Pharisee Equals Religionist

The religious world is inundated with the Pharisaic system that was prevalent in the earth-walk of Jesus. It is characterized by mixing the Gospel of God’s Grace with the ideologies, precepts and doctrines of men and the laws of the old covenant...that ungodly religious system, I refuse to support or submit to, even though religion presents it as Godly and in doing so have deceived many.

The mixed-grace gospel of the religious pharisees today preaches the message that salvation is by grace but maintained by obedience to the law and religious observances. It is a gospel that says one of God's blessings (salvation) is grace given, but holiness, sanctification, the amount God loves us, forgiveness for our failures and fellowship with God comes by keeping the law and the rituals of religion. This gospel denies that Christ did it all because after saving us by grace we have to do the rest to ensure our relationship with Him.

I will continue to voice opposition against the deceptions of that system which are accepted as truth by the religious denominations within Christendom. My stand for the freedom to do so may bring me the ridicule of some well meaning denominational people, but is sure to bring me the snobbishness of the religious self-righteous. However I will endure their sneers, accusations and condemnation in the spirit of peace and serenity, knowing that my conscience is clear before God, my loving Father.

- Glenn Regular

Hope is Evidence that He is for You

“Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. (Psalm 119:49)

“The argument is that God, having given grace to hope in the promise, would surely never disappoint that hope. He cannot have caused us to hope without cause. If we hope upon his word we have a sure basis: our gracious Lord would never mock us by exciting false hopes. Our great Master will not forget his own servants, nor disappoint the expectation which he himself has raised: because we are the Lord’s, and endeavour to remember his own word by obeying it, we may be sure that he will think upon his own servants, and remember his own promise by making it good.”

— Charles Spurgeon

Christ IN You

The Gospel Remits

“The gospel remits the severity of the moral law. Wherein our personal obedience comes short, God will be pleased to accept us in our Surety. ‘He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.’ Eph. 1:6. Though our obedience be imperfect, yet, through Christ our Surety, God looks upon it as perfect.”

— Thomas Watson

The Necessity of the Cross

The desire to know God seems right and good, but it isn’t natural. Yes, there were external barriers the cross toppled, but there were internal barriers as well. Serious internal barriers! Our pursuit of God never would have begun had it not been for God’s prior pursuit of us. Left to the desires of our own hearts, and to those inclinations and propensities of our own nature, we never would have commenced a search for God.

            While this observation may bruise our egos and perhaps tempt a contrary reply, any attempt to debate this idea is decisively cut off by Scripture’s declaration, “… there is none that seeks after God” (Romans 3:11). Not on our own, anyway. Those who pursue God do so only after the Spirit of God began to draw them, to woo them, to witness to them. So if we find ourselves pursuing God, it is because God wants us to find him! And even better: He is helping us succeed!

            The three biggest obstacles to a successful pursuit of God are sin, self, and Satan—sin, because it constructs an environment inhospitable to God; self, because it seeks a place of rule that only belongs to God; and Satan, because he releases forces entirely hostile to God. But as we shall see next, all three of these obstacles are best observed, and best overcome, at the cross. 

            Scripture substantiates the truth that no one can come to Jesus except by way of the cross. Admirers of his life, students of his words, devotees of his deeds, and would-be imitators of his character cannot begin their journey with Jesus simply by admiring, studying, devoting, or imitating. Only the most superficial observation of Jesus would encourage approaches like these. Had we more closely observed his words, deeds, and character, we would have immediately known the futility of replicating these. What is therefore essential, indeed vital, is this meeting at the cross.

            The cross of Jesus is the only gateway to new life, the only entrance into heaven and into the forever family of God. Because it is at the cross of Jesus where the soul admits sin, accepts God’s verdict against it, confesses there is nothing good enough within to commend God’s approval, acknowledges total inability to measure up to the just standard of God, and avails itself to receive the undeserved mercy of God.

            With a heart disgraced by sin, a desire aroused for the Savior, and a faith that reaches up to receive what grace reaches down to give, the soul is saved from everlasting judgment and is then given what it could never produce on its own, new and eternal life.

            Actually, there is no other way a person can be saved. No matter what one’s moral attainment is, or what one’s educational accomplishment might be, performance-based achievement is not enough! And it will never be enough, no matter how generous one’s deeds or noble one’s sacrifice! Making an offer to God along these lines is utterly useless, because the only standard acceptable to God is absolute perfection.

            Our failure to meet this standard resulted in a debt no amount of good works could ever satisfy. So, with unfathomable love, it was God who paid our debt—and he paid dearly! In all of history, sacred and profane, there has never been a transaction that cost so much! But the exorbitant cost of Calvary will not benefit the person whose head remains unbowed and whose neck remains stiff. Should the heart harden, and should the hands be turned vertically in refusal instead of horizontally in reception, the gift of salvation will have been effectively spurned; pride will depart, intact, to go its own way. Speaking about this pride, Augustine said it is the first thing that overcame man and it is the last thing man overcomes, if he overcomes it at all!

            Pride manifests in its most outrageous and ostentatious form when it imagines that the life and death of Jesus were given to us for no other reason than for us to imitate. No one can ever keep company with Jesus, though, if his death holds no meaning beyond that of an example. Likewise, the words, deeds, and character of Jesus will have also been misunderstood if someone thinks there is any chance at all in replicating this life through one’s own native abilities.

            Jesus stood unique among men! His death, as that of no other man, paid for our sins. And his life, perfect even to the omniscient eye, keeps us from having to give an inadequate account for our life, since, by so gracious a gift, the Lord’s righteousness was credited to our account.

            The bottom line is this: No other life, and no other death, could ever give us what the life and death of Jesus gave us. What must be made clearer to us, then, than any other fact is the utterly sensational truth that Jesus is more than a teacher, a miracle worker, and a man of ideals—he is none other than God come to earth in human flesh! With certain divine attributes set aside, he came from his home in glory in order to identify with us in the closest of ways.

            But even after coming this far, the distinct possibility remains that the intimacy Jesus desired may not occur, if his real identity is not acknowledged by men. The Old Testament asks the question, can two walk together unless they are agreed? In some matters the answer is, they cannot. To walk with Jesus throughout this life and into the next requires settled agreement about who he is.

            That one on the center cross is the same one who created the world and will one day stand as Judge of all the earth. He is Lord of all and, good news to you, he is the lover of your soul. Accept his truth, receive his gift, welcome him forever as your Savior and Lord, and the walk down that hill called Golgotha will be different than the walk up. Although you approached the cross a sinner, you can leave the cross a son.

            Sad to say, the dull heart beats no faster when this invitation is given, but perhaps it would if the invitation were understood. 

- J. W. Phillips

Let His Love Win Your Love

“When we go to the cross, we see our God dying for us. If you let any other god down, it will beat you up. If you live for people’s approval or your career or possessions or control or anything else and you don’t make it or you mess up, then you’ll be left feeling afraid, downcast, or bitter. But when you let Christ down, he still loves you. He doesn’t beat you up; he died for you.

Let his love win your love, and let that love replace all other affections. The secret of change is to renew your love for Christ as you see him crucified in your place.”

— Tim Chester

Spiritually Stuck

The Apostle Paul and the Prophet Jonah aren’t often compared; yet, comparisons can be made. One similarity these two men shared: Neither man wanted to minister in the place God had chosen for him. One major difference between them, though, is that one was eventually willing to serve God in that place, and the other wasn’t. Significantly, both men became spiritually stuck after they came to know the Lord, and even after they entered the ministry.

            The Failure Factor

            One all-too-common factor that accounts for the spiritually stuck condition is failure. Of course, no one likes to fail! Especially if the mission is deemed important and the passion of one’s heart is devoted to its success! Case in point: Saul, who was later to become the Apostle Paul. Today the whole world knows who Paul is, but his eventual success in the ministry seemed doomed by the way it all began.

            The Book of Acts tells the story. After this most amazing conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul attempted to convert the very ones he had been allied with—without any success! Then he journeyed to Jerusalem and commenced a preaching campaign there. The results there, however, were discouragingly the same. Not one person got saved!

            Given the passion and brilliance of Paul, and given the drama of the blinding light and the voice straight out of heaven, one would think that Paul’s beginnings in the ministry would have been sensational. Converting the chief persecutor of the church was an amazing story, after all! And who could have told this story better than the man it actually happened to—Paul? In attempting to tell it, though, Paul saw, not meager results—something the faithful laborer could build upon—but absolutely no results! So eventually, with no ministerial successes to cite, Paul was lowered over the wall in a basket (almost like a common criminal) to escape the furor his presence had stirred up.

            As Paul walked away from Jerusalem that night, his mind must have been in a whirl. Vexing, perplexing thoughts must have blitzed in to inflict their repeated torments! It was only days earlier when the Lord appeared to Paul in the temple and told him in no uncertain terms to get out of town. But Paul, insisting that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and a Pharisee of the Pharisees, didn’t want to go! What better person could there be, he argued, to witness to these Jews!

            Paul was so certain that his passion had to be his mission he persisted in making his point! But unlike later debates, Paul didn’t win this one; and thus he was compelled to leave town at once—a failure in the ministry!

            The only thing Paul had achieved during the initial days of his ministry was to bring more trouble to the church. But when Paul got out of town—what do you know?—the church did great (Acts 9:26)!

            Disoriented in mind and lacerated in heart, Paul dropped out of sight. And, in terms of Scripture’s reporting, Paul wasn’t heard from again for another fourteen years? What happened? He was spiritually stuck!

            Just like this now revered apostle, there are other people who have also attempted to do such great things for God, only to see their efforts unrewarded and, seemingly, God showing them the door. Tormented by what could have been, and by what they think should have been, they now suffer silently in their defeat. And with each passing day, this defeat has become the defining event in their Christian walk. They can’t see through it, and they can’t see around it.

            However, when Paul returned to the scene more than a decade later, he was a changed man. In fact, unlike the man who argued with God in the temple that day, Paul no longer relied on his own laurels. So, to those who wanted him to hype his ministry with PR credentials, Paul said, “If I must boast, my boast is this: Years ago, when I was lowered over that wall and literally became ‘a basket case,’ God taught me a lesson I have never forgotten. I learned that it is only in weakness that I am able to lay hold of the power that can make a ministry successful.”

            For Paul in the New Testament, as with Moses in the Old Testament, many years went by before God could rescue these men from their spiritually stuck condition. Interestingly, at any given time during each man’s seeming absence from desired leadership, an onlooker may have concluded these lives were locked down in obscurity. Just like the seed sent deep into the ground, there was no indication of any forthcoming harvest. The dirt over the seed was like the dirt over the coffin: a declaration of finality.

            But then came that day when the dirt on each man’s life began to move. And what appeared was a miracle the ages now celebrate. Moses came forth, and Paul was sent, to the destiny God had ordained for each. But not until each man’s failure, and that which caused it, was transformed by the divine remedy of dying to self.

            Is it possible that God has put you on the shelf for a season, not as punishment, in the way you supposed, but because of this need to rid you of that which caused your failure? If so, please know the Lord loves you too much to let this problem continue. And while it may not seem so right now, that dream which died will yet be fulfilled, only in a more God-pleasing way. So let God do his ministry in your life before you extend ministry to others.

Fighting Fear with the Word

Luke 4 tells the story of Jesus’ 40-day stay in the desert and the assault Satan launched in an attempt to convince him to turn his back on God the Father. It’s a familiar passage. But recently, my husband and I were discussing it in relation to fear. It provides so much hope in the practice of battling fear (and temptation) with Scripture.

Each of Jesus’ responses is fueled by the very words of God. He doesn’t try to logically explain things. There’s no intellectual argument. He’s not fighting alone. Jesus relies on the power and promises of God’s words to battle the accusations and temptations of Satan.
It stands to reason, then, that when I face the little and big fears of life, Scripture would be my mightiest weapon. But it’s not always that easy. It’s a battle to believe that his words will speak life to my fears. It’s a battle for me to trust that God’s promises are for me. It’s a battle to trust God.

God’s Word Has Power

In Luke 4, Jesus’ response to Satan begins with, “It is written …” (Luke 4:10, 4:8). Commentator Matthew Henry writes, “[He uses these words] to show that he came to assert and maintain the authority of the scripture as uncontrollable, even by Satan himself. And though he had the Spirit without measure, and had a doctrine of his own to preach and a religion to found, yet it agreed with Moses and the prophets, whose writings he therefore lays down as a rule to himself, and recommends to us as a reply to Satan and his temptations. The word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield; we should therefore be mighty in the scriptures, and go in that might, go forth, and go on, in our spiritual warfare, know what is written, for it is for our learning, for our use.”

The example Jesus gives should fuel our faith. The word of God is our sword—a sword that has power to fight our temptations and fight my fear. And faith in those words is our shield. Isn’t that where it can be hard? Really believing that speaking truth to our fears and temptations will guard our hearts and minds? It’s a part of the battle, to be sure, but it’s not one that can be lost. God helps even our unbelief.
I’m often reminded of my three-year-old’s faith when my faith is low and the battle seems harder. She has just a little bit of truth and she boldly proclaims it. Over her fear of bugs, she says, “Jesus, keep me safe.” Over her fear of the unknown noise while trying to fall asleep, she says, “Jesus, protect me.” Even my younger daughter has learned to say the name of Jesus when she’s scared. Childlike faith in the power of God’s name and Word will dispel our fears.

God’s Word Has Promise

An ungodly fear speaks irrational thoughts and empty promises into our circumstances and minds. It’s the motivator of the rabbit trail we go down when we try to figure out what life will look like—and we forget God. Fear is devoid of God and all he has promised to us as his children. And when Satan convinces us to forget God’s promises, God’s Word can seem to lack power in our lives. That’s whyI have to keep Scripture constantly in front of me. Most recently, I’ve meditated on Isaiah 33:2, which says, “O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.”

Verses to Fight Fear

There’s no substitute in life for memorizing and applying Scripture. If I want to fight fear, Scripture must be deeply rooted in my mind and heart. The Holy Spirit will help to bring it to mind, but it’s our job to make sure it’s even there to begin with. Here is a short list of verses that have helped me to battle fear:
Psalm 16:1–11
Psalm 56:3–4
Isaiah 41:10
Isaiah 43:1–3
Romans 8:31–32

I want my faith to imitate that of my daughters—that at the very mention of the name of Jesus, my fear is gone. It’s this kind of faith that magnifies God by exalting the power of his Word and believing the promises he has spoken in his Word.

by Erin Radano

Are You Living By Circumstantial Evidence

Sometimes when going through circumstances people become cantankerous and hard to live with. We can get mean, rebellious, critical, negative and even blame God for what is happening and become angry at God. This doesn't mean that we have forsaken our relationship with God, but it does mean that we have an unsurrendered self life, we are being governed by our carnal nature. But through all this God is faithful wants us to change our self life for His life. It is not the circumstances that will defeat us it is our reaction to the circumstances.

The Christ life within us is everything necessary for righteousness, victory, and authority over every circumstance of our life. It just need development and our correct reaction to circumstances will help develop it. This takes our whole spirit, soul and body being surrendered to God so He can work out the spirit of authority so you will take authority and practice a sonship relationship.

Now in that sonship relationship there are three levels that you pass through...babe...carnal...spiritual. As a babe you have everything, but you don't possess it because of a lack of maturity. As carnal you can't possess it because the carnal mind is at enmity with God because you are  living for self. It is only as spiritual can you move into all the benefits of knowing who you are in Christ. You have to possess your possessions. The children of Israel had Canaan, but they had to drive out the giants and displace what was there. The giants in your life that have grown there because of your environment and religious teachings through your old Adamic nature has to be displaced and replaced with the truth of who God is and who you are in Christ.

Believe, you can't give what you haven't got or don't know you have. You cannot lead anybody to a higher spiritual plateau than you are yourself. That is why God desires you to grow until you know that you know you know. You know that God is the same when you feel bad as when you feel good. When the Spirit is in control and you are mature you will not move into the wilderness of emotions. You are not overwhelmed by feelings of frustration. You know that God is with you through every circumstance and you keep your focus on Jesus instead of the circumstance.

The life within you continues to swallow up the patterns from your past and the desires of your fleshly appetites. There are passions that have been inflamed by sin, but He takes the fire out. Everything inside of you was made for His purposes, but sin inflamed it while you were in darkness and unrighteousness. You were in this state because you were born with the Adamic nature. But when He comes in, He begins to take all these things out and bring your whole lifestyle back into the divine pattern where it belongs.

God never intended for you to live with a heavy spirit because of your past or present circumstances. God never intended for you to live crying out of your circumstances. God has not planned any defeats for you. If you give into your carnal flesh you will be defeated. Hindsight is always twenty/twenty and we often look back and whip ourselves because we didn't do that or this. Yet we may have done the best we could at the time. But satan tries to whip us over yesterday's failures. These are the things we have to learn to lay at the alter and leave it there.

As you begin to move into the reality that resurrection life flows because of relationship instead of religion-ship you come to a revelation of God's purpose for you as a member of His Community of the Redeemed. God made you to share in everything that He created for His Son, you are joint heirs. You are elevated out of the place of condemnation,  out of a place of insecurity, out of a place of wondering if God really loves you, out of religiosity, out of a place where you judge your position by your problems and religious persuasion and into a place of knowing who you are in Christ! When you start realizing who you are, God begins to move heaven and earth to bring you into the realization of your identity in Him.

1 Peter 2:9 says: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

This holy nation, the redeemed of all nations, the Community of the Redeemed is to be the powerful force that demonstrates the life of Jesus by resurrection life flowing. The body of Christ needs to come out of denominational slumber so that the world will see God for who He is.

Jesus knew who He was when He was on the boat in the Sea of Galilee and the wind's came up. The boat was tossing wildly about. The disciples were panicking, what was Jesus doing? In this adverse circumstance Jesus was sleeping. How could Jesus sleep in such conditions? Because He knew who He was. The disciples were frantic. Waves were sweeping over them and they shook Him, crying out, "Jesus don't you care that we perish?" What did Jesus want of those disciples? He wanted them to know that nothing could happen to them as long as He was aboard. There was a purpose in every move that Jesus made.

Everything that is happening in your life has a purpose, to push you into making choices. you have to choose how to react to whatever circumstance you are in. The life within you needs to grow. Everything in our lives that does not fit into His eternal purpose will become a conflict within your life. 

You are the sum total of your choices. The life within you wants God, but you can diminish that life by how you react to your circumstances.

As His life enlarges within you, you will grow to the position of maturity that life's emergencies will never cause you to push the panic button. What He has started in you, He will perfect until that day.

- Glenn Regular

When the Heart is Fat with the Love of Jesus

“On the most basic levels, I desire fullness, and fleshly lusts seduce me by attaching themselves to this basic desire. They exploit the empty spaces in me, and they promise that fulness will be mine if I give in to their demands. When my soul sits empty and is aching for something to fill it, such deceptive promises are extremely difficult to resist.

Consequently, the key to mortifying fleshly lusts is to eliminate the emptiness within me and replace it with fullness; and I accomplish this by feasting on the gospel. Indeed, it is in the gospel that I experience a God who glorifies Himself by filling me with His fullness. This is the God of the gospel, a God who is satisfied with nothing less than my experience of fullness in Him!

Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free. Eyes do not rove, nor do fleshly lusts rule, when the heart is fat with the love of Jesus!”

— Milton Vincent

Jesus In, BUT, is Jesus living through us

All religious denominational fountains are dry when it comes to satisfying the inward thirst of your spirit. They are dry because there is no spiritual substance in them. They look great to the self-righteous carnal nature, but once you get into them there is no genuine relationship with God thus, no genuine spiritual satisfaction.

Every time you say yes to God and no to religion, another spiritual block is added to your spiritual foundation. Every time you obey the Word instead of your carnal fleshly desires another spiritual block is added. You are maturing and building a house that Jesus desires to reside in and work through.

Believers are built from within, not without. This is what we have to understand. Religion wants to mould us into its image. This is the conflict between your sprit and the carnal nature. Once you fully surrender to the life that is within, your striving to do good ceases and you will rest in His grace. But it is hard to die to self and to religion thus, we are troubled. The more our carnal nature dies the more of Christ is revealed. "This is the treasure we have in earthen vessels." "Christ in us".

We read in Galatians 4:1-7: "Now what I mean is that as long as the inheritor is a child and under age, does not differ from a servant, although he is master of all the estate; But he is under guardians and administrators or trustees until the date fixed by his father. So we [denominational christians] also when we were minors, were kept like slaves under [the rules of denominational rituals and traditions] and subject to the elementary teachings of a system of external observations and regulations, but God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the Law. To purchase the freedom of, to redeem, to atone for those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us and be recognized as God's sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father! Therefore you are no longer a servant but a son; and if a son, then it follows that you are an heir by the aid of God through Christ." (Square bracketed words are mine)

When you are born again, you are a son; but you lack the revelation knowledge of what is yours through Christ. You are more in a servant state, receiving the milk of the written word and doing what you are told by other believers and leaders. This knowledge that you need is not something that you are going to acquire by human reasoning or human wisdom. Man can teach your mind to understand but, they cannot teach your spirit. It is a knowledge that is going to be revealed by the Spirit of God as to who you really are. You can know it in your mind and not know it in your spirit. There are many believers that have been saved for a long time and still do not know their identity in Christ. But when you know it in your spirit, it is in a different realm and the circumstances of life will not cause you to lose faith. The description of a servant is one who is under bondage and they serve.

In ancient times a son was trained in all the things of the household and business because trades were passed down in that day. If the father was a potter, his son would be a potter. The trades went from generation to generation.

But that son was a servant. He was under tutors and governors until he came to the knowledge of the household and business. When he came to that certain age, their would be a celebration. This celebration was a celebration of adoption. Now if he was a son, why was he being adopted? Because the son was now going to move into a place of authority. The son had come to the level of knowledge where no longer would he serve has a servant; but he would move into full rights, privileges, freedom, liberties and the responsibilities of the household. Because of the knowledge through the tutors and governors, he had come to the level that he could be trusted.

Let us consider the spiritual realm. When we think of adoption, we think of a family reaching out and adopting a child they have not given birth to. This child is adopted into the family legally and has all the rights of that family. But it does not have the life stream of its parents.

This is not what the type of adoption the scripture refers to. When we come into the family of God, we are born into it, we are not adopted into it. We have the life stream of the Father. The word adoption here means that because of the tutoring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Word and His life stream is put into us by the new birth, we live as a servant until we have matured to the point that we can be entrusted with the realization of who Christ is and who we are in Him.

When that realization hits home a knowledge is born in your spirit of who you are. There is a reality on the inside of a deep relationship letting you know what sonship and being an heir really means.

The father had two sons, the only begotten (Jesus) and the created (Adam). Adam moved from God, thus we have the story of the whole human race. Our (Adamic, carnal) nature is at enmity with God. The carnal nature that is of the world and is worldly doesn't want God. In fact it is impossible for the carnal nature to know God.

But through the new birth God reaches us and we are born again, and His life begins to mature within us. As we submit more and more to the Spirit that life matures and we move into the full relationship that God desires for us to have. That knowledge is the revelation knowledge that comes when Jesus is being unveiled in your spirit. soon it begins to come out in your understanding and you begin to think differently. You approach God differently. Do you know that the more mature you become, the more your praying will change from the way you pray now? You will cease being a beggar, you won't pray as a servant in bondage any longer. You will pray as free people, you will pray as sons and daughters.

During God's dealing with us, sometimes we get hard to live with. We get mean, rebellious, critical, negative and blame God for what is happening. We want to strike back and run away. This doesn't mean that you are relationship-less, only that you have an unsurrendered nature, you are being governed by your carnal nature. But through all this God is faithful and wants us to refine the nature within us. It is not the circumstances that will defeat us it is our reaction to the circumstances.

God has placed inside of you all of the ingredients necessary for righteousness, victory and authority over every circumstance of your life. It just needs development and your correct reaction to circumstances will help develop it. This takes your whole spirit, soul and body being surrendered to God, then you will have a sonship relationship.

He Has Permanently Identified With Us

“Since His resurrection, Jesus has kept His physical body, in a glorified form. Jesus did not have a body before He came to earth; He took on a physical body for one purpose only — so that He could die. He became a man to live the perfect life for us and then to die in our place. But even when all that was over, He kept a physical body for eternity in heaven, with the scars on His hands and feet and side now part of His glory. He has permanently identified with us. This is amazing love.”

— Susan Lutz

A Dissatisfied Messiah

“The One on whom we wait is a dissatisfied Messiah. He will not relent, he will not quit, he will not rest until ever promise he has made been fully delivered. He will not turn from his work until every one of his children has been totally transformed. He will continue to fight until the last enemy is under his feet. He will reign until his kingdom has fully come. As long as sin exists, he will shower us with forgiving, empowering, and delivering grace.

He will defend us against attack and attack the enemy on our behalf. He will be faithful to convict, rebuke, encourage, and comfort. He will continue to open the warehouse of his wisdom and unfold for us the glorious mysteries of his truth. He will stand with us through the darkness and the light. He will guide us on a path we could never have discovered or would never have been wise enough to choose. He will supply for us every good thing that we need to be what he’s called us to be and to do what he’s called us to do in the place where he’s put us.

And he will not rest from his work until every last microbe of sin has been completely eradicated from every heart of each of his children!”
— Paul David Tripp

Seven Reasons Why Christians Abandon the Faith

1. The horrible, disgusting, nasty way that Christians treat one another in-person and online.
I wrote about this in Warning: The World is Watching How We Christians Treat One Another and The Art of Being a Jerk Online. But it’s also one of the reasons why some Christians want nothing to do with following Jesus anymore. It’s because of the sub-human way that so many of His professing followers treat each other. Ways in which they themselves would never want to be treated, breaking the cardinal commandment of Jesus Himself — which fulfills the Law and the Prophets — in Matthew 7:12.

2. The canned superficial answers they had been given to complicated questions.
Example: An 18 year old is brought up in a Christian home. She is taught that God created the earth in seven literal days and that the earth is young. The 18-year old enters college and she hears this idea ripped to shreds. She is confused and finally concludes, “If that’s wrong, then I have to throw out everything I’ve been taught in the Bible. Maybe it’s all myth.”
The fact is, this 18-year old has never been exposed to some of the best thinking on the subject. She’s never been exposed to the sophisticated answers to modernity, to empiricism, to the problem of evil in the world. Nor has she ever been taught that one can interpret Genesis a number of ways and none of them means doubting the authority, reliability, or inspiration of Scripture.
The canned answers she received is all she knows and they are proving inadequate.
Greg Boyd’s excellent book, Benefit of the Doubt, goes into some of this very well.
(Incidentally, to the fundamentalists who might read this post, I’ve not given my view on Genesis 1 and 2 here, so don’t assume it. I give my views on those passages in Jesus: A Theography. I find too many holes in macro-evolutionary theory (although there is clearly evolution within species, etc.) and I believe that Adam was a living, breathing mortal. However, I have many friends who take all of this figuratively and they are more faithful to Jesus Christ than some of my fundamentalist friends. So if N.T. Wright or C.S. Lewis reads Genesis 1 and 2 completely figuratively, that doesn’t make them apostates. The real test of whether or not you really know Jesus Christ is if you love the brethren — 1 John — and walk in Matthew 7:12. Many so-called “Bible-believing Christians” do not; they are hateful and dishonest people who will be shocked when they face God one day.)

3. They met a God who didn’t meet their expectations.
It could be a tragedy they experienced. It could be a painful event. It could be something dark and horrible that they’ve prayed to be saved from for years and God doesn’t seem to care. It could be a “promise” in Scripture that they stood on in faith, but never saw materialize.
I’ve talked at length about this problem and the solution for it in God’s Favorite Place on Earth. Thankfully, that book has helped scores of people who have read it. But unfortunately, I can’t make people who would benefit from reading a book to actually read it. One of the frustrations of being an author. (Countless contemporary Christians will only read a book if a movie is made for it or if it appears on Fox News, The Today Show, or is heavily promoted by a mega-church pastor.) Anyways, this is a BIG reason why many abandon the Jesus ship.

4. The stupidity and ignorance of so many Christians.
Regrettably, many Christians believe whatever they read or hear. Those who are wiser and smarter don’t want to be associated with that lot. So they start thinking, “If Jesus was the Savior of the world, why are so many of His followers so stupid?” . . . “If Jesus is the head of the church, why is His church so dysfunctional and so toxic in so many cases?” So they start questioning the claims of the Lord Himself.

5. Failure to live up to the gospel of legalism.
I’ve watched Christians leave the Lord because they were taught a gospel of legalism — namely, that God will be upset with them if they don’t live a perfect life. Despite how hard they tried, they kept failing to keep the standard in various areas of their lives. They prayed, fasted, and sought victory over the problem with no results. Eventually, they got so weary that they concluded that it’s just not worth it to follow the Lord, so they left Him.

6. They loved the world more than Christ.
Jesus wasn’t enough in their eyes to satisfy their heart’s desires — or what  they thought were their real desires. They loved “the pleasures of sin” more than the pleasures of God. Paul said of Demas, a Christian worker who had abandoned him, that “he loved this present world.”

7. The cares of this life choked the (spiritual) life out of them.

In His famous “parable of the sower,” Jesus talked about the seed of God’s word being choked to death because of the cares of this life. The daily grind of day-to-day life with all of its twists, turns, and problems can be a perpetual distraction to the spiritual person. So much so that it can easily choke the life out of them. The spiritual life, that is.

- Frank Viola

Father

Here is a quote on God as ‘Father’ versus ‘Creator’, this is important, so I am quoting this in length:


. . . The center of the New Testament is the relationship between Jesus Christ and the One he addresses as Father. The communion between Jesus and his heavenly Fatherly is an utterly unique relationship, of which we can know nothing apart from Jesus’ own testimony.

God is thus Father not by comparison to human fathers, but only in the Trinitarian relation, as Father of the Son. Whenever Father is used of God it means “the One whom Jesus called Father.” The paradigm text is John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” In Greek, the word for “made him known” is exegesato. Jesus “exegetes” or “interprets” the Father. The term does not denote a generic title for God outside of the Father-Son relationship. Father thus functions in Trinitarian language not as a descriptive metaphor but as a proper name, whose home is the relationship that exists from all eternity between the first and second Persons of the Trinity. That is a relationship to which we as creatures have not immediate knowledge or access.
But by an astonishing gift of grace, Jesus invites us to be united with himself in the power of the Holy Spirit so that in union with him we may come to share in his utterly unique relation of Sonship to the Father. By ourselves we have absolutely no right or ground to address God as “Father.” It is only as we are united with Christ, partaking of his communion with the Father, that we can truthfully address God in this way ourselves. In Paul’s words,

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. . . . When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (Rom. 8:14-17)

We know God only in and through Christ’s relationship of Sonship, into which he invites us as participants (“Pray then like this: Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”). This means that salvation is understood as our communion with the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. As Fanny Crosby’s hymn put it, “O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory: great things he hath done!” Our knowledge of God and our hope for salvation are directly Trinitarian in their scope.
The traditional naming of the Trinitarian God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is sometimes replaced today by the functional titles of Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. This works as an occasional use, describing God’s acts, but not as a substitute for the Trinitarian Name. The Fatherhood of God is tied utterly to Jesus’ naming of his own relationship to God, into which relationship we, by the Spirit, participate.

It was St. Athanasius who noted that the only reason we have for calling God “Father” is that God is so named by Jesus in the Bible. This points to the historical shape that the Gospels too: Christian faith is a biblical faith and a Jesus-based faith. God’s Fatherhood was understood relationally in an through Jesus Christ as self-giving love, and not as a human image or concept projected onto God. There is, in fact, an appropriate “thinking away” of that which is inappropriate in this terminology. By this we mean explicitly thinking away all biological and sexual imputation whatsoever into the theological concept of God. God the Father revealed in Scripture is Spirit. God has no sexual identity; sexuality, after all, is part of creation. The imago Dei (image of God) is not reversible; God is not created in our likeness! The personalized language of Trinitarian theology intends to bear witness in Christ to the liberation of humankind from all patriarchal idols and divinized ideologies. Where this did not and does not happen, there is a perversion of intent that must be utterly rejected on the ground of the nature and reference of Trinitarian language itself. (Andrew Purves and Mark Achtemeier, “Union in Christ: A Declaration for the Church,” 34-36)
There is so much in this that could be noted. I am only going to touch on some of the implications of what is being said here; I am going to reflect (below) with (1) Theological Implications, and then (2) Pastoral Implications.

Theological Implications
Certainly it should at least be highlighted that thinking like that articulated in the quote flows from a prior commitment to a certain mode of theological discourse, in fact methodology or prolegomena. Purves and Achtemeir are in the, what Barth has called, analogia fidei (or analogy of faith) versus the Traditional approach, best articulated by Thomas Aquinas called the analogia entis (or analogy of being). Instead of discussing what the distinctions are, in general here, I am going to focus on how these two disparate approaches play out theologically; and for our purposes, Confessionally. What happens if a particular theologian, or school of theologians, follows Aquinas’ approach versus the more Luther[an], Calvin[ian], Barth[ian], Torrance[an] approach?Here’s how the WCF starts out discussion on God and Trinity:
I. There is but one only,[1] living, and true God,[2] who is infinite in being and perfection,[3] a most pure spirit,[4] invisible,[5] without body, parts,[6] or passions;[7] immutable,[8] immense,[9] eternal,[10] incomprehensible,[11] almighty,[12] most wise,[13] most holy,[14] most free,[15] most absolute;[16] working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will,[17] for His own glory;[18] most loving,[19] gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin;[20] the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him;[21] and withal, most just, and terrible in His judgments,[22] hating all sin,[23] and who will by no means clear the guilty.[24] (WCF, 2/I)

And the Belgic Confession:
Article 1: The Only God
* We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God — eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good.

Article 8: The Trinity
* In keeping with this truth and Word of God we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties– namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things, visible as well as invisible. (Belgic Confession)

Contrast the above with the Heidelberg Catechism:
Of God The Father
9. Lord’s Day
Question 26. What believest thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”?
Answer: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them; (a) who likewise upholds and governs the same by his eternal counsel and providence) (b) is for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father; (c) on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt, but he will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body (d) and further, that he will make whatever evils he sends upon me, in this valley of tears turn out to my advantage; (e) for he is able to do it, being Almighty God, (f) and willing, being a faithful Father. (g) (Heidelberg Catechism)

And the Scots Confession:
Chapter 1 – God
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom alone we must worship, and in whom alone we must put our trust; who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; by whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own glory. (Scot’s Confession, 1560)

At first blush there might not be much discernable difference between the WCF/BC and the HC/SC, but that’s what I want to reflect on for a moment. The “Westminster” tradition starts talking about God by highlighting His “attributes,” these are characteristics that are contrasted with who man is not. We finally make it to Him as “Father, Son, Holy Spirit,” but not before we have qualified Him through “our” categories using man (“analogy of being”) as our mode of thinking about “Godness.” This is true for both the WCF/BC. Contrarily, the HC/SC both immediately speak of God as Father; which is to say that these approach God through an (“analogy of faith” to speak anachronistically). Meaning that the emphasis is on the economic Revelation of God in Christ as the ‘eternal Son of God’ who exegetes God’s inner-life as loving Father, Son, by the Holy Spirit as the shape of his ‘being’ (ousia).

I hope the significance of this is not lost on you. It almost seems nit-picky, I am sure for some of you, that I would try and draw this distinction; but I want to assure you, that it is real — and that it would serve as one of the reasons that Purves and Achtemeir felt it necessary to make the point they do in the quote I provide from them above. The next question might be, what difference does this shift in “emphasis” and approach make in real life; in “pastoral situations?”

Pastoral Implications

I have a friend who is in the midst of “hellish” personal circumstances (a divorce with extraordinary circumstances surrounding it). We meet almost weekly to talk and pray. He has previously (for the past few years) sat under teaching that is self-consciously promoting theology that lines up with the Westminster approach to articulating God; his pastors teach through the theological grid that both John MacArthur and John Piper provide (in general). He is totally relying on the Lord, for this is really all he has, through this terrible season. And often, in our conversation he brings up the issue of “why” if God is sovereign would He allow or decree or appoint or cause the things that are happening to happen in his life in the way that they are. It is hard for my friend to conceptualize a God who is loving Father before He is sovereign Creator. So, like the “WCF” my friend primarily thinks about God through God’s attributes; instead of think of God through His relationship as Father, Son, Holy Spirit. This has real life consequence upon how my friend is trying to process his circumstances, and I must say not for the good. I am glad that I have been able to point him to a way to think about God as loving Father who is sovereign in relation to His Son versus thinking about God as sovereign Creator who deals with humanity through his unqualified attributes as if this is what defines the “essence” of “who” God is. My friend, I think, is starting to see what a difference this makes in trying to think about God in right ways!

Happy Failures Day

If you’re a dad, you know what it means to fail. On Father’s Day, don’t dwell on your failures; remember how Jesus has overcome them.

Every dad I know (including the one I know best: me) lives with regret. All of us have blown it with our kids in some very big and bad ways. And this can make Father’s Day humbling, awkward, and even painful. We receive honor and praise we know we don’t really deserve.
Father’s Day can be a harsh reminder of our failures in one of life’s most important roles—the role of a dad. To all you dads out there, let me be the first to wish you a “Happy Failure’s Day.” Now, let me point you toward Jesus.

Jesus takes away sin

Last words are said to be lasting words, and the Old Testament of the Bible closes with some lasting words. The prophet Malachi records these final words from God, who said, “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” (Mal. 4:5–6).
Roughly 400 years after this message was delivered, John the Baptizer shows up playing the role of Elijah (Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 17:12) and proclaims Jesus to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

God the Father’s love poured out for us in Jesus enables us to exceed our very worst failures.

As Jesus takes away the sin of those who trust in him for forgiveness, soft hearts replace hard ones. With new hearts, dads love kids and kids love dads in a way that is bigger than sin, failure, shame, and regret.

Jesus loves us in our failure

Dads, God the Father’s love poured out for us in Jesus enables us to exceed our very worst failures. He sees us through the righteousness of Jesus and invites us to see ourselves in the very same way—even as we fail. This practically means I can openly own my sin against my children through confession and repentance. And while the consequences of my sin may linger, there is no condemnation, so my heart is freed to love my kids in a way that overcomes the regret I feel from hurting those I love most.
In the lyrics of “How He Loves,” a song we often sing together in worship: “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way…He loves us.”

Jesus helps us forgive

Sons and daughters, the Father’s love poured out for us in Jesus enables us to forgive the dads who have failed us. That’s why the Bible instructs us to, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Just as Jesus changes the hearts of dads, he changes the hearts of children too. He can take the wounded heart of a child destined for the hardness of bitterness and make it tender and forgiving.

God sees us through the righteousness of Jesus and invites us to see ourselves in the very same way—even as we fail.

The Father sent his Son to change the hearts of fathers and their children. And Jesus has done just that. He gives us new hearts filled with love. The Bible is true and exhorts us, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

Dads, there is only one perfect Father, and we are not him. But he makes it possible for failures like us to really have a happy Father’s Day.

Individual and Cosmic

“Jesus is the divine curse-remover and creation-renewer. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross broke the curse of sin and death brought on by Adam’s cosmic rebellion. His bodily resurrection from the dead three days later dealt death its final blow, guaranteeing the eventual renewal of all things ‘in Christ.’

The dimensions of Christ’s finished work are both individual and cosmic. They range from personal pardon for sin and individual forgiveness to the final resurrection of our bodies and the restoration of the whole world. Now that’s good news—gospel—isn’t it? If we place our trust in the finished work of Christ, sin’s curse will lose its grip on us individually and we will one day be given a renewed creation.

The gospel isn’t only about reestablishing a two-way relationship between God and us; it also restores a three-way relationship among God, his people, and the created order. Through Christ’s work, our relationship with God is restored while creation itself is renewed. This is what theologians mean when they talk about redemption. They’re describing this profound, far-reaching work by God.”

— Tullian Tchividjian

The Resurrection Changes Everything

We don’t like to talk about death. When we absolutely have to, we fall back on euphemisms like “passed on,” “no longer with us,” or “didn’t make it.” Left to our own devices, we’ll ignore it entirely.

The arts are more willing to engage the drama and inevitability of death; as a culture, we read novels and watch movies to try to make sense of it. On our own, though, we’re sociologically and psychologically unequipped to deal with death’s reality.
I’m convinced that we support huge cosmetology and plastic-surgery industries not only because of our worship of beauty, but because we fear aging as the harbinger of death. Not only do we want to elude death; we long to avoid the very things we associate with it. As Paul tells us in Romans 8, we, like all of creation, struggle to be liberated from our bondage to decay.

You do not give me up

David wrote many Psalms while under great duress, and one of my favorites is Psalm 16. Unlike many of David’s laments, this Psalm acknowledges his troubles in a grateful and almost casual manner.

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.”
—Psalm 16:9–10

Within the context of Psalm 16, this is a powerful testimony of trust for someone under the constant threat of death. In light of Christ’s Resurrection, it becomes something else entirely . . .
When Peter addresses the gathered crowd at Pentecost, he calls this Psalm prophetic. More than just David trusting God to preserve his life, Psalm 16 becomes a prophecy of Christ’s defeat of death and his complete reset on what it means to be human.

The Resurrection changes everything

Psalm 16 was right—both contextually and prophetically. God delivered David from immediate threat, and Christ from the grave. We’re beneficiaries of both David’s confidence and Christ’s triumph, and through us all of creation benefits.
Death has been declawed and gagged. We ride in Christ’s train as his victory parade publicly shames the powers and authorities who sought to subject us to corruption and decay. The Resurrection is our hope, life, and victory.

In a culture that fears and shrinks away from death, we have a privilege and sacred responsibility to share our optimistic assurance that death doesn’t have the final answer. God is at work through the power of the Resurrection, redeeming the world to himself, and he will never willingly give us up to Sheol or let his faithful ones see the pit.

It's Not Blind Faith

It’s not the best morning. Yesterday was election day here in Ontario and the results did not go the way I had hoped. We have the same government as the day before, but with a much clearer and stronger mandate. I find it a particularly troubling and even threatening mandate. In the aftermath I find my faith being tested. Can I find joy today? Am I going to believe Romans 13:2 today? “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” God knew this. God saw this. God allowed this. God instituted even these authorities. Will I believe it? Will I find joy in it?

Today is a good day to consider the nature of my faith and, even more so, the object of my faith. Last week I was reflecting on the faith of Abraham and observed this: True faith does not demand answers. We don’t need faith when we have all the answers. We need faith when we don’t have all the answers. We need faith when the way ahead seems unclear or intimidating, when answers are hard to find. Faith is trusting in someone who has the answers we lack. Faith is trusting in the goodness, in the character, of God.
This is the faith I see in Abraham when he assented to God’s demand that he offer his son as a sacrifice to God. God asked Abraham to sacrifice the long-awaited son through whom God had guaranteed a multitude of nations and, even better, a Messiah. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2).

The promise was made, the promise was fulfilled, and now God threatened to take it all away. But still Abraham obeyed. Why? Because of this: Ultimately, faith is not in an outcome, but in a person. Abraham’s faith was not in Isaac’s survival; his faith was in God. This means he could lose Isaac without losing his faith. He was so convinced of the goodness and faithfulness of God that he was willing to do what looked impossible. He would hold back nothing.

Later, in the book of Hebrews, we read more about Abraham. The author is boasting in God’s people, bragging about their faith, and he says this: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

Quite simply, Abraham believed the promises of God because he trusted the character of God. He trusted God even when the way seemed so strange, so unclear, so contradictory. The Christian faith is sometimes lampooned as being a blind faith, but that is all wrong. The Christian faith is not a blind faith but a seeing faith. We have seen God and love God and trust him to such a degree that we do not need or demand all the answers. We trust and obey, even when we do not understand and even when we cannot see the finish line.
And today I find myself wondering this: Will I trust God even when the way is unclear and even when I do not understand? Will I joyfully submit to God’s will, knowing and trusting that he is good? Is my faith deep enough to say, “I don’t understand, but I know God is good.” Is my faith in an outcome, or is my faith in God?

I should take a cue from Abraham. God gave Abraham three days to walk from his home to that mountain where he was to offer up his son. But on that long and sorrowful walk where he must have been tempted to despair, Abraham was not brooding. He was not complaining. He was not lamenting. Instead, he was considering how God would use this for good. We are told in Hebrews that Abraham made up his mind that God could and would raise Isaac from the dead. When Abraham was being tested, he chose not to focus on the pain, but on the triumph, and spent his time imagining how God was going to work even this “for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). I should do no less.


God remains. God’s promises remain. My trust in God remains.

Keep The Love On .......

Following Jesus Christ is counter-intuitive. Always has been.

In His famous “Sermon the Mount,” Jesus teaches that life in the Kingdom of God is antithetical to what most mortals think and feel.

For instance, if someone attacks you, Jesus says don’t defend yourself nor retaliate.
If someone mistreats you, forgive them.
If someone offers sincere correction, receive it in humility without being defensive or taking offense.
If someone compels you to go one mile, go two.
If someone steals your shirt, give them your coat also.
If someone hates you, love them.
If someone trashes you (gossips, slanders, invokes curses on your head), don’t act in kind. Pray for them.
In other words, even when you’re being hated, spoken evil of, lied about, and mistreated, keep the love on.
Never turn it off.
Now that doesn't mean you are to have warm fuzzy feelings in your belly toward those who act like sub-human pigs.
That’s not what Jesus meant by “love.”
Nor does it mean that you are to trust people who act in fleshly ways. While love is unconditional, trust is conditional and must be earned.
Nor does loving a person mean that you are to fulfill their every request or whim.
Rather, Jesus defines love quite clearly for us in the Gospels: It’s treating others the same way we want to be treated in every situation.

To illustrate, here are some examples of people I've known in the past who kept the love on.
Jeff excelled at his job and earned the favor of his boss as well as a promotion and a raise. Two people (who were buddies with each other) now had a common enemy. Both of these befuddled souls were insanely jealous of Jeff and began fabricating false narratives about him in an effort to knock him off his horse. Some who were gullible in the office believed the lies and stopped talking to Jeff.
Jeff kept the love on. He forgave those two people and didn't retaliate by spreading lies about them as they had done to him. A few noticed that Jeff was taking the high road and their respect for him only increased. A year later, one of Jeff’s detractors got fired. The other had a mental breakdown. Jeff was promoted again.

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” ~ Proverbs 18:17
“Things the Lord hates . . . a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” ~ Proverbs 6:19

Don was coaching a baseball team. He had to cut someone from the team because Don and the assistant coach didn't feel the guy had what it took to be on the team. When the guy was told that he was being cut, he became livid and shortly thereafter began demonizing Don and the other coach. One of Don’s friends — someone quite naive — believed the false rumors and broke their friendship with Don over it.

Don kept the love on. Don forgave the guy who was spreading the lies and he also forgave his friend who believed them. Don never spoke ill of either men. When people asked why he cut the guy from the team (after he was whining about it to everyone who would listen), Don answered honestly without exaggeration. Eventually, Don’s friend came to his senses and saw through what was going on. And the friendship  was restored. Last I heard, Don was still coaching successfully and things were going great in his life.

“A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.” ~ Proverbs 16:18
“It is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”  ~ Proverbs 19:11

Sarah’s boss made her the manager of a group of people at her local store. One of the women who wanted Sarah’s position disagreed with her method of leadership. This person tried to persuade Sarah to take on her vision and methods. Sarah listened graciously, but choose not to go in the woman’s direction. The woman was insulted that Sarah didn't adopt her views. So she began laying plans to subvert Sarah’s leadership by trying to win the favor of the other workers who were under Sarah, seeking to persuade them that Sarah was incompetent.

Sarah kept the love on. She forgave the hater and didn't retaliate.  She kept silent on the matter, except when she was specifically asked about what the woman was saying about Sarah in private. Eventually, the hater at Sarah’s job eventually fell on her own sword. She got in trouble with Sarah’s boss over another matter and was fired.

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” ~ Proverbs 18:13
“Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.” ~ Proverbs 10:18
In all of the above scenarios, people opted to walk in their flesh by becoming jealous and/or taking needless offense.

Sadly, it’s often your fellow “Christians” who are the purveyors of this kind of fleshly conduct.
Even so, following Jesus Christ is taking the high road when others opt for the gutter.
When God’s people hear the way of Jesus in this regard, their natural response is usually, But this is so hard!

No, it’s not hard. It’s humanly impossible.

But we aren't called to live as “mere mortals” – 1 Corinthians 3:3-4.

It’s only possible when we learn to live by the indwelling life of Christ.

For His life knows the cross – death to self, losing, yielding, laying your life down.
And it will always lead you up a hill during times of mistreatment.
In addition, the nature of His life is love. But the word “love” is cheap these days.
If you love someone, you won’t lie about them or distort the truth.
If you love someone, you will always think the best of their intentions.
If you love someone, you will treat them the way you want to be treated in every circumstance.
Following Jesus Christ today — or as I've put it so often, “following your spiritual instincts” — means transcending the reactions of the flesh.
And in so doing, God gets glory, for you are a child of the most High — the One who allows His rain to shine on the wicked and the righteous alike.


So keep the love on . . .

Five Signs of Nose-Punching Preachers

A recent article in Charisma News warns about the dangers of ear-tickling preachers and their deceptive message. An ear-tickler is someone who tells you what you want to hear. In contrast, a nose-puncher is one who tells you what he wants you to hear, and typically does so with all the fervor of an Old Testament judge or prophet.

A nose-puncher might appear respectable and religious, but he is nothing more than a bully with a Bible. He prefers doctrine to people, puts ministry before family, and he justifies his abuse of others by telling himself he is doing the Lord’s work.

Jesus encountered many religious nose-punchers; men who sought to throw the book at him and those who followed him. Ironically, these men claimed to know God but by their actions they denied him. Jesus rebuked the nose-punchers for being loveless sons of the devil, and they responded by putting him on the cross.

The apostle Paul also had his share of run-ins with nose-punchers. They hounded him from town to town preaching works and opposing his message of love and grace. On several occasions the nose-punchers beat Paul and plotted to kill him.

The nose-punchers are still with us today. Can you recognize them? Here are five signs of nose-punching preachers.

1. Nose-punching preachers emphasize self-denial and going without. “If you are not in the habit of denying your appetites and desires, you are not a real Christian,” says the nose-puncher. “The more you deny your needs and wants, the holier you’ll be.”

What’s wrong with this message? Nothing – if you want to be a Buddhist.

The modern message of self-denial is nothing more than the ancient practice of asceticism dressed up in religious jargon. Abstaining from food, Facebook, or fun won’t make you righteous and holy (Col. 2:21-23). But it might make you religious. It might make you like the fasting Pharisees who trusted in their own self-righteousness.

The die-to-self message simply means, “Trust Jesus, and not yourself.” It means walk by the Spirit rather than the flesh. It means live each day out of the glorious relationship you have with the Lord.

In the hands of a nose-puncher, “die to self” is reduced to little more than a quit-having-fun lecture wrapped in threats and warnings. But in the hands of a gospel preacher, “die to self” is a thrilling invitation to the adventure of the life that is ours in Christ.

2. Nose-punching preachers are hard on sin. Throughout the scriptures you will find serious men throwing stones of condemnation at sinners. Nothing’s changed.

If warnings and threats about sin stopped people from sinning, there would be no more sin.

Jesus reveals there is only one thing that can empower you to sin no more, and that is radical grace. I’m talking about the kind of grace that defends the sinner from her accusers and turns a thief into a giver, a hater into a lover, and the chief of sinners into the apostle of grace. Rules don’t change people and abuse definitely doesn’t change people; grace changes people.

The nose-punchers would have you turn from sin and turn again until you’re a dizzy sinner. But the good news that Jesus revealed and Paul preached reveals a God infinitely more appealing than sin. A nose-puncher will use threats to compel you to turn, and you might, for a little while, but a gospel preacher reveals the goodness of God that leads you to genuine and lasting repentance (Rom. 2:4).

3. Nose-punching preachers are no friends of sinners. It is one thing to have a reputation for integrity and purity but if our message leaves our neighbors untouched by the love of God, what good are we? If Jesus strode the streets of Jerusalem avoiding sin and sinners, where would any of us be?

Nose-punchers would have you withdraw from the world in a misguided desire for holiness. But Jesus prayed that we might be sanctified in it (John 17:15-19). The nose-punchers will teach you to hate the world, but Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave…” (John 3:16).

The nose-punchers would have the world to come to them (to get their noses punched), but Jesus tells us to “Go into all the world – the business world, the arts world, the sports world, the addicts’ world, the dirty, stinkin’ world – and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

4. Nose-punching preachers seek to crucify the flesh by preaching law. “Don’t be like those Old Testament rebels who refused to obey God,” says the nose-puncher. “To please him you need to keep all the commands of his Word.”

Such a message appeals to our religious pride because it is thoroughly carnal. It teaches you to trust in the flesh – your good behavior, commitment and obedience – instead of God’s grace. The legalist says you must work to be saved while the holiness preacher says you must work to be sanctified, but both are eating from the wrong tree.

The nose-puncher will whack you with the standards of God. “Look where you are falling short. Try harder or be damned!” But the gospel preacher says, “Look where Jesus has succeeded. Trust him and live!”

The nose-puncher would have you die daily, as though that were possible, but the gospel preacher says, “You have died already and once was enough!” Look to the cross, where your old self died, and reckon yourself dead to sin. “I have been crucified with Christ,” said the apostle. “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” (Gal 2:20).

5. Nose-punching preachers use the Bible as a stick. Their sermons are packed with scriptures but are devoid of Truth. Like the Pharisees of old, they diligently study the scriptures yet refuse to come to Christ for life (John 5:39-40). Or worse, they take a little of his grace and mix it with their own efforts, ruining the whole thing and becoming lukewarm in the process.

In the hands of a graceless preacher, the Bible is utterly lethal for buried within lies the law which ministers death (2 Cor 3:7). For thousands of years, nose-punchers have been using the law-bits of the Bible to control and manipulate others. Jesus called them abusers and killers (Matt. 23:34) and Paul called them dogs (Php 3:2). We would do well to heed their warnings and be wary of such men.

- Paul Ellis

Forgiveness is Release

• I love the idea of being released and freed! I read somewhere that when Paul talks about forgiveness he is talking about release from something, deliverance from something that is binding the person who has sinned..so it wasn’t that God was offended and had to somehow calm Himself down and say ‘ok, I forgive you,’ but that He is our good Daddy who steps into the mess we’ve made and says, “Don’t worry, I can fix everything good as new, I still love you, I’m right here,” He is so understanding and doesn’t just fix up whatever mess came from our wrong acts, but He understands why we acted that way in the first place, and He heals that wounded spot in us, shows us the truth of His unconditional love which dispels the lies that have entangled us and made us act crazily….and that frees us from our guilt and shame, frees us to relax in His presence, frees us to live not by law (trying to do right and then feeling self-righteous, or trying and failing and trying to hide behind masks and feeling ashamed) but to live by grace, just being ourselves and enjoying life in the light of His acceptance and unconditional love!
  
  I love that definition of forgiveness as release, (so similar to the idea of redemption as claiming and freeing what is one’s own, and the idea of salvation as deliverance, wow!) and I think that with that release from all the lies and sin that was holding our true self down, we are now freed to be that real self, the real self emerges at resurrection and live free and happy and secure! And it isn’t just the real self but the real self is actually me in union with Christ, right! He has tied me to Him and takes me with Him wherever He goes, down into the grave to release me from the sin that was attached to me, and also up into new life to finally get to be my true self, the inner child being lifted up into real life with Him! And tied thus to Him, we can never again be fatally wounded by sin, bound by death, or fatally held captive by lies! Sure we may sin or get confused, but the lie doesn’t have a death grip on us anymore, death is conquered by the power of an indestructible life!

John Stott's Prayer

I ought to be continuing my series on bestselling Christian books this morning, but found myself taken with this prayer from John Stott. It was apparently a prayer he would use to begin his day, and it’s a sweet one.

Good morning heavenly Father,
good morning Lord Jesus,
good morning Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe.
Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world.
Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.
Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.
Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me.
 Amen.

Ransomed Sinners from the Kingdom of Satan

“Fallen men without the operations of the Spirit of God, are under the rule of Satan. They are led captive by him at his will (2 Timothy 2:26). So long as this ‘strong man fully armed’ is not molested by the ‘stronger than he,’ he keeps his kingdom in peace and his captives willingly do his bidding. But the ‘stronger than he’ has overcome him, taken his armor from him, and has liberated a part of his captives (Luke 11:21–22). God now exercises the right of releasing whom He will; and all born again Christians are ransomed sinners from that kingdom.”

— Loraine Boettner

I Am a Theologian

I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
—1 Corinthians 2:2
Years ago when my husband started reading John Piper and talking with others about deeper matters of theology, I would mingle in those conversations and throw around the phrase, “I’m not into theology, I just love Jesus!” Yes, laugh with me here, folks.

Though I will never think or care about theology as much as my husband does, I have come to realize that I am, in fact, a theologian. We all are. What we believe about God affects us each and every moment. Let me give you an example from my day recently and see if you agree with me.

We had come off a very busy week. We were gone for three days that weekend, and I was still trying to play catch up. That day had started like any other day. I awoke to loud kids, unfinished schoolwork, and a messy house. It was a battle to know which needed the most attention. I don’t usually feel like I battle discouragement, but that day I had been. These moments tempt me to believe that the messes around me are a reflection of all my glaring weaknesses, and instead of going about my day and getting things done in faith, those moments are cluttered with self-loathing and condemnation. Because of the battles in my heart, I am impatient and short-tempered with the kids.

After much craziness in my heart that morning, as I was waiting for a load of wash to finish spinning, I hung my head on the washer and began to pray. I thanked God for saving me. I thanked him that my righteousness is not based on my works. I mediated on that for a few moments. Nothing that I have done or didn’t do could change my standing before God. Christ has covered me with his blood.
Fireworks didn’t go off. My heart did not go from discouragement to radical joy. But that moment of truth grounded me. It brought peace to my troubled heart. I am free, folks. Free from myself and all of my battles and desires.

Back to the “I am a theologian” thought. What if I didn’t know or understand anything about justification? What if I believed that Christ died for my sins, but my good works somehow gained me extra bits of God’s favor along the way? Imagine the difference that would make when I am discouraged with myself!
A few weeks back, I began reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. There is a chapter about preaching the gospel to yourself. I read this nugget of truth and it too soothed my soul:

“The satisfaction of Christ is more than a theological expression. It is a concept we need to become acquainted with in our daily lives. When our consciences are smiting us because of our sin, it is important to reflect upon the fact that, though our sins are real and inexcusable, nevertheless God’s justice has already been satisfied through the ‘satisfaction of Christ,’ that the penalty has been fully paid by Him.”

As I have wrestled with the truths of the gospel, it has slowly changed me on the inside. I see that what I believe about God affects me on every level. I need to believe that what I know and understand about God truly has the power to change my life, one little moment at a time.