1 Timothy 4:16

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

I recently memorized 1 Timothy 4:16 and have been meditating on it. C. J. Mahaney spoke on this verse at the Together for the Gospel Conference which is happening right now in Louisville. Tim Challies has been live blogging the conference. Here is a link to Tim Challies blogging of Maheney's sermon.

A Question We All Should Answer Periodically.

In this weeks preparation for Cell Group, there was a great question in the work book that I am inclined to say should be a question that we ask ourselves often and regularly. The question is:

What is it in your life right now that most indicates your degree of trust in the Lord?

When I first read the question, my first thought was that is a hard question to answer. Then as I pondered upon it, I thought it shouldn't be. If I truly am pursuing Christ's reign in all of life to advance God's kingdom in all the earth for His glory, I should have an answer right away.

Thankfully, I didn't have to think about this too long to come up with my answer. The Evidences of my trust in the Lord are daily whether I am seeking God through my prayer and Bible reading. Am I fully surendering to God, trying to understand his will for my life and more specifically this day. Am I releying on Him or using my own energy, talents and skills to get me though the day. Another measure is whether I am holding anything back from God. There are times (too ofter I might add) when I allow God in limited areas of my life.

Another indicator of my trust in the Lord is how thankful I am for His daily provision. Am I prayerfully expressing my thankfullness. In some respects God can become something that I don't even think about. Yet God has given me everything I have. I am a steward of what he has intrusted me with. So my trust must be acknowledged to God daily. My trust must be active and constant.

How would you answer the question?

Men of Faith - Kickoff Night

Wow! About 160 men attended last nights kickoff of the Men of Faith ministry. Bill Butters was our speaker for the night.

Men of Faith purpose is to Connect Men with God . . . Connect Men with Each Other. We got off to a great start on both aspects of the purpose. Bill Butters gave an excellent testimony which covered both aspects of our purpose. Bill clearly is a gifted evangelist and his testimony points men to Jesus Christ. In addition he weaves in aspect of life that are real to men. For instance he spoke on how his father was not a part of his life from the age of 4 except for wanting free tickets to Bill hockey games at the U of Minnesota and his NHL career. He also spoke of not knowing the roles and responsibilities of a husband and father. Bill shared many of his struggles in life.

I think that every man last night could relate to some part of Bill's testimony. I know the table that I sat every man talked about what Bill had said.

Men of Faith will meet on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Our next meeting is Sunday May 21 at 6:30. See here or here for further information on Men of Faith.

Not Once But Twice

I was struck by a reading of the Bible last week. I was reading some chapters in Mark. My reading took me through chapters 9 and 10. In each of those chapters Jesus predicts or better prophesies of His death. I was amazed that after each prediction of His death the disciples or at least part of them either ask Jesus if they may be seated at his right and left (chapter 10) or are quarreling amongst themselves as to who is the greatest (chapter 9).

I can easily understand this happening once. But twice? I don't know how much time elapses between chapter 9 and 10. I realize that the disciples also had a misconception that Jesus was going to bring His kingdom to fruition at that moment. They therefore in pride and ambition were desiring to establish themselves with prominent rolls in the kingdom.

Striving to be someone of importance is a characteristic of myself. I have always strove to be at the top. This happened early in life and teachers helped to instill this in me. You probably all can remember having math races in school. Where the teacher would divide the class into two groups. He/she would try to divide the class as evenly as possible. The team I was on would almost always win. So, the teacher one day decided to divide the class by pitting me against the entire class. Well this did nothing but bolster my pride as I personally got victory over the entire class. As you can see I still take pride in this accomplishment some 35-40 years later. My point being that I can relate to the disciples continuing to ask for and desire prominent positions in the kingdom.

Jesus relates to the disciples that being great is being a servant.

. . . Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43-45)

Mark Driscoll of Mar Hill Church in Seattle has begun a blog series titled "Jesus' Resurrection: Answer to Common Questions" at Resurgence. This first post has ten prophetic promises about Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Some great stuff. This prophetic stuff really makes the Bible and God real to me.

As part of my study on the Holy Spirit I read this verse today in 1 Corinthians 14:1 which says: Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. The providence of God is great!

My Best - or God's?

Do we want to give the world our best or do we want the world to experience God's best? I am continuing my study of the Gift of the Holy Spirit. This week is focused on our talents and skills and whether they equate to our spiritual gift. The book by Henry and Mel Blackaby has challenged my thinking of the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives? Could it be a myth that our natural talents are the same as our spiritual gifts?

We tend to look at ourselves and evaluate what we are good at and what we like to do, then line this up with some way of serving. We figure out what our talents are and then offer them to God equating them to our spiritual gift. We want to serve God in areas that we perceive we are good at.

I am not saying not to do this. Obviously, God has made us unique with talents and skills to serve him. The question I am pondering is whether we should call these talents and skills spiritual gifts. If they are talents and skills, we might have a tendency (and I do) to act in our own abilities rather than relying on the Holy Spirit to empower us. We don't rely on the Holy Spirit because we are confident in our own abilities and think we have everything under control. The Blackabys state: "the world looks at the church and sees good people doing good things for God, but they don't see the power of God working through His people to accomplish what only He can do."

The Blackabys challenge the use of spiritual gifts inventory tests. These tests actually reveal what our talents and skills are. A non-believer could take the test today and then in five months become a Christian and take the test again. Would we see different gifts? Probably not.

Our self-worth is based on our relationship to Christ not our abilites. It is easy for us to do what were good at and comfortable with, rather than to walk with God and obey Him when He asks us do what we are unable to do in our own strength. This kind of obedience requires us to know His will, have faith to trust His will and humbly submit to His will.

"We are servants, and Chirst is our Master. The servant never tells the Master what he or she wants to do for Him. The servant simply obeys the Master. Could you imagine the Master giving an order to the servant and the servant replying, "Sorry, that isn't my gift"?" (Blackaby, Henry and Mel; What's so spiritual about your gifts? pg 30)

We should seeking God's will then step out in obedient and rely on God's strength and power to accomplish what He desires. Thereby, the Holy Spirit will be relied upon for the gifts to accomplish God's will.

I realize God is showing me these truths for a purpose. As I have been seeking God lately, He is leading me in directions that I would not personally want to do. Pray for me that I would be obedient and adjust my plans to God's activity.

Crucified with Christ

As we are at the eve of Holy Week, I have pondered on Christ's crucifixion. One of the verses I was drawn to was Galatians 2:20.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

As I have meditated on this verse, I am realizing that being crucified with Christ means for me to allow my independence to be crucified on the cross (be put to death). I am to surrender my life to the supremacy of Jesus Christ. It means not following my own ideas as they maybe evil desires (typically are), but rather be completely loyal to my Lord. I must surrender my way of looking at things and look at things through the lense of Christ. Only by the faith that God can bestow on me by his grace will I be able to live in this body in such a way to bring him glory. This does not mean that I will sit back and wait for God to give me that faith. Rather, I am pursuing Christ's reign in all of life to advance God's kingdom in all the earth for His glory. I am seeking to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?

In preparing for cell (small) group this week I came across this question: What does it really mean to walk in the Spirit's fullness and power? We are using the workbook What's so spiritual about your gifts? by Henry & Mel Blackaby.

My answer to the question: In order to walk in the Spirit, I must choose to think about areas of my life from the perspective of God.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. (Romans 8:5-7)

If we set our minds on what the Spirit desires, our minds will transform our character and behavior. So what are the desires of the Spirit?

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Desire of the Spirit is the truths of God. And a measure of whether we are walking in the Spirit comes from Galatians 5:22 - 26.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The fruit of Spirit will be visible if I am seeking truth and making choices based on the truths of God. Anytime there are spirits of conceit, provoking or envying I need to examine myself.

By the way the second part of the question is: In your own life, is that what you are striving for?

What's Up with The Lord About to Kill Moses?

Have you ever read something in the Bible and said; "What's up with that? I had one of those times recently. I was reading Exodus 4. God seems to be all friendly-friendly with Moses. The Lord is giving Moses some instruction as to how to approach the Isrealites and Pharoah when Moses returns to Egypt. I am sure you remember the Lord gave Moses 3 miraculous signs. First, the staff turns into a snake, then the leprous hand and lastly turns water into blood. Moses then suggest to God he has the wrong man because he can not communicate well. God tells him "I will help you speak and will teach you what to say" (Exodus 4:12). After that Moses pleads with God and asks him to send someone else. With this God gets angry with Moses. God inquires of Moses' brother Aaron to help. This satisfies Moses and he goes to his father-in-law Jethro and asks permission to go to Egypt. The Lord then instructs Moses more about going back to Egypt and how to approach Pharaoh.

What happens next is were I thought "what's up with that?". The Lord is going to kill Moses.

At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met {Moses} and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched {Moses'} feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.) (Exodus 4:24-26)

Why did God turn on Moses? What is going on here? All appears to being going great. Moses after some protests is ready to head and in fact is on his way to Egypt. Now God wants to kill him. Why after all this preparation of Moses does God now decide to deal with Moses not having circumcised his youngest son? Why now and not earlier?

God decided to deal with Moses sin of not circumcising his son. Circumcision is a sign of agreeing with the covenant. It is a sign of sealing the covenant. Moses must have circumcised his older son, since only the younger is circumcised at this time. By not sealing the covenant, we are saying we are displeased with the conditions of the covenant. Is it a sin of ommision then? Possibly. It could have been that Moses was having the feelings of being in the middle. He knew what God required for the covenant. Yet, his wife being a Midianite may have been persueding him not to circumcise. (Speculation on my part based on the fact that Zipporah preforms the circumcision.)

For me the point her is that Moses was on his way to lead Israel. God wanted him to be a man of integrity. Known or revealed sin must be repented. Being "right" with God also makes us "right" with man. That is we have integrity in the eyes of men.

I don't know why God choose to do it now and not earlier. Maybe you have an idea.

God's Purpose for Spiritual Gifts

The cell group I am in is just starting a study on spiritual gifts. We are looking at a study by Henry and Mel Blackaby called "What's so spiritual about your gifts?" Last night I read the first chapter in the book. I was impressed by the comments on 1 Corinthians 12:7.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The Blackaby's had these comments on each of the phrase in this verse. "The manifestation of the Spirit" means the Spirit will reveal Himself and His activity in you. You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and He will manifest Himself in your life.

I absolutely love this next statement they made. We hear people complaining about the talents and skills they lack, then concluding, "I don't have anything to offer God." That's likely true, but what does that have to do with the Holy Spirit working in your life?

Then the last phrase "for the common good." There's a corporate dimension to everything God does in your life. Every gift He has given is to be shared within the life of His people. If we aren't actively building up the body, we aren't functioning as God desires.

They go on to say: The Holy Spirit is God's gift to you. The same Holy Spirit who manifested Himself in the life of Jesus and in the early believers has been sent to work through you. If you open your life to Him, He will manifest His power in your life.

Ok, so what have I learned. Rather than seeking a gift of the Spirit, what I need to seek is the Holy Spirit himself. The gift is the Holy Spirit. He will then be manifested in me through for example teaching, wisdom, administration, mercy, etc., which I must use to edify the body.

Christ is King!

This weekend I was overwhelmed by the message. The sermon title for this week was Convergence on Christ. The text was Mark 9:2-8 and it can be listened to here. This passage proclaims that Jesus is God. More specifically Peter, James and John learned that Christ is All and that God spoke and commanded them to Listen to Him.

There was a story told from "Christ is All" by David Bryant about us regulating Jesus to the role of a mascot. Mr. Bryant states that more rightly Jesus is our Monarch.

What Christ is waiting on is for us to proclaim Him as King. He has already been given his kingship by the Father. As one of the testimonies this weekend pointed out, to proclaim Him as king is to live in obedience to Him (Christ).

Christ is Our Hope

I am reading the book Christ is All by David Bryant. Actually, I am reading it with 9 other men and we get together on Wednesday mornings to discuss it. (By the way this is an open group and I have books on hand. So, if you would like to join you are welcome. We have only done chapter 1 so you would not be that far behind.)

As I was reading chapter 2 last night, I was completely in awe and reverence of Christ as I read these word from Mr. Bryant.

Jesus by taking on human flesh, by abandoning Himself to be the Servant of servants, Christ actually renounced any claim to final control over His own destiny. He placed Himself totally at the Father's disposal. He left in the Father's hands completely the fulfilling of covenant promises. The Son made Himself "nothing" (Phil. 2), because He chose to wait for the Father to vindicate Him, for the Spirit to raise Him, and for lasting lordship to be bestowed upon Him. To be sure, the glory he received as He ascended on high was the same glory He had with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity (Jn. 17). Still, by lifting Him up out of disgrace and despair and destruction, and by giving Him a name above every other name along with a throne above every other dominion, God sealed irrevocably every promise Christ proclaimed (Eph. 1).

The faithfulness of the Father to the Son incarnate, who surrendered so unconditionally to His will, was ultimately displayed when He presented to Him the nations as His inheritance (Ps. 2). The Son has become the heir of all for which we could ever hope (Heb. 1). Even so, the Father will manifest the same faithful commitment to everyone who sets his or her hope on the Son and "kisses" Him (as
Psalm 2 puts it - an act expressing full allegiance to the crown He wears).

The incarnation provides irrefutable proof that our God is personally committed to the future of humankind. Why? Because, through endless ages a Man, delivered from death, will occupy the Praises of Heaven - a Man who is at the same time, God- One with the Father and the Spirit. As a Scottish theologian once noted: We have hope because "the dust of the earth sits on the throne of the Majesty on High". For the Father to renege on even one of His promises to us is for Him to renege on His promise to glorify His Son. Quite rightly, the old hymn boasts: "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Awesome! What a grand God we have. Let's make this God known to the "unchurched." Let's not spend all our time in fellowship with other Christians. Let's get involved with non-Christians to expose them to this grand and glorious God. Besides we will have all eternity to spend in fellowship with Christian people. We only have a short time here (James 4:14) to persuade people of the grandeur of God. So, live today with a priority to touch the life of the unsaved.

". . . yet not my will, but yours be done."

This past weekend Dr. Bruce Ware spoke on the Trinity at my home church. To hear the messages click here and look for MP3 downloads under Intersect 2006. In Dr. Ware's message he referenced Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives. I am not sure if this is the exact reference that Dr. Ware used:

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

Then my son this week is memorizing John 6:38.

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)

This has caused me to think about these verses. Are there two wills? Do God and Jesus have different wills? How can that be if they are one (trinity)? Did Jesus have the same type of will that I have that is a will centered on himself?

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible was helpful to me. You can see it here. Jesus did not have a will that was separate from the Fathers or contray to it. The Father and Son are one in nature, therefore their wills are the same. Yet, Jesus' will as a man was distinct from the Fathers, but not resigned from it. Jesus came to earth not to do any will different than that of his Father. Although as man, he had a separate will this will was not different or contrary. Rather there was sameness in their wills.

How Hard It Must Have Been!

I just read the account of Samuel giving what essentially is his farewell speech to the people of Israel. Samuel being the last Judge to preside over Israel, is to commission and anoint Saul as the King of Israel (1 Samuel 9). Samuel struggles with giving the people what they want and he knows it is not what God wants.

1 Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right." 4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand." 5 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." "He is witness," they said. 6 Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. 7Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers. 8"After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 "But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 They cried out to the LORD and said, 'We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.' 11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely. 12 "But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'-even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God-good! 15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. (1 Samuel 12:1-15)

I am seeing a pattern of God's messengers to his people. History is chronicled in refuting and rebuking. Israel was shown by Samuel how they in their history cried to the Lord for help. These cries for help come at times when Israel is rebelling against God and his commands. God was faithful to send people like Moses and Aaron to lead his people back to a right relationship with him.

Samuel realizes that Israel does not need a king. The fact is Israel has a king - God himself. Samuel warns and proclaims to the people. That if they and this king do not fear the Lord, serve and obey him and his commands then God's hand will be against them. The text does not say this, but I have a feeling Samuel knew what the outcome was going to be.

Why can't we understand that God is sovereign and just? He will only act in our best interest and that is to build us up and bring us into a relationship with him. Yet, we constantly think we know better.

Resuming This Blog

After an almost three month absence, I am going to resurrect this blog. Playing on the picture at right, I am back in the saddle. I have been blogging on a series that my church did as a body for ten weeks. See Fire & Reign blog. I will resume tomorrow with a post regarding my daily Bible reading of today.

Fire & Reign

I have created a blog specifically for Fire & Reign. If you would like to follow along my journey, please go here.

www.fccfireandreign.blogspot.com

Fire & Reign - Introduction

What would happen if the Holy Spirit took full control of my life today? The fact that I am a follower of Jesus Christ means that the Spirit is leading me day by day. Am I hearing, listening and obeying the Spirit? What would this look like? Would that mean preaching on street corners or another continent? Would I do things that cause my family, friends, neighbors and coworkers to think I am foolish? Would my life be stripped of fun, pleasure and relaxation and replaced with grinding responsibility and suffering?

Probably not. Rather the Spirit would change me into the kind of person we read about in the Book of Acts:

• I would be a man whose love for God and other people is so strong, real and infectious that people would wnat to know its source.
• I would wait on the Lord's direction and empowerment and then watch God use me to do remarkable things beyond what I can imagine.
• Speak the truth boldly, yet in humility always aware that it is only by Christ's sacrifice that I am rescued from God's wrath.
• My door and heart would be open to people as I watch God transform broken people into devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
• I would have a confident faith and hope that nothing could discourage or dissuade me from doing God's will.

How about my church what would that look like if the Spirit was more alive? Would people begin practicing spiritual gifts? Would healings and miracles be commonplace? Would worshippers become more physically expressive?

More likely it would be along these lines:

• People drawn to repentance from sin.
• Greater understanding of Christ's priorities for His church.
• Empower Chirst followers to make a measurable impact for Christ in the community.
• Stir a passion to know Jesus, become more like Him and display Him to a world that needs Him.
• Prompt people to reconcile differences, seek each other's gain and love one another as Christ loves His church.

As I ponder this, I have to ask myself if I want more of the Holy Spirit's power and presence in my life and in my church? There is a fear in me. What will happen to me? What will people think? Oh, my insecurities and lack of faith. It's time to face into them!

It's high time I give Christ's Spirit more authority in my life and in my church.

Fire & Reign

My home church is beginning a sermon series to reacquaint our congregration with Christ's kingdom priorities for His church and to evoke Spirit empowered engagement to achieve His mission. We are calling this emphasis on spiritual renewal "Fire & Reign" - the fire of God's Spirit for the reign of God's Son.

Have you ever wondered how does the Lord shape, change and grow a spiritually healthy and fruitful congregration?

The first seven chapters of the Book of Acts tell the story of the Jerusalem church. A small band of Galilean disciples grew together into a multicultural movement that changed lives and impacted communities and nations. How did it happen? The answer is found in the power of God's Spirit at work in the lives of believing people.

That first church shared the same challenges and uncertainties we face today. How does a fellowship of believers characterized by strong personalities and human fralitiess follow Christ together? The account of the Jerusalem church is our case study for thinking about Jesus' priorites for our congregration and the next chapter is waiting to be written.

This study was written to help participants personally embrace Jesus' kingdom priorities for His church. It is written by Jerry Sheveland President of the Baptist General Conference. More information about this study can be found here.

Over the next 10 weeks I will be posting my thoughts as I work through the Study.

If You Were Blind . . .

In my reading this morning, I was struck and puzzled by John 9:41.

Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

This is the last verse in a chapter which records the story of a blind man being healed and the Phariseees investigating the healing. So, what does this text mean?

What makes them blind and what makes them see? I am going to spend some time studing this. Initially I am leaning to Romans 5:20-21 in answer to my question.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Glued to Toilet Seat

This will make you think twice about testing out how it feels when shopping. A man is suing Home Depot claiming he got stuck to a toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.