now, we have only tastes.

Expense. Clubs, balls, shoes, bag, apparel, greens fees, club dues, cart fees, and more. Golf is a rich man’s game, and it’s worth approaching this aspect of the sport with Christian conviction. We have been rescued from the world’s patterns of wealth by a Savior who guides us not to lay up treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19). We put our hope in God, “who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17), and tells us the enjoyment is richest not when it’s hoarded, but used to bless others — “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:18–19).

Addiction. Those who know golf best can testify to how hooking it can be. You rarely ever hit what feels like the perfect shot, but when you do, that’s what you remember most, and has you itching for another round as soon as possible. And unlike team sports that require other people to play, golf is especially individualistic; you can scratch the itch anytime without need of a companion. But the Christian who enjoys golf will say with the apostle Paul, “I will not be enslaved by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Golf to the Glory of God

Conscious, then, of these hazards, and more, how might we keep it in the fairway and enjoy such a game in a distinctly Christian fashion? Here are four ways, among others, to make the most of golf for our enduring joy, the good of others, and the glory of God.

1. Enjoy God in His Creation

Such is the allure of the Masters, and the game in general. Golf affords a ripe opportunity to experience the beauty of God’s creation, cultivated with skill and meticulous care by his image-bearers. For the born-again believer, freed by the Spirit from suppressing the truth of God’s eternal power and divine nature plainly on display in creation (Romans 1:18–20), golf can be an awe-inspiring and worship-fostering experience (though no replacement for corporate worship!). Pray before hitting the links, sanctifying the experience to Christ, and make a conscious effort to take in the bigness and beauty of your surroundings and not get lost in the scorecard. Thank God for his beauty on display in the course.

2. Rest, Recreate, and Exercise

Golf may be, as some say, “a good walk spoiled,” but it does make for a good walk. Too often motorized carts keep us from enduring the exhilarating exercise that is walking eighteen holes with a bag of fourteen clubs on your back. As for rest and recreation, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Genesis 2:3). They are his design and gift, and when we keep our play in proportion, he smiles upon our acknowledgement that we are not God and need not uphold the universe with our unrelenting labors. He means for us to work earnestly, as to him (Ephesians 6:7), and has purpose in our faith-filled leisure as well.

3. Make It a Medium for Relationship

One way to redeem the time-consuming aspect of golf is meaningful conversation. Whether it’s speaking good news to a fellow saint or sharing what truly matters with an unbeliever, few pastimes unfold at such a pace that substantive interaction can occur during the contest. This is one of the key ways that golf can be made useful for the good of our neighbor. Be intentional about who you play with, and what you say.

4. Learn to Deal with Failure

One day, there will be no more failure, only victory. But until then, we limp from one mistake to another, from bogey to double bogey — and golf, like baseball, is a greenhouse for learning to deal with failure. Even the pros rarely hit a shot exactly as they hoped — how much more does golf force us amateurs to reckon with our failures and deal with disappointment?

Alongside exploring the attributes of God, the doctrines of grace, and the doctrine of sin, C.J. Mahaney gives this practical counsel for cultivating humility: “play as much golf as possible.”

In my athletic experience, I don’t think there’s a more difficult or more humbling sport. Rather, make that humiliating — because if you play at all, you know all about those shots that result in laughter from your partners and humiliation for you. No one escapes them — not even Tiger Woods, and certainly not me. (Humility, 94)

We Christians should be the people in the world least afraid of failing. We have a champion who has succeeded for us definitively in all the ways that matter most. Our ongoing sins and miscues are relativized by our union with a victor so great that he frees us to find recreation and humility where others drown in idolatry and pride. The grace of God is deep enough, and the work of Christ is comprehensive enough, that we might even play golf to the glory of God.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Mass

A great bit of insightful comedy from The Lutheran Satire guys.....


Mr. Thompson and the local vicar are upset that none of the youngsters think church is cool. But don't worry. They've got a solution!

Know the Word...Do the Word

On Sunday I was talking about the importance of knowing what God says in the Bible.  Here Mark Driscoll gives the really important corrective that knowing the Word is not enough.  We need to do something with it. It's classic Driscoll.... a good point really well made.

http://youtu.be/0Q3xkSWx8Hw

The Enemy of Passivity

A great quote from the late Dallas Willard about the nature of the gospel.   I particularly love what he says about grace not being opposed to effort but earning.  

The enemy in our time is not human capacity, or over activism, but the enemy is passivity – the idea that God has done everything and you are essentially left to be a consumer of the grace of God and that the only thing you have to do is find out how to do that and do it regularly. I think this is a terrible mistake and accounts for the withdrawal of active Christians from so many areas of life where they should be present. It also accounts for the lack of spiritual growth, for you can be sure that if you do not act in an advised fashion consistently and resolutely you will not grow spiritually. We all know that Jesus said, (in John 15) ‘without me you can do nothing’. We need to add, ‘if you do nothing, it will be most assuredly without him.’

Of course we must be concerned about works righteousness. I talk a lot about the value of spiritual disciplines but also the danger of using them as if they help us earn our salvation. But it is crucial to realise that grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. Earning is an attitude, effort is action. Without effort, we would be nowhere. When you read the New Testament you see how astonishingly energetic it is. Paul says, ‘take off the old man, put on the new.’ There is no suggesting that this will be done for you. 

The Carrot and the King

Charles Spurgeon once told the story of the Carrot and the King to illustrate that left to ourselves no one seeks God for God but only for themselves.   It’s quite a sobering thought really… that outside of Christ we look to God only for what we need – the security, significance, comfort, joy, peace – we don’t look to God for God.

“Once upon a time there was a king who ruled over everything in a land. One day there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took it to his king and said, “My lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve ever grown or ever will grow; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” The king was touched and discerned the man’s heart, so as he turned to go, the king said, “Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I want to give a plot of land to you freely as a gift, so you can garden it all.” The gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king’s court who overheard all this, and he said, “My! If that is what you get for a carrot, what if you gave the king something better?” The next day the nobleman came before the king, and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My lord, I breed horses, and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever bred or ever will; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said, “Thank you,” and took the horse and simply dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed, so the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.”

So the truth is that even when we do think we’re seeking God, serving Him, thanking Him, God easily just becomes  a means to an end, He just becomes another way of us meeting our needs.

But this belittles the work of Christ in whom we have been given all things (Rom. 8:32).  We don’t barter with God to get stuff because all we need has already been given to us through Jesus.  We can therefore seek and enjoy God for God.  He’s not an end He is the end!   We can give God the carrot/horse/whatever because we love Him, not looking for anything in return – for we have everything.

The Glory of the All Sufficient Christ

In my previous post I pointed you towards Neil's blog.   Here's a link that Neil included to an interview with his brother whose wife died of cancer in 2009.  

It is profoundly moving and once again I want to underline that this is the kind of faith that the Bible speaks of.  Not the consumer driven, cool, slick, "God wants to make your life easier" faith that's peddled today in so many quarters.   

The interview is about twenty minutes long.  It was recorded at Kensington Baptist Church in Bristol in front of about 400 people.  The mic plays up a bit at the start, before it is replaced, so bear with it.  If you are only interested in the question of faith and suffering then jump in at 14 minutes.

Click here to listen.  

The Kind of Faith I Want

John and Vanda Todman are good friends of ours from our previous church; they love Jesus, are passionate about world mission and have an infectious confidence in the goodness of God.  (Alastair and Ros always remind me of them).  They have two sons, Clive and Neil who, after kicking against the faith of their parents, were soundly converted and gave their lives to Christ in their late teens.   Louise and I did marriage preparation classes for Clive and Sarah before their wedding and so it was with particular sadness that we heard the news some five years ago that Sarah had terminal cancer.  She died in 2009 leaving a grieving husband and two small girls.  Clive preached powerfully at his wife’s service of thanksgiving and I have given away many copies of the cd as it was an incredible testimony to God’s incredible and amazing grace.  

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from Vanda to say that their other daughter-in-law, Elaine, had been diagnosed with cancer and the outlook was bleak.  The next day I drove to their home in Bath and sat with them.   The pain and sadness was grievous but the knowledge of God’s presence as we read scripture, prayed and shed tears, was profound.  

Neil is the pastor of Headley Park Church and as well as shepherding his family (they have two small boys) through this ordeal he is also shepherding his church.  To this end he has written a blog (diary) from the point at which they heard the diagnosis.   I would like to encourage you to read what he has written thus far.  You’ll read of how they have shared the news with their children and how they have sought to view their situation through the lens of the gospel.  Its real, gutsy and honest and shines a huge spotlight on the all the sufficient grace of God.   It’s the kind of faith that I hope I have in the midst of such a trauma. 

Do yourself and the Kingdom a favour and visit http://www.headleyparkchurch.org.uk/#     Track back (hitting “View older posts”) until you get to 7^th January and read through. 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Self-examination and Justification by Faith Alone

Do you ever struggle with assurance of salvation, especially when examining yourself? Here are some wise words from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the importance of grounding our self-examination in the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

I must never start upon this process of self-examination without reminding myself at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the cardinal doctrine of justification by faith only. I mean this. If I start upon the process of self-examination without reminding myself that I am justified by faith only, there can be but one result of my self-examination, and that is, that I shall feel that I am not a Christian at all. I shall feel utterly hopeless and shall be thrown into a state of morbidity. Now this, of course, is the danger that confronts us when we read certain well-known and famous manuals of devotion. Take the famous Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis, in many ways a very valuable book, and yet in many ways an extremely dangerous book, because it tends ultimately to teach justification by works. It tends ultimately to give the impression that we make ourselves Christian by what we do. And, I say, if we start with that idea, this self-examination can but drive us to despair. There is only one safe way of examining ourselves, and it is to start by reminding ourselves that we are saved solely by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and that if we move heaven and earth, or ascend into the depths, we can never make ourselves righteous before God. Nothing can save you and me but the fact that Christ died on the cross for us - there is our salvation!

--D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Expository Sermons on 2 Peter, Banner of Truth, p. 244

With gratitude to Brian Hedges for posting this on his blog,  http://www.brianghedges.com